WDW through an 8-month-old’s eyes &10m &13m &16m...New 10/30!

[Imagineer5]

ACK! I just went to a few of my earlier posts because I noticed a picture wasn't showing on my intro post. NONE of the pictures are working!!

Is it just me?? I sure hope so. That royally sucks. I get image links from Facebook, and never had a problem til now. Any tips?!

 

[Imagineer5]

Humph everyone must be so busy on my TR! But I still have PTR stuff to do!! Did I mention I got my May 31st 2013 flights? They were the cheapest I've seen!! Only 5000 points each way for each of us!!! And our choice of times, so we got a nonstop leaving at 9:30 and getting in around noon. There was an earleir flight but since we're checking into a house, I don't think getting there super early will do us much good anyway.

So out of the free 50,000 points we have on southwest, we still have 40,000! Depending on the return flights - hoping they are still that low - we will have about 30,000.

Due to that awesome fact, and the fact that Aria's daycare is closing for a week in March because they are going on a cruise, I think I might have to go for 3 nights or so! Well, we as in Aria and Me, and possibly my mom. I don't think DH is invited nor does he really have the time off to go. I can do the trip for around $800, or $600 if my mom goes and we split a room.

I've already contacted our DVC member we rent points from to add three nights to the June trip at BCV hopefully, and I also asked him about looking into AKV or BWV for March - BWV because of its proximity to EPCOT's F&G festival, though I still hate that darn pool, but I'm not as deadset against the resort as Andrew is.

As for the pictures, can anyone confirm they are gone? Anyone know what to do? I'm so sad that all my early picture posts are CRAP now. BOO.

 

[cbcrockett]

Yeah... I'm not seeing any pictures. I checked the other day and didn't see any, but was hoping it was a Facebook issue that they would resolve (since I was having issues with my mobile stuff that day too). But, it seems like that may not be the case. Boo!

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[jenny105]

I'm jealous you're going back so soon so I'm avoiding your PTR lol. Why is Andrew against BWV? Does he not like clowns??

 

[Leger13]

wow back in March too? Aria is one lucky girl!!

 

[mandas08]

Another trip...how exciting! A mommy daughter trip would be so fun. We have flights to book in June too. Any idea when they open up?

 

[bellaally]

Awesome another trip to Disney, did you recently get the SW card is that promotion back,?

 

[Imagineer5]

Yeah... I'm not seeing any pictures. I checked the other day and didn't see any, but was hoping it was a Facebook issue that they would resolve (since I was having issues with my mobile stuff that day too). But, it seems like that may not be the case. Boo!

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Ugh I'm so mad. I will have to fix that when I get a chance but idk if I will upload them to another site or just use FB pics again.

I'm jealous you're going back so soon so I'm avoiding your PTR lol. Why is Andrew against BWV? Does he not like clowns??

I'm sorry you should plan another trip down there! Have you looked into it further with your sister?

wow back in March too? Aria is one lucky girl!!

I'm one lucky girl too

Another trip...how exciting! A mommy daughter trip would be so fun. We have flights to book in June too. Any idea when they open up?

November 22nd I think!

Awesome another trip to Disney, did you recently get the SW card is that promotion back,?

No I got it for DH a couple months ago and the timing was great bc we had to spend 1000 and then wait a billing cycle to see the points. Luckily they got in right before I had to book the may 31st flights! If I see them again I will for sure let you know!

 

[Imagineer5]

Not 100% official yet but I have already made ADRs and am waiting to hear back from my points guy about March. He said BWV Was full, and AKV has availability which works out perfectly. Made our decision easier. Idk if I will ever stay at BWV lol (yes it's the clown Jenny!). I talked to my mom and she is on board, so just has to ask her boss for the week off. She is doing that today though idk if they will say yes or say they will look into it (she's a retired FBI agent who went back to school to be a veterinary technician and now does that!).

