First Trip With Kids - MNSSHP - F&W Festival - Sept 2017 TR

[jrmint427]

Great updates. I love how you all coordinated in purple for the Rapunzal meet.

Thank you! I requested colors for our party each day lol... my husband agreed to wear whichever color polo I asked each day!

Wow! What a fabulous trip! I love the girls' outfits and all the food! Everything looked delicious

~LindsayC
#dvcrentals

Thank you! I had so much fun picking out their outfits! And we ate so much amazing food... I'm already dreaming about what to eat on our next trip!

 

[jrmint427]

PhilharMagic / Under the Sea

It wasn't on our list for the day, but after the toddler fell asleep, we were looking for an indoor (air-conditioned) show, and Mickey's PhilharMagic fit the bill. We had never been before, so I wasn't even sure what to expect.



It was another show where they gave us 3D glasses and you watch a movie that interacts with you. I enjoyed this one! I can't remember if the toddler was awake for any of it - I think she slept right through it. But the baby loved it!



After the movie, we were once again in search of air-conditioning, so we walked to Under the Sea.



The wait was really short, my pictures say we waited less than 3 minutes. I remember the last time we were at Disney (2013) we had to wait almost an hour for this ride! I missed having a little more time in the queue, but I can't complain about no wait. Almost all of my pictures from my iPhone are super blurry. I am going to have to bring an actual point and shoot camera next time!



I'm always impressed with Ursula. I remember when the ride first came out I watched a short video on how they made her.



I love the music from The Little Mermaid. I was 4 or 5 years old when it came out, and like most kids at the time, had Little Mermaid sheets for years. Now I see people making dresses out of those sheets and I definitely want to get some for my girls on our next trip!

After the ride, we went in search of snacks and drinks. We found a shaded spot to sit down, and my mom went to the restroom near Gaston's Tavern.



When my mom got back, she quickly realized that she had left her phone (an iPhone) in the bathroom. I had a moment of panic too, realizing that her phone could be gone for good. She raced back to the bathroom to check for it, but it wasn't there.

Meanwhile, I found a Cast Member and asked about where Lost and Found was, in case someone had turned it in. They told me that Lost and Found items would be routed to the front of the park, and if the phone was turned in, it likely wouldn't make it there until the end of the day. That stressed me out even more - waiting a few more hours just to see if it was even turned in?

I suggested to my mom that we at least ask at Gaston's Tavern since it was right next to the bathrooms where she left the phone, so we headed there and waited in line. While we were waiting, I pulled up the Lost my iPhone app, and it showed my mom's phone being kind of far away from us. I thought, did someone run off with it that quickly? How was that even possible?

Much to our surprise, by the time we got to the front of the line, the cashier knew they had her phone! We were so thankful for the nice and honest people who had turned it in. Once again, we loved being in the Disney bubble. Our whole trip, I felt like we encountered very few rude guests, and this wasn't the last time that my mom lost her phone... and it was returned

Now that we had the phone back, it was onto the next ride...

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We moved over to meet Rapunzel. The toddler was a lot more shy than I thought she would be. I told Rapunzel that she had just visited our house for the girls' birthday party. She was sweet and spent a good amount of time with us.

My girls always get star struck when they get up to the characters. Still do.

It was another show where they gave us 3D glasses and you watch a movie that interacts with you. I enjoyed this one! I can't remember if the toddler was awake for any of it - I think she slept right through it. But the baby loved it!

This is one of my favorites! I do wish they would update it a little but it's a fun, and cool thing to do in the middle of the day.

The wait was really short, my pictures say we waited less than 3 minutes. I remember the last time we were at Disney (2013) we had to wait almost an hour for this ride! I missed having a little more time in the queue, but I can't complain about no wai

I know, our first trip it was 90 minute wait the whole time. We only did fast pass only that trip! Now you could go on it all day long if you wanted.

 

[jrmint427]

Dumbo

After It's a Small World, Dumbo was the ride I was most excited to take the kids on. I think the baby had fallen asleep by this point, so Pat and I decided we would just take the toddler.
I had no idea that they had re-done the queue to include the play area for kids in the big tent! It was a very pleasant surprise. I think the wait time might have said 30 minutes or so. As we were waiting, we kept seeing families leave the queue and walk by us. I think I finally asked someone why they were leaving, and it was because one of the two rides was done, so the wait was going to take longer than expected.

