The Many Adventures of...A Family With a New Baby! Jan - Dec 2016! New 11/7!

[Tygerlilly]

Also, how are things going in real time?

 

[ariane37]

When they came out, we happened to be in the right place and right time for none other than Peter Pan himself!

He was one of my favorite meets in WDW when the boys were younger I just always find him a bit......odd looking?? Probably just me lol.

Aria is genuinely terrified of the villains, and Peter Pan could tell that so he kept her safe the whole time

First I absolutely love that Capt. Hook still meets in DL! He used to meet regularly in WDW and I have pictures of him with Ricky when he was little. However the fact that PP kept Aria "safe" is adorable!

Oh, I lied, my mom took them in the Aladdin, Genie and Jasmine meet!

Also cool that Genie meets out there! One of Chris's favorites.

Pinocchio stopped by

I've seen a couple reviews of this meal and I love that the characters differ in each one and that there are so many. And I know I keep saying this but - PINOCCHIO! Another non-existent WDW character these days
You had a great morning full of character meets on your last day!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

First of all, I love Peter Pan, so this picture is just amazing to me.

Pure Disney Magic!

I love the picture of Aria and Maya with Aladdin and Friends, such a cool picture!

Also, your brunch sounds fantastic, I love how there are all random characters meeting there!

 

[mousehappync]

That looks like when we were there! It was supposed to be a 2/10, but there was a 30 minute line fir EVERYTHING. I read that this entire year was more crowded than usual at DL. Wonder why?

That's a super cute picture of their Aladin/Jasmine meet! I'm proud of your mom for waiting in a line. Aria looks really happy.

And I somehow LOVE the idea of random characters just popping up. The element of surprise! I'm interested in hearing about how you managed two at a buffet alone in Dec--that's quite a feat! And I love, love, love these pictures of Maya--is she holding hands with Pooh??? So adorable!

Remind me when your Oct trip is again? I think we have our dates finalized--wondering if they overlap. We are planning to arrive 10/27 and leave either 11/4 or 11/5-- waiting on Southwest to release the next wave of flights before I book that part!

 

[Imagineer5]

so precious

Thanks

wow, big crowds, and of course all heading to PP. Oh well, Pinnochio is a good alternative

... that sounds like such a wonderful meet! Great that Peter was able to sense Aria was a bit afraid of hook

Ah, breakfast at the Plaza - I remember it well! It is funny how a little thing like having to get your own drinks complicates things! So glad your mom did come though as we found it to be almost character overload (at least on top of dealing with multiple kids, getting food AND drinks for you and the kids, etc.) Very good character interactions though!



It's funny how at other parts Max is such a popular character ... at the Disneyland Paris 25th event he was one of the main, featured characters ... and you never really see him at WDW

Yes esp since i wasn't prepared for it. PLus keeping Maya's hands away from her allergy foods proves an issue too. The characters were fantastic though so I really enjoyed it, plus it made for a really fun last day thing to do.

Huh I don't even think I've seen Max in anything since A GOofy Movie which i haven't watched in some 20+ years eek.

I seriously need to know where you get the girls clothes. And maybe a picture of their closet. Lol. Because those are some serious girl mom goals. I'm dying to get Piper and Hailey matching outfits and your girls are always the absolute cutest.

LOL well, send me a PM if you really want to delve into it, and I can add you on my facebook I have a closet fb page and have albums of their clothes. It's sort of ridiculous and sort of fun You can get an idea for brands though since I buy from quite a few. Whats nice about it all though is resale is pretty good, so you can buy used and resell for around the same price, or buy new and have a designer make stuff, and depending on the brand get quite a bit of that $$ back when you're ready to sell.

Also, how are things going in real time?

Things are going so great. I just love being home - wish i could do it the rest of my life <3 the girls have been to daycare once, so i could take Emma to her 2-week dr appointment on Monday. Emma is doing well, pretty content and sleeping okay. SHe sleeps awesome in our bed, but we are trying to get her used to the bassinet for the transition to crib - last night she slept 8PM-12AM in the bassinet, then in our bed until 1:45. Ate, then was awake for a bit (she's so sleepy during the day, I'm hoping the overnight awake periods lessen when she can be awake more during the day). BUt she fell asleep finally around 3, then slept til 6:30 so not too bad really. I go to bed at 8 when she does though lol.

