She's a big sister and an expedition leader: A party of 8 with a 9 month old September 2016 TR

[pezgirlroy]

This report is so much fun for me to read as we are going in January with a at that point 6 year old and 10 month old. I have been a bit nervous about the 10 month old but looks like Marshall is doing great. Question for you: did you rent the stroller? If so was Marshall comfortable in it? I think we will have to do that. Also I love his "shoes". Do you remember where you got them? would love to find a girl version of them.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

This BBB photos are just darling as is Allie's dress. Do you think she'll want to do it next year? Speaking of dressing up, what will she go as for Halloween? It's nice they have the photographer there to take some photos in a separate room. Have they always had this?

Some of you had lots of fun on 7DMT, but Allie and Grampa, maybe not so much? It's interesting how the girl in front of Melissa is dressed as Alice in Wonderland.

Allie says she wants to do BBB next time, and I bet she will. As she gets older it is more about the hair than the dress, but I'm sure she'll find something in the next year or so. They have always done the photo shoot thing since we've been doing BBB, but since it is across the walkway kind of in the gift shop I think a lot of people don't wind up doing it. It is really nice to have access to the PhotoPass pics from it, because they do tend to do a nice job.

Grandpa said he liked 7DMT because it was so smooth. Allie wants nothing to do with it. Oh well, we are proud of her for trying it. Good eyes catching the Alice Dress. It is fun to see the other people in pictures, you never know what you are going to find.

For Halloween this year Allie decided to be a Police Officer. We are getting stuff together for her costume and it should be really cute and realistic. We will definitely post pictures of it here. Marshall on the other hand is going to be Mickey Mouse for his first Halloween, since we found a costume at the Disney Store and we figured it would be appropriate.

This report is so much fun for me to read as we are going in January with a at that point 6 year old and 10 month old. I have been a bit nervous about the 10 month old but looks like Marshall is doing great. Question for you: did you rent the stroller? If so was Marshall comfortable in it? I think we will have to do that. Also I love his "shoes". Do you remember where you got them? would love to find a girl version of them.

Welcome, we're glad that you are enjoying the report. Hopefully we get it wrapped up before your trip, but we'll see... Either way it should help pass the time before you go. Where are you staying?

We bought the stroller, a Baby Jogger City Mini Double. We were able to bring it with us for free even though we were flying because it is a stroller, even though it was oversize. We put a DME tag on it and it was delivered to our room with our other luggage. This meant we didn't have it at the airport, but it was nice to not have to deal with it. Marshall likes it, and Allie does too. With the seats that recline and a good rain cover it was a comfy hideout for them. She is still just under 40 lbs, and enjoys riding in it. She was so excited when we bought it. It wasn't bad to push around WDW, since it is narrow enough for most doors. I really love how it folds too, and even on the buses it wasn't too bad to carry. If you rent a double stroller we recommend the City Mini, and lots of places rent them for WDW.

For sure the City Mini but buying one used at home was cheaper than the rental for the week at Disneyworld and we get to use it at home too.

The other tactic we used with Marshall was the baby carrier. It was essential to our touring plan with him. I splurged and bought a Tula Coast carrier for the trip. It's mesh and breathable. It was perfect for the warm humid weather and has been great at home too. It gets a ton of use.

His shoes are from Zulily, they often have cute mocs on there although I haven't noticed girly Disney ones. I'm pretty sure Robeez has a line of Disney mocs though.

Overall he did very well on the trip, especially considering it was his first time in a Disney park. He is really easy going though, which helped a bunch.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

After we finished eating lunch, we explored all the rooms in Beast's castle before heading out. We had about 45 minutes until our fastpass window opened for Enchanted Tales with Belle, and everybody had things they wanted to do in MK before we headed over to Epcot. John and Brandy wanted to see Haunted Mansion, but Allie didn't want to ride it. We wound up splitting up, with Grandpa, John , and Brandy heading to Haunted Mansion while Allie, Melissa, Marshall and I went over to the Tomorrowland Motor Speedway, which interested Allie much more. Grandma hung out in the general area and shopped near Beast's castle.




As they got off the Speedway we started to get some precipitation. Not heavy rain but we were getting wet.


It was our first rain of the trip, and was just a hint of what was to come.

We collected everyone though, covered the stroller, and went to our date with Belle.

Allie loves the Story Time with Belle show and she was really looking forward to it.

