Sometimes the Best Plan is to Forget the Plan!!

[princess_momma]

Hello!! to my TR!!

My parents, son and I stayed at Pop Century from 9/10 until 9/16 for an amazing Disney World trip!! If you missed my ptr you can find that HERE. Of course, if you read my ptr, this report will still be FULL of surprises because we oh so often deviated from the plans!! And it worked out wonderfully!!

For those of you who missed my ptr or just need a recap, the cast is as follows!!

Me-19, believer of fairy tales. I LOVE Disney and use the word "magical" in every day conversation. I even have a tiara that I'll wear around just because. (They made me stop wearing it at work though, ) I was the planner of this fabulous trip but I'm definitely a very relaxed, flexible, go-with-the-flow planner! I love my son more than anything and he had the best time!! On to him!

Landon-10 months, my little prince. My little boy is starting to walk more than he crawls. He learned to wave at Disney World. His favorite movie is The Tigger Movie and he loves Handy Manny. (And I don't just make this stuff up, even at his age, he actually sits and watches these shows and claps when he hears the songs and stuff!) You will hear all about the magical times he had in the world, but I honestly think he had the best time in the hotel room, solely because there he could walk around and be free. He wanted to be free!! I'm sure when he heard my mom complaining about her feet, he would've let her use his stroller so he could walk, if that were possible! He's a boy on the move!!

Grammy-Mickey's wanna-be girlfriend (yet somehow, still amicable with Minnie ). This is my mom and she hates any ride that Landon can't go on. (They scare her...even Soarin'.) She was the complainer of the trip. Her feet hurt, she was hot, blah blah blah. But we still love her. She loves to shop and that was her favorite thing at the parks. That and pin trading, but she didn't get into that until our last full park day. I guess she just didn't understand what I was talking about and never brought her pins!

Pop Pop-the one we drag along to it all! Grammy jokes that we brought him to drive us and to pay for stuff. And while he did those things, he also accompanied me on all my thrill rides!! And he just enjoyed the magic and fully trusted me with the planning.

So thats us!! I hope you join us as we re-live the adventures!!

Part One: The Happiest Place on Earth Just Got a Little Happier!
Part Two: Mmmm Ostrich!! Dinner at California Grill
Part Three: Breakfast with Character!
Part Four: Rides, rides, rides!! And All Before Lunch!
Part Five: Lunch Time Comes Too Soon!
Part Six: Photo Pass CD came!
Part Seven: Snip, Snip, HOORAY!!
Part Eight: A Whole New World...of Smiles and Laughs!
Part Nine: The "Accidentally On-Purpose" Incident!
Part Ten: Good Morning, Epcot!
Part Eleven: Fish Are Friends...and for me, Food!
Part Twelve: I'm Disappointed by Their Disappointment
Part Thirteen: A Room With a View and Some Art!!
Part Fourteen: BONUS Post!!
Part Fifteen: It's a Jungle Out There!
Part Sixteen: Adventures Away!!
Part Seventeen: A Wild Good Time! and Videos
Part Eighteen: The Beginning of My Infatuation With a Certain Hotel!
Part Nineteen: Lucky and Fabulous!
Part Twenty: Are You Ready For Some Football?!
Part Twenty-one: The Longest Breakfast with the Most Magical Memories!
Part Twenty-two: Ready to Party!
Part Twenty-three: Countdown to the OFFICIAL Party!
Part Twenty-four: Some Male Royalty and a Run-In with Villains!
Part Twenty-five: Gimme More Characters!

Unofficial PTR:
Post One
Post Two
Post Three
Post Four

 

[Vallie]

Hiiiii hun!! I'm here!! Can't wait for moreee!!

 

[princess_momma]

yay!!! you're the first!! i'm working on the getting there day right now!!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Hey Girl! I'm definitely joining along! Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[princess_momma]

The night before Disney is when I finally finish packing. Landon helped, of course. He’s a very good boy.

