Our 1st trip as a family of three!----Update 11/3 Our Favorites/Trip Wrap-Up

[lexmas]

Oh my goodness, that is AMAZING! Do they do that at evening EMH every time? We were going to skip evening EMH, but we can't if they have that!

Your DD looks like she's having the best time! I'm in shock, I think, because I know how much my kids would LOVE this!

 

[RachelNinja]

Any chance that you'll be posting some of the videos of your DD dancing? Looks like she had a ton of fun! And I'm sure you had a lot of fun watching her!

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

Looks like your DD had a great time at the party!

I didn't even know they had a dance party during EMH!

 

[jordanyosh]

I didn't even know they had that Dance Party.....

So cool for your DD.

I will have to mention this to my cousin as she has 3 little ones...

 

[LilAnn]

Sounds like a great dance party! My kids would have loved that when they were younger!

It is so much fun, for adults and kids! We have gone on two different trips and had a blast each time!

What a fun night! I'm sure Madison would have loved the dance party when she was younger. It looks like your DD really had a blast. What a cute pic of her with her balloon and Annie.

When we went in August, my niece enjoyed it too and she was 9. They were doing some line dances and she was having fun dancing along. I hope they still have this when we go back next, whenever that will be.

How cute! What a fantastic experience for young kids, and their parents as well to see them having such a fabulous time

It is truly a fabulous experience. And not always known by many.

Oh wow, what an awesome experience!

It was, thanks!

How cool!!! Do they have a dance party every night at Playhouse Disney?? I would love to take my kids! Your DD looked like she was in heaven I love crab cakes too---great choice!

As far as I know, it only happens during evening EMH at DHS. That's why it was a MUST do for us on our trip as there was only one night on our trip that DHS had evening EMH. She was totally in heaven. She still talks about it!

Oh my goodness, that is AMAZING! Do they do that at evening EMH every time? We were going to skip evening EMH, but we can't if they have that!

Your DD looks like she's having the best time! I'm in shock, I think, because I know how much my kids would LOVE this!

I think they do. We went to the party for the first time in August and it was still around in May. It's not usually advertised, so I was just praying they still had it. That's where we spent the majority of our time during those evening EMH. You should definitely try it out with your kids! There are so many characters to dance with!

Any chance that you'll be posting some of the videos of your DD dancing? Looks like she had a ton of fun! And I'm sure you had a lot of fun watching her!

Haha, maybe. Depends if I ever figured out how to post videos. But it also took a bit of courage for me to even write this TR! I think i was just as happy watching her as she was to be there!

Looks like your DD had a great time at the party!

I didn't even know they had a dance party during EMH!

Just a little something I found out about on the DIS!

I didn't even know they had that Dance Party.....

So cool for your DD.

I will have to mention this to my cousin as she has 3 little ones...

You should! They would love it and they look like a bunch of kids that would thoroughly enjoy a good dance party!

 

[BippityBoo]

Ohh! I hope that there are EMH when we are there----off to look now

 

[tinkgurl]

Ooooh my gosh, please give me more info about the Dance Party!!!

 

[LilAnn]

Ohh! I hope that there are EMH when we are there----off to look now

That really was the ONLY thing I had planned that we NEEDED to do. And there was only one night for us. Hoping you get to experience it!

Ooooh my gosh, please give me more info about the Dance Party!!!

Tink, you HAVE to bring your little man! It's only during evening EMH at DHS. All you have to do is stop by the Playhosue Disney building and I think it goes on the whole night. Different characters stop by. We saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Handy Manny, Annie, Quincy, and JoJo. Theyhave a DJ playing music and hosting the dance party. Every once in a while bubbles rain down from the ceiling. There are a few balloon animal people so you can walk away with a fun creation. It's so much fun! I can't recommend it enough!

 

[LilAnn]

On Tuesday, when we woke up, we didn’t make our usual beeline for the parks. It was the day we were scheduled to switch resorts from the Pop Century to the Dolphin. So we spent the morning packing and taking one last walk around the property after breakfast. I love walking around Pop, and I just knew our little girl was going to like seeing the rest of the larger than life themes as well.

First, we stopped off to say hi to Goofy.

Of course there was some water play involved. It’s no surprise that she couldn’t resist the spray jets, how many toddlers can?

We then moved on to an impromptu game of Twister.

Too bad we didn’t find it until our last day at the Pop. I think we could have had more fun games here.

We then had to stop by the iconic Mickey phone. My parents still have one in their house!

We then decided to play a little soccer. Our little girl wasn’t quite so impressed with the soccer players, but she was fascinated with the huge soccer ball. Here she is trying to push it over.

I think it may take a little more effort to move that ball! She may even have to put down Annie! Soon, it was time to head back to the room so we could start packing the car. Just one last picture since I’m an 80s girl at heart.

After we said good-bye to the Pop, we headed over to the Swan & Dolphin to see if we could check in a little early. Apparently I didn’t take any pictures that day, but here is a shot of the fountain in the lobby from later in the trip.

