WDW through an 8-month-old’s eyes &10m &13m &16m...New 10/30!

[Leger13]

LOVE THIS PICTURE!! I was reading your update last night on DH's laptop and started laughing when I saw it, so he wanted to see what I was laughing at, and even he thought it was funny! DS has taken an interest in "driving" our cars too, which is just hilarious to watch. The other day DH let Paxton into the garage when I came home from work, and as I was getting my stuff out of the passenger seat Paxton came running up to me. I thought he was coming for a hug, but he pushed me out of the way, climbed in the car and over to the driver's seat, then waved to us and yelled, "BYE! BYE! BYE!" We were

Alex loves to "drive" our cars too

Well, tickets for the MNSSHP are purchased! Got the AP discount and have to pick them up at will call. It states you can also get them at concierge? That'd be sweet. Or, can we pick them up when we exchange vouchers for tickets?

Anyway, so I mentioned the Peter Pan/Wendy/Tink costume idea to him and he said "EWW no, that'd mean I would have to wear tights" Soooo guess that's out. I casually mentioned Aria could just dress up (after he stated that we could dress as pirates (what the heck is with his obsession with pirates!?!) and Aria could be a parrot or monkey I like the idea minus how hot it will be).

He liked her just dressing up better, and frankly so do I. So I found this:

I also looked up Boo outfits but they look so darn HOT. So I don't think it's the best idea for Disney (maybe next year at home!).

Belle is my favorite princess, and I think she'd look really cute in it. What do you guys think? It looks nice and cool too, with that sort of top that should let in some air. Plus it's pretty stretchable - she could wear it again in December if we get into the Be Our Guest restaurant!!

Love the dress! She will look beautiful!

 

[Imagineer5]

Never been to Europe so I can't offer any advice, but those pictures are beautiful!! We are planning to do the Viva Italia ABD trip in 2014, and we have already started looking at what we want to do in our free time. I am absolutely ECSTATIC to finally get to Italy! Your trip sounds really amazing. There are so many places in Europe I want to visit, but Italy will always be #1 so I went for that when convincing DH because he is not too interested in European travel. I would love to take a vacation like that going to a few different countries and experiencing different cultures over a few weeks. Is Aria going along?

Ooh the ABD would be SO AWESOME! I actually have used the Disney ABD trips around the world to help plan my own trips, such as Germany. Italy was absolutely amazing. We aren't really ones for guided tours, which is why I generally just plan all our trips, but the ABD trips sure look like fun! If you have any questions about Italy feel free to ask, we had such an amazing time. My DH wasn't too interested in European travel either (well, actually any travel except to Cape Cod...ugh...). YES! Aria is definitely going! My mom seems to think otherwise and wants us to send Aria to stay with her, but no way am I not bringing her along.

Funny story - I'm still mad at my mom for leaving me when I was 5 and going to France. SO a few months ago she brought out a ton of my stuff from when I was growing up, and we spent hours looking through it. I found a postcard she sent me while on that trip, and in it she promised to take me to France some day!! WTH!? I got mad at her all over again (jokingly). So, I plan to take Aria whereever we go! Unless it's some little anniversary trip to WDW/Italy/Whereever to someplace she's already been.

I want to go to Germany someday. That is my biggest genetic mix. I hope you do a trip report for that as well. You are going to have a great time!

Thanks!! DH is 1/4 German, 3/4 Dutch. I hope it'll be a great time! (IDK what I'm made of - my mom was adopted and i don't talk to my father!)

Sounds like a great trip! Can we stow-away in your luggage? The Italy pictures remind me of our honeymoon (Northern Italy). So beautiful, I know why you want to go back.

Oooh where did you go for your Honeymoon? What a fantastic place for it!

Such a fun weekend outing-- and love the yellow dress for Aria! I don't know much about Europe, but you will probably need to be at ME around 10:40. You could have a couple of hours in the parks with EMH, but that means you are getting up early to pack and get checked in for the flight at the resort, etc. I would almost sleep in a bit, take my time packing and checking in, then having a late breakfast ADR at the hotel.

Thanks, hope we like the dress. She's making it now. Thanks for the ME info, I wasn't sure what time I'd have to be there. We are always up early so that's not a problem, so AK EMH might be our only option unless we just want a leisurely morning. DH might vote for a pool morning...