We waited under the covered Fastpass entrance to Maurice's workshop and got in very quickly. Grandpa Jim was again picked to be a guard (must be the haircut) and Allie was excited to be Mrs. Potts.


I think it's his superior marching skills. Allie was excited to be Mrs. Potts.




After we relived Belles story we ventured out of the park. We meandered down Mainstreet and did some shopping. I didn't buy ears even though I still like them. The purple and green ones are my favorite. I've looked at them for years and still haven't bought them.


The rain had stopped and it was still a very nice day. It was fun to spend some time shopping on Main Street, which we hadn't really gotten to do yet. Then we headed out and hopped on the Express Monorail again.

We were apparently very excited to be on our way to Epcot.




Marshall needed to be fed and it was pretty hot and humid so we set out to find the baby care center while everyone else rode Spaceship Earth and visited the art store.

Once we got to Epcot Allie wanted to ride Spaceship Earth so she could check out "her lab" where the lady with the boots works. It is one of her favorite parts.


After Spaceship Earth we walked through the art store. It is one of our favorites, and I knew Melissa wanted to see it, but I knew we'd be back. Allie liked a Villans painting that matched her MagicBand.


The baby care center at Epcot is located between Future World and World Showcase on the Mexico side if that makes sense. It was a nice cool place to nurse and chill out. Marshall ended up falling asleep so I let him snooze until everyone else was on their way around to World Showcase.

We met up as we headed to World Showcase and then checked out Mexico. We rode the boat ride while Melissa shopped with Marshall. John bought some Mexican candies and snacks that he remembered and liked.

Then we finished the short walk to Norway and met up with Grandma. We got checked in and Allie's mood began to worsen.


There is some odd magnetic power with Akershus and Allison. The closer we get to the building the worse she gets.

We used to blame it on her being tired from visiting a water park earlier in the day, and this time adjusted our schedule to avoid that. It didn't seem to work. She flat out refused to have her picture taken with Belle, so the rest of us got a nice group shot while she stood in the corner.




She was being a pretty big brat and we weren't having any of it. We just let her have her bad attitude and refused to let it bother anywone else. Luckily John and Brandy are good close friends or her behavior would have been pretty darned embarrassing.

Once we got to the table she turned her anger on me, refusing to sit next to me out of fear I'd bump into her. This is after she had her choice of seats. We just continued on and ignored the tantrum, which was brought to a quick end when Aurora started paying attention to Marshall. SHe chatted with Allie and flipped her mood like a switch.






Marshall LOVED the attention from the princesses. He's quite a flirt and ladies man.

Cinderella stole the show when she kissed Marshall's forehead leaving lipstick. He loved it, just like all of us. It was the highlight of the meal, and one of the highlights of the trip.






Our favorite hostess even mentioned the kiss when she walked by. (She has been at Akershus every time we have been there, and has seen Allie at her very worst. She is great though, and always is friendly.)





The food was great too. I got the meatballs and enjoyed lots of cheeses from the buffet. Then we all enjoyed each of the three desserts.

They had changed the menu a bit from last time we were there and the short ribs weren't on the menu anymore. However the Braised Beef is essentially the same thing and was very delicious. I love the desserts here too. The rice pudding is my favorite.

As we finished dinner, we noticed that it was pouring outside. Brandy's weather app showed a huge storm cell right over Epcot, and despite eating our dessert very slowly eventually we had to head out into it.

It was crazy rain, some of the hardest we've ever had at Disneyworld.

I went out and got the stroller, then we tucked the kids in under the cover. We put on rain jackets and after a brief pause to get ready to brave the weather in the Norway dump shop, we headed out to continue our circle. Grandma Nanacy headed back to the hotel, while the rest of us stayed out in the rain. It was pouring, so we ducked in to the shop in China to escape the rain for a bit.

The shop in China was pretty full, but we were able to walk through it and stay out of the downpour. Melissa made friends with some kids playing with toys while we found a spot just outside (so it was warmer than the air conditioned store) but still covered from the rain.

We had all kinds of fun playing with the little animal figurines. They were cute kids. Eventually we all got tired of being in China so we decided to hop to the next country. I had bought a new rain jacket for the trip and well it turns out it isn't waterproof, like at all. So I got pretty darned soaked.

My rain jacket worked, but the puddles were really deep so my shoes were soaked. The rain had let up to just regular rain levels, and it wasn't super cold so we just walked in it. We stopped in Germany, Italy, and then Japan.

