AN AP-ALOOZA with a baby! October TR turned year of Disney! NEW 2/7 AUG FINISHED!

[Imagineer5]

Less than $200/night for the Poly would be awesome! I'm expecting it to be something like the GFV, though, and I think that would be low $200's or so (can't remember exactly what I calculated on that).

I doubt we'll ever have more gift cards than we'll use, since they don't expire! We actually have $450 leftover from this past trip that we'll use at Aulani!

Okay, good to know about AKV. So, do people who are staying on rented points get all of the perks of a DVC member? (I'm not sure what all there are, but discounts or something).

It depends on how the member makes the reservation - our member always puts us down as DVC members and so our KTTW card shows DVC Member on it. However, with KTTW card going away, this perk might also be going away.

HI! I just found ALLLL your TRs and PTRs a couple weeks ago and just got caught up!!! I was looking for advice/info on going to the World with our little DD, Camryn. She will be 18 months when we finally get to take her, so while I was going through your Mommy/Daughter trip, I couldn't help but think about how big and active she will be on our trip in October!! We share DVC points with my mom and dad, and I have been going to WDW my whole life, but I am anxious about going with a baby and how we are really going to have to modify how we navigate the parks! My DH and I, and even my dad, are really looking forward to slowing down and spending more time at the resort, which you helped to solidify is the way to go to keep everyone rested and happy! My mom is the one that is aways Go Go Go, and hopefully she'll realize we can't do that with a baby!

Anyway, THANK YOU for documenting and not giving up on your TRs they are such a pleasure to read and chalked full of good information for us with little ones! Just some things that come to mind that I would like to comment on:

1) If I remember correctly from your December 2012 trip...you were there during our DFTW!!! We were married at the Wedding Pavilion and had our reception in the Whitehall Room at the Grand Floridian on December 9, 2012! It was really foggy in the mornings, except on our wedding day, it was BEAUTIFUL and also the construction crane from building Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was down that day and NOT in any of our photos!!! LOL! (Oh the things Disney Brides worry about!!)

2) I think we might just miss y'all in October of this year, I think you are going just a week or so earlier than we are planning. Darn!

3) I'm glad your DSLR camera is ok after being soaked in the rain, and that it got you into the MK early!

4) I am now trying to figure out how I can afford to buy Matilda Jane and KPea clothes for Camryn! They are absolutely ADORABLE, of course it helps that Aria is GORGEOUS and wears them so well!!! I want to be on your hand-me-down list!

5) YAAAAAYYYYYY Jake is home!!! I'm an animal lover (My BS degree is in Animal Science!) and can relate to how worried you were about him, its a horrible feeling, but I'm glad he's home safe!

That's all I can think of right now, but I will definitely be subscribing and want to follow you over to your 2013-14 PTR/TR to watch Miss Aria grow and change and enjoy the parks!

AWww I really want to continue on with my August TR after all your kind words!! Thank you!! What are your October dates? We are Oct 3-11. Do you have a PTR going? That is so exciting. SO you must be gearing up for her 1st birthday party? Yes 18months and nearly 1 year are completely different ages, it's crazy. Even between August and now - Aria turns 2 on Thursday - she is so different.

WOW a Disney wedding!! So jealous! Hahaha that is so neat that you were getting married when we were there, and now crossing paths again via the DIS!

Haha funny you bring up stuff that happened so long ago, it's fun to remember that VERY wet day when the camera got wet! But yes it is still going strong. I've mentioned a number of times wanting to take a photography class - my first one is scheduled for April!! eek! (coincidentally my 180-day booking window for October, of course!).

Well MJ has their Spring release coming up on Saturday!! LOL gearing up to work on her summer wardrobe! I've sort of made it a hobby - and if you delve into it a bit with your time for buying AND re-selling it actually works out pretty well considering the rate of return on selling the clothes. For instance, a pair of MJ pants might be $36 but she could wear them a few times and you can re-sell for $30 (sometimes even $45-50 if they sold out fast!!). Way better than buying Gymboree pants for $18 and then reselling for $2...so all in all it's actually turned into a good little investment and fun hobby for me!

And thank you!! It is so wonderful to have Jake home! We are so so fortunate. What do you do? Animal Science sounds like a fun major! I am also an animal lover if you haven't seen that already! haha.

I am a DVC member, and you have to show your member card for many of the perks, but I can not speak to what you can and can not get!

Up until KTTW cards going away, I was able to show that to get boat rental discounts, maybe restaurant discounts, get into the TOTWL...but not sure how that will go now since there aren't KTTW cards anymore?

