Trip Report First Timer - Not Anymore!

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 10, 2014

After a brief rest we got ready to leave for Downtown Disney to make our 4:55 ADR at Splitsville. Maddie ordered a slushy, a Bacon Cheeseburger with fries and I had the Turkey Club with fries. The food was really good and we bowled for one round. Maddie beat me because she used the bumpers, at least that is my excuse.

We walked around DTD and visited the shops along the way. Maddie got into pin trading and bought a vinylmation. I purchased a mini hipster Vera Bradley purse for myself. I found out later on that everything they had in stock sold out that night.

We had a great time today! Epcot is Maddie's favorite park. She loves to learn and visiting the countries really peaked her interest. We went back to the resort to get some sleep. I did watch what I could see of Illuminations from our room.
Next day is Magic Kingdom and Be Our Guest.

Photo of Maddie in Japan:

Forgot to mention that as we were walking around Epcot we ran into another student from Maddie's school and her parents. That was pretty cool!

SarahBella82 · Mar 10, 2014

I am loving your trip report. Your daughter sounds like an awesome kid. Good job, Mom!

Todd L · Mar 11, 2014

disneyfirstLJ said:
Here are some photos from the Lion King Section of AOA as we were walking to catch the bus to MK. I forgot to add them yesterday.
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Continuing - Monday, February 24 - Travel Day 2, Arrive at AOA and Magic Kingdom
We arrived at the Magic Kingdom and to say we were overjoyed at the sight was an understatement. It was unbelievable. My childhood dream come true! Bag check was pretty fast and we had no trouble entering the Magic Kingdom with our Magic Bands.
Here is Maddie by the Mad Tea Party poster upon entering. Look at that smile.
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The castle!
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We stopped by the firehouse to pick up our Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards and have our training session. I read a lot about this card/virtual game online and knew it would be right up Maddie's alley and it was! She loved it. We worked on the first mission before we need to go to our first FP+.
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My Son and I discovered the Socerers of the Mk game on our last trip and we had SO much fun running all over the park playing the game. Love the Tr!!

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 11, 2014

Wednesday, February 26, 2014 - Disney Day 2 - Magic Kingdom
Today was supposed to be one of the lowest crowd days of the week at Magic Kingdom and I was looking forward to going on lots of rides. It didn't disapoint. Rain was in the forecast so I made sure to pack our ponchos and umbrellas.
I woke up at 6, took a shower and woke up Maddie. She had a rough time waking up again. I walked to the food court to fill our mugs and we had our cereal in the room. Then we walked to the bus stop and got right on the bus to Magic Kingdom. We arrived at 8:15. I was really happy we got to see the morning show. I loved it! Maddie didn't quite understand the appeal because it was early. I will admit to having tears in my eyes. I took a lot of photos of the show.

We walked down main street USA with everyone and took it all in.

The Castle (love!)

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 11, 2014

Continuing - Wednesday, February 26, 2014 - Disney Day 2 - Magic Kingdom
We walked to Fantasyland with the hope to ride Little Mermaid first but it wasn't open. We hopped in the very short line for Winnie the Pooh. It stopped on the first day toward the end and we wanted to ride it again with the hope that it wouldn't stop and it didn't. We did 13 attractions this day and two of them we did twice.
List:
Winnie the Pooh, it's a small world, Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, Regal Carousel, Little Mermaid, Mickey's Philharmagic, The hall of presidents, Haunted Mansion (twice), Enchanted Tiki Room, People mover, Buzz Lightyear (twice) and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.
Whew! That was fun! We still love Haunted Mansion. The hall of presidents made me tear up, my mom & dad would love it! Buzz Lightyear was really fun and we enjoyed the People mover. Maddie like Mickey's Philharmagic a lot.

Tea Cups

Dumbo

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 11, 2014

More ride photos:

Maggie Mae · Mar 11, 2014

I am enjoying your trip report! isn't the first trip so amazing? my first trip was in 2012, we went back last year, and I have a sister trip planned for this November! Can't wait to see what else you have in store!

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 12, 2014

SarahBella82 said:
I am loving your trip report. Your daughter sounds like an awesome kid. Good job, Mom!

Thank you! She is a great kid and I am very lucky to be her mom. It was so nice to have this one on one time together without normal, everyday distractions.

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 12, 2014

Todd L said:
My Son and I discovered the Socerers of the Mk game on our last trip and we had SO much fun running all over the park playing the game. Love the Tr!!