How are you guys doing?? I still haven't seen photos!

He was one of my favorite meets in WDW when the boys were younger I just always find him a bit......odd looking?? Probably just me lol.


First I absolutely love that Capt. Hook still meets in DL! He used to meet regularly in WDW and I have pictures of him with Ricky when he was little. However the fact that PP kept Aria "safe" is adorable!


Also cool that Genie meets out there! One of Chris's favorites.


I've seen a couple reviews of this meal and I love that the characters differ in each one and that there are so many. And I know I keep saying this but - PINOCCHIO! Another non-existent WDW character these days
You had a great morning full of character meets on your last day!

Peter Pan always looks odd to me too!! Like they had to keep the feminine look or something?? I have no idea.

Yeah we saw Pinocchio in Disneyland Paris but I don't remember seeing him ever at WDW? Actually that's not true, i think we did during that character training at epcot or something. but def not a typical character.

First of all, I love Peter Pan, so this picture is just amazing to me.

Pure Disney Magic!

I love the picture of Aria and Maya with Aladdin and Friends, such a cool picture!

Also, your brunch sounds fantastic, I love how there are all random characters meeting there!

Yes! So much fun! We love peter pan too and it was such a cool personal meet.

That looks like when we were there! It was supposed to be a 2/10, but there was a 30 minute line fir EVERYTHING. I read that this entire year was more crowded than usual at DL. Wonder why?

That's a super cute picture of their Aladin/Jasmine meet! I'm proud of your mom for waiting in a line. Aria looks really happy.

And I somehow LOVE the idea of random characters just popping up. The element of surprise! I'm interested in hearing about how you managed two at a buffet alone in Dec--that's quite a feat! And I love, love, love these pictures of Maya--is she holding hands with Pooh??? So adorable!

Remind me when your Oct trip is again? I think we have our dates finalized--wondering if they overlap. We are planning to arrive 10/27 and leave either 11/4 or 11/5-- waiting on Southwest to release the next wave of flights before I book that part!

Yeah it was crazy! We did hit some huge crowds, but that's why i like going for multiple days so it isn't like the end of the world if we skip something one day due to the line. I was surprised my mom did the meet too!

Seriously, i know, how cute are these photos from brunch?! LOL I just love seeing them. Esp since Maya wouldn't go near them in December.

We are going early october 4-11. We just added a night on at the beginning bc of cheap flights. Which of course evened out with an extra night in the house we're renting lol, but at least we have a whole day there on the 5th (my birthday) vs waking up at 3AM and flying and all that.

 

[ariane37]

Peter Pan always looks odd to me too!! Like they had to keep the feminine look or something?? I have no idea.

eah we saw Pinocchio in Disneyland Paris but I don't remember seeing him ever at WDW? Actually that's not true, i think we did during that character training at epcot or something. but def not a typical character.

He does sometimes meet as part of the very secret, hush-hush characterpalooza However years ago, when Chris was a baby and Ricky very young, he did meet regularly at WDW. The time I'm remembering he was up front, like around the flagpole or, according to our pictures, possibly closer to Town Hall Theatre. I have pictures of both boys with him AND Geppetto from 2006 and 2007 I do greatly dislike that now you can find the same character in multiple parks rather than a broader range of characters, specific to one or two parks.

 

[Imagineer5]

After brunch, I had one thing in mind I really wanted to stay in the park for: Mickey and the Magical Map show. On my first visit to DIsneyland, I saw an amazing Hunchback of Notre Dame show that I still remember, and I heard wonderful things about the magical map show. We had a little time until a show though so we looked for some low-wait things to do.

The Tea Cups were right there, and they had about a 15 minute wait so not too bad although longer than i like to wait for this. It's so pretty at DL!

We had a great ride although it was hard to get pics

Afterwards, Aria chose to check out Toontown once again, so that's what we did (also conveniently located right next to the Magical Map show).

First we waited for Pluto

Then I noticed a line was forming for the show so we went over that way instead. The waiting area was in the sun and it was hot! We were getting a bit exhausted so I kept the girls in the stroller as long as I could but eventually had to park it and then hold maya. Phew! We eventually made it into the show though and had good seats. Maya wiggled for a bit but then settled into my lap.

