It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Disney with a 1 month old *new 2/13/15*

[KatMark]

Playing more catch-up.

What a great job by the ladies on the picking of their pearls. Sorry it took Judi a while to wait and get the settings, but they are beautiful settings.

The pictures with Snow White are precious; but the one of Snow White and Peter nose to nose is my favorite so far...just priceless. And, of course, love Olivia's "kiss."

Mark fell in love with the Schofferhofer Grapefruit and Food & Wine and if I ever get a chance to get to our local liquor store, I will be buying him some.

 

[vleeth]

Good job picking out the pearls, they look great!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The pearls look great! I love the settings too, as I think I have only ever seen the Cinderella coach setting that a lot of people seem to get.

The Snow White meet is so sweet! I love the photo of Snow and Peter, and the one of Olivia showing off her lip prints.

Thank you - yeah, they had a few of those types of settings where it is like a cage. I actually thought those would be good for Olivia (less chance to lose the pearl) but her pearl was too big for them

We always seem to have good meets with Snow White in Germany and glad this one came out well and that we got some nice PP pictures from it

Of course Olivia was the only little girl to dress up as Elsa.

What a beautiful pearl Olivia got! That is a big one.

Love the pictures from the meet and greet with Snow White! How cute was Olivia twirling! Man, I wish they had princess dresses when I first started going to Disney when I was four!

I want to try the horchata margarita this time!

Yup - not a single other girl in this country had the idea to dress up as Elsa, really kind of surprising

Thank you - always enjoy the M&G with Snow White ... probably because of those meets Snow became Olivia's first favorite princess so she will always hold a special place in my heard.

And hey - who says you can't wear princess dresses to the parks now and twirl in them?!?!?!

Definitely give the horchata margarita a try!

Playing more catch-up.

What a great job by the ladies on the picking of their pearls. Sorry it took Judi a while to wait and get the settings, but they are beautiful settings.

The pictures with Snow White are precious; but the one of Snow White and Peter nose to nose is my favorite so far...just priceless. And, of course, love Olivia's "kiss."

Mark fell in love with the Schofferhofer Grapefruit and Food & Wine and if I ever get a chance to get to our local liquor store, I will be buying him some.

Thanks Kathy - it definitely worked out in the end and all in all I don't think it was a crazy long wait, just felt like it with being separated and knowing this was the last meet time for Snow White we would be able to make that day, etc.

One of the local grocery stores near us once was giving out free samples of the Schofferhofer Grapefruit which is when we first got into it. Judi isn't a huge beer person but she likes that one which is good that it is an option for her.

Good job picking out the pearls, they look great!

Thanks - we are happy with how they turned out

 

[Leshaface]

Haha love the gif at the pearl counter

It's so true about getting the ugliest one! We treated DM to an oyster on her first WDW trip and she ended up getting a silver/black pearl.

Stinks that it took so long for Judi, but they look great in those settings!

What a great meet with Snow White!...and Peter! Does Snow White kiss every girl? Wonder how often she has to reapply her lipstick. Aw and Emma looks adroable too.

Perfect picture with the mug in front of Germany Cheers friend.

I don't think i've ever heard of the horchata one? Or maybe I did and thought it would taste ick. The jalapeno one i've wanted to try but was worried about the heat (which now thinking about it, I like heat. Not sure what my problem is then )

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Haha love the gif at the pearl counter

It's so true about getting the ugliest one! We treated DM to an oyster on her first WDW trip and she ended up getting a silver/black pearl.

Stinks that it took so long for Judi, but they look great in those settings!

What a great meet with Snow White!...and Peter! Does Snow White kiss every girl? Wonder how often she has to reapply her lipstick. Aw and Emma looks adroable too.

Perfect picture with the mug in front of Germany Cheers friend.

I don't think i've ever heard of the horchata one? Or maybe I did and thought it would taste ick. The jalapeno one i've wanted to try but was worried about the heat (which now thinking about it, I like heat. Not sure what my problem is then )

ooh, a black/silver peral sounds really cool!