Japan is one of my favorite pavillions and I love shopping in the store. I picked up some things for Allies school lunches and a couple other things while we were there. Somewhere along the way as we were walking between the countries we had to kind of wade through a puddle and a kid was trying to kick water up on her mom and she hit me instead. Her mom started to yell at her but I just kicked water back and we got in a huge ole splash fight right there in the middle of the walkway.

It was really cute, they were all playing like a bunch of little kids, and again one of them happened to be my wife. After our shopping in Japan (we love that big store) we continued on to Morocco. The rain picked up again, and a maintenance lady gave Melissa a trash bag to cover her and Marshall. They announced that Illuminations would be delayed due to the weather, but should still happen. We continued on around and found a nice place almost to Canada where we had a waterfront view.

We didn't know how long Illuminations would be delayed, but they kept announcing that it was delayed, and not cancelled, so we waited it out. The rain lightened up again, so it wasn't a miserable wait. Finally at about 9:45 the show started.


It was still an impressive show as always and we had front row seats. The park was pretty cleared out by the time it was over but I feared that the busses would be down right freezing after being soaked so we went over to Mouse Gear to pick up a couple beach towels so I'd have something dry to wrap up the kids in.


John, Brandy, and Grandpa headed over to take advantage of the lack of crowd and ride Soarin, but we took the chance to shop a bit and dry off.

We took advantage of the lack of crowd in the store and bought Marshall a set of WDW mouse ears.


After we were done shopping we meandered out of the park and out to the bus stop.


As we were waiting a group of familier faces came up.

It was the guys from Soarin. We had arrived at the bus stop about 10:35, and the bus came at 10:44. Then it was a super quick trip to WL, where we got off the bus at 10:55.

On our way up to the room Allie was bouncing around and then tripped right in front of our door, landing right in front of the stroller. We paused for a second and then she giggled "I'm OK" in her tired silly state. At least she was in her happy mood. Then we went in the room and saw the castle just before another fireworks show.


While we were getting ready for bed we got to watch the delayed Hallowishes fireworks. It was probably the best fireworks show of the trip and a great way to end a long wet day.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Thanks for the advice on the stroller. I had heard good things from apple (I believe) rentals and will go with the double. We are staying at Beach Club Villa (rented dvc points) and were able to get a one bedroom. The idea of being able to close a door and have the kids on the other side just sounded so nice. I have an Ergo and right now at 6 months she hates it. I think I need to find something forward facing.

 

[dnllmz]

Swoon! Your son with the princesses is soooo cute! I love the splash fight story.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Thanks for the advice on the stroller. I had heard good things from apple (I believe) rentals and will go with the double. We are staying at Beach Club Villa (rented dvc points) and were able to get a one bedroom. The idea of being able to close a door and have the kids on the other side just sounded so nice. I have an Ergo and right now at 6 months she hates it. I think I need to find something forward facing.

No problem. There's a reason you see so many city mini doubles there, it works really nicely. Beach Club should be excellent, and the Villa with the extra space and separate room will be great. It is also cool to be able to walk to Epcot or DHS, and there's Stormaling Bay too. Fun!

Good luck with the carrier search. We went through a few with our first, but every kid has their own preferences.

Swoon! Your son with the princesses is soooo cute! I love the splash fight story.

Thanks. He genuinely enjoyed the attention from the Princesses (who wouldn't?). It was fun making the best of a wet night at Epcot, and it was cool that everyone was having fun. It's not like we were trying to stay dry...

 

[Wood Nymph]

It is nice that Tomorrowland Speedway usually doesn't have a long wait. It is always fun for the kids to drive the cars. They usually need help with the gas pedal, though.

She flat out refused to have her picture taken with Belle, so the rest of us got a nice group shot while she stood in the corner.

That picture turned out really nice.

SHe chatted with Allie and flipped her mood like a switch.

Our granddaughter was having a huge meltdown before our dinner reservation at 1900 Park Faire - and Cinderella was able to pull her out of the bad mood. We were very grateful.

Cinderella stole the show when she kissed Marshall's forehead leaving lipstick. He loved it, just like all of us. It was the highlight of the meal, and one of the highlights of the trip.

All those pictures with Marshall and the princesses are adorable. I bet it will be one of your best memories from this trip. Your story reminds me of the time we ate at Chef Mickey's when one of our daughters was eight months old and Minnie Mouse made a big deal of her. It is still one of my favorite memories.

It was crazy rain, some of the hardest we've ever had at Disneyworld.

It's tough when that heavy rain falls. There is almost no way to avoid getting drenched. It sounds like you made the best of it, though.

