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

[Tygerlilly]

Oh good. Question - will they have to test the baby in the hospital once she is born?

I'm not sure, I'll have to ask. But I know she has to get sugar checks, so I'm wondering if they can just check her iron then too.

 

[Imagineer5]

So we had a really great night's sleep (Aria likes to have "Sleepovers" when we travel together, so despite the 2 Queens plus a pull out, we shared one of the queens lol). I naturally wake up early every day (alarm is set for 5:25 for work, and I never, ever need the alarm to wake me up) so Disney days are generally sleeping in! Today was no exception, I had my alarm set for 6:15 lol, and was awake earlier than that. Granted, we did get to bed pretty early too!

Anyway, I had showered the night before but knowing it was going to be another hot one I showered again this morning and then we headed out - we needed to be at the MK gates by 7:40 at the latest!! Why, you might ask?? We had the Early Morning Magic booked!! This was only the 2nd or so day of it, only offered 1-2 times per week. When it was originally announced I made a quick reservation then eagerly awaited reviews. But first, we had to get to the Magic Kingdom. We walked to the Poly, I asked a CM to check the monorail hours to double check my times, then headed up to the monorail platform as the resort monorail was supposed to be running from 7AM - on. Well, at 7:10 I started getting very nervous. Went downstairs (which is a pain btw with the slow elevators!), asked a CM, and they said the monorail is delayed, to take a bus.

here we are eagerly awaiting our non existent monorail:

So we walked outside to the bus platform. They have those handy dandy monitors showing the upcoming buses. There were none showing for the MK, and there was another family there waiting for a bus to DHS, who said they had not seen an MK bus. I waited a total of 5 minutes. Then I was really aggravated.

I went back inside, and asked to speak to a manager regarding the transportation situation. I explained we had a very expensive special experience booked (Early morning magic) and we wouldn't be getting there at opening, because of Disney transportation! I might have left out we were staying at Shades... they called a taxi over, we hopped in, and the taxi driver rolled his eyes saying he is not supposed to drop me off at the Contemporary, nor is he allowed to drop me off at the MK bus area. I was like, well, we are NOT going to the TTC, and dealing with another transportation issue, so please just take me to the Contemporary and I'll walk. He obliged.

We finally made it, at 7:40 - me sweaty, after having walked all over the place. What a mess!! THIS is exactly why, to me, GF/Poly do not rate up there with BLT/Contemporary. You cannot rely on the monorails, the boats have limited hours, CM's have no idea what they are talking about - just a literal mess.

BUT we made it, and I was determined to NOT let that ruin our day!

Check in was smooth, and we were given our stickers to wear. It's the same line as early breakfast people, so it seems like a lot, but I checked in with a CM who had a clipboard of all the EMM people, and the list was SHORT. Like 25 groups - maybe? I was excited!

Selfies to get us prepped for the walk to FL!

At exactly 7:45, we were let inside.

Walls were up around the castle

I actually took a minute to stop for a Photopass, not knowing if we'd have another opportunity with an empty-park

Our walking to the castle photo was from the front this time (vs the side) but that was okay

And then we headed back to our fun morning to truly begin!! Of course, we went straight for 7DMT! When this was announced, the idea of multiple rides on 7DMT is obviously the biggest draw. Aria had been on it a few times, and absolutely LOVED the ride, so I knew this would be pretty awesome for her. I don't think she has really grasped what a special treat this was though, as on future trips she's definitely asked to do the ride over and over again but alas, we have not lol!

We started out the day with four rides on 7DMT. I'll spare you all the ride photos, but here are a few:

We were ready for a little break from the thrills, so ran to Pooh next

Aria did not understand my urgency to use our time most wisely lol! Of course you have to stop and play for a bit!!

Andrew texted me this photo while riding. He was up to only 1 oz bm, 5 oz Neocate, and Maya was drinking it!

