Take the 2 year old they said...It'll be fun they said...They were right!

ashleymrush said:
Thanks for following along! That's so great that you are going in October. That's when we want to do our next trip in three years. I really want the Food and Wine Festival, free dining, and the MNSSHP, not to mention lower crowds and temperatures. I just have to be sure that the school doesn't mind me missing the days. Fingers crossed. I hope your trip is as amazing as ours. Is this your first time taking them?

This will be the 5th trip for DD5 and third trip for DD2. We do a trip once a year (at least) but this will be our first time going alone with our kids. Normally we travel with a group of 6-8 other people (parents, sister, BIL and nephews). This will be the first time without an extra pair of hands to help out!

I'm a teacher and can only go in October during maternity leave, as soon as I found out I was pregnant with my little guy I started planning the fall trip! We went during my last maternity leave during October of 2011 and had a blast, F&W festival, MNSSHP and low crowds. Beats a July or August trip that I usually have to take because of my school schedule.
 
Yay! I made it! And by page 2 no doubt!

By the way, I'm very familiar with Concord, NC. The Charlotte Motor Speedway! I once worked for a NASCAR magazine, and I had a cousin who's like a brother to me that lived in Concord for 12 years. Beautiful place!

I am soooo glad you started your first trip report. You are doing an outstanding job! Those are great pictures! Can't wait to read all about you and your family's adventures! :banana:
 
Joining in here! I am writing my first TR also with a 2 year old (almost) daughter. My DD would absolutely LOVE your sons party. She fell in love with Dumbo on our trip and she talks about Dumbo daily lol I also love that reveal so neat. Can't wait to do something like that for her when she is a year or two older. We tried at Christmas time last year but she was still a little young and didn't quite get it. Can't wait to read more
 
Link for my TR is my signature

I should pay more attention. ;) I'll be sure to join in!

I've got a little girl who will be 22 months for our trip in March, so I'll be reading along to see how everything goes!

I can't wait until she's old enough to do a reveal trip :goodvibes I love how the gift of balloons was from Mickey.



That's awesome! I'll have to remember that one :rotfl:

DS2 was 23 months so they should be pretty close. He definitely had his ups and downs as you'll see but it was totally worth it. It's easier to remember the good than the bad which is what is most important. The bad goes away and you forget it like the pain of a tattoo (or childbirth!) :)

Thanks for the compliment on the balloons. We debated about who the balloons should be from, us or Mickey. After all, we paid for and planned the trip. Having the gift from Mickey though was definitely the way to go. It was a little more magical. pixiedust:

I got the napping trick from my FIL. He's great for things like that!

This will be the 5th trip for DD5 and third trip for DD2. We do a trip once a year (at least) but this will be our first time going alone with our kids. Normally we travel with a group of 6-8 other people (parents, sister, BIL and nephews). This will be the first time without an extra pair of hands to help out!

I'm a teacher and can only go in October during maternity leave, as soon as I found out I was pregnant with my little guy I started planning the fall trip! We went during my last maternity leave during October of 2011 and had a blast, F&W festival, MNSSHP and low crowds. Beats a July or August trip that I usually have to take because of my school schedule.

I'm jealous of your October trip. I hope it goes great. As a teacher too, I completely understand the summer trip dilemma. I'm hoping to go in October next time and get approved to take a week off. I teach high school and I think the kids could handle themselves for a bit without me. We'll just have to see.

Yay! I made it! And by page 2 no doubt!

By the way, I'm very familiar with Concord, NC. The Charlotte Motor Speedway! I once worked for a NASCAR magazine, and I had a cousin who's like a brother to me that lived in Concord for 12 years. Beautiful place!

I am soooo glad you started your first trip report. You are doing an outstanding job! Those are great pictures! Can't wait to read all about you and your family's adventures! :banana:

Glad you came to join in! Congrats on making the top ten list!

That's crazy that you know Concord so well! I love it here. It's great that I can get big city and small town feel all in the same day. The high school I teach at is right behind the speedway. You can see it from our football field.

Thanks for the compliment! It's been really fun to do so far!

