The Many Adventures of...A Family With a New Baby! Jan - Dec 2016! New 11/7!

But we didn't sit around too long, as we had evening plans at Disney Springs. I was really excited to check out the Boathouse and all the other new stuff at DS. We left earlier than necessary (about 2:30) but it gave us lots of time to check out shops and such. I wanted to see where exactly the Boathouse was (and also had a plan to secretly inquire about the super special seating location inside :-D ) so we headed there first - and spotted some eye candy with the amphibious cars.

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We even got to watch a launch!!

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On a warmer day, that outdoor bar would have been very enticing!

I loved this

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After I popped in and asked about the seating (which I would just have to check us in early and hope for the best, they said) we headed on our way into the shops. I know we checked out the usuals - Once Upon a Toy, the Christmas shop, and of course World of Disney, but the Lego one was where we had to stop and play! We also were on the lookout for the Bubble want, and were told that maybe after dark, the west side might have some on some carts.

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Before Maya came along, Aria had gotten into regular size legos. But, we've since put them all away and reintroduced the Duplos and she still really likes those too, thankfully (due to choking hazard). Maya actually enjoys them too, but she mainly enjoys destroying what Aria builds and throwing legos around the room...

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She had taken a short nap while we were walking around, and it was time for her to eat again so I took care of that out on a bench somewhere (would be nice if they had a baby care center at DS, with the weather so cold (or hot) )


We also stopped in the chocolate shop, to hopefully appease my sweet tooth, as I thought I had read they had a number of dairy free options. Well they do, but hardly anything without soy, so I didn't get anything.

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Then we were all pretty hungry but still had 2 hours until dinner. I ran over to the Boathouse to see about checking in early, and they said for the special table, if I put my name in then and come back (those ppl had just been seated) in a little over an hour, it should be ours - I hadn't told anyone else yet though just in case.

So instead we went to Jock Lindsay's Hangar Bar! I quickly noticed that THIS table was empty, and we asked if we could sit in there and they were like, of course!

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Really awesome theming in here. I really love the new restaurants and bars they have brought / are bringing to Disney Springs! So well themed and great, different choices to be had.

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We quickly ordered some drinks, apps, and asked for the chef so I could see what app I could possibly order. While waiting apparently my phone became a toy...

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Maya and Aria were having fun too

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I think Andrew ordered a Scottish Professor while I went with a much sweeter route - the Fountain of Youth

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FIL / MIL went with their usual, scotch and manhattans. Aria had the Diving Bell, which was a lemonade with watermelon juice and lemon lime foam.

I was able to order a falafel salad without the yogurt drizzle, and then their pretzel bites were also safe.

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Nobody wanted to spoil dinner and this worked out perfectly for a light snack to share! The chef was really awesome about the allergies, the drinks were great, and this ended up being one of my favorite evenings (between this and our upcoming dinner). Mid-meal Maya needed a diaper change, and I was ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDED that the restroom did NOT have a changing table. So, we might have changed her on the cushion on my jacket...

But seriously, Disney? I know it's a bar, but still...anyway, we could have easily stayed for another round, but decided to head over to dinner and I wanted to check on that table.

Being DISers you all probably know what table I'm talking about, but just in case-

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Oh and this is like Andrew's heaven. He checked this stuff out while we waited to be seated.

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Love their rubber ducks but we haven't purchased any

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If I ever have a few extra thousand laying around, Andrew would LOVE this for Christmas!

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I must have handed Andrew the camera, because I would NOT have taken so many photos of boat engines LOL

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Yep, looks like he caught us being seated. IN the boat! wooohooo

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Obligatory tons of photos when you get such an awesome seating area

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Even better, after our fun at Jock Lindsay's, Maya had once again fallen asleep. So we got to enjoy a very nice meal with a sleeping baby!

A chef came out to talk to me, and I stressed that I liked flavor - spice, heat, anything! - and he said he can do that. I ordered a salad to start (limited appetizers for the allergy) and fish tacos. And some red wine :)

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Their bread was apparently coated in butter, but without asking they brought me some good safe bread and dipping oil too which was much appreciated.

My fish tacos, with a sriracha sauce on one side and some other sauce on the other.

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WOW! This was one of the best main dishes I had had all week. SO flavorful - I was so appreciative that the chef actually listened to me!

Andrew ordered mussels (and prob a soup for appetizer? how's that for trip reporting hehe)

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The ambiance in the restaurant was absolutely wonderful - live music and all.

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They have a really cute kid's menu option, but Aria had been so naughty not eating food we ordered, that we ended up just giving her some of ours (she ate some of my salad, chicken, bread, Andrew's soup). I do hope she is better next time we go (we already have a ressie for June) so she can get one of the cute boat shaped kids meals.

