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

[Imagineer5]

Oh man! I'm on mobile so I can't even see the tickers and forgot I had one from #1! That way too long to be pregnant! I'm due the week before you are and can't wait to have another little girl. They're just so much fun!

Hahahaha I figured as much that happens to me on Babycenter, I never delete the old ticker until I go back pregnant again and make a new one!

Looks like a fun day - I love Cinderella dancing with Aria

I am pretty sure the Talking Mickey is set up that he has a number of sayings recorded and then a CM picks which one to use that is most appropriate - but obviously that can't cover all situations

I think it is a neat idea but also can lead to questions as to why this is the only Mickey that talks (other than in shows) and then why does Minnie or whomever not talk when we meet them?

Glad you did get in some pool time then - the pool and proximity to EPCOT I think are the best parts of Beach / Yacht Club

Wow, they must have looked at you all a bit funny when you didn't order ice cream at B&C!

Sorry for the awkward set up for the crib - hope it wasn't too bad

Yeah that is sort of what I think too, and so far Aria has been okay with keeping them separate by calling this one the Talking Mickey, but I think they missed the mark on it because seriously WHY can't the rest talk if he can? it is just strange.

Definitely, regarding Y&BC, and I also like the proximity to great restaurants, although I feel the same way about the Contemporary (although 2 of our must-do-every-trip - California Grill and Chef Mickeys are both at the Contemporary).

The crib set up was okay. It was doable for 6 nights, haha, but we really do like having separation as I just feel like everyone sleeps much better. But even that slight separation to the open bathroom is better than the crib right next to the bed.

 

[Imagineer5]

2017 Plans!! So as you all know, the day you get back from vacation you have nothing better to do than immediately look at booking more trips, right?!?!?! I almost pounced on a $69 round trip flight Boston-Orlando for February, but 1) I'll be super preggo by then 2) it was 2 days after we get home from Aria's Great Wolf Lodge Birthday trip and 3) I have literally ZERO hours of leave I nixed the idea. Maybe in 2018 :-D

I am really excited about that 3 bedroom condo for June and have all those ADR's, and this week I finally narrowed down dates and found a place to rent with Lynda, Aron, and their new baby Brianna. We looked into a ton of options, including Shades of Green, military rates at resorts, etc, and we actually ended up deciding on a 5-bedroom off-site villa. This one is costing us about 400 each (splitting it in half) for 6 nights in October 5-11. It has a private pool and it'll be nice to have the space for Brianna to have her own room (she'll be 11 months), Aria & Maya can share a room, and new baby will be 5-6 months old and get her own room too. Plus laundry facilities! Andrew said he would go, which means most likely I'll be upgrading his 7 day hopper to an AP in June. But I might attempt to talk him into the 5-day military ticket (about $80 less than upgrading to an AP) and buying a 1 day PH ticket to Universal. We'll see...

Here's the house

This also brought up a discussion of purchasing a house down in the area, so I had some fun looking into doing that. I think we might bite that bullet in a couple years when we have the $$ for a significant down payment and I'll have more time to deal with management companies and stuff. Andrew said he would be excited to do something like that and look at my frequent trips to Disney differently if I was checking in on our investment property! haha so it would be a win-win.

We haven't yet talked about ADR's with Lynda although we'll be seeing them next week (and meeting Brianna finally, she's about 4 weeks old!) and we can talk about everything Disney then.

Other 2017 plans? We are planning a week at the Cape in July like every year, a long weekend in Maine, and I'd like to do a NH long weekend to Storyland and Santa's Village.

I'll most likely work on a whole other update tomorrow, before Christmas vacation! But I wanted to be sure to wish all of my DisFriends a very merry Christmas and new year! I won't be on next week, as my laptop died after organizing all my photos from our most recent trip (not sure if I should thank the Photopass website for that, as I didn't use it for ANYTHING else? UGH!) and I had to mail it in to ASUS hoping they can fix it.

 

[Imagineer5]

As promised I wanted to work on one more day's worth of updates before my little DIS hiatus!

Friday February 5th

We slept well overnight (Maya woke up once to eat around 4, then promptly fell back asleep until 6:30, when the sounds of us getting up and showering woke her). Aria was already awake, because apparently at 5AM FIL thought it would be fine to go into the kitchen area and make coffee. I was pretty upset about this (Aria was in a fine mood). this happens at home too - he wakes up SUPER early every single day - Aria hears the slightest movement and wakes up excited for the day. Anyway I got out her clothes and instructed her to go potty and change and Maya's clothes were ready as well. I generally try to get the park bag ready with snacks, diapers, change of clothes the night before all set so I don't forget stuff in the morning rush. Anyway I fed Maya and then we headed over to DHS - we had an 8AM breakfast at H&V for all 6 of us, but IL's didn't care to go so just the 4 of us went.

The day before Aria had picked out a magnetized mickey plush, so she brought that along today. We were seated quickly and went up to grab food - I had to wait for the chef as this was before the allergy menu came out, and he offered to make allergy mickey waffles. I don't remember what else I had, probably some fruit. I really like their tater tots here (surprise surprise) and had done some research over the last day into soy protein, reading that there isn't protein in Soy Lecithin and Soybean Oil, and thus even those with soy allergies can, 90% of the time, tolerate these two things. I think I started allowing those to be in the diet, because honestly they really restricted options (Soy is seriously in EVERYTHING). Since Maya didn't actually have an allergy to soy, this was no issue lol.

Anywayyyy after all the food choices were made, Sofia came right over. Aria wanted to wear her Jake dress today, but she still loves Sofia! You can also partially see Aria's plate - she chose a banana, croissant, bacon, eggs, fruit and ham. That's a pretty typical breakfast for her.

Random, but how awesome would it be if they brought Elena here to meet!

Maya had fallen asleep for her first nap in the wrap.

Next, Handy Manny came over. He is who I would replace with Elena if I could LOL!

