AN AP-ALOOZA with a baby! October TR turned year of Disney! NEW 2/7 AUG FINISHED!

[Imagineer5]

Did the park open at 8 0r 9 that morning? A 40 minute wait at 9:05 sounds mad for a 9am opening. Good thing you got fastpasses and explored the nearby trails rather than standing in line all that time. We have not explored the trails since three trips ago, so I need to ensure we do that on our next trip. Aria's dress is super cute. You did a great job. Thanks to fastpass plus, we were able to ride everything we wanted at AK (since neither of us wanted to ride Kali). I have never tried Sanaa, but it sounds fantastic. We love Boma and Jiko, so I am sure Sanaa is great too.

We liked Via Napoli. While I agree it is not the best, it is better than I expected from Disney. Living in a city with some of the best dining in the world makes expectations for places like Disney hard to live up too. That said, I love the low food prices at Disney compared of the strip here.

It opened at 9. The line was all the way out the front when we got there, I wonder if maybe there was a delay with the vehicles or something. But it worked out perfectly. Aria has missed out on the trail explorations before now, because I always seemed to do it when she was napping!

How was your FP+ experience? We have MK FP+ set for one day in Dec and EPCOT for another day, the 3rd day we are waiting for the parade FP+ to open up!

It's funny to hear you mention the high prices at home vs. Disney! But I do agree that disney prices really aren't a big sticker shock for us. Maybe DH's lobster when he orders it, otherwise all seems pretty on par with the boston area.

Mine is in May. It sails right out of NYC so no flying!

I. HATE. OSTRICHES. The Six Flags here has a drive through safari and those things were everywhere, chasing the car and pecking at the windows. They could never be contained to one area either so there was no escaping them. Not to mention they're ugly as hell!

Hahhaha I know I find them funny - they have the worst attitudes.

That's awesome you get to leave right from home. There arent too many out of Boston, there is one Bermuda cruise that I'd like to do someday.

Great updates! Love the pool at Beach Club...I can see how Aria would have a blast there. And yummy, yummy Sanaa! Mmmmm.

I agree with the previous post about how hard it is to plan trips when you're trying for a baby. It took roughly 2.5 years for Dug Baby (including some "breaks") and it was tricky. I was looking at an old TR of mine the other day and was reminded of how crazy it was...we didn't do any thrill rides until the last day when we crammed a bunch in...since we weren't sure whether or not I could ride them until then. Anyway, good luck going for baby #2.

And enjoy the cruise! I've never been on Carnival, but I'm sure it will be fun. Just don't go in with Disney-like expectations. We really want to take a Disney Cruise someday too!

Awww It's amazing how much is built into these trips that you don't even talk about (like not being able to ride any rides until you find out you're NOT pregnant and finally can) - sad! Luckily I will know by our December trip whether we are successful though I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks! I think it will be fun now that I've lowered my expectations.

Great updates! I love the pictures of you and Aria in your matching coverups. All the upcoming trip news is so exciting!

haha Thank you!!




HAPPY to announce that we *should* be receiving the August Photopass pics any day now!! They supposedly came on the 4th set of CD's from Disney photopass. Yes, 3 months later...ugh! Not holding my breath on that front either, but trying to keep positive!! LOL

27 Days until our December mini trip!

 

[khertz]

Then it was time for our Safari which was great as usual – the highlight this time were some Ostrich that were seriously about to attack the truck. We drove right past them (they were maybe 3 feet from my side of the truck) and then as we drove away they started to charge. Reminded me of a drive-through animal attraction I did in Texas with my grandparents when I was maybe 4 – my Granddad had a sunroof open and we were snacking inside the car and an ostrich ran over and stole our popcorn right out of the open sunroof.

Oh my GOD! I hate ostriches already, but I think this experience would have scarred me for life!!!!

That is crazy how long the wait time at the Safari already was that early in the morning. Thank goodness for FastPass! Who wants to spend the first 40 minutes of park opening in line??

It took us forever to find the dig site too! I felt like such a fool.

Bummer that the rain made you have to change up your evening plans. It really is a buzzkill for park touring, especially for a little one.

Love that picture of Aria with the drum. What a cute idea for souvenirs!

We haven't used the BCCs at all anymore since DS's very first trip, but I definitely thought AK had the best one as well.

 

[kmedina]

I liked fastpass plus, except at the MK. Getting three at every other park was all that we needed. At MK, there are too many fastpass attractions to only have three when others can get many more. I wanted six, so my plan was to use our KTTW card to get three traditional ones. We got one with no issue on our first try. On our second try, DH was told he could not get a fastpass whilst using the Magic Band and was sent to the fastpass sherif. He only told me the line was long, and the employees were unfriendly. Long story short, you can only use fastpass plus or traditional fastpass, not both according to the rules. We thought you were allowed to get both during the testing phase, but that is not the case. Therefore, I will use fastpass plus at Epcot, HS and AK, but I will pull regular fastpasses at MK until they completely take them out. I am not sticking to three when others can get more.

My DH is a by the rules guy, so we always returned within the hour on the fastpass ticket even though Disney allowed others to return anytime after the starting time. When the rules changed to disallow returning outside the window, I did not worry as we already did it anyway. Because we always returned within the expected time, we never got a lot of fastpasses. Still, the idea of sticking to three at MK does not appeal to me knowing I can do better pulling traditional ones.

