She's a Princess, a Superhero, and a Rock Star -a Sept 2013 TR (Completed 2/24)

[Wood Nymph]

Allie's hand-painted Mickey shoes are really cute. They match the dress, too.

I heard that Yak and Yeti had good ribs. I keep telling my DH that everyone loves the fried wontons, but he is very skeptical. We ate there once and it was very good.

That is a nice picture of just the two of you. It was very convenient of Allie to take a nap, wasn't it.

I've heard that the best place to watch Wishes at WL is from the employee parking lot. If we don't get a view from our room on our upcoming trip, I might head on down there. One of the nicest things about the WL is how easy it is to see Wishes.

Now for an off-topic question:
How did Allie like Halloween this year?

 

[GrandCalifornian]

What a great morning to be on the DIS looking at your AK and early morning WL photos. Thank you! The guy who spent too long at DTD looks familiar, he must have run out of money along the way. Does that scare Allie? I recall not liking skeletons.

I can't get enough of looking at those clever Disney cupcakes. That's one big solid piece of elephant and just think how much fun it must be to be the creative mind behind those cupcakes. Do they need cupcake beta 'tasters?'

A wait as long as a penny press sounds just about perfect. We always seem (with an ADR) to have a longish wait at Y&Y and it can become rather chaotic in the small lobby. Did you eat upstairs? I like looking down at the passersby. Did you try the crispy green bean app? Quite tasty with extra chili sauce...

Having hardly any wait, seeing empty tables and not seeing many people in the background of your photos, reminds of what a great time of the year you're able to go and has me EXTRA worried about our Christmas visit. The contrast will be stark . Go in September as long as you can, which means Melissa may need to homeschool

Good morning! It is always a nice morning to look at WDW pics. Allie doesn't mind skeletons, but is freaked out by decorations that move or make noise. She got scared by one house in the neighborhood on Halloween, but it scared us too.

We love the cupcakes at WDW. They are just so different and creative and really taste great. Sigh us up to be 'tasters' anytime.

Y&Y was so quiet that they weren't even seating upstairs. Our waiter suggested we go up there and look around since it was completely open. Eating up there would be cool, but so was having the restaurant relatively empty.

We still would love to go in December to see the Christmas decorations. The good part is that even with crowds you will be able to find quiet spots around WL. For going once a year though we do love our quiet September, and we will do whatever we have to to go then, as long as we can afford the trip.

Today we are off to DL for the day, so we are all looking forward to that. Have a great day!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Allie's hand-painted Mickey shoes are really cute. They match the dress, too.

I heard that Yak and Yeti had good ribs. I keep telling my DH that everyone loves the fried wontons, but he is very skeptical. We ate there once and it was very good.

That is a nice picture of just the two of you. It was very convenient of Allie to take a nap, wasn't it.

I've heard that the best place to watch Wishes at WL is from the employee parking lot. If we don't get a view from our room on our upcoming trip, I might head on down there. One of the nicest things about the WL is how easy it is to see Wishes.

Now for an off-topic question:
How did Allie like Halloween this year?

Good morning. Thanks, Allie loves her "Mickey Toms" and they do get attention.

We ended up with lots of PhotoPass pics of the two of us because Allie was either asleep or deciding she was done taking pictures, which happened more this time.

We really liked the food at Y&Y, and the wontons were pretty darn good. The ribs were different from anything I have ever tasted, but were great.

We had never even been in the parking lot at WL until this night, so it was definitely something new.

Allie LOVED Halloween she had a ball doing the pumpkin patch thing, carving pumpkins, and trick or treating. She's really growing up fast!

 

[Valgoof]

Soo many great things in this update!! . I love Melissa's Lion King shirt! Very cute. Allie looks so happy with the elephant lollipop.
DH loved Yak & Yeti's ribs last year. He wants to eat there twice on our next trip, but I think once is enough. It is our only repeat TS. I loved the fried wontons.

 

[kastoney]

Just finding you guys and subbing in. Can't wait to catch up.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Soo many great things in this update!! . I love Melissa's Lion King shirt! Very cute. Allie looks so happy with the elephant lollipop.
DH loved Yak & Yeti's ribs last year. He wants to eat there twice on our next trip, but I think once is enough. It is our only repeat TS. I loved the fried wontons.

Thanks, we're glad you're enjoying the updates. Melissa looked for AK clothes all year and knew that shirt would be perfect. Sweet white chocolate makes any of us happy.

