Confessions of a Disney Convert: A March 2017 Trip

[ChaseTheWind]

Oh my gosh!! First time trips for kids are my favorite reports and yours is exceptional so far! Following along for sure!

Yay! Glad you're enjoying it!

 

[ChaseTheWind]

Post 5: Our Day at Hollywood Studios

This is going to be long post, friends!

We woke up this morning on the grumpier side of the bed. All those feet to the face had me in a bit of a sour mood, and as I was getting dressed I noticed another thing that was making me cranky without even knowing it: I had gotten a decent sunburn on my neck the day before. A reminder that sunscreen is a must even in sweater weather! At least it's a must for the pale among us. I made a mental note to stop at the gift shop for more sunscreen on the way to the bus.

R was also a little feisty as we went through the motions of eating breakfast and getting dressed. She suddenly hated all of the breakfast snacks that she previously loved, and I knew a hungry R would mean a crabby R at some point. I managed to perk her up by reminding her of the special dress she would get to wear today: the Moana dress! We took R to see Moana in the theater - one of her very first movie theater experiences - and she was riveted by it. As a big fan of Hamilton and Lin Manuel Miranda, I was only too happy to oblige when she asked to listen to the Moana songs in the car. So it wouldn't be too much to say that we were living a life filled with Moana at this point. Her dress and her autograph book (check it out here!) were both a tribute to this new important character in R's life.

We headed to the bus around 7:30, stopped at the gift shop for the aformentioned sunscreen, and then waited while R stopped to "show you one more thing" as she pointed at all of the amazing items in the shop. This time it was the music boxes, and we needed to see each different music box and hear the song it played before we could move on. By the time we dragged her away, a bus to DHS was pulling up. While the MK bus line was monstrously long, we managed to get on this bus with no problem. The bus ride was so quick compared to the ride to MK (I had no idea of Disney geography prior to arriving, so I didn't realize how close AOA was to DHS), and we were through security in no time at all.

There was a decent crowd waiting to be let into the various areas of the park, and if I'm not mistaken they let the "rope" - is there a rope? I have no idea - drop almost 10 minutes to 9. People really took off running in different directions, and though we were part of the wave of people headed toward the Pixar area, we didn't have Toy Story in mind just yet.

Instead, we were second in line to meet none other than Moana! It was not the easiest spot to find: if you're not aware, she's in the very back of One Man's Dream. When we approached the building, the doors were all closed and we weren't even sure if it was open yet. Once inside, we were with a few other people who audibly wondered if we were in the right place. We pressed on through the exhibit - I now wish we had slowed down to look at more of it - and finally heard the sound of the waterfall preceding the meeting area for Moana.

R went quiet with awe again at the sight of her! Moana asked if R had seen Pua or Hei Hei anywhere, which set her to shyly giggling.

Our first FP, for the Frozen Singalong, wasn't until 10:15, and we didn't have a real plan for what to do until then. But B couldn't resist the siren call of Star Tours, so we headed in that direction with the hope in our hearts that R might be tall enough to ride. The CM outside the ride measured her, and she was probably less than inch too short. I knew this was probably the case, and had no problem with the rejection, but R did not take it so well. She didn't even know what the ride was, but she wanted to be on it! There were tears. B also did not take it too well, as he thought maybe if she'd just stood up straighter she could get on. I reminded him that she might be frightened of many things on the ride, and that it was probably for the best.

Luckily a runner up to Star Tours appeared: watching the Jedi training!

I thought for sure when these guys (guy and gal?) appeared, that R would be terrified. I wasn't totally wrong. She clung to B pretty tight, and after a few minutes said, "I want to go away from here!" No problem, sister! We booked it as quickly as possible, just trying to move away without thinking where we were going. Luckily we happened upon another character meet and greet that R would love: Olaf!

While waiting in line, R was hopping around, jumping from a low curbed area to the sidewalk, and just as I was cautioning her to stop because she might get hurt, she fell right on her butt and began to cry. So in addition to terrifying her with Darth Vader, we also had to contend with a crying hungry kid with a bruised bum. I remembered I'd stuck some cashews in our backpack, and they managed to stall the tears and stifle the hunger for her just long enough to give a special friend a warm hug:

I gave Olaf a hug too, but the photo evidence has mysteriously disappeared! R expressed her surprise that he was warm, not cold! As we exited I wanted to see how the line to meet Minnie and Mickey looked, but we got sidetracked by a sudden desire from R to do a photoshoot. We wandered over to the area outside the Muppet theater, and she insisted that Daddy take pictures of Mommy, R, and Miss Piggy.

She really went in for the tight squeeze on this one!

We suddenly realized that it might be time to get in line for Frozen, but I took a wrong turn and we had to go the long way around back to the Frozen theater. Because of this we witnessed the first March of the First Order, which R again wanted to see but only for about 8 seconds before she said "I want to go away from here!" We hurried into line for Frozen, where many, many people had already lined up. I had no idea that you needed to get there so early!

