Dakoda Turns 3 At Disney World! ~ May/June 2010 ~ FINISHED! 8/31 Post#72

[that's nice]

Hey Julia....

Stopping by to sub. I forgot to do it the other day.

I'll be back to read everything later!

Wow you are on day 3 already? DOH!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Hey Julia....

Stopping by to sub. I forgot to do it the other day.

I'll be back to read everything later!

Wow you are on day 3 already? DOH!

Tim! Thanks for joining!

I already have the updates written, remember? So this TR will probably go really fast. I'm trying to finish it before I start classes at the end of the month. Plus I'm getting ready to start a new PTR!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Day 3, Part 2 - Magic Kingdom

Let's see, when I left you last, we were leaving the Contemporary Resort on the monorail, heading for the Magic Kingdom.

I had been hoping to reach the MK before rope drop because we love the morning show, but we didn’t arrive until 9:15. Since Darren had never ridden Space Mountain (it was being refurbed when we were here last year), we headed over there to check the wait time and grab FPs. I don’t recall the wait time, but it was longer than he wanted to wait. Dakoda saw the Astro Orbiter and wanted to ride. Sarah Kate had fallen asleep by this point, so I stayed with her while Darren and Dakoda rode.

After they finished, Dakoda decided that he wanted to ride the Tomorrowland Speedway. I rode with him while Darren sat with Sarah Kate. He loooves that ride and did not want to get out of the car when it ended. He had a mini-meltdown about it, but I was able to calm him down pretty quickly.

We made it back to Darren and decided to stroll over to Fantasyland and see how the lines were looking. Winnie the Pooh was manageable and Sarah Kate was awake, so we took a ride on that. Afterwards, Dakoda said he wanted to “see the show” so we watched Mickey’s Philharmagic. Here are Darren and I in our 3D glasses.

By this point, it was around mid-day and it was getting SO HOT! Haunted Mansion is a family favorite, so we headed over to Liberty Square. On the way, I snapped this picture of Cinderella’s fountain.

When we passed the Liberty Square Produce Market, we decided to grab a drink. The little bowls of watermelon looked sooo yummy that we decided to get one to share. It was exactly what we needed – cold, light, and refreshing.

After our snack, we went to visit our favorite Grim, Grinning Ghosts and then decided that it was time for a break. We caught the monorail back to the Contemporary and drove our car back to AS Sports.

We arrived back at the room around 1 pm and everyone was asleep by 1:30. We all had a couple of hours of much-needed rest and got up around 3:20. I panicked because once again, we were going to be late for our ADR! We were supposed to be at The Crystal Palace at 3:50 and did not arrive until 4:20. Thank goodness we were still able to get in, and were seated by 4:30.

In the rush to get out of the hotel room, I left not one, but BOTH of my cameras behind. I was so upset that I wasn’t going to get any pictures from Dakoda’s birthday dinner. I had remembered the video camera, which has a picture mode, and Darren took a few pics with his phone, so I did get a few shots. I mostly recorded, though, which I now regret because it is really hard to get the tall characters and my seated children in the same shot. Oh well, you live and learn, right?

Since I don’t have pictures, I’ll just have to go by my notes, which say that Pooh, Piglet and then Eeyore came by to visit. I may have gotten some shots of Dakoda with the characters with the video camera, but I haven't uploaded them yet. Here are some with Sarah Kate.

Dakoda never lasts very long at meals, and he was starting to get antsy, so I asked our server when his cake would be brought out (they had already done the celebration where they bring out cupcakes to everyone who is celebrating and he hadn’t gotten one). She said that she was sorry and she would go get it. She came back a few minutes later with a cupcake for him. I thanked her and then asked about the Mickey head cake that I had pre-ordered for this meal. She apologized and said that it wasn’t noted on the reservation, but that she would check in the kitchen for it. I started to panic a little bit, but she came right back out with the cake. It was very cute! Here is a picture from dinner that I took with my phone, and then a better one that I took later back in the room.

