Once, Twice, Three Times to Disney!?! - Updated (finally!) 7/22

[DisneyParkLover]

First I have to say that your dad is a trooper! If he felt anything like I did when I had the stomach but down there in November, it was killing him doing all that on your last day. I'm sure he didn't want to miss out on that day but boy, I couldn't even roll over in bed without wanting to heave up my insides Yeah, wasn't so funny then!
I'm with you on 'Ohana breakfast. We did it a few years ago as younger DS loves Stitch. Character interaction was very good but the food was nothing special and nothing we've ever wanted to go back for.
Hoping there was no sickness on trip #2!

He and my mom both were troopers. Everyone kept going despite not feeling great. DH managed to avoid getting it - not sure how. He is one lucky duck! I am happy to say that there is no stomach virus on trips 2 or 3 in this report!

 

[cwiklamama]

Enjoyed your first trip of this report, looking forward to more!

 

[Dugette]

Wow, your parents really are troopers to keep carrying on with the stomach bug! Glad to hear it doesn't return in the other trips.

Cute meet and greets with Luke at 'Ohana - especially Pluto!

Glad Luke fell asleep on the flight home after the meltdown - we had pretty much the same thing happen when coming back from Hawaii.

Looking forward to your other trips!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Sorry all for how long it has been. Being 8 months pregnant with a toddler and a home that's undergoing major repairs/renovations leaves very little in the way of spare time. I am going to start the report on our July trip very soon, as I would still like to have this report done before our October trip.

In the meantime, I was just going to give a short rundown/summary of the May trip.

Overall, despite stomach virus, we had a great trip. We really liked our condo, although I do prefer to stay on site. We upgraded to annual passes during our trip and bought TiW, which was awesome and we will use it again in October.

We have done free dining before and really enjoyed the freedom with that, but lately we have found the free dining to not be a good value for us. When we priced it for our October trip, it made the cost of a value room over $200/night. We are actually getting a two bedroom villa at Beach Club for less than just the value room was going to cost us (ticket prices removed from both scenarios). Granted, no free food with the deluxe. But with the cost to upgrade to annual passes factored in, we are still about $800 per couple below the package price for a free dining value room. And with TiW, that $800 will buy us like $960 worth of food. That's why I always tell people to do the free dining math.

Best meal this trip was at Le Cellier, with Biergarten taking second place and Ohana in third.

New to us this trip:

Visiting Wilderness Lodge - beautiful! Would love the stay here someday. The theming is more appealing to me than that of the monorail resorts.

Territory Lounge - food was good, but was mainly going for Artist Point cobbler, so that was a let down.

Windsor Hills resort - awesome condo! And cheap! Very close to Disney property. Would recommend to anyone staying offsite.

Ohana bfast - it was good. The characters were cute. But it just seemed kind of limited and boring when compared to some of the breakfast offerings at Crystal Palace.

Sleepy Hollow Waffles - yum-o! Definitely will return to have these again!

Mother's Day at Disney - this was really neat and I love that Disney made it extra special with the flowers and everyone wishing "Happy Mother's Day!".

Peter Pan queue - really neat. This was the only time in my life that I've ever wished we had a longer wait! We just didn't have enough time to enjoy it. Would like to try this again.

Liberty Tree Tavern - this one fell flat for us, but I blame that on stomach virus. Half our group was missing and Luke and I were still off. I want to try this one again.

And that sums it up! Great trip. Just wish it had been a little longer and that we had all been healthy!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

So, as I have said, I know I have been neglecting this trip report. Things have been very busy here. Luke has started a new class at school (Preschool 2) and is now potty trained. The house renovations are winding down (finally!), and now all that remains is some of the cosmetic things (painting, staining, hanging fixtures, finishing the drywall). And I started my maternity leave this week as baby was due Monday, so I was certain she would be here before this week. She disagreed! So now I am off work and am currently two days overdue. The only plus side to this is that all the baby stuff is done! Bigger items have been dug out of storage, washed, and set up; clothes and cloth diapers are washed and put away; nursery is complete (will add some pictures below); hospital bags are packed; Luke's gift from his new sister is purchased and wrapped; house is clean; and freezer meals are made! Now all we need is the baby!

So, since I am not allowed to do the painting or any heavy lifting with the renos, that means I now have time to work on this trip report until baby finally decides to make her appearance.

As promised, some nursery pictures:










Up next: the beginning of the second trip in this trip report!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Trip #2 - The Three Musketeers Brave July!

Travel Day

As you may remember, this was our spontaneous trip. We had already been on our spring trip and had our fall trip planned when we decided on this trip. We had originally talked about going somewhere just me and the hubby, but we really wanted to try going on a trip with just our little family of three. We narrowed it down to Disney or the beach, but in the end it just made more sense to go to Disney. We already had the annual passes and got a great AP discount on the room, so it actually cost less than it would have for the beach trip!