After 1 ride on Winnie the Pooh, Aria chose to head to Peter Pan, so that's where we went. Oh btw, I had parked the stroller at the carousel for the duration of the EMM event, since it is very central. That worked out well, esp with getting Aria's milk cup out later for breakfast.

We entered via the FP queue, and soon were sailing over London

The CM let us stay on for another ride, so we rode again without even getting off!

Then it was time to get in some more rides on 7DMT!

Front row, and Aria was fearless by now with her hands up the whole ride

After 4 more rides, Aria said she wanted to ride Pooh again. It was about 8:35 at this point - so 50 minutes had gone by. I'll spare you more blurry photos, but after Pooh I told Aria that if we wanted more 7DMT trips, we needed to do it now, otherwise we could head in to grab some breakfast. She chose breakfast, surprisingly!

I guess we were both hungry - I devoured the breakfast frittata thing - it was delicious and they had salsas and hot sauces to put on top. There was French toast too along with potatoes - regular eggs, fruit was what Aria chose. We grabbed some drinks and stored a few in the stroller

While enjoying breakfast, a few CM's came over to check on our morning. We saw maybe 10 other people eating while we did. It wasn't the best use of time, but we were hungry and had done so much already. When we finished up, it was 9:01 - perfect!!

I will say, future EMM CM's have told guests that they can revisit the rides with the wristband/sticker combo via the FP line. We were not told this - I am unclear whether that was for a specific reason or not but I have been meaning to look into that as this is something I would do again. The cost was $136 for 1 adult, 1 child. Our original plan was Crystal Palace, which would have been approx. $50 for breakfast, and honestly it is one of the best memories I have. Aria and I were running around an empty Fantasyland, and Aria still talks about riding so much so quickly. Maybe when Maya is tall enough for 7DMT I can take the two of them? We'll see.

Anyway with that, we ended our Early Morning Magic event and went on with our day! Where to first?!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I think it might be mute at this point but for your plans I was going to say that I would definitely try to do the new breakfast as it has the feeling of something that might not last forever to me ... whereas I think there is a much greater chance that in 1 year or 5 years they will still have Pooh at Crystal Palace or characters at H&V - so trading for one of those two (though I know PPO is hard to give up) would be my suggestion

***********

Wat a pain that sounds like to get to the front of MK - I really hate how it is becoming a pain to get to MK when you go early (we had the same thing trying to get there for the welcome show) .... I hate to sound like an entitled brat or anything, but Disney is the one that decided to build the Magic Kingdom so that you had to take some of their transportation to get to the front gates. The idea was that was part of the show, part of the magic - not to be a pain in the tookus (ok, rant over)

Love Aria's dress by the way

That's great they have photopass photographers out - wasn't sure if they would with the limted # of people. Gotta love the empty Main St pics!

I don't think she has really grasped what a special treat this was though, as on future trips she's definitely asked to do the ride over and over again but alas, we have not lol!

That is just so amazing to ride 7DMT so much! Honestly, that was one thing I was wondering and for a younger kid who might not fully grasp it - but you ended this update with this being one of the best memories you have - so that makes it all worth it!

breakfast looks pretty good too for being an included/bonus type thing

Was the regular PP queue open or just the FP? I forget if at this point they had the new queue with the interactive elements but if so that would be fun to do with no line / other people as well.

$136 for both of you isn't too crazy for a special event/memory type thing especially if it is a shorter trip - and now for the rest of the day you don't need to worry about Peter Pan or 7DMT and are set up to do another longer line ride right at regular park opening

 

[Imagineer5]

I think it might be mute at this point but for your plans I was going to say that I would definitely try to do the new breakfast as it has the feeling of something that might not last forever to me ... whereas I think there is a much greater chance that in 1 year or 5 years they will still have Pooh at Crystal Palace or characters at H&V - so trading for one of those two (though I know PPO is hard to give up) would be my suggestion

***********

Wat a pain that sounds like to get to the front of MK - I really hate how it is becoming a pain to get to MK when you go early (we had the same thing trying to get there for the welcome show) .... I hate to sound like an entitled brat or anything, but Disney is the one that decided to build the Magic Kingdom so that you had to take some of their transportation to get to the front gates. The idea was that was part of the show, part of the magic - not to be a pain in the tookus (ok, rant over)

Love Aria's dress by the way

That's great they have photopass photographers out - wasn't sure if they would with the limted # of people. Gotta love the empty Main St pics!


