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

[kmedina]

The tour sounds amazing. You did everything I probably would have (including finding a table for just me and Crap). I think the underground parts sound cool and would have been bored spending an hour on the Haunted Mansion. I like the ride but not enough to tolerate info on it for an hour.

It is so cool that your in laws were there to watch Aria while you did the tour. I am so nervous to leave the boys for too long with an unknown sitter that an all day tour scares me a little. We are trying a six hour sitting for the F&W Festival. If that works out, we may be brave enough to try a longer sitter.

Your dinner sounds great. I love chicken too, but I am glad you liked the hummus. Poor girl who could not roll her coconut. Xander is six, so I was totally picturing that.

You made the same decision I probably would have made regarding the Yacht 1. I contemplated renting it for Xander's fifth birthday party when more of my family members were going to come on the trip. As more and more dropped out, I am glad we booked a regular boat. It was about half the price. One day, we will both get to take the Yacht 1 out. When we do, I hope it is a beautiful night, so we get our money's worth.

It really seems like you had a great day without it (other than a little boredom and getting wet).

 

[Imagineer5]

The tour sounds amazing. You did everything I probably would have (including finding a table for just me and Crap). I think the underground parts sound cool and would have been bored spending an hour on the Haunted Mansion. I like the ride but not enough to tolerate info on it for an hour.

It is so cool that your in laws were there to watch Aria while you did the tour. I am so nervous to leave the boys for too long with an unknown sitter that an all day tour scares me a little. We are trying a six hour sitting for the F&W Festival. If that works out, we may be brave enough to try a longer sitter.

Your dinner sounds great. I love chicken too, but I am glad you liked the hummus. Poor girl who could not roll her coconut. Xander is six, so I was totally picturing that.

You made the same decision I probably would have made regarding the Yacht 1. I contemplated renting it for Xander's fifth birthday party when more of my family members were going to come on the trip. As more and more dropped out, I am glad we booked a regular boat. It was about half the price. One day, we will both get to take the Yacht 1 out. When we do, I hope it is a beautiful night, so we get our money's worth.

It really seems like you had a great day without it (other than a little boredom and getting wet).

Haha good, i didn't know if i was showing some disney blasphemy by not caring about an hour's worth of HM info!

Wow 6 hours at the F&W!! That's awesome. I hope you love them - we were talking about possibly giving them another try but speifically asking for someone younger.

Ohana was great, and it was the perfect family meal with everyone. Melissa had originally vetoed it thinking it was going to be too "Spicy/different" for her family, but I guess the all you can eat meat got her interested after I mentioned that.

We had 11 with Aria, so we couldn't do a pontoon - their capacity was 10. That was actually our original plan (an illuminations cruise since DH's mom was so in love with the "laser show") but when we went to make the reservations we realized our only option was the Grand 1 which has something like an 18 person capacity. We weren't TOO upset by the prospect though the price did double. I am glad we didn't just go out to go - in the pouring rain huddled together inside. No fun...

 

[khertz]

DH and I really enjoyed the KTTK tour we did a few years ago! What a bummer that you got the regular spiel on JC though. What's the fun in that? Our tour guide told us more about the mechanics of the ride vehicle, where some of the props came from, and some urban legends from the ride. And did you even get to ride HM or did you just stand outside and talk about it? How strange if you got all that info and didn't even ride it. I think on our tour the guide told us different things to look for before we went inside because our headsets wouldn't work on the attraction. Then when we got off, she told us the secrets of how those tricks are made possible. But I think you spent more time down in the utilidors than we did though. I feel like we were only down there a short while and most of that was spent standing in a hallway looking at pictures on the wall while she explained them. I found that part rather boring.

Looks like a lovely dinner at 'Ohana! I love Aria's dress. That looks like the place to be for dinner with a fussy toddler since they have a lot of activity going on. Great family photos on the Poly beach as well.

What a bummer about all of the rain and having to cancel the yacht! I'm sure y'all had really been looking forward to that. But at least they let you cancel without penalty.

 

[jenny105]

I would love to go on one of the tours. I've never done one and KTTK sounds really cool. Maybe I'll look into it for our next trip...

