We nailed it with a newborn, why not tackle it with a toddler?!? Updated with Trip Video!!

[kastoney]

Filet and truffle butter. Fries and more truffle. Sounds like truffle heaven to me (I'm a fan in case you couldn't tell)

 

[Gracefulskinny]

And apparently, DH used this time to hone his dancing skills!

Looks like he's acting like a dinosaur!

Toddlers - they are so fickle!

Yup!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Katie's Mom weighing in: As a grandparent, seeing Luke meet Mickey was absolutely magical! The only thing better than taking your kids to Disney is taking your grandkids! Character interaction aside, we loved Garden Grill. I expected that w the focus on characters, the food might not be quite as good as we've previously experienced at WDW , but I was very pleasantly surprised! Katie has already commented that everything was delicious, and I would 2nd that. Also, my husband - not a dessert lover at all, and on a restricted diet so has to limit his carbs - was just going to try one bite of cobbler, wound loving it so much he had a full portion and then had 2nds!

We have brought my in-laws on a few trips and I know it is really great for us as well to see my kids interact with their grandparents at Disney World. One of my favorite memories is watching my daughter on her grandfather's shoulders watching Dream Along with Mickey. It really is a great place for multi-generations to spend some time together!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The boat ride between MGM and EPCOT really is nice - plus it gives you a preview/reminder of the Beach Club each time you pass!

Good job getting to all the food kiosks and trying as much food as you did! While the portions seem small it can really add up after a while. Glad you found a number of things you enjoyed though!

And my kids just love water features! Between the one in Adventureland in MK and the one near the exit to Kali River Rapids at AK they always wind up soaked at least a few times each trip.

I agree that the Canada Pavilion is very nice. I tend to feel that each pavilion is the prettiest .... until I get to the next one and have to update my rankings

We have never done Le Cellier - my wife doesn't eat beef or pork so other options in EPCOT have always seemed better - but I must say your meal looks really good. especially your steaks with the risotto and truffle butter sauce - wow! Actually, if you could get that sans steak my wife would really enjoy that!

That cheese plate looks really nice too. Glad you enjoyed your meal so much!

 

[cgutman]

Every age is the perfect age for Disney! Great TR!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

So glad Le Cellier was good again! We went there for the first time this last trip and we loved the food. The service was okay, they forgot a few items we ordered but nothing detrimental to the quality of the food. The waitress kept calling me Mama Bear which was weird, and somewhat irritating, but we laugh about it today. And I hear you on toddler fickle-ness - we have the same problem. Apparently the only chicken nuggets my kid will eat come from Chick-fil-a. LOL

The mama bear thing is a little weird. Actually, it's weird in general to make up nicknames for strangers.

I think this trip we will just pack some gerber meals from home that I know he likes so I'm not spending money on kids meals he won't eat.

Filet and truffle butter. Fries and more truffle. Sounds like truffle heaven to me (I'm a fan in case you couldn't tell)

It was truffle butter.

Looks like he's acting like a dinosaur

That too!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

We have brought my in-laws on a few trips and I know it is really great for us as well to see my kids interact with their grandparents at Disney World. One of my favorite memories is watching my daughter on her grandfather's shoulders watching Dream Along with Mickey. It really is a great place for multi-generations to spend some time together!

It's awesome! Plus, Walt really seemed to have achieved his dream of a place where all ages could go and have fun!

The boat ride between MGM and EPCOT really is nice - plus it gives you a preview/reminder of the Beach Club each time you pass!

I know! I'm getting excited about staying there!

Good job getting to all the food kiosks and trying as much food as you did! While the portions seem small it can really add up after a while. Glad you found a number of things you enjoyed though!

We were so stuffed the year before when we tried one thing from each booth. This worked much better!

And my kids just love water features! Between the one in Adventureland in MK and the one near the exit to Kali River Rapids at AK they always wind up soaked at least a few times each trip.

My son is already excited about our upcoming trip because he wants to play in the "wa-wa"!

I agree that the Canada Pavilion is very nice. I tend to feel that each pavilion is the prettiest .... until I get to the next one and have to update my rankings

I agree! I really love all of them!

We have never done Le Cellier - my wife doesn't eat beef or pork so other options in EPCOT have always seemed better - but I must say your meal looks really good. especially your steaks with the risotto and truffle butter sauce - wow! Actually, if you could get that sans steak my wife would really enjoy that!

