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

[LilAnn]

You guys had a really great day! Your DD is so photogenic and she's so good at being ready for pictures.

Yes, it really was a great day! And thanks, she definitely is willing to pose for pictures when she is in the mood (key words there)

By the way, your team was looking pretty awesome last night.

It sounds like you guys had a great day!

It was a great day, thanks! Disney with friends and loved ones is uually a good day in my book!

What a wonderful day you had! The family pictures are adorable.

My family would agree that CoP is a perfect spot for a nap

'Ohana is the perfect way to end a MK day! It is my favorite Disney meal and watching Wishes while eating is perfect

Thanks, I had actually forgotten about the family pictures, so I think I need to print those out and get them framed.

'Ohana is usually pretty good. This past trip we just got back from was the first time we didn't eat there. We had a ADR for our "original" last night, but since half of our party flew out early, we had to let it go.

Absolutely love this picture!

Looks like you guys did the parade at the perfect time. The sun going down made for some pretty pictures! Plus, it had to be nice not standing out in the sun!

Yum! Ohana! I could go for that right now! ALLLLLLLOOOOOOHHHHHAAAAA!

Thanks Tink! I miss reading your TR's!!! I can't wait for you to start your PTR and Disneymoon TR! And you know I'll be anxiously awaiting pics from the wedding.

It was so much nicer watching the parade when it's not 100 degrees out. I didn't feel like I was melting away.

I could go for some 'Ohana right now too! ALLLLLOOOOOOHHHHHAAAA back to you!

Looks like you guys had a wonderful day!!! Your little one seemed to be entirely energetic throughout the day, despite skipping that nap you had been hoping for!

I've never been to Ohana, but it always sounds great! I'm a fan of the rodizio-style meal, those are always fun!

yes, I think she managed to make it thorugh without a nap because it was also not 100 degrees out and zapping all of our energy. Plus she must have still been on a high from the Jessie moment. She also usually is full of energy around friends.

There is definitely lot's of food at Ohana!

Hiya

Just came across and read the entire TR! I am in my office oooh-ing and ahhh-ing to myself!

Your daughter is precious, and has a knack for finding all the characters...may we borrow her in a few weeks?

Your TR is great - thanks for sharing! I cant wait for more!

Hi and welcome aboard!

Thank you, she definitely does have her eyes peeled for characters at all times when we are in Disney. On our recent trip we actually came across Alice and the White Rabbit riding on the tea cups and my daughter mistakenly thought that they will do that every ride. She stood there saying she wanted to wait for the rabbit to ride it with her. We had to do some explaining on that one.

I am sure she would love to help you find characters since she is continually asking to go to Disney. She may not want you in any of her pictures though as she usually wants them all for herself! And my husband and I may need to smuggle ourselves along too if it means being there for Food & Wine time! Yum!

Thanks so much for reading along!

 

[lbuzz52]

i completely agree- the best part of Ohana's is dessert!

 

[MEK]

What a fun day! I love all your pictures, but I especially love the one of the three girls! That's cute!

So glad you enjoyed Ohana. It is one of the best meals there!!!!

Great update!

 

[shan23877]

Followed you over from my TR and trying to catch up. Your DD is so stinking ADORABLE! Since my DD is also a character stalker, I can totally relate.
P.S. Check out the pic of my DD and Belle in the beginning of my TR for another inappropriate photo!

 

[SoonerGirl]

What a perfect day! I love that you were able to share it with your good friends

 

[RachelNinja]

Isn't it such a different experience being able to ride a fun ride with a friend? I grew up riding it with my dad only, and though it was fun, we were quiet on the line and such so it was a bit too somber for me, haha. Then Matt started riding it, but I think that trip, I didn't ride because I had a headache. Now Howard will be there during every trip! The trip with my cousins was the greatest because it was an entirely different experience!

Such cute family photos! Your DD's smile is precious!