I know she will give a kiss to everyone that wants one - not sure if she forces said kiss on those that don't though I've never seen her reapply - must just be industrial strength Disney lipstick that last through a meet & greet time

I'm not sure if they always have the horchata one on the menu so maybe that is why you haven't seen it I know when we first had it at the tequila lunch pairing during F&WF we weren't aware of it prior to that. The jalepeno one isn't too, too hot so as long as you don't mind a little heat I wouldn't worry about it. They can make it extra spicy if you want, but the standard isn't crazy (you definitely notice it though)

 

[ElenaJane]

I love the animated snow white Gifs! The two princesses twirling in unison! It also blows my mind that traveling with 3 kids, you manage to have costume changes to match the character they are meeting. Bravo my friend, bravo!

 

[courtneybelle]

Very impressed with the pearls, especially the golden one!! I really like the butterfly setting as well. I have a heart one and my sister has a Cinderella's carriage one…we bought them off eBay though, shhh

LOVE Emma's little Snow White outfit. What a great meet!

I love the Gran Fiesta Tour too! I think it's adorable and always fun for us.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I love the animated snow white Gifs! The two princesses twirling in unison! It also blows my mind that traveling with 3 kids, you manage to have costume changes to match the character they are meeting. Bravo my friend, bravo!

Thank you! I think I am getting really good at these animated gifs just as the TR is coming towards end

Well, we didn't do tons of costume changes, but did a few for some key M&Gs. Figured it makes for good pictures if nothing else

Very impressed with the pearls, especially the golden one!! I really like the butterfly setting as well. I have a heart one and my sister has a Cinderella's carriage one…we bought them off eBay though, shhh

LOVE Emma's little Snow White outfit. What a great meet!

I love the Gran Fiesta Tour too! I think it's adorable and always fun for us.

We were very happy with what pearls we wound up with - thanks to the DIS for the tip of looking for the ugliest and hairest ones!

Thank you - it was a really good meet! Glad we were able to get it in, even if there was some stressed involved.

Yeah, another Gran Fiesta Fan!

 

[ach222]

first things first, I am going to have to get one of the ice cream sandwiches! Every time I see someone post about them I drool

What a big/beautiful girl! 3 months, yay!

Looks like your pick-a-pearl went well, looking forward to doing this on our trip.

Great updates as always, making notes on your drink selections, a combo of egg nog and margarita sounds intriguing haha!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

I'm all caught up! Sounds like a nice paced trip so far with all sorts of fun things happening!

I love your pearls! I can't wait until we do that. What a fun experience!

The Snow White twirling pictures are so cute! And how adorable is the kiss picture? I love reading about everybody's favorite things to do in the parks and how there is so much to do that everyone likes different things. Aahhhh, Disney!

 

[amberg93]

Have I ever told you that your family is adorable? Yes? I'm going to say it again. All your family is adorable.

Ooh very nice pearls and finished jewelry. Pick-a-pearl is so fun.

Such a sweet tradition. I love it. So cute.

I always forget about Caballero Donald. Oops.

But I like the Gran Fiesta Tour too. I'm in agreement with you, it mixes characters and culture well.

Oooh a new place for dinner?

 

[khaleesi]

I've never done pick-a-pearl, but it sounds really fun!! And the setting2 are really pretty! Love that they arranged them into a Mickey head

I love that Olivia was dressed like Snow and that she got her kiss!! Totally understand why you love that pic of Peter so much. Heart melting, right there!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

first things first, I am going to have to get one of the ice cream sandwiches! Every time I see someone post about them I drool

What a big/beautiful girl! 3 months, yay!

Looks like your pick-a-pearl went well, looking forward to doing this on our trip.

Great updates as always, making notes on your drink selections, a combo of egg nog and margarita sounds intriguing haha!

Oh Amy, I am sure you will love the brioche ice cream sandwiches! Both of the ones we got were great but lots of choices and them making them fresh in front of you make it even better!