After we were done shopping we meandered out of the park and out to the bus stop.

You look wet but Marshall doesn't seem to care at all whether it is raining or not.

While we were getting ready for bed we got to watch the delayed Hallowishes fireworks. It was probably the best fireworks show of the trip and a great way to end a long wet day.

That is a gorgeous picture. I am hoping that we get a good view like that when we are at the WL in March.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

It is nice that Tomorrowland Speedway usually doesn't have a long wait. It is always fun for the kids to drive the cars. They usually need help with the gas pedal, though.

Yeah, that was my job. We had fun and it was nice the rain waited until we were done.

Our granddaughter was having a huge meltdown before our dinner reservation at 1900 Park Faire - and Cinderella was able to pull her out of the bad mood. We were very grateful.

All those pictures with Marshall and the princesses are adorable. I bet it will be one of your best memories from this trip. Your story reminds me of the time we ate at Chef Mickey's when one of our daughters was eight months old and Minnie Mouse made a big deal of her. It is still one of my favorite memories.

Marshall having fun with the princesses is just what we needed to get over Allie's mood. It was a special memory and made for some iconic pictures. I think he was definitely enjoying himself.

It is so neat when character meals go beyond the usual and become moments you really remember forever. It makes it totally worth the money.

It's tough when that heavy rain falls. There is almost no way to avoid getting drenched. It sounds like you made the best of it, though.

You look wet but Marshall doesn't seem to care at all whether it is raining or not.

We haven't ever been caught out in that much rain before, but it was fine. We all had fun. When they were in the stroller the kids stayed nice and dry.

That is a gorgeous picture. I am hoping that we get a good view like that when we are at the WL in March.

We loved the view, way more than we expected to. It was our favorite location yet at WL. Most of those rooms have nice views, but ours was perfect. Hopefully you do as well, and we will try for it again with our bounce back. More on that to come...

 

[ArielSRL]

OMG...love the Akershus photos! Marshall really was such a flirt and I love, love the lipstick print! Allie looks so cute in the photos, as well. Seems like the meltdown didn't last too long...WDW is such a good distraction for that! My boys did very well. We had a slight one on arrival day at about 9pm when we were just finally grabbing dinner, but that was quickly resolved with a ride on the Speedway!

Sorry about the rain but it sounds like you guys did well with it. And you got that front spot for Illuminations...how great!

Glad the guys got to take advantage of the small after storm crowd for a quick Soarin ride.

Oh and Hallowishes from the room...wonderful!

 

[Grandpa Jim]

Cinderella kissing Marshall was my favorite character interaction ever. The lipstick was perfect. He really does enjoy the ladies. The attention from the other cast members was great. I marvel at the characters' ability to change Allie's mood so quickly. Never before have I seen her get out of a huff so quickly. More Disney Magic!

 

[WDWKOOK]

YAY! Marshall got his ears!!

I wonder if Allie gets grumpy about Akershus because there's a lot of competition with all those princesses all over the place. She might never want to go back after all the attention Marshall got. But, it seems after she ate a bit and interacted some, her mood improved. Those character meals may not be cheap or have the best food, but the photos are priceless. I think you have the makings of a great Christmas card with that kiss on Marshall's forehead.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

OMG...love the Akershus photos! Marshall really was such a flirt and I love, love the lipstick print! Allie looks so cute in the photos, as well. Seems like the meltdown didn't last too long...WDW is such a good distraction for that! My boys did very well. We had a slight one on arrival day at about 9pm when we were just finally grabbing dinner, but that was quickly resolved with a ride on the Speedway!

Nicely done!

Sorry about the rain but it sounds like you guys did well with it. And you got that front spot for Illuminations...how great!

It was a fun and memorable night. We got over being wet really quickly and then we had a great time.

Glad the guys got to take advantage of the small after storm crowd for a quick Soarin ride.

We would have too, but shopping was fun and the kids were getting tired. We still had a chance to ride Soarin later though.

Oh and Hallowishes from the room...wonderful!

This was a huge surprise, and neater than we expected it to be. We have a new favorite room location.

Cinderella kissing Marshall was my favorite character interaction ever. The lipstick was perfect. He really does enjoy the ladies. The attention from the other cast members was great. I marvel at the characters' ability to change Allie's mood so quickly. Never before have I seen her get out of a huff so quickly. More Disney Magic!

