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

[Imagineer5]

We only had to wait about 3 minutes for it to start, and once it did Aria really did love it. She is such an animal lover! At one point she fell off of the metal bleacher and skinned her knee, so that was no fun, but she was okay pretty quickly afterwards.

Side note, while in Texas over the weekend, we visited the Dallas Zoo. they have a Flights of Wonder meets Animal Actors type of show which was fantastic!

Aria thought this was our dog, Annie

After the show, we finally got to ride the Woody Woodpecker coaster! I forgot to mention – this area didn’t even open until 10AM, which meant that she was unable to play there earlier this morning AND my plan to do it tomorrow morning was thwarted as I wanted to be heading out by 10.

Anyway she loved the ride, and we went around again on it. I think it was slightly tamer than Flight of the Hippogriph, more like Barnstormer.

Next to the coaster is the Curious George play area, where there is a small playground area and then a bunch of water features to play in.

Perfect time to do it before a hot stroller nap – she would stay a lot cooler being a little wet, so I let her have her fun in there until 2 when I really did need to get her napping.

A quick potty break and she helped me lay her stroller seat back and hopped right in and was out in no time.

 

[Joyciemc]

I am so out of the loop with trip reports and the DIS in general! Glad I radomly checked in and saw yours

I was in Universal last week; a last minute trip with a friend and his family when someone had to drop out. It wasn't a smooth trip, and we ended up spending about 4 hours total at Universal/IOA only doing Harry Potter stuff. But I did get to ride Gringott's and Hogwarts Express, so that was awesome. Can't wait to go back. DH and I have a Universal/WDW trip planned for Feb.

We DID buy a boat. Neither of us have much boating experience, but we live SO close to the water, and have always wanted one... it's a Sun Ray Mirage 2500. Didn't get to use it this year, but it is all ready to go for the spring. Wish us luck!

I kept seeing photos on FB of you and Aria in Disney and was wondering how long your trip was! Now I get it; it was many trips

 

[TheMaxRebo]

that Suess carousel is super cute - looks like a lot of fun.

Lunch looks good to - looks like a great atmosphere. Smart move to go back for the Harry Potter ice cream though ... that is sneaky not letting you mix butter beer with anything else though. I think I would have gotten the two flavors you got.

Cute picture of Aria running through the play area

 

[JulieODC]

The Seuss carousel is so cute!! So fun!

Lunch looks really good -- especially that soup!! Glad you had a good meal!

Looks like you and Aria had a really nice time together!

 

[Imagineer5]

Sorry for my quick pace this week - I wanted to at least get to Disney in the TR before I head off again. Speaking of which, I wrote up daily plans for October but decided not to post them considering I'm in the middle of the august TR lol. But...this time in just 1 WEEK we'll be hopefully in our rental car on our way to the Grand Floridian!!

Actually question for you all. I snagged a 1900 Park Fare ressie for 11:10AM on Friday - which means we would just basically be arriving at the GF and then sit down for a late breakfast. I'm on the fence about cancelling, though I've never done breakfast there (with Alice & friends). But...if our flight is delayed or we hit major traffic we could miss it. And I want pool time before Aria naps at 1...I can't fit in 1900 Park Fare anywhere else in the trip.

I am so out of the loop with trip reports and the DIS in general! Glad I radomly checked in and saw yours

I was in Universal last week; a last minute trip with a friend and his family when someone had to drop out. It wasn't a smooth trip, and we ended up spending about 4 hours total at Universal/IOA only doing Harry Potter stuff. But I did get to ride Gringott's and Hogwarts Express, so that was awesome. Can't wait to go back. DH and I have a Universal/WDW trip planned for Feb.

We DID buy a boat. Neither of us have much boating experience, but we live SO close to the water, and have always wanted one... it's a Sun Ray Mirage 2500. Didn't get to use it this year, but it is all ready to go for the spring. Wish us luck!