I love that dress for Aria! Belle is my favorite princess, too. Though it's too bad you couldn't get DH into tights to play Peter Pan.

Your plans are coming together sooo well. Hooray for getting your tickets to MNSSHP!

Aww thanks! So excited for all the fun things!

That's awesome! I'm super jealous! I've never been over seas and doubt I ever will be. DH doesn't fly I'll be doing good to get him over to DLR some day

Eeek IDK what I would have done if DH said he doesn't fly? Push him onto a plane for flying lessons? LOL

Alex loves to "drive" our cars too



Love the dress! She will look beautiful!

Thanks!!

 

[Imagineer5]

I was kinda waiting to update until I had my AP tickets in hand, but also wanted to do a clothing update. Clothes are going to come later - I want to show you guys the outfits I've made for Aria that she'll hopefully fit in in October, AND I had a little fun on Etsy aside from the Belle dress...can anyone guess what we got?? I told DH and he seemed mildly happy about it...

Also, I wanted to update with our weekend but I still haven't had a chance to get the photos off the camera. We had my grandparents visiting through Tuesday. Aria was baptised on Sunday. I'll do a post hopefully tomorrow about that!

But on to what I DO have::::

AP TICKETS!! Well, vouchers!!

AND MAGICAL EXPRESS!!! (For December!)

Note poor Aria is "Unknown Geurtsen" and that for whatever reason they put DH as the main person (which sort of pisses me off - did they do this because he's the MAN? Because her certainly did NOT book anything?). Yep that makes me mad. LOL. I called them and asked for more luggage tags (we get 2 free bags each on SW, and I'm sure we'll need the space!).

So...coming up...

we'll have a clothing post, because I've had a lot of fun shopping recently for myself and Aria... and had some fun on etsy

a weekend/baptism post

and I'll start up my day-by-day plans for October! I have some NEW things stuffed into the trip!

PS - anyone know how to get a TiW card in advance with just AP vouchers? I am assuming I can't. But maybe I can? No idea.

 

[jenny105]

Why did you get the ME tags so early??

 

[Imagineer5]

Why did you get the ME tags so early??

Hmm IDK? Maybe bc it was the special disney secret booking agent that booked our POR rooms?! Wish I could call her up and book through her every time!

 

[CandleontheWater]

The belle dress looks very cute, I think it will work great for MNSSHP. I am debating whether to dress Everett up. We've been to two MNSSHP, and one was really hot and the other was really cold, and they were both basically the same week, just different years. I don't want to plan a cooler costume and then have it be really hot or vice versa. I think I just need to figure out something that would work either way. I've got time!

Your Europe trip sounds really fun! I spend a fall semester in Greece and then one summer in Greece and two summers in Italy when I was in college. I was able to really enjoy my time abroad and see lots of Europe, and also Turkey and Egypt. Unfortunately my European travel has been curtailed since college, with the exception of one family trip to Italy in 2006, but I would really love to get back. I don't think DH wants to go when the kids are little, so I think it might be a while. I hope you plan to write a TR, I'd love to hear about your adventures. Maybe I could even show it to my DH to help convince him that international travel with little kids is doable!

 

[Dugette]

Oooh where did you go for your Honeymoon? What a fantastic place for it!

It was great. We were in Northern Italy. We flew into Milan and travelled to Lake Maggiore, Cinque Terra, and Venice. It was just wonderful! Definitely want to go back!

Yay on getting your AP vouchers! Looking forward to your upcoming updates.

Oh, and I don't know on the TiW. We upgraded to APs while we were in the parks, so just bought TiW at the same time.

 

[kmedina]

I cannot wait to see the clothes. Girls clothes are way cuter than boys clothes. It is funny that they put your husband as the main guest. Some men are weird about being the main person even if they had nothing to do with the planning. My DH is big on dumb stuff like that. I just booked a cruise and emailed him the confirmation. He emailed it back asking why he was not the primary guest. I emailed him back and said he can be the primary guest next time when he plans and does everything for the trip. I let him be the primary on the last cruise even though I planned every detail. No more!!!

