Trip Report Reach out and find your Happily Ever After! *COMPLETED*

A lifetime of dreaming, a year of planning, a hurricane, and a slight MODification left us with one week to plan a whole new trip... so we said Bring. It. On.

Who: Me, J, and 1 year old Baby Boy.
What: Baby's 1st Walt Disney World trip!
When: Original: August 31st-September 7th. Actual: September 7th-September 14th.
Where: Port Orleans French Quarter
Why: 2 years ago, J and I were at WDW... enjoying our time as always, but wishing we had a little one to share it with. Well, now he's here, and he's in for the time of his young life. So without further ado, let the memories begin!

As you might have surmised, Hurricane Dorian threw us for a loop. My Pre-trip Report has the details as it unfolded in real-time, but long story short, we traded a great rate at Pop Century for the next most-affordable option available, which was French Quarter. Peace of mind, only a few days of delay, and a brand new experience for the three of us to share made it totally worth it.

For the most part. I am a big Value resort fan, and in the past, have said that I am not a big fan of Mods because of things like multiple internal bus stops, and that the price jump didn't fit our needs at the time. This time was different, however. The whole trip was. But we did miss the automatic doors that Values have... which J was quick to rag on. This would be a running joke for the entirety of our trip.

After 0 minutes of sleep on the flight, Baby fell asleep on me on the DME ride and we transferred him to the stroller, where he continued to sleep while I checked in and admired the fountain in the lobby. Another bonus!

We stopped by Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory to pick up some food to take to the room for when Baby woke up.

It was nice and quiet, and had a lot of interesting variety of foods to fit in with the New Orleans theme.

Meals in hand, we headed outside to a beautiful view that we would have plenty of time to enjoy over the next week.

Our room location was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. A few steps down Rue D'Baga, a left onto Neptune's Parade, and BAM! Building 2. First floor.

Room 2147.

Home for the next 7 nights. Cool and pristine. Until we took over, at least.

But, I was informed that "The toilet paper is the same 1-ply quality as Values."

I think we'll be okay.

 

[belledream]

We wandered back to New Fantasyland where we had some time to kill before our lunch at Be Our Guest. What?? Only one meal at BOG for us this trip?!

Bonjour! Village Gifts was the perfect spot for us to shop while Baby napped in the cool. Pretty sure I can confidently say that this set is adored by all. (Including myself, but I break a lot of plates and I'm not interested in breaking my heart, too).

If there's a shop I can spend an hour in, it's this one. I love the music box music.

Baby was still sound asleep, so once we had our fill, we went outside to stand in some shade provided by a vacant Maurice's Popping Corn cart and surveyed a Gaston Meet & Greet. Lots of thirsty folks, as J said. It was highly entertaining, people-watching at its finest. Gaston seriously favors the duck lips pose, that's for sure. My favorite interaction was this woman who was wearing a shirt that was "If found, return to Gaston." He looked at it and was silent for a moment before then saying, "I see my name, but I can't read the rest of it." Gold.

Finally, Baby's eyes popped open and in a matter of minutes, we were walking down the preorder line, and sitting in the ballroom. Where else would we be? I chose a table where I could get a great view of all three chandeliers and the snow outside the arch windows. Also a table near the walkway so Baby could see the carts being pushed back and forth. It was a good choice... it kept him busy.

It's been a long two years without you, Tuna Nicoise Salad. I've missed you so. RIP to the one piece of tuna that was eagerly-consumed before I even took a picture. I've largely stayed away from sushi and the like for the past two years, but not today. It was time for me to shine.

I wanted my salad so badly that I told J it was up to him to feed Baby today. They shared a Croque Monsieur. Not the best option, but I guess I should get used to hearing, "Guess what? Daddy took me to McDonald's today!"

Of course, lunch at BOG would not be complete without a French Onion Soup. Delectable as ever.

We kept telling Baby to 'look up!' during the meal and he would arch his back like crazy and gaze up at the chandeliers and cherubs. Listening to the music warmed my soul. I love Be Our Guest.

We took a quick gander around the Rose Gallery and the West Wing after we were done. J made sure to take a picture of this tapestry.