I love the Poly and I love Ohana even more. I always have a mound of shrimp tails on my plate by the time I'm done with dinner.

Bummer the weather ruined your cruise

 

[Dugette]

Great update!

We did the KTTK tour back in 2011 and had a great time (yeah, I still haven't gotten to that yet in my TR....). Your guide looks familiar - I feel like I've seen her around or something. Our guide was Rae and she was amazing!!

I remember watching the people stream in for rope drop too. We were off in the little alcove on Main Street and Rae was prepping us on what we'd see with the park opening. It was pretty funny to watch them and also to see them looking at us and wondering if we were special, since we were already in the park.

I had that same lunch at CHH. I didn't particularly care for it. I really liked the tuna sandwich I had there another day, though.

I love that you caught the fire-thrower performing when you got to the Poly. We had to plan like crazy on one of our trips to see that! Pretty cool, though!

Glad you had a good time at 'Ohana. I can't wait to get back there.

That's such a bummer that the weather cancelled your Grand One outing! That would have been pretty amazing, I bet! I hate Mickey Monsoons! Oh, well, maybe some other time, I guess. (Hey, how 'bout like Dec. 2013... We can stowaway on your voyage! )

 

[dtr_angel]

Great updates! I would love to do the KTTW tour. I wish we would've done it before DS was born. That's great your ILs were able to watch Aria. I also would've been bored to death listening to an hour of facts about HM. I'm in the minority, but I really don't care for HM.

 

[mandas08]

The kttw tour sounds great. I would love to do it some day. Too bad your boat ride didnt turn out

 

[Imagineer5]

DH and I really enjoyed the KTTK tour we did a few years ago! What a bummer that you got the regular spiel on JC though. What's the fun in that? Our tour guide told us more about the mechanics of the ride vehicle, where some of the props came from, and some urban legends from the ride. And did you even get to ride HM or did you just stand outside and talk about it? How strange if you got all that info and didn't even ride it. I think on our tour the guide told us different things to look for before we went inside because our headsets wouldn't work on the attraction. Then when we got off, she told us the secrets of how those tricks are made possible. But I think you spent more time down in the utilidors than we did though. I feel like we were only down there a short while and most of that was spent standing in a hallway looking at pictures on the wall while she explained them. I found that part rather boring.

Looks like a lovely dinner at 'Ohana! I love Aria's dress. That looks like the place to be for dinner with a fussy toddler since they have a lot of activity going on. Great family photos on the Poly beach as well.

What a bummer about all of the rain and having to cancel the yacht! I'm sure y'all had really been looking forward to that. But at least they let you cancel without penalty.

We did hear about some of the JC behind the scenes stuff, but the tour guide also felt the need to go through his regular schpiel, which I didn't feel was necessary. And yes we did ride HM - but literally stood outside for an hour before doing do. Sorry your utilidors experience wasn't great though! Funny how our tours were so different!

Aria wore a smaller version of that dress when we went to Ohana back in Oct. 2012, and I got it in a bigger size for this trip. It's by Tea Collection (they even have cute boy clothes LOL)

I would love to go on one of the tours. I've never done one and KTTK sounds really cool. Maybe I'll look into it for our next trip...

I love the Poly and I love Ohana even more. I always have a mound of shrimp tails on my plate by the time I'm done with dinner.

Bummer the weather ruined your cruise

I love it there too, and LOVE Kona, so I am excited to be visiting both Kona and Ohana in december! yay.

Great update!

We did the KTTK tour back in 2011 and had a great time (yeah, I still haven't gotten to that yet in my TR....). Your guide looks familiar - I feel like I've seen her around or something. Our guide was Rae and she was amazing!!

I remember watching the people stream in for rope drop too. We were off in the little alcove on Main Street and Rae was prepping us on what we'd see with the park opening. It was pretty funny to watch them and also to see them looking at us and wondering if we were special, since we were already in the park.

I had that same lunch at CHH. I didn't particularly care for it. I really liked the tuna sandwich I had there another day, though.

