She's Sleeping on the Top Bunk: An August 2017 WL TR with a Party of 10 (Updated 10/18)

[Wood Nymph]

Marshall REALLY enjoyed meeting all of the characters and gave lots of hugs and kisses. Allie at this age would have run screaming so it's fun to have a kid who's into them.

The pictures of Marshall with Mickey are adorable. I love Allie's big smile while watching her brother. It is so cute.

Originally we planned to park hop to Magic Kingdom, but it was getting closer to our dinner ADR so we decided to head back to WL on the way. At the bus stop Jon took this cute shot of us.

That is a very cute picture. I especially like the WL tee shirt.

Marshall was holding the pager when it went off and cried when I took it away from him. Buster, the nice CM who was seating us noticed this and dropped off another pager at our table, and even made it go off so it would light up and vibrate for Marshall. He said it makes him feel bad when they take them away from kids, who just want to play with them. What a fantastically nice caring CM, who gets the concept of taking exceptional care of guests.

That was really nice of the CM. I love when the CM's do stuff like that.

We also loved the food, which is just great comfort food to start the trip with. I had plenty of ribs, pulled pork, and cobbler a la mode for dessert.

We love Trail's End. It really has a nice selection of food - something for everyone.

It was super relaxing, and nice to be able to enjoy not having anything we needed to rush off to do. We eventually walked to the bus stop to take a bus back to the lodge. We got on the bus at 7:58 and got to WL at 8:01.

We enjoyed watching our grandkids play at the playground before our dinner at Hoop Dee Doo a few years ago. I think it was the most relaxed we felt the entire trip.

Was this the same bus that takes everyone to the MK bus depot?

They even pipe the music to the courtyard of the hotel now so as we were leaving Geyser Point we got to walk up to the room to the exit music from the show. It made it a pretty epic end for the night.

That's new since we were there in March. I love listening to that music.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

The pictures of Marshall with Mickey are adorable. I love Allie's big smile while watching her brother. It is so cute.

She really is great with him, and enjoys sharing the characters with him. It is funny because she usually isn't super into them, but gets more excited with him around. Waht a great big sister.

That is a very cute picture. I especially like the WL tee shirt.

Thanks! I have a collection going. I have three different T shirts and three WL polo shirts in different styles.

That was really nice of the CM. I love when the CM's do stuff like that.

We love Trail's End. It really has a nice selection of food - something for everyone.[/QUOTE]
Yes, this is the one restaurant we have eaten at every time and it is just a must do for us. It is neat to see some of the same CMs year after year, it must be a pretty nice place to work. It sure is a great place to eat, and a relatively good value.

We enjoyed watching our grandkids play at the playground before our dinner at Hoop Dee Doo a few years ago. I think it was the most relaxed we felt the entire trip.

There is just something super relaxing about Fort Wilderness. It is great that the kids are just as happy to run around there as a theme park.

Was this the same bus that takes everyone to the MK bus depot?

It picked up at the same bus stop, but was a different bus. We learned that the Settlement Yellow buses do a loop that includes WL, so from WL it returned to FW and then did the yellow route to the Outpost end.

That's new since we were there in March. I love listening to that music.

We were pleasantly surprised to hear it. It was a nice addition to the courtyard.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I woke up just before 4 AM, but was finally able to get back to sleep for a little bit before the 6:30 AM alarm. I watched Marshall while Melissa showered, then I went down to grab breakfast and mug refills from Roaring Fork.


Waking the kids up went well, especially for Allie.
Marshall was loving sleeping in the AC in the hotel room, that kid is HOT all the time and we were able to keep him cool enough to zonk out most of the night.

We decided to take the single stroller for the morning.


It was really quite nice to have the option of either on the trip. While at first it sounds excessive to bring two strollers it was nice to not have to deal with the big double all the time but have it when we needed it.

Buying the ultra compact tour stroller was a bit of a stretch since we already have other single strollers, but it folds so small it really was neat to have on the trip. We got everybody dressed and ready and were at the bus stop at 7:58. No time was shown for a MK bus, so we must have just missed it. The bus came at 8:14, and we arrived at MK by 8:20.


With the new entrance procedures for the Magic Kingdom we were able to get into the park a little early and then stroll up mainstreet.


I liked the new entrance procedure, even though it meant there were more people than there used to be on Main Street. I hadn't read about the changes ahead of time, I guess I was spending too much time on the Resorts board instead of reading about changes in the parks.