Why is it particularly noteworthy? Because it tells us that the Beast likes squirrels. Apparently, it's the only tapestry in the room that isn't ripped to shreds. An astute observation indeed.

 

[belledream]

We took a ride on the happiest cruise that ever sailed...

I felt like I could see some recognition in Baby's face as we walked down the ramp in the queue. All the gold and silver shiny things whirling and twirling...

Then we walked through Liberty Square...and Frontierland to venture into Adventureland. We hadn't spent much time here yet.

Time for a different type of cruise... This was one of those rides that was questionable, depending on Baby dealt with things like drops and darkness. Based on our experiences thus far, it seemed like it was a pirate's life for Baby!

Again, his hands flew up on the drop. It was the cutest. Later, I told my brother we had gone on this trip and he was like, "He can go on that?" I said, "Yeah, it's just a small drop." "That is not a small drop!"

Baby liked pointing at the dog.

So happy we got to ride this and show Baby something a little different. And we didn't get wet. Yesss!

In the gift shop, we put Pirate Mickey Ears on Baby and handed him a foam sword. He had this wild happiness when we handed him that toy. He held onto it, barely, as it was almost as long as he was, and was absolutely precious.

 

[belledream]

Since we were doing Adventureland, we wanted to ride The Magic Carpets of Aladdin for the first time. J and I have never ridden this together, though I obviously had when I was younger. However, when we walked over to it, the CM said it was down and not sure when it would be back up. No matter, as it was almost 2 and we'd just pop over to Frontierland to catch Festival of Fantasy then. We nestled into a nice spot with shade courtesy of a pole just as the parade started.

After Happily Ever After, this is probably our most-listened-to Disney parks song. So it was fun to sing and dance along with it the entire time! Baby was wide-eyed at the massive floats and colorful costumes.

Everything worked out well, for we ducked back into Adventureland to find that the carpets were up and flying.

Baby and I sat in the front and J sat in the back. The hands went up again!

There's a view we don't see often.

We headed back towards Main Street. Crystal Palace was looking beautiful. Was that really only three days ago?

We were gearing up for our park break. We had resort and dinner reservations this afternoon across Seven Seas Lagoon. We weren't making any decisions just yet, but we weren't sure if we'd return to Magic Kingdom this evening. Trying not to overdo it, you know? If that was the case, we spent a little time in the courtyard areas by the fountains letting Baby walk around a little bit before heading out.

A lovely afternoon at a grand resort across Seven Seas Lagoon was calling.

 

[belledream]

The boatride across the lagoon felt lovely. I held Baby tightly on my lap as he tried to look over the railings at the rushing water. And soon enough, we were here.

This resort takes my breath away like no other. My eyes feasted on the elegant Victorian architecture, painted with the perfect palette of red and white. Also, it was wonderfully quiet. The breeze was blowing so much that even Baby was squinting and feeling his hair fly backwards.

I love the little things, and things are little as walking into the first doors we could find made me unabashedly happy.

The domes, the chandeliers, the balconies and their railings, and the natural light pouring through... I could sit here all day.

Baby has been introduced to some piano back home, so we enjoyed listening to the pianist.

We continued on our tour ogling at things like staircases...

...and elevators.

Upstairs, we spent a good amount of time browsing M. Mouse Mercantile. Though I had taken a peek into stores like Summer Lace and Basin, it just felt too weird looking at 'real world' items and I was more than happy to keep things Disney.

We also looked outside these mega-windows to watch a light shower form in the distance, and make it's way to over our heads. It was pretty cool, and it dawned on us that this was the first time it rained our entire trip! Baby had a great time pressing himself against the windows in the store.

While J and Baby were in the bathroom, I was just admiring this little nook thinking about how cute and perfect it was.

I am Grand Floridian's target audience... in spirit.

 

[belledream]

We weren't particularly pressed about Baby getting an afternoon nap in since we didn't have any real plans for the evening, but like most parents, we were open to the idea.

We just decided to take a stroll, since the rain was fleeting and refreshing.