Tentative schedule:

Sunday March 10th early flight from providence getting in by 10am or so. Use ME to get to AKV, there by noon or so. Lunch at Mara or somewhere. My mom has celiac and is vegan so this should be interesting, I tried to book ADRs at places that got good celiac reviews. This will be a relaxing afternoon, probably head to DTD and check out babycakes bakery, maybe do the balloon ride, etc. Evening dinner will be at Boma. Hopefully we will get in some pool time too.

Monday we have 8:20 ADRs at CRT and I'm currently searching for a Cinderella dress lol. Then we will spend the day at MK, lunch at BOG CS. Afternoon break before heading to dinner - haven't decided on this one. Have an ADR at Kouzzina but that would have worked better if we were staying at BWV. now we will be taking the bus to MK so best choice might be a dinner at CR or inside MK. Hmmm. We will stay for Wishes this night.

Tuesday EMH for EPCOT, enjoy FW before heading back to WS. Lunch at Chefs de France (my mom is obsessed with France) then see more WS, afternoon break at resort if we want, then a 7:15 ADR at La Hacienda to watch Illuminations from there.

Wednesday EMH at AK, enjoy that park til about noon, head back to resort for lunch at Sanaa before hopping on ME back to airport.


Thoughts? (Yep totally skipping DHS!) dinner on MK day?

If my mom can't go I will still go, and nothing will change except I will prob spend the 1st afternoon at DHS. I was trying to keep price as low as possible for her - she can get a 3 day ticket (non hopper) for 236 so I think that is the cheapest option.

 

[jenny105]

I'm sorry you should plan another trip down there! Have you looked into it further with your sister?

Nope. I actually just booked a cruise for next year So I have something to look forward to!

 

[deedee2177]

I'm enjoying reading along. Have you checked out Undercover Tourist (www.undercovertourist.com) for tickets for your Mom? They currently have a 3 day (non-hopper) plus an extra day for $255.95. I know that is more then what you mentioned in your post but it does give your Mom and extra day for only $19 more.

I have used them in the past and they are great! I have never run into any issues at all! Just a thougt

 

[Imagineer5]

Nope. I actually just booked a cruise for next year So I have something to look forward to!

Ooooh I can't wait to hear all about it! Disney?

I'm enjoying reading along. Have you checked out Undercover Tourist (www.undercovertourist.com) for tickets for your Mom? They currently have a 3 day (non-hopper) plus an extra day for $255.95. I know that is more then what you mentioned in your post but it does give your Mom and extra day for only $19 more.

I have used them in the past and they are great! I have never run into any issues at all! Just a thougt

A four day ticket for DoD is 250 sp still only 16 more than the 3 day. But I think it'll be nice to take her to babycakes and its prob the only time we will have to go to DTD! Thanks for the thought though, I appreciate it!

 

[Imagineer5]

So I was thinking about the restaurants and the Kouzzina dilemma and remembered JIKO!! We ate there in 2007 and had a so so experience. BUT apparently they have a vegan menu that's mostly gluten free. And then I also remembered Artist Point and how I wished I had been able to eat there on this last trip but we cancelled it to do the 3D dessert party. I want to keep La Hacienda ADR for Illuminations viewing but have Boma on the other night which would be fun too. We could do Jiko on arrival night instead of Boma, and then Artist Point on MK day, but we would have to take the bus to MK and then boat to WL. It would be fun to show her the WL though, since we are from Seattle/ Pacific Northwest.

But I wanted to do Boma too. Humph. What would you guys do?

 

[Leger13]

Idk all of that made me confused lol and I haven't been to any of those restaurants.

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[Imagineer5]

Ok sorry I must have been rambling...

