Trip Report I Horsey again

We’ve been home from Walt Disney World for a little over two weeks now and the holidays have passed. It’s time for what has become my post-trip tradition of writing our trip report.

We always take our best photos at Hollywood Studio.


If you read our previous reports, you know that we have previously visited WDW in November. Given the amount of crowds last year, we decided to change to a December trip. We made sure to steer clear of the Holiday crowds however. I mean we are not crazy, even though we do enjoy a good country bear jamboree.


Our trip began on December 8th. My super-organized wife Sara (I say that in a good way – mostly) had worked the previous week or so packing up her stuff as well as the kids’ things. Here is a photo of our cat Oliver asking us if he can on December 7th.

Ollie gets his name because he came from a “free kittens” box at a yard sale in our development. He has a sister we named Jasmine who is harder to get to stay still for a photo. Much to Sara’s dismay, I have continuously put my foot down and forbidden our cats from coming on vacation with us. Taking care of two children tends to be hard enough.


On December 8th, I stayed home with an off-day from work while Sara and Makayla went to daycare (Sara is a teacher there) and Luke went to Kindergarten. Yes, Luke is our big Kindergartner this year. I took December 8th to pack my things, which hadn’t been started yet. Sara and I are very opposite in this way. Sara and Makayla came home around 1:30, and Sara and I loaded the car while Makayla napped. Around 3:45 Luke returned from school, and after a quick potty break for him we were on our way.


After a 40 minute wait to eat a Chipotle in Leesburg, VA, and a bunch of Paw Patrol episodes on our DVD player later (both kids’ current favorite show) we arrived at the Hampton Inn in Emporia, VA, our home for the first night.


We quickly settled in for the night and prepared for bed. Luke always enjoys spending nights away, he seems them as adventures. So it took a little bit of time to get him wound down, but we ended up sleeping well. The next morning, both kids insisted on “helping me load the car again.

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we were on our way. Here is Makayla enjoying her yogurt.

Friday, December 9th was an all-day drive affair. It included a Pizza Hut lunch in South Carolina, and a stop at the Florida Welcome Center 10 minutes after it had closed – no free orange juice for us. Makayla was terribly afraid of this dolphin statue. She would not go near it. She kept saying “Dolphin bite me.” As far as we know, she’s never had a negative run-in with a dolphin before, so I’m not really sure where this came from, but she would not go near the thing. At least Luke was willing to take his photo here.

Once we were back in the car, we hit a little traffic around Jacksonville, then made our way to I-4. As we turned onto I-4, the navigation on Sara’s phone told us we were about an hour and 15 minutes away. About 15 minutes later, a recheck told us we were about an hour and 45 minutes away. It usually seems like Disney keeps getting further away from us due to our excitement, but this time we found out there was a massive accident on I-4 closing the left three lanes.


We ended up having a major delay through Orlando, and instead of arriving around 8, we ended up not getting to our hotel until almost 9:30. We had hoped to stay at the Hampton Inn near Disney (Hampton is a long-time favorite of our family), but found out they were booked for the night. So we ended up next door at the Quality Inn and Suites, which thankfully had an opening (though for a little bit more money). Both kids helped by pulling their suitcases this time.

Luke loved the fact that we had two rooms – it is a suite after all.

After a quick game of hide and seek – yes Luke deemed the room was big enough we had to play hide and seek, we got the kids to bed. We were ready to begin our Disney adventure the next day.

 

[PrincessL]

We decided to walk back to future world and to the Mission Space playground. This was on our must-do list going into our trip. If you happened to read our last report, you may remember that this playground was the source of some major drama for our family last year. We went to the playground but didn't plan out enough time, and the result was a major Luke temper tantrum as we tried to pull him out of the playground, after what admittedly was a very short time. Thankfully this year we had plenty of time to play.

On the way, we walked past the cool station misters outside of Test Track, and Luke really wanted to go in.

The sodas in the car don't come out

All the water in this area comes out as a mist, but Luke got really soaked. He loved it.

Then it was on to the playground.
Here's a happy face

Makayla was a little upset that she couldn't go into the high tubes, but she found ways to occupy her time.

And the cute sibling shot

The playground inside Mission Space actually goes 3 levels high, and the 3rd level is inside a rocket ship which you can't see into from the ground. I haven't seen the inside of the rocket ship myself (it was tempting to get in and climb around, but I decided I would act like an adult). The rocket must be exciting because a lot of kids would spend a lot of time in there. In the time we were there, we had two mom's get fairly panicked when they couldn't find their sons, only to have them be inside the rocket ship.

