Trip Report Waddling Around the World - 28 weeks pregnant, F&W Fall '18

This is probably going to be the most boring trip report because 1. I didn't take notes and 2. I didn't take nearly as many pictures as normal.

I will say that overall this wasn't one of my favorite trips, but we still had fun, so I wanted to share anyway. Plus I enjoy just documenting what we did (or what I remember that we did...)

When: October 11-16
Where: Split stay between Wilderness Lodge and Villas at the Grand Floridian
Why: Anniversary and sort of a babymoon, even though this was planned and the baby wasn't
Who: Me and my husband R (other reports linked in my signature)...and the unborn child, on her 3rd trip.

----------------

Our morning on the 11th began at 3am when I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. Rather than lay there until my alarm went off at 3:30am ...I got up and started getting ready. R did the same and we made it out of the house around 4:10am.

We got to the airport with no issues and security was quick. Memphis was more crowded that normal, meaning there were 10 people instead of 2. Actually our flight was full, so it was a pretty crowded gate area.


Ready to go with my $5 water! I don't know why I do this...

Our flight was smooth and we landed on time around 10am. I think we were pulling away in our Magical Express around 10:30, and Wilderness Lodge was our first stop!

When we arrived, we headed to the bathrooms and changed clothes. Then we checked our bags with bell services and headed to the bus stop.



I was so thrilled to be back here! Wish our room had been ready early, but we had bad luck with that this time.





Two tired souls waiting on their bus. This picture was from my camera...


Can't see!

These are from my phone... I realized then I was probably going to be using my phone more. I upgraded to the X, and it's so much better than my old one! Plus I rented a lens for this trip and it was too big. I hated carrying it around! I will definitely stick with my compact lens next time.

We sat at the bus stop forever, and finally a bus for Epcot came. This would be the first of many times we waited quite a while for a bus while staying at WL I should have taken notes so I could really share the ridiculousness with you guys. I remember this being an issue last time as well, but R didn't remember that. He will definitely remember this time! The bus situation kind of spoiled WL a little for us.

Up Next: First things first, food!

 

[sheriffwoody]

For our last day, I made an early FP for Toy Story Mania since I figured we wouldn't ride it standby on our first day in Hollywood Studios. So that morning we made our way over to the park and straight back to Toy Story Land.



It was packed to the gills that morning. I kind of hate trying to navigate that entrance right now, but from what I understand there will be another path out once Galaxy's Edge opens, so everyone won't be entering and exiting in the same place. Hopefully that will help!



Already an hour wait! Eep! Glad we had a FP...guess we also weren't that early, so the wait time shouldn't be surprising.

Also these are all with my phone since I got tired of toting my camera around. ha



I took lots of snaps of the queue and exit because I loved all the details.






We got Hamm!



And I got beat again. I don't know why I'm so bad at these games.



Love this cute mural!



The exit off the ride is sooooo great. They added so many fun details!



Like the popsicle wall! There was a photopass photographer over there, but I didn't want to wait for a photo, so R snapped one for me in a little spot.



I used to play with my mom's old Tinker Toys alllll the time.

That was all we did in Hollywood Studios. We were getting hungry already, so we headed out. Bet you can guess where we were going




My hat looks weird...




One of my fav magic shots.

Up Next: Lunch

 

[sheriffwoody]

I'm pretty sure we took the boat over to Epcot again. I remember it not being as crowded, so no problem finding a seat. Once again we got off at the Yacht/Beach Club and walked the rest of the way.

Our first stop was for something sweet...perfect start to lunch

Australia

• Lamington: Yellow Cake Dipped in Chocolate and Shredded Coconut (V) — $3.75

Meh. This stuff is just ok to me, but R likes it for some reason. It's weird because he usually doesn't care for coconut. 5/10

Next we headed up to the Cheese Studio for the one thing I HAD to get before we left.

• Braised Beef Stroganoff with Tiny Egg Noodles, Wild Mushroom and Boursin Garlic with Fine Herbs Cheese Sauce (KA) – $5.25
• Maple Bourbon Boursin Cheesecake with Maple Bourbon Cream, Caramel and Pecan Crunch (V) – $4.50

The cheesecake was my must-do!



The beef stroganoff was tasty. I like the combination of flavors in the sauce a lot! 7/10



Since it's been several months now, I can't remember for sure, but I THINK this was my favorite dessert from the festival. It was just sooooo good. 10/10 can't think of anything that could make it better.

Since we hadn't been yet, we tried the Light Lab



R got some beer, while I went inside and got basically a slushie flight. It was way too much, I should definitely have just gotten one thing!

