Our View From the Lodge - April/May 2015

[AspenLL]

Thursday April 30th - Cole's First ADR & Night at MK
After we went back to the hotel for some relaxing and a naptime for Cole, we were ready to make our way to the Grand Floridian for our first ADR at the Grand Floridian Cafe. We hopped a bus over to Epcot so that we could take the monorail there. Grand Floridian Cafe was our favorite meal of our last trip, so we were very excited to get there again!

We checked in and were the first ones seated. I love it when we have an early ADR and walk into a quiet restaurant

Cole of course started making friends with the wait staff and he couldn't be happier to receive all of this attention. One thing that we brought for Cole for meals is a disposable place mat. The four sides have adhesives on it so it sticks right to the table. Saves us from having to wipe down everything with an antibacterial wipe and waste those. Highly recommended! You can get them from bulk on Amazon. I think I paid $10 for about 50 of the Disney Winnie the Pooh ones.

For dinner we both had steak and Cole has chicken fingers and apple slices. The waitstaff were phenomenal as always and were extra so because of how they dealt with Cole. Some of them would be playing peek-a-boo with him from behind the kitchen door and he was having a ball. Another awesome thing is that our waitress said that she overhead us talking about his first birthday and brought us a cupcake and candle to go so we could celebrate again later. A dining rep had previously put a first visit / first birthday note on all of our reservations for Cole, so it was nice to see that she did it for a different reason.

After dinner we made our way back to the monorail to head to the Magic Kingdom! We were excited to get there to see how the new Fantasyland was. It was in the process of being built the last time we were there, so we were looking forward to seeing all these new changes. We were also looking forward to having a relaxing night walking around. We didn't have any fast passes planned, so it was just about going with the flow.

We also took the opportunity to get some photos in on Main Street. This particular photographer was the only one that took the time to take some solo shots of Cole without us asking. We were really happy with that. Here are some of the shots!

We only ended up riding two things, which was The Little Mermaid and the People Mover. Cole didn't seem to have a reaction either way to the Little Mermaid because he was tired. He wound up taking about a half an hour nap after we got off the ride. He did enjoy the People Mover, though, which was earlier in the night.

Speaking of a nap, I want to take the time to tell you about a nice, quiet area that we found. It's the rest area by the Tangled themed area. Here is a photo I found on Google since I forgot to take one:

It was a really great area that helped us out throughout the week. It was our place to go to take a break or a quiet area when Cole was napping in his stroller. They also have hidden charging stations for your phones and tables/chairs for you to eat. What's also convenient is that the bathrooms are steps away. This is located on the way past It's A Small World towards the Haunted Mansion. Columbia Harbor House is right around the corner from it as well.

This was also the only instance where we had some issues with the cheerleading groups that were there for the weekend's competition. I will let Brian touch on that since he was the one who witnessed it having to do with me. Other than that, they were your typical obnoxious kids you would expect with this group. We did have a handful of very respectful ones which was very much appreciated.

As night went on, we slowly made our way back towards the entrance to see if we could catch the Main Street Electrical Parade if Cole would allow it. We wound up snagging a great spot right at the rope close to the entrance of the park. We were in the area close to the side entrance to the Main Street Confectionery. We parked the stroller, Brian picked Cole up and here came the parade!

I am sad that this one came out as blurry as it did, but you can tell how excited Cole was during the parade! We are so happy that he liked it as much as he did for his first time!

After the parade, we made our way back to the buses to go home to AKL. The bus was packed, but you have to expect that when the crowds are all going home at the same time. What's really nice about being at Disney is 99% of the time you are with such nice people no matter how tired they are. Everyone was crammed on the bus yet remained in such good spirits. People gave up their seats immediately to those who had children or those who needed to be seated. A nice way to end the night!

For bedtime with Cole, we found that what worked best was Brian would go on the balcony or down to the lobby while I hung out in bed until Cole fell asleep in his pack and play. That way I could be there in case he needed me and Brian could come back up when he was asleep. After Cole was sleeping, we were able to get ready for bed without disturbing him.

 

[jandlinz]

Great end of your day at MK. Cole looks so cute watching the parade!
-Lindsey

 

[BriLam]

Just a quick note to thank everyone for reading and for your comments, questions, and everything in between, too. It's always nice to know people are actually following along!

Looks like it's my turn to give my day two comments, so hopefully that'll come soon so Lauren can go ahead with the real meat and potatoes!

 

[AspenLL]

Just a quick note to thank everyone for reading and for your comments, questions, and everything in between, too. It's always nice to know people are actually following along!