We ended up spending about 45 minutes at that playground. Luke enjoyed a chance to play after being bored in World Showcase, and Sara and I enjoyed having a moment to sit. As our dinner time was approaching, we were able to get the kids out of the playground and on the way to Mexico. And of course, on the way we had to stop at the cool station again

He was pretty cold when it came time to eat in the air conditioned, indoor, San Angel Inn.

Loving your report and learning a thing or two! How did I not know about the play ground in Mission Space?!? It's going to be a must on our next trip since I have a two year old obsessed with rockets! Also, I like reading how others with small kiddos do Disney. Your kids are adorable

 

[Lyear]

As much as I enjoy Enchanted Tales with Belle, I hate the concept of it being a "meet and greet." The only way that adults are allowed to "meet" Belle is by getting chosen to be in the show, which is rare. Belle is my favorite, so I'm always disappointed that the only way to get a picture with her in her gown is by paying $$$ to eat at Akershus (whose menu does not entice me).

You know, I hadn't thought about it from that perspective. The cast members won't let you come up after the kids have gotten photos to take a quick one? I guess they are on such a time crunch.

And Belle isn't guaranteed to be the main meet at Akershus. The first time we ate there, it was Ariel meeting guests in her green gown. However, Belle was out the next day in her yellow ball gown at EPCOT during an unscheduled meet and greet near the Land Pavilion. Sometimes you never know where characters may show up

We are planning to try Akershus next year. We figure Makayla will be able to interact more (and hopefully not scream so much). She knows who all the princesses are, but Belle is definitely her favorite. I hope we get her. If not, I guess we'll just get to sit through Enchanted Tales again.

Loving your report and learning a thing or two! How did I not know about the play ground in Mission Space?!? It's going to be a must on our next trip since I have a two year old obsessed with rockets! Also, I like reading how others with small kiddos do Disney. Your kids are adorable

The mission space playground is nice because it is indoors and has a bit of space for parents to sit down. I can't remember how I heard about it, maybe through another trip report, but it has been a hit for our family. We enter through the gift shop/ride exit, and then turn right, and once you go back a small hallway a room opens up to your left that has some type of computer games on the left side for older kids (I really never took much notice of it) and the playground for small kids on the right. It seems like most kids never want to leave.

I love reading reports involving young children as well and I always feel like I learn so much from them.

 

[Lyear]

Our next morning came early . None of us were in the mood to wake up after such a long day at Magic Kingdom the day before. I finally got my feet on the floor after hitting snooze at least three times. We cleaned ourselves up quickly. Since we had our breakfast reservation, we didn't have to eat before we left, though Makayla insisted on having something to go.

It was a foggy morning. After a quick stop at the food court, we were on the bus. Makayla wanted to be independent this morning.

It was a foggy morning, and I thought it gave an ominous effect to the Tower of Terror.

Our reservations at Hollywood and Vine were for 8:45. We got to the entrance around 8:40, and they were already letting everyone into the park, so we didn't have to find the special breakfast reservation entrance.

We made our way straight to H&V and parked the stroller. They took us back to our table almost immediately.

We were over on right side of the restaurant, up against a wall. Good placement for us. Makayla played with sugar packets while waiting for her food.

Manny was the first one to our table. Makayla was getting a diaper change at this point, so she wasn't there for him. Luke really has no idea who Manny is, but he was willing to get a picture.

Doc McStuffins came next, and we learned Makayla hadn't grown fonder of characters overnight. She would scream if the characters got too close, and insisted that I keep my hand on her while they were nearby.

The light coming through the windows didn't make for great photos. Luke again really doesn't know Doc McStuffins other than through one book that we have for Makayla.

Next was Jake, both kids's current favorite. That doesn't mean Makayla wants to get too close though.

A few years ago Jake was THE show that Luke would watch over and over and over. He has since moved on to other shows. Paw Patrol is the current favorite. He was actually slightly upset that the hotel TV didn't get Nick Jr so he could watch that.

Even when Jake had moved on to the next table, Makayla was still on edge.

Sophia was last. Makayla likes Sophia (she was wearing a Sophia shirt), but wanted nothing to do with her this morning.