Oh here we go: my plate of allergy waffles which were GREAT, and an omelette that the omelette station made me - he pulled out a dedicated allergy one, so it didn't have any cheese on it. Also my tater tots, and I had asked for tabasco bc I had not brought my own hot sauce packets. Also note my black coffee, they had no other substitution than soy milk. BTW Maya has an egg allergy :-O (obviously didn't know it at this time).

Soon they did the little song and dance part, and Jake was over right by us! (Her favorite!) we were so close I didn't get a good photo, and the song and dance woke up Maya!

Since Maya had been strapped to me for an hour, I gladly handed her over to Andrew, who was done with his breakfast so he could feed her her bottle, while I ate and took photos.

They brought out a happy birthday card for Aria

Then Doc stopped by!

Funny, I think Doc is Aria's current favorite out of the Disney Junior characters here. She LOVES playing doctor or vet. My mom bought her a vet clinic set and a dress up vet set for Christmas and I'm really excited for Aria to open that.

She really enjoyed checking out her stuff

Maya was a bit too distracted to eat

Then Andrew figured out why. He picked her up and she was really wet. Not really thinking about it, he grabbed the wipes and a diaper from the backpack and took her to the bathroom, as it was 9AM by now and we were still waiting to meet Jake. This ended up being crazy - he didn't bring his phone in with him, so he ran back out calling for me to grab the backpack. I ran it over to him, leaving Aria at the table but keeping an eye on her - a man was outside the men's restroom and brought in the backpack to Andrew. Then Andrew ran back out asking me to help. How was I supposed to go into the men's restroom and help!?!?! And of course RIGHT at that time, Jake was a table away. A CM was there and I told her I needed to help my husband deal with a diaper emergency and asked her if we could meet Jake in a few minutes. SHE SAID NO! She said we couldn't meet him if we missed him. WHAT. She was so rude! I was pissed, but stayed so Aria could meet him.

And then we ran over to help Andrew, who was just cleaning up and coming out of the bathroom. Granted, I really didn't know what I could do to help from outside the men's room, but anyway. Her diaper had leaked ALL OVER her clothes AND his pants, so his pants were soaked, he had gotten ahold of his parents who had just left the room and were waiting at the boat dock for the boat to DHS, so his dad went back and got him clean pants, he needed the backpack for a change of clothes (@Dugette sound familiar?!?!?!) etc etc.

So quite the ending to our breakfast!

We had a few minutes to wait for IL's to get to the park, and DH steadfastly refused to do anything until he had clean pants, so I left him with Maya and took Aria on ToT! This was her first ride on it. She was going in with the mindset that she only has to ride it once, and despite being afraid from about the moment we passed through the gates, she took it like a champ and rode it.

But she had tears streaming down her face when it was over, and said she never wanted to ride again. Poor thing!

On that high note, DH met up with his parents, he changed, we all headed back towards TSMM and our first FP of the day. But first, Sorcerer Mickey was in his temporary spot and there was no line, so we headed in there!

Aria was totally fine once I reassured her she never had to ride ToT if she didn't want to, and was happy to see Grammy and Papa! Mickey met mini-mickey and they had a really cute meet.

Andrew chose Maya's PJs meant for later tonight, as her "outfit".

We got a nice photo of all of us.

continued in next post -

 

[Imagineer5]

And then we went to TSMM to use our FP's

Aria wanted to ride with Papa, so I think Andrew & his mom rode together and I rode with Maya.

Side note - Aria was the only grandchild and quite literally the apple of Papa's eye, for nearly 4 years. Then Maya came along. However by next April, they will have had an explosion of grandchildren, with SIL having her twins (b/g), other SIL having her girl, and us having girl #3. I am hoping that in the coming years, Aria will still find that special time to be with her Papa, because I know that time will be really limited as he is surrounded by 6+ grandkids.

Anyway, next up we decided to go to the play area! Maya had fallen asleep during TSMM, and we had some time before the next FP, so to Honey I shrunk the kids it is! I REALLY hope they put in an awesome play structure (think the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail at DCA?!?!) as this is closed now. Andrew took his parents over to something, I'm thinking they watched a show, but I have no idea what. Aria wanted to play vs. see a show, so that worked out fine.

We had more time to kill so she was able to play until our 11AM FP for the Frozen show. Andrew held Maya in line and through the show, while she napped on.

It was packed!

I love how the show has been pretty different each time we've seen it at various parks (DL, DLP, and WDW)

I was apparently terrible about taking photos, but after this, Maya woke up and I fed her while Andrew and FIL rode ToT with FP's (Aria stayed with Grammy and me). While I was nursing Maya on the high wall I looked around and noticed a really big pile of "dog" or similar poop! Gross! I kind of hopped down and found a new spot lol. When they came out, we decided to check out the single rider line for RnRC, leaving Aria & Maya with grammy.

This line took FOREVER! And MIL wasn't answering her phone when I was checking in on everyone! It probably took 45 minutes total, but the ride was awesome.

It always has been a really terrible SR option, but I never do a FP for it since we do the TSMM one instead.

We re-joined with MIL outside, and heard about their adventures in chatting with people as apparently Aria had been chatting up everyone nearby. It's amazing how extroverted she has become since having a baby sister. Maya fussed a bit but was okay. She was ready for nap 3, and fell asleep while I was holding her (would let us put her in the stroller). We decided to head out and took the boat back to the resort.

Back by 2PM, I nursed Maya and while sitting there decided I wanted some "alone" time in EPCOT. IL's couldn't go in w/o upgrading their tickets to PH, and I think MIL had fallen asleep anyway. I told Andrew my plan, and he decided to come with, so it was actually a really nice time just the 4 of us. It takes like 3 minutes flat to walk from the BCV to the IG and soon enough we were in the park. Andrew stopped in Canada for a beer, while I had my sights set on one of my all-time favorites.

We *almost* made it to La Cava but Aria insisted on a quick ride on Donald's boat ride. Maya fell asleep for Nap #4 while in the wrap.

