I Like Warm Hugs! - Mommy/Toddler Trip ~ Updated 6/20: New Trip Report Link!

[Dugette]

Hi, all. Quick off-topic update. I heard a couple weeks ago that the DIS was migrating to a new system, but I just noticed this morning that it is scheduled for THIS WEEKEND. Sunday 2/1 the DIS will be down most of the day. I just wanted to pass along what I have read (on the tech support thread) that I thought was relevant to Trip Reports, as many of you have your own that you may be concerned about.

First and foremost, they should come through just fine. I asked and was told not to worry. However, I've poured my heart and soul (and a lot of time) into creating my TRs, so I'm not taking any chances. I found that (from my mac) I can save each page to PDF. I went through and did that, as I'd been wanting to anyway, just as a backup. For me, it shows the entire page, comments and smilies and all, just as it appears on my screen. Just a tip in case anyone is as paranoid as me on this.

Other things of note:

*Smilies are not going to show up right away. They have to manually add them in after the migration and it could take up to a week. But they will re-appear.

*Signatures should be maintained.

*Custom avatars will be maintained, but generic ones from the "pick an avatar" will need to be re-selected on the new site (same address as usual).

*All links should transfer over in tact.

*Subscriptions should be maintained.

*For the most part, formatting should be maintained, I believe. A person who maintains extensive resort board info posts was told that their unviewed links (within their posts) showed up as a different color in the test version, but otherwise looked good. I didn't see an answer as to whether the 25 image max per post will be maintained.

*My understanding is that the boards will be similar to the ones on WDW Magic's site - I did look over there and saw they had TRs (who knew? ) and they looked good.

*Some things that MIGHT be possible are "liking" a post and pasting in pictures from your computer vs. using a link from photobucket or the like.

*Dug is a web designer and is always singing the praises of "responsive design". This is something that will come with the update. It means that page content will format itself appropriately for the device that you are using to view it. Meaning, there will be no app, as you can just pull up the DIS in your phone/iPad's browser and it will be mobile-friendly. This should be a good thing.

*Overall, it sounds like all the changes are for the better. But, being a person with a lot of content at stake, I wanted to make sure I was covered and thought I should share for any of you that hadn't seen the info yet.

Have a great weekend, everyone! (I probably won't post an update until the migration is complete).

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Thanks for the note Dugette! I listed to the DISunplugged podcast this week and they were talking that they would be down from as early as late Friday until early Monday morning - so glad to hear they think they now can do it in only one day (apparently they have around 60 million posts to migrate)

One cool thing they mentioned the new software will do is that if you can just highlight section of text and then click quote and it will just take that portion of a post and quote it, rather than having to quote an entire post and manually take out what you don't want - so that is cool

Looking forward to it - though obviously not super pumped about the down time nor the chance something goes wrong

 

[Dugette]

Thanks for the note Dugette! I listed to the DISunplugged podcast this week and they were talking that they would be down from as early as late Friday until early Monday morning - so glad to hear they think they now can do it in only one day (apparently they have around 60 million posts to migrate)

One cool thing they mentioned the new software will do is that if you can just highlight section of text and then click quote and it will just take that portion of a post and quote it, rather than having to quote an entire post and manually take out what you don't want - so that is cool

Looking forward to it - though obviously not super pumped about the down time nor the chance something goes wrong

Well, here we are with the new upgrade. I think I mostly like it, but let this be my first test post!

How does my "normal" update font look? Because it's smaller now in the updates. (I found a new smilie!)

Hmmm, yes, that's not right...must make bigger, I guess? Let's try THIS!

Better? Hmmm, this will take some getting used to.

 

[Dugette]

Love all of the photos of Izzy and Minnie.

Thanks! Minnie was so great with her - such a nice interaction!

Yay! Love all the Minnie photos!!

Thanks! I have so many Minnie photos, it's kinda crazy!

Good Mickey pics too...but poor Goofy!

Yeah, Mickey was great too. And I'm sure Goofy would have been, but boy did he get cut short! I felt so bad for him. She had just walked up and then bolted.

I love the interaction between Izzy and Minnie. That's so cute that they were just sitting and playing! I think she was our best costumed character interaction, too! She's just so sweet!

