4 Months in the Making....a May 07 trip report

[Honeymooner04]

DISCLAIMER: This trip report was initially written with only my family as its intended audience. I was inspired to write a trip report by all the fabulously clever and witty trip reports I read on these boards and have only recently gathered the courage to post my own on the dis. I am aware that it is not as good as some and is probably as good as others. Hopefully at least one person will find it mildly entertaining....that's all I'm looking for is just one person.

Cast of characters:

Me - 29 year old professional homemaker and Disney fan (aren't we all, at least here anyway). Disney character I am most like? Donald, no explanation needed.

Husband - Jeremy, 29 year old pilot who is usually laid back. Most like Mickey I would say, everyone loves him.

Daughter - Kaitlyn, 19 months now but she was 15 months old at the time of this trip. She's the apple of my eye and seems to be most like Minnie Mouse - she's ALL girl.

And now on with the show.....

Day 1, May 6

Our trip began on a bit of a sour note. First of all, it began at the unholy hour of 2:15 in the morning which is enough to make any day really bad. We had to get up that early to make our 5 am departure. Now you may be asking yourself why in the name of all that is good would you book a flight that left at 5 in the morning. Well my theory was that it would be SO early in the morning that Kaitlyn would sleep all the way to Houston and then be in her usual peachy mood on the last leg to Orlando. This would prove not to be the case. We were able to get up and out the door with no problem, the trouble started when we pulled up to the airport and noticed that Kaitlyn had somehow spilled her entire sippy cup of milk all over herself, her car seat, and the car. She was literally dripping with milk. Crisis! We checked our luggage with the most unhelpful skycap EVER and Jeremy left to go park the car in the employee parking lot so we wouldn’t have to fork over the cash to pay for parking. We’re cheap like that. Meanwhile I carried a very wet, cranky Kaitlyn into the airport to change her into a pair of new pajamas that I had grabbed from a suitcase before we checked it. Kaitlyn was in no mood for this by the way. I managed to get her changed and cleaned up as best I could and we went outside security to wait for Jeremy, and wait, and wait. He decided to take her carseat apart and rinse everything with water before coming to back up to the terminal which in hindsight proved to be a good idea since it minimized the stench in the car after sitting in 100 degree heat for a week but I was freaking out that we were going to miss our flight. If I have to get up at 2:15 I’m going to make that flight!!! He finally sauntered into the terminal after I sent him a few rather demanding text messages to hurry the hades up and we made it through security on to the gate as they were boarding. Whew!

I was hoping as we boarded that the drama of the day was over and our vacation could begin but this again would prove not to be the case. Kaitlyn decided at this moment in time that she no longer enjoyed air travel and was going to let everyone within earshot know. Fabulous. She finally accepts the fact that she is in fact strapped in for the long haul and settles in for the first 45 minutes of the flight. It is at this time that I notice that I reek of milk. Apparently I had gotten more of Kaitlyn’s mess on me than I thought. Wonderful. To all who might have been sitting near me on Continental Flight 342 that day, I am truly sorry. Note to self, for future travels carry a change of clothes for Kaitlyn AND you. Duly noted. Like I mentioned, Kaitlyn awoke 45 minutes into the flight and was again having nothing to do with this whole airplane ride thing. She didn’t want to watch her movie, eat raisins, read books, or any of the usual things that will occupy her. Out of desperation, Jeremy got her up and took her to the rear of the plane and she proceeded to charm the flight attendants and entertain them for 15 minutes or so. Once we began our decent into Houston Kaitlyn was forced back into her prison that was 6F and decided to again let the entire plane know how much she disliked air travel. So the travelers in my immediate vicinity were treated to the vocal stylings of yours truly as I tried to sing her into a tranquil state. Oddly enough it worked and even though I sing horrifically, even when I whisper, it was much more pleasant than Kaitlyn’s wails.

We landed in Houston and since we had a tight connection we made a quick check of the reader board and began hot footing it to the terminal where our flight to Orlando SUPPOSEDLY was. I say supposedly because when we got there, our gate was going to Vancouver not Orlando and not one freaking gate had anyone that would let us know the correct gate and the reader boards were still showing the incorrect gate. Oh my gosh could this day get any richer? We finally managed to ascertain the correct gate which conveniently was NEXT DOOR to our arriving gate so we again haul our heinies back over there to arrive just as they were boarding. It is now that I really have to question air travel at all, I mean Jeremy and I are seasoned travelers and if we’re running around like chickens with our heads cut off what are the poor schmucks who never travel doing? Luckily our flight to Orlando went much smoother, less the debacle of changing Kaitlyn’s diaper in the bathroom of a 757 on a changing table meant for a doll but what are you going to do? It was either that or experience Kaitlyn’s Mess of the Day 2.0. Here is a cute picture of Kaitlyn on the plane on our arrival to Orlando.

