Is that a character?! Quick, run the other way! A Nov/Dec Trip Report!

Welcome to my trip report – thanks in advance for taking time to read!

Now that the holidays have wrapped and we’re back to “normal” life, I thought it was about time I stopped reading about everyone else’s trip and get rolling on my report! I had so much fun writing my first report last spring that I decided to take another crack at it (I’ve linked my first report to my signature if you’re interested). Thanks for joining me on this adventure!

The Cast & StatsThe trip included me (Mike), DW (Chrissy) and DD (Addie). Addie turned two a couple weeks before we left, so this was her official “2nd Birthday Trip”!

Trip Dates: November 29 – December 6, 2011

Resort: Boardwalk Villas

Chrissy and I are both HUGE Disney fans. We were engaged in the Rose Garden at Cinderella castle in March 2002 (almost 10 years…yikes!) and spent our honeymoon in WDW and aboard the Disney Magic in October 2003. Since then, we’ve visited at least once or twice a year. The only trip that we ever had to be “postponed” was a holiday trip we had planned for December 2009 (I was going to sing in the Candlelight Processional!). We had it all booked and a couple weeks later found out that Chrissy was pregnant and our little princess was due in November. So, we decided to postpone until June 2010 and take her on her first Disney adventure when she was 7 months old. We had an incredible trip but decided to wait until she was two to take her again. There was no way we could wait that long to return, so last March the two of us had a little getaway in the world to satisfy us until this trip! (my trip report from that adventure is posted below!) Although we were really excited to take her back now that she was older, we were also very nervous about the “terrible two’s” rearing their ugly head!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Tuesday, November 29 – Arrival Day

In my opinion, they happiest days are “arrival days” and this was no exception! Since we were just coming off of a long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, we were a bit more prepared than normal. We had taken time over the weekend to pack and make sure everything was in order. Our only question mark…Addie! She had been to the dr. shortly before Thanksgiving and diagnosed with a mild case of croup. The dr. had put her on a steroid and warned us to be on the lookout for signs of toddler ‘roid rage! Unfortunately, that monster came to light during Thanksgiving dinner and had made for a loooooong weekend! By departure day, she was off the medication and seemed to be doing better, but Chrissy and I were still worried about a meltdown on the plane. So, although we were ready to go, we were a bit nervous about the trip to Orlando!

We were both up at 6:00 AM that morning, showered, dressed and waiting for Addie when she woke up around 7:00. While Chrissy got her dressed and fed, I packed the car with a goal to be on our way by 8:15. We were fortunate to find a house sitter for this trip, so we didn’t have to worry about the boys (our two spoiled dogs – Sammy & Jack)! We said “goodbye” to them and were in the car and pulling out by 8:00 – ahead of schedule!

I pulled into the airport by 9:00 and dropped Chrissy, Addie and some of our bags off at the door and went to park. The Travel Gods were smiling on me that morning as I was able to find a parking spot very close to the terminal. I grabbed the last of our stuff, shed my winter coat and headed for check-in. We had a very smooth check-in and were on our way to security in a matter of minutes. Addie was in a fantastic mood and did not hesitate to tell everyone that she was going to see Mickey! The TSA employee checking ID’s at security was really nice and asked her where she was off to….she smiled and said “I see Mickey Mouse!” and clapped. He said “well then, you better get going” to which she replied “Okay!” She thought the scanner was cool and walked through all by herself. So far, so good!

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:20, so we had a little time to kill before boarding. We made our way to the gate and Addie was totally entertained looking at the big airplanes and running around with the other kids who were also heading to WDW. Upon the recommendation of a co-worker, I had gone out on Black Friday and purchased an inexpensive car seat to take with us on the plane. Over the weekend we had unpacked it and Addie immediately said “my chair” and would sit in it to eat her snacks, etc. The same continued at the gate when she pulled her chair over to the window, sat down and watched the activity outside.

Let's unpack a suitcase before we take off!