 

[Imagineer5]

Sorry I keep taking a couple weeks for a hiatus. Been busy busy with adding new trips and all that! Plus we were out of town in NH last weekend and Aria turns 2 THURSDAY! EEK! Her birthday party is this Saturday (candy shoppe theme – I need to share this dress I had made for her, it has skirt fabric that has Minnie Mouse AND candies on it – PERFECT!!). PLUS The first Matilda Jane release of the season is Saturday, of course, and my parents and best friend are staying with us over the weekend. LOL!

her dress:

Here are some dum dum topiaries we made

Anyway moving on to DAY 5! Next MK day! We had a ton of plans:

Day 5 – MK / GFC dinner

-Head straight to Merida for meet & greet
-Then head to Tink to meet her
-Then at magic carpets, 9:30 meet Aladdin/jasmine or wait until 10:20
-10 woody/Jessie at exit to splash
-ride pirates
-ride HM or jungle cruise
-Tiki room?
-TSI
LUNCH – CHH? LTT?

Aria Naps 1-3 in stroller, I will head to get FP’s for Princesses & Mickey then shop on Main St

When she wakes:
Tiki Room?
Country Bear Jamboree
Hall of Presidents
Magic Carpets
4:50 Tiana w/ Naveen

Hop on Monorail to go to GFC for dinner, check out new dvc area, splash pad

However, we already did the Country Bear Jamboree and Tiki room, nixed hall of presidents, and already met Aladdin & Jasmine in Morocco, so I did modify the plans a bit.

So we arrived at the parking area early and rode the boat over to the MK.

We didn’t wait too long for the rope drop though I don’t think we saw the show either…so not sure what exactly we did between getting there and getting to Merida, but she was our first destination. By the time we got to the Merida meet & greet there were approximately 8 families already waiting – and she didn’t come out until 9:20.

This morning did not go great time-wise, unfortunately. Anyway, we were finally let into the meet area which is beautifully set up especially for older kids with a coloring area, an archery area, and of course the ramp to meet up with Merida.

It didn’t take too long to do that thankfully - Aria was being really cute in line and did go up to Merida on her own but had quite a pouty face. Not sure what happened there, so I ended up going up to take a pic with her as well.

We left without stopping to color or do archery…and headed to Tink. Here is where our timing was off – the line was already at about 25 minutes and it was only 9:30. Aria had on her fairy dress though and I really wanted to meet Tink – Aria calls her “bell” and Tinkerbelle and Minnie are the only characters she calls by name. They had Tink movies playing in the queue though and for the most part it wasn’t a bad wait (even if it broke my over-20-minute wait rule). And a huge huge plus, we could bring the stroller through the line- makes all the difference when they allow that!

Anyway we finally made it through the line. Forgive me, but I don’t remember this fairy’s name, but this meet was hilarious. Aria did her usual walk up to the character, turn around, and plop down in their lap. Well this fairy thought that was SO RUDE and was making all sorts of silly faces about it and just couldn’t get over Aria doing that. Of course Aria didn’t have a clue what was going on, but I was cracking up.

Then we headed over to meet up with Tink – Aria was all set to go sit in her lap until she saw the Tinker table and made a beeline for that instead, and started pointing out everything to Tinkerbelle. This was such a sweet meet with Tinkerbelle coming over and telling her what everything was, and then Aria sat down for the picture. Totally worth the wait here, and one of our best meet & greet experiences. Definitely going to have to meet up with Tink next time we are at the parks. Side note - I also appreciated the PP guy getting the pics, because 9 times out of 10 the PP photographers just try to get quick pics of the character meets and be done, which always makes me mad because they will miss Aria *finally* smiling or waving or whatnot AFTER the meet.

I like her little hand on Tink's leg, if you haven't noticed her intense wish to not touch any character, this was huge!!

By now however the park was already packed and I had no FP’s yet – so I headed to FL just to see if there was anything with a short wait, I picked up a Pooh FP and then we hopped on IASW. I took some random pictures while we waited in the 10-minute or so wait, because Aria was being super cute following the guy in front of us. She stuck right behind him and waited perfectly in line to board, it was so adorable.

The ride was fun and I attempted and failed to get a video of her clapping and dancing, and to get some cute pics. But you can take my word for it, she loved it!

continued in next post...

 

[Imagineer5]

Next she poured milk all over herself – darn sippy cup!! – so it was outfit change time! She went into her Pirate dress and we headed over to Pirates which thankfully had no wait and enjoyed that (BTW, she hated all dark rides in December…dun dun dun).