• Phosphorescent Phlight (KA) – $7.00 (I'm pretty sure this is what I got)

The educational stuff was cool to look at but it seriously took me ages to drink these. And I threw away the cubes and felt bad about wasting them! I didn't have a bag to stick them in though.



R enjoying his beers. I think he got the RGB flight because they were out of the one cider he wanted to try. Go figure. It may have been the other way around...



Sweet, sweet, sweeeeeeet slushy.

After all that sweetness, we needed something savory!

On to Islands of the Caribbean

• Ropa Vieja Empanada with Tomato Aïoli (KA) – $5.25

I know I look like I'm really enjoying it, but I wouldn't get it again. There was hardly any meat in there! It was a pastry with a lot of air inside. Our local Cuban food truck has the most bomb- empanadas, and these were not even comparable. Oh well! Still tasted good, especially with the aioli. 5/10

Next was China

• Chicken Dumplings with Chinese Slaw (KA) — $4.95

The dumplings were good! Not sure you can call that slaw though... 7/10

I'm 85% sure this next dish was from Germany

• Schinkennudeln: Pasta Gratin with Ham, Onions and Cheese (KA) — $4.25

I could be wrong about what I'm holding in this picture, but I think that was it.



I do remember it being good though! I was a bigger fan than R was, so I got to enjoy this one mostly by myself and he probably got a beer. 8/10

Next we went to Spain

• Charcuterie in a Cone with imported Spanish Meats, Cheeses and Olives with an Herb Vinaigrette – $6.50

Unfortunately this was a big ole NOPE from me, even though I did eat it. The cheeses were the part that killed it for me. The cubes were huge and mostly tasteless. The meats and olives were fine, but I could definitely pass on this in the future. I was sad because a bunch of people had raved about it! 3/10

Of course I had to grab some hummus fries before we left!


After this we headed to the festival center to get our little AP cheese boards.



Aren't they cute?! I doubt we'll ever use them, and I could have laser etched one for myself...but still, it was a nice little freebie.



Oh you thought I wasn't doing a whole photoshoot with my new cheese board?



We headed out of the park after this and hopped on the monorail.



Sometimes I take selfies in there to pass the time. Looks like a crowded ride! That was a theme this trip.

When we got back to the resort, we stopped and got me a Mickey bar because I hadn't had one yet AND I was wearing my Mickey bar hat!



Despite wearing my "I don't share snacks" shirt...I did share.



It was still early afternoon (maybe 2:30?) but we felt like resting, so we just hung out in the room for a bit and packed up a little.

Up Next: Shopping and Dinner

 

[sheriffwoody]

After a while I convinced R to leave the room and do a monorail loop with me. I really wanted to go to MK, but he wasn't into it, and I was hoping we could go for about an hour after dinner (spoiler alert...that didn't happen).

He did agree to monorail loop since I promised him there would be plenty of places to grab a drink.



We looked around a little in the main building in the Grand.

Then we headed to the Contemporary where I apparently didn't take any photos. We shopped a little, and I found the 2019 attractions poster calendar which I LOVE!!! I hadn't even thought to look for it, so I'm so glad I stumbled upon it. We had the 2018 one and loved it. Thankfully it fit nicely on top of all my stuff in my suitcase.

When we got back on the monorail at the contemporary it was STUFFED. We were right at the doors with literally no room for anyone to move, then two large folks decided to cram in despite the fact that there was no room. I am surprised the doors closed honestly. It was miserable. I basically had to sit in a stranger's lap... Thankfully several people got out at the TTC.

We made it to the Poly and breathed a sigh of relief that we could walk back to the Grand from there.



Beautiful! R ran off to the bathroom and I shopped around a little. He was bummed that the Tambu Lounge was still closed, and wasn't interested in going to the temporary one. Instead we went to Trader Sam's Tiki Terrace.



It was a nice evening!





No idea what drink he got.



I got a Skipper Sipper. Being pregnant is a drag

They had some kind of table set up and were giving out bags...It occurred to me several days later that it might have been the hatbox ghost souvenir cups, and now I wish I'd asked! I totally would have gotten one if I had known (and if they weren't all spoken for already).

I think R ended up having one more drink before we headed back toward the Grand. We had a later dinner scheduled, but we were on track to get there right on time. We were able to stop in the room to drop off our purchases.





No idea why I wanted a photo here..and I look high



It was a very pleasant walk, and the sadness of leaving was officially setting in. We made it to our dinner destination and checked in. It took about 10 minutes before we were seated.



