"Stop squeezing Mickey's nose!" - An October 2014 TR *COMPLETED!*

[hokieinpa]

Welcome!

This is my first ever trip report for my first family trip to WDW! It was a perfect first trip and I can't wait to relive it through this trip report!

Here is the link to my PTR:
And for the first time in FOREVER...Back to WDW October 2014

And to explain the name of the TR I give you this photo...


The story behind this photo (and the boys continued obsession with character noses) is coming!



Our trip was filled with all of our favorite things! Character meets! Short lines! Parades! Dance parties!

Thanks for joining me in revisiting our magical first trip!


Introductions


Sunday October 26

Early morning flight and we're finally there!
Lunch, shopping, and LEGOS in Downtown Disney
Chef Mickey's! Part 1
Chef Mickey's! Part 2


Monday, October 27

Nemo! Turtle! Ball!
Hours in The Land
Ball, Break Bongos


Tuesday, October 28

Exploring AOA
It's the CASTLE!
Under the Sea!
Boo to You! And guard your spot...
Brave Warriors!
To Infinity...and Beyond!
Nate the Dance Machine


Wednesday, October 29

Fun in Fantasyland
Pictures Only
Lunch and Fun in Adventureland
"Mommy, he called me his PAL!"
A Surprise Parade and A Friend from Neverland
Pirates, Taco Salads, and Space Rangers

Thursday, October 30

"Don't hold your child up like Simba!"
Gorillas and FOTLK
Everybody Walk the Dinosaur!

Friday, October 31

Breakfast with our Disney Junior favorites!
Jedi in Training...Or Not
The Plan Breaks Down
NEWS!!!
Where are the rest of the snacks?
The Cutest Characterpalooza Ever! Part 1
The Cutest Characterpalooza Ever! Part 2
I'm Just a Cool Guy Laying on a Car!

Saturday, November 1
Welcome to the Magic Kingdom!
More Puffed French Toast, Please!
Can I Keep these Glasses?
"Oh, and he's squeezing my nose!"
People Mover Again, please!

Sunday, November 2
"Can we play first, Mommy?"
Green Army Men!
Two Shows for the Road


Trip Wrap Up - Reviews and Favorites - Part 1
Trip Wrap Up - Reviews and Favorites - Part 2
Squeeze all the noses!

 

[hokieinpa]

Introductions



The Details:

When: Sunday October 26, 2014 - Sunday November 2, 2014
Where: AOA Finding Nemo suite
What: 6 park days + 1 MNSSHP

Now for the Who!

We had a pretty large party for our first trip! There were 7 of us squeezed in together to experience all the fun!

First there is me, Jamie. I am a stay-at-home mom to our 3 sweet boys. I've always loved Disney movies but this trip and the planning has sparked a new love for me!





This is my husband, Jim. He is a mining engineer and was not super enthusiastic about this trip. I changed his mind with my wonderful planning skills that had us avoiding waits and crowds!





My parents, Jim and Diana, also joined us on the trip. It was really a lifesaver to have so much extra help with the boys! I'm so glad they got to experience this with us!






Then the main event and who this trip was centered around...THE BOYS!

Nate is 4 (almost 5! he will tell you the minute you meet him). He loves Buzz Lightyear, anything Pirates, and Star Wars!





Colin is 2 and is a Mickey fanatic! He also really likes Woody and his new love, Dusty Crophopper.





Jake is the baby, 20 months old. He was super fun on this trip because he was just starting to learn all the character names and could name almost all of them by the end of the trip!





This trip was really all about what the boys would enjoy...I planned it with them at the forefront of my mind and we changed those plans along the way to suit their wants and needs! There will be time for a "me" trip later I'm sure but I was so excited to enjoy this trip with them!

 

[Dugette]

Joining in! Can't wait to see all the nose-squeezing!

 

[hokieinpa]

Early morning flight and we're finally there!



I'll just preface this whole report by saying I was not the best picture taker this trip! I meant to be better, but, you know...

Our trip really began on the Friday before. We live in Central Pennsylvania and my parents live in Virginia. We considered flying into MCO separately and meeting up but there are no major airports near us. It would be a 3 hour drive to closest major hub and after all that, we would have to go through the pain of meeting up at MCO/AOA. So we decided to drive to Virginia (a 5-6 hour drive) and fly with my parents.

Flights were way cheaper and at much more convenient times for us. We had an early morning flight - 7:00 am!