Then went to use our Pooh FP

And there wasn’t much else with no wait so I decided to head over to Dumbo and let her play for a bit inside (AC! YAY!) and then ride.

Next up was lunch time – Aria had a veggie squeeze packet and some crackers and then was very tired so I put her down for a nap in the stroller, she went to sleep very fast thankfully and I headed to CHH for lunch just because it was the first place I could think of, though for me (non meat or tuna eater) there really isn’t much to choose from and between that and how tough it was to maneuver the stroller by myself inside with my food, I was a bit annoyed before even sitting down. During her nap time, after lunch, I meandered my way over to Main Street to spend some time in the shops. It was just too hot to be outside (for her, since it was a little sauna in the stroller with the blanket over). I ended up making a pass down the right side through the emporium, crossing and heading up the other side stopping for a bit to watch some glass blowing – but only about 30 minutes had passed and Aria would sleep for another hour or so so I crossed and did that again but more slowly. Which of course ended up in me buying stuff LOL. I got some PJ pants for Andrew, a Tink shirt for me, a nightgown for Aria and I think this is actually where I bought that Minnie purse she got for Christmas. Ok that burned maybe 20 minutes…lol..back up the other side and I checked out some Disney Dooney & Bourke and the glass blower again. Still asleep…back to the other side. Ok MK is officially the most boring park to be in during nap time when by myself and it is hot. I can’t even drink!

I think I ended up sitting on the floor of the emporium in the quietest area I could find and playing on my phone for 45 minutes before little stinker finally woke up.

Once she was awake we ran over to the BCC for a diaper & outfit change (she was sweaty, I swear these outfit changes were necessary! ) and then headed over to Adventureland. I had a Jungle Cruise FP I had picked up earlier to use so we did that first

This was after the change - she poured water all over herself. Better than milk at least.

then I wanted to go to TSI as somehow I completely skipped visiting here on all of Aria’s previous trips and I just love TSI. Maybe I was boycotting it due to the removal of the paint brushes, which was one of our favorite things to do at Disney. At any rate, we got waylaid by the parade, so I took a few pics as we waited to cross, and then hightailed it to the boat.

It was fairly empty there, and the caves were nice and cool, though I guess a bit frightening for Aria. She enjoyed the rope bridges though and looking out of the fort, and we sat and watched BTMRR go by a few times before leaving.

Continued in next post...

 

[Imagineer5]

I had it in my notes that Woody & Jessie would be making an appearance soon by Splash so I thought it’d be neat to catch that – we tried but there was already a 40 or so person deep line so instead I let Aria play in the play area that I have never.noticed.before (AKA the teeniest play area I’ve ever seen). There were kids WAY too big for it running around though so we left shortly thereafter.


I swear some older naughty kids taught her this!

Got a few PP pics on main street (yes we were matchy matchy) and then headed out of the park – to GF!

We had dinner ADR’s at the GFC, as it was yet another restaurant to cross off my list of places I hadn’t eaten. We hopped on the resort monorail and were maybe 20 minutes or so early but were seated right away.

Now there is just something about the GF I just don’t really like? Maybe it’s that I have yet to have a really great meal here and have now tried all their restaurants except for V&A – Narcoossees was the “best” but still not amazing – or maybe just the muted pastelly décor, but it just is not my favorite. You may be wondering WHY we are staying here this October then, and 1) I want to eat at V&A for my birthday and 2) I feel like I should at least give GF a chance at least once. Anyway…I am just saying this because I didn’t really have too high hopes for GFC. The service was great though, and Aria (with ipad) did well at dinner.

I started off with

Chickpea Fritters - Cucumber, Tomato, and Olive Salad with a Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce $6.49

Which were OK. The fritters themselves had very little flavor, and I don’t like cucumbers and that was a very strong component of the dish (yes, no idea why I ordered this). I also had a Rose wine, which I rarely ever order but it was delicious.

I believe for my main dish I had

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breast - Fregola Sarda Pasta, vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes, pecorino cheese, tomato-essence and basil oil $18.99

And Aria had a bit of that (she wouldn’t touch the chickpea fritters).

After dinner we headed right back to the room, and hopped in the pool for a few minutes before bathtime and TV time (i.e. jump on pull out couch time).

 

[JulieODC]

Great updates!!

Happy Birthday to Aria!! We're really enjoying age 2yr right now with DD -- KNOCK ON WOOD!

I love Aria's white shoes - so cute! And your matching purple/navy outfit.

