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

[Imagineer5]

Before I move on I just wanted to share that I got FP+ for MSEP AND WISHES for December 14th!! SO SO excited!! I posted about it in the theme park attractions thread and I got one response basically saying it was old news LOL but they definitely weren’t available Wednesday last week, and I don’t remember if I checked Thursday – but they were there Friday! Also I am hearing reports of SOME KTTW/AP’s not working for FP- so I am trying not to fret about getting those, and will just try to go with the flow and enjoy the trip. Anyway, back to August!

Day 2 – Wave for breakfast and MK day!! Here are my minute by minute plans I came up with for this day –
Park at Contemporary, BF at the Wave, then head to MK

-Meet Marie 9AM flag pole
-Grab PP FP
-Enchanted Tales w/ Belle
-Meet Ariel
-Ride Under the Sea
10 Meet Gaston
FP Pooh
10:40 line to meet Pooh characters
Ride PP
Ride IaSW
Snack at Sleepy Hollow
Mickeys Philharmagic ??
Carousel
FP Dumbo
Ride Pooh
11:15 Meet Fairy Godmother behind castle
11:20 Meet Alice & White Rabbit
Meet Daisy/Minnie/Goofy/Donald
11:45 Peter Pan/Wendy?

LUNCH

12:40 Meet Stitch
Try to put Aria in carrier and ride Carousel of Progress
Ride TTA
Aria naps in stroller 1-3? Or in front carrier?
When Aria wakes up, meet Buzz (out front of CoP 2:45 on)
Ride Speedway if line isn’t too long, otherwise use FP’s for - PP, Pooh, Under the Sea, Dumbo, etc

Back to resort for pool/dinner/bed


SO let’s see how the day actually panned out. Yes, I went crazy-planner for characters because Andrew wasn’t there and Aria couldn’t object LOL so I got to plan the trip how I (in huge capitals) wanted to! Yipeeeeeee

The day did start off a little rocky – we were both wide awake by 6AM – around 1 or 2 she came into bed with me because we kept waking each other up anyway. I had to shower and get ready so I put on the Disney channel in the living room, so we was pretty content to watch that, but getting up so early meant it was a little tougher to spread out breakfast until 8 when our Wave breakfast was. No photos from this morning, it was just me packing the park backpack with diapers, wipes, spare outfit, ipad, toys, snacks, etc and running out the door! We arrived within about 15 minutes though as it really was a quick ride to anywhere on property and made it to the wave for our 7:45 ADR a couple minutes early. I ordered coffee, spinach, tomato and feta eggs and a side of breakfast potatoes, and Aria ate a couple measly bites but not that much.

Look, I remembered one of the ikea bibs today!

I had a little bit of potatoes left over that I did package up for later on for Aria to snack on, and then we headed out to the MK.

We were let in a little early, and no Marie to be seen at the flagpole so I skipped that plan and took PP pics of the empty park instead. Aria was in a bit of a MOOD – oh yay.

Ok, I got ONE smile but this was before PP came into the picture

Look at the grump!

BTW, I was REALLY worried about getting my *every* trip walking pic with Aria, with no 3rd person to take the photo!! I asked a really nice photopass guy though to do it and he was so sweet! Made my day that he would take the photo and leave his spot in front of the castle, I didn't know if he'd be "allowed" to but he did.

Tickles!

MORE photos, mommy?!?

Apparently she doesn't like me setting her down and running ahead to take a photo of her...

I stopped the photopass pics and we resumed the plan – got PP FP’s and then went straight for ETWB. It’s amazing how NO ONE knows that you are supposed to wait in the little hut for the next CM to come and get the group. It seems like everytime we go through it we have to assure people that someone will come for us – a group just behind me was about to walk back out because they were afraid it wasn’t open yet. But I assured them someone would come soon and alas, a minute later we were led inside. ARIA FREAKED OUT at the mirrored door. WTH?! Another little girl (about age 4) was crying which I guess set her off, but seriously, this was her 4th time through? Then cried again at the big wardrobe.

Really interesting that they painted over all the lines under 5 years?!? Why??

I was really worried at how this day was going to play out, but I didn’t have anything to do other than stick with my plan. So we went through, we were invited up to meet Belle even though Aria wasn’t playing a part (there’s only been one time we haven’t been invited up to meet Belle) and Aria did fine with her thankfully.

