Challenged Accepted! Our Year of Disney with a toddler 2/27 x2

[natebenma]

I didn't realize you hadn't really done much in Dino land!

Primevil Whirl is a weird ride to put you on with strangers since you are whipped around into one another. Not saying that the woman you rode with should have been unpleasant, but the ride CM shouldn't have put you in with someone else.

The jungle juice sounds yummy and even better as a slush. I haven't heard of this before.

Too bad Tusker was a little disappointing, but I'm glad you enjoyed Boma. My favorite restaurant at Disney!

Cool that you met up with Marissa and got to ride on the safari together.

 

[ValarDisneyus]

Hello! I just wanted to poke in and say that, even though I get the gist from recent posts that this TR is over, I'm loving the very beginning and I'm going to try to catch up! <3 Thanks for sharing your trip with me! (us?)

 

[natebenma]

All caught up now.

Your last full day at MK sounded like a lot of fun!

So glad to hear that Gavin did so well at ETWB. The photopass pictures at Under the Sea are cute.

I am also shocked to hear that was your first ride at Jungle Cruise, although it was the same for me. I didn't ride Jungle Cruise until my 3rd or 4th trip to MK- it was either closed or renovations, or the lines were too long (pre Fast Pass) the first few times. The fish-eye joke is funny, I'm not sure if I have heard that one or not.

I am so excited to hear that you met Brenda and Michael (and had plans with them the next day). I totally agree that meeting her is just like getting together with a friend you have known your whole life. She is precious! I am sure Michael is too, but we did not have the pleasure of meeting him or Emmy while in California.

Your meet with Cinderella and Rapunzel sounds amazing! Great pictures!!!

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Yikes, sorry that Gavin woke up feeling under the weather and that he was not feeling well that day. I remember those days, it is so sad when your little one is sick and uncomfortable and you can only do so much to make him feel better.



Still you managed to get some cute pictures with the characters in EPCOT.

for lunch with Brenda and Michael. I hear such good things about the meals at The Plaza, but we have never been there. It never made sense when we were on the dining plan, and now our go-to MK meal is Columbia Harbor House.

I'm glad to hear you decided to stop and rest halfway through your trip home. Nothing good can come from driving while exhausted and it sounds like even trying to find a place to stay was frustrating.

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You must be getting super excited for your October trip!!!

 

[marDgreen88]

Hahaha okay so first of all, I didn't even notice anything you were doing with the stroller because all I was thinking about was how there was no way on Earth I could eat so much rice. Slash how I could get away with throwing it away. Hahah. Anyways, I'm so glad I could meet up with y'all. It was great to be able to do the safari with you! And clearly I have no clue how to do a selfie. That picture, wow.

Whew! So much to read! I don't even know what to say, except it sounds like your last days were awesome, except for poor Gavin getting sick.

I think I was just missing y'all all day on the 7th, too, because I was in MK most of the day. I was even watching FoF from the FP plus area. It would've been cool to see y'all again!

Sounds like such a fun lunch with Brenda and Michael, too! They're so sweet.

All in all, what a great trip! I hope you have fun on your trip THIS MONTH, too! I can't remember if you said you've been at Halloween time before, but if not, let me just tell you that it's SO MUCH FUN. MNSSHP is amazing. You'll love it!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

You got quite a bit done your last few days - or at least a number of key things. Sorry about Gavin feeling sick/allergies though - just no fun dealing with a sick child in an amusment park as you want to still have fun but also want to take care of him and not feel like you are pushing him too much

Glad you got to meet up with Brenda and Mike! The Plaza is definitely a place I need to keep in mind for future trips - only hear good things from people that eat there.

Yeah, it's great when other people lecture you about caring for your kids

Glad you enjoyed the Jungle Cruise! It is one of my favorites and even though I have heard all the jokes before (I just re-watched our video from our last trip and realized I said the punchline to most of them before the skipper) I still laugh way too much. I always get caught on "Schweitzer Falls - named, of course, after the famous Dr. Albert .... Falls" though

A few trips ago we drove down to Disney World and the drive down wasn't too bad but the drive home seemed to take forever and I think we were just over it - so that turned us into "always flyers" for the foreseeable future

 

[MEK]

I started reading your update and got distracted so I'll have to come back and re-read. I also saw your meet on Brenda's TR. How fun! Looks like a great time.

So ARE we just missing each other. I arrive late on the 17th.

And you staying at AS Sports. We stayed there for a night in Feb and I just posted some pics of the Hoops Hotel. SO cute! Love it there!

Be back to re-read!

