~ A 21 month old, a celebrity sighting, & a whole lotta food~2 week trip~ 2/28 update

[DWGal210]

Sounds like you guys had another nice day! Your necklace is very beautiful! Good job to your husband for picking that out!

 

[eandesmom]

Your morning just SOUNDS draining! You poor thing. And poor Dylan! I forgot about the sitting on the floor part at PHD, I remember not caring for it but it didn't matter b/c the E's liked the show so much.

I'm glad you had a restful afternoon before the storm, it probably helped to be a bit relaxed to deal with those crowds at DTD.

Lovely necklaces!

 

[ladybugmom]

YAY!! We just LOVED the Playhouse Disney show--sooo much fun!! And that ornament--GORGEOUS!! I never saw that one while we were there!! I love that it has all 4 parks represented on it!!

 

[jordanyosh]

I'm sorry about SciFi....but kids are kids and really we have to make it good for them...and if he was cutting some teeth...it's really understandable, especially coupled with the heat. You took great of your son! I can't wait to see American Idol.....

Rain...are you ready for it...I think you're getting it tonight/tomorrow. we get it tomorrow/wed.

 

[Fall1]

Love the update! The Playhouse Disney show looks so fun! My kiddos are going to go NUTS for Handy Manny!!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

What a day you had. Poor darling Dylan. I'm glad he did finally adjust to the darkness of Sci Fi and ate. That is so hard to try to relax and eat when your child is so upset. Sci Fi looks like fun. The table tops on those cars is very narrow tho.

That is too bad about the storm and you didn't get back to do TSM. It is a fun ride. I like TOT and RNR better.
Your necklace is so pretty. Todd is a good man and has excellent taste.

I'm glad all of my grandchildren are too old for Disney Playhouse. I so could not sit on the floor.

All in all a good day for sure. It does get busy at DTD. But oh what good shopping they have. Well worth the crowds.

Ginny

The tables are very narrow at Sci-Fi. We kept having to adjust things to make it all fit with the 3 of us. It was disappointing that the meal was so stressful, but we will just have to try it again when he is a little older!

We really like a lot of the rides at MGM, and TSM is a lot of fun. The rain definitely changed our plans but shopping at DTD is not a bad option.

It's been so long since I've done One Man's Dream. I think I need to do that the next time we go back, whenever that is. Sorry Dylan had some meltdowns that day. Disney with a toddler definitely changes how you do the parks, doesn't it? It sure sounds like you guys got your fill of Florida rain, too! Aww, that ornament is a great idea! I wish we had gotten one of those when we went. It won't be long before you get to use it!

Yes, this day and the next day were a little tougher than normal with Dylan but at least we knew why. It's so hard when they are that age and can't tell you when they don't feel well! I'm glad that we had planned to focus a lot of our trip around him because it really is a new ball game when you take a toddler with you. I'm sure a lot of people don't plan for that and that's probably why you see so many unhappy kids.

I can't wait to use the new ornament. I just mentioned to Todd the other day that it's not too long until we get to put up all of the Christmas stuff. That is one of my favorite things to do. Taking it all down...not so much.

Yep, it's just me and the B/F this time!

As you know, I loved the American Idol Experience. I do wonder if some of it is staged though..like do our votes really count or is it rigged?

I'm so glad you did One Man's Dream. It really is so interesting to see it all. Have you ever seen the movie at the end? Yeah, I cried.

I have seen the movie before and I definitely got teary-eyed too. You are not alone! LOL. That's the great thing about Disney though, the history & the nostalgia are so fun!

The AI show was so much fun! It hadn't occurred to me that the votes might not really count... In this particular instance, the guy stole the show when he performed, but like I said, he was really over the top and could have turned a lot of people off. But he seemed on a different level than the other 2, and that is why we thought he might be a fake.

Sounds like you guys had another nice day! Your necklace is very beautiful! Good job to your husband for picking that out!

I love my necklace!! He did a good job surprising me with it. I wish I could wear it every day, but sometimes it is too fancy with what I am wearing.