We sang “Happy Birthday” to Dakoda and it stressed him out a little bit. (I don’t know why, but he hates the birthday song, no matter who it is being sung to. ) I asked our server if they could keep the cake in the kitchen for us until we were ready to leave the park. She said they could, but only if it hadn’t been cut into. I was a little bummed that we wouldn’t get to eat any of it yet, but we decided that would be better than trying to cart it around all night. We let Dakoda eat some of his cupcake instead.

We were ready to leave, but Tigger was only a few tables away, so we waited and saw him. We left the restaurant around 5:15. The “Dream Along with Mickey” show was going on, which my kids both love, so we moved closer to the castle to watch. People kept standing in front of the stroller and blocking the view, so Darren took Dakoda out and put him on his shoulders. (Sarah Kate was eating on Dakoda's cupcake and could have cared less about the show. ) I took a picture with my phone, and it’s one of my favorites.

After the show, we decided to use our Space Mountain fast passes. Then Dakoda wanted to ride “Buzz”, so we did that and then headed back over to Fantasyland, where I somehow got talked into riding IASW.

We visited our Grim, Grinning Ghosts again, and then Jack Sparrow.

We then stopped by Aloha Isle because I wanted to try the infamous Dole Whip. Darren refused to try one and asked me to get him a Coke Float. I’m sad to say that I chickened out at the last minute and ordered a Coke Float for myself as well. Darren was sitting near the Jungle Cruise with the kids and, thanks to the heat, our floats had started melting by the time I reached him. I was hot and tired, and am sad to say that I had a small hissy fit about being sticky. Not my proudest moment.

We had hoped to be able to stick it out and watch Spectro and Wishes, but it was SO hot and we were all just done. We picked up the cake and headed back to the room.

Overall, it was a good birthday for my little buddy. I wish that we hadn’t felt rushed before every meal and that we had gotten to eat some of his cake at dinner. (Although we did eat some after we got back to the room.) I also wish that I had thought to take more pictures of him that day. We got the great family picture at Chef Mickey’s and I did get some good ones of him later in the week, but it would have been nice to have more of him ON his actual birthday.

Next up: BOMA!

 

[BippityBoo]

Great update!! What a bummer about your camera I would have been upset too, but I think the pics you got were great. What an amazing cake!

I have had my moments at Disney World! Just a few- but they all came from being really tired and packing for our WHOLE family, not to mention planning the vacation. When something goes wrong, I tend to blame myself!

I am SO excited to hear about Boma! We never made our ADR during our first trip, but I hear it is great!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Great update!! What a bummer about your camera I would have been upset too, but I think the pics you got were great. What an amazing cake!

I have had my moments at Disney World! Just a few- but they all came from being really tired and packing for our WHOLE family, not to mention planning the vacation. When something goes wrong, I tend to blame myself!

I am SO excited to hear about Boma! We never made our ADR during our first trip, but I hear it is great!

Hi Katie! Thanks for joining!

I think it's easy to get stressed or overwhelmed and have a "moment" (or several ) at Disney World. My goal is to just not be "that" person, KWIM?

Oh my goodness, we LOVE Boma! It is a must-do for us every trip!

 

[Charlefours]

Hi Julia, finally made it over!!

I am not looking forward so much for the Atlanta part of our drive either. Not really sure if there is sometime would be a good time so we will see what happens.

I'm looking forwards to PHD and VOTLM at DHS. I think they will end up being some of my DD's favorite attractions. Wonderful pictures of Beauty and the Beast!! I hope we get to see F! while we are at Disney. I have wanted to see it ever since our first trip since I never have.

Great picture from Chef Mickey's!

I think we will drive in the mornings unless we notice the buses are really reliable at CSR. It is one my biggest worries for when we are down there.

Great birthday day all around! The other thing I am worried about is the heat during our trip. DD is fairly sensitive to it so I just am praying that it goes well. We will have to adjust if need be over the course of the trip if it does.

The cake is adorable!! Can you tell me how it tasted? Which type did you get? We ordered DD a cake for her birthday.

 

[praisehisname]

Joining in! I remember reading your first TR and loving it!

 

[jc040404]

Love the pic of Dakoda on his daddy's shoulders! So adorable!