There was one large family we had seen a few times this day who had a certain practice... they would send one person to get in line, the other 8-9 would cut by everyone else to join them. In the line at Mickey's PhilharMagic, someone in their party actually got called out by a Cast Member for going under a rope barrier, and she was told to get in the back of the line. So she did... and then quietly passed by everyone else (including us) to catch up to her party. Anyway, they did this cutting ahead in the Dumbo line, but I think they were also one of the groups to bail on the line.

We were thrilled when we were finally in the air-conditioning and out of the heat. Even better when we got to the play area. The toddler didn't really want to play though, so we all sat on a bench inside. While we were waiting, I got an email that Big Thunder Mountain (our next FP) was down, and that we had a FP to use for any other ride at any time (maybe there were a few exceptions?).

We didn't have to wait long at all for the Dumbo ride at this point. Both sides were up and running, and we quickly headed right back outside. We just had to wait for one ride ahead of us outside.



Then it was our turn. As expected, the toddler loved this ride!



My dad watched us ride and met up with us afterwards. The rest of our party was shopping inside the big tent, so we headed there next. I think we got a few snacks, and my MIL bought the girls a Mickey and Minnie stuffed animal.



Not too much later, the toddler dropped her Minnie out of the stroller while we were walking. We didn't even see it happen, but a family behind us picked it up and caught up to us. Once again, we were so thankful that it was returned.

Up next... a detour to urgent care

 

[jrmint427]

Trip to Urgent Care

This one will be kind of long and I have no pictures (for a 4 hour window!), so feel free to skim over.

My husband got bit by a bug on our first park day while at Hollywood Studios. He did not see what kind of bug bit him, but he complained about it itching/hurting our first evening. Each day it seemed to get progressively worse. His ankle began to swell a bit more each day, and it started changing colors.

When he woke up this morning, three days later, his ankle was really swollen. It also had turned a darker color, almost black. I was really worried in the morning, and asked if we should take him to a doctor, but he kind of shrugged it off. However, it seemed to bother him more while we walked around this day. By the afternoon his ankle was so big it barely fit in his shoe. It was painful for him to walk and was definitely a blackish color. I suggested we at least have it checked out at First Aid before continuing on, and this time he didn't put up much of a fight. So I knew he really was in pain.

We all walked to First Aid together. It was near Crystal Palace, right next to the baby care area. I went into the Baby Center to change a diaper, but I can't remember if that was before or after we first went to First Aid. It was nice in there! There was a TV playing a Disney movie, and my daughter wanted to stay to watch. I had to convince her we could watch Disney movies at any time back home! I went back with my husband at the First Aid station. As expected, the woman who checked him out said there wasn't much they could do there besides give him ice (which they did). They thought he needed to be checked out, and gave us information for a nearby Urgent Care.

I immediately called our insurance to make sure the location was covered, and it was. The Urgent Care had a free shuttle to and from the Disney parks. I wish I had thought about using Uber instead! But they said the shuttle wouldn't take too long. I let our parents know what was going on, and we came up with a game plan. My MIL wasn't feeling great either, so she made arrangements for her sister to pick her up at the park. My parents would take the girls, while I would go with my husband to the Urgent Care. I hated leaving the girls, but also felt like I needed to go with Pat.

As far as what the girls got up to while we were gone - I know they rode It's a Small World quite a few times! And I think they made it to Winnie the Pooh. They also ate dinner and got to watch the fireworks. It was about 4:50pm when we first got to First Aid. I was most concerned about making it back for the fireworks at 8:00pm. It was going to be our first fireworks show with the girls, and I wanted to have that experience with them. I thought that we had plenty of time, but I was wrong.

I think the shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 5:30pm, but it was closer to 6:00pm before it arrived - maybe even later. It took a lot longer than the Cast Members originally told us it would, but it was out of Disney's control. My understanding is that the shuttle was owned by the Urgent Care, not Disney. We were leaving the Disney bubble When the shuttle arrived, a Cast Member walked us to the other side of Main Street, and then backstage. We thought it would be kind of fun to get to go backstage, but we didn't see anything cool. He took us back to a bus stop area where there were other Cast Members waiting in a parking lot.

