First (kind of) Trip to WDW -Mom (me!) and Toddler- 5/1/23-5/5/23

[DefnotDLav]

Brings me back to the first time we brough our daughter when she was this age. Had all the same struggles! You did an amazing job. Loving this report.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Brings me back to the first time we brough our daughter when she was this age. Had all the same struggles! You did an amazing job. Loving this report.

thank you

Were you ever able to teach them how to wait in line patiently?

 

[DefnotDLav]

thank you

Were you ever able to teach them how to wait in line patiently?

Our oldest and youngest were able to figure it out eventually. Our middle child, who is now 11, still struggles.

But then again I'm almost 40 and I still struggle from time to time

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

So where I left off DD finished her pasta and it was time to head back to MK! DD while we were home preparing for the trip and watching vlogs she had mentioned that she wanted a balloon. And was pretty set on that souvenir. And now she remembered the balloon! I think she had actually asked during rope drop also but we hadn't seen anyone with balloons and then the excitement of the rides took over. So I promised that as soon as we see someone selling balloons she can get one.

I had to ask a CM how to get out of the contemporary and how to walk to MK. The lobby of the contemporary was very mid century cool.

I didn't time the walk to MK. I thought it was going to be 5 min. But even though we were refreshed a little from the monorail resort tour and lunch, it was just so so hot and that walk felt very long.

DD didn't really talk much and she laid down in her stroller. But as soon as we got back into MK she started to ask about the balloon and told her we just had to find them. But while we were having the balloon conversation a CM comes over to tell us Mulan is meeting people just off to the side and there's no line! But DD says Moana is her favorite and she wants to meet Moana. I felt very disappointed that this was her mood. I explained again that Moana wasn't at MK today but we should go meet Mulan because Mulan is awesome. DD had gone through a Mulan phase about 9 months before that lasted about a month. DD said she wanted to meet Mulan so off we went. I was hoping DD would have good manners with Mulan.


I honestly don't know what they talked about. But notice DD has her new shoes on at least?


DD looks like a little diva with her shades and her messy bun

Then back towards Main St for a balloon but everyone was lining up for the parade and no balloons in sight. DD was disappointed but she was ok watching the parade. I found us a spot in the shade under the awning of a shop. People were in front of us on the curb but they had no shade. I felt like we needed it.


DD had some apples while we waited. Maybe like 10 minutes.

When the parade actually started I picked her up so she could see. Everytime she saw a character she recognized she pointed at them and told me their name like "there's prince Naveen!" And if she saw a character she didn't know she'd ask me who they were.

When the parade finished I put her back in her stroller and went on the hunt for a balloon. As the crowds were exiting Main St, a cloud of balloons appeared in the middle. Yay! I bought one and tied it to the stroller.



Ok so I know I was starting to feel overwhelmed with the day at this point. I felt pretty disappointed that DD was still acting fussy after her nap. In retrospect though, it wasn't that bad. And I think the heat was really getting to me. (I'm definitely going to have a different mindset and plan the next time we go to MK.) But mentally that's just where I was at at this point in time.

So I hated the balloon. I don't know if there's a better place to tie the balloon? Or other people just don't care? But I felt like it just was in my face the whole time or I was worried it would hit someone else in the face. Uggghhhhh. Please advice is wanted here.

Coming up....rides!

 

[DefnotDLav]

Those balloons are one of my favorite souvenirs but also somehow the most annoying! There's not a good method of carrying them. We normally would just try and tie them so they stay as low as possible on the stroller. But no matter what you try, those balloons have a mind of their own. Always hitting someone or something or trying to escape.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

I don't remember the order of everything that comes next. But I think we had a LL for haunted mansion first. This is one of my favorite rides. I love horror everything and this is a fun kid friendly way to share with DD. Plus I think all the old school effects are just cool. DD said she was afraid of the dark but felt brave with her wand.
I have some pictures of us from the ride but they aren't attaching....oh well.
Then I know we took a potty break at Columbia harbor house. I think our next LL was for pirates.

She started to whine a lot about waiting while in line (even though our wait was probably 5 min). I did have a stern talk to her while in line about her attitude. I explained to her why I saw it as bad manners to complain about waiting in a whiney way. I told her she was very lucky to be at WDW and that not everyone gets to be here and it makes me very sad to hear her whine because mommy worked very hard to bring her to WDW. And then she cried and I held her and I asked her why and she said because mommy yelled at me and I told her I was sorry that I made her sad but she really needed to work on not whining and try to have good manners. And she said she would and she stopped crying and we exchanged I love yous and hugged some more and then it was time for pirates.

I can't remember the order of low wait time rides exactly (I feel bad calling them filler cuz they are all good). I know we went on the Aladdin carpet ride. DD really wanted to go on this one and liked it a lot. She also just loved the spitting camel. It cracked her up.

And I got a Dole whip. DD tried it and didn't like it. And we went in the tiki room. We both liked it but DD seemed to get a little bit bored during it. But about a month after we were home the tiki room song played on her Spotify Disney playlist and she ran into the room where I was and pulled me into her room and yelled "we were there. That's where the birds and plants sing!" So it made an impact apparently.

