Trip Report The "HECK YEAH My Job Sent Us to WDW" + 2 Birthdays Trip Report

The cast of this trip is the same as our last trip:

Me (Lynn) and my husband (Brett)

Trent: Our son was just about to turn 1 this trip. His birthday was just 2 days after we got home, so we celebrated him the entire trip. It was also Brett's birthday while we were down there, so we actually celebrated both of them!

Introduction and background

We stayed at the Contemporary Resort for 6 days/5 nights from June 11-16. The main reason for the trip was for a work conference I was attending at the Contemporary. The best part was that not only was my job paying for 4 of the nights, the mileage there and back, and a food per diem, but the room rate was so phenomenal, that we had to take advantage and stay an extra night. $179 per night and no tax…yes, please!

Oh and Brett and Trent tagged along. One would think that it was torture sitting in a conference all day while at the Happiest Place on Earth, especially since it was an accounting conference…us CPAs aren’t known for our party-hard skills…but it wasn’t bad since it was so unbearably hot during the day that we wouldn’t have wanted to even go to a park anyway.

I did not do any type of pre-trip report for this trip. Why? Because when I tediously put together a pre-trip report for our April trip and shared it all over the interwebs, it got completely rearranged the second we arrived on property. Oops.

Since this was our first time staying in a monorail resort, our main goal was to maximize the convenience factor…so the plan was to do either Epcot or Magic Kingdom each day, but we didn’t have any specific plans on which one we did on each day. We kinda winged it and it ended up working out so well.

We LOVED not having to get in the car, park (probably at the very end of a row because that seems to always happen), take a tram to get to the park, then do it all over again to leave the park. And no folding up the stroller either! We could just put Trent in and roll him right onto the monorail. It was glorious.

 

[Lynn1030]

In your last couple posts, the pictures are arranged two across ( side by side ). I have only known to be able to stack the photos in a post.

Ooooh, I just looked on the iPad and see what you mean. I've been using a computer/laptop for posting, so all the photos are stacked in my view, but on the iPad they are side-by-side.

I think the difference is because I normally hit enter after each photo...I'll post the photo, hit enter, type the next paragraph or insert the next photo, hit enter again, etc. But the past two posts, I didn't have anything to really type, so I just uploaded all the photos, then clicked the button underneath the post that was for "Upload all files as Full Image"...it pulled in all the photos at once and then I posted it without hitting enter between each photo.

Another thing that was weird was Brett looked on the iPad without signing into his account and all the photos were so small, but once he logged in, they were shown as original size.

 

[Lynn1030]

To dry off, we took a spin on Dumbo.

We then watched Philharmagic. We knew Trent wouldn’t really care to use the sunglasses, but we got him a pair anyway and he would sporadically put them on and watch. It was mostly for us anyway; I love that show. I also loved watching Trent look around at all the kids reaching towards the screen and trying to grab stuff wondering what the heck they were doing.

Ha! I should have bought this…for my entertainment, of course.

Dance party time!

 

[DisSplash]

Great photos and cute baby! I just love all of the "Mommy & Me" pics. So sweet and endearing ... so how did your Trent like the Little Mermaid ride? That ride is so vibrant and colorful -- I'm sure he had no idea where to look first!
I hoping to hear that at some point you got yourself some bacon!

 

[Lynn1030]

Great photos and cute baby! I just love all of the "Mommy & Me" pics. So sweet and endearing ... so how did your Trent like the Little Mermaid ride? That ride is so vibrant and colorful -- I'm sure he had no idea where to look first!
I hoping to hear that at some point you got yourself some bacon!

He has done so well on every ride, which we are extremely grateful for! He looks around at everything, taking it all in. It must be weird to just be placed on all those rides and have no idea what's going on!

Spoiler alert: I finally got bacon at Chef Mickey's on the last day lol

 

[Lynn1030]

 

[Lynn1030]

We decided that since we would be at MK several nights in a row, that we would try to watch Wishes from new spots, so we went to the bridge in Frontierland this night. While it was nice to be able to walk up just a few minutes before the fireworks started and have somewhere to lean on and not be crowded, the view was just so-so. We couldn’t see much of the bigger fireworks behind the trees, so if you are trying to photograph from this spot, be prepared to only have half the fireworks in your photos. I definitely recommend it if you are just interested in paying attention to the show in between running to and from rides. Just step off to the side (there were plenty of spots when we were there) watch the show and then make a quick getaway with no crowd.

