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You Can Learn a Lot of Things From the Flowers - May 2016 TR *NEW* 12/30 x3 *COMPLETE!*

I am almost positive it's a Beco Gemini but it's currently in the top of Delilah's closet and she's asleep so I can't check. It has snaps on the bottom to hold her legs closer to me when she faces in, but if you release the snaps it makes it more comfortable for her legs to face out. I've had it since Paxton was little, so it's gotten a little loose lately and not as comfortable for me to wear. So I won't be one of those people wearing their toddlers. I don't think I'll even bring it with me in May to go to DL when she will be 21 months.

Okay, that makes sense - I have a Beco Butterfly II but it doesn't have snaps near the legs and I don't think she can face outward. I don't baby wear toddlers either, but for this upcoming trip I imagined using it when boarding a plane so my hands are free, and maybe at buffets although having Dugette there I prob won't have to do that. Otherwise for rides I'll just plan to hold her vs putting her in and out of a carrier
 
Day 2 Continued: Friday May 27th

When I left off, we were about to start our walk around World Showcase on the Canada side. We were on the hunt for topiaries and any other fun we found along the way!


We stopped for some Photopass pictures on the bridge into France


There was another Photopass photographer in the pavilion, and it was so beautiful in that spot, we had to stop for a picture or two!


This was my favorite pavilion to see decked out for F&G.

Next, we strolled through Morocco. We have never really be inside this pavilion, so it was interesting to see everything they have instead of just passing in front. We looked for the Jasmine & Aladdin M&G, but the line was way too long.


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I guess DH didn’t take a lot of pictures though…

Next, we ended up in Japan and checked out the Kawaii exhibit they had in there.


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On the way out of the exhibit, we found the Kidcot stop and picked up a Duffy for DS to color. He spent some time coloring there at the table, and the CM stamped it for him, wrote his name in Japanese, and drew a picture of Baymax.


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It was about 2:15 pm by then, and we were getting hot and tired. We decided to call it a day and head back to the room for a break and save the rest of WS for our next Epcot day we had coming up. We decided to hustle through the rest of WS, but we stopped short when DH spotted Wendell and wanted to get a picture.


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Then we realized there were a LOT more characters around. We had stumbled upon character training!! I have seen this posted a lot online, but it seemed to usually happen at times of the year we never visit. It hadn’t even occurred to me that we might be able to find it! In that little alleyway, there was Wendell, Mr. Smee, Prince John, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, and I think maybe Jasmine or some other princess?? We didn’t have time to meet them all, but we did our best. I wanted a picture with Mr. Smee and tried convincing DS to come in it with me, but he stayed in the stroller the whole time. What a little party pooper. But DH and I had fun meeting the different characters.


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We weren’t planning to meet Pluto, but we happened by him when NO ONE was meeting him, so we felt bad for him being all by himself.


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Donald was in the very back, and DH loves him so we stopped for him.


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I would have liked to get a picture with Prince John, but as we were walking back up through the alleyway towards the WS, the CMs were saying the characters were going in, so we missed him. But it was still cool to get to experience that for the first time!

Although we had said we weren’t going to let anything ELSE distract us on the way out, DH couldn’t help himself taking pictures of some of the topiaries as we hurried towards the entrance to the park.


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Continued in next post...
 
Day 2 Continued: Friday May 27th


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DD woke up just as we got back to the truck, but she was nice and happy after her stroller snooze. We got back to the room shortly, and took a break in the welcome air conditioning and let DD have run of the place after being cooped up in the stroller and carrier all morning. We wanted to go back out to a park that evening for just a little while, but we decided to eat before going. We ordered a pizza from Papa John’s for an early dinner and had that in the room before leaving around 5:15 pm to go to Animal Kingdom for a little while.


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As we were passing through the entrance paths towards the Tree of Life, we saw a CM out picking up one of the birds to transport her in for the night.


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We stopped for a few pictures in front of the tree because…I mean, how can you not??

Then we headed to Dinoland. Triceratops Spin was a walk on, so we did that first all together.


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Serious face!
Nothing a little tickle from mom can’t cure.