DD loves that play area by Splash mountain!

 

[Dugette]

I can't believe Aria's almost 2! Wow! Beautiful birthday dress! And that is a lot of dum dums! Very cute. Can't wait to see more.

That is nice that they allowed the stroller in Tink's queue. And such a sweet meet with Tinkerbell! So glad she loved it.

Love that she's learned how to wait in lines.

Good thing you had that spare (and perfectly-themed) outfit after the milk incident. (And uh-oh on hating dark rides in December!)

That really is a bummer that they got rid of the paintbrushes on TSI. It was simple, but fun. Looks like fun on the island, though.

Ah, Grand Floridian Cafe, the ADR we didn't make it to. Looks nice.

 

[Imagineer5]

Great updates!!

Happy Birthday to Aria!! We're really enjoying age 2yr right now with DD -- KNOCK ON WOOD!

I love Aria's white shoes - so cute! And your matching purple/navy outfit.

DD loves that play area by Splash mountain!

haha thank you!! We have seen a few "moments" (ie days where we thought we'd never have our sweet baby back) but so far nothing big has changed! Thank you!!

The Splash area was a cute find, I think it was just so packed or something that it was hard to really enjoy it.

I can't believe Aria's almost 2! Wow! Beautiful birthday dress! And that is a lot of dum dums! Very cute. Can't wait to see more.

That is nice that they allowed the stroller in Tink's queue. And such a sweet meet with Tinkerbell! So glad she loved it.

Love that she's learned how to wait in lines.

Good thing you had that spare (and perfectly-themed) outfit after the milk incident. (And uh-oh on hating dark rides in December!)

That really is a bummer that they got rid of the paintbrushes on TSI. It was simple, but fun. Looks like fun on the island, though.

Ah, Grand Floridian Cafe, the ADR we didn't make it to. Looks nice.

We went through a 1,000 dum dum bucket. I originally inteded to make 4 topiaries but we ran out of dum dums

Tink was super cute, and both fairies made for a fun interaction! The line thing was too cute, I should have video taped it.

Yes no screaming but December was interesting!

 

[khertz]

Aww, Aria's meet with Tink!! So so adorable. I'm sure it ended up being worth the longer than expected wait.

The picture of her in the Jungle Cruise queue holding the D&B purse is so adorable!

Tom Sawyer Island is something I have never done. I think on our next long trip we will have to take some time to let Paxton check it out.

 

[AussieAngel]

Another fantastic update!

Wow, Aria is almost 2! Love her birthday dress... But I have to ask, what are dums dums!? Like lollipops? Leo turns 1 in March and I'm in overdrive, planning his picnic birthday party!

What a fun day you had at MK! I just love your matching dresses. So pretty! I'm glad you had a nice dinner at Grand Floridian Cafe... We ate there a few years ago and something was really smelly and odd in my chicken sandwich. Needless to say, I didn't eat much!

How cute are those Tink photos!? Love her little hand on Tink's leg.

Oh no, Leo woke up from his nap! Better scootle. But thank you again for sharing your trip with us!

 

[disneygirl2785]

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIA!!!!!!!!!! Hope all your birthday wishes come true!!!

 

[Imagineer5]

Aww, Aria's meet with Tink!! So so adorable. I'm sure it ended up being worth the longer than expected wait.

The picture of her in the Jungle Cruise queue holding the D&B purse is so adorable!

Tom Sawyer Island is something I have never done. I think on our next long trip we will have to take some time to let Paxton check it out.

Definitely was worth the wait!!

Jungle cruise is really great, she always enjoys it and I look forward to her "getting" the jokes too!

TSI is GREAT! Paxton will love it. I've always loved it there, just need the "down time" to do it.

Another fantastic update!

Wow, Aria is almost 2! Love her birthday dress... But I have to ask, what are dums dums!? Like lollipops? Leo turns 1 in March and I'm in overdrive, planning his picnic birthday party!

What a fun day you had at MK! I just love your matching dresses. So pretty! I'm glad you had a nice dinner at Grand Floridian Cafe... We ate there a few years ago and something was really smelly and odd in my chicken sandwich. Needless to say, I didn't eat much!

How cute are those Tink photos!? Love her little hand on Tink's leg.

Oh no, Leo woke up from his nap! Better scootle. But thank you again for sharing your trip with us!

Yes!! little lollipops. In a bunch of different flavors A picnic birthday sounds wonderful!! I wish it was nice here in March!

EW that sounds weird - you should have said something! something smelly doesn't sound appetizing!!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIA!!!!!!!!!! Hope all your birthday wishes come true!!!

