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

[Joyciemc]

It really blows about the SD card...

The photo of Aria looking up at her balloon in front of the castle is gorgeous!!

 

[Dugette]

Oh yay!! You'll have to let me know if you do end up going and we overlap those days. We are doing Saturday-Saturday so 5/9-16 so we should def. overlap. the 15th is Lynda's birthday so I am tentatively planning MK for hte morning and EPCOT for the evening.

Will keep you posted! I feel so up in the air on this whole trip that I haven't even made a ticker, despite having a cruise booked. I'm sure we'll sort it out soon. As much as we do want to get to DL, we both REALLY want to do this Land and Sea - plus, it was the justification for me getting the AP. And the timing is great in that we will probably be able to catch both Flower & Garden (never been!) and Star Wars Weekends! And I really want to cruise - it's been TOO long!

That sounds like an awesome combo!! Napa & DL! We will be doing something like that prob in 2-3 years as I really want to show Andrew & Aria Monterey & Carmel, and of course include some Napa and Disneyland time as well.

That does sound like an awesome trip! Like you, we like to plan our own thing and wouldn't do the ABD, but we for sure want to take a trip like that sometime. I've driven the CA coast/Hwy 1 a couple times pre-Dug, but he never has been. Love it!


So sorry you haven't been able to find that memory card! I'm still hoping it shows up somehow. Keep checking with Disney too, just in case. That really sucks. Was your walking-to-the-castle picture on there too or do you have PP for that?

Back to August! You ended up getting some really sweet pictures in front of the castle. I love the outtake! Reminds me of how Izzy was wearing her Minnie ear headband on her chest yesterday. Toddlers are silly.

PP pics are cute too. I like the magic shots and having Mickey in them is adorable.

Nice balloon pics too!

Oh, also, I was thinking about Aria's foot injury for some reason today and just wanted to ask how she's doing? Everything heal up okay?

 

[Imagineer5]

We've never been to California so it seemed like a good excuse to get there. The other ABD that sounded cool (I mean, a lot of them sounded cool) was the one to France that included a stop at Disneyland Paris

So the Hershey DISmeet next year is a bit later than Easter - it is June 26th adn 27th

I will admit looking at the ABD trip itineraries to get ideas for where to go on vacations, along with Rick Steves and a few others. They do have a great system down, and for something more remote (like say my dream to visit Peru/Amazon/Galapagos) I could see maybe using a tour. Maybe

California is awesome. I was so happy to get a chance to go visit Lynda last October when she was in Monterey, and spend a day at the Disney family museum in SF. Andrew and I also spent a long weekend in Napa & Sonoma in 2008 and have been wanting to go back.

Ah yes that is a bit later well I will keep it in mind, though that is right before our Cape week.

It really blows about the SD card...

The photo of Aria looking up at her balloon in front of the castle is gorgeous!!

Aw thank you!! Yes, it does.

Will keep you posted! I feel so up in the air on this whole trip that I haven't even made a ticker, despite having a cruise booked. I'm sure we'll sort it out soon. As much as we do want to get to DL, we both REALLY want to do this Land and Sea - plus, it was the justification for me getting the AP. And the timing is great in that we will probably be able to catch both Flower & Garden (never been!) and Star Wars Weekends! And I really want to cruise - it's been TOO long!



That does sound like an awesome trip! Like you, we like to plan our own thing and wouldn't do the ABD, but we for sure want to take a trip like that sometime. I've driven the CA coast/Hwy 1 a couple times pre-Dug, but he never has been. Love it!


So sorry you haven't been able to find that memory card! I'm still hoping it shows up somehow. Keep checking with Disney too, just in case. That really sucks. Was your walking-to-the-castle picture on there too or do you have PP for that?

Back to August! You ended up getting some really sweet pictures in front of the castle. I love the outtake! Reminds me of how Izzy was wearing her Minnie ear headband on her chest yesterday. Toddlers are silly.

