Yes, We're Satisfied With Our Care! October 2015 TR **NEW 8/21 Final Thoughts

[khertz]

Hope you are feeling better soon! (By the way, it seems you leave for WDW the same day we leave for DLR!)

Thanks! Oh my gosh, have so much fun in DL! I can't wait to go back. Too bad we are on opposite coasts though.

Love both of these! Happy family pictures.

Hope you feel better soon and have a great time in Disney!!

Sleeping kids = happy parents! Love those 2 pictures!

Glad you were able to catch the show and enjoyed it!

Thanks!

Oh yes, it's still so nice when they both nap together. lol Now that it's so rare for DS to take a stroller nap, it was especially wonderful on that particular day!

It was a really amazing show. I'm looking forward to seeing it again on our trip!

Cool show - we are pushing our daughter to get through the last two books of HP. She got "hung up" on Book 5 for about a year. (That book is brutal for younger kids to get through - especially if they are not voracious readers.) But she finally got through Book 5 but hasn't started Book 6. That "Three Brothers" show looks pretty neat.

How does the "money exchange" work. Do you actually get wizard money that you can spend in the stores? Or is it all for show.

Book 5 is my favorite of the novels, but I was college age/adult when I read them so I can totally see how it would be brutal for the younger set. It's a huge book! The show is really excellent, and really follows from the movie even more so than the book. The actors are so talented!

The money exchange is kind of like Disney dollars in a sense. For the bills, they come in $10 or $20 and are an even exchange with US dollars. The bills are nothing elaborate, but are made to be spent in the parks. The coins are like the ones from the books/movies (knuts, sickles, and galleons) and come in a collectible case, so essentially you are just buying them as a souvenir, they really can't be spent anywhere.

I'm glad that you got some time to explore Diagon Alley and catch the puppet show. And even better yet that both kids were napping in the stroller so that you could enjoy it at your own pace without having to worry about keeping everyone happy.

I can't see having waited for and then watched the show without a peep of protest from DS, so it was really nice that he dozed even if it was only for a little while. It's nice to have a moment where we could just worry about entertaining ourselves instead of someone else!

 

[khertz]

I'm an update behind, so I apologize for that. I've only got about ten minutes before Landon wakes up from his nap, so I'll have to read that one later...

No worries, I am sooooooo behind on reading TRs!!!

Men in Black is such an awesome shooter game. I remember it being more thrilling than any of the Disney ones.

It had been a few trips since we had ridden this one because DS was too short and we didn't feel like it was worth swapping on, so I had forgotten just how much I love it!

Kreacher in the window! How cool!

The details in this area are simply incredible. It's crazy how many people just gloss over everything too!

Oh my goodness, Paxton's face on Woody Woodpecker's Coaster is awesome. He was having so much fun! It's great that your DH was able to capture that expression; such a great memory to have!

It was absolutely adorable watching him have such a great time on that ride and overcoming his fear! It was one of the highlights of Universal for us, which I wouldn't have ever guessed if you had asked me what I thought would be the most memorable.

TV slows kids down terribly when they are eating. Even when it is the exact same thing playing over and over again.

YES. Paxton is already SUCH a slow eater, but plop him in front of the TV like that and I thought we'd never get out of there.

You mentioned the benefit of the express pass in one of your posts. Would you say the pass is worth buying (if you don't stay at a hotel that offers one with the room)? Alex and I are trying our hardest to go for 3 days in early May, and with 2 kids who can't ride anything, really, I wandered if the price of the passes is worth the extra time you gain by not waiting in line. I figured since you took DD there at 3 months, you'd have a good opinion on the matter.

I would have to say yes. Even if the lines aren't very long, it seems like Express usually gets you on in less than 10 minutes, usually walk on. It makes it so much quicker to get on and off of the attractions and since you have to essentially do them twice, the time savings can be significant! Compare prices. Depending on the time of year, it might be cheaper to pay for the room (at least one night, then you would get express for both days - check in & check out!) than to buy the EP. But even if for some reason we couldn't stay onsite, I could honestly say we would put out the money for EP. It really makes swapping SO much easier!

First off - have a great family trip!

Thank you!!

The Minion ride seems pretty cute and it is nice they have that option to ride with the seats not moving and for littler ones

It is a really great ride with an adorable pre show. I don't know why they don't advertise the stationary seats more, but it's a great option.