And then, I was that mom, with a baby strapped to my chest and a 4 year old at my side, sidling up to the bar to order a margarita!

Their passion fruit margarita is so good, next year I'll have a baby strapped to my chest, one on my hip, and a 5 yo at my side while ordering it! <3

Andrew also ordered something, but I was only focused on my amazing drink. That Tajin salt rim?! I normally don't like salt rims, but this is one I had to sip around the whole cup to get every last little bit.

In order to really enjoy it, I let Aria stop at the Kidcot station to color a Duffy while I sat off to the side and enjoyed my margarita.

I thought she did a pretty good job on her Duffy!

Afterwards, we had no real plan. I didn't attempt any FP's and knew we should be heading back to the room to get ready for dinner, so we meandered along WS enjoying our free time.

continued in next post!

 

[Imagineer5]

During a normal trip, I enjoy showering before dinner especially since I generally have 1/2 our dinners at Signatures. Tonight we were doing Cape May, one of DH's favorites, but I still opted to shower and do all that then vs. waiting until after dinner or the morning. I got the girls all ready and then left them with Papa!

Random, but as I type this up, Andrew, Aria, Maya, and IL's are visiting with FIL's parents "Oma and Opa" - one is in the hospital and one at home. Andrew got today off of work and we are having our Christmas with his parents tomorrow. He texted me this photo, at Oma & Opa's house



Before discovering CeraVe, Maya was very dry skinned as she seemed to react to any lotion or cream. But Cerave is awesome.

Andrew joined in on the fun

All finished getting ready for dinner, I strapped Maya into the wrap hoping she would take her last nap and give us a pleasant dinner, and we walked over.

We had a relatively long wait to be seated. But Aria didn't mind - Papa played hide and seek with that magnetic Mickey! I grabbed a photo of a particularly good hiding spot lol

Aria searching

Finding him in the planters lol

And then we were seated. Andrew took Aria up for some food, we all ordered drinks, and the chef came out to take me around the buffet. I had ordered a blue glowtini drink and thought they had a decent selection at the buffet to choose from - I especially enjoyed the hummus selections w/ the bread and salmon.

That however was the end of the photos for the night, because just as I got my plate, Maya woke up crying. I had brought a bottle of pumped milk to dinner, so we sort of played pass the baby while we also attempted to eat. It's loud in there, so this wasn't an issue and she did okay - wasn't overly happy but didn't scream either. I did have to change her mid-meal and the bathrooms were fairly convenient to the table at least (no outfit change necessary lol).

I was astounded that for dessert, they brought me a selection from BabyCakes / Erin McKenna's including donuts! That was awesome, and I actually packed them up to bring back to the room for snacks.

Once back at the room, everyone vegged in the living area while I nursed Maya to sleep, and we called it a night by 8:30. I'm sure IL's stayed up watching TV in their room, but we definitely did not lol!

Maya once again slept about 7 hours, woke up once around 3:30, and then slept a further 3 hours. Coming up next - Andrew & I get a date day at the AK Wild Africa Trek, then evening at EPCOT!

See you in the new year!! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and very happy new year.

 

[jeni16]

This also brought up a discussion of purchasing a house down in the area, so I had some fun looking into doing that. I think we might bite that bullet in a couple years when we have the $$ for a significant down payment and I'll have more time to deal with management companies and stuff. Andrew said he would be excited to do something like that and look at my frequent trips to Disney differently if I was checking in on our investment property! haha so it would be a win-win.

Can't wait to hear how this eventually goes. We have been thinking about doing this as well. Hoping the income could pay for our trips altogether. I worry about living so far away though. We've also thought about doing this with a closer lake home as I would really love to live on a lake but it's just not really affordable around where I live.

 

[ariane37]

Glad they have good, decent options for you at Cape May! I can't wait to get back there with Ricky and Steve since only Chris and I went last month, I know they'll enjoy it
Have you tried the avocado margarita at La Cava? That one is AWESOME. Love it! When I first read about it I thought it sounded yuck but it's so good, it's my new 3rd favorite drink down there. And maybe it's sad that I have a list of favorite drinks in Disney? IDK, but it sure does keep growing!
Congrats to Aria being so brave riding TOT! Might be difficult getting her to ever ride again lol but it's great she did it once and you got to ride.
I also think it's wonderful that she's so close to her Papa and I do hope that continues. It probably will, my oldest Ricky is my moms first grandchild (one of 5 grandsons). They've always had a close relationship and while she's also close with one of my sisters boys, her relationship with Ricky has continued to grow and if I dare say it, I think Ricky is her favorite I was extremely close to my maternal grandmother and it's a relationship I'll always treasure.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!!

 

[khertz]

I've just read all your updates that I missed, and I have to say, I'm still a little shocked that the CM wouldn't help you out with meeting Jake despite the diaper emergency going on! Character meals aren't cheap in the least, they really should be more accommodating for situations like that!

 

[Dugette]

Whew, just read/re-read everything since I last posted (though glad I had peeked earlier, as some pics have disappeared). You really are an updating machine! (But you need to be with all the trips...)

Aria asked for the Barnstormer next, so Andrew rode with her. They wouldn't give me a RS for later, because there was no line. That was annoying bc obv I couldn't use it then as I had Maya on me asleep, and with the RS I could ride later via the FP line. Not sure if this is normal or not, but the only time we encountered it.

That is super annoying!

She is going to have a blast with izzy running around here.

I think they did have fun. But I am forever going to associate this play area with that crazy incident now.

I hopped in for a quick picture, you can see what Maya thought of that idea lol.

So, her feelings on character meets haven't changed too much then.

Andrew and Aria ran off to use the Splash RS

Looks like she's using her "duck" strategy she was so proud of.

Well, back home once again from another wonderful trip!! Phew am I exhausted!! Thank you for the well wishes, we had such a fun time with @Dugette and fam, and the girls did great though Maya is in her scared of characters phase - but she LOVED every ride! The trip flew by of course, but we did SO much and fit so much into a small amount of time it was wonderful.