That is just so amazing to ride 7DMT so much! Honestly, that was one thing I was wondering and for a younger kid who might not fully grasp it - but you ended this update with this being one of the best memories you have - so that makes it all worth it!

breakfast looks pretty good too for being an included/bonus type thing

Was the regular PP queue open or just the FP? I forget if at this point they had the new queue with the interactive elements but if so that would be fun to do with no line / other people as well.

$136 for both of you isn't too crazy for a special event/memory type thing especially if it is a shorter trip - and now for the rest of the day you don't need to worry about Peter Pan or 7DMT and are set up to do another longer line ride right at regular park opening

That is very true regarding the meals. I have it planned for October for sure, and have a Touring Plans alert out for that morning we have the H&V Bf, so hopefully I can grab it.

Agreed, having the parking lot so far from MK is just a pain, IMO. I don't mind walking, and have never tried the walk from Poly to GF to MK but man I thought about it this day! And then when the Poly taxi driver was befuddled as to why they called him to take me to the MK when he wasn't allowed to?? I almost lost it!! ugh!

Since that early morning also included early breakfast people, generally we've had good luck with photopass being out. I haven't been since the change though in the early morning times / opening show at the castle.

I'm sure the PP regular queue was open, but we did not use it this day (although yes that would have been fun!).

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I don't mind walking, and have never tried the walk from Poly to GF to MK but man I thought about it this day!

Are you able to? I thought that walking path never got connected so you really aren't able to walk to MK via the GF route

 

[Imagineer5]

Are you able to? I thought that walking path never got connected so you really aren't able to walk to MK via the GF route

Well IDK, but from the monorail it does look like there is a walking path connecting the GF to the MK!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Well IDK, but from the monorail it does look like there is a walking path connecting the GF to the MK!

Ok, so now I was curious so I started to investigate and from I can find (including some threads on the DIS asking that question) there is no way - there is a path but it ends in both directions at the canal.

So if you are ever in that situation again - don't try to walk there unless you also want to swim some

 

[purplelover88]

Unfortunately they never finished it so it just sort of stops. I really wish they would though. That would make the GF so much better in my opinion.

 

[Imagineer5]

Ok, so now I was curious so I started to investigate and from I can find (including some threads on the DIS asking that question) there is no way - there is a path but it ends in both directions at the canal.

So if you are ever in that situation again - don't try to walk there unless you also want to swim some

View attachment 222055

Ah thanks for doing my homework for me! LOL! I could have sworn I saw a walkway all the way around - so its there and just doesn't connect to anything? How weird! Why would it end there?

Unfortunately they never finished it so it just sort of stops. I really wish they would though. That would make the GF so much better in my opinion.

Agreed!!




Well, glad I never tried this, as it was definitely on my future to-try list lol! I'm going to just stick to the contemporary/BLT from now on, until I have an unruly teenage Aria who refuses to wake up early for rope drop bahahahh

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Ah thanks for doing my homework for me! LOL! I could have sworn I saw a walkway all the way around - so its there and just doesn't connect to anything? How weird! Why would it end there?

supposedly it was supposed to go all the way - I think it might have been part of that prick campaign when you could buy a brick with your family's name on it but it just ends. I assume it has something to do with the boats that go in and out of that canal including the electric water pageant so it would either have to be a very high bridge or a draw bridge and if the later there might be issues with the mechanics of it going up and down near the monorail. I am sure something could be worked out but I guess they felt it wasn't worth it

 

[Imagineer5]

supposedly it was supposed to go all the way - I think it might have been part of that prick campaign when you could buy a brick with your family's name on it but it just ends. I assume it has something to do with the boats that go in and out of that canal including the electric water pageant so it would either have to be a very high bridge or a draw bridge and if the later there might be issues with the mechanics of it going up and down near the monorail. I am sure something could be worked out but I guess they felt it wasn't worth it

LOL at the prick campaign.

