Trip Report Feb 2015 - When there's a smile in your heart!

Figaro928 · Mar 7, 2015

Cont. Day 1

After a bus ride back to the resort and a quick walk back to our room, guess who woke up? That's right, Gracie! By this time, both Scott and I were starting to feel the length of the day and we could have used naps. We had a ressie for Whispering Caynon Cafe that evening at 5 so we tried to rest a little. NO SUCH LUCK. Gracie was revived from her nap and Ben was running on 2 year old boy energy (they should bottle that stuff up and sell it to us adults) So change of plans..... BenBen reallllllly wanted to meet Lightening McQueen so we decided to walk over to AoA, hang out over there for a bit and then take the bus over to MK.
This is that 2 year old boy energy in full force:

To Generation Gap Bridge!

We played in the Nemo area for quite a bit.

ANd then it was time to see Lightning and the Gang!!!!

This made BenBen's day.

Figaro928 · Mar 7, 2015

So after our little visit to AoA, it was time to head over to our reservations at the Wilderness Lodge! I quick bus then boat ride over and we were there.. WOW What an awesome resort!! Talk about a dream vacation!

Side Note: Recently, Gracie figured out how to use our camera, AND discovered that she LOVES taking pictures. (Seriously, I'm sorting through about 800 IASW pictures) So any pictures NOT of the two kids were most probably taken by Gracie. I WARNED YOU TRIP REPORT SNOBS

TADA!

After walking around and exploring a little bit, we were ready for checkin. Eevn though we were one of the first reservations and the main room was almost entirely empty we were put in a back back room

I even said to the hostess that we wanted to be part of the fun. "Oh don't worry, the fun happens back here too" yeah not so much. Our waiter tried, but most of our dinner we only heard to hooting and hollering of the main room. They really should put the "sit on the fence" people in the back rooms since actually it was quite peaceful.

We still got our Ketchup though!

And mid way through dinner, Guess who FINALLY threw in his 2 year old energy towel!?!?

This Guy:

Not hungry, Ben?

The meal was good, not great. We both got the skillet. Scott did get for seconds on the pulled pork and the corn as those were his favorites. He had gotten a caramel milkshake that was to die for. THe cobbller dessert was really good too. Maybe if we had been more in the action we would have liked it better. We left content and full

We had EMH at the MK the next morning so we decided to head back to Pop after dinner and try to actually get some sleep!

Up Next, DAY 2 - 13 hours, 14 miles and a Whole lot of Its a Small World

Sudcaro- Sudcaro · Mar 7, 2015

Enjoying it so far! Your kids are cuties.

Allym146 · Mar 7, 2015

Looks like fun! Can't wait to read more

. Your daughters pics are really good!

CinderMama · Mar 7, 2015

Enjoying and following along. Love those Monsters shirts!

smk · Mar 8, 2015

LOVING !!!

joshsprincess921 · Mar 9, 2015

adorable kiddos! following along.

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 9, 2015

Following, great report so far!

mrdrift · Mar 9, 2015

Great start tot he trip report. Th Monster shirts are cute. Following along.

BigHero4 · Mar 9, 2015

Great report. Thanks for sharing!

FlaggNL · Mar 10, 2015

Love the report! Thanks for sharing and you talk about amateur.... but this is the way I like it the best! Just a report from the heart! Love the pics with the kids! Adorable!! Following along!!

LindsayLoves · Mar 10, 2015

Great report so far! Its a very authentic representation of traveling with kids, I can feel that two year old boy energy coming out at me.

Lyear · Mar 10, 2015

Great start to your trip report. Choosing not to take the stroller, forgetting the pin code, staying at HS for one ride, what great memories to share!

Zipadeelady · Mar 10, 2015

catfury said:

Love this Picture!!!

Figaro928 · Mar 13, 2015

WOW - I really wasn't expecting all the love. Thanks guys!! Sorry I haven't gotten to day two yet. My brother's wedding is this Sunday and our whole family is in the wedding party. So much craziness going on here right now!!!!

Day Two will be done on Monday. PROMISE

(In the meantime, fingers crossed BenBen doesn't rip off his tux Hulk-style mid-way down the aisle and spike the ring pillow like a football. I don't like my chances

. Regardless, I'm pretty confident my kids are going to steal the show.)

Figaro928 · Mar 21, 2015

OK Boys & Girls - The wedding is OVER, the Family Chaos has died down and I'm stuck at work on this snowy second day of spring! That means: TRIP REPORT TIME!!!

