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

[jenny105]

I can't keep up with your TRs anymore, you go so often! lol

 

[Imagineer5]

I can't keep up with your TRs anymore, you go so often! lol

I have an 8-month hiatus coming up you have time to catch up!

 

[deedee2177]

Another great update! You are my hero tackling this trip just you and that Sweetie of yours! I have a 22 month old son and I don't know if I could handle it on my own.

 

[dtr_angel]

I'm all caught up!

I'm not convinced you will stay out of Disney for 8 months lol.

I love the meet & greet in christopher robins room. It wasn't like that the last time we saw pooh and tigger in the uk but that was in may 2011. We did very few character meets with Gavin. He will be almost 2.5 when we go back so I hope to do more then.

Sorry to hear about jake

Looking forward to hearing more!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[AussieAngel]

Yay! I'm so glad you had a fabulous trip! I can't wait to hear all about it.

Sorry to hear Jake hasn't returned though. You never know what might happen... Our cat Annie went missing from our family home when I was 16. She disappeared for 6 weeks then finally someone contacted us saying she had shown up in their backyard, so we went over to pick her up! And now Annie is 18 years old and still happily living with us. So I have faith Jake will show up!

But back to your mother daughter trip. You both look so happy in your photos! Well, Aria looks happier in some than others of course, but it sounds like such a fun trip. I love the photos of Aria in the aquarium area and on the Mexican boat ride. Leo and I rode that one day together and he loved it!

I love her little green shoes!

 

[Imagineer5]

Another great update! You are my hero tackling this trip just you and that Sweetie of yours! I have a 22 month old son and I don't know if I could handle it on my own.

It sounds silly but I think the trick of a successful trip is to go enough that we can skip a ton and still have fun lol. It was so fun and honestly DH is tougher to have at Disney than aria is

I'm all caught up!

I'm not convinced you will stay out of Disney for 8 months lol.

I love the meet & greet in christopher robins room. It wasn't like that the last time we saw pooh and tigger in the uk but that was in may 2011. We did very few character meets with Gavin. He will be almost 2.5 when we go back so I hope to do more then.

Sorry to hear about jake

Looking forward to hearing more!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

I have news!! Lol. But I hope you're right and I can get back before August. We recently went totally cc-free and are working on a savings acct, so trying to stick with a plan for this year. We have a cruise planned for May though so I *am* hoping to go to WDW then. Plus, there is possible a Disneyland trip in the works lol

Yay! I'm so glad you had a fabulous trip! I can't wait to hear all about it.

Sorry to hear Jake hasn't returned though. You never know what might happen... Our cat Annie went missing from our family home when I was 16. She disappeared for 6 weeks then finally someone contacted us saying she had shown up in their backyard, so we went over to pick her up! And now Annie is 18 years old and still happily living with us. So I have faith Jake will show up!

But back to your mother daughter trip. You both look so happy in your photos! Well, Aria looks happier in some than others of course, but it sounds like such a fun trip. I love the photos of Aria in the aquarium area and on the Mexican boat ride. Leo and I rode that one day together and he loved it!

I love her little green shoes!

You gave me hope just when I needed it!! he is home! As of about an hour ago!

It was hot so I think a lot of my tr pics show a sweaty aria lol. It was just like one big field trip. When I used to stay home Fridays I always planned stuff like zoos and aquarium trips for those days so it was so fun to just do that for a week straight.

 

[Imagineer5]

Thank you all so much for your well wishes on jake. He made it home today!! A neighbor spotted him lurking around their un fenced yard. It is mid-50's today which is much warmer than the teens/20s and snow that it has been so I guess he had holed himself up somewhere and came out in the warmth. He has lost a lot of weight but giving him some food and love and just so happy to have him home. What a wonderful Christmas gift!

 

[AussieAngel]

Yayyy! What fantastic news! Welcome home Jake! Best Christmas present ever.

 

[Dugette]

Okay, I have to comment as I go or I'm not going to remember anything...

Regarding the sippy cup, that's a Take 'n' Toss one, I think? I was joking the other day that Dug Baby likes to do exactly that with them! I only use them for water, since I worry the top could pop off, but we really haven't had too much trouble with them. I used them as her water cups for the stroller at WDW without issue (tethering them to the stroller helped). Regarding the snack cup, we had the "deluxe" version of that at WDW...a little bigger and has a stay-fresh cover you can snap on. Worked well. However, earlier tonight, I actually bought a couple like you had, since I wanted more and I wanted some smaller ones for around the house and didn't need a cover on those. What I noticed is that these lids just snap on vs. the deluxe one twists on. So, maybe more secure? I think I'll stick with the deluxe one when we're out and about and the smaller ones when we're home or visiting grandparents, etc.

