I don't envy your MCO clothing-changing experience! Two year olds certainly know what they do and don't want. Rory thinks that every time he puts on his baseball hat that he needs his sunglasses as well, and won't leave them behind even if it's dark or raining.
Sounds about right. It's funny how they get SO set on things being a certain way. In general, but it REALLY comes out with clothes, it seems.
We had the same thing happen to us with getting the room-ready text on board the ME - perfect timing!
It was great timing, we were really happy about it!
I'm seriously impressed with Izzy knowing which room was yours!
Me too!
I still have no idea how she did it like that, first try and so confident.
I can never get enough Boardwalk pictures. I just love that walk over to Epcot from the BW.
I really liked staying there, especially because of that convenient walk (or boat ride) to two parks.
Yay for a surprise Ariel meet!
That was a fun way to start our park time.
We have never gone down on the Boardwalk..it always looks so pretty. If I could just get the kids out of the parks sometime, we will have to go check it out!
We don't tend to spend extensive time there, but one sure could. It was nice to stay there and just walk through it a lot on the way to/from our room. If you want to check it out, I'd plan a park-hop between DHS and Epcot, so they are "forced" to visit the Boardwalk area.
Took some brainstorming to figure out the "O", but the others just came to me.
You know, sometimes you just have to get it done! Good work, Mommy and Daddy! I'd have been outside the bathroom clapping!
Haha, thanks.
Though someone applauding outside the bathroom may have freaked me out too.
Amazing! She's a genius, just like my daughter.
It really is astounding how quickly they figure things out!
Smart kiddos we have!
Looks heavenly... especially sans clown! That slide is TERRIFYING!!
Couldn't have been a more perfect view with the blocked clown!
We just had our very first "flying with the Pack and Play" experience. Honestly, the pack and play wasn't that bad... except having to lug it up and down the stairs of the hotels we stayed at. But since we had tons of small bags and strollers ANYWAY, and almost always needed a rolling cart, it didn't matter. However, for our Christmas trip we're staying at three different places... resort, ship, then on the beach on the gulfside. Thats a lot of pack and play lugging, but we'll need it for the end of the trip regardless.
We've never once travelled with our pack 'n' play (well, no air travel at least). It seems like nearly every hotel has free ones available. However, when we went to upstate New York for BIL's wedding last year, the bed-and-breakfast-type place we stayed at did not offer any pack 'n' plays or cribs. So, we bought a KidCo PeaPod (basically, a tiny tent) and it has been one of the very best baby/toddler items we've bought. We still use it often (naps when we go to grandparents' houses) and she loves it. It fits in the front zipper pocket of our suitcase when it's all folded up too. And it's like 2 pounds or something.
The hardest thing to lug around was her carseat! It's SO heavy (its a Clek foonf... I just looked it up. 33LBS!) !! I bought a little cart to get it to and from the gate. I'm considering buying a lighter weight seat for travel because it was pretty brutal. We're thinking of flying back separately, and there is no way I could lug it myself along with the kiddo.
My goodness, your carseat weighs more than my kid!
I have heard of those, though - good seats! We have Britax Marathons in both of our cars, but didn't want to lug them on trips. Partially due to weight (17 pounds, so much lighter than yours), but mostly because we didn't want to re-install them in our cars, since it took some effort to get perfect. So, we bought a seat specifically for travel (that also doubles as a back-up if a grandparent needs to give her a ride somewhere). I had heard many good things about the Cosco Scenera, but we ended up getting a really good deal on a similar one, the Evenflo Tribute. Only 9 pounds and relatively easy to travel with. It's been a well-spent $30 or so for us!
And my understanding is that the cheap seats still meet the same safety/crash test requirements as the more expensive ones, but they are just not as "fancy". Ours is very basic, but it does the job just fine.
How WAS the in-room pack and play? When we were down last year, I took a look at the PNP in the closet, and it looked filthy. Like... crusty on top. Kind of grossed me out!
We've never had an issue with them. I do bring my own sheet, though. It's a quilted and fitted PnP sheet and I feel like it's a bit more cushy and comfortable (and familiar) than the sheets hotels provide. Plus, it's handy to wrap her white noise machine in when it's in the luggage. She's really only touching that sheet anyway (and we bring her little pillow and blankies too), so not too worried about yucky PnPs, I guess.
Oooo! Nooks are so helpful!
Yep, loved this!
Yikes! Was it high enough that she could have gone over the balcony?! I can't remember if there was a table on the cruise, but that's definitely something to remember! So many things that you don't really think about until they test it out!
