Fell in love with WDW, March 2011 Trip Report.

Hi Everyone!
When we began planning our trip to Disney World for the beginning of March, I found this website and started reading the trip reports on here. I really enjoyed reading them and they made me even more anxious for our upcoming trip. So now that we're back from our wonderful trip, I decided to post my own =)

My name is Taryn. My husband, Ken and I live in California with our daughter, Ash. We love all things Disney. Ken and I have been going to Disneyland about 4 times a year since we started dating in 2005. We got engaged there in 2006 and love everything about Disneyland. My first trip to Walt Disney World was in 2008 and my second was in 2009. Both trips we went with pushy/rude family members and they were full of drama. We never got a chance to really take everything in and enjoy ourselves. I liked Disney World but didn't love it like Disneyland. Everything changed this trip. It was our first trip with just my husband, daughter and I. And for the first time, I absolutely fell in love with Disney World! We were able to cherish our time there and really have a blast. It was unquestionably the best vacation I've ever been on. Now, we can't wait to go back and are planning our next trip!

Our trip took place March 2nd-March 9th. We also went to Universal Studios to check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.



Day 1- A sleepy first day spent in the Magic Kingdom

Our flight left home at 7:30pm and arrived in Florida at 5:45am. We were a little nervous abut flying with our little toddler but she did great! She colored and read for part of our flight and then slept for the rest of it. Ken and I barely slept, we were too excited! When we got there, we got our rental car(which was heaven to have) and headed to Disney's All Star Resort. We were in a little daze by the lack of sleep. Once we got to the hotel we decided to have a change in plans. Originally we wanted to get to Magic Kingdom for park opening but then we realized that Ash needed more then 5 hours of sleep and we needed to get a couple. So we unpacked the car and then got Ash's pack n play ready and we all crashed by 7:45.

At 9:45 our alarm was going off and Ken jumped out of bed and got ready. Then he attempted to wake me up and stole my covers so I'd get moving. haha. After we were done changing and getting ready we woke our sleepy little girl up, changed her and slathered her in sun block and then we were off. When we loaded the monorail I had my arm around Ken and one hand on the stroller. Ken kept giving me a weird look and I asked "what"? Then he told me that I had my hand on his butt. Oops, I thought it was his back. I guess the two hour nap didn't do me that much good... We made it to the front gates of the Magic Kingdom by 11:00. Walking down main street, like always was amazing! I can never get over how beautiful the castle is. It is a little déjà vu like walking around the park though. I still get a little turned around here and there and will feel like I'm in Disneyland. The weather was absolutely perfect and stayed that way for the length of our trip. Nothing's better then high 70/low 80 weather, right? I was debating about what I should pack quite a lot before the trip. We'd only been in September together and it's can't.breathe.it's.too.hot weather and I didn't know what to expect for the first week of March. I decided to bring a little bit of everything for Ash and I: jeans, dresses, tank tops, shorts, sweatshirts. Ken made fun of me for bringing dresses because he thought I'd be too cold. However, it ended up being perfect dress weather.








Anyways..I guess I should get back on track. We were so happy to be in Disney World and standing on Main Street. We started contemplating what to do first. We decided to head over to Fantasyland, it was a little busy but Small World's wait wasn't too long so we jumped in line. Ash enjoyed it quite a bit even with her sleepy little self. After IASW we headed over to the Village Haus for lunch, we were starving. We did the dining plan again on this trip. It really is such a great deal especially with how much food Ken eats! I love planning out what restaurants we're going to book prior to our trip. I think WDW has a great selection and eating tons of yummy food is one of the best parts about being on vacation here. Ken ordered a chili dog at Village Haus and Ash and I both had pepperoni pizza. I am very much a picky eater. I'm known to eat off the kids menu often and I don't really enjoy fancy food. After devouring our lunch we watched PhilharMagic. It's very cute and Ash enjoyed it. I think she would've enjoyed it even more if she let us put the glasses on her but we had no such luck.