I love that little spot where you waited on Main Street. It looks like such a peaceful spot to relax and take a breather (or even enjoy a snack!). Is it on one of those "side" streets?

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

What an amazing park day! Probably one of the best I've read about it a while. First of all, you got to go on grown up rides with....a grown up! So fun to go with your best friend.

I think it's sweet that your daughter loves to dance to the parades. Dylan will do that when he thinks we aren't looking, but if we pay too much attention, he will stop. Then he starts again when we aren't looking.

Then, to finish off with Ohanas! We finally got to try it on our last trip, and it will now be a MUST DO for all future trips. The food was so amazing, and I know exactly what you mean about that dessert. Yum!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Awwww... that's great you got to ride a few rides with your friend this trip. And then get to show them Toontown one last time. The pictures of your daughter trying to open the door to the barn. Adorable

Oh wow! I never noticed Stitch had a goatee of sorts. That's pretty funny So many things about experiment 626 that we don't know... And your daughter looks so cute with him, he's a lot shorter than most characters and just fits well with her

Oh, I love your Photopass, you guys look great as a family and I love the Minnie photo! How ironic you all ended up in Minnie shirts. If only your husband and your friend's fiance were wearing Mickey shirts

You guys definitely seem to enjoy the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Parade. Your daughter really gets into it and looks so sweet. Imagine if she had been wearing her Jessie outfit for the parade, I'm guessing Jessie would've gone right for her

Awesome to hear you had a nice meal at 'Ohana! It's so cute, the pictures of your daughter just walking right under the limbo stick. She is such a ham And that's awesome they played Wishes music while you were there. A great way to end your day

Can't wait to read more!

 

[LilAnn]

i completely agree- the best part of Ohana's is dessert!

Yes, that banana bread pudding is divine. So gooooood!

What a fun day! I love all your pictures, but I especially love the one of the three girls! That's cute!

So glad you enjoyed Ohana. It is one of the best meals there!!!!

Great update!

Yes, I love the PP pics too! That particular location proved to be a good spot for us. We got some great ones there.

Yes, we always enjoy Ohana. I feel like there is a little bit of everything so depending on what I am in the mood for, I'm all set no matter what!

Followed you over from my TR and trying to catch up. Your DD is so stinking ADORABLE! Since my DD is also a character stalker, I can totally relate.
P.S. Check out the pic of my DD and Belle in the beginning of my TR for another inappropriate photo!

Aw, thanks! And welcome to my TR! Yes, I figured that you would totally relate to my type of trip - that's why I subbed in to yours. Your title alone is our motto when touring the World.

By the way - I totally saw that Belle inappropriate pic earlier and didn't say anything (but I was dying inside).

What a perfect day! I love that you were able to share it with your good friends

Thanks Michelle! Good friends always make any day brighter, don't you think? We had one more day with them before they had to fly out.

Isn't it such a different experience being able to ride a fun ride with a friend? I grew up riding it with my dad only, and though it was fun, we were quiet on the line and such so it was a bit too somber for me, haha. Then Matt started riding it, but I think that trip, I didn't ride because I had a headache. Now Howard will be there during every trip! The trip with my cousins was the greatest because it was an entirely different experience!

Such cute family photos! Your DD's smile is precious!

I love that little spot where you waited on Main Street. It looks like such a peaceful spot to relax and take a breather (or even enjoy a snack!). Is it on one of those "side" streets?

Oh my gosh - I love when I take Disney trips with a friend! I love how chessy and goofy we get together. I bet your cousins trip was such a fun one, can't wait to read more of that one....

I love my daughter's smile - you can totally tell when she is truly happy! Which is most of the time at Disney!

That spot was on a "side street," you're right! I always feel like people rarely explore those areas. I just love all the details in Disney.

What an amazing park day! Probably one of the best I've read about it a while. First of all, you got to go on grown up rides with....a grown up! So fun to go with your best friend.