We had a great time too!

I got an insane deal of $349/week at this 3 bedroom villa -

That really is an insane deal!

We decided on: H&V, Crystal Palace, Kona, Garden Grill and Akershus for breakfast, Sanaa for lunch, and dinners at Boathouse, Tiffins, Chef Mickeys, Ohana and of course California Grill.

What, no Cape May for Andrew?

Afterwards we swung by the water park again and it was still closed.

So bizarre.

We decided to go to the marina at the Contemporary and rent a Pontoon! We've rented the Mickey mouse boats and a Whaler before, but never the pontoon, but the space was nice and it was really comfy.

We rented a Disney pontoon once. Really nice way to relax a bit and see things from a different angle. And I have a soft spot for pontoons, as my grandparents used to have one (river behind their backyard) and we'd go out on it when we visited.

But this is Andrews favorite thing to do anywhere, so why not do it at Disney!

This reminds me - when I took Maya on LwtL, I explained to her that her daddy loves boats, so he would be very proud of her for taking this boat ride and she should tell him all about it.

Cute picture. But that lady behind them is shooting them quite the look.

Sweet girl! And that is a gorgeous dress!

Apparently the relaxing day was just what Maya needed, too, as she slept from 8:15PM - 6:15AM! I think we were up middle of the night making sure she was okay lol.

Wow, you had a couple of great nights of sleep from her!

Aria kissing Maya's toes

She just can't resist the baby toes, I guess.

2017 Plans!! So as you all know, the day you get back from vacation you have nothing better to do than immediately look at booking more trips, right?!?!?!

Um, yeah.

6 nights in October 5-11

I don't think we'll overlap you exactly (too close to month-end at work), BUT it's looking more likely we'll go early/mid October than late. Our daycare provider is going over the MEA break here (no school for 2 days), so we thought about going then since we don't have daycare, but the airfares are ridiculous because of the school break, so I don't see that happening. We'll see, still 10 months to go...

This also brought up a discussion of purchasing a house down in the area, so I had some fun looking into doing that. I think we might bite that bullet in a couple years when we have the $$ for a significant down payment and I'll have more time to deal with management companies and stuff. Andrew said he would be excited to do something like that and look at my frequent trips to Disney differently if I was checking in on our investment property! haha so it would be a win-win.

That's pretty cool! Will have to keep your rental in mind if I need somewhere to stay in a few years...

Random, but how awesome would it be if they brought Elena here to meet!

That would be cool, but I doubt it, since she's a true face character vs. the ones they have there now.

That's really cute!

And of course RIGHT at that time, Jake was a table away. A CM was there and I told her I needed to help my husband deal with a diaper emergency and asked her if we could meet Jake in a few minutes. SHE SAID NO! She said we couldn't meet him if we missed him. WHAT. She was so rude! I was pissed, but stayed so Aria could meet him.

Ugh, how rude! (and we were just watching Fuller House, so maybe that's why I'm thinking that...) It seems like they are usually very accommodating, so that's really out of the norm at WDW. I did have a CM that was sarcastic w/me this trip - claiming they didn't have a restroom (at Spice Road), but he quickly made it clear he was kidding - I'm guessing yours was not doing that, though.

And then we ran over to help Andrew, who was just cleaning up and coming out of the bathroom. Granted, I really didn't know what I could do to help from outside the men's room, but anyway. Her diaper had leaked ALL OVER her clothes AND his pants, so his pants were soaked, he had gotten ahold of his parents who had just left the room and were waiting at the boat dock for the boat to DHS, so his dad went back and got him clean pants, he needed the backpack for a change of clothes (@Dugette sound familiar?!?!?!) etc etc.

Yup, sounds a bit familiar.

But she had tears streaming down her face when it was over, and said she never wanted to ride again. Poor thing!

Poor kiddo! Izzy is still adamant that she won't ride ToT again either. But then today, she randomly said she'd ride the Disneyland one. Also, I found out that she liked the ride just fine, it's the pre-show movie that she was scared of.

Side note - Aria was the only grandchild and quite literally the apple of Papa's eye, for nearly 4 years. Then Maya came along. However by next April, they will have had an explosion of grandchildren, with SIL having her twins (b/g), other SIL having her girl, and us having girl #3. I am hoping that in the coming years, Aria will still find that special time to be with her Papa, because I know that time will be really limited as he is surrounded by 6+ grandkids.

I hope they keep their special bond. Izzy has the same thing going with her Papa (Dug's dad) - they are very close and she's the only. But now she has a cousin coming (just one, not 5, though ), so will be interesting to see how that changes things.

Anyway, next up we decided to go to the play area! Maya had fallen asleep during TSMM, and we had some time before the next FP, so to Honey I shrunk the kids it is! I REALLY hope they put in an awesome play structure (think the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail at DCA?!?!) as this is closed now.

That would be awesome. Of course, in my dream world, I really want a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse playground, complete with "up-slide" and glove balloon...I don't think that will ever happen. But, in my head, I have a whole "Disney Junior Land" planned. Like the "Nina Needs to Go Coaster" - it would be amazing.

It's amazing how extroverted she has become since having a baby sister.

She was fairly chatty with me. But I'm used to being chatted at endlessly by a 4-year-old, so seemed normal.

And then, I was that mom, with a baby strapped to my chest and a 4 year old at my side, sidling up to the bar to order a margarita!

Their passion fruit margarita is so good, next year I'll have a baby strapped to my chest, one on my hip, and a 5 yo at my side while ordering it! <3

This whole thing cracked me up, but I love it! And I think I really need to try the passion fruit one.

See you in the new year!! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and very happy new year.

Thanks, hope yours has been wonderful too!

 

[Imagineer5]

Can't wait to hear how this eventually goes. We have been thinking about doing this as well. Hoping the income could pay for our trips altogether. I worry about living so far away though. We've also thought about doing this with a closer lake home as I would really love to live on a lake but it's just not really affordable around where I live.