Our server was nice, but a little weird. He was also slowwwwwww. I had booked this where we could watch the fireworks maybe during dessert, but we didn't even get our entrees until the fireworks were starting...1 hour into our reservation. He did apologize for the wait and said he'd forgotten to put our order in. At least with the bread and our app, we weren't starving. ha





Looks like R got a beer. This was a crab cake appetizer, which doesn't appear to be on the menu anymore, but it was DELISH! Would definitely recommend if they bring it back.



I knew when we booked this that I wanted the surf and turf, and I stuck with that. This was our splurge meal, clearly.

Ok I don't really eat lobster, but R said this wasn't that great compared to what he's had up north. He has to travel for work a lot and often goes to Maryland and Rhode Island. He said this was fine but nothing like what he has experienced up there. But oh well, since I didn't have much to compare to, I enjoyed it! The steak was good too. We are steak snobs and this satisfied us both.

TANGENT/
Funny story (that wasn't so funny at the time). For our anniversary the week before, we bought steaks from a local place we love and set them to cook on the stove with our sous-vide while we went somewhere. I don't even remember where we went, but when we got home to finish preparing the dinner, the steaks were gone. The way they cook is that you clip them (in a bag) to the side of a pot of water and stick the sous-vide in to heat the water up to the proper temp. Somehow, our dog had managed to get the steaks out of the pot of water and he devoured them both. I have never been so mad at that dog!!! I still don't understand how he got up that high to get them out of the pot without pulling the pot off the stove! We have a camera in the kitchen, but there was a box on the counter blocking all the action so we couldn't see it.

Aaaanyway, so the dog had a steak dinner and we went out for Mexican food It's funny now, but I was seriously so mad. And also glad I'd gotten NY strips instead of filets!
/TANGENT

So this dinner at Narcoosee's was our do-over steak dinner for our anniversary

Since we had barely started eating when the fireworks started, we stayed at our table to watch them. It was still a pretty decent view, even with a few people outside on the wraparound porch. We had enough gaps to see through. It was a nice end to the trip! Unfortunately since it was this late already and we were still eating, I knew MK was out of the question. Of course it took our server forever to get our check to us and all that, so when we finally left, we just got a treat from Gasparilla and called it a night.



This was a chocolate mousse thing and it was pretty tasty.

And of course I kept getting emotional on the walk back because we didn't have a trip planned. Still don't. And I'm not ok with it. I am trying to convince R to do a trip at the beginning of April before I go back to work, but he said he's not even going to entertain the idea until the baby is here. I think he just needs to see how we adapt. I keep telling him our lives don't have to stop when we have a baby! We can still do stuff, she'll just do stuff with us!

Anyway, I'll keep y'all updated if we make some plans to go back. Cross your fingers for me!

Up next: Early morning goodbye

 

[sheriffwoody]

We had an early flight, thus an early pickup time.



Grabbed one last shot of our beautiful view before we left.




I love the lobby of the DVC building. It's not as big as the main building, but still so pretty. The Mary Poppins fountain is just lovely.

We checked our bag at the airline check in, which is honestly SO convenient. I love that they offer that.

We had a little time to chill before the bus arrived, so we just meandered around the empty lobby.







And that's it! No pictures of the bus because it was truly tragical... plus it was early and I was only half awake.

We got dropped off and I got us some breakfast at the airport chickfila, which was awful. Nice service, but the food was not up to par with a normal chickfila. Also I'd never been on this side of the airport before. Not sure why we came that way instead of where we normally go? Maybe they dropped us off in a weird spot.

We made it through security quickly with TSA precheck (plus it was early enough that it wasn't busy) and sat at our gate a while before finally boarding.

I don't recall any issues, but I do recall it being cold when we got back home, and I think R was regretting not wearing his pants! I always wear pants on the place instead of shorts, so I was good.

Well that's it! I guess I'll post when the baby decided to make her appearance, and maybe I'll post about an upcoming trip if I'm lucky. Otherwise, I'll just be stalking everyone else's reports!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Rista1313]

After a while I convinced R to leave the room and do a monorail loop with me. I really wanted to go to MK, but he wasn't into it, and I was hoping we could go for about an hour after dinner (spoiler alert...that didn't happen).

He did agree to monorail loop since I promised him there would be plenty of places to grab a drink.



We looked around a little in the main building in the Grand.

Then we headed to the Contemporary where I apparently didn't take any photos. We shopped a little, and I found the 2019 attractions poster calendar which I LOVE!!! I hadn't even thought to look for it, so I'm so glad I stumbled upon it. We had the 2018 one and loved it. Thankfully it fit nicely on top of all my stuff in my suitcase.

When we got back on the monorail at the contemporary it was STUFFED. We were right at the doors with literally no room for anyone to move, then two large folks decided to cram in despite the fact that there was no room. I am surprised the doors closed honestly. It was miserable. I basically had to sit in a stranger's lap... Thankfully several people got out at the TTC.

