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

[LilAnn]

I'm really hoping that the FD extension will get me some clients! I would love to do the Food & Wine sometime, but that would be adult only trip.

I hope you get some new clients too! Food & Wine just looks so yummy! Al those little booths to try new food! YUM!

Your little girl is just too cute for words....I love the pic of her in front of the Bambi topiary with her sunglasses....too adorable!

The tinkerbell fairy garden looks amazing and that's awesome they had those coloring sheets.

Also the pics of her with the crown on her head are just priceless....she is just too adorable and it's awesome that she liked the characters so much more this trip.

I'm looking forward to your next update

Thank you! Some days she would just run up to a topiary display and stand there ready for a picture. It was pretty funny. We were so relieved she liked the characters too!

Fabulous pictures by the topiaries!

Great luck to get a short line for Stitch, but unbelievable luck with the Daisy line!!!!

As usual, you got some wonderful family photopass pictures!

Can't wait to hear about your EMH evening at AK!

I know! I could not believe our luck with catching Daisy. I had been kiciking myself earlier in the week because we missed out on a short line for Donald WITH Daisy out at DHS but we were rushing to get to our morning ADR. Since then, we had been on the lookout for the elusive Daisy and for a time when we didn't have to stand for an hour in the heat!

I love the first pic where your DD needs the sunglasses! Such great photos! Does your munchkin like looking at the pics and talking about the trip at home?

Um, I would have to say that she still asks me on a daily basis to go back to Disney World or to look at Disney pictures. She loves them. I already made her a small little photo book of just character interactions and she lovs flipping through those.

Congrats again on your engagement missy! I need to go over and read all about it when I have more time.

 

[LilAnn]

When I last left off, we had just finished up with our tour of the Fairy Butterfly Garden. Not sure what the official name if the butterfly tent was, but that sounds okay, right? We continued to walk our way towards the World Showcase and towards the International Gateway entrance so we could head back to the hotel.

Once again, we got sidetracked by more characters. We happened to be walking past Mexico when we saw a super short line with a photopass photographer. I know what that meant – Senor Donald! In August, this was our little girl’s absolute favorite ride, the “Donald Duck boat ride” as she called it. So I just knew she would be excited to see Donald in his Mexican attire. We quickly jumped in line after we were told it would only be a few minutes before Donald would be back outside.

We chatted with the other families in line and waited patiently in the scorching heat when ….I felt something wet hit my shoulder. Then my forehead, and my arm. Uh-oh. Were those raindrops I as feeling? Sure enough, the PP photographer checked in with her fellow CMs and was told Donald would be greeting his fans inside the Mexico pavilion instead. So we hurried inside as the skies opened up and staked out our place in line at the fountain.

See how wet we are?

Well, I guess after seeing how sweaty we were earlier, we don’t look that wet.

The other couples were nice and let us back into the second slot in line since they knew we had been there before them. I thought that was nice of them.

Here is our view while we were waiting in line.

It was only a matter of time before our little girl found the maracas to shake.

She was obviously enjoying herself inside.

I was wondering what was taking Senor Donald so long. He must have stopped at the bar for a little margarita on his way over. Because wouldn’t you know it, that while we waited inside, the rain stopped outside. That meant, Senor Donald was already back outside greeting his friends out there while we waited in the dark inside. Great. So we trekked back outside and now we left at the end of a much longer line.

Finally, it was our turn.

He loved that he had his own special page in her autograph book.

Of course she had to make sure he was signing it.

Then came one of my favorite shots from the trip. Donald stayed down at her level and pulled her onto his lap. She was loving it!

I have to say that even with all the confusion of the lines, it was well worth the wait. She was so excited to see Senor Donald and he actually spent a fair amount of time with her. We didn’t feel rushed at all.

Now look at the next few pictures. Look at how cute Donald is being. I guess our little girl was a little too heavy for him. Heehee.

I love that she never noticed what he was doing, she just kept smiling for the camera. I told she was in heaven.

By this point, we were definitely feeling the heat, so we continued our walk around the showcase, hoping to make it back for some pool time. Whoops, sidetracked once more. Our little princess had seen Belle a few times out and about already, but each time, she was with the Beast, so she was too frightened to actually meet them. However, we happened to see Belle all by herself, so we jumped in line.