There are new changes to fastpass plus allowing only one premier attraction per park. This is happening at HS and Epcot. Once it spreads to the other two I may opt for traditional fastpasses at all four. We'll see. I usually will not ride something if the line is too long. Being limited to one premier fastpass does not appeal to me at all.

 

[Imagineer5]

Oh my GOD! I hate ostriches already, but I think this experience would have scarred me for life!!!!

That is crazy how long the wait time at the Safari already was that early in the morning. Thank goodness for FastPass! Who wants to spend the first 40 minutes of park opening in line??

It took us forever to find the dig site too! I felt like such a fool.

Bummer that the rain made you have to change up your evening plans. It really is a buzzkill for park touring, especially for a little one.

Love that picture of Aria with the drum. What a cute idea for souvenirs!

We haven't used the BCCs at all anymore since DS's very first trip, but I definitely thought AK had the best one as well.

LOL! I see stuff like that happen and i'm like "well, that was different!" hahaha.

Seriously! it wasn't until Aria's FIFTH trip that I found the darn dig site. LOL.

I am so glad we have been getting the musical instruments for her, just love them and it's something we all enjoy getting.

We have always managed to use the BCC at least once during a trip - I guess for baby changing tables it just is more convenient since we can both be there - really wish the Companion restrooms all had changing tables in them (I'm sure that is a whole other discussion, but I personally would be very happy if that was the case!!)

I liked fastpass plus, except at the MK. Getting three at every other park was all that we needed. At MK, there are too many fastpass attractions to only have three when others can get many more. I wanted six, so my plan was to use our KTTW card to get three traditional ones. We got one with no issue on our first try. On our second try, DH was told he could not get a fastpass whilst using the Magic Band and was sent to the fastpass sherif. He only told me the line was long, and the employees were unfriendly. Long story short, you can only use fastpass plus or traditional fastpass, not both according to the rules. We thought you were allowed to get both during the testing phase, but that is not the case. Therefore, I will use fastpass plus at Epcot, HS and AK, but I will pull regular fastpasses at MK until they completely take them out. I am not sticking to three when others can get more.

My DH is a by the rules guy, so we always returned within the hour on the fastpass ticket even though Disney allowed others to return anytime after the starting time. When the rules changed to disallow returning outside the window, I did not worry as we already did it anyway. Because we always returned within the expected time, we never got a lot of fastpasses. Still, the idea of sticking to three at MK does not appeal to me knowing I can do better pulling traditional ones.

There are new changes to fastpass plus allowing only one premier attraction per park. This is happening at HS and Epcot. Once it spreads to the other two I may opt for traditional fastpasses at all four. We'll see. I usually will not ride something if the line is too long. Being limited to one premier fastpass does not appeal to me at all.

I am hoping that a thread I read a few days ago was true - they basically were stating that FP+ WILL MOST LIKELY BE: 3 FP's in advance and then on the day-of you can add on to that number. That works for me- i agree that 3 is WAY too few. Even DHS is tough with just 3, IMO. AK is pushing it too, though with the SR line on EE that helps. MK is impossible. I am trying not to think or worry about our December days with FP+ since it just isn't helping.

I am really, really hoping that we get KTTW cards OR that our AP's work to pull regular FP's. If a Cast Member gives me an evil eye then I will just take the darn thing off and get them.

 

[Imagineer5]

Going to work on the next day of June in a bit, but I stole the idea to write about my December trip 3 weeks out so I'm going to do that! I mainly want to so I can really sit down and plan out our days better than just what time our ADR's are. And today marks 3 weeks from arriving at VWL! YAY!

So without further ado...

Thursday 12/12

The weekend before the trip is our annual holiday party - generally about 70 people come and this year we have "invited" Santa Claus to come as well. It also means house guests through Sunday. So Sunday is clean up and that leaves Mon-Wed to pack. I really should get started ASAP!


Anyway - This morning will start off really early. We have a 7AM flight out of Providence - I didn't pay for the early boarding pass so am going to attempt to get in the A group but I assume we will be in B - which is fine since we can pre board between A and B. But we will need to get to the airport with enough time to check our bags - I think we should leave the house around 5AM and that should be sufficient - Providence is a really tiny airport and we park within walking distance (no shuttles, yay!). So we will probably get up around 4:40 having everything packed, get Aria and keep her in jammies and put her directly in the car. We can get out of the house quickly if we need to! Andrew's parents are coming either Wednesday night (ugh) or Thursday mid-day and they will be watching the animals.

A quick flight down (generally about 2.5 hours), grab our car at Thrifty (hoping the line isn't too long, my car rental from Hertz in August was RIDICLOUS though I was naughty and skirted around it) and we should hopefully be at VWL by 11:30 or so! We will grab a quick lunch at the resort and probably go swimming before getting Aria down for a nap - she needs to be up by 3 or so, so hoping we can get her down a little earlier than her usual 1PM nap.

Why do we need to get her up early?! Hoop De Doo review!! It's a first for us and we just can't wait - we made it for 4PM - ridiculously early dinner but Aria usually eats at 5 and we wanted her in good spirits. We will just hop on the boat from WL to Fort Wilderness. After that, we have a 6:30PM Sleigh Ride all set to see the holiday decorations.

Aria will wear this to dinner -

And we'll bring some leggings for her to wear underneath in case it gets chilly. We also have some cute cowgirl boots she can wear with a matilda jane dress, as back up.