We were just going for a short trip, so we planned our flights for Thursday evening after work so that Friday could be a full day for the parks. We left work just a little early (around 4), and then headed for the airport. We got to the airport in plenty of time for our flight and changed Luke into his pajamas so he would be comfortable and hopefully rest on the flight. We let him run around the airport play area while we waited.






He also enjoyed watching the planes come and go...






Fortunately, our plane arrived shortly after that and we boarded with family boarding with no difficulty. Although we had purchased Luke a seat, we did not bring his carseat. We knew we would not use it at Disney (were only going to be using Disney transportation) and that he probably wouldn't want to sit in it on the plane. He did sit in his own seat for awhile, but spent most of the flight in Mama's lap watching out the window and eventually dozing.

I was very impressed with how well he did, especially being around bedtime. He didn't whine or fuss at all, which I was thankful for. We arrived at MCO and had a difficult time locating the Magical Express, since it was our first time using it and there was no one around to ask for directions. We did finally locate it and were one of the first ones on our bus. We were glad to have a place to sit, but that did mean a long wait while we waited for the bus to fill up. Our resort (All Stars Sports), was the third of four stops for that bus, so the trip took over an hour. I thought Luke would continue to sleep, but he was very hyped up with the novelty of being on a bus with televisions that show Disney shorts!









We arrived at our resort after midnight and I was very glad to have gotten a "skip the front desk" text. We quickly found our room and were also happy to find our Magic Bands opened it without problems. We had paid the extra for a preferred room close to transportation as we knew we would be relying solely on Disney transportation this trip. I think this was a good choice. We were in one of the surfing buildings right next to the main building and it was a quick walk from the room to the lobby, dining, or transportation.

We quickly settled in and Luke crashed pretty fast. He must have known that he had a big day ahead!

Up next: our first Disney day! Where will we go for our first park?

 

[toomuchtv]

Hmm...I'm going to say Epcot for your first park.

Hopefully that little girl gets here soon! Friday is my son's first birthday, so maybe they can share a birthday (though for your sake, hopefully she comes sooner)!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

A Rope-droppin' Morning at Magic Kingdom

So, as many of you know, toddlers don't care how late you got in the night before or how little sleep you've had. They just wake up whenever they feel like it. So we were up nice and early! It worked out well, though, since we had a lot of things we wanted to see/do and didn't know how the July crowds would be. We had decided to start our trip at the Magic Kingdom. I know a lot of people wait on Magic Kingdom until later in their trips, but we just couldn't wait! Plus, the weekend was supposed to be busier, so going on a Friday was a better choice.

We had a short wait for the bus and made it to Magic Kingdom in time for rope drop. I'm not embarrassed to say I shed a few tears watching the rope drop show. I was so excited to be back in my happy place with my little family. No pictures as we didn't have the best vantage point.

Before long, we walked through the tunnel and were greeted by this sight...






Luke was excited!




We stopped to take some pictures (the Photopass photographer took these with my camera).






We decided to start our morning in Tomorrowland and hopefully hit up several rides before the lines got long. We took several photos along the way (you can never have too many photos of the Magic Kingdom, right?).








We saw that there was no wait for Buzz, so we jumped in line. It was a walk-on, with us only stopping briefly to say hi to our ride host.




Luke really enjoyed the ride, although he has not mastered the point and shoot technique yet. After Buzz, we saw that the Astro Orbiter was up and running with almost no one in line, so we rushed over there. Luke was feeling quite silly as we waited in line.








We only waited a few minutes before we boarded the next flight. I rode by myself and Luke rode with James.









To say that Luke enjoyed this ride would be a massive understatement. He LOVED this ride and cried when we had to get off. So we jumped back in line and rode one more time. After the second ride, the line had gotten pretty long. Fortunately, we were able to convince Luke to move on to something else without tears.

The "something else" we found was one of my favorites - the PeopleMover. I can't get enough of this ride! Here's me and my sweet boy riding together:




We had grabbed a quick breakfast in the room, but we were feeling a bit munchy, so we grabbed a muffin and a smoothie. Luke really enjoyed the muffin and so Mama didn't actually get too much of it! DH liked the smoothie.






Up next we stopped for a ride on the Speedway. Luke and I rode together, so no photos. This was a mess! I don't know how James does it. It was so hard trying to help Luke steer and also cushion him so he didn't slide around the car and bang his head. And the steering was tough, so we mostly just smacked into the guiderail a thousand times. Luke had a great time, but I'm going to let him ride with James from now on!

Our next stop was another of Luke's favorites - the tea cups!







This one is always a winner in Luke's book! Next up on our tour of "Luke's favorites" we hit Under the Sea and then Pooh. No photos, but take my word that they were both very popular with our goofy toddler!

I was still feeling hungry (probably since I didn't get to eat much of my muffin!), so we stopped at Gaston's for a LeFou's Brew. I think Luke would have liked this, but in typical stubborn toddler fashion, he refused to try it. Oh well, more for Mama and Dada! I really like these and try to make a point to get one each trip.