Mmm, going to Yak and Yeti twice doesn't sound like a bad idea, although we probably wouldn't end up doing it because there are so many other great choices at WDW. It is definitely on our must do list though, and if we did two TS meals in AK I'd probably vote for it twice...

Just finding you guys and subbing in. Can't wait to catch up.

We're glad you found this after following the PTR! We are having a ball reliving the trip, and it feels like we are just getting started... Thanks for joining in.

 

[LuvGoldens]

Really enjoying your report and pictures Paul and Melissa! We are still experiencing some lagging post Disney depression so haven't been on Disboards much but please do say hi to that little cutie Allie for us

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Really enjoying your report and pictures Paul and Melissa! We are still experiencing some lagging post Disney depression so haven't been on Disboards much but please do say hi to that little cutie Allie for us

Hello! What a great time for you to stop in and say hi. Sorry about the post Disney depression, it definitely happens to all of us. We are fighting it off by still hoping for a trip next year, but that's up to how the finances work out. We are glad you are enjoying the trip report.
Allie says hi too, and she wants to hang out with you at Mickey's big house again soon.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I started the day on Tuesday by taking the camera out to take some more WL pictures at about 7:30 AM. I walked all around the pool and down to the beach.



As I headed through the Villas on the way back towards the lobby I got a text from Melissa that Allie was up and she wanted some Waffles. I stopped by the room and grabbed our mugs and went to Roaring Fork to pick up a plate of strawberry Mickey Waffles.

Allie got to have breakfast in bed while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse at Mickey's Big House. It was a great morning for an almost four year old.


After waffles we geared up to head to a waterpark. We weren't sure which one we wanted to go to so we just waited for the first waterpark bus that came along.

This was one way to shorten the bus wait, just be flexible and let the bus arrival order decide where you're going. We had never been to either Disney waterpark, so we wanted to hit both of them this trip and we didn't have any preference, so it worked out well.

so... drumroll.... what bus came first...


Blizzard Beach!

We don't have any pictures of the walk into the park, but it was a tad overwhelming. There were good sized crowds of people with very little clothing who likely were visitors to America. It felt shal we say, um, "foreign". After waiting in line to get a locker, and being passed up by two rude groups who pushed their way in front, we finally got a locker and started to explore.

I figured Allie would enjoy the kids splash pad area so that's where we headed first.


Allie got right into it, and enjoyed playing in the shallow water. I wanted to check out the lazy river next, but Allie wasn't so sure about that.


We went a little ways and she cried most of the time so we hopped out after one stop. She wanted to go back to play in the kids area so we convinced her she had to ride the lazy river all the way around to get back, so we got back in and she got her own tube and was much much happier and actually ended up liking it.



We made it all the way around, and she liked it all except for the "A-choo house" which freaked Allie out a bit with its sneezing and splashing water. Allie was happy to be back in the play area.


Allie even built up enough courage to ride the big slide by herself.


And from the smile on her face she enjoyed it.


She rode it many more times and had a ball. We were all getting hungry so we were finally able to convince Allie to leave Tikes Peak for a bit and we went in search of food.

We decided to get Chicken nuggets and a pizza to share and also got a refillable mug. The food was good and just what we needed after spending all morning in the water.

The mug was pretty neat. They are slightly different than the resort mugs, although they use a similar RFID system. After purchasing it, you get unlimited refills in the mug for that day, and can re-activate if on future days for less than buying another one.


After lunch I conviced everyone to try Teamboat Springs. I wasn't sure where in the park it was so we just followed the signs. I didn't realize we could have taken the chair lift so we just kept climbing the stairs up, and up, and up, and up some more


The view from the top was pretty neat, and I really enjoyed the ride. You are on a big disk thas circles around while going down the slide and banks quite a bit in the corners, but it doesn't really feel like it is going to tip over. I thought it was great, but Allie wasn't too impressed.


She said in no uncertain terms that she didn't want to ride it ever again. Ok we were fine with that so we headed back over to the lazy river.


Then onto Tikes Peak one last time.


After some more splashing and a bunch of trips down each of her favorite slides, we decided to pack up and head for the resort. On the way out a nice lady took our picture in the used sled lot.


We left the water park at 2:30 and were back to WL by 2:45.

We showered and changed for the evening then headed back out to the bus stop to head to Epcot for our Akershus dinner reservation


On the bus to Epcot I had this conversation with Allie:
Allie: I want to try a Duffy
Daddy: What does Duffy do?
Allie: Noting, he's just a stuffed toy.
Like, come on Dad, everybody knows that...

