A Princess and her Aunts Take on WDW

[bushdianee]

My DSis, our 2.5 yo DNiece and I just returned from a great trip to the world.

CAst of characters:
DSis 36 First trip to Disney
Dniece 2.5 a true Princess
Me 50 first went to WDW at age 40

First of all neither my DSis or I have children of our own although we have many nieces and nephews most of whom are now adults. I did take one other DNiece when she was 12.
I was originally going to take the Princess by myself then decided to ask DSis. We decided to stay at the CBR and do the dining plan to get several character meals in. We decided to to let the Princess set our pace which worked out great. We truely did not experience one meltdown by the Princess. She spends a lot of time with me and even calls me Mama (at her Mommy's request since I am also her Godmother)so I really wasn't too worried but I did expect some tears and missing Mommy & Daddy at nap and bedtimes but they never happened.

Day 1
DBrother picked me up at 3:30AM to get to thje airport for our 5:40 flight. The Princess was sound asleep in her carseat. We went to pick up DSis. The Princess woke up as soon as we got to the airport. The first words out of her mouth were "going to see Micka Mouse!" got the Princess, her stroller and all our carryons through security. Since the airport was still pretty deserted we let the Princess run for a while. She fell asleep right after we took off and slept almost all the way to Atlanta. She chattered and played from Atlanta to Orlando. She kept asking when she was going to see "Micka Mouse". She loved the bus ride on Magical Express. Luckily we only had a short wait and she fell asleep again for a while on the bus. Our room was ready so we dropped our our stuff and decided that since the Princess had slept so much on the way we would hit AK for a while as soon as we called DBro and Ds-sil to let them know we had arrived safely. Mommy & Daddy were missing the Princess already! I figured that a partial day would be good there since there really isn't too much for a 2.5 yo to do there. We managed to see Festival of the Lion King and the Princess got to meet Goofy, and Mickey. We took lots of pictures plus I had pre-ordered the Photo pass so they took lots also. It was raining when we came out of Lion King so we headed to dinner at Rain Forest Cafe and then headed back for an early night. We were in the gorilla room, the first thunder storm startled the Princess but she was fine after that. She ordered the pizza and we both had the coconut shrimp which the Princess decided she like better than her pizza. We had ordered a pack and play for the Princess and were concerned it would be too small and she would resist it. She loved it. We set it up by the sinks and she could get in on her own by stepping on the shelf under the sink but not out!
Next up shopping and dinner with Pooh and the gang!

 

[Moonlitdreams82]

I'm really looking forward to the rest of your report. Your niece sounds absolutely adorable!

My fiance and I are honeymooning in Disney from August 9th-17th. We are also staying at the CBR and are using the Deluxe Dining plan. It's fast approaching and I am super excited

I'm really interested to see where you guys eat, your reviews of the food, the resort and how the dining plan worked out for you.

Did you guys get the deluxe dining or the regular dining plan?

Can't wait to hear more.

There is a link to our pre-trip report in my signature if you want to check it out

 

[Donald is #1]

I'm on board! I can't wait to read more.

I am also an aunt who doesn't have kids. I am taking my nephew (11) and niece (10) at the time to WDW in November for a long weekend. But in our case, their mom, my DSis, is also tagging along. (My niece was not happy to find out Mommy was coming too. )

 

[TCKK]

Sign me up. Looking forward to your report and hopefully pics.

Cathy

 

[bushdianee]

I don't know how to post pictures yet. I've just started scanning some.
We had the regular dining plan. I planned mostly buffets as the Princess would be able to have her own plate. Otherwise we shared. Cinderella's Royal Table offers compementary buttered pasta, beverage and ice cream for the littleones. She had some of my soup and meat as well as some of DSis's salad and meat so she ended up with more than she could eat.
Hopefully I'll have time to do day 2 tomorrow.

 

[bushdianee]