Sophia felt bad for making Makayla cry

Last year, we had waited about an hour and fifteen minutes to meet Jake, but this year all the characters made it to our table within 10-15 minutes. It was a much more enjoyable experience. Once they had left our table, Makayla enjoyed watching them go throughout the restaurant, but if they looked like they were coming anywhere near our table, she would reach out and grab my hand.

As for the food, we thought it was really good. Reading some reviews of this place online you would think they are microwaving the food in the back and keeping under a heat lamp for two hours. To us, everything was fresh and good. I especially liked the cheesy potatoes (and coffee). Makayla enjoyed eating Trix cereal, and Luke liked the fact that the ice cream machine was operational for breakfast. Sure, you can have ice cream for breakfast. We're on vacation after all .

By the time we had settled the check, all the characters had made it around to our table again (much to the dismay of Makayla). We were all still exhausted, but we enjoyed our breakfast. And now it was time for even more Disney Jr fun with the Live on Stage show.

 

[MinnieM123]

The photos of the children with the characters were precious!

 

[blreinsel]

You know, I hadn't thought about it from that perspective. The cast members won't let you come up after the kids have gotten photos to take a quick one? I guess they are on such a time crunch.

Unfortunately not. I guess I understand the time crunch reasoning, but definitely think that Disney should offer an alternative if that's the case. I guess I'm biased with her being my favorite princess.

Who doesn't want ice cream for breakfast? I break a lot of meal time rules with the "I'm on vacation" excuse.

 

[MinnieM123]

Who doesn't want ice cream for breakfast? I break a lot of meal time rules with the "I'm on vacation" excuse

And let's not forget that ice cream is also appropriate for lunch and dinner, too!! (Yes, I've done all three--but not in the same day . .. . LOL . . . )

 

[Lyear]

The photos of the children with the characters were precious!

Thank you!

Unfortunately not. I guess I understand the time crunch reasoning, but definitely think that Disney should offer an alternative if that's the case. I guess I'm biased with her being my favorite princess.

Who doesn't want ice cream for breakfast? I break a lot of meal time rules with the "I'm on vacation" excuse.

Vacation is such a great time to eat what you are not supposed to. Unfortunately for me it always takes me a while to break out of my bad meal habits I learned on vacation.

 

[Lyear]

Once outside Hollywood and Vine, we got everyone into the stroller and made out way to Disney Jr Live on Stage. This was our first fastpass, and it was a pretty long line to get in. Once inside, the auditorium was full. We were pretty far back, but then they somehow squeezed in the standby line behind us. Maybe it's because it was the first show of the day, or maybe it's always this busy. Sara and Makayla were ready.

They both enjoyed the show. Luke was temporarily sad during the show because we sat in a section where the bubbles didn't make it to us during the Doc McStuffins part. Apparently having a bubble wand back at our hotel wasn't fulfilling the bubble needs of this boy. He did enjoy when we got to pretend to be Tic Toc Crocs to scare Captain Hook.

After the show, Makayla and Luke both collected more gold dabloons (that's Luke's hand)

After the show, we took a quick bathroom break and let the kids run around outside Star Wars launch bay. We had a few minute before our next fastpass for the frozen sing along. We stopped at one point to get our photo taken.

Luke and Makayla were both upset that we were looking into the sun for this pic.

The photographer asked us to put our hands out like we're using the force, and this is what we got.

Luke is being that cool kid who doesn't want to give any effort, and Makayla is in her own little world looking the other way.

We then walked towards Frozen, but as we were in the middle of the park we heard the Star Wars music start. Turns out they were doing the march of the first order.

Sara and I were both interested to see what this was all about. Luke was pretty scared. He didn't like the fact that the commander was calling out to people in the crowd and going up to some of them. He also thought the music was too loud. We watched for a bit, then wandered over to Frozen, which is more age appropriate for them. While we were in line at Frozen, a girl around Luke's age was behind us and apparently had the same reaction as Luke. Her mom apologized that she had had an adult interruption in her kid day.

Soon we were seated inside the Frozen auditorium, and of course they sang "Let it Go" again.

As you know, we had followed up a late night with an early morning, and during the show our kids started feeling it. Luke at one point somehow managed to lay face down on his chair and I thought he had fallen asleep. But by the time the snow started, he was awake and happy.

Following the Frozen sing-along, we made our way to Starring Rolls for some sweets. We were on vacation after all.