Once we get off of the plane in Orlando, I change Kaitlyn into capris and a tank top because it is both hot AND humid and we make our way to baggage claim. Our driver from Florida Tours car service was there waiting with his sign for “Honeymooner04” (not really but you get the idea). I love this. It makes me feel like a movie star when I see a driver standing there waiting to take me somewhere and for me is a much needed respite from a day of traveling. Our driver helps us get our luggage and escorts us to the upper level where he loads our luggage while I get Kaitlyn strapped into her car seat, again. She’s ok with it this time however because our nice driver has a Disney video going and she’s happy as a clam. The nice advantage of using a car service, besides the movie star at the airport feeling, is that they provide a free grocery stop on the way to the resort so I left Kaitlyn and Jeremy in the car watching Disney videos while I ran into the Publix grocery store and got some essentials for our week like milk, pop, bottled water, fresh fruit for Kaitlyn, and breakfast fixins for Jeremy and I. I was in and out of the grocery store in record time and we were on our way to Disney! It wasn’t long before we passed under the Welcome to Walt Disney World arch and I finally felt like we were “home”! It’s no secret that I love Disney World and refer to it as my happy place. For whatever reason, once we pass under that arch all the worries of the world disappear and we automatically relax. Ahh, vacation!

We arrived at our resort and I check in while a lovely cast member bestowed copious amounts of Mickey stickers on Kaitlyn’s shirt. She was in hog heaven. Check in was relatively painless and although we had to wait a little while for bell services to get their act together and take us for a ride on a stretch golf cart to our room it wasn’t horrible, we were at Disney after all. This was the first trip we stayed at the Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa and it definitely will not be our last. It is an absolutely beautiful resort. It actually reminded Jeremy and I of the neighborhood I lived at in Ashburn, Virginia with the little paths winding along side the little ponds. We stayed in the Paddock section, room 6143 to be exact which turned out to be a great location. I initially thought we would be too far from the action so to speak but it ended up being in our favor. We didn’t hear anyone at all during our entire stay and we were only a couple of minute walk from the bus stop and a 15 minute stroll to Downtown Disney.

When we finally reached our room we crashed, it had been a very long day and all three of us were in need of a good nap. Kaitlyn required some convincing but she eventually conked out too. I awoke at around 5:15 which was a good thing because we had reservations at the Turf Club Bar & Grille at the resort at 5:40. I got everyone up, fixed ourselves up a bit and were out the door. We did get to the restaurant a few minutes late but we were seated immediately. We were super impressed with the entire experience. The food was spectacular. We split a steamed mussels appetizer that was fantastic. It was steamed in a white wine sauce with applewood smoked bacon and the bacon really added a delicious background to the sauce. Jeremy had the Prime Rib which he described as “to die for” and Kaitlyn and I shared a free range chicken breast stuffed with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese with a balsamic reduction sauce. It was out of this world. With our tummies very full and very happy we decided to walk over to Downtown Disney since Kaitlyn was in a happy mood and check things out down there. We walked around for a bit, peeked in a few stores and then decided to make it an early evening so we would be fresh and rearing to conquer the “World” tomorrow. Kaitlyn again needed some convincing, so much so that she ended up sleeping in our bed that night which meant no one but Kaitlyn slept well. She’s a bit of a thrasher when she sleeps but she was absolutely adamant that she did not want to sleep in her play pen. Thankfully she got used to her new surroundings by the second night so we didn’t have to spend the rest of the week with Kaitlyn the Toddler Tornado in our bed.

 

[Honeymooner04]

Day 2, May 7

Kaitlyn woke us up for good at around 8 the next morning. She was chipper and happily ate a banana and drank her milk while everyone got ready to go to the Magic Kingdom. It’s tradition that we spend the first day of our Disney vacation in the Magic Kingdom. You are not officially at Disney until you see that castle. So once everyone was sufficiently slathered with SPF 50 off we went. Here is a cute picture of Kaitlyn waiting for the busstop wearing her Minnie Mouse ears.

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom, did the requisite bag check, passed through the turnstiles and there we were on Mainstreet U.S.A. admiring Cinderella’s castle. Kaitlyn was totally into the whole experience, pointing at every cool thing she saw and turning around in her stroller to make sure we saw it too. We oohed and aahed at the castle, the traditional happy tear rolled down my cheek and we made our way over to Fantasyland. The first thing we saw in Fantasyland that there was absolutely no wait for Snow White’s ride and I’ll ride anything that there’s not a wait for. I really like all of the dark rides though and apparently Kaitlyn is a fan as well. Every dark ride we went she pointed at everything and kept saying “Whoa” in the cutest way. After Snow White we saw that there was also no wait for the carousel and so we hopped on that ride. As an added bonus and a little bit of useless trivia we were able to find Cinderella’s horse on the carousel and that’s the one Kaitlyn rode on. You can tell that it’s Cindy’s horse because it’s the only one with a gold ribbon on the tail. Now you’re prepared for the Random Disney Trivia category on Jeopardy. Once the carousel ride was over it was almost time for the show at the front of the castle so we made our way out of Fantasyland so Kaitlyn could get her first character fix of the trip. The show was really cute and Kaitlyn was eating it up, especially when the pyrotechnics went off at the finale. She clapped as hard and fervently as any adult - she was definitely impressed!