I think she only could have gone over the balcony if she had climbed up/pulled herself up on the ledge. Which she is capable of. But she just fell from the table, which was lower. Still scary, though. And, yes, our cruise verandah had a table too. She didn't try to climb on that one at all. Guess she learned her lesson.
Yes! One of my most favorite places!!
It was really nice staying there!
I always love the first day of the trip, even though traveling is so annoying. But one of my most favorite moments is when I get my rental car at the airport (because we almost always go this route... we like the freedom of it, especially the freedom to hit the liquor store!) and pull out of the airport. It just feels like EVERYTHING is before us, the anticipation of the room, the whole vacay. Love it!
Love that feeling! Even though you're excited for what's to come, you almost want time to stand still, just to savor that moment.
This bird kind of looks like its smashed on the boardwalk!
I know, it looks funny. If it makes you feel better, though, this is the next picture I have:
Hello! Excited to read your TR!
Thanks for joining in!
Ahh toddlers!
A simple task is seldom easy with a toddler around.
It's so scary how they flail all around like that.
Yeah THat's when I would have given up.
I think we would have, but she'd have been in just her underwear at that point. Too bad we didn't have a hooded swim towel handy!
Nothing like a few stickers to bring the happiness back in a child.
Indeed!
Gotta love when they surprise you this way. They are always such bittersweet moments.
Definitely. It's blows my mind to think she'll be reading "soon", etc. I mean, it seems like she was just a tiny baby, but that changes so fast.
avoiding a view of the creepy clown is always good.
It was perfect!
That was a frightening moment for sure.
Same here!
I bet people are eating a lot of hot dogs today (July 4th).
Yay for bonus meet and greets!
That was a fun surprise to start our park time!
Wow what a start! When Charlotte was about 2 she didn't want to ditch the winter wear when warmer weather started. I literally had to hide her coats, sweaters etc around the house. Just the other day I found her coat stuffed in my hope chest in the basement!
That's awesome! We had to hide her hat and mittens this spring. And her boots, though those have now come back out as "toys". Glad to know it's not just her that goes through this.
The boardwalk looks awesome! A long time ago, i tagged along with Bob when he went to an AP conference in the Swan. During the day I hung out alone while he went to the condense. Every morning I walked around the boardwalk got breakfast at the bakery. It was lovely and relaxing! The boardwalk area was my first exposure to the deluxe resorts and I was so impressed!
That sounds lovely, just walking around and hitting the bakery for breakfast every day.
Awesome view! I love it! I stayed in a similar location but I could definitely see the clown pool.
It was great. Bummer you had to see that creepy clown.
How the heck did Izzy know the right room number? That was pretty cool.
Still no clue how she did it. I don't think she knows her numbers that well yet, so I guess...intuition.
When I stayed there in Feb I actually had a refurbed room which looked very different from the traditional room. My view turned out to be of the ToT.
Well, ToT would be a pretty sweet view!
Boo to the seriously hot corn dog. Glad you were able to get it cooled off for Izzy.
I couldn't believe how hot that thing stayed! Surprised it didn't burst into flames or something. I had to carry it, in it's container, with like 10 napkins under it to keep from burning my hand.
Yay for an Ariel meet soon after entering Epcot, although I am not completely sure Izzy was really into it!
She totally was not into it vs. the meets you'll see the rest of the trip. It caught us all off guard, so she probably didn't feel prepared, on top of being tired.
All caught up!!! Can't wait to read more!! Gotta live the "tg teenager stage," in smack dab in the middle of that mess myself!
Those darn threenagers!
It certainly has it's challenges.
May I offer you some
?
Looking forward to the rest of your review. DS, DDIL, and DGD will be joining us in Sept. and DGD will be 2.
Traveling with a 2-year-old is a whole new world. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time, though. It's a great age for fun, as they are old enough to be excited about things and have some commentary. Obviously, there are challenges too, especially with trying to keep on any sort of schedule, but it's worth it. Hope you have a great time in September!
(thankfully, it must have been fairly soundproof, since nobody was waiting for us).
The table went right to the back of the balcony after that. 
), just enjoying the fact that we made it there and were headed to Epcot. 
Basically, putting shorts on her would be akin to putting a straightjacket on her. 
They also become ridiculously strong, causing you to fear they will forcefully throw themselves headfirst onto the hard floor and sustain injuries. 
Not when they were that age.
Good point about two in a sitting. Man, that's still a LOT of hot dogs, though - especially as an AVERAGE. 