The ride was probably 15-20 minutes. The Urgent Care was pretty packed when we got there. I mentioned to the front desk that we had left 2 young kids back at the parks, and asked if they could order our shuttle back as soon as we were called back to see the doctor, since it had taken almost an hour for the first one to come. They said they couldn't, but I think they did everything they could to rush us through.

The wait was pretty quick, considering how many people were in the waiting room who all went back ahead of us. We were taken back to a "stall" - it was a big room just divided by curtains. The doctor came back, and he was friendly. He made a few jokes about Florida bugs, and showed us that his legs were covered in various bites. We told him we are used to Texas bugs, which are no joke, but neither of us had ever had a bite like this. He wasn't sure what kind of bug caused this, but said the bite was infected. My husband was given antibiotics and steroids, and then we were released to go. The wonderful lady at the front desk had called the shuttle after all! We barely had to wait at all for it to arrive.

But, we still missed the fireworks I was almost in tears when our driver informed us that she could not drop us back off at Magic Kingdom, despite what the MK cast member had told us would happen. He had said we could come directly back, but she said she had to take us to the Contemporary, where we could walk back. I felt bad because my husband's ankle was still hurting, but we didn't have another option. We watched the fireworks going off as we were pulling into the Contemporary.

I was so sad to miss that experience with my girls, but it was what it was. We were also starving at this point - it was almost 9:00pm! I was texting with my parents and learned that they were heading to the carousel. I told them we were going to get a quick dinner at Columbia Harbour House and would meet up with them after. We walked straight there... and it was closed. I really was going to cry at this point - I had been looking forward to my vegetarian chili there for months!

We headed toward the carousel, in search of other "real" food - I didn't want something sweet at a snack cart, I wanted dinner. We saw my parents on the ride with the girls and waved hello. I told my dad we were going to keep looking for food and would text wherever we ended up. The girls were happy to see us!





We ended up at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. My husband got a burger and I got the falafel burger. I'm not sure if it was just because of how hungry I was, but I loved it! We ate so quickly I didn't even take any pictures. We could see some projections on the castle while we ate, and that was a pretty show. My parents and the girls met up with us there while we ate. You would think we were ready for bed after this adventure, but nope! We still had a free FP burning a hole in our pockets, since Big Thunder Mountain had been down. We were off to find one more ride!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Not too much later, the toddler dropped her Minnie out of the stroller while we were walking. We didn't even see it happen, but a family behind us picked it up and caught up to us. Once again, we were so thankful that it was returned.

No parent in Disney wants to see another kid lose a toy in Disney. (Well, hopefully)

There was one large family we had seen a few times this day who had a certain practice... they would send one person to get in line, the other 8-9 would cut by everyone else to join them. In the line at Mickey's PhilharMagic, someone in their party actually got called out by a Cast Member for going under a rope barrier, and she was told to get in the back of the line

Ugh. I hate people like this, why do some people think they are better than us.

My husband got bit by a bug on our first park day while at Hollywood Studios. He did not see what kind of bug bit him, but he complained about it itching/hurting our first evening. Each day it seemed to get progressively worse. His ankle began to swell a bit more each day, and it started changing colors.

Oh No! That does not sound good at all!

By the afternoon his ankle was so big it barely fit in his shoe. It was painful for him to walk and was definitely a blackish color. I suggested we at least have it checked out at First Aid before continuing on, and this time he didn't put up much of a fight. So I knew he really was in pain.

Oh men. blackish color def doesn't sound good. But I can see not wanting to miss out on the fun.

I was so sad to miss that experience with my girls, but it was what it was. We were also starving at this point - it was almost 9:00pm! I was texting with my parents and learned that they were heading to the carousel. I told them we were going to get a quick dinner at Columbia Harbour House and would meet up with them after. We walked straight there... and it was closed. I really was going to cry at this point - I had been looking forward to my vegetarian chili there for months!

I would have wanted to cry then too. It would have been that one thing that would have put me over the edge. You were so lucky to have your parents with you to watch the girls!

She looks so happy to see you!

We could see some projections on the castle while we ate, and that was a pretty show. My parents and the girls met up with us there while we ate. You would think we were ready for bed after this adventure, but nope! We still had a free FP burning a hole in our pockets, since Big Thunder Mountain had been down. We were off to find one more ride!

