Sometimes.....you just gotta stop & smell the Sharpie! Sept./Oct. 2015 at AKL ~ Updated 9/25 pg 10

[glennbo123]

Hi Dawn! Long time, no see, is right! Because in the meantime, Seth has gotten so big! Good to see you back on here, and can't wait for more.

 

[hokieinpa]

Hi! Joining in and following along! We're staying at AKL Jambo House in May. We have a 2-bedroom suite that I booked with rented DVC points too. So excited to read about your stay there!

Great first night at MK! Glad Seth got to ride the Mine Train and Barnstormer this time. Both are such great introductions to "thrill" rides! And Dumbo at night is just so special!

 

[heaven2dc]

Loved the video of seeing the Walt Disney World sign - always brings a tear to my eye whenever we pass under it! AKL looks so beautiful. We are hoping to do a split stay on our next big family trip in 2017. Hopefully to get a savannah view room or one close enough to view the animals. Great day at MK!

 

[fallonkendra]

Joining in now! Sounds like a great night at Magic Kingdom! I can't wait to see how the rest of your trip went!

I really want to rent DVC points for our next trip, but I'm confused on where to even start!

 

[ArielSRL]

So I was excited for your TR when you first mentioned it but now I'm even more excited! I am fairly certain we are renting DVC points for a June 2017 trip and an AKL savanna view studio is on my short list! I'll be paying special attention to any updates that involve your room and resort...though I'm leaning more toward requesting Kidani (not sure how easy/difficult that will be to get and I still have tons of research and decisions to make - also considering BC and BW). In any case, looking forward to more.....

 

[punkin413]

Hi Dawn! Long time, no see, is right! Because in the meantime, Seth has gotten so big! Good to see you back on here, and can't wait for more.

Hey there! So good to see you here! Yes....so big! I can't believe he will be in kindergarten next year.

Hi! Joining in and following along! We're staying at AKL Jambo House in May. We have a 2-bedroom suite that I booked with rented DVC points too. So excited to read about your stay there!

Great first night at MK! Glad Seth got to ride the Mine Train and Barnstormer this time. Both are such great introductions to "thrill" rides! And Dumbo at night is just so special!

Yay! You will love AKL. Like I said, my only complaint was location but I knew that going into it. And the pluses more than made up for that one negative. Yes, love flying on Dumbo at night!

Loved the video of seeing the Walt Disney World sign - always brings a tear to my eye whenever we pass under it! AKL looks so beautiful. We are hoping to do a split stay on our next big family trip in 2017. Hopefully to get a savannah view room or one close enough to view the animals. Great day at MK!

Don't you love seeing that sign for the first time every trip??

Joining in now! Sounds like a great night at Magic Kingdom! I can't wait to see how the rest of your trip went!

I really want to rent DVC points for our next trip, but I'm confused on where to even start!

Thanks for reading! There are several websites out there that make it easy to rent points. Just google it. I'm lucky enough to have a few friends who are DVC members and usually have points to rent out that make it a little cheaper than the websites do. Not much, but a little. It's riskier than booking through Disney but you save a good bit of money.

So I was excited for your TR when you first mentioned it but now I'm even more excited! I am fairly certain we are renting DVC points for a June 2017 trip and an AKL savanna view studio is on my short list! I'll be paying special attention to any updates that involve your room and resort...though I'm leaning more toward requesting Kidani (not sure how easy/difficult that will be to get and I still have tons of research and decisions to make - also considering BC and BW). In any case, looking forward to more.....

Cool!! Location was the only drawback. I think having a car as an option is key just in case you get sick of the buses (b/c the bus rides are longer). I wanted Jambo House just for the Mara area since Kidani doesn't have a "food court" but I think they're both great. Can't go wrong!

 

[punkin413]

Had time tonight for a quick update, so onward we go!

On to day 2! Today would have been Sunday, September 27th. First thing on the agenda? Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare! This was a first for all of us and I was looking forward to it. Seth loves Winnie the Pooh and the Alice in Wonderland characters, so this was an easy choice.

Our ADR was for 9:30 that morning. We drove to the Grand Floridian Resort and got checked in, then they took some pictures of us in the lobby.





They told us our table would be ready shortly and we went outside to wait in a little courtyard just outside the restaurant. Snapped these while we were waiting.





See the green monorail in the station?



Didn’t have to wait long! We were called to our table a couple minutes after 9:30.



Before we even got to take a trip to the buffet, Pooh showed up! Honey, honey…..honey honey honey!!!! (That’s from the 2011 Pooh movie. If you haven’t seen it, watch it. It’s fabulous. )



Immediately after Pooh one of my favorite girls, Alice, showed up. She is one of my 2 favorite female characters (Tink being the other one). So I had to get in the picture too!



