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

Goofnut1980 · Jul 27, 2015

I love all of your pictures!!!!

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

FlaggNL said:
Thanks for the updates looking forward for more

I will keep them coming!

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

disneypearl said:
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.

She loved trying on the different hats. Maddie is a lover of hats and I think she would have bought them all if she could. She almost bought a black snap back hat that said REBEL on it (Star Wars) but she decided to save her money. When we came home she regretted not purchasing that hat. We love Mousegears, it is a great store!

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

Beckett said:
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.

The camera I use is a Canon SX160 IS. I bought it at Walmart on Black Friday two years ago for $79.00. As you can see it takes great photos and uses two AA batteries. I like that it uses AA batteries. I bought the rechargeable ones but you can also just use regular AA batteries. I didn't use any editing software to change the photos I posted so what the camera took is what you see. It really is a great camera and takes HD video too. Thanks for reading and glad to see another single mom out there that takes Disney trips!

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

LisaBelle said:
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!

Yes, I remember you from my last trip report. Thanks for reading this one! I took over 700 photos this trip so I am really glad you are enjoying them! I would recommend that apple highly. It was so good that Maddie only let me have one piece.

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

RedNoseMickey said:
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.

I am glad I could help. I wouldn't recommend the tea to you at all based on what you said. Maddie and I had a good time but we won't be doing it again. It was a one time thing for us. It was expensive and the food was just okay. However, the experience was great and something we will always remember doing together. If I lived in London and had access to the tea places that you have, I wouldn't have even tried it!

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

Goofnut1980 said:
I love all of your pictures!!!!

I am glad you like them. I took over 700 photos this trip and I am so happy to have this forum to share them. Thanks for checking out my trip report!

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

Thursday, April 23, 2014 - Spring Break 2015 Day 6

We ate our breakfast in our room this morning because we wanted to get to Animal Kingdom for park opening. Last year we skipped Animal Kingdom in place of Epcot because Maddie really loved Epcot. This year I was determined to get to Animal Kingdom. The bus pulled up as soon as we arrived to the bus stop. Very dark clouds followed us to Animal Kingdom and when we arrived the skies were getting darker and darker.

The first thing we did was head over to the tree of life. I wanted to make sure I got a photo or two before the rain started.

It was amazing!
Maddie wanted to go to the pin shop outside the Tree of Life because she had heard some Limited Edition pins came out this day. Maddie bought 4 different limited edition pins including the Mother's Day pin for me. We saw later on YouTube that folks were waiting in very long lines at Downtown Disney for these pins while we were able to just walk in and purchase them at AK, score! These were our first LE pins.
We had a FP+ scheduled for the safari so we headed over there next. It started to rain by this point so we walked quickly and I didn't get to take any photos.

The rain was getting stronger when we were loading onto our vehicle. We had to put on our ponchos as it was pouring on the safari and the rain was hitting us in the face. That is when the lighting and the thunder started. I couldn't risk getting my camera wet so I didn't get any photos of the safari but we did get to see animals. They were on the move trying to find cover due to the rain. I can't say the ride was enjoyable due to getting hit in the face with rain the entire journey but I loved seeing the wildlife.
After the safari we ran toward The Festival of the Lion King. We were able to get a seat without using our FP+. I LOVED this show. This is my new favorite show in Walt Disney World. It was just awesome. I loved the monkey acrobats, the music, the atmosphere and the bird lady. I can't say enough good things about this show. After the show ended we were supposed to head over to Nemo but it was raining so hard that I couldn't see two feet in front of me. We ducked into a shop to look around and I found a nice baseball hat souvenir for Maddie's grandfather(her father's dad). His favorite park is Animal Kingdom and back in the day he worked on Magic Kingdom when it was being built. He is a mason and did a lot of the brick and stone work. Cool family history!
The rain, thunder and lighting wasn't giving up. Maddie and I were soaked plus she really hates thunder. We decided to head back to the resort. We were both bummed that we didn't get to do as much as we wanted at Animal Kingdom but at least we can say we were there. A Disney van pulled up at our bus stop and took us back to the resort. We had our own private transportation.

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

The storm finally passed and we headed off to Epcot. My first order of business was to get a green tea frapp at Starbucks and Maddie wanted a vanilla bean frapp. Yum!