We got that same cake done for our youngest last year at Chef Mickey's. What was yours' inside? We went with all chocolate and it was sooo rich. I could barely handle all that in one bite! Good stuff though!

That sucks about your camera, but you still got some great pics!

Can't wait for more!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Hi Julia, finally made it over!!

I am not looking forward so much for the Atlanta part of our drive either. Not really sure if there is sometime would be a good time so we will see what happens.

Hi Stephanie! I agree - I don't think there is ever a "good" time to drive through ATL. There always seems to be traffic there!

I'm looking forwards to PHD and VOTLM at DHS. I think they will end up being some of my DD's favorite attractions. Wonderful pictures of Beauty and the Beast!! I hope we get to see F! while we are at Disney. I have wanted to see it ever since our first trip since I never have.

I think your DD with really love PHD and VOTLM! They are must-do's for us every time. I really hope you get to see F! It is a great show.

Great picture from Chef Mickey's!

Thanks!

I think we will drive in the mornings unless we notice the buses are really reliable at CSR. It is one my biggest worries for when we are down there.

Having been there both with and without a car, I can say that we really like having one. It was just really nice to know that if we were late to our reservation or to rope drop, it was no one's fault but our own. Plus, to be able to get back into our own vehicle at the end of the day, with just our family, and no extra stops was awesome. But some people really like the buses, so it's just a personal preference.

Great birthday day all around! The other thing I am worried about is the heat during our trip. DD is fairly sensitive to it so I just am praying that it goes well. We will have to adjust if need be over the course of the trip if it does.

The heat could be a problem if she's sensitive to it. My DD gets really cranky when she gets hot (like her mama ), so we tried to take advantage of air-conditioning as much as possible. The good thing is that there is usually a dark ride or show where you can cool off, and there is always the Baby Care Center that I'm sure no one would mind you letting her cool off in.

The cake is adorable!! Can you tell me how it tasted? Which type did you get? We ordered DD a cake for her birthday.

Thanks! We really liked the cake. It was vanilla cake with chocolate ganache (sp?) and I want to say chocolate mousse in the middle. Very yummy!!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Joining in! I remember reading your first TR and loving it!

Hi and So glad you made it over!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Love the pic of Dakoda on his daddy's shoulders! So adorable!

Thanks! I love it!

We got that same cake done for our youngest last year at Chef Mickey's. What was yours' inside? We went with all chocolate and it was sooo rich. I could barely handle all that in one bite! Good stuff though!

That sucks about your camera, but you still got some great pics!

Can't wait for more!

We went with vanilla cake. I had heard that it was really rich, and even though I am a chocolate person, the rest of my family members are not. I was glad we went with vanilla. It was SO good!

 

[snoopypharmd]

Sounds like a fun time Glad little man had a great b-day!!

Question though - what is a VIP cleaning? I just haven't heard of it before

Thanks - can't wait to hear more about your trip

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Day 4 – Monday, May 31, 2010

Monday morning started very early for me – 5:20 am. I didn’t mind, though, because we were headed to one of my very favorite breakfast spots – BOMA!

We arrived at AKL around 7:20 and got checked in for our 7:30 reservation. Here is a picture of a giraffe that I spotted before breakfast. (Sorry for poor quality; didn't have time to grab the camera )

We were seated very quickly and tried to eat fast so that we could make rope drop at AK. For that reason, I didn't take any pictures while we were there. I will say, though, that Boma has probably the best variety of foods of any of the breakfast buffets that we have tried. And the quality is excellent! It's a must for us every trip.

When we got up to leave, we discovered that Dakoda had a very messy diaper. Darren took him to the bathroom and got him changed and we were on our way.

We made it to AK right at 9 am and just missed the morning show. We decided to try and catch an early morning safari. However, it seemed like every other guest had the exact same idea, so it already had a 20 minute wait! I grabbed us some FP’s and we decided to go see It’s Tough to Be a Bug. It’s a family favorite, but I admit that I never sit with my back against the seat, and I always keep my feet off the ground.