Thank you!! Her birthday was so much fun!

The weekend was a blast - super busy though with my friend, her boyfriend, my mom and step father all staying at the house (and their dogs), then the Matilda Jane release saturday during the birthday party - phew! We will be having an easy going weekend this time for sure!!

 

[Imagineer5]

LAST DAY! I have reached the end of my August mommy daughter trip! Our last day consisted of a visit to DHS, lunch at Brown Derby, nap at the room and then dinner at AKL. I was also naughty and we checked out the Kidani pool and splash pad area. But hey, I have a trip booked for staying at Kidani due to this evening’s fun, so I guess they got me!

Anyway my plans were:

Day 6 – DHS

-Start at sorcerer’s hat meeting characters:Stitch, Chip n Dale
-Then go to Pixar Place to meet Buzz & Woody at 9:15
-9:40 playhouse Disney show
-10 meet mike and sulley at backlot tour exit
-play at honey I shrunk the kids
-Incredibles should be at animation academy around 11:30
-Head to lunch

Head out around nap time, Aria can take a nice nap at resort.

Evening:

Grab swimsuits, head to dinner at Sanaa then play in splash area/pool!


Some things didn’t go as planned (and I forgot my character time notes at the room), but it was still a fun day.

So we got to DHS before opening and waited only 10 minutes or so before the gates were open. Like everyone else, we headed to TSMM first. Last time we rode this Aria sat between Andrew and me, and she hated it! Granted she was kind of squished and couldn’t really enjoy it. Adding to that, it really isn’t *my* favorite ride either (and I wouldn’t wait more than 10 minutes to ride it) BUT first thing in the morning we got right on. And…Aria LOVED it! She had her own seat (I made sure to put my arm around her when we were moving) and she tried to pull the string and play along. Just had a blast! I wished that I had grabbed a FP because by the time we came out the return time was for 3PM or so – too late for our plans.

Walking through the line

I got the person behind us to take a quick pic but Aria wasn't listening

Aria got her own 3D glasses

Next up we hopped in line to meet Woody and Buzz! There was a short line already formed and I have it in my notes that they would come out at 9:15 but they didn’t come out until 9:30.

Aria enjoyed the line though and once they went into their meeting spots, we only had a very short wait. At first, Aria went up to Woody and tried to sit in his lap

But then Buzz came over and Aria screamed and ran back to me. LOL Guess he is a bit too scary!

Not sure what happened here haha, I think we were all chatting about Buzz being super scary.

My other must-dos for the day were letting her play at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area, meet the Monster’s Inc characters, and watch Playhouse Disney. So next up we headed to the play area since the monster’s inc characters wouldn’t be out until 10. I did try to find out where the meet was and didn’t see anyone already standing in line so we headed over to play for a bit.

Here is where they have a large leaf slide which is WAY too big for aria, but thankfully there was a CM placed strategically at the bottom who caught her before she tumbled onto the ground. I guess they know there is an issue with it, at least for toddlers. Whoops, bad mommy.

A better size leaf slide

I let her play for a bit more and then thought I should probably go get in line – by 9:50 or so there were a bunch of families waiting so I mentally kicked myself for leaving. At one point I had to leave my stroller in line because Aria ran off to go run around the attached store, and a few families tried to cut me but I made it clear I was definitely there first. So rude.

This was super cute - the two doors, aria is perfect as an undergrad!

Anyway I was impressed with the meet & greet area although I hadn’t even seen Monsters University yet, but of course knew Mike and Sully – unfortunately Aria was way too afraid of Sully to go up to him and so I brought her up there for photos. It was a pretty uneventful character meet.

Aria is thinking "don't you dare come any closer or even consider touching my leg!"

My last must do was the playhouse Disney show, and we still had quite a bit of time for the next one that would work before lunch, so we headed over to try and meet Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates – one of the shows Aria loves. And it just so happens her little boyfriend at daycare is named Jake so we get to hear all about “Jakey” every day. He just turned 5, and is so darn cute with her.

But first a quick ride

Then playing while I was trying to find out where to wait!

 

[Imagineer5]

Anyway we got there a little early and there was some confusion about where to wait – one CM told us and another family who was also looking for Jake where to stand – but unfortunately Dora (I think?) came out there. We have never seen that so we left that line to look for Jake LOL and finally found him in the gallery area. No photopass again but there was a CM there who was able to get some photos. I handed him my camera unsure whether Aria would go up to Jake on her own, but she went right up and the photos were pretty much all blurry. Poo!