After the show we walked around the park a bit and made a stop at the baby care center for a diaper change before we checked in for our lunch reservations at the Crystal Palace. Lunch at the Crystal Palace has become a tradition as well, we always really like the food and you can’t beat having lunch with Pooh and his friends. We were seated within 10 minutes and met most of the characters right off the bat. I will say that the character interaction wasn’t as good as it has been on previous trips. They spent a minimum of time with Kaitlyn and then moved on to other tables. It was fine, Kaitlyn obviously didn’t care but I definitely noticed a decrease from previous visits. The food was great though and it is what will keep us coming back. It’s a buffet and while we’re normally not buffet people we really enjoy the Disney buffets, the food is always fresh and certainly on a higher level than the Golden Corrals and the Ryans of the world. Yummy. After a filling lunch for the three of us Kaitlyn enjoyed a bit of a snooze in her stroller while Jeremy and I walked along and checked out the park. We picked up a Fast Pass for the Winnie the Pooh ride for later when Kaitlyn was awake.

Once Kaitlyn awoke from her nap we saw the Tiki Bird show which she ate up! She loved the birds! After the Tiki birds we let Kaitlyn play in Pooh’s Thoughtful Spot which is this great playground for the little kids. It’s themed adorably and has this ingenious rubbery ground cover made to look like a forest floor. I wish the playgrounds around here had that! Kaitlyn ran off some energy climbing through honey pots and in Pooh’s treehouse and in keeping with the Pooh theme we went and used our fast passes for the Winnie the Pooh ride. Kaitlyn adored this ride! She recognized all her favorite Pooh characters and actually got a little upset when the ride was over. She kept signing “More! More!” At this point we were pretty worn out and decided to head back to the resort for a rest. We had reservations for dinner at Tony’s Town Square that evening and wanted everyone to be in a good mood for that so back home we went.

After our rest at the hotel we headed back to the Magic Kingdom and checked out some of the shops on Main Street while we waited for our reservations at Tony’s. I bought a Donald Duck pin to add to my collection and Kaitlyn got me a Mother’s Day pin to wear because she’s sweet like that. When it was time for our reservations we checked in and were seated within just a couple of minutes. The restaurant was packed with people trying to eat there as walk-ins and they were being told it was a 45 minute to an hour wait. Thank goodness for all my planning! Our dinner at Tony’s was fabulous. We discovered that Kaitlyn has a penchant for calamari of all things. The appetizer we ordered ended up being Kaitlyn’s main course! Who knew? Jeremy had some sort of eggplant manicotti dish that he said was good, just not enough. I had the chicken florentina which was delicious. I’ve been on a hunt for that recipe since we’ve been home. Kaitlyn was a little fussy at the end of dinner so we decided to forego the dessert and get a treat that evening in the parks.

After our wonderful dinner we headed back over to Adventureland to ride some of the rides there and on our way we discovered that Kaitlyn is fascinated by ducks. She was so excited and once we told her that they were ducks she picked up the word duck immediately. From that moment on every duck she saw she would sit straight up in her stroller, point, and say “Duck!”. Too cute. She was a little less than happy to leave the ducks but we convinced her we would see ducks later on, either that or she got distracted enough that she forgot! We rode Pirates of the Caribbean and she did so well on that ride that we rode Peter Pan, It’s a Small World and the Haunted Mansion in quick succession. The Spectromagic parade was going on so all of the rides had little to no wait which is exactly how I like it! It was getting late and we were all started to get tired so we began our journey out of the Magic Kingdom. We had to take the long way around the castle because of the parade and ended up passing by Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters which also had no wait and decided what the heck, one more ride and we’ll call it a night. Jeremy really gets into this ride because he’s so competitive and Kaitlyn got into this ride because she had a joystick to play around with. All was fine and dandy until Jeremy’s competitive side took over and he moved Kaitlyn’s joystick to move the car. Oh the horror! Kaitlyn was ticked! I just laughed!

After Kaitlyn’s failure at sharing her joystick we really did leave the park. It had been a fun day and we wanted to get home early because we had reservations for breakfast the next morning. We were all exhausted and everyone fell asleep as soon as we got home!

 

[Honeymooner04]

Day 3, May 8

The next day we woke up early and headed to the Animal Kingdom for our breakfast reservations at Donald’s Breakfastasaurus. This was our least favorite meal of our entire stay, part of which is our fault because neither of us (Jeremy and I) really enjoy breakfast buffetts and part of the fault is that food wasn’t very good. It appears that we are not the only ones that feel this way since Donald’s Breakfastasaurus is soon going the way of the dinosaurs and will be closed this fall. Anyway, bad food aside we had fun. Kaitlyn enjoyed seeing the characters and we did get a cute family picture out of it!

After breakfast we headed over to Expedition Everest to get fast passes for later in the day only to discover that they weren’t doing fast passes on Everest that day, oh well Jeremy just hopped in the single rider line and was done in about 15 minutes and then it was my turn. I hate roller coasters by the way but Jeremy insisted that I ride this again because when I rode it in December I had my eyes closed the entire time and didn’t see the yeti which Jeremy said I just had to see so on Everest I went. The single rider line went very quickly and before I was really able to prepare myself I was on a train in the Himalayas. I did manage to keep my eyes open and yes I did see the yeti but I was done for the rest of the day. I felt like I had shaken baby syndrome and just felt “off”which is not one of my favorite feelings.