PP pics are cute too. I like the magic shots and having Mickey in them is adorable.

Nice balloon pics too!

Oh, also, I was thinking about Aria's foot injury for some reason today and just wanted to ask how she's doing? Everything heal up okay?

YES, the walking to the castle photos were on that one. Of course we only did it that one morning. UGH.

Thanks for asking about her foot - she has a mighty scar but it is okay otherwise. It healed quickly and over the summer I just kept lathering it up with sunscreen - I hope that over the winter it will diminish quite a bit since it won't see any sun.

You should just go for it for the cruise!! Hopefully the work thing doesn't overlap, or if it does maybe check out surrounding weeks that you could do it instead? Plan DL for another time!

 

[Imagineer5]

And then we headed to breakfast.

It didn’t seem very busy this morning and we had a good table located in the center of the right-hand room. After a much needed coffee & juice order, we waited just a minute for Eeyore to come. Aria was really enjoying the autographs and was excited to hand them over to each character! Eeyore was the one she kept forgetting his name (but she does remember now!) but he still got some great big hugs nonetheless.

Then we headed up to get some food. I think I had a whole bowl full of the breakfast lasagna, plus a lot of other things. Definitely one of the best breakfasts on property! I was just telling Andrew on the last trip that this will still be 100% worth it even when we have to pay for Aria next year.

Aria started out with a Mickey waffle and lots of fruit!

Pooh came around next and we had a great interaction with him. He loved her outfit and stuck around for quite a bit just giving hugs and such.

Today’s characters were making their rounds very quickly (good thing, IMO!) and next came Tigger. On my birthday, it was 9:05 before we had to request to meet Piglet so we could go, despite being seated at the same time.

And a kiss!

Aria used to be afraid of Tigger but now she is most excited to meet him! She got in some good bouncing with Tigger.

While waiting for Piglet we finished up our breakfasts and paid, Aria was having a blast so I snapped a few pics of her silliness. Guess she just needed some breakfast in her to lighten her mood.

Piglet came by and was sweet as ever

Then we headed outside. Little did I know – it downpoured during our breakfast and was still raining! There was ZERO forewarning of that and I hadn’t put the rain cover on the stroller! Whoops. The seat was damp though thankfully the cover had been open, so we ended up rushing over to the Winnie the Pooh ride, throwing on the rain cover and spending a good amount of time just playing in the empty queue.

After letting quite a few people pass us we finally headed on the ride, and thankfully it had cleared up when we came out.

 

[JulieODC]

Hopefully a little miracle will happen and your memory card will turn up!!

What a nice MK morning! Love all the pictures pre-opening -- even the outtake!!

We did breakfast at CP for the first time on our last trip, and will definitely go back! DD loves Pooh, and it was a nice meal overall. Although, the characters were pretty slow...so that's great that they moved fairly quickly for you guys!

Have you ever done WDW in early January? It's almost been a year since our last visit, and I'm getting some serious withdrawal. Realistically though, the only time we could squeeze in a visit for a while would be early January.

 

[Imagineer5]

Hopefully a little miracle will happen and your memory card will turn up!!

What a nice MK morning! Love all the pictures pre-opening -- even the outtake!!

We did breakfast at CP for the first time on our last trip, and will definitely go back! DD loves Pooh, and it was a nice meal overall. Although, the characters were pretty slow...so that's great that they moved fairly quickly for you guys!

Have you ever done WDW in early January? It's almost been a year since our last visit, and I'm getting some serious withdrawal. Realistically though, the only time we could squeeze in a visit for a while would be early January.

Thank you, I sure hope so. I keep running through everything in my head - thinking of every single thing we packed and checking every possible spot I could have put it.

We found the characters much slower in October - but found it really depends on where you are seated. This morning we were in the center circle, which the characters visit after 1 hallway of tables, so pretty quickly. Our 1st visit in October (we went twice lol!) we were in the 2nd hallway which was basically the last section for the characters to visit, and that took forever to see them. Plus the timing of them coming out changes things too. Anyway, it is definitely a must-do for me!

