We're touring Disney like a 3 year old (2TRs in 1!)- UPDATE 5/18 pg. 46

[RachelNinja]

I love that your munchkin has the patience to wait for the characters she wants to see!

And maybe those futuristic-y backgrounds relate to Innoventions? They do look kinda weird, haha.

 

[Purple Opal]

I 'followed' you over here from our trip report and I just have to say: you have a beautiful family and your daughter is adorable!

Plus I like your writing style You have made me laugh more than once...

 

[LilAnn]

We will be there Aug.29- Sept. 2nd. Just a quick trip before Caitlin's classes start back up

There is no way you could be in Orlando and skip WDW! I'm sure you'd convince him!

Bummer, we will miss each other by just a few days I think. And we are going to stop off in Disney! Decided to get a mulitday PH ticket with no expiration so we can use it on a future trip! And I get to see HP world!

 

[LilAnn]

The character spot backgrounds have always befuddled me too. Why are they so busy? Why are there so many cell phones floating around in there? I guess just a plain background was too boring...

I know right? About the cell phones! Maybe they will replace it with some Toontown backdrops - good way to recycle! They are totally cuter than this business!

I am all caught up finally! We have never gone to the Character Spot. Not because I don't want to, but because the line is always incredibly long! Do you just keep moving to each character when you get to the front of the line or do you have to wait in a line for each one? It would be a great way to get in a lot of them in one short time, but the line would be 45 minutes and Todd would not wait for that.

The pictures are adorable. I was cracking up with the inappropriate picture with Tigger. I can see how hugging can be difficult for a small child if they don't squat down to her height. Hilarious!!

That was the very same reason we had never done the character Spot. I wasn't really willing to wait for an hour to meet this folks when we can find them elsewhere in the parks. One you get to the front of the line, you move from character to character with minimal wait. and it's all air conditioned!

Yes, Tigger was not the only inappropriate "grab." I believe on our May trip the characters kept moving her hands down when she ran up to hug them. She just had no idea.

Awe, more sweet interactions with your cutie and the characters. I agree, I'd rather have simple backgrounds. Especially I'd I'm going to add a border. Most of those are busy too and it's too much with crazy backgrounds.

There are so many character interactions this trip. And she is continually reminding me daily that she needs to meet Rapunzel and Flynn Rider still. I wonder if she will run from Flynn Rider too, though. The backgrounds are a bit crazy.

your little one is just too cute!! Great trip report!

thanks! she definitely is a Disney girl!

 

[MEK]

Wow - you got such great shots with the characters. Your daughter is just totally eating it up. How precious. She is so into it! Lovely pictures!

My boys did not go to Disney world for the first time until they were "too old" for the characters. I often regret not taking them when they were younger, but I honestly didn't know how cool it would be a little kid. Yes - there was actually a time when I was that uneducated.

 

[LilAnn]

LilAnn - I'm enjoying seeing your precious little girl soaking up all of the Disney fun. Brooklynn (almost 5 year old granddaughter) is a champ at going up to hug characters and pose for pictures, but Bella (just turned 2) wants little to nothing to do with them. She likes to watch from afar. We're hoping that when we go this time (Friday! ) she'll have watched enough to be comfortable enough to join in herself.

to Aladdin and Jasmine for handling things so nicely for you guys.

I'm also in the camp of those Character Spot backgrounds being a little too busy.

My little one wanted nothing to do with characters the first trip and I think she was about 21 months old. Second trip and she was about 2 1/2 and she was in love with the characters. And as you can see, she still loves them. I am cherishing every moment of the trips.

I'm glad that Aladdin and Jasmine went along with it. Wondering if the same thing will happen when she finally meets Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (if we can find them and get lucky in a line).

I love that your munchkin has the patience to wait for the characters she wants to see!

And maybe those futuristic-y backgrounds relate to Innoventions? They do look kinda weird, haha.

The tv screens in this line definitely helped. But she is usually patient because she wants her book signed and wants to hug them. Especially Woody and Jessie - that was a LONG line, but SO WORTH IT!

I 'followed' you over here from our trip report and I just have to say: you have a beautiful family and your daughter is adorable!

Plus I like your writing style You have made me laugh more than once...

Aw, thanks for coming over! I have been reading your sister's reports since the beginning and she is actually the reason I started writing one myself. I learned so much from her experiences with Dylan, I wanted to do the same for others if I could.

I also have a tendency to write my reports in the morning after working all night, so sometimes delirium sets in......

