Bear Hugs & Piggy Kisses - Baby's 1st Trip ~ Updated 12/6: Aulani TR Started!!!

[TheMaxRebo]

wow - this is all very exciting ... perhaps a sing of a problem, but very exciting

Not sure of your exact plans / timing but maybe we can squeeze in a quick DISmeet on Friday the 29th (we leave 7am on the 30th)

also, kinda loving that "pulling a TheMaxRebo" is being coming a thing ... that thing of course being using math to make it seem that not going to Disney would be foolish and irresponsible

The land and sea trip sounds like so much fun. I saw some of the DISunplugged team is doing one out in Hawaii - spending time at Aulani and then doing a cruise around the different Hawaiian islands which sounds awesome

Great job figuring out how to do everything on the cheap

 

[Denovagirl]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!

ANOTHER Disney trip!?!? You just got back, no fair!

Teehee, just kidding! That is AWESOMMMMMMMMME! I would be on top of it too! You might as well while she is still under 2 and free! And what fun to do the Frozen stuff!! EEEP!

I think you are very wise to purchase that Frozen package bc I am sure that weekend will be SWAMPED! So good use of the money you will spend!

I can't believe Hawaii is so close. I cant wait to read your TR on that, bc we are VERY interested!

We are thinking about a Nov 2015 Land & Sea... do you just have to call for pricing on those? I know you can't do them online, have you heard if you get discounts from booking them together in a package?

Man, this whole post is amazing and exciting!! You're living the Disney Dream!!

 

[Dugette]

Hahahahahaha. Umm Dugette...you have a problem. The first step is admitting you have a problem. Hahahaha

My kinda problem!

Although, I was thinking, maybe I should clarify: if you asked us back before Dec. 26th about our future travel plans, they would have been a wedding in New York sometime in the fall of 2014 (they got engaged in Oct. 2013 and switching from fall to April - to get a better deal on their wedding site - was a bit unexpected!) and hopefully a Disney cruise sometime later that fall or winter. And then Aulani came up. So, we figured we'd move the Disney cruise back a year to fall of 2015. Then the AP came up and we figured we'd move the Disney cruise into the very end of that time frame in May 2015 (upgrading my 3-day PH ticket to an AP was less than purchasing another 3-day PH (or more) for a future trip). And this Frozen trip is probably going to net out somewhere in the neighborhood of $200, so why not?

Lol at izzy pulling up frozen herself. Caden can completely navigate the iPad and his current obsession is Cars! I think he watched it 15 times in a row the other day (I was unpacking and needed him entertained. I don't normally let him watch a movie 15 times in a row) he hasn't figured out the Apple TV yet. He thinks it's touchscreen hahaha

I can't believe how quickly Izzy catches on to how to use technology. Just crazy. She's actually the one who showed me (mostly by accident) how to jump to certain scenes (such as Let It Go) on the AppleTV. Our TV is up so high that she couldn't try to touch-screen it, but she has tried that with other things!

I totally saw those frozen socks today at target. Did you see in the jrs section that they have an Olaf shirt (something about summer) and one that's black with elsa and "keep calm and let it go" on it in blue sparkly letters? I almost bought it today. Lol

Is the Olaf one the "Summer Dreaming" shirt I got for the last trip? This one?



I'm planning to wear it again on our Frozen day. I haven't seen the Let It Go one...sounds cool, though! And speaking of attire, I stopped by Babies 'R' Us today to use a $5 reward certificate. I thought this was cute, but not cute enough at $22:



However, I think I scored a great deal from the clearance rack. This outfit is perfect for our Animal Kingdom morning and, after the $5 coupon, only cost me $2.79:



Not a great picture, but it has little animal print shorts with it too. So, Izzy's wardrobe is pretty much set!

Not gonna lie, I'm pretty darn jealous of your trips! I'm dying waiting for jan to get here and all my dis friends are going on trips all over the place! Argh!!

