My AP-ALOOZA Continues (WE RENEWED!!) ~ NEW TR link posted!

[Imagineer5]

Peter Pan is swinging here

Then the couple's boats came by

No photos because I was holding on to Aria now, but we remained seated at Fantasmic for about 10 minutes – we were able to see the castle fireworks show from our seats. From the vantage point it mainly just looked like a nice fireworks show with the music piped in, but it was still beautiful.

After the show we joined the hordes heading out of the park but the crowds broke up pretty quickly once we veered right towards DTD & our hotel. Aria fell asleep before we were even out of the park, so coincidentally this was the 1 night she slept in her pack n play vs. my bed, as I transferred her there once we got back to the room. Then we both headed straight to bed – we had a 7AM early entry to DCA in the morning!

 

[Dugette]

All packed, minus a few things I need for Baltimore - toiletries, baggie of hair accessories for Aria, flat iron and camera. Not bad!

Awesome job getting packed so early! I packed all of Izzy's clothes tonight. I may have gone a bit overboard for such a short trip. But she's gotta keep pace with Aria's wardrobe changes, right?

It would be so nice if the rain stays away!! Fingers crossed!

I sure hope so, but not sure I can luck out two trips in a row.

Thanks!! The cruise is going to be SO MUCH FUN! I have been searching for TR's for cruises, and found one that had the same itinerary as us on the Wonder this past Feb, so that's been fun to read.

Oh, cool, that's fun. I read some cruise TRs here and there. One that I enjoyed was FreezinRafiki's (well, I enjoy all of his reports): http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2883277

How did your prices look?

Not too bad. A 4 night Bahamas out of Port Canaveral on the Dream with a Family Veranda room in a good location is about $2400. Not great, not terrible.

Andrew's boat is coming along. He is driving me nuts - I am making him be 100% in charge of finances for the boat (I handle all our bills, and don't want another one to think about, plus all the added expenses that come with a boat). As such, he has been dealing with USAA over the boat loan (2% interest - awesome) and with the broker of the boat, as well as setting up the survey & sea trial. But stuff that I could have gotten all done 2 days ago he still hasn't done because he is too busy at work and had something to do last night. I don't like loose ends and wasting time - so I am trying my hardest to stay out of it but it's definitely annoying me! (The broker also takes his sweet time getting stuff Andrew needs to him).

I don't blame you on not wanting to handle all of the boat finances. I also handle all of our finances, so I understand. Hope it doesn't drag out forever and you can stay out of it.

Anywayyy..I just noticed your ticker. It's super cute!

Thanks, I actually have had it up for a couple weeks now, I think. I was trying to put "Mommies", but it was too many letters, so "Mamas" it was!

Now, off to read all of these updates!!

 

[Dugette]

I love how easily Aria goes down for stroller naps. I hope she can set a good example for Izzy.

That's a great deal on Photopass there vs. WDW.

Wow, Big Thunder sounds awesome! Didn't know they did a refurb. You'll be bored on the WDW now.

Cool Rider Swap on Space. Not to mention it being the DL version of the ride.

Pretty horse! And that's sweet about the elderly man enjoying DL. And I love that you can just walk back to your resort!

Aw, happy girl in the pool! That reminds me - the pool(s) at Silver Lake is pretty nice, right? Zero-entry, I think? Heated? Any kids' area?

Cool Magic Shots!

Oh, Splash has single rider at DL? Interesting, did not know that.

Glad Aria likes Pooh, as I think Izzy will be a fan. She is obsessed with bouncing lately and, when asked if she wants to bounce with Tigger, the answer is yes.

I love that Olaf dress too. One of my favorites of your upcycles.

Sounds like Izzy and Aria have a common love for stairs! I think Izzy would LOVE that treehouse.

Wow, what's with all these long single rider lines?

Aria looks like such a big girl riding the carousel! And, no, never too many Aria pics!

Oh, cute that Olaf was up there! I wonder if he's somewhere at WDW too? Izzy loves him too, but thinks his name is Anna. I keep trying to correct her, but I don't know if she'll have it sorted out by the time we do the meet.

Poor Aria trying to convince you she enjoyed Fantasmic!

Great day in DL!

