3 Years in the Making: Our return to WDW...with diapers! SAD NEWS 7/1 page 41

[punkin413]

Seth one year pics are adorable. He is getting so big! He also is the cutest cheeseburger I have ever seen. I am so sad I missed the Disney in October this year, first time since Brooklynn was a baby! Can't wait to be back in just a little over a month!

Thanks! I wanted something easy and the cheeseburger was perfect. And I don't know...it just fit his personality too!

Awesome portraits of Seth!

Bummer that he was a little fussy at dinner. We were the same way as Ray, and always felt like everyone was staring at us if our kids got upset or were a little loud in a restaurant. It's tough traveling with a little tyke, but it does get better! (And more challenging in other ways, but that's a topic for another time. )

Thanks! I by no means let him scream or act up in a restaurant, but I'm a little more lenient than Ray is. I think he just doesn't want to be seen as the chaotic, loud family!

Seth's one year pictures came out great and I LOVE his cheeseburger costume!

That stinks that you had such a crappy experience at Kouzzina. I would have been seriously PO'd about that check-in incident, too

I can't wait to see Seth meeting his first character!

Thanks! Yeah, our experience at Kouzzina was unfortunate. I'm hoping it was a weird night or something.

We loved Kouzzina when we tried it...but we didn't have any of the same things you tried.

I'm glad you decided to not make every adr.....I'm always frustrated by people who sit there with their kids crying or running wild durring dinner. I always wonder why they put the kids through a long sit down meal basically tourturing themselves, the child and everyone else.

I guess I should clarify that I mean kids who are really causing a scene not just the average fussing......

I've heard good things about it - maybe they just had an off night? I will NEVER be the mom who allows her child to scream and ruin everyone else's meal. Never. And I also will never be the mom who makes a huge mess and leaves it for the serve to clean up. If I have to leave abruptly for some reason and I can't clean up after my child, I will leave an extra big tip. Servers don't make enough to pick up soggy Cheerios....yuck.

Seth is just too cute. I'm enjoying reading your report. I'm really curious to know what it's like taking a 12-month old. I think I told you this, but as much as I want to go back, I think we're going to wait until we're done having kids and they'll be a little older.

Thanks! I think that's smart, Kristin. We had a blast with him on this trip but we're in no hurry to return. I know everyone's different but it was just so much WORK taking him to Disney, plus it's not like he's going to remember it, or remember that we DIDN'T take him the next year for that matter. I don't regret it - I'm glad we did it. But I'm not worried about planning another trip soon like I would be otherwise.

Man, I can't see your pictures! I will check back again later.

I wish you would have had a better experience at Kouzinna. We LOVED it, even my picky boys liked it. We did not have any appetizers though. Our desserts weren't very good at all but our meals were.

I want to go for food and wine festival sometime. I think we caught the end of it on one of our early trips but didn't really know what it was back then.

I hope you came back and looked at them - photobucket was being weird but I fixed the problem. Sorry about that! Yeah, I'm hoping the night we had at Kouzzina was just an off night. The food and wine festival was really cool! I want to do it again someday.

Seth 1 year pictures came out great! My favorite is the black and white one of him sitting on the sidewalk.

Food and Wine looked good. I enjoy going during that time - so fun getting to try new things!

My husband and I both hate getting looks at resturants so much that we hardly go out with the boys anymore. Of course, when we are at Disney - we are eating out 3 times a day - Yikes! We were lucky one time at the Coral Reef for dinner that Nate was sleeping in the stroller and they let us bring the stroller in there. It was so nice to have a quiet dinner!

Thanks! We loved the festival. Great stuff! We got out to eat with Seth probably 1-2 times a week. So he's used to it. But I don't force anyone to sit there and listen to my child scream while they're trying to eat dinner!

Adorable fall pictures of Seth! Love his hamburger costume!

It looks like a great afternoon enjoying World Showcase -- what a bummer that Kouzzina wasn't a very good meal. That pumpkin mousse looks divine, though.

Thanks! The pumpkin mousse was very good.....that's why we got it twice!

I haven't deserted you, just soooo busy this week, I've not been able to catch up. Thanks for posting - I've been looking forward to your trip for a long time!

