WDW Veterans and The Trip of Firsts! There's a First Time For Everything.COMPLETE 6/5

[stimmons]

Hi DisBoards! Welcome to my very first EVER Trip Report! I enjoy reading everyone else’s TRs so much that I’ve decided to give it a go myself. So here…we….GO!!!!

First of all, I’m Stephanie! I’m 25 and have been a Disney addict since birth. Some would say conception but that is an entirely different story for an entirely different time! I don’t really remember how many times I’ve been to The World but in my adult lifetime it’s been about 5 times. But this trip has only been my second time staying at a Disney Resort. *gasp* I will never, mark my words, NEVER do it any other way again. Before this trip, my biggest dream was to one day walk my child down Main Street USA but I can now cross that off of my bucket list!

My Stats:

Favorite Movie: Beauty and the Beast
Favorite Character: Belle (duh!!)
Favorite Resort: The Grand Floridian (though I’ve never stayed there)
Favorite Food: Cream Cheese Wontons for Yak and Yeti
Favorite Ride: TOT, EE, or The Carousel
Dream Job at WDW: Dancer in the FOTLK
Real Job: Banker (boring, I know!!!)

This is my DH, Jonathan, he is a fellow Diser. My partner of 9 years, 4 of those years being married. He is the one that actually introduced me to the Dis. But he has recently had to get a new username because he forgot is password and no longer used the email address connected to it (JTimmons2011). I’m so lucky that he loves Disney as much as I do though he won’t actually outright admit it to friends and coworkers. Our families know better. He is Disney trip planner extrodinaire with ADRs, spreadsheets, and schedules galore. Also, he is an amazing photographer so I always have great vacation pictures! Aren’t I lucky???

Jonathan’s Stats:

Favorite Movie: Fantasia
Favorite Character: Perry the Platypus
Favorite Resort: Wilderness Lodge
Favorite Food: Mussels at Narcoossee’s
Favorite Ride: TTA
Dream Job at WDW: Main Street USA Mayor
Real Job: IT Professional (I love my computer nerd!)

Here is our daughter, Sloan. She is (now) 18 months old and chock full of personality! On the trip she was 17 months. This girl knows exactly what she wants and isn’t afraid to let you know. This is first trip to Disney World and her parents couldn’t have been more excited! She is a lover of all things Mickey and Princess. But there is a new obsession on the horizon that we uncovered on the trip!

Sloan’s Stats

Favorite Show: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake and the Neverland Pirates
Favorite Character: Mickey and Aurora
Favorite Resort: Anywhere she can run around
Favorite Food: Lollypops
Favorite Ride: The Carousel, POTC
Dream Job at WDW: Anything that involves playing!

About this Trip

There are so many firsts on this trip it’s hard to keep them straight! Here are the details:

When: September 15th-21st We were excited about the potential for low crowds and easy access to rides.

This trip was the anti commando trip since we had baby in tow. Usually it’s run around like a crazy and stick to a strict schedule. But since we were on our own with no other family to entertain we decided to take a more relaxed approach. No stressing about hitting every ride. Just hit the few important ones that we wanted Sloan to ride.

Where: Disney’s Bay Lake Tower

We used a DVC Rental website on this trip and we LOVED it to pieces! Usually we would want to stay at a Value Resort but since we would be spending a little more time actually at the resort we wanted to invest in that portion of our trip. We found that we could stay at a VERY nice resort for the same price it would have cost to stay at a moderate like Coronado Springs. We were able to hop on the monorail by using the walkway to the Contemporary which was convenient for us. And we received a little pixie dust you will have to read about in the TR. We will definitely be using this service again!

Dining: Deluxe Dining Plan

One thing we do not joke about is our Disney food! We love trying new things and especially having the opportunity to eat at so many restaurants, we wanted to take advantage! Get ready for some great food pics and reviews.

Now, Dear Reader, I promise you these things:

1. A couple of toddler/baby trip tips
2. Lots and Lots of pictures
3. Full Dining reviews of all TS meals
4. Yummy food pics!
5. A Quasi-Celebrity sighting (who could it be?)

I know it's a big order to fill but I think I can do it! Happy Reading!

 

[stimmons]

Chapter Links

9/14/2012

And Here....We...GO!!!!

9/15/2012

Coming Home

No Peter Pan! That's my Mommy!!!