We ended up at the Wedding Pavilion, which was deserted... and... unlocked. I wanted to go in so badly but I felt weird about it so I opted for a picture instead. J said, "You know, this would be a great place for Baby to take a nap."

We continued on the winding path, getting a pretty view of Polynesian...

...and the Cinderella Castle way out there in the distance.

Baby had fun frolicking in the grass for a while but he did seem to be losing steam. It had just rained, we were by the water therefore the wind was our friend, and so J said, "Ok, Baby! We're gonna try an outside nap!" They rocked for a while by the chapel listening to that calming Disney Weddings soundtrack while I paced back and forth on the winding path.

It was just one of those moments of peace and serenity. Life could not get much better. We were happy, healthy, and relaxed in one of the most beautiful places in the World.

Every so often, I'd peek over at them and J would indicate that Baby was still awake, until he was finally asleep. If Baby ever gets married here, we will tell him about the time he took a nap here and provide the photographic evidence for their slideshow. But in all seriousness, it worked out so well. We didn't see or hear a single soul our entire time here, and it was just that kind of quality time I wanted to have with the both of them, but also myself.

We put him in the stroller before heading back indoors to the lobby. On the way, we passed what I declared a Natural Hidden Mickey.

 

[belledream]

A good solid hour-long nap later, and it was dinnertime!

J and I have been meaning to go to Grand Floridian Cafe for years, but we always ended up dropped it in favor of staying in Magic Kingdom or going to Kona Cafe three times over. But we were standing firm this time.
1) Because park breaks are good for Baby.
2) Because then we could have that grand afternoon we just had.
And 3) So J could get this:

Lobster 'Thermidor' Burger. The guy loves lower-tier burgers, from McDonald's to Red Robin, but this was undeniably 'very good'. The lobster and sauce and the parmesan crisp thing got shoutouts. I particularly enjoyed the fries. I think they were seasoned with Old Bay.

There were a lot of different options I was considered here, from fried chicken to salmon, but I chose the Cast Iron-seared Pork Chop because I was hungry and wanted something substantial since I'd be sharing with Baby. It was so simple, but done so well. The marsala sauce and noodles were my favorite parts, and I was happy to see some peas and carrots that I could make Baby eat. And the pork was enough for the both of us.

This was our first time dining in Grand Floridian and it was a enjoyable dinner. Relaxed, welcoming, not crowded at all, and with our Disney Visa, we got 10% off. Baby attempted to color with crayons, more of which ended up on his shirt than on the picture of Lightning McQueen. Our table was right next to the window and lo and behold, our stroller survived the little sprinkle without any damage.

After dinner, we walked outside to a comfortable evening. Baby ran around in the grass like the big, independent boy he was becoming, and I was reminded that a few years ago, we were in this exact same spot watching other kids run around and I told J, "I want that."

And I thank my lucky stars every night that I got that.

We sailed away once more.

A nap at Contemporary. A nap at Grand. Poly, we're coming for ya next time!

Seven Seas was busy this evening.

And so were we. Even though we would have loved to go back to Magic Kingdom for another go at Happily Ever After, we decided we'd have plenty of opportunities to come to do that. But we have only a few opportunities left to enjoy the pool while Baby is enamored the way he is with it. So it was back to the bayou for some water and those Beignets that everyone talks about.

J went to go grab these as a nighttime snack after we had swam and showered. Therefore, he was in charge of taking the picture and only put two out of three on the plate... for shame. Then, he tried to give me a bite as I was holding Baby and then powdered sugar showered down on Baby's face. We both looked down in disappointment and disbelief before identical sighs and getting Baby cleaned off again before bedtime.

 

[belledream]

Today was our last full day at Walt Disney World. We'd be leaving tomorrow, as the Magical Express notice on our door kindly reminded us. But today was also J and my's 11 year anniversary of dating! 11 years ago, we were just a freshman and sophomore in college and now, we are taking our 1 year old to Animal Kingdom, Round 2.

We weren't 'late' today, so we took our time wandering through the Oasis. What is that!? I wondered.