Your morning just SOUNDS draining! You poor thing. And poor Dylan! I forgot about the sitting on the floor part at PHD, I remember not caring for it but it didn't matter b/c the E's liked the show so much.

I'm glad you had a restful afternoon before the storm, it probably helped to be a bit relaxed to deal with those crowds at DTD.

Lovely necklaces!

I love your new food ticker in your signature. Too cute!

Sitting on the floor was not very fun, although I understand why they do it. There were so many kids getting up and down and moving around that it wouldn't have worked with seating. But there was no good way to get comfortable, that's for sure!

YAY!! We just LOVED the Playhouse Disney show--sooo much fun!! And that ornament--GORGEOUS!! I never saw that one while we were there!! I love that it has all 4 parks represented on it!!

When I saw that ornament, I knew it was "the one" because it had the 4 parks represented. I also liked the big space on the back to personalize it. I'm glad we thought to do something to memorialize his first trip like that. He won't remember the trip but he will get to see the ornament every year.

I'm sorry about SciFi....but kids are kids and really we have to make it good for them...and if he was cutting some teeth...it's really understandable, especially coupled with the heat. You took great of your son! I can't wait to see American Idol.....

Rain...are you ready for it...I think you're getting it tonight/tomorrow. we get it tomorrow/wed.

Dylan had been such a trooper through the whole trip that we were bound to have some down time. It was totally understandable, but it just caught us off guard. He seemed to adjust but he really wasn't himself the whole day.

I am never ready for the rain. I heard that we are supposed to get 1 - 2 inches tomorrow and more the next day. That is a lot, but we were lucky to not have too many fires this year. We had so many fires last year that I don't think there was a lot to burn this year. But that is good because hopefully we will avoid the landslides... It's probably going to be pretty rough in your area too.

Love the update! The Playhouse Disney show looks so fun! My kiddos are going to go NUTS for Handy Manny!!

Handy Manny was one of Dylan's favorites, along with Mickey Mouse. That made this show a must-do on our list for him. I wish that we could have had him meet him in person but by the time we got out of the show he was gone. Maybe next time!

 

[jordanyosh]

They are having mandatory evacs in the burn areas.

We need the rain though. I drove through Pacheco Pass over the summer and the San Luis Rey resevoir was the lowest I've ever seen it.

 

[Tricia's mom]

Just read your Trip report. OOh my god I could so relate to it. I understand your mini meltdown...I would have done the same thing. I also would have felt guilty to ask even parents to watch my child.Boy, We probably could do disney very well together...I too have a 2 year old . (girl) . I liked that you took some down time from disney and toured all the resorts. I like that s well. I'am in the Interior design field and love the little details.
Enjoyed your report !!!
P.S I too have a wonderful husband who helps very much the little one.

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

They are having mandatory evacs in the burn areas.

We need the rain though. I drove through Pacheco Pass over the summer and the San Luis Rey resevoir was the lowest I've ever seen it.

The evacs are a pain, but necessary. It will probably save someone's life. Our lake (Shasta) is really low too. We have had 2 years of drought so any rain is welcome. It's hard when it all comes down in one day though.

Just read your Trip report. OOh my god I could so relate to it. I understand your mini meltdown...I would have done the same thing. I also would have felt guilty to ask even parents to watch my child.Boy, We probably could do disney very well together...I too have a 2 year old . (girl) . I liked that you took some down time from disney and toured all the resorts. I like that s well. I'am in the Interior design field and love the little details.
Enjoyed your report !!!
P.S I too have a wonderful husband who helps very much the little one.

It's sounds like we need to do a trip together sometime. I'm glad to hear that I am not the only person who has a hard time asking for parents to babysit. Maybe it will be easier someday but I doubt it.

Todd's parents are in interior design and we used to work for them. I'm so glad that I did that because it really helps me pay attention to the details that I would have overlooked before. I am amazed at some of the ideas that Disney's designers come up with.

Thanks for commenting!

 

[Raecheal]

Hey you.. I have a lot of catching up to do... ill be back..