Our daughter was looking very sleepy so we decided walk around while she was in her stroller hoping that she'd give into her sleepiness. We browsed the shops on main street and made mental notes on what we'd be coming back for later in our trip. Ash decided to not take a nap, she was too focused on everything going on. Who could blame her though? While we were in the candy shop, a cast member gave her a piece of freshly made cotton candy, it was very tasty. We headed to get Ash some Mickey Ears after leaving the candy store and we found the black ones we wanted. We got her name engraved and the cast member gave her some Mickey stickers. We had so many cast members this trip do nice things for Ashlynn. She got pins, stickers galore and lots of interaction from them. I love that they strive to make trips for kids special. After getting Ash's hat we attempted to have have her pick out whatever toy she wanted. She didn't want any stuffed animal or toy for more then a minute before throwing it though. We really wanted her to pick something out on her own so we decided to let her pick something out when she wasn't so tired. When we headed out of the Emporium, the parade was just starting and we walked right up to the front to watch it. The characters were all so interactive with Ashlynn. She waved at some and ignored others. It was really amusing. I'm glad we got to watch it on our first day without even planning on it!













 

MrsTK21

New Member
Original Poster
After leaving the ESPN area, we headed over to watch the new Disney Jr. show. It's a really cute show. They took Pooh out of the show for Jake and the Neverland Pirates though, which for us is too bad considering our daughter LOVES Tigger and Pooh. When we exited, Manny was out. So we meet him and then after wandered over to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. Ash loves being able to run around and play, who doesn't though? After playing for a half hour or so we went over to meet Mike and Sully. Ash liked meeting them but wanted to continue running around instead. It was 12:30 by the time we left and we realized we needed to head over to Sci Fi for our ADRs. I really love the atmosphere this restaurant provides. It is very neat to be in an old time drive end theater. Ash kept looking around trying to figure out where we were! haha. Ash and I shared their turkey club sandwich with fries Ken got the ribs. For dessert I got the oreo cookie milkshake and Ken got the peanut butter-chocolate cake. The food was really tasty! Our waitress only came over two times our whole meal though and it took about twenty five minutes for our bill. But nonetheless, I love this restaurant and the food!











 

MrsTK21

New Member
Original Poster
After lunch we walked around the ESPN area one last time. And Ken got to meet Skip Bayless. He was a really nice guy and they chatted for about 10 minutes. I had been giving Ken a hard time for having him as a friend/or page on Facebook because he has a million updates a day and told Ken I was going to delete him. But after meeting him and him being so nice, I told Ken we'd keep him on there! :). It was time to head to Tampa for our Yankee/Red-Sox spring training game. We got there in a little over an hour. We were of course, hoping to get autographs but no one was signing before the game. We were bummed since that was the reason we got to the game early. We only stayed for a little bit before Ash started crying and was not going to sit and watch the game. We couldn't blame our little pumpkin, she'd had a long couple days and having her sit through a baseball game was too much. So we left and headed back to WDW. It was 8:00 and we were really hungry so we stopped at Cracker Barrel. Our friend, who's a seasonal cast member, told us it was delicious so we decided to try it out. It was very neat looking, there's a little shop attached to the restaurant that we browsed through while waiting for our table. We got some candy while we waited. And were seated after about 15 minutes. Our waiter was so nice! He went our of his way to ensure that we had a terrific dinner. We had a really great dinner too. I got the mac n cheese, Ash got the grilled cheese and Ken got their fish with biscuits and lots of vegetables. We all really enjoyed our food. Ash kept dipping her grilled cheese in ketchup. Who would have thought that was such a yummy combo? :ROFLOL:.












We got back to our hotel around 10. Tomorrow, a full day in Epcot!
 

MrsTK21

New Member
Original Poster
Thank you so much for all the nice comments everyone :). It was such a fun trip, I can't wait to go back!
 

HeatherK

Member
Ashlynn kept dipping her grilled cheese in ketchup. Who would have thought that was such a yummy combo? :ROFLOL:.


Loving the report! The little one is super adorable! & I have been eating my grilled cheese since I was her age & I can't imagine eating it any other way haha! She is one smart cookie!
 

ArtieJim

Well-Known Member
Great TR. You're daughter is adorable. I think it's hilarious that you and her eat so much pizza, it's like my girlfriend who almost always ate chicken nuggets/tenders at all our QS meals.
 