That three brothers show looks really cool and the puppets do look very similar to what was in the movie! I love all the details like this in the Harry Potter lands and hope they do similar in the Disney Star Wars lands. I'd much prefer if they can cover the prequels via a 7 minute puppet show rather than 6 hours of movies

It's amazing how much they were able to replicate the feel of that part of the movie. The details in both Harry Potter areas, but especially Diagon Alley, are truly phenomenal. I was trying to take in everything I could and still feel as though I barely scratched the surface.

HA! I'm not a Star Wars fan by any stretch, but I totally get what you mean about those prequels. lol

 

[hokieinpa]

All of these Harry Potter pictures are making me really want to sneak over to Universal for a day in October when I'm there solo. I keep considering it but the cost of a single day ticket is just crazy.

The Three Brothers show does look amazing! And a bonus that both kids were sleeping so you could really enjoy it!

 

[skier_pete]

Just wanted to mention I've been folllowing along with your current trip on Instagram, and it's amazing how different parts of the country have such different culural touchstones. Lots of mentions about Mardi Gras - but to us here Mardi Gras has ZERO cultural meaning. Sure, the start of lent on Wednesday, but even so we don't even acknowledge Mardi Gras.

Here is the complete affect Mardi Gras had on our life this year:
Me (Flipping through instagram in the kitchen): "Hey, it's Mardi Gras today."
Wife: "Oh yeah."

That's it.

But here in Buffalo - we celebrate Dyngus Day. This is the END of the Lent/Easter season, and it is very similar to Mardi Gras where everyone goes out and gets drunk and does lots of stupid traditions. (Men hit women with ***** willow branches while women spray men with water.) It's mostly a Buffalo area thing, though I guess celebrated elsewhere as well. http://www.dyngusday.com/

 

[katt789]

I’m in!! Been gone from the boards for ages but I’m in for this tr! Your kids are adorable!! So glad DD had such a smooth and good first flight! Yay!

Looks like a decent first half day! I haven’t eaten at that spot on City walk, I’ll have to check it out!!

It’s so weird to see it so dark!! Those packing cubes look like an awesome thing to have, that’s for sure! Diagon Alley is so superbly far back! It takes ages to get back there, but obviously SO WORTH IT, esp to do it first thing! UGH THE TEARS! The first time walking into that alley is seriously the most magical thing! They did such an incredible job bringing it to life! I MISS IT SO MUCH!!! We go back down to Disney next week but don’t have any Universal time planned! I need that butter beer!! I LOVE the third book! The movie, not so much, it didn’t do the book justice and there were so many mistakes in what actually happened…shows that that was the only movie with that director, lol. Glad that the baby stations are more accessible at Universal! Okay somehow I have NEVER been in the area with the Woody Woodpecker coaster! DS is having so much fun on that waterslide! Adorable!! Ugh the Simpsons ride…not my favorite…

Fantastic photos!! Can’t wait to read more! Hope you’re feel ing better and have a blast of a time on your mardi gras trip!!

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I just found this TR and I'm all caught up! You have made your trip look like a breeze with your little one and I'm so impressed!

We leave in 2 weeks with our 2 year old and baby who will be 12 weeks. Some days I think it will be fine, and other days when the baby is fussing tons and eating every 2 hours...I think it will be awful! We took DD 1 at almost 4 months and had a great time but it was just her. Oh, and now my older one is in the middle of potty training so I honestly think that will be harder than having 2 in diapers!

 

[khertz]

All of these Harry Potter pictures are making me really want to sneak over to Universal for a day in October when I'm there solo. I keep considering it but the cost of a single day ticket is just crazy.

The Three Brothers show does look amazing! And a bonus that both kids were sleeping so you could really enjoy it!

I know, the ticket prices at Universal are just INSANE now!! I'm so glad it worked out for us to get the AP for this year and save some money.

It was definitely nice to have a few quiet moments to enjoy something we had both been looking forward to seeing!

Just wanted to mention I've been folllowing along with your current trip on Instagram, and it's amazing how different parts of the country have such different culural touchstones. Lots of mentions about Mardi Gras - but to us here Mardi Gras has ZERO cultural meaning. Sure, the start of lent on Wednesday, but even so we don't even acknowledge Mardi Gras.

Here is the complete affect Mardi Gras had on our life this year:
Me (Flipping through instagram in the kitchen): "Hey, it's Mardi Gras today."
Wife: "Oh yeah."

That's it.