 

[Raecheal]

I've been mia lately, but i'm now all caught up. I love the fact that you got to celebrate father's day with todd as well as your dad. Such a special thing. I love shopping, as you know, and now going to these outlets are a must for me when we go to wdw next. Crocs are my fav. too. they are soo comfortable.. it's shocking. BANANA REPUBLIC is one my favs. You got some amazing deals.

That combo appetizer plate looks amazing delicious. How exciting that you'll be spending thanksgiving in disneyland... are you starting a ptr? I hope dylan had an amazing bday!! i love the night-time photo of the air balloon.. i've wanted to go up in the air in one of those for a long time now.

I'm glad you'll be doing character meals in the future... that's always the first thing i recommend, especially if they have kids. We bought a onesie for our friends soon to be here little girl.. they are sooo adorable... it was hard to chose.

oh my watching wishes from the poly beach is on of my fav. things to do!! it truly is a disney moment in my heart. I love the ornament, we a few from WDW that are special to us.

 

[ptcrn]

I'm sorry you had such a stressful morning and meal with Dylan. It is so hard when they get like that, isn't it? I know exactly what you mean about not wanting to disturb other people's meal. It sounds like you did the right thing though, and he got through it ok!

Playhouse Disney looks like so much fun! We didn't get to DHS on our last trip, but that is one of the things I definitely want to do next time. So perfect for the 2-3 year olds!

I LOVE that ornament! It is so simple and pretty. A great way to remember his first trip!

I also love the necklace your husband picked out for you! Very beautiful! You have a good guy!

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I'm all caught up.

I love the pictures of Dylan eyeing the candy and in the pool - what a cutie!

That is so sweet that your DH picked out that necklace for you - it's lovely.

 

[cjackearl]

I'm a bit behind, sorry! I've caught up finally. Great updates. Sci Fi has amazing atmosphere, but I can understand it not being the most fun with a sad, hurting toddler. Poor Dylan. Love all your pretty necklaces and the fun in the pool pictures. What a sweet husband to pick out jewelry for you.

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

I've been mia lately, but i'm now all caught up. I love the fact that you got to celebrate father's day with todd as well as your dad. Such a special thing. I love shopping, as you know, and now going to these outlets are a must for me when we go to wdw next. Crocs are my fav. too. they are soo comfortable.. it's shocking. BANANA REPUBLIC is one my favs. You got some amazing deals.

That combo appetizer plate looks amazing delicious. How exciting that you'll be spending thanksgiving in disneyland... are you starting a ptr? I hope dylan had an amazing bday!! i love the night-time photo of the air balloon.. i've wanted to go up in the air in one of those for a long time now.

I'm glad you'll be doing character meals in the future... that's always the first thing i recommend, especially if they have kids. We bought a onesie for our friends soon to be here little girl.. they are sooo adorable... it was hard to chose.

oh my watching wishes from the poly beach is on of my fav. things to do!! it truly is a disney moment in my heart. I love the ornament, we a few from WDW that are special to us.

Hi Rach! I have missed you. I just sent you a PM.

I knew that you would be proud of my for my BR purchases. We were pretty happy with all of the deals that we got there.

Dylan had a great birthday. I should post some pictures from his party. He had a couple of little friends over and that is all that he needs to be happy.

The Poly beach with the fireworks was definitely a highlight for us. I hope that we get to do it again sometime.

I'm sorry you had such a stressful morning and meal with Dylan. It is so hard when they get like that, isn't it? I know exactly what you mean about not wanting to disturb other people's meal. It sounds like you did the right thing though, and he got through it ok!

Playhouse Disney looks like so much fun! We didn't get to DHS on our last trip, but that is one of the things I definitely want to do next time. So perfect for the 2-3 year olds!

I LOVE that ornament! It is so simple and pretty. A great way to remember his first trip!

I also love the necklace your husband picked out for you! Very beautiful! You have a good guy!

Sci-Fi is one of our favorite places to eat, so I am really sensitive to other people in that restaurant because I'm hoping that they all like it as much as we do. I didn't want Dylan to ruin their "moment", if they were having one. LOL. Playhouse Disney was a lot of fun. Definitely a hit with all of the kids that were in the crowd.