We get to the airport nice and early. My mom and I decide to kill time by walking around the shops. Landon kicked back and relaxed in his stroller.

By the time we get back, our plane is there. We had a lynx. I think his name was Hank? I don’t know though!

Here is my mom and I:

I honestly think this may be the only picture of the trip where our hair looks really good. Dang humidity!

Landon was just so excited!! Especially when the gate attendant labeled his stroller for what he called “Goofy World”. I feel really bad for any kid who is on a flight to Orlando and NOT going to Disney World! They always play it up so much! Anyway, here is Landon being a big boy in his own seat!

We got there and got our rental car. Landon didn’t seem too excited! At first I was perplexed as to why.

Then it all made perfect sense:

He was a sleepy boy!! But he missed this:

And this!

He got up on the way to check in though!!

He sits like this because he likes to lean over and watch the wheels. He loves wheels, he’s such a boy!!

We dropped our stuff off in our room and then went back to the main building to get some snacks! We had a late night ADR but needed some refueling before then!

I got the cheese fries, Grammy got a blueberry muffin, and Pop Pop got the banana bread. Those cheese fries were HEAVENLY!! I could go for some right now. After that, we looked around the Everything Pop! gift shop for a while!!

I couldn't believe we were finally here! I could practically feel the magic in my veins!! I couldn't stop smiling I was so happy!

Our California Grill dinner is up next!! Did we have to wait long? Did we get a window seat? Were their fireworks? Did we stick to steak or did we go more exotic?! Find out soon!

 

[princess_momma]

Hey Girl! I'm definitely joining along! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Yay!! Glad your here!! Welcome!! Hope ya stick around!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Landon is such a cutie pie! 10 months is such a fun age, too!

What building/room were yall in at Pop? And those cheese fries do look SO good right about now! I'm starving! Hahaha.

Can't wait to hear about California Grill!

 

[princess_momma]

We drive over to the Contemporary a bit early for our 8:30 ADR. We wanted to check out the gift shops! And the consensus? We all liked the one at Pop better!! Though we do love just about any gift shop!! Then I fed Landon some of his dinner in the lobby before checking in. My dad felt WAY overdressed. Almost everyone in line was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. It turned out that hardly any of them had ressies! Once we got up the elevator, he felt much better! There were some of those jeans people, but also some people who looked like they were going to prom in fancy dresses! (No boys were that fancy, just some girls!) But most people were like us, just business casual.

We went up and waited in the bar area. We sat right by the window then. Grammy and I got a “Mickey Mouse” (aka Shirley Temple) and Pop Pop got a Long Island Ice Tea, I believe! For this night, Landon and I each had customized polos. Mine was actually a blue dress with a patriotic Mickey that said “Mommy” underneath and his a white onesie that had a black Mickey that said his name underneath! I don’t have any pictures showing mine for some reason! But in some you can see his. Here’s me and my handsome little guy!

We waited…and waited…and waited. They had said they were running behind reservations even, but we had checked in a bit early! And it turns out that they had moved back the fireworks time to 10 without my knowledge! I had thought it was 9! So we just kept on waiting. Landon kept climbing all over the seat we were on and looking out the window and looking down at the beautiful castle. I was getting restless waiting, so we decided to go to one of the observation decks. And what do you know? As soon as we open the door, our buzzer goes off. I kid you not! Funny how that works!

And now I must bring up my 2 problems with California Grill. If you order drinks while waiting for your table, they can’t add it to your dinner bill. I suppose we should’ve asked, but I just thought that was weird. My mom and I probably wouldn’t have gotten drinks and just waited for our ones included with the Dining Plan. So we had to pay OOP for those.

Second, everyone waiting in the bar has a much better, closer view of MK! We did in fact score a window seat, but our view had been better from the bar!! I think they should rearrange it and make it so that the people who actually have reservations can have the best view! Any walkup can go and just order drinks and get that best view. I definitely don’t like that! But oh well, we still had a pretty nice spot!!