So of course we now had to get her a Duffy.

Allie was awake on the bus when we pulled into Epcot, but fell asleep while it was pulling up to the drop off location. We carried her off the bus and put her in her stroller still asleep. This meant that we had the afternoon to ourselves to explore Epcot at our own pace while she napped.



Continued in next update.

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[nimbuscat]

Following along!! We will be at Wilderness Lodge in January with our almost-3-year-old DD (her first trip). I stayed up way too late last night reading your 2012 TR, and loved seeing WDW through Allie's eyes, as I can imagine that it will be similar to our experience with Zoey (our DD). Thanks so much for these great reports and pictures!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Great pics!

Thanks! We love taking pictures, especially at WDW. It gives us the chance to go through them all and relive the trip once we're back at home and life is back to normal.

Following along!! We will be at Wilderness Lodge in January with our almost-3-year-old DD (her first trip). I stayed up way too late last night reading your 2012 TR, and loved seeing WDW through Allie's eyes, as I can imagine that it will be similar to our experience with Zoey (our DD). Thanks so much for these great reports and pictures!

Welcome! We are glad to have you following along. Taking Allie before she turned three was so much fun. People told us she won't remember but she definitely did a year later and now all she talks about is wanting to go back again! We are trying to make that work for this year.

You should have a great trip! Zoey should love it. WL is a wonderful resort, and has become our home at WDW. While you're there, take the trip over to FW sometime to check out the stuff over there. Allie liked that playground the best, and the ponies are cool to see, even if she doesn't ride them. I'm glad you found the trip reports and are enjoying following along!

 

[nimbuscat]

You should have a great trip! Zoey should love it. WL is a wonderful resort, and has become our home at WDW. While you're there, take the trip over to FW sometime to check out the stuff over there. Allie liked that playground the best, and the ponies are cool to see, even if she doesn't ride them. I'm glad you found the trip reports and are enjoying following along!

Thank you! We will definitely check out FW. And I totally agree--we took Zoey on a cruise last January (just before she turned 2), and she still talks about getting to kiss the dolphins, and the shoes she wore on the "big boat", and seeing her friends there. Memories for all of us!

 

[Wood Nymph]

It looks like you had a really nice day at Blizzard Beach. We took the kids there once when they were teens. They hit the slides but I only remember spending time in the lazy river.

In spite of you telling me all about the strawberry Mickey waffles, I still haven't tried them yet. I definitely want to try them on our next trip.

I love Allie's long hair. She really is a princess.

 

[kastoney]

Blizzard beach looks like they have a lot of stuff fear toward the little ones. Alli certainly seemed to be enjoying herself.

Did u have an tour group issues after you got in the park?

 

[GrandCalifornian]

It looks like you had a really nice day at Blizzard Beach. We took the kids there once when they were teens. They hit the slides but I only remember spending time in the lazy river.

In spite of you telling me all about the strawberry Mickey waffles, I still haven't tried them yet. I definitely want to try them on our next trip.

I love Allie's long hair. She really is a princess.

We did have a nice morning there, and would definitely go back. The lazy river was our favorite, and it was noticeably longer than the one at Typhoon Lagoon.

The Strawberry waffles have become a staple for us, and our default breakfast at WL. They should be worth a try.

Blizzard beach looks like they have a lot of stuff fear toward the little ones. Alli certainly seemed to be enjoying herself.

Did u have an tour group issues after you got in the park?

The kids areas at both water parks were nice, and different. I think Allie preferred the area at Blizzard Beach, which had more neat kid size slides that she was willing to ride, and as parents it was easier to keep an eye on her there since it was all on two levels while Typhoon Lagoon had more levels and less visibility.

The pushy people weren't necessarily from a tour group, but they weren't speaking English. We didn't have any other issues, but there were lots of people in the park with interestingly minimalist swimsuits.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We got in to the park with Allie crashed in her stroller, tired from all of the morning's activities. We walked past the new Starbucks and I couldn't resist. I decided to grab a mocha frappiccino which was a nice icy treat on a hot day.


After Starbucks, the Duffy store was the first stop. We both thought it would be cute for Allie to have a Duffy when she woke up. Spoiled? Yeah, just a little, but it's Disney.


We then began touring World Showcase, starting from Canada and working around counter-clockwise.

We were getting hungry so we decided to stop in the bakery in France and get a treat. We chose to share a white chocolate eclair


This continued our trend of eating dessert first, but it was really good. This might have my favorite dessert snack of the trip. While we sat and relaxed, Melissa got a picture of me getting a picture of the Eclair, and then got a shot of Stitch hanging out.



