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

[TheMaxRebo]

Well since my boys are 26 and 28 now, I don't think they'd care. My husband would want one though.

Clearly we now need to see some pictures of Mark, in hats, wielding his sword

You already know I am loving some Bippity Boppity Bodega!!! Any time to save some money, it makes me happy ( as well as my DH) )))

Great shots of the kids on Main Street.. Just think, probably next time Emma will be able to stand up with Olivia and Peter, <3

Sounds like a magical morning and I would LOVE to see the inside of the castle someday.

I think for most people figuring out where they can save some $ on a Disney trip is appreciated ... then lets you splurge other places

I know! Actually, we are not sure when our next trip will be so that definitely might be true! Ack! Stop scaring me!

It is pretty good to be in the castle! Like I said, figure out where you can splurge - definitely prefer the Bodega + Eating in the Castle vs. BBB and not

 

[schmass]

Loved the update - The kids look so happy! So smart to do your own princess makeover - it came out great! That was nice that the photopass photographer took some time to take several shots of the kids!

 

[amazingact21]

Can't blame you at all for making your own BBB. Olivia probably felt just as much like a princess as she would if you had gone to the boutique.


Great Main Street shots. Those are my favorites from Trip Reports. It's just so awesome seeing families enjoying the empty street and feeling like they've got a bit of Magic Kingdom to themselves.



I might be a bad DISer, but I don't know too much about CRT. My knowledge extends as far as princess and toy swords and wands. So it was an interesting read for me, hearing about the food and the character interaction your family had.
Your wife's dish looked amazing. A caramel apple french toast concoction...Yum.
And I'm always happy to see adults getting some birthday attention, be it a cupcake or a card. I think Disney's been slacking in that department lately, so I'm glad that wasn't the case for your breakfast.

 

[courtneybelle]

Pretty sure the Bibbidi Bobbidi Bodega has an even better view than the one in the castle!

Peter's shirt

We stopped doing CRT when my sister and I became Disney "adults" aka much higher costs, but the inside is absolutely gorgeous and if I went again I would definitely want to do breakfast so I could get that French toast! The beef looks really good as well.

I love that princess poster!! Such a cool idea.

 

[poison ivy]

finally checking in to say hi.

great report.

I'm just getting started and have some catching up to do but did jump around a bit and read a few quick segments.

Wanted to comment on the Contemporary rooms as I hated those sinks myself. It's great your little one fit so well but to just brush our teeth was a challenge. I needed to be a few feet taller to rinse. How did your other children manage?

also loved the Sanaa review. Great photos and the food looked excellent as always. I loved the dessert Olivia had.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Loved the update - The kids look so happy! So smart to do your own princess makeover - it came out great! That was nice that the photopass photographer took some time to take several shots of the kids!

Kids were definitely happy and excited. As great as the other parks are there is just something about bringing your kids down Main St. of the Magic Kingdom that is special.

Not sure if the are as able to do that when the park is open but we felt we got a ton of time with Alex and he really took time to get different shots and stuff.

Can't blame you at all for making your own BBB. Olivia probably felt just as much like a princess as she would if you had gone to the boutique.

Great Main Street shots. Those are my favorites from Trip Reports. It's just so awesome seeing families enjoying the empty street and feeling like they've got a bit of Magic Kingdom to themselves.

Olivia definitely loves getting make overs ... I am sure she would love BBB as well, but she liked this and was over the moon to get to be a princess in the Castle.

That's exactly how it feels ... might be silly but when you are there with so few other guests (and still quite a few cast members) it almost gives you a bit of a feeling of "ownership" of Main St. Hard to explain but definitely gives you the Disney "feels"

I might be a bad DISer, but I don't know too much about CRT. My knowledge extends as far as princess and toy swords and wands. So it was an interesting read for me, hearing about the food and the character interaction your family had.
Your wife's dish looked amazing. A caramel apple french toast concoction...Yum.

And I'm always happy to see adults getting some birthday attention, be it a cupcake or a card. I think Disney's been slacking in that department lately, so I'm glad that wasn't the case for your breakfast.

We didn't know much either prior to this trip but once we decided to go for it I did a lot more research. They also do a wishing ceremony at times during the meals that was fun and cute to see the kids so into. The french toast was really good!

