Trip Report The mistakes that I learned from..Trip back in time..

Friends, I've been thinking,

I need a major distraction, and also, I received too many compliments for my laid back style..
I'm going to continue on the trip report binge and do a comparison of our 2015 trip here. It won't be as long.. I promise. If you want to follow along with my madness, you are welcome. I've had a rough past few days and need something to keep me busy.

So here it goes.. first I should change the title though..
ETA- actually its easier to do in a separate thread.

So here I am....

 

[Ciara]

Following!

 

[mlegerto]

I'm joining in too! So glad that you were able to get back. Sounds like this is going to be an amazing trip, can't wait to hear more!

I prefer the launch, but since it's kiddo's first time, I want him to go to MK on the monorail

He will NEVER forget entering MK for the first time on the monorail. It's like a rite of passage.

Stop for a Mickey Ice Cream first.

O.M.G look at that face! Pure joy!

 

[21stamps]

Next Up, Dumbo.

I told "C" to just go ahead and take T on. I'd sit out I was still trying to secure the 3 of us a FP for Mine Train (Me and T already had one), and I was checking wait times so we could run straight to our next stop after their ride.

I missed riding DUMBO with my son for the first time.
Dumbo, a classic. One I enjoyed so many times, a ride that I looked forward to experiencing with my son on his first visit.

I MISSED IT.
MDE was more important. Mapping out a plan of action was more important. Making sure he did "everything" was more important.
I look back at this moment and just cringe thinking about it.


Now it's time for T's first character meal. We arrived 10 minutes early to our reservation. Waited for 45 minutes before we were seated. This set back was not on my itinerary. I obsessively kept checking MDE, still trying to change a few meal times for tomorrow, still trying to secure a 7DMT FP for C.

We finally got seated! I relax and enjoy the moment. T was loving it!

Never did get a 7DMT FP for C, Me and T went on while she did a little shopping.

We see a Photo Pass photog and stop for a pic...I look like a freaked out zombie.

Speedway....

T's only "castle pic" of the day...
..

Then we decide to take the train from Fantasyland to Frontierland... T wants to play in water first..

 

[21stamps]

My phone was dying.. the wifi was horrible.. I screen shot a few wait times and put my phone on airplane mode, wifi off.

I did take photos, but apparently I have somehow deleted an entire folder out of iCloud. I didn't realize this until yesterday.. pretty upset about it.

So anyway, I'll just have to tell you what happened and use the few photos I have from a FB album. (I'm trying not to cry after realizing what I've done with these photos )

We check Splash Mountain, wait is too long so we skip it.

It's time for the Main Street Electrical Parade!!!

As I said in my 2016 trip report.
T fell asleep. . The entire parade was spent with me and C attempting to wake him up.
Wasn't happening.
He missed the entire thing.

HOWEVER, we CAN'T leave yet. We MUST do Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!!!
Yes, T had been up since 6am.
Yes, we've been going non stop ever since.
Yes, he's 5.
No, I'm still not letting him miss this ride.

I hold him thru the entire line.
We enter onto the ride and take our seat in the front car.

T is still SLEEPING!!!

I'm afraid they're going to kick us off. I shake him, beg him to wake up. We are on a ROLLER COASTER!!

Up the hill we go.
He's still sleeping.
How is he sleeping on a moving ride??
I put my arm around him..why is he sleeping?? Is he going to get whiplash?! What have I done?
Wake UP T!!!!!!!

So, C and I still joke about this constantly.
T had absolutely NO recollection of that ride. He woke up for most of it, and fell asleep when we pulled back in the station.
What?!?!?!
How does that even happen???

I feel like a piece of carp.

Park's closing.

We leave. I don't even remember Wishes.

Ride back to Poly- (thank God I put some photos on FB! 3 cheers for social media)

T's first time ever at MK-
Not quite the perfect vision that I anticipated.
Tomorrow will be better!

 

[21stamps]

I love this so far

I'm in!

Excited to read more

I'm following along too!

It's a hot mess. But, thanks!!!

 

[21stamps]

Following!

Thank you!

I'm joining in too! So glad that you were able to get back. Sounds like this is going to be an amazing trip, can't wait to hear more!



He will NEVER forget entering MK for the first time on the monorail. It's like a rite of passage.



O.M.G look at that face! Pure joy!

That's what I thought!! I'm glad we did the monorail first

 

[Courtney6682]

HOWEVER, we CAN'T leave yet. We MUST do Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!!!
Yes, T had been up since 6am.
Yes, we've been going non stop ever since.
Yes, he's 5.
No, I'm still not letting him miss this ride.