I'm glad nobody took your iPad. Dug would freak out if I did that, I'm sure. It would be really hard to manage all the stuff without a second adult, though.

Aw, that's too bad Aria's Spaceship Earth photo didn't turn out. I took that idea from you and got Dug Baby's photo on SE and it worked great!

Great that you had no wait for the character spot, but too bad Aria wasn't that into it. We ended up skipping Chip and Dale, as they always had long lines. I've heard that can be a fun meet, though!

Ah, I wish we'd had time for Living with the Land! Looks like Aria enjoyed it.

Your Nemo ride sounds fun! Too bad you had to settle for riding Disney's boring one! We finally did that picture in Bruce's mouth this trip...I've seen it in so many TRs, but had never done it. Glad you found someone to get it for you.

Caprese sandwich sounds good! And the desserts look great!

That's great that she high-fived her first character recently! Dug Baby high-fived most of the characters, but (spoiler alert!) Duffy got a big bear hug!

That sounds like an absolutely amazing way to spend nap time! We only popped into Tutto Gusto. I wish we'd been there at nap time now!

That is super cute that the Pooh and Tigger meet is in Christopher Robin's room. I had no idea that was there!

Ha, love her locked in the phone booth!

I always hear about the Visa meet & greet having short lines, but there's always a long line when we're there. This past trip was probably the best - maybe only a 10 minute wait? But we've had much longer.

Those spring rolls sound delicious. The restaurant looks really cool too. We've never made it over to Coronado Springs. That picture of her holding the food pouch over the iPad freaks me out...Dug Baby has been really into dumping out pouch contents lately. Oh, nice, the Three Caballeros live there too!

And so, so happy Jake is home safe!!! I was getting worried with how long it had been and the cold, but that's fantastic news! So glad to hear it!

 

[khertz]

I'm so jealous of Aria's epic stroller naps!!! Although Paxton has gotten a little better as he gets older and will do okay without a nap or even with a short one, it would be so great if we could skip the leave-the-park-for-a-nap part of our day and get to relax around the parks like that. That's nice that you were able to get a little "Mommy time" and escape the rain while she napped.

 

[Imagineer5]

Yayyy! What fantastic news! Welcome home Jake! Best Christmas present ever.

Thank you!! YES it seriously was the best ever. I am still in shock.

Okay, I have to comment as I go or I'm not going to remember anything...

Regarding the sippy cup, that's a Take 'n' Toss one, I think? I was joking the other day that Dug Baby likes to do exactly that with them! I only use them for water, since I worry the top could pop off, but we really haven't had too much trouble with them. I used them as her water cups for the stroller at WDW without issue (tethering them to the stroller helped). Regarding the snack cup, we had the "deluxe" version of that at WDW...a little bigger and has a stay-fresh cover you can snap on. Worked well. However, earlier tonight, I actually bought a couple like you had, since I wanted more and I wanted some smaller ones for around the house and didn't need a cover on those. What I noticed is that these lids just snap on vs. the deluxe one twists on. So, maybe more secure? I think I'll stick with the deluxe one when we're out and about and the smaller ones when we're home or visiting grandparents, etc.

I'm glad nobody took your iPad. Dug would freak out if I did that, I'm sure. It would be really hard to manage all the stuff without a second adult, though.

Aw, that's too bad Aria's Spaceship Earth photo didn't turn out. I took that idea from you and got Dug Baby's photo on SE and it worked great!

Great that you had no wait for the character spot, but too bad Aria wasn't that into it. We ended up skipping Chip and Dale, as they always had long lines. I've heard that can be a fun meet, though!

Ah, I wish we'd had time for Living with the Land! Looks like Aria enjoyed it.

Your Nemo ride sounds fun! Too bad you had to settle for riding Disney's boring one! We finally did that picture in Bruce's mouth this trip...I've seen it in so many TRs, but had never done it. Glad you found someone to get it for you.

Caprese sandwich sounds good! And the desserts look great!

That's great that she high-fived her first character recently! Dug Baby high-fived most of the characters, but (spoiler alert!) Duffy got a big bear hug!