Ahh yes. And that's why we deal with Akershus. Actually we like the food too, but who would have thought taking our boy to a princess meal would be so much fun. I think they were his favorites!

YAY! Marshall got his ears!!

Yes, he needed a set from WDW. We got him DLR ones before he was born, and used them to announce the name to everybody.

I wonder if Allie gets grumpy about Akershus because there's a lot of competition with all those princesses all over the place. She might never want to go back after all the attention Marshall got. But, it seems after she ate a bit and interacted some, her mood improved. Those character meals may not be cheap or have the best food, but the photos are priceless. I think you have the makings of a great Christmas card with that kiss on Marshall's forehead.

Yeah, I don't know what sets her off about going to Akershus. I know she's not a fan of starting with a picture, but who knows. We do enjoy Akershus for the food and great characters, and again it didn't disappoint there. We are thinking we will take a break from it next trip though. Marshall will just have to meet the ladies somewhere else... Allie did cheer right up and had fun, so it was worth the initial struggle.

We should have another update soon, but things have been busy around the house and we haven't gone through the next day of pictures. We'll get them up soon though, and we have another great meal to start off with: Crystal Palace!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

This day was another magical early morning at the Magic Kingdom for us. We had a date with Pooh and the gang for breakfast pre park opening!

I got up up after the 6:15 AM alarm and then I took a shower and went for Mug refills. We put Marshall in bed with Allie to help wake her up.


He is good at annoying his sister out of bed already.

We made it downstairs to the bus stop by 7:30 where we met up with everybody and then got on a bus at 7:34.


John and Brandy were in the middle of updating their phones to the new iOS, brave souls they were doing this on vacation.


We then arrived at MK at 7:40. We got through security and in line just as they started letting people in.


We timed everything perfectly and ended up just walking in and down main street without having to wait at all.


We had a little time before our reservation so we stopped for a group photopass picture.

There were a couple of people ahead of us, and while we waited Allie was sitting in the stroller talking about how she didn't want to get out for a picture. She wasn't throwing a fit or anything, she just said she didn't want to take a picture. The great Photographer must have heard our conversation, and before taking the pictures of the group ahead of us he stopped to talk to Allie.


He pretended to be on the phone with his boss Mickey who really wanted a picture of her. He then offered her her choice of colored PhotoPass cards, that she could keep and hang on to as a gift from his boss.


He then took the pictures of the group ahead of us, and when it was our turn Allie enthusiasticaly posed for the picture.


We were so grateful for this Cast Member's skill and expertise. We got his name (Visitacion) and planned on mentioning the experience to Guest Services. While we didn't get to go by that day, we did send an e-mail when we got home explaining how he really made our morning special.

Allie gets in these weird funks about getting her pictue taken and this was one of them. This photopass guy sure had the magic touch and got a great group shot of all of us.

Then we went on and got some more pictures in front of the Castle.




I had intentionally chosen an 8:15 breakfast time instead of 8:00 to get some extra photo time without crowds, and it worked out great.

Allie had gotten some mosquito bites that were bugging her so while Paul checked in I took Allie over to first aid and got some itch relief gel.

The checkin process was easy and quick, and it was the first time where we had them text us instead of giving us a pager. The text came through right away, and we were headed to our table.


Somehow in putting down the number of kids our party size got reduced by two, so they had a table for six where two were kids instead of the table for eight. We had to wait in front for a couple more minutes while they got another table, but it wasn't too bad. Unfortunatley this would become a trend, and I'm still not sure how to avoid it.

It was a little crazy with the seating, it happened multiple times during the trip.

I guess people with larger parties often change sizes upon arrival. I don't know. Anyway, we had a great table in the corner and soon were helping ourselves to the great breakfast at Crystal Palace. It is my favorite breakfast food that I've had at WDW, with the made to order omelets and the puffed french toast.

I love the unlimited supply of Mickey waffles and other breakfast yumminess.

Of course there are the characters too, and the interaction here is always great. The kids (and adults just love seeing Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore in the morning). We got pictures of each of them, and Marshall was excited.








He even offered Piglet some of his breakfast.


He absolutely LOVED the characters and got so excited when he would see one coming to see him.




The food was great as usual, and this really has become a must-do meal for us. It just has it all, and everybody enjoyed it. We were all stuffed when we made our way out into the park at 9:30, just 30 min after it opened to everybody.

The park was still pretty quiet.

We walked to Peter Pan, but the wait was 45 min so we decided to do Philharmagic instead and walked right in.