At some point in the day after using up our original FP+, we had made one for Dinosaur at 6:30 pm. Since it was about time to use it, we made our way over there next and picked up a rider swap for later.


DD had fallen asleep while waiting for them to ride, so I had found a quiet back corner of the area and walked her around in circles while playing on my phone. They found us once they had finished riding, and I asked if he wanted to ride again with me while DH pushed DD around. But even though it had been his favorite ride in February, he had ridden it several times that trip, and he couldn’t wait to ride it this trip, after one ride he had decided it was too scary and decided he didn’t want to go a second time. I’ll never figure this kid out! Lol I can’t say I was too disappointed though, since this is not one of my favorites. Instead, he wanted to dig in the Boneyard. With a cap of 10 minutes of playtime, DH and DS headed in there while I found a bench to sit with DD and keep her sleeping.

While I was sitting there, a line started forming in front of me. It went from the huge dinosaur at the entrance and was winding all the way down the walkway that is themed like a street. Finally, I overheard one of the CMs saying they were doing a special preview of the new Jungle Book show that night. It was about 6:45 pm and these people were lining up for the 9 pm show!! After hearing the reviews of the show, I both felt sorry for the people who had waited in line so long for it, and relieved that we had decided not to join the madness.


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After his 10 minutes of playtime, they came out of the Boneyard and we decided to head out for the night.


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We decided to stop on the way home for a treat, so we found ourselves at Baskin Robbins. I stayed in the truck with DD instead of hauling her in and out while DH and DS went inside. I just wanted some ice cream with cookie dough, but of course they were out of that. DH tried to order himself one of the specialty ice creams, but they were also out of one of the ingredients for that. Fed up, he just got DS a small cup of chocolate ice cream and came back to the car. We got back to Cypress Palms and took some quick baths, then went to bed. It had been a long, fun filled day! But it was only the first full day, we still had 2 more to pack all the fun into!

UP NEXT: Good Morning, Good Morning!

Just wanted to add, I went ahead and started my July TR today! It recaps the trip DH & I took with no kids to attend the DIS Mega Meet.

 
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I don't blame your DH for getting distracted by the photo opportunities at Epcot. Those topiaries are beautiful and make for some gorgeous shots.

Who knows what goes on in the minds of kids? Some days they are all about one thing, and then like a light switch being turned off, they aren't. Maybe Paxton was just more interested in the Boneyard that evening.
 


What a fun day! I was there in March for F&G but we missed some of those topiaries. I would love to catch the character training at Epcot! Fun to see some random characters. Cute family photos in front of the T of L!
 
Love all the topiary pictures! Omgosh the one of Donald with Huey Dewey and Louie is adorable!

So awesome getting to stumble upon character training! Glad you got to stop and meet some of them, including Mr. Smee!

Glad you were able to have a nice evening at AK! I loved all the pics of DD, she is too cute!
 


I love all the character topiaries. I'd really love to get to F&G sometime, but it is always great to get to experience it through TRs!

I'm glad you stumbled across the character training, and I think you made the right call by meeting Pluto. Never, ever turn down an opportunity to meet a character without a line. And I'm not even big on character meets and will gladly skip them if they have too long of a line.
 
I don't blame your DH for getting distracted by the photo opportunities at Epcot. Those topiaries are beautiful and make for some gorgeous shots.

Who knows what goes on in the minds of kids? Some days they are all about one thing, and then like a light switch being turned off, they aren't. Maybe Paxton was just more interested in the Boneyard that evening.

It's absolutely hard not to stop and look!! They are so beautiful. As hot as it was, it was nice being there at the end of F&G when everything is full and robust.

I wish I could be inside their minds sometimes. It's crazy how their tastes can change day to day like that.

What a fun day! I was there in March for F&G but we missed some of those topiaries. I would love to catch the character training at Epcot! Fun to see some random characters. Cute family photos in front of the T of L!

It was nice being able to go on this "bonus" trip and really focus on F&G events. I feel like if this had been one of our regular vacations, we wouldn't have taken nearly as much time to check out the festival and topiaries because we would have been trying to fit in as much as we could.

I always read about the character training, but since we never usually visit in the spring, I didn't think we would ever get to experience it! It was a great random find.

Thank you!

