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

[LilAnn]

haha That girl looks like she is up to no good!

Aw a proposal! How cute!

I completely know how you feel..I miss the daily swimming with my little guy too. It's amazing how even the little moments like that are what we remember from our trips.

Doesn't it? It's too funny how expressive her face is. I definitely miss the daily swims with her. It just personifies how carefree we felt on vacation. Sigh.

So cute that you got to witness a proposal. What a great idea with the photographer and all. See, that's WORTH shelling out the $100 for the photopass CD for!

I agree that the magic kingdom is the only way to spend the last day at Disney. Not that I don't travel with people who have other opinions, but in my opinion, it's the only way to go!

Your DD looks so very happy in the pool! Do you have a pool at home, or is this a total luxery? We don't have a pool so I want to let DS have as much swimming time as he wants on our trip!

I have to say that the PP cd was definitely worth it this trip. But we also preordered it with the discount. We don't have a pool at home, so it was a total luxury. Plus, the weather wasn't exactly warm back home yet, so it was so nice to be in a pool in April and May!

I love how excited you were at the proposal! That must have been really romantic and sweet to witness! I probably would have teared up

Your little one at the pool is so cute! Caitlin got hooked on drinking those colavas at the pool

Oh my gosh, I was so excited to see a proposal! I wonder how often that happens at Disney? And how many different photographers get to capture them?

We first got hooked on the colavas on our honeymoon in Hawaii, but they were called lava flows there. It's our favorite drink on vacation!

When I read about the proprosal, it brought tears to my eyes! I am such a sap!!! What a magical moment that was caught by the photopass photographer.

I know what you mean about the last full day at Disney...it's so depressing! Love the pool pics of our DD...so cute!

Good to know I'm not the only sap out there. Hope you are having a fantastic time in Disney right now!!!!

Yes, I am very excited to get to go back at the holidays. I have been so busy for the last 6 weeks at work that I have barely even thought about my trip. Last Saturday was my last big event for a couple of weeks, so I jumped on the Dis and that's when I started getting excited again. By the way, I just started my PTR last night, if you care to read it. The link is in my siggie.

Dylan is VERY into trains right now, so I will definitely plan a good chunk of time to spend in Germany. I wonder if they sell trains in the gift shop... if they do, we are going home with one (& that is a perfect example of going broke over Disney stuff).

Ok, I just read your last update. I LOVE that you saw a proposal. I got teary eyed just reading about it. I don't know if I have ever mentioned this by Todd proposed to me on the bridge in front of the castle at Disneyland. It was during the Main Street Electrical Parade. I had no idea he was going to do it either, and it is a wonderful memory. So I love hearing about that happening to someone else.

The fountain in the lobby is gorgeous! I don't think I've seen that before.

I already joined in for your PTR! You know I always get great ideas from your trips. I think I do remember seeing different train sets being sold thorughout WDW. We even have a hand-me-down monorail train set at home.

I love your proposal story! And now I can say that I "know" someone who got engaged at Disney! I loved watching it happen!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

I already joined in for your PTR! You know I always get great ideas from your trips. I think I do remember seeing different train sets being sold thorughout WDW. We even have a hand-me-down monorail train set at home.

I love your proposal story! And now I can say that I "know" someone who got engaged at Disney! I loved watching it happen!

The funny/sad thing about my proposal was that I had no clue what was going on. We had been at the park all day & were watching a night parade. Todd was saying things like, "You know I love you and want to have kids & dogs with you," etc. The whole time I was thinking, "Does he not see the parade is going on right now?" LOL! Now that I realize that he was proposing I feel so terrible.

Anyways, he got down on one knee and I was so confused... until it dawned on me and he pulled out the ring (that he had carried in his pocket all day on all of the rides! ). I don't think very many people even saw it because it was dark. I love remembering that moment. So funny but so perfect for us.

 

[LilAnn]

The funny/sad thing about my proposal was that I had no clue what was going on. We had been at the park all day & were watching a night parade. Todd was saying things like, "You know I love you and want to have kids & dogs with you," etc. The whole time I was thinking, "Does he not see the parade is going on right now?" LOL! Now that I realize that he was proposing I feel so terrible.

Anyways, he got down on one knee and I was so confused... until it dawned on me and he pulled out the ring (that he had carried in his pocket all day on all of the rides! ). I don't think very many people even saw it because it was dark. I love remembering that moment. So funny but so perfect for us.

I love that story! I can't believe he carried the ring on all those rides? I would have been a nervous wreck thinking I would lose it! I think that is a perfect proposal story! Love it!

