“Dreams Come True Momma!” A 2 year old’s first trip ~ May 2015~Complete {NEW TR LINK!}

[pkondz]

When the plans for this day where being decided it had been jokingly discussed in the PTR that it would be cool I could pull off 4 parks in 1 day. Going into the trip there were zero plans to actually try to make that happen, but this day’s plans did call for 3 of the 4 parks in one day.

Tough with a little one... but she sure seems game, so far!

It was on the bus on the way back to the resort the night before that we realized that it was after 12am when we left the main gate of MK. Therefore by technicality it could count as park 1 for the day. The 4 Park Challenge was ON!

A plan is hatched...

Due to our late night we had no intentions of hitting up Rope Drop.

What???? What the heck?!??

As we were entering the gate I made mention to DH that I wanted to keep an eye out for De Vine. Sure enough, when we walked in what is the first thing that we see?

Awesome! She's great! Love DeVine. Last time the whole family was there we made her a priority.

As we make our way into Africa we stop to watch a show and I ended up getting pulled into it.

That started off really good... and then the camera pans down...
Awww!!!

We were a smidge nervous going into the Safari because Little Miss hasn’t always done well when Animals get close but it’s one of my favorite attractions and so it’s always a must. Turns out the Little Miss LOVED it! Big fun was had by all.

Great! Maybe she's growing up a bit.
Sitting on Mom's lap probably didn't hurt too.

Where do we stop for snack? (Can be as general as the section of the park, however the more specific answer you give the more points you get)

What do we get?

Well, I'm pretty much sucking at your contest, but here goes.
I think since you mentioned how hot it was in the video, something cool was in order.
And something fairly close.
So... Harambe, something cold.
Specifics? Hmmm... let's go with Tamu Tamu and a dole whip.

So that pretty much guarantees that's way off!

 

[BlvInMagic]

Cute update! And you are so on-point with those hair ribbons -- loving them! For a snack, I'm going to guess ice cream

 

[pixidustmom]

Ok finally caught up. New to your TR. I am enjoying it quite a bit. I am headed to WDW the same time period. I am going with my good friend and coworker, her DH and her adult daughter. Plus she has another friend who decided to book along with her adult DD. I now want to bring my 3rd grand child (she will be about your daughters age was on this trip. for free entry) I have already brought her brother for his first trip and my other grand daughter for her firs trip. So Noalani needs a turn but... this was to be an adults only trip so I am torn on what to do?
Anyway thank you for sharing your experience and I look forward to more updates.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Technically, that's correct. A little weak... but correct.

Cool! I'm glad you got to see her and get a picture with her. Apparently most people must have just gone on by. I'd expected to see more people around.

Generally people were waiting turns allowing families to get their picture one at a time. Small crowd but not non existent.

I'm glad she enjoyed it!

Me too! Always fun to share a favorite ride.

Harambe Market

Jalapeno pretzel

The safari ride is the absolute best!! Worth going to AK just for that in my books! Great pic with DeVine too!!

It was the strong argument for the Park Hopper for sure.

YES YES YES I got 8 points woohoo!!

I knew you would be happy with that one. LoL.

That's a really cute video of you and little miss dancing. And she made a friend too! LOL

Always making friends.

Gosh...hmm, snack time...there are too many options! I am thinking the Jalapeno cheese stuffed pretzel because that's usually my pick and I think it's right outside of the Safari, although I think they have then near Discovery Island too.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Tough with a little one... but she sure seems game, so far!

She's my little energizer bunny. She was excited at the idea. (Well as much as a kid of that age can grasp that concept)

A plan is hatched...

Well the plan had been hatched back in the planning stages. However, the plan was slightly altered when I realized what time we left MK.

What???? What the heck?!??

Well even energizer bunnies need their sleep!

Awesome! She's great! Love DeVine. Last time the whole family was there we made her a priority.

That started off really good... and then the camera pans down...
Awww!!!

I know I just couldn't resist posting that video when I saw it. Sometimes Little Miss is just too cute!

Great! Maybe she's growing up a bit.
Sitting on Mom's lap probably didn't hurt too.

We all get a little Braver sitting on mommy's lap don't we?