 

[dtr_angel]

Mary Ellen we just missed you! We checked out of All Star Sports just after 11 on the 17th! We drove to the TTC and took the monorail to the Poly and had lunch at Capt Cooks, then walked over the the GF. We had to drive back to All Star Sports after that to check on something I thought we lost but was actually in the back seat all along We pulled out of Sports at 3pm to finally start our drive home.

How was your trip? I've been lurking around the boards lately but terrible at posting.

 

[dtr_angel]

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[amazingact21]

I'm happy to hear your trip went well. It seems like as Gavin gets older, your trips just get better and better.

And I'm really glad to hear All Star Sports worked out well! That's the resort I've stayed at the most, and I've always said that open football field would be a dream for a kid. And how smart of you all to buy a football.



All your upcoming trips sound exciting. I know exactly what you mean about being pulled in two different directions. On one hand, you want to soak up every "family" moment that you can before it's too late. On the other...so much money!
If it helps, I'm in the same prediciment. Alex insists on taking a massive trip when he gets home, and I want to, but I also had practical plans for the extra funds. (Never fear, Disney won out.)

 

[khertz]

I'm so glad your trip went so well!! I was thinking we were a little crazy for having trips planned into 2016, but you beat me out with planning out trips into 2017!!! Maybe that means I am actually normal, or maybe we are both crazy, who knows. I don't mind knowing I have lots of Disney in my future!

 

[Dugette]

So glad to hear that you had another great and memorable trip! I totally understand the pull between having those magical family times vs. being "practical". I am a super frugal person, but experiences are my weakness. I never have regretted any travel we've done. If it makes you feel more "normal", we did 5 trips in our "Year of Disney" in 2010. And I've done 3 in the last year, only 1 of which was planned more than a short time in advance. I definitely get it!

 

[natebenma]

Thanks for the recap on your trip. Sounds like it worked out really well. I hope we get to see a few pictures, even if you don't do a full report.

I'm sure it was a little easier leaving knowing that you will be back soon.

I can definitely see how Gavin would love All Star Sports and all of the super-sized décor. Your description of him playing on the field was so cute.

The rooms ARE small, but I forgot how tall your DH is. How was the bed for him? Hope he wasn't too cramped.

That is awesome that Gavin loved Stacey! Good taste, that boy.

 

[dtr_angel]

I'm happy to hear your trip went well. It seems like as Gavin gets older, your trips just get better and better.

And I'm really glad to hear All Star Sports worked out well! That's the resort I've stayed at the most, and I've always said that open football field would be a dream for a kid. And how smart of you all to buy a football.



All your upcoming trips sound exciting. I know exactly what you mean about being pulled in two different directions. On one hand, you want to soak up every "family" moment that you can before it's too late. On the other...so much money!
If it helps, I'm in the same prediciment. Alex insists on taking a massive trip when he gets home, and I want to, but I also had practical plans for the extra funds. (Never fear, Disney won out.)

The trips do get better and better. We are so blessed with a good traveler who loves Disney! We saw so many kids enjoying the football field, it was awesome. Too bad the basketball court wasn't useful in the same way for kids.

I'd really hate to add up how much we've spent on Disney trips in the past 6 years. But I've never regretted any trips we have taken, just the ones we didn't! I wouldn't trade the memories we have for anything.

I'm so glad your trip went so well!! I was thinking we were a little crazy for having trips planned into 2016, but you beat me out with planning out trips into 2017!!! Maybe that means I am actually normal, or maybe we are both crazy, who knows. I don't mind knowing I have lots of Disney in my future!

Well we've been talking about 2017 for a while because Gavin will be 5, and we thought that would be a good age to take him to Disneyland for the first time. The flight is longer for us and since DL is only going to be a every few years or less often type deal, we want him to remember it. Our plans always change (one day it seems like a great idea to go to Disney 3 times every year ) but yes, we love knowing there will always be another trip! It's never too soon to start planning!

So glad to hear that you had another great and memorable trip! I totally understand the pull between having those magical family times vs. being "practical". I am a super frugal person, but experiences are my weakness. I never have regretted any travel we've done. If it makes you feel more "normal", we did 5 trips in our "Year of Disney" in 2010. And I've done 3 in the last year, only 1 of which was planned more than a short time in advance. I definitely get it!

Vacations are our weakness too! I have never regretted the trips we have taken only the ones we didn't. We have so many magical memories that I wouldn't change for anything. I really have enjoyed so much Disney with a toddler. He changes so much between each trip, it's fun to watch him grow!

Thanks for the recap on your trip. Sounds like it worked out really well. I hope we get to see a few pictures, even if you don't do a full report.

I'm sure it was a little easier leaving knowing that you will be back soon.

I can definitely see how Gavin would love All Star Sports and all of the super-sized décor. Your description of him playing on the field was so cute.