Can't wait to read more!

It really was a nice interaction. I like that Minnie took that extra time that we had (due to nobody ahead of us and then skipping Goofy) and used that to play with Izzy, rather than just a quick hello and sending us on our way. Really made the wait worthwhile!

DS is in his "I Need" stage too. Since him & Izzy are only a few weeks apart, it must be something they learn at this age. We get " I need up", "I need candy" but I haven't heard "I need water in my eye" yet. LOL. Toddlers are so funny!

Oh, funny, must be an age thing! "I need candy" - smart kid! Toddlers are hilarious!

That is too bad you couldn't switch the FP time. I guess the fact that it's a possiblity at all is somewhat of a plus though.

Yeah, it was all a bonus anyway, so I definitely came out ahead. I just didn't realize it couldn't be changed within the app, despite showing up in the app. But I could work with that.

Aww how cute to have an "older" girl (so funny that 11 is pretty much an adult to a child) play with Izzy. And it's always nice to pass along some Disney knowledge to other guests.

I know - 11 is totally a grown up in Izzy's world! I remember the days of thinking high school kids were super old, though.

OMG that is too funny. Minnie has been spotted... do NOT get in the way.

I'm glad nobody was with Minnie, because Izzy sure made a bee-line for her arms! And I love that we actually caught it in the photos: happy with Goofy, looks over, points, and that's all she wrote.

And what a wonderfully adorable meet with Minnie. So nice that she had some extra time to spend and really seemed to go all out. Love it!

Minnie was fantastic. So glad that she spent that time down on Izzy's level just playing and bonding. Probably explains why Izzy always wants her giant stuffed Minnie by her side lately. (Minnie has to cheer her on when she uses her potty. )

 

[Dugette]

We love Living with the Land - always manage a couple of times on it each trip. You missed my favorite hidden Mickey which is the hop plant that is formed into a Mickey head (or maybe they didn't have it that time, not sure if it is always out or not)

I'm sure I missed some Hidden Mickeys. I really wasn't even looking for them, but they kept catching my eye. I bet there are a lot in there!

Bummer about Minnie not being at the Chase character meet. Still seemed like a fun time and I love when there are multiple characters together like that

Yeah, I was really hoping Minnie would be in there, as she has been in the past for us, to save me from having to do another meet. But it all worked out okay!

That was cool that Izzy got some time in the play area - didn't even realize there was one in the Where's the Fire part. I think in general we need to spend a little more time in Innoventions - just never seem to have time for it but between that and the Great Piggy Bank Adventure I think we need to make time.

I'm not entirely sure if it's supposed to be a play area or just part of the activity, but she sure loved it. If not for the group approaching, she might have napped in that bed - she seemed pretty happy. Yeah, we never spend much time in Innoventions either. We did the Piggy Bank several years ago and it was fun. There are some other cool things, like putting yourself into a video game and such, too.

I do love the cartoons they have playing in the wait area at the character spot.

It was a nice touch. Surprised they don't do that in more queues.

In Izzy's defense she had just spent time with Goofy so makes sense to not waste more time there and head to Minnie. Goofy probably just forgot that fact

Goofy just wanted more Izzy. Poor guy, just can't compete with Minnie!

And my she does love Minnie! Have to say, if you didn't mention anything I wouldn't have even noticed the diaper, so that is good, since they are nice pictures.

Glad the diaper was not too obvious. I didn't realize it at first, then I saw it and couldn't believe I'd just taken a bunch of photos with it hanging out.

I love when the characters get down low to be with the kids - makes it seem really like they want to just be friends and hang out, etc. ... seems to help a lot with any kids that are nervous at all (not that that was an issue with Izzy and Minnie though)

Even though it wasn't an issue with Izzy, I do think it helped to encourage her character comfort even more. Can't be scared of someone who sits down and plays with you.

at I need water in my eye. Cute!

That was so ridiculous! She was really trying to jab that straw into her eye too. (That's how it came about - I told her not to put the straw in her eye and that's when she said it).

Hmm, i'm not really blaming the CM's at the Character Spot, but you'd think they've seen and worked with every camera available. Strange they couldnt get it to focus.

