"This is NOT the once in a lifetime trip I was hoping for!" - (Baby Simba - 12/18)

[SAT887]

Loving the updates! You pics of Dumbo are awesome. So sweet. Wait until you and Claudia are both the ones trying to use the controls to go up and down. Hehe (rewind early Dec 2012 and this is what Zoey and I were doing!)

I really like the first pic with Claudia and Otaku on your last update. It's really pretty and sweet And the picture of Ron and grumpy Claudia! We've so been there, and honestly we never mind grumpy crying kids when we are out, it's hard and I think most people who have had kids or been around them enough know that.

Kona's food looks great! The sushi actually made me hungry It's on our short list for both breakfast and dinner now!

 

[stinksmom]

I've been silently following your TR and I love all the pictures! I also love sushi but don't see it on Kona Cafe's menu. Do they have a separate sushi menu? My DD and I will be eating there Friday night before DH is able to meet us in DW. I thought I had sushi there last time we ate there (about 6 years ago!) but now I can't remember!

I can't wait to read more about your trip!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Following along !

You guys have definitely had your share of challenges so far ! But you are all coping very nicely.

I'm taking my Granddaughter on her first Disney trip in May, she will be 15 months old and am very nervous .. but am expecting meltdowns and rough patches so hopefully we'll be able to get through them without too much trouble.

Looking forward to reading more about your trip ..

 

[AvasMommy526]

I've been getting behind, opening our family business in a brand new building has been a looooooonngggg few weeks, well worth but I'm behind on my Dising!!

Love, love all the pics and Kona! Yummmmmm! We are doing breakfast there in May, I wish I could the bread in the morning too lol! Do you remember where you found the recipe for it, I would love to make it!

 

[Pluto0809]

Looking at your pictures of Kona made me sad! I was thinking about booking that one for my October trip but DH shot it down. I sent him links to the restaurants I would eat at and had him tell me whether he wanted to eat there. Not sure why he didn't like Kona.

I looks like you had a fun time at MK. I love that park at night, it's such a different atmosphere. Wishes is now a must do for me after my last trip.

 

[ronnmel]

Loving the updates! You pics of Dumbo are awesome. So sweet. Wait until you and Claudia are both the ones trying to use the controls to go up and down. Hehe (rewind early Dec 2012 and this is what Zoey and I were doing!)

I really like the first pic with Claudia and Otaku on your last update. It's really pretty and sweet And the picture of Ron and grumpy Claudia! We've so been there, and honestly we never mind grumpy crying kids when we are out, it's hard and I think most people who have had kids or been around them enough know that.

Kona's food looks great! The sushi actually made me hungry It's on our short list for both breakfast and dinner now!

Knowing me, I won't be the nice mom who lets her take over the control all the time, I'll want my turn as well!

You could tell that my brother doesn't have kids yet, he was so nervous about the fact that Claudia was crying at the restaurant last Friday night! I'm more understanding of other parents now that I have a baby of my own, that's for sure!

Ron really wants to try Kona for breakfast next, but doesn't want to give up dinner. We might have to go twice in one trip!

I've been silently following your TR and I love all the pictures! I also love sushi but don't see it on Kona Cafe's menu. Do they have a separate sushi menu? My DD and I will be eating there Friday night before DH is able to meet us in DW. I thought I had sushi there last time we ate there (about 6 years ago!) but now I can't remember!

I can't wait to read more about your trip!

I'm glad you decided to post!

Kona has a sushi bar, which you can go eat at without an ADR. It has a separate menu, but you can order from that menu when eating in the main dining room. Here's the link:
Kona Sushi Menu

Following along !

You guys have definitely had your share of challenges so far ! But you are all coping very nicely.

I'm taking my Granddaughter on her first Disney trip in May, she will be 15 months old and am very nervous .. but am expecting meltdowns and rough patches so hopefully we'll be able to get through them without too much trouble.

Looking forward to reading more about your trip ..

Going through so many challenges while being at Disney sure beats braving a snowstorm at home, so we were determined to make the best of it.

Going to Disney with your grandaughter, how exciting! Planning well is very important, and so is being ready to change such plans at a moment's notice when traveling with young kids, but I'm sure you'll have a great time! Let me know if you have any questions.