I kept seeing photos on FB of you and Aria in Disney and was wondering how long your trip was! Now I get it; it was many trips

4 hours! Good you're getting back in February, sorry to hear this last one wasnt very smooth. What happened?? I am curious lol. What are your Feb plans?

Congrats on the boat! We are spending 1 last weekend out on ours this weekend, then it'll go away for winter storage as well.

Haha yeah people have stopped being surprised that I'm going back to Disney.

that Suess carousel is super cute - looks like a lot of fun.

Lunch looks good to - looks like a great atmosphere. Smart move to go back for the Harry Potter ice cream though ... that is sneaky not letting you mix butter beer with anything else though. I think I would have gotten the two flavors you got.

Cute picture of Aria running through the play area

Lunch was great, and the ice cream was definitely a must do and I'm glad I tried them. In October I envision us splitting a cup of Butterbeer ice cream, though maybe Andrew will want to try a different flavor.

The Seuss carousel is so cute!! So fun!

Lunch looks really good -- especially that soup!! Glad you had a good meal!

Looks like you and Aria had a really nice time together!

Thanks! YES we really, really did. August 2013 was a lot of fun (when she was 18 months) but exhausting, whereas this trip was more like we were vacation buddies and was just a lot easier.

 

[Imagineer5]

Instead of taking the boat back to the hotel, I decided to walk and stop at IoA to check out their Christmas shop – I really wanted to find a Harry Potter ornament to signify the trip down there. They didn’t have any but directed me to another shop, who had 1 but I didn’t like it, and they directed me to Filch’s which was back at Hogsmeade.

I decided to just wait until the next morning to cross that item off my to-do list. After that stop, I made my way back to the room and Aria was able to take a good long nap mostly in AC, and I think I just lied on the bed and played online for a bit. Unlike August 2013, I didn’t take a single nap this trip! But relaxing felt amazing anyway. Also I had etched quite the boo boo into my big toe (I’ll spare you the photo, though I did take one lol). It is finally healed now, just in time for October lol.

When Aria woke up, we decided to head down to the pool. I scoured the room for my flip flops (I only brought one pair, since they aren’t comfortable enough to wear in the parks). Couldn’t find them! I called the lost & found and sure enough, I had left them at the pool the previous day! LOL! Somehow I walked back barefoot and didn’t even realize they were gone. Someone from security was bringing them to me, which waylaid us by about 30 minutes (he took foreeverrrrr) and Aria was antsy to swim. Finally we got down to the pool…and they were just closing it due to spotted lightning in the distance. Boo! Aria had a little sandy time because at first they were saying just to stay out of the water, but within 2 minutes they said they were clearing the pool.

Luck was not on our side tonight, but we made the most of it and went up and just relaxed and played in the room.

I was being pretty wishy washy on what to do for dinner. I had reservations at Emeril’s Tchoup Chop which is right at RPR, but I really only cared to go for dessert. So we ended up doing left overs while we were in the room, and then headed down after a bit. I also took some photos of Aria on our walk down there, she was in a cute mood.

Cheeseeeeee

We were dressed up nicely for the meal, but I found the hostess incredibly rude to us. First she tried to just ignore us when we came in, but I announced we had reservations and she finally looked that up. Then considering the restaurant was fairly empty, and she tried to seat us in the first 2-top table next to the door, I requested a larger table so I could sit next to Aria and she basically left us standing there while she huffed off to “ask a manager”. Shortly thereafter she came back and led us to a bigger table right next to another family. There were a number of families there, so I don’t really know what her problem was.

Thankfully I didn’t let her attitude ruin the meal, as our server was really great. I actually ended up ordering a caprese salad as my main dish and I also started off with a Bangkok Beauty – the drink LOL.

Aria had chocolate milk with whipped cream! WOW!

Instead of a usual bread service, they brought out these shrimp chip things. I am having a brain fart as to what they are called. But, despite the fact that I don’t like shrimp I did try them and they were delicious (and decidedly not shrimpy at all). Aria really liked them too. Bonus, they were served with a spicy dipping sauce. So probably the best free bread service I’ve had in a long time! And fun that it was different.