I would be so sad if I bought a brick and it was the last one before the never finished bridge!! That would be a LOT of effort to find that one.

 

[ariane37]

Glad you enjoyed EMM! If my kids were younger I would definitely consider it, or if they had a version with say, BTMRR, Splash, and maybe HM. I've also heard many good things about the breakfast!
I hope your TP alert comes through for the Bon Voyage breakfast and I'm glad Aria is up for trying a new meal I actually think the menu looks pretty good, but then again I like eggs and eat meat!

 

[khertz]

Really enjoying reading about your girls only trip!! I don't think that will ever happen for us because DH and I would both be too jealous to let the other go with one or both kids without the other!

What a PAIN to get to EMM!! I would be pretty pissed. I listened to a TR on a podcast recently about the chaos of getting checked in at the Star Wars fireworks dessert party and the person talking about their trip said there are 2 kinds of people...those who can deal with the chaos and then relax and have a good time for the rest of the event, and those who would experience the chaos and not be able to let it go and enjoy the rest of the event. I sit pretty firmly in the second group!! lol So I probably would have been pretty sour by the time I got to the park after that transportation mess. I'm just glad for you that you made it in time and you both look like you had a blast! It's not cheap, but you can't beat that easy access to 7DMT over and over.

 

[schmass]

Wow, what a great morning!! I'm glad that you spoke up about the transportation issues and that they got you there in time! I can't believe those 7DMT pictures with empty seats!!

 

[Tygerlilly]

Are they still offering EMM? I tried looking online, but didn't see it. I think it would be perfect for us since we will be there with a 2 year old and 5.5 month old.

 

[Imagineer5]

Glad you enjoyed EMM! If my kids were younger I would definitely consider it, or if they had a version with say, BTMRR, Splash, and maybe HM. I've also heard many good things about the breakfast!
I hope your TP alert comes through for the Bon Voyage breakfast and I'm glad Aria is up for trying a new meal I actually think the menu looks pretty good, but then again I like eggs and eat meat!

At one point there was talk of them doing an EMM for the different lands of the park - but I don't think there has been enough interest? IDK. A Frontierland EMM would be really cool. I was initially disappointed that it was just PP, Pooh, and 7DMT but since PP and 7dmt have the longest waits in the park for the most part, it was really nice to ride them multiple times.

Really enjoying reading about your girls only trip!! I don't think that will ever happen for us because DH and I would both be too jealous to let the other go with one or both kids without the other!

What a PAIN to get to EMM!! I would be pretty pissed. I listened to a TR on a podcast recently about the chaos of getting checked in at the Star Wars fireworks dessert party and the person talking about their trip said there are 2 kinds of people...those who can deal with the chaos and then relax and have a good time for the rest of the event, and those who would experience the chaos and not be able to let it go and enjoy the rest of the event. I sit pretty firmly in the second group!! lol So I probably would have been pretty sour by the time I got to the park after that transportation mess. I'm just glad for you that you made it in time and you both look like you had a blast! It's not cheap, but you can't beat that easy access to 7DMT over and over.

Hahaha, well, DH has his own fun by taking Aria to Maine in August - which I am totally okay with skipping so this seems to work well for us. You never know, one of you might get the opportunity while the other can't get off work. I am excited about the prospect of taking Maya when she's a bit older all by herself and getting that special time with her, and it works out nicely to have DH stay home with the other(s). I know you're doing Universal with Paxton, so like that except I don't feel comfortable leaving the kiddos with parents lol! Plus it's a bit cheaper not having another adult around haha.