 

[LilAnn]

After our cool and refreshing pool break, we felt well rested and ready to tackle our last night at Disney. First up was our dinner ADR at Kona Café at the Polynesian. We love that restaurant and typically try to have dinner there once a trip. We even got the same waitress that we had in August, who happened to be great. While we thoroughly enjoyed the food once again, it honestly is the warm bread with the macadamia nut butter that keeps us coming back for more. So good. I wish I had some with me right now. I apologize that I don’t have any food pics but I was obviously too busy stuffing my face with the bread that I didn’t think to even take out my camera.

Once our bellies were full, we headed out for our last evening at the parks. With our current location, is it any surprise that we picked the Magic Kingdom to return to? We wanted to watch one last Spectromagic parade and maybe even catch Wishes again.

We entered the park just around dusk and barely got a chance to get moving when our little girl plopped herself down on the curb. She saw other people staking their spots out for the parade (which was still over an hour away) and was apparently worried that we would miss the parade. Since we hadn’t even made it to Main Street yet, we weren’t ready to sit down just yet. We managed to convince our little girl to get up and headed on our way through the park.

Our favorite part for viewing the parade was in Liberty Square, near Frontierland, so that was where we were headed. We were surprised to see that there were already people lining up in that area as well. I resigned myself to the fact that even with 45 minutes to go until parade time, it looked like we were going to have to stake out our spot and just wait.

After a few minutes of walking down the street, we found a nice corner spot. Since a cast member was setting up a little hopscotch game right nearby, we decided that I would sit next to the stroller and save our spot. DH took our little girl over to go play some hopscotch. It was all going perfectly…..then we had a little “encounter.” I know that many people have encountered rudeness at the parks and we certainly had our fair share of line cutters, but for the most part, I was able to overlook it and just continue to enjoy our vacation. We were in Disney after all!

However, while the little incident I’m about to recount may seem insignificant to most people, but my friends all know me as someone who likes to avoid confrontation. I am one of those people pleasers. So there I was, sitting in my happy little bubble on the sidewalk, watching my little girl play hopscotch at Disney World. Life was good.

Then about 10 minutes before the parade was supposed to start, this family walked up to our spot and basically stood in front of our stroller, and told their teenage daughter to stay there. Pretty much, they disregarded my husband’s backpack on the floor and our stroller and decided that they would stand in front of us. So I gathered up my courage and tapped the parents on the shoulder and said “Excuse me, but that spot is actually saved.” Let me remind you that I am so non confrontational, that this was a big step for me.

The mom looked down at me, looked around, then said (in a pretty rude tone) “By who? Who is this spot for? I don’t see anyone.” Basically she was implying that since they didn’t see anyone sitting there, they had lost that spot. And she was letting me know she didn’t intend on moving.

So I replied (in a pleasant tone) “My husband and my daughter. They are right over there.” And then I pointed to them a few feet away, my little girl still enjoying her hopscotch game.

Well the mom gave huffed and puffed and sighed in exasperation, but the dad looked over at me and apologized. He was nice about it and had his daughter move a bit so that she was behind us instead of blocking us. Now typically, I am totally fine with sharing my spot with others, especially kids. I am always willing to have them come in front of me so they can see better or I’ll squish over a bit. But the rudeness of this lady really got to me. I tried to put the incident behind me once my family got back and tried to enjoy the parade.

As always, our little girl loved this parade.

Once Spectro was over, we headed to the speedway for one last drive. It was fun driving around the track at night. During our leisurely drive, our little one saw the lights on at Toontown, so we knew where we would be headed next. We visited the country houses one last time and then I decided to stop by the big tent and see if the fairies were still meeting people. There was a 30 minute wait and since it was our last night, we decided to go for it.

Now for another little side story. I had another reason for wanting to meet Tinkerbell. I am a pediatric nurse and there was one little girl that I have been caring for at the hospital for months who is a huge Disney fan. I really wanted to bring something special back for her. I bought special Tinkerbell mickey ears in hopes that I might be able to get Tinkerbell to sign it. So this was my last chance.

If you have never visited the fairies, it is so cute! Once you make it through that long wait. Since we were in line, we missed out on the fireworks. By the time we made it Pixie Hollow, our little girl was definitely tired. She did perk up when we waiting to be sprinkled with pixie dust. Here she is trying to catch the fairies flying around.

Looks like we are almost small enough to go in!

I have to say, I loved this area! It’s so cute and I love that you can see all of the fairies together. The ones out to meet us that evening were Iridessa, Tinkerbell, and Terrence. Since our little one was tired, I had to hold her most of the time. Iridessa came out to greet us and it wasn’t long before they were fussing over her little book and the cute “leaves” she was wearing. I love how in character they are!