We will probably be back to the room by 7:30PM this evening. Aria will go down to sleep immediately (hoping for a good spot for the PnP) and I think we will be ready to relax with a glass of wine or something and then head to bed early too, considering the early wake up. Only EPCOT is open "late" this evening - 9:30 - so IF I am feeling like I want to go out (doubtful) I could head there but it really wouldn't be worth it except to see Illuminations. I may just walk around the resort and take in the decorations though.

 

[Imagineer5]

Moving on (or back) to the June TR!

Last full day at the parks in June! This day we scheduled breakfast at the WCC, headed to the MK for the morning, left to go back and swim, then dinner at Chef Mickeys! Side note – I asked Andrew for input on our Oct 2014 trip and he said he wanted to go back to Chef Mickeys! So I guess that’s a must-do!

We hopped in the car from the BCV and drove over to the Wilderness Lodge. Fun heading back there knowing we’d be staying there for the first time in a few months. (Now only 3 weeks! Eek!). We had never had breakfast at WCC, just lunch a few months prior, and I knew there was a banana bread meal with a bananas foster sauce I had to try. Our ADR was for 7:45 but we got there early because the park ended up opening at 8AM that day.

LOVE this resort

The meal was great – though there weren’t any crazy antics like last time which was okay considering the early hour and we were just still waking up!

Andrew got the breakfast skillet, and they were sweet and brought out a plate for Aria which was nice!

After breakfast we headed to the boat and waited a good 10 minutes before the next one came so took some photos while we waited.

We missed this one -

You know you’re at the MK with a baby when your first stop is It’s a Small World! We got through the gates quickly since the park had been open for 15 minutes or so and headed straight back to ride on of Aria’s favorites. I can’t believe the song doesn’t both me at all, but I guess I just am so happy seeing her so happy on the ride. She claps and dances and sings and just has a blast. NOTE – I just looked at the latest refurb schedule and nearly had a heart attack – IaSW is scheduled to be closed through 12/12. SO hope it is open on 12/13!

Then we went straight to VotLM which was still a walk on (gotta love mornings at the MK!) and we all enjoyed that. I can’t take good photos on that ride to save my life, but I always try any way (no flash, of course).

On our way to VotLM we had picked up PP FP’s, so after riding, Andrew ran over to ride Splash, and I took Aria to meet Minnie & Daisy, which didn’t go as well as I had hoped. She is so unpredictable!

Afterwards we met up to use our Peter Pan FP’s then we went to ride the Haunted Mansion (not sure how, I was so sick of hearing about the ride!)

Sorry for the AWFUL pic ew

I ran to do something and came back to a little miss playing on the wall

then Andrew decided he wanted to brave the teacups for Aria’s first ride on that. I passed but took photos instead! Andrew ended up riding with two girls - I guess the "older" sister was only 13 or something, and the Teacup operator weren't going to let them ride alone (the younger one looked like she was 8). Poor things. So andrew being the creepy guy he is said he was with them so they could ride (good thing he had Aria with him, otherwise they may have arrested him or something).

Aria was pretty unenthused throughout the ride. Thank GOODNESS because I don't feel like I have to brave it to ride (i get SO sick from this one).

It was nearing Aria’s 1st naptime but I wanted to see if Aria would measure up for the Speedway (remember we had tried earlier in the week to no avail – annoying because it had a 32” requirement and if she would just stand up straight under it she would have definitely met the requirement – but no go again. Boo! (Spoiler, I took her on it in August and she LOVED it!).

She went down easily for a nap in the stroller, and it was my turn to have some fun so I went to ride Space Mountain with a FP I guess Andrew had pulled for me earlier. We got a rider swap so he could ride it after me, and While he did that I ran over to Buzz to get a FP for that. Just noticed how different things are going to be with FP+! As long as they will eventually allow us more than 3 FP’s/day (just 3 booked in advance) I’m happy – 3 is just not enough for a whole day at a park!
After that Aria woke up, and we went to meet a new to us character, Tiana! I love her movie, Aria has seen it once so she really didn’t know who she was and didn’t care, but oh well.

We were waiting around in that area for 11AM to come anyway, because I wanted to get a silhouette done of Aria!! OF course, I don’t have a photo of it to show you but it was one of the cheapest “experiences” we’ve done at Disney and it was really neat to see, and now have hanging in our living room. I think it was like $18 for 2 prints and a frame. Pretty awesome!

After that, Buzz FP was open so we decided to go ride that and then head out so we could go to the pool that afternoon! It was a good ride, Aria has gotten scared on it before but this time I just focused on her having a good time vs. beating Andrew (since I never do anyway) and she was fine.

Continued in next post!!

 

[Imagineer5]

We went back for the boat to the WL and got the little one so we had to fold up the stroller (boo) but it was a nice ride back.

I think we just fed Aria a snack packet and some other snacky things en route so we could get back to the room and head straight for the pool, we were both still full from breakfast!

We finally had a beautiful sunny pool day, and also discovered a different sandy area that was PERFECT for aria and spent a good hour playing in there (with a little boy who became friends with Aria) before we needed to head out so she could take a nap.

I went over to the slide across the boardwalk but there was a crazy long line, so I decided just to hang out at that pool and enjoy it instead.

Then back to the awesome sandy area we somehow missed on our previous visits (different from the 1st sandy area though in the same general part of the pool)

During Aria’s nap I walked around the resort, did some shopping, until Andrew texted me around 4:30 saying she was awake so I went back to get ready for dinner. I couldn't get a good photo of walking in the hallway to the car, but she was having a BLAST for some silly reason!