Lucky for me, the Belle in our book was also in her blue dress.

I hope Belle didn’t mind that our little girl was a little sweaty…..

I have to say that Belle has one extensive signature in our autograph book. It is her name with a ton of fancy squiggly lines underneath. Our little princess loved it.

After our encounter with Belle, we managed to make it through the rest of the park without any more stops. We did see Aladdin and Jasmine outside, but she was afraid of Aladdin so we just kept walking. Of course, now she doesn’t stop talking about how she forgot to get Aladdin and Jasmine. Literally, every day she tells me that.

Up next: AK EMH

 

[Dancegrl624]

Love the pics with Senor Donald. So cute!

 

[LilAnn]

Love the pics with Senor Donald. So cute!

Thanks! How are things going on your end? I was away over the weekend and now I have so much reading to catch up on. How is the new job? Did you hang your certificate up in your "office" at home?

 

[mermaid764]

The pics of your daughter with Donald are too cute!

It's great that he took that much time with her even in that heat.

Looking forward to hearing more

 

[jenniferma]

your little girl is ADORABLE! She should be a model. Love your trip report!
Jen

 

[SoonerGirl]

Great pictures of your DD with Donald, I can see why they are some of your favorite from the trip!

The Belle you met was so pretty

 

[dawnbu40]

I don't know why it is but we've always found Mexico Donald to be so much fun! He is always one of our favorite characters! Glad he was so much fun for you too And of course the pictures are adorable like always

 

[Dancegrl624]

Thanks! How are things going on your end? I was away over the weekend and now I have so much reading to catch up on. How is the new job? Did you hang your certificate up in your "office" at home?

Pretty good. I've been working on a few quotes for some potential clients which is great! I haven't hung up my certificate yet. I have to go buy a frame. But, I have put my Mickey graduation ears on my desk! I just love looking at them everyday.

 

[lexmas]

I was going to say what a pain that line sounded like for Donald and that I would have been so frustrated. But those pictures totally made up for it. So very cute. And she looks like she had a great time with Belle too!

 

[RachelNinja]

Ooo, I'd love to take a pic with Donald in his Mexican attire! I think it's really cute to see them dressed up in something other than their typical costumes.

What an experience you guys had though with the line switching! But you're right - those pictures are GREAT! Haha, Donald just keeps leaning more and more to his left!

 

[tinkgurl]

Ugh! That whole line moving in and out of the Mexico pavillion for Donald would have been so annoying!

Belle looks so pretty!

I am getting SO close to our trip!

 

[LilAnn]

The pics of your daughter with Donald are too cute!

It's great that he took that much time with her even in that heat.

Looking forward to hearing more

I was happy that the interaction with Donald made up for the line moves. Thanks for reading along!

your little girl is ADORABLE! She should be a model. Love your trip report!
Jen

Thank you! Thanks for reading along.

I see you're from NOVA. That's where I grew up and I actually just came back from a weekend visiting my parents. We went to the Old Town Alexandria "brithday" celebration on Saturday night to watch some fireworks. I miss living down there.

Great pictures of your DD with Donald, I can see why they are some of your favorite from the trip!

The Belle you met was so pretty

I thought this Belle was pretty, too! It's funny, I just read your update on the Dismeet and it sounded like we could have crossed paths so many times that day. We could have even been in line for strawberry shortcake at the same time!

I don't know why it is but we've always found Mexico Donald to be so much fun! He is always one of our favorite characters! Glad he was so much fun for you too And of course the pictures are adorable like always

Maybe Donald just enjoys playing around in his festive outfit? Thanks! I hope the character pictures don't get too monotonous and boring. That's pretty much all I have. I wasn't planning on writing a TR so I didn't get more pics of the parks.

 

[LilAnn]

Pretty good. I've been working on a few quotes for some potential clients which is great! I haven't hung up my certificate yet. I have to go buy a frame. But, I have put my Mickey graduation ears on my desk! I just love looking at them everyday.

I think it would make me so happy to look at the Mickey ears too! Maybe you could buy a frame for a larger sized document or one that has a built in photo mat that you can decorate with some of your scrapbooking stickers. That would make me happy to look at too!

