First Trip With Kids - MNSSHP - F&W Festival - Sept 2017 TR

[jrmint427]

OMG, too funny! She looks a little scared but clearly she loved it!

I love Everest, but sadly my youngest is not a fan of the yeti. I think she would like the ride if it didn't have the yeti. Sigh...

It always amazes me how the playgrounds are just as fun as the rides. Getting the girls out of these play areas is horrible sometimes. This one, is a little easier because it is so Hot in there. My girls LOVED the Honey I shrunk the kids one... that one we always dragged them out crying.

I couldn't believe they sent her down that slide by herself! I was worried at first that I wasn't there, but follow up pictures showed she was having a great time. I'm scared of the Yeti too lol, but that is half the fun!

I loved the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground when I was a kid! I remember spending a long time there. I was so sad to see they don't have it anymore. Just for fun, here is me with my sisters there in 1995:

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Awesome!

 

[jrmint427]

Meeting Mickey & Minnie

Our 1:40pm FastPass was to meet Mickey and Minnie at the Adventures Outpost! This was the first time the girls got to meet them. I don't remember how long we waited with the FP, but it felt kind of long. It was probably only 10-15 minutes. It was air conditioned inside, and felt so nice to be out of the heat for a bit, so we really couldn't complain.

Of course, the baby fell asleep while we waited in line.



But luckily, she woke up right before it was our turn! She still wasn't sure what to make of the characters.



Both girls were a little unsure and shy at first. Mickey and Minnie were great with them! As usual, I was starstruck myself.



Minnie played peek-a-boo with the girls, and Mickey went in for a high five with my 3 year old... and she shrieked in his face! The toddler didn't want to wear her bow for the pictures... half of our pictures have her swinging it in front of her face or her sister's.





But, she seemed to warm up by the end of our visit.





This was one of our least rushed meets, and so exciting to introduce the girls to Minnie and Mickey for the first time!

 

[jrmint427]

Finding Nemo and Dinner at Yak & Yeti

It was probably around 2:30pm when we finished meeting Mickey & Minnie. We didn't have dinner plans until 5:00pm, and on our agenda, I had It's Tough to Be a Bug and some character meets to fill the afternoon. But I have no pictures between 2:30 - 4pm and none of us can remember what we did during that time! So definitely no character meets.

Part of our group did ride It's Tough to Be a Bug at some point, so it's possible it was in that window. I have never been and refuse to go on that. I have a fear of bugs and hate shows that tickle you or things like that - so it just has never sounded appealing to me. We decided the toddler wouldn't be into it either (based on her fears of shows that take place in the dark... nevermind pretending that bugs are crawling on you). So I hung out with the girls while the rest of our group went on that.

At 4:00pm we went to see Finding Nemo. It wasn't on the "schedule" for the day but we were hot, air conditioning sounded good, and the timing worked out well for us. It was a very welcome break!



The toddler seemed to like this show better - she was excited to spot Nemo each time we saw him! We were in a good seat, as some of the characters came near us in the audience, and that did make her a little nervous, but she did pretty well.





I'm guessing the show ended a little after 4:30pm. We had dinner reservations at Yak & Yeti for 5:00pm, and we decided to head that way. We were early, but were ready to be seated in some air conditioning!

I checked in early and we waited maybe 5-10 minutes before a table was ready. We love Yak & Yeti - this was our third time eating there. On previous trips I had been told that I could order just about anything and substitute the meat for tofu, so I appreciate the options here. We like the theme and decorations as well, and have always had good service.

We were seated at a round table in a side room that we hadn't been in before. I loved the gold wall decoration near us, and the peacock feathers on our table.





It looks like the toddler was in a good mood at this point!



I ordered teriyaki tofu and veggies. The tofu wasn't quite as good as I had remembered, but still a very good meal.



I also shared a drink with my husband. I think this was the Tropical Daiquiri.



It was another nice meal at Yak & Yeti!

 

[jrmint427]

Evening at Animal Kingdom

Our plans for after dinner were up in the air. I had tentatively planned for an evening Safari ride and checking out the Discovery Island Carnivale. But, we were tired and felt like the girls would probably benefit from an early evening, especially given that we had early morning plans the next day.

I forget why, but we headed toward DinoLand one last time. To my surprise, the toddler actually expressed interest in riding TriceraTop Spin.