After dinner, Maya woke up very hungry, and Andrew wanted to see about those West Side carts for the bubble wands, so I found a spot to feed Maya and then around 8 headed to the car to meet up with Andrew. He had had no luck unfortunately - completely sold out!

When we got back to the room I realized I had 30 minutes to get those umbrellas! EEK! As much as the bed and my PJs sounded amazing, I hoofed it over to France and was able to get them, Phew!!

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And then we called it a night. Maya thankfully had a MUCH better nights sleep, and everyone had enjoyed the down-day.
 
The Boathouse looks awesome. We are heading to Disney next month and always spend our first day at Down Town Disney or I guess now Disney Springs. Just last week my girls asked me where we were going to eat. I said I'd have to do a little research because they have so many new places since we've last been. I think I just found a winner. That place looks amazing. So glad they were able to accommodate you and gave you something delicious to eat.
 
sounds like a really wonderful day - "off days" at Disney are really underrated

... an mini-golf is a great activity for those off days

I loved Jock Lindsey's - looks like you had a great time there. The Scottish Professor was one of the best drinks I tried. If you are able to eat them next time I recommend the calamari

And the boat house looks really nice too - good to know about the fun kids meals (it's Disney so obviously kids can go most places, but from the reviews/pictures it seemed to me to be a less kid friendly place, but perhaps that is not the case)

I can't believe the trouble you are having getting that bubble wand! And you know a future trip, when Aria no longer has any desire for one, you will see them all over the place
 
Hope you ended up with one of the Bubble Wands. We brought one home after our trip in October. Unfortunately they don't have a boy version, just the Little Mermaid one so that is what we have. He just had to have it after he saw another kid playing with one. What is it with kids & bubbles?!?!
 


Hi there! :goodvibesLuv your report. I just caught up. Your girls are so cute. It's pretty interesting to see what you guys did as a young family. Me and hubby will go to WDW with a 6 year old DS and a 3 year old DD in autumn. It really helps me plan and see some options you guys did. I'm from Europe and we've been to WDW in 2007 when hubby and I were just dating. Planning was way easier then. I'm super excited but also a little scared to go with little ones. You guys always look so relaxed in those pics even though it might have been exhausting sometimes.:rolleyes::thumbsup2
 
Still so bummed we missed you that day at AK because of the rain!! I hope one day our Disney paths will cross again.

The Trek looks very cool! DH and I thought about doing that when we went in July, but ultimately decided it would probably be too hot to be very enjoyable.

Wow, I can't believe the terrible luck you have had at meals this trip! That's really awful that they made you crappy food, then took it before you could eat it all and didn't offer anything when you pointed out the mistake. I'm all about giving places a second chance, but looks like you've given Coral Reef more than enough of your time and money!!

I couldn't believe how cold it got the next day after all that rain!! I know we were freezing and I was stressing that I hadn't brought enough layers for the kids. Mini golf looks like a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to when DD is older and we can all go do it together.

So cool that you got to sit in the boat! I'm sure Andrew was like a kid in a candy store.

Nice down day!!

And congrats on picking a name!! I love it. All your girls' names go so well together.
 
Just started your trip report. Can't wait to read it all and congrats on the new baby! I wanted to see the announcement but it's not showing up. Actually none of the pictures on the first post are.
 


Honestly, it wasn't much food and I think they could have done a lot more.
Yours is the 2nd review of the Wild Africa Trek I've read recently and I'm super unimpressed with the food. It looks more like a VERY lithgt snack, but if you're eating around lunch time I would expect more. Plus the price of the tour isn't cheap.......

My VERY sad main dish.
:headache:

it will be a LONG time before I feel the need to return here.
I don't blame you! We ate there once, way back in 2007. It was okay-not bad but nothing that had made us want to return since. I've considered it a couple times but there's just never good reviews of it :(

She named her Nora! Which means the name I have loved for so long but she put "dibs" on 5 years ago is ours to use! Emma! I'm thinking Emma Jean bc it works well with our last name, and it's also a combo of our mom's names JEnnifer and susAN.
So glad you get to use Emma and I love Emma Jean! I don't know if Maya or Aria are named for family members but my Ricky is named after my dad Richard whom everyone called Ricky. I never thought I'd name my child after a family member until I found out I was having a boy; my dad had died 3 years prior at age 52 and I knew right away I wanted to honor him by naming his first grandchild after him. It's such a wonderful remembrance, I am thankful every day that I chose to do that. Neither of you will be sorry if you go with Emma Jean :love:

We were seated quickly at a nice big round table. I opted to start my day off right with a bloody mary!
Not sure if you read this in my report, but I SO wanted to get the bloody mary there! Chris guilted me out of it :mad:

Something nice about the Captain's Grill is that you can choose from a menu OR the buffet
One of the reasons I chose to try CG. When I thought all 4 of us would be going I knew Steve would opt to order off the menu while the 3 of us love a good breakfast buffet.