No I haven't been early January! I bet we will visit in January in the years to come, with Aria's birthday and all. I know they keep the holiday stuff up through the 5th or so, so that would be cool to see. I equate Disney to HOT (awesome, IMO) weather, so that is why I even have hesitation at going in December, as it can be chilly. January would be even colder...certainly warmer than home but I want shorts & tank top weather! Though, maybe Andrew would enjoy it more if he wasn't so hot! LOL.

 

[Imagineer5]

Next we headed in the direction of the Barnstormer, but Aria saw the tea cups and wanted to ride!

Dumbo also proved to be a distraction so we headed in there next. She always wants to get in a little play time, though in October she ventured to the big kids area and had a blast there!

Then we rode Dumbo

The finally headed to Barnstormer! That is still Aria’s favorite ride (so far anyway) at Disney.

The crowds seemed very light this day as all of these were walk ons. More what I am used to for early mornings (9-10:30AM or so) vs. what we experienced in June or October. Anyway I next wanted to head over to Adventureland, and on the way we stopped for a ride at the Haunted Mansion. This one did frighten Aria a little bit but once on the ride she was fine.

Next stop was the Jungle Cruise – I actually had FP booked for this one and the line was about 20 minutes long at this point, so it saved us a little waiting. We really enjoyed the ride and our skipper was great.

Aria waving goodbye

Aria was very excited to point out "Mommy, Daddy and Aria" elephants

Of course our next stop was Pirates!! Aria and I were having Arrrrrrr contests all the way through the line (there wasn’t much of a wait). This continued until a CM heard us and popped up saying ARRRRR and well…scared Aria and she wouldn’t say it anymore…lol!

Anyway the ride is fun and she has finally gotten over her fear of it!

Aria again enjoyed pointing out all the animals in the scenes, which helps make it less scary.

To close out Adventureland we waited about 10 minutes for the magic carpets and enjoyed that,

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Glad you enjoyed your breakfast at CP - definitely a lot of yummy things there and good character interaction! It's one of our favorite breakfast places - though we like Tusker House a lot too ... and had a good experience at CRT this past trip too ... guess breakfast is just a good option at Disney

You did get a lot done! getting a number of rides done quickly with not wait is very good! I enjoy the queue at Pooh - it's nothing over the top but enough to keep the kids busy when there is a wait.

Peter does the same thing in denoting animals as the "mommy" or "baby" (he usually says baby, not Peter) ... but sometimes he forces it and even if not actually a baby the smallest animal gets made the baby

Cute story with the "arggghh!!"

 

[Dugette]

Glad that her foot is doing well. Sounds like you are doing the right thing - for Izzy's mole removal scar, the doctor said to keep it covered in sunscreen because it would be more sensitive to the light. It has faded a lot and is not terribly noticeable anymore, so hoping the same for Aria!

Anyway, yay for breakfast at Crystal Palace! I agree, very much a must-do! It was hard for me to skip it in August, but just no time. I'm sure we'll be there next time. Glad that Aria had a good time and was in a fun mood.

You did get a lot done in the MK that morning. Love when you can do that with the lack of crowds. I can't wait to take Izzy on the Barnstormer! Glad Aria is a coaster fan.

That's a cute story about the Mommy, Daddy, and Aria elephants! Last night at dinner, Izzy had two full crayons and one broken (therefore short) crayon and told me they were Mommy crayon, Daddy crayon, and Baby crayon (broken one). Love the things these kiddos come up with!

That's cute with the Aaaarggh contest at Pirates (except for the CM scaring her). In August, Izzy learned to sing Yo Ho while we were in line and it's one of my favorite memories. I guess the Pirates line is good for Mommy/Daughter pirate-themed bonding!

 

[khertz]

Oh, I'm just so devastated for you about your missing card & photos. That is really terrible. I hope for you that they still turn up some kind of way.