After my shaken not stirred experience on Expedition Everest the three of us took off in search of something tamer that Kaitlyn could partake in as well. We passed the Flights of Wonder show that was just getting ready to start and decided to watch the show. I was releived because it meant I could sit down and I thought Kaitlyn would enjoy the birds. She had been kind of fussy and I attributed that to the fact that there is not much for little ones to “do” in the Animal Kingdom as opposed to the other parks. I think she was just bored and tired of sitting in her stroller. She did enjoy the birds though and Jeremy and I enjoyed the show. After Flights of Wonder we headed off to the baby care center to let Kaitlyn run around and get some restless energy out so she could take a nap. She successfully ran around and did expend some restless energy but she was in no mood to nap despite our best efforts. Since Kaitlyn appeared in no mood to nap we hopped on board the train to Rafiki’s planet watch which Kaitlyn seemed to really enjoy. It further supports my theory in that she wanted things to “do” and not just watch. We explored the “Affection Section” (I just love that name) and Kaitlyn got in some good bonding with some goats, sheep and donkeys. She loved it.

After the Affection Section we took a few minutes to look in the building adjacent to the animals and had I not had a energetic toddler whose main mission in life was to run I would have really enjoyed looking at the exhibits. They had a veternarian explaining what she was doing to help a tortoise that had been hit by a car. The tortoise even had an IV in and I found the whole thing fascinating. It was apparently really interesting only to those over 3 feet tall and since Kaitlyn wasn’t into it we just let her run around in the open area since it was nice and air conditioned in there. It was hot and humid that day and our Arizona acclimated selves were not weathering well in the high humidity. We watched Kaitlyn run around in the semi-kid friendly area and then tradgedy struck. Kaitlyn ran head first into a hand rail attached to a glass wall and the thunk of her head hitting the rail literally echoed in the room. My heart skipped a beat as I ran to rescue her and the only thing going through my head was “Oh my God, she’s really hurt, we’re going to have to go to the hospital, did I pack our insurance card, vacation’s over”. Well apparently her head is as hard as her mother’s and as soon as I picked her up and gave her a once over she was wiggling to get down and run around some more. We decided that this last bit of excitement was enough for one day and that it was time to head back to the resort.

On our trek back to the entrance Kaitlyn FINALLY fell asleep and instead of waking her up to get on the bus we decided to just walk around the Animal Kingdom and take some pictures. This is such a beautiful park and is really well done. It will be nice to do once Kaitlyn is older and able to experience more of it.

Kaitlyn took about a 30-45 minute nap and we she woke up we really did head out of the park to go back to the resort. Once we exited the park we saw a few characters standing outside the entrance and we met the characters with the shortest line, Stanley from some old Playhouse Disney show that I don’t even think they show anymore and some monkey from some Disney movie that I apparently haven’t seen. Kaitlyn like them though and that’s all that counts!

We got in line for the bus back to the resort and waited and waited and waited for the bus. This was the longest we had to wait our entire stay but Kaitlyn befriended the nice family behind us and we chatted with them while we waited and waited for the bus. When we got back to the resort at about 3 everybody crashed. It had been a long tiring day and everyone, especially me, needed a nap.

We woke up refreshed a couple of hours later in time to head over to Downtown Disney for our reservations at Raglan Road Irish pub. We casually strolled over to the walkway to Downtown Disney with our eyes peeled for ducks to show Kaitlyn. Everyone was in a great mood since we had such a good nap! We checked in for our reservations and were seated almost immediately. Jeremy and I decided to share a Flight of Beer which was a lot of fun. The four beers we sampled were Guiness, Harp, Murphy’s Red and some other Ale that I can’t remember. The Fllight of Beer served two purposes however, it proved to Jeremy that I don’t like Guiness and it proved to me that I do like red beer which I had never had the courage to try. Good to know!

Jeremy and I split an appetizer of “Dalkey Duo” which was fantastic, Kaitlyn also enjoyed this. In case you don’t know what Dalkey Duo is and I didn’t it’s deep friend cocktail sausages with a delicious mustard sauce. Yummy and not as greasy as it sounds. For our entrees, Jeremy had the Paddy’s Pork which he said was really good and I had the “It’s Not Bleedin Chowder” which was good but not the best I have ever had. The salmon was very good but everything else was just good. Kaitlyn had the chicken kids entree which was eaten almost entirely by her which is about as good of a review as you can get from a 14 month old. Sufficiently stuffed and satisfied from our Irish cuisine we walked around Downtown Disney for a bit and then decided to call it an early night and head back to the resort. If it sounds like we didn’t have a good second day at Disney World we really did but it was the least fun days that we had while at Disney World. We did learn some valuable lessons that we applied to the rest of our trip that helped make our trip more fun most notably is to quit when we were ahead as far as Kaitlyn’s naps went and for me to avoid roller coasters at all costs. Duly noted!

 

[Honeymooner04]

Day 4, May 9

Our day on Wednesday began uneventfully and we made it to MGM Studios at 9:30 in the morning when we realized we forgot to feed ourselves and our daughter. Bad parents! We went to Starring Rolls cafe and got Kaitlyn a banana and some milk and bagels and a pastry for Jeremy and I. We had a leisurely breakfast on a bench and when we were all reasonably full we headed over to Playhouse Disney so Kaitlyn could get her groove on. This show is made for Kaitlyn. You sit on the floor and watch this cute puppet show and every once in a while you get up and dance and Kaitlyn really gets into it. I mean really. She shakes her money maker like the best of them! It’s so cute to watch. After the Playhouse Disney show we wandered back towards the center of the park and we see Tigger and Pooh bear coming out to meet guests so we hopped in line very quickly and only had to wait a couple of minutes to see our friends from the Hundred Acre Wood.