We did pretty good - Judi got a couple of cupcakes. Last time we went it was her father's birthday and by the end of the trip he was getting sick of cupcakes and didn't want to wear the birthday button anymore

Pretty sure the Bibbidi Bobbidi Bodega has an even better view than the one in the castle!

Peter's shirt

We stopped doing CRT when my sister and I became Disney "adults" aka much higher costs, but the inside is absolutely gorgeous and if I went again I would definitely want to do breakfast so I could get that French toast! The beef looks really good as well.

I love that princess poster!! Such a cool idea.

Thank you - yes quite a good views comes with the Bodega Contemporary package

Thank you - I thought that was a good one I had made up. It got some good reactions from various cast members throughout the day too so that was fun

Yeah, not that the kids prices are cheap but it is quite a bit more for adults. The French Toast was really good but I was very happy with my dish. The steak was good but the rest of it was amazing - wouldn't hesitate to get it again. Plus, got some "sweet" as well by having some of the extra French Toast they brought for Judi

I really liked the princess poster and just appreciated something a little different.

 

[annie170]

Olivia made a lovely little princess! Nice job on the makeover and also the savings!

I'm glad you had a good experience at CRT. I've heard so many mixed reviews, it's nice to read a positive one.

 

[amberg93]

Hey, Olivia looks super fab. Who needs the real BBB?

Your kids are so cute. I mean it, like, they're adorable. And the candid one does show why it'd be hard to be upset with Peter's little face.

Olivia knows what's up. Food is always the best thing.

Glad that the breakfast was a great experience and yeah, it sounds like you played it right using TIW and Peter and Emma's ages to your advantage.

Also in love with the last picture. Like, Olivia and Peter can just have been hanging out with Princesses and be in a Castle but they still want to play with their baby sister. Too much cute.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Olivia made a lovely little princess! Nice job on the makeover and also the savings!

I'm glad you had a good experience at CRT. I've heard so many mixed reviews, it's nice to read a positive one.

Thank you! With all her ballet and other dance classes, Judi has gotten really good at getting her hair in a bow and then we found those hair band things at a flea market in Florida to dress it up a bit ... then just spray her down with glitter!

I had read a lot of mixed things about CRT so that - combined with the high cost - made me kinda nervous but overall we have a very positive experience and I am very glad we got to do it at least that once

Hey, Olivia looks super fab. Who needs the real BBB?

Your kids are so cute. I mean it, like, they're adorable. And the candid one does show why it'd be hard to be upset with Peter's little face.

Olivia knows what's up. Food is always the best thing.

Glad that the breakfast was a great experience and yeah, it sounds like you played it right using TIW and Peter and Emma's ages to your advantage.

Also in love with the last picture. Like, Olivia and Peter can just have been hanging out with Princesses and be in a Castle but they still want to play with their baby sister. Too much cute.

Thank you Amber - I think she looked pretty Fab too!

Yeah, somehow we seem to produce pretty cute kids ... and when Peter makes that face and sayd "Please!!! Pretty Please!!!!" very hard to say no ... kid is really good at pushing buttons

Definitely! Felt that if we were every going to try out CRT this would be the time as it would be the most economical it would ever be for us - so very glad we went for it!

yeah, so far Peter and Olivia love Emma which is great. Even when they have their moments of jealousy they seem to take it out on Judi and I and not blame Emma for it, which is good.

 

[BarbP]

Looking Forward to More!!!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Looking Forward to More!!!!

Thanks! Another update coming today!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 20 - Into the mines!
Wednesday, August 27th​

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*Before I get started I should preface that I don't have a ton of pictures for much of this update. Between shifting between areas and tracking the kids and trying to take video I just didn't get a ton of pictures - did try to include a few gifs from the video though ... and then in the next update there will be a ton of pictures from a certain meet & greet - you've been warned *

Once we were done with breakfast we had a little bit of time before we were going to meet up with Lauren and Aria again near the Mine Train. Though, some of that time got eaten up by Emma needing to be changed and then Olivia needing to use the rest room, etc.

But we did have time for one ride - and we made that ride Prince Charming Regal Carousel! This is one attraction that I have gained a new appreciation for now that we have kids. The fact that they love it so much and that I get to be on it with them and see their faces, while all of Fantasyland spins around us really is pretty magical.

