Disneycampfan
Mouseketeer
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- Mar 12, 2009
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YEAH!!!Can't wait to hear all about it! Take tons of pics too! Have a great time!
No Request was too Extreme: A Post-Deployment Disney Trip *Completed
- Thread starter amazingact21
- Start date
vrajewski10513
DIS Veteran
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- Dec 11, 2013
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- 1,823
How exciting!! I hope you guys have a wonderful time!!!
lovegrumpy
DIS Veteran
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- Mar 6, 2007
- Messages
- 1,595
Have a blast!!!!!
amazingact21
Upendi
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- Nov 6, 2010
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- 6,350
OMG! OMG! OMG!!!
That's awesome!!!
Have fun with Mickey Souris
So excited for you!!
Can't wait to hear all about it. Have a great time!
Thanks, everyone! My family and I had a wonderful time at Disneyland Paris. It amazed us to see such differences and similarities between DLP and WDW. There were several parts of Paris that Alex and I actually enjoyed MORE than Disney World, but there were also things that made us miss our home park.
We wished we had more time to explore. A day and a half just wasn't enough!
Although, it was surprising how much smaller the DL park is compared to the MK. We stayed from park opening EMH to park close and weren't that tired!
Not to spoil the inevitable TR that will appear later, I won't say too much more about our experience except to note that Alex and I are already planning a return visit sometime in 2017.
It could be dangerous only living 5 hours away...
amazingact21
Upendi
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I'm really glad they have a Disney Jr. area in DHS. I feel like it's perfect for toddlers. Last April, Landon got to meet Jake and he STILL talks about the experience.
There's so much to see and do here in Europe, that we already know we don't have enough time. In Germany alone, there's enough to keep us busy for 3 years.
Sounds like her dream play date arrangement!(Makes me want to figure out how to squeeze in a visit to Germany sometime!)
Great to hear about all of your travels and plans (I've been keeping up w/your blog as well). So many exciting possibilities! Congrats on winning the trip to London - I hope it's everything you've dreamed of!
I'm nervous about visiting London with so little time and with two young kids, but Alex and I are looking at it as a way of getting our bearings so we can return for a longer visit later. Plus, my mom mentioned doing a girl's weekend trip there once Evie's older and I can ditch her for a few days, so I'm really excited knowing this hopefully won't be only time seeing the city.
There's lots to do in Germany! And the country is very kid friendly. 90% of the restaurants have playgrounds attached to the buildings, and a lot of castles have "kinder" days that have shows geared to younger kids.
And then, we have Disneyland Paris just right down the road...
I thought I had commented on your latest update(s), but nope!
Your last night at MK was magical! The pictures are so incredible.
Your description of Landon at the Dance Party made me smile. I'm also glad to hear he loved the fireworks and was a good sport about waiting for It's a Small World.
Thanks for sharing your adventures in Germany with us.
Sounds like you are really making the most out of your time there and have done so many interesting things.
Congrats to Alex on winning the football tickets. I love the NFL. And what a blast you will have in London.
That dance party was such a nice surprise. I would've never guessed Landon would be so into it. Of course, now that he's older, I have come to expect that if I hear live music, Landon will want to stop and shake his stuff for a minute or two. The boy really loves to dance and sing...
There are days when I miss America a lot (mostly when I want to run into a department store or hit up a chain restaurant) but it's amazing how quickly time is moving here. I cannot believe it's already fall. And the more involved we all get in activities, the faster the days go by. I'm afraid our last year here is just going to be one big blur.
Alex is SO excited about the football tickets. He can't stop talking about it. We don't really get the games over here (it's usually 3am when they air and we would have to go to the bar on base to watch) so Alex is definitely needing some football watching.
amazingact21
Upendi
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- Nov 6, 2010
- Messages
- 6,350
March 2nd, 2015:
This was an early, early morning for my family. Alex and I needed to be on the road around 10 a.m., and the day before we had decided last minute to book a character breakfast before we left. I can’t remember what compelled us to do so; I guess we were just missing the table service restaurants that trip. (Because the 3 we’d already had weren’t enough…)
Because of our early departure time, our meal was scheduled at 7 o’clock in the morning.
Ouch.
Up and at ‘em, family!
Bags loaded in the car, we left our Contemporary room one final time. I decided to take some photos to commemorate the occasion.
f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
Regardless of whether or not I liked the resort as a whole, I couldn’t deny how cool it was to step onto the walkway and see the monorails go by.
f2 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
Like I said, we were at the VERY end of the hall…
On to breakfast!
The biggest factor in deciding on such an early breakfast was the convenience of it. We were going somewhere right inside our resort, which meant we didn’t need any extra time for travel.
Chef Mickey’s was a new restaurant for us. We aren’t big breakfast goers to begin with (we prefer to bring stuff with us and eat in the room) and when we do eat out, Crystal Palace is usually our go-to choice. However, Alex and I were feeling adventurous. Why not try someplace new?
Who knew? Maybe it would become our new favorite spot.
The wait to get in was pretty long, considering we got there at opening time. We could see a ton of open tables from the waiting area, so I guess the food was just slow getting to the line. Maybe? Who knows…
Either way, our name was called about 15 minutes past 7, and the first thing we had to do was get our picture with the Chef Mickey statue.