After that meet, we still had a little time to kill and it was hot outside, so I decided to pop in to see One Man’s Dream. It would seriously be the perfect nap time spot if only they allowed strollers inside, grr. Anyway it was a nice visit, but Aria I think was getting hungry and decided to throw a (quiet) tantrum on the floor over something – and I snapped a pic because I still find her tantrums funny.

Love the models

A CM came up and handed her a stack of stickers after this, which she didn’t deserve but I let her have anyway. She was happy again, thank you sweet CM!

Now it was time to head over to Playhouse Disney. I attempted a few photos but failed miserably. The woman in front of me kept moving back and my legs were getting crumpled between her and aria. Aria kept trying to stand, but the people behind me kept complaining when she did. It was REALLY annoying. At a year and a half, try telling her she can’t stand and dance like everyone else in there? Ugh. Luckily she enjoyed the show – much more than the 1st time we saw it (when Handy Manny was there) and clapped along to the music.

We were both hungry at this point and excited to head to lunch! They gave us a booth table with a booster – IDK about your kids but Aria finds booster seats really fun to play around but not so much sit on! Oh well, at least it kept her entertained. The Brown Derby used to be one of our must do restaurants, I have always enjoyed the service and atmosphere in here. Today was no exception! Delicious lunch and great service. I started with a corn chowder – it had little crab cakes that I did try but mainly ignored, and Aria helped me clean that bowl as we both really loved it.

Then I had the tofu bowl which was delicious and I think it is the only main course I would typically eat there, but it is great nonetheless. Aria had a little of it and mostly just her snacks and squeeze veggie packet.

Quick PP after lunch

After lunch we headed right out of the park, to the car, and back to the room for a good afternoon nap. Once again Aria fell asleep on the quick ride back to the room so I brought her in to the crib and then went back out to the car for the rest of the stuff- I had to spend a little time cleaning out the rental car and then spent her nap time packing up what I could since our flight out was the following morning. Of course, she was in the bedroom which also had the suitcases and all the clothes haha so I didn’t have that much to really do, but there were a number of leftovers in the fridge I tossed and washed those dishes and that sort of thing.

This evening we had ADR’s at Sanaa, but Aria woke up in a pretty stinky mood and I didn’t feel like doing another TS that night. It was before the CC guarantee for all TS restaurants so I was able to cancel, but I still wanted to head to the AKL and look for the Kidani pool that I had read all about but never even visited when we stayed there before. So instead of Sanaa, we headed to the Mara for a delicious flatbread dinner and I also got a 4-pack of zebra domes. I enjoyed 2 after dinner and the remaining 2 were my breakfast the next morning haha.

Then we took a walk around to check out the flamingos and then I thought we should head to the pool if we were going to at all so we walked over to Kidani.

I didn’t realize the pool was beyond the entrance to Kidani so first headed inside, but didn’t want to look like I didn’t belong there so never asked anyone where the pool was. Finally I saw a sign and followed it outside and around and made it to the pool area. When we finally found the splash pad I was absolutely impressed in the size! It is enormous! We were the only ones in the area and Aria truly had a blast running around. We never went into the pool so just spent a little time at the splash pad before heading out and back to our room.

That night I let Aria watch a bit of TV while I packed up the bedroom, put her to bed, and then finished up packing in the living room before going to sleep myself. The next morning I had the last 2 zebra domes, packed up the car, and headed to the airport. I swear my GPS takes me a different way every time to the airport, and this time we never passed 1 gas station. Poo! I opted to just pay the exorbitant fee vs. waste time finding a station, but was kicking myself for being so silly.

It was an easy flight home and I was ready to do it all over again! SO amazing being able to spend a whole week with my Aria just the two of us!

 

[AussieAngel]

What a fantastic end to a wonderful trip!

I love the photos with Woody & Buzz... Shame she didn't fancy Buzz, but it makes for a cute story! And oh, that tantrum photo is adorable! She actually looks very relaxed lying there on the floor... I'm sure it wasn't quite that way for you though!

Well done for having a little sneaky play in the pool area, hehee! It looks great!

I'm so glad you had such a fun time, the two of you. What beautiful memories you have shared with us - thank you so much!!

 

[khertz]

I really enjoyed your Mommy & me TR, Lauren!! How great that you are able to take those one on one trips with Aria. Memories to last a lifetime, for sure!

She looks SO cute in that outfit!

Cute character meet photos, even if she was a little scared of some of them. She definitely didn't show it in the pictures!!