This meant we had to be at the airport at 5:30, leave my parents house my 5:00, which led to a wake up time of 4:00.

So we wrestled our 8 suitcases, 7 carry ons, car seat, and double jogger (we obviously don't pack light) into 2 cars and into the airport. We made it through security with no issues and found our gate.

The boys loved watching our plane out the big window! This was the first flight for all 3 of them.



We had worked out our seating arrangements ahead of time. Jim sat with Nate, my parents teamed up with Colin (he is our most "spirited" child and needed 2 adults to handle him), and I sat with Jake.

The flight was short an uneventful. Nate spent most of the flight with an activity book handed out by Southwest and playing with the toys I packed. Colin played, read some books, and took a short nap. Jake was by far the easiest because this was him about 5 minutes after take off.



That was the best shot I could get in close quarters. But he slept almost the entire flight! I tried to read a book on my phone and look through our trip plans but I was too excited to concentrate on anything! I mostly just thought about the trip and finally GETTING THERE!

We landed at MCO and were off the plane by 9:30. After a quick bathroom/diaper break, we caught the fake-o-rail and walked straight on to the MDE! Seriously, we just scanned bands and breezed through. We were the last ones on our bus and took seats near each other in the back.







Pretty soon I saw this guy and I almost squealed with excitement...or maybe I really did squeal. And yell. And point. And made sure all the boys looked. It was MICKEY!




We were the first stop - Art of Animation! It looked just like I imagined and I couldn't believe we were finally here! I think my mom and I took the boys in while the guys waited to get the stroller and carseat from under the bus. I can't believe I only got 2 pictures of the lobby because it was so cool!




You can just see Nate and Jim holding Jake in the top right corner.

I got in line to check in. I had done online check in and the wait was pretty short. Less than 10 minutes? Here is the check in area.




My room requests had been ground floor and close to transportation. We were in Crush but our room wasn't ready yet (since it was just a little after 10 am at this point). After I made sure they knew we needed a pack and play AND bed rails, we dropped off our bags with bell services and headed out for our first Disney adventure - Downtown Disney!

We did make quick lap around the Big Blue Pool and saw this guy! We passed him countless times during the trip and he's why Jake learned the word "turtle" that week!






Next up

Lunch, shopping, and LEGOS in Downtown Disney!

 

[Dugette]

Sounds like a pretty successful flight - and yay for napping!

Art of Animation is such a cool-looking resort. Can't wait to see more.

That's cute about learning "turtle" from Crush. I'm pretty sure Izzy learned "turtle" in Hawaii when we saw one on the beach.

 

[missangelalexis]

Joining in!!

What a beautiful family you have I'm glad to hear your travel day was smooth. Can't wait to hear all about your trip and about that nose squeezing!!

 

[Disneybell2015]

Subscribing It's always so great when you can take the grandparents along Glad the flight went smooth for everyone. AOA looks like a really cool place to stay. I have never stayed there before.

 

[hokieinpa]

Sounds like a pretty successful flight - and yay for napping!

Art of Animation is such a cool-looking resort. Can't wait to see more.

That's cute about learning "turtle" from Crush. I'm pretty sure Izzy learned "turtle" in Hawaii when we saw one on the beach.

Thanks for joining in!

I was really glad Jake had such a great travel day. I was most worried about him but since our flights were early in the morning on the way down and at bedtime on the way home it worked out well!

AOA was so much fun! Perfect for kids!

And isn't it great that Disney improves our kids vocabulary skills? Totally a valid reason to keep going back!

Joining in!!

What a beautiful family you have I'm glad to hear your travel day was smooth. Can't wait to hear all about your trip and about that nose squeezing!!

Thanks for joining in!

And yes, it was great that everyone stayed happy during the flight! Travel days can be long and hard but we when you're in DISNEY it all disappears!

And seriously, they were a little obsessed with character noses!

Subscribing It's always so great when you can take the grandparents along Glad the flight went smooth for everyone. AOA looks like a really cool place to stay. I have never stayed there before.

Thanks for following along!

It was such a huge help to have my parents there! And they had such a great time, I'm not sure we'll be able to go back without them!

And we loved AOA! So much fun! The pool was great and the food court was yummy!

 

[hokieinpa]

Lunch, shopping, and LEGOS in Downtown Disney!