Our ADR was for 5:30 and we checked in promptly at 5:28 and were seated shortly thereafter. There was MAYBE 3 families in line ahead of us, and an incredibly rude woman who must have had a really horrible day or something because she kept going on about the line for people with ADR’s and asked us multiple times if we really had reservations and she couldn’t believe she had to wait in line when she made reservations. Etc etc. We just ended up turning around and ignoring her rants, didn’t want it to bring us down. This was the first time we had dinner here (last time was for breakfast) and we were excited! We skipped the photo with the plate, and opted to just wait for our table.

I love this photo

Within a minute of sitting down we saw Goofy and Mickey were nearing our table so we decided to wait for them before going up for food, though we did order drinks (I had a sparkling wine to start, Andrew ordered a gin & tonic I believe, and we ordered milk for Aria. She was excited to see the characters from far away but not so sure about them when they were close.

After the meets we took turns going up. Andrew hit the jackpot with some sort of meat (ribs? Not sure) that he thought were fantastic and he loved the all-you-can-eat aspect, whereas I think I ended up with some mashed potatoes and bread. (seems to be a theme at these buffets for me!). Next up was pluto

And then we did the napkin swirl thing which aria really enjoyed. She was clapping and excited for the music – I think she would like it even more now. She was so happy she even waved at Donald but wanted no part of him when he came to say hi.

Then excited to see Minnie but the same thing happened.

We had a nice little break from characters and enjoyed our meals (while Aria played on the bench seat..ah-hem bad mommy...and were there long enough that the characters started coming back around. We thought that MAYBE she would do better this time - she had seen the characters go by and knew they wouldn't do anything to her...

LOL ever the optimist, I am! Oh well, at least it wasn't a repeat of the Garden Grill when she FREAKED OUT everytime she saw one even from afar!

And that was our evening! Aria went to bed by 7:30 and I think we sat on our little patio finishing up the wine we had in the fridge.

 

[kmedina]

You are so brave to open your home up to 70 people for a party. Not that our house is big enough for that many people, but it doubt I could do it anyway. On my MILs side, they sometimes have that many people. It is madness even though she has a large house.

Hoop Dee Doo is a lot of fun. Hopefully, you get selected to participate. My niece did, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

We have only dined at WCC once. It was the last dinner seating, so we missed any antics. I would love to do it again during prime dinner time, so they are not over it and ready to go home. We walked by the restaurant several times during our stay, and it was always loud.

I love the dress Aria will wear on the next trip. You should open an Etsy shop. If I ever have a daughter, I could buy a dress from you.

The pool with the sandy area does look like a lot fun.

I agree that 3 fastpasses is just not enough at MK. I wish Crap would agree to just remove the magic bands to grab additional fastpasses, but he is very by the rules. Hopefully, by our next visit, they allow more than three. If not, I will stick to traditional fastpass on our MK day unless they have phased it out by then.

We are finally dining at Chef Mickey's next visit for dinner. So far, we have only had breakfast. Based on your DH requesting to go back, I am hoping that is a good sign for us. I am a fan of breakfast buffets, but I rarely like dinner buffets. The dinner buffets at Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine leave much to be desired.

 

[Imagineer5]

You are so brave to open your home up to 70 people for a party. Not that our house is big enough for that many people, but it doubt I could do it anyway. On my MILs side, they sometimes have that many people. It is madness even though she has a large house.

Hoop Dee Doo is a lot of fun. Hopefully, you get selected to participate. My niece did, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

We have only dined at WCC once. It was the last dinner seating, so we missed any antics. I would love to do it again during prime dinner time, so they are not over it and ready to go home. We walked by the restaurant several times during our stay, and it was always loud.

I love the dress Aria will wear on the next trip. You should open an Etsy shop. If I ever have a daughter, I could buy a dress from you.

The pool with the sandy area does look like a lot fun.

I agree that 3 fastpasses is just not enough at MK. I wish Crap would agree to just remove the magic bands to grab additional fastpasses, but he is very by the rules. Hopefully, by our next visit, they allow more than three. If not, I will stick to traditional fastpass on our MK day unless they have phased it out by then.

We are finally dining at Chef Mickey's next visit for dinner. So far, we have only had breakfast. Based on your DH requesting to go back, I am hoping that is a good sign for us. I am a fan of breakfast buffets, but I rarely like dinner buffets. The dinner buffets at Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine leave much to be desired.

Oooh I didn't realize I gave the impression I made that dress sorry about that! I am not that talented LOL - It is a dress by Kpea (one of my favorites for Aria!).

But anyway, Chef Mickeys was a HUGE hit for him, not so much for me, but as you now know I am really picky and really don't like buffets much at all.

Our house gets PACKED, believe me, but it is fun. It is our one big blow out party we have. We love the holidays and so it's our way to kick of Christmas

I can't wait for HDD, we've heard great things about it and I think the evening in general will be great fun!

 

[kmedina]

Oooh I didn't realize I gave the impression I made that dress sorry about that! I am not that talented LOL - It is a dress by Kpea (one of my favorites for Aria!). But anyway, Chef Mickeys was a HUGE hit for him, not so much for me, but as you now know I am really picky and really don't like buffets much at all. Our house gets PACKED, believe me, but it is fun. It is our one big blow out party we have. We love the holidays and so it's our way to kick of Christmas I can't wait for HDD, we've heard great things about it and I think the evening in general will be great fun!

I just assumed you made it, because I know you've made some in the past, right?