And then we went up the treehouse. I think the last time I went in the treehouse at Disneyland it was Tarzan themed which I think would have been a more fun theme for us. Neither DD or me had seen swiss family but it was still fun.

Another picture didn't attach so I'm going to try a new post.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Those balloons are one of my favorite souvenirs but also somehow the most annoying! There's not a good method of carrying them. We normally would just try and tie them so they stay as low as possible on the stroller. But no matter what you try, those balloons have a mind of their own. Always hitting someone or something or trying to escape.

Ok I'm glad it's not just me

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

I look so weird in this picture. It must be the ghosts



This is the treehouse. Look at that DD confidence!

 

[DefnotDLav]

View attachment 767941
I look so weird in this picture. It must be the ghosts

View attachment 767942

This is the treehouse. Look at that DD confidence!

Now that's a great ride photo

Glad yall made time for the tree! I drag my fam through that every single time.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

After the treehouse DD said she was hungry and whenever she tells me she wants to eat I jump on the opportunity. I had wanted to try the cheeseburger egg rolls because I heard about them so much and I love cheeseburgers. I figured we'd pass something DD would like on the way.....but we didn't. So I carried my egg rolls, found the stroller and searched for food DD likes. Finally she said she'd eat a taco so in we went into Peco bills (sp?).


So look closely at this picture. DD "tacos" turned out to be shredded cheese next to shredded chicken. But she ate some. And my egg rolls were really good. And the beans were pretty good.

But then we were off for our jungle cruise LL. I was excited to see how this ride differed from the Disneyland version because growing up I remember this ride having kind of low wait times but I heard that this was one of the most popular rides for MK.



DD actually loooooved this ride. I don't know if she thought the animals were real or pretend. Or if maybe just because her mood was improving...? I don't know but her eyes were just lit up and she was pointing and talking.


This is now a must do ride for us for sure. The ride felt longer (not in a bad way) than the Disneyland one and I think the cave part was new..? But it had been so long since I'd been on the other one that I'm not really sure.

Now I think we had a LL to meet some more princesses.



We had another shoe change before this because her new shoes started to hurt her feet and her old ones were dry.





This CM was amazing. We had a vague idea of princess Elana before the trip but it didn't even matter because she did such a great job of connecting to DD and even got her to talk and giggle!





.....Up next a really really good night of more rides. After the sun started to go down and it got less hot we were both just happy and excited the rest of the night.

 

[erinch]

What precious memories with your DD. And you have built such a good foundation for future trips, when she will be more chill.

 

[Inked Chick]

Looks and sound like you had a great time. Happy you went.

Sorry about your family situation.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

So after the princesses it was more cool and we were both just happy and excited mood wise. Also for the rest of the night LL and stand by waits were equally walk on. I got less good about taking pictures so I'm not sure if this is all accurate but here we go the essence of truth is here.

Ok autotopia!


This ride wasn't a priority because we have a similar ride at an amusement park near home. But it was fun and relaxing now that the weather was improving.

Next monsters inc laugh factory! This was a first time for me. We really like the movies. Like we've watched them a lot. A lot. A lot. And I don't even mind that much. But I heard this attraction was kind of a meh for most people.


They are all wrong! This was my favorite attraction of the day. It was hilarious. I don't know how the technology works...I guess there's a CM backstage? But they were really poking fun at the audience and the jokes were for adults but still kid friendly. I guess every show is different? But amazing. This is a must do for me and the kids will just have to put up with it. Why don't people like this?

Then buzz lightyear. This one wasn't a priority since it's kind of the same ride as toy story mania but I think you story mania was better. But DD really loved it. As she did you story mania.


Look at my game face. DD is down in her seat. I promise I didn't abandon her. After this ride she picks out a little woody car toy from the gift shop (so glad she wanted the cheapest toy lol. I was like yes that's a very good choice DD)

The fireworks were starting to go off when we got off but I didn't prioritize us seeing it because DD seemed disinterested in them the other day. I heard they were good to watch on peoplemover tho so we got on that. They were not good to watch on peoplemover. I had never been on it before but it goes inside a lot. During the peoplemover DD says she wants to see the fireworks so we hurry off the ride and run over to a spot to watch and we catch the end of it.

Then I ask DD what she wants to do and she says more rides! And I had no rides left so I asked what she wanted to go on again but she didn't know so she told me to pick. Ok. Off to Dumbo again! So then we had a fun ride on dumbo.

Then I asked how she felt about going on the goofy coaster? She didn't like the slinky ride but I heard this goofy coaster was very kid friendly. She was like yeah let's go. So we went. She didn't like it but she didn't get sick like slinky.

Then I asked what next? And she said I don't know again. it was getting late and I could tell she was tired but we were just having so much fun. So I asked what about small world? And she said yes! So off we went. And she passed out at the very end of the ride. Like hard. A woman sitting behind us helped me carry her off. Thank you stranger and I carried her to the stroller and put her in without her waking up.

I was happy and didn't want to leave yet so I decided to go to the shops. I picked out some candy and popcorn for my co-workers. I got a sweatshirt for me. I picked out a Moana lovey for DD (since I told her she could get 1 toy and 1 lovey from each park but there was no waking her now). I got a little mickey car toy for baby brother. (That way they will both have a car toy. He likes what she likes basically.)