Then we headed over to the Haunted Mansion, where we had Fastpasses.


Melissa waited with Allie and Marshall, then we did a baby swap and John and I rode it with her again. Allie is funny about HM, she has ridden it but the ghosts at the end scare her.


She is honestly concerned about them coming home with her.

She hung out and played on Melissa's phone while Marshall took a nap.

After Haunted Mansion we headed over to the Jungle Cruise. We had a little bit of a wait and it was pretty darned hot in line but we passed the time by checking out all the new features of iOS 10 on John's phone. We can be nerds.

This was one of our "divide and conquor" waits in line, as Allie and I were up front with Grandpa while Melissa wound up in back with John, so I was jealous that she learned about the new iOS features before me. We were also coordinating a meet up with Grandma at the same time, but she missed the Jungle Cruise and decided to meet us at Pirates. On the cruise the jokes were the usual, and our guide did well. The Jungle cruise is longer at WDW, and has an inside part that we don't at DL.


Marshall seemed to enjoy the boat ride:


After Jungle Cruise we headed to Pirates, where we were in our FastPass window. We met up with Grandma and all rode together.




Allie's next wish was to ride the Magic Carpets. There was a bit of a wait, and Melissa isn't crazy about them, so Grandpa and I rode with her while everyone else went to the Tiki Room.




Plus the Tiki room is air conditioned. Marshall loved watching the show and it's something we hadn't done at Disneyworld yet. We've seen it a bunch at Disneyland and it's not much different here.

Allie had fun controlling the carpet, then we met back up one more time as we decided Melissa was goign to head back to the hotel with the kids while Grandpa, John, Brandy and I rode Splash Mountain and then checked out renting a pontoon boat.


We said goodbye and headed off to Splash, where our FastPasses saved a bunch of time so the wait was nice and short.




It was a crazy hot day and the kids needed some downtime and Allie had homework to do. We trekked off to the front of the park and to the boat back to the lodge. On the way we stopped for one of those mister fan bottle spray things. That kept Allie busy and non whiney while we waited for a boat.

I underestimated the effort of the double stroller and the backpack and both kids, one whom I had to hold with one hand while folding the stroller with two. The first boat that came was a small one so the stroller had to be folded. I musta looked like I really had my hands full because this really nice lady helped hold Marshall while I got the rest of our crap and Allie on the boat. Then when we got off her husband helped haul the stroller off the boat for me. They were a super nice family with two older boys close in age, I'm sure there were many times when they were little that she wished she had about 8 more arms too.

I'm sorry I wasn't there to help, but fortunately that didn't have to happen again for the rest of the trip, and we were about to have a whole lot of fun.

Read about it in the next update...

 

[ArielSRL]

Love, love, love Crystal Palace breakfast. It is definitely one we do almost every trip, if not every one. Food is great, interaction great! We just love it!

So does HM have a Baby Swap or you guys just did your own since you all had FP? My boys have agreed to try it next trip but we will see if they actually go through with it.

You guys got quite a bit done! Very nice!

I wondered, when you first mentioned Melissa taking both kids back, if she would have any difficulty. With my 2 & 5 yr old, things can be difficult alone. My 5 yr old is very helpful, when he wants to be, but there are some things he can't help with. I do my best to only handle one if I'm alone but sometimes it can't be avoided. I'm glad you ran into some helpful people!

 

[Wood Nymph]

That was nice of those people to help Melissa at the boat. Have you noticed that the nicest people stay at the WL.

I love the pictures of Marshall and the characters. It is so cute when babies get all excited like that.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Love, love, love Crystal Palace breakfast. It is definitely one we do almost every trip, if not every one. Food is great, interaction great! We just love it!

Yes, it is a meal that really does have it all, and is comparatively well priced too. When you add the early park access it is tough to beat.

So does HM have a Baby Swap or you guys just did your own since you all had FP? My boys have agreed to try it next trip but we will see if they actually go through with it.

We assumed it had Rider Swap because it has Fastpasses, but the lady at the entrance didn't give us a ticket or anything, she just said to come back with the rest of the group, which we did, and she sent us through the Fastpass line. At the time we thought she just didn't have any cards ready, but now we realize they don't have them for HM. She was nice though, and it was no problem getting back on with the rest of us, and we did all have Fastpasses for the time we were there, but two of us were riding for a second time.

You guys got quite a bit done! Very nice!