A Big Helping of Pixie Dust

09/16/2012

First Vinylmation Trade and More Magic


First Haircut and Monsoon

Chasing Ducks and The Maya Grill

09/17/2012

A Rainforest Café Breakfast With a Side of Wild Animals

Lunch With a Yak and a Yeti Plus a Side of More Wild Animals

09/18/2012

Ah-Wo-Wah and the Best Beverly Face on Earth!

Is It Me or Are Kids Getting Dumber?

Dinner at Ohanas

09/19/2012

Mickey Messages and Spaceships! Thow In Some Awesome Dance Moves Too!

I Found More Gold Doubloons!

The Great Movie Ride Photo Update!

Pixie Dust at One Mans Dream and a Celeb Sighting!

Is There A Hurricane That No One Told Us About?

09/20/2012

Major Retail Therapy...Disney Style

Viva Mexico!

Thank Goodness For Snack Credits!

Picking the Perfect Pearl and a Le Cellier Meltdown

Fancy Schmancy Pictures

09/21/2013

Do We HAVE To Leave???

Seriously, What is Pooh On???

Yo-Ho Yo-Ho, That's Enough Pirate Songs For Me

New Trip In The Planning Stages

Update #1

Official November 2013 PTR Just Hush and Be Happy!!!

 

[stimmons]

And Here….We…GO!!!!

9/14/2012

After months of packing and re packing and re packing our bags, stressing about ADRs and scheduling, it was finally time to go! Unfortunately I had to work on that Friday that we left. Jonathan thankfully was able to work from home. So while he packed the car and gathered all necessary snacks I was counting down the seconds to 3:30pm so I could hit the open Georgia road!

At 3:30 sharp I grabbed my things, hit my phone to go straight to voicemail, put on my “out of office” message for my email, and headed home. Jonathan had everyone in the car and had sweetly gone to get a Bo-Box from Bojangles for the trip.

If you don’t know what a Bojangles is, it’s a yummy Cajun style fast food restaurant that compares to maybe a Popeye’s. And in the Bo-Box there are fried chicken tenders with homemade biscuits. Sooooo good! If you’ve never been and you have one near you definitely go and get yourself some great fried chicken.

When I arrived at home all I had to do was jump in the car and we were off. We hit some light traffic just south of Atlanta that took about 20 minutes to get through, but other than that we had some really great driving. Sloan was snuggled into her car seat watching episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Lilo and Stitch. She wanted Minnie Mouse and her baby Cinderella in her seat with her. That silly girl! I was taking the time to check out my Mickey manicure. So cute!!!

For this trip we decided to split our drive in half since Sloan isn’t great yet with car rides. Our trek to WDW usually takes around 8-9 hours depending on if my speed demon DH is driving. We made an 8 hour trip to NC to see my brother’s family for the 4th of July this summer without breaking up the drive. That was the BIGGEST mistake! The last 2 hours of the drive were nothing but a crying baby and crazy parents. We weren’t doing that again!!!

For our halfway point we decided to stay at a Hampton Inn right south of Valdosta, GA. We arrived at about 8:45pm. We had packed a small over night bag so we didn’t have to lug out the 100 lbs of luggage just for one night.

Side note: Packing for a Disney trip with a child is a whole other experience all together. There are 50 million things that I felt like I needed to take so I may have gone a teensy bit overboard.

We checked in to the Hampton Inn and got settled into our room. I gave Sloan a bath and put her to bed. I then journaled a little bit while Jonathan quadruple checked our reservations for BLT and looked over our schedule. (Literally, a laminated schedule for every day with all ADRs and rides we wanted to accomplish)

I know it sounds crazy but it works so well for us. We know that it’s not set in stone (well, except for the reservations) and we can always change plans in the middle of the day if we need to.

Then it was lying in bed, pretending to sleep but not actually sleeping because I was WAY too excited! Will Sloan love this place as much as her Mommy and Daddy do? Will she be scared of the characters? Will she be ok on rides and during shows? Not too much longer and we will find out.

Up Next: Our arrival! A giant stuffed alligator and checking in to BLT!


I know there is a lack of pictures on the update but I figured there are only so many pictures you can take in a car.

 

[tazdev3225]

Looks like a fun start. I traveled with a little one like that many years ago, she's now almost 26, and remember how much you need to bring.

I'm thinking of renting points for a trip with my DH as a siurprise to him so I'm looking forward to seeing how that worked out.

 

[stimmons]

Looks like a fun start. I traveled with a little one like that many years ago, she's now almost 26, and remember how much you need to bring.

I'm thinking of renting points for a trip with my DH as a siurprise to him so I'm looking forward to seeing how that worked out.

Thanks for joining! It's definitely an ungodly amount of junk!