But here in Buffalo - we celebrate Dyngus Day. This is the END of the Lent/Easter season, and it is very similar to Mardi Gras where everyone goes out and gets drunk and does lots of stupid traditions. (Men hit women with ***** willow branches while women spray men with water.) It's mostly a Buffalo area thing, though I guess celebrated elsewhere as well. http://www.dyngusday.com/

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. There's a reason a popular phrase down here for Mardi Gras is, "Everywhere else, it's just Tuesday!" You couldn't have ignored it in WDW though. Mardi Gras EVERYWHERE!! One guy in line for Winnie the Pooh noticed DH's Saints hat and said he noticed there were a lot of people from Louisiana, so he asked why there were so many there. I said, "It's Mardi Gras" which was met with a total blank stare for a few seconds until I followed up with, "So kids have a week off from school." That seemed to make sense to him!

Dyngus Day sounds, uh...interesting? lol

I’m in!! Been gone from the boards for ages but I’m in for this tr! Your kids are adorable!! So glad DD had such a smooth and good first flight! Yay!

Looks like a decent first half day! I haven’t eaten at that spot on City walk, I’ll have to check it out!!

It’s so weird to see it so dark!! Those packing cubes look like an awesome thing to have, that’s for sure! Diagon Alley is so superbly far back! It takes ages to get back there, but obviously SO WORTH IT, esp to do it first thing! UGH THE TEARS! The first time walking into that alley is seriously the most magical thing! They did such an incredible job bringing it to life! I MISS IT SO MUCH!!! We go back down to Disney next week but don’t have any Universal time planned! I need that butter beer!! I LOVE the third book! The movie, not so much, it didn’t do the book justice and there were so many mistakes in what actually happened…shows that that was the only movie with that director, lol. Glad that the baby stations are more accessible at Universal! Okay somehow I have NEVER been in the area with the Woody Woodpecker coaster! DS is having so much fun on that waterslide! Adorable!! Ugh the Simpsons ride…not my favorite…

Fantastic photos!! Can’t wait to read more! Hope you’re feel ing better and have a blast of a time on your mardi gras trip!!

Aww thank you so much!!

I was so relieved DD traveled so well! Such a blessing because it had been one of my biggest worries going into the trip.

It was really good. We actually ate there again last week!

It's truly incredible what they were able to accomplish with Diagon Alley. The amount of detail they put in there is astounding!! It's a must see for any Harry Potter fan, and I'm a self professed HP NERD, so I was totally in heaven! It was TOUGH getting up and to the park that early in the morning, but absolutely worth it to experience Diagon Alley for the first time.

I don't know what it is about the Simpsons ride, but it affects me so much more than other motion simulators. It's one I don't mind skipping. lol

We had such a great time!

I just found this TR and I'm all caught up! You have made your trip look like a breeze with your little one and I'm so impressed!

We leave in 2 weeks with our 2 year old and baby who will be 12 weeks. Some days I think it will be fine, and other days when the baby is fussing tons and eating every 2 hours...I think it will be awful! We took DD 1 at almost 4 months and had a great time but it was just her. Oh, and now my older one is in the middle of potty training so I honestly think that will be harder than having 2 in diapers!

I was so worried taking her at 3 months, but compared to last week at 6 months she was SO easy on that October trip!!! lol Now she is into EVERYTHING and was a lot tougher to wrangle on this most recent visit!

DD never slept better than the times we are at Disney. Even though she naps in the carrier a lot, I think she was just so worn out by the end of the day that she knocked out for the night! Yeah, the potty training may be tough, but I definitely wish you well & hope you have a wonderful trip!!

 

[khertz]

We are back from our week long Mardi Gras family trip to WDW and we had a GREAT time!! It's been a long week going back to work and school and trying to get back in the swing of things. I kept opening my laptop every night with the intention of doing an update, but all I really wanted to do was sleep! lol So as a bonus, I'm going to update here, and post a link to the start of my November TR! It will be short but sweet, and is already pretty much complete in a Word document so it shouldn't be too difficult to juggle. At least, that is what I'm hoping for! Thanks for bearing with me!!

Day 2 Continued: Sunday October 18th

When I last updated, DH and I had just enjoyed a showing of The Tale of Three Brothers in Diagon Alley while the kiddos snoozed side by side in the stroller. It was a great little moment for us to take in something we had really been looking forward to while not having to juggle one or both kids and potentially miss out on some of the details.

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When we had been there this morning, we hadn’t made it to Knockturn Alley, so we decided to go there now. DS woke up, and it was nice and cool down there with no sun coming through, so it was a perfect place to stop and reapply sunscreen!

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Here is where you find Borgin & Burke’s, the place for all your dark magic needs!

