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

[LilAnn]

Goodness, I was a couple of updates behind.

I think it was fine of you guys to see both Donald and Chip & Dale the way you did. But then again, maybe that's because we do that too? We saw a bunch of other families doing it too, and as long as it wasn't a huge party that crashed back in, I didn't care. A spot in front of me is a spot in front of me, you know?

I CANNOT believe the nerve of that family behind you. That makes me so angry. I have cared for a few kids in my time that ended up getting Wish trips and if I were that lady, I would just step back and let the little kid have their magical moments. Those little kids are so strong and go through so much, it kills me to think that there are some people out there that just don't get it. It sickens me to think that this little girl I cared for may have to encounter that when she goes in the near future on her Wish trip. I could go on and on, but I won't. I'll stop here.

Looks like your DD knew how to read the Disney park maps and find all the character spots, just like mine! She knew what those Mickey hands meant on the map.

 

[shan23877]

We were on our way to Epcot for our dinner reservation at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. We hopped on the waiting boat and took off. Maddie LOVED the boat ride. Go figure—she couldn’t care less about the monorail, but was wild about the boat. The boat drivers were telling jokes and stories the whole trip, very entertaining, and a big difference from the boat driver we had between DTD and POFQ.

In no time we pulled up at the Epcot boat dock. We wandered over to Norway, and got checked in for the Princess Storybook Dinner at Akershus. The area was packed with people waiting to get in, so we were expecting a long wait. As it turned out that about 15 of the people were one reservation, so we only waited about 10 minutes before we were called in for our photo. Of course we were waiting behind the group of 15 to have our picture taken, but we should have seen that coming.

Maddie had her photo taken with Belle (photo included with the dinner), and we were taken to our table. We were seated in a smaller room off to the right side of the building not in the main dining room, but that was just fine with us. It had been a very long day, and we knew that the princesses would visit Mads no matter where we were sitting.

​

Our waitress arrived quickly and offered drinks and explained the cold buffet as well as dinner choices. After she brought our drinks, we placed our dinner order we headed up to check out the buffet. DH and I weren’t expecting much from the meal, but were hoping that we’d find enough to fill us up. I grabbed a plate of salad (typical iceburg and romaine), turned to my left, and there it was. SALAMI!!!! If this were a movie there would be a love song playing and a soft, glittery glow around my beloved salami. Easily my second favorite cured meat (bacon wins). I’m still not sure how salami made it onto a Norwegian buffet, but I am so glad it did. I filled a second plate with my beloved meat and some sliced cheese and happily returned to the table. I think that there was also smoked salmon, shrimp cocktail, and some other seafood available, but I didn’t try any of it. I did get another plate of salami and cheese though.

Soon the princess began to visit. Snow White came first. She was very sweet and spent a few minutes talking about the dwarves with DD.

Next up was Aurora. This was Maddie’s 4th time meeting her, and she didn’t seem to notice that Aurora looked different each time. They had a nice visit, and she moved on.

Cinderella came by next. I love this picture of the two of them enjoying a little girl talk about –what else- shoes!

​

We met Arial next. When we met her at CRT DH and I were a little off-put by her. She was a little short and kind of bratty. The Arial here was a little better, but still not as huggy and sweet as the other girls. We assumed that the CMs were trying to keep in character, and Maddie didn’t seem to mind. We knew that Maddie would want to meet Arial one more time on Day 5, so we were hoping that she’d finally get the interaction we were hoping for at MK.

Sometime while we were visiting with royalty, our food arrived. Bryan and I both ordered the chicken breast with farro risotto. It was fine. Not our best meal, not our worst, and definitely not risotto, but not so bad that we left hungry (2 plates of salami helped fill me up too of course).

Our server was great. The service was every bit as good as the service at CRT (which had been tops so far). We’ll return to Akershus, but next time we’re hoping to try breakfast instead. I wonder if they have salami at breakfast?

After dinner we walked slowly out of Epcot taking photos along the way.

We planned to take the boat back to DHS hoping that we could still get SRO spots for Fantasmic! Unfortunately we had to wait about 15-20 minutes for the boat, and after all the resort stops, Fantasmic! had already started by the time we got back to DHS.

​

Undeterred, we checked the wait time for TSMM. We were hoping that since Fantasmic! was going on the wait would be minimal. However, the wait was still 120 minutes. We had also missed the last AI show, and Maddie didn’t feel like doing Star Tours or ToT again, so we left (after a quick stop for PP of course)

Maddie was ready to go

​

We got back to POFQ quickly, and found that these guys had been waiting up for us.

We decided to take a dip in the pool before bed so we headed to the pool for 45 minutes or so. Somewhere along the way Maddie had decided that she’d like to be a princess again on Day 5, so we set the alarm a little earlier to give me some extra time to achieve perfect princess hair. The next day Mads and I would be on our own for a multi-park morning. We needed our rest!

 

[shan23877]

Goodness, I was a couple of updates behind.

I think it was fine of you guys to see both Donald and Chip & Dale the way you did. But then again, maybe that's because we do that too? We saw a bunch of other families doing it too, and as long as it wasn't a huge party that crashed back in, I didn't care. A spot in front of me is a spot in front of me, you know?

