"Don't cry over spilled milk" Sept 2009-1st family trip w/ a 4 and 2 year old

[mommyof2Pirates]

Soundslike a good start. Your title reminded me of my nephew who drops everything he touches.

thank you. Yes that is the new thing our YDS developed was the dropsies on this trip. By the end it got a little old. I also forgot to put in that he spilled orange juice down his shirt on the plane ride down to disney. At least he had a sweat shirt on so it only got a little on his eagles shirt I made him.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

Good 1st day....that kids' dessert at the Plaza looked mucho yummy.

It was very yummy they pretty much ate it all. I put the ice cream inside of the cones for them so they ate it like an icecream cone instead of a sundae. That was there favorite dessert this trip.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

So glad I found your TR. It has been a loooong time since I traveled with little ones, trust me.....it will get better. But there will still be spillage.
Living vicariously through your report since I had to postpone my Sept trip due to my son's surgery.
I have to give you credit on trying to find a Kmart near PHL. My knowledge of Philly is limited to the airport, Citizens Bank Park, and Children's Hospital. Your telling of the story reminds me of when we tried to find any kind of store between WDW and Port Canaveral to find Duct tape to repair a suitcase. That was before GPS. From now on, we travel with duct tape. Come to think of it, duct tape would of corrected your DH's belt situation.
And I always, always, always forget my sunglasses. Never fails. I consider my Disney sunglasses my "souvenir"
I made DH and my best friend's DH Drinking around the World shirts for our trip in June. I collected 5 emails addresses to send them to.

glad you found my report. I am sorry to hear about your son having to have surgery and that you had to postpone the trip. The shirts sound awesome. I laughed about the duct tape. I always say how did we ever live without cell phones now I have to add GPS's too.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

We are taking our daughter for the first time next September and I am enjoying reading you and Jana616's PTRs and TRs--we are heading down around the same time as you both did.

Good to know how hot it might end up being--for some reason I thought September would be decent but I guess not! I just won't pack up DD summer clothes as early as I do.

Looking forward to reading more.

thanks so much for joining in. I too thought septmber would be a little more cooler than it was. For me the heat was almost unbearable at certain times. I was still sweating at night with no sun. Mostly due to the humidity. The worst though was when your standing with no shade and the sun is beating down on you. We have hot summers here but to me the weather was not enjoyable. My dh and I honeymooned 6 years ago in the middle of october and I remember the weather being perfect then. Not to hot or cold....just right. Just remember to pack tank tops and shorts and bathing suits. We also said if we go next time in hot weather we will pack light colored shirts. We often had on darker colors which I think made it so much worse. If you have any other questions I would be happy to help. I will have to check out your PTR.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

Hi everyone. Sorry I havent been here for a couple days. I will work on another report soon. Unfortunately the morning after we got home a dear family friend of ours passed away. It was my parents neighbor who I lived next to since I was one until I moved out 6 years ago when I got married. He had fought bone cancer for the past 2 years and ended up having a brain aneurysm burst sunday morning. I had the services today so between that and getting back to work its been a little crazy. Keep watching I will try to post day 2 soon.

 

[Charlefours]

sending hugs your way! I hope your family can find comfort in the days surrounding your lost.

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Hey Lindsey, I am so sorry... Just wanted to let you know I am thinking of you!!!

 

[oregonmommyof2]

I am here! I am late, but I am here...

SO sorry about the neighbor!

 

[Macduffy]

I love your Trip Report! It's amazing how trips with a Preschooler and toddler can be SO similar!
Ben was screaming at the top of his lungs when he saw the castle - "OMG it's DISNEY WORLD"! other then that we had so many similarities! Can't wait to see more!!!

 

[Gabes_mommy]

Hi Lindsey! I'm here!! Sorry it took so long for me to check in - I have barely had time to Dis lately.

Your boys are so cute!!! And they look so happy and well behaved! Maybe you can have them talk to Gabe for me about obeying?

It sounds like you really had an adventure looking for Kmart - I'm glad you made it out safely.