We were excited to see our room so we were happy to hear that it was all ready for us! This would be our first time staying at this resort, but we could already tell we were going to love it. I have to admit that I was missing the “Disney feeling” already, but knowing I was so close to Epcot and DHS helped make it for it. We wanted to walk around and check out more of the resort, but we needed to get in some Disney park time. We dropped off our bags, checked out the view, and headed out to Epcot.

continued in next post

 

[LilAnn]

We decided to stroll over there instead of taking one of the Friendship boats. By the time we were in the WS, it looked like our little girl and Annie were getting hungry.

We didn’t have an ADR for lunch that day, but we decided to see if we could walk-in to Teppan Edo. We were in luck, and it wasn’t long before we were seated. Our little girl soon got down to business with her coloring and scribbling.

We’ve had hibachi meals before, so we pretty much already knew what we were going to order. Here is a photo of one of our waitresses putting together a special pair of chopsticks for our little one.

Here is our little girl putting the chopsticks to use. Although, I don’t think she can eat that……

but once the rice and noodles came out, she was all about the food..

Once our bellies were full, we decided to walk around the world a bit. I always love just visiting the different countries and popping into the different stores. You also never know who you will run into. I think we were in France when we ran into this princess.

I don’t think she even knows who Princess Aurora is, but she does now!

The PP photographer also grabbed this shot of me while I was watching the princess interaction. Can you tell I’m just a wee bit hot?

Aurora kept trying to get our little princess to make the same hand gesture, but it just wasn’t sinking in.

While we were in France, we went off in search of this window. Beauty and the Beast has been my favorite Disney movie for so long, so I always like to pay a visit to the beautiful glass window.

We also haven’t seen the movie Aristocats before either, so once again, I was surprised to see how excited our little munchkin was to meet Marie.

I love Marie’s ponytail!

Since we were so close to it, we stopped by the toy store in the United Kingdom. Imagine our surprise when we ran into some more friends!

I love Pooh and Tigger, so I couldn’t not hug them! Our little girl was literally running towards Pooh until she saw Tigger. I guess he scares her a bit, so daddy had to pick her up and make a more formal introduction. I have to say that this character interaction was awesome. I don’t know if we happened upon them during a rare slow spell or what, but there was no line at all. So Pooh and Tigger really spent a lot of time with us. They could sense our little girl was a bit timid, and it was great to see how they helped us through it.

First, Tigger got down on his knees so he wasn’t so intimidating and held out his paw. Here she is petting his paw, trying to get a feel for this big orange tiger.

She wasn’t quite so scared of Pooh, so she was quick to pet his arm.

She still wouldn’t leave the safety of our arms, but that was fine with me. I was just happy that she was willing to stand so close to these two lovable characters.

Sigh, we left that toy store in good spirits. Lo and behold, there was yet one more character interaction in store for us!

It was nice to see Alice outside the cottage.

After saying goodbye to Alice, we were more than ready to head back and check out the Dolphin pool. It was time for our daily pool break.

Next: Boma and AKL

 

[BabyEeyore]

I love all the pictures! While I was looking through them, my little girl came over and saw the pictures with Pooh and got all excited. I'm going to have to remember to relook at all your pictures closer to our trip with my little girl so she can see another girl around her age hugging all the characters. She was timid around all the characters our last trip so we're hoping to prepare her for this next trip.

 

[tinkgurl]

Isn't walking around Pop so fun? I just loved the Mickey phone since I used to have one when I was younger! Brought back memories. Love the pic of DD playing Twister!

I'm hoping you took some pics of Dolphin sometime during your stay! I've only walked through there maybe once. I'm sure it was nice to be so close to Epcot though if you plan on spending a lot of time there.

That's great you were able to get into Teppan Edo! DD looks so cute using her chopsticks. Looks like she loved the food too! That's great.

Aw..DD with more characters! I love that second pic of her and Aurora. It's up close and not as posed. So cute.

I have to find that Beauty and the Beast window!!!

 

[LilAnn]

I love all the pictures! While I was looking through them, my little girl came over and saw the pictures with Pooh and got all excited. I'm going to have to remember to relook at all your pictures closer to our trip with my little girl so she can see another girl around her age hugging all the characters. She was timid around all the characters our last trip so we're hoping to prepare her for this next trip.

That's what we did with our trip. Our little girl was pretty nervous in August, but it was a complete 180 this trip. She loved reading through TRs with me because she loves all the Disney characters!

Isn't walking around Pop so fun? I just loved the Mickey phone since I used to have one when I was younger! Brought back memories. Love the pic of DD playing Twister!

I'm hoping you took some pics of Dolphin sometime during your stay! I've only walked through there maybe once. I'm sure it was nice to be so close to Epcot though if you plan on spending a lot of time there.

That's great you were able to get into Teppan Edo! DD looks so cute using her chopsticks. Looks like she loved the food too! That's great.

Aw..DD with more characters! I love that second pic of her and Aurora. It's up close and not as posed. So cute.

I have to find that Beauty and the Beast window!!!

I think we would have walked around the Pop more on other days if we hadn't been so hot!

My little girl is definitely an asian at heart! Give her noodles or rice and she is a happy camper.

the Beauty and the Beast window is in France, near the back. I think it's next to the perfume/soap shop? You can see it from the outside too. It's so pretty! I hear that you can also find the Beast's library somewhere in France too.

