aymekae
Ayme of the Southern Isles
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2008
- Messages
- 489
I just wanted to write a small TR for my recent visit to DLR on Friday, January 20, 2012, because even though we were only there a few hours, the experience was so different than my previous trips I thought it would help to share.
My typical trip to DLR is just me and my hubby. I have never gone with kids before. We are famous for storming the parks at rope drop, never stepping foot in a shop, and maximizing our FP usage.
This trip was anything but typical. It was me (26) and my three sisters (28, 30, and 32), and my 2 month old niece. The other factor is that this was our first trip with dietary concerns (all different!)
We had plans to be at the parking garage no later than 8:30 AM (park opening at 9 AM). Alas, the best laid plans and all that... because of the baby's feeding schedule and our detour to the DVC Preview Center to pick up our VIP FP's, we didn't enter the park until 11 AM. We only had until 4 PM (we had dinner reservations and tickets to Wicked that night), so I was already a bit disappointed by our shortened time.
Since we took the monorail from DTD, we ended up in Tomorrowland first. Buzz Lightyear for 2 of us, the other 2 stayed with baby. Then it was baby's feeding time again. We located the Baby Center for my sister, and the rest of us hit up Space Mountain and Star Tours. When our sister returned, she finally got on her first ride (Star Tours again), while one stayed with baby. It was 12:30 PM and we were all starving! What and where to eat?
A little back story... I started a gluten-free diet about 3 weeks ago to hopefully resolve some health issues (so far, so good!) Another sister is on a dairy-free diet for similar reasons. Yet another sister is vegan (no meat/dairy/animal by-products). My remaining sister is trying to lose baby weight from her recent pregnancy. We had done some minimal research beforehand, so I knew I could get pizza made with gluten-free crust, which is the food I miss the most. So we headed to Redd Rockett's Pizza Port next to Space Mountain. I walked up to the pizza station, asked for a gluten-free pizza, and the CM disappeared in back to fetch a chef. She asked me my order, noted it down on a slip of paper, then told me to take it to checkout to pay for my items, then to return in about 5 minutes with the paper and my receipt. She brought out my very own personal size pepperoni pizza on gluten-free crust (piping hot) and I just started grinning like an idiot. I was pleasantly surprised how good it was, though there was a slight taste difference that is to be expected. Paired that with Disney's GF BBQ potato chips (many potato chips are naturally GF, but most BBQ chips are not, so this also made me very happy). The vegan sister had pasta (less parmesan) and a salad and was happy. The dairy-free sister also had pasta and a salad. Neither had to special order anything, just a short converation with the CM's to verify ingredients. And the healthy-eating sister enjoyed her salad. Yes!! Meal accomplished with four satisfied tummies and little trouble.
After lunch, we decided to head to Toon Town to meet Mickey & Minnie. As a caveat, 3 out of 4 of us have specific anxieties that apparently extend to masked characters, so we typically avoid close contact. Not having kids makes this much easier.
The remaining sister wanted to have pictures of her baby meeting them for the first time, so we sucked it up and set out. We all were very pleased with the interaction Mickey gave the baby. It's hard to describe, but I guess I was just expecting him to pose for a few pictures and that's it because the baby was too small to even know what was going on, but he spent some time with her getting the most adorable pictures and evoking more than one "Awww..." from Mom and Aunties. Made my character-avoiding heart melt and reminded me why we love Disney so much. Minnie ended up being more of the pose and shoot variety, but had a much longer line, so I guess we could understand that.
After meeting Mickey & Minnie, we grabbed a snack (their popcorn was actually gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan, so while not healthy, again, 4 satisfied customers!
) and headed towards Adventureland. Mom and baby again headed to the Baby Center for feeding time while the rest of us got on Indiana Jones. After that and waiting for them to return, I made a mistake and ordered a skewer from the Bengal BBQ. Being new to this GF diet, it didn't occur to me that the sauce on the meat might contain gluten, so I didn't even ask. Within a few hours, though, I could tell I had eaten something containing gluten and wished I had been more vigilant. 
Nobody's fault but my own.
After our group reunited, we headed over to our last ride of the day, Pirates of the Caribbean. We finally ALL made it on to a ride, even baby in a Baby Bjorn, and had a great time. We realized when we got off that it was a quarter to 4, and we doubted we had enough time to do anything else, and sadly made our way out the exit and towards the tram. Another magical day at Disneyland and we're all looking forward to our "Sister's Day" next January where we can hopefully spend more than five hours at the park together.