And then this happened-

Which also happens to be the last photo I took in Disneyland

We finished the show about 1:15. It was super cute and really well done, although nothing like a true stage show that the hunchback of notre dame was. Aria really enjoyed the story and seeing a ton of different characters used in the show.

We headed out of the park and my mom got the rental car since she had parked it and knew where it was. Bonus - the parking thing was up when she went to leave, so we weren't charged parking! (DL charges like 15-20/day for it). She said she waited a bit but then it never went down.

And just like that we left Disney Word to the wise - don't START a trip with the fun part! lol. I did it this way because the following weekend was going to be Labor Day and thus higher crowds, but it was so sad leaving.

Anyway we made great time and by about 3PM we were at our new home for the next three nights - Hilton San Diego Mission Park. I hopped out of the car since both girls were still asleep, checked us in and found our room.

Entrance:

I took one terrible photo when we got into our room and unpacked a little:

But the room was SO spacious. THere was a huge area near the bathroom to put the PnP, a huge bathroom, two queens, and tons of floor space. The floor was a hard, cold tile, but otherwise it was SO nice (compared to the Grand Californian which was about half the square footage).

I chose this resort because 1) it actually fell into the $140/nt government per diem and 2)LOCATION - it had nice pools and is located RIGHT on Mission Bay. THis was perfect for my mom & girls since the next two days I'd be in meetings.

THank you google for these photos

Similar room (though ours had the tile) but really modern and clean!

After unpacking a bit, we got ready to head to the pool - our walk to the pool took us past the beach!

We found out the pool bar was closed at 5?!?!?! Which left the really nice restaurant or the bar next to said restaurant as food choices - so we sat outside after ordering some dinner to wait for it.

I was able to get a fun drink though and isn't this typical pool-food?!!? A little container of house made goat cheese with crostini?? OMG this was SOOOOO delicious. I love goat cheese, but this took it to another level. It's served with a kalamata olive baguette and just so so good.

One really weird thing - there was a sign by the pool saying ANYONE needing swim diapers is NOT allowed in the pool. There was also no lifeguard on duty.

WHAT?!

I ignored the sign. :-/ No one said anything, but I was really ticked, because it was actually something I checked (nice resorts like this seem to cater more to adults, so I had actually checked in advance to be sure it was kid-friendly).

Maya was busy eating a packet of some sort and crackers, Aria was busy swimming. And I was admiring my goat cheese spread.

Also in my research I found out they had no pool toys or floats for the kids (or life jackets I think) so I did bring a noodle.

After a bit of time there we headed back to the room for baths/showers and so everyone could get to bed at a decent hour!

 

[amazingact21]

Won't it be nice when we won't have sleeping babies on our lap in the summer heat? That's one thing I won't miss as the kids get older.

The google image made your room seem really large. I'm sure that was very nice with 4 people.

A bar closed at 5 o'clock?!? Isn't that prime happy hour? Well, I'm glad you were able to find something to snack on and drink.
And no swim Diapers or floaties available? The only other place I have seen that is on a Disney cruise. But never at a hotel one. Yeesh...

 

[Imagineer5]

So the next two days went by pretty boring for me! I was in meetings. Day 1 I was in meetings until 5PM. My mom sent me some photos - she took the girls to the beach, a playground and the pool.

I was able to come back at lunchtime and just hang out for about 25 minutes before I needed to go back

But, when i got back from my meetings we had tentative plans to rent a surrey bike and check out the boardwalk. The girls however hadn't had dinner, so if we rented a surrey they would wait until after 6PM for that - well Maya's internal clock doesn't allow her to skip dinner at 5PM on the dot, she was HANGRY, and I was upset at the sitation. They also hadn't had baths despite the full day at the beach/park/pool. I was hungry too...and my mom was mad that I didn't want to do the surrey and deal with a hungry Maya. Sooo instead I went to the nice restaurant at the hotel. My mom didn't want to go ($$$) so I ended up having a dinner with the girls by myself.

We ended up with a beautiful table overlooking the water

Don't mind Maya eating crayons lol

I started with a washington apple martini

They had a Swordfish special served over risotto with an olive tapenade. OMG this was to die for too.

