For the Love of Disney - Dec 5-13

[disney<333]

Hey Nikky,
Forgot to mention I had the same guy talk for Push that you had!
What a nice relaxing day. What time did you leave Ohana? I thought it was only open until 11. Do you know what time they stop bringing you food?
I just love the Poly Pool. I got stuck watching Wishes in FL too. Not the best spot. I do however, like to walk on Dumbo 5 minutes before.

 

[MeMom]

Wishes actually started while they were still on the ride. What an amazing show. All the right songs to make every hair on your body stand up on end. I don’t recommend this spot…we had ashes on our behinds as we were leaving!!! Lol

That's a sweet swimming picture.

Wishes from the Dumbo area is not for the faint of heart, for sure. We have done it. Pretty crazy!

 

[ladybugmom]

Nikky!!! So sorry I've been MIA but with our move and all we have been super busy!! I just got all caught up on your TR!! CONGRATS on the pregnancy!!!!!! how exciting!! I've really enjoyed seeing your Poly pictures--can't wait to be back there in 17 days!!!

 

[ag98]

Just started reading your TR to today - fantastic! Thanks for sharing. We are going about the same time this year.

Congrats on the pregnancy.

 

[redandblue]

I just read another trip report about a woman finding out she was pregnant in the middle of her TR. Maybe it is something about Disney????

 

[ladybugmom]

Hi Nikky!! I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day!!

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

Great updates!!! You guys had such a great time!!! Love the relax day...so nice to be able to swim and know that the castle is a short boat ride away!!! Ohana is our favorite breakfast...sooooooo yummy!

 

[javamom]

Your family is just beautiful!!

Also, your pics of Spectro are fantastic! What kind of camera did you use, and at what settings?

Disney is one of the best memories that I'll ever have with my Dad. He taught me that the lights in the trees were little Tinkerbells. I tried all night to look at them very carefully to see if I could see her. To this day, I still try just to re-visit that happy memory.

 

[beyondblessed]

Hey Nikky,
Forgot to mention I had the same guy talk for Push that you had!
What a nice relaxing day. What time did you leave Ohana? I thought it was only open until 11. Do you know what time they stop bringing you food?
I just love the Poly Pool. I got stuck watching Wishes in FL too. Not the best spot. I do however, like to walk on Dumbo 5 minutes before.

Hi!!! My first stop after I update is to catch up with you!!!! I don't remember exactly when we left Ohana but we were almost the last to leave. It was pretty empty in there the entire time we ate (so nice)! We got "seconds" and it wasn't a problem at all.

Nikky!!! So sorry I've been MIA but with our move and all we have been super busy!! I just got all caught up on your TR!! CONGRATS on the pregnancy!!!!!! how exciting!! I've really enjoyed seeing your Poly pictures--can't wait to be back there in 17 days!!!

Hi Becky!!! Thank you so much. I started reading your new PTR, can't wait for you most recent TR. I'm dying to know if you liked your room. I always thought it would be neat to stay in Tuvalu...it's like your own little private Polynesian Island!

Just started reading your TR to today - fantastic! Thanks for sharing. We are going about the same time this year.

Congrats on the pregnancy.

Thank you so much! It's the perfect time to go...you will LOVE it!

I just read another trip report about a woman finding out she was pregnant in the middle of her TR. Maybe it is something about Disney????

Uh oh...you girls better watch out. Could be lots of little Disney blessings on the boards!

Great updates!!! You guys had such a great time!!! Love the relax day...so nice to be able to swim and know that the castle is a short boat ride away!!! Ohana is our favorite breakfast...sooooooo yummy!

It was the perfect day...it was kind of hard to stick to it. There were so many things we wanted to do but I know that rest day was much needed. Looking back it was one of our favorite days. I'm really glad we got to enjoy the resort.

Your family is just beautiful!!

Also, your pics of Spectro are fantastic! What kind of camera did you use, and at what settings?

Disney is one of the best memories that I'll ever have with my Dad. He taught me that the lights in the trees were little Tinkerbells. I tried all night to look at them very carefully to see if I could see her. To this day, I still try just to re-visit that happy memory.