Pat and I were excited to take her for a spin! The line was incredibly short - we just had to wait for one run before it was our time. But I was nervous that she would change her mind after watching it. I was so glad when she was excited to board ourselves!



We cuddled in and enjoyed the ride! She waved to her grandparents and sister as we went round and round.



Up and down, round and round!



It was about 7:00pm, and time for us to go. On our way out we came across the Paraguayan harpist, Victor Espinola. He was amazing, so we stopped to watch for a few songs. Then, it was really time to go.

We took a few quick pictures on our way out - we had forgotten to take pictures in front of the Tree of Life! I was surprised by how few Photo Pass photographers we saw on this day. We caught one after we left the park, but I was disappointed there hadn't been more in the park to take advantage of. Luckily, this was the only day we had that problem.

No Photo Pass for our Tree of Life picture, the iPhone will have to do:



Once again, both girls were sleeping in the stroller.



One more picture to go!



The baby stayed asleep on the bus ride back to the hotel room.



I don't remember the evening much, but I'm pretty sure both girls got a second wind before going to bed! That happened a few times on this trip. I was thankful to have grandparents around to help with the bedtime routines too

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Sounded like a great day!

Sounds like the girls were slowly warming up to all the characters.

Pat and I were excited to take her for a spin! The line was incredibly short - we just had to wait for one run before it was our time. But I was nervous that she would change her mind after watching it. I was so glad when she was excited to board ourselves!

YEAH!!!!

 

[Stasieki]

Love the updates. It's interesting in that Olaf signed our hat. Was either this past Sept or the Sept before.

 

[jrmint427]

Love the updates. It's interesting in that Olaf signed our hat. Was either this past Sept or the Sept before.

That is interesting! We were there this past September. Looking at his hands, I wasn't sure how he would have held a sharpie? Maybe if you went earlier they had a different costume for his stick arms that made it easier? I wish he would still sign himself!

 

[jrmint427]

First Family to Epcot

Day 3 started with an 8:00am reservation for Garden Grill at Epcot. I knew we wanted to be there early, so I think we left our hotel around 7:00am. We must have gotten lucky with the buses this day, because my pictures say we were at the park by 7:23am!



We were the first ones to the security line, and a few more people joined us shortly after. All of the security guards were already lined up. I think they let us through security around 7:45am.

The whole purpose of getting such an early reservation was to be in the park and get a few pictures while it was virtually empty, and to hopefully be done with our breakfast in time to ride Soarin' right when the park opened. This was one of the best decisions of our trip! I will get into more details later, but this day was full of pixie dust.

I do wish there had been a Photo Pass photographer this early when we first entered the park... this is the best family picture we got



And then the picture I took of my parents ;-)



And the picture of my husband and his mom:



We headed straight for The Land and found a spot to park our stroller. The Land pavilion was completely empty! I love the hot air balloons here.





I had almost forgotten that Garden Grill is a revolving restaurant. It moves super slowly, but my dad gets motion sickness easily, so I was a little worried about how he would feel while eating there. We were seated immediately and they had food out in no time! Stay tuned for more pictures from our breakfast.

 

[jrmint427]

Breakfast at Garden Grill

I was so excited for this reservation, and it lived up to my expectations! I loved how they had the place settings. I was almost as excited to see the hidden Mickey as I was to see that coffee cup!



The first thing they brought out was this cinnamon roll with vanilla icing. It was as good as it looks! The way this breakfast worked was they brought out plates of food for us to share, and we could ask for more of anything we wanted. We did not go hungry!



Almost as soon as we sat down, Pluto was at our table. The girls were still warming up to the characters at this point.



My only complaint about our dining experience (which by the way was wonderful, why do I have to look for faults?!), was that there wasn't a lot of space to get great pictures. There were chairs in the way, etc., and I wish we would have had better space for pictures with the characters. It could just be because of where we were sat, on the inner ring.

Next up was the star of our show, Mickey Mouse! Maybe it was because we were there so early, but the characters came quickly, one right after the other. I think I hardly had time to eat until after we had met all four! Next up was Dale. We learned that Dale has the reddish nose and Chip's is black. Yep, the baby was still keeping her distance!



Chip came right behind him!