Earlier in the year, Aria and I chose the winter side to do, so now that it was Winter, we wanted to do the summer side! :)
We've done the winter side twice and love it! The 2nd time we wanted to do the summer side but it was closed to be painted. Since then we've played the Fantasia Gardens course over by the Beach Club but we much prefer Winter Summerland :goodvibes

Side note - has anyone been to the Great Wolf Lodge? We are going in 2 weeks to celebrate Aria's 5th (!!!!!!!!) birthday for 2 nights! So excited.
We haven't been, but we have quite a few friends who go often and they love it, enjoy!

Being DISers you all probably know what table I'm talking about, but just in case-
I'm embarrassed to admit I knew nothing of this, but what a cool table!

Andrew ordered mussels
What did he think of the mussels? Wondering if I can put this on the list for Ricky to try on our next trip :thumbsup2
 
Looks like a fun day, even with hardly any park time! I played mini-golf there once in 2000 and have great memories of it. I'm glad that you had fun and that your MIL volunteered to hang out with Maya.

Both of those restaurants look so cool and you got such awesome tables. I agree that there are so many great and interesting new restaurants at Disney Springs now. We will be trying T-Rex when we go this spring. Definitely not my first choice, but Rory will love it.

I remember when you posted about the first umbrella that Aria got at Epcot! Good to know that they hold up for at least a few years.
 
This feels like the never ending trip report, but it was a long trip (12 nights!).
Ha, I feel the same way about the TR I'm still doing (also 12 nights)!

But first, we were very tired this morning, as Maya had one of the worst nights sleeps yet at Disney, waking up at 1:35 to eat, again at 4:55 and then again at 7. It was nice having the day without much plans, after that sleep!
Glad you were able to take it a bit easy this day after the rough night.

Maya woke up mid-meal so FIL took over and fed her a bottle while I ate.
That was nice of him!

Earlier in the year, Aria and I chose the winter side to do, so now that it was Winter, we wanted to do the summer side! :)
Makes sense to me. We have done each side once and really got a kick out of both.

Side note - has anyone been to the Great Wolf Lodge? We are going in 2 weeks to celebrate Aria's 5th (!!!!!!!!) birthday for 2 nights! So excited.
Hope you guys have a great time! I've never been to a Great Wolf, but the Kalahari we've been to a couple times (that I wrote mini TRs about) is pretty similar, I think. We really enjoyed our time there.

We even got to watch a launch!!

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So cool! Wish they fit more people, though.

Before Maya came along, Aria had gotten into regular size legos. But, we've since put them all away and reintroduced the Duplos and she still really likes those too, thankfully (due to choking hazard). Maya actually enjoys them too, but she mainly enjoys destroying what Aria builds and throwing legos around the room...
Yeah, Izzy is really into the regular Legos now, but does still sometimes play with the Duplos. But, man, regular Legos (the small pieces, at least) are SO hard to find before vacuuming (may have vacuumed one up today, oops).

She had taken a short nap while we were walking around, and it was time for her to eat again so I took care of that out on a bench somewhere (would be nice if they had a baby care center at DS, with the weather so cold (or hot) )
I never thought about the fact that they don't have a Baby Care Center in DS. Huh. They should.

So instead we went to Jock Lindsay's Hangar Bar! I quickly noticed that THIS table was empty, and we asked if we could sit in there and they were like, of course!

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That's pretty awesome!

Nobody wanted to spoil dinner and this worked out perfectly for a light snack to share! The chef was really awesome about the allergies, the drinks were great, and this ended up being one of my favorite evenings (between this and our upcoming dinner).
Glad things went so well and the chef was good. Sounds like a perfect thing to do while waiting for dinner.

Mid-meal Maya needed a diaper change, and I was ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDED that the restroom did NOT have a changing table. So, we might have changed her on the cushion on my jacket...
Wow, that is surprising for Disney. Between that and no Baby Care Center, seems like DS isn't as baby-friendly as it should be.

Yep, looks like he caught us being seated. IN the boat! wooohooo

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Yay, glad that worked out for you! Pretty sweet!