I just love the theming of that area!

Next up was Tinkerbell.

I have to say, she was incredible. She was cute the way she was fussing over things and she definitely had that fairy language down pat. If I were a 6 year old girl, I would love it. Who am I kidding, I still loved it.

Here she is marveling at the “berry juicer” she was going to write with.

Terrence popped over to say hi as well. Our little girl is a bit unsure of him.

Posing with Tink.

After the picture, I asked Tink for the favor. I had spoken to some of the cast members prior to the meet and they said since the hat was bought at Disney, she would probably sign it for me. So I told Tink about her little fan back home and asked if she would sign the mickey ear for her. I actually got emotional and teary eyed during this interaction because Tink got a bit misty eyed herself. And she did not hesitate to say yes. She even gave me a super secret message to bring back to my little friend (something about always keeping her fairy wings and dreaming – I can’t give it all away since it was a secret message).

It turned out perfectly! I couldn’t wait to bring it back and give it to her!

There was also a little bit of fun play since Iridessa apparently got her hands stuck in some strange gloves.

Posing with Terrence.

It was a fantastic meet and greet. I totally understood why the line is so long, because they all spend so much time with you. It’s a great character interaction.

After meeting the fairies, we sadly made our way out of the park. There was evening EMH, but our little girl was tuckered out. Besides, we had one last character breakfast in the morning before we headed back home.

 

[BabyEeyore]

What a wonderful update! I'm crying over here over you getting those ears signed for that little girl and the secret message. So sweet!

 

[tinkgurl]

Isn't that bread soooo good?! I think I could just keep eating it all day. haha

Love that pic of you guys outside the MK. I just love the MK at sunset. Something about it just makes my heart melt.

Aw..she was ready to watch the parade! haha. We love watching over in Frontierland too!

Ugh, we dealt with some not so pleasant people while waiting for the parade too. Glad you spoke up and said something about it! And glad that your DH and DD were not too far away so she couldn't say something about them leaving their spots.

Okay...I got all teary-eyed reading about Tink signing the hat. That's so great that she did that for you. I really wish I could be Tink. I'm perfect for her! I'm short and little..blonde hair..what more do you need?!

 

[dawnbu40]

I totally understand how you felt when those people tried to claim your spot! That always seems to happen to us! You find a spot really early and at the last minute someone else thinks they can just push their way past you. So frustrating! I'm so glda you spoke up

Visiting Pixie Hollow seemed like a perfect way to end your trip! The fairies are always so much fun and your pictures are adorable

 

[LilAnn]

What a wonderful update! I'm crying over here over you getting those ears signed for that little girl and the secret message. So sweet!

Aww, thanks. It was really a highlight of the trip for me. I had tried to come up with the perfect gift for her. And she loved it! I printed out pictures of me getting the hat signed and Tink so she could see it for herself. She recently found out that she will get her wish granted from Make-A-Wish and her mom is hoping that they will be able to go to Disney. I keep thinking I need to email Disney about that great moment. It would be nice for that Tink to know that it really did mean a lot to someone.

Isn't that bread soooo good?! I think I could just keep eating it all day. haha

Love that pic of you guys outside the MK. I just love the MK at sunset. Something about it just makes my heart melt.

Aw..she was ready to watch the parade! haha. We love watching over in Frontierland too!

Ugh, we dealt with some not so pleasant people while waiting for the parade too. Glad you spoke up and said something about it! And glad that your DH and DD were not too far away so she couldn't say something about them leaving their spots.

Okay...I got all teary-eyed reading about Tink signing the hat. That's so great that she did that for you. I really wish I could be Tink. I'm perfect for her! I'm short and little..blonde hair..what more do you need?!

Oh my gosh, I love that bread and butter! So good!

Isn't that a great area to watch the parade? Not too crowded. I really think if DH and DD weren't close by, she would have stood her ground. I think it also helped that you could see we had a little toddler. However, the dad's reaction made up for it.

You would make such a great Tink! You would make so many great magical moments! That really was a great moment for me.

 

[LilAnn]

I totally understand how you felt when those people tried to claim your spot! That always seems to happen to us! You find a spot really early and at the last minute someone else thinks they can just push their way past you. So frustrating! I'm so glda you spoke up

Visiting Pixie Hollow seemed like a perfect way to end your trip! The fairies are always so much fun and your pictures are adorable

Exactly! I think it bothered me that we had waited so long and honestly, if she had asked me nicely or just stood behind us from the start, I probably would have offered up my spot for her teenage daughter. But then again, DH and I were going to be sitting on the floor, so it wasn't like you couldn't see behind us.

We've never met the fairies before, so that was definitely fun.

