Trip Report Mooooooooove! An Irma-centric first Disney trip

Lyssa · Oct 1, 2017

I've enjoyed this report

E is so adorable

krause · Oct 1, 2017

Great trip report! We also went when our daughter was 18 months but she wasn't nearly as talkative or interested in the characters as E was! We're going again in February she'll be 2 and a half and the education has started thanks to you! I bought her the encyclopedia and have begun her studies :geek:

rag88 · Oct 2, 2017

I apologize for disappearing for a few days - my grandpa has dementia, and managed to go for a drive in his truck and get lost on Saturday. The police got involved, etc. It was a big, scary situation - but they eventually found him about 15 hours after he left home. He drove to a "park" (we checked all area parks, so we think he was actually in a nearby industrial complex) then woke up around 3 am, got on the highway and started driving. A cop eventually pulled him over about an hour from home (grandpa claims he pulled the cop over ...) and he told them he decided to go fishing. Anyway ... it was an emotional weekend, but it ended well. I'm hoping I'll have time today for my wrap-up post.

mmnw said:
Great trip report! In terms of left over food, we've looked for families walking down the hall and stopped them to offer left over food. Everyone has always been so grateful and has accepted. Ours has been sealed.

That's a great idea ... most of ours was still sealed. Maybe the Mousekeeping staff found it and was able to make use of it. I'll definitely be better at making friends in the hallway next time!

RedNoseMickey said:
Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip with us. E is just the cutest and it was nice to follow along on her first trip!

Thank you for following along! The trip itself was such a whirlwind (literally and figuratively, in this case) that taking the time to go back through things really helped me appreciate it more. And as always, it's a slower let-down from the Post-Disney Depression.

slipperalwaysfits said:
Wow! I didn't catch this when you started but I had a lot of fun reading it all and felt like I was right there with your family!!!
....

So glad you were able to catch up! I'm an engineer/data analyst, and writing definitely isn't my strong suit, so I'm glad I didn't drive everyone too crazy.

The stickers were great - from the haircut sticker monsoon, to the WE "badges", and even the concierge staff would pull out rolls of Mickey stickers to keep E entertained. She was spoiled.

We didn't make it to the chocolate part of F+W

After we prioritized everything out, it just didn't make the cut. My rationalization was that it gives me a reason to go back another year ...

Lyssa said:
I've enjoyed this report E is so adorable

Thank you! She certainly has a big personality. I actually got really spoiled on this trip because my husband is the stay-at-home parent, so this was the longest uninterrupted E-time I've had since maternity leave. Going back to work on Monday was one of the hardest things I've had to do. I loved soaking up my time with E!

krause said:
Great trip report! We also went when our daughter was 18 months but she wasn't nearly as talkative or interested in the characters as E was! We're going again in February she'll be 2 and a half and the education has started thanks to you! I bought her the encyclopedia and have begun her studies

Thank you! As a first-time mom, I haven't had much experience with other kiddos. And E stays at home, so I don't often get to see her interact with other kids. But, when we take her to the library for lap-time or when I work with her class at church, I realize just how verbal she is compared to most other kids that same age. She's definitely behind others as far as gross motor is concerned (poor girlfriend cannot run to save her life), but she'll talk your ears off. At her 18 month appointment her pediatrician asked if she was saying 3 words yet. I responded that it was probably more like 300, and even that may have been an underestimate. I think she's destined to be a nerd ... Glad that the tip about the encyclopedia was helpful - I picked it up from a forum about a year before our trip, and having that tangible souvenir as well as the pre-Disney prep for E was one of my favorite things!

Minnesota disney fan · Oct 2, 2017

So sorry, OP, about your grandfather's problems. That must have been scary! I hope all is going better now for you

amjt660 · Oct 2, 2017

Great report
Thanks for sharing

Max

mmnw · Oct 2, 2017

I'm so sorry to hear about your Grandpa. I'm glad the situation turned out o.k. I know the situation is not an easy one.