Awww, thank you so much! I have a Nikon D90...I LOVE it! I'm still learning how to use it. I know there are so many things it can do that I haven't even attempted. At Spectro, I used the Portrait setting w/flash. Nothing fancy...I just got lucky and it worked!

I love your memory of you Dad. That is the sweetest thing. Knowing what our Dad's have given us, isn't it great that we can pass some of that magic on to our kids!?!

 

[beyondblessed]

Thursday, December 10th ~ Disney Studios Morning
Weather: 73 high / 60 low (started out warm & rainy / ended chilly)

7:00 am – Got up and got ready. Got everyone else up and ready. Man were they moving slow today but I’m sure a day of rest did them good and we will enjoy the day! By 8:30 we were at the bus stop (just steps from our room-so glad they moved the Poly bus stop since the last time I stayed there) and on our way to Disney Studios.





We walked through the gates just at 9:00 am and headed straight to Toy Story for Fastpasses (Thank GOD). We stood off to the side and waited for Travis to get fast passes. Caya was sooo intrigued by the toy army soldiers. She had a blast with them. She'd chase one, he'd chase her...even taught her to salute. It was a very sweet moment.







**That line in the background is just the line for fastpasses!!!***

We stopped at Starring Roll for a quick breakfast…we had 11:15 reservations at Hollywood & Vine but we were all starving from our lack of dinner the night before. We had a little guest join us...



Travis: Cinnamon Roll (split w/Caya)
Nikky: Bagel w/Cream Cheese
Hayley: Blueberry Muffin
Caya: Chocolate Milk (split w/Daddy)

*** 4 Snacks

After we appeased our tummies, we headed to Playhouse Disney. They were just about to start another show and we were right on time. It was looking as if it might rain at this point so we battened down the hatches of the stroller and went into the Playhouse. Caya enjoyed this show…Hayley took a nap.

Caya taking a little nap while we waited for the show to start:






We left and it was pouring buckets. There were so many poor people who didn’t think to cover their strollers and came up to seats with puddles. Travis and the girls ran to the Ariel store across the way and I grabbed the stroller and met them over there. While I was smart enough to cover the stroller, I was not smart enough to grab our ponchos or umbrella!!! Oops! The rain started to slow before we could even get the ponchos on. Hayley wore one for a bit but it really wasn’t too bad. We went to the Great Movie ride and got to enjoy the full ride this time!







And then we were hoping that the rain would drive people away and we headed to Toy Story. I’m so glad we got fast passes…the stand-by line was still over an hour long. I guess because most of the line is inside so people don’t really care about rain. We weren’t real sure what all the hype was about with this ride…I LOVE almost all Disney rides but couldn’t see spending an hour in line for anything. After riding it, we understand! It was so fun – they transport your right into the story. Buzz is great and all but this is amazing! The lighting, the colors, the sounds…everything is perfect. Well done Disney!













This is their attempt at Potatoe Head Lips! haha





I tried to get a good picture of the ride vehicle. You sit back to back. I wish I would have gotten one of the "gun". You don't push anything, you actually have to pull a little ball on a string. How fun!!!



UP NEXT: DEC 10 - DISNEY STUDIOS - PART 2 - LUNCH @ HOLLYWOOD & VINE

 

[beyondblessed]

Thursday, December 10th ~ Disney Studios ~ Lunch @ Hollywood & Vine
WEATHER: CLOUDY & COOL

It was now time for our 11:15 reservation at Hollywood & Vine with the Playhouse Disney characters. We chose this mostly because it was something new for us. We have done 50’s Prime Time countless times and Sci-Fi once which was enough for us. This ended up being a really good choice. The food was great – a lot of good ol’ home cooked comfort food. And the cast member in charge of the festivities was incredible. It was a young guy, hopefully I’ll be able to get to a name tag in one of my pictures. He got all the kids out there and made them feel so comfortable. They sang and danced and just acted silly. Anyone who has ever tried to enjoy a meal with a pre-schooler knows how big of a blessing it was to get a few quiet minutes to fill our tummies. We saw

*JoJo
*Goliath
*June (from Einstein’s)
*Leo (from Einstein’s)

























After we knew there was no possible we could eat one more thing, we packed up and headed back out into the rain...