I love that you caught the fire-thrower performing when you got to the Poly. We had to plan like crazy on one of our trips to see that! Pretty cool, though!

Glad you had a good time at 'Ohana. I can't wait to get back there.

That's such a bummer that the weather cancelled your Grand One outing! That would have been pretty amazing, I bet! I hate Mickey Monsoons! Oh, well, maybe some other time, I guess. (Hey, how 'bout like Dec. 2013... We can stowaway on your voyage! )

Rae sounds familiar, but I don't remember our tour guides name (I am awful with names).

That is really funny about having to search for the flame thrower - that was such a neat surprise!

LOL I wish we could do the Grand 1 in December!! If only it wasn't so ridiculously priced. If/when we go again as a family we will have to give that gift again hahaha

Great updates! I would love to do the KTTW tour. I wish we would've done it before DS was born. That's great your ILs were able to watch Aria. I also would've been bored to death listening to an hour of facts about HM. I'm in the minority, but I really don't care for HM.

Yes, the IL's were SO nice to have as babysitters. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way about the HM, it was a really disappointing way to end a really great tour!

The kttw tour sounds great. I would love to do it some day. Too bad your boat ride didnt turn out

Thanks! It was a great day overall!

 

[AussieAngel]

I was just reading back on your first trip when Aria was 8 months old, and I have an odd question for you!

What were the little puff things she was eating?

My almost 7 month old baby boy isn't keen on his solids... Closes his mouth and turns away from the spoon as soon as he sees it coming, no matter what's on it! He loved food when he first had it (around 5 months old) but all of a sudden he's on a solid food strike!

I wonder if he would like eating Aria's little puff thingys instead!? Might be worth a try while we're in the US, anyway...

 

[Imagineer5]

I was just reading back on your first trip when Aria was 8 months old, and I have an odd question for you!

What were the little puff things she was eating?

My almost 7 month old baby boy isn't keen on his solids... Closes his mouth and turns away from the spoon as soon as he sees it coming, no matter what's on it! He loved food when he first had it (around 5 months old) but all of a sudden he's on a solid food strike!

I wonder if he would like eating Aria's little puff thingys instead!? Might be worth a try while we're in the US, anyway...

Aria started eating solids around 6months, i made all her purees and gave them to daycare. I also have her snack-y type of things to get her to learn to pick them up - the puffs are like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Organic...?ie=UTF8&qid=1382009894&sr=8-4&keywords=puffs

And she loved them (though they are pretty boring to her now). She also liked cheerios, and loved (and still does) the squeeze packets filled with purees - we actually brought a ton along with us to Europe (enough for 1 per meal while there) and I'm so glad we did because she ate almost all of them and I would rather her eat that vs fries or bread or whatever (which she ate too LOL).

Early on, she also liked "Mum mums" which are rice crackers that dissolve in the mouth - anything that dissolves is good until they can chew.

Like these -

http://www.amazon.com/Mum-Mum-Banan...=UTF8&qid=1382010113&sr=8-3&keywords=mum+mums

BTW I remember forgetting some squeeze packets for mealtimes a few times and tried finding some at the baby care centers - AWFUL selection and no squeeze ones, just a couple gerber jar type of things. I'd go to a grocery store or Target or something when you arrive and stock up. They are great for restaurants & puffs/mum mums/cheerios are great distractions too.

Trying to remember what else she liked to snack on that early... we had these:

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Yogurt-Toddlers-1-Ounce-Pouches/dp/B0030VBSBG/ref=pd_bxgy_gro_text_y

which she still likes

And she LOVES freeze dried fruit that come in little pieces? Not seeing those on Amazon but they are always a hit.

 

[AussieAngel]

Thank you so much! That's fantastic info!

I like the sound of the rice cake things that dissolve in the mouth... We just don't seem to have anything like that here in Australia. Or if we do, they advise for babies over 12 months so I feel a bit worried about giving them to our almost 7 month old.

Luckily we're going to America in a week! Plenty of time for baby snack shopping!

Would I find the food you recommended in a Walgreens or somewhere like that? We're heading to New York for a week before we fly to Disney World, so surely I'll find them somewhere there!