I'm sure someone would have been happy with your unsealed grapes too! I too always hope the staff may eat something sealed I left behind

E. is very cute!!. It's fun to have a real talker (early.). It's great to know what they are thinking at such an early age. Although, sometimes my ears or brain could have used a little break! Lots of time to learn to run E. You know, they usually work on one thing or the other.

riverside · Oct 2, 2017

Glad to hear your grandpa is back safe & sound!! I really enjoyed your trip report!!

rag88 · Oct 3, 2017

Minnesota disney fan said:
So sorry, OP, about your grandfather's problems. That must have been scary! I hope all is going better now for you

Thank you - it was definitely stressful, and the cops were sure to warn us that these cases rarely have a happy ending. I think there will be some residual relationship impacts among the family, but we're happy to have him back!

amjt660 said:
Great report
Thanks for sharing

Max

Thank you!!

mmnw said:
I'm so sorry to hear about your Grandpa. I'm glad the situation turned out o.k. I know the situation is not an easy one.

I'm sure someone would have been happy with your unsealed grapes too! I too always hope the staff may eat something sealed I left behind

E. is very cute!!. It's fun to have a real talker (early.). It's great to know what they are thinking at such an early age. Although, sometimes my ears or brain could have used a little break! Lots of time to learn to run E. You know, they usually work on one thing or the other.

Agreed - it's so much fun to basically be able to have conversations with a little 1.5-year-old. It's fun to see how her brain works!

riverside said:
Glad to hear your grandpa is back safe & sound!! I really enjoyed your trip report!!

Thank you for following along!

rag88 · Oct 3, 2017

Summary Time

Overall, our first Disney trip as a family of three is obviously one we'll remember, for a lot of reasons. Irma tried to get the best of us, and it definitely did put a damper on some of our days, but it's a story we can tell E for many years to come! I'd like to wrap things up on a positive note, so my summary is going to be a list of things I'll certainly repeat in the future or would go out of my way to recommend to others. I'll follow that with some of my favorite pictures from AKL that I haven't posted previously.

Becky's List of Repeats/Suggestions:
1. Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters - this allowed E to become very familiar with lots of different characters prior to our trip even starting. She likes watching movies, but we only allow about 3 or 4 movies a week (which is still a lot ...), and she usually demands Moana or Frozen, so not much variety in characters there. She was borderline addicted to this book, though. She knew all of the characters, and if there was a line before meeting them, we could pull out the book, she could look at the picture of who we were going to meet, and we could remind her about them. Then I'd ask the character questions about what was in the book and it was an easy way to have a little conversation even when E got shy. E now loves to look through the book and point out the "Maims" (names) signed on the pages.

2. First Haircut Package at Main Street Barber Shop - if you've stuck with me this far, this one shouldn't come as a surprise. Even if your little doesn't *need* a haircut yet, it's such a fun and positive experience! And I think having this one very good haircut experience should set us up well for future haircuts. She knows it's a fun time with cute results, so she doesn't have to be afraid or antsy when sitting in that chair. On top of all of that, in the grand scheme of Disney pricing, it's actually a steal. It's legitimately the only thing from this trip where I could've paid double what we paid and still walked away happy (hopefully no Disney executives read this ...) - that never happens at Disney! Usually we bite the bullet, know that things are over-priced and determine to enjoy them anyway. So overall, I would say this was a HUGE highlight of the trip.

3. Tom Sawyer Island (and Boneyard, to a lesser extent) - this one would come as a total shock to my pre-family-trip self. I penciled in TSI (and Boneyard) as mid-afternoon breaks to let E run around and get some energy out, but figured I'd be chomping at the bit feeling like we were wasting precious park time. And while that may be a little true, the joy I got from watching E run around freely without crowds and being in charge of her own path/time was sooooo worth it. Especially at TSI, where there are SO many other things to do at the park, this was a surprise to me. Spending time here meant we missed things like Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise - but I could still see us making that same trade-off in the future if our park time is limited. Even as E grows, I know she'll love running around the fort or the caves or the barrel bridge. And it's a relaxing break from the hub-bub of MK without actually taking the time to leave MK. I don't feel as pressed for time, or like I'm missing other attractions, at AK, but spending time in the Boneyard will be a repeat for us too, at least for a few years.