Once we boarded and got her buckled in, I knew it was money well spent. She was comfortable and felt safe in her own chair so we were off to a good start! The flight left exactly on time and was blissfully uneventful. We entertained Addie with her portable DVD player (I’ve seen Mickey’s Once and Twice Upon a Christmas more times that I care to count!) and a new Leapfrog cell phone. Before we knew it, they were announcing our descent into Orlando…we made it!!! We actually landed about 15 minutes ahead of schedule and were sitting on the DME bus 15 minutes after we walked off the plane…whew!

Once the bus left the airport, Chrissy and I sat back and took a deep breath. Neither of us realized how tense we had been until we relaxed. We survived the flight, made it to the DME and were on our way….time for vacation to start! Addie was a total trooper on the bus and loved the video. She yelled out the name of each character that showed up, much to the amusement of the older couple sitting in front of us. Better that she’s loud from excitement than from a tantrum!

We were excited when we realized that the Boardwalk was the first stop on this route…before we knew it, we were there! The service at check-in was outstanding. We were escorted to the check-in window and Addie got a ton of special attention. Chrissy and I were thrilled that our room was ready! The cast member at Guest check-in gave Addie a Birthday button and we were on our way to our villa. It was a looooooong walk to our room – our view was the Swan and Dolphin so we were on the far end of the building. Good exercise, right?! The villa was great and Addie was running around checking everything out while we got settled. We had packed our warm weather clothes in the carry-on bags so we all got cleaned up, changed and were on our way to EPCOT by 3:30! I loved that we could walk to EPCOT and the weather could not have been more perfect.

 

[DisneyFan1003]

We enjoyed a leisurely stroll to the park and were through the gates in no time. Our first stop was the DVC Merry Member Mixer at the festival pavilion. I was hoping that we’d have a chance to see a few Characters and I really wanted to get the dated ornament that they distribute each year (Chrissy and I are Christmas nuts – we have 10 full-sized trees in our house. This year we counted ornaments as we packed them up – 1,357! I think we need professional help…).

As we walked in, I knew we were in trouble. Addie instantly wanted out of her stroller and for one of us to hold her. The music was REALLY loud and freaked her out a bit. Across the room we spotted Mickey & Minnie all dressed up in their holiday sweaters. As soon as Addie saw them she started shaking her head and saying “I go bye-bye” over and over. As the title of this trip report suggests, this became common throughout the trip! It was instantly clear to us that major character interactions were not going to be as big a part of this trip as we had hoped. I said “Minnie and Mickey want to say Hi to you….we should go see them!” to which Addie replied again “Noooo, I go bye-bye” and buried her head in my shoulder. Addie: 1 Characters: 0. Not wanting to leave after 2 minutes, we found some tables a safe distance away from the characters where they had set out coloring pages and crayons. Addie enjoyed coloring while I went off for gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate. We all had a snack and Chrissy went off to the merchandise center for a couple special pins. It was decided that, with no Characters meets in the near future, and the headache inducing music showing no signs of letting up, we should head out. On our way out, I got our ornament and we were on our way. Overall it was a really nice event (especially considering it's free to DVC members) - I think we would have enjoyed it more if Addie had been in to seeing characters, etc. Trying to keep her at a safe distance and shouting over the music weren't the best combo! Oh well....always next time!

By this time, Chrissy and I were both very aware of the fact that we had not eaten lunch, so we took off towards The Land for a quick bite at Sunshine Seasons. While we were walking, Addie fell sound asleep in the stroller.

What to do? We were really hungry, but also wanted her to get some type of nap, so we walked her around the park and through the shops. After about a half hour, Addie woke up as we were passing through the American Adventure. The Candlelight Processional was starting and the music enthralled her, so we decided to eat at Liberty Inn and listen to the show. Chrissy and I have seen it several times before and loved it, so we thought it would make a nice backdrop for dinner! I had the grilled chicken flatbread and Chrissy ordered chicken strips. We were both pleasantly surprised at how good our meals were. Addie ate some mac and cheese and grapes, but was too distracted by everything to focus. At least she was happy! After dinner we started to walk through the WS but we could tell that Addie was fading fast – it had been a long day! We decided it would be best to head back early and avoid a meltdown.