I will probably agree with you on Chef Mickey's, but Xander loves the place.

 

[jenny105]

I love the look she's giving Mickey in the third to last picture. Like 'get away from me mouse' lol.

I love, love, love Wilderness Lodge! My favorite resort!

I like Chef Mickey's better for breakfast than dinner. I've tried both and just prefer breakfast. I wasn't all that impressed with dinner. That place reminds me of a cafeteria. An overpriced one. Still fun though.

I don't know how I feel about the new FP+ and Magic Bands system. I feel like Disney is REALLY wanting you to plan every second of your vacation. I'll plan my meals and which parks I'm going to around that but...I'm not the type of person that plans out every ride. If I get to it great, if not, I'll come back to it. Guess I'll find out how I like it next time I go which won't be for awhile!

 

[Imagineer5]

I just assumed you made it, because I know you've made some in the past, right?

I will probably agree with you on Chef Mickey's, but Xander loves the place.

Oh yeah I guess I did take up sewing when I was pregnant. I have no time now for it though!

I love the look she's giving Mickey in the third to last picture. Like 'get away from me mouse' lol.

I love, love, love Wilderness Lodge! My favorite resort!

I like Chef Mickey's better for breakfast than dinner. I've tried both and just prefer breakfast. I wasn't all that impressed with dinner. That place reminds me of a cafeteria. An overpriced one. Still fun though.

I don't know how I feel about the new FP+ and Magic Bands system. I feel like Disney is REALLY wanting you to plan every second of your vacation. I'll plan my meals and which parks I'm going to around that but...I'm not the type of person that plans out every ride. If I get to it great, if not, I'll come back to it. Guess I'll find out how I like it next time I go which won't be for awhile!

Aria has a good stink eye lol. I remember breakfast was decent at CM, though as long as a place has some sort of breakfast potatoes I'm happy. Yes it did seem like a cafeteria but it was fun and it always makes me happy when DH asks to go back to some place at Disney!

Yeah - I agree, I generally don't plan out every minute but I will say I did for our August trip and never had smoother days during that trip. For this one coming up, trying to do an in-between - not planning every minute but still having a 'plan' - if I don't have one then Andrew will just intercept that he is tired or whatever and we will end up doing nothing. I just read a Kenny the Pirate post about getting a ton of FP's via MB, KTTW, and AP so I'm SO SO hoping that works in a couple weeks LOL.

 

[Imagineer5]

Forgot to mention – Accuweather says Thursday was going to be 76 high, 59 low and partly cloudy. So it should be a very comfortable evening on the Sleigh and at HDD and on the boat right there and back! Yay! (And 76 for pool time is awesome!).

Day 2 – Friday 12/13 weather forecast – 76 high 57 low with a potential afternoon shower. Works for me!

This morning we are planning to grab breakfast at Roaring Fork around 6:45AM. We are heading to MK this day, but we have to exchange our AP vouchers and get the TiW card first so I want to get to guest services early. Unsure if it will even be open that early and if not, we will wait until 7AM and then just grab some items and head out. MK opens at 8am this day (need to double check this) and it is a MVMCP night (though we are not attending the party).

We will do a boat ride to the park, and Andrew will hop in line with Aria while I go to guest services.

Once inside the park I want to go ride – Jingle Jungle Cruise, PotC, Aladdin’s Carpets, Pooh, Dumbo, VotLM, Speedway, and possibly Barnstormer – this has a height limit of 35” and Aria was 34.5” tall last time I checked, so she may or may not make the cut on that one – all before our first FP+ of the day – we have FP’s to meet Cinderella & one other princess from 10:20-11:20 and then Meet Rapunzel & a princess from 11:20-12:20, so the plan is to go to Cinderella around 11 and then go meet Rapunzel. While walking around we are also hoping to be able to grab regular FP’s with our KTTW card that I am crossing my fingers we get! (Or our AP’s though that might be a long shot).
Aria may wear this, though she has worn it a bunch to meet Rapunzel and it’s getting a little boring.

We have lunch ADR at CRT for 12:20! The Rapunzel Ellie would work ok but other options might be –

or

or I just realized I also have this

I have never been to CRT for lunch – always doing it for BF or dinner but the menu surprised me and I do love the atmosphere, so figured I’d try it out.
They first bring out a shared appetizer plate and we get to choose our entrée, I might have
Oven-Roasted Chicken Breast - farro wheat risotto, wild mushroom and leek ragout served with stone-ground mustard jus
And Andrew might have
Major Domos Short Rib - Slow-cooked in a Pinto Noir Demi-glace on potato and parsnip puree with carrots

It’s going to be a VERY princess oriented day, I guess! Luckily we met so many characters in August I don’t really feel the need to meet a ton again this trip, though that might change if Aria is super cute with them.

After lunch we have a FP+ for Peter Pan that we will have to head to right after lunch, and then Aria will go down for a nap in her stroller. During her nap time, we will hopefully have FP’s to use for Space, Splash or BTMRR, and if not then we may just do stand-by for them with rider swap – that will depend on wait times I guess. She never naps too too long in the stroller, we will be lucky if she gets in a full 2 hour nap there, so by 3:30 she should be up and ready to ride some more – TTA if no FP’s for much else, I guess! We’d also like to meet Mickey at Town Square since he is talking now, or maybe Minnie & friends back at the circus tent. We have a 5:15 ADR at California Grill so we will just head there directly from MK.