Landon wasn’t feeling the photo op; he was probably still tired and wanting breakfast, so I didn’t push it. Maybe if it had been an actual character I would have tried harder, but the statue wasn’t a big deal to me.
We were seated to the right of the buffet along the back wall, and Landon threw a fit when he put him in a highchair. I was worried it was going to shape up to be a rough day (the thought of a 4 hour drive with him in his current disposition was daunting) but fortunately our waitress arrived and offered up a plethora of stickers and Landon’s mood turned right around.
When she handed him the first one and he threw it to the side, I hastily apologized for his rudeness, and the server’s response was to start unveiling more while replying, “Why are you apologizing? We all have bad days, don’t we? He’s allowed to be grumpy every now and then. But let’s see how some extra stickers go over.”
While it came off kind of rude at first, the remark was very true, and I think it relaxed us enough to settle in and start taking in our surroundings.
The characters weren’t out yet, so I went to the food line and grabbed Landon and myself some food, and once I came back Alex went.
I wish I could say Landon’s breakfast buffet tastes have expanded now that he’s a year older, but sadly his plate would still resemble that if we were there today.
Alex returned to the table with his plate of food kind of out of sorts. He was really disappointed that there was no omelet station at Chef Mickey’s. He’s a big omelet fan, but he really only gets them when we’re out somewhere. He was looking forward to eating another one on the trip.
I ended up having to listen to his omelet rant THE ENTIRE MEAL.
You know those instances where you just can’t let something go?
Yeah, that was Alex and the omelet.
Good grief.
About halfway through our meal the characters began showing up. Since Landon hadn’t done great with meet and greets the whole trip, we decided it would be best if we stood up and took a photo with the characters while Landon stayed seated in his chair.
Donald was up first:
Then Mickey:
Our plan seemed to be working well. Landon even spotted Minnie at the table before ours and started to show some interest in her. By the time she arrived at our table, he was willing to turn and smile at her.
Sweet.
The characters went back into the kitchen for a break, so Alex and I refilled our plates and discussed our opinions on the restaurant.
We thought the food was okay. Breakfast food is pretty hard to mess up, in general, so what was on the line was decent. However, (omelets aside) we were both sort of disappointed with the small selection that was offered. There was just your basic fare of eggs, pancakes, waffles, fresh fruit and pastries. I didn’t see any “signature” items that made the restaurant stand out from the others.
At Crystal Palace, Alex enjoys the puffed French toast while I get the egg frittata.
At Boma there’s the scrambled eggs with goat cheese.
At Kona there’s the Tonga Toast and macadamia pancakes.
At 1900 Park Fare there’s the strawberry soup. (Not that I can eat that, but it goes along with my point.)
Man, for someone who doesn’t do breakfast places, I sure have dined at a lot of them…
Here there was nothing extraordinary. We felt like the restaurant was using the fact that the Fab 5 characters were there to be lazy with their menu.
Which was a shame.
After awhile, the characters returned and out of nowhere, Landon became really excited.
He had seen Pluto and apparently that was the one character that broke through his trepidation.
Maybe he remembered that Pluto was his first character meet of the trip?
We’re not sure what made Landon so happy to see Pluto, but whatever it was, Alex and I weren’t complaining. The interaction went great, with Landon giving Pluto a high five and pointing out his nose and evening giving him a hug.
I loved the fact that Landon started off his trip meeting Pluto and he ended it doing the same thing.
Very circular of him.
It also goes to show that a toddler’s tastes can change on a daily –if not hourly- basis. What intimidated him two days prior was now the most entertaining thing ever.
Kids…
Shortly after that meet and greet, the bill came and Alex had a bit of sticker shock.
Our meal came to the same amount as our O’Hana dinner.
Now, hear me out.
Alex and I are big proponents of the Disney restaurants. We love the food, we love the atmosphere, and for us, Disney dining is one of the things we love about our trips. Alex uses the restaurants as a big arguing point for convincing people without kids to give Disney a try.
We understand the prices are high, and we don’t complain about them because it’s ultimately our choice to eat there. We know we could go to Disney and bring food with us or drive off property and dine somewhere cheaper.
We just like the dining experience, and that’s what we’re really paying for.
(Well, that and convenience.)
But in this case, over 100 dollars for 2 people to eat a mediocre breakfast?
Not worth it.
Honestly, we felt a little jipped. Sure, it was nice to have a place to eat that was right inside our resort, and yes, seeing Mickey and Co. was a nice perk, but to pay the same price as we would at a massive dinner? No way.
Add the cost to the no omelet situation and Alex was one crabby camper that day.
That was probably the first time in our Disney experience where we felt we’d way overpaid for our meal.
Perhaps if we were on the Dining Plan and were using credits and/or we didn’t have any other opportunity to meet Mickey it would have been worth it, but I don’t see us returning again.
I know a lot of you guys love the restaurant, and maybe dinner’s better, but it just wasn’t for us.
And that’s the wonderful thing about Disney. There are so many different restaurants that we all can have our separate favorites/least favorites and everyone still be happy.
Once we paid and left, Alex and I stopped by the Contemporary gift shop to buy a few more pins. We debated buying Landon a Pluto pillow pet since he had shown such a great interest in him, but we ultimately decided not to. Alex had texted his siblings the day before in DHS and asked them to stop by the Disney outlets and look for a Baymax plush since we would be seeing them later in the week and we couldn’t find any on property. We figured one plush was enough for Landon, and it ended up working out because Baymax still hangs out near Landon’s bed.