 

[Imagineer5]

The next day (Wednesday) was Animal Kingdom! Oh how I love AK. Kerry/Chris left this morning to head home, so now it was just Melissa’s family, in laws, and us left. This day we had Rainforest Café booked for lunch (Melissa’s request) and Cape May booked for dinner w/ the IL’s (andrew’s request to take them there).

To start off, we all headed back together to ride the Safari of course! We made rope drop so we headed right on the ride and enjoyed it as usual. Aria was being cute pointing to the animals and definitely loves it more and more every time we visit.

After that ride, we split up as Melissa & family wanted to go ride EE and we wanted to do a bit more with Aria while she was awake. So we went to ride the ever exciting Triceratop spin

and then since we were there (and it happens to be my favorite ride) we rode Dinosaur with John while Jenn stayed with Aria.

Melissa joined us at that time and I got to ride Dinosaur again – yay!

Then Aria took a cat nap in the stroller while Andrew and I rode EE in the single rider line before heading to the next performance of the Lion King.

Aria woke up just in time for that and everyone really enjoyed it. After that it was lunch time at Rainforest – Aria was being a royal pain so no photos but I do really enjoy eating here – we ended up treating everyone as a make-up for our Christmas gift that didn’t happen the previous night.

After lunch we decided to head back and get some pool time in before Aria’s next nap.

Due to her misbehavior at lunch, we didn’t really want to take Aria to Cape May, and Melissa offered to watch her that evening. They went to some restaurant (CiCi’s Pizza now that I think of it) which was an all you can eat pizza buffet with an arcade so Aria basically ran around all evening and had a blast – worked out great because Jenn, John, Andrew and I had a really nice quiet evening out at dinner. It was fun showing them the Beach Club since that is our favorite resort, and they got to see a little taste of staying on-site which they really want to do now (which is why we are staying at VGF with them next October).

Dinner was great (for them – I think I had a giant plate of mashed potatoes or something LOL and then a huge plate of desserts). I really REALLY wish they would bring back the mini molten lava chocolate cake I had there in 2007. So delicious. But I also had some good wine and it was just nice overall. After dinner we walked to the Yacht Club just to show them (Jenn said she wanted to try Yachtsman Steakhouse next time) and then we headed back.

Aria was asleep when we got back to the house, but we got to see some super cute videos of her playing with some balls that they had gotten at the arcade. Looks like she had a blast that evening!

Next up – Rain won’t keep ME away from the park! And an unexpectedly great breakfast! AND one of the best memories made from the trip.

 

[Imagineer5]

Thank you so much! That's fantastic info!

I like the sound of the rice cake things that dissolve in the mouth... We just don't seem to have anything like that here in Australia. Or if we do, they advise for babies over 12 months so I feel a bit worried about giving them to our almost 7 month old.

Luckily we're going to America in a week! Plenty of time for baby snack shopping!

Would I find the food you recommended in a Walgreens or somewhere like that? We're heading to New York for a week before we fly to Disney World, so surely I'll find them somewhere there!

Oh my goodness a WEEK! How exciting i can't wait to hear all about it!!

Yes - all those besides cheerios I mentioned above dissolve - the freeze dried fruit, yogurt drops, etc. Walgreens should have them, though a bigger selection would be found at a larger grocery store or target/walmart. What are you doing in New york?? How fun! You'll be up in my neck of the woods sort of (We live in Massachusetts, about a 3 hour drive to NYC).

 

[AussieAngel]

Aw, that sounds like a very fun day! Love the pool pics - you and Aria look so happy!

Dinner sounds like it worked out perfectly too. A nice quiet dinner for you and a fun, busy night for Aria!

Thanks again for your help with the baby food. We're heading to NY as part of a 3 week vacation to the US! So, so excited! We've been planning our trip since before Leo (our baby) was born. New York for a week, WDW for a week, a 3 night Bahamas Disney Dream cruise then a few nights at the beach in LA before we fly home. Can't wait!