After we dropped our carry ons and carseats off at bell services, we headed to catch our first Disney bus! I know they are dreaded by some, but I was excited to ride my first Disney bus. That sentiment changed by the end of the trip...

We didn't wait long, maybe 15 minutes? But doesn't that time seem much longer in "waiting for a bus" time?

Once we got there, I loved how "Disney" everything was! And we weren't even at a park! I wanted to look in the stores right away but we were all in need of some real food so we headed to Earl of Sandwich.

The line was pretty long so my mom and Jim waited while my dad and I took the boys to find a table outside. The boys were antsy after a long day of mostly sitting so I took them over to Once Upon a Toy to look around.

Nate and Colin were super excited to see this guy! Just wait until they meet the real thing!




We headed back over to our tables and enjoyed our yummy sandwiches. I know the boys all got the kids grilled cheese and I got the Earl's Club. We also got some chips, a fruit cup, and a chocolate chip cooke to share.

After lunch, we headed right over to Once Upon a Toy. We spent quite a long time in there. They all loved the Potato Head bar and Toy Story area!

Jake also really liked this big Duffy bear! Maybe we'll have to get him one next time?




We made our purchases and headed out but we could have spent much longer just looking at all the fun toys! We got a Potato Head box, spinning Sorcerer Mickey, and a spinning Dusty Crophopper. Nate also made 2 droids at the create-your-own station!

Next up of World of Disney. We just took a quick tour through. Not many toys so no real interest to the boys.

I was on a mission for some Minnie ears so I grabbed these! Yay!




I also liked seeing the BBB in action in the "Princess" room! Probably the closest I'll ever get to that place!

We stopped to ride the little train. Colin was pumped. Nate, not so much. He was ready for our next stop!




And Jake couldn't care less, because this was him. Again.




Disney was already exhausting!


Next up was the most highly anticipated store in all of Downtown Disney...the LEGO store!

Nate is a huge LEGO fan so he was excited! Of course, I don't have any pictures of him but we did like all of the cool models!




The boys played outside in the big LEGO bins for a while then headed in to look around. Nate did the build your own minifigure deal so he had a great time picking his pieces out. And he played with them the whole trip. Great deal for $9.99!

Jake woke up and luckily, they had this Duplo room so he could play too!




It was time for us to start heading back. But we had to stop at Goofy's Candy Co. for some yummy treats! We each picked out a cookie and were amazed at the candy selection!




On the way out, I ducked into Disney Days of Christmas and picked up a few ornaments. Then headed over to the kitchen store to get a mug and Mickey cookie/sandwich cutter. I think my parents and Jim were doing the bathroom/diaper thing at this point.

Finally, it was time to catch a bus back to AOA. After all, we had a dinner date with a special Mouse and some friends!





Next up

Chef Mickey's! Part 1

 

[Dugette]

Sounds like a good Downtown Disney visit! How was the kids' grilled cheese - did they like it?

I think you visited pretty much the exact roster of stores that we tend to visit!

Can't wait to hear about Chef Mickey's - one of the "classic" places that we've somehow never made it to!

 

[azarine]

Great TR can't wait to read the rest!

 

[hokieinpa]

Chef Mickey's! Part 1


After our DTD adventures, we were back at AOA to rest some before our 7:40 ADR at Chef Mickey's. We got back to the room around 4:00.

Our bags and grocery delivery had arrived. Yay! I really wanted to get everything somewhat organized and put away so my parents and Jim took the boys down to the pool while I unpacked.

Jake's pack & play and the bed rail had arrived so I set that up, organized the boys clothes by day, etc.

Pretty soon, the boys were all back. We gave them a quick bath and got them dressed. We still had almost an hour before we had to leave for dinner so I think Jake laid down for a short nap while Nate and Colin watched some TV and relaxed on the couch.

Soon it was time to go. Our first ADR!!!

We caught the bus to MK around 6:45. It was a MNSSHP night so the line was full of costumed people which got me in the spirit for our party night later that week!

We got to MK around 7:15 and walked over to the monorail. I know we could have walked over to the Contemporary but this was our only chance to take the monorail so we were all over it!

After a quick trip we arrived at the Contemporary. I took this awful picture of the mural.



Then we were here!!





I checked in and we barely had time to park the stroller before they called our name. We filtered through to the PhotoPass area and got our first official Disney picture!




The photographer seemed really rushed and I was a little bit annoyed at our first experience. But then when we were waiting on the couch to be called to out table, the photographer came over and played with Colin for several minutes. They both had the same spinning Sorcerer Mickey toy and played a sort of peekaboo game with them. Yay for Disney magic!