With the extra shopping and final walk around the resort, Alex and I left a little later than we planned, around 10:45, but it wasn’t too big of a deal because we didn’t catch much traffic in Orlando. I want to say we made it to our final destination about half an hour behind schedule, which wasn’t a big deal at all.
And just like that, our Disney trip had concluded.
To say we had a magical time would be the understatement of the century. It was all we’d hoped it would be and more. Between the amazing resorts, Landon pulling the sword from the stone, getting to see Wishes every single night of our stay, the low crowds, and Landon showing an interest in an attraction for the first time, it was a special experience. And of course, add to it the newfound knowledge that we were about to be a family of four, and it was a vacation like no other.
At the time, I wasn’t sure when we’d be back. When we first booked, we figured we’d be back around Halloween time because I wanted to go to HHN over in Universal, but then we discovered I’d be 9 months preggo by that point. The summer seemed too daunting to us, what with battling the heat and crowds with a growing belly. So, Alex and I left property believing we wouldn’t be back before 2016.
A sad thought.
But, life was kind to us and an unbeatable chance to go back arose later that July. I didn’t take too many pictures during that trip, because I was focused on keeping myself hydrated and rested, but there’s enough that I think I’m going to write a quick recap in the next update.
More so that I can remember everything later on down the road.
I regret all the trips I don’t record in written form, so I just want to include a short snippet on the tail end of this trip.
Hope ya’ll don’t mind!
And then once that’s posted, this report will officially be finished, and I can move on to my 2016 trips.
They were quite the whirlwind!
Stay Tuned!
This was an early, early morning for my family. Alex and I needed to be on the road around 10 a.m., and the day before we had decided last minute to book a character breakfast before we left. I can’t remember what compelled us to do so; I guess we were just missing the table service restaurants that trip. (Because the 3 we’d already had weren’t enough…)
Because of our early departure time, our meal was scheduled at 7 o’clock in the morning.
Ouch.
Up and at ‘em, family!
Bags loaded in the car, we left our Contemporary room one final time. I decided to take some photos to commemorate the occasion.
f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrRegardless of whether or not I liked the resort as a whole, I couldn’t deny how cool it was to step onto the walkway and see the monorails go by.
f2 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrLike I said, we were at the VERY end of the hall…
On to breakfast!
The biggest factor in deciding on such an early breakfast was the convenience of it. We were going somewhere right inside our resort, which meant we didn’t need any extra time for travel.
Chef Mickey’s was a new restaurant for us. We aren’t big breakfast goers to begin with (we prefer to bring stuff with us and eat in the room) and when we do eat out, Crystal Palace is usually our go-to choice. However, Alex and I were feeling adventurous. Why not try someplace new?
Who knew? Maybe it would become our new favorite spot.
The wait to get in was pretty long, considering we got there at opening time. We could see a ton of open tables from the waiting area, so I guess the food was just slow getting to the line. Maybe? Who knows…
Either way, our name was called about 15 minutes past 7, and the first thing we had to do was get our picture with the Chef Mickey statue.
Landon wasn’t feeling the photo op; he was probably still tired and wanting breakfast, so I didn’t push it. Maybe if it had been an actual character I would have tried harder, but the statue wasn’t a big deal to me.
We were seated to the right of the buffet along the back wall, and Landon threw a fit when he put him in a highchair. I was worried it was going to shape up to be a rough day (the thought of a 4 hour drive with him in his current disposition was daunting) but fortunately our waitress arrived and offered up a plethora of stickers and Landon’s mood turned right around.
When she handed him the first one and he threw it to the side, I hastily apologized for his rudeness, and the server’s response was to start unveiling more while replying, “Why are you apologizing? We all have bad days, don’t we? He’s allowed to be grumpy every now and then. But let’s see how some extra stickers go over.”
While it came off kind of rude at first, the remark was very true, and I think it relaxed us enough to settle in and start taking in our surroundings.
The characters weren’t out yet, so I went to the food line and grabbed Landon and myself some food, and once I came back Alex went.
I wish I could say Landon’s breakfast buffet tastes have expanded now that he’s a year older, but sadly his plate would still resemble that if we were there today.
Alex returned to the table with his plate of food kind of out of sorts. He was really disappointed that there was no omelet station at Chef Mickey’s. He’s a big omelet fan, but he really only gets them when we’re out somewhere. He was looking forward to eating another one on the trip.
I ended up having to listen to his omelet rant THE ENTIRE MEAL.
You know those instances where you just can’t let something go?
Yeah, that was Alex and the omelet.
Good grief.
About halfway through our meal the characters began showing up. Since Landon hadn’t done great with meet and greets the whole trip, we decided it would be best if we stood up and took a photo with the characters while Landon stayed seated in his chair.
Donald was up first:
Then Mickey:
Our plan seemed to be working well. Landon even spotted Minnie at the table before ours and started to show some interest in her. By the time she arrived at our table, he was willing to turn and smile at her.
Sweet.
The characters went back into the kitchen for a break, so Alex and I refilled our plates and discussed our opinions on the restaurant.
We thought the food was okay. Breakfast food is pretty hard to mess up, in general, so what was on the line was decent. However, (omelets aside) we were both sort of disappointed with the small selection that was offered. There was just your basic fare of eggs, pancakes, waffles, fresh fruit and pastries. I didn’t see any “signature” items that made the restaurant stand out from the others.