I agree it isn't the best choice for non-steak eaters! The risotto could stand alone though!

Every age is the perfect age for Disney! Great TR!

I agree! Thank you and welcome!

 

[Dugette]

One place he will eat an entire bowl of mac and cheese and another place he won't touch it. I ordered him yogurt with fruit at Cracker Barrel the other day. At home, he cannot get enough yogurt and fruit. At Cracker Barrel, he wouldn't eat it! He ate all of Gaga's bacon instead. Toddlers - they are so fickle!

I know exactly what you're talking about! I always find it funny that whenever MIL watches Izzy for a bit, she's like, "Will she eat this? Will she eat that?" and I'm like, "Just give it to her and see - who knows?" Just because she devoured something one day doesn't mean she'll even want a bite of it the next.

Glad you had a good meal at Le Cellier! We haven't been there in several years, but always had good experiences there. I've heard a lot less about it in the last few years (and some not great things), so glad it seems to still be a winner! I'd like to get back there again sometime!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

I know exactly what you're talking about! I always find it funny that whenever MIL watches Izzy for a bit, she's like, "Will she eat this? Will she eat that?" and I'm like, "Just give it to her and see - who knows?" Just because she devoured something one day doesn't mean she'll even want a bite of it the next.

Exactly! And it makes planning so hard! I had packed very little food for him and just planned to share or buy his own meal. Wel this trip I am definitely packing more food/snacks for him. It is better that he waste a $1.50 Gerber toddler meal than a $9 kids meal!

Glad you had a good meal at Le Cellier! We haven't been there in several years, but always had good experiences there. I've heard a lot less about it in the last few years (and some not great things), so glad it seems to still be a winner! I'd like to get back there again sometime!

I had read some mixed reviews, but it has been stellar both times we were there. Both the service and the food have been outstanding! We have it booked for our May trip and hoping to book it for our October trip! Even without the dining plan (we will have TiW), I would happily dine there and pay OOP!!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Fantasmic!

After a delicious dinner at Le Cellier, we walked out of Epcot through the International Gateway and jumped in line for a boat! We were headed back to Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic! On our last trip, this was one of Luke's absolute favorites. He was completely fascinated by all the lights/sounds of this show. Here are some photos from his first Fantasmic!

Since he had enjoyed this show much last time, I was excited to see how he did this time. We snagged a fastpass for this. I had read mixed reviews about the use of a fastpass for this, but I really wanted one since I knew we would not have a lot of extra time after our Le Cellier dinner. There was only one showing that would work with our schedule, and we did not want to be turned away because the theater was full. We were able to get this as a 4th fastpass, but I strongly considered using my only Tier 1 for it since I really wanted it.

Overall, I was very pleased with this fastpass. When we entered, we didn't really notice any advantage at first. Everyone was let in at the same time and the fastpass section was the furthest from the entrance. It felt like we just kept going and going before we finally got to our section. The left two sections were reserved for fastpass plus. The middle sections were for the dining package and the right two sections were standby. Once we got seated, I was able to look around. That was when we really noticed the difference in using the fastpass. The fastpass section had lots of availability. We were able to choose between the very front in the far left section, or a couple rows back in the second section over. We chose the latter for a more straight on view. But when we looked over at the standby section, it was already full! This was with about 20 minutes until show time. I feel like the fastpass really came in handy, as we may not have gotten a seat or may have had a very poor seat in the standby section (and I really wanted Luke to be able to see the show).

Before long, the show started! What did Luke think this time? Well........













he loved it even more this time! He did have one brief moment of unhappiness, though. I had never sat that close before, so I didn't realize that there were water sprays. One caught him right in the face without warning! But I think it just startled him. I wiped his face and reassured him that all was okay and he was happy again. He really had a wonderful time! He laughed, he danced, he clapped, he waved at characters - it was so sweet! And then when it was over, he kept asking for more! Here are some of my favorite pictures of him. These are in order, so you can see the progression of his excitement!















In this last one, you can see him doing his sign for "more". They taught him to do this at school. Now he will do the sign while saying "more pwease?". It is so cute that I have a hard time not giving him whatever he wants.

Here are some pictures from the show:







You may be able to tell that I love Beauty and the Beast. It is one of my absolute faves. Maybe because a bookish brunette is the kind of princess that I can relate to?