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The Vanishing Cabinet​

As soon as we came out, we were able to see the dragon breathe fire again, and this time DH was ready with his camera!

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We headed out of Diagon Alley, and DS was asking to ride Woody Woodpecker again so we made our way over there through Springfield.


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While they rode, I stopped at the pizza quick service counter nearby to get some ice water to refill our water bottle.

DS just wanted to run by then, so we met up at Fievel’s and DS went to play while I sat in the shade with DD in the stroller. It had started out cool that morning but now it was getting pretty hot out so it was nice to be out of the sun for a bit. While I waited there, DH went to ride Mummy.

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 2 Continued: Sunday October 18th

We formed a plan for the rest of the day since at 5, we would be splitting up for the night. DH was attending Halloween Horror Nights that night and wanted to be in one of the holding areas by 5 pm so that he wouldn’t have to go through the huge lines to reenter the park. But I was hoping we could all eat together before the kids and I left the park for the evening. We decided to head to the first aid altogether to take a break while I nursed DD, then have dinner together at Leaky Cauldron before I took the kids back to the room. But as we were walking up to first aid, we were stopped by the afternoon parade. So I found a little table off to the side to feed DD while DH took DS to the curb to watch the parade.

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During the parade, the sun came out from behind the clouds and it got HOT. So we abandoned our earlier plan in favor of going back to the room a bit early. It was around 4 pm when the kids and I made our way out, and the line to get in the park for HHN was ENORMOUS. Although I would have preferred DH helping me get the kids to the hotel for the night, it was definitely better for him to be able to stay inside of the park.

I took them back to the room to cool off for a few minutes, then we went down to the pool bar to get some burgers to bring back up for DS and myself. I was glad we had ended up doing this the night before, so even though I hadn’t gone myself, I knew it was available and DH had told me where to go and what to do. I ordered the burgers and found a table to wait for them to be ready, and several of the waitresses came over to peek at DD, who was wide awake in my lap and looking around. Meanwhile, DS was chilling with the iPad.

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After we got up to the room and ate, everyone got bathed and DS went to bed by 8 pm while I finished packing up our stuff as much as I could since we were checking out in the morning. I had thought about staying up to watch The Walking Dead once the kids were asleep, but I was so exhausted myself that I was out by 8:15! But DH had a much longer night ahead of him!

UP NEXT: Halloween Horror Nights

 

[khertz]

I've been meaning to get my November TR up and running for awhile, but time has just gotten away from me, as usual. It was a very short trip with lots of fun crammed in, and we loved having the opportunity to say farewell to the beautiful & amazing Osborne Lights in their last year. As much as I resisted the idea, I couldn't be happier that we made the trip and saw them one last time! So for your reading pleasure, here's the beginning of the TR!

I Just Want to See the Dancing Lights Gleam! A November 2015 TR
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I hope you are interested in joining in on a little Christmas fun!!

 

[Dugette]

Cute parade! Glad you all got some sleep. Interested to hear about DH's night.

 

[khertz]

Cute parade! Glad you all got some sleep. Interested to hear about DH's night.

The parade is cute enough. DS enjoyed it, at least. Nothing like FoF of course! lol

I've been poking at DH to get to work on writing his portion and he finally started working on it, so hopefully I'll have that up soon!

 

[hokieinpa]

I love all of the details in the WWoHP! And it sounds like DS has fun running around burning off some energy!

Fun parade and it's great luck that you chanced into it!

I'm glad your night with the kids went smoothly. It must have been nice to get some good rest before the rest of your trip!

 

[missangelalexis]

So glad you all had fun on your recent trip!

Great pictures- love the fire breathing dragon!

Love the pictures of the parade. While it's no Disney parade, it still looks fun!

Sounds like a fairly peaceful night for you and the kids! I'm sure you were glad to get to sleep early

 

[afwdwfan]

Here is where you find Borgin & Burke’s, the place for all your dark magic needs!

The pictures of Knockturn Alley make me wonder if there was something wrong when I was there. I mean, it was way darker than your pictures. I literally couldn't see 10 feet in front of me. I wondered how they got by with it being so dark. It seemed like a safety hazard. Maybe it just wasn't supposed to be quite that dark in there.

As soon as we came out, we were able to see the dragon breathe fire again, and this time DH was ready with his camera!

Cool pictures!