I think it's sweet that your daughter loves to dance to the parades. Dylan will do that when he thinks we aren't looking, but if we pay too much attention, he will stop. Then he starts again when we aren't looking.

Then, to finish off with Ohanas! We finally got to try it on our last trip, and it will now be a MUST DO for all future trips. The food was so amazing, and I know exactly what you mean about that dessert. Yum!

Right? Isn't it fun to go on a grown-up ride with a grown-up after only doing kiddie rides with a toddler? I got to do more this past trip in August when we went with more family and hit up Universal/Harry Potter. Lot's of big people rides there and I was the "go-to" roller coaster adult.

Oh, she totally gets so excited for the parades! The dancing only happened because she had so much room to move around. Usually, if we are right up front, she is just standing there waving like a lunatic.

I'm glad you enjoyed Ohana's! It gets mixed reviews, but we love it. Sooooo much food and seriously, that dessert!

Awwww... that's great you got to ride a few rides with your friend this trip. And then get to show them Toontown one last time. The pictures of your daughter trying to open the door to the barn. Adorable

Oh wow! I never noticed Stitch had a goatee of sorts. That's pretty funny So many things about experiment 626 that we don't know... And your daughter looks so cute with him, he's a lot shorter than most characters and just fits well with her

Oh, I love your Photopass, you guys look great as a family and I love the Minnie photo! How ironic you all ended up in Minnie shirts. If only your husband and your friend's fiance were wearing Mickey shirts

You guys definitely seem to enjoy the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Parade. Your daughter really gets into it and looks so sweet. Imagine if she had been wearing her Jessie outfit for the parade, I'm guessing Jessie would've gone right for her

Awesome to hear you had a nice meal at 'Ohana! It's so cute, the pictures of your daughter just walking right under the limbo stick. She is such a ham And that's awesome they played Wishes music while you were there. A great way to end your day

Can't wait to read more!

Yes, I have taken a few trips to Disney with another good friend before - and those are always fun. Friend trips. You can be zany and kooky and act like a kid and just enjoy yourself on all the rides.

oh my gosh - right? About the goatee? I never noticed it until I wrote this update! I was like - what? When did he have that? I'll have to look up some pics form the movie.

I know, about the parade. I do wish she had kept her outfit on for the parade, but she was getting warm and spilling things on it. It would have been cute to see though!

I totally love Wishes! It's my favorite nighttime "show." Thanks for reading along!

 

[LilAnn]

Sorry for the delays between updates, but time is just flying by! I can't believe fall is here, although the weather outside is definitely reminding me lately. At least I have a quick little update ready.

Thursday morning we woke up to a brisk, cool day. It’s a good thing we came from colder climates because the coats and layers sure did come in handy. However, that is definitely not what we had in mind when we planned a vacation to Florida. At least it wasn’t snowing, that’s good, right?

So we got ourselves all bundled up and headed out to the car. We were headed to Epcot this morning and our friends were meeting us there once they got packed. Due to all the different changes in the travel plans, they had to cut their trip a little shorter than originally planned and were leaving to the airport later in the day. They still wanted to hit up another Disney park with us before they left and chose Epcot as the park.

We got to the park first, so we headed over to the Land to get breakfast. However, we got a little sidetracked at Innoventions. A little piggy had gotten our attention. We decided to give the Great Piggy Bank Adventure a whirl.

For those of you who haven’t done this little game before, the object is to learn about financial planning through little tasks, and you get to carry around an actual piggy bank! There are a couple of different goals that you can aim for, and I think our little girl picked the extreme bedroom makeover as her savings goal. We ended up doing the game in two teams, me with our little girl, and my husband decided to go it alone. Here is our little girl putting our piggy bank into the first stop.