Today was a day of seeing a bunch of cool things, because we came out to see kangaroos in front of the Tree of Life!

I was pleased to see that Baby appeared to be able to see them from a distance, as indicated by his pointing.

Safari time was upon us. A bongo was enjoying his morning.

A bloat of hippos.

We saw a bunch of Painted Dogs running around like crazy! That was exciting.

Hey Jabari! Nice to see you again.

Our guide said that wildebeest tended to wander, which renewed a debate that J and I have always had because I SWEAR that one time I was driving back home and I saw a dead wildebeest on the road. J says it's highly unlikely but I SAW WHAT I SAW.

This lion favors this rock and spot because I have at least a few identical pictures from various trips.

The coolest thing we saw was two elephants engaging in a friendly spar with their tusks. They really went at it the entire time they were in our view. Our guide said, "It's all good."

 

[belledream]

A few more safari pics to finish that up...

We hung around Africa for a bit so Baby could bang on some drums.

It was a nice, cool, overcast morning so far.

We took that nice shady walk behind the Tree of Life, because today, we would make it to Asia.

UP! A Great Bird Adventure wasn't showing, but we ran into a one anyways. Hi Kevin!

Bye Kevin!

Maharajah Jungle Trek was up next.

 

[belledream]

We were greeted by a Komodo Dragon.

It was a serene, quiet morning. I feel like no other park can match Animal Kingdom in that regard.

We came for the Tigers and that's what we got! This girl paced around that plant the entire time.

I absolutely love her home.

I am pleasantly surprised that this picture turned out well. Something about it, whether it's the framing of the lighting from within the archway just makes me feel like I'm ways away from Florida.

And with details like this, how can you not think that? One of the most underrated places in WDW.

The aviary was 'up' next.

 

[belledream]

We took Baby out of the stroller so he could do some duck-watching.

This place is just too pretty.

I was seriously admiring everything...

...until I got pooped on.

*shakes fist*

We spent longer here than we did watching the Tigers. Baby was interested in a particular leaf on one of the many plants.

This is J if we have 4 kids.

That was always my pipedream, but I think now, we'll be okay with 2.

We briefly browsed the nearby carts where I found my inspiration for Baby's Halloween costume next year.

But this year will be Stitch. It's just fitting.

Expedition Everest looked magnificent as ever, as we continued our tour of Asia.

 

[belledream]

I asked J if he wanted to take turns riding Everest, but he said nah.

He wanted to take a bunch of EE pictures instead. I kept chugging the stroller along and told him to catch up with us.

I pondered our options while walking 'by myself'. We had only a few things left on the list that we'd like to do, and visiting Dinoland was one of them. However, I also wanted to beat the lunchtime rush, so I told J we'd come back later. So it was just a quick wave to the dinosaur while I started our mobile order.

We're baaack!

(Closer look...)

We don't just talk about how much we love Satu'li Canteen all the time. We do the walk. Here's my Chopped Wood-Grilled Chicken Bowl.
Base: Rice and Black Beans
Sauce: Black Bean Vinaigrette
Variety is the spice of life, and I'd say I've just about covered all my 'bases' here at Satu'li Canteen. Hehe, get it?

J's Chili-Garlic Shrimp Bowl.
Base: Lo Mein
Sauce: Creamy Herb Dressing
He said, "I like what I like, okay??" Well at least I give him props for getting the shrimp instead of beef.

When we had decided we were going to come back to AK for a second day instead of the previously-planned Epcot second day, I cancelled all our FPs and just booked what I could find. Obviously that meant no Flight of Passage. But in some of random moments of downtime yesterday, J took it upon himself to check availability. Usually this is my passion, but I guess I was not feeling particularly pressed. Miraculously, during the previous evening, he found a FOP FP for that perfect time of noon and freaked out saying, "Wait, what do I do?! I don't normally do this!" We got it locked down and it was time for Round 2!

Today was an even better day than our first AK day, so instead of waiting inside an increasingly-busy Satu'li Canteen, I hung out with Baby outside, watching those British robot guys do their schtick and then just letting Baby walk back and forth around a deserted stroller parking area.