While the whole process took a little longer than we anticipated I am very happy with the outcome from the Pick-a-pearl ... hope it goes well for you

Yeah, not sure if "eggnog" is the best description but it has that cinnamon flavor and a bit of creaminess vs. a regular margarita so that is what I came up with ... in any event it is delicious!

I'm all caught up! Sounds like a nice paced trip so far with all sorts of fun things happening!

I love your pearls! I can't wait until we do that. What a fun experience!

The Snow White twirling pictures are so cute! And how adorable is the kiss picture? I love reading about everybody's favorite things to do in the parks and how there is so much to do that everyone likes different things. Aahhhh, Disney!

I think what was nice, and a bit of a lesson-learned, is that we definitely didn't push this trip and stayed flexible (e.g., two missed FP+ day 1) but we still had an amazing time and created some great memories

Lori, that is what I love about reading the trip reports ... there are so many "favorite" things it is fun to read how much different things mean to people. Just part of the magic of Disney

Have I ever told you that your family is adorable? Yes? I'm going to say it again. All your family is adorable.

Ooh very nice pearls and finished jewelry. Pick-a-pearl is so fun.

Such a sweet tradition. I love it. So cute.

I always forget about Caballero Donald. Oops.

But I like the Gran Fiesta Tour too. I'm in agreement with you, it mixes characters and culture well.

Oooh a new place for dinner?

Thank you Amber - I think your family is totes adorbs too

We don't have a ton of family traditions for Disney, but that is one so glad we were able to do it again and have Emma participate as well

yeah, another Gran Fiesta tour fan ... we are starting a revolution here people!

Well, new for us at least!

I've never done pick-a-pearl, but it sounds really fun!! And the setting2 are really pretty! Love that they arranged them into a Mickey head

I love that Olivia was dressed like Snow and that she got her kiss!! Totally understand why you love that pic of Peter so much. Heart melting, right there!

Sue, it was pretty fun - I think you would enjoy it!

Some pictures are worth melting for

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 29 - Turn, turn, turn ....​

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First off, apologies that the rate of updates has slowed a bit. Work has gotten more busy and we've had this little issue going on that our house might collapse ....

um, yeah.

Seems that at some point a remodel took place and the people executing said remodel decided to use hope and dreams to support a very wide span. You'll see in the first picture a large beam that, well, ends. On the plus side by taking down the ceiling we got to see some of the cool construction they used back in the 1880's, including weird wooden spikes for some reason (as seen in second photo). Fortunately we have an awesome construction guy who came off one job to put up temporary supports and then came in on his day off to put up a triple beam to take care of the problem (as seen in the third picture).

Moral of the story - don't buy a house that is ~130 years old

Oh, and as our vacation budget is basically going into those beams I might try to drag this TR out even further

On a much more positive note, we took the kids to see Big Hero 6 today. Love, loved, loved it! Found myself tearing up at the end a bit too. Plus there were a ton of Easter Eggs in it which I love - my favorite was one of the wanted signs at the Police Station:

********************

Ok, so back to the trip report where I last left you a tease of a new restaurant for us that evening. Which would necessitate a third trip to The Land Pavilion that day as we were eating at the Garden Grill.

While you don't see a ton of reviews for this restaurant I had seen some positive takes in recent trip reports and the menu seemed like something the kids would love - plus they love Living with the Land and you get to meet Farmer Mickey ... oh, and the whole restaurant spins which I figured they would get a kick out of (I figured right)

After checking in we didn't have to wait long before we were led to a bit round booth on the lower level which looked directly out at the Land ... I was quite happy with this scenario

The kids really enjoyed being able to look right over the Land and would wave to the dog at the House scene:

Here are the menus, first the adults food menu, adults drinks, and then the kids menu:

Judi and I decided to split a carafe of Sangria - and it was quite good. Quite crisp and not overly sweet. Not the best we have ever had but certainly enjoyable:

Peter got his Buzz light up clip with his drink to go with the Tinkerbell one Olivia had gotten at Sanaa when he was asleep:

The shortly brought out fresh rolls which came with butter drizzled with honey

... together this was pretty phenomenal, even if I did look a bit like this:

They also brought out the farmers salad which was also pretty darn tasty

(continued next post)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 30 - Every firework show in one night​

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Shortly after the first of the food came the first of the characters visited the table - in this case, it was Chip!