I know, it seemed odd. And, of course, it happened to the people that I'd just told about CMs taking pics with your own camera. But, who knows, it may have had issues. (I just wanted to use this smilie - no reason - just never noticed it before).

How funny is that that she was like, Later Goofy, I see my main girl over there!

Wow tons of pictures with Minnie!

I could not believe how quickly she ditched Goofy! None of us saw that coming. I bet Goofy was trying not to laugh. The CMs were laughing with me. Wish I'd been videotaping these meets!

Okay unrelated topic, I was going to text you but since I saw you updated, thought i'd ask here Any resources for potty training? I'm assuming you started with Izzy already?

Well, what's working for us is...delegation!

Okay, the longer story is: back in June, while sipping margaritas in Epcot Mexico with Lauren, we chatted about potty training. (I know, we're super awesomely fun, right? ) I asked her how it had gone with Aria. She had done the intensive 3-day training method over a 3-day weekend from work, right after Aria turned 2. And it worked (daytime training, not naps or overnight). That sold me on that type of method. I had a 3-day weekend after Christmas, so I thought I'd try then. In preparation, I scoured the internet for advice and ebooks and found it all overwhelming. Instead, I got a funny and short book that still had real advice (called "That's How I Roll" on Kindle). Easy, quick read and gave me some ideas. Went and bought supplies recommended and tried it out the first day. Went pretty well. Izzy went #1 on the potty once, #2 on the potty once, and had one #1 accident in underwear. Good start. However, the rest of the weekend I ended up getting sick and there was more family stuff going on than I'd anticipated, so we basically just went back to diapers and didn't do much else that weekend. However, we told our daycare provider and she offered to put Izzy on the potty a couple times a day - and she has - and it's been going well! We usually will have her use her potty right before bed and she goes #1 right away, so that it awesome! But we still have her in diapers. She's at back-up daycare this week (a center - my provider is in WDW right now! ). The back-up care offered to put her on the potty once an hour so we said okay. She did GREAT today and only went once in her diaper, as it was during lunch and they skipped her hourly visit. She's there for three more days, so here's hoping she'll come back "trained"! (See? Delegation! )

Holy cow, they have ICE CREAM MARTINIS at L'Artisan des Glaces?! My impending bill for that place keeps getting larger the more TR's I read...

I know!! Too many good things! They should come out with a combo - mini ice cream sandwich and ice cream martini "meal".

I'm all for the way you roll.

Haha, thanks! I wish I rolled like that more often.

You did do a great job of getting photos of action moments, such as Izzy eating that macaroni. Nice work!

Thanks! Gotta keep the TR photo count up.

"I need water in my eye!" Kids are hysterical!

I love hearing the things she comes up with. She is hilarious. And she knows it too - sometimes she says, "I'm funny!"

Poor Goofy! That girl LOVES her Minnie Mouse. I'm thrilled that you and the Photopass photographers got so many good pictures of them!

She really does love Minnie. Probably because we've been training her since birth. I'm glad we were able to capture so much of their interaction. Izzy's not going to remember it someday (she claims that she does now), but we'll be able to show her precious photos of those moments.

 

[Dugette]

I will get to other replies soon. But I am exhausted and need to sleep before a long year-end day at work tomorrow! Goodnight DIS-friends!

 

[Leshaface]

Well, what's working for us is...delegation!

Okay, the longer story is: back in June, while sipping margaritas in Epcot Mexico with Lauren, we chatted about potty training. (I know, we're super awesomely fun, right? ) I asked her how it had gone with Aria. She had done the intensive 3-day training method over a 3-day weekend from work, right after Aria turned 2. And it worked (daytime training, not naps or overnight). That sold me on that type of method. I had a 3-day weekend after Christmas, so I thought I'd try then. In preparation, I scoured the internet for advice and ebooks and found it all overwhelming. Instead, I got a funny and short book that still had real advice (called "That's How I Roll" on Kindle). Easy, quick read and gave me some ideas. Went and bought supplies recommended and tried it out the first day. Went pretty well. Izzy went #1 on the potty once, #2 on the potty once, and had one #1 accident in underwear. Good start. However, the rest of the weekend I ended up getting sick and there was more family stuff going on than I'd anticipated, so we basically just went back to diapers and didn't do much else that weekend. However, we told our daycare provider and she offered to put Izzy on the potty a couple times a day - and she has - and it's been going well! We usually will have her use her potty right before bed and she goes #1 right away, so that it awesome! But we still have her in diapers. She's at back-up daycare this week (a center - my provider is in WDW right now! ). The back-up care offered to put her on the potty once an hour so we said okay. She did GREAT today and only went once in her diaper, as it was during lunch and they skipped her hourly visit. She's there for three more days, so here's hoping she'll come back "trained"! (See? Delegation! )