The butterfinger cupcake made its way into a to-go container, but we devoured the other two. Luke really liked the Darth Vader chocolate piece. He really doesn't know who Darth Vader is, but he knows he likes chocolate.

Following this, we were all ready to head back to the hotel. This was one of those days where a mid-day nap was a necessity for everyone. Luke found a bubble maker on the way out.

We made it to the room around 1, and we all crashed. It wasn't until 4:30 that we began waking up. Yes, a nap was necessary this day.

 

[Lyear]

Even though the kids had slept for over three hours, it was still hard to wake them up following the nap. As we were making our way back to the bus stop, Sara remarked how this had seemed like a very light park day. She had a point, since we had done very little of Hollywood Studios. We made the decision that, if everyone was up for it, we'd try to go to EMH at Epcot.

But first, we had our final fastpass of the day to use at Toy Story Mania. Three years ago when Sara and I first saw Pixar Place, we took hundreds of photos. This year, not one. I guess the novelty has worn off.

We ended up getting pointed in the direction of the new track. Sara loaded with Luke, and I went with Makayla. This was not a ride Makayla enjoyed. When you are in between the shooting games, you get spun around really fast, and that's the part she didn't like. She insisted that I put my arm around her to hold her. Even when we would stop, I wasn't allowed to take my hand off her, So I ended up playing the game one handed. Makayla was trying her best to reach the gun, but it was just out of her fingertips. Sara was the big winner in our car, much to Luke's displeasure.

As we exited, we confirmed that the whole streets of America section was walled off, so we would have to make a giant loop to get to our dinner at Pizza Rizzo. We had been watching the construction of Pizza Rizzo carefully leading up to our trip, and were happy that it opened on schedule about two weeks before our trip. I had enjoyed Pizza Planet a lot, but with the new Toy Story land going into the back of the park, understand making the change to the muppet themed restaurant.

Our problem tonight was that the restaurant had already closed. Seriously, you open a brand new restaurant and then you close it at 6pm, an hour before the park closes??? I really can't say I understand their logic on that one. They recommended heading over to Sunset Blvd for some other quick service options, but I didn't feel we had time to walk over there and then still get a good viewing location for Jingle Bell Bam. I was pretty frustrated at this point as I felt we were left scrambling trying to figure out what to eat with very little time to do so. Sara suggested that we find a spot to watch the show, then worry about eating later, either at Epcot or on the way.

With her suggestion we ended up making our way back to the Chinese theater area. On the way, Luke really wanted to get his photo in the Sci Fi car.

We walked around a bit and spoke with a CM to get a good suggestion of where to sit for the show. We ended up right beside a popcorn stand. Might as well grab some popcorn while we were here and hungry. As we were finishing our popcorn, Luke said he had to go to the bathroom. We decided to go back to the Star Wars launch bay bathrooms since we were just outside the archway leading to that area.

It just so happened that the area was being patrolled by storm troopers

They were walking/marching around and yelling out "Halt" to people as they were going by. This was pretty entertaining as they would then begin "interrogating" guests, I assume asking them if they were part of the rebellion or what not. I thought this looked fun, but Luke was pretty scared. We decided we would try to avoid the storm troopers by tip toeing by them near the Ariel show. Luke thought this was over the top fun. We made our way to the bathoom, then as we were coming back we snuck to different hiding places in the same way. We made it to the bathrooms and back without being detected

We met up with Sara just as the Jingle Bell Bam show was starting.

No photos to post of the show itself. I've heard some fairly bad reviews of the show, but it was one Sara and I were both interested in seeing. I'll say this, if you try to follow the plot line of the show, you'll likely be disappointed as it doesn't seem to connect well. But what I really enjoyed was the fact the show was loud, bright, and fully surrounding us in the courtyard there. Wishes seems to be the perfect end to a Magic Kingdom day, and I thought this show was a fitting end to Hollywood Studios. There was plenty of action and something to see everywhere we looked. As a bonus there were some good Christmas songs to sing and dance to. And finally, something every boy and girl enjoys - SNOW!!! The show is obviously only playing during the Holiday season, but I'd recommend it to anyone going during that time (provided they bring it back next year ).

After the show, we waited just a bit for the crowd to thin out, then made our way to the exit. It was still snowing.

The kids were loving our walk through it.

That ended our short time in Hollywood Studios this year. I feel sad that we didn't get more time there, but at the end of the day we decided to spend most of our time in the other parks this year since there's more for kids to do there. We're both looking forward to seeing the new Star Wars land and Toy Story land when it opens though.

