Just me and my girl a very special 13th Birthday trip! (updated 2/20/14)

[Lovemy3babes]

What fun!!!! I love Splash. And we only got a little wet.

Pirates was next.

My flash was off, I promise!

The standby entrance for Jungle Cruise was 15 minutes so we decided just to get in line.

It was a beautiful morning in Magic Kingdom and we were having excellent ride mojo! Rope drop is totally the way to go, for us anyway.

The funniest thing happened after we left Haunted Mansion. This lovely gentleman saw us and motioned me over to him. He told me he saw Morghan’s birthday button and asked if it would be okay if he sung to her. For sure! So, he took Morghan’s hand and gave the crowd a little history lesson about the town crier. He had asked me where she was born and I said Minnesota. He gave a funny little spiel about how we came from the “artics of Minnesota” and how pleased he was that we were there. He let her ring the bell he was holding as well. What an awesome cast member! He was hilarious!!

We were starving by then and had lunch scheduled at The Plaza at 11:15am. I’m so glad I made an early ADR at that point. We checked in and waited just a few minutes. It was freezing in there! We didn’t have jackets so that made it a little less enjoyable. The place is super cute though. It was a first for us. Look at my fancy water, in a glass bottle. Ha!

Birthday girl!

And her mom.

Morghan ordered the turkey sandwich with fries and I ordered the club with the chips. Both were yummy!

Since we were on the dining plan, we got dessert. Good, good stuff…..
Morgs got the brownie sundae and I chose a hot fudge sundae.

Both of the desserts were huge and we did our best to finish them all. The service there was great. The food was delicious. It was fast. The only downside was that it was a little chilly and eating ice cream made it a little worse. No biggie and we will definitely return! You don’t hear too much about The Plaza and I am so glad we gave it a try!

At that point, we were full and ready for some more fun! Where would we go next?!

 

[jenseib]

Yay! You're back!
Those desserts look fabulous to me right now. What a great morning with so little wait on everything.

 

[jerelle]

DD and I did a Mom & Daughter trip in Feb. Loving this. Keep it coming!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Hey there! How cute that the CM sung to Morghan!
And the ride mojo was definitely on your side! I have to go look and see where we were that day. I don't think it was MK though.

Those DESSERTS! OH MY!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Yay! You're back!
Those desserts look fabulous to me right now. What a great morning with so little wait on everything.

I'm finally back! Thanks for sticking around. Short waits are awesome!

DD and I did a Mom & Daughter trip in Feb. Loving this. Keep it coming!

Mom and Daughter trips are the very best I think! Thank you for reading.

Hey there! How cute that the CM sung to Morghan!
And the ride mojo was definitely on your side! I have to go look and see where we were that day. I don't think it was MK though.

Those DESSERTS! OH MY!!

Hi Sheree! He was a super nice CM; just the way Disney makes them! I didn't eat breakfast today so those desserts are making me really hungry. Mmmm!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great update Kelli! So glad you're back!!

I have the same trouble getting my 13 year old out of bed.

Looks like a beautiful morning at MK. And no waits so far, awesome!! How great of that CM to make such a big deal of her birthday. Love it!

Your lunch looked great!

Looking forward to more!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

What a pretty day for your first day in the parks! MK has to be our first park, too. That guy with all of the pins looks REALLY tall! I like that picture of the castle. Cool angle! I personally LOVE it’s a small world! I’m glad to hear someone else does too. I think we are a part of a small group! How cool that the town crier gave Morghan a little birthday pixie dust! Your meal at The Plaza losk really good – especially the chips! You’re right, you don’t hear much about that place. I think yours is only the second TR that mentioned going there! It must be a great place to get away from the crowds It looks like you had a lot of fun the first half of your day! I can’t wait to hear more!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Great update Kelli! So glad you're back!!

I have the same trouble getting my 13 year old out of bed.

Looks like a beautiful morning at MK. And no waits so far, awesome!! How great of that CM to make such a big deal of her birthday. Love it!

Your lunch looked great!

Looking forward to more!

Hey there Shelly! Thanks for coming back over. Sorry for the delay! What is it with these kids and sleeping?! Seriously, WAKE UP!!! It was the perfect day to start our trip!

What a pretty day for your first day in the parks! MK has to be our first park, too. That guy with all of the pins looks REALLY tall! I like that picture of the castle. Cool angle! I personally LOVE it’s a small world! I’m glad to hear someone else does too. I think we are a part of a small group! How cool that the town crier gave Morghan a little birthday pixie dust! Your meal at The Plaza losk really good – especially the chips! You’re right, you don’t hear much about that place. I think yours is only the second TR that mentioned going there! It must be a great place to get away from the crowds It looks like you had a lot of fun the first half of your day! I can’t wait to hear more!