After this we meet up with Lauren and Aria outside of The 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. This was partly just to hang out again but also so that we could watch Aria while Lauren got on the Mine Train. First Judi watch Aria and Peter while Lauren, Olivia and I went on the ride (yeah! Olivia wanted to ride this one with me).

This was my first time on the ride and I was super impressed with it - even the detail in the loading area was great. Though i will say the whole system of the multiple lines and standing on different numbers got confusing at times - I assume the CM's knew what they were doing in their process of which lines when next. I did love how they had gems embedded in the ground on the numbers while you waited to board.

I didn't get any good pictures but here are a few gifs from the ride:

I really loved the cottage scene and the fact that they reused so much of the old Snow White's Scary Adventure ride for that - love when Disney does that and references old attractions.

Overall we really loved the ride - though, do wish it was a tad longer - especially after the mine scene kinda feels like you go around a couple of times and then it is over. Olivia really liked it too as, with how smooth it was, it didn't shake her cheeks like Expedition Everest did

Then I watched the kids while Judi went to ride the Mine Train ... and even captured them being nice to each other:

After this we went our separate ways before meeting up again for the big Meet & Greet for the day. We headed over to Storybook Circus so that we could ride the roller coaster Peter could ride (He was very upset he didn't get to go on the Mine Train) ... so off to Barnstormer we went.

The plan was that I would take both kids on it while Judi went to change Emma - but when we got to the line they indicated that Olivia was not old enough to ride by herself so I had to bring her to the women's bathroom to stay with Judi while I rode Barnstormer with Peter and then would trade them later.

Again, no good pictures but did take some video while on the ride with Olivia - and for those of you that have ridden Barnstormer you know that the entire ride is not much longer than this gif. Actually, when it was over Olivia looks at me and says "That's it? We don't go around again?":

So, given this was Peter's first real roller coaster, how did he do? Not well actually. During the hill climb he was so excited and had a giant grin on his face but as we crested the hill and started to be pulled by gravity the grin changed very quickly to one of pure terror. If I wasn't so worried about him it actually would have been funny how quickly his outlook changed. He did fine in the end but had no interest in going again.

After Barnstormer the kids really wanted to play in the Casey Jr's water area - but we talked them out of it (for the most part) before they had their big meet & greet (they did get a quick run-through in).

Then we went back to Fantasy Land for a ride on Winnie the Pooh. Emma was sleeping in the stroller at this point so I waited with her near the exit / dump shop while Judi took Olivia and Peter. Right at that last bend before you get into the boarding area, Peter saw me and ran over rather than stay in line:

Judi eventually got him to come back in line and informed him that he cannont run off like that:

Peter then expressed his disagreement with that:

*side note: I enjoyed watching the facial expressions of the girl behind them on line through that series of pictures*

After their ride on a honey pot it was time for the kids next costume change and meet up again with Lauren and Aria for the meet & greet that was the biggest challenge to my FP+ planning. ...


(continued next post)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 21 - All that FP+ planning pain and turmoil was totes worth it!
Wednesday, August 27th​

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So what would this meet & greet be? Of course this would be to meet Princess Anna and Queen Elsa. Not surprisingly my kids love Frozen and Peter especially loves Anna (when he wants to watch the movie he actually says "Me want Anna, me want Anna!") ... long story short - both kids were rather excited about this.

Those of you that read my pre-trip report know what a hassle getting this FP+ was for me. Despite being up at midnight exactly 60 days out (and then having to wait until 1am when they actually opened the system that day) I wasn't able to secure a FP+ slot for all of us that overlapped. I had mine and then Olivias which overlapped some but for Judi I was only able to get in the afternoon. So for the next few weeks I basically would check every 5 minutes to see if a time slot would open that overlapped with what Olivia and I had - and eventually got one!

The day of, having the FP+ worked great and we only had to wait for about one family before it was our turn (versus like the 3 hour standby wait). We had Lauren and Aria meet them first and then after we met each got big group shots.