Looks like it's my turn to give my day 1 comments, so hopefully that'll come soon so Lauren can go ahead with the real meat and potatoes!

Darn skippy you had better get going so I can continue

 

[AspenLL]

Friday May 1st - A Morning at Epcot
Quick note....DH has been extremely busy with work, so he told me to go ahead with the review and he will catch up later with his update!

Today was Epcot day....and also when Avengers: Age of Ultron came into theaters! The last time we were in Disney, we were there for opening day of The Avengers and saw it in DTD along with the gloriously amazing Avenger-rail. We were hoping to see another Avenger-rail this time around, but unfortunately this did not happen. We did, however, get to see an Avenger-bus so that was the best substitute we could have asked for Brian and Cole both wore their Captain America shirts that I got them to celebrate the day! Quick note here....Disney does sell the same shirt, but you can get it for much cheaper and a better feeling material at Old Navy. They always have a bunch of Marvel stuff.

We had four fast passes booked for today....Soarin, Test Track (just me), Mission Space (just DH) and Turtle Talk with Crush. I didn't want to ride anything, so that is how we were able to book more fast passes. However, we got there early enough where Brian was able to run over to Soarin. As we were walking by there, I saw that the wait at the Character Spot was 15 minutes so I decided to take Cole to meet Mickey, Goofy and Minnie while Brian was at his ride.

Let me tell you, Cole was ready to take his first nap of the day as we were going through the line. It would've been much better if Brian came with us so he could make his stupid faces to get Cole to smile while they were taking photos. Despite being tired and getting cranky, Cole had a great first meeting with these guys. They all took a good amount of time with him and tried desperately to get him to smile. It was so cute!

We hung out by the benches near the Character Spot until Brian came back from Soarin. Our next Fast Pass on schedule was for Test Track, so we started make our way over. We saw that there wasn't a big line to meet Chip and Dale, so we hopped on that quickly. It turned out that Chip or Dale (can't remember who is who at the moment haha) started tickling Brian during the photos, so this is the best one that we came out with! Brian is unfortunately very ticklish!

Test Track was under my name for the Fast Pass, so we had to figure this one out because I didn't want to ride it and Brian did. With my bright idea, we switched MagicBands and he went on his way. I told him that I was going to go hang out by the store and would eventually meet him there. While sitting on a bench, I noticed that one of the FP Kiosks was nearby. I hopped on that line to rearrange our fast passes so I could get Illuminations down. Unfortunately, I was only able to book them for Brian and Cole at that time. The CM told me that later on in the day I could add myself to it...which I did and it worked out great. More on that later on!

We met up with Brian and asked him how Test Track was. I will let him get into that with his update because he will tell it better. I will leave you with his ride photo. You can take a guess what his story will be with him as a single rider along with a bunch of high school-aged girls haha!

Ffter a quick stop at the Baby Care Center, we made our way to have some lunch at La Cantina de San Angel in Mexico. We both had Tacos de Barbacoa and Cole had chicken fingers. What I loved about this counter service is the seating area that is on the lake. It is a covered area, so it had a really nice breeze. Here is a stock photo that I found of it:

The meal wasn't amazing, but it wasn't bad either. We had wanted to try somewhere different and this definitely was it. I wouldn't hesitate to eat here again, too. After lunch was over, we slowly made our way through the countries. We were going to stop and see Belle, but her wait was too long and it was getting to be really hot. We found a bench in the shade to sit and hang out for a little while. We were giving Cole some Cheerios and then heard rustling in the bushes behind us. Apparently these guys heard it was snack time and wanted to come check it out!

We were getting ready to head back to the hotel, so we were on our way to do our last ride of the day, which was Nemo. Cole seemed to enjoy himself with seeing all of the bright colors and movement. As we got to the aquarium side of the attraction, we saw that Turtle Talk with Crush was going to start soon. Unfortunately we did not get to stay for it as Cole started getting grumpy...meaning a nap was coming soon. That being said, we made our way back to the buses to go relax at the hotel before making our way back to Epcot for the evening, which will be in another post!

 

[AspenLL]

Friday, May 1st - An Evening at Epcot
We had done a lot of research of restaurants and finally decided on Via Napoli based on all of the great reviews that we read. Our ADR for tonight was 6:20pm. We wanted to time it right so that Cole could get a good nap in at the hotel and we could have time to hang out in the park before Illuminations.