After the piggy went “inside the video screen,” we got to play our first videogame. Basically our goal was to try to direct as much money as possibly into savings, while trying to avoid the “Big, Bad Wolf” and his sneaky tricks of switching buckets on you. The coins fall from the top of the screen and you bounce them into different labeled buckets – savings, outfits, mp3’s, etc. Once the game is done, the piggy bank pops out on the other end of the conveyor belt “filled” a bit more with the coins that you have saved. Here she is waiting for him to come out.

Here is Daddy with his piggy bank.

And our piggy bank is finally out!

Then it was on to the next stop. In goes our piggy bank!

This next video game shows our piggy bank in a hot air balloon that we have to steer around and collect coins. Once again, the wolf pops up and tries to work against us by shrinking our coins with his machine (an inflation game). When the game is finished, the coins we collected from this game are added to our piggy bank and you can grab your piggy bank before moving to the next station.

The last stop was my personal favorite, and I think my little girl like this one too. In this game, we had to hide the coins all around the bedroom before the wolf sneaks in and tries to steal it all. The money that he doesn’t find increases in value based on the multiplier for that location. He comes in a few times and then whatever is left, goes into the piggy bank.

Then you take the piggy bank to the last station for the final weigh-in and to see if you accomplished your savings goal. Here are our two piggy banks before they get weighed.

I am happy to report that we succeeded in saving enough money for the extreme bedroom makeover (it was also the easiest option). Our little girl got a sticker so she was happy.

We then continued on our way to the Land. We love eating at Sunshine Seasons so that was our intended stop. I think we just grabbed a breakfast platter and maybe some pastries. While we were eating, we got the phone call that our friends were at the entrance and would meet us in the Land. When we were all together, we grabbed FP for Soarin’ for all the adults before hopping on Living with the Land. I always enjoy seeing everything growing in the greenhouse. The FP return time actually wasn’t that far away, so Auntie Nini and I hopped on Soarin’ first then the boys went on the ride. When the boys were on the ride, us girls hopped back over to Innoventions.

Apparently we needed to try the Piggy Bank game one more time.

After that little diversion, we headed over to the Seas with Nemo.

We climbed into our clamshells and went off looking for Nemo. While we in the area, we also popped into the next Turtle Talk with Crush. I absolutely love this show! I love how it’s always different and sometimes the crowd interaction is just as hilarious. I don’t remember exactly what was said, but I do know that as we walked out of the show, our little girl was going “dude!” to everything.

We walked around the pavilion a bit and did some exploring before heading out.

Our little girl could just stare at fish tanks and aquariums for hours. I think it was also feeding time for the manatees on the upper level. I don’t know how I missed some of these presentations before – like the diver one. Maybe because we are always on the hunt for characters instead.

Then it was back to Innoventions – shocker. However it wasn’t to see the Piggy banks again.

We were going to make paper! I have been wanting to do this ever since I saw this on one of Tink’s TRs and we finally found it!

Stamping the finished product!

By this point, we decided to head out to the World Showcase and get some snacks. I mean, who doesn’t like to snack around the World?
​

 

[dawnbu40]

Sounds like you had a lot of fun at Epcot! I've never heard of the papermaking before but we usually ending missing the Innoventions buildings.

Can't wait to read what yummy snacks you found around world showcase!

 

[MEK]

I have to say that this is the first time I've heard of the Piggy Bank game. That is very cute and so is the actual bank.

Great morning so far in Epcot! Love Sunshine Seasons!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I've always wanted to do the paper-making station! Do you get to keep the paper after you're done?

 

[IheartDDuck]

Honestly, I have never done the Piggybank Adventure. Looks like a lot of fun.

I know, it was cold during that part of the week! Honestly not the Disney vacation I had in mind.

Honestly, I think my favorite part of Turtle Talk is the fact that little ones come out of there saying Dude to everyone. Who am I kidding? I come out of there saying Dude to everyone...

 

[tinkgurl]

I just wanted to say hi real quick! I'm sorry I've been behind..been busy with school and work!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Even my big boys had fun with the Piggy Bank Adventure, the last section was our favorite too

We haven't ever done the make your own paper thing though - that looks pretty cool!