That sounds like an absolutely amazing way to spend nap time! We only popped into Tutto Gusto. I wish we'd been there at nap time now!

That is super cute that the Pooh and Tigger meet is in Christopher Robin's room. I had no idea that was there!

Ha, love her locked in the phone booth!

I always hear about the Visa meet & greet having short lines, but there's always a long line when we're there. This past trip was probably the best - maybe only a 10 minute wait? But we've had much longer.

Those spring rolls sound delicious. The restaurant looks really cool too. We've never made it over to Coronado Springs. That picture of her holding the food pouch over the iPad freaks me out...Dug Baby has been really into dumping out pouch contents lately. Oh, nice, the Three Caballeros live there too!

And so, so happy Jake is home safe!!! I was getting worried with how long it had been and the cold, but that's fantastic news! So glad to hear it!

I haven't seen that style with a screw on lid!! But i did pick up one before this last trip and it worked out well. The snap on ones just come off way too easily. And those sippy cups - IDK why we have so many issues with them but even with water we end up wetting everything it comes into contact with! LOL! HATE them! We got some disney ones at the disney outlet near us - Sofia, Jake, and Nemo - and they have so far served us very well.

Yeah I took a few liberties on this trip that would make most people cringe, but with Aria preferring to be held vs. walking around everywhere, I just could not do that plus carry the backpack, it was just too much on my aging back. I'm getting old.

Glad you got a good SE pic!! yay! Living with the land - well you will just have to go back speaking of which, when are you thinking?? You guys must have some idea! LOL

Hahaha on the squeeze packet w/ ipad. There is a cover on the ipad so I try not to worry (plus the thing is clunky so I wouldn't mind an excuse to buy a new one haha). I have learned to pick my battles with little miss, and if she is eating a squishy packet and happily playing on the ipad = AWESOME! haha.

Thanks so much, I was getting really nervous about Jake too. The bitter cold and two snow storms really worried me, and the fact that we went through this 5 years ago with no result whatsoever (Leo was never found) made it even tougher to keep up the hope. But we have a much better relationship with neighbors and local families now, all of whom were looking out for him constantly, that was really the difference I think. We are so fortunate, and I couldn't have asked for ANYTHING better for christmas than to have Jake home.

I'm so jealous of Aria's epic stroller naps!!! Although Paxton has gotten a little better as he gets older and will do okay without a nap or even with a short one, it would be so great if we could skip the leave-the-park-for-a-nap part of our day and get to relax around the parks like that. That's nice that you were able to get a little "Mommy time" and escape the rain while she napped.

Haha serioulsy we are very lucky she does nap well - I guess WDW just tires her out enough to nap so long in the stroller. I hate having to schedule going back to the room for them. It's one thing if you're in walking distance (BLT/BCV comes to mind) but to hop in the car (or disney transportation) and add all that in between time and it is just tough. Plus she tends to sleep over 3 hours if she is comfy in a crib LOL. This was a perfect use of nap time on this day!

 

[Dugette]

I haven't seen that style with a screw on lid!! But i did pick up one before this last trip and it worked out well. The snap on ones just come off way too easily.

This is the one we used:
http://www.target.com/p/munchkin-cl...sku=14323625&gclid=CLOBh87rx7sCFecRMwodVhcAaw

And those sippy cups - IDK why we have so many issues with them but even with water we end up wetting everything it comes into contact with! LOL! HATE them! We got some disney ones at the disney outlet near us - Sofia, Jake, and Nemo - and they have so far served us very well.

You know, when I bought them, I'm pretty sure that I remember a review mentioning that they don't seal as well after having been though the dishwasher a number of times. Ours were brand new, so maybe that's it?

Yeah I took a few liberties on this trip that would make most people cringe, but with Aria preferring to be held vs. walking around everywhere, I just could not do that plus carry the backpack, it was just too much on my aging back. I'm getting old.

Yeah, I understand the pain of carrying a kiddo around WDW!

Glad you got a good SE pic!! yay! Living with the land - well you will just have to go back speaking of which, when are you thinking?? You guys must have some idea! LOL

Honestly, no idea right now. I was actually pondering this over the weekend, because I had one day left on my ticket and was still able to upgrade through yesterday. Decided not to, though. An AP would have been less than a 2-day park-hopper, so it was a tough call. We'd like to do a Disney Cruise with some park time before or after, in a perfect world. We'll see, I guess. Going to New York for BIL's wedding in April is going to be a big hit to our vacation fund.