The set-up here can get a little awkward when the characters come by with the amount of food you start to accumulate so you basically have to get up from the table to meet / interact with them

And Pluto wasn't far behind ... he gave some great hugs and basically enveloped the kids:

Then our entree food came out: Turkey, Fish, and Beef for us (with stuffing, vegetables, and mashed potatoes respectively):

And then the kids, which was drumsticks, mac & cheese with goldfish crackers (which are two of Peter's favorite food groups), and sweet potato fries:

The verdict? Everything was actually really good. I went back a few times for more beef, and I love when I get to try a number of different things. I will say that the salt level was a little high ... which we are fine with, we love salt, but if you are not a huge lover of salt you might not enjoy the food as much as we did

After we were mostly done Mickey, in his super cute farmers outfit, came by and spent some good time with the kids:

While we still hadn't seen Dale yet and before he came by and before dessert had even come, Pluto came by again - this time spending some time with Emma:

Then dessert was brought. The kids got these little cupcake cones and Judi was also brought some chocolate cake for her birthday, which you can see Peter was rather interested in:

The main dessert was cobbler with fresh whipped cream:

This too was good - though I think we were pretty full (like I said, I kept going back for more beef) so we barely put a dent in it

Finally Dale did stop by:

Overall we really enjoyed this meal and everyone had plenty to eat. There are so many great places to eat in EPCOT (especially if you go during F&WF) that it is hard for me to say we will come here every trip, but it is definitely on the list of possible places.

After dinner we headed over to the reserved area for Illumination seating as we had gotten a bonus FP+ to use for this. The entrance is located to the right of the right of the Port of Entry story. Having this FP+ worked out so well for us as we only showed up 5-10 mins before the start of Illuminations and had a great view. We weren't right up by the fence but there was room to spread out and we could see fine:

and we could feel the fire pretty well:

After another moving viewing of this show (seriously, while it might not create the *feels* of Wishes it is such a well done show) as the crowds were leaving we noticed more fireworks and realized we had a decent view for the Frozen Fireworks going off at DHS:

After they finished we headed out and got on the monorail to return to the Magic Kingdom resort loop. While on said monorail look, we could see some of Wishes (sorry this is the best picture I got):

Once we got back to the room we caught the tail end of the Electric Water Pageant:

So while we might have slept in a bit that morning, getting to end the day seeing Illuminations, the Frozen Fireworks, Wishes, and the Electric Water Pageant I'd say is pretty darn good.

This was the night we gave Emma a bath in the sink:

We then got everyone into bed - the next day was our last day and we would be checking out so wanted to get as much of a full day at the Magic Kingdom as we could.

TTFN

 

[Leshaface]

Thank goodness you never had a massive earthquake or something. Hopefully it doesn't take too long to rebuild.

What is this movie about? Yes I did ask that question I haven't kept up with upcoming movies lately (although I did hear about Toy Story 4 a few days ago)

The food really does look quite tasty! So does that cobbler I don't know if you said, did the kids like when the restaurant turned?

That's great that you got a FP for Illuminations and only showed up minutes before the start of it. You got a great view!

Aw bath time with Emma! I never did give DS a sink bath But the sinks at the Contemporary look like the perfect shape for a baby bath.

 

[Marsheliz]

What is the movie about? I've seen a few of the previews but not real sure- I am excited about Toy Story 4 coming out!

I've looked into doing the dinner but we haven't gotten a chance to do yet. Not that we won't but it's so hard to fit everything in. Looks yummy though!

We had Feb 24- March 1 booked but we just got Lawson's basketball schedule and his last hand and awards ceremony is during this time & I know he won't want to miss this. been looking at different dates and even looking at January. Have you guys ever been in Jan? I'm so nervous about if being too cold. ( We left to come home one year on New Yrs Day and the night before was) But it's a little cheaper than Feb... And not to mention, having to change all my ADR's....