By this point Kaitlyn was ready for her nap so she and I window shopped at a couple of stores and Jeremy rode the Rock-n-Roller coaster on the two fast passes we picked up right after we got to the park. I came to Disney World on this trip convinced I was going to finally brave this roller coaster because Jeremy raves about it so much but after yesterday’s trauma on Expedition Everest I passed. One roller coaster ride per trip is enough, maybe I’ll ride it on our next trip. Jeremy finished his adrenilin rush just as Kaitlyn was drifiting off to sleep so he and I decided to wander around the park to keep the stroller moving so Kaitlyn would take a good nap and be in a great mood for our character lunch. While we were wandering we came across Buzz Lightyear and Woody from the Toy Story movies just hanging around with absolutely NOONE around so Jeremy and I recreated some of our honeymoon pictures and took pictures with the characters sans Kaitlyn. I know she’ll be disappointed she didn’t get to meet those guys! About this time I came to the realization that after 3 days in the Florida sun I had burnt my head. I really wish they could make a non greasy sunscreen for the top of your head but since they don’t I bought a discreetly Disney hat for my noggin. I always do this, it’s kind of a vacation tradition that I burn my head and buy a new hat. One of these days I’ll remember to bring one of my hats from home and to suck up my pride and grease my head up with sunscreen.

Kaitlyn woke up just as I was paying for my hat and since we were right next to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground we let Kaitlyn run around and explore to kill a little time before our lunch. Disney is ingenious for building these playgrounds in the parks. Kaitlyn had an absolute ball climbing all over the supersized plant leaves and hoping on a giant ant. The floor had that great rubber floor covering so even when she ran a little faster than she really has the ability for she didn’t bust it too bad

By this time it was almost time for our lunch reservations so we made a quick pit stop at the baby care center for a diaper change and then checked in for lunch. We actually had quite a wait which Kaitlyn handled well at first. She seemed to be as amazed as Jeremy and I were at the woman sitting across from us who let her 5 or 6 year old daughter play and repeatedly drop her $1000 camera. Once the apparently uber-rich family’s table was ready we no longer had anything to entertain us and Kaitlyn became a little restless. Restless enough for Jeremy of all people to ask when our table was going to be ready. He must have been really hungry or really tired of entertaining Kaitlyn with raisins either way whatever he said to the hostess worked and we were quickly seated. Our lunch was worth the wait though. I had really been looking forward to this lunch for Kaitlyn since all of the characters were from the Playhouse Disney shows she watches all the time on the Disney channel. She had JoJo and Goliath and Leo and June from The Little Einsteins sign her storybooks and she posed for pictures with all of them. I wish she would get into the moment and actually smile for the pictures but she is just so amazed at the characters she sees that we get more of a mouth open in amazement look than a smile. She’s absolutely ecstatic though and keeps her eyes on them for as long as they’re nearby. It’s so cute to watch! The only thing better than the characters at this meal was the food! It’s a buffett and like I’ve said many a times before we are not buffett people but for Disney we make an exception. They had a seafood alfredo pasta that was the best alfredo I have ever had. Jeremy and I both went up for at least seconds and Kaitlyn went to town on the broccoli, green beans and rotisserie chicken.

Ridiculously overstuffed and a little exhausted we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest and relaxation. Kaitlyn took a little nap and Jeremy read his book on the patio. I went and explored the resort with my camera and took some pictures of the resort. I love taking pictures this way without anyone offering suggestions on aperatures or shots to take. It was a good afternoon for me!

Once I got back to the room we let Kaitlyn sleep a littlle more and Jeremy and I just relaxed and talked on the patio. I really liked being on the ground floor because we had the stroller but it would be nice when we’re stroller free to be on an upper floor with a balcony....maybe next time! When Kaitlyn woke up refreshed and rearing to go we freshened up and headed to Epcot for the evening. We got there at about 6 and had time to explore The Seas with Nemo and Friends before it closed at 7. Kaitlyn REALLY got into this. She loved the aquariums and seeing all the fish and we could have spent a lot more time in there but since Kaitlyn had just woken up from her nap she was a little energetic and we thought it would be better for everyone if we took her someplace that didn’t echo quite as much as a quiet aquarium. Translation: she was being very loud, thankfully it was in a cute way and not a bratty way but loud nevertheless. Since it was close to 7 and everything in Future World was closing we headed over to the World Showcase to ride the newly refurbished Rio del Tiempo in the Mexico pavilion. I knew Kaitlyn would love this ride because she loves boat rides and I was excited to see the changes they made with Donald Duck since he is my favorite Disney character of all time. It was cute and exceeded my expectations. Kaitlyn also seemed impressed.

At this point we decided that we were all starving and so we meandered over to England for some fish and chips. While Jeremy waited in line for our supper Kaitlyn and I examined a few of the topiaries in place for Epcot’s Flower and Garden festival.