 

[Imagineer5]

Awesome job getting packed so early! I packed all of Izzy's clothes tonight. I may have gone a bit overboard for such a short trip. But she's gotta keep pace with Aria's wardrobe changes, right?


I sure hope so, but not sure I can luck out two trips in a row.


Oh, cool, that's fun. I read some cruise TRs here and there. One that I enjoyed was FreezinRafiki's (well, I enjoy all of his reports): http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2883277


Not too bad. A 4 night Bahamas out of Port Canaveral on the Dream with a Family Veranda room in a good location is about $2400. Not great, not terrible.


I don't blame you on not wanting to handle all of the boat finances. I also handle all of our finances, so I understand. Hope it doesn't drag out forever and you can stay out of it.


Thanks, I actually have had it up for a couple weeks now, I think. I was trying to put "Mommies", but it was too many letters, so "Mamas" it was!

Now, off to read all of these updates!!

For reference, our 5-night western caribbean was 2700 for the 3 of us in a family verandah stateroom so that sounds about right. A family verandah on a 7-night was 4300...crazy!

Rain isn't looking so good from the latest reports. We'll still have fun though - and at least it'll be warm. I remember March 2013 when I went with my mom - it was cold and wet, which made for an uncomfortable walk around the parks.

I love how easily Aria goes down for stroller naps. I hope she can set a good example for Izzy.

That's a great deal on Photopass there vs. WDW.

Wow, Big Thunder sounds awesome! Didn't know they did a refurb. You'll be bored on the WDW now.

Cool Rider Swap on Space. Not to mention it being the DL version of the ride.

Pretty horse! And that's sweet about the elderly man enjoying DL. And I love that you can just walk back to your resort!

Aw, happy girl in the pool! That reminds me - the pool(s) at Silver Lake is pretty nice, right? Zero-entry, I think? Heated? Any kids' area?

Cool Magic Shots!

Oh, Splash has single rider at DL? Interesting, did not know that.

Glad Aria likes Pooh, as I think Izzy will be a fan. She is obsessed with bouncing lately and, when asked if she wants to bounce with Tigger, the answer is yes.

I love that Olaf dress too. One of my favorites of your upcycles.

Sounds like Izzy and Aria have a common love for stairs! I think Izzy would LOVE that treehouse.

Wow, what's with all these long single rider lines?

Aria looks like such a big girl riding the carousel! And, no, never too many Aria pics!

Oh, cute that Olaf was up there! I wonder if he's somewhere at WDW too? Izzy loves him too, but thinks his name is Anna. I keep trying to correct her, but I don't know if she'll have it sorted out by the time we do the meet.

Poor Aria trying to convince you she enjoyed Fantasmic!

Great day in DL!

First off - pools at Silver Lake. Not sure where our 2-br condo will be on the property, but when I stayed there last time my 1-br was near the secondary pool which was actually my favorite- it had a zero entry with some little shooting fountains. Across the drive was a small playground. The main pool area is really big with either a giant sprawling pool or two next to each other, i don't really remember and then also a nice small toddler pool where the water was only maybe 6-8" deep. Both areas are nice. Not disney-nice but still great. I am sure it is heated though not 100% on that? I def don't remember being chilly at all, and I'm a wimp in cool water.

Big Thunder is still one of my favorites so I'm glad to be able to ride! I don't remember Space being all that different besides the ride cars. Splash single rider you go up the exit, over a bridge and then down to the loading area.

The single rider lines in general were awful - but again not electronically posted, thus the Touring Plans app didn't allow you to enter a time given from a CM (since no time is posted) so across the board they'd just say 5-minutes. WRONG! So infuriating.

Yeah the carrousel is such fun for Aria. I love seeing her so happy - she's made it even more fun by watching all the horses while we wait and pointing out the one she wants to ride - works if we are near the front at least.

I hope Olaf is outside like he is at DL, but I'm not sure! We'll see soon enough though!!

I just perused the wait times (it's 9:22AM and MK opened at 9) - Seven Dwarfs has a 75 minute wait, surprisingly the speedway has a 30 minute wait. Peter Pan is temporarily closed! eek! LOL good thing we have those FP+. Barnstormer is at 10 minutes - so maybe I'll sneak in a ride on that in the morning if we weren't able to ride on the evening before. Hmmm. Pooh & Ariel are at 20 minutes. That's doable - I think 20 min is my cut off - what is yours??