Even better, after our fun at Jock Lindsay's, Maya had once again fallen asleep. So we got to enjoy a very nice meal with a sleeping baby!
Even better! :thumbsup2

WOW! This was one of the best main dishes I had had all week. SO flavorful - I was so appreciative that the chef actually listened to me!
So glad you finally had an amazing meal! :goodvibes

Sounds like a really nice down day! Oh, and cute umbrellas too!
 
Just caught up and I am loving all the updates! Such a long trip looks so amazing and I think an off day is notably necessary! I had been looking at reservations for Coral Reef for H since he loves seafood but opted not to. After reading about your experience there, I'm glad I didn't! What a disappointment for you.

I am so amazed you did all this with an 8 week old baby! I was barely functioning at 8 weeks pp and a big old emotional mess. Maybe a break from reality would have been nice ;)
 
The Boathouse looks awesome. We are heading to Disney next month and always spend our first day at Down Town Disney or I guess now Disney Springs. Just last week my girls asked me where we were going to eat. I said I'd have to do a little research because they have so many new places since we've last been. I think I just found a winner. That place looks amazing. So glad they were able to accommodate you and gave you something delicious to eat.

It's really great - I had a ressie planned for December, but w/o Andrew there (my seafood loving guy!), I decided to go somewhere new - Frontera Cocina was fantastic IMO, really great flavors, so you really can't go wrong! BUT this June Andrew already requested Boathouse and I am 100% happy to oblige.

sounds like a really wonderful day - "off days" at Disney are really underrated

... an mini-golf is a great activity for those off days

I loved Jock Lindsey's - looks like you had a great time there. The Scottish Professor was one of the best drinks I tried. If you are able to eat them next time I recommend the calamari

And the boat house looks really nice too - good to know about the fun kids meals (it's Disney so obviously kids can go most places, but from the reviews/pictures it seemed to me to be a less kid friendly place, but perhaps that is not the case)

I can't believe the trouble you are having getting that bubble wand! And you know a future trip, when Aria no longer has any desire for one, you will see them all over the place

Mini golf was perfect on this chilly day! Andrew really enjoyed his drink and I had mine. I'm not a calamari fan (any of that sort of seafood I steer clear from) but I'll be sure to recommend it to Andrew. Oh yeah, Boathouse totally felt kid-friendly. There are some high tables (I read in a review, although never noticed them) so that would be my only issue, but I can't imagine they'd seat you at one with a young child anyway.

YEP seriously, the bubble wands were EVERYWHERE especially that last trip. They were still sold out in may I believe, because I actually brought the one we had *spoiler alert lol* finally tracked down in Feb which broke as soon as we got home, in order to exchange it, and I never found one to exchange.

Hope you ended up with one of the Bubble Wands. We brought one home after our trip in October. Unfortunately they don't have a boy version, just the Little Mermaid one so that is what we have. He just had to have it after he saw another kid playing with one. What is it with kids & bubbles?!?!

I saw a TON of boys with the bubble wand, I think it's a pretty gender neutral thing!

Hi there! :goodvibesLuv your report. I just caught up. Your girls are so cute. It's pretty interesting to see what you guys did as a young family. Me and hubby will go to WDW with a 6 year old DS and a 3 year old DD in autumn. It really helps me plan and see some options you guys did. I'm from Europe and we've been to WDW in 2007 when hubby and I were just dating. Planning was way easier then. I'm super excited but also a little scared to go with little ones. You guys always look so relaxed in those pics even though it might have been exhausting sometimes.:rolleyes::thumbsup2

Aw thank you!! Your trip is going to be amazing and your kids will seriously be the perfect ages!! LMK if you have any questions! Where are you staying?

Still so bummed we missed you that day at AK because of the rain!! I hope one day our Disney paths will cross again.

The Trek looks very cool! DH and I thought about doing that when we went in July, but ultimately decided it would probably be too hot to be very enjoyable.

Wow, I can't believe the terrible luck you have had at meals this trip! That's really awful that they made you crappy food, then took it before you could eat it all and didn't offer anything when you pointed out the mistake. I'm all about giving places a second chance, but looks like you've given Coral Reef more than enough of your time and money!!

I couldn't believe how cold it got the next day after all that rain!! I know we were freezing and I was stressing that I hadn't brought enough layers for the kids. Mini golf looks like a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to when DD is older and we can all go do it together.

So cool that you got to sit in the boat! I'm sure Andrew was like a kid in a candy store.

Nice down day!!

And congrats on picking a name!! I love it. All your girls' names go so well together.

Yeah that rainy, chilly day was no fun! I wished we'd been able to meet up, but I am sure we will in the future! We still need to get the kids together to play, too, as Paxton & Aria would have a blast I think. (And soon Maya & Delilah will too).