Another Belle that doesn't look like Belle should, IMO!

Then next on my plan was to run and meet Ariel – we only had 1 family ahead of us there – yay! At first I put her up next to Ariel but she didn’t want anything to do with her so I quickly joined her for the photo. BTW, the dress she is wearing is the Matilda Jane "Ariel" Puffer dress, which is why we had to meet Ariel in it.

BTW I got the plans from Kenny the Pirate for the most part – he has these “extreme character touring plans” that I used as a basis then put in the rides and took out the characters and such. It was a lot of fun planning my days so intricately, and honestly made for a much smoother day in terms of wait times and rides and meeting characters.

Anyway, next we rode VotLM which I really think is super cute, Aria enjoyed the music and clapped along and danced in her seat. Too cute!

THEN Kenny failed us LOL – we were early to meet Gaston at 10 (it was only about 9:40 at this point) so we did a little shopping in the village gift store (BTW – anyone want to sell me one of those Be Our Guest wine glasses they had initially??? They don’t carry them anymore and my cat Jake just knocked mine off the counter over the weekend and I’m SO UPSET about it!!). We didn’t buy anything though. 10:05 came and I was wondering where the heck Mr Gaston was, when I asked a CM and they said that he wouldn’t be appearing at all that day! Grr! So glad I just wasted 25 minutes of prime early park time –

Closest we got

so now I was annoyed but still running ahead of schedule, so I grabbed FP’s for Pooh and then moved up two of the things I wanted to do – meet Alice & ride the Tomorrowland speedway – both of which we got done before my next plan which was get in line to meet Pooh at 10:40.

Meeting Alice went well, I believe her next appearance was going to be at 10:20 near the Tea Cups so we were there in plenty of time – I parked the stroller and waited a bit impatiently but luckily she did show up and we were first in line to meet her (there wasn’t really a line or a specific place I knew she was meeting, so I was worried that a line would form elsewhere and I wouldn’t notice, but luckily she came right up to use. Aria was wearing an Alice in Wonderland ellie for the occasion and Alice was really sweet in pointing it out. No photopass, so the handler CM took some photos.

Continued in next post!!

 

[Imagineer5]

Then one of the things I was most excited about – Tomorrowland Speedway!!? Why, you ask?? Because Aria was about to go on her FIRST Height requirement ride!! She was about 33.5” in August, and the height requirement was 32” so I just knew there was no way she wouldn’t pass this time (in June she measured at 32” at the doctors, but they wouldn’t let her ride). I tried to get some good photos on the ride, to show how much fun she was having – laughing at the other cars and just having a blast! She really enjoyed the speed and wind in her face.

It was just turning 10:40 now and we were back on schedule to meet Pooh – we got in line behind just 1 family – a dad and his approx. 6 year old daughter who had a stuffed tigger and brought an old Pooh costume (??) which might have fit Aria. Once Pooh & Tigger got there we took a couple photos but Aria was not as excited about meeting these guys. For some reason, I thought it was prudent to meet Pooh & Tigger three separate times this week, and SO glad that we did because she finally ran up to her very first character later on!! But back to this day…

Our FP’s for Pooh and PP were not quite open yet, so we headed over to Dumbo – Aria enjoyed playing in some AC and there was no wait for the ride but we stayed in there for about 20 minutes so she could blow off some steam

Then headed off to ride. As always she loved it! A nice guy saw me sneaking a quick photo of her while everyone was loading and offered to take our picture, so nice!

I tried to get some ride photos of her laughing & smiling but didn’t have much luck – believe me she enjoyed it though LOL.

A quick attempt at a photo in the Dumbo vehicle where you are supposed to take the pics - didn't work so well!

Then we hopped into the FP line for Pooh and rode that, then rode PP with our FP’s and lastly ran to IASW! Loved this morning of barely and line! Of course, as usual she loved IASW!

Next up - it was time to meet Peter Pan!! I timed this one poorly and we were at the end of the line but one more family and the line was cut off so I guess timing wasn't that bad - we did have a 15 minute wait or so, though. No photopass AGAIN, so a nice family took photos for me. the interaction was great though, both Wendy and Peter were hilarious and they loved her Alice dress.