At Crystal Palace, Alex enjoys the puffed French toast while I get the egg frittata.
At Boma there’s the scrambled eggs with goat cheese.
At Kona there’s the Tonga Toast and macadamia pancakes.
At 1900 Park Fare there’s the strawberry soup. (Not that I can eat that, but it goes along with my point.)
Man, for someone who doesn’t do breakfast places, I sure have dined at a lot of them…
Here there was nothing extraordinary. We felt like the restaurant was using the fact that the Fab 5 characters were there to be lazy with their menu.
Which was a shame.
After awhile, the characters returned and out of nowhere, Landon became really excited.
He had seen Pluto and apparently that was the one character that broke through his trepidation.
Maybe he remembered that Pluto was his first character meet of the trip?
We’re not sure what made Landon so happy to see Pluto, but whatever it was, Alex and I weren’t complaining. The interaction went great, with Landon giving Pluto a high five and pointing out his nose and evening giving him a hug.
I loved the fact that Landon started off his trip meeting Pluto and he ended it doing the same thing.
Very circular of him.
It also goes to show that a toddler’s tastes can change on a daily –if not hourly- basis. What intimidated him two days prior was now the most entertaining thing ever.
Kids…
Shortly after that meet and greet, the bill came and Alex had a bit of sticker shock.
Our meal came to the same amount as our O’Hana dinner.
Now, hear me out.
Alex and I are big proponents of the Disney restaurants. We love the food, we love the atmosphere, and for us, Disney dining is one of the things we love about our trips. Alex uses the restaurants as a big arguing point for convincing people without kids to give Disney a try.
We understand the prices are high, and we don’t complain about them because it’s ultimately our choice to eat there. We know we could go to Disney and bring food with us or drive off property and dine somewhere cheaper.
We just like the dining experience, and that’s what we’re really paying for.
(Well, that and convenience.)
But in this case, over 100 dollars for 2 people to eat a mediocre breakfast?
Not worth it.
Honestly, we felt a little jipped. Sure, it was nice to have a place to eat that was right inside our resort, and yes, seeing Mickey and Co. was a nice perk, but to pay the same price as we would at a massive dinner? No way.
Add the cost to the no omelet situation and Alex was one crabby camper that day.
That was probably the first time in our Disney experience where we felt we’d way overpaid for our meal.
Perhaps if we were on the Dining Plan and were using credits and/or we didn’t have any other opportunity to meet Mickey it would have been worth it, but I don’t see us returning again.
I know a lot of you guys love the restaurant, and maybe dinner’s better, but it just wasn’t for us.
And that’s the wonderful thing about Disney. There are so many different restaurants that we all can have our separate favorites/least favorites and everyone still be happy.
Once we paid and left, Alex and I stopped by the Contemporary gift shop to buy a few more pins. We debated buying Landon a Pluto pillow pet since he had shown such a great interest in him, but we ultimately decided not to. Alex had texted his siblings the day before in DHS and asked them to stop by the Disney outlets and look for a Baymax plush since we would be seeing them later in the week and we couldn’t find any on property. We figured one plush was enough for Landon, and it ended up working out because Baymax still hangs out near Landon’s bed.
With the extra shopping and final walk around the resort, Alex and I left a little later than we planned, around 10:45, but it wasn’t too big of a deal because we didn’t catch much traffic in Orlando. I want to say we made it to our final destination about half an hour behind schedule, which wasn’t a big deal at all.
And just like that, our Disney trip had concluded.
To say we had a magical time would be the understatement of the century. It was all we’d hoped it would be and more. Between the amazing resorts, Landon pulling the sword from the stone, getting to see Wishes every single night of our stay, the low crowds, and Landon showing an interest in an attraction for the first time, it was a special experience. And of course, add to it the newfound knowledge that we were about to be a family of four, and it was a vacation like no other.
At the time, I wasn’t sure when we’d be back. When we first booked, we figured we’d be back around Halloween time because I wanted to go to HHN over in Universal, but then we discovered I’d be 9 months preggo by that point. The summer seemed too daunting to us, what with battling the heat and crowds with a growing belly. So, Alex and I left property believing we wouldn’t be back before 2016.
A sad thought.
But, life was kind to us and an unbeatable chance to go back arose later that July. I didn’t take too many pictures during that trip, because I was focused on keeping myself hydrated and rested, but there’s enough that I think I’m going to write a quick recap in the next update.
More so that I can remember everything later on down the road.
I regret all the trips I don’t record in written form, so I just want to include a short snippet on the tail end of this trip.
Hope ya’ll don’t mind!
And then once that’s posted, this report will officially be finished, and I can move on to my 2016 trips.
They were quite the whirlwind!
Stay Tuned!
Last edited:
rdkeim
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2006
- Messages
- 1,426
Another trip concluded! I've been following your TR's for a long time. Fun to watch your son grow and change. I would have to agree with your thoughts on the cost of Chef Mickey's. There has been a time or two where we felt the cost of a meal was out of line. Looking forward to reading about your July trip. Brave for you to go at such a hot/humid time and being pregnant to boot! Thanks for sharing your trips with all of us.
vamassey1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2005
- Messages
- 7,715
I totally agree with on the food at Chef Mickey's. The first time we went was in 2002 and I remember there being more choices for breakfast that when we repeated in 2007. This was the first ever character meal we did and we did it with a group of 15. As a whole we had a great time. Danielle was 3. While at breakfast in 2002 she finally let a character get close to her, it was Chip. After this meal she was a pro with characters so it will always hold a special place in my heart, but I can take it or leave it. If we do it every couple of trips I'm good. I haven't found dinner to be much better but I have found when we go with a big group we have a good time. We went during the wedding trip.