 

[LilAnn]

Wow - you got such great shots with the characters. Your daughter is just totally eating it up. How precious. She is so into it! Lovely pictures!

My boys did not go to Disney world for the first time until they were "too old" for the characters. I often regret not taking them when they were younger, but I honestly didn't know how cool it would be a little kid. Yes - there was actually a time when I was that uneducated.

Aw, thanks! She was a total pro. She had her technique down pat. She would run up with her autograph book and wait for them to sign it. If there were more than one character there, she would hug the other one. And as she hugged them, she would turn her head to the camera. Then she would do the formal pose.

I always tell people when they ask me if they think 3 years old is too young to bring them that my daughter loved it. I do think it depends on the kids, too though. And financial situations. We have just been lucky enough to go often. We just forego any work on the house!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Joining in!

Great TR so far! Though you haven't done a ton of attractions, I like seeing where to find characters since that's something I continuely miss on most trips. Your daughter is great with the characters, I probably would've run away at her age and most do. Can't wait to read more!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

A suggestion: On the day you want pictures, open Epcot, and after they lower the rope, go straight to Character Spot. You can go through all 5 characters in just a few minutes. You move down the line from character to character, and sometimes there is another character, Belle or Alice for instance, right outside the door in the hallway before you go back outside.

[/B]

Thank you for the tip! I will be sure to do that next time.

 

[LilAnn]

Joining in!

Great TR so far! Though you haven't done a ton of attractions, I like seeing where to find characters since that's something I continuely miss on most trips. Your daughter is great with the characters, I probably would've run away at her age and most do. Can't wait to read more!

We actually did eventually get some attractions in, but I just never took pictures of a lot of them so I can't remember all of it! I wasn't planning on writing a TR at that point. Thanks for reading along! I'm always happy to have readers.

I feel like the characters are out and about everywhere nowadays. I feel like when I went with my friend in college, it was a mission to find them. She totally loves meeting all of the characters!

 

[LilAnn]

We woke up Saturday morning bright and early, but instead of eagerly getting ourselves ready for the parks, we had to pack and get on the road. We were making a quick weekend trip to Miami. So I don’t think I mentioned it earlier, but the primary reason for us making a February trip to Disney was due to my best friend’s bridal shower. She was getting married in April and we were all in the wedding. I was throwing her a shower up here, but somehow when we started talking about her cousin throwing her a shower in Miami, we started joking around that we should just go too and make it a family vacation. Then it stopped being a joke and we seriously started crunching numbers and the next thing you know, we had a trip to Florida booked. Funny how that worked.

Now the original plan was that we would spend a week at Disney, then drive to Miami for the bridal shower and then fly home. However……once our flights, tickets and POR were all booked, we got the news. The cousin was changing the date of the shower at the last minute to the weekend before. There was a whole lot of other drama, but I won’t even get into that, needless to say, we were not happy. She knew we had booked everything and she never even called to tell me that she was changing the date of the shower. So we had to basically leave our room at POR and drive to Miami, and pay for another hotel room there, and then drive back. Yes, basically double paying for rooms for a night.

And before you ask why we didn’t just check out instead of paying for a room we weren’t sleeping in, I’ll explain that too. Free dining. We arrived in time for free dining, and that was also a big deciding factor in the trip coming to fruition, but if we checked out over the weekend and checked back in later, we wouldn’t be eligible for free dining. For some reason, there was a blackout week right around that time. So there you have it, why we were heading out to Miami instead of enjoying the parks. And …..end of rant. Sorry.

Anyways, we were on the road soon after breakfast. The ride was pretty uneventful, and there wasn’t a whole lot to look at. But this sign did amuse me.

It was a smooth ride until we got closer to Miami – then it was traffic everywhere. The shower was supposed to start at 1pm and I think we ended up being just about 30 minutes late. Which ended up being time because I guess they were running on “Cuban time,” as my friend calls it. I quickly got our little girl changed into her dress and we headed out to enjoy the party. She was going to be the youngest flower girl in the wedding, but she soon made friends with the other little flower girl. Of course we coordinated them into matching dresses. Here are the girls with the bride-to-be, my best friend. You will see more of her later on in this TR.

She is forever the poser. And did you pick up on the strawberry theme for the shower? Hence the dresses, get it?

I have to say that I was a bit of a mess during the shower. Our little girl can’t swim without her inner tube and the two girls were constantly playing around the pool. So of course, I was neurotic and nervous about her falling in. Yes, I am a paranoid one.