I hold him thru the entire line.
We enter onto the ride and take our seat in the front car.

T is still SLEEPING!!!

I'm afraid they're going to kick us off. I shake him, beg him to wake up. We are on a ROLLER COASTER!!

Up the hill we go.
He's still sleeping.
How is he sleeping on a moving ride??
I put my arm around him..why is he sleeping?? Is he going to get whiplash?! What have I done?
Wake UP T!!!!!!!

So, C and I still joke about this constantly.
T had absolutely NO recollection of that ride. He woke up for most of it, and fell asleep when we pulled back in the station.
What?!?!?!
How does that even happen???

I feel like a piece of carp.

This is sooo funny, I'm sorry!! Reminds me of the story of my first trip when no one in my family could believe that I slept thru Captain EO! It was soooo loud!

 

[21stamps]

It's a New Day!!!

We wake up and it isn't raining!!!
Cloudy, not raining though!

But....there is this line...

We order room service, Pineapple Macadamia Nut Pancakes, and 2 orders of Tonga Toast, fruit...and of course, a pot of coffee. We asked for extra plates and all shared the pancakes and Tonga Toast. T was only a fan of the pancakes, he said the Tonga Toast was too sweet.

We go for a walk to burn some the 809,786.5 calories off. Then go to the pool.

Today is a non park day, Ohio State plays tonight!!!! Plan is to order pizza and watch the game, the Electrical Water Pageant, and Wishes from the room. We have a few other things to do first though.

 

[21stamps]

T was not in the best of moods. Pool wasn't open yet, so we hung out on the beach.

Pool's Open!!!!

We swam aka went down slides for a few hours. The volcano slide is pretty fun
Then decided to grab some lunch at Captain Cook's.

T had to eat on the surfboard.

Then back to the room to shower and get ready for mini golf.

 

[21stamps]

This is sooo funny, I'm sorry!! Reminds me of the story of my first trip when no one in my family could believe that I slept thru Captain EO! It was soooo loud!

Ha ha. I feel a little better reading this!

 

[21stamps]

We taxi to Mickey's Winter Summerland. (Now I'm reminded of how much I love Uber more than a taxi service!!)

We arrive and notice the first, of maybe 15 snakes that we will encounter during this trip. It was huge. And very fast. I'm pretty accustomed to the huge black snakes, but they still gross me out. (I only caught the tail in the photo)

Now time for some miniature golf!

T got a Hole in One 3 different times.
I didn't fare so well..

His favorite hole was the snowman who spits water..

Then he had to look for the top of Santa..

Then we did the "summer" course..

C takes a photo of me and T..

T takes photos of me and C.
My son is much better at putting than he is at photo taking.
These turned out pretty funny though.

 

[Zipadeelady]

lol your killing me! He slept on BTR!!? Your not a bad mom, You just want your child to experience wonderful things.
I wish I had a picture on me that I took from one of our trips. I wanted to watch a parade so badly but no one ever wanted to so finally I said were going to watch one now. My one daughter is crying and my son looks so exhausted and looks like he's in a complete daze. Looking back I feel horrible. Why do we rush rush rush the little people.

 

[21stamps]

T wants to go and swim.. but, we have an early Ohana dinner.

We go back to the room first...
T lays down for a few minutes.

We all really enjoyed Ohana, although T asked multiple times if he could just swim afterwards.

Nope, T. We have to roast marshmallows! You'll love it! Luckily, he did...although you can't tell it from his face.

And only After some pouting..

He looks unsure of the singing and jokes at first...lol

So, yeah, my son enjoys catching marshmallows on fire..

Then we walk around for a bit before heading back to the room..(blurry photo, but it was so pretty!)

 

[21stamps]

lol your killing me! He slept on BTR!!? Your not a bad mom, You just want your child to experience wonderful things.
I wish I had a picture on me that I took from one of our trips. I wanted to watch a parade so badly but no one ever wanted to so finally I said were going to watch one now. My one daughter is crying and my son looks so exhausted and looks like he's in a complete daze. Looking back I feel horrible. Why do we rush rush rush the little people.

You're making me feel a little better!!
That's hilarious!
I truly believe that sometimes, in all of our "I know better than you, kid" wisdom.. we are actually quite wrong. Sometimes they don't need to 'do it all'. But hey, it makes for funny stories later.