We settled in for the show, and while R enjoyed it, she kept asking when Anna would come back and if Elsa was coming at all. She sang along dutifully and loudly, though!

There's a fair amount of noise in these pictures because of how dark it was, but I took a shot at capturing some anyway:

And the truly magical moment that excited R to no end: the snow!

With the show over, it was time to meet the grandparents for our next FP: Toy Story! We walked toward that part of the park but were stopped by Stormtroopers, who asked this kid in the stroller for his identification. B called out that the kid didn't need to show his identification, and the Stormtrooper stared B down for what felt like a full minute.

R did not understand this at all, and as we walked on kept asking if Daddy was in trouble. We told her it was all pretend, that they were just pretending, and that seemed to satisfy her.

Once we found D and K, they told us that Toy Story had gone down and that we'd gotten FPs to return later or for any other ride. They'd already scanned their bands in, and we worried that the new FP for them wouldn't show up, so they were handed two paper FPs.

At this point I had a mean case of the grumples. It was hotter than it had been the previous day, the sunscreen I'd lathered on kept getting into my eyes, the ride was down, and I was hungry. Not my most shining moment, but when K suggested a nearby hot dog stand, I said I'd much rather find a place indoors to eat and started walking. B and R followed, and along the way we ran into these folks:

I don't know if we'll ever be able to convince R that Chewy isn't a bad guy based on this lineup he was walking in!

As we took pictures, we settled on PizzeRizzo, and headed in that direction while K persisted and got her hot dog. It wasn't until we were seated and enjoying our perfectly decent pizzas that I came back to my senses a bit. The AC did a world of good, too. A CM came by and gave us a little magic: FPs for Muppet Vision!

Of course we made that our next stop. After the show, which R loved (she reached out to touch anything that came her way), she wanted to show D and K "where the stormtroopers live." We didn't know what she was talking about until she finally said, "the cave!" We realized she wanted to go back to the Jedi training area, to show her grandparents how to use the force.

She coached grandpa through it, showing him how to hold his hand out, and this time she didn't want to leave! We may be in trouble here (that's determination on her face!):

We may have even used the force to will Toy Story back to life, because I checked and it was up and running again! We hurried back over to that area and got into line. We scanned our bands, and as luck would have it, all 5 worked even though D and K had scanned previously. That meant they had two extra paper FPs to spare!

The Toy Story ride was adorable and sweet - B is always the big winner on these kinds of rides, though I always hold out hope that I might beat him one day.

With the two paper FPs in mind, two of the grownups wanted to knock out some not-R-friendly rides. K went off to Tower of Terror, and B went back to Star Tours. That left D, me, and R. We headed into line to meet Minnie and Mickey, where R promptly fell asleep in my arms. The line was about 30 minutes long, and I hesitated to get out of it. I imagined at the very least we'd have some funny pictures of a sleeping kid next to Minnie and Mickey. In the end, she woke up just as we entered Minnie's area, and sleepily walked into her arms for a big hug.

I've just now realized that grandpa took the pictures of this moment, and I don't have them handy. I'll have to update later when I get my hands on them!

We all finished our respective rides at the same time, and someone had magically acquired 5 more FPs, which sent us right back to Toy Story! We had a brief run-in with a green Army man, who twirled R and kissed her hand.

The ride was fabulous the second time around, and Daddy bought R her very first cherry slushy, which we took turns sipping while walking back to the front for our last FP, which was Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We saw that the March of the First Order was beginning again soon, and R insisted that her grandparents needed to see it. What happened to the frightened girl of this morning? Who knows?!?!

Waiting for the march to begin:

Then it was time to head under the sea. R, B, and I all agreed that we much preferred this show over Frozen, even though the film quality of the clips seems seriously degraded.

Exiting the show, the grandparents decided they were ready to head to Epcot - they had park hoppers and wanted to try out Soarin'. B, R, and I were in need of dinner, and R wanted to see the "stormtrooper house" yet AGAIN, so we settled on dark side chicken and waffles. Well, I had some sort of vegetarian panini with mozzarella, tomato, and basil, but it wasn't super memorable. What was memorable was the chocolate cupcake with a chocolate shaped Darth Vader topping it off. Delicious! Here's R getting a little goofy waiting for our food:

And here's cupcake evidence. The tongue sticking out tells you that this is a darn good cupcake.

At this point, we figured we were done for the day. We hadn't met the Disney Jr. characters, but I worried a little that their giant heads might weird R out (I don't know why, I guess they just weird me out a bit!), and other than that, I couldn't think of anything that would be fun for her to do.

But as we walked toward the exit, B wondered aloud about the wait for Tower of Terror; I checked, and it was about 30 minutes. I was fully prepared to push R around and wait it out, but as we were walking by we realized there was a Beauty and the Beast show starting in less than five minutes! In a blink we headed inside while B went off to get his pants scared off (I have ridden that ride once, and will be unlikely to ride it again. I'm still not the best when it comes to thrill rides).

