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

[DisneyParkLover]

I've enjoyed reading both of your trip reports in preparation for my next visit to the world with my soon to be born bundle of joy. Between you, @Dugette , @Leshaface , and others with infants I feel like we'll be able to do this! Even in August

Absolutely! You will have a blast! How old will your little one be on your trip?

Ah... the best laid plans spoiled by toddlers.

Exactly! Bwahahaha!

I didn't understood the popularity of that particular pose with the photopass people.

Me either. Not my favorite pose.

I decided to read some trip reports to relax on my day off today. I really enjoyed yours! Thank you for the great reporting!

Thank you!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

He'll be almost two months old... Depending on how close to on time he comes! He's due in about a week and a half!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Awww! Just about the same age as my son on his first trip! You will have a blast even though people may think you are crazy!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Awww! Just about the same age as my son on his first trip! You will have a blast even though people may think you are crazy!

Thanks! I've started a PTR for my first ever full trip report, because of course I'll remember to take notes and will have plenty of time to write the TR while at home with an infant

 

[kastoney]

My co-workers think my Disneyness is insane too. I've only even told one person about our trip in a few weeks. But I'm right there with you, disney is the perfect combo of fun for kids and food for me ; )

Can't believe WPE was closed. Loved your "breakfast" turkey sandwiches though ; )

Your PP pictures are great. Love your Dad's dead pan face in all of them.

 

[Dugette]

plus we got hit by a dreaded stomach bug!

Oh no! Sorry to hear that - just the worst to feel like that on a Disney trip.

But we made the best of it and had a wonderful trip anyway!

I'm glad you were still able to have a great time!

He wasn't sure at first, but as soon as his friends came out, he was clapping and dancing around!

Glad he enjoyed it! Izzy got a kick out of it too.

I am sad to say that we didn't have time to stop in One Man's Dream. I do love to go in there every trip, but it seems there is never enough time for everything I want to do.

Same here. Just never had a chance this trip.

My mom and I both had the 1/3 lb Angus Cheeseburger with Srirachi Aioli and Fried Shrimp - with choice of fresh steamed broccoli, apple slices or fries.

Dug had that too!

I ordered Luke the Power Pack Lunch - yogurt, apple wedges, carrot sticks, goldfish crackers, apple-cinnamon snack bar and choice of small lowfat milk or small water.

And Izzy had that! And we also ended up tossing a couple things (the apples and carrots). She loved the rest, though.

That's right - we are going back to the World in July!

Yay!

Fortunately, Mickey was awesome and took Luke by the hand and walked around the room doing train sounds and motions with him!

I love that! Same thing he did with Izzy back in August and it really seems to help the toddlers warm up to him.

That is just precious!

He'll be almost two months old.

You might have already read it, but just in case you haven't, TheMaxRebo has a report where they brought a 1-month-old.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

You might have already read it, but just in case you haven't, TheMaxRebo has a report where they brought a 1-month-old.

I did read his report... And yours and any others I could find!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Thanks! I've started a PTR for my first ever full trip report, because of course I'll remember to take notes and will have plenty of time to write the TR while at home with an infant

Enjoying reading the PTR, hope you will add some baby pics when your little one arrives!

My co-workers think my Disneyness is insane too. I've only even told one person about our trip in a few weeks. But I'm right there with you, disney is the perfect combo of fun for kids and food for me ; )

Exactly. Glad there are people who understand!

Can't believe WPE was closed. Loved your "breakfast" turkey sandwiches though ; )

It was disappointing, but EoS saved the day!

Your PP pictures are great. Love your Dad's dead pan face in all of them.

Thanks!

Oh no! Sorry to hear that - just the worst to feel like that on a Disney trip. I'm glad you were still able to have a great time!

It was a little bit of a bummer, especially since it meant we lost some time and had to slow down on an already short trip, but we still had a blast!

I love that! Same thing he did with Izzy back in August and it really seems to help the toddlers warm up to him.

The characters seem to (mostly) do a very good job of engaging the kiddos. I hope he continues to enjoy them. Just yesterday he did a full on running hug attack on the frog character at Sweet Frog (frozen yogurt). So I think it is safe to say he still likes characters!

That is just precious!

Thank you!

You might have already read it, but just in case you haven't, TheMaxRebo has a report where they brought a 1-month-old.