MrsTK21

New Member
Original Poster
Sorry for the long delay. We're in the process of moving, so things have been a little hectic =)

WDW Day 4: A beautiful day spent in Epcot

We were up and ready early for our reservations at Ohana for breakfast. We'd never eaten there before and had heard their food was delicious. A little after sitting down Lilo and Stitch came over and Ash (for the first time ever!!!) said "no" and didn't want them near her. She's never acted that way toward any character so we were glad we video tapped it! haha. She was fine with Mickey and Pluto though and for the remainder of the trip she returned to her I.Love.Every.Character-Self. The food was good, we all ate way too many waffles though. :p

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After breakfast we were on our way to Epcot. I love everything about this park. I still can't decide if Epcot or Magic Kingdom's my favorite...so we'll say I love them both equally. We got there just as the park was opening and made our way to Spaceship Earth. We got stopped a handful of times but still enjoyed it. It's a really neat (and relaxing!) attraction. We darted over to the Character Spot next. I love that we try to meet as many characters as possible now. We always enjoyed meeting them before we had Ash but now it's even better.

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MrsTK21

New Member
Original Poster
Nemo was next. I don't know if I'm just weird...but I prefer WDW Nemo over DL's. I think it's mostly because the queue at Disneyland takes forever. Ash had fun pointing to Nemo and all the fish. We walked around the exhibits and Ash played and was nearly eaten by a shark... Look at the terror in her eyes ;)

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Then we were off to drink some coke from Club Cool. Ken, being the meany he is, gave Ash Beverly. Which, to me at least, is hands-down the worst one there. Mommy came to the rescue with the tasty watermelon flavored coke though. Then we were off to Figment. I don't know what it is but I rally enjoy this ride. We wanted to buy Ash a Figment plush but couldn't find one anywhere...it was really strange. Before we headed to the World Showcase we took turns on Test Trek. While I was waiting for Ken I saw Karl Malone...I was impressed I recognized a non-baseball athlete! Needless to say, Ken was impressed too! haha.

We were starving by the time we entered the World Showcase. The Mexican Pavilion sounded delicious so we stopped for some grub. I got the nachos and Ken and Ashlynn got the tacos. The place was packed and it took quite a while to find a seat. The food was very scrumptious though. I was impressed with the new restaurant! We browsed thru the countries and stopped for Carmel sweets at Germany.

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We decided to swing by the Magic Kingdom. But first we had to meet Pooh and Tigger in England. Our daughter was beyond excited. She gave Pooh a hug first that lasted a full minute and then she moved on to Tigger for an equally long hug! <3 It was so adorable. We were off to the Magic Kingdom afterward and upon arriving we quickly regretted our decision. This place was a madhouse! We had never seen it so packed. I'm so happy it was our Epcot day not Magic Kingdom because it would've have been horrible to spend a full day in these crowds.

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PartOfYourWorld

Well-Known Member
Thank you! :) Harry Potter was definitely the best part about Universal to us too.

Yes, I had to buy a wand! :lol: That was the one item I knew I wanted to get beforehand. So glad I did!

glad you bought the wand! I think it is essential for every HP fan!!!

And I have to agree with your daughter on the grilled cheese and ketchup been enjoying that forever!
 

PeoplemoverTTA

Well-Known Member
What a fun trip report - and I'm incredibly jealous that you met Bernie! We have a minor league team here in Buffalo that plays the AAA Yankees, and I tend to get a ton of autographs from players rehabbing.

I totally agree with your observation that us gals get more autographs. Ever since I was a little girl, players would give me foul balls and autographs. To this day I always get autographs first. It's a perk :lol:

Can't wait to read the rest of your report :)
 

MrsTK21

New Member
Original Poster
We watched that and then went to the Hall of Presidents to meet Mickey. Afterward we walked around Main Street and watched Dream Along With Mickey. We were going to ride the train before we exited but they were having issues so off we went to the monorail. We stopped at the Contemporary to see if they had the white Mickey Vinylmations we'd been looking for but they didn't have it. We relaxed on a bench outside the shop and enjoyed a Carmel cupcake that we'd gotten in Germany. After eating we were back on the Monorail to Epcot.

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MrsTK21

New Member
Original Poster
It felt so nice to be back! We could actually breathe again. :) We went back to the countries and browsed more shops. Then we we headed over to Norway as it was getting close to our reservations at 7:50 at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. We had time to ride, Maelstrom so we did that then waited for our name to be called. It was quite pretty inside and we meet Belle after walking in. Ash actually liked her and smiled a lot. Normally she couldn't care less about princess's but she really liked this Belle. She didn't even mind that Belle gave her a kiss on the cheek. Needless to say, Ken was jealous! :ROFLOL: The food was good and it was entertaining to have all the princesses come by. Snow White asked who had kissed her and when she heard it was Belle said that she would have to also. Ash, like I said wasn't very interested in them though. Plus she was super sleepy. We were beat after dinner and decided to call it a night. We just missed the traffic as Illuminations ended as soon as we got to our car. We were back to our hotel in less then 10 minutes and were ready to crash!