The toddler warmed up to Chip! This was the first character interaction she actually seemed excited about. Also, seeing the picture below... I'm very grateful my husband did not get black sharpie on her Mickey fruit outfit, phew!



Breakfast was amazing! I was so thrilled that they had Morning Star sausage for my daughters and I. They brought our entire breakfast in a separate skillet, so the other food wouldn't touch the real meat. I think extra (fake) sausage was one of the few refills I asked for. The chocolate-hazelnut dipping sauce that came with the waffles was soooo good.



Another bonus of being there so early was that we got to see most of the characters a second time! They didn't spend as long with us the second time around, but most stopped to say hello again. We thought to ask for a group picture with Mickey the second time he came around. I love the farmer Mickey outfit!



There were a few more perks to our early reservation. First, our server let us know when we sat down that we were going to have an opportunity to ride Soarin' before the park even opened. She told us she would come to get us when it was time. Even better, my parents and the girls got to stay at the table to continue eating while Pat, my MIL and I got on the ride!

The second perk was that our server gave us all a bonus FP to Turtle Talk with Crush. It felt like a lot of pixie dust to start our day!

 

[jrmint427]

Soarin' and Living with the Land

We were giddy with excitement as we raced through the Soarin' queue! We had planned to be in line right when the park opened at 9:00, but had not expected to be the very first people on the ride.


There were probably 10 of us total from the restaurant. We all got to sit in the front row. I couldn't believe they were running a whole room for only 10 people! This was our first time seeing the new version and I was blown away. I liked the old version, but never thought it was worth much of a wait (and it was a 3 hour wait without FP the last time we had visited). I love the new version so much more!

After our ride we went back to the restaurant to find my parents and the girls. It was nice that the girls had the extra time to finish their meals. We headed over to Living with the Land where, no surprise, we walked right on. The park had just opened and people were just starting to pour into the Land pavilion.

Living with the Land has always been one of our favorite rides here (lame, I know). But last year my husband started his own garden, so he was especially excited for this ride.



These tubes were empty, but I spotted a Mickey made out of the netting material inside!



Our toddler has been helping to grow our garden at home, and she seemed to really enjoy this ride too.



This tree is called a Monkey Puzzle Tree. I've never seen anything like it before.



At the end of the ride we saw an advertisement for a behind the scenes tour at the Land. I hope they still have this tour when the girls are a little older, as I think we would all enjoy it!

Next up was our 9:40am FP for The Seas with Nemo & Friends.

 

[jrmint427]

Nemo, Crush and The Seas

We were going to be just a few minutes early for our 9:40 FP to The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Clearly this was a sunny day - we were all struggling to look at the camera!



Our family of four got to ride in a car together. It was our first time on this ride, and it was cute. The girls liked pointing at the fish and spotting Nemo.

Next we headed over to Turtle Talk with Crush. I knew ahead of time we likely wouldn't need a FP for this one, but it was nice to not have to stress about it, thanks to the extra FP we were given at breakfast. I also really appreciated that there were tanks to keep us entertained while we waited for the show.







We also had never seen this show before. It was great! It was really cool how Crush's facial expressions matched the words he was saying. I imagine it's a pretty fun show for whoever plays Crush too. I thought it was great for kids and adults.

After the show, we had about 20-30 minutes before our next FP, so we decided to hang out at The Seas exhibits. We needed time for bathroom/diaper changes, and after a little bit, Pat and his mom went to find some coffee.

The girls loved the tanks and probably could have stayed much longer if we had let them.







Next up was our FP for Spaceship Earth.

 

[jrmint427]

Spaceship Earth & Club Cool

Next up was our 10:50am FP for Spaceship Earth. We were surprised by how long the FP line was when we got there. It was winding through the entire outdoor queue and wrapped back around outside the queue. The beginning part of the line was in the sun, and we were already hot and sweaty at this point. We applied more sunscreen and got in line, eager to get to the shaded portion.

The baby fell asleep on the way over, and she stayed asleep as we passed her back and forth in line.



We had a decent wait, but the line did move fairly quickly. The toddler was warming up to rides at this point, and didn't seem to mind that it was dark inside! The baby went with my parents. Here's a blurry group selfie as we started our ride:



We stopped at Club Cool on our way to the World Showcase. It's always fun to sample Coca-cola products from around the world. But I forgot how sticky it can get in there! The toddler's first (and last) taste of soda.