 

[lexmas]

I'm glad that you stood up to the people trying to block your view for the parade. I am a people pleaser as well, so I completely understand what a big deal that was!

It sounds like you had some amazing character interactions with the fairies. SO sweet that you got those ears signed for that little girl. I am so glad that she will be getting her make-a-wish, although I'm sad that she needs it. It is completely unfair that children can be so sick like that.

It sounds like you had a great evening! I can't wait to hear about your character breakfast!

 

[praisehisname]

Once in the parks, we grabbed a list of the showtimes and headed straight over to the Playhouse Disney area.

I loved the Playhouse Disney show when we saw it in 2004. Back then it was Rollie Pollie Ollie, Winnie the Pooh, and one other I can't remember. Now my kids won't go anywhere near it!

Don’t you just love that moment when you hear the music and the first firework goes shooting across the sky and you hear “Starlight, starbright.”

Love Wishes! Great pictures!

When I last left off, we had just finished a fun morning meal at Cape May.

You got lots of time with the characters and great pictures!

Love the sunglasses!

I am a pediatric nurse and there was one little girl that I have been caring for at the hospital for months who is a huge Disney fan. I really wanted to bring something special back for her. I bought special Tinkerbell mickey ears in hopes that I might be able to get Tinkerbell to sign it.

What a sweet thing to do! I bet that little girl loved her gift!

 

[LilAnn]

I'm glad that you stood up to the people trying to block your view for the parade. I am a people pleaser as well, so I completely understand what a big deal that was!

It sounds like you had some amazing character interactions with the fairies. SO sweet that you got those ears signed for that little girl. I am so glad that she will be getting her make-a-wish, although I'm sad that she needs it. It is completely unfair that children can be so sick like that.

It sounds like you had a great evening! I can't wait to hear about your character breakfast!

It was such a big step for me! I'm glad you understand the effort it took to stand up to people.

The fairies were great. I hope to see them again our next trip if the wait isn't too long. They are just so into their characters that it's really fun to watch. the little girl I got the ears for LOVED them and wore them all the time at the hospital. I can't wait to hear if she decides to go to Disney or not for her MAW.

Sorry for the lags in my updates. I do need to get my last update in soon!

 

[LilAnn]

I loved the Playhouse Disney show when we saw it in 2004. Back then it was Rollie Pollie Ollie, Winnie the Pooh, and one other I can't remember. Now my kids won't go anywhere near it!

It is a cute show! And just the perfect length that the kids won't get too bored. Winnie the Pooh is still in the show, but now the others have been replaced with Little Einsteins and Handy Manny.


Love Wishes! Great pictures!

I absolutely love Wishes! There is just nothing like the feeling you get when that show starts!


What a sweet thing to do! I bet that little girl loved her gift!

She her mickey ears! The smile on her face was priceless for me. I was so happy that I was able to get that for her.

 

[SoonerGirl]

I've been off the boards for awhile and got behind, I'm so glad I didn't the end of your report though!

I totally agree with you on the bread and macadamia nut butter at Kona - so yummy!

Good for you standing up for yourself at the parade and not letting that family take your over spot. That was so rude of that lady, you know she had to see your stroller and could have easily guessed that you had a little one with another parent not far off

Your story about the little Tink fan at home had me misty eyed too! What a nice thing you did for that little girl!

 

[LilAnn]

I've been off the boards for awhile and got behind, I'm so glad I didn't the end of your report though!

I totally agree with you on the bread and macadamia nut butter at Kona - so yummy!

Good for you standing up for yourself at the parade and not letting that family take your over spot. That was so rude of that lady, you know she had to see your stroller and could have easily guessed that you had a little one with another parent not far off

Your story about the little Tink fan at home had me misty eyed too! What a nice thing you did for that little girl!

Things actually got a bit busy for me as well and it's taken me a bit to finish this TR. I finally have the last character meal to post next though.

Isn't that bread and butter at Kona just insanely good? I think we go there just for that!

I'm touched that lot of people were moved by my Tink moment. If you could have seen the smile on her face when she put that hat on, it was priceless. There was no way I could have come back from Disney emptyhanded for her.

Thanks so much for reading along!

 

[LilAnn]

Sorry for taking so long to finish this TR and for this update. Things got busy as our little girl turned 3 this weekend, so I was pretty much just trying to get things ready for her parties. Thanks for hanging in with me and reading along.

We woke up Sunday morning with heavy hearts. It was the day we were heading home. I had told my husband that since we were leaving Disney World on Mother’s Day, we had to have at least one nice meal before we left. We had used up all the days on our 10 day park hopper, so I had decided on Garden Grove for their Sunday breakfast buffet with some Disney friends.