ANYWHO, back to your regularly scheduled trip report:

For appetizers, I got some kind of tomato soup. (I can’t find it on the allears menu and the Disney site isn’t working for me!)

This was, frankly, quite gross. It was way too salty and I had to choke down what bites I did have. Luckily they had delicious bread (no pic of that) and my dad shared with me!

Pop Pop got the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli, as recommended by our server.

YUM!! I wish I had gotten this!! It was SOOOOO good!! I loved it very much, it was a very tantalizing taste!

Grammy got the summer salad.

She enjoyed it. I’m not a salad person.

Landon had the bread. He LOVED it!! He started to get really sleepy and we even had his stroller brought up but he wouldn’t sleep. The bread got him through however. He was addicted the rest of the trip!

For our entrees, Grammy and Pop Pop both got the Oak-fired Filet of Beef.

They liked it. I tried it and it was good, but I LOVED my entrée so much more!! I was timid about ordering it, but decided to just order it anyway!

I got the Seared Ostrict Filet.

I scraped off everything on top and just ate the meat and potatoes. But OH MY GOODNESS, ostrich is SO GOOD!! It tasted very similar to steak, but it was so tender and juicy and if it were steak, it would’ve been the best I ever had!! I would order this again in a heartbeat! My parents steak did not compare!

The fireworks happened right before dessert. It was so cute, Landon kept looking around to see where the voice talking was coming from that they piped in. Here he is watching the fireworks:

After this, a lady came over and talked to us about Landon and told us how cute he was and that everyone at her table had been guessing his age and she was just gushing over him. He gets that a lot!! Lol!

For dessert, I got the Valrhona Chocolate Cake, but I can’t find a picture. And on the allears site, it says that it came with cherries? Mine came with the cake in the middle, whipped cream on the left and carmel gelato on the right! I wish I could find the picture! The cake was pretty good, but the gelato was heavenly! I loved it!

I don’t think my dad got anything. Oh wait, I remember now! All he got was a dessert wine. I didn’t take a pictue.

Silly me. I just realized Grammy got the same thing as me! That’s probably why I didn’t take a picture!! And sadly in hers, all we really got was the “Happy Anniversary” chocolate.

After that, I left while my parents took care of the check. Landon was getting very sleepy. I got stopped by the table that woman came from earlier and they all talked to me. They were very nice and self-proclaimed Disney addicts.

I went down to the 4th floor of the Contemporary to find some pressed penny machines. While I was there, a little boy came down with his sister and he was getting a pressed penny. The girl said that she wanted one too and the boy told her to ask their mom. I offered her some money to do it, I mean really, its only 51 cents. She declined, and then their mom came and the girl asked her mom for money and the mom said she didn’t have any more change for her and I again offered, this time to the mom as well and she declined. I could tell the girl really wanted one, especially since her brother was getting one and I just don’t understand why they wouldn’t take some change? It’s not like I was offering to buy her a souvenir or something crazy expensive, ya know? I just thought it was really odd!

After that, my parents came down and we went home to rest up for our first park day! How will the weather be in the MK? Will our feet survive the first day? Will Disney do anything for September 11th? Who will we meet? Find out soon!

 

[princess_momma]

Landon is such a cutie pie! 10 months is such a fun age, too!

What building/room were yall in at Pop? And those cheese fries do look SO good right about now! I'm starving! Hahaha.

Can't wait to hear about California Grill!

10 months is the best! He just gets better everyday!

We were in the 80's building, 7337! I don't really have any pics of the room but later I took a pic of the view from right outside! We didn't even notice it right away, thats why the pic is for later!

 

[deslynnpatterson]

aww i love reading your TR report so far I am glad you like the ostrich is looks so good!! I just got back last night BOO!!! I have to get motivated to get my pictures downloaded and do a trip report-- and i in disney depression mode right now LOL Landon is so cute he seems like such a pleasant and good little boy love all the pictures so far Cant wait for more!!