4. Waffles at Sleepy Hollow - I'm a big foodie, so it's hard for me to repeat restaurants, especially when we only go once every couple of years. There's so much variety that I'm missing! But even though this wasn't on the plan for this trip, we found ourselves drawn back. I just think you can't beat the view of the castle from here, and for us waffles are a fun breakfast-for-dinner type of treat. They're not the highest-quality food around, but it's a neat experience that I think for us will become an every-trip tradition.

5. EPCOT breakfast - I'm not sure that we'll definitely repeat Garden Grill again (although I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone/everyone - that sticky bun is to die for), but I've always felt that EPCOT before 11 isn't particularly pleasant. We're rope drop people, but without the World Showcase open, the headliners in Future World are much more crowded than I'd like. Because of that, I would definitely do a table-service breakfast at EPCOT before I'd do it in any other park. I just think I can make more use of those morning hours at other parks.

6. Flight of Passage and Nav'i River Journey - this one is obvious because pretty much everyone that rides FOP says it's something along the lines of the best ride ever. I still wouldn't wait hours for it, but the thrill/joy of the ride is so much fun! Nav'i River Journey was a bigger hit with our family than I expected. Again, I wouldn't wait more than 30 minutes for it, but there's SO much to see that I think it has good repeatability.

7. Harambe Market - On the whole, there weren't *many* stand-out meals or food items from this trip, which was OK. When it was just Jeff and I, we were fine spending lots of money to try lots of food and eat lots of table service meals. We were on a stricter budget this time, so we purposely scaled back our food purchases. That being said, Harambe Market was a highlight for us. The food was different and really delicious, and also filling. For some reason it also seemed better suited to the very warm early September weather than many of the F+W entrees, for example. We like Flame Tree BBQ too, but we can get lots of good BBQ in St. Louis, so Harambe Market may be our default QS in AK for the foreseeable future.

8. Animal Kingdom Lodge - there's an obvious caveat to this one, and that is price. As I've mentioned, we got a ridiculously good deal on this room (about $215/night). I don't think we'd do it again if we couldn't get a good deal like that. We didn't find the service at the Deluxe to be much better than at Values, but bus service was amazing for us (I know that is hit-or-miss), and for me nothing beats walking into that lobby after a long day at the parks. I also like that you have an "attraction" right outside of your window/porch 24/7 with the roaming animals. I'm a big fan of national parks, so we may also give Wilderness Lodge a shot if given the chance. But if it's in your budget, don't hesitate to book AKL.

I think that is a good place to wrap up and share some of my favorite pictures from AKL. Thanks again for joining me on this adventure, and please let me know if you have any questions I can answer!

rshell68 · Oct 3, 2017

Thank you so much for sharing your trip. Your family is beautiful!! I'm glad Irma didn't put too much of a damper on your trip.

75disney · Oct 3, 2017

It was a fun trip report to follow. Enjoy every moment with your little cutie pie!
They grow up way too quickly!

gdisneyfans · Oct 3, 2017

So sorry to hear the story about your grandpa, how scary.

Really enjoyed your report and reading all about your adventures with E

Trip Report Mooooooooove! An Irma-centric first Disney trip

Lyssa

Well-Known Member

krause

Well-Known Member

rag88

Active Member

Minnesota disney fan

Well-Known Member

amjt660

Well-Known Member

mmnw

Active Member

riverside

Well-Known Member

rag88

Active Member

rag88

Active Member

rshell68

Well-Known Member

75disney

Well-Known Member

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member