Hahaha on the squeeze packet w/ ipad. There is a cover on the ipad so I try not to worry (plus the thing is clunky so I wouldn't mind an excuse to buy a new one haha). I have learned to pick my battles with little miss, and if she is eating a squishy packet and happily playing on the ipad = AWESOME! haha.

Fair enough. We have an old iPad 1, so Dug is always wanting to get a new one. And, yes, picking battles is definitely important!

 

[kmedina]

It is funny how the same attractions on different sides of the country vary. Even though it was only six families deep, a 15 minute in California to meet Duffy is unheard of. He is always there with little or no wait at all (if he is out at all). We always seem to wait forever at Epcot. It is nice that you ducked into the restaurant just before the rain and it all happened while Aria napped. Talk about a perfect storm. She looked very cute before and after her outfit change. I like the Pooh meet and Greet in England too. It seems to be busier lately. I think less people knew about it before, because it was hidden.

I love Innoventions. We spent a lot if time in there. The Chase Character line was non existent in Epcot for us, but it has been very long every single time in California. Your unusual 30 minute wait at Epcot seems to be the norm fir DCA.

The restaurant you had dinner at rounds fantastic. I want to try all of the restaurants at WDW too, but I will not visit some of them until we have a car rental. Transferring is ridiculous there. It took us nearly two hours to get to Beaches and Cream last trip. Never again! If we are not smart enough like you to rent a car, we will take a cab or not go at all.

 

[Imagineer5]

This is the one we used:
http://www.target.com/p/munchkin-cl...sku=14323625&gclid=CLOBh87rx7sCFecRMwodVhcAaw


You know, when I bought them, I'm pretty sure that I remember a review mentioning that they don't seal as well after having been though the dishwasher a number of times. Ours were brand new, so maybe that's it?


Yeah, I understand the pain of carrying a kiddo around WDW!


Honestly, no idea right now. I was actually pondering this over the weekend, because I had one day left on my ticket and was still able to upgrade through yesterday. Decided not to, though. An AP would have been less than a 2-day park-hopper, so it was a tough call. We'd like to do a Disney Cruise with some park time before or after, in a perfect world. We'll see, I guess. Going to New York for BIL's wedding in April is going to be a big hit to our vacation fund.


Fair enough. We have an old iPad 1, so Dug is always wanting to get a new one. And, yes, picking battles is definitely important!

AND HAWAII! LOL it's a good thing you didn't do the AP!! so excited for you guys! I haven't been on lately but I look forward to heading over to your TR soon!

It is funny how the same attractions on different sides of the country vary. Even though it was only six families deep, a 15 minute in California to meet Duffy is unheard of. He is always there with little or no wait at all (if he is out at all). We always seem to wait forever at Epcot. It is nice that you ducked into the restaurant just before the rain and it all happened while Aria napped. Talk about a perfect storm. She looked very cute before and after her outfit change. I like the Pooh meet and Greet in England too. It seems to be busier lately. I think less people knew about it before, because it was hidden.

I love Innoventions. We spent a lot if time in there. The Chase Character line was non existent in Epcot for us, but it has been very long every single time in California. Your unusual 30 minute wait at Epcot seems to be the norm fir DCA.

The restaurant you had dinner at rounds fantastic. I want to try all of the restaurants at WDW too, but I will not visit some of them until we have a car rental. Transferring is ridiculous there. It took us nearly two hours to get to Beaches and Cream last trip. Never again! If we are not smart enough like you to rent a car, we will take a cab or not go at all.

Yes the Pooh meet was much busier than Pooh at AK, though about the same as pooh at MK! Interesting to hear the differences bt DL and WDW, it's been so long since i was at DL. (2008 I believe). Can't wait to go back, I am just biding my time until we can get our cruise dates set (that "free" carnival cruise) and then I'll be able to plan out a DL trip.

One of the reasons we always do a car is bc we can't stand the disney transportation time, ESP with regards to getting to resorts. I hate waiting around on other peoples time, and cars have been free so far with our Capital One rewards points. That is a moot point now with going credit card free, but it should still only be 150-200 for a week's car rental so definitely worth it to me.

 

[Imagineer5]

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Happy 2014! Our Christmas was wonderful. Aria stormed through her presents much to our dismay LOL but once they were all opened she was happy to play with them for the rest of the day. Her big gift was a play kitchen but I think her favorite gift was a bitty baby stroller. Her 2nd birthday is coming up so I plan to take the day off of work and bring her to lunch at the American Girl store and to get a couple new accessories, she loves that baby! I am in the midst of planning her birthday party too which is Feb 1st at the local children’s museum, and I’m going with a Candy Shoppe theme.