We loved the show and had a great view with our fastpasses. The only downside was that it took us forever to get out when it was over, since we were on the far side of the theater. By the time we got our stroller and headed out of the park, we were all pretty tired. You can tell Luke is exhausted:




We had parked the car there that morning, so we only had a short walk back to the car and a short drive to All Stars Music. Soon we were back at the resort and climbing into bed after another wonderful Disney day!

 

[Dugette]

he loved it even more this time!

Yay, that's great to hear! I have heard mixed things about how toddlers handle the show, so that is encouraging that he enjoyed it, as we are planning to take Izzy (we haven't seen it in 5 years, I think).

In this last one, you can see him doing his sign for "more". They taught him to do this at school. Now he will do the sign while saying "more pwease?". It is so cute that I have a hard time not giving him whatever he wants.

That is adorable! How could you resist?

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Looks fun! Glad he enjoyed it.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Yay, that's great to hear! I have heard mixed things about how toddlers handle the show, so that is encouraging that he enjoyed it, as we are planning to take Izzy (we haven't seen it in 5 years, I think).

He has seen all the evening entertainment, and this has been his favorite by far! I think Izzy would really enjoy it, but be aware that the first few rows do get sprayed. I knew to prepare for it in It's Tough to be a Bug, so I could block it a little, but I didn't know for Fantasmic!

That is adorable! How could you resist?

It really is hard! He is so sweet and we have trouble resisting spoiling him!

Looks fun! Glad he enjoyed it.

Thanks! He really did have a good time. I am reading up on your final plans to see if we have any overlap!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

An African Morning

We were up bright and early again this morning.

On our last trip, we had planned a lot of midday breaks and found they didn't really work well for us. We felt like we lost a lot of time in transit and expended a lot of energy, so it negated the "rest" time. On this trip, we tried to just go without breaks on most days. We would either leave early, start late, or take a rest in the parks. We liked it much better! We are planning to repeat this same strategy for our May trip. For October, things may be a little different though. Since we are staying at Beach Club, it will be a lot easier to get back to the resort quickly. So the strategy will likely change for that trip.

Sorry for going off topic - back to the trip at hand. So we had all gotten a good night's sleep and we were up early. We decided to use another counter service credit to go have breakfast. We enjoy getting to check out resorts we haven't seen. On this trip we had already gotten to see some of the Grand Floridian and now I wanted to check out another resort that interested me - Animal Kingdom Lodge! So we made our way over there for breakfast. The walk to the lobby from the parking lot was pretty far, but the lobby itself was breathtaking. Truly beautiful.







We wandered around for a little while before getting to our breakfast destination - Mara. We decided that "when in Rome", so DH and I ordered the African Inspired Breakfast Platter - scrambled eggs, sausage, pap, chakalaka and grilled tomatoes.




This was all very good and I enjoyed trying the new flavors! I know my parents didn't order any food here. I believe they had used (or were planning to use) one extra counter service credit than us. But they had their refillable mugs, so they had drinks while we sat and ate. While we were here, there was one more thing we had to try! Something that I had read so much about on these boards.




Zebra domes! These were good, but much like the Almond Cheesecake I felt they didn't live up to the hype. But they were good and we didn't have trouble finishing them! After our breakfast, we headed out to check out a little more of the resort before heading to a park.








We definitely enjoyed the views of the savanna from the resort. I really liked this resort. The theming and the animals were right up my alley! I strongly considered this resort for our October trip, but in the end the location of the Beach Club won out over the theming of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I definitely like the theming at AKL better, but being able to walk to Epcot during Food & Wine is awesome for us!

Luke liked having some room to run around and explore here.


















As much as we hated to leave, we started the walk back to the car so we could head to our park for the day!

Up next: Let's go on safari!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Such a fun morning exploring!

 

[kastoney]

Whose progression of happiness you were referring to at Fantasmic, your hubby's or Lukes? Clearly they both enjoyed themselves. And great use of the 4th fast pass!

Love your AKL pictures. We stayed there last trip and fell in love. It was only two nights though, so like you next trip it is closer proximity to MK that one out over the gorgeous AKL.

I'm with ya on the zebra domes. I was a little underwhelmed myself.

Love Luke's running around photo's at the lodge. Clearly he was in his happy element.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Such a fun morning exploring!

We really enjoyed it! Our May trip is a short one, but we definitely want to check out a new resort or two on our October trip. We will definitely see at least one new one, since we have never been to Beach Club before, but hopefully at least one other new one!