I feel like I’m forgetting a bunch of rides to do, but we can skip Belles Enchanted Tales, CoP, Buzz,Tiki Room, . Maybe we will head to TSI if there is time after Aria wakes up, and maybe while she is napping I can pop into Hall of Presidents. I can also miss HM. OH I forgot about IaSW, we will have to ride that at least once in the morning. As well as the carousel. But that should be it – without planning a gazillion character meets we have time for the rides as long as lines aren’t crazy.

Maybe I’ll change Aria in to this for dinner

We will have to pack a change of clothes for dinner into a plastic baggie for us as well, I’m sure being in a park all day we will look just lovely for the nice dinner ahead LOL.

For dinner I can see starting with
Oven-dried Tomato Flatbread - Beefsteak Tomatoes, Mozzarella di Bufala, Aged Balsamic $13.00
Because Aria would enjoy that. I’m not ordering her any kids meals – she MAY eat a bite and the rest gets wasted. So she gets bites from our plates and we will plan to bring squeeze packets for healthy snacks as well (fruits/veggies).
I think for my main dish this sounds fabulous
Wild Columbia River Salmon - Zellwood Sweet Corn Pudding, crispy Salmon Cakes, spiced Saffron Broth $42.00
Andrew might do this one, though it’s sort of up in the air as none of his go-to meals are on the menu (which is a good thing!)
Pork Two Ways - Grilled Tenderloin, Goat Cheese Polenta, Mushrooms, Lacquered Belly, Applesauce $37.00

I have to get dessert! This looks too amazing
Warm Homemade Fritters - Banana-stuffed, Cinnamon-dusted Fritters with Toasted Caramel Marshmallows complemented with a Trio of Dipping Sauces $12.00
I’d like to talk Andrew into getting this one, so I can eat it too
Chocolate Pudding Cake - Luscious Chocolate Cake with Nutella Filling, Meringue Kisses, and Mint Chantilly $13.00
And I’m sure dinner will be accompanied by wine – either a couple glasses or a bottle, we shall see how little miss is behaving. All I think about with CG is our awful evening here last October (2012) when we hired KNO to watch Aria and we had a date night for my 30th birthday here. We left with Aria SCREAMING with the babysitter and we were worried the whole time. To make matters worse, the table nearby was a group of 12 or so, 3 of them kids who were old enough (in my VERY knowledgable opinion (being sarcastic) to not be acting like heathens but they were running around screaming, crying, etc. So I keep thinking to myself, Aria can’t be worse than THEM! But if she is we will take turns walking her outside.

Wishes isn’t until 9:30PM for MVMCP so I am pretty sure we will just head back to the resort after dinner. Possibly hopping into the pool before Aria heads to bed. If I feel up to it, EPCOT is open until 12:30 this evening.

 

[kmedina]

Sounds like a fantastic day you have planned. All of those fantastic outfits make me want a daughter more than ever.

 

[Dugette]

That was nice of Andrew to ride the teacups with those girls!

Looks like Aria had a great time in the sandy area at Stormalong Bay! Such a great pool.

Yeah, the Small World refurb lasts for most of our trip! Hoping it will maybe open early, but if not, we'll have to wait for the last day. At least Dug Baby doesn't know what she's missing. But every trip report I read involving a toddler, they all love Small World. So, I know it's a must-do.

Ha, you mentioned bringing a change of clothes for the CA Grill. I remember doing that once - we used the Contemporary's bathrooms and changed and brushed hair, etc. after a long park day. It felt kinda weird, but it worked!

Your plans are looking great, by the way!

 

[AussieAngel]

I love all the detail of your plans! Your trips are always so action-packed and fun!

All those dresses are just beautiful. I especially love the one you have planned for Aria at CG! I wonder if there is a baby boy's equivalent for Leo! Not little dresses of course rotfl, but cute little boys outfits!

Our FP+ worked really well for our trip in November. Once we discovered that Leo tended to nap around 10.30am until 12noon each day, we made our FP+ times for then, for rides he couldn't go on, like Splash Mountain, etc, and meets (like talking Mickey at Town Square) for when we knew he would be awake. Other smaller rides (Dumbo, etc) we tended to do first thing in the morning while the park wasn't as busy and while Leo was still fresh and happy.

Your trip will be here before you know it!

 

[Imagineer5]

Sounds like a fantastic day you have planned. All of those fantastic outfits make me want a daughter more than ever.

Aww I have definitely enjoyed building Aria's closet, it's become a 2nd hobby (behind all things disney, of course!!)

That was nice of Andrew to ride the teacups with those girls!

Looks like Aria had a great time in the sandy area at Stormalong Bay! Such a great pool.

Yeah, the Small World refurb lasts for most of our trip! Hoping it will maybe open early, but if not, we'll have to wait for the last day. At least Dug Baby doesn't know what she's missing. But every trip report I read involving a toddler, they all love Small World. So, I know it's a must-do.

Ha, you mentioned bringing a change of clothes for the CA Grill. I remember doing that once - we used the Contemporary's bathrooms and changed and brushed hair, etc. after a long park day. It felt kinda weird, but it worked!

Your plans are looking great, by the way!

I hope that it opens early for you guys, if not then fingers crossed it doens't open late for both our sakes!! It's just so fun to see her so involved in something, which of course is happening on more and more things at Disney but that was really the first one she truly loved and still does.

Yeah, going straight from a park to a signature restaurant isn't the loveliest, I guess the 70-degree weather will help with that though (vs. the last time I was there, in AUgust, now THAT would be gross).