I CANNOT believe the nerve of that family behind you. That makes me so angry. I have cared for a few kids in my time that ended up getting Wish trips and if I were that lady, I would just step back and let the little kid have their magical moments. Those little kids are so strong and go through so much, it kills me to think that there are some people out there that just don't get it. It sickens me to think that this little girl I cared for may have to encounter that when she goes in the near future on her Wish trip. I could go on and on, but I won't. I'll stop here.

Looks like your DD knew how to read the Disney park maps and find all the character spots, just like mine! She knew what those Mickey hands meant on the map.

Thanks for the back up! I agree, a spot in line is a spot in line.

That lady in line made me furious. She was terrible. That family deserved to have a magical day, I can only hope that they didn't hear her.

We didn't let Maddie have a map, she just memorized the planning video. She knew about Camp Minnie Mickey from that. And in MK she repeated "Its easy to find you favorite characters like Aurora, Cinderella, and my favorite, Tiana"
over and over. God help us if she ever gets her hands on a map.

 

[msmith1026]

I am joining in SO late, but I love your trip report. We just got back from 8 days at Disney with our 5 year old, our trip sounds very similar. Love your post titles--and the reference to Friends!! I used to love that they all started with "the one with...."

 

[CandleontheWater]

So funny about the salami! Maybe they would have it at breakfast, I guess you won't know until you try!

Maddie must have been in Princess heaven! I don't think you guys have missed a princess this whole trip!

Sorry you missed Fantasmic. I think it is the hardest nighttime spectacular to catch. Maybe because we never seem to spend a whole day in DHS, maybe because it is only certain days a week. I'm sure pool time made up for it, nothing beats a late night swim!

 

[shan23877]

I am joining in SO late, but I love your trip report. We just got back from 8 days at Disney with our 5 year old, our trip sounds very similar. Love your post titles--and the reference to Friends!! I used to love that they all started with "the one with...."

Thanks for joining in! I'll check our you TR next!

Thanks! I've always been a huge Friends fan, and loved the episode titles. I've always thought it was so clever because that's how you'd describe the episode anyway.

So funny about the salami! Maybe they would have it at breakfast, I guess you won't know until you try!

Maddie must have been in Princess heaven! I don't think you guys have missed a princess this whole trip!

Sorry you missed Fantasmic. I think it is the hardest nighttime spectacular to catch. Maybe because we never seem to spend a whole day in DHS, maybe because it is only certain days a week. I'm sure pool time made up for it, nothing beats a late night swim!

Fingers crossed that they serve salami for breakfast!

I think her character dreams were certainly full-filled! She's already talking about how many autographs she'll get next time.

We weren't to broken up about missing Fantasmic. We would have liked to catch it, but especially with DD Wishes is the can't miss. We never seem to stay at DHS all day either, but do seem to be there for several half days Swimming was the much less stressful activity. And we didn't have to fight post show bus crowds

 

[Caretames1]

Kaence loves the boat rides from POR, she copies us and says it's so relaxing! Like she has any stress!

We did breakfast at Akershus, but I don't remember if there was salami. Sorry! Funny image of you and you romantic sence!

The princess at Akershus spent more time with Kadence than the ones in the Castle did.

 

[Queenofallthings]

We enjoyed our visit to Akershus as well last January! Like you, we didn't love the meal but it was ok and kept up going for the rest of the evening!

I much preferred breakfast here for the potato casserole and bacon! It just keeps coming....so delicious and I do believe your salami was in the buffet even at breakfast!

Great pictures of Maddie with the girls....I too think the one with Cinderella is adorable

 

[katt789]

Yay!! Another update!! Haha, I'm easily excited?

Akershus looks like it was great!! When we went in May, I think we were all a little dissappointed in it, especially for the price (we went for breakfast) although I did say that for little princesses, it was probably well worth it. I prefer CRT over it though!

I'm excited to see where Day 5 takes us!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Love the photos of Maddie with the Princesses! We also had dinner at Akershus and loved the buffet. I'm glad it had Salami for you

 

[PirateKate]

I'm glad they had salami for you at Akershus. I'd be surprised if salami was considered a breakfast food, but I guess you never know.

I can't believe TSM was still 120 minutes during Fantasmic! That's crazy. DHS so needs another fun ride for kids.

 

[shan23877]

Kaence loves the boat rides from POR, she copies us and says it's so relaxing! Like she has any stress!

We did breakfast at Akershus, but I don't remember if there was salami. Sorry! Funny image of you and you romantic sence!

The princess at Akershus spent more time with Kadence than the ones in the Castle did.

What's up with boat rides? I guess I really expected Mads to be monorail crazy like her dad and I were when we were kids.

How nice that Kadence has time to relax on the boat! Kids crack me up. Maddie used to say all the time that things were "making her crazy" I was confused until I realized that's what I say to the dogs

How did you like breakfast at Akershus? I'm thinking this trip we'll switch meals and do breakfast there and dinner at CRT. Mostly we're just trying to get into the parks early, and it's a nice way for DD to start the day.

I really love salami, what can I say?