YEAH for a free FP!!! Saved the evening, I hope.

 

[jrmint427]

No parent in Disney wants to see another kid lose a toy in Disney.

You are so right! A common theme of this trip was other guests being so helpful and kind (with the exception of the line jumpers lol) - I think we have loved our Disney trips in part because of how great other guests have been, not just the Cast Members. We've encountered very few rude people at WDW.

Ugh. I hate people like this, why do some people think they are better than us.

It was definitely annoying, partly just because of how many people were in their group. It would be 1 or 2 coming through at a time. It was funny to watch the look on the girl's face when the CM caught her. But of course, none of the guests (us included) fussed at her as she cut us to meet up with the rest of her group.

Oh men. blackish color def doesn't sound good. But I can see not wanting to miss out on the fun.

Yes! I think neither of us wanted to miss out on anything, and he especially didn't want to make us "pause" our trip. But as you mentioned, we were incredibly lucky to have my parents there so we could head off to the doctor without worrying about transportation for the girls. That would have meant finding transportation that offered 2 car seats... most likely my husband would have had to have gone on his own, leaving me and the girls on our own. We've made sure we have a grandparent joining on our next trip too ;-)

I would have wanted to cry then too. It would have been that one thing that would have put me over the edge. You were so lucky to have your parents with you to watch the girls!

Realizing I wasn't getting my vegetarian chili really did put me over the edge lol. Especially when I was that tired and hungry! It's one of those moments where you realize you are at WDW though, and we made the best of the rest of our evening. Luckily we had one more MK day coming up, and I made sure we ate at Columbia Harbour House for lunch that day!

 

[jrmint427]

Space Ranger Spin

The FP was only good for my husband and I, because I hadn't gotten Big Thunder Mountain for our whole party. We were already near Tomorrowland, so I think I wanted to use our freebie on Space Mountain, but it was either down or we decided not to wait in the line. We decided as a family that we would do one more ride and then leave the park, since it was almost 10:00pm already.

We landed on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. The line wasn't too bad, and the queue was entertaining.



I had brought some glow sticks with us, so the girls were enjoying their toys.



We probably waited only 10 minutes before we were on the ride. I think we were all glad we stuck around for this one!



I love how my husband and I are concentrating, and the toddler is looking at me like, what's the big deal? She wasn't too interested in playing herself.



I took a few pictures of the Fall decorations on our way out.







And of course, we had to get our picture with Walt.



See Ya Real Soon, Mickey!



It was 10:20pm when we left the park with two sleepy babies. However, when we got back to our hotel room, it looks like the toddler might have gotten a second wind...



We must have been exhausted... but we had a 9:10am Fast Pass the next morning, so there was no slowing down for us!

 

[jrmint427]

Kilimanjaro Safaris
We were moving slowly this morning. Our first FP was at 9:10am for the Safaris, but we agreed we didn't need to be at the park right at opening, since we had an hour long window to use the FP.

We planned to meet Pat's mom, aunts and uncle at the park. This was the one day we were going to all spend as a group of 10. I was a little stressed because I had wanted to get us all on the same FPs and ADRs, and initially had made reservations for 10... but the week before the trip, they said they weren't planning to do the parks with us, so I had cancelled our joint dining reservations. It was while we were at WDW that they decided they would join us in Animal Kingdom for this day after all, and I wasn't able to add them back onto all of our reservations. So, we were winging it a bit! They said they would do what they could with us, and what they couldn't, they'd be fine with. It helped that they were a laid back group!

When we showed up, they told us that they had spoken to a Cast Member at the front gate, and she had linked them into all of our Fast Passes. I was a little unsure if they really could do that, but we decided to give it a try, as we all headed to the FP line for the Safaris. Their Magic Bands didn't beep, but the CM waved the 3 through with the rest of our party. However, for our FPs planned later in the day, their Magic Bands did work! Maybe it just took a little time for the bands to sync? We just barely made our FP window, getting there 5-10 minutes before it was over. The toddler was much more interested in rides by this day, and both girls had fun pointing out all the animals.





We had a nice relaxing ride. I could go on this one over and over again.