Anyway, I last left off with us eating a great dinner at the Maya Grill. Next up is our Animal Kingdom day – we had lunch reservations at Y&Y and I scored a fairly last minute wishes dessert party reservation for that evening.

Here were my written down plans:

Day 4 – AK/ Y&Y lunch
-Be there for rope drop, head straight to Adventurer’s Outpost on right side of tree to meet Mickey & Minnie
-Then meet Dug & Russell
-Grab FP’s for Safari then head to Camp Minnie Mickey
- meet Baloo, King Louie, Chip n Dale, Donald, Pocahontas (10:15)
-Ride Safari
-Head to Rafiki’s Planet Watch
-Head to Dinoland, getting a jalapeno pretzel possibly!
-Play in dinoland, maybe check out Pooh meet
-Lunch at Y&Y at 12:30
-Back to resort for Aria’s nap
-Pool time/dinner/ then into comfy clothes and head to MK – we have Wishes dessert party be there by 9:10

SO let’s see how we fared!

Day started out great with a quick but healthy breakfast of scrambled eggs, cereal, and fruit salad, which Aria ate all of.

Aria watching some TV while I made breakfast -

We were literally a 3 minute drive to AK so we got there and were close to the front of the gates before opening. Once through we stuck to the plan to go meet Mickey & Minnie who were just arriving and we were first to meet them. Unfortunately Aria had no interest in them so we took a few pictures and then headed to meet Dug & Russell.

This meet went pretty well and Aria waved goodbye to Dug as we left, which sounds silly but I was excited to see her actually interacting with the characters.

Next on our to-do list was grab FP’s for the Safari but the wait was nothing so we hopped on instead. We had a good encounter with a giraffe but I don’t think anything else too exciting happened. Aria enjoyed pointing out the animals and we always enjoy riding this. It was already nearing 90 though and I think the heat was getting to Aria.

Zebras didn't last long on the safari I guess, boo!

Then we went to Camp Minnie Mickey for some more meets. It was sort of mayhem because the characters were meeting outside of their meeting spots and so no one was really forming a line. There weren’t too many people there though so we were still able to get pictures with everyone- first was Baloo & King Louie

Then Chip & Dale

Then Donald

I can't believe she was high-fiving characters in December, she wouldn't touch them in August...

And finally Pocahontas, who was located in her little nook and by that time there was a little line formed. While waiting in line, the weirdest thing happened that NO ONE but Aria and I saw, and I was so stunned I didn’t even say anything other than to be sure Aria was okay. A squirrel fell out of the tree over head, landed on Aria’s head, clawed off of her onto me and then jumped off and ran away. Neither of us were scratched and Aria was stunned into silence as well LOL. It was more like, did that really just happen? I looked around and no one else even saw it so we just went up to meet her. Contrary to the very unexciting photos, the meet was actually really sweet – Pocahontas chatted with (well, to) Aria and she was really interested in her. It was a fun meet. There was a girl behind us who knew ALL the songs and sang them the whole time in line, so we didn’t take up too much of Pocahontas’ time.

Right before the squirrel attack

From there I decided Aria needed some play time out of the stroller, so we went to Dinoland to ride Triceratop spin and then went to the play area. The ride is always fun!

I think they need a paint job, though!

continued in next post...

 

[Imagineer5]

Then she had a blast for a good 30 minutes at the playground, running in the water, going down slides, climbing etc. it is such a nice way to get out of the heat a bit.

We also finally discovered where the Boneyard is, and she played over there for a bit. They had sprayers going so I enjoyed sitting for a couple minutes.

She needed an outfit change but as we were walking to the restrooms we passed the Pooh & Tigger meet and were told there was zero wait so I headed in there. SO glad I did!! Aria was in a great mood after playing and getting wet and cooling off, and she was being so playful so I put her down on the ground and told her to go hug Pooh. She did! She went right up to him – the very first time she ever voluntarily went up to a character! I was so so excited, and this was mainly the reason I was so mad about the photopass photos going MIA for months, because I was too excited I forgot to take photos with my camera! Of course, the pics aren’t that great but they do show a solo-Aria for once!