As we swapped, I told J to maybe take a crack at another 'outdoor nap'.

But as I walked back from the ride exit, I could hear a familiar wailing. J had said Baby fell asleep but woke up once he tried to put him in the stroller. It was no matter. We calmed Baby down quickly, and made our way out of Pandora.

 

[belledream]

Back in Africa, Tamu Tamu caught my eye and 10 seconds later, J was in line to make a purchase for us. One Simba's Sunset for three, please! It's a Pineapple Dole Whip with strawberry, watermelon, and coconut and you could just see the progression on his face that was like... cold... sour... sweet... hey, not bad... kinda yummy actually... more please!

J and I could barely finish this thing as we tried shoveling it down before Festival of the Lion King. Baby's First Show! Took us seven days, but for the best show at WDW, who cares?

We weren't sure how he'd behave since he is a squirmy little thing, but we were off to a good start, lucky enough to sit on the edge of a row. Next to Pumba!

However, we were in the Lion section. The kid who was demonstrating what sound lions make was like roar. It was adorable.

Baby was captivated by the Tumble Monkeys and the Fire Guy.

He started to get a little restless during the Dancing Birds. Typical. I enjoyed it though. Tons of pictures of me with sparkling heart eyes and Baby's pretty much over it.

His attention was immediately recaptured with the Circle of Life and the Celebration Finale...

...but we were ready to get out of here by the end, per Timon's request.

I think we learned that we still need a little more time for shows. We were happy we made it through, but we scratched Finding Nemo: The Musical off our list for today.

 

[belledream]

Our time in the park was winding down. We walked over to Discovery Island to pop into some of my most favorite-themed shops:

I haven't talked about merchandise a lot this Trip Report, but a few observations.

• So much snack merch for the Insta... it's scary.
• Rarely see Ear Hats anymore... they're all headbands.
• Lots of nice resort and park specific clothing... and I love the new way they display all the different t-shirt patterns on the wall.
• Not too many keychains with names on them anymore... just first letters... probably because people be naming their kids weird things these days.

While inside, it poured for like 45 seconds, and then it was over.

Finally back for our Dinoland time.

Donald's Dino-Bash was still going strong. I gotta admit, this was just too much.

To complete our spinner resume, we rode TriceraTops spin.

J and Baby in the front this time, me in the back. It was a nice change for me to be able to see more of Baby as he glanced down below.

Beautiful views, obviously.

We saw Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Daisy, and Donald walking around in their getups, but there wasn't much else we wanted to do here. Visited the shops and teased Baby with some dinosaur puppets which made him giggle.

And walked around the backside of Dinosaur so Baby could see Aladar.

I have a feeling he's gonna love this ride like his mama one day.

 

[belledream]

With that, we were finished! We moseyed on back to Discovery Island intending to take one last picture in front of the Tree of Life, but we spotted a few CMs that were holding poles.

Winged Encounters?!
Yes!
When?
Like, now!

Front row seats... so excited! Let's do this!

The blue-throated macaw below is the most endangered macaw, with an estimated less than 400 left in the world.

We were right in the middle of these macaws flying from pole to branch to pole, getting their treats.

The CM was giving an impassioned speech about these creatures when suddenly, beautiful, sweeping music filled the air and we looked up, and seemingly out of nowhere, a ton of macaws came flying in front of the Tree of Life, right over our heads, and back again, landing right in front of us.

I try not to say the word 'amazing' a lot, because I feel like it's overused to the point it loses its meaning. But this was amazing.

J said he got hit in the head by a wing.

And I felt like we hit the jackpot. This perfectly illustrated the beauty of Animal Kingdom, and it was the perfect way to say goodbye. For now! I would love for Baby to see this every single time we come here in the future.

 

[belledream]

Back at French Quarter, Baby took a two hour nap in the room. I went to Floatworks to pick up a Creole Cheese Steak Po' Boy for J, and a Chicken Voodoo Sandwich for me and Baby. They did the job, but neither looked very pretty, so I think I skipped taking a picture. Since Baby slept so long, I ended up putting his dinner in a cup and when he woke up, I fed him on the go. We had a lot of things we wanted to do this evening! Starting with one last walk along the Sassagoula River towards Riverside.