Their kid's meals were really nice too and aria enjoyed a grilled chicken dish with veggies and mashed potatoes.

They also happeend to have a souffle dish as a special dessert so I ordered that with a glass of wine!

ALl in all, our dinner was actually REALLY nice. So relaxing and the girls were so good. Despite the circumstances, I was so glad the night turned out how it did lol. My mom got dinner from the bar again (they had a good GF menu so she was happy) and chatted with my step-father.



On the 2nd day of meetings, we had a super short lunch because they were hoping to end early (I was too!) I wanted to do some sightseeing!

So during my 20 minute lunch I took a little drive around. I saw the Fort Rosecrans cemetery which is a military cemetary.

And then the beautiful coast

But, I got back by about 4PM and had been keeping my mom updated so that they'd be ready to check out Old Town San Diego as soon as I got back (it wasn't open too late). Thankfully today she had them all ready to go! When we got there we stopped to check out this guy

We checked out a bunch of shops, I found some candy to bring home along with a pretty copper bowl for Andrew and then edned up here for dinner

It was mexican, so had some GF vegan options for my mom. Aria was weird and ordered a kids salad and proceeded to eat nothing. Ugh! My dish was really good

We had a nice evening out though, and it made for a good ending to the trip!

THe next morning we had a 10AM or so flight, so not too early. Our flight home went well - Aria was great playing with Maya

I did get her to take one okay nap, but otherwise it was a lot of playing and bouncing to keep her happy - but thankfully no screaming or anything!

And that's a wrap!! So - overall great trip, LOVE Disneyland and wish I had had more time in San Diego. I had so little leave though that i had to make do with the time in Disneyland lol.

Thanks for reading along - i need to catch up on all the TR's I've been reading and then I'll get started on December

 

[Imagineer5]

He does sometimes meet as part of the very secret, hush-hush characterpalooza However years ago, when Chris was a baby and Ricky very young, he did meet regularly at WDW. The time I'm remembering he was up front, like around the flagpole or, according to our pictures, possibly closer to Town Hall Theatre. I have pictures of both boys with him AND Geppetto from 2006 and 2007 I do greatly dislike that now you can find the same character in multiple parks rather than a broader range of characters, specific to one or two parks.

Aw that would have been cute! yes we met Geppetto too at DLP! Lol! That would be so much nicer to have a broad range. I need to figure out if Rafiki is still meeting, as i thought i read he was removed too, and Aria asked to meet him. Along with Moana who is also gone. UGH.

Won't it be nice when we won't have sleeping babies on our lap in the summer heat? That's one thing I won't miss as the kids get older.

The google image made your room seem really large. I'm sure that was very nice with 4 people.

A bar closed at 5 o'clock?!? Isn't that prime happy hour? Well, I'm glad you were able to find something to snack on and drink.
And no swim Diapers or floaties available? The only other place I have seen that is on a Disney cruise. But never at a hotel one. Yeesh...

Hahah yeah! It was hot!

Seriously I don't know what was up with their hours!

No floaties, and they didn't want anyone not potty trained IN the pools at all. Yeah the cruise ship thing i can understand, for health reasons and being on the water, but in a resort, it was really strange. Thankfully no one said anything though! (We had swim diapers with us).

 

[ariane37]

Even though you did the "fun" part first lol, it seemed like a very nice last few days of your trip!

They also happeend to have a souffle dish as a special dessert so I ordered that with a glass of wine!

This looks absolutely delicious

Old Town San Diego looks like the kind of place I would really enjoy! Glad you had such a great trip despite mom not always following the plan

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Looks like a fun end to Disneyland and bonus for not being charged for parking!

Your hotel in Adan Diego looks really nice - and based on that one picture of the room you found online the rooms are huge! Bummer about the pool situation and not being super kid friendly - especially after the research you did

You dinner at the nice restaurant looks really nice

Glad the flight home went well

Thanks for another great trip report!!!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I really enjoyed reading about Disneyland and San Diego! The beaches in San Diego look so beautiful Also glad your flight was ok going home!

Looking forward to reading about December!