How exciting to stumble unexpectedly on to a Character training!

It was awesome!! Since we never usually travel in the spring, I didn't think we would ever get to experience it. It was perfect timing!

Love all the topiary pictures! Omgosh the one of Donald with Huey Dewey and Louie is adorable!

So awesome getting to stumble upon character training! Glad you got to stop and meet some of them, including Mr. Smee!

Glad you were able to have a nice evening at AK! I loved all the pics of DD, she is too cute!

The topiaries are SO well done. Each one was so unique and interesting!

Smee was a great find for me! I love him. And DH was excited about Wendell, because he loves those dang country bears. It would have been cool to have more of the rare characters instead of Pluto, Donald, and the like, but still really cool.

:) Thank you!

I love all the character topiaries. I'd really love to get to F&G sometime, but it is always great to get to experience it through TRs!

I'm glad you stumbled across the character training, and I think you made the right call by meeting Pluto. Never, ever turn down an opportunity to meet a character without a line. And I'm not even big on character meets and will gladly skip them if they have too long of a line.

I never thought we would be there at that time, so you just never know! It's worth checking out if the opportunity comes up, for sure. It was a lot more fun than I had thought it would be really spending a lot of time in World Showcase. We always seem to just pass through quickly.

That was exactly it...more rare characters would have been cool, but it was just great to get a bunch of characters at once without having to wait. Reminded me of the old excitement of Characterpalooza before it became so well known!
 
Day 3: Saturday May 28th

We were up for our second full day at WDW at 6 am with a goal of leaving by 7:30 to get to the TTC for a day at Magic Kingdom. After getting everyone dressed, fed, and into the truck, it was only 7:28. 2 minutes early! Not too bad with 2 little ones.

In just a few minutes, we had made it to the TTC and were able to park pretty close. The ferry and Express monorail were not operating yet, so we made our way up to the resort monorail. There were a lot of other families waiting on the ramp, and there was a monorail sitting at the station full and with the doors open. We weren’t sure what was going on and why nothing was moving. Somehow we overheard that the ferry had opened, so we bailed on the monorail line and hurried down to the dock, making it on just as they closed the gates.

DS and I decided to go ride up top while DH and DD stayed down on the bottom floor with the stroller.


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When we arrived at MK and got through bag check and the tapstiles, we had about 30 minutes to wait for the welcome show.


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After several disappointments on rope drop mornings and missed or abbreviated welcome shows, we finally got to see the real thing!


We poured into the park with hundreds of fellow park goers, and reveled in the beautiful sight of Cinderella Castle greeting us!


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We headed straight for Fantasyland and decided to ride Winnie the Pooh first since that line tends to build up quickly.


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DD had fallen asleep in the carrier, so once we came off of Winnie the Pooh, we went over to Goofy’s Barnstormer and DH and DS had time to ride twice.


Sorry for so many, it’s hard to choose between all of these photos of him having such a great time on this ride!

While the crowds were still pretty low, we decided to knock out a couple more Fantasyland attractions that we were able to walk on. First up, we visited Ariel in her castle and traveled under the sea.


Continued in next post...
 
Day 3 Continued: Saturday May 28th


Next, we went over to check on Small World. It was still a walk on at that point, so we did that next.


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DH’s standard Small World facial expression

As we made our way through the goodbye room, I spotted our names on the screens which was pretty cool! It was the first time I had seen that actually used.


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The lady behind us was so funny when she noticed the names of her family. She said to her daughter, “Look, it’s your name! And they even spelled it right!” Clearly, the magic is alive and well for some people!

Our first FP+ was for Pirates of the Caribbean at 9:40 am, so we started making our way over there.


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But as we approached, the posted wait time was only 10 minutes. I was able to switch the FP on the app to Tomorrowland Speedway for the afternoon, and we just rode it through the standby line instead.


It was about time for DD and I to head off to baby care for her to eat and get a diaper change. Since we knew it was going to be so hot, we had planned ahead to bring DS’s bathing suit so he could play around in the Casey Jr. water play area while they waited for us, so DH took him over to do that.


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Probably still confused that we are actually encouraging him to run around and get wet in the middle of MK.