Aria had a few bites of the caprese, which was fantastic and very fresh. The actual name was the Ugly Tomato and the description was: UGLY TOMATO
HEIRLOOM TOMATOES, MOZZARELLA, ARUGULA, SHOYU BALSAMIC GLAZE AND A MACADAMIA NUT- THAI BASIL PESTO

Aria was being super sweet

Then I ordered two desserts! #1 CHEF EMERIL'S SIGNATURE BANANA CREAM PIE - GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST AND CARAMEL SAUCE

And the 2nd one they don’t have on their online menu, but it was a rich dark chocolate lava cake (which I can never EVER pass up!). We actually ended up finishing the chocolate, and had a few bites of the banana pie, but it was HUGEEEE and I was full, so I took that back to the room with plans to have a super healthy pie breakfast the next day…lol!

 

[Imagineer5]

After dinner I snapped a couple more photos as Aria was just in a silly goofy mood. It was about 7, so I decided we’d try for the pool again for a little while. That turned out to be a great idea, as we had a blast playing with the balls and noodles other things they have for the kids.

She was being a noodle hog but I made her give two of them up.

I don’t think it was very easy to convince her to leave, though I didn’t have to bring her kicking and screaming either lol, and we took some quick showers before heading to sleep. First I gave her a little present I had picked up - a toy Hogwarts Express. Just a little one that moves when you wind it up, but she absolutely loved it and still plays with it!

The next day I cross off the remaining Universal to-do’s, stop at a camera repair shop, and $300 later finally get to Disney! YAY!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Bummer about not finding a Harry Potter ornament at the Christmas Shop - you'd think they would have tons of them ... hope you got one the next day

And double bummer about being delayed getting to the pool and then having them close it once you got there - very happy that you had some pool time after dinner - Aria looks to be having a blast

And that sounds like a super dinner to me! Late summer some tomatoes from our garden with mozzarella and balsamic reduction is often our dinner, so I fully approve

 

[schmass]

That is so awesome! I hope it works out too!

I looked into offsite hotels, but I would really like to be within walking distance to the parks (you know my dislike for shuttles/buses now lol). DLH is a 2 minute walk to both parks, hotel NY is probably an 8-10 minute walk, and the other hotels get a little further out (I studied the map lol). I didn't see any offsite hotels that you could still walk to the parks, but if you hear of any please let me know! That being said, right now I am being quoted $1600 for a room at the New York hotel (deluxe), inclusive of park tickets and breakfast, for the 3 of us for 4 nights. At WDW the park tickets alone would be 240*3, so $720 or so just for the tickets, 4 breakfasts for 3 (since Aria will be 3 then) say 60*4 so $240, so that is $960 already. 640/4 = 160 per night for a deluxe room easily walkable to both parks - seems pretty reasonable. They are running a special though at the moment (through October 15th) - so I hope I *know* by 10/15 and can book on that day.

Where in Germany is your company headquartered? Have you traveled there with Rory? (love the name BTW!). We traveled there last September to Holland, Germany (Oberwesel on the Rhein, Rothenburg and Fussen) and then Italy with Aria. It was awesome.

Okay, so you inspired me to look into the DLP hotels again, and actually it may be cheaper or at least no more expensive than offsite. Where did you see that the promotion ends 10/15? I find the DLP website really hard to navigate.

My company is headquartered in Bonn - not the most exciting town, but has a cute town center. Rory hasn't been yet - I skipped the meeting/party last year because he was only 7 months old and I couldn't bear to leave him! I've been to Rothenburg when I was a kid and loved it there!

Now, some actual comments about your TR

Your report has me seriously wanting to go to Universal sooner rather than later. I really didn't have much interest before, and then with the HP stuff I had a little interest, and now I really want to go!

Bummer about the lightning warning just as you made it to the pool. We had that happen at BLT in February. I'm glad that Aria got to swim later!