For this trip, we had planned to take turns riding some of the bigger rides, since Luke wasn't big enough. So we had fastpasses for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train next.




I love the details here! I enjoyed my ride, but James decided that he didn't really want a turn, so we moved on. it's a small world had a short wait (maybe 20 minutes?) and Luke loves it, so we jumped in line. James probably protested a little - he claims to really dislike this ride (I do think it is growing on him though, especially seeing how happy it makes Luke).




We had lunch reservations at Be Our Guest, so we headed that way. This is my favorite counter service at Magic Kingdom. The food has always been consistently good and I love the theming. I had the croque monsieur and shared with Luke. James had the roast beef sandwich. Luke enjoyed my fries and the ham out of my sandwich (it is a carved ham rather than a sliced deli ham). We also supplemented his lunch with some stuff we had brought with us.















Another successful lunch at Be Our Guest! After lunch, Luke was winding down and so we headed out of the Magic Kingdom.





We decided that Luke needed his own pair of monogrammed ears, so we ducked into the shop. It only took about 10 minutes before we had these babies...










And less than 5 minutes later....






My sweet, sleepy boy! We got back to the resort around 1:15 and all went down for a nap.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Best of luck with the coming baby - whenever she wants to make an appearance! The room looks really cute!

Glad you had a smooth trip - even if it did take a bit long to get there via the bus. Totally get what you are saying as no matter what time the kids go to be it seems like they wake up the same time in the morning (though that is becoming less true with my oldest)

You got through a bunch of greatest hits that morning - seems like a really good time and fun to hit up a lot of Luke's favorites for this trip

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Hmm...I'm going to say Epcot for your first park.

Nope, although I love Epcot and it is my personal favorite park.

Hopefully that little girl gets here soon! Friday is my son's first birthday, so maybe they can share a birthday (though for your sake, hopefully she comes sooner)!

Thank you! At this point I am just hoping she comes on her own. I would rather not be induced if I can avoid it!

Best of luck with the coming baby - whenever she wants to make an appearance! The room looks really cute!

Glad you had a smooth trip - even if it did take a bit long to get there via the bus. Totally get what you are saying as no matter what time the kids go to be it seems like they wake up the same time in the morning (though that is becoming less true with my oldest)

This is especially true with Luke! My DH keeps thinking that if we keep him up later that he might sleep in later. But no matter how late we keep him up he stills gets up at the crack of dawn every morning.

You got through a bunch of greatest hits that morning - seems like a really good time and fun to hit up a lot of Luke's favorites for this trip

We definitely focused primarily on Luke this trip and doing things geared towards him. We actually made really good time this morning! I was really worried about summer crowds and was happy to find we were able to get so much done! We did 10 rides plus lunch this morning. And I think our only FP was 7DMT (we saved the others for the afternoon).

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Life update: Baby's here!!!

We went in for our doctor's appointment on Thursday (3 days overdue), and the doctor was a little concerned about decreased fluid and reactivity so he sent us over for induction.

Anna Claire arrived Friday at 5:46 p.m. She is healthy and beautiful. She weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 21 inches long. Luke is a fantastic big brother and we are all so in love!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Congrats on a beautiful, big baby girl!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Congratulations! She's beautiful- and glad to see Luke is being a good big brother!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Congrats on a beautiful, big baby girl!

Thank you!

Congratulations! She's beautiful- and glad to see Luke is being a good big brother!

Thank you! We are happy to see Luke doing so well with her!

 

[toomuchtv]

Life update: Baby's here!!!

We went in for our doctor's appointment on Thursday (3 days overdue), and the doctor was a little concerned about decreased fluid and reactivity so he sent us over for induction.

Anna Claire arrived Friday at 5:46 p.m. She is healthy and beautiful. She weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 21 inches long. Luke is a fantastic big brother and we are all so in love!

She is beautiful and shares a birthday with my son, just one year apart! Congrats!

 

[Dugette]

Enjoyed your updates, but most importantly: congratulations on your little girl! Glad she is here and healthy and that Luke is doing well as a big brother!

 

[tgarre06]

Congrats! Your children are beautiful!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

She is beautiful and shares a birthday with my son, just one year apart! Congrats!

It's a great birthday! August is very popular birthday month in our family. DH, my mom, DH's dad, my grandmother, my cousin, and now this sweet girl!

Enjoyed your updates, but most importantly: congratulations on your little girl! Glad she is here and healthy and that Luke is doing well as a big brother!

Thank you!!! We are so thrilled to have her here and that Luke has transitioned well (so far) to the change.

Congrats! Your children are beautiful!

Thank you! We think so too!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

It's a great birthday! August is very popular birthday month in our family. DH, my mom, DH's dad, my grandmother, my cousin, and now this sweet girl!

That sounds like June in my family. My mom is the 14th, my grandma and my sister and I on the 16th (sister and I are twins) and my son on the 19th - he was actually due on the 14th but was 5 days late!

 

[cwiklamama]

Congrats!!