We then continued around World Showcase before starting the process of waking Allie up at 6:30 so she wouldn't be too cranky when we got to our 7PM dinner reservation. She was glad to see her new Duffy, and wanted to sleep with it right then.


Melissa and I took the opportunity to try on some hats while wondering through the shops.



I thought I'd get in the Norwegian spirit since I didn't know what to expect at dinner

Our plan of waking Allie up worked almost flawlessly, Allie was still kinda cranky when we went to have our picture taken with Belle and she didn't want to do it so we decided to wait until after dinner for our picture.

We had about a 10 minute wait outside since they seemed to be seating people in groups, so once the line started moving we all were seated fairly quickly. Dinner itself started with the cold buffet. I had heard about this and pictured a salad bar with some cheese, but it had a lot of stuff. I even tried cold Salmon, and really liked it.


I loved the cheeses on the cold buffet and Allie scarffed the bread. The highlight of the night was the entrees. I figured we were just there for the princesses but the food makes me want to go back.

I agree, the meals were exceptional. I tried both my entree and Melissa's, and the meat from both was tender and well flavored. The side dishes were exceptional too, and I totally cleaned my plate. Going back to the princesses, they arrived in rapid succession as soon as we were seated. First up was Cinderella, and Allie still wasn't too sure.


It was Mulan who really got Allie into the evening. She was a great character and so patient with her and it made for a great interaction


With Mulan Allie began talking to the princesses about her skirt, which broke the ice. It worked out that Mulan on Allie's skirt was turned to face the camera for this shot. Next was Snow White, and then Ariel, and Allie had fun conversations with each of them.




She really enjoyed the princesses. Dessert came and was delicious. My favorite was the rice pudding (I think thats what it was at least, very tasty) Allie got a birthday cupcake too. After we finished eating our waiter told us that right in front of the Norway pavillion was a great place to watch Illuminations so we figured why not?

We only had a little over a half hour to wait, and there were good spots open, so we decided to just hang out and wait for the show.

While we were waiting Allie wanted to buy a light up toy from one of the carts.

I am a sucker for lights, and the one she wanted was really cool. It had a single string with a weight on the end of it and lit up in different patterns as it spun around. Since Daddy thought it was cool, we bought it. (And we figured it would help her pass the time).


Well the light stopped working in less than 10 minutes and we were sitting right by the cart so Paul and Allie went up to take it back

This is not something I would normally do, as I don't expect cheap toys to last forever, but she hadn't done anything wrong to it, it just stopped working. The lady was nice and offered to exchange it, but all three other ones she had weren't working either. She offered a refund, but we decided on a light up wand instead that was only a couple of dollars more, so I paid the difference to upgrade.
Illuminations was great as usual, and it was a neat spot to watch it from. Allie said the show was "awesome" and Melissa got some nice pictures too.





I had fun with the new camera and as always it was a super impressive show. After it was all over we headed out with the hordes of other people to the front of the park. We had to keep telling Allie to stay in the stroller but she really wanted out. When we got to the spot near Spaceship Earth where there are lights in the ground she decided to jump out of the stroller and in doing so broke her light up wand.


Yeah, she broke the big star off the end of it, but the lights still worked. This time it was her fault, but at least the lights still worked. (Once we got it home I glued it back together, and it is still functioning and in one piece today...)

We made it back to WL and headed up to the room after a long day.

Allie snuggled into bed with her Duffy and we all went to sleep before too late because we knew we had a breakfast ADR in the morning.


Continued in the next update.

 

[nimbuscat]

Yay, an update! We have breakfast booked at Akershus, but dinner sounds lovely!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I'm glad that the princesses got to see Allie's special skirt. It is so cute on her. I'm very excited to see that Allie got to visit with the same Snow White that my granddaughter saw. She was so wonderful and spent a lot of time with our granddaughter. Your trip report is the first one I've seen with the same Snow White. It looks like you picked the right restaurant for princesses and food.

I bought the same eclair for my DH and he loved it. They had a lot of great food choices at that bakery in France.

 

[MrsTeddy]

Sounds like a great day! We haven't done a water park yet, probably won't until Ellie is around 3....

Our last trip both kids napped in Epcot! We have pictures of the stroller parked in front of each works pavilion! It made for a great afternoon!

Allies skirt is precious and perfect for that meal! As have lunch there next month!!