Next we were hungry and ready to try some treats, I indulged in BOTH of the Sleepy Hollow waffle options – the chicken AND the fruit & nutella one! Aria was still in a mood and didn’t want to eat (it was hot, I’ll give her that) and that was my one complaint about sleepy hollow –no place to eat in AC. But the waffles were DELICIOUS! I tried to get her to eat a little bit which resulted in a time out right there in her stroller while I enjoyed it myself. I ate about 2/3 of each – yes I was miss piggy but they were so good and I’m glad I tried both. (the only negative was that the fruit didn't taste 100% fresh somehow? it looked fantastic but tasted a little old).

At this point we had done almost everything on my to-do list, and it was nearing time to meet Stitch so we headed over to Tomorrowland. Stopping for a quick PP -

Continued in next post!!

 

[Imagineer5]

Again here we waited 5 minutes past Stitchs time to come out and no Stitch in sight when I was told after asking about him that he wasnt coming out&ok&(photos of waiting)

so to salvage the situation we hopped onto the TTA! Always a good one and never a line.

Tired & hot baby

On my plan I had Aria napping in the carrier but it was much too hot for that, and I was just ready to head back and give Aria a good nap in the room, so I did just that  Aria fell asleep in the stroller on the walk to the car, then slept through the car ride back, and transferred to the crib perfectly for a good 3 hour nap LOL. Poor munchkin! I had a great relaxing time watching some TV and trying to figure out the evenings plan (sleep-wise).

Once she woke up it was already nearly 5 and I had already made dinner  broccoli (her favorite) and cheese tortellini w/ marinara sauce. She was ready to eat and ate nearly her whole plate so I guess it was a hit!

Then we spent the next hour in the pool  enjoying the nearby one with all the spraying water and a few other kids in it. My only complaint for the resort was the itty bitty play area, BTW, which we never went on because it was always PACKED with kids even though it was so tiny. No biggie though , Aria is such a water baby that we thoroughly enjoyed the pools instead. (sorry if these photos were posted from day 1  my water camera didnt put the right date on any of them so they came totally jumbled in my photos).

After swimming I ran to the little shop in the lobby for some ear plugs then we headed back to the room and Aria played in the tub while I took a shower (they were connected with glass, so I always had my eye on her!). I set up the pull out couch to see how comfortable it was and Aria was so excited to play on it. Trying to get a silly video to load showing her playing around on it.

LMK if this video doesn't work
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=975086332361&l=7842539589417959525

But it was only about 6:30 and we just had the *best* evening watching TV and playing on the sofa bed. I started truly enjoying the time at this point  MK was fun but a bit trying at times but this evening really showed me how much fun we could have just the two of us and from here on out I relaxed a bit on being there alone with her. After putting her to bed I played online and watched some TV before heading to bed myself  my solution (which thankfully DID work for the rest of the week) was to move Arias crib across the bedroom away from the AC, and then I slept on the pull out couch. There was a sliding door separating the bedroom/bathroom from the kitchen/dining/living rooms so I closed that at night, plus the ear plugs, and slept so soundly. That pull out couch was the most comfortable thing ever (though Im sure that was the exhaustion talking!

 

[wiigirl]

Cute pics!

 

[JulieODC]

I'm loving your trip reports, and am jealous of your mother-daughter trip (I'd love to do that with DD, but I'm not sure I could do it without DH getting jealous!).

I grew up in SE Mass/RI, so seeing TF Green pictures makes me smile too!

 

[Dugette]

Great updates! Wow, that's a lot of character meets! Very cute video. I think Aria and Dug Baby speak the same language, by the way. Sounds like a great vacation day.

 

[Imagineer5]

Cute pics!

Thanks so much for readng along & commenting!!

I'm loving your trip reports, and am jealous of your mother-daughter trip (I'd love to do that with DD, but I'm not sure I could do it without DH getting jealous!).

I grew up in SE Mass/RI, so seeing TF Green pictures makes me smile too!

Aww thank you so much!! I guess the only positive of DH getting tired of Disney is that I can take Aria there without him being jealous! He missed us for sure, but def not jealous that we were there.