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We met them over there when we were done at baby care. DD was getting pretty warm, so DH fixed her up in the stroller with the fan and cooling pads while I took DS to dry off and change in the bathroom back into his clothes.


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It was around 11:15 by then, so we decided to go grab an early lunch. We like to eat lunch and dinner early to avoid the quick service restaurants being slammed with people and having trouble finding a table, taking a long time to order and get food, etc. Our go to place in MK is Columbia Harbour House, so we took the path through Fantasyland to get over there.


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DS wanted to show off him and DD wearing their matching shirts today, and this was the best photo I could do.


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These are the t-shirts that you may remember became the bane of our existence on the night we were doing Hoop Dee Doo with our family in February and going back to the car to get them caused us to be late for the show, and then we were in such a panic to get to the show that we ended up forgetting them in the car anyway!

After lunch, it was time for our next FP+, and we were ready to take flight!

UP NEXT: Off to Neverland!
 
Glad to see you were able to watch the Welcome Show. It's such a great thing to see, but it's so difficult to actually get there in time to do it. I blame it on having to take the ferry or the monorail if you drive.

Those photos of Paxton on Barnstormer are great. Perfect example of the "Disney joy."

Landon was sitting next to me as I read this update, and he got very excited when he saw the Small World photos. He informed me, "Those are really good, Mom. Way better than yours.":rotfl2::rotfl:

Smart thinking bringing the swimsuit and utilizing the splash pad area while DD was in the baby care center.
 
So far, you've accomplished a lot in MK in just half a day! Love the pictures of your DS on Barnstormer and the splash pad - Disney smiles are the best :)
 
So glad you got to see the Welcome Show!

Love how happy DS looks on Barnstormer :goodvibes

Very cool that you spotted your names on IASW!

Switching FPs on the fly certainly is a benefit to the new system and being able to manage it all on your phone!
 
As we made our way through the goodbye room, I spotted our names on the screens which was pretty cool! It was the first time I had seen that actually used.

Nifty. thats one of the first pictures I've seen of it actually working for someone.
 
I always love the MK welcome show! I'm glad you got there early enough to get a great spot to watch it!

I like the touch of the names in IASW. I believe I've heard that they don't do that anymore? If not, that's too bad. It was really a nice touch.

Your DS looks like he's having a great time at the splash area. I'm going to have to remember that and look into getting a stroller fan. We've not done a summer trip since before we had kids and it's looking like our next trip might just be this summer. :rolleyes1
 
Glad to see you were able to watch the Welcome Show. It's such a great thing to see, but it's so difficult to actually get there in time to do it. I blame it on having to take the ferry or the monorail if you drive.

Those photos of Paxton on Barnstormer are great. Perfect example of the "Disney joy."

Landon was sitting next to me as I read this update, and he got very excited when he saw the Small World photos. He informed me, "Those are really good, Mom. Way better than yours.":rotfl2::rotfl:

Smart thinking bringing the swimsuit and utilizing the splash pad area while DD was in the baby care center.

It's SO tough getting there early with 2 kids, so to go through all that and not see the show so many times was very frustrating! I was so glad our streak was finally broken this trip and we got to see it. There's no better way to start a day at MK.

He is always so happy on the Barnstormer! I'm glad DH gets so many great facial expressions on camera on that ride. It makes me smile every time.

:rotfl2: Kids are so brutally honest!!

I don't even remember what made me think of it...maybe just because we were brainstorming ideas for the heat? But either way, I was really glad we had thought of it ahead of time. DS really enjoyed doing that and it was a perfect way for them to spend the time while I was tied up with DD.

So far, you've accomplished a lot in MK in just half a day! Love the pictures of your DS on Barnstormer and the splash pad - Disney smiles are the best :)

I know, we definitely don't take it slow in the parks, especially on such quick trips!! lol

Some of the best smiles we get out of him are in Disney!

So glad you got to see the Welcome Show!

Love how happy DS looks on Barnstormer :goodvibes

Very cool that you spotted your names on IASW!

Switching FPs on the fly certainly is a benefit to the new system and being able to manage it all on your phone!

I was so happy we broke the streak of missing the show!