After the ride, our next priority was caffeine! We headed to Starbucks. This has to be my favorite Starbucks ever.



I couldn't believe I didn't realize earlier in our trip that I could get any Starbucks drink and it would count as a snack credit. I ordered a venti latte with almond milk - that was over $6 and just counted as one snack credit!

We got drinks and snacks for the girls too. It was so hot outside and there wasn't great seating options available, so we hung at the back of the store while the girls had their drinks and snacks. A Cast Member was hanging out at the back with us and was so nice to our family. I was worried we were in the way and would get ushered out, but she let us hang out there, as there was plenty of room for people to go around us. She ran to get us an extra straw and/or napkins at one point, and talked to us about the store and the park.
One we refueled, we were onto our next attraction!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Glad you got at least one ride in as a family. And finish the day off on a good note.

How was your husband foot this morning?

 

[jrmint427]

How was your husband foot this morning?

It was a little better! It took him several days to really heal, even after we went to the doctor. I think he was in some pain the rest of our trip, but he was a trooper and didn't let it slow him down.

 

[jrmint427]

Wildlife Express to Rafiki's Planet Watch

We decided to skip the Maharajah Jungle Trek in order to take our time at Starbucks. It was another hot day, and we needed to pace ourselves. The next item on our to-do list was to take the Wildlife Express train. I tried to coordinate our group's outfits each day so that we were wearing similar colors to match the girls. I was impressed that everyone wore the requested yellow, green and/or grey for this day!





We slowly walked the path to the conservation station, stopping at points along the way.





The toddler picked up an activity book and seemed to enjoy getting stickers or stamps for her book as she went through the various activities.





She loved showing off her book!



We went to the petting station next to see the goats.



We have a similar area at our zoo back home, and this was the first time the toddler actually wanted to brush the goats! I was thankful for the Photo Pass CM who took some candid pictures for us.





I was so proud of her!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I was so proud of her!

It was hot! I can see her poor sweaty hair!

Looks like the baby was more comfortable! No longer giving you the death grip on your shirt! I also love how the toddler is looking up at you guys just so happy.

I love her dress too!

 

[jrmint427]

It was hot! I can see her poor sweaty hair!

It was SO hot this day!! I hate being that sweaty.

Looks like the baby was more comfortable! No longer giving you the death grip on your shirt!

Only took her 5 days to warm up lol! But so funny that she's finally not clinging on so much.

I love her dress too!

Thank you! I picked out the fabric on the skirt and found a lady on Facebook who made the dresses. She also made the Cinderella dress you will see on the toddler on our last day. I had so much fun picking out their clothes for this trip!

 

[jrmint427]

Doc McStuffins & Rafiki

After we had enough of the heat, we headed inside the Conservation Station. I knew we wanted to meet Rafiki there, and we were in search of restrooms at this point. I don't think I had been inside here before. It was neat that they had a video set up where you could watch them doing surgery on an animal (can't remember now what surgery was going on while we were there!). There was another activity station for the toddler to get stickers for her book. I was feeling a little annoyed that bigger kids kept kind of inching in front of her, but she eventually got her turn up front.

While we were waiting, my mom came over and pointed out that Doc McStuffins was meeting kids. She asked if I wanted her to get in line. I said no, thanks, my toddler doesn't even know who that is. Well, I was wrong! I guess thanks to her school, she not only knew who Doc McStuffins was, but very much wanted to meet her. We waited in line, and Doc had to take her break right before it was our turn. She was worth the wait, though. The toddler was so happy to meet her!







The toddler had a band-aid on her foot, and Doc kissed the band-aid to make it better. The toddler loved that. She was also really into her autograph book by now, and eager to make sure Doc signed for her.





We had a really great meet with Doc! She's also now one of my favorite TV shows to watch. My daughter is saying she wants to be an animal doctor now, and I wonder if that in part has to do with watching Doc McStuffins.



I also found a Photo Pass photographer to take a picture of the baby. She was getting so tall, she had already almost grown out of her dress before our trip!



Next up was Rafiki, who I was so excited to meet! His line was a bit longer, but he was worth the wait.





We had to get a fun picture in! This ended up being one of my favorites from the day.