Joining in here! I am writing my first TR also with a 2 year old (almost) daughter. My DD would absolutely LOVE your sons party. She fell in love with Dumbo on our trip and she talks about Dumbo daily lol I also love that reveal so neat. Can't wait to do something like that for her when she is a year or two older. We tried at Christmas time last year but she was still a little young and didn't quite get it. Can't wait to read more

My kids are SO obsessed with Dumbo right now. DS2 had a meltdown the other day when he had to leave another kids stuffed Dumbo behind. (Now I know what to get him for his birthday this week!)

DS2 had no clue what was happening for the reveal but really enjoyed the balloons afterwards. He would hug the big Mickey balloon all the time until it finally died.
 

We headed from our room to the bus stop as quickly as possible. A bus showed up almost immediately but not before I could snap a quick pic!



We were all so excited and ready to go! We took our seats on the bus and DS2 decided this was a great time to throw his first temper tantrum. He wanted to get up and walk around on the bus since he wasn't strapped in to a seat and didn't like being told that he had to sit. A bag of goldfish finally calmed him down. I was hoping this wasn't a preview of what was to come.

We arrived at EPCOT a few minutes later. Although it was still cloudy and overcast, the rain had stopped for good. YAY!



It was about 6:10 when we arrived and our first FP for Soarin' was from 5:30-6:30 so we were running low on time. I had every intention of going to the Visa Cardholder photo area and getting a pic with characters first but we decided to skip it. I hate that we missed it but we can do it on another trip one day. We headed to The Land and straight down to Soarin'. We got a Rider Switch pass and then DS5 and I headed back to the ride. He was a little hesitant at first but after some discussion he was ok to get on the ride. I can't really blame his hesitance. After all, he can't see the room we are walking into, let alone the ride itself. I explained in detail what would happen and he agreed to go. I was so excited when they put us in the front row! No dangling feet above our heads!!!




Thumbs up and ready to go!

He loved the ride. The best part was that he was sitting with his legs crossed until we got over the water in the video and then he popped his little feet out to try to feel the water. It was SO cute!!

While DS5 and I were riding, DH and DS2 were outside playing and feeding ducks. DH and I switched off once we finished the ride. I took DS2 over to the jumping water and then we took a walk over to the Nemo figures, which he loved. Along the way he tried to pick up every wet leaf on the ground and give it to a stranger. It was adorable the first few times but it lasted for about 15 minutes!







After DS5 and DH finished their ride we met them at Sunshine Seasons for dinner. Our next FP was for The Seas with Nemo & Friends but I knew it was an unnecessary FP so I didn't mind letting the time elapse on it. Our dinner was great! I don't have pics of it unfortunately. I was really bad about taking pics of food on the trip. Sorry. :(

DH has fish tacos that were amazing! He said they were his favorite meal of the whole trip. I had sushi which was ok. Just a plain California roll. Nothing exciting. DS5 had a PB&J and grapes. Thank God for Uncrustables! DS2 ate nothing. He drank a milk and that was it. :(

After dinner we headed to Nemo, which both boys loved. We then headed over to Turtle Talk with Crush.



Unfortunately, we didn't make it through Turtle Talk. DS2 didn't want to sit and then DS5 didn't want to sit. We ended up being "that family" that had to leave early. Oh well. We took a few more pictures and then decided to head back to the hotel. It was bed time and it had been a LONG day.



We got back to the hotel and both boys were asleep within minutes. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

UP Next: Early Breakfast at the MK with Winnie the Pooh!*
*I will be out of town without a computer until Sunday so I won't be updating until then. I hope everyone has a great 4th of July!
 
Just saw your TR title and had to join in!

Sounds like a wonderful first day at Epcot! I am right there with you on the food, my kids are picky eaters and there were a few meals even this last trip that my son drank a chocolate milk and nothing else!

Can't wait to hear more!
 
I'm glad you got to Epcot and got a couple of things done.

:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo: for DS1 liking Soarin'. I love that he uncrossed his feet when he got to the "ocean."

Your little one is adorable. I would have gladly taken a wet leaf from him.

Glad DH enjoyed his fish tacos. I can't comment on the sushi...I don't eat it.

I'm glad the boys enjoyed the Nemo ride; too bad you couldn't stay for Turtle Talkl with Crush.

I'm not surprised the boys went right to sleep. A good night's rest and ready for the next day. :)
 
Loving this trip report! You are doing a fantastic job! It's making me sad that my two kiddos are all grown up!