If you like what you read, feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

 

[mdsouth]

Looking forward to reading more of your trip report.

You are fortunate that you and your DH love Disney. My DH can take it or leave it. So, we have only been twice as a family with kids and once just the two of us. Of course, we live in Central Illinois so that plays a HUGE factor as well considering it is probably a 16 hour dirve!

Your DD is so cute - I love the big smile of her with her Cinderella doll and Minnie Mouse.

Our first family trip was when my DD was 2 and my son was 8 so it will be interesting to read how your trip goes. I too really looked forward to sharing Disney with my kids and walking right down the middle of Main Street USA was definitely one of the highlights!

 

[stimmons]

Looking forward to reading more of your trip report.

You are fortunate that you and your DH love Disney. My DH can take it or leave it. So, we have only been twice as a family with kids and once just the two of us. Of course, we live in Central Illinois so that plays a HUGE factor as well considering it is probably a 16 hour dirve!

Your DD is so cute - I love the big smile of her with her Cinderella doll and Minnie Mouse.

Our first family trip was when my DD was 2 and my son was 8 so it will be interesting to read how your trip goes. I too really looked forward to sharing Disney with my kids and walking right down the middle of Main Street USA was definitely one of the highlights!

Thanks for joining! I am very thankful that my DH and I can share our mutual love for WDW together. It helps when vacation time comes up!

And thanks for your sweet compliment about my DD. She is a mess and a half!

I can't say there weren't many happy tears on this trip! I'm sure you know the ones I'm talking about. Hope you enjoy!

 

[stimmons]

Coming “Home”

*WARNING* This update has NO pictures. I want to apologize, as I am not living up to the standards I put out for myself. Once we actually get to WDW. There are pictures galore!


09/15/2012

We were awakened by a sweet little girl at 6:00 in the morning. Our plan was to get up around 7:00 but since we a had a 17 month old crawling all over us and it was apparent she was NOT going back to sleep we decided to go ahead and get to gettin’.

We were able to check out at 7:00 by our amazement. After taking one look at the continental breakfast and thinking, “hmmm….no.” we stopped at McDonalds next door for some food then to the gas station to fill up.

As my DH was pumping gas and I was chowing down on my bacon egg and cheese biscuit in the passenger seat what do I see out of the corner of my eye???? A giant stuffed alligator in an all glass case right at the gas station's front door. This convinced me that we had found THE most redneck gas station in America! Wow! I wish I could’ve gotten a picture but it was too dark.

As we got onto the interstate and crossed into Florida we started seeing those blessed signs! Sloan was in the back watching more Mickey Mouse Club House oblivious of the joy she was about to experience.

As I was watching the speedometer needle continuously rise I did start to fear for my life as I do every time my lead-footed husband drives. This is how the conversation goes:

Me: You need to slow down.

Jonathan: Do you see a cop?

Me: No, but you are going 85 mph, don’t you think that’s a little fast.

Jonathan: No. I drive in Atlanta traffic every day. This is normal.

Me: Please don’t drive like this at Disney!

Jonathan: *Pause* You know, I think I would enjoy getting a speeding ticket at Disney World.



And that, my dear readers, is the reason I love my husband. His quick thinking and wit always make me laugh!

Toward the end of the drive Sloan was getting restless and so we put on Jake and the Neverland Pirates music and sang along. If you don’t have children, and have never heard the songs made by Sharky and Bones, you are definitely missing out! They are so much fun and we love them!

It wasn’t long before we were pulling up to that famous WDW sign and I was completely geeking out! Yay!!!! We made it and it was only 10:15!

As we drove through the Magic Kingdom gate my anticipation was building. Then we saw that glorious sight….The Contemporary and Bay Lake Tower. Over the trees we could spot the top of the castle! Oh what a breathtaking moment!

We parked in the front just in case they had our room ready and walked into the lobby. What a BEAUTIFUL resort! As I was looking around (more like running after a toddler that has been stuck in a car seat for 3 hours) Jonathan got in line to check in. And all of a sudden it was packed!

Apparently on Friday is when Disney’s Cruise Line arrives to pick up/drop off guests. So they had tons of dirty room and tons of people wanting to check in. It was a little bit of a zoo. But the sweet CM checking us in let us know that we would be getting one of the rooms we had requested.

Since we were dying to get into a park we decided to leave all of the luggage in the car, whip out the stroller and get to the Magic Kingdom.

Up Next: The Magic Kingdom and Sloan’s first rides and characters of the trip and FOOD!!!!

