Always Let Your (Preschooler) Be Your Guide. My First Trip Report! COMPLETE

[shan23877]

Some photo pass pictures

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Some random pictures from around the world

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And since no one can ever get enough pics of the trains

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We went to Germany to buy a present for Uncle Cory (my 1/2 brother, his father is of German heritage). We browsed for a bit in several countries (I honestly can't remember which ones) until it was time to head to the Beach Club for our 6:30 reservation at Cape May Café.
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[kmedina]

My son is like you and your husband when you were little. He loved the monorail and could not ride it enough. Near the end of our trip, he insisted we buy him a monorail to take home. We got a nice, small one on the Boardwalk.

Your Epcot Day looked like fun. I have been trying to talk DH into trying the Beverly at Club Cool too. No luck so far. Persistence usually pays off though.

Turtle Talk with Crush was my favorite thing at Epcot. It was over the head of my DS too. He still enjoyed it.

More princesses. Maddy got to meet so many of them already. I cannot wait to see which other ones she gets to meet.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I just caught up on your trip report. My Maddie will be four when we go on our first trip next year. I'm really enjoying seeing what your daughter likes and doesn't. Can't wait to read more!

 

[katt789]

I'm all caught up and enjoying your trip so far! We got caught at Epcot in the rain too! Though one of our party was actually on Test Track, and we were poncholesss (though we all came out ok, rain doesn't really bother us, better than snow! ) Can't wait to read more!

 

[shan23877]

My son is like you and your husband when you were little. He loved the monorail and could not ride it enough. Near the end of our trip, he insisted we buy him a monorail to take home. We got a nice, small one on the Boardwalk.

Your Epcot Day looked like fun. I have been trying to talk DH into trying the Beverly at Club Cool too. No luck so far. Persistence usually pays off though.

Turtle Talk with Crush was my favorite thing at Epcot. It was over the head of my DS too. He still enjoyed it.

More princesses. Maddy got to meet so many of them already. I cannot wait to see which other ones she gets to meet.

I still don't understand how she didn't love the monorail! It was our favorite! That's awesome that you were able to get DS his own monorail toy. I wish that I'd had one when I was a kid!

Epcot was fun, though we left feeling like we didn't really do much other than princess stalking Test Track was our fave. I'm sure as DD gets older, we'll do more of the "educational" stuff.

You won't be disappointed, we're not through with princesses yet...

I just caught up on your trip report. My Maddie will be four when we go on our first trip next year. I'm really enjoying seeing what your daughter likes and doesn't. Can't wait to read more!

How great! I am so glad that we took Maddie this year. I think it was the perfect age. She was able to ride most rides, but still really believed that she was meeting the real characters. I am so excited for you guys!

Much more to come! I hope that I'm able to give you some tips!

I'm all caught up and enjoying your trip so far! We got caught at Epcot in the rain too! Though one of our party was actually on Test Track, and we were poncholesss (though we all came out ok, rain doesn't really bother us, better than snow! ) Can't wait to read more!

Much better than the snow-agreed! DH ditched his poncho pretty quickly, but one of us was dressed in finery so ponchos for the girls. We had pretty good luck with the rain for most of the trip, I think you have to expect some from the Florida summers. Were you there at the same time as us?

 

[mya1k9]

It cracks me up how she keeps showing all the characters her shoes!! To, to funny!!! Great pics

 

[ReneeDisney]

Wonderful trip report and I LOVE the title! We will be heading to WDW this Friday and we have a 4 year old princess. I agree that letting our pre-schooler lead the way will be a wonderful experience. You daughter is simply adorable! Looking forward to reading more...

 

[lbuzz52]

“Why are you wearing shoes?” “Because the stone hurts my feet sometimes”

I am so happy she asked this. This bothered Maya in a huge way. For a month, i heard all about how wrong it was for Rapunzel to have on shoes at least a couple times a day.

Great timing with the genie! I love your Rosetta comment and the dance with the beast!

 

[shan23877]

It cracks me up how she keeps showing all the characters her shoes!! To, to funny!!! Great pics

Shoes are VERY important to Maddie and, add to that a worn Belle jibit... Well, the princesses needed to know how Mommy had neglected those shoes

thanks for the compliment, we came home with thousands of pics

Wonderful trip report and I LOVE the title! We will be heading to WDW this Friday and we have a 4 year old princess. I agree that letting our pre-schooler lead the way will be a wonderful experience. You daughter is simply adorable! Looking forward to reading more...

