Our “Trip of Many Celebrations” Trip Report

First trip report here, so hopefully I can hold your attention! 2012 was a year of many accomplishments for my family. We thought the only way to celebrate would be a trip to our favorite place. It had to be a somewhat short trip, but we made the most of it and had an amazing time.

A little background on our family…DH and I have been married for 8 years, but together for a few more than that. We have been to WDW together 6 times and other times separately with our families growing up. We have two children. DS is almost 4 and DD is 7 months. DS has been twice now and of course this was the baby’s first trip!

We chose POR as our resort and stayed in one of the royal rooms. This was our first time at this resort, and to be honest, we weren’t really all that impressed. I mean, it is absolutely beautiful, but maybe we got turned off when I found a pair of underwear left in the room or maybe it was when the baby found a big blue pill on the floor! I still wish I would have made a complaint, but I was in my Disney bubble at the time and didn’t want to be upset I guess. Regardless, we loved the food that the resort offers, though the food court always seemed very crowded.

 

[Sharired]

Day 1, December 8- Checked in, grabbed a magic cookie bar, picked up the stroller we rented from Kingdom Strollers, then finally made our way to see the room. We changed the baby into her Cinderella dress and off we went to MK.

Upon arrival, DH got us set up to do Sorcerers of the MK and we spent a good 2 hours doing that, as it was pretty crowded. Mind you, we are pretty wussy when it comes to wait times as we do not often come during peak times of year. It was just crowded I believe from New Fantasyland’s grand opening two days prior.

We headed over to GF for our dinner at 1900 Park Fare. It was a great dinner as far as character interaction goes. I think DS has a thing for Cindy. ; ) The food was okay, not bad, not great. We went back to MK after looking around the GF lobby a bit.

Later in the evening, we had our ressie for the dessert party. This was fun, but not a must do every trip for us after this experience. With the two kids, DH and I had to take turns getting food. It was mass chaos at the buffet line, people cutting in and such, so it took forever to get around the line. By the time DH went up there, they were already out of many things, so he was really bummed he didn’t get to try a few of the offerings. The view was nice, but yes, there are definitely better places to view Wishes.

 

[Sharired]

Day 2, December 9- Epcot day! We put on our matching shirts and the baby in her Minnie Mouse outfit and made our way to Epcot. We found the “leave a legacy” thing we did on our honeymoon 8 years prior and then I sent DH off for fast passes for Soarin’ and TT. We only need one for each, as we would also get a rider-swap pass for each.

DS had been begging to see Mickey, so we took advantage of the short wait at the Character Spot. Our experience there was amazing. Unfortunately, Mickey wasn’t in a very playful mood, but oh my goodness, Pluto and Minnie were great! Pluto had the baby and DS crawling on the ground with him. Minnie got down on the ground with the baby also and played. It was so adorable! DH and I both got teary-eyed. I know, nerds! In fact, it was so cute that a second photopass photographer stepped in and said, “oh no, we’re gonna have to double team this!” This was the moment that made the Photopass Plus worth gold! We kept hearing from CMs that they were so surprised how my kids were so comfortable with the characters. I guess it runs in our blood?!?

Anyway, we continued our Epcot day going around the world, letting DS get his Agent P stamped at each country, ate at Tangerine Café which I always love and then made our way back to future world to use those fast passes. Spaceship earth came next and that in itself was exciting because we had missed it on our last trip. Before our dinner ressie at Garden Grill, we made rounds at the Seas.

Other than the meet and great earlier in the day, Garden Grill was the highlight of the day. It was wonderful. We loved the food, loved the restaurant, and it was hands down the best character meal experience we've ever had! The characters came around several times, which made it a little hard to actually eat our dinner, but it was so fun watching the kids with the characters.

 

[Sharired]

Day 3, December 10- Mama’s birthday! We went straight to HS as we were looking forward to breakfast at Starring Rolls. Yes, I totally ate a butterfinger cupcake for breakfast. DH had the cherry turnover thing, and DS has a cinnamon roll. DH went and grabbed Toy Story fast passes as well.We did the Disney Junior Live show and saw the characters in that area, got on the Great Movie Ride, saw more characters around the hat and by then it was time to start thinking about lunch. On our way to Pizza Planet, we stopped at a DVC booth. We’ve been thinking about purchasing so we decided to derail from our original plans and went and did the information session. This was a neat experience as we got picked up backstage so we got to see something new for us! No purchase today, but soon! We returned to the park in the rain, got a snack, hopped on Toy Story Mania and then hopped on the bus to WL for my birthday dinner at Whispering Canyon.

It was a wonderful evening which convinced me that I really, really, really, really want to stay WL next time! We took the ferry over to MK and enjoyed at late night with little crowds. We walked on to Under the Sea, tried Lefou’s Brew in an empty Gaston’s Tavern and hit some of our favorites such as HM and Peter Pan. Wishes began while we were waiting in line for Peter Pan. It was pretty cool to see it from that perspective!

 

[Sharired]

Day 4, December 11- On our last day in the parks, DS and DD went as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. We started at MK, waited in line for Santa while we watched the welcome medley, watched Mickey dreaming castle show (the official name is escaping me) and then headed towards BOG for lunch.