We also got some nice photo pass photos.

Then we wandered toward The World Showcase. Maddie was getting hungry and she wanted to eat lunch in France. I took a lot photos along the way as usual.
Butterfly Topiary

Mickey and Minnie

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

Cute elephant

We started off in Canada as per usual for us and checked out the trading post.

We saw the Pooh topiary and Mary Poppins on our way to France. We learned last year that Maddie doesn't enjoy meeting the characters so I either have to meet them alone or take a photo from a far when I see them.

Look at the dark sky again. Another storm is coming. Florida!

Great photo of the two of us!

Lunch time! We headed into Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie. Maddie had the ham and chesse croissant with a chocolate mousse. I had quiche with a fruit and cream parfait. It was delicious.

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

Photos of the topiaries in France

It was starting to sprinkle lightly so we decided to do something we had never done. We watched the Impressions de France movie. I really enjoyed it.
The rain stopped once the movie was over and it became very humid. Steam was rising off the ground. We continued our walk around the world.

We stopped into Karamell-Kuche in Germany but neither one of us were hungry so we just window shopped.

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

Lion King

Sand Sculpture

Chinese Zodiac

Norway

Mexico

Maddie and I did another first for this trip and rode The Gran Fiesta Tour. It was a really fun ride.

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

Thursday, April 23, 2014 - Spring Break 2015 Day 6 cont.

Maddie and I had reservations for dinner at Beaches and Cream. We walked over to the boardwalk area from Epcot. It was really nice to see this area in the day light as we only walked through this area at night. We didn't stop in any of the shops because we wanted to get to The Beach Club and look around. I am very glad we did because it is a beautiful resort. I would like to stay here someday even if I could only do a few nights. This area reminds me of my home state of NJ.
Boardwalk

My goodness it is so beautiful!
Then we walked around The Beach Club.

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

The pool area

The front of The Beach Club

Look Up!

Okay, it was time to check into Beaches and Cream for our reservation. We waited a long time to get seated. We opted for the counter because they told us we would get seated quicker but I think we waited at least 20 minutes. It was a very hot 20 minutes and we were both getting loopy from the heat.

I ordered the grilled cheese with tomato soup because I saw several reviews and folks said to order this.

Maddie ordered the hot dog with fries.

We were not impressed with this meal at all. In hindsight we should have just ordered ice cream and a big glass of water because we were so hot. The food was fine but we were just too hot and cranky to eat it. Ordering what I did on a very hot day just wasn't smart. I think our impression was our fault and not the fault of Beaches and Cream. This restaurant is very busy and small. We just didn't enjoy ourselves but again, our fault I think.

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 28, 2015

End of Day 6

We didn't order any dessert from Beaches and Cream because we just wanted to get back to the resort. We were hot, tired and our feet were killing us. The walking and activity was catching up to us at this point. We have had some very busy days and we were not used to this heat coming from the freezing cold north.
We walked back into Epcot and headed to the front of the park to catch the bus back to the resort.
I got some great photos of Spaceship Earth on the way out.

My girl still smiling even though she just wanted to get on that bus!

Today we walked 19,118 steps which is 8.88 miles. Only 2 days left!

Next up Hollywood Studios

Goofnut1980 · Jul 28, 2015

Still following along!! Can't wait for the next two days!!!!

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 29, 2015

Goofnut1980 said:
Still following along!! Can't wait for the next two days!!!!

Thank you!

coachwnh · Jul 29, 2015

disneyfirstLJ said:
We stopped into Karamell-Kuche in Germany but neither one of use were hungry so we just window shopped.

disneyfirstLJ said:
We didn't order any dessert from Beaches and Cream

Enjoying the play by play. Looking forward to reading about your last two days.

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 29, 2015

coachwnh said:
Enjoying the play by play. Looking forward to reading about your last two days.

Thank you so much for reading and glad you are enjoying the report!

disneyfirstLJ · Jul 29, 2015

Friday, April 24, 2015 - Spring Break 2015 Day 7

We woke up to a beautiful day! I walked to The Landscapes of Flavor to fill my mug with iced green tea and powerade for Maddie. We had cereal in our room for breakfast and then headed out to Hollywood Studios. We got there at park open and headed to The Great Movie Ride. It was really strange not seeing the hat but I love how open it looks now.