The necklace and the ornament are 2 of my favorite souveniors from the trip. I can't wait to put the ornament on the tree this year.

I'm all caught up.

I love the pictures of Dylan eyeing the candy and in the pool - what a cutie!

That is so sweet that your DH picked out that necklace for you - it's lovely.

Thank you. I love the necklace too! Dylan learned what candy was on this trip, even though he didn't get to eat any of it. Anything brightly colored and sitting on a stick must taste delicious, right?

I'm a bit behind, sorry! I've caught up finally. Great updates. Sci Fi has amazing atmosphere, but I can understand it not being the most fun with a sad, hurting toddler. Poor Dylan. Love all your pretty necklaces and the fun in the pool pictures. What a sweet husband to pick out jewelry for you.

Hi Christine. It is just not the same without your TR updates. How are your kids? Yes, Todd is really sweet. I told him that I made him look like a stud husband in my TR and he was pretty happy about it.

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

Just a quick update to say that I have started a new PTR for our upcoming trip to Disneyland in November. Here is the link.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2306487

Or you can follow from the link in my signature. I am posting it on the Disneyland part of the Dis, since it seemed more appropriate to put it there. Hopefully some people will follow me over from the WDW side, since I don't know anyone over there. Oh well. It is fun just to write it and organize my thoughts.

 

[ladybugmom]

Just a quick update to say that I have started a new PTR for our upcoming trip to Disneyland in November. Here is the link.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2306487

Or you can follow from the link in my signature. I am posting it on the Disneyland part of the Dis, since it seemed more appropriate to put it there. Hopefully some people will follow me over from the WDW side, since I don't know anyone over there. Oh well. It is fun just to write it and organize my thoughts.

Headed there now!!!

 

[jordanyosh]

Just a quick update to say that I have started a new PTR for our upcoming trip to Disneyland in November. Here is the link.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2306487

Or you can follow from the link in my signature. I am posting it on the Disneyland part of the Dis, since it seemed more appropriate to put it there. Hopefully some people will follow me over from the WDW side, since I don't know anyone over there. Oh well. It is fun just to write it and organize my thoughts.

Headed over there now!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

Headed there now!!!

Headed over there now!

Thank you both! I haven't put a lot of effort into it yet, but there will be more soon. There seems to be much less activity on the TRs over there than on this board.

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

We woke up about 7:15 this morning and we got ready and were out the door by 8:25. We had a reservation for breakfast at 8:55 and we actually arrived 5 minutes earlier. Any guesses where we went? The Kona Café at the Poly. We had just eaten dinner here the night before and that was not planned. We decided to keep our ADR here because I had heard such great things about their breakfast menu. I think this was the 4th time that we were at the Polynesian resort on this trip. It’s too bad that we weren’t actually staying there.

Dylan was still a little grumpy this morning due to his teething. As soon as we sat down we were looking for things to distract him and keep him sitting still. We had bought him some Cars sunglasses at Walmart and he kept trying to put them on. He always tries to put glasses on upside down.

Todd and I decided to split the Tonga Toast. I have been waiting to try this for years. Right after our last trip to WDW, I read about it somewhere and it has been on my list of must-do’s since that time. It did not disappoint! It was big enough that I felt full after eating ½ of it. I want to find the recipe online and learn how to make this for special days like Christmas morning. What a treat that would be!

This was my portion of breakfast after we cut it in half. Look inside that toast. Yum!

My parents split the Big Kahuna breakfast. It was really large too and they said it was great. They also really enjoyed the coffee here. This picture is of ½ of the Big Kahuna breakfast.

We will definitely be going back there for breakfast again. There was hardly anyone there and it was a nice, quite breakfast. Well, I guess Dylan was the one making the most noise. LOL. This is Todd putting some stuff on Dylan’s gums to numb them so his teething wouldn’t bother him so bad.

We took some more family pictures in the lobby and that was interesting. The first picture of Todd, Dylan and I was good but we wanted to try for a couple more. Dylan chose this moment to start being a comedian and it took about 8 pictures before we could get another regular photo. These pictures make me laugh every time that I look at them. At least he appears to be feeling a little better.