On the way to the castle we spotted another dad delivering a princess dress to BBB.


I was too busy working to actually read about what the changes were but I knew that they had made changes. Anyway it was nice to not have the entrance area so dang crowded or worry about making our appointment time which corolated with park opening.

We stopped for a couple of pics in front of the castle before seeing how far we could go.


We were able to get past the dining reservation checkpoint with our BBB appointment time and headed to the backside of the castle.


Once we went to check in we didn't have any wait and Allie met her FGIT immediately.

It was super fast, In the time it took me and Marshall to park the stroller she was in the back and in a chair, the same one she had last year.


It worked out great because we could pretty much contain Marshall in the corner, and I had room to take lots of pictures of the makeover process.




Marshall passed the time playing with his Goofy airplane candy holder we got the night before, and we managed to get the candy thrown away before he spilled it all over the floor.


Oh yeah that was close, there could have been little candy balls all over the place. Marshall made friends and Allie had a ball.

Allie's decision to do BBB without a fancy princess costume dress worked out really well. It saved us the cost of the dress that she would only wear for a little while in the heat. We did buy the Tsum Tsum dress for the occaision, and she loved wearing it all day.

After the makeover we went across the way for the photo shoot, and had a great CM who got some wonderful pictures of Allie and even let Marshall join in.



We got some super cute pictures of the two of them together.

After the photos we headed over to Pirates to meet up with Jon and Brandy. We had fastpasses that were valid, and Jon and Brandy had gone straight there and walked on the ride twice. They were up for a third ride, so away we went.


Then we were ready for a snack and a place to cool off a bit. We headed over to do something I have wanted to try since our 2014 trip.


While we were in line Allie saw the decorated umbrellas and really wanted one. We initially said no because of the cost, but she must have really wanted it because she was willing to make a deal. She agreed to smile for pictures for the rest of the trip if we got the umbrella.


We are not above bribing our kids and this time it totally worked. It was worth every penny.

She really loved the umbrella, and was happy to have it. It even worked in the rain too, which would definitely come in handy during the trip. We never once had to ask her to smile for a picture.

Now back to our snack. We got nutella waffles.

oh my these were so good. I can't believe we hadn't tried them before.

It wasn't because of not wanting them, you've mentioned them for years. I am glad that it finally worked into our schedule. I also enjoyed the hot dog that Brandy and Jon got.

Jon and Brandy got a baked potato that was delicious too.

After the snack we headed towards Haunted Mansion, but stopped to watch the Muppets show in Liberty square. This is another thing I had heard nothing about but really thought was neat.



It was a super cute show about Paul Reveere. Allie still talks about how funny it was.

I had heard some negative stuff about the show but I thought it was cute and well done. Allie enjoyed it and it was nice to have something going on while Hall of Presidents is still down.

I laughed quite a bit at the corny jokes. As I get older, they seem to get funnier. Hmm, Dad humor...
Then we went on to Haunted Mansion, which Allie bravely rode this year. She used to be freaked out by the hitchhiking ghosts part at the end.

I think she really enjoyed it this time too. Marshall rode in doom buggy with me and between the air, the dark, and the previous snack he konked out on the ride.


Then our next fastpass was for Big Thunder Mountain. This is another one that we hadn't ridden in Florida but have at home. I waited with Allie and Marshall while Brandy, Jon, and Melissa rode it.


It was fun and I was surprised at how different the track is from the one at home. It's the same style and theme but they are definitely different roller coasters.


Instead of riding it again with the baby swap pass we decided to head towards our lunch ADR, which was for the Wave at CR. We headed down Main street and out of the park, after being briefly interruped by the dance parade.


We almost got to watch a couple of ladies get run over by a float, obviously the cm's weren't talking to them when they told everyone to not cross yet. Perhaps the laws of physics don't apply to them.

Then we decided to make the "short" walk over to CR. We timed it, and it took us 14 minutes from the front gate of the park to the lobby air conditioning. We weren't going particularly slow, we just followed the path and had the stroller to push. It was a warm day, and we all appreciated some AC and cold water after the walk.


I think we were all half melted by the time we got in the lobby at the Contemporary. I've noticed that Disney is putting out ice water more and I think it's nice. We were all able to enjoy some water and catch up on life for a minute before our ADR time.