I know, all these darn DIS people keep going to Disney - what's up with that? No, I know what you mean. I felt like almost everybody was going in May and I was being left behind. Of course, then I ended up going in June. But, yeah, you've had a long time between trips! January will be here before you know it, though!

wow - this is all very exciting ... perhaps a sing of a problem, but very exciting

Man, when people on the DISboards think I have a Disney problem, I must be in pretty deep. But, yes, exciting!

Not sure of your exact plans / timing but maybe we can squeeze in a quick DISmeet on Friday the 29th (we leave 7am on the 30th)

Unfortunately, we'll just miss each other, unless you have a delayed flight (and we don't want that, of course!) We depart MN at 7am on the 30th! We'll just be there the 30th-1st, so fly in Saturday morning and back out Monday night (Labor Day). It'll be quick, that's for sure!

also, kinda loving that "pulling a TheMaxRebo" is being coming a thing ... that thing of course being using math to make it seem that not going to Disney would be foolish and irresponsible

Back in the day, this used to be referred to as "Fuzzy Disney Math" or "FDM", but I haven't seen that reference for a while, so "TheMaxRebo" it is!

The land and sea trip sounds like so much fun. I saw some of the DISunplugged team is doing one out in Hawaii - spending time at Aulani and then doing a cruise around the different Hawaiian islands which sounds awesome

Oh, I know the cruise you're talking about. Only Norwegian cruises from and around Hawaii like that. My in-laws did that on a previous trip to Hawaii and had a great time (it's what got them wanting to go back to Hawaii, actually). The initial intent of the dates we booked was actually to possibly do that cruise. However, it was very expensive and Izzy would have been full fare! (No kids' rates on Norwegian). In fact, before I looked at Hawaii airfare, I looked up the cruise fare and about passed out. It would have been over $4000!! And that's just the cruise fare - last time the in-laws had gotten off at all the islands and rented cars and spent money dining out and sightseeing, etc. I was actually all prepared to tell the in-laws that there was no way we could afford to join them in Hawaii for their anniversary. But I decided to quick check airfare first and make sure I knew what that was like also. And that was a game-changer. Long story short, since the in-laws ended up booking an earlier trip to Hawaii at the glitchy rates, we priced out our options and decided to forego the cruise. We also decided to stay on Oahu the whole time. Everyone keeps telling us how "cheap" it is to fly to the other islands and we should do that, etc. And, compared to normal airfare to Hawaii, I'm sure they are comparatively cheap. But, when your flight to/from Hawaii is only $70, those island hoppers are actually more than that! Just like the cruise, hopping around was too expensive. Some future trip, perhaps. But, shopping around for a good DVC rental actually got us into Aulani for less than half the price of the cruise! (And, also, less than half the price of a room at Aulani ...and with free parking because of DVC, rather than the $35/day they normally charge!) Anyway, I'm rambling on and on...clearly I should be writing a pre-trip report.

Great job figuring out how to do everything on the cheap

Thank you! That is pretty much the way we do things. Some people spend more on a single Disney trip than we spent on our entire 5-trip "Year of Disney" in 2010. The way I figure it, I'd rather have more frequent trips than more expensive trips.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!

ANOTHER Disney trip!?!? You just got back, no fair!

I know, what's wrong with me?

Teehee, just kidding! That is AWESOMMMMMMMMME! I would be on top of it too! You might as well while she is still under 2 and free! And what fun to do the Frozen stuff!! EEEP!

I think it's going to be quite a shocking dose of reality when Izzy doesn't fly free and get into WDW free and eat at WDW buffets for free. Might as well take advantage of her free-ness while we can.

I think you are very wise to purchase that Frozen package bc I am sure that weekend will be SWAMPED! So good use of the money you will spend!

Yes, I can't remember if I said, but the package is actually sold out on the 31st (the day we're going). It was lucky I grabbed it early, once I found out there was only 1-day cancellation notice needed. I'm hoping that it will allow us to do more during that day and not wait in lines and awful crowds as much. And I'm really looking forward to all of the free Mickey bars and such!!

I can't believe Hawaii is so close. I cant wait to read your TR on that, bc we are VERY interested!