Seth's photo shoot is amazing! Your photographer really got some fun shots!

The cheeseburger costume is such a cute idea! Your co-workers all had some really creative ones for their kiddos too.

Great day at Epcot -yay for Seth taking his first steps! Too bad about running out of gas and having to wait for ADRs that didn't turn out for you. We have decided that we just don't want to overplan our next trip with little ones - we will probably make one or two character meal ADRs and then just do CS for the rest. We've been a little frustrated by having to make ressies 6 mos in advance when we don't even know what we're going to feel like doing.

Seth's little laugh is adorable for sure! Congrats for taking your trip at his pace - I know it made it better for all of you!

No worries - I'm just needy.

Thanks! I totally agree with not overplanning with babies or toddlers...just go with the flow!

Seth's pictures are adorable! Photography has come so far since when I was small and we just posed infront of a backdrop and forced smiles.

Sorry about Kouzzina. I had an ADR there for our trip last december and about a week prior they called to inform me they were cancelling our reservation so that they could do some remodeling or something. I was pretty mad since I would have a super difficult time replacing it a week before the trip. That left a bad taste in my mouth, and my husband's too, I don't know when we'll put them back on our list of places to try.

Loving the food and wine pics can't wait to get there and try some for myself.

Thanks! I can't believe they did that! You'd think they'd know in advance when they're going to do remodeling so that you can't make an ADR there in the first place.

You do know the damage I could do to the walls at home with these little fellas, don't ya, Mom?

World Showcase on a warm day - nice way to start this very rainy Tennessee autumn morning.

Sooooo true! I showed that picture with your caption to Ray and he was like "exactly." Hope you enjoyed your warm day in World Showcase!

 

[dfitzger03]

Hi Dawn! I came across your TR today and I just wanted to let you know that I'm reading along. 3 years is a long time without Disney, but the DIS is a good place to get your fix betweend trips. My last trip was Dec. 2010 and I wont be going back until my honeymoon next Oct. I guess I will have to live vicariously through TRs until then

Seth is adorable and his one year pictures are awesome

Congrats on finishing your first 5K!

Sorry to hear about your horrible dinner at Kouzzina. Having a bad meal in Disney is always disappointing. On my last trip we went to T-REX and wont be going back there any time soon. We were on the DDP, but I guess i must have missed that T-REX isnt on it, so not only was the food terrible, but we ended up paying for it out of pocket

Im looking forward to reading more

 

[punkin413]

i am kinda here.....my internet time is so limited and even more limited over the next 6 weeks.....i'll try to keep up

No worries....just glad you're here!

I completely sympathize with Seth being tired for meals. We schedule all our dinner by 5:15 even though we eat closer to 6 at home. Then they are still ok for dinner. It's so hard to predict how the kids are going to be! Glad you didn't push him like soooo many parents do.

He usually eats at 6:30 at home. But honestly our ADRs were made based on what else we were doing that night and I knew I could tide him over with a snack if need be. I don't think that happened at all though. Yes, no pushing here...I want him to have a good time, not be miserable!

sorry about the poor experience at Kouzzina...so crazy how one person can have a good experience while another sitting at the table next to them can have a terrible one.....

I do love the pix of the Boardwalk....something about it is so peaceful...

I know. I don't like Ohana and most people love it. I thought it was loud and chaotic and the meat was dry. But that's just me. I love the Boardwalk too!

Still here Dawn - lurking without alot of time to comments - but trying to keep up with all of the TR's. I do have to comment though, that Seth's pictures are so beautiful! I don't know how she did it but got him to smile in every picture - and amazing smiles at that!!

I hear ya. I'm sooooo bad at keeping up....trying to get better. Thanks!

I am a loyal lurker too....love that title!

I just never seem to think I have anything worthwhile to add, sorry! But I do love following along and checking out those beautiful pictures you take and seeing the fun you are having! Keep up the great work!

LOVE the photo shoot pics! They turned out so cute! Seth is just so photogenic and always has a great smile. Love that it makes me smile too. He is the cutest cheeseburger I've ever seen. That is the best part about Halloween.. the littlest trick or treaters.