Day 2 - A LOOOONG Day at the Magic Kingdom

We all got a great night sleep at POP, but i was still running on the "I'm too EXCITED to sleep" pixie dust. So was my BenBen. I had bought a few breakfast snacks from home, including Belvita Breakfast cookies. Every morning that vacation, Ben woke up at about 5 am wanting cookies and TV for breakfast. Both sweets and television are such a novelty for him - PLUS IN BED - The kid was in heaven that I pretty sure he would have been content eating breakfast in bed all vacation long. But alas, mommy had plans. We needed to make the EMH 8 am opening because we had a 10:00 ressie at Ohana's. The plan was to do a few rides in FanastyLand then head over to the Poly. Also this vacation, i told my husband that i had a short bucket list of things that I really wanted to do that I had never done before. Yes, selfish for me, but really my family reaped it's benefits, so tough

. My three big MK bucket listers were : Rope Drop, FoF parade; Tom Saywers Island and yes.... Wishes (I had seen Wishes many years ago, but so long that it was basically be new to me) Also, It was really important for us to make Wishes happen this day because they were scheduled at 8 and the next day we were at MK, Wishes went off at 10 - No guarantee for us with the kids.

OK with my bucket list in my head, FP's on my phone. I got dressed, ran to the Food court to pick up some breakfast and coffee. Got back to the room to find Scott and Grace sleeping and Ben contently watching Ren and Stimpy present's Mickey and Friends

bored:???

) Ok, wake up the two Sleeping Beauties, dress the kids, pack the bags, tip the mousekeepers because now the beds are COVERED in Belvita crumbs, and OUT THE DOOR. Oh and this time we brought the strollers

PHEW...

Well, WE MADE IT TO ROPE DROP.

We made it through security but didn't want to run the risk of waiting at the gate lines while the show started, so we found this awesome spot. No body was in front of us and the kids could see prefect.

Sorry, no pictures of the welcome show, but we LOVED it. Gracie oddly enough is a big fan of Singing in the Rain, so when she heard the Good Morning song she instantly perked up. Both kids were so excited to see all the characters, pointing and yelling out their names. It truly was magical for us parents to watch them. Truth be told - I was a little past misty eyes. And with that we entered the Magic Kingdom!

We made our way to Fantastyland, high-fiving (fouring?) or waving at every cast member along the wave with Mickey gloves. Once we got to Fantasyland, we decided to go on Winnie the Pooh. The kids had never did it and there was NO LINE... Of course I think they liked the queue more than the actual ride.

After that, we did It's A Small World, or as my family says, The Dolly Ride. Hands Down, the kids FAVORITE ride. This was the first of many many many happy little voyages. Then on to Dumbo. Thankfully, it was so slow that morning that we were able to completely bypass the play area - otherwise we still might be there.

Then we made our way to The Great Goofini - or Barnstormer - or Kiddie coaster.... Well, This was both kids' first coaster. We walked right up. Originally, Ben was excited to ride an airplane ride, not having the faintest what to expect. Gracie was excited to ride a "big kid ride" Verdict: Grace LOVED IT.... BenBen not so much. (Darnit i have the video of him on the ride and it wont let me upload it now. booo) He didn't cry, he was brave and as soon as it stopped he said, "That was a wittle bit scawee" Seriously, cutest thing ever. But with that, he was done with "big kid rides"

OK kids, we have just enough time for one more ride, what'll it be? Grace: The Goofy Roller-coaster! Ben: Whitining Mcqueen! umm, Ben there is no Lightning Mcqueen ride.... oh but there is a Tomorrowland Raceway. Scott and Grace went to ride on Barnstormer again as Ben and I headed over to the raceway. Ahh Diesel Fuel in the morning

. But Yeah! no line. we walked right on, and went to our car... oh wait- this is a yellow car. Oh the Humanity - this is NOT WHITINING :arghh:

. There were people behind us ready to drive away, so i quickly buckled him in a sped away. There we are...in Disney World...on a beautiful quiet morning... on a classic ride...high on diesel fumes... POUTING because you didn't get the color car you wanted. First World Toddler problems. ANYWAY... mommy had a great time giving us whiplash and taking in the scenery. While we were on Scott and Grace managed to ride Barnstormer 2 more times and then watch us from the grandstands. After an awesome packed morning, we headed over to the Poly for a much needed late breakfast with Mickey

Figaro928 · Mar 21, 2015

Day 2 Continued:

We were running later than i felt comfortable with leaving MK, so rather than taking the entire monorail loop, we hopped on a boat. The boat eeirly looked like Willy Wonka's boat, so of course Scott and I spent the quick trip singing, "there's no earthly way of knowing, which direction we are going.." Ahh when nerds marry :hilarious:

. THe construction at the Poly was um...interesting. Because of this site and my obsessiveness about WDW, throughout our vacation i would randomly tell Scott factoids about the place, "oh you see those new beach cabanas..." "you need a hobby

" Scott was less than impressed with his tourguide wife. Anyway, we made it through the outside construction of the Poly and made way to upstairs to check in. Us, and about 15 other families in front of us. Yikes. it took about 15 minutes to wait to be checked in and then another 20 to be seated. No worries... I was busy drawing my own conclusions about the new Poly lobby while Scott took the kids to find a penny press and look through the shops.