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Disney's Hollywood Studios tomorrow for another ESPN day.
 

Raven66

Well-Known Member
Ash is extremely cute. I love love love the picture where she is hugging Goofy and then she has her hand in Pluto's mouth. Can't wait to read the rest of your report.
 

Mikester71

Well-Known Member
GREAT trip report and pictures!!! Glad to see you all had a good time. We were there from the 12th to the 22nd and had gorgeous weather every single day of our trip too. Nothing but sunshine and warm temps (low to mid 80's)!

LOVE going to WDW in March!!!! :sohappy:
 

rsoxguy

Well-Known Member
The report? Great.
The photos? Wonderful.
The kid? Adorable.
The cap and t-shirt? Not so good.

I'm glad that you had such a good time. I miss going to WDW with such a young girly. She looks as though she had a great trip. Thanks for the report.
 

MrsTK21

New Member
Original Poster
What a fun trip report - and I'm incredibly jealous that you met Bernie! We have a minor league team here in Buffalo that plays the AAA Yankees, and I tend to get a ton of autographs from players rehabbing.

I totally agree with your observation that us gals get more autographs. Ever since I was a little girl, players would give me foul balls and autographs. To this day I always get autographs first. It's a perk

Can't wait to read the rest of your report

Thank you! I feel really lucky we got Bernie's autograph considering the crowds following him. How cool that you get lots of autographs when the Yankee's AAA team visits!

It's a really nice perk for us ladies, for sure!:D


Loving the report! The little one is super adorable! & I have been eating my grilled cheese since I was her age & I can't imagine eating it any other way haha! She is one smart cookie!

Thank you! So funny that you eat your grilled cheese with ketchup too! :lol:

Great TR. You're daughter is adorable. I think it's hilarious that you and her eat so much pizza, it's like my girlfriend who almost always ate chicken nuggets/tenders at all our QS meals.

Thank you, we do love pizza! Your girlfriend has good taste! :)

glad you bought the wand! I think it is essential for every HP fan!!!

And I have to agree with your daughter on the grilled cheese and ketchup been enjoying that forever!

It's most definitely an essential! I never knew grilled cheese and ketchup was such a good combo...I guess my DD is just way cooler then her Mom! :lol:
 

MrsTK21

New Member
Original Poster
Ash is extremely cute. I love love love the picture where she is hugging Goofy and then she has her hand in Pluto's mouth. Can't wait to read the rest of your report.

She loves the characters! Thank you, those are my favorites too!

GREAT trip report and pictures!!! Glad to see you all had a good time. We were there from the 12th to the 22nd and had gorgeous weather every single day of our trip too. Nothing but sunshine and warm temps (low to mid 80's)!

LOVE going to WDW in March!!!!

March really is the best time to go! :sohappy: I don't think we'll be going in September again. I loved the weather and actually being able to breathe was a huge plus. Isn't 80 degree weather the best? Thank you! We can't wait to go back...maybe next March!



The report? Great.

The photos? Wonderful.

The kid? Adorable.

The cap and t-shirt? Not so good.

I'm glad that you had such a good time. I miss going to WDW with such a young girly. She looks as though she had a great trip. Thanks for the report.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And...what do you mean? How can you not appreciate the shirts/hats? :D

Our daughter did have a blast, this is such a fun age to take her. She is definitely a Disney girl!
 

MrsTK21

New Member
Original Poster
We were up and ready by 8:30 for our second DHS day. We'd never spent so much time there but considering ESPN the weekend, I suppose two days was a must. Well, at least for my husband. We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and were off. We parked, ate and made it through the bag check right before the park opened. Our first stop was Second was Buzz and Woody. Ash actually stuck it out this time without getting too bored. We stopped at the little picture setups thought the queue and made it to Woody in Buzz in about 25 minutes. Afterward we grabbed Toy Story Mania fastpasses then headed to the ESPN zone. I still can't get over how popular TSM is in Florida. Sure, TSMM is popular at California Adventure, but nothing like this. Both days we were in DHS the line was insane. Even the fastpass lines were extremely long.