 

[disneygirl2785]

Alright y'all...I know this June trip was last minute, but it crossed my mind that if Dugette & Izzy couldn't go, I was trying to figure out how Camryn and I could!!! However, I'm glad they could because my 90+ year old grandparents aren't doing well and Camryn and I are making a last minute trip to my hometown in Indiana. HOWEVER, I think if this trip with y'all goes well and becomes a tradition, you might just find the Alexander girls joining you next time!

 

[Dugette]

HOWEVER, I think if this trip with y'all goes well and becomes a tradition, you might just find the Alexander girls joining you next time!

That would be awesome! Love it!

Sorry about your grandparents, though. Glad you are able to go visit.

 

[JulieODC]

Loved seeing all the DL rides in these updates! And, nice to make time for the pool --- DD loves swimming these days, so a pool break is going to be a must next time we go.

I'm impressed that Aria stayed up so late with the time change!! I'm impressed

Also, congrats on booking the cruise! You guys will have a great time. We did Cozumel on our recent cruise and did a very small, no frills beach trip that we loved...probably the favorite thing we did. It was called Playa Azul...and it was a nice break from the crowds on the boat and at the bigger beach clubs.

I'd like to try the Magic or Wonder -- the Fantasy was great, but BIG and quite crowded. Fun though!!

 

[khertz]

Great updates! I had to laugh that you mentioned Winnie the Pooh not being in Fantasyland. Our first trip to DL, we spent so much time in Fantasyland the first couple of days and then suddenly on the third it dawned on me that we hadn't seen it yet and I asked DH, "Where the heck is Winnie the Pooh in this place?!"

 

[Dugette]

For reference, our 5-night western caribbean was 2700 for the 3 of us in a family verandah stateroom so that sounds about right. A family verandah on a 7-night was 4300...crazy!

Okay, good to know, thanks. And, yes, $4300 is crazy!

Rain isn't looking so good from the latest reports. We'll still have fun though - and at least it'll be warm. I remember March 2013 when I went with my mom - it was cold and wet, which made for an uncomfortable walk around the parks.

True, the rain may actually feel nice and cool us off. And we'll dry out right away, I suppose.

First off - pools at Silver Lake. Not sure where our 2-br condo will be on the property, but when I stayed there last time my 1-br was near the secondary pool which was actually my favorite- it had a zero entry with some little shooting fountains. Across the drive was a small playground. The main pool area is really big with either a giant sprawling pool or two next to each other, i don't really remember and then also a nice small toddler pool where the water was only maybe 6-8" deep. Both areas are nice. Not disney-nice but still great. I am sure it is heated though not 100% on that? I def don't remember being chilly at all, and I'm a wimp in cool water.

Sounds great, thanks for the info! When we swam at the Poly last trip, it was way cold and not much fun. This sounds much better!

I just perused the wait times (it's 9:22AM and MK opened at 9) - Seven Dwarfs has a 75 minute wait, surprisingly the speedway has a 30 minute wait. Peter Pan is temporarily closed! eek! LOL good thing we have those FP+. Barnstormer is at 10 minutes - so maybe I'll sneak in a ride on that in the morning if we weren't able to ride on the evening before. Hmmm. Pooh & Ariel are at 20 minutes. That's doable - I think 20 min is my cut off - what is yours??

I think I'd be about 15-20 minutes for the most part. But it will vary, depending on toddler moods (well, and adult moods ) and interactive queues.

 

[Imagineer5]

Extended time w/o DL updates - sorry! 1 day back at work before heading out TOMORROW!! EEK!! My morning started out great until I realized it was 1.5 hours PAST when I could have checked in on Southwest - oops! Somehow I still managed to get A57 & A58 though so not bad! (not that it truly matters, I planned to do family boarding bt A & B).

Dugette reminded me I haven't practiced nap time in the new stroller - and namely putting the muslin blanket over it. In the City Select I'm able to tie the ends of the blanket to the frame to hold it in place. She also reminded me to get cash out for tolls...so lots on my to-do list for the day! Luckily all packed minus a few last minute items like cell chargers, toiletries, etc.