Honestly, I can't believe it is so close either. I see my ticker and question if it is right. We booked that trip SO far out that it always seemed forever away. In fact, any time I go anywhere (i.e. Disney in June), my co-workers start asking me how Hawaii was...they are convinced I should have gone by now. Are you thinking of going to Hawaii? I am super excited about it and planning to work on my "must do" list a bit tonight after I post this.

We are thinking about a Nov 2015 Land & Sea... do you just have to call for pricing on those? I know you can't do them online, have you heard if you get discounts from booking them together in a package?

Good question. I actually just figured I'd piece it together myself, since I wasn't sure and I like to have control of things. So, we have a deposit down on the cruise (booked directly through Disney, but I hear that booking through a travel agent can get you some extra savings, possibly), but have not booked any transportation or Disney resort stays yet. We'll see how obliterated our vacation fund is looking by then and plan our resorts accordingly. It could be a Pop Century trip and that would be fine, but we are kind-of dreaming of staying somewhere in the Epcot resort area just to have the proximity to DHS for SWW (and walking to World Showcase too). I will have my AP discount or we could look at renting DVC points, if it's more favorable. We'll see. I think we will probably add on the Disney cruise port transfers, but we are considering renting a car. To be determined, I guess.

Man, this whole post is amazing and exciting!! You're living the Disney Dream!!

Thanks, I agree!

*****************************************************************

Oh, and here was Izzy tonight, in her (too small) Minnie jammies with her Mickey and Minnie:



I bet she will be excited when I tell her we're going back to Disney and stepping into the world of Frozen!

 

[Dugette]

This morning was our “sleep in” morning. Since we’d gone to bed pretty much when Izzy did the night before, we ended up waking up before she did. We used this chance to actually get out on our patio for a bit. Finally, I used the video monitor we brought along! This turned out to be the only time we used our patio for the whole trip. The morning view:



Dug spotted a Hidden Mickey on the ground:



We enjoyed just hanging out for a bit. I think we talked through our plans for the rest of the trip and decided some things. Once we saw Izzy waking up, we headed back inside to get her ready. And we apparently decided to have a pre-breakfast of chocolate truffles we’d previously picked up in the Poly gift shop:



After getting ready, we made our way to a Downtown Disney bus. It wasn’t overly crowded and we had seats. Across from us was a man that had clearly had been to Disney many times and owned DVC. I can’t remember much anymore, but I know that I found his chatter interesting. I believe he was travelling with his son (maybe 9 or 10 years old). I think he was telling the lady next to me about DVC and how worthwhile it’s been for them. Something like that. I remember thinking it was neat that he spent all this time exploring Disney with his little boy. Wish I could remember more, but oh well.

At any rate, after a pleasant enough bus ride, we were here:



We were walking in at 10:28am, according to the text I sent my former boss/current Disney planning buddy. Just to clarify, he was my supervisor up through 2011 and moved on to a position at Target HQ that was unrelated. He has since moved on to another company entirely, but we are still frequently in touch through email regarding Disney planning. At any rate, his Disney trip with extended family overlapped our trip and this was the only time we could find to meet up. So, I texted him that we had arrived and would be around for a couple hours.

We stopped into the Christmas Store because I wanted to find an ornament to commemorate Izzy’s first trip to WDW. However, that was easier said than done. Turns out there are not any “Baby’s First Trip” ornaments (unless you personalize one). There are a lot of “Baby’s First Christmas”, but it wasn’t quite her first Christmas. I just couldn’t find anything like what I was imagining and decided to give up for a bit and check ornaments at other stores later. We eventually found a couple decent ones somewhere later, but not quite exactly what I had in mind. Cute enough, though. You can see them here on our little Christmas tree, once we got home (they are the only two ornaments, ha!):



So, one has a picture of Izzy on her trip and the other is a plush Minnie jingle ball thing.

As we were walking around the Christmas Store, I got a text back that my friend was near the Lego Store. I let him know that we were in the Christmas Store and were about to head to breakfast at Wolfgang Puck’s. I figured we’d meet up after breakfast or something. But, lo and behold, within a couple minutes, there he was in the Christmas Store! He is FAST! He said his family was having a hard time keeping pace with him on the trip. He had been overly optimistic when packing and was rather chilly in his shorts that morning (though it did warm up). We had a nice, though brief, visit. It was cool to see each other somewhere besides Minnesota. And he got to meet Izzy as well (he changed jobs during my pregnancy, so hadn’t met her). It was nice to see someone we know at WDW.