Anyway, yes, I was worried about the transportation issue before the day of, and then the morning of my worst fears were coming true one after another. If Maya had been there and been fussy, or DH had been there and we fought over what we should do, I would have been way more upset, but Aria was so easy going and kept me calm so that was nice.

Wow, what a great morning!! I'm glad that you spoke up about the transportation issues and that they got you there in time! I can't believe those 7DMT pictures with empty seats!!

Yes, I was so glad they brought over the taxi (and paid for it) even though the taxi wasn't even supposed to get us there. 7DMT with empty seats all around us was CRAZY! Obv never have seen that before, or since!

Are they still offering EMM? I tried looking online, but didn't see it. I think it would be perfect for us since we will be there with a 2 year old and 5.5 month old.

It looks like it originally started out as (I Believe) Tuesdays & Saturdays? But now it is on the calendar but only verrryyy sparingly - https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/early-morning-magic/

It isn't going on any of our days in June or else I'd probably book it again. Your kiddos will be free, and you guys can take turns on 7DMT vs riding PP/Pooh with the littles so that would be so much fun! (Note, in july and august it moves to sundays and Tuesdays so maybe they increase the days for busier times of year).

 

[mousehappync]

Ok-- you have sort of changed my mind here. I LOVE the feeling of a truly empty Fantasyland. It was often like that at rope drop our first few trips, and it's one of my favorite things, ever, at Disney. I just REALLY balked at the price. I can definitely see the value in this, ESPECIALLY if you are a smaller group. Paying $275 for the four of us to do this seems really steep, but if it was just me and one kid, I would consider. For now, we will continue to book BOG 8:05 breakfasts and share one meal (omg, I just outed myself as a terrible person!) to get on 7DMT early. We've gotten 2-3 rides each of the times we've done that, then rushed over to PP to get 1-2 rides in before the line builds. I wonder how long before Disney closes that loophole?!

Your food looks yummy, too, and stashing extra drinks is a good idea. And I actually love your straight-on castle shot. What a beautiful tradition-- wish I'd done something like this on all our trips. I just have pictures of my kids obnoxiously climbing all over the sword in the stone thing

Also-- I truly envy your ability to get up early. I am so, so, SO not an early riser. I can--and totally do almost every day--sleep straight through Adam's 5:30 gym alarm. I don't even hear it or realize he's gone, and I have to set my own alarm 20 minutes early because I will 100% hit snooze at least 2x. I am such a zombie in the mornings....as the older I get, the less of a night owl I am, too. I just love my sleep!

 

[Dugette]

I have been reading along the last month, but on my phone, so not posting. I have a short time during my lunch break today, though, so catching up on some comments - will have to get to the rest later.

And this was purely a girl's trip!! Just Aria and me, which honestly was much needed after all the issues with Maya - it was wonderful to give Aria that one on one attention that any 4-year-old with a new baby sister really truly needs.

So glad you got to do that one-on-one trip with Aria. I'm sure you were both needing it right about then.

Well first, I made this cake because DH's family invited themselves over for a birthday party that I didn't really intend to plan...(hence GWL visit)...but Aria asked me for a Moana cake and well, I can't deny her that! It was weird looking but whatever.

Wow, you made that?! It's really cool - and delicious too?!

Unfortunately that was the ONLY smile I got from her, and the ONLY time she actually wanted to play with something, the whole time we spent in the water park during the two days we went.

Aw, sorry Maya wasn't into the waterpark.

At that point, I was told ALL of the desserts come from an outside dealer and they cannot guarantee the peanut allergy is safe - which IF that had been her only allergy, could mean serious trouble If I had assumed that they were all peanut free! WTH?

Wow, that's awful for a peanut-free facility!

Beautiful!

He said at dinner time, the fried chicken is coated in BUTTERMILK and all fried together. I told him that the chef last night told us it was safe for a dairy allergy, and he said he would send out an email to inform people of the mistake. This was all I heard about the issue, and I'm still upset over it - we carry Maya's epipen everywhere, and aside from some Benadryl she didn't need it thankfully, but that is a huge deal to me!