"Mom, Dad...it's time to go!"

We stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery for some amazing choclate cake for dessert and picked up a few things at the General Store. Before we left for our trip, I failed to place our Garden Grocer order in enough time to secure delivery on our arrival day, so we were in need of milk, etc. for the munchkin. Addie, of course, had her eye on a Mickey plush and Daddy couldn’t say no –she had been so good! With Mickey in hand, we made it back to our room around 7:00. Thankfully our bags had arrived so we unpacked while Addie played. While we were getting her ready for bed, I realized that we had forgotten to pack a nightlight. The living room/kitchen area of the villa got VERY dark with the lights off and there was not a light we could leave on that wouldn’t be really bright. I called Mousekeeping to see if they could help and, to my surprise, a very nice cast member was at our door in less than 10 minutes with a night light! I plugged that in the kitchen and it worked perfectly. We got Addie to sleep by 9:15 just as Illuminations was pounding away outside! We relaxed and enjoyed our dessert from the bakery before cleaning up and collapsing into bed - ADR’s at Cape May in the morning!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Day Two - Wednesday, November 30

Our night/morning was a bit rough – Addie was up at 4:00 am and again at 5:30 am – we’re guessing unfamiliar surroundings were to blame. This kid has slept through the night since she was 8 weeks old and is consistently reliable for about 12 hours, so waking up like that threw us for a loop! (Sorry to all you parents for whom this is a regular occurrence!) Despite the interruption, we were all up and ready by 8:00. Just as we were getting ready to leave, I received a text from Garden Grocer that our order had arrived, so I called bell services and asked if they could deliver. They said they’d bring it right up so we waited…and waited…and waited! About 25 minutes later there was a knock at the door – I opened it and the bellman said “I’m here to pick up your luggage.” What?! We just got here…keep your hands off my stuff!! I explained that we had called for a delivery and he apologized and said he’d be right back. I told him to hold it and we’d get it on our way back. It was almost 8:30 and our ADR’s at Cape May were at 8:40 so we took off and make our way to the BC.

Time for breakfast with Minnie!

The morning was beautiful so we were hopeful it would be a perfect weather day! During the walk to BC Addie kept saying “Eat with Minnie…eat with Minnie”! She seemed excited so we had high hopes that the night before was a fluke. We checked in and were given our buzzer. Addie wanted to get out of her stroller, so I picked her up and we were checking things out when it happened…..Goofy was being escorted from one side of the restaurant to the other and passed about 20 feet in front of us. Addie spotted him and flipped out! Once again we heard “Noooo…I go bye-bye!” It was a repeat of the night before! After she settled down she immediately started telling me how she saw Goofy, so I thought perhaps it was just initial shock. The cast member at the front desk was very nice and let me walk her into the restaurant to “try again”. We rounded the corner and Goofy was about 10 feet in front of us greeting guests at a table. Addie spotted him, wailed, covered her eyes and buried her head in my shoulder. Instantly our dreams of a magical character breakfast were dashed! Chrissy and I admitted defeat, handed in our buzzer and left Cape May. We decided that we would just head to Magic Kingdom and hope things turned around!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

We caught a bus at BC and arrived at MK around 9:00. Addie’s eyes were as big as saucers as she took it all in – of course “CASTLE!” was her battle cry for the day! I had forgotten about parade filming that coming weekend and was bummed that the tree wasn’t up – oh well. We took a few pictures and stopped to watch the Trolley Show, which Addie thought was pretty cool. After that, it was off to the Main Street Bakery for breakfast. At this point, I honestly can’t remember what we had (I was very neglectful in taking food pics – meals with a toddler will do that to you!) but I know it was great!

I tried to explain that she wouldn't be starving if we would have eaten at Cape May - obviously she didn't care!