After our non-DIS-meet, we headed right to breakfast at Wolfgang Puck Express. We ordered one of their delicious breakfast pizzas to share. Izzy started with some milk while we waited:



She also flirted with people at a nearby table :



And then our breakfast pizza arrived:





So yummy!!!

After polishing off our breakfast, it was time for more shopping:



Given her newfound love for Piglet at the Crystal Palace, we thought we’d see if she wanted to take him home:



She liked him okay, so we got him (later on). However, she rarely plays with him. It’s like she forgot how much she loved Piggy Kisses. Oh, well.

Dug could not resist getting her a Duffy Bear and this outfit (also got them later):



She actually has Duffy in her crib now, but the outfit doesn’t get used. Still cute, though.

And speaking of Duffy:



Still hanging onto Piglet:



Dug liked these displays:









He also tried on some mouse ears:



We actually headed out of there without buying anything, as we had a receipt that gave us a discount at World of Disney. We figured that we would buy everything we could there instead and only buy from Once Upon a Toy if something wasn’t available at World of Disney.

Hey, look who was visiting Downtown Disney!! Good thing it was a chilly morning:



I believe our next stop was at Mickey’s Pantry. We always love this store, especially the selection of spices and seasonings. We got a bunch for ourselves and a few as gifts for family for Christmas. We still use them all the time!

After we finished up there, we headed across the Marketplace area to our next destination.

Up next: Legos.

 

[cindianne320]

So super jealous of your Frozen trip! I can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[Imagineer5]

So excited we will be able to see you two again - it is just weeks away now!! EEK!! Frozen Summer Fun is going to be so great. Excited to hear about Aulani when it happens (you'll have to do a report, of course! haha) and the Land and Sea too!

Nice to have an easy morning like that at DTD! Aria would love that breakfast pizza, I think. I love the spice shop too! The Duffy outfit is cute, we have a Sulley costumer for Duffy, and it is laying limp in Aria's room LOL - I will hopefully remember not to buy another Duffy outfit unless Aria shows immense interest in it (doubtful). SHe does love her new mickey, donald, and daisy though!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Bummer that our trips just miss overlapping ... but still very cool you are able to head down and take in the Summer of Frozen - especially if this turns out to be a one-time thing I am sure you will be happy you fit it in.

Excited for your Hawaii trip ... we definitely need to get there at some point but the flights are just sooooo far from the East coast I think we will wait til the kids are older. Maybe take a pit stop in CA and hit up Disneyland as well ... oh well, a dad can dream

That breakfast pizza looks really good! Cool that you got to meet up with your previous co-worker, even if just brief. And good job outta you remembering about the discout at World of Disney and to not give in and buy all the stuff you wanted at the Toy Store

 

[Denovagirl]

Wow never thought if breakfast at WPX! Cool!

Love all the Star Wars quotes in the toy store!

Looks like a good start to the day

And from earlier- yes I am thinking of Hawaii in the future. I am very curious for your TR bc I can't decide if Disney would be worth it there...I wonder how it fares in relation to prices with other resorts? But also I've always imagined it as a place to go when the kids are much older so we can do hiking and ocean stuff more, so in curious of all you can do with Izzy at this age!

 

[Dugette]

So super jealous of your Frozen trip! I can't wait to hear all about it!

I'm super excited! Really glad I got that AP now or this wouldn't be happening! We watched (3/4 of) Frozen again tonight, at Izzy's request. She sure loves it.

So excited we will be able to see you two again - it is just weeks away now!! EEK!! Frozen Summer Fun is going to be so great. Excited to hear about Aulani when it happens (you'll have to do a report, of course! haha) and the Land and Sea too!