Love the delegation!

Unfortunately, i'm the day care worker rotfl, along with my mom who I know won't even attempt to potty train since the diaper is way eaiser!

Do you know what the name of the 3 day potty training is called? This is something I could try this upcoming weekend since on Friday I'll be home and won't be babysitting my nephew that day. Will make it easier. So you recommend I get regular underwear to start the process and not keep him in his diaper? Agh, i'm nervous and don't want to do this

 

[Dugette]

Love the delegation!

Unfortunately, i'm the day care worker rotfl, along with my mom who I know won't even attempt to potty train since the diaper is way eaiser!

Do you know what the name of the 3 day potty training is called? This is something I could try this upcoming weekend since on Friday I'll be home and won't be babysitting my nephew that day. Will make it easier. So you recommend I get regular underwear to start the process and not keep him in his diaper? Agh, i'm nervous and don't want to do this

I don't know specifically what 3-day approach that Lauren used, so I just searched 3-day potty training online and found a lot of things. It was a bit overwhelming. I think the "main" one uses NOTHING on bottom all day. After finding stuff like that, I decided I wasn't comfortable enough with that approach and tried to find something a bit less extreme. That book I mentioned ("That's How I Roll") recommends using underwear because diapers can mask the feeling of wetness and they will learn more quickly that they don't like that feeling. It recommends getting some favorite-character themed underwear and some plain. If they wet them, toss in the wash. If they go #2 (this is a bit extreme...), have the kid help throw them away because, "Elmo (or whoever) doesn't like to get dirty and if he does, we have to toss him", then go to a plain pair until the next time. Something like that. I only got as far as throwing a wet pair in the wash, as she didn't have any other incidents in the one day we tried this. And we've been using diapers ever since, despite the negativity towards them (in these training methods). I'm just now thinking about when we try underwear again, as the day at back-up care went really well again today and she ONLY went on the potty (no wet/dirty diapers all day!)

So, I guess the point of all that is to say not to worry too much and do what works for you and DS. I was all stressed about getting it right and I've totally gone off the rails and we're still getting there, I think. I like the idea of having it done in a long weekend, but it just didn't work out for us, timing-wise. The gradual approach seems to be working, though.

One other random tip - I happened to have part of a bag of mini marshmallows handy when we did our "training" day and I used those as rewards for just sitting on the potty and "trying" (and gave her a bigger treat if she actually went). I've heard of people using skittles and all sorts of things just to reward the attempts. I'm not sure if back-up care has been giving her anything, but she's been making multiple attempts a day and I think that's the key.

 

[Leshaface]

I don't know specifically what 3-day approach that Lauren used, so I just searched 3-day potty training online and found a lot of things. It was a bit overwhelming. I think the "main" one uses NOTHING on bottom all day. After finding stuff like that, I decided I wasn't comfortable enough with that approach and tried to find something a bit less extreme. That book I mentioned ("That's How I Roll") recommends using underwear because diapers can mask the feeling of wetness and they will learn more quickly that they don't like that feeling. It recommends getting some favorite-character themed underwear and some plain. If they wet them, toss in the wash. If they go #2 (this is a bit extreme...), have the kid help throw them away because, "Elmo (or whoever) doesn't like to get dirty and if he does, we have to toss him", then go to a plain pair until the next time. Something like that. I only got as far as throwing a wet pair in the wash, as she didn't have any other incidents in the one day we tried this. And we've been using diapers ever since, despite the negativity towards them (in these training methods). I'm just now thinking about when we try underwear again, as the day at back-up care went really well again today and she ONLY went on the potty (no wet/dirty diapers all day!)

