All About the Princesses, Dresses, and Food--May 19-25, 2014 NEW COMPLETE 1/6/15

[familyabgar]

Hi and welcome to my first trip report! My extended family of 12 hit WDW from May 19 to 25, 2014. We stayed in two 2-bedroom lake view villas at BLT. We had an amazing time and I'm excited to share our trip with you. This report is really focused on my little family of 3:

That's me, my DH, and DD--who turns 3 tomorrow! She is our little princess and the reason we took this trip.

The rest of the family--my parents, 3 siblings + significant others, 1 baby nephew--also came along for the ride. We spent some time together, but also plenty apart getting the most out of our individual vacation preferences. Here's all of us on the Poly beach sporting our IU gear:

You can check out my PTR (link in my siggy) to see how the trip planning went!
_________________________________

A little bit more about my family...

DH and I have been married for almost 8 years. We were high school sweethearts and both work as full-time attorneys.

We love thrill rides and seeing Eliza have fun! We are big into food and trying new things.

I taught myself to sew in preparation for this trip and threw myself into creating outfits/dresses for DD to wear. In the end, she had 9 custom outfits made with love by mommy. She loves being a princess!

showing off her princess curtsy​

Her favorite part of the trip, if you ask her was, "Princesses!" She also loved the Carousel, Dumbo, and Under the Sea--Journey of the Little Mermaid.

As an extended family we are very close and love to travel together! Our last big trip was before kids in 2010 and we went to Australia for two weeks! We've been to Disney on multiple occasions with short trips in 2012 and 2010. The last big trip was in 2003 and included only the original 6 of us. We have amazing memories from that trip! On the whole, my family loves thrill rides and enjoy DHS and Epcot, at which eating and enjoying cocktails is another staple of a good vacation.

Alright, let's get started!

 

[familyabgar]

Saved for Chapter Titles!

Trip Outline
May 18--Travel Day
May 19 Part One--Arrival Day
May 19 Part Two--Room Tour
May 19 Part Three--Downtown Disney, BOMA, Villa fun
May 20 Part One--Cinderella's Royal Table
May 20 Part Two-- MK morning
May 20 Part Two--MK Morning continued
May 20 Part Three--Magic Kingdom afternoon and Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party

May 22 Part One--Epcot and Princesses
May 22 Part Two--Be Our Guest
May 22 Part Three--MK evening
May 23 Part One--Kona Cafe and Poly beach
May 23 Part Two--MK part 1
May 23 Part Three--MK part 2
May 23 Part Four--MK part 3, Kouzzina and Rock Your Disney Side!
May 24 Part One--Tusker House and AK
May 24 Part Two--AK continued and Coral Reef
May 25 Part One--Chef Mickey's, MK, Haircut
May 25 Part Two--Saying goodbye to MK

Mini PTR--NYE Trip
Princess Autographs
​

 

[TruLovesKiss]

Count me in!!! I can't wait to hear all about your trip and I'm so excited to see all of those custom dresses in action!

 

[johnsonet]

Can't wait to hear all about your trip

 

[stacy~**]

Moving over from your PTR. Can't wait to see all those adorable dresses you made...and compare notes since our dates were similar!

 

[familyabgar]

Count me in!!! I can't wait to hear all about your trip and I'm so excited to see all of those custom dresses in action!

Yay! Thanks for checking in!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip

Welcome! Thanks for being here.

Moving over from your PTR. Can't wait to see all those adorable dresses you made...and compare notes since our dates were similar!

Thanks! I'll be curious to see how your trip was, too!

 

[tazdev3225]

Looking forward to seeing how your trip went. I was there the same time traveling with someone from Indiana.

Your DD is very cute.

 

[familyabgar]

May 18-- Travel Day:​

To save money on flights, we decided to drive to WDW. My brother and his GF were going to ride down with us, helping with the driving responsibilities. This way, we didn't have to worry about keeping our stuff in a certain number of bags or anything! We started laying out clothes two weeks in advance and actually packing one week before. We have and love ebags packing cubes, and here is ALL of our clothes (minus dresses) fitting in large suitcase:

We had several other bags, too!

The night before we were to leave for Disney, we stayed up until 12am packing things. We were up at 7 and finished packing, and Gary and my brother loaded the car. We used a soft-sided cargo bag on top of the car. We had 4 adults plus Eliza. It ended up being sort of a tight fit, but we all fit in the Acadia fine.

We were on the road by 8:45am to BIL's college graduation. We spent the morning thru early afternoon at the graduation and hit the road to Disney at 2:30pm. Here we are, bright eyed and ready to go!