 

[Dugette]

Glad you got on TSMM right away and that Aria had fun. Izzy was trying to operate my gun for me too!

Such cute pictures of her waiting in lines in her little Minnie dress!

Ha, so cute sitting in Woody's lap!

Izzy LOVED that red leaf slide. She actually learned how to slide on it. And I pretty much had to drag her away (eventually) kicking and screaming.

That "undergrads" door is cute!

Cute tantrum picture! Izzy sometimes will carefully lay down face down, cry once, then look up at me, like, "Did it work?" And that's it. Funny!

I like how she's holding Mickey's leg in that picture.

That's weird that people didn't want her to stand at the Disney Junior show. I thought that was the whole point - for the little ones to dance around.

We ate a Brown Derby too, but had a regular high chair at a table. Never tried a booster, so not sure how Izzy would handle that. Probably would jump out, I'd guess.

Mmmm, Zebra Domes!

Kidani's splash pad looks like a lot of fun. When we go to Aulani, I'm excited to let Izzy explore their similar one. Perfect for the little ones.

How cool to have that fantastic mommy/daughter time and great memories!

 

[JulieODC]

Great mother-daughter trip!!

Honey I Shrunk the Kids was closed for refurb on our last trip...I'm looking forward to checking it out next time though!

How obnoxious of the Disney Jr show people! When we went, kids were standing all over the place...including DD.

Booster seats! UGH! We had a bad experience with one at CG on our last trip that I'm about to write up in my TR.

 

[dtr_angel]

What a great trip you had with Aria! It looks like she is a very easy going happy toddler. I love all of your TRs as they have been very helpful for planning our next trip with our toddler! I love all the areas you have checked out with Aria that I didn't know about like the play area by Splash Mountain. I can't wait to hear about your other trips!

 

[disneygirl2785]

It depends on how the member makes the reservation - our member always puts us down as DVC members and so our KTTW card shows DVC Member on it. However, with KTTW card going away, this perk might also be going away.



AWww I really want to continue on with my August TR after all your kind words!! Thank you!! What are your October dates? We are Oct 3-11. Do you have a PTR going? That is so exciting. SO you must be gearing up for her 1st birthday party? Yes 18months and nearly 1 year are completely different ages, it's crazy. Even between August and now - Aria turns 2 on Thursday - she is so different.

WOW a Disney wedding!! So jealous! Hahaha that is so neat that you were getting married when we were there, and now crossing paths again via the DIS!

Haha funny you bring up stuff that happened so long ago, it's fun to remember that VERY wet day when the camera got wet! But yes it is still going strong. I've mentioned a number of times wanting to take a photography class - my first one is scheduled for April!! eek! (coincidentally my 180-day booking window for October, of course!).

Well MJ has their Spring release coming up on Saturday!! LOL gearing up to work on her summer wardrobe! I've sort of made it a hobby - and if you delve into it a bit with your time for buying AND re-selling it actually works out pretty well considering the rate of return on selling the clothes. For instance, a pair of MJ pants might be $36 but she could wear them a few times and you can re-sell for $30 (sometimes even $45-50 if they sold out fast!!). Way better than buying Gymboree pants for $18 and then reselling for $2...so all in all it's actually turned into a good little investment and fun hobby for me!

And thank you!! It is so wonderful to have Jake home! We are so so fortunate. What do you do? Animal Science sounds like a fun major! I am also an animal lover if you haven't seen that already! haha.



Up until KTTW cards going away, I was able to show that to get boat rental discounts, maybe restaurant discounts, get into the TOTWL...but not sure how that will go now since there aren't KTTW cards anymore?

Sorry I'm just now responding to these!

Yes, I'm trying to do a PTR! It is located HERE!

With Animal Science, I wanted to be a vet...but Organic Chemistry and Cell Biology killed that dream, lol! But my passion has always been horses, so I moved to Texas and was a breeding manager making, delivering, and raising baby horses! Then I met my husband, and his family has a business transporting horses all over the country! So I work in the family business now! I work Monday, Wednesday, Friday and DH's mom watches Camryn! Tuesday and Thursday I get to be a SAHM! I'm one who didn't know if I'd ever have children, and now its the greatest blessing!

Have you started a new PTR for 2014? And by the way, we're all waiting to hear about the Dec '13 trip......Just so you know!

 

[Imagineer5]

I guess I needed a little DIS break!! But I'm back at Disney planning in full force (in fact, I booked my plane tickets for AUgust & October this week AND I have been booking my DL dining since we are 60 days out! EEK!)

What a fantastic end to a wonderful trip!

