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

[AlohaPolynesian]

Aw I love the Nemo bath toys! The picture of you guys holding his hands down is adorable of you all, and I wouldn't have noticed you holding them if you didn't say so!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

They do have the Tonga Toast at Captain Cooks. I think it is about 5 or 6 dollars with bacon. I am glad I got it there because I think I am the only one who is not a big fan. The bananas seem to be overly ripe to me so I didn't really like it. Of course the next trip I went back again just to make sure LOL and I still didn't like it. I just don't like my bananas that ripe. Oh well I am probably better off

Thanks for confirming the Tonga Toast for me. That's too bad that you didn't like it. I don't remember the bananas tasting over-ripe to me. It was good "research" on your part to try it twice, just to be sure.

Hi! Thanks so much for the info on the tattoos - we'll definitely be getting them!

You are correct about the fastpass info - we have done this many times. A CM at DHS told us once when we were eating at 50's PrimeTime Cafe and worried about missing our window to ride TSM. So, now we hold onto them the whole day unless we absolutely know we won't be going back later that day and then we give them to someone as we're leaving the park - it always brings a smile to someone's day; we've been on the receiving end as well a couple of times.

Well, I AM planning the grand gathering so yeah, a little scary but soooooo worth it! So very excited and looking forward to it! I hosted a mom's planning meeting at our home (while the dad's babysat! ) in September before making our ADR's and now that those are set I'm working on putting spreadsheets together so everyone can have all the info and we're trying to get matching tshirts for all the kids to help keep track of them all and sooo many other details I keep thinking of! Then, of course, there's trying to please everybody and feeling responsible if something doesn't go as planned, but luckily we're all family and a pretty easy-going bunch so, that helps!! I'm debating making a PTR but I'm afraid I may be overwhelmed enough as it is and I don't want to overdo it! It would be my first so... I'm thinking a TR might be more realistic and hopefully we'll have tons of great pictures to share!

I wish we had known about the FP rule, but at least we know for future trips.

You are SO brave to do all of the planning for your GG! It's good that you stepped up to do it though, because a trip with that many people could have a lot of problems if there is not a "planner" involved. Good idea to have a planning party! I totally understand about the PTR. Even though they are a lot of fun, it also becomes one more commitment to fulfill before the trip. I hope that you do a TR though because I'm sure you will have a lot of good stories.

Aw I love the Nemo bath toys! The picture of you guys holding his hands down is adorable of you all, and I wouldn't have noticed you holding them if you didn't say so!

Yeah, I laugh every time I see that picture. I just remember laughing at him because he was just moving from one pose to the next, and I kept thinking, "how does a kid so young know that he is being funny already?" He really does have a sense of humor already and I love it.

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

After spending a good amount of time with Nemo and all of his friends, we headed over to the Imagination ride to see Figment. I have to say that I was not impressed with this at all. I remember going on it when I was younger and I have memories of a totally different ride. I know that it has been re-done a few times, but we have not been on it in years. I thought that Dylan might like to see Figment so that is why we went there.

We waited about 5 minutes to get on the ride. I’m glad that we did not wait any longer than that, considering that it was not very good. There were some cute parts to it, but Dylan wasn’t too sure about the whole thing. If I remember correctly, there were some areas that were really startling and they scared him a little. We will probably not go on this ride again any time soon. All of us were under the opinion that it wasn't really worth the time that we spent to ride it.

Once you finish riding the ride there is a play area for the kids, and that was a big hit with Dylan. There is an area that has big light squares that shine on the floor and if you jump in the square when it is lit up, it plays different instruments. Dylan did not understand how it worked, but he figured out that he got to run around with the other kids and that is all he needed to make him happy.

At first there were a lot of bigger kids so he kept close to the walls and watched them, but after a while he eased his way out there.

He’s in the back left corner against the wall, watching the other kids.

He started running around chasing the lights and was not really paying attention to anyone else. Eventually he realized that this little boy was chasing him around and trying to get him to play with him. Well, Dylan loves a good game of chase, so he was very happy. The boy was about 3 and he could not understand why Dylan wouldn’t talk to him (Dylan is a big kid so the boy probably thought he was older than he actually is). So he gave up trying to talk to him and they just ran around together. Dylan was squealing with happiness.