We never felt that the princesses were rushing along, but they did seem speedier at CRT than anywhere else. I think that we felt that 1900 was the place the characters took the most time.

We enjoyed our visit to Akershus as well last January! Like you, we didn't love the meal but it was ok and kept up going for the rest of the evening!

I much preferred breakfast here for the potato casserole and bacon! It just keeps coming....so delicious and I do believe your salami was in the buffet even at breakfast!

Great pictures of Maddie with the girls....I too think the one with Cinderella is adorable

Akershus was nice! We didn't expect much, and we'll keep going back regardless of the food as long as DD wants to meet princesses. We know that the window is really small, so we'll eat good food when she's older For now, it filled us up and it was something different so we enjoyed that.

I think breakfast in Norway might be a little less 'odd' to us. Unlimited potato casserole and bacon you say? Sounds like heaven. Bacon is probably my favorite food .

Thanks for the compliment! Even DH says "girl talk" every time he sees that picture!

Yay!! Another update!! Haha, I'm easily excited?

Akershus looks like it was great!! When we went in May, I think we were all a little dissappointed in it, especially for the price (we went for breakfast) although I did say that for little princesses, it was probably well worth it. I prefer CRT over it though!

I'm excited to see where Day 5 takes us!

Thanks for being excited!

Akershus was ok. I don't think we'll be frequenting there once DD is out of the princess stage, but as long as she is, we'll be there. We like the dining plan because it keeps us from dwelling on the price of these meals. Once it's paid for with the package, we don't really think about the cost, which is nice.

Day 5 was interesting to say the least

Love the photos of Maddie with the Princesses! We also had dinner at Akershus and loved the buffet. I'm glad it had Salami for you

Maddie loved ANY meal at which characters were present, so we'll keep going back as long as she wants to. I was very excited that there's a place where salami can be an appetizer! I guess I'm easily pleased

I'm glad they had salami for you at Akershus. I'd be surprised if salami was considered a breakfast food, but I guess you never know.

I can't believe TSM was still 120 minutes during Fantasmic! That's crazy. DHS so needs another fun ride for kids.

Salad and salami for an appetizer? Sign me up! If it's considered Norwegian, it could be considered breakfast too right?

We really thought that the line might be manageable during the first Fantasmic showing, but no dice. I wonder if it's because it's one of the only really fun rides that anyone can enjoy? Maddie was just as happy with a trip to the pool, I loved how easy she was to please just being at Disney! Now THAT'S pixie dust!

 

[kokotg]

I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone so excited about salami ...we did Akershus for breakfast a few years ago, but I can't remember if they had it there or not. I'm glad you rank it second to bacon, or I'd have to question your sanity. NOTHING beats bacon!

Too bad you struck out at DHS, but it still looks like a lovely evening

 

[shan23877]

I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone so excited about salami ...we did Akershus for breakfast a few years ago, but I can't remember if they had it there or not. I'm glad you rank it second to bacon, or I'd have to question your sanity. NOTHING beats bacon!

Too bad you struck out at DHS, but it still looks like a lovely evening

After a 3 days of character meals, the salami was what the Dr. ordered. Not to worry, bacon will always be my first love.

We were hoping to do a little more at DHS, but DD really enjoyed her late night swims, so no big deal.

 

[Caretames1]

How did you like breakfast at Akershus? I'm thinking this trip we'll switch meals and do breakfast there and dinner at CRT. Mostly we're just trying to get into the parks early, and it's a nice way for DD to start the day.

:

We really enjoyed breakfast. The potato casserole was awesome! They bring eggs, potaot cass, bacon and sauage to the table.The cold buffet had lots of fruit, bagels, rolls, and cheese.
We are breakfast people on vacation, and getting onto parks is one of our goals too.

 

[Nermel9]

LOL, I love how excited you were over salami! (I'm not gonna lie, I would probably be that excited too! )

Great pictures from Akershus, I really have to go there someday, meet all the princesses in one shot!

 

[shan23877]

We really enjoyed breakfast. The potato casserole was awesome! They bring eggs, potaot cass, bacon and sauage to the table.The cold buffet had lots of fruit, bagels, rolls, and cheese.
We are breakfast people on vacation, and getting onto parks is one of our goals too.

Awesome. Thanks for the info. We're probably going to do DxDP this time, so we'll be doing more character breakfasts. DH and I normally skip breakfast, but on vacation we always eat it

LOL, I love how excited you were over salami! (I'm not gonna lie, I would probably be that excited too! )

Great pictures from Akershus, I really have to go there someday, meet all the princesses in one shot!

Finally! Another salami lover presents herself!!! It wasn't the best salami I've ever had, but I much preferred it to the stuff at 1900

Akershus was fun, you should give it a shot.

 

[GeminiAngel]

I'm late to the Party!

I also went to the wrong side for the Magical Express!
Been home 3 weeks now, still bummed out.

 

[GeminiAngel]

I Love the way you titled all the chapters!

And I'm loving your "Disney trip report"

 

[GeminiAngel]

I'm all caught up!!! Way too much to comment on. Just know I couldn't wait to click on each link! Your Maddie is such a cutie!

I believe I read this is your first TR? Wow. You're a pro already.