She looked so adorable in that floral dress and the cowboy boots. So cute.

I can't believe how rude the hostess was to you guys, but that food looked seriously delicious!

 

[wiscbugs]

Love Aria's boots...so cute!

 

[Joyciemc]

Love your Universal updates; making me very glad we've decided to head back next time we're in FL!

Emeril's looked yummy... though that hostess was a jerk.


Having re-discovered trip reports, I am feeling inspired to start a PTR for our February trip. We're also headed to Disneyland in November, so I might do a TR for that!

 

[Imagineer5]

Bummer about not finding a Harry Potter ornament at the Christmas Shop - you'd think they would have tons of them ... hope you got one the next day

And double bummer about being delayed getting to the pool and then having them close it once you got there - very happy that you had some pool time after dinner - Aria looks to be having a blast

And that sounds like a super dinner to me! Late summer some tomatoes from our garden with mozzarella and balsamic reduction is often our dinner, so I fully approve

Yeah?! No Harry Potter ornaments at all in the 1 holiday shop? LOL. I thought it would be like Disney where the DTD Christmas shop has everything! Oh well.

Yes, we do it all the time too! Sometimes it's our side with burgers (black bean veggie for me), other times it is the main dish. It's one of those always-delicious dishes! And on a hot August day, it was perfect. The pool was a bummer but we still had a fun night!

Okay, so you inspired me to look into the DLP hotels again, and actually it may be cheaper or at least no more expensive than offsite. Where did you see that the promotion ends 10/15? I find the DLP website really hard to navigate.

My company is headquartered in Bonn - not the most exciting town, but has a cute town center. Rory hasn't been yet - I skipped the meeting/party last year because he was only 7 months old and I couldn't bear to leave him! I've been to Rothenburg when I was a kid and loved it there!

Now, some actual comments about your TR

Your report has me seriously wanting to go to Universal sooner rather than later. I really didn't have much interest before, and then with the HP stuff I had a little interest, and now I really want to go!

Bummer about the lightning warning just as you made it to the pool. We had that happen at BLT in February. I'm glad that Aria got to swim later!

She looked so adorable in that floral dress and the cowboy boots. So cute.

I can't believe how rude the hostess was to you guys, but that food looked seriously delicious!

I looked at their current promotions? I think I was using the UK site at the time - disneylandparis.co.uk. They had one winter offer which expires I think 9/30 and then one that extends through 2015 that expires 10/15.

Also, I noticed that looking at the hours, the parks have shorter hours and you must stay onsite for early entry - but they are like 10-8, so starting pretty late. EE is 8-10, so that is 2 whole hours. I haven't looked up the probable hours for when we will be there, and actually spent some time looking at VRBO and Airbnb (found some AWESOME places for Paris, Beaune, and Nice!!) but the walkability & hours came to mind as the biggest drawback for offsite...

Anywayyy...that is really cool that you basically have a European flight paid for yearly. The things you can do!

Universal WAS a lot of fun. I can't imagine going JUST to Universal, but I can definitely see it coming fairly regularly in the trips for 1 day or so. Even 2 nights onsite again would be nice, because it makes you slow down just a little bit and relax.

Hahah thank you! And yes dinner was great. I learned a bit actually from going to Disneyland with my friend Lynda. She is SUCH a positive person, that nothing really fazed her? And it allowed me to see a whole different perspective on the August trip and stay positive really most of the time. Even when super crap comes up like my next day! LOL

Love Aria's boots...so cute!

Hahaha thank you! We looked for some for when she outgrows them when we were in Texas, but didn't find anything super special that we couldn't just order online.

Love your Universal updates; making me very glad we've decided to head back next time we're in FL!

Emeril's looked yummy... though that hostess was a jerk.


Having re-discovered trip reports, I am feeling inspired to start a PTR for our February trip. We're also headed to Disneyland in November, so I might do a TR for that!

Hey did you see my Disneyland TR updates (earlier in the thread)?? We had so much fun!! Where are you staying?? That is so awesome. You have some fun things ahead!