I knew we were going to miss these moments.

"There's enough room for all of us!"

First night... and now last night.

What a fun time we on both days, and all the days in between.

We took Baby out for a walk hand-in-hand with Mommy and Daddy.

He ran around the little field again. First night: wouldn't let go of my hand. Last night: would run the other way when I held my arms out to him.

He ran to these alligators though.

We went back to the room to get ready for one more swim, because Baby is like his parents, and goes hard on vacation.

The waterworks in the kiddie area weren't running. Apparently it wouldn't be fixed til tomorrow. I was bummed because Baby had enjoyed that so much. I think he realized something was off because he would stand by his favorite area and be like, nothing's happening. But he was still happy sitting in the pool of water at the bottom of one of the slides like it was a bathtub. Nearby, a little girl was also still making lemonade out of lemons, playing by herself happily. She came down the slide where Baby was bathing and asked if he could go down the slide too. We told her he was too little right now, but we played with her and talked to her mom. Turns out she was four years old. That really put something into perspective for me. J and I are used to going to Disney and doing things the same way every time because that's what worked well for us. But now, every time we come back to Disney, it will be different because Baby will constantly be growing, and in different stages of life. And we have so, so much time for that. For me, that was exciting to really visualize and understand a little better now.

 

[belledream]

The next morning, we said goodbye to our wonderful room that treated us so well for the past week. It was a last-minute, desperate measure that turned out to hold many of the highlights of our trip, from the pool to the walking path to the lobby fountain that we threw our coin in to make a wish. And then, it was off for one more day packed with Magic Kingdom fun! Because how else would we finish Baby's initiation into the Disney life?

We arrived a little before 9am. We had a really late flight out of MCO (purposeful, of course) so we weren't due back at POFQ until 6pm.

Ironically, yesterday was our last 'full day', but today's park day would be longer than that.

Today was also Mickey Ear Day! All three of us were sporting our traditional ear hats... or at least, that was the idea. We got a few good shots before he noticed what was going on, but after that, Baby would 9 out of 10 times take it off and throw it on the ground.

That one time though, he did walk up to the castle by himself wearing it. He walked through the castle, touching the murals, and then giving The Sword in the Stone a try. (It was a no-go). Into Pooh's house he went and we had to coax him out so we could ride the ride itself, as is tradition nowadays.

But other than that, we had no real plans today other than to see where the wind took us, and to soak in one last day of Disney magic.

We finally one little reason to stop by this always-deserted DVC infobooth outside of Little Mermaid! J and Baby had fun 'playing' with the tic-tac-toe blocks while I scoped out the little details.

Another pretty day. How lucky did we get?

Pretty lucky, I'd say. We arrived less than three days after MCO reopened. There were times I was doubting our decision to play it so closely, but it all worked out. And I think we were starting to see an increase in crowds as perhaps both the normal mid-September crowds and the 2-week-gappers were starting to show up.

 

[belledream]

We wandered into Storybook Circus.

While J was changing Baby in the bathrooms, I was admiring the ground.

We hadn't made it to Big Top Souvenirs yet this trip, so we popped in, if only for some addicting smells. I looked wistfully at the beautiful merchandise displays thinking about how ugly everything would be when I got back home. Why do I do this to myself!?

A flight on Dumbo was just what I needed. Baby is now taking "Don't just fly, soar!" to heart. He was looking all around him, feeling that!
A ride on Tomorrowland Transit Authority put him to sleep in record-time. It is the end of vacation after all... who doesn't feel exhausted?
We stayed on one more time, watching Tomorrowland fill up quickly, before getting off venturing into Mickey's Star Traders (J was already sick of Arendelle Aqua). Baby was sound asleep so we just wandered. Too bad he missed his friend, Pooh!

Some backside of castle admiration. I honestly keep forgetting Cinderella's Royal Table is a restaurant in MK. Someday we'll do it.

I was happy that the walkway was open and the moat refilled. This has always been one of my favorite views.

