We love Donald Duck, oh yes we do! - Link to the PTR - COMPLETE

[brookelizabeth]

We left off with Henry spin, spin, spinning away on the Monorail.

We reached MK without any problem (I love riding the monorail!), and went right to Guest Services. Within minutes we were official AP and TiW card holders! YAY!

And I have to say I think it's HILARIOUS that Joe got Minnie and I got Goofy! The CM that issued the APs ensured Joe was okay with having Minnie-he sorta laughed and said it was fine, I commented about how he was manly enough to carry a Minnie card.

I had to get a picture of Joe using his AP for the first time to commemorate the moment....

So here we were, it was night, and we were going to our first park! It felt kinda strange to be going into a park so late, we have never done hoppers before either, so we normally get up and go to a park for the whole day (Henry is a good stroller napper). We usually LEAVE when all the lights are on. It was a pretty thrilling moment for us Disney Nerds!!

If you read my TR from November, you might recall Henry's reaction to the Castle for the first time was a yawn. Well, this time it isn't much better.

At least he's not yawning this time!

Someday I am gonna get a reaction out of him with that Castle!

And the beauty of Main Street...

Love those balloon handlers!

Since Joe was hungry, I led us to Casey's, naturally. Yum, yum. I love me some Casey's! (Which I still find hilarious because of my initial reaction to eating hot dogs on vacation wasn't so favorable...)

Joe decided he wanted pizza.

Alright....and I wasn't hungry at all, so we went into Casey's and left WITHOUT buying any food. I almost bought some corn dog nuggets just because. As we left I said something along the lines of "We better be back!" (We shall see, huh? )

Off the top of my head I could not think of any CS that serves pizza at MK, so out came the trusty PassPorter (I love that book!) and I quickly found that Pinocchio's serves pizza, so we pointed the stroller for Fantasyland and we were off.

I like these rocking chairs up on the front porch, a neat detail

The light and shadows from this light fixture are kinda cool

At PVH,

Joe just got a simple pepperoni pizza-I completely slacked and forgot to take a picture until it was half gone, oops!

He said the pizza wasn't spectacular, but it wasn't bad, and he had no problems finishing it.

Henry had a few bites too, which pleased me considering he didn't eat anything at the tea (except strawberries and cream!)

Sauce on the face and all

You might note in these pictures of Henry that he is in his winter coat. Joe and I didn't have our winter coats with us, but we both had hoodies and lighter jackets on. I also broke out my hat and gloves and was VERY grateful for having them with. We even put the rain cover for the stroller on in hopes to keep some heat in, and it made a great wind break for Henry. It was soooooo cold.

After Joe ate we slowly walked about of MK - we debated on hitting a few rides, but opted not to because it was so chilly, and we were pooped, we just wanted to be back in our room, warm and relaxing.

We didn't eat there, but I got a picture!

We walked through the train station on the way out

We made it back to SSR, Congress Park is 4th out of 5 on the bus loop within SSR. This concerned me a bit for morning commutes to the parks - would we be able to get a seat? Usually I don't care about standing or sitting on a short bus ride, but, with a toddler, it's a whole different ball of wax.

Back in our lovely 1 bedroom villa, we relaxed, put Henry down for bed in the living room (in the pack and play) and Joe and I watched TV and ate some of the snacks we had ordered to the room. This is what we had been looking forward to - being able to put Henry down and still have lights on, watch TV and talk in a normal voice in our bedroom,without having the concern of waking up the little man. I love DVC! (The snacks were pretty fine too! )

And I actually filled out my PassPorter while on the trip-using it as my trip journal (which the intention of the book), and it worked out GREAT! (surprise, surprise! ) Here is some of what I have written down:

Reflections on our first day: The weather was COLD. The worst part of the day was running through DTD trying to find Guest Services and then stressing about missing the GF tea. The best part of the day is tied - either arriving (!!!) or, finding out we could arrive late for the tea. The funniest thing was Henry pushing his new light up Mickey toy for over 15 minutes straight! (or that picture of him so mad at the tea ) The most magical moment was buying our APs and going to MK for the sole reason of eating!

Note to self: Do the tea again! either alone (let Joe and Henry do boy things), or when Henry is old enough to sit still, or go into the Kid's Club.

Up next: Everybody loves Earl

 

[Disneyfan71]

Your pictures brought tears to my eyes..why? Because I LOVE Disney...everything about it. I hear people complain over and over about how expensive it is...Well you know what!! Tough!!! I LOVE Disney and I know everyone on here loves it just as much as I do!!

 

[jenjolt]

Got to love a light up Mickey Mouse toy, that is awesome and I'm so glad it made Henry Happy!!