 

[RachelNinja]

Haha, I don't think I could resist the water jets either.

I'm curious to know why your DD enjoys food so much. I never liked eating as a kid and neither did/does my younger brother. I once kept a mushroom in my mouth for over half an hour, and I was always the last to finish. I just remember being nervous all the time wherever I was. I don't know if it was because there was stress placed on finishing our plates and not wasting food? Or if there was other tension at the table? If DBF and I eventually have kids, I'd love to have a kid who enjoys eating! I don't want to fight with my kid to eat! Do you and your DH approach meals a certain way?

Awww, I love how Tigger and Pooh knew how to treat the apprehension!

 

[BippityBoo]

OH my goodness!!! You scored on character interaction that day So many wonderful ones too!!! I can not believe you just walked into Teppan Edo! The food there looks so yummy! Can't wait to see pics of your new Resort

 

[tinkgurl]

the Beauty and the Beast window is in France, near the back. I think it's next to the perfume/soap shop? You can see it from the outside too. It's so pretty! I hear that you can also find the Beast's library somewhere in France too.

Okay, thanks! I'll be on the lookout.

 

[dawnbu40]

Great update! Looks like the tour around Pop was a hit! I hope you enjoyed the Dolphin too!

The pictures are all so cute! It's obvious how much fun you guys were having

 

[Dancegrl624]

What great character interaction! My DD LOVES Marie! She loved her long before she ever saw the movie. We haven't met her yet, but we hope to in Sept. And...that's the same Alice we saw in June! Isn't she great?! I love Pooh and Tigger. They are just so cuddly.

 

[praisehisname]

Glad you got to explore Pop some more before you left!

I'm looking forward to seeing some pics from around the Dolphin; I've never been over there. You're right about being close to Epcot--we stayed at Beach Club and loved how convenient it was to walk over.

That's awesome you were able to get into Teppan Edo without an ADR!

Wow, you hit the character jackpot! I love how your DD practically ran over to Alice!

 

[LilAnn]

Great update! Looks like the tour around Pop was a hit! I hope you enjoyed the Dolphin too!

The pictures are all so cute! It's obvious how much fun you guys were having

We definitely enjoyed the Dolphin. The pool was great, and the beds..... Thanks, we were having a fantastic time!

What great character interaction! My DD LOVES Marie! She loved her long before she ever saw the movie. We haven't met her yet, but we hope to in Sept. And...that's the same Alice we saw in June! Isn't she great?! I love Pooh and Tigger. They are just so cuddly.

ooh, we saw Marie all the time in France. As you can see, we got a lot of character interaction just in France and UK alone. Mary Poppins was also there next to Alice, but it was way too hot for us to wait in another line. I love Pooh and Tigger too! I think they are just so fun, too.

Haha, I don't think I could resist the water jets either.

I'm curious to know why your DD enjoys food so much. I never liked eating as a kid and neither did/does my younger brother. I once kept a mushroom in my mouth for over half an hour, and I was always the last to finish. I just remember being nervous all the time wherever I was. I don't know if it was because there was stress placed on finishing our plates and not wasting food? Or if there was other tension at the table? If DBF and I eventually have kids, I'd love to have a kid who enjoys eating! I don't want to fight with my kid to eat! Do you and your DH approach meals a certain way?

Awww, I love how Tigger and Pooh knew how to treat the apprehension!

I don't know if we did anything in particular to help our DD eat. She's always liked food, even as a baby. She would snack all day if I let her. I think she gets that from me. I do know that we have always taken her out to eat a lot, since she was 6-7 months old. Mostly because I am not a great cook and it just works out best for us. So she is definitely used to eating out. It's funny you comment on her eating though because she actually didn't eat her normal amount in Disney. I think it was too hot for her.

OH my goodness!!! You scored on character interaction that day So many wonderful ones too!!! I can not believe you just walked into Teppan Edo! The food there looks so yummy! Can't wait to see pics of your new Resort

We totally saw so many characters! There were always a ton out and about in Epcot, but our DD was afraid of many of the princes, so she never got to meet Jasmine, Aladdin, and the Beast. We saw them out a lot though. I was suprised too that we were able to walk in to Teppan Edo! Especially since it seemed to be more crowded in may than we expected. Unfortunately I didn't get nearly as many pics at the Dolphin since I wasn't planning on writing a TR. I do have some pool and outdoor shots coming up I think.

Okay, thanks! I'll be on the lookout.

Hope you find it!

Glad you got to explore Pop some more before you left!

I'm looking forward to seeing some pics from around the Dolphin; I've never been over there. You're right about being close to Epcot--we stayed at Beach Club and loved how convenient it was to walk over.

That's awesome you were able to get into Teppan Edo without an ADR!

Wow, you hit the character jackpot! I love how your DD practically ran over to Alice!

We stayed at the BC in August and totally fell in love with the area. We decided to try the Dolphin since it's in the same area and I get a nurse discount there. It's not as close to Epcot as BC, but it was still nice. i think the walk would have been nicer in cooler temps.

I loved how excited she was too see all the characters!