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Thank goodness you never had a massive earthquake or something. Hopefully it doesn't take too long to rebuild.

What is this movie about? Yes I did ask that question I haven't kept up with upcoming movies lately (although I did hear about Toy Story 4 a few days ago)

Well, the support/structure is already done now - just need to get the ceiling redone now. Biggest issue is that as it was a rush job we weren't really prepared so a bunch of stuff from the living room just got quickly tossed into the play room, so the house is a bit of a disaster area at the moment.

So Big Hero 6 is about a group of super smart kids that use their technology inventions to become super heroes. One of the 6 is Baymax who is a robot that is designed as a health care provider but who gets some "upgrades" to be able to fight evil (learns karate, etc.)

It's got a lot of really fun characters with different personalities and the action just moves so fast. Plus it is good for kids as the group has a strict "we don't hurt the bad guys" stance

The food really does look quite tasty! So does that cobbler I don't know if you said, did the kids like when the restaurant turned?

That's great that you got a FP for Illuminations and only showed up minutes before the start of it. You got a great view!

Aw bath time with Emma! I never did give DS a sink bath But the sinks at the Contemporary look like the perfect shape for a baby bath.

Oh, so the kids definitely enjoyed that the restaurant turned - I think they really liked how it went through the different parts of Living with the Land (the main building part) so you got into the different climates

Getting the FP+ for Illuminations turned out great! Just made it less stressful vs feeling like we had to stake out a place early, etc.

The sinks were perfectly Emma sized

What is the movie about? I've seen a few of the previews but not real sure- I am excited about Toy Story 4 coming out!

I think your boys would love Big Hero 6 ... it's like a group of kid super heros who use their big brains to develop suits/etc. to wear for their super powers. It kinda feels a bit like The Avengers crossed with the Matrix, but with kids and that kinda Disney/Pixar humor and heart. Some amazing animation too

It's set in the near future/alternate future in a location that is a combination of San Francisco and Tokyo called, well, San Fransokyo - and the animation of it is beautiful:

I've looked into doing the dinner but we haven't gotten a chance to do yet. Not that we won't but it's so hard to fit everything in. Looks yummy though!

I hear you - especially at EPCOT there are so many options for food, I think that is one reason it took us a while but I am glad we tried it. I think your family would like it, if you can fit it in

We had Feb 24- March 1 booked but we just got Lawson's basketball schedule and his last hand and awards ceremony is during this time & I know he won't want to miss this. been looking at different dates and even looking at January. Have you guys ever been in Jan? I'm so nervous about if being too cold. ( We left to come home one year on New Yrs Day and the night before was) But it's a little cheaper than Feb... And not to mention, having to change all my ADR's....

Well, coming from the north east, I never worry about Florida being too cold but I could see it potentially being too cool to swim and just won't feel as "tropical" in January. Other thing to consider is that I think they start some of the regular maintenance of rides in January - for example, Splash Mountain is set to be closed from January 4th to 30th, so something to check in case some key attractions for you are closed.

The trade off is, as far as I can tell, the crowds are by far the lowest then - so even though you need to re-do your ADR's they should be relatively easy to get for that time. Good luck!

 

[annie170]

When you're a homeowner, it seems like there's always something that needs to be done, doesn't it? And my house is only 24 years old! 1880's! Your home has a lot of history. Glad the issue was caught in time.

I haven't been to Garden Grill since the early 90's and I think it was called The Land Grille back then. That meal looked really good, but with the options in World Showcase, I don't think I could get my husband back there. I can see why it's a great option with kids.

I like that you can get a FP+ for Illuminations now.

Wishes from your room's window! So jealous!

 

[ach222]

I'm looking forward to taking G to see Big Hero 6, especially since the Wreck it Ralph meet and greet is getting bumped for a BH6 meet and greet according to something I read here. G had been looking forward to meeting the WIR characters but this movie does look cute!

I love the idea of Garden Grill, isn't on our list this trip but hopefully in the future, great review!