We decided to take the bus over to AK so we could hop on another bus to the Beach Club. We wanted to take a walk through the hotel and over to the back entrance to the park since we just went the front entrance earlier that day. I would love to stay at the Beach Club one day as I love how it is decorated. My family has a place on Cape Cod and the hotel decoration reminds me of growing up there during the summers and school vacations. We haven't had a chance to take Cole up to the Cape yet, but I can't wait to start that tradition with him!

Ok....back to Epcot! We took a really nice stroll through the hotel and on to Epcot we went! We timed things perfectly where we got to Via Napoli with 20 minutes until our ADR time. They gave us a pager, but it went off within 5 minutes. There were still a lot of seats available, so I was surprised based on what I heard about this filling up so fast. However, moments later there was a slew of people coming in and all of the seats were finally taken up. It was at the point where they were no longer seating walk-ins. The problem with this restaurant is that the pizzas come from a different kitchen than the rest of the menu. We were told that there may be a slight difference of when our meals came out, which we said was fine. We both started out with sharing the Fried Calamari appetizer. Brian's meal came out shortly after, which was the white lasagna. I want to say we waited about another half an hour after Brian finished his meal before my pizza came (white pizza). By this point, Cole was already getting anxious and not wanting to sit in his high chair. Brian wound up walking around with him while I finished my meal. Our waitress kept on apologizing profusely for it taking so long, which we appreciated.

It turned out that they saw the note on the reservation that we were celebrating Cole's first birthday and first visit, so they brought out a cookie filled with whipped cream and drizzled with raspberry and chocolate sauce.

After dinner, we spent some time walking around. Figured it was a good time to grab some more photos. Cole was about to pass out for an after dinner nap, so this is the best we could get with him

The FP viewing area for Illuminations worked out really great. It was on the opposite side of the lake, which I was surprised about. Here is a map I found on Google that shows where the viewing spot is:

We were excited to see how Cole would react to this and he had a lot of fun. He actually wound up liking it more than Wishes!

 

[BriLam]

I know you all have probably been awake in bed each and every night wondering when I was going to post my next, long-awaited update. Well, it’s time people. It’s time! You’re welcome in advance.

• As Lauren mentioned, this was our first experience with Memory Maker, the purchase of which was something we went back and forth on. We quickly realized this was totally, absolutely worth the money spent not only in the photos it provided us with but the fact that we (well, Lauren) didn’t need to bother with taking photos for the most part. It was great hitting a PhotoPass stop and then checking on Lauren’s phone minutes later to see how the photos turned out. It was also really neat how some on-ride photos and videos to show up automatically (Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, for example) and others are added by tapping your band below the monitor showing your photo (Test Track, Dinosaur, and others). Really easy and really great.
  
  
• Lauren is a stay-at-home mom who also works from home, so she gets a ton of Cole time throughout the day. I usually see the little man for an hour max every night when I get home from work, assuming I can get home before bedtime. It’s awful when a day goes by when I can’t see him at all, but what can you do? As such, this trip was outstanding for me in that I got to spend a ton of time with Cole. Obviously, I see him a lot on weekends, but this was the first time I really got to spend each and every waking minute for an extended period of time since he was born. I relished the change to carry him around the park and, while my right arm got a workout, it was worth every second. Plus, Lauren got a mini vacation of sorts since she got to take a step back in a way. Just one of the many reasons why this trip, despite Cole being so young, was so outstanding for us all.
  
  
• Lauren found out about the Baby Care Centers throughout the resort prior to our trip. Seeing them in person and utilizing them was outstanding. We mainly used them for diaper changes, but it was great to take a quick break, watch a bit of a movie, use the bathroom, etc. Use these centers: they’re outstanding.
  
  
• Lauren and I have never been big on characters, so this was the first real character meet and greets we have done since we were itty bitty ourselves. While I wouldn’t do it without a little one (just my opinion, to each his or her own, it just doesn’t interest me), it was so much fun to go with Cole, watch the characters interact with him, and watch the others interact with the characters during their turns, too. I have a couple funny or really neat stories of meet and greets for later updates, but my story for this one was touched on by Lauren briefly in her update. While waiting for King Louie and Baloo, there was a mischievous squirrel who was trying to search all the parked strollers and then running away when the characters' handler would see him. He (let’s assume the squirrel was a boy, shall we?) kept it up, much to our amusement. Lauren is a huge animal lover, as a side note. After we had our turn with the characters, we turned around the squirrel was rifling around the bottom of our stroller. We laughed hard, but the handler apologized profusely. We didn’t care at all, and Lauren being the animal lover she was probably felt better that the squirrel got to have some fun in our stroller while we had some fun of our own.
  