We had a great time playing the game too and saw things that I don't know if we would have noticed if we didn't play. I wish we could have done more then two missions. Next time! Thank you!

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 12, 2014

Maggie Mae said:
I am enjoying your trip report! isn't the first trip so amazing? my first trip was in 2012, we went back last year, and I have a sister trip planned for this November! Can't wait to see what else you have in store!

I am glad, it is fun to write and remember. Our first trip was wonderful. I am ready to go back! I loved having the one on one time with my daughter.

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 12, 2014

Continuing - Wednesday, February 26, 2014 - Disney Day 2 - Magic Kingdom
While in Liberty Square riding Haunted Mansion we were getting hungry. I had heard about Columbia Harbor House so we decided to try it. This was a big miss for us. We didn't like it at all. I ordered the lobster roll with chips and Maddie had the chicken nuggets. The entire meal was terrible. My lobster roll was mostly mayo and the chips were soggy. The chicken nuggets at McDonald's are better then the ones Maddie had. I didn't eat my meal and threw it away. Such a waste but I just couldn't eat it. I guess living in New England has made me a lobster snob.

We walked around Liberty Square and went to the Christmas shop. I needed to eat something and decided I deserved a Mickey ice cream sandwich after that terrible lunch so that is what I got. Maddie got a Mickey ice cream bar. We sat on a bench to watch the boat and people for a bit. It was a nice little break.
We walked around Adventureland and Frontierland next. We went into the shops and Maddie did some pin trading. We scoped out Pirates and Jungle Cruise because those were on our agenda for our last day at Disney. Maddie decided our theme for the day was going to be ice cream. We walked by Aloha Isle just when it started to rain. She wanted a vanilla dole whip and a water. I am not a big fan of pineapple so I got a root beer float (I asked for more root beer then ice cream and the cast member made it perfect). We sat down in the seating area next door and enjoyed our second treat of the day while the rain came down.

We went to the Enchanted Tiki Room after we finished our snack to get out of the rain. Maddie loves the Orange Bird and collected at least four or five pins of him over the course of the trip. So when she saw the drink cup at Sunshine Tree Terrace she had to buy herself a drink.

The rain was starting to pick up. We walked to Main Street to hang out in the shops until the rain slowed down. We went to the Firehouse to pick up more Sorcerers of the MK cards and Maddie completed the first mission. That is when Maddie spotted the ice cream parlor on Main Street. I don't know where she was going to put another ice cream but we were on vacation and she was willing to buy it for herself. She had a vanilla cone and we stood in the shop while the rain continued to come down. A lot of people were heading out of the park. It was interesting to see the mass exit due to rain. Yes, you counted correctly, she had three ice cream items this day. Vacation! We were getting chilly and I knew we would be uncomfortable at Be Our Guest for dinner if we didn't have a sweatshirt. We walked over to the emporium and each picked one out. I was going to buy us one anyway so might as well get it when we needed it. I am glad we got them because we wore them a lot.
Up next, Be Our Guest...

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 12, 2014

Pretty Castle photo before the rain started.

joshsprincess921 · Mar 12, 2014

all caught up and following! loving it!

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 12, 2014

joshsprincess921 said:
all caught up and following! loving it!

Thank you for following. Glad you are enjoying it!

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 26, 2014 - Disney Day 2 - Magic Kingdom
I didn't mention earlier but I had to buy Maddie a Disney poncho because the cheap one we brought with us got stuck on her glasses when she tried to put it on and it ripped down the front. Oh well!

Now it is time for our dinner ADR at Be Our Guest. Maddie was losing steam by this point, we had a busy day after all. She was not excited about having a sit down dinner but was willing to do it because she knew that I really wanted to eat here.
We got our pager and waited on the bridge for about 5 minutes.
While waiting on the bridge we went over our remaining ADR's and we cancelled all of them except 50's Prime Time Café because Maddie really wanted to eat there. Lesson learned: if you have a kid that doesn't like sit down/scheduled meals, only schedule a few that you really want to do and eat on the fly the rest of the time. I was okay with making the change because Be Our Guest was at the top of my must do list. There are so many food options that you don't have to do a scheduled ADR meal to have a great meal. Being flexible helped us have a wonderful trip.