Thanks to blankets, I felt like we were doing okay on the cold, but then again it was about 40 degrees colder at home so I couldn't complain too much hahaha.

Just started your trip report. Can't wait to read it all and congrats on the new baby! I wanted to see the announcement but it's not showing up. Actually none of the pictures on the first post are.

Thank you so much!! Here's the announcement :) I wanted to Disneyfy it but oh well!

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And just for fun, this was the announcement for when I was pregnant with Maya

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(I use Facebook for the photos, and it seems they do disappear after a certain amount of time, but up until recently I couldn't even get on Photobucket, Shutterfly, or any other photo-sharing thing at work, so it was my only option).

Yours is the 2nd review of the Wild Africa Trek I've read recently and I'm super unimpressed with the food. It looks more like a VERY lithgt snack, but if you're eating around lunch time I would expect more. Plus the price of the tour isn't cheap.......


:headache:


I don't blame you! We ate there once, way back in 2007. It was okay-not bad but nothing that had made us want to return since. I've considered it a couple times but there's just never good reviews of it :(


So glad you get to use Emma and I love Emma Jean! I don't know if Maya or Aria are named for family members but my Ricky is named after my dad Richard whom everyone called Ricky. I never thought I'd name my child after a family member until I found out I was having a boy; my dad had died 3 years prior at age 52 and I knew right away I wanted to honor him by naming his first grandchild after him. It's such a wonderful remembrance, I am thankful every day that I chose to do that. Neither of you will be sorry if you go with Emma Jean :love:


Not sure if you read this in my report, but I SO wanted to get the bloody mary there! Chris guilted me out of it :mad:


One of the reasons I chose to try CG. When I thought all 4 of us would be going I knew Steve would opt to order off the menu while the 3 of us love a good breakfast buffet.


We've done the winter side twice and love it! The 2nd time we wanted to do the summer side but it was closed to be painted. Since then we've played the Fantasia Gardens course over by the Beach Club but we much prefer Winter Summerland :goodvibes


We haven't been, but we have quite a few friends who go often and they love it, enjoy!


I'm embarrassed to admit I knew nothing of this, but what a cool table!


What did he think of the mussels? Wondering if I can put this on the list for Ricky to try on our next trip :thumbsup2

I thought that the food would be a bit more substantial, though snacky, but I like to ignore specific reviews of things I am about to do bc I like surprises lol!

Maya & Aria are not named for family members, but their middles names are - Aria Marie (my Grandmom AND Andrew's grandmothers middle name is Marie!) and Maya Lynn - named after my best friend Lynda.

Andrew is coming around to Emma Jean and hasn't given any other options so I think that is what we'll go with! LOL we'll see.

I must have missed that about the guilt trip Bloody mary! FWIW, I've had better, but this was still wonderful this morning (the bloody Mary's at the California Grill brunch sound AMAZING btw!).

I like winter summerland much better than Fantasia gardens, too.

Oh, Andrew LOVED the mussels. And we've been to Prince Edward Island - he LOVES his mussels. Definitely went on top of his list - so much so we were able to remove Cape may dinner from the lineup in June (hooray for me hahahaha).

Looks like a fun day, even with hardly any park time! I played mini-golf there once in 2000 and have great memories of it. I'm glad that you had fun and that your MIL volunteered to hang out with Maya.

Both of those restaurants look so cool and you got such awesome tables. I agree that there are so many great and interesting new restaurants at Disney Springs now. We will be trying T-Rex when we go this spring. Definitely not my first choice, but Rory will love it.

I remember when you posted about the first umbrella that Aria got at Epcot! Good to know that they hold up for at least a few years.

T-Rex is great!! I mean the food is RFC, but still fun and love the dinos. Aria has played with the umbrellas quite a lot (and the little ones as well, they are perfectly American Girl sized). One day her pink one just came apart, she was devastated, so making a new one was a must-do.


Thanks!

Ha, I feel the same way about the TR I'm still doing (also 12 nights)!


Glad you were able to take it a bit easy this day after the rough night.


That was nice of him!


Makes sense to me. We have done each side once and really got a kick out of both.


Hope you guys have a great time! I've never been to a Great Wolf, but the Kalahari we've been to a couple times (that I wrote mini TRs about) is pretty similar, I think. We really enjoyed our time there.


So cool! Wish they fit more people, though.


Yeah, Izzy is really into the regular Legos now, but does still sometimes play with the Duplos. But, man, regular Legos (the small pieces, at least) are SO hard to find before vacuuming (may have vacuumed one up today, oops).


I never thought about the fact that they don't have a Baby Care Center in DS. Huh. They should.