We made it to the Poly and breathed a sigh of relief that we could walk back to the Grand from there.



Beautiful! R ran off to the bathroom and I shopped around a little. He was bummed that the Tambu Lounge was still closed, and wasn't interested in going to the temporary one. Instead we went to Trader Sam's Tiki Terrace.



It was a nice evening!





No idea what drink he got.



I got a Skipper Sipper. Being pregnant is a drag

They had some kind of table set up and were giving out bags...It occurred to me several days later that it might have been the hatbox ghost souvenir cups, and now I wish I'd asked! I totally would have gotten one if I had known (and if they weren't all spoken for already).

I think R ended up having one more drink before we headed back toward the Grand. We had a later dinner scheduled, but we were on track to get there right on time. We were able to stop in the room to drop off our purchases.





No idea why I wanted a photo here..and I look high



It was a very pleasant walk, and the sadness of leaving was officially setting in. We made it to our dinner destination and checked in. It took about 10 minutes before we were seated.



Our server was nice, but a little weird. He was also slowwwwwww. I had booked this where we could watch the fireworks maybe during dessert, but we didn't even get our entrees until the fireworks were starting...1 hour into our reservation. He did apologize for the wait and said he'd forgotten to put our order in. At least with the bread and our app, we weren't starving. ha





Looks like R got a beer. This was a crab cake appetizer, which doesn't appear to be on the menu anymore, but it was DELISH! Would definitely recommend if they bring it back.



I knew when we booked this that I wanted the surf and turf, and I stuck with that. This was our splurge meal, clearly.

Ok I don't really eat lobster, but R said this wasn't that great compared to what he's had up north. He has to travel for work a lot and often goes to Maryland and Rhode Island. He said this was fine but nothing like what he has experienced up there. But oh well, since I didn't have much to compare to, I enjoyed it! The steak was good too. We are steak snobs and this satisfied us both.

TANGENT/
Funny story (that wasn't so funny at the time). For our anniversary the week before, we bought steaks from a local place we love and set them to cook on the stove with our sous-vide while we went somewhere. I don't even remember where we went, but when we got home to finish preparing the dinner, the steaks were gone. The way they cook is that you clip them (in a bag) to the side of a pot of water and stick the sous-vide in to heat the water up to the proper temp. Somehow, our dog had managed to get the steaks out of the pot of water and he devoured them both. I have never been so mad at that dog!!! I still don't understand how he got up that high to get them out of the pot without pulling the pot off the stove! We have a camera in the kitchen, but there was a box on the counter blocking all the action so we couldn't see it.

Aaaanyway, so the dog had a steak dinner and we went out for Mexican food It's funny now, but I was seriously so mad. And also glad I'd gotten NY strips instead of filets!
/TANGENT

So this dinner at Narcoosee's was our do-over steak dinner for our anniversary

Since we had barely started eating when the fireworks started, we stayed at our table to watch them. It was still a pretty decent view, even with a few people outside on the wraparound porch. We had enough gaps to see through. It was a nice end to the trip! Unfortunately since it was this late already and we were still eating, I knew MK was out of the question. Of course it took our server forever to get our check to us and all that, so when we finally left, we just got a treat from Gasparilla and called it a night.



This was a chocolate mousse thing and it was pretty tasty.

And of course I kept getting emotional on the walk back because we didn't have a trip planned. Still don't. And I'm not ok with it. I am trying to convince R to do a trip at the beginning of April before I go back to work, but he said he's not even going to entertain the idea until the baby is here. I think he just needs to see how we adapt. I keep telling him our lives don't have to stop when we have a baby! We can still do stuff, she'll just do stuff with us!

Anyway, I'll keep y'all updated if we make some plans to go back. Cross your fingers for me!

Up next: Early morning goodbye

Oh that dog!!!! I like NY strips better than Filets... so I would have been really upset! Sorry about your crappy waiter.... at least your food looks tasty!

 

[Swissmiss]

Your photos are AMAZING!

 

[Swissmiss]

I just realized you said “she” in your posts - I must have been stuck on your Woody reveal and assumed you were expecting a boy

 

[joshsprincess921]

Omg the dog!! Glad you got that re-do!
I have never heard of a sous-vide! I had to google and check it out. Interesting!
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

 

[93boomer]

Thanks for sharing your wonderful trip!!! You guys will be back to that magical place with the baby in tow soon. Keep in touch when the baby arrives. Good luck!

 

[Spash007]

I loved reading your report!