 

[schmass]

What a great way to make the best of work-travel! Your hotel in San Diego looks so nice. I'm impressed with you taking the girls to a nice dinner by yourself. We just got back from WDW last night, and there were a few times when I was alone with the two kids and it was hard to manage them - I am impressed that you make it seem easy managing yours by yourself!

 

[Dugette]

ANy updates with your mom? Has she been able to go home? That sounds like a lot for her and for you to keep on top of things!

Well, therapy has decided she's at a plateau, so they are cutting off therapy services Monday and moving her upstairs to the long-term care unit (temporarily, though), until we have firm discharge plans. Her mental health case manager and a couple of social workers are trying to figure out appropriate housing options for her. She also has an appointment with her psychiatrist next week and both the neurologist and neurosurgeon the week after, so I'm not sure if we want to make any big decisions before their assessments. So, I don't know, still in a holding pattern and trying to figure things out. I think she wants to go home, but I'm still not clear if that will be a safe and appropriate option for her.

Aria is genuinely terrified of the villains, and Peter Pan could tell that so he kept her safe the whole time

This whole thing is pretty awesome!

Oh, I lied, my mom took them in the Aladdin, Genie and Jasmine meet!

Good for your mom for doing that meet!

I keep looking at baby Stitch in the highchair in the background.

Dale was next so I took Maya out of her high chair to meet him (he's a favorite!!)

Dale is always the best!

Aria had no clue who this was! whoops

I just asked Izzy and she didn't know at first. When I said Max, though, she remembered and then said she wants to meet him too.

I'll reply to the other updates when I can - off to meet the new niece now!

 

[Dugette]

And then this happened-

Aw, cute!

Similar room (though ours had the tile) but really modern and clean!

Looks like a very nice resort!

Yum!

One really weird thing - there was a sign by the pool saying ANYONE needing swim diapers is NOT allowed in the pool. There was also no lifeguard on duty.

WHAT?!

How strange. It almost encourages people with kids who SHOULD have swim diapers on to take their chances without.

Don't mind Maya eating crayons lol

So long as they are dairy-free, etc.

ALl in all, our dinner was actually REALLY nice. So relaxing and the girls were so good. Despite the circumstances, I was so glad the night turned out how it did lol.

Sounds like a lovely way to end the night. Glad the girls were so good for you on your own that meal.

I did get her to take one okay nap, but otherwise it was a lot of playing and bouncing to keep her happy - but thankfully no screaming or anything!

Nice job!

Enjoyed the trip report, as usual!

 

[Stasieki]

Loved your report! Can't wait for your December one. We are going 12/15-12/22 so looking forward to seeing your thoughts on the Christmas offerings.

 

[khertz]

I'm so impressed that you have been able to finish this TR so quickly despite being a newly-minted mom of 3!!

Love all of your Disneyland updates. We will be arrive two weeks from tomorrow, and I can't wait!! These updates got me even more excited, if that was even possible. I do love our WDW visits, but the length of time between our DL visits gives me so much time to miss it that I just can't wait to be back! I'm a bit nervous because we arriving literally just a few days after Guardians of the Galaxy opens and all of the new Marvel stuff starts, so I can't strategize because I have no clue how it's going to be when we get there. I'm just hoping to make the best of it and hopefully we get to ride at least once.

The character meals look really fantastic! A great mix of princesses at Ariel's Grotto and all accounts I have read of the Minnie breakfast, they are just completely random. lol We thought about switching it up and doing Minnie's for that reason, but ultimately decided to do Goofy's again so we can do it on our down day instead of using up park time for breakfast.

Looking forward to the next TR!

 

[Imagineer5]

Even though you did the "fun" part first lol, it seemed like a very nice last few days of your trip!


This looks absolutely delicious

Old Town San Diego looks like the kind of place I would really enjoy! Glad you had such a great trip despite mom not always following the plan

I would have loved to spend more time in San Diego, there is so much to do! I've been there a number of times before though at least.

Looks like a fun end to Disneyland and bonus for not being charged for parking!

Your hotel in Adan Diego looks really nice - and based on that one picture of the room you found online the rooms are huge! Bummer about the pool situation and not being super kid friendly - especially after the research you did

You dinner at the nice restaurant looks really nice

Glad the flight home went well

Thanks for another great trip report!!!