Aww really, where about? Thanks so much for commenting and reading!! I love TF green airport!! So nice to fly out of vs boston. We fly out in just 9 days from there, EEEEEK, though this time my FIL is driving us so that is nice!

Great updates! Wow, that's a lot of character meets! Very cute video. I think Aria and Dug Baby speak the same language, by the way. Sounds like a great vacation day.

Yay glad the video worked!! Too funny! It was wonderful and really ended on a great note. Sometimes (well I think we've done it twice with Aria) we blow up an air mattress in the living room and watch movies on it all weekend long. She has really enjoyed jumping on that so I guess a week full of the pull out couch being opened up and she was in heaven!! Hahaha it was like that every night! (And no, I did NOT put the pull out away every night, like I would have if Andrew had been there

 

[AussieAngel]

What a fun day you spent together! So many special moments and memories!

Gosh, she's just the cutest little girl, Lauren. Loved the pic of the top of her head in Dumbo, it made me giggle! I loved the video at the end too - she's so happy to be on holiday with her mum! (Sorry, mom!)

Sounds like it was a good idea to head back for a nap in the afternoon... We ended up doing that with Leo most days because it was just so hot and he was getting cranky. Sometimes I think they're the nicest times, just relaxing in the resort and enjoying some playtime!

Thanks so much for sharing your trip, can't wait to read more!

 

[Imagineer5]

What a fun day you spent together! So many special moments and memories!

Gosh, she's just the cutest little girl, Lauren. Loved the pic of the top of her head in Dumbo, it made me giggle! I loved the video at the end too - she's so happy to be on holiday with her mum! (Sorry, mom!)

Sounds like it was a good idea to head back for a nap in the afternoon... We ended up doing that with Leo most days because it was just so hot and he was getting cranky. Sometimes I think they're the nicest times, just relaxing in the resort and enjoying some playtime!

Thanks so much for sharing your trip, can't wait to read more!

AWww thank you!! the morning started off pretty bumpy and with no one to take over I got a bit nervous, but luckily it ended on a great note that continued through the rest of the trip. Hahaha it was so nice to have photopass this trip to actually get a few good photos - otherwise you saw what happened!

 

[Imagineer5]

Before I move on, I have been looking into August 2014 resorts since I will know in a couple days whether or not that trip will happen. Daycare is closed later in August this year (thank goodness!!) – the week before Labor Day so I’ll be there approx. Aug 23-30. Hoping it is *slightly* cooler and fewer crowds at that time of year. The options I am currently considering with the TOTAL trip price (including food, airfare, rental car if we get one, etc) is shown below from cheapest to most expensive.

1. Government website condo – the Silver Lake Resort is NOT available. Boo! So looking at what IS available and there are zero 2BR, so back to the 1BR but still the most space I’m looking at. It’s called the Summer Bay resort, and is approx. 15minutes further away than Silver Lake was, but the resort itself is located on a lake you can swim in, with multiple pools and an awesome splash pad area. Full laundry in unit and full kitchen. TOTAL price - $1800
2. Shades of Green – I believe this is walking distance to the Poly resort, though still looking into *how* easy it is to do the walk. The pool looks nice with a zero entry area but no amazing splash area. This would be the 2nd largest room size though with a very good sized regular hotel room. No magical express so I would get a rental car. TOTAL price - $2280
3. AKV – actually Kidani Village. I have wanted to stay here with Aria due to the AMAZING splash pad they have, I discovered it this trip on the last day and can’t believe we missed it last March when we stayed at the lodge. This would be a studio room, standard view, and I love the theming of the resort. We could utilize ME and Disney buses and not get a car, potentially, though that is still up in the air considering 1 person with a then-2 year old, stroller, backpack…not sure if I can handle the buses by myself. TOTAL price - $2355
4. BLT – standard view studio. For the convenience of walking to the MK, or monorail to EPCOT, this one came up as a serious contender despite the high price. Also, bedtime in the stroller means I could go up to the TotW lounge, which was so neat last October. (Or Aria might be able to stay up later and enjoy it up there, too). May or may not get a rental car due to the location, but same issue w/ the buses arises. TOTAL price - $2663.