Oh that's neat that you can see the Speedway from your school. Great update can't wait for more!
 
that's a cute story of your son putting down he feet at the ocean part :goodvibes

Sorry you didn't make it through Crush but definitely was a full day - not surprised they fell asleep so quickly

I'll have to remember the fish tacos from Sunshine Seasons for the future :thumbsup2
 
Your TR title drew me in! I'm glad you ended up taking your 2yo, but most importantly, that you enjoyed it! My son has been to WDW at 1, 2, 3, and 3.5 years old, and DL at 18 months, and I have never regretted taking a young child. It's so much fun to see it through their eyes!

Your son's birthday party theme is so cute and creative! And the big reveal was pretty awesome. I always think it's so fun to read about how and when kids are surprised, but I've never been able to do it myself because I'm always so excited to talk about it and to have my countdown calendar going. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to pull it off because it seems like a lot of fun!

I LOVE the "Take a nap and we'll take a shortcut" bribe!!! :lmao: Road trip naps are so hard because he's usually SO tired but he fights it as hard as he can and it turns into me begging him to please please PLEASE just go to sleep! I'll have to remember that one for next time.

I'm glad the drive went well, and that you made the right decision on the resort room. It's always nice to save a little money whenever you can, and that's great that the size of the room wasn't a problem at all. In Disney especially, it's really just a place to sleep anyway!!!

Loved DS's reaction to riding Soarin'. That's adorable about him trying to put his feet in the water. :goodvibes I also cracked up at DS2 trying to give wet leaves to strangers. :rotfl: That sounds like something my own DS would have done!

Looking forward to more updates!!
 
I'm joining in! I LOVE the big reveal!

I'm moving to Charlotte this summer and will be splitting time between my company's offices in Charlotte and Concord. So far I've heard there is a really big outlet mall and that I have to go to the racetrack at Christmas, any other tips?

Do you mind if I ask how you did your Magic Bands? They are adorable!
 
I'm joining. :goodvibes I also loved the reveal as well!

Glad to have you join in! I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for liking the reveal. It really was so great. What's funny is that now my youngest son is obsessed with Dumbo but the older one had the Dumbo party. Oh well.

Just saw your TR title and had to join in!

Sounds like a wonderful first day at Epcot! I am right there with you on the food, my kids are picky eaters and there were a few meals even this last trip that my son drank a chocolate milk and nothing else!

Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks for following along! It took me a while to figure out a good title. I'm glad you liked it!

Both boys are SO PICKY! My DH and I are very adventurous with food. I always said "I don't want kids that eat hot dogs and chicken nuggets" and boy did I get what I wanted! I wanted them to be those totally awesome kids that will eat anything. DS5 is getting better and will always eat his fruits and veggies at least. He just doesn't like meat. DS2 is in a stage of not wanting to eat anything though. He seems to live off of waffles, applesauce, and goldfish right now. :( Hopefully we'll see improvement soon.

I'm glad you got to Epcot and got a couple of things done.

:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo: for DS1 liking Soarin'. I love that he uncrossed his feet when he got to the "ocean."

Your little one is adorable. I would have gladly taken a wet leaf from him.

Glad DH enjoyed his fish tacos. I can't comment on the sushi...I don't eat it.

I'm glad the boys enjoyed the Nemo ride; too bad you couldn't stay for Turtle Talkl with Crush.

I'm not surprised the boys went right to sleep. A good night's rest and ready for the next day. :)

It was a good EP day. I knew DS5 would love Soarin' once he was on it. I'm hoping the rumors are true and that it'll have a new film to fly through next time I go (in 255 days...but who's counting ;))

DS2 was so cute giving out the leaves. It was interesting to watch people react to him. Some just kind of ignored him while others graciously took the leaf.

The next day is going to be great so they really did need their rest. :)

Loving this trip report! You are doing a fantastic job! It's making me sad that my two kiddos are all grown up!

Oh that's neat that you can see the Speedway from your school. Great update can't wait for more!

I guess there really are pros and cons to taking little ones and big ones. I've been jealous of your kids riding the big stuff and eating good food. There is some kind of magic that happens with little ones though.