I'm sorry to see your magical trip end but I'm looking forward to more and to see how your family has grown.
I'm sorry to see your magical trip end but I'm looking forward to more and to see how your family has grown.
Grumpy's Wife
Dollar Tree gal here
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2005
- Messages
- 26,988
Thanks for sharing this trip with us and I look forward to hearing the recap of your next one.
natebenma
Beach Club Dee
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2008
- Messages
- 20,143
I totally agree with you about Chef Mickeys. We have been once (kids were 10 and 7, I think) and it was not incredible. Like you said, overpriced for mediocre food. My kids pretty much had bowls of cereal and the other sugary dessert items (cookies/brownies) they had passing for "breakfast". You described it perfectly that it seems they are not even trying.
Alex's omelet rant cracked me up. Sorry!
That is so typical kid- Landon doesn't warm up to characters until minutes before you are getting ready to leave Disney.
The picture of you, Landon and Mickey is not bad at all.
The one with Minnie is better.
And the ones with Pluto are priceless!
What a truly magical trip!!! I really enjoyed reading all about it and look forward to your July trip wrap-up. Thanks so much for sharing your family with all of us!
Alex's omelet rant cracked me up. Sorry!
That is so typical kid- Landon doesn't warm up to characters until minutes before you are getting ready to leave Disney.
The picture of you, Landon and Mickey is not bad at all.
The one with Minnie is better.
And the ones with Pluto are priceless!
What a truly magical trip!!! I really enjoyed reading all about it and look forward to your July trip wrap-up. Thanks so much for sharing your family with all of us!
amazingact21
Upendi
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2010
- Messages
- 6,350
Thanks for sticking around for so long! I always feel bad about taking months and months to finish a report. I guess better late than never! I forget sometimes how much Landon has grown since I took him on his first Disney trip. I'm really grateful that I have these reports to remind me of his Disney experiences, because time is flying by!
Being pregnant in July was actually one of the best things for me on the Disney trip. I have never felt more rested and relaxed on a Disney vacation than I did that week.
I think going with a big group is the key. I could easily see the restaurant being one of those places where you dont'
I totally agree with you about Chef Mickeys. We have been once (kids were 10 and 7, I think) and it was not incredible. Like you said, overpriced for mediocre food. My kids pretty much had bowls of cereal and the other sugary dessert items (cookies/brownies) they had passing for "breakfast". You described it perfectly that it seems they are not even trying.
Alex's omelet rant cracked me up. Sorry!
That is so typical kid- Landon doesn't warm up to characters until minutes before you are getting ready to leave Disney.
The picture of you, Landon and Mickey is not bad at all.
The one with Minnie is better.
And the ones with Pluto are priceless!
What a truly magical trip!!! I really enjoyed reading all about it and look forward to your July trip wrap-up. Thanks so much for sharing your family with all of us!
gracer9977
Happiness is Disney
- Joined
- May 2, 2006
- Messages
- 531
I found you again. Been a while since I read your last trip reports. Catching this one just as it finishes up but looking forward to catching up with your family. Congratulations on your newest edition.
Can't wait to read about your next trip with little Evie joining you.
Going back to read now.
Can't wait to read about your next trip with little Evie joining you.
Going back to read now.
afwdwfan
DIS Dad #460
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2010
- Messages
- 14,164
Wow! That should be fun!
Awesome! Can't wait to see Disneyland Paris trip reports!
That's the nice thing about CM's. A lot of them do recognize these things and are great about trying to cheer the kids up.
I've honestly felt I've overpaid for a few of them. All of which involve characters. They've got them priced so far out of reason that it really does only make sense to do some of these meals on the dining plan which I'm sure was their intent so that they'd sell more dining plans. Justifying that price out of pocket though really is nearly impossible, no matter how good the characters, location and atmosphere are.
Always enjoy your TRs even if in condensed form.
amazingact21
Upendi
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2010
- Messages
- 6,350
I found you again. Been a while since I read your last trip reports. Catching this one just as it finishes up but looking forward to catching up with your family. Congratulations on your newest edition.
Can't wait to read about your next trip with little Evie joining you.
Going back to read now.
Thanks for reading!
I'll be sure to add a link to this TR when I do get around to writing about Evie's first trip. (And hopefully that won't be a year later like this one was...)
Wow! That should be fun!
Awesome! Can't wait to see Disneyland Paris trip reports!
I've honestly felt I've overpaid for a few of them. All of which involve characters. They've got them priced so far out of reason that it really does only make sense to do some of these meals on the dining plan which I'm sure was their intent so that they'd sell more dining plans. Justifying that price out of pocket though really is nearly impossible, no matter how good the characters, location and atmosphere are.
Always enjoy your TRs even if in condensed form.
Alex is so excited about the game; he won't stop talking about it. And I am looking forward to London, itself. Not everyday you get to visit your bucket list spot.
Disneyland Paris was a lot of fun, and I'm hoping I can get my butt in gear and write a TR for it soon.