I was doing Aria's hair this morning and asked her if she remembered where we are going tomorrow, and she said "where" and I said "Disney, silly!!" and she said "YAY!!!" so guess that is good! Then I told her we are meeting Anna & Elsa tomorrow and I asked if she was going to sing to them and she said "YEAH FROZEN!!" lol. I highly doubt she will say anything due to being so shy but we will see. She is also very excited to go to the pool tomorrow.

On an unrelated note - we had a fantastic time in Baltimore! Our first day we went to the National Aquarium which is FANTASTIC!! Rivals Monterey Bay Aquarium. & had lunch on the Inner Harbor. Here is Aria posing with a cute hat after we bought her a couple new pairs of sunglasses.

And our second day we spent some time at a dog beach and then a regular beach, then to a cute down out to dinner. It was a great time with Lynda & her bf Aron. They are renting a house right on the water so it was incredibly relaxing just sitting outside at night with a glass of wine. Ahh! I want to go back.

Oh - and the survey on the boat is happening Tuesday - if all goes well the Sea Trial is scheduled for Thursday, after which Andrew will be making the 3/4 hour boat ride home with it! All while i am gone! haha. Oh well, I'll come home to a new boat!

Alright y'all...I know this June trip was last minute, but it crossed my mind that if Dugette & Izzy couldn't go, I was trying to figure out how Camryn and I could!!! However, I'm glad they could because my 90+ year old grandparents aren't doing well and Camryn and I are making a last minute trip to my hometown in Indiana. HOWEVER, I think if this trip with y'all goes well and becomes a tradition, you might just find the Alexander girls joining you next time!

Aw that would have been so much fuN!! A disney mom & toddler meet!! I hope you have a nice visit in Indiana though!

Loved seeing all the DL rides in these updates! And, nice to make time for the pool --- DD loves swimming these days, so a pool break is going to be a must next time we go.

I'm impressed that Aria stayed up so late with the time change!! I'm impressed

Also, congrats on booking the cruise! You guys will have a great time. We did Cozumel on our recent cruise and did a very small, no frills beach trip that we loved...probably the favorite thing we did. It was called Playa Azul...and it was a nice break from the crowds on the boat and at the bigger beach clubs.

I'd like to try the Magic or Wonder -- the Fantasy was great, but BIG and quite crowded. Fun though!!

Yeah it was a super late night, she is great about adjusting to the time change though thankfully! That first day going 10 hours without a nap really snapped things into west coast time! Thank you - we are so excited! I'm enjoying planning the Keys portion as well - getting a bit of sticker shock at the hotel prices though!

Great updates! I had to laugh that you mentioned Winnie the Pooh not being in Fantasyland. Our first trip to DL, we spent so much time in Fantasyland the first couple of days and then suddenly on the third it dawned on me that we hadn't seen it yet and I asked DH, "Where the heck is Winnie the Pooh in this place?!"

Haha that is funny! it is quite out of the way, but nice to have something to ride while someone else is doing splash! And having it be so out of the way, the lines were 5-10 minutes!

Okay, good to know, thanks. And, yes, $4300 is crazy!


True, the rain may actually feel nice and cool us off. And we'll dry out right away, I suppose.


Sounds great, thanks for the info! When we swam at the Poly last trip, it was way cold and not much fun. This sounds much better!


I think I'd be about 15-20 minutes for the most part. But it will vary, depending on toddler moods (well, and adult moods ) and interactive queues.

Sounds good! Yeah for Pooh I was thinking of the interactive queue. December doesn't have the same need for pool time as hot & sweaty june, that is for sure! I just hope we are able to fit in a few times in there.

 

[disneygirl2785]

Hope your first day was magical!...but I'm sure your first park day will be even more magical! Can't wait to hear alllllllllllll about it!

 

[Imagineer5]

Hope your first day was magical!...but I'm sure your first park day will be even more magical! Can't wait to hear alllllllllllll about it!

Thank you so much!

 

[Imagineer5]

We returned home Friday from a wonderful but very quick trip! Aria is just getting more and more fun and into everything - LOVE IT! Can't wait for August even more now!

Had a busy weekend with Father's day activities and today being back at work I'm going to attempt to work on the photopass pics from the trip in between catching up! Then I'll go back to the DL update!