I promise tons of pics in the next update!

 

[stimmons]

No, Peter Pan! That’s my Mommy!!!

09/15/12

When I left off we had just arrived at Bay Lake Tower and decided to go ahead to the Magic Kingdom since our room wasn’t ready.
It was so nice to be able to walk to the Magic Kingdom from our resort. We piled all of our park supplies into the stroller and we were off. Bag check was a breeze. And soon we were through the turnstiles.

Jonathan wasn't too excited that they already had their fall decorations up but I loved it!

What was our first stop right through the gates? The restrooms!!! We hadn’t had a potty break since early in the morning and we were dying. While Jonathan was taking his turn Sloan and I caught the end of the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It Parade. Sloan was in awe of the hustle and bustle going on around her. As Goofy went by on his float I pointed him out to her and I have never seen a 17 month old’s mouth drop so fast! She was dumbfounded that silly dog that she watched on TV was huge! I had my first misty eyed moment of our trip. THIS is what I had been waiting for.

When the parade moved through we were starving and we knew exactly where we were going to grab for a snack.
So we made our way down Main Street taking in all the sights and smells. (you know what I’m talking about). We cut through in front of Chrystal Palace and stopped for a mandatory Photopass picture.

Then right by Adventureland who do we see? Peter Pan! Our first real character sighting of the trip. There was virtually no line so we put off our growling bellies for a little longer to stop and say hi!

Sloan was having no part of Peter’s fun!

As Peter was rambling about what a great mother I must be, he decided to adopt our family as his own because little Sloan needed a brother. As we finished up and started walking away he called to us, “See you at Home, and don’t tell Wendy!”

We walked ourselves right over to Sleepy Hollow. We were so excited to try a new snack. I ordered the Nutella and Fruit Waffle which is exactly what it sounds like. A Belgian waffle, smothered in Nutella, covered with bananas, strawberries, and blue berries. Jonathan got the Sweet and Spicy Chicken Waffle. It’s a Belgian waffle with a piece of fried chicken with a honey sweet sauce and a slaw on it. Both were divine!

After we finished eating we decided to start off in Fantasyland. Grabbed FPs for Peter Pan and hopped on IASW. Yay! Sloan’s first ride ever at Disney World. I think it was very appropriate to pick such a classic. As we loaded she wanted to wave at the CM that launches the boat up in his little tower. He very sweetly waved back.

Sloan was looking and pointing at all the creepy..ahem…I mean cool singing dolls.

While in Fantasyland we stopped by the Carousel, Mickey’s PhiharMagic, and Peter Pan. All of which Sloan loved. I was walking on cloud nine!
The new Dumbo was calling our names so we made our way around the new Fantasyland wall to get in line. This que and ride is amazing! Disney Imagineers are so genius when it comes to kids. If you don’t the way it works yet, this is how it goes. When you get first get in line you are waiting to get to a CM that will ask how many in your party. Then they give you a pager, like the ones you get when you are waiting at a restaurant, and you get to play in the play area.

Did I mention this play area is inside of the Big Top tent where it’s air conditioned? Best idea ever! They have a big kid area and an area just for the little ones. Sloan decided to commandeer the slide just for herself.

When your pager goes off you just go to the CM and they put you in line to ride Dumbo. Another hit for Sloan.

After Fantasyland we put Sloan in her stroller and walked over to Frontierland to find a spot for the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade. As we were waiting Sloan passed out cold in her stroller. Too much fun for this princess!

She missed the whole parade but that’s ok, I knew that we would have another opportunity to watch. The Queen of Hearts did not find it amusing that Sloan was sleeping and indicated this by miming “off with her head”.

As the parade finished we decided to mosey back to the resort to see if our room was ready.

Up Next: Very Extra Special Pixie Dust, Narcoosee’s ADR, and Wishes

 

[heaven2dc]

What a fun trip already! Bay Lake Tower is so beautiful and so close to the MK - we def have to try staying there one day esp when I take my grandkids. My granddaughter is 18 mos old and I can't wait to see her reaction next year when we visit WDW. Your daughter is adorable (loved the pic of her with her Minnie and Cinderella dolls!).

 

[stimmons]

What a fun trip already! Bay Lake Tower is so beautiful and so close to the MK - we def have to try staying there one day esp when I take my grandkids. My granddaughter is 18 mos old and I can't wait to see her reaction next year when we visit WDW. Your daughter is adorable (loved the pic of her with her Minnie and Cinderella dolls!).