So, I guess the point of all that is to say not to worry too much and do what works for you and DS. I was all stressed about getting it right and I've totally gone off the rails and we're still getting there, I think. I like the idea of having it done in a long weekend, but it just didn't work out for us, timing-wise. The gradual approach seems to be working, though.

One other random tip - I happened to have part of a bag of mini marshmallows handy when we did our "training" day and I used those as rewards for just sitting on the potty and "trying" (and gave her a bigger treat if she actually went). I've heard of people using skittles and all sorts of things just to reward the attempts. I'm not sure if back-up care has been giving her anything, but she's been making multiple attempts a day and I think that's the key.

Awesome thank you so much for all the tips! And the mini marshmallow tip is brilliant too! When the bathtub is filling up with water and he's completely naked, we'll tell him to sit on his potty (which, BTW, does Izzy have her own potty or does she have a seat on top of the toilet? He has his own that sits on the floor) and he'll sit down for a few seconds and gets back up. But now i'm just wondering how different it is to train a boy than a girl. Not sure if we should start him sitting or standing...oh geez, off to do some research! Thanks again!

 

[Dugette]

Awesome thank you so much for all the tips! And the mini marshmallow tip is brilliant too! When the bathtub is filling up with water and he's completely naked, we'll tell him to sit on his potty (which, BTW, does Izzy have her own potty or does she have a seat on top of the toilet? He has his own that sits on the floor) and he'll sit down for a few seconds and gets back up.

Izzy has one of each. She has her own potty in her room (the one that pretends to be a real potty with fake flushing and stuff - I think it's a Fisher Price one ) and she has a potty seat downstairs (Minnie Mouse, of course ). At daycare they have a potty seat. She seems okay with either of them. Tonight, I actually pulled the top off her potty seat and found that it fits on the big toilet too, so that is nice (it was bath time and she kept telling me, "I go in bathtub to poop" We made a number of attempts at the potty and, though she didn't go #2, at least she didn't go in the tub either ). Keep doing what you're doing - that's a good way to start. I just try to encourage Izzy a lot - trying to encourage her to pee in the potty like a big girl. Oftentimes, she wants her giant Minnie plush to "coach" her, so I spend a silly amount of time doing my best Minnie voice saying things like, "Izzy, are you going to pee in the potty? Oh my, I'm SO excited! Do you know where I pee? In the POTTY! Oh, you're such a big girl...." Etc. It's pretty ridiculous, but it's working for us.

But now i'm just wondering how different it is to train a boy than a girl. Not sure if we should start him sitting or standing...oh geez, off to do some research! Thanks again!

I can't say I know anything first-hand, but I did have a get-together with some other moms with same-age kids last week and I can tell you that the ones with boys were discussing this. They were all doing sitting. One recommended sitting backwards to keep things from getting messy. The others recommended the potty seats that have the front that comes up a bit (our little potty is like that). From what they were saying, I think it's a bit trickier with a boy - I know these were things I hadn't ever thought about. Good luck!

 

[Dugette]

Awww!! I'm loving Izzy with Minnie. How adorable that she ditched Goofy like that! The video is super cute, too. I absolutely love her little voice. She's so sweet.

Thanks! I still can't believe she ditched Goofy. So hilarious! And, if you like her voice, you should hear her these days - talking up a storm, all the time.

Looks like Izzy had a fun time playing. Its so much fun when they start really talking! They come up with the cutest things to say.

Totally agree! I LOVE listening to Izzy these days. It wasn't that long ago that I was looking at my little baby and wondering what she thought of the world. And now I get to hear it. She mostly thinks it's awesome and hilarious. (Except when it's cruel and unfair, of course).

Oh my goodness, there is so much cuteness in that Minnie meet! Absolutely adorable! I would not have even noticed the diaper if you would not have pointed it out. It was clearly not the focus of the adorable pic!

Aw, thanks! So glad we did that. Who knew we'd end up with a triple-length Minnie meet? Glad the diaper didn't stand out too much. I don't think it's as visible in the pictures, but I could actually see the little blue stripe showing it was wet, so that was mildly horrifying that she was sitting on Minnie's lap with a wet diaper for all to see.