If you're a dad - hope you had a wonderful father's day! We went to Mystic, CT to the aquarium, seaport, and out to a nice lunch. Beautiful mid-80s and on the water - a spectacular day.

Oh and if you're wondering - the sea trial for the boat was delayed to this Thursday! So no boat yet...but it should be here soon!

 

[disneygirl2785]

You're BAAAACK! I SO CAN NOT WAIT to hear all about it!

Thanks for the clarification on the boat...I was wondering when you said "on the water" if you meant on "your" on the water! Oh well, good vibes for Thursday!

On Saturday we went to Sam's Club, out for dinner, and then drove the "long way" home and decided to swing through the local state park outside of our town to look at the RVs and tents. (I've never tented. Growing up we had a 5th wheel camper. And I had my own bedroom and half bath. ...We are looking into buying a tent. As that's the only thing we can afford at the present time! ) Anyway, we ended up at the boat ramp. And let me tell ya, that is some goooood people watchin' right there! A chick couldn't back up the boat trailer to save her life. An old guy backed too far into the water. It was windy and choppy and the boats in line for the dock were blowing into each other. It was great amusement!

Going to bed now, hope for an update soon!

 

[Imagineer5]

You're BAAAACK! I SO CAN NOT WAIT to hear all about it!

Thanks for the clarification on the boat...I was wondering when you said "on the water" if you meant on "your" on the water! Oh well, good vibes for Thursday!

On Saturday we went to Sam's Club, out for dinner, and then drove the "long way" home and decided to swing through the local state park outside of our town to look at the RVs and tents. (I've never tented. Growing up we had a 5th wheel camper. And I had my own bedroom and half bath. ...We are looking into buying a tent. As that's the only thing we can afford at the present time! ) Anyway, we ended up at the boat ramp. And let me tell ya, that is some goooood people watchin' right there! A chick couldn't back up the boat trailer to save her life. An old guy backed too far into the water. It was windy and choppy and the boats in line for the dock were blowing into each other. It was great amusement!

Going to bed now, hope for an update soon!

Tenting is fun!! Real camping sounds like that'll be a fun family activity.

Too funny about the people watching. I suck at backing up a trailer too. I'm going to have to learn quite a bit about docking the boat (though it's too big for a trailer thankfully lol!)

Also thanks for your enthusiasm! Can't wait to write about it - about to post some DL updates next I feel like I've lost a lot of readers but maybe I just need to stop spacing out my updates so much. IDK.

 

[Imagineer5]

Moving on to DCA!! This morning there was an early entry from 7-8 – my kind of morning! We just had some on-the-go breakfast items today (the stroller tray comes in handy for these sorts of meals) and were at the gates by around 6:40AM. By 7 we couldn’t believe the LACK of crowds – especially considering how busy it was the day before! The cast member at the gate gave us “I’m celebrating – first in line” buttons – too cute!

Looking across at an empty DL gate

Breakfast granola bar...hehe

Our original plan had us heading straight for Radiator Springs – riding single rider each while the other took Aria on Luigi’s Flying Tires. However we were informed that RSR wouldn’t be opening up right away and to check back later. Bummer – so we changed up the plan to head straight to TSMM since it doesn’t have Fastpasses like DHS does.

Just through the gates were moving at a good clip and a teenage boy jumped in front of my stroller and I literally took him out! Felt awful but the funny thing was his parents saw it all and just yelled "GET UPPPP" and kept running! We still laugh about that.

It felt like a very long walk back but we were energized and excited to ride! We all had a blast! And I still suck at it but thought it was cute Aria actually did get a few points!

After this we decided to check out Cars Land and get on the other rides despite RSR being down – first to Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. This ride was so much fun – couldn’t believe how fast it whips you around! Whew! Aria enjoyed it though I think she was a little nervous after the first whip!

Looking towards the back of Cars Land (RSR is in the back)

After the ride we headed further in and saw Lightning McQueen was leaving but Mater was coming in for a photo op!

Aria did NOT know what to think about posing with a car!

Grabbed a few more Cars Land pics

continued in next post!!