After breakfast we took a few more pictures and were happy to see that the castle was open. We took Addie for a stroll through the castle and then off to our first actual attraction of the trip – Small World! There was no wait that morning so we walked right on.

Ready for the Happiest Cruise that Ever Sailed!

A little dazed after the ride...but aren't we all?!

Addie had a blast and thought the boat was pretty cool. After that, I ran down and grabbed FP’s for Pooh and we jumped in line for Dumbo. At first Addie wasn’t quite sure about the ride but eventually got the hang of it and loved making him go up and down.

A little worried about take off....

 

[Ariel484]

Great report so far, Mike! I LOL'd at "toddler 'roid rage." :lol:

Too bad that Addie wasn't feeling the characters this time around...all the more reason to go back and try again soon!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Lovin the TR so far!! So sad that Addie didn't like the characters She is super cute though. Glad you guys made it through the flight down without any issues!!!

Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Addie does a great job saying "cheese" but still doesn't get that you actually have to look at the camera while you say it!

We were walking through Liberty Square on our way to the baby care center for a pit stop when we spotted Tiana in her garden. Since she was a “face” character, we thought we’d give it a shot – JACKPOT! Addie loved her and Tiana was exceptional with her! Whew!

After a pit stop for a diaper change, we caught the end of the castle show. Addie was hesitant and first but warmed up once she realized the characters weren’t getting any closer! We walked back up towards Fantasy land and saw the Fairy Godmother. Since Addie had done so well with Tiana, we thought we were golden. Not so much….she freaked out again. That’s when we adopted the motto “There’s a character – go the other way!”

"Like it or not, we're taking a picture!"

We had 10:50 FP’s for Pooh so we headed that direction. Addie loved the ride, but during the dark parks we’d hear her say “All done!” – although I can’t blame her. Some of those dark portions get pretty trippy!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Great report so far, Mike! I LOL'd at "toddler 'roid rage." :lol:

Too bad that Addie wasn't feeling the characters this time around...all the more reason to go back and try again soon!

Thanks! Next trip is already booked, so we're hoping for better luck this fall! We did have one truly "magic moment" later in the trip...stay tuned!

Lovin the TR so far!! So sad that Addie didn't like the characters She is super cute though. Glad you guys made it through the flight down without any issues!!!

Can't wait to read more!!!

Thanks! We were so nervous about the flight...I've been on plenty with screaming kids and just didn't want it to be MY kid on this flight!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

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[Mrs.Skellington]

Finally a trip report that shows the time we are going. Right after Thanksgiving 2012. Can't wait for more!!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Months before our trip, an old friend from college messaged me on Facebook to ask some WDW planning advice for their first ever trip. While I was helping her out, I asked when they were going – turns out they arrived/departed on the exact same days as us! We were both excited since we live a couple states away and haven’t seen each other in ages. I sent her a text that morning to say we were at MK – as we were leaving Pooh I got a return text that they were on the carousel! We headed that way and were able to meet up – it was great to see them and introduce the kids. They had spent the morning at the BBB getting ready for a princess lunch at the castle and Addie was totally enthralled by the dresses! Chrissy and Jen took the girls for another ride on the carousel before we had to say goodbye. Always fun to run into people you know at the World!

Addie and her new friend Mari - feeling a bit underdressed!

We headed back towards Main Street and were in the Emporium when Addie spotted a Minnie Mouse purse. She is GREAT about putting stuff back and not throwing a fit when we say “no” – so good in fact that I end up being a sucker for good behavior and buying her a prize anyway! I decided the purse was in order so I go in an EPIC line at the checkout. Everyone was taking advantage of the new “20% off before noon” coupons that were printing out on select receipts. Not sure if that is a permanent thing or something they were testing out, but we took advantage of it all week!

Happy with the new purse! This picture was framed up really nicely until that couple walked behind us and blocked the horse coming down the street! Thaks alot!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Finally a trip report that shows the time we are going. Right after Thanksgiving 2012. Can't wait for more!!