 

[LilAnn]

I was going to say what a pain that line sounded like for Donald and that I would have been so frustrated. But those pictures totally made up for it. So very cute. And she looks like she had a great time with Belle too!

We were starting to get a little annoyed, mostly because in the end, we lost our place in line. we got pushed back pretty far back and it was hot outside! But I love the photos that we got.

Ooo, I'd love to take a pic with Donald in his Mexican attire! I think it's really cute to see them dressed up in something other than their typical costumes.

What an experience you guys had though with the line switching! But you're right - those pictures are GREAT! Haha, Donald just keeps leaning more and more to his left!

I was so happy we got to see Donald all dressed up in his mexican attire! We got to see Donald all dressed up in his beach attire as well later on in the trip. When you and Wierd finally make it back, you'll get some super cute character pics, I'm sure.

Ugh! That whole line moving in and out of the Mexico pavillion for Donald would have been so annoying!

Belle looks so pretty!

I am getting SO close to our trip!

I am getting so excited for you! I can't wait to hear all about how the little guy likes Disney. I'm sure you will have a blast and you will be shedding tears of happiness and joy in addition to your sad goodbye tears.

I thought this Belle was pretty too!

 

[dawnbu40]

Thanks! I hope the character pictures don't get too monotonous and boring. That's pretty much all I have. I wasn't planning on writing a TR so I didn't get more pics of the parks.

They are not at all monotonous! They are adorable! I'm willing to bet they put a smile on the face of every reader

 

[SoonerGirl]

It's funny, I just read your update on the Dismeet and it sounded like we could have crossed paths so many times that day. We could have even been in line for strawberry shortcake at the same time!

We probably did! Do you remember what time you left? You could have been bouncing back and forth trying to meet Donald as our DISmeet was going on just a few steps away!

We ate lunch early that day, probably around 11:30. Our meet was scheduled for noon and I know we were a bit late.....

 

[LilAnn]

They are not at all monotonous! They are adorable! I'm willing to bet they put a smile on the face of every reader

Thanks, Dawn! I know they make me smile!

We probably did! Do you remember what time you left? You could have been bouncing back and forth trying to meet Donald as our DISmeet was going on just a few steps away!

We ate lunch early that day, probably around 11:30. Our meet was scheduled for noon and I know we were a bit late.....

The meet was at noon? I guess for some reason I thought the meet was for later in the afternoon. I think I was bouncing around the Donald line at the time. Come to think of it, there did seem to be a bunch of people at the bar inside Mexico.....oh I was so close!

And we very well could have been at Sunshine Seasons at the same time. That was usually around the time that we would eat lunch. I need to take better notes next time. Maybe we were in line for the desserts at the same time!

 

[mbvisitor]

Your autograph books looks so cool!! Where did you get the images to create it on shutterfly?
After reading your TR, and the success you've had with it with your DD, I'm thinking I should have my DD (who will be 2.5 as well when we go to Disney in March) should collect signatures as well. I wasn't planning on it.

My ressies are at the Dolphin as well. Do you ever walk to EP and DHS? How did your DD handle it?

Love reading your TR, learning so much for my trip!

 

[LilAnn]

Your autograph books looks so cool!! Where did you get the images to create it on shutterfly?
After reading your TR, and the success you've had with it with your DD, I'm thinking I should have my DD (who will be 2.5 as well when we go to Disney in March) should collect signatures as well. I wasn't planning on it.

My ressies are at the Dolphin as well. Do you ever walk to EP and DHS? How did your DD handle it?

Love reading your TR, learning so much for my trip!

The autograph book was new to us this year. I thought it was worth a shot since she was a little older and could grasp the concept of it. I really think it helped her focus on something else instead of how big the characters were.

I actually got many of the images from the Dis boards - the creative Dis portion. Plus, with the shutterfly photobook coupons it wasn't too expensive at all. Since we had the book ahead of time, we used it to introduce our little girl to all of the other characters that she didn't know. I don't know if there is a way to share a photobook?

From the Dolphin, we walked to Epcot many time and to DHS once. The walks aren't bad at all, but since it was so hot, the walks weren't always as nice. She did fine since she was in her stroller and loved looking all around.

Thanks for reading along! I'm glad you are getting some ideas. I learned so much on the Dis too.