I didn't like most of the sodas this time around. One is really bitter (I forget which one), and many of the others tasted too sweet to me.

My husband and his mom were chatting with a Cast Member, and she offered them a free Frozen Coke! It was really good, and refreshing, which we really appreciated. We could tell it was going to be a long day with the heat, especially with the kids.

It was time to head to the World Showcase. We had no lunch or dinner plans, other than to eat our way around the Food & Wine Festival. We figured we would snack throughout the day rather than having another sit down meal. It worked out well!





Up next, our first F&W snack... which ended up being one of my favorites of the whole day!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

knew we wanted to be there early, so I think we left our hotel around 7:00am. We must have gotten lucky with the buses this day, because my pictures say we were at the park by 7:23am!

I am impressed that you were all able to get up and out that early!

I love your dress! Does it actually have hidden mickeys' on it?

There were a few more perks to our early reservation. First, our server let us know when we sat down that we were going to have an opportunity to ride Soarin' before the park even opened. She told us she would come to get us when it was time. Even better, my parents and the girls got to stay at the table to continue eating while Pat, my MIL and I got on the ride!

I wonder if that is normal? I have thought about doing this for Breakfast sometime. And that would be amazing if that was a normal practice!

Great family photo!

There were probably 10 of us total from the restaurant. We all got to sit in the front row.

Perfect!

The toddler's first (and last) taste of soda.

Did she like it? My youngest doesn't like the fizzy-ness.

 

[jrmint427]

I am impressed that you were all able to get up and out that early!

I was too lol! I feel like it normally takes us forever to go anywhere with the little ones. We were ready even earlier than I had planned!

I love your dress! Does it actually have hidden mickeys' on it?

Thank you! It does, it's a Disney brand dress

I wonder if that is normal? I have thought about doing this for Breakfast sometime. And that would be amazing if that was a normal practice!

I wasn't sure, but I told a friend about it and she booked breakfast there last week. It looked like they also got on Soarin' with no line! Even if they hadn't offered us the very first ride, I figured we would be among the first on line since we were eating right next door.

Did she like it? My youngest doesn't like the fizzy-ness.

I think she liked the novelty of it more than the taste lol. She's never allowed to have soda, so it was a special treat. I don't think she finished the whole sample, though.

 

[mamamelody2]

Sounds like you guys had such a fun trip!

Your baby reminds me so much of my daughter at that age! Same hairstyle and everything! LOL. She turns 18 next month! *sniff*

 

[jrmint427]

Your baby reminds me so much of my daughter at that age! Same hairstyle and everything! LOL. She turns 18 next month! *sniff*

Haha, bald? . My older daughter just started getting hair around 3! I know time goes so fast!!

 

[jrmint427]

F&W Festival/Frozen Ever After

AKA... Where Things Fall Apart

I already knew what my first snack would be at the Food & Wine Festival - the Loaded Greek "Nachos"! I had read about the dish ahead of time. It came with pita chips, meatless sausage crumbles, and vegan tzatziki. They were amazing!



My parents started with this chicken dish. I'm not positive, but I think it might have been from the Thailand booth?



We finished our snacks around 12:20 or so, and we had a 12:35 FP to Frozen Ever After. I had brought Anna and Elsa dresses to change the girls into, but the Elsa dress for my toddler was a little on the heavy side, and it was SO hot. I decided not to torture her, and to leave them in their cooler Mickey Fruit dresses. I was a little sad to be wasting outfits I had bought and packed, but it was probably a smart decision to keep everyone as comfortable as possible.

I'm pretty sure we did a quick bathroom break before the ride, and then went to park our stroller. I'm going to blame what happened next on heat, dehydration, and exhaustion... this was one of my most embarrassing moments in recent history, and I'm going to share it with you.

The first few days at the parks, I was constantly doing a count on the number of people in our party. I had this fear of losing the kids, or really anyone in our party (especially after we lost my MIL briefly on the first day), so I was constantly counting to make sure I saw 6 people. Well after we parked the stroller and everyone was walking ahead of me, I did my normal count... Pat, Toddler, Mom, Dad, MIL... that's only 5. I didn't see the baby. And I completely freaked out.