We took our time and made lots of stops. We stopped and had dinner at a Steak-n-Shake somewhere. We stopped one last time at a rest stop in southern Kentucky (we didn't make it very far those first few hours) to let Eliza let play. I posted this picture on instagram:

We then drove straight thru the night, with my brother tackling the bulk of the Chattanooga--Atlanta leg. It was foggy and dark, so not great conditions. Eliza slept mostly well, though woke up crying every couple hours. I did not sleep well, mostly b/c of anxiety over the driver falling asleep--something new I seemed to develop this trip! I think it's because I'm a parent now.

I drove at some point (4:30am-ish) and my brother rode shotgun to help me. We had planned to stop for breakfast near Valdosta at Cracker Barrel. I found one and pulled into the parking lot at 5:45am and it opened at 6am. I was exhausted and Eliza was passed out. So we cracked the windows, turned off the car, and we all just slept in the parking lot! At 6:30am, Eliza was still asleep, so Gary took over driving. We drove another hour before stopping at a different Cracker Barrel.

My brother's GF had never eaten at a Cracker Barrel before! Not as many road trips in her past. As a kid, we'd always stop at Cracker Barrels and get a Mad Libs for the ride. Now we have a brand new one 5 minutes from our house and we actually eat there fairly often, haha! This particular Cracker Barrel during our trip (I can't remember the exact location) was an older and smaller one. But the food was still what we'd expected and wanted.

​

After breakfast we were about to cross into Florida! We'd hoped to stop at a welcome center to try the orange juice, but they didn't open until 9 or 10am, and it was around 8:30 or so. I can't remember exactly. So onward to WDW we went!

Continued next post!

 

[familyabgar]

May 19--Arrival Day and Hotel​

As we neared Orlando/Disney, we followed the Google Maps navigation from Gary's phone. We turned off the main drag, and while I wasn't concerned, I noted that we seemed be skipping the main thoroughfare with all the off-site hotels, shopping, etc. We wound through a very rural-like area, saw some new apartment construction, and were instructed to turn on a small road. A sign read something along the lines of: "Disney cast members, crew, and guests only. Private road." Well, we were guests, so away we went.

We saw the College Program apartments, Disney University, the Monorail shop, storage lots, and then all of sudden in front of us was a Monorail itself and Space Mountain! Literally just behind the row of trees next to the road. We also saw Storybook Circus but I didn't realize that when I snapped the photo.

We caught a glimpse of the Castle behind the trees. Then, quickly, our hotel/Bay Lake Tower and Contemporary Resort were on our left with the Monorail rumbling overhead. We were so excited, but completely missed the main entrance and traffic! No iconic Walt Disney World sign! But I do think these are pretty stunning photos from my less than stellar camera.

It was about 12:30pm when we pulled into the BLT lot and we took a "we have arrived" photo, looking a little worse for wear!

We were so happy to be in WDW!! Eliza kept asking us, though, "where is Disney World?!"

We had Bell Services unload the car while my mom took Eliza out to the pool where she, my dad, my sister, and BIL were hanging out. We grabbed swim stuff from a suitcase and had our overnight bag with warm weather clothes ready. I went in to take care of Magic Bands. My mother had already checked in, so we just had to add our credit cards.

**side story** One sister and BIL were not on either of our two reservations. We had planned to add them to our room at arrival because they had annual passes and we had a MYW package, including dining. I'd read on here over and over this would be no problem. Well, they told my mom at check-in that if we added them as full guests to our room we'd be charged for additional tickets and dining plan. However, we were able to add my sister and BIL as "day guests" to our room reservation, but they were not allowed to add room charging privileges to their Annual Pass magic bands. They also had to carry around a gray magic band that acted as a room key. **end side story**

We were tired and a little cranky, but went out to the pool. It was SO hot. We picked up our refillable mugs from the pool bar and filled up at the self-serve fountain drink station. We put Eliza in a cute swim suit, but she isn't a big fan of water.

As soon as my dad and BIL went down the water slide she FREAKED. It scared her to see them splash and hit the water. So, we moved forward with our plan of going to Downtown Disney to shop and hang out. But before we could get Eliza changed, she wanted in on the game of ping pong my brother and dad had going!

After getting her changed, Gary and I went to the car to cool it down and to quickly drive over to the Contemporary to pick up our stroller rental. Brief panic as no one had logged in our stroller as being delivered, but it was actually there for us. We got the City Mini GT from Kingdom Stroller and I loved it. We stowed it and went back to BLT to pick up the rest. While I was putting the stroller in the car, mom called to say our room was ready! So of course we had to check that out.

Continued in next post.

 

[familyabgar]

Room Tour​

We went to the 14th floor, where we had an even room number. I had read on DISboards that requesting an even-numbered lake view room on a high floor would most likely result in a partial theme park view, so I was excited! The view from the elevator area itself was amazing!