After we got up to the room and ate, everyone got bathed and DS went to bed by 8 pm while I finished packing up our stuff as much as I could since we were checking out in the morning. I had thought about staying up to watch The Walking Dead once the kids were asleep, but I was so exhausted myself that I was out by 8:15! But DH had a much longer night ahead of him!

I'm sorry you had to get the kids back to the room by yourself, but it definitely sounds like it was the right call. I'm glad that they didn't give you much trouble and everyone was in bed at a decent time!

 

[DDuck4Life]

The pictures of Knockturn Alley make me wonder if there was something wrong when I was there. I mean, it was way darker than your pictures. I literally couldn't see 10 feet in front of me. I wondered how they got by with it being so dark. It seemed like a safety hazard. Maybe it just wasn't supposed to be quite that dark in there.

The picture is deceiving, it was pitch black in there. I felt like I was going to run into stuff when we were walking around in there. There is some post processing in there to lighten the photo enough so you can see everything better.

 

[afwdwfan]

The picture is deceiving, it was pitch black in there. I felt like I was going to run into stuff when we were walking around in there. There is some post processing in there to lighten the photo enough so you can see everything better.

Yeah, I definitely felt like I was going to run into somebody when I was in there. In that case, great job on the editing to get it to look so good. That's way more detail than I could see standing there in person!

 

[Imagineer5]

I'm back on the DIS (back at work LOL). Here and just read your updates! Seeing little Delilah sleeping in the stroller makes me so jealous LOL! Our trip did NOT look like that nice to hear about the proximity of Universal's nursing rooms though I think Maya will not go back to Disney until she is 1 hahaha. Anyway looking forward to more and will go check out Novembers tr too!

 

[khertz]

I love all of the details in the WWoHP! And it sounds like DS has fun running around burning off some energy!

Fun parade and it's great luck that you chanced into it!

I'm glad your night with the kids went smoothly. It must have been nice to get some good rest before the rest of your trip!

The details they crammed into such a small little corner of the park are truly incredible. Even after spending so much time there in October, I still spotted so much that I didn't notice before when we were just there a couple weeks ago!

The parade was not something we had planned time to see, so it was pretty cool that we happened upon it at just the right time. DS really enjoyed it!

I was a little nervous about getting them both to bed in the same room by myself, but they were both so worn out that it was way easier than I had expected!

So glad you all had fun on your recent trip!

Great pictures- love the fire breathing dragon!

Love the pictures of the parade. While it's no Disney parade, it still looks fun!

Sounds like a fairly peaceful night for you and the kids! I'm sure you were glad to get to sleep early

Thanks! It was definitely a great bonus trip!

The dragon is just SO cool. And it's so quick and so random that it can be hard to catch.

Some of the characters in the parade were a little lame, but overall, a lot of fun and DS enjoyed it.

It was great to have an early night! Resting up before a long week at Disney. lol

The pictures of Knockturn Alley make me wonder if there was something wrong when I was there. I mean, it was way darker than your pictures. I literally couldn't see 10 feet in front of me. I wondered how they got by with it being so dark. It seemed like a safety hazard. Maybe it just wasn't supposed to be quite that dark in there.

Cool pictures!

I'm sorry you had to get the kids back to the room by yourself, but it definitely sounds like it was the right call. I'm glad that they didn't give you much trouble and everyone was in bed at a decent time!

I know DH addressed the darkness thing in the photos, but OMG yes it was SO dark!! When we stopped to reapply sunscreen I had to go completely by feel as I dug in my bag because I couldn't see a thing.

Oh yeah, when I saw the line outside waiting to get in (and go through the metal detectors and all that) I knew it was the right decision for DH to stay inside the park. Luckily they were both very well behaved and went right to bed!

I'm back on the DIS (back at work LOL). Here and just read your updates! Seeing little Delilah sleeping in the stroller makes me so jealous LOL! Our trip did NOT look like that nice to hear about the proximity of Universal's nursing rooms though I think Maya will not go back to Disney until she is 1 hahaha. Anyway looking forward to more and will go check out Novembers tr too!

I'm sorry your trip was a little bumpy with the new addition. It's so hard to know how they are going to be beforehand when booking the trip. I know for us, we just booked it and hoped for the best! Luckily it worked out. If we had tried to take Paxton at that same age, I think the trip would have been a lot more stressful as he had reflux and fussiness issues as well. It's funny because I thought Delilah was going to be a lot tougher because she was soooooo fussy in the hospital and for the first several weeks after we brought her home. It was actually just a few weeks before we left that something changed and she stopped being so fussy, especially in the evenings!

 

[khertz]

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