I try to not think too much about Disney and their food prices, but Chef Mickey's was just ridiculous. At least when I'm at O'hanas, I can see the castle out the window, or when I'm Boma I've got giraffes to look at. I just can't see us eating there again anytime soon.
amazingact21
Upendi
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- Nov 6, 2010
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July 2015 Trip Days 1 and 2:
Sometime around the 4th of July, my mom and I were doing what we did best…shooting the bull and fantasizing about Walt Disney World. Unlike me, my mom hadn’t been to Disney since the previous August. (We did the Christmas party that December, but that such a short time I’m not counting it.) 11 months sure is a long time to be away from the parks, and my mother was trying her hardest to convince me to go back.
Obviously, that wasn’t a difficult thing to do. Add in Alex and his persuasive powers, and before I knew it, the three of us had booked 5 nights for the middle of July!
I was 23 weeks pregnant at the time of our trip; Landon was a little younger than 2.5. Because this trip was an unplanned one, we were keeping it as inexpensive as possible. Alex and I invested in Annual Passes, because we had already booked a 9 night stay the following May. My mom got the 4 day military park hoppers, and we only booked 2 ADRs.
We all stayed at Shades of Green:
f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
Mainly because by splitting the cost, both my mom and I paid almost half what it would cost for Pop Century. And, fortunately, the rooms at Shade are on par with the monorail resorts in regards to size. Two queen sized beds, a pull out couch, coffee pot, and a balcony.
Alex and I had stayed at Shades back in 2010 and were pleased with our stay, so we didn’t see any reason not to give it another shot.
Landon got his own bed, which he loved.
And after a boring and uneventful travel morning, Landon got a special treat when we checked into our room.
An entire cookie.
To himself:
f2 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
For dinner that night, Alex wanted to carry on his arrival day tradition by going to Downtown Disney. (It was still Downtown at the time.)
Alex’s brother and sister met of us for food here:
f3 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
Earl of Sandwich.
One day I’ll get Alex away from there…
After dinner, my group did some perusing in a few shops, then we said our goodbyes to the family and hopped on a Polynesian bus. The Shades of Green bus ran so infrequently that we all decided we’d rather make the walk from the Poly and save time.
When we got to the resort, I steered us all to Captain Cook’s so that we could refuel ourselves in preparation for the walk.
Gotta carb up before doing cardio!
Right?
f4 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
I wish I could remember what all three flavors were, but the only one I can recall is tiramisu. I do recollect that only one of them was very good.
But hey, a Disney dessert, is better than nothing.
I wasn’t going to complain about a little midnight treat on our first night.
The evening was concluded with a semi-decent view of Wishes while on the path back to our room:
f5 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
The next morning, my mom, Alex, and I all decided together not to use the Shades bus and opted to walk to the Poly to get on the MK monorail, instead. The Shades bus system doesn’t drop off directly at the MK, but rather it goes to the TTC.
On our walk, we had a visitor watching us.
f6 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
Obviously, after the tragedy at the Grand Floridian this summer, the photo takes on a whole new meaning. I can tell you, though, I hated seeing the fellow even then. Bleck.
My family got to the Polynesian, practically soaked with sweat because…it was July in Florida. We walked up to the doors leading to the monorail only to be met with a super snippy Cast Member. When Alex asked if the monorail was down that morning, his response was, “Well, if you’d read the paper that was placed IN YOUR ROOM you would know it’s under maintenance right now.”
Humph.
Not the most magical way to start off one’s Disney day. It made me pretty crabby throughout the walk to the bus station, during the long wait for a motorcoach, and extra grumpy when a bunch of guests cut in line to get ahead of us because there’s no actual areas at the Poly for each park.
Thankfully, my attitude melted away when we finally got into the park. (And when my mom reminded me to ease up and not ruin my Disney time.)
First up was a ride on Peter Pan’s Flight:
(See how hot we were and it was only 9:45am!)
Then, we had to take Landon on Small World.
f7 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
Following that attraction, Alex took Landon over to the sword in the stone to see if he could pull it out again.
No luck that morning.
And then, it was on to Charming’s Carousel not only because Landon enjoyed it but because I could sit down on one of the chairs for a few minutes.
AND it was shaded!
After we got off the carousel, I was feeling a little puny. The spinning combined with the heat was getting to me, so I made the wise decision to plant myself on a bench in the shade for a while. Alex brought me a 32oz water, and aside from sharing some with Landon, I ended up drinking the entire thing! I knew I would need to stay hydrated, but I didn’t imagine I’d end up drinking as much as I actually did.
(And, about a month after the trip, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and I think a lot of my bad moments were due to my sugars being off. I just didn’t realize it at the time.)
Alex and my mom had Jungle Cruise Fastpasses that had come due, but I did not want to walk across the park just yet. So I planted myself here:
f8 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
And simply waited them out. I people watched, listened to the music, and rested. It was a little boring, but it was ultimately what I needed to do.
Alex, my mom, and Landon were gone for about an hour. In that time they used their FPs and checked out the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, something no one had ever done before.
When they were finished, Alex texted, and I met them halfway, just past Columbia Harbor House. I found a snack kiosk and bought some grapes, a banana, and a couple waters for everyone to split.
Once we ate everything, my whole group went and rode Haunted Mansion.