  
• On the way out of Animal Kingdom, we upgraded our park hopper passes to six days from five. Long story short, Orbitz had a great deal on five-day park hopper passes that we took advantage of, then paid the $20 or so to upgrade the extra day. As we did this on the way out, the cast member told us Lauren's pass was a military pass assigned to someone else. It obviously wasn’t, in fact she had just used it to gain entry to the park hours earlier. After a while, it was figured out their MagicBand-reading equipment was at fault, which apparently was a fairly common occurrence. Once of the few MagicBand-related issues we encountered throughout the week, but an annoying one at that. After all was said and done, we noticed Cole had finally fallen asleep (at the wrong time, of course), so we headed back into the park to find a quiet spot and relax as he took his nap. We didn’t mind as we love people watching (Cole does too…when he is awake, anyway).
  
  
• After heading back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation, we headed out to the Grand Floridian for our dinner at the Grand Floridian Café. We ate here for the first time on our last visit in 2012 and had two of the best steaks we had ever had the pleasure of devouring. We again made reservations for just after the restaurant opened for dinner (because we are old people in young people’s bodies who like to eat early in quiet environments) and had an equally great time as we did last visit. The staff took to Cole like white on rice and were playing with him throughout our meal. We couldn’t resist ordering the steak again and weren’t disappointed. All in all, a great first table-service meal for this trip.
  
  
• This was the first time seeing the completed New Fantasyland in person and I liked it more than I thought I would. Not that I didn’t think I’d enjoy it, but I really, really loved walking, exploring and listening while making our way through the land throughout the week. It was a great, great addition (as was Storybook Circus, which we had a ton of fun playing around in with Cole later in the trip especially). As Lauren mentioned, one of our favorite spots was by Rapunzel’s tower sitting down, people watching, and listening to the great soundtrack. We ended up there at least two times (and maybe more) throughout the week as Cole napped and I never tired of it. Sitting and peoplewatching in the Magic Kingdom is probably one of my all-time favorite Disney activities.
  
  
• The cheer competition going on the week we were there was obviously well-attended judging by the number of people sporting shirts, bags, and such with the name of the event. While most behaved (for the most part), many were typical teenagers (read: annoying, but hey, we all were once…or still are!) while some went a bit beyond that. I caught one member of that group jokingly acting like they were going to punt Lauren in her backside while she was pushing the stroller with Cole in it in front of them. Unfortunately, I saw it a bit too late to tell them to screw off, but what can you do? For the most part, everyone coexisted fine.
  
  
• I always enjoy the nighttime parades at the Magic Kingdom, and the Main Street Electrical Parade is a classic. We didn’t plan to catch it that night but ended up doing so on our way out. Cole had a great time watching and we did too. As a side note, I saw a video of Disneyland’s Paint the Night, which debuted recently, and it’s absolutely stupendous. Bring that puppy to Florida, will you?
  
  
• We grabbed the bus home and packed on with everyone else. While nighttime rides home from the Magic Kingdom (with me standing as I am a perfect gentleman and sometimes juggling a squirmy little boy at the same time) were the one time the ride to AKL seemed a bit long (and really, it’s not much longer than going to some of the other nearby resorts), it really wasn’t a big deal at all. In fact, I always enjoy the camaraderie on the late night bus rides back to your hotel in Disney. Everyone is tired and has been through the same thing all day, but at the same time, everyone is still happy and upbeat. You’re kind of reviewing your day in your mind and looking forward to the rest of your trip, too. (Unless you are going home the next day, then you feel like garbage!) That one bus ride in particular, I got up from my seat so a mom with two kids could sit. The dad smacked me on the back and thanked me for doing so and we started talking. Meanwhile, one of the kids on the lap of the mom now sitting next to Lauren shared her phone with Cole (on Lauren's lap) so he could watch a Disney show that she was watching. Now that is what makes Disney, and those that are visiting, special.
  
  
• I always enjoyed my nighttime wind-down time when Lauren would lay in bed while Cole went to sleep in his pack and play and I would sit on the balcony or head to the lobby to catch up on my e-mail, texts, and other daily ongoings on my phone as well as to peoplewatch. In fact, at home, I almost always lay on the couch at night before heading to bed to unwind, too. Unfortunately, I couldn’t spend much time on the balcony (or anywhere else outside at night, for that matter) due to the bugs. Still, the lobby made for a great time.

Over and out!