Option A:

3/10 Boma Dinner
3/11 CRT bfast, Jiko dinner
3/12 CdF lunch, La Hacienda dinner
3/13 Sanaa lunch

Option B:

3/10 Boma Dinner
3/11 CRT bfast, Artist Point dinner
3/12 CdF lunch, La Hacienda dinner
3/13 Sanaa lunch

Option C:

3/10 Jiko Dinner
3/11 CRT bfast, Artist Point dinner
3/12 CdF lunch, La Hacienda dinner
3/13 Sanaa lunch

OR other suggestions....?

 

[Imagineer5]

Booked for March 10-13 at AKV. Originally asked for a standard view but we are going to get a savannah view. Flights are booked, we get into orlando at 9AM so have all day there, might rethink not going to DHS now but we will see. I've also been toying with eating at Boma for breakfast instead of CRT. Not sure about that one though - my mom would love Boma but CRT would be fun to dress up Aria in a Cinderella dress.

I'm going to start on my December plans - it's really only 3.5 days so shouldn't be too bad. Yesterday during the storm (we lost power for a little while, Andrew's work closed, so we had a nice day at home watching the high winds and heavy rain but no flooding or anything) we sat down and talked about our plans for the December trip. Andrew immediately had a hissy fit over every little thing, such as staying at EPCOT through Illuminations (thinking 9PM is too late to stay out). Holy crap, I really wish I could convince him to stay home.

I was worried about going with my mom, but every time I call her up to ask her a question about what she'd like to do, she responds saying to do whatever I want to, she's just along for the ride and will be happy with whatever. Would be so nice if Andrew could just do the same. IDK why he is acting like such an old man, but a week or so ago he promised me that the december trip will be better, so I hope he keeps that promise.

 

[Imagineer5]

December long weekend day by day plans.

Day 1  Friday December 7th 2012

Depending on the weather/ how cold it was the night before, hopefully the car will already be packed, because this will be an EARLY morning. Our flight leaves Providence at 6:35AM, which means we need to be out of the house by 4:40 at the latest. I am hopeful we can semi-wake Aria and put her directly into her car seat so she can at least continue sleeping until we get to the airport. Unfortunately through security she will have to be carried so Im sure she will be fully awake at that point. We plan to check 1 bag, and have a nursing pillow, diaper bag, and backpack and thats it (plus the stroller and checked car seat, of course). Shouldnt be too difficult, I learned my lesson last time about WAY overpacking. We are also going to do disposable diapers, not because cloth was difficult at the parks, but because we wont have laundry easily accessible like we did at the condo.

I am hoping being at the airport is enough stimulation for Aria to get over not being fed immediately (though I might bring some snacks for her to pick at before we board), and then I will probably nurse her when we get going to help out her ears. She wont need a nap til after 10AM, so she will probably just sleep on the drive from the airport to the resort, meaning she will be fully awake for the entire flight&yippee&haha. We will have the ipad and some other toys, maybe some books, and of course lots of snacks. Octobers flights were fine but she also slept for at least an hour of each of them.

We hopefully wont have to stop with this guy  he was testing her milk! No KNO/babysitting this trip!

We arrive in Orlando at 9:40 and the plan is to pick up the rental car and head straight to Port Orleans to see if we can get in our room. At this point I am going to be flexible depending on how we are feeling  we have a lunch ADR at San Angel Inn that I dont care whether or not we make, so if we are up for it we will head to EPCOT. Otherwise, especially if we have the good fortune to get into our room super early, we will maybe relax for a bit and go for a swim. We have a Royal Room at Port Orleans Riverside, just to remind everyone! LOL

Red indicates royal guest rooms

We might swim here on our first afternoon

We might grab a quick lunch here

Exterior of Royal Rooms

Inside

Excited to play with these

Wish I could have a royal themed room!

By mid-afternoon though we will head over to EPCOT. I would like to take Aria back onto Nemo, check out the fish-

ride the new Test Track (scheduled to reopen the previous day, and hoping it still is going to have a single rider line!).