I am so torn on which to do. If I went the condo route I could do a few more meals in the room (which BTW I HATE cooking on vaca, but Aria does eat much better that way vs. restaurants) but I do not love the location being so much farther away. I am leaning toward BLT simply due to the location, and I know that with Andrew we won’t be doing another studio there as they are TINY but I think with just Aria and me it would be ok. But going a cheaper route means we could potentially do a bit more – this current plan has 1TS/day just like last August but we could do more of those, or some other extras (not sure what though since she is only going to be 2.5 then, so still no BBB, maybe pirate & pals cruise if that isn’t 3+??).

Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[JulieODC]

Oooh, that's a tough decision!!!

I will say that on our recent trip with DD (who was 26 months at the time), being able to walk to a few parks from the YC was a HUGE bonus! Let us stay in the parks a little later and grab a drink or 2, and do some more dining in Epcot.

Although, our DD really enjoyed the bus rides this time too (when last year, she did not).

I'll also say that I would have said the same thing about my DD eating at home vs. restaurant, but she did really well in that department too. And, between now and August --- I bet your DD becomes a whole new little person in terms of eating/restaurants, etc.

So, even though the price is hard to beat, I'd probably lean towards the BLT option, or a resort that would give you the option of walking to a park.

 

[Imagineer5]

Oooh, that's a tough decision!!!

I will say that on our recent trip with DD (who was 26 months at the time), being able to walk to a few parks from the YC was a HUGE bonus! Let us stay in the parks a little later and grab a drink or 2, and do some more dining in Epcot.

Although, our DD really enjoyed the bus rides this time too (when last year, she did not).

I'll also say that I would have said the same thing about my DD eating at home vs. restaurant, but she did really well in that department too. And, between now and August --- I bet your DD becomes a whole new little person in terms of eating/restaurants, etc.

So, even though the price is hard to beat, I'd probably lean towards the BLT option, or a resort that would give you the option of walking to a park.

Thanks for the input!! that is what I am leaning toward, though I can't quite book it (christmas spending - apparently I can't stop buying her presents LOL) so it may depend on which studio rooms are available when I can book! Maybe I'll even try out the Boardwalk (BCV is our favorite, but I do like to hop around and we'll be there in October) if that's available.

You're so right, she will be so different then. Hopefully much easier in restaurants, and we could even do a buffet since she might just listen to me and follow along with me vs. run off when I'm trying to get food! LOL

 

[Imagineer5]

Day 3 – DTD day!! For some silly reason I thought that our 2nd full day at Disney should be spent at Downtown Disney! Looking back on it, I am not sure why I felt the need to take a break from the parks so early! LOL. But my plan was to have breakfast at Olivias at OKW (remember, I am knocking off restaurants on our not-yet-visited list!!) and then lunch at T-Rex. Unfortunately I made ADR’s for T-Rex when Aria was still at 2 naps/day, but more on that later.

Our ADR was for 8AM and with our new configuration I was able to shower and change, get the backpack ready with new snacks, clean bib, etc while Aria slept in. This morning I actually had to wake her up at 7:30 so we could get going (unheard of!!) – I already had her milk ready and an outfit picked out so it made the morning pretty quick to get out the door. Once again I tried to get cute hallway pics because she was being super cute walking to the car, but they are all blurry.

We arrived at OKW a few minutes early and headed straight in to breakfast. This morning I pulled out some finger puppets (I bought a set of 10 on Amazon for around $4), the ipad, crayons…anything to keep her busy because she was not happy about sitting for breakfast (GRR). The travel magnadoodle pictured is one of her all-time favorite toys, BTW! So much so that we put a full sized one on her wishlist for christmas.

I ordered - Banana Bread French Toast - topped with Bahamian Banana Rum Butter Sauce, Coconut cream, and your choice of Bacon, Sausage, or Ham $11.99

And our waiter was TERRIBLE. Awful service and wait for the food, he did not want to let me sub meat for potatoes even though I don’t eat any of those, and to get a refill of coffee was impossible. However, there was another waiter there who stopped by to talk to Aria multiple times (why couldn’t I have had him?!!?) and he was so sweet – he brought over a kitty rubber “duckie” for her to play with and I guess brand new shiny toys from a stranger are way more interesting than anything mommy can supply because she was pretty happy after that. I was really disappointed in my server’s service though – had to ask a passing waiter for our check and someone else brought it out. Ugh. Overall, the breakfast was really delicious though. Not sure if we need to go back here, but would if we were in the area.