Then just before 1:00 we took the short walk down to the Wave. Find out how it went in our next update.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

We are staying at the Contemporary in November, and I was wondering how long the walk was to MK... Thanks! We are bringing my 2 year old niece, and it just seems easier to push her in the stroller than hopping on the monorail.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We are staying at the Contemporary in November, and I was wondering how long the walk was to MK... Thanks! We are bringing my 2 year old niece, and it just seems easier to push her in the stroller than hopping on the monorail.

You're welcome. It isn't a bad walk, and there is just one street to cross with a crosswalk. There is also a small security checkpoint just for those that walk this way. It is probably a better deal on the way to the parks, since the monorail goes the other direction making a longer trip. (Also it would be better if it were cooler outside). On the way back to CR we preferred the monorail.

 

[rdkeim]

Your DD looks so pretty after her makeover. Her dress looks so much more comfy than the fancy ones. We have a Wave ADR so I'll be interested to see what you thought!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Your DD looks so pretty after her makeover. Her dress looks so much more comfy than the fancy ones. We have a Wave ADR so I'll be interested to see what you thought!

Thanks! She really likes her Tsum Tsum dress, and has even gotten multiple uses out of the colored hair things that she got with the makeover. Wave was new for us, and worked out ok, but the desserts were great. We should get the next update that covers the meal posted today.

 

[cheryllarsen]

10 days, WOW!

 

[cheryllarsen]

Thanks for posting. I love reading these trip report! Great read.

 

[dnllmz]

Marshall was also willing to eat anything he could get his hands on.

Awww I love this picture and the one of him sleeping after HM. I really miss when my dd was that age. I know it's a lot of work but such a fun age too!

Maybe after they made their way drinking around the world she'd notice the dragon on his face less.

lol I wish you had a picture of this!

We had many afternoon thunderstorms during the trip that ended up closing the pools. Since it was so close to Firework time we headed down to Geyser Point and watched them from there.

The view was slightly obstructed by trees in the transportation boat dock area, but it was really neat that they played the music. It definitely was a nice area to watch them from. We got mug refills and headed up to the room since the pools were still closed.

They even pipe the music to the courtyard of the hotel now so as we were leaving Geyser Point we got to walk up to the room to the exit music from the show. It made it a pretty epic end for the night.

This sounds so magical. WL is on the list of resorts I would like to try. Just haven't had the right opportunity yet. The bunk beds look awesome.

While we were in line Allie saw the decorated umbrellas and really wanted one. We initially said no because of the cost, but she must have really wanted it because she was willing to make a deal. She agreed to smile for pictures for the rest of the trip if we got the umbrella.

I didn't see these in July. I would definitely let my dd get on of these for a souvenir. I'll have to look for them in November. If they are still there.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

10 days, WOW!

Thanks for posting. I love reading these trip report! Great read.

Thanks for following along. We really enjoy having the chance to relive our trip and share it with everybody. 10 days works so well for us, since we have to travel across the country we might as well make it worth the trip. Our honeymoon was a week and just felt so short...

Awww I love this picture and the one of him sleeping after HM. I really miss when my dd was that age. I know it's a lot of work but such a fun age too!

It really is fun. Allie's first trip was when she was almost three, so we weren't sure about bringing a younger child but it worked out great. He'll still get one more in while he's free, meaning he will have three trips before he's three. Not bad for a boy from CA.

lol I wish you had a picture of this!

We just might, I'll have to look. I wouldn't want to embarrass the poor boy, but he did kind of do it to himself...

This sounds so magical. WL is on the list of resorts I would like to try. Just haven't had the right opportunity yet. The bunk beds look awesome.

We truly love WL. It is just perfect for us. We like visiting a lot of other resorts, but none seem to be as perfect for us. This was our first time getting bunk beds, and the kids just loved them. Allie wants them every time now, which could be problematic...

I didn't see these in July. I would definitely let my dd get on of these for a souvenir. I'll have to look for them in November. If they are still there.

We have seen them before, but never really looked into the pricing. They sell them from a cart that was between the waffle place and liberty square. The basic umbrella with her name and little balloon drawings on it was just over $20, and additional drawings were available for more, but she was happy with the minimum. We'll post more pics of it in the days to come.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

When we left off we were just walking in to the Wave for our lunch there. This was a new restaurant for us, and we were excited to try it.


We were glad to see that the restaurant wasn't crowded at all, and besides being seated right away we were also able to keep Marshall asleep in his stroller at our table.


It was nice he was sleeping and we were able to enjoy a nice leisurely lunch.

That proved to be very fortunate because nothing happend fast during that meal. I decided to go with their "Signature" burger, since it had to be something special.