 

[heaven2dc]

Landon is such a doll! How great your parents were along for this trip - having your Dad to go on rides with and Mom to help with Landon. Your matching polo shirts are cute! Where did you have them made?

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Oh my goodness! Where did you get the matching outfits made?! Those are too cute!

Dinner at Cali Grill sounds delicious! I never even know they offered ostrich!

 

[princess_momma]

aww i love reading your TR report so far I am glad you like the ostrich is looks so good!! I just got back last night BOO!!! I have to get motivated to get my pictures downloaded and do a trip report-- and i in disney depression mode right now LOL Landon is so cute he seems like such a pleasant and good little boy love all the pictures so far Cant wait for more!!

Oh man, I'm in a Disney depression too! Its been so dreary here all day in CO! It even snowed for a little. Luckily none of it stuck! Can't wait to see your pictures!

Landon is such a doll! How great your parents were along for this trip - having your Dad to go on rides with and Mom to help with Landon. Your matching polo shirts are cute! Where did you have them made?

It was great having my parents there...most of the time!

And I got the polos made at the Disney store online!! They have so much great stuff you can customize! I have personalized those, a backpack, and some blankets. Its really great!

Oh my goodness! Where did you get the matching outfits made?! Those are too cute!

Dinner at Cali Grill sounds delicious! I never even know they offered ostrich!

I didn't know they had ostrich either! I think they may have added it recently because I don't remember seeing it on the menu when I first scheduled it! I highly recommend it!

And the outfits were made at the Disney Store online.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

very good start, it is alot of fun to read a TR that has a little guy in it, reminds of when ours was there with us at 8 months old...cant wait for more

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Welcome back!

Wow you are fast with the updates. The Cali Grill dinner sounds delish, a local restaurant here in town serves ostrich and now you have me tempted to try it.

 

[Vallie]

omg u and ur son are the cutest ever! and Craig says your son is cool, cuz he likes Buzz aha

 

[DSNYGRL_JKS2006]

Hi girl! I'm in!! I'm so excited to read up on your TR! I followed you in your PTR! I can't tell you how cute your son is and how great the pictures came out so far!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Signing on for more! Landon is a cutie patootie! That's odd that the mother didn't let the little girl take 51 cents from you.

Looking forward to reading all about your Disney adventures.

 

[princess_momma]

very good start, it is alot of fun to read a TR that has a little guy in it, reminds of when ours was there with us at 8 months old...cant wait for more

Oh I loved your tr!! Its so fun to bring little guys!! Landon got almost as many kisses as your boy did and there's a whole good story with that!! But you'll have to wait!!

Welcome back!

Wow you are fast with the updates. The Cali Grill dinner sounds delish, a local restaurant here in town serves ostrich and now you have me tempted to try it.

hahaha...yeah I'm going to have to try to pace myself so people can read it and make comments before I finish!! I have all this free time at work...

And I insist you try the ostrich!! Its so good! I wish I could find a place around me that serves it! I think ostrich (and also buffalo) are way better than steak! And I LOVE steak!

omg u and ur son are the cutest ever! and Craig says your son is cool, cuz he likes Buzz aha

Aw thanks!! Tell Craig that Landon wanted to be Buzz for Halloween but Mommy thought the purple thing on the head looked funny.

Hi girl! I'm in!! I'm so excited to read up on your TR! I followed you in your PTR! I can't tell you how cute your son is and how great the pictures came out so far!!!

Hi!! Thanks! Glad to see you here!! How's your new job going? I think I remember reading about it on Lynn's or Jenny's ptr!

 

[princess_momma]

Signing on for more! Landon is a cutie patootie! That's odd that the mother didn't let the little girl take 51 cents from you.

Looking forward to reading all about your Disney adventures.

Oh you must've posted that right before I posted mine!! I'm glad you're here!! Yay!! And I thought it was so odd too. Oh well!!