I'm talking all out panic. I cried something out to my dad as I turned to run back to the stroller, and people around us took notice. Yep, I don't recall what was happening around me exactly, but was somewhat aware afterwards that we had a small audience. As I was turning back to the stroller, it took my dad a moment to realize I was talking about The Baby - the one I was carrying in my arms. I panicked even more when I saw the stroller was empty, before my dad quickly pointed out I was carrying her on my hip. I felt so embarrassed. At that moment, I heard someone say, "She lost her baby," and someone else goes, "You mean the one in her arms?!"

Embarrassment aside, I was incredibly relieved to realize I was carrying her. Okay, time to go on the ride we had all been waiting so long for!



We were so thankful to get inside the air conditioning again, I wouldn't have minded a longer wait. But, we were quickly on our boat. I was so excited for this ride, and it started off great. There was Olaf, a favorite of my girls. Hi, Olaf!



Well, I forgot that this ride had two small drops. Maybe I should have known because the old Norway ride had at least one small drop? I didn't remember two and I didn't remember it being a big drop. I wished I had done a better job of warning my toddler what to expect. It was her turn to freak out. Do you see how big her eyes are in this picture?! Looking at this picture makes me feel terrible all over again.



We were sitting on the side for the first drop, and we got a big splash of water right in our faces. My butt got really wet from the seat too. I'm not sure if it was the drop itself or the water in her face, or both, but that did the toddler in. She was sobbing by the time the ride got back to the start. I felt so bad because I thought all little kids would love this ride! Okay, I'll warn you now that we were terrible parents, and got her on the ride a second time later in the day. More to come on that.

She wouldn't stop crying when we got off the ride, so her Grandma told her she could pick out a toy in the gift shop as we walked out.



She picked an Olaf. It was great damage control! Now it was time to go do something the toddler would find a lot more fun...

 

[jrmint427]

Meeting Anna & Elsa

We didn't have a FP to meet Anna & Elsa, but as TouringPlans had predicted, the line was relatively low after we rode Frozen Ever After. I don't remember what the posted time said, but I think it might have been 15-20 minutes, and I think we only waited 10-15 minutes. The inside area was cute, and thankfully air-conditioned.



This was going to be the first time the girls were meeting face characters, and I was hoping it would go over a little better. The toddler was a little shy, but so excited when we first saw Anna. She was exactly like I'd expect her character to be, very bubbly, and so great with the toddler.



One of the first things she commented on was that my girls were matching. She said something along the lines of, "It must be match your sister day" and she sadly hadn't gotten the message. She focused on their bond as sisters, which I loved. As you can see from the pictures, the toddler was all smiles!











It was such a great meet, and not rushed at all. The whole time, Elsa was waiting in the area right next to us, and watching. She was great as well, but true to her character, a little "colder" Very nice, but not quite as expressive with the girls. Still, they were in awe.






I really wished I had been able to change the girls into their Anna and Elsa dresses for this meet, but oh well. I think this was a turning point for the toddler with the characters, as she asked to meet some others after this one!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I'm talking all out panic. I cried something out to my dad as I turned to run back to the stroller, and people around us took notice. Yep, I don't recall what was happening around me exactly, but was somewhat aware afterwards that we had a small audience. As I was turning back to the stroller, it took my dad a moment to realize I was talking about The Baby - the one I was carrying in my arms. I panicked even more when I saw the stroller was empty, before my dad quickly pointed out I was carrying her on my hip. I felt so embarrassed. At that moment, I heard someone say, "She lost her baby," and someone else goes, "You mean the one in her arms?!"

What a horrible feeling that must have been. I haven't done it with my children but I have had my phone in my hands and start searching for my phone for way too long before I realized I had it in my hand.

Okay, I'll warn you now that we were terrible parents, and got her on the ride a second time later in the day. More to come on that.

Ohh! Can't wait to see how that went?!

She picked an Olaf. It was great damage control! Now it was time to go do something the toddler would find a lot more fun...

Such a good grandma.

One of the first things she commented on was that my girls were matching. She said something along the lines of, "It must be match your sister day" and she sadly hadn't gotten the message.

So cute.

Anna is def more fun than Elsa. I love this one, you can tell that the toddler was engaged with Anna.

Here looking at Elsa is the best.