Yes, it will be so fun! And not that far away at all - though I hate to think that, as it means that summer will be nearly over by that time. I don't want to be frozen for real. I will for sure do a report on Aulani. I want to get a PTR going for it too, but I'm a bit overwhelmed with all these trips that need to be reported on! Once I wrap this one up, I'll feel a bit better, I think. And the Land and Sea

Nice to have an easy morning like that at DTD! Aria would love that breakfast pizza, I think. I love the spice shop too! The Duffy outfit is cute, we have a Sulley costumer for Duffy, and it is laying limp in Aria's room LOL - I will hopefully remember not to buy another Duffy outfit unless Aria shows immense interest in it (doubtful). SHe does love her new mickey, donald, and daisy though!

I bet she would love that breakfast pizza. It's good stuff! Ha, I guess the girls both prefer naked Duffy! And those outfits aren't exactly cheap, either. Funny thing is that Izzy LOVES dressing up (or having us dress up) her doll, but never her Duffy. Maybe someday. I'm glad Aria's enjoying her Disney plush friend collection.

Bummer that our trips just miss overlapping ... but still very cool you are able to head down and take in the Summer of Frozen - especially if this turns out to be a one-time thing I am sure you will be happy you fit it in.

I know, I had to review your TR to see if we overlapped...I think you just need to extend your trip. You know, that's a big thing, not knowing if they'll extend the Frozen fun. Plus, Izzy is just so into it right now. I'd hate to miss out on a memory so magical over a couple hundred dollars.

Excited for your Hawaii trip ... we definitely need to get there at some point but the flights are just sooooo far from the East coast I think we will wait til the kids are older. Maybe take a pit stop in CA and hit up Disneyland as well ... oh well, a dad can dream

Keep on dreaming! And if you want any inspiration, check out Captain_Oblivious' TR for Aulani/Hawaii (on the DVC TR board). Awesome! He flew from the East Coast and took his old-enough kids (3 of them - well, and a stowaway). No Disneyland stop on the way, but lots of people do that, from what I can tell on the Aulani threads.

That breakfast pizza looks really good! Cool that you got to meet up with your previous co-worker, even if just brief. And good job outta you remembering about the discout at World of Disney and to not give in and buy all the stuff you wanted at the Toy Store

That breakfast pizza was really good. Would love to have that more often! It was a fun little meet with my former co-worker. It's nice to know someone in real life that is pretty into Disney (though not enough to be on the DIS, to my knowledge - he gets most of his insider tips from me ). Yeah, having that discount and knowing that WoD carries nearly everything was motivation enough.

Wow never thought if breakfast at WPX! Cool!

They have several good breakfast options! If you are ever in Downtown Disney in the morning, it's a great option. Not crowded, either.

Love all the Star Wars quotes in the toy store!

Gotta love Disney theming! Dug was having a great time with all the Star Wars things. You just may see him back there again...

Looks like a good start to the day

It was nice to have a relaxed non-rope-drop morning!

And from earlier- yes I am thinking of Hawaii in the future. I am very curious for your TR bc I can't decide if Disney would be worth it there...I wonder how it fares in relation to prices with other resorts? But also I've always imagined it as a place to go when the kids are much older so we can do hiking and ocean stuff more, so in curious of all you can do with Izzy at this age!

If you have some time to kill, there are not a ton of TRs on Aulani, but there are some. The one I mentioned above is my favorite. Gives some nice insight on the resort and other activities on the island (and other islands, for that matter).