P.S. I must say I have a new respect for all you parents out there. The logistics with a single baby and not one but four adults were difficult, I can't imagine making it any more complicated than that, and yet you all do it every day. Kudos!
My typical trip to DLR is just me and my hubby. I have never gone with kids before. We are famous for storming the parks at rope drop, never stepping foot in a shop, and maximizing our FP usage.
This trip was anything but typical. It was me (26) and my three sisters (28, 30, and 32), and my 2 month old niece. The other factor is that this was our first trip with dietary concerns (all different!)
We had plans to be at the parking garage no later than 8:30 AM (park opening at 9 AM). Alas, the best laid plans and all that... because of the baby's feeding schedule and our detour to the DVC Preview Center to pick up our VIP FP's, we didn't enter the park until 11 AM. We only had until 4 PM (we had dinner reservations and tickets to Wicked that night), so I was already a bit disappointed by our shortened time.
Since we took the monorail from DTD, we ended up in Tomorrowland first. Buzz Lightyear for 2 of us, the other 2 stayed with baby. Then it was baby's feeding time again. We located the Baby Center for my sister, and the rest of us hit up Space Mountain and Star Tours. When our sister returned, she finally got on her first ride (Star Tours again), while one stayed with baby. It was 12:30 PM and we were all starving! What and where to eat?
A little back story... I started a gluten-free diet about 3 weeks ago to hopefully resolve some health issues (so far, so good!) Another sister is on a dairy-free diet for similar reasons. Yet another sister is vegan (no meat/dairy/animal by-products). My remaining sister is trying to lose baby weight from her recent pregnancy. We had done some minimal research beforehand, so I knew I could get pizza made with gluten-free crust, which is the food I miss the most. So we headed to Redd Rockett's Pizza Port next to Space Mountain. I walked up to the pizza station, asked for a gluten-free pizza, and the CM disappeared in back to fetch a chef. She asked me my order, noted it down on a slip of paper, then told me to take it to checkout to pay for my items, then to return in about 5 minutes with the paper and my receipt. She brought out my very own personal size pepperoni pizza on gluten-free crust (piping hot) and I just started grinning like an idiot. I was pleasantly surprised how good it was, though there was a slight taste difference that is to be expected. Paired that with Disney's GF BBQ potato chips (many potato chips are naturally GF, but most BBQ chips are not, so this also made me very happy). The vegan sister had pasta (less parmesan) and a salad and was happy. The dairy-free sister also had pasta and a salad. Neither had to special order anything, just a short converation with the CM's to verify ingredients. And the healthy-eating sister enjoyed her salad. Yes!! Meal accomplished with four satisfied tummies and little trouble.
After lunch, we decided to head to Toon Town to meet Mickey & Minnie. As a caveat, 3 out of 4 of us have specific anxieties that apparently extend to masked characters, so we typically avoid close contact. Not having kids makes this much easier.
The remaining sister wanted to have pictures of her baby meeting them for the first time, so we sucked it up and set out. We all were very pleased with the interaction Mickey gave the baby. It's hard to describe, but I guess I was just expecting him to pose for a few pictures and that's it because the baby was too small to even know what was going on, but he spent some time with her getting the most adorable pictures and evoking more than one "Awww..." from Mom and Aunties. Made my character-avoiding heart melt and reminded me why we love Disney so much. Minnie ended up being more of the pose and shoot variety, but had a much longer line, so I guess we could understand that.After meeting Mickey & Minnie, we grabbed a snack (their popcorn was actually gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan, so while not healthy, again, 4 satisfied customers!
) and headed towards Adventureland. Mom and baby again headed to the Baby Center for feeding time while the rest of us got on Indiana Jones. After that and waiting for them to return, I made a mistake and ordered a skewer from the Bengal BBQ. Being new to this GF diet, it didn't occur to me that the sauce on the meat might contain gluten, so I didn't even ask. Within a few hours, though, I could tell I had eaten something containing gluten and wished I had been more vigilant. Nobody's fault but my own.After our group reunited, we headed over to our last ride of the day, Pirates of the Caribbean. We finally ALL made it on to a ride, even baby in a Baby Bjorn, and had a great time. We realized when we got off that it was a quarter to 4, and we doubted we had enough time to do anything else, and sadly made our way out the exit and towards the tram. Another magical day at Disneyland and we're all looking forward to our "Sister's Day" next January where we can hopefully spend more than five hours at the park together.
P.S. I must say I have a new respect for all you parents out there. The logistics with a single baby and not one but four adults were difficult, I can't imagine making it any more complicated than that, and yet you all do it every day. Kudos!
Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Hope your next sister trip is more...shall we say productive! hehe