(From the back, you couldn’t tell I was smuggling a basketball under my shirt…)
Lunch was at Pinocchio’s, where I found us a seat by the windows overlooking Small World. Landon LOVED waving to boats as they passed by. We sat there for an hour as he forgot to eat because he was so into looking at the guests.
It was an unexpected highlight, and now Alex and I have to eat there once a trip to make sure Landon gets to wave through the window.
Lunch concluded, we all headed back to Shades for the afternoon. Alex took a nap in the room while my mom, Landon, and I went to check out the pool.
(Naturally, we got horribly lost trying to find the area. We had to stop a manager walking past and ask. And, embarrassingly enough, our room was right on the other side. Oops.)
The other big reason my mom and I picked Shades to stay at was the kiddie water area. The resort had just refurbed their recreation section, and the kid’s play area looked amazing from the photos.
We both figured we’d be spending a lot of time by the water since it was the middle of summer and I was pregnant, and it turns out we were right.
Shades had a lot of little things wrong with it -malfunctioning safe, water that stopped working, housekeepers that ignored us, etc but for the cost and the fun Landon had at the pool, it made it totally worth it.
Landon LOVED the kid section.
It was a gated area right next to the main pool, surrounded by lawn chairs, and it had everything. A pool about half a foot deep, two baby slides, a bigger tube slide for the 5-6 year olds, buckets of water that would drop, cannons, anything and everything.
We could have booked a stay at Shades and not even have taken Landon to the parks, and he still would have had a blast. I loved it, too, because I was able to lay back on a chair and have a direct line of sight to him going up and down the slide. My mom was the proxy; she would sit for a minute or two and relax, then she’d get up and go stand in the water to talk to Landon.
He even convinced her to go on the slide with him:
It was a ton of fun, and Landon threw a big fit when we made him leave.
Later that evening, we all found ourselves back in the Magic Kingdom. We ate dinner at Pecos Bill, then Alex went and did Splash Mountain by himself.
My mom and I found ourselves sitting along the parade route and decided to just stay there and let Landon watch the MSEP.
f9 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
Landon seemed to really enjoy the parade, which made us feel good about our decision to stay and watch. My mom and I didn’t really care too much about MSEP. We both feel like if you’ve seen it once, you’re good. But now that it’s going away, I’m glad we all got to see it one final time.
When the parade was finished, Alex and I were really excited to show my mom our new Wishes viewing spot. With it being summer and the crowds being heavier than she was accustomed to, we knew she’d appreciate the quieter location.
f10 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
And Landon, as usual, also loved the show.
Our little fireworks buddy…
And with that, my family had concluded our first full Disney day. With the exception of the rude Cast Member at the Polynesian, the unorganized bus system, and the minor pregnancy symptoms of the morning, the day had been fantastic, and all three of us adults had realized that braving the parks in July wasn’t going to be as daunting as we imagined.
Up Next…More Disney Fun
Sometime around the 4th of July, my mom and I were doing what we did best…shooting the bull and fantasizing about Walt Disney World. Unlike me, my mom hadn’t been to Disney since the previous August. (We did the Christmas party that December, but that such a short time I’m not counting it.) 11 months sure is a long time to be away from the parks, and my mother was trying her hardest to convince me to go back.
Obviously, that wasn’t a difficult thing to do. Add in Alex and his persuasive powers, and before I knew it, the three of us had booked 5 nights for the middle of July!
I was 23 weeks pregnant at the time of our trip; Landon was a little younger than 2.5. Because this trip was an unplanned one, we were keeping it as inexpensive as possible. Alex and I invested in Annual Passes, because we had already booked a 9 night stay the following May. My mom got the 4 day military park hoppers, and we only booked 2 ADRs.
We all stayed at Shades of Green:
f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrMainly because by splitting the cost, both my mom and I paid almost half what it would cost for Pop Century. And, fortunately, the rooms at Shade are on par with the monorail resorts in regards to size. Two queen sized beds, a pull out couch, coffee pot, and a balcony.
Alex and I had stayed at Shades back in 2010 and were pleased with our stay, so we didn’t see any reason not to give it another shot.
Landon got his own bed, which he loved.
And after a boring and uneventful travel morning, Landon got a special treat when we checked into our room.
An entire cookie.
To himself:
f2 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrFor dinner that night, Alex wanted to carry on his arrival day tradition by going to Downtown Disney. (It was still Downtown at the time.)
Alex’s brother and sister met of us for food here:
f3 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrEarl of Sandwich.
One day I’ll get Alex away from there…
After dinner, my group did some perusing in a few shops, then we said our goodbyes to the family and hopped on a Polynesian bus. The Shades of Green bus ran so infrequently that we all decided we’d rather make the walk from the Poly and save time.
When we got to the resort, I steered us all to Captain Cook’s so that we could refuel ourselves in preparation for the walk.
Gotta carb up before doing cardio!
Right?
f4 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrI wish I could remember what all three flavors were, but the only one I can recall is tiramisu. I do recollect that only one of them was very good.
But hey, a Disney dessert, is better than nothing.
I wasn’t going to complain about a little midnight treat on our first night.
The evening was concluded with a semi-decent view of Wishes while on the path back to our room:
f5 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrThe next morning, my mom, Alex, and I all decided together not to use the Shades bus and opted to walk to the Poly to get on the MK monorail, instead. The Shades bus system doesn’t drop off directly at the MK, but rather it goes to the TTC.