Afterwards, we checked out the grounds of OKW for a bit. It had a pretty main pool, though the kid’s play structure was in sand which IMO is not the best idea? Aria didn’t even want to play on it, which was a good thing in the long run with how messy she would get with slightly dewy sand.

I liked the grounds of OKW, but that whole area (DTD in general) just doesn't scream Disney to me - I'd rather save the $$ and stay off site than be over there (same with SSR).

Then we headed over to DTD to do some shopping!!

Aria was getting really annoyed with me setting her down and then running away to get a photo

I knew I wanted to get Aria some duplo sets from the Lego store, and an ornament to commemorate our trip, and I was also looking for some inexpensive “thank you” gifts for the women who ordered from my matilda jane show on Aug. 1st – I had 20 orders though which adds up quickly for thank you gifts! More than anything though I just wanted Aria to have some fun running around! Our first stop was Once Upon a Toy – I wanted to get her this light up thingy but then decided to get one when we were at the park at night, and we never did! Boo! But then we checked out the stuffed animals – I was going to get a Boo doll to go with a Duffy monster’s inc costume I had for her, as well as a Duffy bear (she is getting Boo and the costume for Christmas, I gave her the bear right away). I also have been wanting to get Aria the Marie pillow pet BUT I want her to meet Marie first! So we didn’t get that.

I also was considering getting her started on Mr. Potato Head, but she had ZERO interest in him so decided to wait.

Then Aria had a bit of a melt down in the princess section – she wanted to put on the princess shoes but they were all too big LOL! While there, I found a cute princess tea book with some tea-time music included, and picked that up as well (she is getting the Alice in Wonderland ceramic tea set for her birthday with this book). She didn’t want to let Duffy bear go in order to scan him at the register – I was a bad mommy and shouldn’t have bought her anything at all with the way she was acting, but I did give her Duffy back right away. Spoiled much?!

Then we took some photos outside

and I spotted the carousel! Seemed a little silly to have to pay for the ride but I only had to pay for her since she was too young to ride alone. This was her first time riding on a carousel without me on the seat with her though and she was really cute and enjoyed it – was not happy when it ended (hello, miss toddler diva, where did you come from?!).

From there I went into the Christmas shop (no photos sorry). I really wanted to find something to commemorate the trip – and ended up with one of those ear hat ornaments, this one in an Alice theme. I had it personalized with “Mommy” on one ear, “Aria” on the other ear and 2013 on the back. I need to get a photo of it, it’s hanging on our tree now – but I love how it turned out. That was a fruitful trip too because I found a pack of 8 Mickey head ornaments that was really cute and a decent price, so I got 4 packs to send 1 each to the girls.

Next up was World of Disney. I was on a mission to find a small backpack for Aria as well as one other small thing to send to the girls – found this adorable Minnie backpack but Aria wanted nothing to do with it, she fell in love with a Minnie purse instead. So I carried that around for a bit while she relaxed in the stroller (one thing to be said for that Baby Jogger City Select- she LOVES it!!) and then I decided to get the 4-pack of sticky notes and send one to each girl as well – I use my Princess sticky notes every day at work so I thought that was fun. I did buy her the Minnie purse, but luckily at her age she didn’t even remember it so I socked that away for Christmas, too. She is actually get it tomorrow from Daycare Santa! (my daycare lady Christina “invites” Santa each December and every kid gets a gift from him!)

From there we had one more must-do – Lego store!! Oh my goodness it was packed. She had been so good in the stroller while I shopped that I wanted her to enjoy some free time, but after some cute photos with the lego family

We are *still* working on the whole say cheese=smile thing!!

Oh there's a smile!

She went a little crazy at the lego tables outside. Not sure where my shy well-mannered child went (HA HA) but she was like a kid in the candy store and was running around pulling legos off the tables, trying to pull up the lego mats, all the while I’m trying to run and stop her with the giant stroller not fitting through the little tables. It was mayhem. And I was the awesome mom that let it happen for a few moments too, so I could take some photos.