And then I just looked at stuff, like the fancy stores, the shop windows, the ambience.







Mickey was waving at everyone as we left. I waved back.

The bus was there when I got there! Somehow I managed to carry a sleeping DD, the stroller, the backpack and multiple shopping bags on the bus. DD still didn't wake up. The bus driver called me a super mom.

I don't even remember the rest of the night. I must have just got us in bed and passed out. Or maybe I packed some? Because I think the bags were pretty much good the next day.


Some MK thoughts:

Genie plus was very helpful even though I think we had low crowds. Rope dropping was intense but it helped us go on a lot of rides. I don't know if I'll keep rope dropping MK while the kids are young. We need to slow waaaay down next time. Honestly I think ideally but this would probably cost more but I'd like to rope drop the other parks then have pool/nap time then go to MK at night. We really only liked MK at night when the crowds were less intense (at least in fantasy land) and it wasn't hot. I will bring snacks next time for both of us. I was not impressed with the snacks at MK or food.

Up next character breakfast and travel home day

 

[erinch]

Again, great report! You are a great mom!

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Last day

We slept in and I finished packing. I must have showered and DD probably watched cartoons. She really liked the channel that had the new short mickey and friends cartoons that felt retro. She also liked the music video channel. She had also really liked the bedtime story channel.

Then we brought our bags to bell service and off to the skyliner! We had a late breakfast reservation (maybe 11am???) at Cape May which was at Beach Club resort. DD fell asleep on the way. We got there maybe an hour early but since she was sleeping I just walked around first beach club and then yaht club. I really liked the little sun room at beach club. And I liked the overall aesthetic of both hotels but they didn't feel very Disney. When I was in the beach club gift shop I overheard a woman speaking with great heat to a CM about wanting to return something she bought 6 months ago.....like why so mean??? You're on vacation you're supposed to be happy. Anyway...

Just before our reservation DD woke up so we used the potty and went to go check in.


Such a cute area for DD to wait!





Coming up.... characters! And a buffet!!!

Will DD eat anything....stay tuned....

 

[Counting Stars]

Great day at the MK! And a great evening too... Sounds like a really good time, and you managed genie so well- but getting your child, stroller ,bags and backpack on the bus without waking the sleeping child- that is absolutely superhero level!

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

So I don't remember exactly what time it was but it was towards the end of breakfast. We got a booth next to the doors where the characters exited. I got coffee and DD got water and then we walked around the buffet. I picked up DD so she could look at everything. And anything she showed the slightest interest in went on the plate. And then I got an extra plate for all of the food she was going to reject. She called it her yuck plate. And then I went to get my food but then I saw a character coming so I rushed back!


DD loved it!

And maybe because she was in a good mood....but she ate a little!





And that's my plate it was so good. All of it. But especially the Mickey waffles. They just have great texture



And then .....


I just love how excited DD was for each character. Such pure joy.


And I don't remember exactly when but a song came on and we got to dance with all the characters. Of course DD wanted me to dance with her so I felt a little silly but I was just so happy she was so happy and I didn't want to kill the vibe so I also danced. Glad there's no pictures of that.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

After goofy a CM came by and said the characters would be leaving soon and asked if there was anyone we hadn't met yet. I told her Donald Duck and she said that she'll make sure he stops by. I thought this was really nice.



And then I noticed they started to take the food away so I took DD around again to try to get her to try some new foods. Buffets are a great opportunity for this because I won't force her to eat something she doesn't like after she tries it but then because usually doesn't like what she tries I either eat it myself even though I don't really want to or I throw it away. It's just a waste of money. So this pressure free food trying was really nice.



We were one of the last tables out and our waitress even took some pictures of us!

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

What a fun breakfast

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Then we went to the arcade because that's the one thing DD said she wanted to do before we had to get going. She played a few games and then she wanted to take pictures because she knows I love that



After that we just went back to AoA, got our luggage and got picked up by the bus. DD didn't want to leave. I didn't want to leave. But I promised both of us we'd come back.

I'm not going to go over our trip back. It was tiring and uneventful.

I'm so glad I took this trip with DD. I feel like it helped me start to heal/move on and reimagine what my family looks like in a positive way. I also really liked all the planning involved. It was something fun to focus on and it was fun to watch all the vlogs with DD.

Our next big trip is DCL in September on the magic with DD .....and little brother! It will again be kinda my first time on any cruise (went on a carnival and Disney as a child. Don't remember carnival at all and barely remember Disney. I remember I liked sitting in the windows and eating toasted PBJ from room service). So far I don't like how there's less planning compared to WDW but since I'm going solo and little brother will be 1.5yo and DD 4yo I thought this would be good because hopefully I'll be able to use the nursery and it will be more chill. I actually booked the cruise before the separation so it's been kind of sad and debated cancelling it but some money (that would not go back to me) was already put down (plus I think the nursery will be very helpful) so I decided I'm doing it and put the final deposit down a couple weeks ago.

Thank you everyone for reading! This was good to write and I like reading yours.