 

[Imagineer5]

The belle dress looks very cute, I think it will work great for MNSSHP. I am debating whether to dress Everett up. We've been to two MNSSHP, and one was really hot and the other was really cold, and they were both basically the same week, just different years. I don't want to plan a cooler costume and then have it be really hot or vice versa. I think I just need to figure out something that would work either way. I've got time!

Your Europe trip sounds really fun! I spend a fall semester in Greece and then one summer in Greece and two summers in Italy when I was in college. I was able to really enjoy my time abroad and see lots of Europe, and also Turkey and Egypt. Unfortunately my European travel has been curtailed since college, with the exception of one family trip to Italy in 2006, but I would really love to get back. I don't think DH wants to go when the kids are little, so I think it might be a while. I hope you plan to write a TR, I'd love to hear about your adventures. Maybe I could even show it to my DH to help convince him that international travel with little kids is doable!

Hmm that definitely reminds me to keep some yellow leggings and a cute jacket with the dress just in case - you're right, October can be weird!

Ahh Greece would be so amazing to visit - I'm jealous! How wonderful. I wish we could move to Europe for a couple years and take advantage of being so close to so many amazing things!

IDK why travel with Aria should be THAT difficult. I mean, I know it'll be hard, but fun too? I guess I am just approaching parenthood as getting Aria to fit in with our lifestyle, not changing it totally around for her (as long as she is happy!).

It was great. We were in Northern Italy. We flew into Milan and travelled to Lake Maggiore, Cinque Terra, and Venice. It was just wonderful! Definitely want to go back!

Yay on getting your AP vouchers! Looking forward to your upcoming updates.

Oh, and I don't know on the TiW. We upgraded to APs while we were in the parks, so just bought TiW at the same time.

Did you hear about the landslide (earthquake, I think?) that ruined a couple towns in Cinque Terre? It made me really sad that we skipped it in 2010. Venice was amazing, though for some reason my DH didn't *love* it - I think it was because it was our last stop and the trip was SO long that we were both pooped!

Thanks for trying to help on the TiW card quiestion!

I cannot wait to see the clothes. Girls clothes are way cuter than boys clothes. It is funny that they put your husband as the main guest. Some men are weird about being the main person even if they had nothing to do with the planning. My DH is big on dumb stuff like that. I just booked a cruise and emailed him the confirmation. He emailed it back asking why he was not the primary guest. I emailed him back and said he can be the primary guest next time when he plans and does everything for the trip. I let him be the primary on the last cruise even though I planned every detail. No more!!!

The Belle dress is shipping! And the other Etsy items - HEY no one has guessed what we got! - should be soon too, and I'll update then. I love girls clothes!

DH didn't notice they put him as the main guest, and he would probably think it was weird if he did notice, knowing that I do all the planning. But I certainly did. Yes, if he made one iota of effort then maybe I'd be okay with it, but I'm still kinda annoyed at Disney for just assuming!

 

[Imagineer5]

Ok let's get this show on the road...!!!

First things first - Aria's great-grandparents visited from Texas this past weekend. Last week was pretty crazy getting the house in order for them plus making a ton of food for the baptism on Sunday. We were put in charge of quiches (we DO have a dozen eggs a day to use... LOL) and the cake. Looking at Baptism cakes was just not working for me - all crosses and such - so I decided to make some flower cupcakes instead. Here's a couple pics -

They arrived mid-day on Saturday along with my parents, and we had a big lobster dinner with them that evening.

Funny story - so my granparents live in Texas. They don't get fresh lobster, so they buy frozen lobster tails. During our visit there last April, Andrew wanted to help them deshell the lobster tails for dinner. My Grandmom was taking her time using a pick and getting all the meat out very gently. Andrew picked it up and wanted to show her how *he* does it, and proceeded to crack the tail down the middle, assuming the meat would just pop out like it does on fresh lobster. Well, instead it came out like confetti. My Grandmom said "well that is why I am taking my time using this pick". Poor Andrew got to eat that one LOL and felt bad about it ever since - so he wanted to get them some fresh lobster to enjoy. BTW, I don't eat it...

Anyway, so that was a fun evening. Such a difference with DH's family - we sit down and eat dinner/sit in the dining room for like 2-3 hours. DH's family sits down and eats and is done in 15 minutes. It was a good time, and very nice to catch up.