UP NEXT: DEC 10 - DISNEY STUDIOS - PART 3

 

[beyondblessed]

Thursday, December 10th ~ Disney Studios ~ Afternoon
WEATHER: CLOUDY & COOL

*Beauty and the Beast - I always cry at this, not sure what but again it did not disappoint and I think I took about 100 pictures!

















Apparently Caya didn't think the show was everything I thought it was!



*Rockin Roller Coaster – Hayley and I went to the single rider line. I highly recommend this. The line moves super fast and then they add you to a row that only has one person. Well…it worked out that there were 2 single riders in our line so I traded places with someone and Hayley and I got to ride together (which made her feel sooo much better about her very 1st upside down roller coaster). She had tears in her eyes as we exited but wanted to go right back on.







*Backlog Tour – Not what it used to be



















*Star Tours – This was the point in which we realized our little girl was back(not the little chicken we created on Tower of Terror)





*Stunt Show @ 4:10 – (I did NOT want to go to it, I can be such a baby…but we all really enjoyed it)





It was starting to rain pretty hard again so we decided to call it a day. We had done everything on our must do list, although we all wanted another spin on Toy Story! We took the bus back to Poly, got cleaned up and decided to head over to Grand Floridian and try their counter service restaurant (Gasparilla Grill & Games) for dinner. We took the Turquoise monorail (HB’s favorite color) to Grand Floridian. We found the restaurant easily – I never realized you had to go outside to get to it. I LOVE walking around Grand Floridian and it was nice to do it on a cool night. We were not too impressed by the food but may have just made poor choices. We all agreed we liked Poly’s Captain Cook’s better but we were probably just more comfortable with it.

Travis: Hot Dog w/chips, Brownie & Water
Nikky: Hot Dog w/chips, (dessert I can’t remember) & Water
Hayley: Chicken Caesar Salad
Caya: Chicken Nuggets w/Fries, Chocolate Chip Cookie & Chocolate Milk AGAIN

*** 4 Counter Service (Total Used=17)

We walked back along the lagoon. It turned out to be a gorgeous evening and we had fun goofing around on the way back.

UP NEXT: DEC 10 - DOWNTOWN DISNEY

 

[disney<333]

What a fun day! I'm really impressed at how much you got done. I've never seen B and the Beast before but it's going on my list now. I love the girls' matching shirts. I can never do that with my girls anymore.
Stinks about the rain but it sounds like you guys just did your best with it. It poured the entire day in November for our 4 park day. Caya is too cute with the army men. The girls loved them. Those men are just too funny.

 

[beyondblessed]

Thursday, December 10th ~ Downtown Disney
WEATHER: DARK & COLD

The girls and I decided to leave Trav to grade papers and go on a little shopping extravaganza at Downtown Disney. We had to wait for the 2nd bus because there was a group of 20 or so cheerleaders in line before us at Poly. There was a 2nd bus right behind it so our wait wasn’t long at all. I’m one of the weird people who doesn’t mind waiting at Disney. Sometimes I feel like that’s the only time that I slow down enough to absorb it all. I think we made it into every single store. Where is the snoring Lego guy??? I missed him!

Caya bought all the Princess Polly Pockets we could find: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, Belle ($13 each/$52 total) and I got the $11 bag w/$25 purchase ($11 each). Hayley got a purse at Tren-D ($30 I think). We stopped at Goofy’s Candy Co and made a few pretzel rods and marshmallow kabobs on straws ($15). That was really run and they were super yummy!!! We took a ton of pictures of us funnin’ and then headed back to Poly.



















Caya fell asleep on Hayley while we were on the bus. It was the cutest thing ever!



We got back to Poly at about 10:30 and were dreaming of more Disney by 11.