After the meet, we headed back to the train. At least one of the girls was sleeping (maybe the baby?), and a Cast Member told us that we didn't have to wake her up. She said as long as there weren't any wheelchairs who needed it, we could use the wheelchair space and just push the stroller right onto the train. I was once again thankful for a very nice CM!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I love her checking out what Doc is writing.

Awsome photo.

Sounds like you guys enjoyed your visit out there. We weren't that impressed with the area out there. But My girls aren't interested in Doc anymore.

 

[jrmint427]

Update / Pre-Trip Report

We are coming up on our next trip to Disney, which means I better hurry up and finish this trip report so I can start a new one soon! It's been a busy summer and fall, but I've been doing a lot of planning for our upcoming trip. I had dreams of writing a real pre-trip report but I don't think that's going to happen, so I'll do a quick preview here.

The cast of characters will include our family of 4 (DDs now 2 and 4) and my mother-in-law. This trip will be different for a few reasons:

1) We are DRIVING. Over 14 ours. With two toddlers (can I still call my 4 year old a toddler?). Wish us luck! My MIL is going to fly in to make the drive with us. We'll take two days each way, so we'll have plenty of time for stops as needed. Any tips for a road trip to Disney are much appreciated! My 2 year old is still rear-facing so I haven't decided if we want to use the DVD player in the van or not, since she won't be able to see it.

2) We're doing a split stay x 3 (well 5 if you count hotels to and from WDW). We're going to spend the first few days in a condo owned by my MIL's sister and her husband. Then we're moving to Animal Kingdom Lodge where we will spend our first night in a Savanna view room. We're taking a rest day the day we move, so we can hopefully enjoy the view of the animals. We're only staying one night in that room though - then we move to a standard view room, still at the AKL. We just couldn't justify the extra cost for the view when we plan to be at the parks from sun up to sun down all the other days we are there.

Our trip looks like this:

Arrival Day - dinner at Disney Springs! Since we don't know what time we will actually arrive, I am leaning toward Earl of Sandwich for a quick dinner.

Day 1 Magic Kingdom - Bon Voyage brunch. Dinner at Jungle Navigation. FPs for meeting Mickey, Winnie the Pooh and Jungle Cruise. Hopefully going to see the Festival of Fantasy parade for our first time!

Day 2 Animal Kingdom - Dinner at Tusker House. FPs for meeting Mickey and Minnie, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Na'vi River Journey.

Day 3 Magic Kingdom - Lunch at Be Our Guest. FPs for Space Mountain (husband doesn't want to go, so he has FP for It's a Small World with the kids), Buzz Lightyear and Big Thunder Mountain (really hoping to get the 4 year old on that one).

Day 4 Resort Day - Transfer to AKL. Hopefully get some swimming in. Lunch at Sanaa and dinner at Boma.

Day 5 Epcot - Lunch at Teppan Edo and dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh. FPs for Spaceship Earth, The Seas, and Frozen Ever After. Which the 4 year old still says she will refuse to ride because, "Elsa splashed my face." She has a really good memory. I'm hoping to convince her to ride anyway.

Day 6 Magic Kingdom - Breakfast at Be Our Guest (yes, at my husband's request, we are eating there twice on this trip! But not for dinner because both girls do NOT want to see the Beast again). Dinner at the Plaza. FPs for Enchanted Tales w/ Belle, Peter Pan and 7DMT.

Day 7 Hollywood Studios - Planning to try Woody's Lunch Box for lunch and 50's Prime Time for dinner. FPs for Frozen Singalong, Tower of Terror and as of last week, I finally snagged one for Slinky Dog Dash!

Day 8 Animal Kingdom - Dinner at Rainforest Café. FPs for Safaris, Lion King and FOP.

On our final day, we will eat at Kona before making the drive home :'-(

We couldn't be more excited! It's fun to see the girls so excited about the trip too. I thought about making it a surprise, but my 4 year old really does better when she knows what to expect. We've been watching a lot of Disney movies, planning which characters they want to meet, and even watching YouTube videos of the rides. She says she will go on Big Thunder Mountain but not 7DMT because of the witch at the end... if only I had shut that one off a few seconds earlier!

Okay, I will get back to our trip from last year now... it's odd to be writing about the "baby" who is now very much a "toddler" with lots of opinions Hopefully I can finish before we leave for our next trip!