We finally got to make a trip to the buffet between characters. Food was good! Not the best breakfast I’ve had at Disney (Cape May is my favorite) but still very good! I forgot to take pictures….I’m so ashamed because I’m usually very good at that!

Next up we met Mary Poppins. She asked Seth if he put a spoonful of sugar in his cereal.



After Ms. Poppins left, around the corner came the Mad Hatter. Let me tell you, he was the BEST character I’ve ever met….hands down!!!! He was hilarious! I will let the video show you. I had to split it into 2 videos because it was too long for photobucket. We LOVED him! And guess where the title to this TR came from…..watch!


(A couple of notes – yes, he really did fling Fruit Loops across the restaurant at some lady. His handler told Seth to tell him he likes Fruit Loops because he’s a fruit and Seth misunderstood and told the Mad Hatter “I like Fruit Loops because I’m a fruit.” Haha! You can’t quite hear what he says so I wanted to clarify that.)


(Click to play.)



Part 2 (click to play).



I could not believe he sniffed our Sharpie…..oh my goodness, made my trip!

Here’s Seth’s picture with the Mad Hatter. I seriously may have a poster made of this.



Next was our bouncy friend, Tigger!



Ray got a short video of them bouncing together. Was cute!

(Click to play.)



We had finished eating, met all the characters and paid in an hour flat, which I think is great timing for a character meal! We headed out into this beautiful lobby…..



….and out these doors….



And who can guess where we ventured to next?

 

[fallonkendra]

Those are some really great character pictures! I love the one of the Mad Hatter with your little guy! Too funny!

 

[ariane37]

I'm so glad I decided to read this and that you mentioned changing the title! I had started reading under the "old" title but didn't have time to comment; then when I looked for it again I couldn't find it! Thought I was losing my mind

DH and I did an adults-only trip in January and stayed at AKV-Jambo for the first time and fell in love. Hoping to go back with the kids soon!

Love the picture of Seth and the Mad Hatter, definitely think you should make it into a poster

 

[ArielSRL]

Love the update! Keep 'me coming! When you have time, of course.

 

[DisneyJo]

Your breakfast looks so much fun and Seth looks as though he had a ball

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

How much fun was that breakfast?! The interaction with the Mad Hatter was AWESOME!

 

[amberdc1987]

Oh my gosh! I want to book that breakfast just for the Mad Hatter. He was hilarious! I love when the people playing the characters get into it like that. He was awesome!

 

[jwwi]

Welcome back! Seth has really grown up, I'm sure he just loved this trip to WDW. The breakfast and character interaction is so much fun!

 

[Wonders10]

Hi Dawn! I'm back on the DIS! So excited to see your TR, great updates so far!

 

[punkin413]

Finally got all my videos for the next update uploaded but I'm just too tired to write it tonight. Seth is sick - nothing serious (we went to doctor today and they ruled out strep and flu) but just a low grade fever....enough to wear me out! He gets wired with ANY kind of medicine so he's been climbing the walls. Phew!!!!

Those are some really great character pictures! I love the one of the Mad Hatter with your little guy! Too funny!

Me too! One of my favorite pictures of the entire trip!

I'm so glad I decided to read this and that you mentioned changing the title! I had started reading under the "old" title but didn't have time to comment; then when I looked for it again I couldn't find it! Thought I was losing my mind

DH and I did an adults-only trip in January and stayed at AKV-Jambo for the first time and fell in love. Hoping to go back with the kids soon!

Love the picture of Seth and the Mad Hatter, definitely think you should make it into a poster

Yeah, sorry about that. I had thought of this title a long time ago and then just forgot about it when I finally got around to starting my TR. Then I remembered a few days later....duh! Glad you found it again. And adults-only trip sounds so fun! We did those before Seth came along but maybe we can do one again someday!

Love the update! Keep 'me coming! When you have time, of course.

Thanks!!

Your breakfast looks so much fun and Seth looks as though he had a ball

It was great! This is definitely one I'd recommend to anyone who likes those characters!

How much fun was that breakfast?! The interaction with the Mad Hatter was AWESOME!

It was SO fun! A really great way to start out the trip too! The Mad Hatter was seriously one of the best characters I've ever met. I've met other Hatters before but this one was the best!

Oh my gosh! I want to book that breakfast just for the Mad Hatter. He was hilarious! I love when the people playing the characters get into it like that. He was awesome!

It was so much fun! And what a fun job that would be!!

Welcome back! Seth has really grown up, I'm sure he just loved this trip to WDW. The breakfast and character interaction is so much fun!

Thanks! And thanks for reading!! Nice to see ya!

Hi Dawn! I'm back on the DIS! So excited to see your TR, great updates so far!