Yeah the hostess was a jerk! LOL.

 

[Dugette]

Glad you had a great lunch and ice cream dessert!

What, so your dog doesn’t moonlight at Universal?

Hmmm, good question on the 1900 Park Fare. It would make me a little nervous. And I don’t know if Andrew would be on board with rushing there? It sounds fun, though, if you can swing it.

Boo to the pool closure!

Love Aria’s outfit and boots for dinner – super cute!

Annoying hostess! Glad you didn’t let her attitude drag you down.

So, I read your update earlier at work and just coming back to comment now – however, it got caprese in my head and I had to go buy some tomatoes and mozzarella tonight and we had it for dinner (along with some risotto). Yum! I’m not sure if we’d had it since Izzy was born. Thanks for the reminder!

Yay, TWO desserts! Mmmmm, chocolate lava cake!

Glad that you got in the pool after all. Aria just seemed to be in a great mood that night – very cute!

 

[ribollita]

I didn't even think about epcot EMH and small kids-- will look forward to your comments on it but am already rethinking my plan. Thanks!

 

[Nora03]

Hi Lauren. I've just found your trip report(s) and have enjoyed reading them over the last few days. Your daughter is precious - what a sweetie! I loved dressing my daughters like that and doing their hair in cute pigtails when they were that age.

I can't believe how well she sleeps for you in the stroller and loves it! Do you know how lucky you are? Some little ones won't sleep anywhere except their own beds.

I was very interested in your Disney math re purchasing DVC. I'm no expert. I'm a DVC renter and not an owner, and it's too late for us now. We are probably your parents age. However, I think it is perfect for a young couple and you would save a ton if you took the plunge. I think an average of $187/night for a one bedroom is really cheap. Although maintenance costs will likely increase, the cost of purchasing will not and how much more will you be paying for rooms in 20, 30 or 40 years if you continue to rent?

You asked for comments and that's my two cents. Good luck with your decision.

Looking forward to reading more trip reports.

 

[Joyciemc]

Hey did you see my Disneyland TR updates (earlier in the thread)?? We had so much fun!! Where are you staying?? That is so awesome. You have some fun things ahead!

Yeah the hostess was a jerk! LOL.

I did read your DL updates, and they were very useful! Definitely will be stopping by Trader Sam's!
We needed this to be super-budgety because we accidentally bought a boat and then went on a crazy long vacation so we couldn't stay at a Disneyland hotel, but we're at the Red Lion Anaheim (some of which will be paid by Ben's company because we are going to SoCal for their holiday party)

I did end up starting a Pre-trip Report, the link's in my signature.

 

[khertz]

I'm all caught up now on your August trip, and loving all of the HP pictures. I can't wait to get back there next year!

As for a France trip, we honestly LOVED DLP, and I think you will too! It's such a beautiful park, and so well themed. I hope we are able to plan another trip there sometime in the future and spend more time.

 

[Imagineer5]

Glad you had a great lunch and ice cream dessert!

What, so your dog doesn’t moonlight at Universal?

Hmmm, good question on the 1900 Park Fare. It would make me a little nervous. And I don’t know if Andrew would be on board with rushing there? It sounds fun, though, if you can swing it.

Boo to the pool closure!

Love Aria’s outfit and boots for dinner – super cute!

Annoying hostess! Glad you didn’t let her attitude drag you down.

So, I read your update earlier at work and just coming back to comment now – however, it got caprese in my head and I had to go buy some tomatoes and mozzarella tonight and we had it for dinner (along with some risotto). Yum! I’m not sure if we’d had it since Izzy was born. Thanks for the reminder!

Yay, TWO desserts! Mmmmm, chocolate lava cake!

Glad that you got in the pool after all. Aria just seemed to be in a great mood that night – very cute!

Hahaha it is so delicious! Glad you enjoyed the dinner. Did Izzy enjoy it? I do love chocolate lava cake.

