I am finally caught up again!!!
I will make an attempt to remember all of my comments, but I'm sure I will forget some things (I was on Page 16
). I am soooo sorry I was so far behind! I literally fell asleep three different nights with your TR up on my computer screen! I am making an attempt to get back on a schedule to prepare Luke for Kindergarten. It has been working very well for the kids, but not so much for me (because I still stay up way too late & then just exhaust myself).
Anyway, enough about that!! And back to your TR!
I LOVE your pictures of the Beach Club!!! It is such a beautiful resort!!! I was definitely spoiled by the International Gateway & boat/walk to DHS the year we stayed there! I doubt we will stay there again in the near future, but I hope to at some point just for the location! I also really want to try Beaches & Cream! We just never made it over there because of other ADR's.
The Solarium is AMAZING and soooo peaceful and relaxing!! I chatted with my mom on the phone one night down there for over an hour. Everyone else was sleeping in the room & I didn't want to wake them by talking, so I just went for a walk. I ended up sitting in a chair along the wall by the paintings. Sadly, the next day it went under refurb
so I wasn't able to enjoy it again. I believe it was closed for 2-3 days/nights while they redid the floors, but of course the day they reopened it, we were leaving for our flight home. We did sit in the room where the tv is while we ate our breakfast and waited for Magical Express.
Your pictures of Stormalong Bay are awesome! Much better than the ones that I took. We only made it down to the pool twice during our trip because of thunderstorms & late nights at Epcot. I was sad that we didn't try out the big slide! The one night, Luke just played in the sand for hours. We were disappointed that evening too because they closed the pool because of lightning. (I'm glad they closed it because of safety but sad we didn't get to enjoy it more.)
I know what you mean about the "feel" of the resort not "being you" -- that makes complete sense to me! We really felt that way too when we toured the monorail resorts. We LOVED them and they are GORGEOUS!! We mainly couldn't ever see ourselves staying at the GF. I still can't believe I finally made it over there & didn't go in Basin White or the gift shop at GF!!! I was honestly afraid of touching anything there! I looked inside the gift shop but never entered. I would've went inside Basin White but at the time, we were carrying Tyler and he was getting heavy. LOL!
Those crowds at MK are scary!! That EXACT place where you ran into "the wall" of people is where we ran into it last September!!! The wait times you posted honestly brought back some really bad memories for me. We purposely went last September because my parents go every year August/Sept to avoid crowds. But of course the year we choose to go in Sept, it is crazy crowded!
The crowds still have me puzzled, but it's over now so I guess I should just let it go. LOL We saw wait times between 180-260. It was beyond INSANE! Good job getting the FP's for Peter Pan and Dumbo though!!! I wish we had grabbed FP's for PP but we got them for LM instead but didn't get to use them since we were eating at BoG during that time. I wish I had waited 15-25 more minutes before grabbing the FP's.
I LOVE the ears that you and Otaku chose!!!
Your list of the items you had in the stroller and in your backpack are very useful. I hope that other moms see the list & can utilize your wisdom for their own trips with infants! I was reading over it & comparing your trip with ours. I was definitely thankful the entire time that Tyler could eat off of our plates. It made me very nervous because he was just starting table foods. He ate a lot of "first foods" on our trip & I am sooooo thankful he didn't have allergic reactions to anything! I was also worried about the combo of heat & new foods, but he did very well the whole trip. I took baby snacks (animal crackers, Mum Mum crackers, pretzels, etc) for both kids to eat while waiting at the bus stop or to give Tyler on the bus. I know it says "No food/drink" on the buses, but I honestly can't see another passenger or the bus driver complaining if a baby is eating a snack just to keep them calm. I did this almost every day & I never had an issue. I only felt bad once when another little boy whispered to his mom "You said we weren't allowed to eat on the bus, but they are" and I offered him crackers but the mom said no. I totally understand not taking food from strangers, but I did feel bad breaking the rule at that point. The mom looked at me sympathetically though, not like she was annoyed, so I'm sure she understood why I gave them to the kids.
I decided to write my own TR. There is just so much I want to share with others about traveling with an "almost one" year old, crowds, Christmas decor, traveling with two kids for the first time, etc. I'll let you know when I start it!
I know I had more comments but I think I wrote enough for now. LOL I'll keep up better from now on!!!
I'm glad the transition from AoA to BC was easy!!! Enjoying all of your updates & pictures!