I love how sometimes little kids and just turn into instant friends. Believe me, this is not always the case with our little girl. She is usually pretty shy around other kids for a good hour before inching her way in.

Just relaxing by the pool.

I have to say that I was super impressed with the presentation. I have to admit that my shower up here was nowhere near as fancy or coordinated. I am just not that crafty or as good at baking.

Pretty place settings at the tables.

The candy bar – you know our little one made herself a super full basket to take home.

The flowers in this flower pot are actually cupcakes! And those are real strawberries.

More cupcakes in the mini flower pots and those massive strawberries are cookies. Can you believe that they were all homemade? The girl’s mother is apparently a big baker, can you tell?

Someone was very happy to see those big strawberries. I don’t blame her, who could resist those?

Once the shower was over, we hung out and chatted with everyone for a while before heading back to the hotel. We just wanted to relax and hang out on our own. Of course I took a few room pics.

Part of the bathroom…..love how pretty it all is.

Here you can see me unloading a few things. I was downsizing my big bag into a wristlet so we could walk around the area and look for some dinner.

The area we were staying in was pretty cute, but honestly, we were tired from the drive. So we grabbed some takeout from a Thai restaurant and ate back in the room. It wasn’t long before someone crashed for the night. Don’t mind me, I’m trying to hide from the camera, but I think you can totally tell who had the best night sleep.

And she had Annie and baby Simba with her, naturally.

So after a restful night sleep, at least for most of us, we woke up ready to swim. Yup – we wanted to swim in the pool before checking out and heading back to Disney. We weren’t used to Florida being a bit on the cooler side, but then again, we usually don’t go in February. That weekend was nice and warm and perfect for taking a dip – at least to us northerners.

cont. in next post​

 

[LilAnn]

Here is what the hotel looked like in the daylight.

And this is the pool that we were so anxious to be swimming in.

We walked around the neighborhood and grabbed some yummy pastries from a nearby bakery and had a nice little picnic outside near the pool. Our little one (and my husband too) were itching to get in the pool, so before long we had gotten changed and jumped in.

Notice how we are the only ones in the pool? Yup, because it was a bit early and we were the crazy northerners willing to swim in weather that wasn’t sweltering hot.

Perfectly relaxing morning for us. We had decided to do a pool morning as opposed to checking out the beach. We knew we didn’t have time for both and I wasn’t a fan of the idea of going to the beach if we couldn’t go back to the hotel to clean up afterwards. I mean, who wants to sit in a car for four hours with sand everywhere. Not me. But I had also already been to Miami beach before and my husband hadn’t, so he was the deciding vote. He picked the pool. So this was the closest we got to the beach.

Fortunately the drive back to Orlando was a bit quicker, not much traffic to deal with. Soon we were seeing this…

Sigh, back at Disney. Why, hello Minnie! It’s good to see you too.

It was still somewhat early in the afternoon and we didn’t have a dinner ADR until close to 7pm, so we decided to do a bit of exploring. We had to change into something a bit warmer since it was decidedly chiller in Orlando.

We wandered around the resort and saw this little boat docked and decided to go for a ride.

We hadn’t checked out Downtown Disney yet, so we figured, why not? Perfect way to get a Disney fix without actually going to the parks.

Our little girl brought along her Toy Story matching cards, just in case. For what? Not sure, but she wanted to be ready with them.

See you in a little while, POR.

Once we arrived at DTD, I was hoping to get a nice photo here, but alas, I was the only one willing to stand there.

And I love Tweedledee and Tweedleduum. I wish I had done a fun pose here, though.

Then it was our little girl’s time to pose.

Up close with Minnie and Mickey.

Then it was time to go to infinity and beyond!

Another slightly inappropriate pose.

Then it was time for the train ride. I knew there was no way of getting around this since it’s hard to avoid. She loves it. You would think that she doesn’t get a chance to ride the one at the malls near here, too.

Of course I had to drag everyone into some stores. I was hoping to actually leave with some nice souvenirs, like maybe a nice Disney Dooney, but it was not to be this trip. Our little princess was doing her best to convince us that she needed a princess dress. This was the closest she got to winning that battle.

By that point, it was getting late and we had a boat to catch if we wanted to make it to dinner in time.

I think I forgot to mention that it was superbowl Sunday. When we were first planning the trip, we were trying to figure out how we were going to be able to watch the Superbowl and keep our little one entertained at the same time. However, once the Pats were out (don’t hate us because we’re Pats fans, I know not many people like them) we didn’t feel as big of a need to watch it. I wasn’t as emotionally invested into the big game since my teams were out (I also root for the Redskins, sadly) but I decided to root for the Packers. It was fun to see all the jerseys out and about though.