 

[LilAnn]

Sounds like you had a lot of fun at Epcot! I've never heard of the papermaking before but we usually ending missing the Innoventions buildings.

Can't wait to read what yummy snacks you found around world showcase!

We used to skip the Innoventions buildings before our little one, but since her arrival on the scene, we have found it to be pretty entertaining. And a good respite from the heat!

I confess that since it's been so long, I may have forgotten some of the snacks and I definitely didn't get a bunch of food pics. Bad Diser, I know.

I have to say that this is the first time I've heard of the Piggy Bank game. That is very cute and so is the actual bank.

Great morning so far in Epcot! Love Sunshine Seasons!

I have to say that we have noticed so much more within the parks now that we have a little one. I do think the Piggy Bank Adventure is relatively new - maybe within the last year or so? The bank was super cute and fun to carry around.

We love Sunshine Seasons too!

I've always wanted to do the paper-making station! Do you get to keep the paper after you're done?

Yes, you do get to keep the paper! It's pretty neat, but I probably would never have known about it if it weren't for the Dis.

Honestly, I have never done the Piggybank Adventure. Looks like a lot of fun.

I know, it was cold during that part of the week! Honestly not the Disney vacation I had in mind.

Honestly, I think my favorite part of Turtle Talk is the fact that little ones come out of there saying Dude to everyone. Who am I kidding? I come out of there saying Dude to everyone...

I'm telling you, the parks are a whole different ballgame with a little one. You spot some crazy things.

Seriously, it wasn't the blizzard weather we were missing, but it sure was colder than we were used to with Florida weather. Not what we had in mind, either.

Dude, I totally agree. Either Dude or Totally Awesome Dude.

I just wanted to say hi real quick! I'm sorry I've been behind..been busy with school and work!

Hi Tink! I miss ya! I don't think you missed too much though, I've been a bit busy (our little gal turns 4 soon!) You'll see when you read the last update that I gave a shout-out to you.

Even my big boys had fun with the Piggy Bank Adventure, the last section was our favorite too

We haven't ever done the make your own paper thing though - that looks pretty cool!

I found the last section in the game to be fun too. I found it neat to make our own paper. Not as cool as swimming with dolphins though. Some day......

 

[LilAnn]

Now that we had explored a bit of Innoventions, our tummies were a bit rumbly. What better place to get some snacks than the World Showcase?

Now I have to admit that once again, I am woefully scarce on some photos for this particular portion. I am pretty sure that part of that had to do with the fact that it was still pretty chilly out and I was trying to keep my hands warm. So I apologize for that little fact. There are a few more photos towards the end of the update, because of course characters will be involved.

Before we officially started off on our World trek, we had to stop and say hi to a certain Disney Bear. Can you see how cold I am? I had opted not to wear my coat that morning (not a good idea). I was being stubborn and was refusing to wear a coat while I was in Florida.

Duffy gets a nice big bear hug from our little girl.

You know that she is always happy to see her “friends.”

Then we said good-bye to Duffy and picked out our first country to visit. We started off in Mexico so that Auntie Nini could get her “must-do” ride in (she is part Mexican). We sailed off in our boat in search of Senor Donald with the Three Caballeros. Our little one enjoyed the ride since there are some similarities to the Small World boat ride.

Then we hopped next door to Norway and went on the Maelstrom. Uncle G had never been on this little boat ride, so we were excited to see his reaction to the “unexpected” parts of the ride. Our little girl survived her adventures through the scary Norwegian parts, mostly because there were more people to help distract her in the dark.

After Norway, we did some fast walking. We were ready for lunch and our time was coming to an end soon with our friends. Uncle G had a flight to catch that afternoon. Sadly, we didn’t get a chance to meander and wander around each and every country, but instead we did a quick walk around the world. For lunch we decided on Morocco’s Tangerine Café. My husband and I really enjoy that counter service and this would be a new experience for our friends. I pretty much polished off the baklava that came with our meals by myself because everyone else was saving room for dessert in the next country.