Yeah, I would love it too! I've always pictured buying a place in Lake Como, Italy -now that seems really far away lol! But Disney would work since we vacation there so much anyway!

Glad they have good, decent options for you at Cape May! I can't wait to get back there with Ricky and Steve since only Chris and I went last month, I know they'll enjoy it
Have you tried the avocado margarita at La Cava? That one is AWESOME. Love it! When I first read about it I thought it sounded yuck but it's so good, it's my new 3rd favorite drink down there. And maybe it's sad that I have a list of favorite drinks in Disney? IDK, but it sure does keep growing!
Congrats to Aria being so brave riding TOT! Might be difficult getting her to ever ride again lol but it's great she did it once and you got to ride.
I also think it's wonderful that she's so close to her Papa and I do hope that continues. It probably will, my oldest Ricky is my moms first grandchild (one of 5 grandsons). They've always had a close relationship and while she's also close with one of my sisters boys, her relationship with Ricky has continued to grow and if I dare say it, I think Ricky is her favorite I was extremely close to my maternal grandmother and it's a relationship I'll always treasure.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!!

Yes, I've sipped the avocado, and some jalapeno one? and some others, but my passionfruit one is just so special lol! I have a list of favorites too, don't worry! That was prob my saddest part about the last trip - I couldn't drink! hehe

That is sweet about the relationships for your boys, too! Just yesterday SIL #2 had her baby girl, so now we're just waiting on our #3 then maybe a baby-break for a bit!

I've just read all your updates that I missed, and I have to say, I'm still a little shocked that the CM wouldn't help you out with meeting Jake despite the diaper emergency going on! Character meals aren't cheap in the least, they really should be more accommodating for situations like that!

Yeah, I haven't ever encountered that before. I should have just gone, although not sure what I could have done really from outside the men's room.

Whew, just read/re-read everything since I last posted (though glad I had peeked earlier, as some pics have disappeared). You really are an updating machine! (But you need to be with all the trips...)


That is super annoying!


I think they did have fun. But I am forever going to associate this play area with that crazy incident now.


So, her feelings on character meets haven't changed too much then.


Looks like she's using her "duck" strategy she was so proud of.


We had a great time too!


That really is an insane deal!


What, no Cape May for Andrew?


So bizarre.


We rented a Disney pontoon once. Really nice way to relax a bit and see things from a different angle. And I have a soft spot for pontoons, as my grandparents used to have one (river behind their backyard) and we'd go out on it when we visited.


This reminds me - when I took Maya on LwtL, I explained to her that her daddy loves boats, so he would be very proud of her for taking this boat ride and she should tell him all about it.


Cute picture. But that lady behind them is shooting them quite the look.


Sweet girl! And that is a gorgeous dress!


Wow, you had a couple of great nights of sleep from her!


She just can't resist the baby toes, I guess.


Um, yeah.


I don't think we'll overlap you exactly (too close to month-end at work), BUT it's looking more likely we'll go early/mid October than late. Our daycare provider is going over the MEA break here (no school for 2 days), so we thought about going then since we don't have daycare, but the airfares are ridiculous because of the school break, so I don't see that happening. We'll see, still 10 months to go...


That's pretty cool! Will have to keep your rental in mind if I need somewhere to stay in a few years...


That would be cool, but I doubt it, since she's a true face character vs. the ones they have there now.


That's really cute!


Ugh, how rude! (and we were just watching Fuller House, so maybe that's why I'm thinking that...) It seems like they are usually very accommodating, so that's really out of the norm at WDW. I did have a CM that was sarcastic w/me this trip - claiming they didn't have a restroom (at Spice Road), but he quickly made it clear he was kidding - I'm guessing yours was not doing that, though.


Yup, sounds a bit familiar.


Poor kiddo! Izzy is still adamant that she won't ride ToT again either. But then today, she randomly said she'd ride the Disneyland one. Also, I found out that she liked the ride just fine, it's the pre-show movie that she was scared of.


I hope they keep their special bond. Izzy has the same thing going with her Papa (Dug's dad) - they are very close and she's the only. But now she has a cousin coming (just one, not 5, though ), so will be interesting to see how that changes things.


That would be awesome. Of course, in my dream world, I really want a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse playground, complete with "up-slide" and glove balloon...I don't think that will ever happen. But, in my head, I have a whole "Disney Junior Land" planned. Like the "Nina Needs to Go Coaster" - it would be amazing.


She was fairly chatty with me. But I'm used to being chatted at endlessly by a 4-year-old, so seemed normal.


This whole thing cracked me up, but I love it! And I think I really need to try the passion fruit one.


Thanks, hope yours has been wonderful too!

That'd be awesome if we do overlap, let me know! (for October).

Maya did enjoy the characters in August at Disneyland, so I am hoping by June she'll be over her fear - Aria was the EXACT same way at that age, so it wasn't too surprising (our December trip where she was terrified).

Yeah that Dumbo play area evening?! That was really crazy.

A clubhouse playground would be really fun (reminds me of ToonTown, which we love).

 

[Imagineer5]

Sorry for my delay, still waiting on my laptop (supposedly it's fixed and on its way back to me, yay!). But I was able to access some photos so I wanted to continue on with the TR.

February 6th

This morning, Andrew and I got to do something totally new and awesome!! We headed off to do the Wild Africa Trek, leaving IL's in charge of the girls! I had scheduled the 9:30 Wild Africa Trek, so we head a leisurely morning (Maya woke up once at 3:30, went back to sleep for 3 hours and was awake for the day by 7am). For breakfast, we picked up some goodies for the room from the marketplace before heading off. Our FP's were pre-booked for EPCOT later in the day, so we didn't plan to do anything else at AK besides the Trek.