Hi! And thank you so much for stopping by! That little girl cracks me up! Thank you for your sweet compliment.

If you are considering BLT I would encourage you to read on! Especially the next update about our room. And if you are not a DVC owner then rentals are the way to go.

Hope you have a blast on your trip next year.

 

[xkaittloveex]

Joining in!

Your daughter is beautiful and your family is just gorgeous!
I hope I can find a husband who is as much as a Disney crazy as me.

How was the nutella waffle sandwich?! It's on my "must try" list for next summer! I die a little every time I see it.

Anyway, I cannot wait to read more!!!

 

[stimmons]

Joining in!

Your daughter is beautiful and your family is just gorgeous!
I hope I can find a husband who is as much as a Disney crazy as me.

How was the nutella waffle sandwich?! It's on my "must try" list for next summer! I die a little every time I see it.

Anyway, I cannot wait to read more!!!

Awe! Thanks so much! And thanks for joining.

They ate definitely out there but they might not admit it outright. Lol.

Definitely keep the Nutella waffle on your list. It is all sorts of delicious. And I have to say, the chicken one was good too.

 

[mdsouth]

I think it is great that Sloan's first Disney ride was It's A Small World. The classics are the best. I had no idea that the new Dumbo ride lets people wait in the air conditioning and has playgrounds for the kids! What a fantastic idea and wonderful of Disney to do! Way to go Imagineers!

It sounds like you had a great first day.

 

[stimmons]

I think it is great that Sloan's first Disney ride was It's A Small World. The classics are the best. I had no idea that the new Dumbo ride lets people wait in the air conditioning and has playgrounds for the kids! What a fantastic idea and wonderful of Disney to do! Way to go Imagineers!

It sounds like you had a great first day.

IASW being her first ride really happen as a last minute decision but I'm glad it did. It's typically Disney.

We noticed a lot of improvements to line waiting entertainment. It helps so much when you have little ones. And Dumbo was such an innovative idea!

 

[stimmons]

A Big Helping of Pixie Dust

09/15/2012

We left off with us walking back to BLT to see if our room was ready.

We arrived back at the hotel and checked on our room at the front desk. They informed us that they were in the middle of cleaning it and the sweet CM offered us a different room that was already clean. But we really wanted the room we requested so we waited just a couple of minutes longer.

If you don’t know about BLT let me explain how the rooms work. There are rooms that face toward Bay Lake and rooms that face toward the Magic Kingdom. Because of awesome research on the DVC boards here on the Dis, when we did our online check in we requested a high floor with a room ending in 06 or 08.

We were soon told that our room was ready and it was room 8406. Yay!!! We knew it was going to be a great view but we had no idea what we were in for….

As we got off the elevator we got our first clue.

Is this not breathtaking????

We got into our room and explored. Which didn’t really take too long because it is small but it is so cleverly put together that it fit our needs perfectly.

Here is the bathroom when you first walk in.

And the little kitchen area with lots of hidden storage places. It had a sink with a sponge and complimentary dish soap. Also a fridge and a microwave. We brought our leftovers home on some nights but we never got hungry enough to actually warm them up and eat them. On the left there is another mirror and vanity area with outlets. This was perfect for when I was still getting ready and Jonathan was in the bathroom.

And the bed with a pull out sleeper sofa and part of my leg.

And here is the view! We were beside ourselves with giddiness. You can see Space Mountain and the CASTLE!!! Ballin!!!

After settling down we put Stacy on and I started to unpack. This is the first time I’ve done this on any trip. I usually just live out of my suitcase. But with an extra person it was soooo much easier getting ready every day when I could actually see the clothes. And I packed each day’s outfits all together. Yay for being uber organized on this trip!


We then got ready to leave for Narcoosse’s. We went down to the 5th floor and took the bridgeway over to the Contemporary and hopped on the monorail.

The Contemprary from BLT.

This would be one of my top benefits to staying at BLT. I loved riding the monorail everywhere! And Sloan loved it too. She was so excited to get on the “choo choo”.

We got off at the Grand Floridian and took some pictures as we walked to Narcoossee’s.

Love these tiles of Mrs. Potts and Chip!

As we checked in, Sloan flirted with the chefs that we could see in the front. We were seated very promptly and I was immediately nervous about how fancy this place was. I was second guessing all of our nice ADRs and having a toddler with us.

Then our server came and calmed our fears! He brought out some fruit to start Sloan off with while we had a chance to look at the menu. (not that we haven’t already been drooling over the menus we had found online) If you have any fears about taking a small child to a nicer restaurant at WDW let me tell you, all of the staff we encountered were more than accommodating for children. They are very nice and understanding. Most of the time they will bring food out early for the little ones.