Seeing the Speedway from the school is pretty cool. Hearing it...not so much. There are days when it is beautiful outside and I want to open my windows and can't because people are practicing on the track and it is so loud. Oh well...it does a lot to bring money to our local economy so I suppose I can deal with it. ;)

that's a cute story of your son putting down he feet at the ocean part :goodvibes

Sorry you didn't make it through Crush but definitely was a full day - not surprised they fell asleep so quickly

I'll have to remember the fish tacos from Sunshine Seasons for the future :thumbsup2

You have to get those tacos! They were so good! They are new on the menu. Josh from easywdw recently reviewed them also and he really enjoyed them. I wish I would've gotten them.

Your TR title drew me in! I'm glad you ended up taking your 2yo, but most importantly, that you enjoyed it! My son has been to WDW at 1, 2, 3, and 3.5 years old, and DL at 18 months, and I have never regretted taking a young child. It's so much fun to see it through their eyes!

Your son's birthday party theme is so cute and creative! And the big reveal was pretty awesome. I always think it's so fun to read about how and when kids are surprised, but I've never been able to do it myself because I'm always so excited to talk about it and to have my countdown calendar going. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to pull it off because it seems like a lot of fun!

I LOVE the "Take a nap and we'll take a shortcut" bribe!!! :lmao: Road trip naps are so hard because he's usually SO tired but he fights it as hard as he can and it turns into me begging him to please please PLEASE just go to sleep! I'll have to remember that one for next time.

I'm glad the drive went well, and that you made the right decision on the resort room. It's always nice to save a little money whenever you can, and that's great that the size of the room wasn't a problem at all. In Disney especially, it's really just a place to sleep anyway!!!

Loved DS's reaction to riding Soarin'. That's adorable about him trying to put his feet in the water. :goodvibes I also cracked up at DS2 trying to give wet leaves to strangers. :rotfl: That sounds like something my own DS would have done!

Looking forward to more updates!!

Thanks for the title and reveal compliments! :) It really was the best decision to bring him along. I know if I didn't I would be regretting it right now. It was so hard to keep everything a secret, we learned how to talk in code. I don't think that'll work next time. You should totally try to do it one day though. It was really worth it.

I don't take their road trip behavior for granted. They've always traveled great. I'm originally from Panama City Beach, FL and we drive down there at least twice a year and most family is at least 4 hours away so they are used to the drives. Having a travel dvd player helps. Where were those things when we were younger?! :rotfl:

I'm joining in! I LOVE the big reveal!

I'm moving to Charlotte this summer and will be splitting time between my company's offices in Charlotte and Concord. So far I've heard there is a really big outlet mall and that I have to go to the racetrack at Christmas, any other tips?

Do you mind if I ask how you did your Magic Bands? They are adorable!

That's so awesome that you are moving to Charlotte. It is really a great place to live. What area are you moving to, if you don't mind me asking. The mall, Concord Mills, is great. It doesn't even seem like an outlet mall to me anymore. The racetrack is pretty awesome at Christmas too. It's so pretty. You've got to make it to a Carolina Panthers game and take a trip to Carowinds, the amusement park. It's not WDW of course, but it has a few great roller coasters.

The magic bands were done with temporary tattoos. I did a layer of base coat fingernail polish, applied the tattoos as directed, and then put a couple layers of base coat on top again. Mine was painted with white fingernail polish but also had the base coats. Mine cracked a little but they really held up great.
 
Hi guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I'm finally back from our family reunion trip in Tennessee so I can get back to regularly updating. I should be able to update at least once a day this week! :banana:

We left off after an evening at EP. We were all exhausted and went right to sleep. We had a BIG morning in front of us. People always say they need a vacation after a WDW vacation. This morning was the only morning where that idea seemed true. It was VERY hard to do but the next morning we were all up and getting ready at 5:15 in the morning. :eek: It just felt like a normal morning except instead of going to work today we were getting ready for an ADR for 8:05 at Crystal Palace. We were told the bus for early morning ADRs would arrive at 6:45 so we wanted to be ready. We got to the bus stop about 3 minutes before the bus arrived. For the most part we were excited but DS2 was still a little tired.



We arrived at the MK about 30 minutes before they would let us in so we thought it was a great time to take some pics.