That's pretty awesome!


Glad things went so well and the chef was good. Sounds like a perfect thing to do while waiting for dinner.


Wow, that is surprising for Disney. Between that and no Baby Care Center, seems like DS isn't as baby-friendly as it should be.


Yay, glad that worked out for you! Pretty sweet!


Even better! :thumbsup2


So glad you finally had an amazing meal! :goodvibes

Sounds like a really nice down day! Oh, and cute umbrellas too!

Yeah, the changing table really got me! Actually a server I asked about it was as surprised as I was (a guy). I didn't make a big deal out of it though - I could have gone not too far outside the restaurant but decided to just do it discreetly inside.

It was so wonderful having so much flavor. Considering I stuck to the Dairy/Soy free diet for another 3 months past this trip, I can definitely look back on these few fantastic meals and remember how great they were with or without an allergy.

Just caught up and I am loving all the updates! Such a long trip looks so amazing and I think an off day is notably necessary! I had been looking at reservations for Coral Reef for H since he loves seafood but opted not to. After reading about your experience there, I'm glad I didn't! What a disappointment for you.

I am so amazed you did all this with an 8 week old baby! I was barely functioning at 8 weeks pp and a big old emotional mess. Maybe a break from reality would have been nice ;)

The long trip was so nice, even though it was a lot at 8 weeks PP, I was feeling fine (I have not had to have a C-section though, not sure if you did, that might make a big difference!). I worried a little bit about it, but remembered with Aria that at the 2-week mark I started feeling normal again so I hoped that was the case with Maya and it definitely was.

Considering we had to deal with quite a bit of extra fussiness from little Maya, it was definitely more fun to deal with it at Disney :-D hahaha
 
Oh thanks so much for posting the announcements. They are adorable. Hope your feeling well. Now off to read more of your report! Can't wait!
 
We followed up a very low-key down day with a super busy day, of course! I finally got IL's to go to an early park breakfast, too!

We went to MK, of course! We had an 8AM Crystal Palace breakfast, FP's for Space, 7DMT and Peter Pan then a few same day FP's but I won't go into that here :-D To cap it off, we had planned the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party to watch Wishes! I had originally planned htis tthinking that Wishes would be earlier this time of year (8PM is good for us lol) but it was at 10PM, but we stuck with it). Andrew, Aria, Maya and I intended to stay the whole day, whereas IL's were planning on an afternoon break.

So on to the day - Maya woke up at 5:40 - yep, almost 9 hours straight!! Thank you baby! It was a bit earlier than we needed to get up for the day, but I'll take it! Plus it gave me a little extra time to organize our stuff and pump and all that.

Since we had to be at the park by 7:30 anyway, it worked out fine. I always drive, despite the extra step with the monorail (or ferry), especially first thing in the morning when we're the 1st or 5th car there. This morning, it was the ferry so early. And it was chilly, once again!

Here were the cuties in the room:

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Waiting for Ferry

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Since it was a clear day, we took our walking to the castle photos once more haha

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Then we headed over to check in for breakfast. Yes we did this one multiple times this trip! It's always so good!!

Soon we were seated and Piglet came right over

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Maya was pretty content

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My allergy options! A chef walked me through the buffet and I was able to have a decent amount for breakfast - he also brought out the allergy waffles too.

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Maya was refusing her bottle, which it being over 3 hours since she last ate, we thought that was very weird. Then we realized the culprit and found out that not only a new diaper was in order, but a whole new outfit was too :( their bathrooms at CP are pitiful (just about as small as the ones at Tony's if you've ever gone in there!) but I made it work and soon Pooh came over!

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Aria was definitely not paying attention to the fact that we were at breakfast lol!

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After Eeyore, Tigger was no where in sight, and it was already 9:15 or so, so we decided to head out. High up on the IL's list was Jungle Cruise, so that was our first stop! I snapped this photo while grabbing the stroller - it was just a beautiful day!

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Excited to ride!

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Maya had fallen asleep on the walk over, but I was able to hold her in the blanket and she stayed asleep

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The ride was great - FIL is into corny jokes, so he really enjoyed it, and we all got a kick out of it.

Afterwards we went straight on Pirates, and Maya woke up during that walk through the line.

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Next we went over to the Haunted Mansion!

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I am going to out myself here, as it is just about the most un-Disney thing about me, but I can definitely take or leave the HM.

Afterwards we headed over to Space, where Andrew & FIL rode, while I fed Maya then went over to FL where our next FP was. Since this was our last MK day, we also had some left over Rider Swaps to use - namely Splash, Space, Barnstormer, Speedway, Big Thunder, and Seven Dwarfs - so we definitely had quite a pace to set for the day!