Hey there, Shannon! Thanks for finding me. By the way your wedding pics were gorgeous....I can't remember if I commented on FB or not. Congrats!!!!

 

[Wonders10]

Awww, thank you! I can't believe I'm married AND we have a child. I still remember whining about being single in our old PEEPS thread, thinking I'd be alone forever!

We are taking Molly in June, I just couldn't hold out anymore on taking her! So I'm spending a little more time on the DIS, getting back into the Disney stuff.

 

[ArielSRL]

Awww, thank you! I can't believe I'm married AND we have a child. I still remember whining about being single in our old PEEPS thread, thinking I'd be alone forever!

We are taking Molly in June, I just couldn't hold out anymore on taking her! So I'm spending a little more time on the DIS, getting back into the Disney stuff.

We are going in June, as well! 6/4-6/11. I hope you have a great trip!

 

[punkin413]

Awww, thank you! I can't believe I'm married AND we have a child. I still remember whining about being single in our old PEEPS thread, thinking I'd be alone forever!

We are taking Molly in June, I just couldn't hold out anymore on taking her! So I'm spending a little more time on the DIS, getting back into the Disney stuff.

Cool!!! How old will she be? I took Seth at 13 months. I have a TR linked below (from October 2011) if you're interested. Probably some helpful info in there about taking a baby!

 

[punkin413]

Okay, day 2 continues!

After breakfast we hopped on the monorail and headed to MK! My friend Lynda and her hubby and son were going to MK that day too and we were planning on meeting up with them for awhile. Her son is about 2 weeks older than Seth, and we’ve met up with them before on prior trips. They’re lucky enough to live very close to WDW so they can go whenever they get a chance….very nice! We met up with them a couple of times on the last trip so if you read that TR you have already met them.

First monorail ride of the trip! I didn’t get a picture (I think I was busy texting with Lynda) but of course Seth loved it.

We got to the park around 10:45. This was the first day (and first time for us) that we were renting a stroller from the park. On prior trips I had brought my own just because I knew Seth would nap better in it. But now that he’s older, I wanted the convenience of not having to bring the stroller on buses. So we were giving renting one a go! It actually worked out really great. We never had to wait more than a couple of minutes to get a stroller. The only complaint I had was really on myself because I totally forgot to bring a scarf or ribbon to tie to the handle to help identify our stroller when the CMs moved them in stroller parking. So that was kind of a pain, but totally my fault. Doh!

While Ray got the stroller, Seth and I headed into Town Square to check the wait to meet Tink. It wasn’t more than like 10 minutes so we went ahead and hopped in line.



There she is!



Seth made friends with the little boy in front of us. One thing I will say about my child – he’s so very friendly! I think it comes with being an only child….he just wants to make friends with everyone because he wants to play! I hope that never changes about him.



Here we go! Seth loves Tink almost as much as his mama.





I don’t remember what they were talking about here but apparently they had a lot to say!







Some of the photopass pics….









We came out and found Ray with the stroller, and not long after that we found Lynda and her family just coming onto Main Street from under the train station. Yay!!!! Avery and Seth were really excited to see each other…it was cute.

We decided to head towards Fantasyland (although I do feel like we walked through Tomorrowland for some reason – I think maybe Lynda’s group had a FP for Buzz?). We ran into the Move It Shake It parade and I snapped a couple of pictures. Couldn’t get Goofy to look at me!



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Dang it, Goofy!!!!



And I took a quick video….

(Click to play.)



I think we split up from Lynda & Co. in Tomorrowland since they had a FP there. Seth was dying to ride the carousel so we headed that way.

Back of Castle shot!

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Finally, the carousel!! He had been wanting to ride it since the night before. I don’t remember why we skipped it that night!


http://s1108.photobucket.com/user/punkin41302/media/Disney 2015/IMG_7811_zpsmf2cxfyg.jpg.html


After the carousel we met back up with Lynda & Co. and headed towards Peter Pan. We all had a FP for it! I didn’t take any pictures but of course everyone loved it!

The park was pretty crowded that day (it was a Sunday) but Philharmagic didn’t have a long wait, so we decided to all do that. I hadn’t done it the past couple of trips because I knew Seth wouldn’t enjoy it being so little. And it’s one of my favorites!

Avery and Seth in their super cool 3-D glasses.


http://s1108.photobucket.com/user/punkin41302/media/Disney 2015/IMG_7811_zpsmf2cxfyg.jpg.html


The boys had a blast playing in the waiting area….wish they could play together more often!

We’re in!



The boys both liked it!
Continued in next post: http://www.disboards.com/threads/so...pdated-3-26-pg-2.3491817/page-3#post-55468838