Yay for a great first day. I love the Surf's Up buildings at ASSports - they are so cute. I stayed in a Surf's Up building a few years ago and I loved it.

I love all the pictures from the parade. Can you believe how hot it was in Sept? I really was not expecting that. The heat was a killer.

I am so sorry to hear about your friend.

I can't wait for more.

 

[Disneychix]

Hello! I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend.

I just found your TR. I'm loving it so far. We are headed back in 2 months with our 2.5 yr old. I'm looking forward to hearing more!

I can see many spilled drinks in our future. DS is in the stage where he likes to ditch the straw and top and he loves eating ice. This equals many many spills!!

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

I am here! I am late, but I am here...

SO sorry about the neighbor!

thank you and I am glad you are here. I havent had much time to post lately so you didnt miss much. I still need to make my way over to yours too.

I love your Trip Report! It's amazing how trips with a Preschooler and toddler can be SO similar!
Ben was screaming at the top of his lungs when he saw the castle - "OMG it's DISNEY WORLD"! other then that we had so many similarities! Can't wait to see more!!!

What an awesome reaction! I started to read yours but got side tracked so I hope to be able to catch up soon.

Hi Lindsey! I'm here!! Sorry it took so long for me to check in - I have barely had time to Dis lately.

Your boys are so cute!!! And they look so happy and well behaved! Maybe you can have them talk to Gabe for me about obeying?

It sounds like you really had an adventure looking for Kmart - I'm glad you made it out safely.

Yay for a great first day. I love the Surf's Up buildings at ASSports - they are so cute. I stayed in a Surf's Up building a few years ago and I loved it.

I love all the pictures from the parade. Can you believe how hot it was in Sept? I really was not expecting that. The heat was a killer.

I am so sorry to hear about your friend.

I can't wait for more.

Thank you so much. I know what you mean about having the time. It has been insane lately. Yes the heat was almost unbearable at some points. I did not expect that at all.

Hello! I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend.

I just found your TR. I'm loving it so far. We are headed back in 2 months with our 2.5 yr old. I'm looking forward to hearing more!

I can see many spilled drinks in our future. DS is in the stage where he likes to ditch the straw and top and he loves eating ice. This equals many many spills!!

Thank you so much for joining. My DS 2.5 is into the same thing. Chewing the tops of the straws and getting angry when nothing will come out, taking lids off and digging ice out with his dirty hands. I am really amazed we made it home with no illnesses. I bet you are so excited for your trip.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

I apologize for taking so long to continue this TR, without further a do here it goes:

I had left off as we were drifting off to la la land after an amazing first day at disney. I was still having trouble sleeping real well. I was sharing a bed with ryan and he was constantly rolling around in his sleep, and at one point I woke up to his hand covering my face. I finally dozed back into a pretty deep sleep when.....BOOM there is nick laying face down on the floor he had rolled over and fell right out of bed. Luckily he did not hit the night stand and he cried for a little and then was fine. I think it startled him more than hurt him. At this point it was 5:45am. The worse part of it was that he woke us all up and now no one wanted to go back to sleep. Well except mike and I of course. So here we are day 2 and awake before the sun came up. This should lead to an interesting day............................

We had reservations for Hollywood and Vine at 8:05am so we were off to the bus stop to head to hollywood studios. We got to the bus stop at 7:10am.

The bus came within minutes. A lady on the bus kept referring to the park as MGM and the bus driver kept correcting her. She must have said it like 3 or 4 times during a phone call conversation she was having. It was really ticking the bus driver off. My husband kept doing the same thing prior to this even after I corrected him but after the bus drive there he started using the correct terminology. We arrived at DHS at 730am much earlier than I thought we would.