I know that this was directed at TinkLoverSam, but I just wanted to say I also read that report and loved it. I especially enjoy reading trip reports by other people with little ones!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Day 7 - Yetis, Dinos, and Bugs of Unusual Size

So when we left off, we had just finished a great safari. Next we were headed over to Asia for our next fastpass. We had a date with a Yeti and we didn't want to be late! We took turns riding using rider swap. I present our ride photos for your viewing pleasure:






After the ride, we had worked up an appetite for lunch, so we headed over for a date with another Yeti..... Yak & Yeti! We had eaten here with my friend's family on our last trip and loved it, so we were excited to eat here again. We were seated upstairs by the window with a lovely view of the Tibetan flags.



And a photo of my parents looking cute as always.



Luke was really hamming it up! He was just being so smiley and happy. He loves lemons and was enjoying eating the ones here even though they were extra sour!











And of course, the food...

My dad and DH ordered the Shaoxing Steak and Shrimp - skirt steak and tempura fried shrimp served with jasmine rice, stir-fried vegetables and chili plum dipping sauce.



I had this last time and it was excellent. Today, both men found it to be very good, but not as good as last time.

I wanted to try something new, so I ordered the Mahi Mahi. The Mahi Mahi listed on the menu now is a little different, so I am not sure of the exact description. But I do know that this dish was very popular here on the DisBoards. It wasn't really my thing, though. The fish was very nicely cooked - flaky and not "fishy" at all. But it was too dry without the sauce and the sauce was too sweet for me.




My mom ordered the Malaysian Seafood Curry - Mahi Mahi, scallops, little neck clams, mussels, shrimp, zucchini, roma tomatoes, red curry coconut broth, and jasmine rice.



She ordered this last time, too, and she loved it both times! By dessert, Luke was starting to get a little restless, so DH took him out to run off some energy. He ordered the Chocolate Cake - Chocolate pudding cake, raspberry sauce and took it to go.



He seemed to really enjoy this. Everyone else ordered the Fried Wontons - Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey vanilla drizzle.



OMG - this dessert is so good! One of the best desserts I've had on property, if not THE best. Overall, this meal didn't live up to our last visit here. We would definitely eat here again, but we may just have dessert next time.

After lunch, we knew we should head back to the resort to rest before our evening plans, but we had a couple more things we wanted to do first. Our next stop was Dinosaur where we exchanged our fastpasses for a fun ride and some silly ride photos!





After Dinosaur, we rode Triceratops Spin, which garnered just as enthusiastic a reaction from Luke as it did the last time! We also took this adorable picture of Luke at some point (possibly while taking turns on Dinosaur?):



Our last stop on the way out was one of my favorites:



I have always enjoyed this show. Luke did really well. I managed to keep water from squirting him directly in the face like it did at Fantasmic!, so I considered that a mommy success! After the show, we did finally (reluctantly) head back to the resort for a rest.

Up next: DH and I have an anniversary date night!

 

[Dugette]

Impressive!

He ordered the Chocolate Cake - Chocolate pudding cake, raspberry sauce and took it to go.

Who knew? There are desserts besides the wontons there. Looks pretty yummy. Love those wontons, though!

I managed to keep water from squirting him directly in the face like it did at Fantasmic!, so I considered that a mommy success!

Up next: DH and I have an anniversary date night!

Sounds awesome!

 

[kastoney]

So love Yak n Yeti. Tried it for the first time last trip and it was so good. Especially the wontons. Gonna have to try one of the dishes you all had. Those shrimp and the curry look great.

We haven't done dinosaur since I was pregnant. Hubby or I may try it next trip to see if our daughter would like it. It's been so long for us and I'm not sure if she'd find it fun or terrifying. She, like Luke, does love the bug show though ; )

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Very good job with the EE ride photo!

Y&Y is one place we haven't done yet - but your food looks good. Especially what your mom got - definitely different offerings than a lot of places. I can't stand cream cheese so those wantons don't appeal to me but I know they have a ton of fans!

Glad you were able to avoid Luke getting sprayed in the face

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Who knew? There are desserts besides the wontons there. Looks pretty yummy. Love those wontons, though!

I know. Why would anyone order anything besides the wontons?!? But DH did really enjoy the chocolate cake.