I think starting the trip with Magic Kingdom just stars everything out perfectly. Seeing that castle.... Do you love chips as much as me Erin? I'm a chip addict I think. Crunchy little salty pieces of goodness! Meee. I'm glad you are here!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Off to a great start at MK!! What a fun experience with the singing CM!

 

[MeMom]

Oh, yes, that just arrived feeling is incredible!!!

The fall decorations are so pretty and just put a whole new atmosphere on Main Street.

Rope drop is the way to go for us, as well. Peter Pan first - excellent.

I got the Plaza Club when we went, too. It was good, and since we were going straight back to the room, I took part of it with me. That is one fat sandwich!

What did Teen do in response to the corny Jungle Cruise jokes? I mean 'Hopefully, he'll get the point in the end' - did that get an eye roll?

Love the serenade she got from the town crier.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Off to a great start at MK!! What a fun experience with the singing CM!

I just love the Magic Kingdom!! Hands down, it's my favorite park.

Oh, yes, that just arrived feeling is incredible!!!

The fall decorations are so pretty and just put a whole new atmosphere on Main Street.

Rope drop is the way to go for us, as well. Peter Pan first - excellent.

I got the Plaza Club when we went, too. It was good, and since we were going straight back to the room, I took part of it with me. That is one fat sandwich!

What did Teen do in response to the corny Jungle Cruise jokes? I mean 'Hopefully, he'll get the point in the end' - did that get an eye roll?

Love the serenade she got from the town crier.

The fall decorations were indeed gorgeous! I definitely should have saved part of my club sandwich. It was huge! You have great taste though MeMom. It was really yummy. Morghan really liked the Jungle Cruise and did some giggling! Thankfully the teenage attitude she gives me is just targeted at me and not anyone or anything else. Ha!



I'm working on a new update!!!! I promise!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

When I last left off so long ago (sorry!) we had just eaten an early lunch at The Plaza. I really recommend this. It was cute, quiet, out of the way and a good place to take a rest. The food was delicious!

We decided to tackle the last of the “Big 3” so headed to Space Mountain. I have to admit that Space is my least favorite of the three big ones. It feels super bumpy to me and I don’t like being in the pitch dark like that. But I do it and usually enjoy it. Morghan loves it! We planned on grabbing a FP and coming back but the wait was only 10 minutes. Well, don’t mind if we do!

Morghan’s face slays me. She’s a ham.

We decided to go see the new Storybook Circus. I have to admit here that Morghan wasn’t all that thrilled with this idea. She’s 13 and is a typical teenage girl. She loves the big, fast rides so the words Storybook and Circus aren’t usually in her idea of fun. But too bad, so sad we’re checking it out. And yes, I got attitude from her. At this point of the day it really warmed up. We were up early after a travel day the day before. We probably should have taken a little afternoon break and came back. But we were short on time so were a little snippy with each other. Ack! We rode Barnstormer first after Morghan refused Dumbo. I feel too much of a dork riding by myself so no new Dumbo for us.

Barnstormer was fun though! Super short. Blink and you miss it. But fun!

Next was Teacups. And boy did I get some attitude here. I think it went something like this:

Me: How about teacups?
Morghan: Teacups are a little childish, don’t you think?
Me: No. Teacups are Disney.
Morghan: Sigh………eye roll…..sigh…..texting to friends about how her mother is so lame.

See how annoyed she is with me? Ha!

We bought a cold water and did a little walking around to cool our bodies and our attitudes. Lol!

Lookie what we stumbled upon? Yay!!

And I got an eye roll. But….later when we called home to check in, Morghan was telling her sister how very cool Under the Sea was. Teenagers!

Cute couple right here!

The ride was in a soft opening so I wasn’t sure if we’d get to experience it. So I was pleasantly surprised! It was a little glitchy and the line moved slowly but it was still really great!

Ok, so honestly this next part I am not proud of. It was the point of day I was exhausted. But it was too late to go back for a nap and then be able to make it to our dinner ADR. I’m not sure if you remember but I have to take Dramamine because I get severe motion sickness. Like it’s really bad and I cannot function. But on the flip side, Dramamine makes me a little sleepy. I push through that but all of this added up just made me a tired mama. So what did I do?

I took the above picture and then fell asleep in the Hall of Presidents! For shame! How horrible am I? Oh my word, Morghan was embarrassed of me! But it was hot outside and so nice, dark and cool in there. Just the perfect storm for a quick snooze. She actually really enjoyed it and brought some new facts back for her Social class. She was not happy with her mom however! Don’t kick me off the Dis please!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

To Buzz we go!!