The names on the screen were really cool, and unexpected. It was fun spotting them as we floated past!

I have definitely become more of a fan of the FP+ system now that you can make changes easier on the phone. Having to go to a kiosk to plan extra FP was a real pain in the rear.

Nifty. thats one of the first pictures I've seen of it actually working for someone.

I wasn't even thinking to be watching for it, so it was a cool surprise!

I always love the MK welcome show! I'm glad you got there early enough to get a great spot to watch it!

I like the touch of the names in IASW. I believe I've heard that they don't do that anymore? If not, that's too bad. It was really a nice touch.

Your DS looks like he's having a great time at the splash area. I'm going to have to remember that and look into getting a stroller fan. We've not done a summer trip since before we had kids and it's looking like our next trip might just be this summer. :rolleyes1

The welcome show is just the BEST way to start a day at MK!

I really liked that to! It would be a real shame if they weren't doing it anymore, but now that you mention it, I don't remember seeing it when we rode in October.

If you do end up doing a summer trip, the stroller fans and chilly pads are a must! We got the stroller fan off of Amazon, I'm pretty sure, and it held up well. We took it with us again in October.

Great report, sounds like a fun trip so far!

Thanks so much!
 
Day 3 Continued: Saturday May 28th

After lunch, we decided to go use our FP+ for Peter Pan’s Flight.


DD loved this ride! This was really the first trip where she showed much interest in any of the attractions, and she really took to this one. She was clapping and waving her hands the entire time. So cute to watch her enjoy herself so much!

I was able to move up the time on our Speedway FP+ to within the next few minutes, but first, we stopped to ride Mad Tea Party with a 15 minute wait.


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DS and DD were being silly in line.


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DS wanted to spin fast, so we asked to be in 2 separate cups so the boys could spin their hearts out while DD and I took it a little slower.


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This picture makes me laugh because she just has those 2 bottom teeth. Now at 14 months, she has a mouthful! 13 with 2 or 3 more coming in right now!

DH and DS went to use the Speedway FP+ while DD and I went to see Mickey’s Philharmagic.

They finished up on the Speedway first while we were still in the show, so they took a spin on the Carrousel.


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Continued in next post...
 
Day 3 Continued: Saturday May 28th

DD had fallen asleep in my lap while in Philharmagic, so I carried her over to meet them and DH helped me load her in the carrier without her waking up. Parent win! It was beyond hot by this time, so we decided we needed something cool and relaxing. I’m sure you can all guess where we headed next…People Mover time!

For the first time maybe ever, we actually had to queue up for the People Mover and wait a bit. Not long, but it was just something we aren’t used to. Just goes to show us that even when it’s busy in October when we normally go, it’s not “line for the People Mover” busy!


It was a nice and cool ride, as always! Then we decided we needed something cold. And even though it was a bit of a hike to get there, the only cold thing we wanted was a Dole Whip!


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DH went with a float while I just had the soft serve. I love pineapples and Dole Whips, but the pineapple juice just doesn’t do it for me.


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The heat was really brutal by then, and we were just sapped of energy from it, so even though it was only 2:30, we decided we were done for the day and headed out of the park.


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After a quick monorail ride to the TTC, we were back to our car and make the short drive over to Cypress Palms. DD and I stayed in the room so I could feed her, but DH and DS decided to go down to the pool for the afternoon. I took a quick shower just to feel human again after sweating all day. The way these units are set up was actually perfect for this, as I could close the door to the bedroom and the living room so DD was totally contained in the hallway with her toys, making it easy for me to keep an eye on her while I showered.

I gave her a bath after to help her feel freshened up too, and she was SO crabby afterwards that I was able to get her down for a short nap.

When they finished up in the pool, they freshened up and we decided to go have dinner at Cracker Barrel since it was literally in the parking lot of our resort. We love Cracker Barrel and don’t have one close by us, so it was a fun dinner out. DD was finally of an age and size this time that she could sit in the high chair with some snacks to keep her occupied while we ate, so it was a pretty uneventful meal. Once we were back at the resort, we had an early bedtime, which was totally necessary after a draining day! We still had one more full day of fun to look forward to!

UP NEXT: More Flower & Garden!
 

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