We were headed to ….

France where we got to watch the waiters doing their fantastic little performance. That was good timing because us ladies got to watch this….

while we waited in line to meet a certain white kitty cat. The guys had headed off to the Boulangerie for some goodies. I think my husband was going to get his favorite treat, the Napolean, for himself and a chocolate chip cookie for our daughter.

You can see it was still quite cold out as the coat has come out for our little girl.

Always watching them sign their names.

Then it was time for her huggie

and a wave good-bye.

We then waited on the benches for the guys to come back with the treats. We also paused to take some PP pictures. First one of the happy couple….

wait a second, did you guys get a good look at the background of that picture? Here is a closer look…..

and a more closely cropped picture…..

Did you see us in the background? My husband and I were totally cheesing for that photo. Our friends had no idea that we were back there.

See us?

I could not wait to see the picture later on and Auntie Nini about died laughing when she saw it. Since we are all “family,” they totally loved it.

Then it was time for another girl photo.

And once again, daddy snuck into the picture.

By the way, that was his favorite thing to do this trip. Whenever he would see the brazilian tour groups posing for a picture, he would try to get in the background of those pictures. Such a goofball.

Then our little girl wanted a picture with her Auntie Nini and Uncle G.

We were up next.

Phew. Once our mini photo shoot was done, we finished up our trek around the world and made our way back to Future World.

In the UK, we came across a cute little game of hopscotch. I love that the cast members will sometimes scatter these little touches of fun throughout the parks. Our little girl hopped out of the stroller and skipped her way through the game.

In Canada, we found that we had the perfect numbers for one other photo op. Who doesn’t pose for a photo here?

Then our little princess posed with us for a family photo. All I can say is, she is so much like her daddy!

Seriously? What’s with the poses? Why am I the only goober looking straight-on at the camera?

We were going to have to part ways soon and decided we would leave the park at the same time. Our little girl sat in the stroller and munched on her chocolate chip cookie. She was in her own happy little place at this point so it took a little bit longer for her to notice the next scary little moment.

So, has anyone noticed the seagulls at Epcot lately? Actually it may have just been in February, because we didn’t have an issue in August. Those seagulls were on a mission in the winter! They were stalking people, hovering and then dive bombing them for the food1 We had seen some teenage girls screaming and running from them earlier in the day and just thought they were just overreacting. But when they targeted us, we weren’t laughing anymore. I think they were after my daughter’s cookie, so we kept telling her to eat it or try to cover it up. We were just as bad as the girls we saw earlier, running around erratically and screaming (ok, just us girls may have been the ones screaming). Once we crossed over into Future World, the seagulls had retreated. Seriously? What was that all about? Scary seagulls.

We pulled ourselves together and got composed so we could take one last group shot.

At this point, I think we had about an hour left before our friends had to leave, so we decided to head back over to Innoventions. We had hit up the major attractions on their list, so we decided to stay warm indoors.

Next: another meet n’ greet (of course)
​

 

[dawnbu40]

Sounds like a fun afternoon, well except for the seagulls.

I love all the poses your little one comes up with. She is such a cutie

That is about the coolest hopscotch ever!

 

[JessicaFaye508]

I have never really explored Innoventions, but I sort of want to! It seems like there's a lot of fun things to do in there... the piggy bank activity seems cute and it would be fun to make some paper! Maybe if I have time next trip I can stop in there.
I'm so sorry it was cold Ugh I'm going in December, so I'm praying that it won't be freezing. But who knows, really.
Haha the pictures with you guys in the background are really funny
It sounds like you got to do a lot before your friends left! So that's fun!
And sorry about the seagulls.... They loved to swarm around us in January and February so I completely understand how you felt
Thanks for updating! I can't wait to read more!