We were seated less than 5 minutes after we had our picture taken. Short waits!!

We were at a round table in the back dining room. Our server pointed out the door just a few tables away and told us that was where the characters would be coming from.

I went up and got the boys some food to start - fruit, veggies, cheese, etc. Good thing I hurried back because this guy came our just a few minutes after I sat down!




He spent lots of time visiting with all of the boys. They were all thrilled. It was MICKEY!!





One of my favorite pictures from the whole trip!

I think we all took a turn getting some food at this point. I don't remember anything specific that we had that was amazing but everything was decent. Not great food but average buffet fare!

Next up was Goofy!





Colin having a special talk with Goofy!



Goofy is Nate's favorite of the Fab 5 so he was pretty excited!




Now one of my few complaints about Chef Mickey's were the restrooms! There may have been a closer one (maybe it was a handicap restroom so I didn't use it?) but we had to go downstairs which was just annoying!

I took Colin to the restroom at this point and we got back just in time to see Pluto!



Jake goes in for a nose squeeze! Maybe I'll keep a tally? We'll call it nose squeeze #1.



Hugs for Pluto! Colin is squeezed in there on the side, too!



Nate with nose squeeze #2! See Pluto's paw up there trying to push Nate's hand away from his nose? Apparently nose squeezing is a no-no?

Let's go for a high five instead!



Character break!





I'm not sure if you can see the discarded corn dog nugget breading on the boys plates? They had never had a corn dog of any kind until this trip and were not fans of the breading. They do love hot dogs (a treat since we usually only have them a few times in the summer) so we spent lots of time "peeling" corn dog nuggets on this trip!


Next up

Chef Mickey's! Part 2

 

[Dugette]

Looks like fun so far! I love the pictures, especially the boys snuggled up with Pluto. Ha, I love that the corn dog nuggets needed to be peeled.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a fun first day and night! Love all the pictures at Chef Mickeys so far!

 

[hokieinpa]

Sounds like a good Downtown Disney visit! How was the kids' grilled cheese - did they like it?

I think you visited pretty much the exact roster of stores that we tend to visit!

Can't wait to hear about Chef Mickey's - one of the "classic" places that we've somehow never made it to!

I think those are our must do shops for DTD every time. If it was just me I would shop and look leisurely but have to hit the highlights with kids!

The grilled cheese looked (and tasted, because I may have sneaked a bite or two) yummy! It was more of grilled cheese Panini than plain old sandwich. Yum!

We loved Chef Mickey's! I think it will be a must do for us for a while!

Great TR can't wait to read the rest!

Thanks for following along!

 

[hokieinpa]

Looks like fun so far! I love the pictures, especially the boys snuggled up with Pluto. Ha, I love that the corn dog nuggets needed to be peeled.

Chef Mickey's was great!! I didn't feel like the characters were too rushed, the food was decent, and the boys liked the few dances/songs that they did!

And the boys are picky in odd ways...who knows!

Sounds like a fun first day and night! Love all the pictures at Chef Mickeys so far!

It was a great first day!!

We loved CM's! Even if there is better food out there, it feels like a Disney classic!

 

[ashw100]

hi following along. I've got three boys 4 and under as well so I am looking forward to seeing how you all managed for this trip. My DS 18 months when we traveled last year had to squeeze all the noses. It must be pretty common but the characters do not seem to like it and try to push the hand away . Can't wait to hear more. Btw I hate the the Chef Mickey's bathroom it is so far away, what is up with that?

 

[hokieinpa]

Chef Mickey's! Part 2

Our next visitor was this pretty lady. Minnie! Isn't she just so cute?? I love her!







She snuck in a quick kiss with Nate!





I love Minnie so I made sure to get a picture with her too!





Donald was the last to visit our table and hands down, the best character interaction of the meal!



Jake had just learned to "quack" before this trip and he just started yelling "quack quack quack" all loud when Donald walked up. Donald just loved that!








Can we call this nose squeeze #3? Or is it a bill squeeze? Either way, the fascination continues!





You can see him signing our autograph book here. For autographs, we used the Disney Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters. Each character has their own page with some basic info and a few pictures. It's a good keepsake since we read it at home and look at the signatures at the same time. Plus it gave us something to do in line for character meets!

Donald signed his name and underlined his quote "oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!".