I'm so sad we skipped the carousel in December! But here, Aria was really loving it (I think I left Maya with MIL)

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Afterwards, FIL, Andrew and Aria ran over to use the Splash Rider Swap

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I took Aria & FIL on Big Thunder (the tickets are good for up to 3 ppl)

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Then we ran over to 7DMT (I get the boot when Papa is around :( )

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And then we went BACK to Tomorrowland where I chose to ride the speedway with Aria while the boys rode Space again and MIL stayed with Maya

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PHEW!! Continued in next post!




 
So Maya was in the middle of a champion nap IN the stroller (YAY). It was a little after 1PM, so IL's decided to head out for their afternoon break, and we took it easy for a bit. It had been a whirlwind morning! We eventually made our way to a spot along Main Street for the parade. While sitting there, I was perusing the dinner options (because you know, 1 TS in a day is just not enough! and I was still attempting to get a ressie at California Grill so IL's could experience it). Well CG wasn't available, but I noted Artist Point was - I texted FIL a pic of the menu and they said that would work, so we decided to do that for the evening to get out of the park for a bit.

But back to Main St, we sat there for quite a while just enjoying relaxing. Maya was still asleep. She had fallen asleep at about 12:30 and didn't wake up until 3:30!

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Aria might have had a rice krispie treat for lunch :-D

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And then the parade started! I kept checking on Maya but no dice, she was down for the count!

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Side note: Andrew got me a Disney trivia game for Christmas. We played it a few times over the break, and one of the questions in it was which character visited the Snuggly Duckling! Aria knew right away that it was Rapunzel! I was impressed!

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The parade was really wonderful, as always! Definitely up there on my favorite things to do!

Before heading out to dinner, we had FP's for Enchanted Tales with Belle. This isn't really top of Andrew's list, but Aria was finally showing interest in participating and I wanted to be sure we did it once!

First I stopped to feed Maya, though, I have no idea what Andrew and Aria were up to!

After a short wait to get inside, Aria was a bit too shy to be loud enough to be picked for any parts (she only tried for one or two), but she did step forward when the CM was offering extra parts, and got the pepper shaker.

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I was just proud of her for going up there!

Maya enjoyed the show

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And then it was time to head out to dinner!



 
We headed out of the park and got on a boat to the Wilderness Lodge. It was a small boat, so we had to fold the stroller, which is a huge PAIN with having to get out all the small things underneath along with the nursing pillow, car seat, and of course Maya. I have stayed at the WL before, and won't again until we are fully out of stroller years!

Anyway no photos because it was crazy with carrying all the stuff!

When we got there, we were pretty early (about 5PM and our reservation was for 5:40). Maya was super fussy, so I wanted to make sure to feed her before dinner so she would settle down. I sat down in a nice comfy rocking chair and proceeded to nurse her until it was time to sit down for dinner, ugh! She was not happy about the change of venue though. I put her in the wrap hoping to calm her down.

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I ordered a very much needed Washington Apple Martini (a real one this time!)

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With the allergy, I was served those very sad allergy rolls. But they did come with the oil & vinegar without me asking.

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To note- my favorite thing on the menu is the Portobello bisque. I knew going in that I would not be able to eat it (hello, creamy delishousness). On the allergy menu was a beet and prosciutto salad. It was OK. I'm not a huge beet fan lol.

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It typically comes with goat cheese, but I couldn't have that - but I would say that would be the best thing about the salad.

With dinner I ordered a wine flight, because well, whenever there are wine flights on a menu, I'm in!

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Maya had been very fussy and we were passing her around the table. Around when the entrees came out, she couldn't hold in her crazy anymore and we actually had to take turns outside with her. Thankfully there was an empty patio right off of our table so we could pop outside without bothering other diners.

I ordered the salmon with fingerling potatoes and rice? Not sure, but it was very good.

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IL's meals were very good as well, I heard.

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It looks like Andrew's entrée came out while he was on Maya duty outside, so I tried to eat quickly to relieve him.

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The rest of dinner was a whirlwind, with Andrew & me taking turns with Maya outside (she seriously could NOT be calmed down :( ) and attempting to eat. While the food and service was great, this one went down as most memorably horrible due to Maya.

Then we headed back out on the boat. This time we caught a big boat, and I nursed Maya in the wrap while going into MK - that must have been a sight! Once inside, we had missed a FP for the Ariel ride, but had a FP for meeting Ariel, so I relieved myself of Maya who was now sleeping and was able to put her in the car seat, and FIL, Aria and I went back to meet Ariel while Andrew, MIL and Maya got in line to check in for the dessert party.