I love all the detail of your plans! Your trips are always so action-packed and fun!

All those dresses are just beautiful. I especially love the one you have planned for Aria at CG! I wonder if there is a baby boy's equivalent for Leo! Not little dresses of course rotfl, but cute little boys outfits!

Our FP+ worked really well for our trip in November. Once we discovered that Leo tended to nap around 10.30am until 12noon each day, we made our FP+ times for then, for rides he couldn't go on, like Splash Mountain, etc, and meets (like talking Mickey at Town Square) for when we knew he would be awake. Other smaller rides (Dumbo, etc) we tended to do first thing in the morning while the park wasn't as busy and while Leo was still fresh and happy.

Your trip will be here before you know it!

I have been keeping stock of some cute boy's clothing places just in case our (eventual) 2nd is a boy! I love Tea Collection, they have cute boy's stuff, along with Mini Boden. Definitely not as many out there though.

Glad your FP+ experience was a positive one!!

 

[Imagineer5]

I stink at updating over the weekend. I find it hard to do updates from the ipda with photos in them, so making up for lost time and doing saturday, sunday, and monday of my upcoming trip all today!

Day 3 – Saturday 12/14 high of 71, low 54. Still warm according to our 40’s highs we’ve been seeing lately!

So I wanted to build in a “see the holiday decorations” day. The day starts out with a breakfast at Ohana – one of my top to-do’s as we’ve only ever done dinner here! We will probably just drive over vs. waiting for the boat because I think WL only goes to Contemporary? Then we’d have to go MK – Poly? Maybe I’m wrong there but it sure would be faster to drive that morning.
Not sure if I want to go tropical with her outfit or holiday?

or maybe a combo with this cutie

Now the plan is to just enjoy the monorail resorts – heading to the GF to see the gingerbread house. We do have lunch ADR’s at the GFC though I am really, really wishing I had built in time at AK so I am sort of thinking I might convince Andrew to hop over to the AK after breakfast & gingerbread house visiting? I think I’ll have to pack this just in case LOL

If we do hop to the AK it will be without any FP+ because I am holding out for Wishes/Electromagic parade that evening at MK – more on that later.

We should still be able to go on the Safari though (again with my fingers-crossed KTTW card!), and I can ride Dinosaur and we can hop on the train so we can pet some goats & sheep. Maybe just stick around for a little while and head out after a CS lunch so Aria can get a good nap in back at the resort. During her nap time we might take turns swimming (well, Andrew will probably be happy to nap). Then maybe family swim time around 4 or so, before our 6PM Artist Point ADR.

I think Aria should wear this – a holiday themed outfit for the evening!

Again we had a pretty poor experience here in June – date night (we seem to have really awful date nights at Disney lol!) and the food was mediocre too. I don’t love the cedar planked salmon because honestly it just doesn’t have enough flavor (I don’t love salmon enough for it to be the only flavor there). I will have to start with
Smokey Portobello Soup - with Roasted Shiitakes, Chive Oil, and Sourdough Croutons $10.00
Hoping it isn’t so salty like it was last time
Andrew might get
Kettle-steamed Penn Cove Mussels - Cioppino/Nage house made soughdough crostini and frying pepper aioli $14.00
Maybe I will be brave and try a new fish, because the accompaniments look great
Pan-Roasted Pacific Halibut - sweet corn and chevre porridge, carmelized rapini, black mission fig relish and carbernet vinaigrette $34
(I had the vegetarian option last time – the mushroom lasagna and I didn’t like it at all)
Andrew might get
Wild Caught Jumbo Prawn and Crab "Hot-Pot" - with mussels, crispy pork, jasmine rice, and spiced Thai Coconut Broth $32.00
That thai coconut broth would catch his eye hehe

If I’m up for it, this looks good to finish
Dark Valrhona and White Chocolate "Sculpture" -drunken cherry crunch and blackberry port sauce $11.00

After dinner we are heading straight to MK! This is the ONLY night that it is open for regular guests, not having a MVMCP. Which means it’s going to be packed and I’m going in with no expectations. Which is why I REALLY want the Parade & Wishes FP+!! I have it down that the parade is at 9PM and Wishes at 10PM, so before those we might do the TTA, speedway, or other fun things for Aria. I might grab a 3rd FP+ for us for the Jingle Jungle cruise to see it in the dark.

When Wishes is over, the park does stay open until 12 but I think that we will all be pretty pooped and we can hop on the boat back to WL. Hopefully it is the larger boat so we can stroll the stroller right onto it, so Aria can fall asleep if she needs to.

 

[Imagineer5]

Day 4 – Sunday 12/15 72 high, 47 low (We will need jackets/pants for the mornings I guess)
Despite the late evening Aria generally NEVER sleeps past 7:15 or so, so I did make a BF ADR for 7:45 at Kona this day. We plan to spend the day at EPCOT, dinner at EPCOT then hop over to DHS to see the Osborne lights. Not sure how to play out the transportation – we could drive to the poly, drive to EPCOT, then walk to DHS but leaving DHS would stink if we have to go all the way back through epcot to the car. We can take the boat to the MK then Poly, bus or monorail to EPCOT, then bus back to WL from DHS? Seems like a crazy bit of transportation. Maybe we will just drive, and on our way out of DHS we can check out the Swolphin holiday decorations and stop in for a drink somewhere to make it fun. Maybe enjoy EPCOT too before Illuminations starts.