Anyways, we headed over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for one of our favorite restaurants, Boma. (thanks once again Alison for that big recommendation). They had a huge TV set near the lounge/bar area so we were able to catch the game if we wanted to. However, we were too busy stuffing out faces. Once again, it was a delicious meal, very filling. I think I had at least 3 plates of food – I know, I’m a piggie at times. There are just so many options!

Then we were off to explore the resort a bit and check in on the score. Our little girl could not have cared less about the game. She had found her own way to amuse herself.

So many options.

Even a pink cheetah print!

I was all set to buy her a pair, and maybe a coordinating one for myself, but she soon lost interest. We walked around the hotel a bit more and then headed back to the room so we could relax in bed and catch the rest of the game. Minus the traveling time, it was a pretty good weekend for not being in the parks. My new mission for the next day: trying to see if we could see Aaron Rodgers, Superbowl MVP!
​

 

[tinkgurl]

Whew girl, this update made me tired! That really stinks you guys had to go to Miami and back.

Wow, those flowers are cupcakes?! How neat! I take it the bride likes strawberries? Like a lot? haha.

Aw, too bad she ended up not wanting any of those Mickey ears. They were cute on her!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Your friend's cousin did a really good job with the shower, everything looks so nice. It wasn't very nice of her to change the date on you like that though

You are much stronger than I am, I'm afraid if I had a little girl she would own every princess dress out there

Yum, Boma!

 

[LilAnn]

Whew girl, this update made me tired! That really stinks you guys had to go to Miami and back.

Wow, those flowers are cupcakes?! How neat! I take it the bride likes strawberries? Like a lot? haha.

Aw, too bad she ended up not wanting any of those Mickey ears. They were cute on her!

yeah, the travelling back and forth was not fun. But what can you do? Plans changed so we weren't going to miss the shower since that was technically the real reason we were in Florida in the first place.

Wasn't that flower pot display amazing? I never got a chance to try those cupcakes, but the other ones were yummy. And yeah, the bride didn't pick the theme. She wanted a pink shower so I threw her a pink and green themed shower up here. I don't remember exactly why her cousin picked strawberries, maybe so she could use them for her daughter's birthday later this year.

I so wanted to get her a pair of mickey ears!

Your friend's cousin did a really good job with the shower, everything looks so nice. It wasn't very nice of her to change the date on you like that though

You are much stronger than I am, I'm afraid if I had a little girl she would own every princess dress out there

Yum, Boma!

I have to admit that even after all the drama, it did end up looking vey nice. My friend was not in the least bit surprised about the date change. Apparently that's how she rolls. My husband was not a happy camper though.

It was very hard to resist the princess dress, but with the hefty price tag multiplied by the amount of princesses, and the lack of suitcase room.....easier decision. She does have a Mulan outfit, but barely wears it.

 

[dawnbu40]

The shower looks adorable! I love the theming and the girls look so precious

Tiana's dress is my favorite. Everytime I see it I wish I had a little one to buy for

Sounds like a fun but exhausting weekend

 

[mermaid764]

That must have been frustrating having to pay for two hotels for one night but at least you guys were able to make the best of it, the pool looks gorgeous!

I love the strawberry dresses, how adorable, what a creative idea for a shower

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Wow you guys had a busy weekend while on vacation! I definitely wouldn't have been pleased about the rescheduled detour to Miami, but the shower looks like it was beautifully done. Those strawberry cookies are so cute!

I think I would have voted for the giraffe ears, those are so cute!

 

[MEK]

Very creative shower. That was so nice of you to travel there for the event after the date got changed. The Miami hotel looked gorgeous. I'm sure if you weren't heading back to disney you would have stayed and enjoyed that hotel a little longer.

I love Boma. Glad you got back in time to do some shopping and enjoy a lovely meal at Boma!!!!

Oh - and the animal print mouse ears - too cute!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Whoa! That is a pretty elaborate shower and the food looks so good, especially those strawberry cookies Yum! The hotel you stayed at looked very nice. Love the pictures you took with Tweedle Dee and Dum, as well as the ones at the Pin Trading store! So cute I'm shocked you managed not to buy anything. I go there and go crazy (when it comes to Disney, I do everything insanely, even shopping), but you managed to not get anything. Well, it probably was for the better I must try Boma sometimes, heard many good things and this is yet another. Can't wait to hear if you got to see Aaron Rodger's in the parade!