So love Yak n Yeti. Tried it for the first time last trip and it was so good. Especially the wontons. Gonna have to try one of the dishes you all had. Those shrimp and the curry look great.

We will definitely be back, even though it was better the first time. My mom loved the curry. I don't like onions, so I didn't even try a bite, but if you like onions I'm sure you would like this.

We haven't done dinosaur since I was pregnant. Hubby or I may try it next trip to see if our daughter would like it. It's been so long for us and I'm not sure if she'd find it fun or terrifying. She, like Luke, does love the bug show though ; )

I think Luke will like it when he is big enough to ride it. It is scary, but at this point he doesn't scare easily (that may change though!).

Very good job with the EE ride photo!

Thanks!

Glad you were able to avoid Luke getting sprayed in the face

Yeah, I think the shock of it would have caused a meltdown. He does great about water when he can control when he gets sprayed, but doesn't like to be surprised by it.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Day 7 - The Evening of November 7th - The Grandparents' Version

We had went back to the resort to rest because DH and I knew we had a late night ahead of us. We had tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party! We had just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and we wanted to do something just the two of us. We had considered several options, but landed on MVMCP. It just seemed the most "us". My parents had agreed to watch Luke so we could have the night to ourselves. But I had read that the castle lighting was at 6, before they kicked out the non-partygoers. And I thought it would be fun to all go watch it together.

So after our rest, we headed out for the Magic Kingdom. We stopped for a couple pictures on the way in.










And of course, we had to take several more pictures on the way in!






We snagged a location on the bridge to Tomorrowland to watch the castle lighting. Here are some photos we took from our chosen spot before the castle lighting:


















While we were waiting, my parents noticed that they were already selling Christmas light necklaces, so they bought a couple!




Before long the castle lighting started. The castle was beautiful all lit up for Christmas! I was glad that we all got to see it together!
















After the castle lighting, though, it was almost time for them to start kicking people out, so my parents took Luke and made their way out of the park. The rest of this post will be what they did for the evening. I will talk about DH and my evening and the party in another post.

So after my parents left, they headed over to the Contemporary Resort. They wanted to visit the resort and grab something to eat.





They had been to visit this resort back when they were teenage sweethearts, so it holds a special place to them. My mom had read good things about the food at Contempo Cafe, so that's where they headed. They took some pictures to document the occasion:







They ordered the Lobster Roll - Maine Lobster Salad and Romaine Lettuce on a Grilled Roll with French Fries, Chilled Sesame Green Beans, or House-made Chips. They got one of the famous cupcakes for dessert. I honestly don't know what they thought of this food, but it sure looks good!






After dinner, they headed back to the resort. They got Luke into his jammies and probably let him stay up way too late! (But hey, isn't that what grandparents are for?!? )





Eventually, though, they must have went to bed since they were all fast asleep when we got back!


Up next: Our anniversary celebration at the Christmas Party!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

That sounds like such a great idea to do for your "anniversary date" - Happy Anniversary (belated at this point I guess)

That is so great that you got a chance to have some time alone - and I am sure your parents enjoyed having time alone with Luke!

I didn't realize they did the Castle lighting before the official start of the part so that is really cool you got to see it together!

Their food does look pretty good!

 

[sue_88]

I go to the parks most often in November, so I usually get to see the lights on the castle. It is so pretty at the MK at night.
I need to try Yak and Yeti. Even though you said it wasn't as good as before, it does really look good.
Can't wait for more report.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

That sounds like such a great idea to do for your "anniversary date" - Happy Anniversary (belated at this point I guess)

Thank you!

That is so great that you got a chance to have some time alone - and I am sure your parents enjoyed having time alone with Luke!

It was a really nice thing of my parents to offer. This allowed us to have an evening to ourselves but while knowing he was nearby in good hands.

I didn't realize they did the Castle lighting before the official start of the part so that is really cool you got to see it together!

I believe it was scheduled at 6:15, so it was nice to get to see it together and then go our separate ways.

Their food does look pretty good!

Everything was good. Not as awesome as the first time, but still really good. And while I wouldn't order my entree again, everybody else would order theirs again. Plus dessert was awesome!

I go to the parks most often in November, so I usually get to see the lights on the castle. It is so pretty at the MK at night.