I've been getting behind, opening our family business in a brand new building has been a looooooonngggg few weeks, well worth but I'm behind on my Dising!!

Love, love all the pics and Kona! Yummmmmm! We are doing breakfast there in May, I wish I could the bread in the morning too lol! Do you remember where you found the recipe for it, I would love to make it!

Congratulations on moving the business to a new place. That must be exciting, but tiring!

I can't wait to read about your breakfast at Kona experience. Here's the link to the recipe:
Kona Bread

Good luck making it and let me know how it turns out! This is actually one of my regrets with my mom. I made the bread for Christmas 2011. She loved it and asked me to make it again. I really wanted to grant her this wish, but I hate cooking and never got around to doing it.

Looking at your pictures of Kona made me sad! I was thinking about booking that one for my October trip but DH shot it down. I sent him links to the restaurants I would eat at and had him tell me whether he wanted to eat there. Not sure why he didn't like Kona.

I looks like you had a fun time at MK. I love that park at night, it's such a different atmosphere. Wishes is now a must do for me after my last trip.

Awww, that's sad that your DH doesn't want to eat at Kona. Maybe try again later by showing him food pictures instead of the menu? Or just casually describe items you think he'll like, without mentioning where they are until he asks?

We had more fun that night at MK than we did during the day, but it wasn't the *best* time. I usually love Wishes, but it was my second not-so-amazing experience that trip. It was good, don't get me wrong, but not having the best view and not having Ron with us put a little damper on the whole experience.

 

[ronnmel]

Day 5 part 1 - The One Where Otaku Surprises Herself



This morning we managed to get up early enough to catch rope drop. I even had time to have a little fun with Peanut before getting ready.

It helped that rope drop was at nearby Epcot. We had to wait about 5 minutes before they let us in at 9am on the dot.

We walked with the masses through an empty World Showcase.

Can you spot them in this picture?

As you may have noticed, it was a wet and cold morning.

It was drizzling again, like the night before. Therefore, Test Track was down for the moment. Boo! Change of plan, Ron went to get Soarin FPs instead...

...While we continued our walk through Future World. Im a bit obsessed with Epcot monorail photos.

We shopped in Mousegear while waiting for Ron to come back.

Hidden Mickey

Here it is zoomed in.

Always look up.

Baby stuff. I particularly like the sleeping Baby Minnie and Baby Mickey.

Otaku, the non-princess girl, surprised even herself with this next thing. She fell in love with some Princess shirts!!! But thats not all. She turned around, saw these, and fell in love even more!!!

Once Ron came back we crossed over to Innoventions. We made an alarm go off here. You had to press 6 different buttons at the exact same time to overload the system.

Here you can check stuff with a microscope camera and it shows up on a big screen.

Those were obviously not the reason why we were in Innoventions during such a prime hour. We had a more THRILLING reason.


​

 

[monica23535]

Day 5 part 1 – The One Where Otaku Surprises Herself

This morning we managed to get up early enough to catch rope drop. I even had time to have a little fun with Peanut before getting ready.

It helped that rope drop was at nearby Epcot. We had to wait about 5 minutes before they let us in at 9am on the dot.

We walked with the masses through an empty World Showcase.

Can you spot them in this picture?

As you may have noticed, it was a wet and cold morning.

It was drizzling again, like the night before. Therefore, Test Track was down for the moment. Boo! Change of plan, Ron went to get Soarin FPs instead...

...While we continued our walk through Future World. I’m a bit obsessed with Epcot monorail photos.

We shopped in Mousegear while waiting for Ron to come back.

Hidden Mickey

Here it is zoomed in.

Always look up.

Baby stuff. I particularly like the sleeping Baby Minnie and Baby Mickey.

Otaku, the non-princess girl, surprised even herself with this next thing. She fell in love with some Princess shirts!!! But that’s not all. She turned around, saw these, and fell in love even more!!!

Once Ron came back we crossed over to Innoventions. We made an alarm go off here. You had to press 6 different buttons at the exact same time to overload the system.

Here you can check stuff with a microscope camera and it shows up on a big screen.