Welcome! and thanks! How great to be going so soon! You'll have so much fun. 4 is a great age for disney (but aren't they all )

more coming right up!

I am so happy she asked this. This bothered Maya in a huge way. For a month, i heard all about how wrong it was for Rapunzel to have on shoes at least a couple times a day.

Great timing with the genie! I love your Rosetta comment and the dance with the beast!

Isn't it funny what the girls will fixate on? Mads was really concerned with the shoe situation.

We had some great character interactions, but Rosetta was special. She was really good, and "I don't do mud" is one of our family's favorite quotes from the fairie movies. We actually say it all the time because I'm not really too outdoorsy

 

[shan23877]

When I was making our ADRs for this trip, this evening’s meal was the one that changed the most. I think that I switched it 5 times before settling on the Cape May Clambake. DH was a little uncomfortable with me locking us into certain parks at certain times, so Cape May was chosen mostly for its location right between Epcot and DHS-and because we all LOVE crab legs.

It was a really nice walk to the Beach Club, DD loved seeing the beach.

The Boardwalk is fun, maybe we'll stay there again some day, but there's so may others resorts to try!

Maddie loved seeing these guys everywhere.

We got to the restaurant 15 minutes early, but it took a long time to check in because a woman was screaming at the CM at the podium. It seems that she didn’t understand why her party of 10 couldn’t be seated right away, at one table, without a reservation. The poor guy was starting to loose his composure, but she stormed off before he did. We gave our name, were given our pager, and it went off before we could sit down to wait.

I cannot say enough good things about the Cape May Clambake. Our server was very friendly, got our drinks quickly, and brought us an extra large bucket for our shells when DD told him how much she loves crab legs. We hit the buffet and started filling plates. I usually don’t care much for snow crab, but these were fantastic. I also had some lightly breaded Mahi-Mahi which was very good. Even the sides seemed better than at other buffets, but the real treat was dessert. I think I ate 4 Oreo Bon-Bons and 3 Key Lime Tarts! DELICIOUS! We used our TS credits, tipped our waiter and headed out of the Beach Club.

On the walk back to Epcot we were moving a little more slowly than we had before, but we knew that it was almost time for Soarin’! We moved through the crowds in World Showcase enjoying the entertainment as we went.

Maddie was super excited for the “hang-gliding ride”.

Love these mosaics. Beautiful.

Even with our FP we still waited about 15 minutes before we were able to ride. Maddie loved it!! Apparently we don’t have problems with motion simulators!

With another great ride under her belt Maddie was eager for more. She wanted to ride Test Track. It was 8:30 and we wanted to catch Illuminations, but we decided to give it a shot. Posted Standby time was 20 minutes, but for some reason people kept getting out of the line, so we only waited 15 minutes. When we went into the little room to get our instructions, and DD started to get really excited. We boarded the cars and took off to put them through their tests. Maddie LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this ride. It ended up being her favorite ride of the whole trip.

I hope they continue to allow you to add the on-ride photo to photopass for more rides.

Maddie and Mommy ride with arms up!

We took a ton of photos in line and in the dump shop for Uncle Cory who is a major gear head. I won't bore you with them

By now it was 8:50, and we knew we weren’t going to get a good spot for Illuminations, but we needed to find A spot. DD wanted some fireworks. We ended up at the very end of the walkway between Future World and World Showcase. DD could see the fireworks, but not the globe (she probably wouldn’t have cared much about that anyway) and we had a pretty good escape route to the buses.

Of course we stopped for some Photo Pass pictures on the way out.

We got on the first bus to POFQ, and were there quickly. DD’s goose was cooked and she fell asleep almost immediately. DH and I downloaded pictures and readied things for the next day. I went down to the lobby to inquire about the morning boat and bus schedules to Downtown Disney, we repacked our park bag, and planted the next invitation for Maddie to find. The next morning was going to be fantastic!

 

[kmedina]

Looks like another great evening. I love the resorts along the boardwalk between the two parks. We ate at Cape May for breakfast last trip, but have yet to try dinner. My aversion to all sea animals usually keeps me away.