I want to go back to Epcot and try the Peach Schnapps drink! I wanted to get drinks when we were there, but I was always sooo full, I couldn't manage ANYTHING else. I didn't even get a school bread! My DH is so over Disney World & Disneyland, I think my next trip may have to be a mom & daughter trip to see Christmas decorations at the WDW. We have AP's to Disneyland and go for every season (I was just there on Friday), but the food isn't the same, and I can't get good drinks there (plus I'm usually driving, so it would be a no go even if I found them)!

Anyway... thanks for the great pictures and letting us all follow along!

No worries...like I said, I think I'm just needy! Thanks about the pictures. I didn't get school bread either, but that's b/c I'm not a huge coconut fan! I'm jealous you have an AP to Disneyland. I've never been...want to go someday!

Seth's pictures are great! He is SOOOO cute. Is he as happy all the time as he seems to be in his pictures?

Epcot always makes me SO tired. It's just so much walking. I'm glad Seth got to ride Nemo and get his picture taken with Bruce even if you had to fight for it.

He and Luke seem to be good buddies. They are very cute together.

Thanks! He's a pretty happy dude. He gets fussy when he's tired and sometimes when I"m trying to get him to eat and he doesn't want to. But other than that he's pretty content. I'm lucky. I agree about EPCOT....sooo much walking! Luke is great with him. I don't know if you read my TR from December 2008 but Luke's dad, Chris (Anna's ex-husband) has remarried and they have a little baby girl about 2 months younger than Seth, so Luke has experience with little ones!

love the updates..and LOVE Seth's fall pictures! he is super super cute Dawn

Thanks!

Hello! I recently found your TR and excited to follow along! Two of my favorites topics too, traveling to Disney with a baby and running a 5k! Congratulations on the 5k! Also it is so awesome that Seth poses so well for pictures! He is adorable!!! I made the mistake of telling my DD 15 months to say cheeesseee when smiling. BIG mistake! I should've watched myself in the mirror before teaching her that! Not the most photogenic pictures!

Cool, thanks for reading! Oh, maybe I shouldn't teach him cheese then? I say it all the time and I'm sure he will be repeating me any day now!

Hi .. just found your TR and read through it. Love the pics .. Seth is such a cutie. My twins were 10 months old the first time I took them to Disney and it was a challenge .. but SO worth it.
Can't wait to read and see more of your TR !

Thanks for reading! Thanks....twins..... We have twins in both our families so we were thinking we had a good chance at having them, but didn't. I don't know if I could have handled 2 at once!

 

[punkin413]

Hi Dawn! I came across your TR today and I just wanted to let you know that I'm reading along. 3 years is a long time without Disney, but the DIS is a good place to get your fix betweend trips. My last trip was Dec. 2010 and I wont be going back until my honeymoon next Oct. I guess I will have to live vicariously through TRs until then

Seth is adorable and his one year pictures are awesome

Congrats on finishing your first 5K!

Sorry to hear about your horrible dinner at Kouzzina. Having a bad meal in Disney is always disappointing. On my last trip we went to T-REX and wont be going back there any time soon. We were on the DDP, but I guess i must have missed that T-REX isnt on it, so not only was the food terrible, but we ended up paying for it out of pocket

Im looking forward to reading more

Thanks so much for reading! Living vicariously through TRs isn't that bad as long as you have some good busy-ness going on! Thanks for your sweet comments. And yes, bad food at Disney shouldn't happen!!!!

 

[punkin413]

Just have time for a quick update but I figured you'd appreciate that over this Thanksgiving weekend.

Before I get to that, let us share pics with Santa. I didn't buy them all so I'll have to link them here for you. Hopefully this will work.

Hmmmm....not so sure about this guy....

http://noerrprograms.findyourpictur...Georgia&client=10504620111119&imageid=8074173

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm not liking this....

http://noerrprograms.findyourpictur...Georgia&client=10504620111119&imageid=8074196

Down....now!

http://noerrprograms.findyourpictur...Georgia&client=10504620111119&imageid=8074222

(By the way, that one really cracks me up b/c of Santa's expression!)

This is the only decent one we got....

http://noerrprograms.findyourpictur...Georgia&client=10504620111119&imageid=8074211

He didn't cry but he just wasn't very interested.