We packed away many of our belongings in the hotel room and headed over to the Swan for breakfast. Since they don’t take reservations for this breakfast, I didn’t want to go too late and risk being late for our flight.

We were in luck! We got there when it was still relatively early so there was no wait and the restaurant wasn’t crowded yet. We got seated in the pretty dining room – I love that there is a tree in the middle of the restaurant – and before we had even gotten our food, we were greeted by a chipmunk that our little girl has been waiting to meet.

I was so happy that we Chip & Dale would be here. I know they are all over the parks, but every time we passed them, there was a long line or it was sweltering hot outside. We would usually ask our little gal if she wanted to see the two of them and she would always answer “the line is too long” or “there are too many people, we come back later.” So this was a perfect time to see them, at a slower pace and in the air conditioning!

I love Chip & Dale myself, and it was Mother’s Day, so of course I had to get in a picture too.

Can you see how empty the restaurant still is? I think we were one of maybe 5 families for a while there. And it wasn’t like it was an insanely early hour. I think we went around 9am. I think this is a perfect place for a character meal if you can’t go to a park that day.

After Chip left our table, we were able to go check out the food. Typical breakfast food, but it was so good! I know I must have gone back for thirds at least (shhhhhhh, I’m a pig, I know). Before long, this little puppy came sniffing around.

Our little munchkin had decided that morning that she wanted to wear her Pluto pin. So here she is showing Pluto her pin.

And here she is loving his reaction!

Getting tickled by Pluto.

Up next was Dale. I had to keep going over how to tell the difference between Chip and Dale to her. I would tell her that Dale’s nose is red, but Chip’s nose is black, like a chocolate chip! Since she loves chocolate chip cookies, that definitely helped her out.

We had to make sure that Chip and Dale signed our book, of course.

Apparently she shared a secret with Dale.

See this face? She is very proud of something. I think they may have touched noses or something to that effect.

A quick sip of milk to recharge before some more character meetings. And you can see the pretty tree behind her. I loved the décor of this restaurant.

Pluto was back again, and this time, she had to get out of her chair to show him the pin again.

At least she got over her fear of Pluto from earlier in the trip.

Then it was time to say hi to a very tall friend.

I think she may have seen Pluto and Goofy the most over the course of the trip. She never wanted to pass up an opportunity to say hi to them.

I think by this point, we were all full. I had eaten my fill and polished off a couple of delicious chocolate croissants. We had to get back to the room to finish packing and check out. We had a hard time convincing our little girl to leave. See the sad face?

I know that’s how I felt on the inside to be leaving, too. But we compromised with her. She could give a hug to one last friend and then we had to leave.

Dale was the lucky recipient of that bear hug. Or should I call it a chipmunk hug?

One last touch of the big red nose, and then we were off.

We let our little girl run off some energy on our walk back to the Dolphin. Since she would be in a car or an airplane for a while today, we figured we should at least let her run wild for a bit.

I think she just saw the long straight walkway and saw it was the perfect lane for running.

We posed for one last picture, and then we got ready to say goodbye to Disney World.

We headed back to the hotel room, packed everything up and checked out of the hotel. The rest of our day was standard for a trip home, so I won’t go into details. Plus, it’s always the day I hate the most – traveling home from vacation.

I have always loved other’s people’s top 10 lists of their vacations so I think I will wrap up my TR with a list of my favorite moments on the last post. Hopefully that won’t take me two more weeks to post. Thanks for being so patient with me!

 

[dawnbu40]

What a fun way to end your wonderful vacation! Your little one is such a cutie and just looks like she was having so much fun! What wonderful memories you must have from your trip!

Looking forward to your final thoughts

 

[tinkgurl]

Aw..I had a smile throughout this whole update! I just felt the excitement of DD meeting each character as they came to the table. You caught some good memories on camera!

Boooo...I don't want you guys to leave!!

And...happy b-day to your girl!

 

[SoonerGirl]

First of all Happy Belated Birthday to your DD!

Now, for the update, I never knew there was a character meal at the Swan! And it looked like you nearly had the place to yourselves too, how awesome is that?

I feel just like your DD when it's time to leave, such a sad little face!

Don't feel bad about taking awhile between updates - I've been finished with my actual report for over a month and still haven't posted my final thoughts, I just hate for it to be over, but I've GOT to get it done!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

Happy birthday to your DD!!

I'm so sad this was your last day. It's always hard to go home, but at least you got a great last meal. I've never even heard of that restaurant before. You are right about the decor. It is beautiful!

The character pictures are so cute. And even though she is crying in that one picture, she is still cute.