Big mistake! Apparently we should have gone straight to BOG at park opening to wait. We got there before it opened and goodness, I can’t even tell you how far that line went back. Sadly, we missed out on BOG this trip. I’ll have to do dinner ressies next trip.

We moved on, did some stuff in Fantasyland and slowly made our way to Pecos Bill’s, seeing some characters along the way. I sure to like the burger fixings bar there! Yum! Of course we had to take the time to see Peter Pan and Tink and then the rest of the day we spent in Tomorrowland and Storybook Circus. I’ve never in my life just walked on to Dumbo. Score! DS got to ride the Barnstormer once with each of us and it was his very first coaster. Next time, I think he’ll be tall enough to take on the mountains!

Late afternoon, we headed over to HS so we could see the Osborne lights before going back over to Poly for our dinner at O’hana. That was crazy, as this was that day the monorails went down. Looking back, we should have just skipped the lights because by the time we got there we literally could stay only 20 minutes before we had to leave. We got to our O’hana ressie in time, which didn't really matter because we had to wait an additional 30 minutes. It was okay though. O’hana is our favorite. We ate there for the first time on our honeymoon. DS slept through the entire meal. We put two chairs together and made a bed for him. Lol! We didn't do MVMCP so it was nice to watch Holiday Wishes as we ate dinner.

 

[Sharired]

Day 5, December 12- Departure day, so sad! We were all in a funk. No one wanted to go home. My husband joked about how you hear all the stories about kids being so excited about going to Disney. However, they don’t advertise how sad it can be for the kids to go back home. DS, poor guy, did not want to go home! I have a photo of the saddest face as DH picked him up to get on the Magical Express back to the airport.

All in all, it was a great trip. It was quick, but great. We missed AK unfortunately, but our next trip will be much longer. So many people told us before we left that they were surprised we were going with the baby. Why wouldn't we?!? I just have to say that it was amazing seeing WDW with DS on his first trip at the age of 2, but it was equally neat seeing WDW through the eyes of a baby!

Sorry for the length. I hope at least some of you made it through!

We’re looking at June 2014 at WL for our next trip unless we purchase DVC before then! Either way, I cannot wait!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Great Trip Report! Straightforward and to the point. I hope you can add some pictures. I'd love to see the character interactions!

 

[Sharired]

Great Trip Report! Straightforward and to the point. I hope you can add some pictures. I'd love to see the character interactions!

Pictures added! Yeah, I really wasn't sure how detailed to be as I didn't want to bore you all! : )

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

Oh my gosh! The pictures of your babies with the characters are amazing!!! They look so happy-So heartwarming.

 

[KayFeb13]

What amazing memories you made. I love your photos! We are taking our DDs ages 2 and 5 for the first time in Feb and were staying at the WL. Thanks for sharing your TR!

 

[Jennibelle]

Your kids are adorable! I love the Santa picture and their cute smiling faces.

 

[CinderMama]

Thanks for sharing! Those photos of your daughter with Minnie are priceless! And your son on departure day, so sad!! We've had those tears too. Love Garden Grill! We've been there twice and it really is the best character meal (not to mention it is delicious!).

 

[KappleB2]

That picture with santa...awesome! Rarely can you get two little kids to look at the camera AND that happy! Such a great memory to have!

 

[Britt]

OOOOOMG Your babies are sooo stinking cute and those character pics are TOTALLY tear worthy! GAH I would squish that baby girl right up! What happy and beautiful children you have

*Back to actually read it...I got caught up in the cuteness!*

 

[Sharired]

Thank you all for taking a look. The kids really did do great with the characters and that's only a small glimpse of our 700 pictures! Sorting all of them for the photobook I'm making is becoming quite a chore. : )

 

[Sharired]

What amazing memories you made. I love your photos! We are taking our DDs ages 2 and 5 for the first time in Feb and were staying at the WL. Thanks for sharing your TR!

Our kids will probably be 2 and 5 next time we go. I really think that will be a perfect age. Your girls will have tons of fun. Enjoy your trip to WL! I'm so hoping we make it there next.

 

[meggo819]

OMG, your pictures are precious! I especially like the one of your daughter & Minnie. And is that Pluto's nose she's chewing? So so cute!!!

 

[Bama14]

The pictures with Minnie and your baby were amazing! You have such beautiful children! Glad you guys had fun. And yes, departure day is a sad, sad day. We go into the Disney blues for days after our trips.

 

[sam_disney]

I love this report! The pictures of your little girl with Minnie- o my goodness! sooo adorable!

One day, if i am lucky enough to have children, I always wondered how young i would travel to disney world with them. I always thought about 4 or 5 and then one day we were in crystal palace and we saw a little girl, no older than 2 and she was jumping up and down, so excited to see Tigger- from then on that adorable memory has never strayed from my mind- and I wouldn't care how young they were anymore. lol Its as much a memory for you... even if they don't remember it per say. x

Thank you for sharing!

 

[the1nonlysinger]

Loved your TR. I especially loved the photos of your daughter with Minnie! Made my heart smile!!

Random question that you may or may not know the answer to... But I'm curious-- Did you see how Ariel manages to enter or exit the room with her fins for her snack breaks (or whatever cutesy thing you want to call them...)? I assume it's not an open room- but rather a line waiting outside the line of vision? I just have this hilarious image of her flailing across the floor, doing the worm or army crawling, to get out of the room LOL!