I am glad that Maddie got to see Illuminations and loved that you stopped by PhotoPass on the way out. DH was none to pleased when I asked him to stop for a picture after the show. Luckily, we still got out before most of the crowd. Our spot was similar to yours. We are not the wait forever is a good spot for fireworks/parades type, so we either skip them all together or get an undesired spot.

I am excited to read about the next invitation.

 

[204charity]

Love your trip report. I can't wait to go myself. SOOO excited!

 

[GrammyJudy]

I am catching up on your report. Your daughter is adorable. We only have boys so no auto books or princesses for them.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

It looks like you had a really fun day! I've been wondering how Test Track and Soarin' are for little kids. I think we're going to plan on those being Madilyn's first rides at WDW since Maddie loved them so much! I don't want to terrify her right off the bat!

 

[shan23877]

Looks like another great evening. I love the resorts along the boardwalk between the two parks. We ate at Cape May for breakfast last trip, but have yet to try dinner. My aversion to all sea animals usually keeps me away.

I am glad that Maddie got to see Illuminations and loved that you stopped by PhotoPass on the way out. DH was none to pleased when I asked him to stop for a picture after the show. Luckily, we still got out before most of the crowd. Our spot was similar to yours. We are not the wait forever is a good spot for fireworks/parades type, so we either skip them all together or get an undesired spot.

I am excited to read about the next invitation.

If you don't like seafood, Cape May dinner is probably not a good choice . My DH was SO sick of photopass pics, but I still made him stop (over, and over, and over

We're also not much for staking out a good spot hours before hand. I can't sit still that long, much less DD! I'm ok with the bad spot, you can still see everything!

I am excited to share the morning of Day 3. It was awesome!

Love your trip report. I can't wait to go myself. SOOO excited!

Thank you!! I'd be excited too (I think I was the Poly on your ticker) That's my dream resort!

I am catching up on your report. Your daughter is adorable. We only have boys so no auto books or princesses for them.

Thank you! and Welcome! Darn those boys- not even autographs from Mickey? It seeems like that's all we did on this trip! We probably could have used a little more balance!

It looks like you had a really fun day! I've been wondering how Test Track and Soarin' are for little kids. I think we're going to plan on those being Madilyn's first rides at WDW since Maddie loved them so much! I don't want to terrify her right off the bat!

Awesome!! Soarin wasn't scary for her at all, and we knew she liked thrill rides, so we weren't surprised that test track was her favorite.

I agree completely--ease them in before you put 'em on Tower of Terror That's what we did!

 

[thekeeper]

Just join in, cant wait to read more about your trip! Your DD make me want to go back to WDW just to meet more princess (and i'm 21)

 

[shan23877]

Just join in, cant wait to read more about your trip! Your DD make me want to go back to WDW just to meet more princess (and i'm 21)

Welcome! Thanks for joining in! You're never too old for princesses right?

 

[NOLAmom]

Hi. I just found your trip report and it's a HUGE help as I'm preparing for our late January trip with a recently turned 4 yr old boy. We've got a DD too who will be almost 3 at trip time. It's very helpful to see what rides the 4 yr olds like and which ones are too scary.

I'm so glad your daughter loved Soarin and TT. I am so hoping that our DS will try both of those on our Epcot day. We showed him TT and he said it looked too fast on the internet but maybe we can change his mind once there!!

Looks like ya'll had long days. Did Maddie ever nap or did ya'll do down time at the resort mid day ever? I'll keep reading and can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip.

 

[lbuzz52]

I'm so glad that your dd loved TT and Soarin! I have to try Cape May next trip. I love the whole boardwalk area. Its very relaxing to me.

 

[katt789]

Much better than the snow-agreed! DH ditched his poncho pretty quickly, but one of us was dressed in finery so ponchos for the girls. We had pretty good luck with the rain for most of the trip, I think you have to expect some from the Florida summers. Were you there at the same time as us?

Definitely!! None of our group even had ponchos (we're all adults, so it's a little less important) we just braved the wet, let me tell you, I was thankfull for all the lululemon that day, wet-dry-warm, saves ya! Our last day it rained for about 30 mins, maybe less, and that was it, we were lucky! And we we're there Sept 13-19th