Our great big beautiful journey!!! With Pictures!! UPDATED 2/25/07 with VIDEO!!

[kristinanderic]

We planned on spending one day in each park on this trip so we opted against the park hoppers. We aren't the hopping type of people...we feel that we lose alot of precious time that could be spent on the rides.

We went into this trip knowing that we'd have a 18 month old and wouldn't be able to accomplish everything we wanted to do. Luckily our son naps very well in the stroller so he can "recharge".

I guess you can see what I'm getting at......we didn't get to ride Everest on this trip. Its gonna have to wait til our next journey to Florida. Thats ok though, because now we have to go back, and we have something to look forward to on the next trip.

The parade was in progress as we were exciting the park and we caught bits and peices of it while we were walking. We would have stopped to watch it but DS was sleeping...so we just kept on walking towards the exit. We had accomplished all of our goals today except Everest.

We boarded a bus back to POP and headed to the room to freshen up before we went to DTD. We had been itching to get to World of Disney to make some souvenier purchases...and of course with the Disney Visa it was 10% off there!

Mickey was posed again in our room when we got there...this time he's ready for a shower.


Apparently DH thought he would be nice and take DS's sippy cup out of the backpack and rinse it out in the sink. Nice right? Well...you'll see how this plays out later since I was unaware of this wonderful jesture.

We boarded the bus and was off to DTD.....

 

[fizz13]

Ok, I'm going to make a prediction with my psychic powers......did the cup get left by the sink? Hope I'm wrong, toddlers without sippy cups is never a good combo, great update,

 

[kristinanderic]

Our bus came to a stop at Marketplace and we departed. As we were getting the stroller open and situated we ran into my parents. We talked to them for a bit. They had spent their day shopping and had lunch at Fulton's Crab House.

It was at this time DS said "juice juice". I went to grab his sippy....yep, just as predicted DH left it next to the sink back at POP.

I was not happy with DH.....not happy at all!! See, my DS will only drink out of a few brands of sippy cups...and when he is hungry he won't attempt a straw at all!

We went straight to World of Disney and asked the CM where the sippy cups were. He pointed us back to the infants section. We had 2 options. A pink one with princesses or Buzz Lightyear. Of course we choose buzz. He was $7!!!!

Off to Earl of Sandwhich. I heard so many good things about it on Dis we wanted to try it out. I got the original and hubby got something with turkey and cranberry sauce...not sure what it was called. I ordered DS a cheese pizza...thinking I'd actually receive a cheese pizza. Little did I know it was actually a sandwhich. I did like my sandwhich though, it was tastey. DH ended up eating the Pizza Sandwhich though cause DS wouldn't touch it.

Of course DS didn't like his expensive sippy cup. Upon his first drink he got SOAKED with milk because it was more of a cup then a sippy. We asked for a sticker at the Earl of Sandwhich and tried to rig up the cup so he would have to "suck" to get milk. Too late...he was scared of Buzz now.

We bought a few things at World of Disney and stopped in a few other shops...and of course took a few pictures.









We got on the bus and headed back to POP. DH wanted to take DS swimming and since I was out of shorts I wanted to do a few loads of laundry.

Of course we had to stop at the POP Jets on the way to the pool.



Then they went swimming.



When the laundry was done we all headed back to the room and went to bed. We were going to Epcot tommorow and had lunch reservations at the Garden Grill.

 

[kristinanderic]

Ok, I'm going to make a prediction with my psychic powers......did the cup get left by the sink? Hope I'm wrong, toddlers without sippy cups is never a good combo, great update,

Of course it got left by the sink! I still have no idea why on earth he decided to rinse out the cup and leave it there.

 

[bar1jp]

That water looks so inviting! what month is this jan? and you can swim at night cool!

 

[kristinanderic]

That water looks so inviting! what month is this jan? and you can swim at night cool!

The weather was wonderful while we were down there and yes, you could swim at night....however a few nights later it was cooler and we were unable to swim in the evening....stay tuned for more on that.

We are from Illinois also (I see that you are too) so coming from 30 degree temperatures it was quite warm for us.

 

[Lan]

Hi kristinanderic!