Well, I'm pretty much sucking at your contest, but here goes.
I think since you mentioned how hot it was in the video, something cool was in order.
And something fairly close.
So... Harambe, something cold.
Specifics? Hmmm... let's go with Tamu Tamu and a dole whip.

So that pretty much guarantees that's way off!

Cute update! And you are so on-point with those hair ribbons -- loving them!

I'm so glad I figured out how to make them! They have been fun to have in her hair!

For a snack, I'm going to guess ice cream

Ok finally caught up. New to your TR.

Thanks for joining in!

I am enjoying it quite a bit.

I am headed to WDW the same time period.

Its a nice time to to go for sure!

I am going with my good friend and coworker, her DH and her adult daughter. Plus she has another friend who decided to book along with her adult DD. I now want to bring my 3rd grand child (she will be about your daughters age was on this trip. for free entry) I have already brought her brother for his first trip and my other grand daughter for her firs trip. So Noalani needs a turn but... this was to be an adults only trip so I am torn on what to do?

Having done both an adult only trip and a first visit for a little trip they are very different things. If I were you I would get at least a vague idea of the plans for the trip down and then Talk it over with your other travel mates and see what they think before adding a little to an adult trip. Adding a little affects the touring style and plans for sure. And if some are leaving kids behind to get some adult time they may not be a fan of a 2 year old tagging along.

Anyway thank you for sharing your experience and I look forward to more updates.

Glad you are enjoying my report thanks for reading!

 

[mdsouth]

Absolutely LOVED watching you and Little Miss dancing in Harabe!, i t was so precious to see your daughter and the little boy become instant friends and holding hands dancing to the music.
Little Miss really was following along and imitating the dance moves! She is a natural.

Cuedos (spelling??) to your hubby for capturing it all on video! Wonderful moment

 

[mdsouth]

[QUOTE

Its a nice time to to go for sure!

Having done both an adult only trip and a first visit for a little trip they are very different things. If I were you I would get at least a vague idea of the plans for the trip down and then Talk it over with your other travel mates and see what they think before adding a little to an adult trip. Adding a little affects the touring style and plans for sure. And if some are leaving kids behind to get some adult time they may not be a fan of a 2 year old tagging along.

Glad you are enjoying my report thanks for reading![/QUOTE]

I will have to agree on this advice. You need to really think about bringing along the little one on thins trip. Since it is a trip with friends and everyone else will be adults, you need to keep in mind they are going to want to do so many different things and will go at a much different pace than touring with a little one. If you ask if they mind you bringing the little one I bet they will say it is fine because they are tpyour friend but might really want to say the opposite.

If you do take him along, plan to only spend a small fraction of the time with your friends. The rest of the time, they can be running around the parks and dining at restaurants geared for adults without having to change their plans to fit the needs of a little one.

If it was an extended family trip I would think differently but this was planned first as an adults trip.


Of course this is a great excuse to plan and go on two separate trips!!! Which is always a great thing for us DISers

 

[mdsouth]

Snack is in Africa Harambe Market and it is the slushy drink. Is that the Tamu tamu?

 

[Dugette]

Therefore by technicality it could count as park 1 for the day. The 4 Park Challenge was ON!

Sweet, way to go!

Well, that worked out great. And nice picture!

As we make our way into Africa we stop to watch a show and I ended up getting pulled into it.

How fun! Little Miss dancing with her new little friend was adorable!

Turns out the Little Miss LOVED it! Big fun was had by all.

Yay, so glad she enjoyed the safari!

Where do we stop for snack? (Can be as general as the section of the park, however the more specific answer you give the more points you get)

Tamu Tamu

What do we get?

Dole Whip.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

I know I haven't gotten a chance to post this week. I'll get it done soon. Its just been a very busy week. Also I figured out today why I get headaches from looking at the screen so quickly as of late..... I finally dragged myself into a doctor's appointment today after 9 years. Turns out my vision is no longer 20/20 with my eyes just having to strain to do it. Turns out my vision is actually in the 20/60 range! Hehehe Oops!

My eyes are really irritated after the doc appointment and I need to save some eyesight for picking out new frames tonight. Apparently my eyesight isn't exactly street legal anymore. I had a bit of a Bad Mommy moment when I realize how bad things have been for me as of late. ​

 

[pkondz]

I hear you, but I'm in the opposite camp.
I really need new specs. If I have 'em on while looking at a monitor, then I get a headache.