I also love my passporter LOL!!! Great ending to a great first day!!

I'll be doing the tea soon so I'm so glad you really really enjoyed it!! Thanks for all the great pics!!!

Loved the update!!!!!!!

 

[bawsmom]

that is just the coolest and prettiest picture... so unusual yet so recognizable!! i just love your pictures... and of course the stories that go with them...

 

[disneydusted]

I LOVE the photos of Henry and the twirling Mickey!! I was sitting here reading your TR and when that first picture scrolled up I burst out laughing!! It is great! I love the look on his face! Such deep concentration!
Wasn't MK so beautiful at night? I really enjoy being at the parks at night, they take on a whole different personality. Maybe it's the dark sky, the colored lights everywhere, the music... I wish I was there!

 

[Flossbolna]

This sounds like you were able to get some magic after the hectic start at DTD! I love park hopping - especially the luxury of just hopping to the MK to see Wishes (the Poly was great for that!) or to Epcot to see Illuminations.

Congratulations on your APs! They look so much nicer than the tickets you get with the packages encoded on your KTTW. While it is practical, it's fun to have a character on your ticket. Do you have a picture of the TIW card as well? I have never seen one...

I also wanted to mention that Sally Lunn was a baker in Bath, England, who invented the "Bath Bun". I have eaten at her restaurant once when I was on holiday in England, here is a link to their website: http://www.sallylunns.co.uk/home,intro.htm

 

[BellaSoleil]

I forgot to tell you but during out trip we ate at Casey's. I thought of you the whole time. Haha!

Wow! The one bedroom villa sounds so great!

P.S. I'll be your date to the tea.

 

[gellybean]

Love, love, loving it!!! I totally relate to your tea experience with one parent having to leave with the child so the other can take a few bites. We had a very similar experience ourselves!!

I'm so jealous that y'all are AP holders. It would be fantastic to just run into a park on a whim and not feel guilty that you're using an entire day's ticket for an hour on Mainstreet!!

Henry's so cute with that light up Mickey.

Can't wait for more!!!

 

[lucytootsie]

Loving your report and the chapters.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Your pictures brought tears to my eyes..why? Because I LOVE Disney...everything about it. I hear people complain over and over about how expensive it is...Well you know what!! Tough!!! I LOVE Disney and I know everyone on here loves it just as much as I do!!

Aw, thanks! I agree with you, we LOVE Disney! It can be expensive, but it's worth every single penny in my opinion! (and you really can do it pretty cheap if you do your research)

Got to love a light up Mickey Mouse toy, that is awesome and I'm so glad it made Henry Happy!!

I also love my passporter LOL!!! Great ending to a great first day!!

I'll be doing the tea soon so I'm so glad you really really enjoyed it!! Thanks for all the great pics!!!

Loved the update!!!!!!!

The light up Mickey toy saved the day! We have it in our luggage now, it will make a re-apperance on every trip until it breaks/gets lost!

The PassPorter is awesome, isn't it? I have bought three of them now and it just really dawned on me that insted of writing out the details of my day in a notebook, I could just use the PassPorter, actually have it filled out by trip end (the 2006 one never got filled out even!) and it was so, so much easier. I bring it in my bag everyday, the maps, the info-it's priceless. We find we are using it less and less and we become more familar, but it did still get pulled out several times on this trip. I think I'm gonna buy the Deluxe version for December and see how that goes.

I hope you love the tea!!

that is just the coolest and prettiest picture... so unusual yet so recognizable!! i just love your pictures... and of course the stories that go with them...

Thanks! I really like how that picture came out too - the carousel is so pretty all lit up with the beautiful castle....ahhh...just screams Disney World, doesn't it?

I LOVE the photos of Henry and the twirling Mickey!! I was sitting here reading your TR and when that first picture scrolled up I burst out laughing!! It is great! I love the look on his face! Such deep concentration!
Wasn't MK so beautiful at night? I really enjoy being at the parks at night, they take on a whole different personality. Maybe it's the dark sky, the colored lights everywhere, the music... I wish I was there!

He was SO focused on that thing, we couldn't get him to look at anything else for a good while!!

MK is beautiful at night! I wish I was there right now too!!!

This sounds like you were able to get some magic after the hectic start at DTD! I love park hopping - especially the luxury of just hopping to the MK to see Wishes (the Poly was great for that!) or to Epcot to see Illuminations.

Congratulations on your APs! They look so much nicer than the tickets you get with the packages encoded on your KTTW. While it is practical, it's fun to have a character on your ticket. Do you have a picture of the TIW card as well? I have never seen one...