We were debating the other day whether it's easier to go with a newborn, or wait a bit until a kid gets a bit older (like 1-2, not 12 lol). In one way, a newborn can be easier as they will probably sleep more and you don't have to worry about actual naps yet or an earlier bed time. At the same time, it is something to get used to, and a trip could throw off any schedules or routines you get used. We decided we're going to wait a bit, but that's because I want our oldest to be out of a stroller as I really don't want to deal with a double stroller. Good luck on your decision!

 

[Tuvalu]

Would getting a “I met Tuvalu at WDW” card tip the scales in your favor with R for an early April vacay?

 

[LisaBelle]

I loved reading about your trip. It looked like a great mix of fun and relaxation. Thanks for sharing your pics and ratings of all the foods you tried at Food and Wine. Bummer that pregnancy prevented you from trying the beers and cocktails, but it worked out well in the food department!
Your Narcoosee's meal looks delicious! Sorry that your waiter was slow. I don't blame you for being disappointed. I would have been disappointed to not make it back to MK, especially without a future trip on the horizon.
Sending pixie dust your way for a trip in the not too distant future. You can definitely visit Disney with a baby, but it will be a very different kind of trip. I will be watching for updates. Looking forward to the debut of your little Mouseketeer!

 

[krisri18]

I vote baby trip! Lol babies are portable!

 

[MeeskaMooska0714]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Enjoy your time before the baby comes - and you are correct, life doesn't have to stop when she comes. It will be different, but you will adjust fine! Fingers crossed you get your April trip!

 

[amjt660]

Great TR and hope all goes well with the new one!!

Max

 

[Kiwiduck]

Hope all goes well with the new baby. Love your trip reports so hoping you talk your husband into another trip

 

[MegRuss626]

I keep telling him our lives don't have to stop when we have a baby! We can still do stuff, she'll just do stuff with us!

Yes! We take Ryleigh everywhere with us! We’re respectful of her schedule (when she was a baby, she liked to be home in her jammies by 7 ) and it’s worked out pretty well!

Great trip report! Can’t wait to see when she finally arrives!

 

[Swissmiss]

Yes! We take Ryleigh everywhere with us! We’re respectful of her schedule (when she was a baby, she liked to be home in her jammies by 7 ) and it’s worked out pretty well!

Great trip report! Can’t wait to see when she finally arrives!

That is the key, isn’t it, trying to recognize and respect their schedule when they are too young to express it. My daughter was the opposite as a baby - no problem falling asleep in her stroller AND didn’t need a quiet or dark environment (I had one of the early model Bugaboos and I think its design contributed to her ease of sleeping) so I could go out in the evenings and she still slept at her normal time. As she got older this changed and so I had to adapt to her needs. When she was 4 a family moved into our building with an 18 month old and we used have Friday night dinners together. When it was at their apartment, as bedtime hit she’d go into their bedroom to fall asleep so I could continue the evening talking to my friends and then she hit a stage where she had to fall asleep in her own bed so at bedtime she’d come in and tell me we had to go home. I will say that I was also very fortunate because for her going to sleep was like someone suddenly taking out the battery on the Energizer bunny - one second she was fine and the next second she was tired and so she never gave me «but I’m not tired even though my eyes are shutting » issues that many parents deal with.

 

[Songbird76]

We took our kids, 2 and 4 to Disney for their first trip and we had an umbrella stroller for each one and they'd nap in the strollers as we walked around. When they slept, we took turns riding stuff....like, DS LOVED BMTR and I wasn't fussed about it, so he could go ride that while I sat with the kids in the strollers. Or we just walked around and enjoyed the theming or a snack. And, the nice thing about it when they are little is that they are free. You don't have to buy a ticket for them, and they can eat off your plate at restaurants.

 

[MinnieM123]

Funny story (that wasn't so funny at the time). For our anniversary the week before, we bought steaks from a local place we love and set them to cook on the stove with our sous-vide while we went somewhere. I don't even remember where we went, but when we got home to finish preparing the dinner, the steaks were gone. The way they cook is that you clip them (in a bag) to the side of a pot of water and stick the sous-vide in to heat the water up to the proper temp. Somehow, our dog had managed to get the steaks out of the pot of water and he devoured them both. I have never been so mad at that dog!!! I still don't understand how he got up that high to get them out of the pot without pulling the pot off the stove!

Sorry, you didn't get to eat your steaks, but I had to laugh over the dog!! I have a dog, too, and you wouldn't believe the amount of food and drinks he has absconded with, over the past 10 years. Just when I think I have everything out of his reach, he'll come up with a new way of "finding" food and running with it!

Dogs are drawn like a magnet to crimes of (food) opportunity!