I wrestled her into the stroller and bribed her with snacks (what was I thinking – shopping for hours and hours with a toddler by myself?!) and went inside. I couldn’t leave DTD yet – we had to go back at Noon for the personalized ornament and we planned to have lunch, too, plus I did want to check out the hot air balloon (Aria was wearing a hot air balloon ellie, after all! LOL). Luckily she was pretty happy after that and I went inside to check out the duplo section. I ended up with a duplo book & build set, a square duplo base to build on, and an Ariel’s boat ride set. I’m always surprised by the inexpensive cost of these things, I think I paid about $24 for all three. Just last week I caught an Amazon lightning deal for a giant box of Duplo’s for $15 so she is getting that, the base, and the book set for Christmas and the Ariel set for her birthday.

After getting out of the store through the crowds, I decided to take a walk to check out the hot air balloon. I was iffy on actually going up in it (not sure how safe it would seem for Aria) but wanted to check it out anyway. I finally found it after a very hot walk over, but it turned out to be closed due to coming inclement weather…uh oh! It looked perfectly sunny to me. Side note – I was actually disappointed because it looked 100% safe to bring Aria up there.

So we huffed it back as we were finally able to pick up the ornament. Quick pic with the Pooh friends

And I was just STARVING. T-Rex wasn’t until 1:30. I hadn’t been able to make it earlier once Aria went down to 1 nap (starting around 1PM…ugh…) and it was only 12:15 at this point. I checked in at the podium and asked if it was possible to be seated early, but alas he said it would be an hour wait. So I cancelled that and headed to Pollo Campero building for no particular reason other than it was right there. I actually ordered from Bodies though – they had a Bananas Foster DRINK that sounded amazing
Bananas Foster - Bananas, Bailey's Irish Cream and caramel $8.99

And a veggie burger out of falafel which I love
House-Made Falafel Veggie Burger - Served with hummus spread, red onions, dill pickles planks, romaine lettuce, tomatoes and our garlic sesame aioli. Served with a side of fries. $8.99

So I got those along with some milk and a banana. Once again it was nuts inside there and very tough to maneuver a big stroller between the tables. I never found a high chair for aria and I didn’t want to leave my table/stroller to go get one, so she just sat in the seat next to me and ate the banana, some fries, and a squeeze packet – guess she was also pretty hungry. We were in and out in a few minutes, but this really showed me why I LOVE TS restaurants, esp being a solo parent. It is just not easy to push a stroller with all the food (I put my burger in the basket underneath, my drink spilled on the handle, it was just a mess!! I was sad that we still haven’t visited T-Rex BUT the timing actually worked out because we got back to the car and the skies opened up and it down poured for the rest of the afternoon.

Aria fell asleep in the car ride back to the room, I transferred her to the crib and she slept soundly over 3 hours – past 5PM. I actually took a nap on the pull out, too (another, unheard of! It’s tiring going solo I guess!!) but the rain continued throughout the evening so we just enjoyed the room & watching TV and jumping on the bed. Leftover tortellini (the family pack I got was enough for probably 10 people I surmised after the fact LOL) and wine for me, and it was a great evening!

 

[khertz]

Okay, the picture of Aria laying down on the Marie Pillow Pet is ADORABLE!

A 30-45 minute shopping excursion to Wal-Mart with Paxton is super difficult, so I must commend you on a few hours at DTD! I feel like if you survived that unscathed, the rest of the trip must have been a breeze.

Too bad about T-Rex not being able to seat your early, but who knows, maybe it was for the best! I really wanted to take Paxton because he loves dinosaurs, but I think he is still at an age where it just might be too scary or loud in there for him.

 

[AussieAngel]

Yay for lots of shopping!

You did so well with Aria at DTD - well done you! Sounds like a fun day, despite the toddler trickiness, and you got lots of shopping done!

Gorgeous photos as always. I bet Aria will love her Christmas presents!

 

[deedee2177]

All caught up!!! I love the Mommy/Daughter trip...I would love to do this with my step-daughter (7) and then with my son when he is older (he is 22 months right now).

 

[TMGosizk]

Hello there! I followed you over here from my TR and have finally had a chance to read through your's!!

First of all, I have to say Aria is such a sweetheart! She is just so adorable!!! I loved reading through each of your trips and seeing how she's grown!