As far as the prices vs. other resorts, this was our experience: Rack rates at Aulani are completely obscene I'm pretty sure anything (standard hotel room or standard DVC studio) is over $500/night PLUS $35/night for parking. Given that we have never left the $200s/night - even when we stayed at the Poly - that was unimaginable. Dug has a co-worker with a time share that we could have rented. We looked at the options and I think it would have been $1500-ish to stay in one of them for our 9 nights. Something like that. And none of them sounded all that great, to be honest. Hotel rooms seemed to be at least $150/night, on the cheap end. And nothing oceanside or anything. In general, I don't think renting DVC points is the best deal - for WDW. Getting room-only discounts and paying with discounted gift cards generally nets me a pretty good rate on regular resort rooms and that's really all we needed. HOWEVER, I think renting DVC points is the ONLY sensible way to stay at Aulani. I don't care what kind of discount comes out - it will never compare. Right now, there is a buy 3 nights get a 4th night free deal. Or an AP rate of 30% off. Still way more than the $2063 we are paying for our 9 nights in a standard-view studio (so, $229/night). Plus, parking is free (not $35/night) when you are staying on points, even when you are not a DVC member. I will say that it is not necessarily easy to rent DVC points for Aulani, but persistence paid off for us. It took stalking some point-rental boards to find what we needed when we needed it, but it worked out great! So, I guess the summary is that we are paying a bit more than the rock-bottom options we were considering (so-so timeshare units and standard non-ocean hotels), but we are getting an amazing resort as our home for 9 nights. The whole place really seems to be outstanding and we are going to have a hard time striking a balance between seeing other things on the island and getting enough time in to enjoy all the things Aulani has to offer.

And, in the spirit of this being a super long answer, onto the next thought: regarding taking Izzy so young, we never thought we'd take a 2-year-old to Hawaii. We have never been to Hawaii, but it was definitely on the "someday" list - just on the end of it that is haven't-really-even-given-this-any-thought-yet-but-someday. But, circumstances what they were, we'd be insane to pass up that airfare. I'm sure we'll go back again some day way in the future and be able to do more, but there is quite a bit we should be able to do with Izzy at this age. The resort is very child-friendly and there should be a lot to do with her and during her nap time! I'm a bit sad that the free childcare is only for kids 3 and up, though. So, no babysitting for us! I think we will hike Diamond Head and I'll probably wear Izzy in the Ergo for that. We'll have a car and our car seat, so we'll be able to get to lots of tourist things. We are planning Pearl Harbor, but that is one thing where having a toddler is making us do it differently. There is a 23-minute movie that is required before taking the journey over to the memorial and the whole thing is on the somber/respectful side, not to mention no bags (even diaper bags) or strollers are allowed - between all those things and an unpredictable-mood toddler, I didn't think I'd be able to really get much out of the experience while managing Izzy, so we chose to get separate tour times and switch off between that and the swap meet across the street. There are some other island activities we may not be able to do because of Izzy, but there is still a ton we can do. Anyway, enough rambling.

 

[AprilRenee]

Hold the phone!! Is that her Minnie that she took pics with her whole 1st year?? It's so TINY!! She's so long! Woah!!

And yeah, for $200 I'd be there in a heartbeat. In fact, I have an unspoken for $200 in my account right this minute and I am free to go this weekend. Wanna share some of the deals?? I could REALLY use a Disney trip right now.

 

[Dugette]

Hold the phone!! Is that her Minnie that she took pics with her whole 1st year?? It's so TINY!! She's so long! Woah!!

You're right - I hadn't even thought of that! In her 1-month photo, she's about the same size as Minnie and now she looks like a giant next to her!

And yeah, for $200 I'd be there in a heartbeat. In fact, I have an unspoken for $200 in my account right this minute and I am free to go this weekend. Wanna share some of the deals?? I could REALLY use a Disney trip right now.

Drive up to MSP, quick! Sun Country had a sale today for Friday-Tuesday (this weekend) for $200 RT, non-stop! (No, I'm not going...4 nights in a hotel still costs money, unfortunately!) If only you had points for a free flight and an Annual Pass, I could totally share the deals! That's kinda key!

 

[RGirl]

Hello!!! I started reading your TR some time ago, and tonight I finally managed to be completely caught up, so I'm joining in for the rest! Loving it so far!!

 

[Dugette]

Hello!!! I started reading your TR some time ago, and tonight I finally managed to be completely caught up, so I'm joining in for the rest! Loving it so far!!

Yay, glad you caught up!! I do the same thing - I have some I'm slowly working my way through. Glad you made it!

 

[amazingact21]

I did the math, and I think we're going to miss each other by days! Ugh. What a bummer. But I can totally understand how you want to take Izzy to the Frozen summer at DHS. It seems like all toddler girls are obsessed with that film.