 

[350ceo]

I'm so looking forward to this trip report as a recently single dad who will be embarking on my first ever father/daughter vacation on March 22. We are heading to Disney World. My daughter will be 5 in June and this will be her first trip to Disney. I'll do my best to keep your insights in mind throughout our trip. I've tried to keep a go with the flow mindset in making our plans; which are low on dining reservations and built around spending afternoons back at the resort pool. I'm sure it's still challenging in the moment, however, to keep that mindset throughout the entire trip when you don't want them to miss out on things you're sure they'll love.

 

[21stamps]

I'm so looking forward to this trip report as a recently single dad who will be embarking on my first ever father/daughter vacation on March 22. We are heading to Disney World. My daughter will be 5 in June and this will be her first trip to Disney. I'll do my best to keep your insights in mind throughout our trip. I've tried to keep a go with the flow mindset in making our plans; which are low on dining reservations and built around spending afternoons back at the resort pool. I'm sure it's still challenging in the moment, however, to keep that mindset throughout the entire trip when you don't want them to miss out on things you're sure they'll love.

You've already had a head start on me
I did not go into this trip with a "go with the flow" mindset. It took a few days and a crying kid to make me switch it up.
You guys will have a blast!! Sounds like you are being very smart about it!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

T is still SLEEPING!!!

I'm afraid they're going to kick us off. I shake him, beg him to wake up. We are on a ROLLER COASTER!!

Up the hill we go.
He's still sleeping.
How is he sleeping on a moving ride??
I put my arm around him..why is he sleeping?? Is he going to get whiplash?! What have I done?
Wake UP T!!!!!!!

At the time I am sure you were freaking out because the poor kid was sleeping on a ride that does bounce you out of your seat a bit. Bet you had a death grip on him.
But I get how you wanted him to experience it all. I think we as parents are all like that when it comes to something as big as a visit to Disney World and then we don't get it when all they want to do is play in the hotel pool. It really is hard to stop and smell the roses when you are there. I always say I will try and slow down, but it can be hard when you have 5 other people with differing opinions chiming in all the time on what they would like to do. How dare they!

 

[21stamps]

Game Time!!!!

I know you guys are probably thinking "Why does this woman go to Disney and spend time watching Ohio State football?!"

Well, because we both love Ohio State Football. In 2015, and 2016, our OSU game days are some of the best moments while at Disney World.

So, we all changed into our PJs and settled in for the evening.

At half time we ordered Pizza Hut.
If any of you are planning on doing this, just know that any of their advertised "specials" are not applicable if they are delivering to WDW. I argued for 5 minutes on the phone with the 'manager'. I lost. Oh well.lol I did have to walk to the lobby to meet them, ugh that meant I had to throw on real clothes. Changed back to my pjs the moment I arrived back in the room.

Black Out Game!!!! (I LOVE these uniforms!!)

Then we watched the Electrical Water Pageant.. T was trying to sleep. I wasn't having it. He sat on my lap while we watched together. Then he wanted his own chair.. We pulled the 2 chairs together so T could lay down. Me and C stood up. I think we were more excited than he was.

T's sleeping now. On the chairs.
WAKE UP!!
It's time for Wishes!!!
I hold him and he does watch some of it.

Side note- sorry for the horrible photos.. this was the iPhone 6 at that time.

He's down for the count the moment the finale ended.

It's been a long 2 days.

Sweet Dreams, buddy. Sleep well, we have an 8:05am reservation in the morning.

Oh, in case you're wondering.. THE Ohio State absolutely crushed VA Tech.
O-H!!!!
I did stay up and watch the rest of the game. C and T chose to sleep, crazy people. There is no sleep when OSU is playing. In C's defense she's a raging stupid Auburn fan, and hates Ohio State. I don't understand why my friends have such horrible taste in Football. The 2 games I have watched at WDW have been with a Michigan fan and an Auburn fan.
I need new friends
She was a good sport and suffered thru most of the game though.
Afterwards I finally went to bed as well.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

P.S. I loooove that picture of you and T on SDMT. He looks absolutely thrilled to pieces! So DARNED cute!!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

We arrive and notice the first, of maybe 15 snakes that we will encounter during this trip. It was huge. And very fast. I'm pretty accustomed to the huge black snakes, but they still gross me out. (I only caught the tail in the photo)

Okay, is my family the only one to have never encountered these snakes at Winter/Summerland, or anywhere else on property? Not that I am complaining, mind you.