As we exited, we swung a left towards Epcot. They boat dock looked very full, so we decided we would try walking. I had always heard it wasn't so far...

 

[MinnieM123]

As we exited, we swung a left towards Epcot. They boat dock looked very full, so we decided we would try walking. I had always heard it wasn't so far...

Yah, I never believe half of what I hear down there! Can't wait to read the rest of this story. (And I've stayed at the Swan and Dolphin many times, so I'm well aware of the walking distance between DHS and EPCOT . . .)

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

As we were finishing, Makayla, similar to last night, declared she was done and wanted to get out of her high chair. This led to another round of throwing items off the table and screaming (It really is so much fun eating with young children

Having a meal with toddlers in a restaurant is like eating with ticking time bombs. If they get fed before everyone else gets their meals they are done before anyone else has eaten and want to leave, but then if they are starving and the food doesn't come out fast enough they have a meltdown. Hard to win.

Sara and I both had the veggie fajitas,

Veggie fajitas aren't on the menu for Pecos Bills. Is that a special order? How were they?

 

[amjt660]

We slept for about two hours in our room, and as we woke up I started going through our plans for the night in my head. We had planned to see the 6pm showing of Festival of the Lion King. I was trying to reconcile this with the fact that Luke had really wanted to ride the Triceratops ride, and that there was the playground in dinoland that we had talked about wanting to do for the past two years but never had made time for. And it was clear that Luke was at an age where he appreciates rides. My hope is that the day will come where he will appreciate the art, beauty, etc of Disney beyond seeing it simply as an amusement park, but 5 years old is definitely too young for that. Since we had subjected him to world showcase the day before and Nemo that afternoon, I asked Sara how she would feel about skipping FOTLK and doing the playground and dinoland instead. She was fine with it, so we changed our plans as we headed out the door.;

Hi
First off I am really behind on your report so I apologize for bringing this point up again ( and possibly repeat what others have said).

As a Dad and the primary planner for our family when the kids were younger I totally support how you handled this one.
1) You did not change your plan to go back and rest - it was needed and you held your ground
2) Once back at the hotel you re-evaluated the plan and made the best decision for the family - this involved sacrifice and flexibility
3) You reminded Luke later that you adjusted for him and that the tree lighting ceremony was important to you and your wife.

I think you knocked it out of the park my friend
Job well done!!

Max

 

[Lyear]

Yah, I never believe half of what I hear down there! Can't wait to read the rest of this story. (And I've stayed at the Swan and Dolphin many times, so I'm well aware of the walking distance between DHS and EPCOT . . .)

Ha, it's funny how different people will experience the same thing but have very different opinions. Swan and Dolphin are both hotels I would like to stay at. The hotels I would like to stay at list is very very long. For now we keep going back to All Star Music.

Having a meal with toddlers in a restaurant is like eating with ticking time bombs. If they get fed before everyone else gets their meals they are done before anyone else has eaten and want to leave, but then if they are starving and the food doesn't come out fast enough they have a meltdown. Hard to win.

Veggie fajitas aren't on the menu for Pecos Bills. Is that a special order? How were they?

Hahahahaha. Yes ticking time bombs is a great description. We don't have many meals where the time bombs don't go off.

At Pecos Bills I simply ask for veggie fajitas with no meat and they give it to me with no problems. I think they send the order back as a chicken fajita without chicken, which they must take as code for vegetarian.

Hi
First off I am really behind on your report so I apologize for bringing this point up again ( and possibly repeat what others have said).

As a Dad and the primary planner for our family when the kids were younger I totally support how you handled this one.
1) You did not change your plan to go back and rest - it was needed and you held your ground
2) Once back at the hotel you re-evaluated the plan and made the best decision for the family - this involved sacrifice and flexibility
3) You reminded Luke later that you adjusted for him and that the tree lighting ceremony was important to you and your wife.

I think you knocked it out of the park my friend
Job well done!!

Max

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. Parenting is certainly a moving target and it seems there's so many opinions of how to do it. Sara and I try to do the best we can, and we seem to make out ok most of the time. Thanks for following along.