Whose progression of happiness you were referring to at Fantasmic, your hubby's or Lukes? Clearly they both enjoyed themselves. And great use of the 4th fast pass!

Hahaha! I didn't realize until I looked back how DH gets more excited in each photo too! They both had a great time and the rest of us did too!

Love your AKL pictures. We stayed there last trip and fell in love. It was only two nights though, so like you next trip it is closer proximity to MK that one out over the gorgeous AKL.

I would love to stay there sometime! I think if I did, though, it would need to a more relaxed trip with more time at the resort. I am already having trouble with that for our October trip. I want to have downtime at the resort and take advantage of Stormalong Bay, but I also don't want to miss out on park time!

I'm with ya on the zebra domes. I was a little underwhelmed myself.

I know. At this point, I'm 0 for 2 on DIS raves (almond cheesecake and zebra domes). I try a third DIS rave later this same day, so you will have to stay tuned to see whether it was a win or a third strike!

Love Luke's running around photo's at the lodge. Clearly he was in his happy element.

Absolutely! He loves being able to just run free. I love those pictures of him, especially the last one of him by himself. We call that his "warrior face" because he looks like he is running into battle!



See the resemblance?

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Going on Safari

After exploring the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we hiked back to our car. From there it was just a short drive until we saw this:




It was time we got over here! It was the fifth day of our trip and we hadn't been to this park yet! We arrived a little after rope drop, but still in plenty of time for our early morning fastpass at Kilimanjaro Safaris. We almost always book this as our first fastpass of the day since the animals are supposed to be more active when it's cooler. I don't really know if there is that much difference, though, as I have seen tons of other people's safari photos and they all seem pretty much the same.

Luke very much enjoyed this ride, as I knew he would. He loves animals of all kinds. He is finally starting to differentiate types of animals, but on this trip (and for a long time) he called all animals "Oscar". Oscar is our dog's name, and he thought "Oscar" was the word for animal! So any non-human creature was "Oscar". He loved pointing out all the different Oscars to all of us on this ride. Here are a few safari photos:












Bad picture, but you can see the baby!






And some of Luke enjoying his trip through the Harambe Wildlife Reserve:












We had a great safari. We enjoyed seeing the elephant cooling itself and getting to spot the baby (toddler?) monkey. This ride is always a favorite, although DH is still disappointed that they took away the poaching storyline. After we exited our safari vehicle, we decided to board another form of transportation.




We were headed out to Rafiki's Planet Watch! We were a little sad that the petting zoo portion was closed, since I think Luke would really enjoy that. I hope we are able to do the Affection Section on our trip coming up. But even if we didn't do anything else except ride the train out and back it would be a win in Luke's book - the boy loves trains!




We arrived at our destination after a leisurely train ride. From there we strolled over to Conservation Station.








I really love this mural, but having a toddler doesn't allow much time for taking it all in! I know there is a hidden Mickey somewhere in there, but I didn't get to find it.










Luke was in a hurry, because he had his sights set on another character meet and greet! We hopped in the short line and were meeting Rafiki in no time!






Now let me interject and say this - Luke has absolutely no idea who Rafiki is. He has never seen the Lion King, nor watched any show that might have Rafiki in it. However, he was really getting into this character thing, so not knowing Rafiki didn't really slow him down any! He still ran right over to him to say hi and give high fives. But Rafiki didn't get the same kind of love that Luke gave the Mickey gang (understandably!)!

There were not veterinary procedures going on and Luke wasn't really interested in any of the other exhibits in there. So we decided to head out of Conservation Station and back on the train, but first we had one more stop.

Stay tuned to find out where our crazy group was headed next!

 

[kastoney]

Great safari pictures, you got some really good "oscar" shots ; ) We've done the safari a few different times and do find the morning ones usually have more animals out, though my favorite time is right at park closing. We've done this twice and both times had our very own private safari.

Can't wait to see what you all have coming up next

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Great safari pictures, you got some really good "oscar" shots ; )

Hahaha! Thank you!

We've done the safari a few different times and do find the morning ones usually have more animals out, though my favorite time is right at park closing. We've done this twice and both times had our very own private safari.

That sounds wonderful! We don't usually make it until closing at AK, since we usually make that our short day park. But it might be worth staying just to have that experience!