Our cousin finally seated us and right away we dug into some pineapple bread.

Or some of us at least licked the icing off of it.

The food was good, expected. Not knock your socks off, but good. Since the kids were only eating carbs, scott and I made sure to at least get our money's worth. I think I alone went through 2 pitchers worth of POG juice and Scott got seconds on the eggs and waffles. ALl that being said... let's be honest, we weren't really there for the food!!!

...maybe not Lilo either....

BenBen LOVED Pluto. At one point Ben decided to bust out some dance moves with Pluto and what felt like the whole restuarant chuckled. Gracie, being on a mission, wanted less to do with interacting with the characters and more to make sure they signed her autograph book.

Then it was time for the parade. Oddly enough, Grace - my princess diva - got shy and at first didn't want to go. Her brother on the other had saw the noise inducing marraccas and found his calling !

With that, our bellies were full, autographs were signed and we now had the Hawaiian Rollercoaster ride song in our head we got back on the Wonka boat to head back over to spend the rest of the day at the Magic Kingdom!

Figaro928 · Mar 21, 2015

Day 2 - Still Going Strong!

When we got back to the MK, we made way to Frontierland. We had a Fastpass for Big Thunder Mountian and Grace was super-excited to go on more big kid rides. With our FP's we also got a rider swap pass, since Ben was about an inch too short and, well, not as enthused about thrill rides. We let Grace pick which parent she wanted to ride first with. Each big kid ride was a gamble because we were never sure if she would even WANT to go again. Score! She picked me! WE got to the front of the line in no time and we got to ride in the front row! Well... I think the wildest ride in the west was just a tab bit too wild for her...and dark and loud.

. She was adamant... she did not like it!!! I was nervous because I thought that would be the end of all big kid rides. We told her we were proud of her for being brave and moved on.

So next we got to do BucketListItem#2 Tom Sawyers Island. I've been going to WDW all my life -- easily 15-20 visits over 32 years and never even stepped foot onto the Island. Scott loves not having a plan and not knowing what to expect so he was very excited for this part (Probably moreso because it was a part of the park that I was unfamiliar with and therefore couldn't rattle off a million factoids) Exploring time!!!

We loved it. I could not get over those caves and how dark they were! THe kids loved climbing the forts and going over the bridges. We watched the boat sail by waving at the people. It was a perfect little exploration adventure. We told Grace she was the leader, so of course the power went straight to her head, and she proudly lead(bossed) us around the island for about an hour. We saw a few families picinicing there and that idea really appealed to Scott. After about an hour of walking around and using the cleanest quietest bathrooms in the parks (shhh don't tell) we hopped aboard a raft and set sail back to Frontierland.

There, Grace decided she really wanted to ride Splash Mountian (yeah! We didn't ruin her) Since it was a little chilly that day the wait was nothing - maybe 10 minutes. She decided she wanted to ride with scott this time. While they were on the ride, Ben and I went to go park the strollers next to Country Bear Jamboree and go looking for penny presses and explore a little. On our search, the CMs were starting to put the ropes out in preparation for the FoF (bucket list #3) Ben was starting to get a little sleepy (5 am cookies in bed) so we snagged a spot sat and waited. Scott and Grace finally met up with us after the ride. SHE LOVED IT. They again, got to sit in the front row. Scott said it was laughable because she's so short she could barely see any of the AA's but on the big drop she barely got wet - the water waved over her and got the guy behing her really good.

By that time we were ready for a little snack. Truth time: before the trip, got a little obsessed with all the food offerings at Disney. I read and reread the menus. I had a little sub bucket food list. One thing was the sweet potato nuggets where the McDonald's french fries used to be sold. I sent Scott there to go get them and booo hisssss closed.

I wasnt bummed at all but i did have to hear it about how i should know what is served where by scott :hilarious:

. I left him with the kids and went to go grab a churro and a Mickey preztel. YUM. Before the parade started, a Highschool marching band performed the route. Well, Ben knew we were waiting for a parade, and well those HS kids were technically a parade. "ok mama, we're done - let's go" Everyone around us were cracking up. He just didn't get WHY everyone was still sticking around when the parade had finish. Then, finally, the REAL parade started! Wow, it was so good. The kids loved it, we loved watching them wave and smile. Scott was quite impressed with Dragon. (again sorry no pictures, but c'mon, admit it, you've seen a few already)

And with that - the battery on my laptop is about to die. So much for getting the entire TR done in one day..... SO MUCH more to follow!

Sudcaro- Sudcaro · Mar 21, 2015

Fun report so far! Still following along.

Trip Report Feb 2015 - When there's a smile in your heart!

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