I got their fish of the day which was.....I can't remember. I remembered it and now I can't. I feel like Dory.

Grouper?

Yes, It was grouper and it was delicious.


My burger was ok, but nothing spectacular. Perhaps it ws just a matter of having too high of expectations, but I was disapointed that this was their signature dish.


That was ok though, because we had dessert coming, and it was pretty special.

He should have gotten the fish. I think I was done with my fish by the time everyone else got mayo and ketchup for their burgers.
Allie got pizza but wanted to try a piece of the rainbow bread that they make their grilled cheese out of. The waiter was nice to bring her a slice. She said it just tasted like regular white bread.


But she was super excited to get a piece of it. I thought it was funny to have rainbow colored bread mixed on a menu with a bunch of natural and additive free choices.

It did seem strange but it is something unique on the menu.
we fisnished our meals and 3 days later our waiter brought by dessert menus.

It felt like it. I wondered if the dessert would be worth the wait, but fortunately it was. We each tried a different "flight" which had quite an assortment of different yummy things.



Everything was delicious. I really enjoyed the peanut butter brownie on the chocolate flight.

I liked everything, and thought the dessert was the highlight of the meal. The downside was the wait, and we did have to wait a long time for our checks, only to find that he didn't have them set up for the dining plan. That took another 15 minutes or so, and it still didn't have it right on the paper. The waiter had to actually take our magic bands from us (like a credit card) and go in the back to a station to ring up our meals. We were not super confident that it worked out right, but we didn't want to be there until morning so we headed out.

Marshall was done with his nap by now, thankfully he slept through the entirety of lunch.

After lunch it was already almost 3:15, but we wanted to check out the gift shops upstairs. We walked through all of them and saw some neat things. My favorite was a Cars 3 limited edition MagicBand.




Marshall was getting hungry so we got him some crackers and applesauce to make up for his lack of lunch and he enjoyed his snack.

About 3:45 we headed downstairs to catch a boat to WL. Allie actually asked to take a picture with the Metal Mickey on the way to the boats.


We normally take a family picture there but it was soooo stinkin hot out I wasn't feeling it so we just let Allie take her picture then headed for the boat.


As we got to the end of the dock a boat arrived on our right side, but he was going clockwise around the lake to Fort Wilderness before WL, and he said the other boat would be leaving at the same time and going direct to WL.


The boat pulled up on the left side and we hopped right on. This is the first time we have seen them synchronizing the Blue flag boats with both of them leaving the CR doc at the same time, but we saw it more later in the trip.


It was a quick ride to the resort, then we went upstairs to change and swim for a bit.

This time we were successful with our swim adventure. Allison is a great swimmer now and had a ball in the pool and enjoyed going down the slide.



Marshall has been in swim for about a year and a half and loved jumping in over and over and over again.



We found that Allie is just slightly too tall for the kids play area at WL. It is one of the only times a child gets their height checked at Disney and is disappointed in being too tall.

After we swam in the big pool for a while, we headed over to check out the Boulder Ridge Cove pool. It was very nice, and feels about as big as the main pool, it just doesn't have a slide. The zero entry part was nice with the kids, although Marshall seemed a little confused by it since he's used to going directly into deeper water.


We also checked out the hot tub. it felt so good to soak for a couple minutes. It was too hot for marsh so he just dipped his toes in.


After swimming we got back up to the room at 5:50, then got changed and met Jon and Brandy back in the lobby at 6:20. Brandy had checked on our meal credits and found that they had already used 6 Table Service credits, so we went to the front desk to see if the Wave had messed up and charged all of our meals to their plan. It turned out they hadn't, but they had already deducted the 2 Table Service credits for Hoop De Doo that we had coming up the next night. Then we were off towards Disney Springs.
We got to the bus stop at 6:34, and on a bus at 6:41. It stopped at the CR to pick up more guests at 6:48, and we got to Disney Springs at 7:12.

Our goal at Disney Springs this year was to explore and embrace the new stuff.


But first we needed dinner, so we headed over to a tried and true favorite.

On our way to Wolfgang Puck Express we took the new bridge across the water.


This makes lots of sense, giving Disney Springs a circular traffic flow and not having it feel like one end is as isolated from the other.

Marshall started to fuss as we got to the restaurant, and Melissa took him outside while I ordered. I got the meatloaf sandwich, and she got the meatloaf dinner. Allie got chicken and Mac and cheese. By the time we got a table, Marshall had fallen asleep so it looked like he would be sleeping through another meal.