Trent immediately fell asleep after the fireworks, so we decided to just slowly head out of the park, taking some photos along the way.

The monorail lines were CRAZY LONG, so we walked back to the hotel again. We also weren’t jealous of the bus lines. We’ve never taken a Disney bus and this does nothing to convince us.

That's it for Day 3!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I have been following your trip report and love all the pictures! What I want to know is where the heck do you work that they send you to Disney?.....I so need to apply for a job there.

 

[Lynn1030]

I have been following your trip report and love all the pictures! What I want to know is where the heck do you work that they send you to Disney?.....I so need to apply for a job there.

Thank you! It was an accounting conference for continuing education credits for my CPA license. They pay for me to get my required credits, so as long as I stick within my budget and it's not too extraordinary, I can select where I want to go.

 

[Lynn1030]

Friday
Breakfast was similar to a powdered jelly donut. It wasn't Krispy Kreme, but it was ok.

Workin’ on the blog while I wait for the first session to begin.

Today’s lunch menu (sorry for the blurry phone photos again):

Yesterday’s salad was much better, but I was still happy for the appearance of pretzel bread in the bread basket again today.

Chicken, sweet potatoes and veggies.

Dessert = caramelized banana cake with chocolate and rum sauce.

 

[Lynn1030]

After the conference, we drove to the Beach Club. We had reservations later on at Cape May Cafe, so the plan was to walk to Epcot and then walk back for dinner. We didn’t take the monorail because we didn’t want to walk through the entire park twice knowing we’d only be there for such a short amount of time.

We think the parking lot is quite far at the Beach Club, especially after a big meal of seafood and desserts, so we decided to take advantage of valet parking. Just now, while I’m writing this, I realized that we paid for valet parking when we could have gotten it for free because we have Tables in Wonderland. Damn – that makes me realize how many times we could have done it in the past and didn’t. Fail.

We walked to Epcot from the Beach Club through the International Gateway entrance and stopped in the France pavilion for some sightseeing.

 

[Lynn1030]

We tried to take a nice photo by the fountain, but all Trent wanted to do was play with the water. He made sure to let us know he wanted nothing to do with photo-taking and his displeasure with us keeping him away from the water.

You can see him trying so hard to play with the water…reaching his foot as far as he can just to touch it with his toe.

I took his foot out of the water and stood him up…that made him REALLY angry! HULK transformation in 3…2…1…

“You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry!!”

I give up – do what you want.

 

[Englebabies]

Your son is just too cute

 

[Lynn1030]

Your son is just too cute

Thank you

 

[Tigger19]

Aw too cute! Do you use any kind of photo editing software? Your photos are amazing!

 

[Lynn1030]

So when does he start swim lessons?

Haha - We actually considered them this past summer, but ended up passing on it. Maybe next year...or at the rate he likes being in the water, he might already know how by then!

Aw too cute! Do you use any kind of photo editing software? Your photos are amazing!

Thank you. He takes all his photos in RAW format, so yes, they get processed in Photoshop.

 

[Lynn1030]

Wandering around.

We sat and watched some of the Bee Gees cover band “Stayin Alive” at the Sounds Like Summer concert.

More wandering.

 

[Lynn1030]

We then headed to the Norway Pavilion to ride Maelstrom!

Trent did just fine. Darkness? Scary trolls? Drops in a boat? Bring it! This baby does it all.

Trent representing his heritage and getting his Swedish Viking on.

We continued walking and got a craving for a nice sugary margarita from the stand in Mexico. I hadn’t eaten in hours, so this drink started affecting me rather quickly. Drinking buddy, I am not.

Of course, it did make me want to eat lots of seafood! We walked back to the Beach Club and were seated at Cape May Cafe within just a few minutes. We didn’t take any food photos this time…too hungry to remember?? I don’t know, but you can check out some photos from the last time we were at Cape May Cafe HERE.