We waited in line for awhile. The kids were being very patient and just hanging in the stroller. This family waiting behind us on the other hand was not as composed as we were. There 3 kids were running circles around everyone and it was making the mom crazy. She told the kids to stop and stand right with her or that they would have to go back to the hotel....Well apparently the MIL told the kids to come with her and walked away with them letting them continue to run around like crazy animals. Now I am all for letting the kids run and play but I would have to agree with the mom....the kids were going nuts. pushing each other and screaming at the top of their lungs. Well this MIL must of really ticked off the mom because her husband came over and she ripped him a new you know what. She was in tears saying she would spend the rest of the trip in the hotel room and he can enjoy the f****** vacation with his parents. I almost had to laugh at this. Then he went and said something to the MIL. the mom must of called her own mom and she was crying telling her how horrible her MIL was and that she was so tired of her taking over with the kids. In the end it reminded me why I stuck to my guns and told my parents to stay home for this trip. I felt really bad for this family though. You pay so much money that you shouldnt have to deal with all the drama on a nice vacation. Anyway enough about that........shortly after this caos the gate was opened and we went into the park. Here is a shot of the big hat with no one around.

We checked in at H&V and were seated by greg the waiter promptly at 8am. I thought this was cute right when you walk in....

We got a table by the aisle right where the waiter said they do the dancing. We quickly went up and got plates of food and as we were sitting down goliath came out. He went to the tables behind us but as soon as nick saw him come our way he started screaming hysterically. Ok not the reaction I hoped for....being that this was our first up close character encounter and we had a few more character breakfasts scheduled. Ryan liked him though and gave him a hug. I didnt even get a picture. We were to busy trying to calm nick down. This nice southern waitress came over and was talking to nick so calmly and telling him goliath was her friend but he wanted no part of it. He sat on our laps the entire meal. Next up was JO JO. Nick was not as scared and didnt scream but held on tight to mike. Ryan got her autograph and posed for a quick picture. You can even see in the pictures nick got hives all over his face. I think from being so nervous. By the time breakfast was over they were all gone.

He needed mike there with him. He wasnt afraid but I think nick might of freaked him out a little.

Then we saw june.....Well nick was mesmerized. He was yelling Hi june, and when june was thinking she was posing for the pic nick was trying to give her a high five. When she didnt cooperate he started hitting her in the head yelling high five..high five... She finally got the picture and gave him a high five which made him very happy.

Next came leo and they thought he was pretty cool too.

I thought overall the characters were very rushed but they did come around quickly and we didnt have to wait for any of them. The dance shows they do every 15 or 20 minutes were really cute. We had a front row view but neither of the boys wanted to participate. They clapped along and were content to just watch everyone else.

Right before we left while we were waiting for the check nick wanted to keep with tradition and as he tried to pick his cup up by the straw he dropped it and yes as you can guess the milk splashed everywhere!

We quickly cleaned it all up, signed the check and made for the exit. We had more important things to do......get FP's for TSM!

Overall we would rate H&V a 4 out of 5. The food was great...especially the potatoe casserole and the ham was nice and moist. The characters were good, and the service was fine but nothing special other than the nice lady who tried to calm nick.

UP NEXT: ROPE DROP AND A MAD DASH TO TSM

 

[jana616]

OMG, Griffin fell out of the bed onto the floor our first night too!!!! What is it with these kids, honestly! I'm sorry you guys didn't have a better experience at H&V. We had the opposite, the characters were so attentive, and sat with us, played with the kids, etc. But we had an 11 am lunch ADR, so it was probably a lot less crowded. Can't wait to read more!

 

[oregonmommyof2]

Oh, poor Nick had a rough start that day...

Hollywood and Vine is the only character meal we have not done yet, besides CRT...

Can't wait for more...

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

OMG, Griffin fell out of the bed onto the floor our first night too!!!! What is it with these kids, honestly! I'm sorry you guys didn't have a better experience at H&V. We had the opposite, the characters were so attentive, and sat with us, played with the kids, etc. But we had an 11 am lunch ADR, so it was probably a lot less crowded. Can't wait to read more!

yes I think it was very crowded 1st thing in the morning so that could be. I also thought maybe they noticed nick screaming when we 1st came in too. They probably thought they shouldnt push there luck by hanging around the table. I know the boys sleep in single beds at home so I am not sure how they manage to fall out of be on vacation. After that I used the comforter each night to ball up next to nicks side of the bed. We called it his "drop zone"

Oh, poor Nick had a rough start that day...