He just was kinda having a melt down, I don't know if he was hot, hungry or tired but having him asleep made for a much more pleasant meal.

I really enjoyed the meatloaf sandwich, and I remembered why it is one of my favorite meals at WDW.


We also were excited to get the Creme Brulee for dessert, even though it wasn't on the menu.


If I recall correctly we weren't able to get it last year so I was super excited to get it this year. It's a favorite for me.

We also had the cheesecake, which was great too. It was a great meal, and still one of the best deals for a QS meal on the dining plan. After dinner, we headed to the Christmas shop to pick out an ornament to be customized. We have done this every trip since our honeymoon and it makes our tree so neat since we remember each trip while decorating it.

This year we chose a silver Mickey Ear shape filled with Mickey shaped glitter pieces. For the customization, we had them add "Our 10th Anniversary" and 2017.


It's a fun tradition and we'll hopefully have a tree full at some point.

With the ornament being delivered to our resort, we were free to explore and shop for the rest of the evening. We worked our way towards and through the World of Disney store.

We spied on Brandy and John in the crystal shop.



At World of Disney we got Marshall a T Shirt and Allie a mood necklace. (She gets a kick out of the changing colors). At the register the CM said that they don't give a discount for the Premier pass, because it is from California. I laughed, because I thought he was joking but it turned out he wasn't. I asked him to check on that, and he said he would go ahead and give me the discount. That would have been an interesting conversation with his lead...

I can only imagine how that would have gone.

Outside, Allie insisted on a picture with her Lego family before we headed towards the buses.


On the way toward the buses we stopped in the D Living store. Apparently it is the only place on property where you can buy the interchangeable bow Minnie ears which I knew nothing about until now.


But I had to have them when I saw them. Allie picked out a bow too and I got ears.


Every year you threaten to get a mouse ear headband, but wonder if it will be comfortable. Since these were comfy, it was finally time to do it. You definitely got lots of use out of them during the trip.

This is true, they were very comfortable and I enjoyed wearing them the rest of the trip.


As we got to the bus stop Allie needed a potty, so we ran to the ones outside the Coke store. As we got back the bus was there waiting, and we walked right on at 10:40, then arrived back at WL at 10:58, making it a record quick trip back for us.

It was a great LONG day. We got Allie in bed but Marsh was bouncy for a while, the curse of late naps.

I went down to Roaring Fork for a mug refill and Melissa and I stayed up for a bit while she caught up on doing payroll for work back at home.


Yes, our payroll day is Monday and we had another busy day scheduled so I stayed up and got my payroll done for the week. It makes for happier employees that way.

Check back in the next update as we attempt to make early Extra Magic Hours at Animal Kingdom.

 

[Araminta18]

Sounds like a fun trip so far. Mostly commenting to say that Marshall is adorable.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Sounds like a fun trip so far. Mostly commenting to say that Marshall is adorable.

Thank you so much. We had a great time. We think Marshall is adorable too but we are a little biased.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We interrupt this trip report to bring you all an update from what we did this weekend.

It's only Saturday but we've already been to Disneyland twice!

As some of you may recall, Melissa ran in the Disneyland Half Marathon three years ago, and two years ago we attempted the 10k together but she was five months pregnant with Marshall. We made it over four miles but got swept before running through Disneyland.

So this year I signed up for the 10k for redemption. We've had a really busy year and we haven't trained as much as I would have preferred, plus we just got back from Florida two weeks ago where we did absolutely no running so I was nervous about finishing this year too.

We have been getting out and running a couple of times a week, but our times weren't great. That's ok, it was time to give it a shot. I agreed to watch Marshall while she did the race, but we did all the training together and we would be at the race to cheer her on.

We went to the Expo on Friday after work to pick up my credentials and do some shopping. I picked up an I Did It shirt and a couple other things.

She was a little worried about jinxing the finish, but if you don't buy the shirt ahead of time they sell out. I also found a "Fast as Lightning" running shirt that I had to have. After the expo we had a nice dinner at Tangaora Terrace, the QS restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel. I got a burger that was very similar to those at WDW, and Melissa had the pulled pork flatbread.

It was a great place to get out of the heat and the food was delicious. After dinner we did some shopping at Downtown Disney but we didn't stay too long.

Allie was spending the night with Grandma and Grandpa because we had an early morning coming. The race start was at 5:00, but we had to get up at 2:30 AM. We got to the parking structure by 3:45 and then headed to the gates.