I also wanted to mention that Sally Lunn was a baker in Bath, England, who invented the "Bath Bun". I have eaten at her restaurant once when I was on holiday in England, here is a link to their website: http://www.sallylunns.co.uk/home,intro.htm

It is so handy to just pop into a park - we did it a couple times on this trip, and will probably do it more in December/future trips as we get the hang of hopping.

I will take a pic of the TiW card and post it - it's pretty cute!

That is really interesting about Sally Lunn! After reading over that website, it really, really, really makes me want to visit the UK and eat there!

I forgot to tell you but during out trip we ate at Casey's. I thought of you the whole time. Haha!

Wow! The one bedroom villa sounds so great!

P.S. I'll be your date to the tea.

What did you think of Casey's? The corn dog nuggets are some deep fried goodness IMO!

The villa really was very nice - we loved, loved, loved the space (and the kitchen, and the bath tub, and the shower, and the laundry, and, and, and!)

Sounds good on the tea!!!!

Love, love, loving it!!! I totally relate to your tea experience with one parent having to leave with the child so the other can take a few bites. We had a very similar experience ourselves!!

I'm so jealous that y'all are AP holders. It would be fantastic to just run into a park on a whim and not feel guilty that you're using an entire day's ticket for an hour on Mainstreet!!

Henry's so cute with that light up Mickey.

Can't wait for more!!!

Oh, so you've had that sort of "relaxing" tea too, eh?!

I was just psyched that we are AP holders! It's a dream!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Loving your report and the chapters.

Thank you! And your first trip is just around the corner!!!!! Get ready to be addicted....

 

[SoonerGirl]

I love the pictures of Henry so mesmerized by his light up Mickey! I thought I had seen every one of those things, but I don't ever remember seeing that one - very cool!

Your nighttime pictures of MK are SPECTACULAR! I love the one of the carousel with the castle all lit up behind it, and the one of the beautiful light fixture, and the train station ones too - well, all of them!

 

[brookelizabeth]

(Yesterday I had quite a bit of downtime at work to write my TR, and today I have more downtime at work, so I can post what I wrote! )

We left off after a quick dip into MK purchasing our APs, TiW card and some pepperoni pizza for Joe.

The next morning dawned over Disney World and we slept right through that sunrise! Though, I'm sure it was beautiful. Around 8:00 Joe and I crawled out of bed and Mr. Henry was still sleeping! I was a tad surprised, usually, even if the previous day is exhausting for him, he still wakes up around his normal time of 7:30. I took advantage of the quiet morning by watching TV, getting ready without a child at my legs, and writing in my PassPorter.

Around 9:00 Henry finally did wake up, so we started our in room breakfast, which became routine. Nothing fancy, just bagels all around, coffee, milk, and yogurt. Shortly after eating, Henry threw up his milk and yogurt all over the floor in front of the couch, and a bit on the couch (thankfully he was still in his PJs). Like the other times he threw up, he just kept on playing - it totally didn't even phase him what just happened.

While I was thankful he was unfazed by the event, it really concerned me. Yesterday we went vomit free, but it was back. And just from yogurt and milk? He eats yogurt and milk everyday, this was very normal food. I checked the expiration date on both the yogurt and the milk, which were fine. I was clueless on what caused the episode, hoped it was the last time and that more poor baby wasn't truly sick.

Our morning went slow around the villa, we watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (as we did almost every morning), and just took it easy-I put in a load of clothes. Our plan for the day was to go to AK-the only thing I HAD to do was to ride EE during EMH, when it was dark out. I think it was Christine (2xctied2sleep) who mentioned how incredible this was, and since we had PM EMHs during our trip, it became a "must do" for me. Eventually, after being lazy for a while, Henry was ready to leave and he went and grabbed Joe's shoes and brought them to him, as if saying "I'm ready, we are in Disney World, let's go already!!"

We gathered up the necessary 48 bags (it was a bit warmer than yesterday, but still chilly, so we still needed jackets, hoodies, etc, which just created MORE stuff to bring), and headed out of the villa. Instead of going straight for AK we opted to explore SSR some. On our November trip we hadn't really taken the time to explore the WL until our last day, and we decided we wanted to explore early in the trip so we can get a feel of the resort and possibly uncover any "hidden gems" it might hold.

Our room, 1230

Our attempt at a family picture in the elevator - Henry didn't quite make it in!

The entry way to our Congress Park building-there are about 4 or 5 buildings per area, and 5 areas.

We took the walking path along the river,

and ventured around, finding the quiet pool in Congress Park,

along with the playground, which Henry was THRILLED about. There were a couple other little boys playing, which just made Henry even more excited. The boys were very sweet and enjoyed playing with Henry too.