Whew I'm all caught up! These character meets are too cute. The Chip and Dale ones were SO cute that I had to show my DH. And ditching Goofy the moment she saw Minnie? Hilarious! I'm sure Goofy is used to it/got over it. You will be telling that story for years. Pure gold.

Chip and Dale really set the tone for the rest of the trip (and Aulani, for that matter - and, by the way, they were AWESOME there too). It was so cute to see her so excited and running up to hug them on her own. I guess we really indoctrinated her well on Minnie-love...poor, sad Goofy. It was actually starting off to be a really sweet meet, as you can kinda see in the pics, then BOOM. Minnie spotted, Izzy GONE, Goofy befuddled.

 

[Dugette]

Loved the updates!! SO SO adorable with her running off to see Minnie!! Poor Goofy, I bet he gets that a lot! Good thing that no one was meeting with her at the time, I feel like she always gets backed up because people spend more time with her than Goofy so we always have to wait a little bit. The other meets are adorable too. That play area is a lot of fun, Aria loves running around it too and getting on the bed, chair, etc. Nice to have that area to do that.

It worked out really well that that poor mom/daughter ahead of us had the camera malfunction and had to go back. Freed Minnie up for an early meet, especially with how little time we spent with Goofy, it was great to have her open (vs. Izzy running into someone else's meet). That play area was so much fun for her. Just a bit hard to see her in some parts - I remember panicking for a brief moment before I saw her run out from behind a wall.

My accomplishments for this morning off so far...1 load of clothes washed and caught up on this trip report...Oh...I have the new prttrippie I haven't started and Aulani from before New Year's to catch up on. Love the pictures. Your time in Epcot looked wonderful. I really want a solo trip that I can take as long as I want to go through epcot especially world showcase.

Not a bad morning at all! I totally agree about the solo trip to take time in Epcot. I'm hoping to maybe do some of that in May - thinking on a late Epcot hour night, after Izzy goes to bed, maybe Dug can stay with her and I can walk over? Hoping we can make something like that work!

Aw, what a great time you had with the characters! I bet you're glad you decided to get in the standby line.

That is too funny that Izzy ditched Goofy once she saw Minnie - so cute.

How long did you get to spend with Minnie? It seems like it was totally worth it to meet the characters there as you get a little extra time with them.

Super glad we waited that one out and it worked out like it did! The Goofy-ditching was SO funny. I wish I could have captured that moment on video. I can still play it in my mind and it cracks me up. It felt like a long time with Minnie, to be honest. I mean, I have literally DOZENS of pictures. But probably only a few minutes. More than normal, though - we had nearly three "turns" with her (ours, the one ahead of us, and most of the one that should have been Goofy).

 

[AprilRenee]

What a great visit with Minnie! Love it!! I really loved that Character Spot (this trip was our first time going in). It was a nice set up and the characters were great!

 

[Dugette]

What a great visit with Minnie! Love it!! I really loved that Character Spot (this trip was our first time going in). It was a nice set up and the characters were great!

Yeah, it was a really good stop for us in both August and June, actually. In June, when she was character-shy, it was her best interaction (also, last day, so she'd warmed up a bit). It was so fun in August, though! Glad it was fun for you guys too!

 

[RGirl]

Hello! Catching up, as usual…..

Don't you just love that they have the cartoons playing in the Character Spot queue - really makes the wait so much easier for the kiddos, I think.

I just adore how into the characters Izzy is! So cute!!!

Poor Goofy!!!!

But awwww - love the Minnie love! Adorable!

 

[Dugette]

Hello! Catching up, as usual…..

Hi!

Don't you just love that they have the cartoons playing in the Character Spot queue - really makes the wait so much easier for the kiddos, I think.

That was a nice touch. I wish they had that in more queues.

I just adore how into the characters Izzy is! So cute!!!

Aw, thanks! That was so much fun this trip - just seeing her really get into the character meets!

Poor Goofy!!!!

But awwww - love the Minnie love! Adorable!

I felt so bad for Goofy just standing there in her dust. But Minnie was such a sweetheart with her!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Catching up again...and wasn't as far behind as I thought.