Geez, that's awful! I'm glad she didn't need the epipen, but still.

Brave girl!

I was sick in the middle of the night (won't elaborate).

Ugh, sorry you got sick (and were later sick as well).

All in all, it was a nice family time, but I wasn't too thrilled with GWL. The allergies were the main issue, but overall I thought the value was pretty poor (food prices are less than Disney, but quality is really REALLY bad). Water park was okay, but cold.

I can see MAYBE returning when Emma is like 3, Maya is 4, Aria is 9, and all can really enjoy things. And I can go down some water slides, bc I really missed that LOL!!

Glad you had an okay time, but sorry it wasn't better. We live about 3 hours from Wisconsin Dells (aka - "the waterpark capital of the world"), so we have lots of choices and I don't think GWL will be very high on my list. We've enjoyed the two visits we've made to the Kalahari and I've heard lots of good things about WI Dells' Wilderness Resort (not to be confused with WL ) too, so they would be at the top of my list.

So, I filled out an online survey GWL sent me after the trip. I noted the allergy issue during the survey - and that night someone emailed me saying they were refunding both of our dinners to our CC! I am not a complainer, and only wanted it noted so that chefs in the future can think twice about something so serious, so I am really happy they took note.

I am so glad they responded well and hopefully will improve things!

Hahaha next time see if there is a 20% off coupon in there you can share they tend to send them to people who never order, not those who buy all the time.

I should look too - I do the same thing Phil does and recycle them before Izzy knows they exist.

 

[Imagineer5]

First - once again I passed the 3-hour glucose test - wahoo!! After failing the 1 hour twice, I was a little worried. But I only have like 6-7 weeks left so I wasn't letting it bother me too much even if I failed.

Second - I just got that Bon Voyage breakfast ressie for Trattoria al Forno. I think it was just a system glitch bc now I can find times for it on just about any day (I was honestly surprised it booked up that quickly!). So we'll be replacing H&V in June with that. I also grabbed a Tiana's Riverboat Party ressie, but forgot to mention it to Andrew. Aria has been asking to do it again, and considering she's brought it up on her own at least 5 times I finally caved and booked it, but I suppose if Andrew really doesn't care to do it I could just bring her.

Ok-- you have sort of changed my mind here. I LOVE the feeling of a truly empty Fantasyland. It was often like that at rope drop our first few trips, and it's one of my favorite things, ever, at Disney. I just REALLY balked at the price. I can definitely see the value in this, ESPECIALLY if you are a smaller group. Paying $275 for the four of us to do this seems really steep, but if it was just me and one kid, I would consider. For now, we will continue to book BOG 8:05 breakfasts and share one meal (omg, I just outed myself as a terrible person!) to get on 7DMT early. We've gotten 2-3 rides each of the times we've done that, then rushed over to PP to get 1-2 rides in before the line builds. I wonder how long before Disney closes that loophole?!

Your food looks yummy, too, and stashing extra drinks is a good idea. And I actually love your straight-on castle shot. What a beautiful tradition-- wish I'd done something like this on all our trips. I just have pictures of my kids obnoxiously climbing all over the sword in the stone thing

Also-- I truly envy your ability to get up early. I am so, so, SO not an early riser. I can--and totally do almost every day--sleep straight through Adam's 5:30 gym alarm. I don't even hear it or realize he's gone, and I have to set my own alarm 20 minutes early because I will 100% hit snooze at least 2x. I am such a zombie in the mornings....as the older I get, the less of a night owl I am, too. I just love my sleep!

Funny, when I originally posted about the EMM someone actually commented how sad Fantasyland looked all empty, and it ruined the magic for them. I was baffled at that - I absolutely LOVE the empty FL! lol!

BoG at 8AM still seems to work for 1 7DMT, I can't imagine doing it more than once though without a wait?