So back to the TR.....

We're up to Sunday, October 2nd. Today we were checking out of All-Star Sports and into my beloved Wilderness Lodge!

Oh, before I go on, I forgot to tell you about what happened the night before. After we got back from EPCOT and got Seth to bed, I was sitting on the bed Seth was asleep in messing with my computer and Ray was sitting on the other bed watching TV. Well, around 10:30 or so we hear this rustling noise coming from the door. It sounded just like someone was trying to get in, like they were jiggling the door handle and messing with the lock. We both looked at each other, horrified. I was about .2 seconds away from grabbing Seth and heading to Anna's room when a piece of paper flew through the crack of the door. Ray got up to look at it and it was a menu from a local Chinese restaurant. I guess the rustling noise was the person trying to get the menu through the crack in the door. It scared the bejesus out of us!!!!!!!!! I mean, who does that at 10:30 at night???? And if they had woken up my child they might have had me chasing them down in the hallway. I called the front desk to tell them and the lady who answered was very apologetic, told me that was absolutely not allowed and she'd send someone right over to try to catch the person that did it. I hope they did.

Okay, on to Sunday. We woke up and packed up. I gave Seth some yogurt to tide him over since our breakfast wasn't scheduled until 10:30-ish at Cape May. Anna and Luke headed to DHS to get a couple of rides in before breakfast. They took our tickets with them to get us FPs to TSM, but I forgot you can't get a FP from a ticket that hasn't entered the park yet. So not FPs for us. No big deal....we had all week.

We were packed up and ready to go by like 9:30, so we decided to go ahead and head over to WL to get checked in before breakfast.

Yay!!!!

I didn't take any pictures of the lobby at check in, but our room in the villas was, amazingly, ready! We didn't have time to go see it since we had to get to breakfast, but it was nice to know we could come back here immediately after if we wanted to. I got my "welcome home" packet and then we headed back to the Beach Club.

A light fixture picture in the lobby for Memom...don't you like those? I like the star at the bottom.

We waited maybe 10 minutes before they called our name and we were seated near the food bar.

Anna and Luke got there shortly after we did and then the characters came fast and furious (how I like 'em!).

Seth had spotted a character (Goofy?) at this point and I think he was perplexed....

Hi, Minnie!

I was soooooooo glad he didn't cry. I told Ray if he had cried with the characters, I probably would have cried too! But he didn't....he thought they were so cool! (Or at least I think he did.)

Luke getting Minnie kisses.....

Continued in next post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43322366&postcount=226

 

[punkin413]

As Goofy was heading towards us Seth was getting SO excited!

So was Mommy.

Next was Donald Duck. Luke went first while I tried to get Anna's attention. She had headed to the food bar. Isn't that always how it works?

Here are our plates of food from Cape May.....

Ray - biscuits and gravy, bacon and potatotes...

Me - asparagus, some sort of breakfast casserole (I don't remember liking it), apple sweet roll, grits, bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes and oatmeal on the side.....

My second plate - another breakfast casserole (this one was better), fruit, chocolate Mickey waffle and syrup, bacon, asparagus and potatoes. Oh, and some fruit loops for Seth. He ate off my plate but I got him some of those b/c he'd never had them before and he LOVED them!

We really liked the breakfast here. The characters were great and the food was awesome. We'll be back for sure!

Anna and Luke headed back to DHS, while Ray, Seth and I went back to the car to go back to WL to get settled into our room and take a little break (and hopefully a nap for Seth) before we headed to DHS ourselves. Well, right when we got in the parking lot at the Beach Club I reached into my pocket and the small wallet I was keeping everything in - my license, Ray's license, our credit card, park tickets, photopass card - was gone. I panicked and told Ray I had to go back inside and retrace my steps. He took Seth on to the car and I did just that. I went all the way back to the restaurant and no wallet. Anna and Luke were just leaving and they helped me look with no luck. While they were looking, I ran out into the main lobby and asked a CM, who directed me to a specific CM at the front desk. She opened a drawer and there it sat - someone had just turned it in and everything was in it..... THANK GOD FOR HONEST PEOPLE!!!!! Seriously. That would have ruined our vacation!!! I don't know who turned it in but I said a prayer for them right then and there!