Those were obviously not the reason why we were in Innoventions during such a prime hour. We had a more THRILLING reason.

Great UK and Canada pictures!

I must admit that we haven't spent a lot of time in Innoventions, we keep saying that we will but then never do lol

I love the sleeping Mickey and Minnie too, In fact, I bought the Mickey for my friends baby and he can't seem to sleep without it

 

[Pluto0809]

Those pictures of World Showcase with no people are awesome!

I had no idea they closed TT when it rained. I've had amazing luck with no rain at Disney. As a matter of fact, the last four trips I took have had less that an hour of rain combined.

I love all of the details in Mousegears. Although I'm not sure I'd want to be a CM in the last room with the ticking noise. It was starting to annoy me and I was only there for a few minutes!

One of these days I'm going to actually go in Innovations and try some of the stuff. I haven't even been in that side of Innovations. Mom and I did walk through the other side to get to the Visa Picture Place but that was it.

 

[shan23877]

I love that Otaku ended up liking some princess stuff! It's the Disney Magic I swear!

Popping into Epcot through that back entrance is the main draw for those resorts for me. What an easy way to start the day!

 

[Marsheliz]

Gosh, Claudia is sooooo adorable.. That little face!

I love those Princess shirts too... I want one for my next trip

Can't wait to read more about Epcot, I hate to say it, but it's my least favorite park but I hope to next time, explore it a little more and maybe learn to love it.

 

[KatMark]

Day 5 part 1 – The One Where Otaku Surprises Herself



This morning we managed to get up early enough to catch rope drop. I even had time to have a little fun with Peanut before getting ready.

​

LOVE this picture...Peanut is just precious.

I hate when the rain closes down Test Track; hope you got on it later.

I can understand why those princess t-shirts caught Otaku's eyes...I really like them too.​

 

[PhoenixStrength]

So cool to see WS with no one in it!

The new princess shirts are....interesting. Part of me likes them, part of me dislikes them changing the princesses like that.

The picture of Claudia on the bed is adorable!!!

 

[PopArtGal]

Here I am. Sorry it took so long!

 

[photographymom517]

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!

 

[photographymom517]

Remembered more!!! (Aren't you lucky to have to respond to all of this?! )

I'm sooooo happy to hear you had a good experience at Harmony Barber Shop with Claudia's first haircut!!! We had a really great experience too! Love all of the pictures of her!! And you are absolutely right!! LOTS of great pic opportunities for moms!!! The first words out of the hairdresser's mouth were "Takes as many pics as you want!" and I sure did!!!!

I actually found myself taking lots of pictures of lights at Disney too! I have one from Kona that I'll post here for you since you just posted that update!

Also thought you would like this picture! We were seated right beside it!

Check-in Desk at Kona Cafe

 

[ronnmel]

Hey everyone!

I'm about to head to bed now, but I promise I'll be back this weekend to do replies and post an update or two. We don't have anything planned for the next two days so I should be able to find the time.

I did want to tell you about some good news in our life. Peanut is crawling!! She has learned so MANY new skills these past 2-3 weeks, it's crazy! She can sit by herself (and loves to do that while we try to change her diaper), pull herself up, lunge forward, and crawl. She's also very close to being able to stand unassisted for a few seconds. This stage is so fun!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Yay Claudia!!! That is a lot to learn in just a few weeks!

 

[ronnmel]

Yay Claudia!!! That is a lot to learn in just a few weeks!

It is a lot! Sometimes we try to get her to say Mama or Dada (which she has no interest in doing at the moment), but then I remember all the things she HAS learned. Obviously she can't do everything at once.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Caught back up. Love the photo of Claudia with her "O" mouth.

I can imagine the crowds for that holiday season. We went the week after Thanksgiving in 2010, and it was plenty crowded enough for me. (and that is supposed to be the slower part of the holiday season).

My DD is a big Stitch fan as well. I have found the best place for Stitch stuff is at the Poly in their gift shop upstairs.

Yay for Claudia!!! Everything will seem to happen so fast now. They manage to cruise through each stage at the blink of an eye. My DS never actually crawled. He would sit on his butt and scoot by wiggling his legs in and out. It was quite funny.