She really was, it was just such a fun day! And a great night. I'm glad we had a little food beforehand to eat up some of the left overs, but then still went out (I had debated just cancelling but really wanted dessert! Darn sweet tooth!).

I didn't even think about epcot EMH and small kids-- will look forward to your comments on it but am already rethinking my plan. Thanks!

The first hour there was literally ONE ride open that Aria could ride. ONE! (Living with the land). It was so annoying! We still had fun though

Hi Lauren. I've just found your trip report(s) and have enjoyed reading them over the last few days. Your daughter is precious - what a sweetie! I loved dressing my daughters like that and doing their hair in cute pigtails when they were that age.

I can't believe how well she sleeps for you in the stroller and loves it! Do you know how lucky you are? Some little ones won't sleep anywhere except their own beds.

I was very interested in your Disney math re purchasing DVC. I'm no expert. I'm a DVC renter and not an owner, and it's too late for us now. We are probably your parents age. However, I think it is perfect for a young couple and you would save a ton if you took the plunge. I think an average of $187/night for a one bedroom is really cheap. Although maintenance costs will likely increase, the cost of purchasing will not and how much more will you be paying for rooms in 20, 30 or 40 years if you continue to rent?

You asked for comments and that's my two cents. Good luck with your decision.

Looking forward to reading more trip reports.

Hi!! Welcome! And thank you so much for the comments! I totally 100% agree that 187 per night for an on-site deluxe disney 1 bedroom is worth it. The only flaw with that is that I can get a 2 bedroom condo off site (right next to the Animal Kingdom lodge) for $350 for a week... that is where my math falls apart.

Yes, we definitely know how lucky we are - with her sleeping and just overall how stinking SWEET this kid is. Seriously! She tells me she loves me about 20 times each day, with hugs and kisses to boot. No wonder I want to give her the world! But yes, regarding her sleeping - I think a big part of that is also how much time she has spent napping in the stroller. It isn't like the first time we tried it was at age 3 you know? she's an old pro at it now! lol.

At the moment regarding DVC, I am thinking that IF we end up coming into a nice lump sum of money, then I can see using it for that (especially once Poly opens). However for now I probably won't be renting on-site for at least the next year with all the other plans we have (we plan to stay at Shades of Green in May), so 2016 is the earliest I'd consider it anyway.

I did read your DL updates, and they were very useful! Definitely will be stopping by Trader Sam's!
We needed this to be super-budgety because we accidentally bought a boat and then went on a crazy long vacation so we couldn't stay at a Disneyland hotel, but we're at the Red Lion Anaheim (some of which will be paid by Ben's company because we are going to SoCal for their holiday party)

I did end up starting a Pre-trip Report, the link's in my signature.

That will still be great, so nice how many hotels are walkable to the parks. I was hoping that was the case with DLP, but it looks like only the Disney hotels are walkable, and even some of those have shuttles.

I'll check out the pre trip report!

Mmmmm just don't share the big kahuna or whatever it was called! LOL

I'm all caught up now on your August trip, and loving all of the HP pictures. I can't wait to get back there next year!

As for a France trip, we honestly LOVED DLP, and I think you will too! It's such a beautiful park, and so well themed. I hope we are able to plan another trip there sometime in the future and spend more time.

Are you doing an Italy & DLP report??? I AM SO excited to visit DLP. How many nights did you stay there? I saw you were upgraded to the DLH - that is SOOOOO AMAZING I am so jealous! LOL. I'd love to know what you thought of dining, did you do the dining plan? Breakfast was included right? I saw your post regarding the Studios being a useless park LOL besides two rides, really nothing else was fun? even if Paxton had been along?

You guys should plan for next September to re-visit with Paxton!

 

[Imagineer5]

A couple updates then back to August! 1) I have decided to go the easy route and ordered an Elsa t-shirt for myself for the MNSSHP. Andrew is wearing an Olaf one, and I bought an Elsa dress but I just hate it. It doesn’t fit well and is the least flattering thing I have ever put on. To boot that is my birthday and I decided I didn’t want to be itchy and uncomfortable for hours that night. Soooo thanks to Amazon prime my Elsa t-shirt should arrive Wednesday. Hope it fits!