Yeah that resort was wonderful (and even better it was covered from work!) - the places my coworkers stayed were nothing like that so i must have gotten the only per diem room available haha. But weird about it not being kid friendly for sure!!

I really enjoyed reading about Disneyland and San Diego! The beaches in San Diego look so beautiful Also glad your flight was ok going home!

Looking forward to reading about December!

THanks! WIsh i had had more time there but so glad to enjoy the little time we had at least!!

What a great way to make the best of work-travel! Your hotel in San Diego looks so nice. I'm impressed with you taking the girls to a nice dinner by yourself. We just got back from WDW last night, and there were a few times when I was alone with the two kids and it was hard to manage them - I am impressed that you make it seem easy managing yours by yourself!

Oh how was your trip?? It's not easy although now that I have Emma i can say it was a lot easier with two! hahaha. Maya does pretty well at restaurants as long as she has snacks,food, snacks, drinks, etc :-D

Well, therapy has decided she's at a plateau, so they are cutting off therapy services Monday and moving her upstairs to the long-term care unit (temporarily, though), until we have firm discharge plans. Her mental health case manager and a couple of social workers are trying to figure out appropriate housing options for her. She also has an appointment with her psychiatrist next week and both the neurologist and neurosurgeon the week after, so I'm not sure if we want to make any big decisions before their assessments. So, I don't know, still in a holding pattern and trying to figure things out. I think she wants to go home, but I'm still not clear if that will be a safe and appropriate option for her.


This whole thing is pretty awesome!


Good for your mom for doing that meet!


I keep looking at baby Stitch in the highchair in the background.


Dale is always the best!


I just asked Izzy and she didn't know at first. When I said Max, though, she remembered and then said she wants to meet him too.

I'll reply to the other updates when I can - off to meet the new niece now!

Aw, cute!


Looks like a very nice resort!


Yum!


How strange. It almost encourages people with kids who SHOULD have swim diapers on to take their chances without.


So long as they are dairy-free, etc.


Sounds like a lovely way to end the night. Glad the girls were so good for you on your own that meal.


Nice job!

Enjoyed the trip report, as usual!

Thank you for the comments <3 it was a nice end to the trip despite having to work of course!

Loved your report! Can't wait for your December one. We are going 12/15-12/22 so looking forward to seeing your thoughts on the Christmas offerings.

Thanks! That'll be wonderful!! I LOVE December!

I'm so impressed that you have been able to finish this TR so quickly despite being a newly-minted mom of 3!!

Love all of your Disneyland updates. We will be arrive two weeks from tomorrow, and I can't wait!! These updates got me even more excited, if that was even possible. I do love our WDW visits, but the length of time between our DL visits gives me so much time to miss it that I just can't wait to be back! I'm a bit nervous because we arriving literally just a few days after Guardians of the Galaxy opens and all of the new Marvel stuff starts, so I can't strategize because I have no clue how it's going to be when we get there. I'm just hoping to make the best of it and hopefully we get to ride at least once.

The character meals look really fantastic! A great mix of princesses at Ariel's Grotto and all accounts I have read of the Minnie breakfast, they are just completely random. lol We thought about switching it up and doing Minnie's for that reason, but ultimately decided to do Goofy's again so we can do it on our down day instead of using up park time for breakfast.

Looking forward to the next TR!

THe girls have been to daycare a total of 3 days while I've been home on maternity leave, and those are the days i've updated hahaha. Today they are home with me but Maya is napping so attempting to get something out!

I can't believe your trip is coming up so quickly - can't wait to hear about it!! We leave in 15 days and I've been showing Maya youtube videos of meeting characters. She kisses the screen - so hoping that is a sign she won't scream when she sees them....

GOofy's will be awesome, especially if you have a non-park day anyway!

 

[Imagineer5]

Okay so 15 (!!!) days until our next Disney world vacation!! I can't believe it! I have been showing Maya videos of the rides and character meets so she'll be okay possibly this time (as you'll see, she hated the characters in December). Aria is so excited. We started our magic band countdown chain at around day 36, so it's a lot shorter now and Aria loves to count it each morning. The girl's clothes and car seat bags are all packed so I have a short list of things left to pack besides my own clothes, and I also treated myself to a little shopping last week and bought some new outfits, so I'm excited for some HOT weather too!