This is one thing about the dessert party that unless it changes back to how it was a few years ago, I won't do the party again - I had read here on the DIS that they were no longer assigning tables according to the date you booked the party. Instead, you had to line up and then make a mad dash for a good table. What's the point of paying a premium for this if you still have to waste an hour waiting to check in, then HOPE you get a table along the railing (because hello, the interior tables have that huge overhang!!).

Anyway back to meeting Ariel - Aria was excited for some time with her

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They did a lot of chatting! Then we made our way back to the dessert party where we just decided to wait it out. Soon enough we were inside, sparkling cider in hand, and found a table along the railing. There were only teeny tables but we made it work.

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There wasn't room for the stroller but with the car seat, we were able to bring Maya over and she stayed asleep.

Aria loved getting to choose her desserts

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I informed a CM of the allergy, and they sent someone to grab me an allergy platter (which apparently is good for top-8, so it wasn't specific to me).

While waiting for that, I grabbed fruit from the dessert buffet.

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Soon my huge platter came out! It was sort of crazy how many berries there were, but it was nice to have the cupcakes. Aria ate almost all my gummy bears, and the cookies were good (enjoy life). It was a decent amount and I thought any kid would be happy with that platter!

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Our view - I think Maya was on the floor by my feet?

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We enjoyed the MSEP music, but wish that the location included a view for it, too.

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We had a great view of Tinkerbelle flying over head!

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And then a nice view of the fireworks too. It was a very fun evening, and I know the IL's enjoyed it, but man it was late! We were all exhausted!

Because ILs took our rental back to the room, we lost our awesome parking spot (I wasn't very happy about this) and they instead parked it at the Wilderness Lodge when they came back for dinner. So we once again had to take the boat - but the Stroller Gods were in our favor tonight as it was a bigger boat we could stroll onto, thankfully - Maya slept the whole time, and Aria fell asleep during the transfer over to the car and back to the room. We all collapsed in our beds that night!
 
wow, that was a long day! Seemed like you got a ton done - especially in the morning.

Great spot for the parade (other than the crane messing up your photos)

Sorry dinner was such a challenge! I definitely hate that about the boats to the resorts that, at least sometimes, you need to fold the strollers up

Glad you got a good spot for the dessert party. We only did it once years ago before the modified it and we had an assigned table and unfortunately it wasn't near the railing - but there was plenty of room for us to stand near the railing without blocking anyone so we just did that
 
So on to the day - Maya woke up at 5:40 - yep, almost 9 hours straight!!
Wow, that's impressive! Way to go, Maya!

Then we realized the culprit and found out that not only a new diaper was in order, but a whole new outfit was too :(
:sad2: This seems to be a theme. :rotfl: Maybe she just wants to make sure she gets to wear all the cute clothes.

Awww, that's a sweet picture! :lovestruc

:rotfl: Nice piggyback ride.

I'm so sad we skipped the carousel in December!
I know, I'm surprised Izzy never even asked for it. I suspect we'll get to it next month, though, since we can't book FP in advance, which leaves us with things like that to avoid lines (they said they would "help" us w/FP, but I'm not sure what that means and am not getting my hopes up).

Maya was still asleep. She had fallen asleep at about 12:30 and didn't wake up until 3:30!
Wow, what a champion sleeper this day, between overnight and this nap!

Side note: Andrew got me a Disney trivia game for Christmas. We played it a few times over the break, and one of the questions in it was which character visited the Snuggly Duckling! Aria knew right away that it was Rapunzel! I was impressed!
Impressive! I wonder if Izzy knows? :scratchin

I was just proud of her for going up there!
Glad she was brave enough to do it! That's another one I hope to hit next month since I didn't get Izzy there in December.

It was a small boat, so we had to fold the stroller, which is a huge PAIN with having to get out all the small things underneath along with the nursing pillow, car seat, and of course Maya.
Ugh, that's a pain to even think about. :crazy2:

Maya had been very fussy and we were passing her around the table. Around when the entrees came out, she couldn't hold in her crazy anymore and we actually had to take turns outside with her. Thankfully there was an empty patio right off of our table so we could pop outside without bothering other diners.
Bummer that happened and such bad timing. At least there was the patio, I guess. Sorry it was such a rough meal, though.

We all collapsed in our beds that night!
I bet you did! Very late for you guys to be out!
 
What a long, full day!

Enchanted Tales with Belle looks cute. We have never done this!

I'm sorry that the thing you remember most about your meal at Artist Point is how difficult Maya was being. The food looks amazing!

The allergy dessert platter for the Wishes party gives me hope about attending these types of events with the kids in the future.
 

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