Morghan beat me. So that means she could forgive me! Lol!

We both really wanted to go to Carousel of Progress next. This is a family favorite. I absolutely love the feeling inside here. The nostalgia. We sat in the front row.

Time to get our People Mover on! I am cool sometimes so Morghan thought some of the facts I told her as we rode were pretty neat. And I was happy she was back to being my nice girl.

Yep…we did Stitch. I know, I know.

LOVE Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor! L.O.V.E. We never get chosen though, bummer.

A little strolling around on that lovely Florida afternoon….

Here I have to say that I wish I was more comfortable asking strangers to take our photos. We barely have any together, which stinks. I just am not a super social person so feel really odd asking that of someone I do not know. Ugh.

I love this one!

Time for one of these lovely treats. This has got to be my favorite Disney treat ever. The Dole Whip Float tastes as if it has been sent from Heaven above. Mmmm. Morghan got a root beer float but I didn’t snag a photo of hers. Shoot.

My pretty girl. I should have bought her this…

I liked this one myself.

People were starting to come in for the Halloween party. I do have to say that a few of the costumes we saw weren’t exactly kid-friendly. I am not sure if they realized they were in the Magic Kingdom. Um, not very appropriate.

We wanted to take a quick train ride before we needed to leave for the day. So that we did next!

This costume rocked! Where’s Waldo?!

It was finally time for dinner! This ADR is one I was sooooo looking forward to. We couldn’t make it work on our last trip. I knew I was not going to going to Disney without eating here this trip! It was the very first one booked when my reservation window opened up. Any guesses???

 

[Lovemy3babes]

‘Ohana it was!!! Oh yes. I could NOT WAIT. We took the monorail over to the Poly and checked in. We were a little early but used that time to go to the gift shop and buy forgotten toothpaste. It’s a necessity after all and I think I paid probably $3 for a tiny travel tube. Ha!! Only on vacation would that be okay with me. I used the ATM and stopped by the restroom as well. We waited for a little while with a very full waiting room but not for long.

Our food was excellent! I cannot say enough good things. We tried everything. Some wasn’t my favorite but it was all pretty tasty. Here is where both my phone and camera died, which I was a little upset about. I wish I had thrown my charger in my bag that morning but totally spaced it off. I apologize for the lack of photos here. Let me just say it was worth the money. It was worth the hassle of getting the ADR. We both LOVED it!

The warm towels are a nice touch for sure.

Morghan thought so too.

Me and my girl.

From there, we ventured back to our resort. It was a long day. It was a tiring day. But it was also a really, really great day. I feel very fortunate to have been able to take my daughter to our Happy Place for her big day. She may have a teenage attitude sometimes but she is still one of my very favorite people on Earth, whom I love with my whole heart. I remember thinking of how full my heart was in ‘Ohana, sitting there with Morghan. After all, ‘Ohana means family.

 

[disneylvr4vr]

Hello! I subscribed! Your meal at the plaza sounds delicious! You and megan sure got a lot of things done at the MK! Space mountain is my least favorite of the three as well. It is really bumpy and jerky! on my last trip, splash was down and we only rode space once, compared to riding BTMRR like 5 times (gotta love night xtra hrs!)

I really enjoy reading your trip report!

 

[MeMom]

From there, we ventured back to our resort. It was a long day. It was a tiring day. But it was also a really, really great day. I feel very fortunate to have been able to take my daughter to our Happy Place for her big day. She may have a teenage attitude sometimes but she is still one of my very favorite people on Earth, whom I love with my whole heart. I remember thinking of how full my heart was in ‘Ohana, sitting there with Morghan. After all, ‘Ohana means family.

You did get a lot accomplished.


'Ohana is one of our favorite dining destinations. We hope to be closing out 2013 with dinner there before fireworks on the beach.

 

[jenseib]

great day. I think many people go into hall of presidents for a nap.

We tried Ohanas this past trip too. Sadly we weren't super impressed with the food. We didn't like the sauces on the meet so that made it kind of a bummer for us.

 

[wiigirl]

great day. I think many people go into hall of presidents for a nap.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Awesome update! Loving all the pics! You guys sure did do a lot that day. What a great day! Sorry about the teenage attitude, I know all about it. Good thing she seemed to get over it fast!

Love that you ended the day at Ohana!

 

[Harters2WDW]

Great TR!! I am enjoying it.

I do, for one, enjoy It's a Small World! It's iconic!

What did you think of POR? We are staying there next month. Anything you recommend to do or avoid? It will be myself, DH, DD7 and DD3 (plus my sister's family!).