I was blown away by the villa itself. It was immaculate, big, and just amazing with the subtle theme and Disney touches. Here is a room tour:

view from doorway

view from doorway of living room bath

view from far corner near sofa

view from far corner near chair and balcony door

king size room

two queens room (our room)

our bathroom

our bathroom with separate vanity area

washer/dryer in entrance-way​

I gasped so loud in awe and happiness when I went out onto the king room's balcony and saw Cinderella's Castle and Space Mountain in the distance. Just perfect.

Eliza thought it was so cool that the Castle was in sight, but she didn't have quite the reaction we might have expected--but she's a 2 year old (well, 3 today!), and we've learned to expect the unexpected! She was more interested in running around the hotel room.

The second villa was room 7402--the exact same room but 10 floors below us. My sister had forgotten to put in the same requests as us, but it wasn't a big deal. the only had a view of trees, the parking lot, and the lake. If they didn't look left, all you could see were trees and the lake.

After checking out the room and doing some very quick arranging, we were finally on our way to downtown Disney around 2:30pm or so.

 

[TinkerKeeks]

Following along looks like a lot of fun, the room looks great!

I will be taking my almost 3 year old in November so interested to see how your daughter liked everything.

 

[familyabgar]

Looking forward to seeing how your trip went. I was there the same time traveling with someone from Indiana.

Your DD is very cute.

Thank you. I'm biased but think she's pretty cute, too! Small world!

Following along looks like a lot of fun, the room looks great!

I will be taking my almost 3 year old in November so interested to see how your daughter liked everything.

She loved it! Thanks for checking in.

 

[disneyshea]

Sounds like you're off to a great start. I can't imagine driving straight through but looks like everyone survived! Can't wait to read along.

 

[familyabgar]

Sounds like you're off to a great start. I can't imagine driving straight through but looks like everyone survived! Can't wait to read along.

Thanks! It was pretty exhausting, honestly, but yes--we survived!

 

[familyabgar]

Downtown Disney, BOMA, Villa Fun​

We left for Downtown Disney at around 2:30pm. We drove and it took about 10-15 minutes parking space to parking space. We started at World of Disney and browsed. Such an amazing store!

While we were browsing near the front on the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique side of the store, Eliza crashed a little girl's appointment in the front display area! We had no idea that's what was going on and in the blink of an eye, Eliza was up the stairs and checking out the space! Here she is after we quickly got her out (you can see the stairs to her right).

We bought Eliza a light up Tinker Bell wand thinking it'd be great for the Electrical parade. I used my Magic Band to charge to the room and it was SO easy and such a breeze. We loved having this convenience.

We needed a snack and drink, so we got Wetzel's pretzel bits to share and a Golden Margarita from the Margarita stand by the water. It was so so yummy, and I used my Magic Band to charge to the room. I was carded, though, so was glad I remembered to grab my ID before leaving my wallet in the hotel. Eliza had ice water.

We strolled then joined my sister and BIL at Raglan Road where Gary got a beer to go. And then we walked some more to meet back up with my mom, who had stopped at one of the food trucks to try some lamb meatballs (I think). There is a lot of construction going on.

We the made our way to the exit where I saw a photopass guy. I called my mom, who explained she was in Guest Services because her MB stopped working. These two things reminded me that we had a free Memory Maker and no one at check-in had explained or mentioned it! So I speed-walked to Guest Services to ask. The CM helping my mom looked it up and confirmed that all we needed to worry about was having our MBs scanned after taking photopass pictures. Unfortunately, mom's MB issue couldn't be fixed at DTD and we'd head back to the resort.

We stopped to get photopass pictures and were on our way. We spent about 1.5 hours at DTD, then headed back to our hotel.

At the hotel we stopped at concierge and the MB issue my mom had was resolved well enough that we could go on our way. We then quickly got ourselves ready for dinner at BOMA. We got lost driving there, but arrived right around our reservation time of 6:30. After 10 minutes of waiting they tried to seat us at separate tables, but we decided to wait for a large table that could accommodate the 12 of us. 5-10 minutes later we were seated at a large round/oval table. We brought the iPad for little person entertainment:

At dinner many of us chose the non-alcoholic Jungle Juice as our beverage--passion fruit, orange, and a third juice (mango?), but I can't remember. It was yummy and is served also at Tusker House and Kona Cafe. My sister and BIL who were celebrating their 6th wedding anniversary were brought complimentary sparkling rose wine. This was one of or the only restaurant that acknowledged their celebration with a complimentary anything.