Id also like to check out the character spot. We have 5:45 ADRs at Garden Grill, which is also a Candlelight Processional Package for the 8:15 show. Im excited to eat here, looking out over the Living with the Land ride, and getting some farmer Mickey photos. I need to start coming up with some cute outfits for Aria, though Im tempted to have her wear her Minnie dress again! Im not really looking forward to the food, though I need to call and make a vegetarian note on the reservation because apparently even the salad has bacon in it.

Im so hoping to get one of these tables, but I dont know if we can with a high chair&

View from the restaurant into the ride

Will be fun to meet Farmer Mickey! Wish there was a farmer Minnie to meet though!

Hopefully they have a yummy vegetarian selection, but Andrew will certainly enjoy this menu. If nothing else, their wine selection looks like fun!

After dinner Im hoping we can get Aria to either take a 3rd nap or have had her 2nd nap be a bit later, so she is awake and happy through the CP and possibly Illuminations as well. Our narrator will be Blair Underwood who I really dont know much about.

Honestly, Ive never done this because I have always been afraid it is going to be really religious. But I think the choir and music will be beautiful and Im excited to finally give it a try!

Its going to be a busy day but hopefully not having too many required things to do should make it fun anyway. Andrew would prefer not to stay through Illuminations, and depending on how things go at the CP, that is a possibility, but Id like to plan to stay for it. If we end up with oodles of extra time, the park IS open late for EMH and wed both like to ride Soarin and Maelstrom and maybe check out Canada as we totally skipped it during our October trip. For some reason, Andrew is also really interested in riding Ellens Energy Adventure (??) so we might do that. And of course Living with the Land is one of our favorites. In order to get more in, we might head to EPCOT early but just not go to lunch and pick something up quickly. ADRs really took a ton of time out of our days in October, which has never been an issue before.

ETA: I did a little minute by minute EPCOT day planning to see what exactly we might be able to fit in, though I didn't really give Aria much of an afternoon nap LOL but there is some buffer time in there between Soarin time, Living with the Land, and dinner:

EPCOT arrive at 1PM
Get FP for Soarin, FP for TT (if no single rider line)
Ride Nemo
1:25
Ride Figment
1:40
Ride Ellen
2:30
Character Spot (Minnie) or Duffy 3:10 or Daisy/Goofy @ entrance
3
Aria naps - ride TT(lauren then andrew)/MS
3:30
Head to the Land, Aria wakes, go inside get rider swap then feed Aria
Andrew rides Soarin while Aria eats
4:15
Lauren rides Soarin/Andrew lets Aria crawl around
4:35
Ride Living w/ the Land
5
Buffer time

Check in for dinner
5:45
Dinner finished
6:45
nighttime photopass photo before we split up! ...have 1 hour to be at americas gardens theater -
Andrew rides MS/TT/whatever, then picks up FP for Maelstrom while Lauren/Aria goes to BCC to nurse & change into comfy outfit
7:20
Depending on FP return time, meander to Norway stopping in Mexico, etc, then ride Maelstrom
7:50
Head to America's gardens theater for priority seating for CP
8:15
CP
8:45
Head to find special Illuminations viewing spot, change Aria into jammies
9
Illuminations
9:20
Put Aria to bed in stroller, figure out if we want to ride/do anything else during EMH or head out

 

[Leger13]

sounds like some good plans. I hope the flight goes well for you! I can't wait to do the character spot again. And I'm really looking forward to riding the new Test Track!

 

[Imagineer5]

sounds like some good plans. I hope the flight goes well for you! I can't wait to do the character spot again. And I'm really looking forward to riding the new Test Track!

Thanks! I hope so too, it'll be an early morning - but at least I do wake her up around 5:50AM for daycare so it's just an hour earlier than that...

I've never done the character spot!! I hope the lines aren't too long!

Looking forward to the new TT too, never loved the original so I'm hoping this new one blows me away! LOL

 

[Alysa]

Hi Lauren, Hope you had a great holiday! looking forward to hearing more!