I love the photos with Woody & Buzz... Shame she didn't fancy Buzz, but it makes for a cute story! And oh, that tantrum photo is adorable! She actually looks very relaxed lying there on the floor... I'm sure it wasn't quite that way for you though!

Well done for having a little sneaky play in the pool area, hehee! It looks great!

I'm so glad you had such a fun time, the two of you. What beautiful memories you have shared with us - thank you so much!!

Hahhaa Aria's tantrums honestly haven't been that bad, so she just sort of laid there kicked her feet twice or so and then pouted. I'm sure they will get worse!

I really enjoyed your Mommy & me TR, Lauren!! How great that you are able to take those one on one trips with Aria. Memories to last a lifetime, for sure!

She looks SO cute in that outfit!

Cute character meet photos, even if she was a little scared of some of them. She definitely didn't show it in the pictures!!

Thank you so much!! It is wonderful, I hope to do something like it each year even if it isn't always a week at disney.

Glad you got on TSMM right away and that Aria had fun. Izzy was trying to operate my gun for me too!

Such cute pictures of her waiting in lines in her little Minnie dress!

Ha, so cute sitting in Woody's lap!

Izzy LOVED that red leaf slide. She actually learned how to slide on it. And I pretty much had to drag her away (eventually) kicking and screaming.

That "undergrads" door is cute!

Cute tantrum picture! Izzy sometimes will carefully lay down face down, cry once, then look up at me, like, "Did it work?" And that's it. Funny!

I like how she's holding Mickey's leg in that picture.

That's weird that people didn't want her to stand at the Disney Junior show. I thought that was the whole point - for the little ones to dance around.

We ate a Brown Derby too, but had a regular high chair at a table. Never tried a booster, so not sure how Izzy would handle that. Probably would jump out, I'd guess.

Mmmm, Zebra Domes!

Kidani's splash pad looks like a lot of fun. When we go to Aulani, I'm excited to let Izzy explore their similar one. Perfect for the little ones.

How cool to have that fantastic mommy/daughter time and great memories!

I bet Aulani will be SO amazing!! Jealous!!

IDK I guess I picked a bad crowd to sit near for Disney JR, we will definitely be back though.

Yes, Aria's tantrums sound pretty much like Izzy's! I guess that is why I thought it was cute LOL.

Aria's new thing (IE multiple times a day) is looking through a shutterfly book from our June disney trip - and she lovessss looking at a pic of herself going down the leaf slide!! LOL! So much so she was begging to go the other night.

I can't wait to ride TSMM again, at DL!!

Great mother-daughter trip!!

Honey I Shrunk the Kids was closed for refurb on our last trip...I'm looking forward to checking it out next time though!

How obnoxious of the Disney Jr show people! When we went, kids were standing all over the place...including DD.

Booster seats! UGH! We had a bad experience with one at CG on our last trip that I'm about to write up in my TR.

Ack going over to your TR RIGHT NOW after posting this. sorry! And sorry to hear about CG with the booster seat, that stinks!! We had a high chair there, and Aria did awesome! (we were worried lol)

What a great trip you had with Aria! It looks like she is a very easy going happy toddler. I love all of your TRs as they have been very helpful for planning our next trip with our toddler! I love all the areas you have checked out with Aria that I didn't know about like the play area by Splash Mountain. I can't wait to hear about your other trips!

Thank you so much!! I need to get back to your TR too! Just needed a few week's break from the dis i guess!

Sorry I'm just now responding to these!

Yes, I'm trying to do a PTR! It is located HERE!

With Animal Science, I wanted to be a vet...but Organic Chemistry and Cell Biology killed that dream, lol! But my passion has always been horses, so I moved to Texas and was a breeding manager making, delivering, and raising baby horses! Then I met my husband, and his family has a business transporting horses all over the country! So I work in the family business now! I work Monday, Wednesday, Friday and DH's mom watches Camryn! Tuesday and Thursday I get to be a SAHM! I'm one who didn't know if I'd ever have children, and now its the greatest blessing!

Have you started a new PTR for 2014? And by the way, we're all waiting to hear about the Dec '13 trip......Just so you know!

Wow!! Your story is amazing - I have a passion for horses (and BTW Aria has already fallen in love with them too! She keeps asking her daddy for a horse, and to go to disney...ahhh she is MY kid! lolol)

hahahha!! I just just started a new TR!! It's going to be like this one - I'll start with the December trip and then it'll sort of turn into a PTR for the upcoming ones, I guess I need to go check out your PTR!