The Christmas Store in DTD is awesome. And that's the perfect time to find an ornament on a December trip.
Mmm, that breakfast pizza. I've only ever had their lunch menu items, but that dish looks really good. I'd consider stopping in for one in the future.

 

[Dugette]

I did the math, and I think we're going to miss each other by days! Ugh. What a bummer. But I can totally understand how you want to take Izzy to the Frozen summer at DHS. It seems like all toddler girls are obsessed with that film.

When do you leave? We are just planning 8/30-9/1 - a very quick visit! Izzy definitely is obsessed - though she seems to be getting tired of "Let It Go".

The Christmas Store in DTD is awesome. And that's the perfect time to find an ornament on a December trip.
Mmm, that breakfast pizza. I've only ever had their lunch menu items, but that dish looks really good. I'd consider stopping in for one in the future.

You can thank the DIS for that - I saw that pizza in a TR years ago and had to have it. We tried it back in 2010, I think, then had it again this trip. Yum!

 

[Dugette]

Okay, so this is really just me wanting to post photos from this weekend and sort-of tying them into Disney to justify it. Izzy and I had a fun weekend together while Dug was out of town at a conference. Good practice for the mommy/daughter quick WDW trip we're planning for Labor Day Weekend.

First off, this was from the previous weekend. As a gift for my birthday, Dug had given me a season pass to ride the riverboats (and bring guests). We finally used it for the first time on a cruise that happened to be right after the "Princess Cruise" they were doing (extra charge, so we couldn't do it with my pass). We lucked out that the princesses decided to stick around greet the guests on our cruise too.

For comparison, we did the princess cruise last year and here was the picture from that:



Here's the picture from this year:



The princesses actually recognized Izzy. They also enjoyed her Cinderella/Fairy Godmother shirt that she just happened to be wearing.

Later in the boat ride, the captain offered for Izzy to come sit on his lap and help steer the boat, but she was feeling shy and wouldn't let go of me, so this is the best we could do:



Later that night, Izzy decided to make sure her Minnie sunglasses were still in good working order:



She also made sure that doggie was properly wearing Minnie ears the other day:



Anyway, on to this weekend! Or Saturday in particular. Izzy and I started the day by swinging by the Mall of America. There were a bunch of "shopkicks" available, so we swung around to some stores to grab them, but also popped into some places for Izzy to play. It was important that she do her Minnie-collecting at the Disney Store, of course:



Minnie attack!







She holed up in the tunnel with Mickey and Minnie for a cuddle session.

We also stopped by the Lego Store for some Duplo time:



Oh, she's wearing that new outfit I got for our Animal Kingdom day - figured it was appropriate for the zoo too!

After the mall, we headed the rest of the way to the zoo. We have a membership, but it had been a while since we'd visited. Actually, I guess it hasn't been that long, but toddlers change/grow quickly at this age. Izzy's gotten much more into animals in that time (and better at words), so it was fun to see her call out "Bear!" and such. Speaking of, here she is waving hi to a bear:



She squealed with delight at the prairie dogs:



I was able to get Izzy down for a stroller nap. Hung out in a barn while it rained and ate the lunch I'd packed while she slept:



After the rain cleared, I saw there was going to be a cow-milking demonstration, so I figured I'd watch that while she napped. Unfortunately, she woke up during it, after only about 45 minutes of sleep. She was fine, though, and we had more fun at the zoo.

After the zoo, we headed over to a friend's birthday party nearby (if you read my Dec. 2010 TR, it was the Donald/Daisy family!) Izzy found some Disney things in their toy collection. Mickey ears:



And she practiced waving for her future job on Main Street :



Here she is modeling both:



And, not Disney-related, but just because I think it's cute, here she is playing peek-a-boo to end the day:



Anyway, hope everyone had a good weekend. I had a fun time hanging out with Izzy the whole time. She is a lot more opinionated these days (which isn't necessarily fun), but she's also a lot more interactive and able to express herself, which is really fun. Looking forward to a Frozen adventure with her in a month or so.