On our walk, we had a visitor watching us.
f6 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrObviously, after the tragedy at the Grand Floridian this summer, the photo takes on a whole new meaning. I can tell you, though, I hated seeing the fellow even then. Bleck.
My family got to the Polynesian, practically soaked with sweat because…it was July in Florida. We walked up to the doors leading to the monorail only to be met with a super snippy Cast Member. When Alex asked if the monorail was down that morning, his response was, “Well, if you’d read the paper that was placed IN YOUR ROOM you would know it’s under maintenance right now.”
Humph.
Not the most magical way to start off one’s Disney day. It made me pretty crabby throughout the walk to the bus station, during the long wait for a motorcoach, and extra grumpy when a bunch of guests cut in line to get ahead of us because there’s no actual areas at the Poly for each park.
Thankfully, my attitude melted away when we finally got into the park. (And when my mom reminded me to ease up and not ruin my Disney time.)
First up was a ride on Peter Pan’s Flight:
(See how hot we were and it was only 9:45am!)
Then, we had to take Landon on Small World.
f7 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrFollowing that attraction, Alex took Landon over to the sword in the stone to see if he could pull it out again.
No luck that morning.
And then, it was on to Charming’s Carousel not only because Landon enjoyed it but because I could sit down on one of the chairs for a few minutes.
AND it was shaded!
After we got off the carousel, I was feeling a little puny. The spinning combined with the heat was getting to me, so I made the wise decision to plant myself on a bench in the shade for a while. Alex brought me a 32oz water, and aside from sharing some with Landon, I ended up drinking the entire thing! I knew I would need to stay hydrated, but I didn’t imagine I’d end up drinking as much as I actually did.
(And, about a month after the trip, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and I think a lot of my bad moments were due to my sugars being off. I just didn’t realize it at the time.)
Alex and my mom had Jungle Cruise Fastpasses that had come due, but I did not want to walk across the park just yet. So I planted myself here:
f8 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrAnd simply waited them out. I people watched, listened to the music, and rested. It was a little boring, but it was ultimately what I needed to do.
Alex, my mom, and Landon were gone for about an hour. In that time they used their FPs and checked out the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, something no one had ever done before.
When they were finished, Alex texted, and I met them halfway, just past Columbia Harbor House. I found a snack kiosk and bought some grapes, a banana, and a couple waters for everyone to split.
Once we ate everything, my whole group went and rode Haunted Mansion.
(From the back, you couldn’t tell I was smuggling a basketball under my shirt…)
Lunch was at Pinocchio’s, where I found us a seat by the windows overlooking Small World. Landon LOVED waving to boats as they passed by. We sat there for an hour as he forgot to eat because he was so into looking at the guests.
It was an unexpected highlight, and now Alex and I have to eat there once a trip to make sure Landon gets to wave through the window.
Lunch concluded, we all headed back to Shades for the afternoon. Alex took a nap in the room while my mom, Landon, and I went to check out the pool.
(Naturally, we got horribly lost trying to find the area. We had to stop a manager walking past and ask. And, embarrassingly enough, our room was right on the other side. Oops.)
The other big reason my mom and I picked Shades to stay at was the kiddie water area. The resort had just refurbed their recreation section, and the kid’s play area looked amazing from the photos.
We both figured we’d be spending a lot of time by the water since it was the middle of summer and I was pregnant, and it turns out we were right.
Shades had a lot of little things wrong with it -malfunctioning safe, water that stopped working, housekeepers that ignored us, etc but for the cost and the fun Landon had at the pool, it made it totally worth it.
Landon LOVED the kid section.
It was a gated area right next to the main pool, surrounded by lawn chairs, and it had everything. A pool about half a foot deep, two baby slides, a bigger tube slide for the 5-6 year olds, buckets of water that would drop, cannons, anything and everything.
We could have booked a stay at Shades and not even have taken Landon to the parks, and he still would have had a blast. I loved it, too, because I was able to lay back on a chair and have a direct line of sight to him going up and down the slide. My mom was the proxy; she would sit for a minute or two and relax, then she’d get up and go stand in the water to talk to Landon.
He even convinced her to go on the slide with him:
It was a ton of fun, and Landon threw a big fit when we made him leave.
Later that evening, we all found ourselves back in the Magic Kingdom. We ate dinner at Pecos Bill, then Alex went and did Splash Mountain by himself.
My mom and I found ourselves sitting along the parade route and decided to just stay there and let Landon watch the MSEP.
f9 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrLandon seemed to really enjoy the parade, which made us feel good about our decision to stay and watch. My mom and I didn’t really care too much about MSEP. We both feel like if you’ve seen it once, you’re good. But now that it’s going away, I’m glad we all got to see it one final time.
When the parade was finished, Alex and I were really excited to show my mom our new Wishes viewing spot. With it being summer and the crowds being heavier than she was accustomed to, we knew she’d appreciate the quieter location.
f10 by Alicia Wolchick, on FlickrAnd Landon, as usual, also loved the show.
Our little fireworks buddy…
And with that, my family had concluded our first full Disney day. With the exception of the rude Cast Member at the Polynesian, the unorganized bus system, and the minor pregnancy symptoms of the morning, the day had been fantastic, and all three of us adults had realized that braving the parks in July wasn’t going to be as daunting as we imagined.
Up Next…More Disney Fun
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