I also love that you got to take a mother-daughter trip with her! That's just so wonderful!!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Imagineer5]

Okay, the picture of Aria laying down on the Marie Pillow Pet is ADORABLE!

A 30-45 minute shopping excursion to Wal-Mart with Paxton is super difficult, so I must commend you on a few hours at DTD! I feel like if you survived that unscathed, the rest of the trip must have been a breeze.

Too bad about T-Rex not being able to seat your early, but who knows, maybe it was for the best! I really wanted to take Paxton because he loves dinosaurs, but I think he is still at an age where it just might be too scary or loud in there for him.

I know, IDK why I didn't just buy her that Marie pillow LOL. Maybe this trip we will. DTD WAS fun she was just being a kid in a candy store, so to speak. Aria did OK at RFC over the summer so I thought T-Rex might be fine but it also could have scared her, who knows! and it taught me never to try to do a super packed QS by myself again LOL.

Yay for lots of shopping!

You did so well with Aria at DTD - well done you! Sounds like a fun day, despite the toddler trickiness, and you got lots of shopping done!

Gorgeous photos as always. I bet Aria will love her Christmas presents!

hahaha it's fun at this age that I can just buy stuff all year long and save most up for christmas & her birthday, since she forgets them so easily. It was overall a very productive day, but I just don't have a lot of love for DTD so I won't be planning another full DTD day...

All caught up!!! I love the Mommy/Daughter trip...I would love to do this with my step-daughter (7) and then with my son when he is older (he is 22 months right now).

Aww thank you!! That would be super fun to do with them! Even at your son's current age! Thanks so much for reading!

Hello there! I followed you over here from my TR and have finally had a chance to read through your's!!

First of all, I have to say Aria is such a sweetheart! She is just so adorable!!! I loved reading through each of your trips and seeing how she's grown!

I also love that you got to take a mother-daughter trip with her! That's just so wonderful!!

Can't wait to read more!

Thanks so much for coming over!! Your daughter is so so cute too! August was so much fun and I can't wait to write more! it may come after this weekend's trip though, i leave in 2 days for the VWL! EEK!!

 

[Imagineer5]

Hi everyone!!

We had our annual holiday party over the weekend - about 60 people showed up and Santa stopped by around 7. Aria did her "best" with him yet though she still didn't sit on his lap. But the big (and sad) news from the weekend is that our cat Jake got out and has not come home.

I made up a lost cat flyer and brought it to all the local vets and emailed the animal shelter (it was closed yesterday). Today after work I plan to stop by the animal shelter and then canvas the neighborhood putting flyers in mailboxes that surround the woods we live next to. The weather here has been wet and icy and cold and I'm really worried about him. We lost a cat, Leo, in August 2008 and rescued Jake in November 2008 after searching daily for Leo, now it just feels like deja vu and I hate it. He was microchipped so fingers crossed we hear something.

On to happier news, the party was fun. Here's a photo of Aria and me right before it got busy. As usual I took no photos (too busy running around and trying to talk with everyone!). Don't mind my apron LOL. I should have worn it for the party because mid way through Aria got marshmallow all over the front of my dress.

And we leave in 2 days for Disney. Andrew's parents will be staying through Friday so they will be there in case Jake comes home, and a friend will be available if someone calls about him while we are gone. It's sort of hard to get excited for it though, being so worried about Jake. I also packed last night finally, and tonight Andrew needs to pack his clothes and we need to pull together the stroller and such and then will be ready.

Next up for the TR will be our EPCOT day w/ Maya Grill dinner. And for other Disney news, I WILL be taking a trip next August with Aria, no positive test last friday (good and bad news, I guess).

OH and I took pics of my Alice ear hat ornament just because I felt like it lol (my earlier description was wrong regarding the location of mommy and aria).

Speaking of ornaments, I hope to find the 2013 passholder ornament this year at EPCOT.

 

[AussieAngel]

Oh no! That's very sad news. I do hope Jake returns before you leave for Disney. He's a beautiful cat and very loved, I'm sure. Please let us know how it all goes.

Your Christmas party sounds like lots of fun! And wow, you might have already left for Disney by now! I hope you have an AMAZING time full of fun adventures! Can't wait to hear all about it!