Yesterday I took the girls to another local zoo (that also has a splash pad as we got up to 88 degrees!)

And Monday, Emma turned 1 month old!

But back to Disney!! So in December 2016, we went on a Mommy-daughter-daughter trip to WDW for 5 nights. I was also 20 weeks pregnant with Emma! We stayed at Shades - had the trip booked before I found out I was pregnant and decided to keep the trip as planned (minus the big rides and drinking, of course). When I initially decided to take the trip, @Dugette decided to make it a family trip with Dug & Izzy too. We aren't doing a joint TR this time - we had a number of non-together times, but I'm sure she'll tell her perspective when she's able to!

So let's get the party started!!

Early on 12/8 (like 3AM) i got up, showered (I did this bc we were heading straight to a park), and then we headed off to the airport. Andrew was taking us so he helped out getting Maya ready while I got Aria and the bags in the car. He dropped us off at the curb side check in where they were able to print Maya's boarding pass and peanut-allergy ticket, which was nice (I wasn't sure if they could do the lap-baby pass there?). Then we headed straight through security. At this time, I realized I had ZERO shoes for Maya. I had told Andrew the night before i needed to grab some shoes for her from her room bc somehow I forgot to pack them - but he got her ready, and I forgot! UGH! She was still in PJ's, and he hadnt' put any shoes on her (even for the airport) so she literally was shoeless. I also had left my sunglasses in the car. Not doing great this morning!! I immediately looked on the Shop Disney Parks app to see what they had, and found these cute ones -

BUT they were not available anywhere in Hollywood Studios, which was our destination. So instead I decided I'd be stopping at Target on the way!

Back at the gate, I found some sunglasses in a shop and then we waited for just a few minutes

and then we were able to pre-board, and I got us the 2nd row. It wasn't a full flight so we were able to have the whole row which was amazing!

We had a few Cheerios incidents with maya spilling them, but otherwise she was totally happy during the flight.

When I needed to do a diaper change I took the opportunity to change the girls into clothes (minus shoes lol). There was definitely no rest for me - Maya was wide awake the entire flight, snacking non stop and enjoying her empty extra seat. I noted the mother behind me was flying with a tween girl, a 4yo boy, and 1 yo girl, and the tween was being really rude to her and totally not helping out. I Felt bad for her! Maya and the other 1 year old were playing peek a boo over the seat though so that was cute.

Soon we made it to Orlando without too many incidents - phew!

I stopped at the Disney Store and (gasp!) sea world store looking for shoes to no avail. That only took about 5 minutes total, but it allowed our bags to be ready and waiting for us! For the first time, I hired a porter to help me with the bags. WHY hadn't I done this before? IDK usual tip, but I thought i tipped okay. We were able to walk straight to the Alamo full-size aisle where a minivan was and I grabbed that! Spent another few minutes getting car seats in and we were off! We were on our way at 9:40.

I stopped at Target and bought two pairs of shoes for Maya plus a case of water, and got the shades at 10:45. I wanted to quickly check in - and awesome, our room was ready!

Outside Shades- all decorated!

I had actually not anticipated the room being ready, so I had the baggage people store our bags. Well 5 min later I called and asked them to bring them lol

I didn't do any unpacking though because we had places to be! I couldn't find my car keys however, so packed up the girls to go see if I left them in the car. It was a good thing I didn't dawdle, because the car was left running out front at Shades. Oops!

We drove over to Hollywood Studios, was able to park for free with Aria's AP, then stopped at guest services and upgraded my ticket to an AP and bought a Tables in Wonderland card. We had arrived just when I thought we would though, as Dugette was just about to be seated for lunch so I was able to hand off the TIW card to see if she can possibly use it (they let her!) - we split the cost of the card, so I wanted her to get as much use as possible.

We didn't feel like a sit-down lunch though so instead we headed in to our first FP which was the Voyage of the little mermaid show (there is a serious lack of rides here for pregnant people lol). Maya was entranced during the show - and then proceeded to pass out afterwards.

Had to decide what to do next, and we ended up at a now- gone character meet and we hadn't even seen the movie yet! Coming up next - lots more DHS fun!