Here’s how the Deluxe Dining Plan works. You get 3 table service meals and 2 snack credits a day per person. At each table service you get an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert. If a child is under 3 years old then they do not get a dining plan but they are allowed to eat off of your plate. Anything ordered for the child in addition to your meal allotment you do have to pay out of pocket. But if you go to a buffet then they don’t charge you if the child eats off of their own plate.

Narcoossee’s is a 2 credit dining experience. Just for those who were curious.

I know you are dying for me to get to some food pics…

Drinks

Jonathan got an Ace Joker Hard Cider which he loved. And I ordered a glass of Riesling. I don’t remember the brand of wine but it was good.

Appetizers

Jonathan ordered the Prince Edward Island Mussels. They were so yummy that I had to sneak a bite.

I ordered Winter Pear Salad which was so good and fresh!

Here is Sloan with her fruit. Can you see the mess I was mortified about???

Entrée

Jonathan ordered the Butter Poached Lobster Tail and Grilled Filet Mignon (apparently he wasn’t planning on eating for the rest of the trip)

I ordered the Pan-Seared Sweet Potato-Ricotta Gnocchi with Scallops. There were these little mushrooms that were delicious!

Sloan with her grilled chicken, potatoes, and green beans. And let me tell you, I know this was off of the kid’s menu but those were the BEST tasting green beans! Disney doesn’t play when it comes to food.

BTW I love my face in that picture. This was toward the end of our meal and she was starting to throw the food on the ground so we were taking it away.

Dessert

Jonathan had a Mango Sorbet and I had the Mango-Banana tart which we didn't get pictures of. To be honest, dessert wasn't really anything to talk about.

Overall our server was very attentive and understanding of my wild child. (don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t disturbing other guests). And this was Jonathan’s favorite meal of the whole trip!

Stuffed as two turkeys on Thanksgiving day, we waddled our way back to the monorail and to our room. I gave Sloan a bath and got her into her jammies.

Then the most magical thing happened…we watched Wishes from our balcony.

*sigh* What a beautiful sight. Though I will say, it’s a lot different without the music but how can you beat watching Wishes in your jammies? What a perfect ending to a perfect day!

Up Next: Breakfast at Kona, More Magic Kingdom, And our first time Vynalmation trading.

 

[stimmons]

I hope everyone has a GREAT Thanksgiving. Wishing everyone lots of turkey, dressing (or stuffing depending on where you live), and pumpkin pie!!!!

 

[stimmons]

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We already have all of our Christmas decorations up and shopping done! How about you?

First Vinylmation Trade and More Magic

09/16/2012

We woke up at around 7:00 on this Magic Kingdom morning and I immediately had to sneak a peak off our patio. The butterflies never go away from seeing that castle from our resort! We got ourselves ready and headed to the Contemporary. As we were passing through we were running kinda early so we stopped by the Fantasia Gift Shop to window shop.

Along with making a mental list of things I needed to buy we saw our first opportunity to trade Vinylamtions.

Side note: As we were planning this trip Jonathan had expressed his interest in Vinylmation trading but he was too shy to actually do it. So I surprised him with his first figure which was a blue Mickey that said 2012 on it. And I promised to help him. I figured it would be a great opportunity since we would have no one other than ourselves there and we could indulge in the “childish” fun that is Disney! Besides, adults are only children grown up!

Back to our first trade! I ask the CM if we can trade and she pulled out the black box with all of the numbers. Now, they are very lenient in that if you pick a number and you don’t like the figure then they will let you pick another number and have a choice between the two. So Jonathan picked and we got a new figure! Unfortunately we didn't get a picture nor did I write down what the figure looked like. Disfail!!!!!

As we left the shop we headed to the monorail to ride over to the Polynesian for breakfast at Kona. I LOVE this resort! It is a dream of mine to stay there one day. *sigh* One day….

Here are some GREAT pics the Hubs got at the Polynesian. Have I mentioned how much he loves taking and editing pictures?

I love this waterfall right in the middle of the lobby.

Someone does NOT look happy.

Hidden Mickey!

We were still early so we walked around stopped into another shop and traded vinylmations again. This time we got a Grumpy figure!

Jonathan was laughing because I made him take a picture with his Grumpy!

After some meandering we saw that it was closer to time for our ADR so we checked in at Kona.

Quick impromptu Mommy/Baby pic.