Absolutely stunning. Seeing these topiaries definately inspired me to keep trying to get my Donald topiary to grow. It would be nice if we lived somewhere more hospitable to gardening because I would really like to try my hand at it. Maybe someday! We ate our fish and chips with the requisite malt vinegar (fabulous by the way) and Kaitlyn enjoyed her first sip of Coke (also judged as fabulous) and since it was getting dark we decided we should try and stake out a good place to watch Illuminations that night. We settled on a spot conveniently located next to a stand that sold funnel cakes of all things. What are the odds? I got a funnel cake “to share” and Jeremy got some fancy coffee concoction and we spent a lovely 20-30 minutes sitting on the ground looking over the lake at the giant golf ball enjoying our treats. For those of you wondering, Kaitlyn did not particularly enjoy the funnel cake because of the powdered sugar. She has gotten very particular lately about the texture and messiness of her food and tends to avoid things that are sticky and so she missed out on the wonder that is the funnel cake. I however have no texture issues with food and enjoyed every bit of the funnel cake. Yummy!

It was about time for Illuminations to begin so we disposed of our garbage, stood against our prime real estate of the fence and waited patiently for the fireworks again. Kaitlyn managed to sleep through every single fireworks performance we took her to on our December trip and we were anxious to see how she would like react to the fireworks this trip. She did not disappoint. She jumped a little at the first couple of explosions but was absolutely enthralled for the rest of the performance. She cheered at the major explosions, oohed and aahed and whoaed with the crowd and when it came time for the grand finale she cheered and clapped more excidedly than I had ever seen her. It was my second favorite moment of our entire trip, my favorite moment being when we saw the Wishes! fireworks performance the next day. Those two moments alone made the entire trip worthwhile, I only wish the light would have been better and I could have captured her face on film. Oh well, it’s burned in my brain. After the fireworks Jeremy and I wiped away our happy tears and began the long journey back to the resort. I had the bright idea that we should walk to the Boardwalk resort and catch a bus to Downtown Disney and then walk from Downtown Disney back to our resort. This was a dumb idea. It ended up taking us longer to go my route than it would have been if we had just walked with the other ten thousand people to the bus stops at Epcot. Oh well, yet another thing we learned on this trip that we can apply to our future excursions to Disney. We ended up not getting back to the resort until almost 10:30 and we all immediately crashed out of pure exhaustion.

 

[Honeymooner04]

Day 5, May 9

Thursday morning we headed back to Epcot to take in more of the Flower and Garden Festival as well as our favorite Epcot attractions. I will have to say that we really enjoyed going to Disney in early May. The crowds were light, the weather was perfect and the show Epcot puts on with the Flower and Garden festival is definitely worth seeing. The topiaries were simply breathtaking. Unfortunately my little point and shoot camera had a hard time exposing the pictures since there was a lot of smoke in the air from the Florida wildfires so my pictures came out less than stunning. Oh well, guess we’ll have to go back next year! We started out our day in Epcot with Ellen’s Energy ride. We got to the attraction just before the next show began and just in time to hear a cast member say that this ride was something like 40 minutes long. We’ve been on this ride several times before and I don’t remember it being that long but apparently it is and always has been. Jeremy and I gave each other a look questioning our decision to take Kaitlyn on this ride but we went ahead and picked a seat hoping for the best. We shouldn’t have worried. Kaitlyn loved the part with the dinosaurs and since she is a TV fiend was really impressed with the huge wrap around video screens.

When our 40 minute energy conservation lesson was over Jeremy said that he was in the need for speed so he headed over to Mission Space for his cosmic adventure and Kaitlyn and I strolled around admiring all the topiaries and special gardening exhibits. Kaitlyn even tried to take a flower home with her so we got to have our first of many I’m sure “Look but don’t touch” lessons.

When Jeremy was safely back on earth he text messaged me and we met up and made our way over to the Land Pavilion. On our way we came across this percussion group playing entirely on garden supplies like terra cotta flower pots, trash cans and such. It was really impressive and Kaitlyn was so into it. She was bouncing along to the beat and clapping her hands and having a grand ole time. After the impromtu percussion performance we made it to the Land pavilion in hopes of riding the boat ride before our lunch reservations at The Garden Grille in the same building but there was a 40 minute wait and none of us were up for that long of a wait. I went upstairs to the restaurant hoping we might be able to check in early for lunch and we were lucky enough to be able to be seated immediately. The Garden Grille is the restaurant that revolves around these different nature scenes and also features Pluto, Chip & Dale, and Mickey Mouse in farming clothes. The food is family style and is actually really good. I really like the catfish and Jeremy is fond of the steak. Kaitlyn enoyed both! We met all the characters and they each spent a good amount of time with Kaitlyn which she just ate up. Good times!