 

[kmedina]

I like when the kids get excited about the animals on the Safari. Connor was still a little young on our last trip and Xander seemed uninterested. Hopefully, this trip is better. Lately, Connor is finally starting to do better at restaurants. He went through that same stage, so I am betting Aria will get out of it soon (since she is younger than he is). Your dinner sounds good. We have only dined there for breakfast, since I am not a seafood fan.

Xander LOVES Cici's. The pizza is terrible, but he loves playing and eating the desserts. For the price, the desserts are fantastic.

 

[dtr_angel]

I love the family pictures at AK! My favorite is Aria and her cousins in the car, that is really cute! I'm glad Aria had a good time while you got a peaceful dinner at Cape May Cafe. We have a nice large CiCi's pizza buffet here where I live, I can see how that would be perfect for a toddler!

 

[dtr_angel]

Thank you so much! That's fantastic info!

I like the sound of the rice cake things that dissolve in the mouth... We just don't seem to have anything like that here in Australia. Or if we do, they advise for babies over 12 months so I feel a bit worried about giving them to our almost 7 month old.

Luckily we're going to America in a week! Plenty of time for baby snack shopping!

Would I find the food you recommended in a Walgreens or somewhere like that? We're heading to New York for a week before we fly to Disney World, so surely I'll find them somewhere there!

I hope you guys don't mind me butting in and giving my $0.02

My son HATED being fed. We did baby led weaning and skipped purees entirely but we did try to feed him oatmeal and avocado a few times with a spoon and he did what you described your son doing, would not open his mouth. We thought he just didn't like those things... until one day he grabbed the spoon out of my hand and shoved it in his mouth. It turns out he hated having us feed him!

Once he could use his pincher grasp, he loved cheerios, and those puffs. We found some made by Plum Organics that were his favorite. He also loved (and still does) freeze dried fruit. There are even some that have Mickey mouse & friends on the packaging. You should have no problem finding these things at a drugstore like Walgreens or super market in the baby food section.

 

[AussieAngel]

I hope you guys don't mind me butting in and giving my $0.02

My son HATED being fed. We did baby led weaning and skipped purees entirely but we did try to feed him oatmeal and avocado a few times with a spoon and he did what you described your son doing, would not open his mouth. We thought he just didn't like those things... until one day he grabbed the spoon out of my hand and shoved it in his mouth. It turns out he hated having us feed him!

Once he could use his pincher grasp, he loved cheerios, and those puffs. We found some made by Plum Organics that were his favorite. He also loved (and still does) freeze dried fruit. There are even some that have Mickey mouse & friends on the packaging. You should have no problem finding these things at a drugstore like Walgreens or super market in the baby food section.

Hi!

I don't mind at all - as long as Lauren doesn't mind us hijacking her thread a little bit! I might even start a new thread over on the family board just to hear what other people have to say as well. I love hearing other peoples' ideas and stories, so thank you! It's good to hear it's not just my little bubba who's not into his food. (Solid food, I should say! He's great at breastfeeding - too great, probably! Eating takes far too long for him, hee!)

We've tried giving him little finger food pieces and he just picks them up, looks at them for a while, then drops them on the floor. Which leads me to believe he's just not ready for finger food yet... But we'll keep trying! I'm still offering purees too. Someone told me, "It's the parent's job to offer healthy food, it's the baby's job to decide whether they want it or not!"

I'm trying not to get flustered about it because I know breastmilk is the best thing for him anyway at this age, but it's tricky because I can't help but want him to enjoy all these tasty foods!

Anyway, sorry again Lauren for hijacking your trip report! Can't wait to read more about your adventures!

 

[Dugette]

Great update! I'm glad Aria enjoyed the animals on safari. I'm hoping Dug Baby will get a kick out of them too.

That would be so great to have that pool right there. Looks like fun!

Sorry Aria was a pain at lunch, but at least you got to make up for it with a calm, peaceful dinner!

Looking forward to hearing what's next!

 

[jenny105]

I could take or leave Animal Kingdom. It's a beautiful park but I never get excited about it the way I do for the others. I think next trip we may skip it and come back after the expansion. I may trade it my AK day for a day at Universal/IOA. I can't wait to see all the new HP stuff!

I love the Beach Club. I need one of those chairs!!