Love that sweet girl!

After a short wait we were seated and the host CM that took us immediately went and got a fruit bowl for Sloan as to distract her. She wasn’t acting up or anything he just knew exactly how to help parents with little ones! Since Sloan was preoccupied we were able to look at the menu and order fairly quickly.

Jonathan ordered the Macadamia Pineapple Pancakes with sausage. He ended up just kinda picking at it. He didn’t realize that they put the nuts in the pancake batter. Duh!

I got Tonga Toast with bacon and eggs. Mainly the bacon and eggs for Sloan to pick off of. I have been looking forward to Tonga Toast. This was my first time trying it after salivating over all of ya’lls TRs. (Microsoft Word is telling me that “ya’lls” is not a word, lol) It was everything I hoped it would be. Cinnamon, sugar, banana goodness!

I think somebody wanted some of my Tonga Toast.

After finished up our meal we took the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom I was so excited about spending another day in my favorite park with my favorite people!

We got through bag check and the turnstiles and we noticed that the Mayor was out on Main Street with his constituents singing. So we stopped and watched. I was so nice to take things slow instead of rushing around making sure we get on every ride. One of my new favorite things to do is take in the Main Street atmosphere.

After listening for a little while we moved on and stopped for our mandatory “in front of the castle” pictures.

LOVE this one with Daddy!

Once we were done we headed to the Haunted Mansion. We had passed by the day before but the wait was a little longer than what we wanted to endure. I love the CMs at this ride. The CM at the front was this guy with the most bored look on his face and his nose way up in the air. I asked him where the stroller parking was and he looked down at me without cracking a smile or saying a work and sarcastically pointed to it. I smiled and told him thank you very enthusiastically just because I knew he was staying in character and laughed to myself.

I love the new line! We could have bypassed all of it but we wanted to see the new stuff.

They have an organ that when you touch the keys it shoots air at your fingers.

And a bookcase where the books pop out at you.

I was expecting Sloan to have reservations about the Haunted Mansion because of the creepiness but she was absolutely fine. At this point she just kept saying, “ride! ride!”.

After the HM we headed to Adventureland and caught the tail end of Jack Sparrow’s show. Which was great! I had never seen it before and the CM playing Jack did an awesome job!

We then hopped on POTC with virtually no wait. Yes!!!

Now, I have mentioned Sloan’s love for Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Watching Captain Sparrow and riding POTC completely solidified her obsession with pirates in general. From this moment on all we heard for the rest of the trip was “Yo ho, Yo ho!” or just “Yo ho ho!” And the dreams of my little princess in her tiara and fluffy dress died. I guess it will be the Pirate’s League for us when she’s old enough. Cue disappointing music…wah, wah, wah….

After Pirates it was the Tiki Room (thank goodness for the return of the original Tiki Room, I couldn’t stand Iago and Zazu), the Jungle Cruise with a great captain, and Aladdin’s Carpets.

As we finished up Adventureland we made our way to The Crystal Palace for lunch and our first real character interaction with Pooh and friends.

Up Next: CP, Sloan’s first haircut, and it almost raining on our parade!

 

[stimmons]

I'm so excited to announce that we are officially planning our next trip!!! YAYYYYYY!

So, Dear Readers I am asking for your advice. We are definitely doing DVC Request again but we are stuck on which resort to pick. Our trip will be for Thanksgiving so pool won't be a priority for us. Please give us some direction and input. What resort would you stay at and why?

Thank you so much!!!

I've been working on some updates and will be posting soon. Back to your regularly scheduled program.

 

[stimmons]

09/16/2012


First Haircut and Monsoon

Hi friends! I apologize for the long wait for an update. Christmas has gotten the better of me. But I am done with my shopping and wrapping and I’m all yours!!!

We left off with leaving Adventureland heading to CP for lunch with Pooh and Friends.

This is where I started to get nervous. I know that Peter Pan didn’t go over too well and these fuzzy guys are huge, right? Thankfully we were able to sit down, get settled, and get some food before we got to find out how our little princess…errr…pirate would do.

Now for our buffet meals we really didn’t take many pictures. Most of the buffets at Disney are pretty similar. Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, an assortment of fruit and veggies, bread, ham, chicken, beef. Very yummy but also pretty predictable. Which is great when traveling with a toddler!

I was able to get some kid friendly foods on a plate for Sloan while also getting my plate. (yes, I’m talented like that.) Then I tag teamed Jonathan in to go get his plate.