 

[Imagineer5]

Then to Luigi’s! Now I deliberately didn’t do that much research into Cars Land because I wanted to be surprised (although, I had intended to use the “wide right” strategy for RSR had it been needed!). So I had no idea what to expect. One super cute thing about these rides is they offer “valet parking” for the strollers – you take the stroller through the line and all the way into the ride and a CM comes over and parks it for you at the exit! By the way – neither of these had any sort of line which was awesome!

LOL

Gotta love Disney theming!

All the circles in the ground are air vents

Valet stroller parking

Riding!!

Luigi’s was fun but it was a lot of effort to move anywhere? It is basically a giant tire being moved around by air holes pouring through the pavement and you use your body to move it around. It was fun but actually might have been more fun had it been busier. It's one I wished we'd gone on again though to try it again.

Then we saw a photopass photographer out and decided on some pics before heading out of the area

At this point it was only 7:40 so we had to figure out what else to ride during this early entry time, as RSR was still down. Lynda’s favorite is Tower of Terror so we headed over that way – I got a rider swap for later and she headed in with zero wait! While we were waiting outside a trolley came by with a family and Chip & Dale!! I got excited to have Aria meet them but was told they were not meeting anyone else. Oh well – lucky family!

I was still waiting for Lynda when I realized it was almost 8AM and the Bugs Land area was almost open (and located right next to ToT!). The Bugs Land has a few toddler attractions I was excited to ride with Aria, so we headed over that way and sent a message to Lynda. First hopped on Francis’ Ladybug Boogie!

Yep just 4 little ladybugs! These rides were all very small.

Sooo cute!! And fun! Aria had so much fun. We didn’t spin it but it’s a lot like the tea cups where you get enough spin just from the ride.

Next we headed to Flik’s Flyers where Lynda made it in perfect time to hop on the ride with us!

continued in next post!

 

[Imagineer5]

Now it was time to change Aria’s shoes – LOL! I brought her cowboy boots with a bit of a heel because she was still about 35.5” and they had a ride (Tuck n Roll Drive Em Buggies) with a 36” height requirement. Bad DIS-er? Eh considering how tame the ride was I don’t feel bad about it. Now – with these shoes on Aria is now 37” tall – 1” shy of riding Seven Dwarfs. I am not sure about that though (for August). Anyway…back to the ride

Aria rode with Lynda this time and it was basically bumper cars. Fun but the height requirement was pretty silly IMO. (esp compared to Mater’s 32” height requirement where it whips you around!).

The last ride in the area was Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train. I honestly was a little disappointed by this one as I anticipated it being a bit longer, but Aria enjoyed it.

After that we hopped back on the Ladybug boogie since Lynda had missed it before and all had a blast again!

Since we were right there – I hopped on Tower of Terror with the rider swap while Lynda took Aria to the splash pad! I had an awesome ride but Aria had SUCH a great time running around the splash pad!

I love this pic!

I forgot my PP+ card to scan the photo on it...

Coming up next - Monster's Inc, Jake, and more DCA!

 

[Dugette]

Wow, that sure is an empty EMH!

Ha ha, based on being in the parks with you, jumping in front of your stroller is never a good idea! (just to clarify - you are a very good stroller driver, but FAST - more than he probably expected! )

Wow, check out Aria's accuracy on TSMM! Impressive.

Cars Land looks so fun to walk around! Love all the theming (the Bug's Land looks neat too).

I bet Aria was trying to figure out how to back into and sit on the car's lap.

Nice - valet stroller parking! Always nice when you can keep it through the line (hope they didn't throw it like at the safari, though! )

Aria looks like she's having SO much fun on the Ladybug ride!

Love the cowboy boots! You need to dress her as Jessie or something. I'm sure you can have a dress made from a Toy Story shirt.

Aw, she looks like she's having a blast in the Splash Pad too. What did she do to earn the Dum Dum, though?

 

[disneygirl2785]

Cars Land DOES look amazing!
And I thought the same thing about Aria's accuracy!
Its CRAZY how much shoes make a difference in height, smart to bring the boots!
I follow along because 1) you go so often you're always talking about a trip 2) I'm pretty sure we're close in age, so you're relatable 3) The way you do the parks with Aria seems so effortless that I want to copy every move you make 4) I might be obsessed with Aria's MJ/Upcycle collection (may I have your SPECIFIC upcycler?) 5) This is the first thread I've actually not been a lurker on 6) There is probably more, but I just like your reports!