Also, this morning I walked into Aria’s bedroom to get her up (at 6 am, poor thing!) and she hopped out of bed, went over to some toys, grabbed her Duffy bear and said I want to meet Duffy again Mommy! Of course, I told Andrew that we must meet duffy a couple times. Then we had a cute conversation in the car ride to daycare – I held up 4 fingers and told Aria to count them, she did and I said
“Aria that means we only have FOUR days until Disney!!”
She said “YAY I can’t wait” and I said “Do you know who is coming with us?” she said “who mommy?”
“Grammy and Papa!”
“YAY and Daddy too!! But not Annie”
I said, “no, no dogs allowed”
She said “can we bring Maxy (our cat)?”
“Nope, no cats or dogs or chickens or fish allowed”
“Oh okay! I can’t wait! I want to meet Princess Cinderella! And Ariel! And ride the choo choo! And goofy’s Barnstormer!”

Haha she knows what she wants! Can’t believe the trip is almost here!

Lastly, after my final Disney day & dropping the camera for a SECOND time, that lens is in the shop and won't be complete before the trip (waiting on a Japanese part to be delivered). So, I treated myself to a 30mm f/1.4 prime lens. with the low (1.4) aperture, I am super excited to try it out at Disney this trip.

Anyway moving on! Day 3 – Sunday August 24th! This was the day I oringally was heading to Disney! So awesome that we had already done so much. This morning I quickly packed up and called for bell services to take my luggage downstairs, then we headed out to Islands of Adventure for Early Entry at 8am. While in line, we ate the banana pie for breakfast! I chose IoA for this morning since Aria could at least ride the Flight of the Hippogriph, and during Early Entry I could finally check out the interactive wand stuff as well as browse the shops for an ornament.

Pics from our walk over

Then we made our way to the back of the park and slowly walked in checking out the shops as we went. First stop was to get a few pics of the Hogwarts Express (this is non-moving). Aria went to stand in front of it and I got a couple pics Then the train blared its horn! And it totally freaked out Aria!

but I talked her into going back

Everyone else was heading to FJ I'm sure.

After that fun we stopped at a couple shops

Then, I went for the camera as we rounded the corner and the Hogwarts castle came into view, and it smashed into the ground. The lens filter shattered, so we pulled to the stroller parking area and I spent a couple minutes trying to get it off, to check if the lens itself was broken, but the lens filter had smashed into the lens and I couldn’t get it off. UGH not the way I wanted to start my day. So I stored it away in the backpack and the rest of the pics at least for the next few hours are with my iphone.

With that on the back of my mind, we rode the Flight of the Hippogriph twice

Front row!

then we got the back row!

then took a few pictures in front of the castle, and thanks to a CM I got in the pic with her. LOVE this upcycle!

After that I went into Filch’s where they did have a cute ornament, and I bought that (apparently no pic though, sorry!) and I also asked if they had any pliers or wrenches or anything which of course they did not, but said I should check out the camera shop at Universal to see if they could help. On our way to the Hogwarts Express to hop to the other park, we tried out the interactive wand. There were a couple that I just could NOT get to work, but we did do a few that worked. They were as I had read, a bit tough but I suppose spell casting is an art form, after all…

Anyway we then took the train to Diagon Alley.

Before leaving this area, I wanted to get a photo of Aria on Hagrid’s bike (see, checking off all these random to-dos LOL)!

My last to-do was to get a photo of Aria with the Universal shark. This was mainly because I always took one when I was little visiting Universal Studios Hollywood. At first she wouldn't get very close to the shark, but I did talk her into getting under the mouth...

Then we made our way to the front of the park to find the camera shop. Aria pointed out Shaggy and Scooby Doo and said she wanted to meet them?? So we stopped for that

I hopped in the photo since she wasn't looking too sure about them.