I love seeing Aria enjoy the attractions! She looks like she is really having a blast. I love the Pirates aargh contest. It sounds really funny, except that the CM actually scared her and she stopped. I guess she is still just a little too young for that!

 

[Joyciemc]

Sounds like a wonderful morning in MK! Glad that Aria is so comfortable with the rides now!

 

[Imagineer5]

Glad you enjoyed your breakfast at CP - definitely a lot of yummy things there and good character interaction! It's one of our favorite breakfast places - though we like Tusker House a lot too ... and had a good experience at CRT this past trip too ... guess breakfast is just a good option at Disney

You did get a lot done! getting a number of rides done quickly with not wait is very good! I enjoy the queue at Pooh - it's nothing over the top but enough to keep the kids busy when there is a wait.

Peter does the same thing in denoting animals as the "mommy" or "baby" (he usually says baby, not Peter) ... but sometimes he forces it and even if not actually a baby the smallest animal gets made the baby

Cute story with the "arggghh!!"

I have definitely found breakfast to be one of the best things to do at disney, especially on days you can get it in before the park opens. We wake up so early that 9AM openings are midway through our morning as it is lol.

Pooh is a lot of fun, we have definitely played in there multiple times when we could have just walked right on. That is cute about Peter doing a similar thing!

Glad that her foot is doing well. Sounds like you are doing the right thing - for Izzy's mole removal scar, the doctor said to keep it covered in sunscreen because it would be more sensitive to the light. It has faded a lot and is not terribly noticeable anymore, so hoping the same for Aria!

Anyway, yay for breakfast at Crystal Palace! I agree, very much a must-do! It was hard for me to skip it in August, but just no time. I'm sure we'll be there next time. Glad that Aria had a good time and was in a fun mood.

You did get a lot done in the MK that morning. Love when you can do that with the lack of crowds. I can't wait to take Izzy on the Barnstormer! Glad Aria is a coaster fan.

That's a cute story about the Mommy, Daddy, and Aria elephants! Last night at dinner, Izzy had two full crayons and one broken (therefore short) crayon and told me they were Mommy crayon, Daddy crayon, and Baby crayon (broken one). Love the things these kiddos come up with!

That's cute with the Aaaarggh contest at Pirates (except for the CM scaring her). In August, Izzy learned to sing Yo Ho while we were in line and it's one of my favorite memories. I guess the Pirates line is good for Mommy/Daughter pirate-themed bonding!

Yeah, Aria's doctor told us to keep her foot out of the sun for 1 year. I did use sunscreen as much as possible but aside from that I wasn't keeping her in boots all summer.

What a cute crayon story! I love how imaginative Aria is now.

Aria loves to sing yo ho too! It is a great one, especially now that Aria has gotten over her fear of it lol.

Oh, I'm just so devastated for you about your missing card & photos. That is really terrible. I hope for you that they still turn up some kind of way.

I love seeing Aria enjoy the attractions! She looks like she is really having a blast. I love the Pirates aargh contest. It sounds really funny, except that the CM actually scared her and she stopped. I guess she is still just a little too young for that!

Thank you! I hope so but not holding my breath on it. She had so much fun, I love that she knows what she wants to ride and where it is!

Sounds like a wonderful morning in MK! Glad that Aria is so comfortable with the rides now!

Yeah she really is! I couldn't believe how well she did on HM in October, guess she just needed all these visits under her belt to get really comfortable.

 

[Imagineer5]

After the ride, Aria had a quick outfit change into her Cinderella upcycle, as we had a FP for Cinderella & Rapunzel! Aria is seriously in love with Cinderella, so she was very excited for this. They had a great meet together

Then Rapunzel came over to walk Aria over to her area and Aria had fun with her too. I love hearing what the characters come up with to talk to Aria, and they are obviously very well versed at talking with a 2 year old as they have been able to get her to respond back a little bit here and there – they usually like to ask what her name is, if she knows their name, what her favorite color is, etc.