BTW, the last time we took a trip with the IL's, we did the Keys to the Kingdom tour - and before we had Aria, we did two Segway tours (wilderness one and EPCOT). Every tour we've taken has been AMAZING, so we definitely like to take advantage of this time when we have it.

Anyway this is how we left the girls:

It was coming up on Maya's first nap time when we left, and I was really worried that something crazy would happen, but MIL assured us that they'd be fine. We got a great parking spot at AK and walked to the Safari which is also where the check in is for the Trek. I think we had about 15min to kill so we made sure to use the bathrooms and such and then headed back in. I asked if I could keep my phone with me, and they said I could as long as I can attach a cord to it, and attach that to my vest, so I was able to (just in case there was a Maya emergency lol). But bonus for keeping phone with me - I was able to take a few photos!

We were fitted for gear

Checked and double checked that it fit well. We did have to step on the scale (which is SO much fun for anyone, esp someone who just had a baby lol).

Then we took a group photo - we had two guides and they switched off taking pictures. This was really nice as every photo included in the tour was genuinely something we saw, not just stock pics of animals! I don't want to go into too much detail to spoil the adventure for you guys, but I'll post some photos. We basically had a private tour of the savannah, which took quite a bit longer than the normal safari as we were able to pull off to the side, stand up in the truck and check stuff out with the binoculars. We had some great animal sightings!

Our guides-

The coolest part of the trek, in my opinion, was the bridges taking you across the Hippo and Crocodile areas. They took photos of us as we crossed, which was nice. I wish there was more of this type of adventure! (It was over too quickly!)

It wasn't scary, and it is something I think Aria would really enjoy in a couple years. We had a great vantage point to see the hippos too

After that fun we headed off to the snack/lunch portion. This was super cool too, it felt like we were truly on a safari!

I liked the bathroom flooring, apparently lol!

It would be really cool to rent this out for a private event!

I had noted the allergies, and was interested to see what they came up with for them.

I almost bought a couple of these for Andrew for Christmas (bc we like having totally random stuff like this) but I don't know if we'd ever use it. Super cool though lol

I had fruit, applesauce, Enjoy Life cookies, bread with meats and the date loaf thing.

Andrew had Naan bread instead of white bread, and in the other dish he had a yogurt mix and then a cheese mix with dried fruit.

Honestly, it wasn't much food and I think they could have done a lot more. Like the Sanaa bread service, which is just amazing! That would have been nice!!

Once we finished up we walked around checking out the view.

We finished up about 12:30PM, and headed straight back. We both really enjoyed the tour, but wished it had more of the adventure stuff (or maybe some backstage parts).

 

[Imagineer5]

Maya had only taken 2 10-minute naps while we were gone, and was hungry bc apparently they thought they shouldn't give her a 2nd bottle, so I fed her as soon as I walked in the door practically lol. After that, we headed over to EPCOT despite quite a bit of rain!

They didn't want to do the Character Spot, so instead we headed to Living with the land with a very little wait.

Maya fell asleep on the walk over there and proceeded to sleep through it all (yay!). After LWtL, we hightailed it for Nemo. I think I left my camera in the room due to the rain, so I only have cell photos from this day!

Maya stayed nicely bundled in her blanket

We had chosen Test Track as our Tier 1 FP today, but unfortunately it was down due to the rain. This was also during the refurb for Soarin, and of course FEA wasn't open yet, so we ended up using our FP at spaceship earth and then we headed to dinner early - we were all hungry!

Dinner was at Coral Reef! I had had a really amazing meal here with Aria a couple years ago (horrible service, but my food was SO good I wanted to go back!). ILs thought it sounded great so we gave it a try. We were seated at a rounded booth on the first level overlooking the aquarium.

Unfortunately that was about the best part of the meal lol.

Once we placed our orders, and a chef came out to talk to me bc there were zero dairy/soy free options, we had a longgggg time to enjoy our bread.

I ordered a walnut salad. I don't like salad. But everyone else was getting an appetizer lol.

I admired Andrew's bisque longingly.

IL's enjoyed their appetizers.

Then we waited...and waited...it was a good 45 minutes before our server reappeared with the mains.

My VERY sad main dish.

Doesn't that just look pathetic???? The browning on top of the salmon was not any flavor. Nope. Seriously? I asked the waiter for some sauce. She looked at me like I had 3 heads. So I asked if they had any hot sauce. Tabasco it is I ate about 1/3 of my meal, just because I was hungry, and then took Maya to the bathroom for a diaper change. When I got back, my plate had been removed and Andrew was in the process of tracking down our server bc apparently she took it so quickly no one was able to stop her (and they were watching). When we finally found her, she apologized but didn't offer anything else. When the dish came on the bill, we asked to speak to a manager. I was not about to spend $30-something for that pathetic version of a meal that was taken when I was still working on it!

Anyway, this dinner was hands down our worst of the trip. It took about 2.5 hours total just in waiting for our food to show up, our waitress was really terrible, and I was embarrassed to have brought the IL's to this one (Yes the manager did apologize and remove the salmon dish from the total). Really disheartened this is all the "chef" could come up with, and between that and the bad service, it will be a LONG time before I feel the need to return here.

On that high note, we headed out of EPCOT and back to our room. Maya was a bit inconsolable this evening and I ended up nursing her from about 8-9PM and she finally fell asleep but only for a couple hours.

 

[Imagineer5]

On a personal note, because I am so excited I wanted to share with you all that we have a name for baby 3 - still working on a middle name :-D We were waiting on SIL to have her baby and name her - which she did yesterday. 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. I also like Emma Belle but it doesn't flow as well. I want a Disney, Harry Potter, or familial meaning to it hahahahha.

@TheMaxRebo thought you'd like this for number 3

Oh and I just got word that I need to go to Seattle for work over Valentines Day, which I am really excited about since I have been wanting to get back there, but we are unsure whether we can make it a family trip or not, as we have zero leave. If it's just me, I'll still be able to go eat at my favorite spots and do some driving around at least (I grew up there!).