 

[afwdwfan]

Oh gosh! I can completely relate. I don't know how bad my vision was, but I kind of did the same thing. I noticed in college that I had trouble reading things from the projectors in some of the bigger lecture halls. I really didn't think anything about it because those were some pretty big rooms and I thought everybody had trouble reading the smaller print.

Fast forward to graduation and I'm working a job that involves a lot of travel to places I've never been. I notice that I was having trouble reading highway signs until I was pretty much right on top of them. I decided I should go to the eye dr. It had been 12 years for me between visits. He asked me why I hadn't been back in so many years. Well... I wasn't having any problems until recently...

But yeah, I don't remember what my vision was but I wasn't exactly legal to drive anymore either. Now I get to visit him every year and I wear contacts every day.

I'm glad you found your problem and are in the process of getting it taken care of.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Absolutely LOVED watching you and Little Miss dancing in Harabe!, i t was so precious to see your daughter and the little boy become instant friends and holding hands dancing to the music.
Little Miss really was following along and imitating the dance moves! She is a natural.

Its always so fun to watch her make friends.

Cuedos (spelling??) to your hubby for capturing it all on video! Wonderful moment

Its a favorite of the video we captured for sure.

Snack is in Africa Harambe Market and it is the slushy drink. Is that the Tamu tamu?

Sweet, way to go!

Well, that worked out great. And nice picture!

It worked out perfectly! I just love when things happen that way.

How fun! Little Miss dancing with her new little friend was adorable!

I might just have to let her take a dance class in the fall.

Yay, so glad she enjoyed the safari!

She was really cute with her enjoyment of it too!

Tamu Tamu

Dole Whip.

I hear you, but I'm in the opposite camp.
I really need new specs. If I have 'em on while looking at a monitor, then I get a headache.

It's the straining to see small text for me.

Oh gosh! I can completely relate. I don't know how bad my vision was, but I kind of did the same thing. I noticed in college that I had trouble reading things from the projectors in some of the bigger lecture halls. I really didn't think anything about it because those were some pretty big rooms and I thought everybody had trouble reading the smaller print.

This is exactly what happened with me. I could see 20/20 but my eyes had to strain to do it. It was only heavy reading and projectors that I needed my glasses for. Once I graduated I became a nanny and then a stay at home mom and didn't need my glasses as much. It wasn't till recently that DH started to notice that I had trouble reading things that he didn't have issue with that I finally went in.

[

It had been 12 years for me between visits. He asked me why I hadn't been back in so many years. Well... I wasn't having any problems until recently...

Amazingly my doc guessed and knew exactly why it had been so long since I had been in.

I'm glad you found your problem and are in the process of getting it taken care of.

Should be able to pick up the new glasses this afternoon!

 

[KathyM2]

Apparently my eyesight isn't exactly street legal anymore.

I just went through the exact same thing. Trying to get used to being a "only wear glasses for driving" person to a "you really need to wear them all the time" person...

It's kind of an adjustment...I always feel like there's this foreign object on my face that has to come off...

 

[afwdwfan]

I just went through the exact same thing. Trying to get used to being a "only wear glasses for driving" person to a "you really need to wear them all the time" person...

It's kind of an adjustment...I always feel like there's this foreign object on my face that has to come off...

I know what you mean. I'm thinking about looking into lasik. When it became apparent that I really needed to wear glasses all the time, I got contacts. For 2 reasons really. I didn't want to wear glasses all the time, but also because my eyes tend to be really sensitive to light and if I was wearing glasses then I couldn't put my sunglasses on outside.

So basically... I got contacts and am now considering lasik so I can keep my sunglasses.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

I just went through the exact same thing. Trying to get used to being a "only wear glasses for driving" person to a "you really need to wear them all the time" person...

It's kind of an adjustment...I always feel like there's this foreign object on my face that has to come off...

Thankfully I don't really have an issue with the glasses. Though I haven't gotten much use out of my new rxn sunglasses yet. Since I picked them up last week I've only gotten to wear them 2ce. The sun has been in hiding lately!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

So sorry this update took so long! Life has been incredibly busy. DH and I have been on the hunt to buy our first house! Exciting but so very stressful! No one ever mentioned how much worse the stress was when you are looking to buy versus looking to just rent. SO that is where all my computer time has been this last week. I'll probably try to squeeze in 2 or 3 updates this week if I can.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 Parks 1 Day: More Animal Kingdom (5/11/15 Part 2)



When we got off our Safari we were all feeling a little hungry and there was a particular snack I was on the hunt for.