Agreed! And I think October/November is the absolute best time to go. We have been in March, May, September, October, November and are about to go in July, but that time of year is our favorite!

I need to try Yak and Yeti. Even though you said it wasn't as good as before, it does really look good.
Can't wait for more report.

It is definitely worth a try. Nothing we had was bad, and some things were excellent! I will just order better next time.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party - Part 1

After my parents left, DH and I struck out on our own. We had already tried some of the party cookies while waiting for the castle lighting, so that was one thing checked off our list. (For the record, we sampled the snickerdoodles - they were very good but nothing special.) The other things on my list for the night were hot cocoa, the parade, Holiday Wishes, meeting Pooh and the gang, Photopass pictures, buying a special party pin, and riding some rides (particularly the Jingle Cruise). But I had read this was a sold out party, so I didn't know how busy it would be and what to expect. Would we accomplish everything on the list? Only time would tell.

So with the whole night before us, we decided to start our Christmas Party with a ride on the PeopleMover. Always such a relaxing ride, and it is beautiful at night. Great way to kick off the party! After the ride, we ducked into a store to look for the special pins. But it wasn't quite 7 yet, so they wouldn't sell me one. We were hungry and didn't want to wait. We knew we could get one later.

None of the restaurants near us were open, so we decided to head over to Pecos Bill's. It was pretty crowded there, but they allowed DH to find a seat while I ordered.

I got the Taco Salad and DH got the 1/3 lb. Angus Bacon Cheeseburger with Fries. We both got the chocolate cake for dessert. No pictures, sorry. We both loaded up at the toppings bar. My taco salad was delicious and DH really enjoyed his cheeseburger. We really enjoyed this counter service location! The chocolate cake was just the standard chocolate cake, but it was good and it fit the bill.

While we were eating, we noticed that the Cast Members were really cracking down on getting people out of the parks. There was a table next to us with non-partygoers and they were chatting (they had finished their food). A cast member and a manager kept trying to get them to leave, but they were resisting. Eventually they just basically told them to leave immediately. I thought it was going to get ugly!

Next we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This ride is even better at night! We walked right on, so we rode it 3 times in a row.








After we had our fill of Big Thunder, we headed over to Adventureland. I wanted to ride Splash Mountain, but it was a little chilly that night, and we decided we didn't want to risk walking around wet and cold all night. So our next stop was Pirates of the Caribbean instead. I'm glad to say that we had a great ride and avoided getting wet.

Next it was time to check off another list item. So we headed over to Jingle Cruise. We walked right on and soon were enjoying the Christmas theming.












Yet another ride that is even better at night! And I enjoyed the Christmas touches. Plus our skipper was awesome! She is the best one I've ever had - she was really into her role!

We were going to ride some more rides next, but we were trapped in Adventureland by the parade. So we ducked into a shop to look for a party pin. They had a great selection, so I picked my favorite and checked that off the list!

With my pin search completed, we headed over to ride Space Mountain. We only waited about 10 minutes until we were enjoying our ride through space. Since we had made great time on everything else this evening, we had some time before the fireworks. So I wanted to try something we had never done before - Enchanted Tales with Belle. We waited a little bit in Maurice's cottage and then we were transported through the magic mirror.






My handsome husband was chosen as a suit of armor! He really did well at his role. Here are my pictures and the Photopass photos:


















This was really cute, but we will probably wait to go again until Luke is a little older and can participate!


Next up: More Christmas party fun!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

sounds like despite being a sold out party you were getting a lot done.

That is kind of an awkward situation for CMs to get the non-party goers out and I am sure they want to be pleasant about it but at some point those people do need to get out - not fair for those that paid to be at the party otherwise.

That is cool that your DH got to be the armor - though it makes for a bit of an odd PP picture given that there is a stranger as the other set or armor, but oh well.

 

[Dugette]

Love all the photos from when you ventured out for the castle lighting - so pretty! You are making me wish we had a November trip planned, since we just love that time of year there (but we're hoping a Disneyland trip this November works out instead - so hopefully that will be magical too).

So nice of your parents to watch Luke and allow you an anniversary date night! Looks like the sold-out party wasn't too bad, since you were able to jump on so many rides so quickly! I can vouch for how they kick people out, as we left just as a couple parties were starting one trip and we definitely felt the pressure to hurry up and get out.