After we left Flik and friends, Dakoda wanted to watch another show, so we headed over to Camp Minnie-Mickey to watch Festival of the Lion King. I think this is my absolute favorite show at Disney World! I especially love the Tumble Monkeys. I don't want to ruin it for anyone that hasn't seen it, but my favorite part is with the ballet dancers during "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?", and when the ballerina spins around the room, I cry every single time. Trust me, if you haven't seen it yet - you need to!

After FOTL, we considered some Character Trails, but the lines were getting a bit long. We checked the Times Guide and saw that Finding Nemo was set to start soon, so we headed that way. We decided to go the long way and grab EE FP’s for later.

Dakoda really enjoyed Nemo. It’s one of his favorite movies right now, so he was very excited to see it live. There were some technical difficulties during the show, which took away from the overall experience a little bit, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. Here are a few pictures I managed to take when I wasn’t holding a toddler.

Wow, just looking at this picture gets that song stuck in my head. "Go with the flow-oooow-oooow-ooow!"

While we were Finding Nemo, the skies had darkened considerably. When we came out, we decided to grab some lunch and head back to the hotel for a nap so that we would hopefully miss the rain. I ran ahead of Darren and the kids and grabbed FP’s for Dinosaur for later, then we met back up and got lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. We found a table and hurriedly ate our food. We were just starting on dessert when the skies opened up. We quickly cleaned off our table, covered the stroller and took off to the parking lot.

Up next: Would the rain ruin our EMH plans?

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Sounds like a fun time Glad little man had a great b-day!!

Question though - what is a VIP cleaning? I just haven't heard of it before

Thanks - can't wait to hear more about your trip

Hi and Thanks for joining!

A VIP cleaning is a special service that you can request if anyone in your traveling party has allergies/asthma, skin sensitivies, etc.

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Happy 18 Months to Our Little Princess!

​

This is an off-topic post, but I just had to share this cute picture that I took of Sarah Kate yesterday, which was her 18-month birthday! She is getting so big!

 

[momof2TNboys]

Great picture!! She is so adorable!! Love the updates. We will have to check out Boma for breakfast. I love the dinner, so I know I will love the breakfast also.

 

[jc040404]

Love the little giraffe! She is sooo cute!! Happy 18 months, Sarah Kate!

Your Nemo show pics are great. You're making me wanna go see it right now! That song is so stuck in my head right now, too!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Great picture!! She is so adorable!! Love the updates. We will have to check out Boma for breakfast. I love the dinner, so I know I will love the breakfast also.

Thanks! You will love Boma breakfast!

Love the little giraffe! She is sooo cute!! Happy 18 months, Sarah Kate!

Your Nemo show pics are great. You're making me wanna go see it right now! That song is so stuck in my head right now, too!

Thank you!! I would love to be watching that show right now. (But maybe not hearing that song. )

 

[praisehisname]

Adorable giraffe! Great timing with the shows. I have a question, and I hope it's not too nosy--I notice you have passed up a few things because of the wait. How come you haven't used the GAC to avoid the wait? I hope the rain doesn't mess up your evening plans!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Adorable giraffe!

Thanks!

Great timing with the shows. I have a question, and I hope it's not too nosy--I notice you have passed up a few things because of the wait. How come you haven't used the GAC to avoid the wait? I hope the rain doesn't mess up your evening plans!

That's a good question. For some attractions, we did use it and I just didn't mention it. Haunted Mansion, for example - we use it there to allow us to bypass the stretching room. I basically don't mention things like that simply because how each person/family uses the GAC is different, so I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea for how it is "supposed" to be used, KWIM?

For the attractions that we bypassed (like TSM, for example), we have used it for that attraction before but found that it didn't make a difference in the wait time. For example, a lot of times we will use it to allow Dakoda to remain in his stroller as we go through the queue. At some attractions, such as Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan, there is a separate "handicap" entrance for strollers and wheelchairs, and a lot of times it shortens the wait time. But with TSM, you just take your stroller through the regular standby line - so you're still waiting in the regular line and it takes just as long.

Also, since Dakoda is not yet tall enough to ride the bigger rides that might have longer wait times - like the Mountains at MK, or RnRc/Tot at DHS - we don't use it for those attractions, so we would either wait in the standby line or use a FP.

Great question!