After lunch we walked around Future World for a while. We caught one of the fountain performances which Kaitlyn was really into and I suddenly remembered that there was a place in Epcot where Disney Visa cardmembers could get a free 5X7 picture of themselves with the characters so we scampered over to the building where I was read you could do this at. We got to the little roped off area and there was already a line of maybe 5 people to go in and we thought that 5 people shouldn’t really take that long and we should take advantage of something free at Disney. Disclaimer: I was actually the only one in our party that cared anything about the free 5X7 picture, Jeremy thought it was a waste of time and Kaitlyn was too tired to care. The 5 people ahead of us literally took forever. Kaitlyn was getting fussier and fussier as the minutes dragged on and Jeremy was getting more and more irritated. But I wouldn’t budge because we were SO close and I really wanted my free 5X7 picture. Well Kaitlyn and Jeremy would have the last laugh as she, for the first and only time in her life, fell asleep in my arms while standing when we were the next people in line. I couldn’t believe it. I tried everything to keep her awake for just 5 more minutes but she was out. And snoring. So we got to meet Minnie, Mickey and Goofy all dressed up in their Year of a Million Dreams finery with Kaitlyn conked out in my arms. The characters were really cute about it though and kept telling each other to be quiet because the baby was sleeping in their own little non-talking kind of way. So here for all to see is the free picture I worked so hard to get:

After the debacle of the free 5X7 picture we put Kaitlyn in her stroller so she could nap and Jeremy and I headed off to World Showcase. Jeremy was totally irritated with me at this point so I suggested we get a fancy cocktail to relax a little bit. I have always wanted to try something called Ice Wine that I heard was sold in the Canadian pavilion so we headed over there only to look all around and not find the stand the sold Ice Wine. Oh bother! I think Jeremy is seriously going to lose it at all my female antics at this point but I just can’t pay $10 for a cocktail and not get anything special or out of the ordinary. We keep walking and when we get to France I notice that they have these alcoholic slushee things and I decide that an alcoholic slushee is special and enough out of the ordinary to spend $10 on. So I get this Grey Goose Limon vodka slushee and Jeremy gets this boring glass of pinot noir. Success. We sip our respective beverages as we continue to stroll through the World Showcase and things do relax a little bit! Kaitlyn wakes up just in time to watch a colonial style group play American songs in the American pavilion which was really quite entertaining. We stay and watch and then decide to call it a day and head back to the hotel to really rest and recharge. On our way out though we decide to look up our Leave a Legacy tile that we had done on our honeymoon. We always mean to look it up but this is the first time we have actually gotten to see it.

We spent the rest of the afternoon resting in the hotel room and decided to head to the Magic Kingdom that evening to see Wishes. When we got to the park we discovered that I had committed a serious mother faux pas by forgetting Kaitlyn’s Nuby cup. Now she can drink out of a cup, out of a straw, even out of a hose but for serious hydration Kaitlyn wants her Nuby cup, no exceptions. Rather than go all the way back to the resort we decide to make Kaitlyn tough it out. I went to a gift shop and bought her a $7 Minnie Mouse sippy cup but she was having none of that. It was just not my day! I don’t think Jeremy had yet fully forgiven me for my earlier transgressions and this did not help my case at all. We were pretty hungry so we stopped at Columbia Harbour House for some pretty delicious sandwiches and Kaitlyn continued to express her anger that I forgot the precious Nuby cup. We finished dinner and tried to distract Kaitlyn from her Nuby withdrawal by playing in Pooh’s Thoughtful Spot. She started looking a little tired so I started working at getting her to take a short nap in her stroller and boy was it work. She wasn’t going to let me off the hook for forgetting her Nuby cup. She finally dozed off and Jeremy and I walked around the Magic Kingdom and pick up some fast passes for later on in the evening. Kaitlyn woke up just as it was getting dark and as the crowds were thinning out for the Spectromagic parade. We took advantage of this and rode pretty much all of the Fantasyland rides with no wait. We even got to ride Dumbo which always seems to have a wait and she loved it. Jeremy kept making our elephant go up and down really fast which was making me a little sick but Kaitlyn squealed in delight. It appears she will be a roller coaster fan just like her daddy!

After Dumbo we headed for the front of the castle to watch Wishes. We managed to find a decent spot even though we got there with only a few minutes before the fireworks began. Jeremy insisted that he got to hold Kaitlyn since I had held her for Illuminations the night before so I handed her over just as the first “star” shot across the sky which immediately started the water works. I LOVE this show! It epitomizes why I love Disney more than anything else at Disney World and to get to watch Kaitlyn enjoy it with us was a truly magical moment. She LOVED it and I really can’t emphasize that enough. She kept saying Whoa over and over and her eyes were transfixed on the show before us. And when it was time for the finale she was so excited and she clapped and she cheered and it was one of my favorite moments of my entire life. A lady with the family standing next to us said that it was “a Hallmark moment if I have ever seen one”. And it really was. Once the fireworks were over Jeremy and I had to take a moment to collect ourselves because we were both crying so much that it had exceeded being a little embarrassing. Once we regained our composure we headed home to the hotel. What had started out being kind of an annoying day ended up being pretty amazing.