When I came back outside Ray was pulling up and he was so relieved to see I had it in my hand. Phew!

That's it for now. More when I have more time. In the meantime.....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

 

[punkin413]

Haha! That last picture was supposed to be a Thanksgiving picture, not another pic of my breakfast at Cape May! I guess I pasted the wrong one. And now I'm on my phone and can't edit it from here. Will have to wait until I'm at a computer. Oh well!!!

ETA: I edited the picture - it's the right one now!

 

[nowellsl]

Haha! That last picture was supposed to be a Thanksgiving picture, not another pic of my breakfast at Cape May! I guess I pasted the wrong one. And now I'm on my phone and can't edit it from here. Will have to wait until I'm at a computer. Oh well!!!

Well, I thought it was appropriate - it was a FEAST! I love Cape May! I've never been for breakfast, but their dinner buffet is awesome too! You got some great character pictures!

Have a GREAT Thanksgiving!

 

[nateryan]

so weird about the chinese menu...so much for the guards at the front gate. That picture of the three of you and Minnie is the best!!! I enjoyed staying at the Beach Club for that character meal - breakfast and dinner!
So scary about your wallet - that goodness you found it and fast too!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Love Seth's reaction to the characters...his smile is worth the cost of the trip! (Easy for me to say, huh? )

And after your experience at Kouzzina, hooray for GOOD Disney food!

Happy Turkey Day!

 

[dawz1026]

Oh Dawn I know how you feel about losing a wallet! I left my Pocketbook (over 6 credut cards and 2000 in cash) at the Gorilla viewing area once. I was feeding my son at the time he was just 10 months. I did not realize until we got to Tusker House. My husband ran through the park like Mike Brady on the Brady Bunch episode when they switched posters lol..needless to say it was right at Customer Relations Desk because an honest diser found it! AMEN!

The pic of the three of you is gorgeous! Seth is smiling so beautifully..bless his lil soul

 

[Poolrat]

I have done Cape May for dinner but need to find a time to get breakfast in.


The lost wallet. Holy cow I hada similar episode with just a credit card. It really was the cashiers fault ( OK and mine to for not double checking). I see that almost everyone has teh habit of handing you the receipt and the card back at the same time. I had my receipt but she never handed my card back. That should be coming up soon in my TR.

 

[MeMom]

What a great picture! I am so glad Seth took to the characters. It makes it so much easier for picture-taking. Brooklynn was not afraid or hesitant, either. We didn't have to do the coaxing with her that we have had to do with Bella. We're hoping this coming trip is the one that sees Bella doing things a lot easier.

Cape May breakfast is so good! We had great character fun, too, and it's a 'do again' for us, as well. We're trying to get to every place once, though, or at least almost every place. We repeat some, but when you do that too much, then you can't get new places in. It's tough.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your guys!

 

[mouseketeer70]

Glad to see Seth loving the characters! I understand when you say you would cry if he cried. I'm the same way. You want them to feel the "magic" too.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Dawn! Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful! Looks like a great Breakfast at Cape May! I'm so happy Seth liked the Characters - good DIS baby!

It's so great some honest person turned in your wallet! Nice to hear there are still good people around!

 

[mickeyfan71]

I agree about the look on Santas face-that picture is priceless!
Glad Seth was good with the characters. I love the family pic of y'all with Minnie. It is adorable!

 

[fitgirl36]

Seth's Santa pictures are funny! We haven't taken Lily to see Santa yet. Last year she was still too young (well in my opinion because I'm a germaphob! Of course had to let a lot of that go when she started putting EVERYTHING in her mouth! Lol!) the picture of your family with Minnie is awesome! Seth's smile is so genuine like I'm at WDW and I couldn't be happier! Can't wait to read more!

 

[reelmom]

Great update. Seth does so good with the characters. I love the family picture with Minnie. It is awesome.

 

[shannon47142]

Love the Santa Pictures!!

The door noise would have scared me too!! Fun update!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving, Dawn! Seth grinning at the characters makes me smile pretty big, too! So glad he liked them!