After this we had a FP for Enchanted Tales with Belle. For some reason, Aria was terrified of the whole ordeal and was NOT excited to be doing this. Up until the point where she met Belle, she held on to me and didn’t want anything to do with the show. She did go up to Belle on her own though, so I was happy for that.

(I don't have the photopass for this, the account I was in was having major issues)

Next it was definitely lunch time! We were hungry and I had no plans, so we headed to Pinocchio’s for the first time! They had a wonderful caprese flatbread that I ordered, Aria asked for her usual chicken and ketchup. We found a table near the iasw lookout, though not right overlooking it. Aria ate a surprising amount of chicken and I had all of my flatbread – lunch was fantastic!

Sorry for the blurry pic, but hers came with the chicken, yogurt, grapes and milk.

Our view of it's a small world.

Then we hopped on one last ride before nap time – the carousel of course!

 

[JulieODC]

We had lunch at Pinocchio's for the first time on our last trip and were pleasantly surprised -- the flatbread was good (I think we had BBQ chicken)! We had a great table at the window overlooking small world too!

Ellie loves the carousel - we had multiple rides on our last trip. Funny that the simplest of rides is still a hit!

 

[Imagineer5]

We had lunch at Pinocchio's for the first time on our last trip and were pleasantly surprised -- the flatbread was good (I think we had BBQ chicken)! We had a great table at the window overlooking small world too!

Ellie loves the carousel - we had multiple rides on our last trip. Funny that the simplest of rides is still a hit!

Lunch was great! And the carousel as well, always a hit and bonus that it never has much of a line.

 

[Dugette]

Aw, Aria and Cinderella are so cute together! Love her little dress too.

Quite the princess-filled morning!

That flatbread sounds good! Pinocchio's is one we always pass by - I don't think we've ever eaten there. Sometime when we stay long enough to hit all of our favorites, maybe we will get there too.

Yay for the carousel!

 

[Imagineer5]

Aw, Aria and Cinderella are so cute together! Love her little dress too.

Quite the princess-filled morning!

That flatbread sounds good! Pinocchio's is one we always pass by - I don't think we've ever eaten there. Sometime when we stay long enough to hit all of our favorites, maybe we will get there too.

Yay for the carousel!

Yes she is 100% princess obsessed now. Today she wore her Elsa nightgown to daycare bc she didn't want to take it off, but was too cute this morning for me to say no.

I've always passed up Pinocchio's too! It was a good find!

 

[Imagineer5]

Okay about to continue on with our day at MK, but FIRST! Would love to hear your thoughts on my May plans! I'll have an AP & TiW card, and Lynda & Aria will have 4-day park hoppers with water park fun & more, plus I have a Universal AP and Lynda will look into tickets for her & Aria...

We are going to stay 7 nights at Shades of Green.

Plans are:

5/9: Early flight in, drive straight to Universal and spend the day there.

Dinner @ Mangianos at Shades and pool time tonight.

5/10: CRT before park opening (though I want to fit in BBB since Aria will be old enough, so maybe CRT for lunch instead?), MK day, watch FoF parade & dinner at BoG then head out to hit the pool.

5/11 Tusker house early ADR, AK, Y&Y lunch then head out. Spend evening at Downtown Disney, dinner at Raglan Road, and go to DisneyQuest

5/12 Water Park day, dinner at 1900 Park Fare

5/13 Hollywood & Vine early ADR, then DHS. Late afternoon walk over to EPCOT, stopping for dinner at the new Trattoria al Forno, evening in EPCOT.