I am enjoying your trip report. I was in the World the same time as you. I was there to participate in the 1/2 Marathon on the 6th. I love your pictures.

 

[kimjordan]

I'm loving your trip report!!

Subscribing!

 

[kristinanderic]

Hi kristinanderic!

I am enjoying your trip report. I was in the World the same time as you. I was there to participate in the 1/2 Marathon on the 6th. I love your pictures.

Wasn't the weather beautiful?! I was shocked that the temperatures we so nice during our stay. We couldn't have been luckier!

I'm loving your trip report!!

Subscribing!

Thanks so much.

 

[pooksma]

I just showed DS the pic form the pool. He said "Is that me?" I took the same one of he and DH in the pool at POP. Life jacket and all!

Can't wait to go back.

 

[Lan]

Wasn't the weather beautiful?! I was shocked that the temperatures we so nice during our stay. We couldn't have been luckier!

The weather was nice. A little bit too nice for the 1/2 marathon, but nice for the parks

 

[kristinanderic]

I just showed DS the pic form the pool. He said "Is that me?" I took the same one of he and DH in the pool at POP. Life jacket and all!

Can't wait to go back.

Too funny! Our family got together last week for a photo swap. We mixed up our pictures together for a slide show and all of our photos look so similar that half the time we couldn't tell who took it.

 

[ourwaytodisney]

We are going in September. I am really enjoying your trip report. Thansk for sharing with all of us!

 

[JamesMom]

Loving the trip report as I am planning a trip with 26 month old and 5 year old this upcoming September. I need encouragement that it can be done, LOL! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[kristinanderic]

The alarm clock goes off at 7am again this morning. Its becoming harder and harder to crawl out of bed and get to the shower, but we did it. DS hasn't been sleeping in the playpen and usually ends up in bed with us....so 3 of us were all sleeping in one bed.

I should have requested a King...but the last time we had a king bed it didn't have a bath tub, it just had a handicap shower. We needed the bath tub for DS. Oh well....

We headed to the food court for breakfast. I ended up with a cinnamon roll, DS had mickey waffles, and DH got the breakfast pizza. Everything was really good. Every time we've gone to the food court there hasn't been a line and it wasn't crowded at all.

Off to the bus stop to get in the line for Epcot. It was the longest line, but the majority of the people were in line to cheer on Marathoners!



Goals for today:
* Nemo
* Garden Grill at 11:30
* Soarin
* Club Cool (or whatever its called now)
* Test Track
* Japan...I wanted to pick a pearl

We couldn't split up like we have been doing where one of us would go through "security" and one would wait in line at the turnstiles. Epcot's security is in front of the turnstiles.

DS is getting tired of the stroller. I guess you would be tired of it too if you've been riding around in it for the last 5 days. So I took him out and we went to get Maps.



DS is too heavy for me to carry around all day...he's about 25 pounds and it really aggrivates my back. He is refusing to go in the stroller now so we let him walk. It wasn't crowded yet so I didn't have to worry about him getting trampled.

He walked all the way from the front of Epcot to the Nemo Ride!!! What a big boy!!





Finally we arrived at the entrance to Nemo!









There was NO LINE at all!!! WHOO HOOOO!! We didn't even see anyone in front of us!! We walked right on. DS and I took our own car and DH had his own. It was a very cute little ride...I had "Big Blue World" stuck in my head after getting off.

We skipped Turtle Talk because of the line, thats were all the people were!

We headed towards Soarin because we heard here on DIS how the lines can get kinda crazy for it.

Apparently a guy at work told DH that Soarin is awesome so of course DH has to find out for himself...it doesn't matter what I say!!



We parked our stroller and went inside. I pointed the Garden Grill out to DH and told him that is where I made reservations. He doesn't get excited

The standby line for Soarin was 20 minutes. DH decided to go ahead and wait and I got the rider swap pass.

I spent the next 20 minutes chasing DS around as we waiting for DH to come out. We ended up finding a bench and I pulled out some left over chips! Finally he was done. He took over watching DS and I heading for the FP line. I noticed there was a middle-aged couple staring at the FP return time. I explained to them I had a FP that allowed me and a couple other people to use the FP line. They were excited and became my instant friends.