 

[Honeymooner04]

Day 6, May 10

On our last full day at Disney World we had but one goal to accomplish: to get Kaitlyn’s first haircut at the Barbershop on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom. So we got up and headed over to the Harmony Barbershop to turn our somewhat shaggy headed baby girl into a perfectly coiffed little girl. We got to the barbershop to find about 4 people in front of us and according to the two women that worked there, this was a “short line” which is good because this line is the slowest in all of Disney World. Jeremy walked with Kaitlyn nearby while I kept our place in line and watched 2 little boys get their first haircut that day as well. It was finally our turn and we plopped Kaitlyn up on the little barber stool and the nice barber (are they still a barber if they are a woman?) bestowed a ridiculous amount of stickers upon Kaitlyn to distract her from what was to come. The stickers seemed to work and the barberette managed to turn Kaitlyn’s shaggy mane into a cute little “do”. She even got a 1st Haircut certificate and a set of Minnie Mouse ears with “First Haircut” embroidered on the back. And the barber even put one of Kaitlyn’s locks in some tissue paper with some pixie dust for her baby book. Despite the wait it was I think the coolest way to do Kaitlyn’s first haircut. Here are a few pictures of the process...

After Kaitlyn’s morning of beauty we walked around the Magic Kingdom for a while soaking in as much of it as we could since we were leaving the next day. We took in the Country Bear’s show which I thought Kaitlyn would really be into but she was just kind of ‘ehh. I think it might have been hunger pains that kept Kaitlyn from enjoying the bears so we headed off in search of corn dogs. it’s sad but I think corn dogs are one of my all time favorite foods and I can’t possibly go to an amusement park and not have one so corn dogs for lunch it is! We got our corn dogs, chips and pops and sat in a shady spot to enjoy our lunch. With our corn dog cravings satisfied we decided to go back to the resort early and spend the rest of the day relaxing before we began our trek back to Arizona the next day.

Kaitlyn and Jeremy catnapped while I did some laundry and lounged by the quiet pool. Kaitlyn conveniently woke up when I returned and we decided to get everyone in their swimsuits and check out the big pool. We headed over to the pool area and Kaitlyn and Jeremy had a blast at the kiddie fountain. This is one of those fountains that turn off and on and Kaitlyn was so intrigued by this. She would stand over the water and get completely doused and then when the water would turn off she would act so surprised. It was really cute to watch. We spent a good bit of time at the pool until everyone was sufficiently pruny and then walked back to the room to get ready for dinner. On our walk we encountered a few ducks which of course had to be closely observed!

We showered and changed for dinner which tonight was going to be at O’hana’s at the Polynesian resort. We have never been to this restaurant but were anxious to try it since we had seen it on several Travel Channel episodes. After a rather long bus ride we finally made it to O’hana’s and were seated just as Wishes began over the Magic Kingdom. We had a table close to the window and were treated to beautiful view of the fireworks over the castle across from the lake. What a wonderful way to end our vacation!

While we were being shown to our table I saw a couple of people with drinks in real pineapples and since this was our last night of vacation I decided to get one. I was informed by our waitress that this particular drink is called the “Lapu Lapu” and it was a good choice. Now I don’t know about you but when I think of a cocktail served in a real pineapple I’m thinking that it’s going to be fruity, girly and good. Not so with the lapu lapu. It’s almost straight 151 liquor with a splash of some tropical juice and I am not kidding when I say that it burned going down. Every sip was like taking a shot and I had to chase it down with water. Jeremy doesn’t appear to believe me about the strength of my cocktail and takes a good gulp himself and ends up with bulging eyes as the lapu lapu burns his esophagus. Well it doesn’t take long until Jeremy and i are both pretty silly thanks to the lapu lapu and Kaitlyn is just eating up her parent’s silliness. Good think this is a family place and is pretty loud because the 3 of us were cackling at any little thing, especially anytime anyone said lapu lapu. Ahh good times. The food was also good.

And so our wonderful vacation in Disney World has to come to end. I treasure the memories we made on this trip very dearly and can’t wait until we can return. We’re already counting the days until our next trip. I’ve very much enjoyed writing this essay/report/whatever you want to call it as it has helped make our magical vacation last a little longer.

The End

 

[lexmas]

Thanks for posting this trip report, it looks like you had the most wonderful time! I'm just counting down the days until we go to disneyland with my 10 month old (he'll turn 11 months while we're there) but now I wish he was walking! (Lol, okay, not really, but it looks like your little one had so much fun!)

That picture of Kaitlyn and her shadow may be the cutest picture I've ever seen. All your pictures are beautiful, actually!

Thanks for sharing your trip, I really enjoyed reading about it! (Although, I am a little scared for the plane now, lol)

ETA: Hey, it looks like we're going on trips at the same time, just to different places! But I guess we really are both "counting the days"!

 

[Honeymooner04]

lexmas, you know I wouldn't be too worried about the plane ride. My husband's a pilot so I've flown with Kaitlyn quite a bit and this trip was by FAR the worst she's been on a flight. Have a great time in Disneyland, I can't wait to go back there either!

 

[hcmommy]

I really enjoyed your trip report! We are taking our first family trip to WDW in 19 days with our 17 mo. old. This makes me really excited to go. You don't have a packing list for Kaitlyn typed up somewhere you would be willing to share by any chance do you? If so PM me. Thanks!

 

[DreaGirl]

I read the entire TR. It was really great. We leave in 9 short days with a 16 month old! Thanks for the tips and hints.

 

[betsywdw]

This is a terrific trip report! I didn't plan on sitting and reading the whole thing in one sitting but DD was napping and you had me hooked! We took my DD when she was almost 11 months and had great time. We are now going back on Saturday and she is 18 months so I'm really looking forward to it! I also love the pic of her shadow with Minnie ears, so cute