5/14 Free day - possibly revisit Universal or go to another water park. Dinner at Chef Mickeys then do the Pirate & Pals FIreworks Cruise

5/15 Crystal Palace early ADR, MK, then hop to EPCOT for the evening - Dinner at Le Cellier or Rose & Crown or Coral Reef or Garden Grill... wherever Lynda wants

5/16 bf at Shades & pool time then head to airport

My current dilemma: Do I "Renew" my AP and get a significant savings because I am able to renew to a Premium AP, which includes water parks & Disney Quest, for $680, or do I get a new AP to be redeemed in May for $619 but pay out of pocket for the water park / Disney Quest entrances (with an AP discount), but have the AP through May 2016 vs December 2015??? It won't affect my December 2015 trip as I plan to go 12/7-12/13. I am kind of leaning towards getting a new regular AP for May and paying out of pocket for 1 water park & 1 DQ day...

 

[Imagineer5]

Today we were planning to stay for the Festival of Fantasy parade (at 3) so I wanted Aria to go for her nap a little earlier so she would get a full nap in. So right after the carousel, it was about 12:45, and she lied down while I walked up Main Street with the intention to slowly walk through the shops in the AC. I had one to-do first – and that was to fix Aria’s poor balloon. I didn’t take a photo of this first mishap, but the outer portion of her balloon had popped and was just surrounding the green mickey balloon. Thankfully the balloon CM gave me no troubles and quickly swapped them out.

During Aria’s nap time I started on the left side through the Emporium where I ended up buying an Ariel doll for Aria (Barbie sized) which I consider a successful purchase as she still plays with her all the time (and two-fold because the dollhouse she is getting for Christmas fits Barbie-sized dolls). Also got her a small Dumbo, which she calls her baby elephant. I also did some Christmas shopping and got her a “Minnie’s House” toy set along with some other things and had those sent back to the resort.

Then I started on the other side of Main Street and spent a good amount of time in the small art of Disney shop, where I fell in love with the square Thomas Kinkade paintings of the various castles. Throughout the trip I kept finding more and toward the end I let Aria pick out her favorite. Though, we did not end up coming home with one… maybe to the relief of Andrew and to my own dismay

I ended up taking a seat inside the next shop, where they have the Dooneys, not sure of the name but I found an out of the way spot and it was nice to take a little rest. AS if on cue, just as I was thinking I should head over to the FP location for the parade, Aria started moving around so I got her out. What better way to wake up than to have a Disney bag with presents inside?

and we headed to a restroom for a quick outfit change and potty break.

Then we headed to our FP spot and had a great seat right along the rope. The ground was HOT but I put down our ponchos and some other things so we could sit, and Aria was incredibly excited about her Ariel doll. She played with her until the parade finally came around.

The Festival of Fantasy parade was new to us, and I have always considered myself pretty anti-parade (though I do like the MSEP followed by Wishes). That being said, I added in a few extra hours during our October trip so Andrew could see the FoF parade - it was SOOO good. Just beautiful floats, and great characters. So fun that Aria knows them all now, and is a bit more outgoing so was waving to every single one and calling out their names, so excited to see them round the corner. It was SO cute.

My ONLY stickler point is WHY did they put Anna & Elsa on this stupid turning thing? We have had bad luck and they are never facing us as they go by.

Ariel is coming!!

Captain Hook is just about the only Villain Aria likes

Waving to Tinkerbelle

Aria LOVED these bears popping out of the Bagpipe pipes!

 

[Imagineer5]

Not so sure about this guy though (side note, I still haven't seen Maleficent! Argh!)

And of course super exciting to see these two turn the corner!

Chip came over for a high five

After the parade we had two fast passes to use - Under the Sea ride and then a meet & greet with Ariel. Of course Aria had to bring her Ariel doll to both and we loved the ride as usual.

Then we had about 15 minutes until we could use our M&G with Ariel FP, so we hung out with King Triton

And then we helped Ariel walk on two feet.

And Aria ran around in circles

And bounced LOL

Finally it was time to use our FP! The meet & greet was cute and Ariel played with the doll with Aria.

IDK what this face of Aria's was.

I hopped in for a quick photo too.

Aria really enjoyed it, despite not seeming to be enjoying herself in the photos! As we exited, she asked to meet her again LOL. (I declined that request).