Hollywood and Vine is the only character meal we have not done yet, besides CRT...

Can't wait for more...

Yes he sure did. I would recommend H &V. It was fun and especially if your kids like Little einsteins. The food was great tasting your usual breakfast buffett.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

When I left off we were at rope drop approx. 5 minutes to go. After we came out of the resturaunt we were guided to this side walkway. We didnt get to see the show but we were told we would have an advantage because soon as the opening cast members got to us our rope would drop so we could filter into the front of the crowd. Now, I am new to this rope drop thing.....I made myself look really stupid while waiting I asked a cast member which way is the fastest to get to TSM. He gave me this stupid look and said just follow everyone else. Like duh! Afterwards I laughed about how dumb I really sounded.

So the rope drops and I swear hundreds of people came funneling into the park. It was like running with the bulls. We got to TSM within minutes and the wait was already 20 minutes. Mike got in line for FP instead of waiting. Here he is still looking around in amazement.

We had return times of 10am to 11am.

While we were running in like crazy nuts we passed donald duck in the area of the big hat. We decided to head back there and we got in line. After about 2 minutes a CM came over and told us that donald needed to leave and will be back in 30 minutes. This seemed to happen to us often throughout the week. We were always a day late and a dollar short.......

Next we headed in the direction of Star Wars since we knew the Jedi Training Academy started shortly. Ryan really wanted to get picked for this. The Star Wars ride was only a 5 minute wait so Mike and Ryan rode while nick and I walked around the gift shop. Ryan loved it except while waiting in line CPO3 made a loud steam like noise and scared ryan to pieces. He was in tears until he made it in the ride. He came out and said "Man, that was totally awesome". Being in the Jedi spirit Ryan decided he was ready to make his own light saber. We had talked about this for months; it was definitely one of many things he was looking forward to doing. So we let hime pretty much go to create whatever his little heart decided. I do love it how the CM asks the 4 year old child if he wants a single or a double. Well what do you think hes going to say......of course a double! The darn thing is a long as me. He really enjoyed making it so that is all that matters. Nick didnt want one so he just picked a star wars baseball, which later that night he said he bought it for ryan. He is such a sweet little brother.

Well after the ride and some shopping we stood right at the rope waiting for the JTA to start. At this point the sun was starting to blaze down on us and I felt as if I was going to melt to my death. They should somehow try to shade that area! The jedi master finally came out and all the kids started going crazy. Mike was holding ryans arms up and pulling him up and down screaming pick him...pick him...... A little obnoxious! Do ya think. The darn guy picked just about everyone else around ryan. I told mike I think he went a little overboard and the guy probably thought he was nuts. I cant blame mike though. He loves starwars and it was his favorite thing as a child. I think he was reliving his childhood. No luck this time. Ryan was really disappointed but I did prepare him that this might happen. We told him we would try back again.

It was approaching 10 am by now time to head back over to TSM. On the way we came across these characters.

Ryan and I love mater so we were so excited to see them.
I also got this cool picture with the radiator springs sign in the backround.

After some quick pics we made it over to pixar place. This area is so cool and by far my favorite place in the park. I am sad I didnt take more pictures of it. I think I was just so amazed by all the cool props I had forgotten to take out my camera. Here is the only one I took.......

We parked our stroller and were just about to get in the FP return line when we spotted woody and buzz. We got in line and realized it swirled all around the building. We decided to wait; which were we glad we did because we had fun with all the props to take pics with. There mostly of ryan because nick fully began to protest taking anymore pictures.

and finally what we all have been waiting for.............................................

Ryan got really into taking these pictures which was so cute. He was also really excited to have buzz stamp his autograph book. Nick loves woody and was happy to give him the usual high five. This whole process took 30 minutes but well worth the wait.