I wondered, when you first mentioned Melissa taking both kids back, if she would have any difficulty. With my 2 & 5 yr old, things can be difficult alone. My 5 yr old is very helpful, when he wants to be, but there are some things he can't help with. I do my best to only handle one if I'm alone but sometimes it can't be avoided. I'm glad you ran into some helpful people!

It was a super productive morning. We often don't ride that much in a full day. I tried to convince Allie to stay with me, but she had homework to do too. We hoped for a big boat where Melissa wouldn't have had to fold the stroller, but with the help from the nice people she didn't have to wait for the bigger boat. The bus was an option too, but definitely would have required stroller folding.

That was nice of those people to help Melissa at the boat. Have you noticed that the nicest people stay at the WL.

I have noticed that. Some of my favorite people love it there!

I love the pictures of Marshall and the characters. It is so cute when babies get all excited like that.

We didn't know what to expect with him and the characters, but he loved them. He's pretty outgoing, and really seemed to think that they were neat and got visibly excited to see them. It makes it totally worth taking him at such a young age.

 

[ArielSRL]

FYI: We are in for WL for June!! Yay!! I cannot wait!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

FYI: We are in for WL for June!! Yay!! I cannot wait!

Yay! That should be great. Our first trip was in June. We are planing our return to WL for August. More on that to come...

By the way, our photos are currently down due to the Photobucket outage. So much for paying for that instead of hosting the images on our own server. The good thing is a lot of people are in the same boat, so hopefully they'll be back up soon.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

After Splash Mountain it was hot and we were ready to head out of the park. We didn't get very wet, but that might have been nice. One of the things us guys wanted to do was rent a pontoon boat, and it seemed like a good time to go for it. With the rentals closed at WL, we decided to head for the Contemporary. Walking would have been quick, but the appeal of air conditioning won out and we walked to the resort monorail instead. When we arrived we stopped at Contempo Cafe for mug refills and a bit of lunch. Then about 2:15 we headed down to the dock.

Allie was hungry when we got back to WL so we grabbed a couple things from Roarin Fork on the way up to the room. She started on homework and Marshall cruised the room. He had fun exploring and didn't get into too much trouble.
In addition to the stuff we picked up at Roaring Fork for lunch we snacked on the stuff that John had bought in Mexico and given us. These little things were particularly yummy.


We went downstairs and found they had pontoon boats available so we signed up and headed out. We rented a pontoon boat on our honeymoon and on our first trip with Allie, but hadn't done it for a few times.


We headed over to WL to get pictures from the water and check out more of the construction.






Then we headed towards Fort Wilderness and the old River Country water park.


Then we continued the lap around discovery island and went back to the North side of WL. We texted Melissa and she went out on the balcony. We got pictures of her and the kids on the balcony from the water.


And I got pictures of them from the balcony.


Marshall got stuck in the nightstand while I was taking pictures and waving.


Then we went across the water bridge, which we all think is very cool.


We circled around by the Poly and Grand Floridian before getting some pics in front of the Magic Kingdom.



Then we went back across the bridge. We hadn't quite been out an hour yet when a lake patrol boat pulled up and made sure that we were from CR. Apparently they decided to split the lake due to the storm coming in so you had to stay on the same side of the water bridge that you rented from. We were glad this happened after we got done exploring. Then we went back to CR and docked the boat.


Brandy generously paid for the rental, and then we caught a Blue flag boat over to WL, arriving back at our resort at 3:30. We went up to the rooms and after Allie finished her homework for the day we got ready to swim.

We all headed down to the pool with Grandpa Jim, but found that it had been closed due to potential lightning. We chatted with some nice lifeguards and I took Allie for a walk around the outside of the pool. Then we went back up to the room to start getting ready for dinner. I ran down to the front desk to pick up some memory cards we ordered from Amazon for John and Brandy, which took like 20 minutes. I took another Lobby pic on my way down:


I then ran upstairs and we met everyone at the boat dock just as they got on a boat for the Contemporary. We all walked together up to the monorail and took it to the Poly.


We got there about 5:40 for our 6:15 dinner reservation, so we had some time to look around the gift shops.


Allie didn't make friends like she did a few years ago, but we had fun and looked at cool stuff. They had a unique Mickey watch with visible gears but a prominent Mickey, but I talked myself out of it.


One of the lobby elevators was broken so we ended up just taking the stairs back up.


By our reservation time we were back upstairs and we waited in the seating area for Ohana.






Soon they called us and took us to a table. We were seated quickly and soon were brought food so that we could begin to enjoy Ohana yumminess.