 

[Lyear]

So I've read stories of how people walk from Hollywood Studios to the International Gateway at Epcot as if it's a light, fun bit of exercise. By the time we made it to the Boardwalk, I was ready to be done. Pushing our sit and stand stroller with Makayla in it, and with Luke constantly wanting to get in and out ended up being quite the workout. Our high energy son was having a great time though. He would run ahead and then sprint back. He had taken off his glow necklace that he was wearing and was tossing it up in the air. A few times he almost lost it in the water. I was wondering what effect a glow necklace might have on the local wildlife, and my guess was that it wouldn't be preferable. Eventually we got him to put it back on, and he proceeded to climb on and jump off some high concrete benches/curbs near the Boardwalk Inn. All of this in between his whines of "How much further?" That's his take on "are we there yet?" It was clear that the extended nap had been beneficial for him.

Finally we made it to the boardwalk. We had checked our WDW app and decided we would try the Pizza window at the Trattoria al Forno for dinner since it was a quick service that was on the way.

We ordered off the dining plan, and each meal came with a slice of pizza, bag of chips, and cookie. By comparison to other WDW restaurants, the amount of food seemed small. It made up for it by the yumminess of the chocolate chip cookie. Well, that and the view.

We enjoyed our pizza slices while watching the boats come and go from Epcot and Hollywood studios. Luke kept trying to feed his chips to the fish and birds, and he was threatening to throw his Donald Duck hat he had brought along onto one of the boats. I didn't think he could reach, but I didn't let him try .

Once we had finished, we decided to take the boat to Epcot. This may have been because I felt my feet needed more of a break, or because the boat was already at the dock and we felt it would be quicker. Either way, it worked out for us.

Once we arrived at Epcot, Luke, Makayla, and I took some turns playing tag while we staggered bathroom trips, then we were into Epcot. Crowds were starting to line up for Illuminations, but we made our way to Future World. Our first stop was Figment/Journey into Imagination. But first we decided to show Luke and Makayla the leaping fountains. Luke instantly loved it.

After he had gotten wet, we rode Figment then spent some time in the what if labs.

After this, he wanted to play in the fountain again. He had found a new favorite thing at Epcot! This time he got very wet. He found one blast that was coming up short, and camped out under it, getting hit again and again.

By the time we made it to Nemo, he looked like this.

And then of course we need to act like a goofball.

Nemo was a favorite ride of the kids. Makayla especially enjoyed the turtle part. Even to this day she'll say "Turtle...Whoa!!!" After the ride, we spent some time wondering around the aquariums. Since it was Extra Magic Hours, the pavilion was essentially empty, which made it easy to look at the fish and follow them around. Luke really enjoyed the stingrays and sharks. When we made our way to the manatee, Makayla didn't want to go close, saying "it bite me." We tried to explain that the manatee was behind several inches of glass, but she wasn't convinced. .

We probably spent a good 20-25 minutes in the aquarium section looking at everything. It really held both of their attention. On our way out, we stopped and got a picture with Bruce.

As we left the Seas, we decided to do a quick night-time ride on Living with the Land. While we were there, the line for Soarin was only about 40 minutes long. I tried to convince Sara that we should try it, but we ended up deciding to go back to our hotel for bed.

We caught our bus and shortly were back at our hotel and room. It had been a very full evening, but the kids still had plenty of energy to play with their bubble wand.

We relaxed for a bit, thankful that we had made the decision to head to Epcot for EMH, and thankful also that tomorrow was our sleep in and enjoy the resort day.

 

[Lyear]

Our fifth day, Wednesday, was our relax day. No plans to visit any parks.

It began with waking up on my own (without an alarm clock) around 7:30. Having been getting up around 6am for most of the week, 7:30 seemed really late. It felt wonderful! I got myself ready, then began sorting our laundry, since our relax day was also laundry day. Our room was very close to the Piano Pool, so I had a short walk to the laundry room. Thankfully, the Piano Pool laundry room was still open even though the pool was closed.

When I arrived back at the room, Makayla and Luke were both awake and eating breakfast. Makayla was really loving the Trix cereal on this trip. She would continuously eat about three bowls for breakfast.

Soon enough, we were all ready and out the door. Our first stop was the arcade. Last year Luke never noticed there was an arcade in the main building of our resort, but this year it seemed it was one of the first things he noticed. He had asked everytime we walked past if he could go in there. Probably a precursor of things to come, since I don't think that the urge to play video games is going away anytime soon. Today he was going to get his wish.

We stayed in the arcade long enough to spend $5. The price of the games, I felt, was fairly reasonable. Luke played some type of fishing game, skeeball, and a target/throwing game. He really liked sitting through the demo of this "Typhoon" game.