He had a wonderful time and was pretty sweaty by the time he was done running around. He came over to get his juice from me and something else in the room caught his eye. He started to walk away and the little boy followed him and got down on his level and kept saying, “Please stay. Please stay.” Dylan just kept shaking his head and pointing to where he wanted to go. It was so cute to watch him interacting so well with another kid. The little boy looked really sad when we said goodbye & left.

Once outside we decided to find somewhere to eat lunch and ended up in Mexico. I really wanted to eat at the CS place outside since I wasn’t very hungry after our big breakfast at Kona Café, but by now it was getting hotter and everyone wanted to go inside to the air conditioning. We checked at the San Angel Inn and it was a 10 minute wait, so we got a buzzer and went on the boat ride that was next to it.

This was our first time on the ride since they updated it with Donald Duck. It was really cute (although I liked it the old way too). They did a good job of putting Donald all the way through the ride and it was fun to look for him.

By the time that we got off the ride the buzzer went off and we were seated. We were at a table off to the side near the bathrooms. This restaurant is very beautiful and it has such an appealing atmosphere that you expect the food to be great. In my opinion, it is not. The menu is very limited and very pricey for what you get. Nothing sounded good to us so we both got an appetizer for our meal. It was the Tostada de Tinga, which are small tostadas with chicken, black beans, cheese and sour cream. It was good but very small and it was not worth what they charged for it.

View from our table. The restrooms are on the right.

This was one of the tostadas. The appetizer comes with 2.

Dylan had the kids meal with the quesadilla. It was the best tasting thing that we ate. At least he enjoyed his meal. He also ate the chips & salsa, which he LOVED. I wasn’t too sure about letting him have it, but it didn’t seem to affect him at all (then or later).

Overall, I don’t think this place is worth it. You are paying for the atmosphere, which is amazing. But I wanted to have good Mexican food as well, and I didn’t feel like we got that. We will not be eating there again any time soon.

We spent some time looking around Mexico. It has so many fun things to look at. I liked watching the glass blower. Dylan went straight for the display of lollipops again.

We weren’t going to get him one, so we needed a distraction. That distraction was…

He had a great time shaking those and making noise in general. Not sure how we finally got him away from those… Everyone was still shopping so I took some pictures around the building. It really is a beautiful place.

We all were in the mood for something sweet, so we walked next door to the bakery in Norway. I had been reading about this place and was eager to try it. It didn’t seem like there was a big selection when we walked through, but it was right after the lunch rush so I think that is what the problem was. My parents ended up getting a pretzel that was covered in almonds and was sweet. They said they liked it but it wasn’t their favorite treat that they had eaten. I got the rice cream and I really liked it. It is hard to explain what it is but the combination of the creamy stuff on the bottom with the sweet strawberry stuff on top was delicious. It was only $2.50!

By now it was 2:30, and Dylan was tired so we headed back to the Monorail so that we could pick up our car at the Polynesian. He fell asleep in his stroller before we left the park and stayed asleep through the entire ride back to the car. We got home by 3:15 and put him down for his nap.

Up next, what did we do to keep ourselves busy that evening?

 

[sharonW]

Dylan is such a cutie!! Your little free spirit!!
I was very excited to see your new post,
I love your TR!!! You certaintly have some
wonderful pictures and I'm glad your sharing
them!!......such wonderful reminders of our
many trips to the "happy place""!!

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

Aw Dylan made a new friend! How sweet. I tried that Rice Cream too and it was delicious!!

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

Awwww...how cute that Dylan made a friend! I love when the little ones make friends and seem to have ther own special way of communicating!

 

[loribell]

So cute that Dylan had so much fun and made a new friend!

I would love for Disney to have some good Mexican food. In fact it would be nice to find some really good Mexican food somewhere in the WDW area. One look at that menu at San Angel and there was no way we were eating there!