We stopped briefly at the staging area where they had a Pizza Planet truck. It was so cute!

Then Melissa went to her starting corral to get a good position. They had 10 corrals, and without proof of a good time we knew she would be starting in the back. It turned out she was in the 9th corral, which was better than we thought.

The race went great, I got into a groove and flew through my first mile. I'm a whole lot quicker when I don't have to push a stroller. The course was different because of the construction of Star Wars land and we spent a lot of time in the parks.

We had a great time watching and following her progress. They had live tracking online which showed her pace and progress on the course. The first corral left at 5:00, but she didn't go until about 5:45. We watched the mass of people run under Downtown Disney, then headed to between miles 4 and 5 where we could see the runners leaving Disneyland. We waited there and watched and cheered for the runners. I also texted Melissa to congratulate her on her great first mile pace, and when she reached half way. Soon we got to see her in person.

It was so encouraging to see the two of them! Just before the six mile mark I got to see my brother who was playing in a band that Disney hired to play on the course.

Melissa texted me the picture, and we waited for her at the finish line. She finished the race in 1:36:20, which was an average pace of 15min, 31sec per mile. I was so excited and proud of her.

I was so happy to have finished this time!

It was a great race and a lot of fun, and hopefully we can do it together next year. We now return you to our regular WDW trip report.

 

[mamamelody2]

Great job on the race!
Your TR is super fun so far and your kids are ridiculously cute!

 

[FrozenOne16]

Loving your trip report so far! I was wondering about the new Minnie ears with the interchangeable bows. Do they have a bow with the initial pair of ears? I love the idea and I love bows, so I am looking at hopefully purchasing a pair. I also hope they are available at the MK, as that is our first park day on our next trip and we don't plan on heading to Disney Springs until our last day.

Congrats on completing your 10k! My husband and I want to sign up for the 5k, but our next available option is wine and dine next year!!!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Great job on the race!
Your TR is super fun so far and your kids are ridiculously cute!

Thank you so much. We are glad that you are following along and having fun too. We don't know where the kids got cuteness, but we are glad for them.

Loving your trip report so far! I was wondering about the new Minnie ears with the interchangeable bows. Do they have a bow with the initial pair of ears? I love the idea and I love bows, so I am looking at hopefully purchasing a pair. I also hope they are available at the MK, as that is our first park day on our next trip and we don't plan on heading to Disney Springs until our last day.

Congrats on completing your 10k! My husband and I want to sign up for the 5k, but our next available option is wine and dine next year!!!

That's great, we are glad that you like the report. The ears that Melissa got come with the black bow with silver dots that she has. Then all of the other bows are available separately. There wasn't an option to choose a different first bow with the ears. When we were there we were told that they are only at D Living, and that they don't have them at other stores yet. They also said that they have them in Disneyland and we have not yet been able to find them anywhere here. Hopefully they add them to more locations.
The RunDisney events are great. They are well done and so much fun. They do fill up early though so you kinda have to plan for a while, but that gives time to get ready for it.

 

[Lesley Wake]

So impressed you did the race, especially with the heat wave this weekend! Good job!

 

[xlsm]

Your "party of 10" drew me in, because I am fascinated by group trips but also terrified of them and have zero desire to do it myself!! But you guys did it such a great way, splitting up and coming back together off and on. That seems so much less stressful and looks like it's worked out swimmingly so far!!

I'm another WL fan and recognized your user name from the resort thread, so it's fun to read about your trip!

She agreed to smile for pictures for the rest of the trip if we got the umbrella.

I think she must be related to my 14 year old. Bribes for smiles. On our first family trip, he looks like he's miserable in every. single. picture. He hates smiling in photos, even if he's having the time of his life. Thank goodness for candid shots b/c otherwise I'm not sure if we'd have any with a genuine smile.

At the register the CM said that they don't give a discount for the Premier pass, because it is from California. I laughed, because I thought he was joking but it turned out he wasn't.

yeah, smart move by going ahead and giving you the discount b/c his lead would not be happy. Wow.

Allie picked out a bow too and I got ears.

Good choice on these ears!! I was so hesitant about getting my first pair of ears, and now I have 9 or ten pair...it's an addiction. Only one of mine are from WDW, the others are from instagram/etsy sellers.

Cute, cute, CUTE!! And I love this dress!! Perfect ear choice!

Such a fun read so far! Congrats Melissa on your race, too!