Day 2

We decided to go to Downtown Disney for the morning in order to get the Princess back for a nap before heading to MK for AAA Story time and ADR at Crystal Palace. We grabbed breakfast at the resort before heading out. I had the adult breakfast which is too much for one person (eggs, sausage, bacon, a biscuit french toast and 2 large drinks), the Princess had the child's breakfast(eggs, bacon, applesauce, and 2 small drinks), Dsis had the french toast platter which also came with 2 large drinks on the dining plan. We didn't need 2 drinks each at breakfast so we each got a water for later. We then headed downtown to do some shopping. The Princess picked out her own souveniers for herself, her parents and grandmas. She loved Goofy's Candy Shop. She also rode the merry go round. We all managed to do our shopping while the Princess sat quietly in the stroller. It helped that we let her pick out a spinner as one of her souveniers so that kept her amused. After we finished we headed for restrooms which just happened to be right by the fountains. We had one wet, happy little girl on our hands. She fell asleep on the bus back and was wide awake when we went back to the room so we changed clothes, into a Winnie the Pooh outfit for the Princess, and headed for MK. It was raining pretty hard so we killed time in the shops before The AAA Story time since that is right by the entrance. We checked in early and were able to get pictures by all of the sets. The story teller was the Fairy Godmother which one CM told is is pretty unusual. She did a good job and the Princess gave her a hug and posed for pictures. It is really nice that they only let about 10 families or less in at a time as she spent quite a bit of time talking with each child. As we left the theater we happened to run into Chip, Dale and Pluto. The Princess ran right up to them to get their autographs and more pictures. The only thing is it is really hard to get her to smile for pictures. As soon as the picture is taken she is all smiles, but get out a camera and she gets all serious. She is pretty much thesame at home too. We had a few minutes before our reservations at CP so we called Daddy while we waited. The Princess was more interested in the ducks running around than talking on the phone. I was a little concerned about having made the AAA Story time reservations for 4:30 and dinner at 5:10 but it worked out great. Luckily they are located fairly close to each other. Dinner was a buffet where we all managed to find plenty to eat. The character interaction was good. We got pictures of each of us with each character. They did the parade 2x while we were there and the Princess joined right in I went with her 1x and DSis the other. After dinner we called Mommy, who had been working when we called Daddy and checked out Fantasy Land. We only managed to see Mickey's Philharmagic and ride Small World which both the Princess and DSis loved. The Princess decided that the 3-D glasses are supposed worn around the belly! She had them on her face for about half of the show then around her belly the rest! We tried to ride Cinderella's Carasaul but it was broken. We headed over and let the Princess play in Pooh's playground for a while then headed over to Frontierland to find a spot for the Spectrmagic parade. DSis (who isn't too keen on parades) and the Princess were in awe. We decided to head out after and watched wishes on the way out. We weren't sure about how the Princess would react to fireworks but she oohed and aahed like we did! We headed back to the resort for the night. The Princess fell asleep on the bus as was becoming a pattern for the trip.

Next up morning in EPCOT and dinner at the castle.

 

[bushdianee]

We headed over to Epcot for the morning. I really wanted my DSis to ride Soarin' but the wait was too long and we didn't have time to wait for fast pass either. We did Spaceship Earth which didn't impress the Princess too much We then headed over to The Seas for Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush. We all enjoyed both and the Princess enjoyed the aquariums and the playground. We also visited Club Cool to sample the various flavors of Coke. Beverly was NOT a hit! We decided to eat lunch at the Electric Umbrella which was pretty good. We headed back to the resort to give the Princess a nap. Once again she fell asleep on the bus and was wide awake when we hit the room. We or rather she decided we should go for a quick swim. It was a very quick swim as it started thundering and lightening about 10 minutes after we got in. The downpour continued all evening. I had boughten the Princess a Cinderella dress, crown and shoes for dinner. She was very excited about getting dressed up. She is a very girly girl and loves her dresses, which is good because her Mom is from Vietnam and whenever she or the Princess' grandma visit they come back with loads of beautiful lacey dresses. We managed to keep the Princess dry but my ponch hood woouldn't stay up so I looked pretty soggy! We decided to only have the Princess in the photo. She was solom faced as usual. I had the prime rib which was pretty good, nothing special though. I also had the corn and crab chowder which was very good. The Princess really liked it also as she ate at least half of it! DSis had the chicken which she said was very good. The Princess received a large plate of buttered pasta,a dish of ice cream with sprinkles and a chocolate crown and her beverage all complimentary. I had asked about the children's menu since the Princess hadn't eaten much at lunch, but figured she'd be fine with the pasta plus some of our meat and veggies which she was. The Fairy Godmother and the 2 girl mice came out and put on a cute little show. We were kind of disappointed that there were no Princesses at all at the dinner.
After dinner we had a "Cinderella" moment. We have been trying to potty train the Princess for a few months with little success. On the way downstairs after dinner we stopped at the restroom to change her. DSis was changing her while I was taking care of my business. When I came out DSis says that the Princess wanted to use the potty. She had quickly put the diaper back on her. The restroom was very busy with several little girls in line so we decided to head all of the way downstairs as we had seen another restroom down there. As we were going down the stairs the Princess lost something, not her slipper, but her DIAPER! I quickly put it back on her and got her downstairs. The restroom was occupied but the Princess managed to wait. The toilet was running continously which I figured would scare her but it didn't. She went on the potty. For the rest of the trip anytime DSis or I went in a rest room she wanted to go in too and try. We had many successes. I said it was Disney magic as she had very little interest before. Now that she is home she is pretty much trained for number 2 but not number one!
After dinner we walked around for a while. I think we hit one or 2 rides but snsce it was still raining we decided to go back to the room.