Continued in next post

 

[princess&her4princes]

Great updates!! And fantastic pics, Brook! Can I ask what kind of camera you use? It really takes some beautiful pictures (or maybe it's you that is the talented one and I'm giving your silly camera all the credit? )!! Love the night time shots at MK and the shots around SSR are amazing!!!

Does Henry having any lactose issues? Or is he usually fine with them at home? just a thought.....hope it didn't last your whole vacation?

Btw, loved the "family" pic of you guys in the elevator!! Too funny!! And cute!

 

[disneydusted]

Yay! I'm glad you have down time at work so you can keep posting!
The resort photos looks so quiet and peaceful, no one around! I have to say it is still strange to see coats and hats at Disney! We have only been there in warm/hot weather but I'll take it! Anything to be at Disney, right?!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

I took this from the top of the playground tower, before I...

Oh so gracefully went down the slide with Henry!


Eventually we moved on, walking toward the Carriage House.

Detail on one of the signs around the complex

We walked around the pool area - not one single person was in the pool, despite it being warmer than yesterday when I DID see two crazy young girls in the pool!

If you look closely, you can actually see steam coming off the pool!

Henry's first meeting with THE Duck.

Inside Artist's Palette, we purchased our refillable mugs and were bummed that they were the same logo as 2008. However, some had different colored handles, so I got mine in silver and Joe got black. I filled mine up with some much needed, sole warming, hot cocoa! I asked the CM at the register about new mugs for 2009, she wasn't sure, but said "I hope not!" and I asked her why. She said she hopes everyone that came in 2008 just brings their 2008 mugs back and re-uses them! But she quickly followed that statement up with a, "you didn't hear me say that..."

We also, of course, browsed around the gift shop. Joe was on a quest for a hat. Which I found a bit odd because he is not a hat wearer. He didn't find any that he really liked, and despite me liking one for Henry, he, like November, would not leave it on!

That is a rubber DUCK he has...

Salt and Pepper shakers. I love that Snow White one with Dopey in the lower left, cute!

Loved, loved, loved these light fixtures!

The seating area

The check-in desk/lobby

After our time in the Carriage House we walked back to Congress Park, and kept on going, right for DTD.

It was about time for lunch...

"WPE or EoS?" I asked Joe.

"Earl!"

So that is where we headed-a first for us!

Continued in next post

 

[Disneyfan71]

I'm loving your pictures And I know spending that $15 was a good idea, especially if it makes Henry happy

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

We got inside and whoaaaaaaaa, everyone and their Uncle was eating at EoS that day! It was mayhem inside, but the line did move pretty quickly. Henry was asleep, and I wasn't sure how he was feeling, so we didn't order him anything-figuring we would just stop and get him something when he did wake up and was hungry. One thing to note about EoS, they have small hand menus (I noticed several of Disney's restaurants do), which is VERY, VERY helpful for Joe being that he is legally blind and cannot ever read menu boards.

Joe ordered The Full Montagu (roast beef and turkey with cheddar and Swiss cheese, romaine lettuce, tomato and Earl's mustard) with a bowl of tomato soup and a strawberry banana smoothie.

I had a hard time choosing, at first I was going for the All American (roast turkey, buttermilk ranch, cranberries, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and buttermilk Ranch), I love me turkey and cranberries! But, surprisingly, it wasn't sounding good at the moment, so then I leaned toward The Full Montagu like Joe. Then, I spotted the Earl's Club (roast turkey, smoked bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato). Ah yes, that sounded YUM (sans cheese). Good thing the line was long so I could go through all my options!

I ended ordering the Earl's Club and a bowl of the tomato soup.

While Joe waited for our food, I tried to find us a table. Every single table was being used, even after several passes through the two different seating areas. Finally, I just stood there, thinking someone would wrap up eventually and sure enough-just about a minute later, a very nice woman signaled me and said they were done. And bonus, the table was near the center so there was plenty of room for the stroller. Thank you nice lady!

Probably about 10 minutes has passed since we ordered and Joe isn't free from the mob of people waiting for their food, so I get situated with the stroller and wait. It's probably another 5 minutes before he came with the sandwiches and soup, but no smoothie.

Turns out he got the sandwiches pretty quick, then waited and waited for the smoothie-another woman was waiting there with her young child (who was climbing on everything and about throwing a fit) for a smoothie too. One came out, and he let her have it so she could escape the madness (he's a sweetie!), but another one (and her number was only 2 behind ours) never appeared. He just gave up and figured he would go back when the masses thinned out a bit.