The next morning was busy with getting to the church for the baptism, which was in DH's hometown of Holliston, MA (about 45 minutes away). The church service wasn't awful (I am not religious BTW - no judgement please but we baptised Aria for the sake of DH's parents and both our grandparents). Afterwards we went back to DH's parents house for a little brunch.

Aria wore the dress I was baptised in, my mom was, her aunt, great-aunt...anyway it was about 150 years old. So that was pretty neat! She got an outfit change for the party though.

With my parents and grandparents:

With my grandparents and DH's grandparents

The rest of Sunday was pretty quiet, and we had Mexican take out for dinner. Monday my grandparents didn't want to do anything so we just relaxed around the house. We took Aria back in the pool while they took a nap.

They left at 3AM on Tuesday due to an early flight from Boston, which woke Aria up (ugh). But overall it was a very nice visit.

To give you an idea of my grandparents - has anyone seen The Help? My Grandmom was just like the ladies on there, with housekeepers/nannies/etc. And John (step-grandfather) was an oil tycoon. With their VERY conservative views on things, it made for interesting discussions that I tried to stay out of. I'm pretty indifferent on many political topics, but they are incredibly right-winged while my parents are very liberal. So a lot of the weekend was spent trying to ignore both of them


Off topic, but just for fun I took some pics of Aria while I was spending time up in the attic doing something (sewing or on the computer or something)...

 

[jenny105]

mmmmm, lobster...

I love the pictures of Aria with the dogs especially the lab. They are so good with her!

 

[Imagineer5]

mmmmm, lobster...

I love the pictures of Aria with the dogs especially the lab. They are so good with her!

Thanks! They really are. Aria just absolutely adores Oliver (chihuahua mix). Annie is good with her but just wants to play with her ball. once Aria can throw it for her, it'll be true love! LOL

 

[Imagineer5]

Day 1 is sort of boring, though I do have some questions I hope someone can answer!

Day 1 – Thursday October 4th
Our flight leaves Providence at 1:20PM which means (oops didn’t realize this…) no work for me!! I’m thinking DH will probably work ½ day or something, and hopefully his coworker who will double as our house/pet sitter can drive us to the airport to avoid paying the parking fees. We get to go through security and do the Southwest seat dance with a baby for the first time. I plan to pack day bags w/ swim suits, outfits for later in the day & also for the next day (just in case) along with small versions of all toiletries. We do plan to cloth diaper during the trip (crazy? Maybe!) and no idea about her food yet but we’ll probably buy it instead of bring my planned homemade stuff.
We land around 4:25PM, pick up the car (Dollar – hopefully we can check in at a kiosk and go pick out a car – we have a midsize vehicle), make the 30 minute drive to BLT and hopefully arrive by 6!
Images courtesy of allears.

Lobby:

We’ll get situated in the room, we have requested a Lake View, high floor (need to put in a specific request to hopefully see the MK fireworks) – here are some BLT studio pics for your enjoyment (and mine…!):

I have heard there might be room for the pack n play/ crib/ whatever she’s going to sleep in (we plan to bring a crib tent thing with us) in the little kitchenette, so we’ll see about that! Or we might put it near the balcony unless we have the MK view.

After we get settled, depending on how Aria is doing, we might decide to go to the pool/find dinner somewhere (Wave? Monorail to another resort – such as Poly for Captain Cooks?). This is the night I would really like to *sneak* in to the Top of the World lounge. MNSSHP is going on tonight, so fireworks should be at 9:30 I believe. It would be a very fun first night thing to do – assuming our KTTW cards say DVC member like they did last time at BCV while staying on points. No flames please! If we can get in, and it took us a while to settle in/check in/etc, we might just have dinner up there! They have these:

Chicken Sliders - trio of burgers with herbed goat cheese, local tomato jam, and jalapeno ketchup $10.99

Which look super delicious. I love goat cheese, tomatoes, and jalapenos, so this sounds right up my alley!

And this:
7 Layer Cake for 2 with salted caramel sauce $10.99

Sounds delish for dessert!

And that should be all for our first day! Hoping Aria is great on the plane, she eats well while we’re running around, we get a clean room with a great view, and we successfully keep her up late enough for fireworks (or let her sleep in the stroller if they are allowed at the Top of the World Lounge?!).