First up, was Peter's favorite, Princess Anna! He was a bit shy at first but Anna came over and took his hand and from that point forward he basically refused to lose contact with her. He was pretty much star struck the entire time - but did get a good hug out of it:

Olivia also enjoyed her time with Anna (even in this picture you can see Peter's hand on Anna):

Anna also enjoyed getting to meet Emma (though I felt a bit like David Letterman at the Accademy Awards introducing Oprah to Uma )

We then got a nice family picture followed by a group picture with Lauren and Aria joining as well:

Then it was off to meet the queen who is, of course, Olivia's favorite. Elsa was just great with them and was telling them stories, etc.

She also checked Olivia's hands to see if she had ice powers in them as well:

Olivia then pointed out Peter's shirt to Elsa, which she enjoyed:

I love how intently Peter is paying attention in this shot:

Emma also got some time with the Queen - at this point I was glad that Elsa had learned to control her powers rather than freeze our new daughter . Emma, of course is all sorts of confused and has no idea what is going on - but makes for good memories for us:

Here too we got a nice family picture (Emma still isn't sure about this whole Snow Queen scenario) and larger group shot with Lauren and Aria:

I must say that going in I was initially a little disappointed that Anna and Elsa were no longer meeting together as I wanted to experience them interracting with each other. After the fact, I am really glad that they did split them up. This allowed for more time with each of them and they each got to show off their personalities more. I had read that before Elsa would act pretty reserved and Anna would often dominate the M&G, but now Elsa really got to converse with the kids and take time with them. While a pain at the time, all that effort securing the FP+ was so worth it, seeing how happy Olivia and Peter were.

After the meet and greet we are of course led into a dump shot. I think this picture shows that Peter and Aria were getting along pretty well given that they were working on getting into trouble together:

Coming up next ... we had breakfast in a castle, but that doesn't mean we can't have lunch in another castle

TTFN

 

[MarbleBob]

Wow, Phil! I've been busy away from Disboards for a little while, and sure was fun getting caught up! So many great photos and moments, that I don't have enough time to comment on everything that stood out to me... But I did enjoy your review of Sana! We've never tried it before and it looks great! (Boma is one of our most favorite restaurants in all of WDW, so it will be hard to visit AK lodge and not eat there, so maybe we'll have to do both on our next visit!) And I wish that I had not read your review of O'hana right before lunch, I agree about being able to fill up on just those pot stickers alone, and now my sack lunch at work just isn't going to be satisfying. Love the Anna & Elsa photos too!

 

[ach222]

It's nice to read a good report on CRT - I was beginning to wonder why anyone went there haha!

Love the DIY princess makeover - I can't talk DS into Pirates League so I'll be trying a DIY pirate makeover before our pirate and pal's fireworks cruise!

 

[geckodani]

Okay, Peter glued to Anna is about the most precious thing ever.

Definitely worth the pain of getting!

 

[ach222]

So glad the A&E meet was worth the FP struggles. You got some great family shots!

Enjoyed your mine train gifs as well!

 

[teekathepony]

I'm all misty-eyed over here, Phil! Between the adorable pictures of the kids on Prince Charming's carousel and the gifs of the Mine Train (I also loved the throwback to Snow White's Scary Adventures!) but most of all the kids with Anna and Elsa. That picture of Peter hugging Anna is just melting me! So so so adorable! And of course, tiny Emma's first meet and greets, so cute. What a great time with the Frozen girls!

 

[missangelalexis]

Haha Olivia's reaction to the Barnstormer is spot on!

And I love the series of pics of Peter while in line for Winnie the Pooh!

I'm so glad you didn't make us wait for the A&E update!! Lovely pictures and I'm glad it was so special for the kids!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Yeah, I can totally see the appeal of the carousel with kids.

Aww how nice of you to watch Aria (well Judi) so that Lauren could enjoy the ride.

I agree in the use (or re-use) of the old ride. As for the whole ride itself for me, I'll just say I'm glad I had a FP.

I agree with Olivia... Barnstormer should go around twice, at a minimum.

Awww how nice of you to document your wife having to discipline your son for something that was your fault.

Oprah... Uma... Anna... Ema... Bahaha, Nice!

Congratulations on meeting the Frozen Crew. It is a tough FP to get for sure. I'm with Peter as well. Having seen them often on that last trip, I am decidedly in the Anna camp.