We enjoyed our delicious meal. Trent ate more this time than the last time we were here…he liked the fish nuggets and fruit. And the mini-cupcakes.

We then drove back to the hotel. For one of the perhaps least Disney-esque, decorated hotels, the Contemporary sure provides plenty of beautiful photos…especially with the monorail zipping by.

We stopped by the room and then ran to the 4th floor fireworks viewing deck. There were already some people sitting there, but luckily there were still seats left in the 3rd row. Brett set up his camera and several of the people around us were chatting and playing with Trent. It was a very nice group of people and a relaxing, enjoyable way to wait for the show to begin.

This was definitely a convenient fireworks viewing spot, but be sure to still show up a little early if you want a seat! It’s not the best spot for fireworks photography, though, as the big set of fireworks are all the way off to the side behind Space Mountain.

After the fireworks, we took a look at the arcade…

…and then we went swimming. Trent is a fish and loves the water and I was glad to finally be swimming, since it was way too hot with blazing sun during the day. Oh yeah, and that silly conference I keep having to attend

After swimming we called it a night.

 

[Lynn1030]

Saturday

This post should actually be called “A bunch of photos where Trent’s isn’t wearing any shoes” – as I looked through the photos to make this post, I realized he isn’t wearing shoes in a single photo…or pretty much any of the photos from the entire trip. I guess when you’re not walking as much, there isn’t really a need for it…but that will definitely change for our October trip because he is a running fool now!

Today was the last day of the conference (high five!) and we were scheduled to be finished at noon, so no lunch today and breakfast was a collection of all the things offered on the prior days…blueberry bread, chocolate croissants and jelly filled pastries.

Trent napped so hard he made an ear imprint on his arm. Disney sure does know how to tire a baby out.

We really had no idea what we wanted to do since we had plenty of time to explore for the night. We needed lunch, so we headed down to the Contempo Cafe area. It was quite busy, so we just kind of stood there debating if we should just eat there, go to Epcot and find something, or look up any ADRs. We were standing there a good few minutes when a man that had been sitting on the nearby bench came up to us and asked us if we were on the Disney Dining Plan. We quickly said no, although we were both confused at why he was asking.

He said “Let me get your lunch.”

Say what?!

We both said “Excuse me?”

And he repeated it “Let me get your lunch for you….we are about to leave to go home (he then pointed at his kids) and we have a bunch of Dining Plan credits left that we won’t be able to use, so let me pay it forward and buy your lunch for you.”

We couldn’t believe it. I wonder if he sat there specifically waiting to spot a family that would benefit from his good deed or it was a spur of the moment decision, but I don’t care either way. What a nice man and such a nice gesture. To that wonderful gentleman, if you are reading this, thank you so much, you made our day. Free food at Disney? Heck, you made my year. I thought I was nice for handing unused Fastpasses to people as I leave parks, but you went to an entirely new level and I hope to pay it forward to others in the future, too.

So he told us to order 2 meals, 2 desserts, and a kids meal…so we made our selections on the touchscreen, got our food and picked out our drinks and desserts and met him at the cashier. We tried to make small talk but he didn’t really say much. His kids talked to us more than he did lol.

Either way, we got all this food for free…a little more than we would have gotten on our own, but we still consumed it in it’s entirety.

Dessert was an oatmeal cookie for Brett and a worms n dirt cupcake for me and Trent.

With all that being said, we met some of the nicest people on this trip. I truly was amazed. We never even had an issue with someone standing in front of us at a parade – which is something that happens almost every time. Even when we were on the 4th floor viewing deck at the Contemporary and an older kid showed up last minute and proceeded to run in front of everyone, a guy that was sitting near us politely told the kid to watch out for Brett’s expensive camera and that if he wanted to be up front, if he could please sit down so everyone that was here first could see. The kid ran away, but it got the job done lol.

So, with our tummies extra full, we headed to Epcot.

 

[myhappyplace]

LOVE stories like that!!

 

[Tigger19]

Trent is so cute in that pic! Wow people can be so good sometimes! I really think the magic of Disney brings out the goodness in people We always seem to be given fastpasses from people as they leave the park!