 

[bushdianee]

Before we went back to the room we decided to try Haunted Mansion. The Princess ws a little frightened in the stretching room but wanted to go on the ride. She did fine on the actual ride. After that she saw the "big boat" and wanted to go on that too so we did.

On Friday we had 1:00 ADRs for Hollywood & Vine for the Playhouse Disney character meal. We went back to MK for the morning. We did the Monster's Inc. Comedy club. It was pretty good. They put DSis on the screen so she kept worrying that they'd single her out during the show as they did most of the other people that were shown at the beginning. She managed not to get picked on! We then headed over to Toon Town to hopefully meet some Princesses. The line was way too long for the time we had so the Princess didn't get to meet any Princesses except Cinderella this trip. We got her face painted like Sleeping Beauty and headed to Minnie's house and then over to Mickey's. We did wait in line at the Judge's Tent for pictures with Mickey and Minnie. That line was only about 30-45 minutes. From there we headed for the monorail to the ticket center to get a bus to DHS. We made it on time although I was getting a little nervous. By this time the Princess was really tired and needing a nap. Luckily for us she wasn't cranky. The food was okay, nothing special. The Princess got to meet JoJo & Goliath who came to our table a couple of times. June from the Little Einsteins came by also but Leo never made it over. JoJo spent quite a bit of time flirting with the teenage boy at the next table, so we saw a lot of her! The Princess was sleeping almost as soon as she got in her stroller so we walked over to Tower of Terror and I found a shady spot to park the stroller and sent DSis on TOT.
I called DMom while I was waiting to check on her as she and I live together since she is disabled and she was alone while I was gone. My 6 other siblings were keeping tabs on her but since I am her main caretaker I checked on her daily. The Princess was still asleep when DSis returned an hour later so we just walked around for a while then got Mickey bars and sat and people watched until she woke up. We then went on the Great Movie Ride, and did the Back Lot Tour. We also let the Princess play in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground for a while. She managed to get DSis to take her up in the spider web! We wanted to try the new Toy Story ride but the line was 120 minutes and the fast passes were for 9:00. At this point the Princess stated that she was tired and wanted to go "home" and go swimming! We had been hoping to stay for Fantasmic but it was only about 4:00. We agreed that the Princess had a good idea so we were going to head out when we spotted the photo op for Buzz and Woody. The Princess decided that she wanted to see them so we got into ine which the CM said should take about 30 minutes. They have several sets along the way to Buzz & Woody to take pictures at. Naturally we got behind a family with 2 boys who were allowed to do whatever they wanted to. They monopolized each set until their parents were at the next one. I had to ask them to move a couple of times to get the Princess' picture alone. The family behind us was getting frustrated by the 2 ahead of us as well. They did what I did, took pictures then moved our children out of the way for the next in line. The 2 ahead thought that the sets were just for them and would even run back to play in them again, regardless if others were taking pictures or not. We finally made it to see Buzz and Woody. The Princess went running into Buzz's arms and we got some great photo pass shots. We then headed for the front and back to the resort for a swim. We managed a short swim before lightening chased us out again. We headed back to the room to change for dinner at the food court. While were in the room we decided to have the Princess call her parents for her daily chat. We did not get good news. Shortly after I had talked to DMom in the afternoon a bad storm hit Omaha. 160 mph straight line winds, hail and rain. Out of everybody only 1 brother had power (I have 7 siblings) and trees were down everywhere. My roof had damage but I wasn't worried about that, DMom was refusing to leave the house to go to DBrother's who had power. She is on oxygen and a CPaP at night so she NEEDS power. So that DB ended up staying with her at our house and checked on her every few minutes. Needless to say neither got much sleep. She later said that she didn't think she could make the steps at his house. About 4 AM one DSis's power came back on so she went and got DMom and kept her at her house until our power came back on, on Sunday (the storm hit about 4 on Friday). We offered to try to fly home but our siblings had everything taken care of. 2 Dbs and DBIL had both my yard and DSis's cleaned up by the time we got home on Sunday. We have a great family! Now we are waiting to have new roof put on our house. DSis didn't have any damage to her house just ree damage. The Princess's house didn't get full power back on until Thursday so she spent the nights with me after we got home because of the heat and no AC. She lives right down the street and we had full power on Sunday but they only had half power until Thursday.

Next up Our Last Day!

 

[Donald is #1]

Wow that must have been some storm!