31 Weeks Pregnant + 4 YO = Awesome Trip (Jan 2012)

[glk2009]

Not our first trip, but this is my first trip report, so bear with me!

This trip was a late celebration for DD’s 4th birthday and a last hurrah for her before she becomes a big sister. I was traveling at 31 weeks pregnant and both DH and DD were awesome dealing with a sometimes-waddling me.


DAY 1 - Saturday, Jan 21

We woke up DD at 3:30 am for the drive to the airport. Our flight was at 6 am and we avoided the snowfall that was supposed to start at 7 am. Whew! DD was awesome on the plane… she loves to fly. We landed in Orlando on time at 9:15 am and without much of a wait, DME took us to the Contemporary. I had completed online check-in and our room was ready! Our room had an awesome view of the Seven Seas Lagoon and Magic Kingdom.

After we got settled and DD did her requisite jumping on the bed (only allowed in hotels!), we were off to DHS. I knew it was a long shot, but we went by TSM to check out the FP situation (all gone for the day) and the line was 60 minutes. So, instead, we did an about-face and went to meet Buzz and Woody, which had a very short line. I love Disney lines – they keep you so entertained and busy. Even though DD said she wasn’t interested in lunch, I knew that we needed to stop for lunch before one of us had a meltdown.

We had lunch at Hollywood Vine & Dine. And the only reason we were going there was to meet Jake! I know, we could have gone to his meet & greet, but I figured we needed food either way. And for this trip, we were on the DxDP, so we had credits and more credits to use. DD started out a little shy but warmed up to Jake and was pretty silly with him.

After lunch, we were in time for the Beauty & the Beast show. I’ve decided that DHS is a great place to be pregnant. Lots of shows where you can sit down and take a break! DD has shown an affinity for shows, so next up was the Muppets 3D Vision show… they really need to make kid-sized 3D glasses, those things would not stay on her little face! And then, we walked back for the Little Mermaid show. We weren’t very efficient with our path, but it worked for us!

On yet another loop through the Streets of America, we went back to see Lighting McQueen and Tow Mater and there was no line. We had passed by once before but DD was adamant about going to see the Muppets. She definitely knows her own mind.

DH went on Star Tours, while DD and I arranged her flat penny collection into her new penny book. It’s amazing how much she loved the flat pennies.

It was time for us to leave for our Chef Mickey’s ressie and DD zonked out in her stroller as we were walking out of the park. She managed to stay awake from 3:30 am to 5:00 pm! She napped for a short while in her stroller and then in DH’s arms on the bus ride back to the resort.

DD woke up when we arrived at the Contemporary and we stopped in our room for a short break before dinner. We really enjoyed Chef Mickey’s… DD loved the characters and she was totally fresh with Donald. She kept running away from him when he would ask for a hug. For her birthday, they brought out two cupcakes for her and they gave her a special placemat that was signed by all of the characters. Not only did they celebrate her birthday with us, they were fantastic with her food allergies.

After dinner, we went upstairs to watch the fireworks from our room. That was awesome! After the show was over, DD wanted to go to the park and “stay up late,” but we didn't let her. She’s a nut! Instead, it was time for bed so that Sunday would be just as successful!

 

[glk2009]

Our second day was an Animal Kingdom day and we started off the day with breakfast at Tusker House. DD brought her two turtle friends (Myrtle & Squirty) with her and Donald really liked Myrtle and put her on his head. After that, DD hid Squirty from him. This is one of our favorite restaurants for breakfast… maybe it’s because they have donuts! DD loved seeing Goofy, Mickey and Daisy (although, I always get the feeling that Daisy is in a rush).

While DH took DD on the safari, I people-watched. Then all of us went on Pangani Trail to look at the animals. After that, we were on a mission to find Pocahontas. We had a little trouble finding her (the CMs weren’t always the most knowledgeable), but we did find her and got into line while it was still short. DD was so excited to see Pocahontas. It was the first time we found her. Thank goodness for the Verizon Mobile Magic App! Otherwise, we probably would not have known what time she was meeting & greeting! Afterwards, we went back to the Camp Mickey-Minnie, but all of the lines were long (FOTLK had just ended!) and DD didn't want to wait in line… she said that she'd rather go on a ride, so we were off to Kali River Rapids.

I have to say that we had awesome weather! It was in the low 80s every day we were there and it was never that cold in the morning (not that we were up that early!) or the evenings. It was perfect for a water ride! DD was tall enough to ride but still needed to sit in the “princess” seat and seemed to enjoy the ride, even though she seemed a little worried after we got wet. As we were walking off the ride, she exclaimed “That was so cool!!!!” After the ride, I took her towards the bathroom to change her wet pants, but she was distracted by the splash pad area and proceeded to get completely soaked from head to toe. I love the splash pad moments… DD gets so much joy out of being sprayed by water!

We took a break and spent some snack credits at the tasty Yak & Yeti QS… those fries are delish, as were the egg rolls and fried rice. I’m amazed by what you can get with the snack credits.

Then while DH went on the Yeti ride, DD and I did her favorite thing and went shopping in the gift shop and where she picked out a rainbow Mickey bracelet. Luckily, the single rider line was quick and we weren’t shopping for too long!

Onwards to Dino Land and we rode on Tricera Top Spin and DH made it go crazy up and down. DD wanted to go again but when we saw the line, she decided she wanted to do something else. I love that she knows exactly when she wants to wait in a line and when she doesn’t. And that she figures it out before we’ve waited too long! DD really wanted to go on Primeval Whirl but you have to be 48" and she is nowhere near that height.

When we were at the next gift shop, DD made DH stop the stroller when she saw a Pascal. They showed it to me and I bought it (for me and for DD, but probably more for me). When DH told DD that it was mine and she said "Not anymore." Ha! I also bought DD a cute white sundress with pink Mickey heads on it, which I promptly left in the bag on the counter once I’d bought Pascal. I blame it on my pregnancy brain. Luckily, the CM pointed it out to me before we left the store.

We left the park and went back to our hotel for a short period. Poor DH was missing the playoff games (Go Pats!) and finally had the chance to watch a little bit of the game before we hopped on the monorail to go to dinner at 1900 Park Fare. We saw Cinderella, Prince Charming, the Stepmother and the Stepsisters. I loves those Stepsisters… we got some great pics of DD with everyone and the ones with the Stepsisters had the most personality. We didn’t leave in time to get back to our room for the fireworks but we did see them while we were on the monorail and that was pretty cool. When we got back to the resort, Sophie didn’t want to race to our room to finish watching the fireworks. She wanted to make flat pennies and go to the gift shop. Really?

When we went upstairs, I heard some loud music and looked out the window. Turns out we could see the electrical water parade from our room! I thought we could only see it on Bay Lake (not the view from our room), so that was a really nice surprise.

After catching up on some football, it was bedtime for all of us!