I did a good job this time pacing myself and didn't eat too incredibly much. My favorites are the dumplings, the noodles, and the shrimp, but it's all delicious.


We actually loved Ohana the last time we ate here, but didn't repeat it last trip because we felt it was just too much food. My favorite was the chicken, and I had a few skewers of it and tried everything else, but managed to save room for dessert.


The desert here is the star of the show. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I love bread pudding and they have one of the best for sure.


I am generally not a huge bread pudding fan but I loved theirs, which probably had something to do with the ice cream, which makes anything better. The brownie cake was really great too. Everyone enjoyed the meal, and it made it on the must do list for next time.

When we left the Poly we hopped on the monorail and went one stop to check out the Grand Floridian. Brandy had never seen it and we wanted to show it to him.


It was impressive since they had a live band playing as we walked into the lobby.




We walked around just a bit and hopped right back on the monorail so we could get back to WL so Allie could have some pool time.

To make the most direct trip back we got off at MK and walked down to the boat dock, where we got on a boat at 8:42.


We were back to WL by 8:54, and as we got to the room Wishes started. Allie watched about 30 seconds of it but then decided she was ready to go to the pool.


Grandpa and I went with her while Melissa and Marshall stayed in the room and enjoyed the rest of the fireworks. At the pool Allie got to see the new kids splash area for the first time. She was a little cautious about it, but did swim in the big pool and really got into riding the big slide. She rode it over and over on her own with a life jacket on. We hung out in the pool until almost 10:00, then hopped int he hot tub fora couple of minutes before it closed. I didn't bring the camera with me, but Allie really had a great time and said she really loved the pool and that it was the best part of the day, and maybe even the trip so far. Then we went upstairs and got ready for bed.

It's crazy how you can spend all this money on flights and park tickets and other activities and the kid's favorite thing to do was swim in the pool.

We went to sleep fairly quickly with the plan being to let Allie sleep in in the morning since we didn't have anywhere we had to be early.
Check out what we did do in the next update.

 

[Wood Nymph]

One of the things us guys wanted to do was rent a pontoon boat, and it seemed like a good time to go for it.

That looks like a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. We've rented the little SeaRaycers for the kids, but the pontoon would be so much nicer.

We headed over to WL to get pictures from the water and check out more of the construction.

I love your pictures. Did you notice how they are letting the trees get very dense and tall at the shore and in the courtyard area. I hope they cut back some of them a little after the construction is finished. I like trees but I also like the view, too.

And I got pictures of them from the balcony.

That's cute.

Marshall got stuck in the nightstand while I was taking pictures and waving.

Babies are so funny. They can't figure out how to back up until they are older.

I took another Lobby pic on my way down

That is a good shot of the closed off balconies. We were there when they put those up. At first they had covered up the windows, too. But when we came back to the lodge later in the day, they had taken down the walls from in front of the windows. That would have been too depressing if they had left them covered up.

They had a unique Mickey watch with visible gears but a prominent Mickey, but I talked myself out of it.

I like the gears but the watch would have been better if they had the silhouette on the left on top of the glass instead of the painted Mickey.

The brownie cake was really great too. Everyone enjoyed the meal, and it made it on the must do list for next time.

I love the gluten free version of the Ohana meal. They give you great chicken wings and an ice cream dessert with berries and chocolate gluten free cookies. Our grandsons were jealous of my dessert until the server wisely brought them some ice cream and brownies too.

When we left the Poly we hopped on the monorail and went one stop to check out the Grand Floridian.

I love the look on Brandy's face. We walked into the lobby of the GF during our visit in October when the orchestra was playing, and it was so beautiful that we had to stop and listen. I can't wait until we stay there for real in about three weeks.

Grandpa and I went with her while Melissa and Marshall stayed in the room and enjoyed the rest of the fireworks. At the pool Allie got to see the new kids splash area for the first time. She was a little cautious about it, but did swim in the big pool and really got into riding the big slide.

The splash area looks like a lot of fun. It also looks like it would be more fun if there were kids to play with. The big slide is a lot of fun for kids, and just about the right size for them, too.

It's crazy how you can spend all this money on flights and park tickets and other activities and the kid's favorite thing to do was swim in the pool.

Our kids always wanted to go swimming. I always tell people that the kids don't really care what you do as long as it includes swimming.

We went to sleep fairly quickly with the plan being to let Allie sleep in in the morning since we didn't have anywhere we had to be early.

I bet Allie enjoyed the late morning.