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

So sorry your meal was so bad. It does seem like a fun place to eat. Hopefully they will learn something from this and try to make it better. The picture of your food doesn't look appetizing at all.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The African Trek looks like a lot of fun - but agree the parts where you are over the crocs and hippos seems the most interesting ... I think especially because you rarely get a great view of them from the regular safari.

Definitely seemed like more of a snack than lunch as far as the food goes - but still probably nice to be in that pavilion .... be even better to relax out there with a bottle of wine

Sorry your dinner at Coral Reef wasn't any better. We've only been there once and it was ok - but I've seen a lot of not so great reviews (and weird that some of the better reviews are from people that get the steak) and just so many other options in EPCOT just haven't made it a priority


Congratulations on picking an excellent name!!!

 

[schmass]

So far behind, yet again. I saw that you plan on going to Storyland and Santa's Village - have you been before? We went to Storyland when Rory was 2 1/2 and Lola was 2 months old and had so much fun that we bought an annual pass. We went again last year in June and beginning of October. We like to go when there is no one there! We haven't done Santa's Village yet, but I've heard it is even better, especially for older kids, so Aria would probably love it. Maybe we will try that this year.

The African Trek looks awesome, except for that lunch. I think I would leave pretty hungry! Nice that you and Andrew had a little time to yourselves, too!

Oh no, your Coral Reef review has me nervous. I have never been there and we have a reservation for it in May. Now I'm wondering if I should switch it. I bought Finding Dory fabric to make the kids fun outfits for it...

I'm glad you are able to use the name you had picked out - so cute!

 

[cindianne320]

Emma is one of my all-time favorite names! If I would have had a 2nd daughter, Emma was definitely on the top! (DD1 is Acacia.)

The African trek looks so fun! Definitely on my bucket list!

I'm sorry you had a bad time at Coral Reef- it's always intrigued me, but DH is hooked on the World Showcase restaurants, and we've been doing Garden Grill for the kiddos. Now I really have no desire!

 

[Dugette]

supposedly it's fixed and on its way back to me, yay!

Hope it doesn't give you any further problems!

But bonus for keeping phone with me - I was able to take a few photos!

We did have to step on the scale (which is SO much fun for anyone, esp someone who just had a baby lol).

Not the most fun way to start things off... By the way, what was the purpose of the vests/harnesses? Did they hook you up to something at some point?

Aw, cute!

The coolest part of the trek, in my opinion, was the bridges taking you across the Hippo and Crocodile areas. They took photos of us as we crossed, which was nice. I wish there was more of this type of adventure! (It was over too quickly!)

I guess I figured a lot of the tour was this type of adventure - good to know. I guess they just show that part off. I always thought that looked like fun!

Honestly, it wasn't much food and I think they could have done a lot more.

Given the physical nature of the tour, you'd think they'd try to fortify you a bit more. Looked pretty tasty, though.

Unfortunately that was about the best part of the meal lol.

I've never been to Coral Reef and not sure it will ever happen. Between not being a seafood eater, all the great dining in Epcot, and some pretty bad reviews like this, it's not high on the list at all. Sorry your meal was such a bust. And you must have been starving after small lunch and 1/3 dinner!

When I got back, my plate had been removed and Andrew was in the process of tracking down our server bc apparently she took it so quickly no one was able to stop her (and they were watching). When we finally found her, she apologized but didn't offer anything else. When the dish came on the bill, we asked to speak to a manager. I was not about to spend $30-something for that pathetic version of a meal that was taken when I was still working on it!

Wow, super annoying! They should have at least given you some more food or something, geez.

On a personal note, because I am so excited I wanted to share with you all that we have a name for baby 3 - still working on a middle name :-D We were waiting on SIL to have her baby and name her - which she did yesterday. 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. I also like Emma Belle but it doesn't flow as well. I want a Disney, Harry Potter, or familial meaning to it hahahahha.

Love it! I like your middle name idea with the combo of mom's names too - cool idea. Oh, and congrats to your SIL!

Oh and I just got word that I need to go to Seattle for work over Valentines Day, which I am really excited about since I have been wanting to get back there, but we are unsure whether we can make it a family trip or not, as we have zero leave. If it's just me, I'll still be able to go eat at my favorite spots and do some driving around at least (I grew up there!).

Yay for a Seattle visit! (Funny - we'll be on the Wonder while you're there.) Hope you enjoy your time there and revisit some old favorites.

 

[Imagineer5]

So sorry your meal was so bad. It does seem like a fun place to eat. Hopefully they will learn something from this and try to make it better. The picture of your food doesn't look appetizing at all.

Funny thing is that I wrote Disney about my experience at Coral Reef in 2013 (?) I think that is when it was. The food was very good, but service HORRIBLE. Apparently they didn't listen, I couldn't believe how bad the service was this time, too! And no, the food was just bad. I mean I am not a chef but could easily make something appetizing.

The African Trek looks like a lot of fun - but agree the parts where you are over the crocs and hippos seems the most interesting ... I think especially because you rarely get a great view of them from the regular safari.

Definitely seemed like more of a snack than lunch as far as the food goes - but still probably nice to be in that pavilion .... be even better to relax out there with a bottle of wine

Sorry your dinner at Coral Reef wasn't any better. We've only been there once and it was ok - but I've seen a lot of not so great reviews (and weird that some of the better reviews are from people that get the steak) and just so many other options in EPCOT just haven't made it a priority


Congratulations on picking an excellent name!!!

The Trek happens throughout the day, but this particular one had the food timed right at lunchtime, so maybe I was expecting more food than someone who had eaten lunch before and then just wanted a snack. Yes, a bottle of wine and some Sanaa-like food at that pavilion with a small group of friends, that would be amazing!

So far behind, yet again. I saw that you plan on going to Storyland and Santa's Village - have you been before? We went to Storyland when Rory was 2 1/2 and Lola was 2 months old and had so much fun that we bought an annual pass. We went again last year in June and beginning of October. We like to go when there is no one there! We haven't done Santa's Village yet, but I've heard it is even better, especially for older kids, so Aria would probably love it. Maybe we will try that this year.