Favorite Rides of the Day
Travis: Toy Story
Nikky: Toy Story & Rockin Roller Coaster
Hayley: Toy Story & Rockin Roller Coaster
Caya: Toy Story

Favorite Character of the Day
Hayley: Goliath
Caya: Toy Story Army Guy, JoJo & Goliath

Favorite Part of the Day
Hayley: Shopping at Downtown Disney
Caya: Beauty & the Beast

UP NEXT: DEC 11 - MAGIC KINGDOM - PART 1 - BREAKFAST @ CRYSTAL PALACE

 

[disney<333]

Looks like a fun girls' night! DTD is so much fun! Hayley's purse is really cute.
Hayley is such a sweet big sister and Caya is going to be a great big sister, as well.

 

[micandminforever]

Wonderful pictures of all the Disney fun. I loved the matching shirts. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite show at Disney. I love the music and the costumes.

 

[beyondblessed]

Friday, December 11th ~ MAGIC KINGDOM ~ BREAKFAST @ CRYSTAL PALACE
Weather: Chilly, Sprinkles late in the evening

We all slept in again today and got up at about 9. Sleeping in was only supposed to happen on our "Rest Day" but we all found ourselves extremely tired and this was afterall vacation. We got ready and headed to the Great Ceremonial House to catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. We had 10:25 reservations for breakfast at Crystal Palace. I don’t think I can go to Disney without eating there. It’s just one of those places that is so Disney in my mind because I’ve been eating there as long as I can remember. We had a few minutes to spare so we took our time strolling up Main Street. We saw the mayor!





We had about a 20 minute wait. Caya entertained herself by goofing around with Daddy and running up and down the ramp.







For some reason, she was sooo excited to see the double version of her stroller so we had to take a picture.



The food was great...we were the just about the last people to leave before they started the lunch buffet.





We saw:

*Pooh
*Tigger
*Piglet
*Eeyore

*** 4 Table Service (Total Used=24)























*Piglet was awesome. She stayed with us for quite awhile and even came back a 2nd time and danced with Caya.





We left at about 11:30 completely stuffed and ready to conquer the day at Magic Kingdom.

UP NEXT: DEC 11 - MAGIC KINGDOM - PART 2

 

[disneybarbie]

More lovely updates!
I love Crystal Palace too.. only ever had lunches there - so this trip DF and I are going to try breakfast.. we have an 8.05am ADR for our first morning, can't wait!!

Emma x

 

[beyondblessed]

Friday, December 11th ~ MAGIC KINGDOM ~ MORNING
Weather: Chilly, Sprinkles late in the evening

We left Crystal Palace and headed to Adventureland. We did:

*Swiss Family Tree House

















*Tiki Birds (for my Dad – he often called Nichole (my BFF) and me “Jose” and “Pierre” while at Disney)





We took the path up the back right side of the castle into the edge of Fantasyland. It's so beautiful!



We went to Tinkerbell’s Treasures. Caya bought the Tink Polly’s to add to her collection ($13). We got to see Tinkerbell flying around the store. As we were leaving we ran into the fairy Godmother. We got pictures and autographs. She was a very beautiful and sweet Fairy Godmother.





We through a penny into the fountain and made a wish to come back very soon!

*Mickey’s Philharmagic





*Haunted Mansion













I can't remember exactly where this picture was taken from (but I like it ) and my pictures are in order. I'm guessing one of the wooden walkways but not positive.


UP NEXT: DEC 11 - MAGIC KINGDOM - PART 3

 

[BippityBoo]

Wow girl!!! You are getting busy on those updates---I love it!! How are you feeling? When will you find out what the baby is??

The girls looked so adorable in their matching DHS shirts! Did you get those from Justice?? I really, really want to try Crystal Palace breakfast! I keep reading wonderful reviews.

Just wondering--the red and black stroller like yours--is it a rental from Orlando Strollers? I am renting from them in the Fall and I want to rent the red and black one. I see that it is 10 pounds heavier than the orange, so I wanted to talk to someone who has used it. If it is a rental, what do you think about it?? We would be getting a double.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your MK day