 

[LilAnn]

Oh my gosh, I was so excited to read this post! It had all the elements that my DD loved from the trip. We went on the Figment ride a few times, but my DH remembered some of the "scarier" parts so we were able to distract her or cover her ears. She also loved that light up squares section like Dylan did. You got some great photos there! Sorry to hear that the food in Mexico wasn't that good. Good to know for next time since I had wanted to try it out, but didn't feel like waiting in the line. I do have to say that we rode that Mexico ride many, many, many times and DD now loves Donald Duck. The desserts you got in Norway looked yummy! Makes me want something sweet now too......

 

[jordanyosh]

The atmosphere in San Angel looks soo cool. Bummer the food doesn't match up.

That picture of Dylan against the wall is too cute!

 

[ptcrn]

So fun that Dylan made a new little friend! I love watching the little ones interact like that- they make friends so easily! I don't think I've ever seen that play area before. We will have to check it out on our next trip!

Your dessert from Norway looks yummy! I love that place. The school bread is delicious. And I think everything in there is pretty reasonably priced if I remember correctly.

I finally decided to start a TR- better late than never, right? Come on over if you get a chance!

 

[tinkgurl]

Oooh my gosh, such a cute group of pics. I loved the one of him way back in the corner watching. Aw, I love seeing little kids interacting with each other.

 

[eandesmom]

Dylan is SO cute! Love the pictures, such a happy boy just playing, I love it! I love the interaction with the other boy, adorable.

Very Very sad that your meal was such a disappointment. It is so incredibly lovely in there, just fabulous theming and it gets resounding poor reviews. At least you were able to cool off and ride with Donald. Which we enjoyed tremendously!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

Dylan is such a cutie!! Your little free spirit!!
I was very excited to see your new post,
I love your TR!!! You certaintly have some
wonderful pictures and I'm glad your sharing
them!!......such wonderful reminders of our
many trips to the "happy place""!!

Aww, free spirit is a good description of him. I love looking at our pictures because they are a good image of his true personality. It makes it so fun to share with others (especially with people who love Disney and "get it").

Aw Dylan made a new friend! How sweet. I tried that Rice Cream too and it was delicious!!

I had read from someone on the Dis about the rice cream, and I'm glad that I did! It was really good. Not the normal dessert that I would get, but I will definitely get it again.

Awwww...how cute that Dylan made a friend! I love when the little ones make friends and seem to have ther own special way of communicating!

Watching the two of them together was so cute. Most kids think Dylan is older than he is, so they don't get it when he doesn't speak in full sentences. It's pretty amazing how a communication gap is there, but it doesn't matter because they end up getting along anyway.

So cute that Dylan had so much fun and made a new friend!

I would love for Disney to have some good Mexican food. In fact it would be nice to find some really good Mexican food somewhere in the WDW area. One look at that menu at San Angel and there was no way we were eating there!

I used to live in San Diego and there is so much good Mexican food there, and I am always hoping to find something as good as that. Most of the time I don't have any luck. I really wanted this restaurant to be good, but I wasn't impressed. To be fair, I only had an appetizer so the main dishes could be better, but for lunch I didn't want to pay $20 for a chicken dish. It just didn't seem worth it to me. Outside of WDW....we've never looked for Mexican food. I'm sure it's out there, we just haven't found it yet.

Oh my gosh, I was so excited to read this post! It had all the elements that my DD loved from the trip. We went on the Figment ride a few times, but my DH remembered some of the "scarier" parts so we were able to distract her or cover her ears. She also loved that light up squares section like Dylan did. You got some great photos there! Sorry to hear that the food in Mexico wasn't that good. Good to know for next time since I had wanted to try it out, but didn't feel like waiting in the line. I do have to say that we rode that Mexico ride many, many, many times and DD now loves Donald Duck. The desserts you got in Norway looked yummy! Makes me want something sweet now too......

I should have done a little research on the Figment ride to see if there were scary parts, but I just assumed it was similar to the old ride that I went on when I was younger. The light up squares were such a cute idea, and it seemed like most of the kids were really enjoying themselves.

I feel bad because I don't want to give Mexico a terrible review. It just wasn't good enough for the prices that they were charging. Next time we will probably just plan more time to sit and absorb the atmosphere from somewhere else in the building.