Andrew is the one that hits snooze and it drives me crazy! Since it wakes me up. In fact this morning he turned off his alarm, which woke me up, and fell right back asleep. I didn't wake him up though and let him wake up to the sound of me showering lol.

I have been reading along the last month, but on my phone, so not posting. I have a short time during my lunch break today, though, so catching up on some comments - will have to get to the rest later.


So glad you got to do that one-on-one trip with Aria. I'm sure you were both needing it right about then.


Wow, you made that?! It's really cool - and delicious too?!


Aw, sorry Maya wasn't into the waterpark.


Wow, that's awful for a peanut-free facility!


Beautiful!


Geez, that's awful! I'm glad she didn't need the epipen, but still.


Brave girl!


Ugh, sorry you got sick (and were later sick as well).


Glad you had an okay time, but sorry it wasn't better. We live about 3 hours from Wisconsin Dells (aka - "the waterpark capital of the world"), so we have lots of choices and I don't think GWL will be very high on my list. We've enjoyed the two visits we've made to the Kalahari and I've heard lots of good things about WI Dells' Wilderness Resort (not to be confused with WL ) too, so they would be at the top of my list.


I am so glad they responded well and hopefully will improve things!


I should look too - I do the same thing Phil does and recycle them before Izzy knows they exist.

GWL was okay. Aria had a blast so that is what is really important, but I hope she forgets how much fun she had for a long, long time lol! I've heard Wisconsin Dells is great! I am sure many of them have similar feel though with the arcade and high priced extras.

 

[Imagineer5]

So I left off right at 9AM as we already had 11 rides under our belt thanks to Early Morning Magic! Our bellies full, we headed over to It's a Small World - definitely not the best use of time at 9AM but that was okay! Aria was wearing a Small World dress so we had to ride it, of course!

I also made a quick adjustment to our FP plans - originally I had a 7DMT FP booked for 10:30, but after 8 rides on it, we decided to swap that out for the Speedway instead - 2 people got very lucky with that drop!

We were the first riders of the day at Small World!

So early, the CM was still drying out the seats!

We enjoyed having our own boat, and Aria thought it was hilarious to sit clear across the row from me.

We had a great ride with a super silly Aria.

Then I asked where she wanted to go next - Barnstormer! Okay, perfect- so that was our next stop!

We rode this one two times in a row then headed to Dumbo! It was too early for the play area to be open (much to Aria's dismay) so we headed on the ride instead.

Next up we ran into Ariel's ride with no wait. Evidence:

And next door, meeting Ariel had no wait either!

I loved these lights

They talked about hair things for a bit LOL!

It was almost time for the Speedway FP at 10:20, but not quite so we made a stop to ride the Tea Cups

Always a good time!! Plus she isn't quite strong enough to spin it much by herself so I pretended to help but really didn't -:-D (I'm not a huge fan of the spinning)

We went to use our Speedway FP, which Aria wanted me to drive for

And she refused to look at me if I tried to take her photo so I stopped trying! We just enjoyed the ride. I'm glad I got to ride this in December thanks to Dug & Dugette.

We experienced our first wait after this, but it was mainly bc we had no where to be for a bit lol! I wanted to grab a quick "lunch" (coming up!!) before heading across the park to our next FP at BTMRR - but it was still so early!

So we waited the 15 minutes for Buzz.

We have fun with it, but Aria doesn't like not being good at shooting so instead of practicing she'd rather spin us around!

Then we did the TTA!

Just kidding! We love this ride.

Finally it was a decent enough time (11) for LUNCH!! Well, ice cream for lunch that is!! We do this at least once every trip now (generally we book ADR's for breakfast & dinner, and wing lunch).

We shared a sundae and root beer float. This was my first "real" ice cream in 3.5 months, so I was VERY excited!

We switched back and forth and both really enjoyed our treats.

It was also nice just to take a little break. The move it parade was going on so Aria enjoyed watching that while I took the opportunity to give Andrew a call. He texted a photo of Maya for me to see