By the way, have I mentioned how much I LOVED this stroller!!! :lovestruc:cloud9::love:


This is one of my favorite pictures! It was not planned, my DH just took it as we were standing there!

MK opened at 9:00 this morning, so getting in at 7:45 was awesome!! I loved seeing Main Street empty and having the ability to walk at our own pace and take it all in. That first turn when you see the castle for the first time always gives me the "I'm finally home" feeling but this took it to a whole new level!


This is our only family photo in front of the castle and of course my DH closed his eyes and the boys don't look super happy but we'll get it right one day!

After a few more minutes taking pictures we went to check in at CP. We were seated within 10 minutes. The food was good. I was excited to try the famed breakfast lasagna and the puffed french toast. The french toast was AWESOME but I found the breakfast lasagna to be way too sweet. :( No biggie though. The food was still good. DH at a couple full plates. DS5 at Mickey waffles and french toast. He was covered in cinnamon sugar. I wish I had a picture. DS2 only ate Fruit Loops. Thank goodness he was free!

After a bit, it was time for the moment of truth. Eeyore was making his way over to the table and was followed shortly after by Winnie the Pooh. I was SO hoping the boys would do well with characters. The good news is that it was a SUCCESS!!! I found that as long as I hold DS5 he would take a picture. He's very shy so I was over the moon excited that he was liking the characters. DS2 did fine with them also! :banana::banana::banana:







We met Piglet before we left too but didn't get any pics with him. Unfortunately we never got to see Tigger. It was going to be a 20-30 minute wait for him to come around and the boys were ready to go. I'm sure many of you understand that once your kids are ready to leave a restaurant that means it is time to get out of there!

Just before we left, our waitress brought out a special treat for DS5. He received a card with all the character signatures and a cupcake! It was so cute and awesome! Who doesn't want a cupcake at 8:45 in the morning after eating french toast and waffles?!?! Can we say sugar high?!





The next part of the day is too long to put into one post and now I have a load of laundry calling my name to fold. :( I'll update on the rest of our MK morning soon.

UP NEXT: Will DS5 like the big, fast rides? We'll see soon. :)
 
I can't wait for our breakfast at Crystal Palace! The French toast is what I am most looking forward too, I am glad to see you enjoyed it.

My DD 4 LOVES LOVES LOVES Pooh so this was a must for us and she is super excited to be seeing him first thing.:cheer2:
 
You all look so happy! :goodvibes And you did not tell me you tried the puffed French toast and that it was awesome...I can't wait to try it.
 
We loved our breakfast there! So excited to go back. How cute that he got a card and cupcake. He looks really happy.
:goodvibes
 
I can't wait for our breakfast at Crystal Palace! The French toast is what I am most looking forward too, I am glad to see you enjoyed it.

My DD 4 LOVES LOVES LOVES Pooh so this was a must for us and she is super excited to be seeing him first thing.:cheer2:

It really was one of the best decisions we could have made. The original plan was to go to Chef Mickey's which I've done before but I really wanted to be able to get in the park early. My boys are so-so on Pooh. I really tried to get them into it before we left. DS5 knew who they were and that was enough.

Oh their faces with Pooh are priceless! So precious!

I wish we could've gotten more pictures and waited on Tigger. I was walking on thin ice with attitudes since DS2 wasn't eating and DS5 actually had a mini meltdown before we left the restaurant so we felt it was best to go.

You all look so happy! :goodvibes And you did not tell me you tried the puffed French toast and that it was awesome...I can't wait to try it.

It is yummy! Love the cinnamon sugar on them! :thumbsup2

We loved our breakfast there! So excited to go back. How cute that he got a card and cupcake. He looks really happy.
:goodvibes

It was really cute. We sang happy birthday and everything! That card is the only set of autographs we got on the trip too. We figured that our next trip is going to be our big "meet the characters and get autographs" trip.
 
:yay::yay::yay: for early entry into the MK! I love that time of the morning when everything is fresh and crisp and you have no one in your pictures. :goodvibes

I'm so glad you loved my puffed french toast. I could eat that every day and be one happy lady.

I'm glad the boys did well with the characters. And the picture of your littlest one with Pooh is adorable.

And :woohoo: for oldest son getting a card and a cupcake. Heck...your on vacation why not be on a sugar high.
 














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