And this is where it gets hairy. We see Eeyore making his way to our table; stopping at each child, signing autographs and posing for pictures. Sloan gets excited as we show her that he’s coming. She even calls for Eeyore and makes a come here movement with her hand. Yay!!! She is excited, and we are excited.

Here is Sloan saying, "Come here."

Then Eeyore is at the table right across from us with his back to Sloan’s highchair. I see that he’s finishing up with the table, I tell Jonathan to get the camera ready. What happens next will set the tone for all character interactions. Eeyore turns around and is immediately eye to eye with Sloan and she FREAKS! If you could have seen how high she jumped. I partly wanted to laugh. Does that make me a bad mom??? So I grab her up trying to console her while Eeyore is embarrassed. We have him sign the autograph book and move on.

This picture sums up our first character....

This pattern repeats itself for the rest of the meal. She sees a character, gets excited, tells them to come here, and then freaks out when they get 3 feet from her. C’est la vie. Maybe next time?

We finish eating and apologizing to Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger. We have bigger plans to attend to!

Walking up Main Street I decide it’s a perfect to do something I’ve always wanted to do. Buy a Mickey balloon!!! We find a balloon vendor, or whatever they are called, and picked out the perfect one. We tied it to Sloan’s stroller and she loved it! All she wanted to do is play with the ‘bah-oon’.

Her legs are shiney from sun block.

We found the Harmony Barber Shop tucked in the corner by the Fire Station. They were really slow with business and able to take Sloan right away even though we were a little early.

Our sweet CM Margaret got Sloan up in the chair and let her pick out a toy to play with. They very strategically face kids away from the mirror so they can’t see what’s going on.

Then the stickers happened. She covered Sloan with stickers and even gave her several off of the roll to play with.

So while Margaret snipped away Sloan was peeling off her stickers and sticking them on me! I was so proud of my little girl she did so well sitting there and playing.

I love this picture! She is like, what is going on?!?!?!

As we finished up Margaret put all of the little clippings in a tissue, then into a little bag of pixie dust. Sloan put on her First Haircut Ears which were so cute! Then Margaret wrote out Sloan’s certificate commemorating her first haircut a Walt Disney World! So sweet! If you have a little one and can hold out for their first haircut I highly recommend the awesome CMs at Harmony Barber Shop. They are so patient and kind! And they understand what a “moment” it is.

BEST PICTURE EVER!!!!!

Fresh from our haircut and balloon we did some browsing at the Emporium and settled down nice and early for our seat on Main St for the parade. We sat right in front of an open door so that we had the air conditioning to our backs.

Soon we were entertained by the Dapper Dans. They are such great entertainment! We loved sitting there listening to them sing and tell their corny but funny jokes.

But after sitting there for too long and getting tired of Mommy shoving goldfish in her mouth, Sloan got restless. So I let her out of her stroller to stretch her legs. She played with the CMs at the open door of the Emporium (receiving endless amounts of stickers). I cannot even count how many stickers this child got during the trip!!!

Finally she got bold and darted down Main St, sucker in hand! (For those of you who do not know what a sucker is, it’s a country way of saying lollypop, which I brought with me as a bribery tool. Write that one down for later…) Before I knew it a PhotoPass photographer had noticed her and it turned into a mini photo shoot. These turned out to be some of my favorite pictures of the trip and the reason why we had to buy the whole Photopass CD. Good job Disney, in exploiting my kid’s cuteness for your profit! Teehee. I will fall victim every time!

For your enjoyment...

Aren't they precious???

We went back to our parade spot where Jonathan was sitting guard. I was able to convince Sloan to sit in her stroller as the parade started. Sloan loved looking at all of the characters and pointing them out. She waved and waved to her heart’s content.

We were sitting by this girl who was wearing a Maleficent hat horns and all! She got such great reactions from all of the characters in the parade!! When Aurora saw her, she cowered in fear while Prince Phillip put his arm around her and “protected” her.

After the parade we walked to Tomorrowland to ride the TTA. As we walked, it started to rain so we hopped in line and before we could say, “Paging Mr. Tom Morrow” we were plopping ourselves down on the ride. We absolutely love everything about this ride.

Riiiiiight at the end my little girl put her head back and fell asleep. So we disembarked and put her in the stroller laying down. Then the bottom fell out of the sky. It POURED!!!!!

We found shelter at the exit of the Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor. We waited, and waited, and waited and 45 minutes later the rain had let up enough for us to make our way back to BLT. So we put one of our ponchos over the stroller covering Sleeping Beauty and we were on our way.


Up Next: Chasing ducks and The Maya Grill