The buffet itself was great!! We all started with soup. They were incredible and the favorite soup was mulligatawny. There was also a black eyed pea soup we all loved, and the mushroom was a hit (I don't eat that kind, though). These are black eyed pea and mulligatawny:

They carved roast beef was a good medium (that's what I wanted, but they had warmer temperatures, too), but my favorite was a sausage tomato dish that I ate over rice on the lefthand side of this picture.

I also tried the bobotie at the bottom of the plate, and it was so different but I enjoyed it.

The desserts were ok/good, but I didn't love the zebra domes I've read so much about! Eliza loved the mocha mousse dessert. Overall, I was so happy we chose to eat here!!

After dinner, we walked around the pool area just a little bit and took some pictures of Eliza.

But it was getting late and we were all tired, so we didn't explore the resort at all. We got lost again getting back to the hotel (not lost per se, but made some wrong turns). Thanks to our wrong turn, though, I was able to finally get the iconic picture!

Back at the hotel, I had hoped that my gift basket and balloons I'd preordered would be waiting for us and I asked everyone to come to our villa after dinner for a toast and Wishes. I'd been on the phone with the hotel earlier in the day to discuss delivery and had talked about it with the front desk concierge, as well. We all walked into the room (me first) and I was just dejected. It was 9:15pm and no gift basket. I went into the other room, threw a tiny fit to Gary, and called downstairs. They said it wasn't there and sometimes Disney floral doesn't deliver until 10pm!!! I was very upset as Disney Floral said it'd be at the hotel by 6pm, and my family was like, "why did we all need to come up here?" So I told them I'd planned a surprise but it'd likely have to wait until tomorrow.

My brother and his gf went down to their room to call it a night. We received a call on the room phone shortly thereafter and I hoped it was the front desk. It was my brother--the gift basket had been mistakenly delivered to their room!!! I was even more mad, but happy we had it! Dual emotions. So he brought it up and when he opened the door the rest of the family was very surprised! Eliza loved it.

So I doled out the gifts: Jedi Mickey to baby Lennox, Mickey to Eliza, champagne flutes for my parents, and caramel corn and chocolates for everyone to share. We finally had our toast, and then, at 9:45 finally got exhausted but wound-up Eliza to bed.

At 10pm Wishes began and we went onto the balcony to watch. AMAZING view! Then Eliza started crying! So we went and got her and tried to show her the booms/fireworks. She hated it and was very upset. We all took turns comforting her and finally when Wishes was over we put her to bed. We had an amazing view.

After that, I ironed Eliza's Cinderella dress and we prepared our bag and stroller for the morning. I can’t remember when we went to bed but we had a great night’s sleep but it was over too quickly!

Continued in next post.

 

[HumblePie]

Following along! Sounds like your trip is off to a great start!

 

[anniebabymu]

Just now getting a chance to pop over here! So glad you decided to do a trip report! What a FABULOUS view of Magic Kingdom and Wishes! Looks like you had a great room... and that the tips here really helped you out!

I'm glad to hear the travel went relatively smoothly and that your first day was great!

 

[KatMark]

I'm sorry I missed the beginning...you started while I was at Disney.

Love the intros and the pic of all of you at the Poly. I'm glad you had more than one driver for your drive down. I've been to a Cracker Barrel once; Mark always wants to go back but I didn't like it.

What a spectacular view from you room. I'm so happy you got what you were hoping for.

I love the gift basket and glad that it was finally found.

 

[familyabgar]

Following along! Sounds like your trip is off to a great start!

Thank you! I hope you enjoy the rest!

Just now getting a chance to pop over here! So glad you decided to do a trip report! What a FABULOUS view of Magic Kingdom and Wishes! Looks like you had a great room... and that the tips here really helped you out!

I'm glad to hear the travel went relatively smoothly and that your first day was great!

Oh, I hope your trip was fabulous!! Yes, the boards here were indispensable.

I'm sorry I missed the beginning...you started while I was at Disney.

Love the intros and the pic of all of you at the Poly. I'm glad you had more than one driver for your drive down. I've been to a Cracker Barrel once; Mark always wants to go back but I didn't like it.

What a spectacular view from you room. I'm so happy you got what you were hoping for.

I love the gift basket and glad that it was finally found.

Being in Disney is the best kind of excuse!

I thought everyone liked the Cracker Barrel! Haha!

We were so thrilled with the view, and thankfully the gift basket was just a hiccup in an otherwise great trip. Thanks for checking in and I'll pop over to your TR after I get an update in!

 

[annie170]

You had me with the IU shirts!

I have three grown daughters (two IU grads, one Purdue grad, house divided) and my husband is a MSU grad. We are definitely Big Ten fans!

You had some beautiful views from your room there. Your back way in was interesting, too.

The meal at Boma looked delicious! It's on my ever growing list of places I need to try.