Glad I could help! It was as great week....much less crowded than the holidays and the weather was perfect.

Thanks for reading.....I'm chipping away slowly at the report!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Next up was something I had been looking forward to for months – my first haircut at Harmony Barbershop! I’ve always wanted to do it, but forget to make an appointment before every trip. The few times I’ve tried to do a walk-in, they’re always booked solid. Back in September I was reading a TR from Matty30 and read about his experience there. I called that day and booked an appointment before I forgot – so “Thanks Matt”!

I checked in and had some time to kill so we wandered around a bit and checked out some merch at Emporium until it was time. When I checked in, all the customers in the chairs were little kids – thankfully there were some other adults (I use that term loosely when describing myself!) in the chairs. Eve was my “barber” for the day and she was great. Very friendly and did an excellent job. It got pretty crowded, so Chrissy took a few photos of me and then sat outside with Addie where they were able to catch the step-off of the street party. Addie LOVED it! As luck would have it, a PhotoPass photographer wandered in while I was in the chair – I gave him my card and he snapped a few pics for me. When I was done, Eve asked if I’d like some Pixie dust, or if I’d rather “share” with my daughter. I decided to go without and put Addie in the chair – she thought it was pretty cool!

Overall it was a great experience and I'm glad I did it - may even do it again sometime. It was really cool to see all the little kids in there for their 1st official haircut - unfortunately Addie had already had her first cut, so we missed that opportunity! Thanks again to Eve for a great haircut....it was even better than some of the cuts I get at home!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

After my haircut, we were off to Casey’s for our traditional “first lunch at WDW” lunch. I know it’s just a hot dog, but there’s just something about it that makes me smile! I failed, once again, to take any food pictures. This will be a theme throughout this trip – by the time we got our food, got Addie situated and sat down, I always forgot. Oh well! As we were finishing lunch, I received a text from a cast member friend of ours who performs in the Castle Show hinting that Captain Hook would be looking for us in the crowd, so we hurried off to the castle. We were able to find a great spot and this time Addie really got into the show, especially the princesses. She yelled and waved to each of them and blew kisses to Hook when he waved to her. I guess characters were ok as long as they were viewed at a great distance!

Our friend Hook!

Trying to decide whether or not those characters are getting any closer!

I see Princesses!!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

After the show, Addie fell asleep in her stroller so we decided to walk around a bit and cross our fingers for a semi-decent nap. As we were leaving the castle hub, we spotted Santa! He must have been taking some time off before the holidays got too busy!

We noticed people holding spots for the parade, so we took turns saving our spot on Main Street and pushing Addie around to prolong the nap. I wandered down to the Confectionary with her and bought some cookies to enjoy during the parade.

As we were coming out of the Confectionary, a dance squad was making its way down Main St. and woke her up. She decided it was time to get out of the stroller and wanted to hold my hand and walk, so the two of us slowly made our way down the middle of Main St. By this time, there was quite a crowd waiting for the parade and not many people on the street, so we received applause and cheers as we walked back to our spot – I guess we were our own little parade. One of those funny memories that we don’t have in pictures or video, but I’ll never forget! Addie was hesitant about the parade until Woody and Jessie were walking down the street (about a minute after it started) and came up to say “hi” – she was done after that and covered her eyes the rest of the time. So, needless to say, after that, there weren’t many pictures of the parade!

Waiting for the parade...some of us are more excited than others!

Here they come!

We managed to pry her hands off her eyes long enough to wave to Belle

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Determined to have at least one more successful character interaction, we found Tink on our way through Adventureland. Addie is a HUGE Tink fan, having watched her movies over and over (and over, and over, etc.) so we thought we’d be safe. After a 20 minute wait in line jabbering about Tinkerbell, it was finally our turn. The cast member came around the corner and said “Right this way” and Addie started to cry! The cast member instantly pulled some glitter out of her pocket and said she had pixie dust for Addie and sprinkled it over her, but it was not meant to be. Addie refused to look at Vidia (yeah, I know the fairy names!) or Tink, but we decided to have some pictures taken anyway. We tried to tell Addie that Tinkerbell was sad because she wanted to see her pretty face, but she wasn’t having it. As we were putting Addie back in her stroller outside the meet & greet room, she turned around and said “Bye bye – Tink sad!” In this epic battle of Addie and the characters, she was wiping the floor with the competition! So far only Tiana (and Princesses-at-a-distance) had prevailed!

