Trip Report Completed - Mom and Maddie - In the Big Blue World - April 2015

Hi Everyone!

We recently returned from our second magical mother/daughter trip to Disney World. I hope you enjoy our trip report!
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Who:
Mom aka Lori - I am a manager for a telecommunications consulting company and I have been working there for 16 years. I am also a mom.
Maddie - 11 y/o 6th grader and wonderful daughter

When:
Sunday, April 19, 2015 - Sunday, April 26, 2015

Where:
Art of Animation - Little Mermaid

Tickets:
6 day park hopper

Here are links to my first trip report from February 2014 and my April 2015 Pre-Trip report in case you would like to check them out.
First Trip Report: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/first-timer-not-anymore.881139/
April Pre-Trip Report: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/once-upon-a-dream-with-mom-and-maddie.891334/#post-6368896
 
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disneyfirstLJ

disneyfirstLJ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
acrab3t said:
Following! I love your daughter's shirt. My Neighbor Totoro is one of my favorite movies!
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Maddie's favorite is Spirited Away but My Neighbor Totoro is a close second. She got that shirt at Hot Topic and wears it any chance she gets. Thanks for following along!
 
disneyfirstLJ

disneyfirstLJ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Disney Shib said:
I adore mom & daughter trips. Some of my favorite memories are when my mom and I take off just the two of us. Following along and loving your trip report.
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I am a single mom so getting this time away from every day life is precious. I am so lucky that Maddie and I are so close. She would tell you that I am her best friend, not just her mom. She is the greatest kid. Thanks for following along!
 
disneypearl

disneypearl

Well-Known Member
I love how Maddie is trying on all the hats for fun! I am curious to see if she gets one or not. Mousegears is our favorite too. We always spend a lot of time looking around.
 
Beckett

Beckett

Well-Known Member
Loving you trip report! :) I am another single mommy who takes solo trips with her daughter to Disney at least once a year, and it truly is such an amazing bonding experience. My daughter is also very much into Japanese things and can't wait to go to the Japan pavilion in Epcot this year. Your pictures are awesome, may I ask what camera you own? I am looking to buy one for our upcoming Christmas trip.
 
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LisaBelle

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Love your report ! Followed last year's trip as well. Your photos are great! I am enjoying all the food and wine photos. I didn't know about the Cheshire Cat Cupcake in a Cup! Think I will have to look for that and the Cinderella's coach apple on my next trip!
 
disneyfirstLJ

disneyfirstLJ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - Spring Break Day 5

Today we had another day at the Magic Kingdom. We planned this day to be a little more relaxed. My goal was to take photos of things I missed the day before. Maddie wanted to walk to all the shops so that she could pin trade with cast members. We also had some very exciting lunch plans. We ate a breakfast of cereal in our room because we were getting a later start.
We arrived at Magic Kingdom. It was very crowded already.
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I also took some photos of the new hub. It is a really nice area. I like it!
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Our first FP+ was for the Haunted Mansion so we headed to Liberty Square.
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I like taking pictures of the signs!
We had a few minutes so we decided to go into the Memento Mori shop to take a look. It is a really cool shop but we didn't see anything we were dying to have (see what I did there!).
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disneyfirstLJ

disneyfirstLJ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It was time for our Haunted Mansion FP+. We just love this ride so much!
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We saw the river boat. I really wanted to go on the boat this year (Maddie isn't really a fan of boats). However, we didn't get a chance.
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Saw this and had to take a photo!
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Our next FP+ was for Splash Mountain. Maddie was really worried about this ride. It was closed in February so we didn't get to ride it. I thought since she loved Mine Train so much she would be willing to go on this one and since I don't mind rides with water the drop didn't really worry me. We made our way to Frontierland.
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Of course we made a pit stop at Maddie's favorite pin trading store. The cast members are just awesome in this store. They are all great!
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Maddie traded a lot of pins in this store. She was getting so much better going up to cast members and asking to see their pins.
 
disneyfirstLJ

disneyfirstLJ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Here is a photo of The Diamond Horseshoe, where we ate lunch the day before. I didn't take a picture of it that day so I did this day to remember.
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When we arrived at Splash Mountain we saw the stand by line was really long, wow, glad we have a FP+.
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However, when we got up to scanner the cast member told us that the ride had just broken down and they were evacuating the ride. Bummer! We decided to head up to the train platform and ride the train instead.
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We rode the train to the Fantasyland station and got off. I wanted to ride it all the way around the park but Maddie wanted to get off so we did.
Random photo of Gaston's in Fantasyland.
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We heard the castle show so we decided to stop to watch.
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Our next FP+ was for Pirates so our next stop is Adventureland.
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We stopped to get a vanilla dole whip for Maddie and a citrus swirl for me before riding. It was getting warm out and we needed a little something. Then it was time for Pirates. We got the front seat of the boat and we got soaked. Mostly our shorts got wet and we dried off pretty quickly.
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After Pirates we had to make our way to the monorail so that we could get to our lunch reservation. Maddie and I stopped in stores along main street to pin trade as we made our way to the front of the park. This was going to be the first time that we will ride the monorail.
 
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disneyfirstLJ

disneyfirstLJ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We hopped on the resort monorail. It was neat seeing the inside of The Contemporary even if it was only through the monorail. I would have liked to explore the resort but we had another one to get to.
The Grand Floridian is our stop! What a beautiful resort. We loved exploring the grounds, walking around the lobby, talking to cast members, looking in the shops and just being there. Very relaxing!
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Here are two photos of The Polynesian. Taken from the GF.
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After walking around outside for quite some time we went inside to check in and wait for our reservation.
 
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disneyfirstLJ

disneyfirstLJ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We had reservations for afternoon tea in The Garden View Tea room at The Grand Floridian. I went to a tea a year after Maddie was born with my mom. It was a really special time so I was really looking forward to experiencing this with Maddie.
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My happy girl!
Pretty tea set!
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Fruit and cheese plate
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Sandwiches, crackers and tarts
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I missed the scone course. They were so good that we ate them up as soon as they were served.
Dessert
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Maddie and I had a wonderful time at our tea. I was proud of Maddie for being so adventurous and trying out new foods. After our tea we hopped back on the monorail and then took the bus back to the resort to rest up.
 
12in12

12in12

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the pictures of the tea! I have been thinking about booking it but after seeing your picures I know I shouldn't. I am a terrible afternoon tea snob, I live in London and go to the winner of the Tea Guild award for best afternoon tea each year.
 
disneyfirstLJ

disneyfirstLJ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - Spring Break Day 5 cont.

After our rest and swim at our resort I asked Maddie what she wanted to do . She picked DTD. We walked to the bus stop and went to DTD. Maddie was on another pin trading mission. We must have gone into every store to look for pin boards and cast member lanyards. We finally found the Disney Tsum Tsums at Once Upon A Toy. I bought Maddie the medium size Duffy and she bought herself a mini Duffy, Dumbo and Pooh. I took some photos of The Boathouse since we had eaten here and I didn't take photos that day due to the rain.
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Cool shot of the hot air balloon.
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disneyfirstLJ

disneyfirstLJ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
End of day 5

We were both ready to call it a day at this point so we headed to the bus stop. The bus took a very long time. We waited over 30 minutes at least. We stopped in the Landscapes of Flavor for dinner before heading back to our room.
Maddie's child's pizza
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My make your own salad
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We walked 16,967 steps which is 7.81 miles.

Next up Animal Kingdom and Epcot
 
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