By the way, she turned 22 months old today! Only two months from two years old! Time sure flies.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

fun pictures - and good wave practicing ... never too early to start training for the career of your future

"She is a lot more opinionated these days" We deal with that every day especially with Olivia - we find ourselves saying "why were we so concerned with getting her to talk?"

 

[Imagineer5]

Aww love the outing - looks like a lot of fun - the boat ride sounds neat too, what a fun gift! The zoo is great, glad Izzy was able to nap in the stroller even if not for a full nap (couldn't believe how well they both napped in June!!).

2 months to 2?! Wow!!

 

[schmass]

Hi there! As I was catching up on DisneyParkLover's baby trip report I saw your TR link and followed you over here. I'm always wanting to read TRs involving babies now that I have one myself! I'm going to go back to the beginning of your report and get all caught up!

 

[Leshaface]

I think that you and I are of very like minds on this topic! The local moms group I am a part of (from when we had our babies) has had several of the moms already have second babies and I just can't imagine how they do it! The age our kids are now still requires a ton of attention and I don't know how that can be done while nursing and caring for a newborn nearly 24/7. I can see that it would be easier as the toddler becomes more independent and better at communicating and even helping, but until then, it seems very challenging unless the spouse is really on top of things. I will say that Izzy didn't start consistently sleeping through the night until 3 months ago, so that factors into how I perceive things too...another 18 months without a full night's sleep? But, yes, people do it all the time and (generally) seem okay with it. Maybe we can send our DH's to a training camp And maybe TheMaxRebo can run it!

Oh wow, I thought she was sleeping through the night sooner than that for some reason. But yep, that was a big thing. Getting no sleep for the first 10 months was not fun. Add some IBS and Ulcers to that, makes it even more fun

I AGREE!!!! Where's Phil?! "Phil? Phil?!" <----Groundhog Day. Sorry had to do it

man, I feel like I have to stand up for the husbands again

As someone two kids and a third on the way I can first say that going from 1 to 2 was a big change - actually more than I thought it would be (everything I have heard is going from 2 to 3 isn't a big deal .... we'll see) ... BUT you figure it out. You figured out how to go from 0 to 1 you will figure out how to handle 2.

As far as sharing the workload, you have to figure out what works. I do most of the cooking at our house and often do dishes and help carry laundry (plus typical "guy" jobs like taking out the garbage, etc.). Also, I get up early with the kids and feed them breakfast and stuff - but then get a "break" during the day at work ... you just have to figure out what works for you

Okay, can I just say




Hope you didn't take offense to my grouping all husbands this way I know there are some amazing husbands/men/dads that can do it all and the wives to nothing. One of the things he has admitted to a long time ago when we got married, was his mom did everything. Mexican moms are kind of like Italian moms. They treat their sons like royalty and do everything for them from making special plates at dinner if they didn't like the menu, to folding their socks a certain way (I had no idea there were multiple ways to fold socks!) He wasn't used to doing 'things' around the house. But I will say that he has come a looong way from where he used to be. In fact, I just need to praise him right now. I know I said this on my TR, but when we returned from DLR, he was in this huge cleaning kick and he still is! And now he's saying things like, "Wow, can't believe we just cleaned 2 days ago and the house already looks/feels dirty again" and he'll start picking up stuff off the ground and vacuuming

But like you said, trying to figure out what works for us is something we're still figuring out 8 years later, but some major progress has just happened and it's amazing!



Can the shopkick app work together with the cartwheel app? I've been wanting to try it but wasn't sure. Also, does it only work when I walk into actual stores? Or can it work when i'm driving by a place. I know you have the Mall of America right near you, so you probably have lots of opportunities to use it. But like for me, the only places I really go into is Target (probably 2-3 times a week) and Foods Co.

So what are your plans with Izzy and the plane ride? I should probably familiarize myself with the laws, but I know (well, at least for DS when we go in January) that he will be 2 which means he'll need his own seat. Does that mean they are required to be in a car seat?

How fun that you got to have a non-DIS meet! I've seen lots of people I know outside the DIS at Disneyland, but that's pretty much a given since tons of people around here visit Disneyland around the same time. But it would be REALLY cool to see people back at home at WDW.