Bonus for the parents since the demo is free . As we spent our last game credit, he wanted to play more, but we reminded him there was lots more to do than just games.

We left the main building and made our way towards the resort playground. Once we arrived at the playground, my time I had set for the laundry went off, so I didn't spend a lot of time here. But Sara stayed with the kids, and they both had some fun. And since it was Sara, and not me, there are plenty of pictures .

The All Star Music version of this toy actually works (you can hear each other in the other end). It's so rare to find one that actually works.

Why? Why? WHY????

Luke was wearing his Donald Duck hat. At one point he decided to fill the hat up with sand . So that was the last time we wore that hat on this trip .

While I was gone, a cast member came up and started talking to Luke and Makayla. Sara said she was really friendly, and seemed to take a real interest in how they were enjoying their vacation. She would come back into our story later on this morning.

As I returned, with our clothes now in the dryer, the kids decided they were ready for the next stage of our resort day - the pool!

 

[Lyear]

We made our way to the room and changed into our swim suits. Then it was time to hit the Guitar Pool.

We started in the kiddie pool. The temperature today was going to reach 80, so in my opinion it was warm enough to swim. But I must admit the heated pool felt good.

Both kids loved the complimentary beach balls. After spending some time in the kiddie pool, we decided to be brave and make our way to the big pool. First, we picked up some complimentary life vests.

Makayla was enjoying it, even if this photo says otherwise.

This one looks better

We spent some time chasing beach balls in the big pool, then went out and swam around the three caballeros water fountain for a bit. Before we knew it, we had spent about an hour at the pool.

While we were there, that same cast member that had spoken to the kids earlier found us, and delivered sticker books that she had picked up from the gift shop. What a thoughtful gift. I couldn't believe that she was willing to do that for Luke and Makayla. It was such a perfect example of a cast member going way beyond the expected to make sure we had a great experience. We reminded Luke to say thank you, and then she was on her way. We never even found out her name to leave a compliment at the resort.

After the pool, we returned to our room. I got the laundry back to the room and we bathed the kids quickly before our lunch.

Lunch was at the food court. Luke and Sara both got pizza, and I picked a veggie burger. I feel like I've been writing about Luke or Makayla's temper tantrums a lot in this report. I guess that's part of having young kids. I'm not trying to paint a bad picture of them, but simply trying to capture the memory, so to speak. While we were grabbing our food, Luke had a pretty major meltdown because his kids meal allowed him to get a side and a drink, but not a dessert, and he wanted his own dessert. Sara tried to compromise with him and include him in picking her dessert, but he was still upset. They did eventually settle on this.

Sara and I both had our hands full as we were carrying trays, so Luke crying and jumping up and down added a good bit of stress to our lunch experience. Thankfully, once we got situated at a table, the seating area was pretty empty since it was mid-day, so we didn't really bother anyone. Eventually, the tantrum played out, and we all enjoyed our meal and dessert. My dessert was ice cream with mickey head sprinkles. Yum!

Following a full, but overall relaxing morning, we found ourselves back in our hotel room ready for a mid-day nap. Our plan for the evening was Disney Springs.

 

[MinnieM123]

Makayla was really loving the Trix cereal on this trip. She would continuously eat about three bowls for breakfast.

Sometimes, cereal just hits the spot. (I went through a Cap'n Crunch cereal phase a few years ago--and that's as an adult!)

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

Sometimes, cereal just hits the spot. (I went through a Cap'n Crunch cereal phase a few years ago--and that's as an adult!)

My husband is still in that phase.

 

[LadyBelle]

My husband is still in that phase.

I'm mostly a Golden Grahams girl. But others will do in a pinch.

 

[DisneyGirlNY]

I am loving your trip report and reliving our family's trips when my boys were that little. They are now 14 and 11 and even though the temper tantrums cause you stress in the moment, years later they are forgotten and only the good memories remain. I also vividly remember my older guy being enamored of the ducks and my thoughts: "I spent all this money for you to watch ducks!? We have ducks at home!", But, one of my favorite memories is sitting by Canada, waiting for Illuminations to start, eating McDonald's french fries (when they sold them in that area of EPCOT) and chasing away the brazen ducks trying to steal our fries with my son's Buzz Lightyear spinning light toy. It is worth every penny to have those memories - even if your daughter doesn't remember it, you will. Looking forward to the rest of the report.