Tigger apparently is scary though and she started to go up to him, turned around and high tailed it back to me. So we took a couple pics together and left, I was still excited about her meeting Pooh!

Quick outfit change and we had a little time to go on the train to Rafiki’s planet watch before lunch (it was about 11:30 at this point). On the walk over I gave Aria some snacks on her stroller tray and some water. I could tell she was getting pretty tired and drained, as was I.

I so wish the Affection Station was not a train ride away! It takes a lot of time and effort to get over there (esp when I have to leave the stroller behind and carry her!) but she so so enjoys the goats that it’s now a must do. Andrew saw how much she loves them in December, that he is finally considering getting a couple (we have chickens BTW, so we could just add on to the coop a bit and get a couple goats). LOL…

Anyway so she enjoyed petting them and brushing them and hugging them, and then we headed inside for a little AC before the walk back to the train. She enjoyed running around in there with another little girl, and then we went back to Africa. I guess I was in a very good mood because we still had a little time before lunch so I let Aria relax in the stroller while I did some shopping (for her of course!). I picked up a new “instrument” as well as a new book for her.

We stopped for some photopass pics

continued in next post...

 

[Imagineer5]

And then went in to lunch. It was very very busy inside and I’m guessing most of those waiting around didn’t have reservations because we checked in and were seated in just a couple minutes. We were upstairs along the railing at a small 2-person table. Miraculously Aria sat in her high chair for the whole meal though. I have a video somewhere of her playing with the new book (and another squeeze packed, I know you’d love that Dugette LOL) but her book was spared any splattering and she still loves it. The new toys plus the ipad and lots of snacks and I was able to enjoy some delicious lettuce wraps and a good mixed drink. I do remember that I left her cup in the stroller and forgot to wash it out, so I ordered her some milk which she then spilled all over herself. She is terrible with cups w/ straws, treating them like sippy cups.

For dessert I had to have the fried wontons, and Aria tried a bite but didn’t care for them (fine with me!) and then we headed out of the park.

She fell asleep in the stroller on the way out, so the poor thing had to be moved to the hot car seat, then from there to the crib, but she had a good 3 hour or so nap anyway. After waking up I decided to forego a swim that day and have a good dinner in the room before heading to the Magic Kingdom. I still had a long list of things I wanted to do so I thought if I could tick some of those off this evening then our MK day (the next day) might not be as busy.

I texted this crazy hair pic to Andrew during dinner

We got into the park at about 6PM and the wait times for most of the attractions were too long to do much, so we headed to the TTA first while I tried to come up with a game plan.

I did grab fast passes to meet the princesses though, since the return time was right before the wishes dessert party (reservation was for 9:10). On my to-do list were the Hall of Presidents and the Country Bear Jamboree. I went into Hall of Presidents but once there decided Aria probably wouldn’t want to sit through it...she was being naughty and not listening to me tell her not to put her legs through

so we headed to the Country Bear Jamboree and got there just in time to head in. It was pretty empty inside, and Aria enjoyed it though I was happy when it was over. There is a show at DL that I really enjoyed – I *thought* this one was the same but was totally wrong. Blanking on that one though…

Next I wanted to see about going into the Tiki room, I thought Aria would love the music. Her favorite part, however, was the family in front of us in line who had bubbles, she said "bubble" for the first time and it was just the cutest thing. I text Andrew about that, too haha. She was restless during the show though, so maybe the timing was off.

Then we headed into the Swiss Family Treehouse. It was pretty empty so I was able to let Aria walk around on her own and just let people pass us if they came up behind us. It was a nice way to burn off some energy.

Then our FP time for the princesses was up so we headed that way.


I was interested to see how Aria would do, and she went right up to Cinderella! It was so cute, she would walk up to the character, then turn around and back up and sit down on their laps. She still had a bit of a nervous look, no huge smiles or anything, but it was definitely progress!

She did the same with Aurora…

And then Rapunzel walked over to her and tried to offer her her hand, but Aria was having none of that and so I had to hold her for that meet.

Then we had a couple photopass pics on Main Street.

continued in next post!

 

[Imagineer5]

It was nearing about 8:30 so we had time for another TTA ride

and then headed over looking for the wishes dessert party entrance. Much to my dismay I found a HUGE line to get in! Ugh! And it was down the ramp of the tomorrowland terrace which made the stroller a pain. The line was silly though since we all had assigned tables – I was surprised to have a really perfect table 1 row away from the railing, though they did make me park the stroller away from the table. I brought my Beco carrier mainly for this evening, and thank goodness I did because I was able to go up for drinks and dessert while carrying Aria.