 

[Dugette]

Catching up again...and wasn't as far behind as I thought.

Ha, I've been kind-of a slowpoke updater lately! I'll see if I can throw together another update tonight, though!

 

[Dugette]

Some People Are Worth Melting For - Part 1

Once we made our way out of the Character Spot, I popped Izzy back into her stroller and headed towards this:



As we approached Spaceship Earth, I heard Izzy exclaim, “Ball!!!” Despite actually having a valid FP+ to ride it, I made the difficult decision to skip it. We just didn’t have enough time and had other things that were higher priority. And I didn’t think Izzy would have a strong opinion either way.

So, why were we going here then? We were actually headed to the left – the camera shop. This is where you have to go to get your free print from the Disney Visa meet. However, there turned out to be a huge line coming out the door of the shop. I got in line and waited maybe a minute or two to see if it was moving quickly. Nope. So, I made another hard decision – give up my freebie and move on to the other things on our list. Turned out this was actually fine, as none of the 6 pictures were particularly frame-worthy (but I didn’t know that at the time). I wished they had other options for getting your print – different day, different park, etc. Oh, well.

I spun around back toward World Showcase at 5:39pm:



Guess there were no people here because they were all in the camera shop?

First stop was to get a DIS-recommended treat I’d missed in June, so off to the Refreshment Port I went. There was a short line, but it moved pretty quickly. I noticed that the girl ahead of us had custom shoes, which made me wonder if she was a DIS-er, as I kept seeing you crafty folks posting in your PTRs about shoes you painted:



Speaking of shoes, Izzy once again passed the time by removing her shoes and putting them back on:



Here’s the menu:



Can you guess why I was there? It may be centered and in large font…CRONUTS!

They were rumored to be a delightful cross between a doughnut and a croissant. And even better with ice cream. However, you have just read about how little time I had at this point and how much stuff I’d eaten at Epcot, so getting one with ice cream was not going to happen – not hungry and no time anyway. Instead, I chose to get two of them to go. I really only wanted one, but given Izzy’s resistance to sharing food on this trip, I thought I’d be wise to go with two and maybe save them for breakfast. I probably got some water too. Oh, and I asked if they had to-go packages, but the best they could do was put a paper dish above and below them. Better than nothing. For those who can’t wait until the next morning, here’s a picture:



I got them at 5:44pm and they were $9.99 total. I tossed them into the basket below the stroller (with plans to seal them in a ziplock when I had a moment) and bolted over to Duffy’s meet and greet area. You can take the stroller in line there, so I did and was able to leave the cronuts in it, as is.

As we waited (in the very short line), Izzy spotted Minnie in the storybook:



I picked Izzy up and she was anxious to inform me that there was a large bear over there:



The kids in front of us had Duffy hugging their plush Olaf and it was adorable! Duffy was really getting into it and snuggling Olaf. However, this was the only picture I could get where you can see Duffy holding Olaf:



When it was our turn, I asked the CM to take some video with my phone, as I wasn’t sure if Izzy would need me or not. (There was also a Photopass person taking pics). Turns out that Izzy didn’t need me AT ALL. I think she actually recognized Duffy from her crib (she has a plush) and even said, “My bear!” at one point. She was so happy to run right up to Duffy and share hugs, play peek-a-boo, dance around, kiss his nose, etc. It was adorable. And you can tell that Minnie made Duffy (as the story says) – he was so great and playful with Izzy, just as Minnie had been moments before. And, to top it all off, the CM did a fantastic job taking dozens of photos and a cute video with my phone. So, without further ado, more Duffy pictures than you’ve ever wanted to see:





Time to play peek-a-boo:







High-five:







Can you see how happy Izzy looks here?















Hush, Duffy, let me just remember this moment...



Continued in next post…

 

[Dugette]

Some People Are Worth Melting For - Part 2

Continued from previous post…

Not only did the CM get all those great photos, but the Photopass person got some nice ones too:



















And, finally, the CM got some cute video of Duffy trying to get Izzy to dance:

(click to watch)

What a fun meet! And can you believe the Photopass only says 5:48pm?! Guess we did not wait long at all!

Up next: Um, this was supposed to be the last Epcot character meet. Aw, phooey!