IF we can't get in to the TotWL, we will probably try to watch the fireworks from the beach at the Poly after eating at Captain Cooks, or from our room if we get the MK view.

QUESTION FOR DIS EXPERTS!!!! This evening’s activities will change depending on your answer and could also affect a possible Oct 2013 / 31st birthday trip!! I need to exchange my AP vouchers for AP’s! Ideally I would like to do this on October 5th / 1st park day since that is my birthday, and the AP would be good through October 5th, 2013, which means I could still do a 31st birthday trip possibly.
BUT – (coming up in the next Daily installment!) – we have 8:20AM CP ADR’s before the park opens at 9AM. And we’re walking from BLT. Where do I get the tickets?! Will I need to hop over to the TTC? What time will they open? Should I just exchange them on our first evening, knowing that I won’t be able to get in ON my birthday the following year? Only upside if I get the APs on 10/4 is that I can also get a TiW card then and use it for the 20% discount that night. Thoughts on getting it the morning of 10/5 would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jenny105]

BLT looks so nice. I love the colors in the room. I hope I get to stay there one day.

So you have to be a DVC member to go to the lounge? That's beat. You should be able to go if you're staying there!

I have no idea about the AP vouchers. Can you exchange them at BLT or guest services at MK? Does it have to be the TTC?

 

[mandas08]

Joining in..better late than never. I have lots of catching up to do! We took DS in Feburary when he he was 7.5 months and had a great time

 

[kmedina]

I do not like lobster either. Aria looked very pretty all dressed up. You did a good job with the cupcakes. They look yummy. My family always eats for 2-3 hours too. My Dad is very liberal, and my husband's Mom is very conservative, so it is always fun dealing with both of them.

I think the Contemporary has full cribs, since it is a deluxe. We had a full crib at the GF for Connor. It would be one less thing for you to pack. I hope you get to watch the fireworks from your lake view. It is really awesome watching from your room.

We have never owned APs (even though I am seriously considering it very soon). I would assume that the ticket booths open earlier than the park, but I could be wrong. If they do, I would get the tickets your birthday morning.

 

[Dugette]

Did you hear about the landslide (earthquake, I think?) that ruined a couple towns in Cinque Terre? It made me really sad that we skipped it in 2010. Venice was amazing, though for some reason my DH didn't *love* it - I think it was because it was our last stop and the trip was SO long that we were both pooped!

I did hear about the destruction in Cinque Terre (strangely enough, from somewhere on the DIS). So sad. Such a lovely place. I'm glad we got there (back in 2005). Sorry you missed it on your trip. We loved Venice...probably my favorite place. So unique.

Love all the cute Aria photos!

First evening plans sound good. I like that you're keeping several options open. Hope Aria has a good travel day. BLT looks nice. We almost stayed one night in a MK view studio (Dec. 2010), but had to cancel that when we had to adjust the dates of that trip. Still on the would-like-to-do list. I bet the TotWL is nice!

For your APs, I know that you can do it at the guest services booth outside of MK (that's where we bought ours), so as long as that booth is open, it shouldn't be a problem. I would think it would be open by the time you head in for your ADR. Depending on where you go on arrival night, you may not get any advantage from having the TiW card early. I'm pretty sure Captain Cook's does not take it, not sure about the other options. So, I would wait until your birthday to get the APs/TiW.

 

[oboedm]

Not sure about the AP exchanges, but I love the BLT rooms and I am excited that you get to stay there!

I am glad you plan to cloth diaper on the trip! If we have a LO come next October, I am hoping to continue to use cloth, especially because we will probablu sty in a villa and have access to a W/D. I want baby to be comfortable and have things that he/she is used to, if tha makes sense.

 

[Leger13]

First things first. Love the pics from the baptism! That dress is super special but I love the afterwords dress too. Sounds like a fun and rather interesting time had with all haha! I try not to talk politics either. Especially with my DH's family. You and Aria are both beautiful! Sounds like you guys had a wonderful weekend. Oh and I also love the pictures of when y'all were just hanging out. She's just getting so big!

Ok on to the other update about the trip

 

[Leger13]

Looks like a great first day at the world. So jealous you're staying at BLT! Looks beautiful! Hope you get the MK view! As far as the AP's go I have no advice since I've never held an AP. GL!