Sorry for the awful pictures, they looked a lot lighter that evening!

The desserts were fun, and I thought the inexpensive cost of the party was well worth it! It was a late night for Aria though (we were already 2 hours past her bedtime, and fireworks didn’t start for an hour) so she was getting a bit antsy. I think halfway through the party I pulled the stroller over to the table and laid her down in it. I was able to watch all of the projection show and really enjoyed that

and then when the fireworks started Aria got restless again so I held her through Wishes. Despite what I had heard about everyone crowding the railing, during our party everyone stayed seated at their tables for the most part so I was able to really enjoy the fireworks. Overall the evening was great, though I do remember it being tough wanting to go up for more treats and having to put Aria in the beco, leaving our stuff at the table and such. It would have been nice to have Andrew there.

Afterwards we called it a night. Aria fell right asleep and we both had a great night’s sleep before getting up by 7 or so the next day.

 

[AussieAngel]

Wow! What a fun, action-packed day you had together! So much fun!

It's so sweet to watch Aria become gradually more confident with the characters. How cute about her turning around and backing up to sit on the princesses! Hehee. I think Tigger is a bit big and scary too, actually, so I totally understand her hesitation there!

I can't help but giggle at the pic of Aria poking her foot through the bars when you told her not to. Doesn't that just capture the essence of toddlers testing their boundaires and rules!?

How bizarre about the squirrel that jumped on you both!! I would have laughed / screamed / both!

The dessert party sounds like fun! You and Aria did so well by the sounds of it, even if it was late and tricky to get to the snacks.

By the way, baby Leo is now obsessed with those little cereal puffs and yoghurt drops! Sometimes I think he deliberately doesn't eat his vegies so he'll get puffs and yoghurt drops instead. Hehee. But seriously, he's becoming quite a good little eater now, yay!

Thanks for another fabulous update! Can't wait for more!

 

[Dugette]

Commenting as I go here...

I can't believe Aria's almost 2! How long have I been following your TRs?! Wasn't she just born? Wow. Can't wait to hear about the party.

Sounds like a great breakfast. Izzy is obsessed with scrambled eggs, so she'd approve (we actually had some with dinner tonight!)

Ah, too bad she wasn't up for Mickey and Minnie right away! At least she approved of Dug! I mean, how can you not? Ha, I love the second picture of her with Donald Duck...it looks like she's trying to protect herself!

Wow, up close and personal with a Disney squirrel! Where was Dug when you needed him? Squirrel!! Yeah, that's a bizarre character meet for sure.

So, what is this playground in Animal Kingdom? It's not part of the Boneyard? (We didn't make it there). It looks fun and I'm sad we missed out on it.

Yay for giving Pooh a bear hug!! After all the character-resistance she's shown, that's a great moment.

Ah, so cute with the goats. Sad we didn't make it over there either. I think Izzy would have enjoyed playing with them too.

Ha, I'm glad she didn't get pureed food all over everything. Izzy enjoys purposely emptying hers onto her tray sometimes. I can only imagine if she had a book or something to mess with. So, she had a regular cup and straw? Izzy kept grabbing our water cups/straws during the trip and I was terrified of her pouring the whole thing out on her or throwing it on the floor, but she was obsessed with them. We averted disaster, thankfully. She does the same thing - treating straw cups as sippies (which is why the Zoli one works for her, since it has the weight on the straw). I think the water cups were too heavy for her or she would have done the same. And your lettuce wraps look SOOO good! And the fried wontons after that? Yum!!

I'm impressed she could nap through all the carrier changes. 3 hours is great!

Wow, look at all that hair!! Izzy is so bald compared to Aria!

So cute riding the TTA! Wow, all those shows would have been a tough line-up for Izzy. We didn't even consider attempting Hall of Presidents. She was also very restless during the Tiki Room. So cute that Aria said bubbles! That's cool that she got to explore the tree house.

Ha, that's cute about backing up to the princesses.

Gosh, that would be so hard to manage a dessert party on your own with a toddler. Good for you! Between getting around and keeping her from taking and/or throwing all my food, I think it would be rough and hard to enjoy. That's cool that people stayed at their tables. We went to a dessert party a few years ago and everyone gathered at the rail (but we had a front-row table, so we grabbed a good spot at the rail before others filled in).

Sounds like a fun day!