We ended up in Frontierland, where I told J to take a picture of the shop's window display for me. In his words: "Can't see sh*t."

In other news, Goofy's Candy Co. has new branding.

And it was looking a little cloudy outside.

It's not just the camera this time.

 

[belledream]

We realized we hadn't been over to Splash Mountain/Big Thunder Mountain area yet this trip, because we weren't going to ride either. But Baby was still sleeping, and it was pretty cool out, so we went to sightsee.

Turns out Splash was temporarily down, but I got an instant jolt of happiness and nostalgia from seeing this birdhouse from afar. Just more things to look forward to!

I adore Splash Mountain's shop. And since the ride was down, we practically had the whole place to ourselves.

The sun was back out again.

And we were getting hungry. We went to check into our Liberty Tree Tavern lunch early, and they said we could bring in the stroller with a sleeping baby, so we took them up on that. However, he woke up once we got sat down in the lobby so it was back outside with ye, stroller. And we were seated in a nice quiet corner.

I got Our Tavern Keeper's Favorite: Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, and Garden Vegetables. Green beans must be in season, or the easiest veggie option for Disney. SO MANY GREEN BEANS THIS TRIP. Baby didn't mind though. He had fun sticking whole pieces in his mouth like a Eeyore holding a stick. We both enjoyed the pot roast too, though I was maybe a little bored by it. I need me some Skipper Canteen next time.

J got the Lobster Roll. "Creamy Lobster Salad, Fried Clams, and Lemon-Caper Aïoli." This was really the reason why we came here and it did not disappoint. J got everything he wanted this trip, except maybe some Katsura Grill. Maybe if he didn't eat that POUTINE for lunch...

Anyways, I digress. No Ooey Gooey for us today. We came out to see that it had sprinkled lightly while we were inside, but our stroller was fine. And perfect timing - time for Great Moments in History... but only the American parts! J was rolling. Sad this is going to be gone soon.

I love these buildings.

And this tree.

Liberty Square, glad we got to spend some time with you on this crazy adventure. Maybe a ride on the Liberty Belle next?

 

[belledream]

Liberty Belle it is! We waited about 15 minutes for the boat to come. I think that's the longest we waited for any attraction this trip. So when it finally came we were super excited. (Explains why J and I never did this together. We didn't have the patience to do, apparently).

While most people went to the top deck or the stuffy rooms with benches, we stayed put on the middle deck. Baby was entranced looking down.

I was in love with the classic look of this ship.

We weren't quite sure where we'd be heading or what we'd see.

But there was Rapunzel's tower!

I felt like I was on a park break. It was nice.

It's been a few years since we ventured to Tom Sawyer's Island. We'll make a return soon enough.

We watched a few trains thunder by and waved.

Southwest or Southeast? Could've fooled me.

All three of us were enjoying the ride. It was slow, there was a lot to see, and it was new for all of us to share.

 

[belledream]

As we moved into the areas that are shielded from the 'public eye', I was reminded of missing a ride on the Walt Disney World Railroad. Fake deer, Colors of the Wind, and that guy's voice... it made me nostalgic again. But we loved seeing these new views:

We disembarked and headed towards Main Street, with purpose. We had a date with Mickey and Minnie, one more time. I had no idea these FPs were so hard to score. I was lucky to have gotten one for the early afternoon on this last day. Baby took Mickey's hand and shyly stood between the two of them. Everyone in the room aww'ed.

To be honest, I didn't really pay any attention to the Automated Camera since the CM took pictures with our camera anyways. I didn't get what all the fuss was about, but later when we browsed our Photopass pictures for fun, we literally had a picture of the CM's back as she was taking a picture of us. So I guess I get it... but I don't really care since we never buy those things anyways.

We wanted to go see the train after that. Wish we could've rode it, but a picture of Baby with his ears on, with empty rows upon empty rows behind him was pretty worth it too.

Main Street, you've filled my heart for my entire life, and now my family's heart. Thank you.

This is where we had parked our stroller to Meet Mickey and Minnie at Town Square.

I just thought everything looked really pretty.