The atmosphere in San Angel looks soo cool. Bummer the food doesn't match up.

That picture of Dylan against the wall is too cute!

It was disappointing since the overall presentation of Mexico is so pretty. I like the food better from the place outside near the water.

I love that picture of Dylan. He was so unsure at first and he needed to scope it out before putting himself out there.

So fun that Dylan made a new little friend! I love watching the little ones interact like that- they make friends so easily! I don't think I've ever seen that play area before. We will have to check it out on our next trip!

Your dessert from Norway looks yummy! I love that place. The school bread is delicious. And I think everything in there is pretty reasonably priced if I remember correctly.

I finally decided to start a TR- better late than never, right? Come on over if you get a chance!

It's too bad that adults don't bond as quickly as kids do. The world would probably be a much friendlier place!

I heard about the school bread after we got back from this trip. I'm still not totally clear what it is, but so many people have given it the , that now I want to try it.

I will definitely check out your TR! Thanks for letting me know.

Oooh my gosh, such a cute group of pics. I loved the one of him way back in the corner watching. Aw, I love seeing little kids interacting with each other.

He had such a good time with the kids there, and we have a lot more pictures of it than I shared. It was a great moment on our trip.

Dylan is SO cute! Love the pictures, such a happy boy just playing, I love it! I love the interaction with the other boy, adorable.

Very Very sad that your meal was such a disappointment. It is so incredibly lovely in there, just fabulous theming and it gets resounding poor reviews. At least you were able to cool off and ride with Donald. Which we enjoyed tremendously!

It almost broke my heart to hear that little boy say "Please stay" to him, because (of course) Dylan didn't understand what he was saying and he was so adamant to move on to the next thing. He didn't realize that he was probably hurting the little boys feelings by deciding to leave so abruptly. I tried to explain it to the little boy but he was still sad when we left.

It was disappointing. Even while we were there, I kept thinking, "This isn't so bad, right?" I really wanted to like it, but I would rather spend that same money on another meal that would be better.

 

[ladybugmom]

They do have the Tonga Toast at Captain Cooks. I think it is about 5 or 6 dollars with bacon. I am glad I got it there because I think I am the only one who is not a big fan. The bananas seem to be overly ripe to me so I didn't really like it. Of course the next trip I went back again just to make sure LOL and I still didn't like it. I just don't like my bananas that ripe. Oh well I am probably better off

Thank you for verifying that the Tonga Toast is available at Captain Cooks. It's on our list for our next trip!! YUM!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

I saw a wonderful video of WDW on Tinkgirl's PTR and I just had to post it here for you to enjoy. This made me so happy (yet SO homesick for WDW) so I wanted to share it. It is a "day in the life of MK" and it is filmed from such a unique perspective.

Here you go!

http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/02/t...10/02/tilt-shifted-day-in-the-life-of-disney/

 

[ladybugmom]

I'm sorry that the San Angel Inn wasn't that great. We hung out in Mexico for awhile to get out of the rain. It is very pretty inside and we enjoyed the boat ride as well. Can't wait to hear what you did the rest of the day!!

 

[loribell]

I used to live in San Diego and there is so much good Mexican food there, and I am always hoping to find something as good as that. Most of the time I don't have any luck. I really wanted this restaurant to be good, but I wasn't impressed. To be fair, I only had an appetizer so the main dishes could be better, but for lunch I didn't want to pay $20 for a chicken dish. It just didn't seem worth it to me. Outside of WDW....we've never looked for Mexican food. I'm sure it's out there, we just haven't found it yet.

Yeah, I live in Oklahoma so we have lots of good Mexican food here. I have looked for good Mexican in Orlando and have not found it yet. Maybe someone that lives there can give us some help on where to find it!

 

[sharonW]

Very Cool Video..loved it!!!

 

[tinkgurl]

I saw a wonderful video of WDW on Tinkgirl's PTR and I just had to post it here for you to enjoy. This made me so happy (yet SO homesick for WDW) so I wanted to share it. It is a "day in the life of MK" and it is filmed from such a unique perspective.

I just LOVE this video. So glad you liked it too.

 

[ptcrn]

That video is very cool!! It made me smile!