The first photo

A couple of our little comedian

The last one. See how we are holding his hands down? LOL.

Epcot was the park that we were visiting today, so we decided to ride the monorail over since we had never done that before. That was a lot of fun, and my favorite part is when you ride through Epcot before you pull into the station. It builds the anticipation of what you are going to do that day.

We arrived at Epcot at 10:15 and we headed straight over to Soarin’ to get a FP. My mom, Dylan and I waited outside while my dad and Todd went in to get them. It felt less hot today than other days so I let Dylan run around for a while. I had been trying to keep him in his stroller a lot due to the high temperatures because I didn’t want him to overheat. Today he was SO happy to be out running around. He is such an active kid and as much as he likes his stroller, he would rather be running and jumping on things. We were waiting near the monorail tracks and there is a big water area there. He had a great time watching the ducks and chasing birds around. My mom grabbed my camera and was taking pictures of all of the things in that area. I forget to stop and “smell the roses” sometimes when we are at the parks, so I really like these pictures that she took. This area is so pretty and the landscaping has such great detail to it.

The guys came back and said that the return time for the FP was 2:30 so they decided not to get them, since we would probably be gone for Dylan’s nap around that time. (I forgot to mention earlier that on this trip, I was not aware that you could get a FP and use it any time after the return time. I thought you could only use it during the window of time on the ticket. You can imagine how bummed I was when I got home and I was reading other people’s TRs and found out that we could have used that FP later in the day.) We were disappointed that we weren’t going to get on Soarin’ during this part of the day, but we headed over to ride the Nemo ride. We have never been on this before and were looking forward to it.

There was a wait of about 10 minutes for this. I like all of the decorations in the waiting area. It was so cute and beachy.

We made it into our little pod and sat back to enjoy the ride. It was very cute and we all enjoyed it a lot. Dylan barely said a word the whole time and his eyes were huge. It is brightly colored and there is a lot to look at. I think my favorite part is where they had Nemo swimming in the water and the real aquarium is behind him. Very creative!

After we got off the ride, we walked around and checked out the eels, seahorses, and real “Nemo” fish. I have to say that those eels really creeped me out. At first, I was looking at the tank and I couldn’t see anything. Then I saw one kind of hiding in the coral….then I saw them everywhere, just lurking. I really don’t like that they kinda snuck up on me like that. Ha, ha.

We watched the manatees for a while. Dylan was excited about every tank that we looked in and kept pointing at everything that swam by.

We walked down into the main aquarium and stopped near the glass right at the entrance. There was a sting ray close to glass and it swam right next to Dylan. He reached out to try to touch it and ended up chasing it along the glass for a while, just laughing hysterically. It was such a cute moment because he looked to have just pure joy on his face.

Sorry for the quality of pictures here. I could not find a good setting to take decent photos on my camera.

We walked down into the circle area. There were a couple of dolphins swimming around in one part of the tank and they were really fast. They kept buzzing by the window that Dylan was standing next to. The first time it surprised him so much that he almost fell over backward off the ledge that he was standing on.

There was a HUGE sea turtle swimming in the water. I have loved these turtles ever since we went to Hawaii a few years ago and saw them swimming near a rocky beach area one evening. Todd spent a ½ hour trying to get a picture of them whenever they would pop their heads up out of the water, and he never got it. This turtle was so graceful as it swam and we watched it for quite a while.

In the meantime, Dylan decided it was more fun to play on the bars in the viewing area than to watch the fish. We let him burn off some energy and he was happy to hang on the bars for a while.

We decided to leave and found the gift shop on the way out. There was a lot of great Nemo items there and my mom was determined to find something to buy for Dylan. We almost came home with a huge stuffed Nemo, and I was trying to figure out how we were going to get it on the plane home. Dylan would not let go of it for anything else, but finally he got distracted and put it down. Todd put it back on the shelf and Dylan forgot about it. My mom ended up getting him some Nemo bath toys, which he plays with all the time. They came in a little bag. He likes to carry them around the house with him when he is not taking a bath, so I think it was a much better choice.

Stay tuned to see where we go to next…