Next up was TSM. The only bad part about the FP line is you dont get to see all the fun stuff they have while your waiting. We basically walked right on without a wait. No complaints about that. I did manage to take a few pics but my husband was so excited for this ride he was pratically running and dragging the kids behind him. For someone who wanted to relax on this vacation he was always full of energy and ready to go go go!

We loved this ride. It was so much fun. Even nick got the hang of pulling the string after awhile. I did have to hold on tight to him that cart really moves. Our final scores were: Mike 162,000 Lindsay 100,200 Ryan 30,000 and nick 4,300. Not bad for our first try. We thought we would get to ride again but it was 30-45 min wait the rest of the day and everytime we were by there to get a FP it was always times we couldnt return. It was one of our favorite rides of the week.

Next we got some drinks and waited in line for Playhouse Disney Live which started at 1120am. While waiting we caught a glimpse and got a wave from handy manny. Another favorite of ours! We never did get a pic with him. The line was always super long.

We thought the show was fun except for sitting on the floor. We made the wrong move by sitting close to the front and had a hard time seeing most of the characters except for the tops of their heads. All in all we enjoyed the show and loved the music. It was super cool in there too which was a huge bonus!

We had lunch ADR's at Mama Melrose for 1230pm. We made our way there and took a few pics along the way.

We looked in the little christmas shop by the resturaunt and this is when I realized shopping on this trip would be extremely difficult. The kids just dont have the patience for it. You got 5 minutes top to decide what you want out of a million things to choose from. Not so easy for me. I am still amazed we came home with as much stuff as we did. I guess since most of it is the kids it all makes sense now.

We checked in at Mama Melrose and were seated promptly. The atmosphere was nice but nothing special. It reminded me of a fancier Olive Garden. I would have to say the same about the food too. It was good but nothing more than average. Here is what we ate:

Lindsay: Mixed greens with gorgonzola cheese. "yummy"

Mike: Cesar Salad (ate it before I could get a pic). Said it was fine.

We both had chicken parmagaina. (average...We've had much better)

The kids got spaghetti with meat sauce and between both of them ate 4 bites. They did nibble on bread but must not have been really hungry. We chose to skip dessert. Nothing thrilled us on the dessert menu. Our waitress named dezirae was nice but not very attentive and really didnt have any magic to offer in her personality. Overall she was very blah! We would rate this place a 3 out of 5. I have to admit I was a little disappointed since Chicken Parm. is my favorite food.

At lunch we had decided to skip going back to the resort for a nap since the parade and show times are mostly during the earlier hours. We crossed our fingers and hoped and prayed that the kids would be able to make it without complete meltdowns. Either way we were sticking with the new plan........ UP NEXT: Another try at JTA will it be Ry's turn?

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Hey Lindsey!!! Long time no talk!!! Do you have a good time at the Eagles game on Sunday?? How about those Phillies???

Anyway, awesome update!!! I can't believe your like gut fell out of the bed!!! So sad And the story about about the mom and MIL have be laughing out loud!!! To funny!!!

 

[jana616]

Great update! You got so many cute pictures of DHS. I swear, we were always rushing to the next thing, I missed a lot of the little details. Oh well, next time, right? Great scores on TSM. We did it four times and I don't think I ever broke 100,000. Cooper couldn't figure out the pull thing, but the one time he rode with me he got 1,200 all by himself. Still not sure how that happened! I can't wait to see if Ryan got picked for JTA-my fingers are crossed!!!

 

[Charlefours]

Great updates! I hope your sleeping got better as the trip went along. Having to share a room with my dad during the trip--oh my goodness, I need to buy ear plugs for me and DD! :rofl:

So you liked Hollywood and Vine? I am really considering it as a good option. DD likes the Playhouse Disney characters (some of them anyways) that I think it would be a lot of fun. I am leaning more towards lunch though since I think we will try to get an ADR at CP for breakfast and possibly Akershus. Did you go there?

Love that you were able to get pictures with Buzz and Woody! Hopefully DS got chosen for Jedi Training at some point along your adventure.