Jalapeño cheese stuffed Pretzels! Mmmm they were good. And for those who have been trying to figure out where to get them we found ours at this “Fruit Market” stand.

From there we slowly meandered our way to our next FP stopping along the way for Drum spots and PhotoPass photographers.

We arrived at Minnie and Mickey’s meet and greet and parked the stroller and headed in.


This turned out to be a wonderful meet and greet because not only did Mickey and Minnie just go crazy over Little Miss’s bows the photopass photographer was great at capturing the whole thing. She even had us hold Little Miss back for a moment so she could best position herself to capture Little Miss running at Minnie and Mickey.

(Continued in next post)
​

 

[Gracefulskinny]

With the wonderful meet and greet behind us it was nearing lunch time and while my original plans had us going to either Flame Tree BBQ or Yak and Yeti we had some complications to work around. Yak and Yeti was out because I had been told I still had to avoid Rice thanks to the emergency oral surgery a week before the trip. While Flame Tree was closed there was a kiosk right by where we were that was selling it. However, DH vetoed it in favor of somewhere with A/C. Pizzafari it is!


On our way we stopped at the Photopass spot directly in front of the Tree of Life. I kick myself now because as we were at this spot I saw a flash of someone that I thought might be a Diser. I really should have gone with my gut and texted them because since I’ve been home from the trip I realized that it was indeed who I thought it was and we even showed up at back edge of their PhotoPass pictures from the PhotoPass spot directly ahead of ours. (Looking at you @cajunfan !) They even followed us further and had Pizzafari AT THE SAME TIME!!! We never knew.


Our food at Pizzafari wasn’t horrible. It sure was crowded though. I had to stalk a table before one cleared. As we finished up eating we realized we had made a Diaper 101 mistake.


You see because we had plans to go on Kali River Rapids after lunch, instead of her normal pull up I thought I would be smart rolleyes2) and use a swim diaper instead. That way she wouldn’t have to deal with a swollen pull up after being soaked. What I have now learned is that swim diapers are only designed to hold one thing only. Everything else (Including pee) flows right through. Little Miss’s shorts were beyond soaked.


There was some debate on whether because we had plans to leave soon after our last FP (which would have us all get wet anyways) if we should stay or go ahead and head out early for our nap time. The executive descion was made and we decided that with the intensity of our plans for the evening extra nap time could never hurt so we went ahead and made our way out.


We did however stop in the gift shop back at the resort and grab Mickey Bars for our afternoon treat.

She of coarse LOVED them and needed a bath as soon as she was done!


***BONUS QUESTION TIME***


Where do we eat dinner?

Do we see an evening show and if so which one?

Do we make it to all four parks?​

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Trip Report Game Points



@afwdwfan – 5pts Harambe Market, Jalapeño pretzel

@chunkymonkey – 5 pts Harambe Market, Jalapeño pretzel

@Veelth – 1pt Snack in Africa

@pkondz – 1pt Harambe

@mdsouth - 1 pt Harambe


*Had a glitch earlier this week with the points if you see a mistake just let me know and I’ll get it fixed.


Totals:


Dugette – 38

Afwdwfan – 29

annie170 – 24

Chunkymonkey – 23


Cajunfan – 22

Princessesandpascal – 19

NJLauren - 13​

BlvInMagic – 12

Vleeth – 12

Pkondz – 12​

BibbitybobityLu – 11

Kadrachb – 7

Loves The Mouse – 6

ashw100 – 5

Mdsouth – 45

​

 

[NJlauren]

Good luck with the house! So hard I totally know what you mean we got our first home 2 years ago around this time and it's stressful but IMO well worth it! Swing you positiv vibes!

Love Mickey and Minnie 0pics great photo pass photographer for sure!

Ugh that swim diaper issue its horrible! I have been peed on more ones then I care to admit and DD is only 16 months!

I say you do all 4 parks! I want to answer the rest but I'm rushing to head out so I don't have time to look back bad diser