Anyway…so I think Aria will have to wear this this morning (it is Andrews absolute favorite)

For breakfast I am sure to have the
Tonga Toast - banana stuffed sourdough bread, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with Strawberry Compote and your choice of ham, bacon, or sausage $12.99
And Andrew is going to have
Big Kahuna - French toast, Pancakes topped with Pineapple sauce and Macadamia Nut Butter, eggs, home fried potatoes, ham, bacon, and sausage $11.99
With a pressed pot of coffee to share.
Once in EPCOT, I’m sure we will do our usual stop at the Ball to ride and see who gets the honor of taking their photo with Aria LOL. Then head to Nemo and ride that. We have FP+ scheduled for Soarin for 9:40-10:40. We didn’t do 1 FP here and 1 another place mainly because it’s a PITA to do rider swap. This way Aria can be enjoying the Seas or something while one of us rides and then vice versa. After we’ve both ridden that we’ll hopefully hop onto the Land ride without much of a wait. By now it should be 10:30-10:45 I think – we have our next FP+ scheduled for TT for 11:20-12:20 (mainly just because there wasn’t much here we needed to use FP for, I guess, since we usually just do SR). So while waiting for that to open up we might go check out the new flavors at Club Cool, ride Figment, or walk the Innoventions and let Aria run around. Then we will switch off with TT, probably grabbing a rider swap to ride later on. Andrew might hop on Mission Space because for some reason he loves that ride. Then we will start heading towards WS. We have FP+ for 1:10 for Maelstrom, so we will do that right before Aria takes a nap – so while waiting for that we might check out Spice Road if its open for lunch, otherwise maybe La Cava del Tequila and grab
Trio Combo - Perfect combination of chips served with salsa, cheese dip, and guacamole $14
Mmm that looks good. Along with my favorite margarita and we are all set. Aria LOVES spicy stuff so hopefully there is a bit of kick to the dips.
Then on to Maelstrom and Aria will take a nap in the stroller! I’ll pick up a times guide so we can hopefully catch a storyteller or two on a stroll around the WS, maybe hop into the wine grotto if we are up for it (hey, it’s vacation after all!).
When she wakes up we might hop into line to meet pooh or even the new Frozen characters (need to look into times for these). Might change her into the holiday knot I showed earlier or maybe this

or

or I might stick with some other Disney things I have like

We’ll see.
We have a 5PM ADR for Tutto Italia, but another report made me wish we were heading to Beaches & Cream instead.
If we go to Tutto this looks good
Fiori di Latte Calda - House-made whole milk mozzarella served with warm roasted pomodorini, extra virgin olive oil and focaccia $18.00
And this dish is the reason I made the reservation in the first place - Salmone - baked salmon filet, artichokes, potato, olives $29.50

Hmmm can we just go to B&C for ice cream?! Because nothing on their menu appeals to me (though I’m sure Andrew would love a burger). I really want a banana split though! MMM. We will see.

After dinner, we will walk to DHS heading straight for the Osborne lights. This evening, besides the lights, is up in the air – we have no plans to ride anything at DHS though we could potentially do RnRC if the SR line is open & let aria play at the playground if it is open late, or we could head back to EPCOT afterwards, check out some other holiday decorations, go back to Nemo or something like that, before heading out. I guess it will depend on how we feel (and Aria’s attitude), it is our last night so I want to have fun!

Last day BOO! 12/16 65 high, 47 low – will be wearing pants/jackets this day since we will be getting on a flight anyway and heading to our coldddd home. When we traveled at this time in 2007 we had missed a HUGE GIANT snow storm that caused over 6 hours of traffic for our co-workers, and our car wouldn’t start in the lot. Overall happy with the 3-week-out forecast, hope it doesn’t get any chillier though otherwise the pool time might not happen.
Our flight is planned for 12:45, which means we need to leave the resort by about 10:30. We have breakfast at WCC planned for 8:30 then we will just head back to the room to finish packing and head out – sad! This reminds me to set a phone reminder for check in at 12:45 the previous day, hopefully my La Cava margarita doesn’t make me forget to do that ; )

This flight might be iffy –it is right during Aria’s nap time but she doesn’t nap well in our arms. So, crossing my fingers for an open seat so she might fall asleep there (we haven’t purchased her a seat).

We get back to Providence around 3:30 and will probably hit a little traffic but hopefully not too bad getting home. Andrew’s parents are taking the dogs to their house, which means Andrew will need to drive there and back (about 1.5 hours each way) to get them either Monday night or Tuesday night, and we both go back to work Tuesday morning.

 

[Dugette]

Wow, we managed to plan very different days for all of our overlapping days! What time is your 'Ohana breakfast ADR? Not sure if we'll have left for MK yet, but maybe that's a chance to wave in passing.

I hope your Artist Point meal goes way better than last time. We had a really good experience there in 2011, so hoping you can have that too.

Just to throw another transportation option out there for your Kona/Epcot/DHS day: you could drive to the TTC, then walk to Kona (short path). Walk back to TTC and take monorail to Epcot. Walk to DHS. Bus DHS back to TTC and drive back to WL. I don't know. Complicated any way you do it.

How did I forget Club Cool in my plans?!? This is why I need to read PTRs!

Why is Rider Swap a pain for Soarin'? Just that you have to bring the kid all the way in and down? Or something else?

Why not just have ice cream at Beaches 'n' Cream? I see no problem with that. Their burgers are good, but I think it might be nice to have your dinner at Tutto, get your exercise walking over, then indulge in a banana split.