The African Trek looks awesome, except for that lunch. I think I would leave pretty hungry! Nice that you and Andrew had a little time to yourselves, too!

Oh no, your Coral Reef review has me nervous. I have never been there and we have a reservation for it in May. Now I'm wondering if I should switch it. I bought Finding Dory fabric to make the kids fun outfits for it...

I'm glad you are able to use the name you had picked out - so cute!

We haven't been to any of the NH parks besides Canobie. Santa's village appeals more to me, so we might try and do a long weekend up there, but it seems like it's a pretty long drive for just a weekend lol so we'll see. I have a hard time spending the same amount of $$ to go there than fly to Disney (with AP's), but I do think it will be fun. Canobie was fun though and a day trip.

Maya wore a cute Finding Dory dress this last trip just for our EPCOT morning <3 but I can honestly not recommend Coral Reef anymore, there's too many great options that I just can't look past the poor service and bad - mediocre food (are you still on the allergy diet?).

Emma is one of my all-time favorite names! If I would have had a 2nd daughter, Emma was definitely on the top! (DD1 is Acacia.)

The African trek looks so fun! Definitely on my bucket list!

I'm sorry you had a bad time at Coral Reef- it's always intrigued me, but DH is hooked on the World Showcase restaurants, and we've been doing Garden Grill for the kiddos. Now I really have no desire!

Aw beautiful!! I've always loved the name Emma but it was taken by SIL so long ago it was just never an option lol.

After our DELICIOUS breakfast at Garden Grill in December, it's up there on my must-visits. I need more Disney days for all the fantastic restaurants!

Hope it doesn't give you any further problems!





Not the most fun way to start things off... By the way, what was the purpose of the vests/harnesses? Did they hook you up to something at some point?


Aw, cute!


I guess I figured a lot of the tour was this type of adventure - good to know. I guess they just show that part off. I always thought that looked like fun!


Given the physical nature of the tour, you'd think they'd try to fortify you a bit more. Looked pretty tasty, though.


I've never been to Coral Reef and not sure it will ever happen. Between not being a seafood eater, all the great dining in Epcot, and some pretty bad reviews like this, it's not high on the list at all. Sorry your meal was such a bust. And you must have been starving after small lunch and 1/3 dinner!


Wow, super annoying! They should have at least given you some more food or something, geez.


Love it! I like your middle name idea with the combo of mom's names too - cool idea. Oh, and congrats to your SIL!


Yay for a Seattle visit! (Funny - we'll be on the Wonder while you're there.) Hope you enjoy your time there and revisit some old favorites.

Oh yes, when you're going across the bridges, and then when you're looking out over the Hippos, they hook you up to an overhead bar thing so you don't fall. I think those were the only times we used them.

I think part of my bad meal was that I was already so hungry, so that main dish coming out was just extra-sad.

Thanks, Andrew is coming around to Jean so we'll see. He does like the idea of being able to honor both our moms.

Looks like Seattle will just be me, for 2 nights staying at my step-aunt's house then heading NW for the meetings. I need to look into hotel options up there though, as it's sort of in the middle of no where lol. There's so much I wanted to do in Seattle WITH Andrew and the girls (like the zoo I used to volunteer at, Pacific Science Center, Space Needle, etc) but without them, just driving around and eating at two of my favorite foods on earth is about all that's on my list so far.

 

[Imagineer5]

This feels like the never ending trip report, but it was a long trip (12 nights!).

My notes from 2/7 are: 8:05 Captain's Grill, 6 Boathouse. lol!

We had a free day today because IL's only had a 4-day ticket and weren't super interested in spending every day at the park. It was still pretty chilly, so I couldn't turn that free day into a water park day lol (or pool) but we made the best of it, anyway! And yes, I still entered a park today haha

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!

I was able to move our breakfast reservation to 9 or so, since no one (not even me!) was ready for 8am this morning. This worked out nicely to coincide with Maya needing a nap, so I wore her in the wrap as we walked over to the Yacht Club and she fell asleep on the short walk over.

We were seated quickly at a nice big round table. I opted to start my day off right with a bloody mary!

Something nice about the Captain's Grill is that you can choose from a menu OR the buffet. I did this once with Aria when she was under 3, and it worked out so nicely to do the buffet so she could eat free lol, but this time I think I ordered her some kids pancakes or something. I had some allergy waffles and a side of potatoes, and the rest of the group did the buffet. I apparently didn't take any food photos, but we were all happy with the meal. Maya woke up mid-meal so FIL took over and fed her a bottle while I ate.

I had also been watching the Disney Parks shopping app for that stupid bubble wand, and it had popped in and out of stock at a few stores, so I wanted to run over to EPCOT after breakfast and see if I could track it down. We decided on a mini-golf outing but would go out after lunch, so I had some time.

Unfortunately everyone said they were sold out completely despite the app (which I've found to be 100% unreliable every trip!) and I had no luck with the bubble wand. We had 1 other mission though, to design a Disney umbrella! Aria had a pink one when she was maybe 2? And it had recently broken so I decided she could design a new one along with a smaller one or two for her dolls...

Mission accomplished and I had to pick it up before the end of the day, we walked back to our room. Maya was on her 2nd nap of the day.

We got back to the room and Aria wanted to play a bit, so they did that in the living area

Then I fed Maya, and MIL said she didn't care to do mini golf so she would stay with Maya in the room. That worked out nicely, so FIL, Andrew, Aria and I went to Winter Summerland Mini golf.

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 didn't have too long of a wait and were soon golfing.

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.

Back to the mini golf, this is probably my favorite mini golf course we've ever played at. Love the theming (both winter and summer).

Aria had a blast lol!

It was cold!!

After that fun, we went back to the room - Maya needed to eat again! We relaxed with some drinks for a bit, and just enjoyed the room...