The rooms ARE small, but I forgot how tall your DH is. How was the bed for him? Hope he wasn't too cramped.

That is awesome that Gavin loved Stacey! Good taste, that boy.

I will do some sort of TR but probably not a full one. I'll be downloading our Memory Maker pictures next week. I have pretty much no notes so it should be fun My memory is terrible!

The room was small but we made it work. I didn't hear him complain about the bed at all so I guess it worked out. We were also so exhausted every night it probably didn't matter. We would have been miserable I'm sure if we tried to squeeze into the full size bed together. I slept so well in my own bed

I am so glad (as of now) that our sweet boy shares our love of Disney World!







I really need to start writing down all the funny stuff Gavin says. I love having full conversations with him. He can sing "Let it Go", "In Summer" and "Do you want to build a snowman?" from frozen. He LOVES talking about the monorail. When we ask him what the monorail says, he says 'please stand clear of the doors' it's so cute! We rode the gold monorail twice in October and he keeps talking about the gold monorail. I hope he doesn't have a meltdown if we don't get the gold one, lol. Friday I had to wake him up because we had to go somewhere. When I woke him up and told him we had to get ready to go he said 'go to disney world and ride the gold monorail!'. It was too funny.

 

[dtr_angel]

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[MEK]

We did just miss each other, didn't we?

Glad you were able to make ASSp work for a few nights. I felt the same way when we stayed there one night in February. I didn't remember it being that small. But it's so cute and we spent a night at the Hoop's Hotel.

Nice plans for December. We stayed at the VGF for 3 nights in October and LOVED it. You are going to love it there. The resort and the property is just so lovely. You won't be able to help yourself and will end up taking tons of pics!

And then early Feb? Nice! You do have a lot of trips planned. I think you are worse than me. Those APs are dangerous, aren't they?

 

[dtr_angel]

We did just miss each other, didn't we?

Glad you were able to make ASSp work for a few nights. I felt the same way when we stayed there one night in February. I didn't remember it being that small. But it's so cute and we spent a night at the Hoop's Hotel.

Nice plans for December. We stayed at the VGF for 3 nights in October and LOVED it. You are going to love it there. The resort and the property is just so lovely. You won't be able to help yourself and will end up taking tons of pics!

And then early Feb? Nice! You do have a lot of trips planned. I think you are worse than me. Those APs are dangerous, aren't they?

Hoops hotel is a great section, very close to Stadium Hall. We enjoyed walking around the resort. I loved how small it was. I am so incredibly excited about GF! It doesn't feel real!

The APs are dangerous. We haven't booked the February trip yet but I wouldn't be surprised if we end up there after all. Remember, we weren't going to go in October either

 

[dtr_angel]

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[lilluv117]

I've been following along, even though I don't post much and I love your updates. I agree, AP's are dangerous! We converted our tickets from our September trip & I already have a December trip & a few days post cruise in January planned, and maybe April... and August is booked too. Lol.

I can feel your excitement about the GF! I'm excited for you! Can't wait to read all about your plans these next few days. It's making me excited because my trip is just about 2 weeks away so it's fun reading what you have planned compared to my plans. This is my first time being there with all the holiday decorations.

Those are some great FP's! Sounds like a fun first day!!

 

[amazingact21]

Sounds like an exciting arrival day! I'm sure the close proximity to the MK will be convenient with a toddler. And with the GF decorated for the holidays the resort is going to be absolutely gorgeous. I hope Gavin loves all the red poinsettias and massive tree in the lobby!

 

[dtr_angel]

I've been following along, even though I don't post much and I love your updates. I agree, AP's are dangerous! We converted our tickets from our September trip & I already have a December trip & a few days post cruise in January planned, and maybe April... and August is booked too. Lol.

I can feel your excitement about the GF! I'm excited for you! Can't wait to read all about your plans these next few days. It's making me excited because my trip is just about 2 weeks away so it's fun reading what you have planned compared to my plans. This is my first time being there with all the holiday decorations.

Those are some great FP's! Sounds like a fun first day!!

Oh goodness I see the APs sucked you in just like us! Does that mean we will be there at the same time? Where are you staying at? This is our first time being there with the decorations too. To say I am excited is an understatement, that's for sure! Thanks for reading!

Sounds like an exciting arrival day! I'm sure the close proximity to the MK will be convenient with a toddler. And with the GF decorated for the holidays the resort is going to be absolutely gorgeous. I hope Gavin loves all the red poinsettias and massive tree in the lobby!

This is probably going to be the best arrival day EVER, so excited. Really looking forward to staying on the monorail. I hope Gavin loves it as much as I do!