Smiling even though she would rather be in bed with her feet up at this point.
While we walked into Be Our Guest I was blown away by all the detail. It was amazing. They did a wonderful job. I felt like I was walking into the movie. We sat in the Ball Room but had a great view into the West Wing. The tables for two are a little small and I felt like I was sitting with the family and the couple on either side of us. It was a little tight. But who cares, I am eating in a castle with the Beast!

Our waiter was just awesome. He was helpful, informative and happy! I wish I had taken note of his name. I have a few cast members that I would have liked to recognize but I was too much in the moment to write down their information or remember. Newbie mistake. I ordered the lemonade with the foam on top, potato leek soup and the steak. Maddie also ordered the steak and a sprite. I figured I should order a fancy drink because I was in a castle and I don't drink alcohol so that was as fancy as I get. The lemonade was really good, the soup was excellent and we both enjoyed our steaks. Maddie loved the rolls! She was way too full from all that ice cream to have dessert so I ordered the Strawberry cupcake to go. They brought us each out a plate of the grey stuff to wish us both a wonderful first trip. And yes, it was delicious.
My photos inside came out really dark because I didn't know that I had to push a button on my new point and shoot camera to activate the flash. Live and learn!

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 12, 2014

More Be Our Guest Dark Photos:

We were very sleepy after filling our tummies at Be Our Guest and Maddie was dead on her feet. She looked exhausted. It was time to call it a night. We decided to head back to the resort and arrived back at 7. Mousekeeping rearranged our stuffed animals and we had a new towel friend to greet us. A nice little bit of Disney magic. It really does go a long way!

Next up, Epcot! Maddie's favorite park and Japanese grape soda.

DiSnEyF@n · Mar 12, 2014

disneyfirstLJ said:
Here are some photos from the Lion King Section of AOA as we were walking to catch the bus to MK. I forgot to add them yesterday.
View attachment 47767 View attachment 47768 View attachment 47769 View attachment 47770
Continuing - Monday, February 24 - Travel Day 2, Arrive at AOA and Magic Kingdom
We arrived at the Magic Kingdom and to say we were overjoyed at the sight was an understatement. It was unbelievable. My childhood dream come true! Bag check was pretty fast and we had no trouble entering the Magic Kingdom with our Magic Bands.
Here is Maddie by the Mad Tea Party poster upon entering. Look at that smile.
View attachment 47771
The castle!
View attachment 47772
We stopped by the firehouse to pick up our Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards and have our training session. I read a lot about this card/virtual game online and knew it would be right up Maddie's alley and it was! She loved it. We worked on the first mission before we need to go to our first FP+.
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So Excited to read about your trip!! I love first timers

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 13, 2014

Thursday, February 27, 2014 - Disney Day 3 - Epcot
We slept in this morning. We didn't need to rush to be anywhere so the plan was to take it easy today. I decided to let Maddie sleep after I had gotten ready so I left her a note and headed to the resort food court. I filled our mugs and decided to get some waffles, bacon and fruit for us to share back at the room. It was nice to have something other then cereal for breakfast. We hopped on the bus to Epcot and arrived a little before 10. We had trouble with Maddie's magic band entering the park and they had to reset the entrance. When that didn't work they used an iPad to check her into the park. Like I said earlier, Epcot doesn't have this whole MyMagic+ thing down yet. Maddie got a little upset over this whole thing and we sat down for a minute to calm down. I think she was just tired and lack of a good sleep contributed. It was pretty chilly and overcast. We went over to the fountain view Starbucks to get something hot to drink which cheered her right up. We walked over to The Art of Disney store and enjoyed all the art work. Maddie really loved looking at everything and her mood got better. Then we rode SpaceShip Earth which Maddie loves and she was back in full Disney mode.

We went on The Seas with Nemo and Friends and looked at all of the fish.

We rode Figment and took some photos in the photo booth in the shop on our way out of Figment. We decided it was time to head to World Showcase. We were going to start in Canada, make our way to Japan and then turn back this time. Our goal was to get back to the resort around 2 for a rest.

disneyfirstLJ · Mar 13, 2014

Continuing - Thursday, February 27, 2014 - Disney Day 3 - Epcot
Canada

We were hungry by the time we arrived in France so of course we each got a ham and cheese croissant and beignets to share. We were lucky enough to find a table inside. The food was excellent!

We made our way over to Maddie's favorite country, Japan. She wanted to try the Japanese soda. It has a marble inside the top part and the cap helps push the marble inside the soda so that you can drink it. I didn't get any photos but it is really interesting. Maddie got the grape flavored one and loved it!