Once at the camera shop, the CM there was very unhelpful and said I should go to Best Buy. At this point I started searching on my phone for camera repair shops (since I didn’t think to bring a second lens – BTW I already packed a second lens for our October trip just in case!). Of course it was before 10AM on a Sunday, so no one was answering and half the numbers were wrong numbers to begin with. And Best Buy did NOT repair cameras. Ugh!

 

[Imagineer5]

We ended up taking the boat back to the hotel, and while aria was enjoying the ride, I finally got through to a shop that was OPEN and said they could take a look at it. So I quickly got the car from the valet, bell services loaded the car, and we headed over to the shop. A few wrong turns and we finally made it. I took some photos while we waited…I think Aria got into a time out for running around the shop after I told her not to, lol but other than that she was being very patient.

And…$300 later he got the broken lens filter off, the lens itself was fine (!!!! That was an 800 lens, whew!), had a new filter on there and had also talked me into a wide angle thingy…but hey, at least I would have the camera for the rest of the trip! And we were making good time, I had a 12PM reservation for Trail’s End that I had been worried about making, but we had time to check in and then take the boat over.

Shhh I was driving and taking a pic...(hey, it was all for you guys!)

It was so nice to be back on Disney property - check in was super fast (I love being greeted by a CM with an ipad and basically being checked in before you even get to the counter. She asked me if this was my home resort, and I didn’t want to lie so I told her that I was actually using a friend’s points – and she replied “even better!” lol! And then proceeded to say that since we are staying on points, we are welcome to use the Top of the World Lounge! Sweet! I had been worried about getting up there with TheMaxRebo & family, but I at least had this CM’s statement backing me that I could…

Our room wasn’t ready, but I had bell services check our bags, parked the car and then we walked over to the boat. I noticed the Contemporary pool as we passed it and the splash pad area, which Aria would have loved, though we never did make it to that pool. At this point I realized I forgot one stroller-folding scenario – getting on the boat! Whoops. I quickly stuffed everything in the backpack and folded it up and it wasn’t a big deal thankfully. We had a really nice ride over to the Fort Wilderness.

Aria said "I want to do that!!"

And we checked in right on time. I don’t know why exactly, but the hostesses were not all that friendly and nor was our waitress. It could have just been my flustered mood from the crazy morning, but things just felt off. And it took her a good 20 minutes to bring me my drink (it came after my appetizer showed up!) so that was annoying…as it was much needed at that point lol…

Anyway, this was a new-to-us restaurant I wanted to visit, so we took in the surroundings. It was cute, and rustic, not really my style though.

I think they have a buffet for breakfast? Some people were going up and getting food, so not sure what that was all about.

Aria had some chocolate milk and was in a pretty good mood for lunch.

Love the mason jars.

I ordered the stuffed jalapenos and pulled off the bacon (surprisingly, Aria didn’t want the bacon) – these were delicious! Only slightly spicy (boo!) but great.

My drink finally arrived and Aria ate my raspberries.

I ordered the chicken & waffles. This was AMAZING. Seriously delicious! Aria had some of my chicken along with some snacks that I had in the backpack. The maple sauce on this was TDF, it was not too sweet but just perfect and delicious.

Lunch overall was really great! I don’t know if it is worth the hike to get there (driving the car wouldn’t be any faster since you have to take an internal bus anyway), but I would consider it again if we needed to be over there for something.

Oh and I took a cell pic of my camera…

Then I gave Aria the choice of the playground or a pony ride – my original intention was to do the pony ride, but a few weeks prior to the trip she started horseback riding lessons so that seemed a little silly, and when we got off the boat earlier she really REALLY wanted to play at the playground. I told her we could only do 1 of the 2 things, and she chose the playground.

While she was playing, I got a text that my room was ready with a room number! My only request had been the 5th floor, which is the same floor as the walkway to the Contemporary, but my room was on the 4th. A little bummed but I was excited anyway to get to the room and do some unpacking.