After our Tink mishap, we walked onto the Jungle Cruise and had a great trip. Realizing we hadn’t been to Tomorrowland yet, we headed over for a ride on the TTA –which kept stopping in the dark. Addie thought it was pretty cool and, thankfully, the dark didn't bother her. Perhaps we should just meet characters in the dark?!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

It was almost time for our 5:30 ADR’s at Liberty Tree Tavern, so we were off to Liberty Square, with a short cut through Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe to check things out. There was something wrong with the computers that night because the waiting area for LT was a total mess and there were several disgruntled guests causing a scene, including this woman who was throwing a fit because they had her reservation in the system for the next night but she SWORE (literally and figuratively!) that she had made it for that night. Apparently there was no way she could have made a mistake and it was most certainly Disney’s way of attempting to thwart her entire trip! People were just standing back and watching this unfold and many were visually upset when the manager came and escorted this woman and her party to a table ahead of everyone else. We were trying to be patient but knew that Addie was tired and hungry and we were surviving on borrowed time!

I guess it's important for a lady to have all her bags before going to dinner!

After about 25 minutes, we were finally seated. We were really looking forward to this meal, especially since our Thanksgiving dinner had been cut short by ‘roid rage! Just as the food was delivered, Addie started to unravel. Being the type of dad that HATES to have my kid ruin the meals of others, I quickly scooped her up and took her outside. After a couple minutes walking around and the threat that we’d have to go home, she settled down and was ready to eat. The meal was fantastic (no pics again!) and we were surrounded by tables filled with awesome guests who were flirting, playing peek-a-boo and generally enjoying entertaining Addie during the meal. If any of you are reading this, Thank you!!

Flirting with the other tables

After our meal, our server came to the table with streamers and a cupcake and candle for Addie’s birthday. The entire section of LT sang to her and clapped – she loved it. After dessert, we were packing up and the woman behind us tapped my shoulder and said “You have the most well behaved daughter I have ever seen. I don’t know what you’re doing, but it’s working, so keep it up!” Obviously she came in AFTER the meltdown, but as a parent, that made me feel really good and made our day. Always nice to have that rather than people clapping at the fact that you’re finally leaving!

Happy Birthday Addison!

MK was closing at 7:00 pm that night for a MVMCP. After one more quick stop at the Baby Care Center, we decided it was time to go and not push our luck. There was a very short wait for the bus and we were back at BW by 7:30. I stopped at Bell Services to arrange for delivery of our groceries and we were back in the room to relax. Addie was asleep by 9:00 and we were able to sit out on the balcony and relax. We both laughed at how different this trip was going to be for us. Typically, with a park closing at 7:00, we’d be off to EMH elsewhere or heading to DTD for some shopping. Hard to believe it was 9:00 and we were in our room! We had survived our first full day with no major scars. That is, unless you count the characters!

I didn't realize that stupid light pole was in the way until we got back to the room!

 

[Cbum]

Great trip report :sohappy:can't wait for the rest. We are thinking about going down the exact same time 2012 so I can't wait to hear what that week was like with the crowds and weather and etc.....We have three children that are 17, 14, and 9 and are passed the child meltdown age. But believe it or not you'll miss it someday so enjoy those "not so" Terrible twos.

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Hello fellow Illinois'en!! :wave:
That's so cute that you and your wife got to take your little princess to Disney World :sohappy: I'm glad she cooperated for you guys on the journey there! Don't worry I'm sure your daughter will LOVE the characters once she's a little older. Haha! Can't wait to read more!