The boys enjoyed the dessert bar! Some baked goodies and a soft serve station with toppings!









And we're done.


So done.




We took the monorail back to MK then a bus to AOA, all with short waits. We got the boys into bed. They were all exhausted since we had been up since 4:00 am!

I made sure our park bags were ready for the next day, showered, and went to bed as well. We had a big day ahead - our first park day!!



Next up

Nemo! Turtle! Ball!

 

[Dugette]

I LOVE all the pictures in this update! Just too much cuteness between those meets with Minnie and Donald and everybody being DONE at the end. Sounds like your trip got off to a great start!

 

[hokieinpa]

Nemo! Turtle! Ball!


After a decent "Disney" night of sleep (short, for us at least), it was time for our first park day. Epcot!

I think we got up around 6:30 or 7:00, got dressed, and had a quick breakfast in the room. We had packed cereal, granola bars, etc. for a quick grab and go breakfast each day. It worked out nice since we ate walking to the bus stop and the boys could eat in the stroller!

We also packed some to-go coffee cups for the adults. We weren't on the dining plan and didn't get refillable mugs (we're not big soda drinkers). We liked the coffee maker in the AOA suites but the cups they provided didn't have lids? So at least with the ones we packed we could carry it out to the bus stop and throw it away before we got on. No carrying mugs around all day!

We were at the bus stop a few minutes before 8:00. And we waited. And waited. 6 busses for the other parks/DTD went by before an Epcot bus pulled up. On the bright side, our line was pretty short. Looks like obsessive planning had paid off!


We got a pretty decent spot in line, judging from this picture.




While we were in line, I took Colin over to a small stand and found some sunglasses for him. His had been lost the day before somewhere in the shuffle of plane/bus/DTD. He picked out a pair of blue Mickey ones that he still uses today. Useful souvenir, check!

Shortly before 9:00, the opening music played and they opened the gates! Now came the part that made me nervous. Would our Magic Bands work? All green Mickey's! Yay! We were off!

This was our first stop.



We were the 3rd family in line and the doors weren't quite open yet. Our wait throughout the line was less than 5 minutes for each character. We had just seen them the night before but it was nice to get some whole family, PP shots!

Waiting...we're next!




First up was Mickey!

All 3 boys ran to him with open arms!



That's the picture I got with my phone. The rest are the PhotoPass pictures, which turned out great!







Our next stop was with Goofy!





Our last visit was with my girl Minnie!






As a side note on PhotoPass and character meets. I really liked how the photographers captured the posed shot and the candid interactions. I loved looking back at the boys seeing Mickey or Merida for the first time. And preview...Nate's face when he first saw Elsa was priceless!

We were done at the Character Spot by 9:20. Park opening and 3 characters in 20 minutes!

Next up, over to visit our favorite fish!




There was a 10 minute listed wait but that was mostly walking time. We breezed through the queue and climbed right in our clamshell. Our first Disney ride!

We loved every minute. Nemo is one of our favorite movies so the boys really liked seeing all of the characters.

We explored The Seas next. Of course, we had to get a shot in Bruce!




The boys loved the shark play area so we spent a while there letting them run around. Then we checked out the tanks.






It also happened to be feeding time so we got to watch the divers feed the various sea creatures. Fun!




We had our first FP+ at 9:55 for Turtle Talk so we had a quick bathroom break and headed over.

I'll just stay that we had FP+ for 4 shows during the trip - Turtle Talk, Lion King, Indiana Jones, and Lights, Motor, Action. Maybe during a busier time of year they would be useful but it seemed like a total waste. We just filtered in with everyone else after we scanned our bands. So...

The show was super cute! Nate and Colin sat up front. We tried to sit with Jake in the back but he was done after about 5 minutes so my mom took him out to let him wander around. Shows are not meant for toddlers!

After Turtle Talk, we decided to find a PhotoPass spot to get some pictures. Apparently, this was the first time Jake noticed SSE and he screamed "BALL! BALL! BAAAALLLL". Which wasn't at all awkward since people turned to stare.

But we got some decent shots!



Jake is trying to leap out of my arms to go get the ball.




I'm pretty sure we stopped for a snack break next. Our first Mickey pretzels! The boys enjoyed watching the "wildlife" while they snacked. Those Disney ducks are pretty cute!

After our snack, we headed over to The Land Pavilion for rides and lunch!


Next up

Hours in The Land