So we started our lunch - and holy smokes - this was yummmmmmmmmy! I totally understand now why people rave about EoS! That tomato soup was delish - I crave it regularly.

After we ate a bit, I noticed the crowd inside EoS was not letting up, so being a bit more aggressive than Joe, (if you knew me in real life, you would be laughing right now because I'm a LOT more aggressive than Joe!) I got up and said "I will go get your smoothie." He responded something along the lines of "Don't give anyone black eyes in the process."

I walked up to the counter and managed to get the attention of one of the 300 CMs behind it, explained and low and behold, one was waiting right there next to her. She looked at the ticket number (which I'm assuming was that of the woman with the child), looked at ours, looked at the smoothie's again, gave a little shurg and handed me the smoothie.

I sure hope it was that woman's and not some other person waiting!

I have no idea if EoS is that busy normally, I hope not, but even if it is, it's worth fighting the crowds for! We really loved our lunch here, and apparently, at least that day, everybody loves Earl.

After EoS we continued on our walk through DTD. It was nice to actually take in DTD, rather than running through it, trying to find Guest Services, or fearing you will never make it to a very important ADR! We went into the World of Disney, despite me generally not liking this maze of a store, it was VERY empty this day, which made it a ton more enjoyable! Joe was searching for a hat again, but he still didn't see any that he liked enough. We considered buying Disney jackets or sweatshirts, but after seeing those price tags, opted against it!

Some of the new 2009 gear

We didn't buy anything, and just continued our walk through DTD. After walking a bit more, we did find that mysterious temporary location of Guest Services. We kept walking, Joe said he wanted to walk clear to the other end-just because we've never seen anything past the World of Disney.

So, that's what we did! We went into a few shops and just strolled along the promenade.

It was really enjoyable (despite the cold) to not be rushing and having no serious agenda. Eventually, Henry woke up and we figured we should get him something to eat. Guess where we went?

Of all places!

He was hungry and he scarfed down almost an entire cheeseburger.

He was also very ready to do some exploring himself. So we strapped on his leash -er, I mean his monkey backpack - and Joe and him walked along while I pushed the stroller.

I love this pic

We got many, many comments about his backpack, everyone thought he was adorable. One particular family with two young kids (probably about 5 and 7) said "Oooh, look at his backpack!" and I said something about it being his "kid leash" and they laughed and said "Oh, no! Never a kid on a leash!" implying that they totally used one of these for their children when they were younger.

It's kinda like a duck, right?

I thought they were going to tear all these buildings down? Is there a hope they will re-open after the economy picks up? I would love to experience the Adventure's Club!

SSR from DTD

After we reached the end of DTD, seeing Cirque,

we turned around and started walking back toward the bus area. We walked as far as PI where the other bus stop is, and decided that we would head to AK now. We first started to figure out what bus would be the best option. But then I thought, does it matter? Are we in a hurry? NOPE! So we just took the first one that pulled up, and that was Port of Orleans. I was excited to see this resort!

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

Off we were on the bus to PO. I had no idea how the buses worked here, so we just got off at POFQ.

We took some time to explore

The lobby

We ventured into the food court area

I have to admit, the faces that are part of the decor kinda wig me out a bit, otherwise, it's beautiful.

and refilled our mugs. I have zero idea if this is "allowed", being that we weren't staying at POFQ and I haven't done research on "mug etiquette". Anyone know?

We walked outside and sat at a table just outside the food area and just took in the beauty of the resort.

It really was very nice! We wanted to explore more, but we also wanted to get to AK. I spotted a playground just down the path, and knew if we walked past that Henry would want to play, and if we didn't let him, he would certainly let us know! ....So we decided it was a good time to leave and head for AK.

We found the bus area with no problem. It took quite a while for a bus to come, but that was okay, Henry played around in the waiting area and we were acting silly with him, laughing and simply enjoying the afternoon.

When a bus did come, we went all throughout POFQ and then POR until we finally left the resort. I had no idea the bus did all those stops, which would be kinda annoying when you stay there, but, both the resorts were BEAUTIFUL, so it was neat for us to watch the scenery go by!

One thing I regret about our quick visit to POFQ. I did not get any beignets. I didn't even think about it! I remember reading, while planning for our November trip, about beignets being served here and I wanted to try some if we ever made it over to that resort-which we didn't in November.

All well, good reason to go back, right?!

Up next: "I-I-I ca-a-n't s-t-t-op sha-a-a-aking!"

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I hope you don't mind new readers! I just read each update in one sitting. Your son is adorable! And I know it was cold. I'm from MN and if we say it's cold, it's cold! We know our winter weather.

Those EoS sandwiches look devine. I would have ordered the same as you. Yum!