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We walked around the ESPN area and meet quite a few athletes and got a lot of autographs. We were, being the Yankee fans that we are, really hoping to see Jaba, Mo or Granderson...but had no luck. After hanging out in the ESPN area for quite a bit we headed over to Pizza Planet for lunch. We got really lucky and just beat huge crowds that started to pour in after it began raining. We ate upstairs and enjoyed being inside as it started to rain pretty heavily. After leaving I convinced Ken that we'd better get ponchos as the forecast called for rain throughout the day. Of course, after buying our ponchos, it never rained again for the rest of our trip. Oh well! :p.

Ash had fallen asleep while we were walking around and saw that Cal Ripken Jr. was doing a book signing for his new novel "Hothead." We had no idea what the book was about but Ken jumped at the opportunity to meet him. Ken waiting in line while I walked around with Ash. About 30 minutes later they were ushering Ken and a few others into the store. Unfortunately, they wouldn't allow stroller inside ad we didn't want to wake up Ash, so I wasn't able to meet him. It meant a lot more to Ken though so I was happy he got to meet him!

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We headed over to the ESPN zone(makes me think of the restaurant every time I say that) and saw a few more athletes but still no Yankees. It was approaching 4 so we darted over to the sorcerers hat for baseball tonight. We'd at least get to see the Yankees for their interview. When we were walking over, we meet Dana Jacobson. She was super nice and my husband was happy to get a pic with her.:rolleyes: Then we were off to baseball tonight. It was fun to watch the show and to see the Yankee players. Plus the camera crew panned on Ken a couple times so that was fun! He was one of those crazed fans. haha. Our little daughter was so amazing all day especially for it being quite a low key day for a little one...

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MrsTK21

New Member
Original Poster
We left about an hour into the show and then went over to ride TSM. It was fun, like always. Ash was really enjoying it too, and took over shooting for Ken. We'd never been over to the Animation Building and wanted to get pictures with the characters over there. It was super cute inside and smelled like strawberries, go figure. :lol:. We meet Lotso and Mickey. Ash did a full run for Mickey, it was priceless.

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We had dinner reservations at 7:30 at the Whispering Canyon so we headed to our car at about 6:30. It was so weird not going on any ride but TSM at Hollywood Studios...I guess we were just so preoccupied with the ESPN events. I still can't believe I didn't ride Tower though! :(Anyways we made it to our car and we were off to Disney's Wilderness Lodge. I think I mentioned it before but having a car in Disney World is amazing! It's so nice to not have to wait, pack up the stroller and then do it all again. We were able to get to our destinations very quickly. We knew we'd be getting a rental car this trip because of going to Universal and Tampa for the Yankee game and at first I was a little sad because I thought the buses were part of the whole experience. Boy was I wrong, having a car was so convenient! We will never again go without a rental car.

I'd never been to Disney's Wilderness Lodge, it was very pretty! Ken said that he'd really like to stay here next time. We'll see, it would be nice! We walked around and waited for our buzzer. We actually didn't get seated until 10 mins after our reservations, which was a first. Normally we get in a little earlier or right on time. As soon as we were seated I knew I loved this restaurant, the atmosphere was so fun! Ken and I both ordered milkshakes. He got Carmel and Ash and I shared my Vanilla. They were so tasty and bottomless. Except we couldn't finish our seconds...we weren't even close! Ken ordered the Canyon Skillet All-You-Care-To-Enjoy and I ordered the Western Chicken Pasta. I love pasta but I have to admit I was a little hesitant because I am so picky. It did not disappoint though. This was by far the best food I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying in Disney World. It was so creamy and flavorful. Even though I was already full from my milk shake, I ate every last bite! Ken and Ash split Ken's plate and it looked like they'd barely made a dent. To be fair it was a TON of food though! haha. He also really enjoyed the food, and from Ash's messy face, so did she. We got our dessert to go consisting of Apple caramel Pie and Smore Cheesecake. This is definitely a must stop for our next trip. Just thinking about it makes me hungry! haha. After eating we decided to walk off some of our food by wandering around Wilderness Lodge. It really is a beautiful hotel! We got back to our car and to our hotel quickly and were ready for bed.

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Tomorrow, our last full day spent in Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Epcot!
 

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