I got to sit in the front row!! Whoo hoo! It was pretty neat. Does anyone know if they change the scents? My DH said he smelled Pine....I told him I only smelled the Orange Grove and he said he never smelled that.
Apparently DH changed DS's diaper while I was in Soarin I was shocked....after a little mishap in a public restroom when DS was about 6 weeks old, DH refuses to change DS in public bathrooms. (DS peed all over him and he got frustrated) Apparently DS used the family bathroom...so he did kinda cheat, although I was still proud of him.

Up next...lunch at the Garden Grill. We get a surprise from the Chef himself and DS meets Mickey for the FIRST TIME!!!!!!

 

[kristinanderic]

We are going in September. I am really enjoying your trip report. Thansk for sharing with all of us!

I want to go back already? Can I tag along with you?

Loving the trip report as I am planning a trip with 26 month old and 5 year old this upcoming September. I need encouragement that it can be done, LOL! Can't wait to hear more!

My best advice is go with the flow. Don't get aggrivated if you don't get everything done...you can always go back!

 

[pooksma]

Peed all over him

Happens to the best of us. I am looking forward to the Nemo ride. Will DS like it?

 

[kristinanderic]

Peed all over him

Happens to the best of us. I am looking forward to the Nemo ride. Will DS like it?

DS enjoyed Nemo but he didn't "love" it like the Indy Cars. Nothing has topped that! My son is just obsessed with anything that has wheels!

 

[natale1980]

DS enjoyed Nemo but he didn't "love" it like the Indy Cars. Nothing has topped that! My son is just obsessed with anything that has wheels!

Mine Too!!! It must be a boy thing... he gets real upset if we do not let him watch Cars every day!!!

-nat

 

[kristinanderic]

My parents were checking out of Fort Wilderness today and both of my sisters and their families would be on a plane this evening heading home. We still have two nights left....along with my brother.

Our reservations for Garden Grill were at 11:30 and I had a few minutes to spare so I gave my brother a phone call to ask him which park he went to today. It was at that moment he said those awful words that anyone who is on vacation DREADS. "We're going home....I'm trying to get Southwest to change our flight."

WHAT??????

His wife was crying...I could hear it in her voice. They had the DS4 that had pnemonia....but apparently he was getting better. However, DS8 was getting very ill So they wanted to get home, which I could understand. Its just bad news.

We told them that if they needed anything to give us a call and we'd do our best to help them out.

On to the Garden Grill. I went and checked in and was seated right away. There wasn't a whole lot of other people there. I was excited and was hoping DS would get alot of character interaction....YEAH!!!



We've now been in the World for 5 days and DS still hasn't been able to see Mickey...except from a distance. So....we were sooooo excited to see THE MAN HIMSELF....but DS thought he would poke his eyes out. So, if any of you see Micky Mouse with a patch on his eye, or with glasses....you can blame it on my DS.



Notice Mickey is biting his fingers here....from the pain of getting his eyes poked out????



DS then gives him five....



We finally get his autograph...



And DS get his photo with Mickey...THIS IS MY FAVORITE PICTURE!!!



Mickey leaves our table, but comes back several times throughout our meal to say hi and for more high fives.

The Chef emerged from the kitchen and arrived at our table with two little cups of soup arranged so perfectly on a plate...I should have taken a picture of it, but I forgot. The Chef said it was a Baked Potatoe soup that he was working on and wanted us to try it out. It was SOOOOOOO good!! We looked around at other tables...no one else got it. We really felt special.

When our waitress came out with our main course we were sure to tell her to send word back to the Chef that the soup was to die for!

Pluto came by...DS's favorite character!!





Then Chip and Dale.....







DS really liked the food really well here. They brought him out some Mac n Cheese and Chicken Fingers. He also ate off of our plates. DH really enjoyed the Flank Steak and Catfish as did I. We will definately plan on making Garden Grill a tradition!!



Now his tummy was full and he was getting tired on us....



But we still had dessert...he got a cupcake he could decorate himself.





DH and I got bread pudding...YUM!!



DH and I loved the bread pudding soooo much I emailed Disney when I got home and they emailed me the recipe! I can't wait to make it.

Coming soon:
* Picking a Pearl
* Journey to Central Lost and Found
* A call from my brother