 

[jrmint427]

Dinosaur

Our next stop was to ride Dinosaur with a 1:25pm FP. I was most nervous about this ride! I'm actually kind of scared of the dinosaurs. My dad wouldn't have done well with the jerky movement on the ride, so he stayed back with the girls. I love the group picture we got from this one!



I think both girls were asleep in the stroller by this point. We stopped for a couple of group photo pass opportunities.





We then took advantage of the sleeping babies to ride Expedition Everest - only Pat's mom and one of his aunts rode this one with us. We got in the single rider line to save time. It moved quickly for us! Pat got on the ride just one train ahead of me.



Pat's aunt had some a great time with the group she rode with, they took a picture afterwards.



After we rode, it was FINALLY almost time for lunch! We had a 3:20pm lunch (or dinner?) reservation for Tusker House. The time wasn't ideal, but it was the only option we had for a party of 10 with the River of Lights package.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

1) We are DRIVING. Over 14 ours. With two toddlers (can I still call my 4 year old a toddler?). Wish us luck! My MIL is going to fly in to make the drive with us. We'll take two days each way, so we'll have plenty of time for stops as needed. Any tips for a road trip to Disney are much appreciated! My 2 year old is still rear-facing so I haven't decided if we want to use the DVD player in the van or not, since she won't be able to see it.

So, We haven't driven quiet that far and long... but when we drove from New Jersey to Myrtle Beach, I put together bags for the girls open over the course of the drive. I collected random stuff, stuff from the dollar store, some candy, playing cards, stuff like that. Then I put them all in numbered brown lunch bags. Then I had a sandwich baggie with pieces of paper and the same set of numbers on. And each hour of the drive they could pick a number and open a bag. They LOVED this! My girls are older, so a few of the items would then entertain them for awhile as well. I can find some pics of some the things I got.

I also put up a string in the car and made little signs for each state we were going to drive through. So, as we passed into a new state they could take off the sign. It helped them see the progression of the drive.

And of course iPads and show help pass the time alot as well!

Your plans for your next trip sound great!

 

[jrmint427]

Tusker House

So I wrote out this whole "chapter" and then accidentally deleted it. Ugh. Here we go again! We ate at 3:20pm because that was the only time we could get a reservation for 10 with the Rivers of Lights package. We just snacked before and after and made it work!

We initially had a reservation for 10 for Tusker House, but a few days before our trip, Pat's aunts and uncle said they weren't going to join us, so I cancelled their seats and kept our reservation for 7. But once we were at Disney, they decided they did want to join us after all. I was worried we would be charged for people who did not show up, but was later told that as long as most of the party shows up, they don't charge you for those few extra seats. Now I know for next time!

Our travel agent tried to add them back onto our reservation, but the best we could do was a separate table for 3 within 10-15 minutes of our reservation. They said to ask at the check-in desk to see if we could sit together. I asked, but it was going to be an extra long wait to do that, so we decided to sit apart. Unfortunately we ended up in different rooms, but I think both groups still had a great time.



The chef came out and walked me around the buffet to show me what was vegetarian. I had a lot to choose from! I ended up going back for seconds. Plate #1:



Plate #2:



It actually took me forever to eat at this restaurant. Between the characters constantly coming through (I couldn't go get food when we saw they were almost to our table) and many trips to the restroom to change diapers, I finished way after everyone else in our party. And of course, I needed dessert!



During one of my trips to the restroom, I heard someone in another stall say, "Did anyone leave a phone in here?" I instantly thought of what had happened to my mom earlier in the week. I called out, "Is it blue?" Yep - it was my mom's. She had left it in the restroom again. Once again, we were thankful for other guests!

First up for the characters was Mickey. This was a little disappointing only because the girls needed to warm up to the characters, and weren't too sure about him. But it looks like the baby was reaching for him!



Next up was Goofy. Now the girls were interested!



Daisy was the toddler's favorite. This picture is blurry but I love how you can see the expressions on both girls' faces.



Donald was last. I got a cute video of the toddler interacting with and touching him.



Daisy came back around as we were getting ready to leave. She was heading to a different table, but my toddler stopped her for a hug, it was really sweet!



It was a great meal, and we are excited to do it again on our next trip!