I have zero pictures from that show because R took the opportunity to sit in my lap and I couldn't pass up the cuddles that are getting less frequent as time goes by.

But in an amazing moment, as we settled into our seats (bench), I heard someone call out my name. I looked up, and two seats down was a longtime student of mine who just happened to be visiting DHS for the day while on a college spring break trip. We were equally shocked and delighted to see each other! I guess that silly ride had it right all along - it IS a small world after all.

The show ended at the exact time B got off ToT, and then we began our real exit from the park. Our bus mojo wasn't working today, as we saw many buses pass us before an AoA bus made its way to us, but we were still happy as clams while we waited. What a change from the grumpiness of the morning - just the effect of more Disney magic, I guess!

My feet were killing me though! I reminded myself to drink more water and promptly guzzled a bottle as soon as we walked back into our room.

Before we could get there, R wanted one more photoshoot: with Rafiki this time! We also stopped prior to this to get some grownup beverages: B got a beer and I got something called a Banana Cabana which was quite tasty.

And here she is, settled in for the night with her Olaf blanket and, you guessed it, Moana pajamas. More cartoons before bed? Is this heaven?

All tucked in and tuckered out, we hit the hay in anticipation of our "rest" day, which would include meeting Lilo and Stitch and a dinner at Raglan Road.

Thanks for hanging in with me!

 

[elaine amj]

I love this day. It really helps me to see how a 3yr old's mind works. I didn't take my kids until they were 8/9 and now that they are in their teens, I forget what a preschooler is like. I already have detailed touring plans set up for our August trip but reports like these continue to reinforce the amount of flexibility I need to have.

If I could manage taking my father to WDW and not show an ounce of impatience when he asked to play video games with my son after Space Mountain followed by a leisurely breakfast snack (in the PRIME first hour after rope drop!), I can do anything Especially since that was a 7am rope drop and we had all hauled ourselves out of bed at a super early hour. And of course, those stops meant we faced a 20+ minute line at BTMR. OK - my Type A optimizer soul is still a wee bit upset haha. But I kept a giant smile on and we had an amazing time together. I'm planning to stay in the same frame of mind and expect to alter plans continually based on what my niece wants to do.

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Sounds like a fun and productive day! I don't blame R for being nervous around the Stormtroopers--they're a bit intimidating even for a grown person!

 

[DisneyGateway]

Subbing! I am loving this trip report! <3

So glad you had a magical trip.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

I can't get over how precious your little girl is.

What a fun and special trip- thanks for sharing! Can't wait to read about the rest of it.

 

[kittylady1972]

LOVING this report...such great memories! Just a fun read even though my little kid days are far behind.

Plus I had to mention R's favorite book...that was a BIG favorite of ours as well when my 17yo was little!

"ALL THE HIPPOS GO BERSERK!!!"

 

[Steel78li]

Post 2: Arriving at the Art of Animation

Back when we booked our trip, we were torn between AoA, POR, and CBR. B and his parents had stayed at both POR and CBR in the past, and wanting to make this a unique experience for all of us, I decided on AoA. It didn't hurt that the Little Mermaid was the current obsession in our house, so the idea of staying in a room with seashells for headboards and Ariel's grotto in the bathtub was just too much to pass up.

B's parents ultimately decided they wanted to stay at the Poly for the first few nights and then make a transfer to our resort on Wednesday. This gave us access to a much closer room if we needed it for a midday break, and it also gave us time for us to be a little family of three as well as a great big happy family of five at different times in the day. This was important to me because we live hundreds of miles from our families, and we spend most of our vacation time traveling back home to see them. This would be our first trip as a family that didn't involve "going home," and I wanted some of the memories we made to be about us, just us.

When the bus pulled into the resort, I got a fluttery feeling in my stomach. In the days leading up to the trip, I had been prepared for this day to go wrong in so many ways. I was sure we'd have a nightmare in airport security or at the gate (once, on a previous trip where I was on my own with R, she took off running toward a secured area and had to be rescued by a baggage handler just inches away from an alarm system that would have shut down an entire terminal at Dulles). Not so. I was sure we'd be delayed on our flight or that R would be antsy or grumpy flying in the middle of naptime. Not so. I thought maybe our magic bands would malfunction, that the bus ride would be interminable, that our reservation would be lost. Of course, not so! The fluttery feeling I was having was complete excitement, but also relaxation. We were where we were supposed to be, with all the time in the world to enjoy every last detail.

As we exited the bus K and D stepped out from behind a pillar and surprised R, who didn't know they'd be joining us on the trip! Hugs and squeals were exchanged, and they took her inside to explore the lobby while I got us checked in (I had done online check in but unfortunately my credit card had expired since booking the trip and I couldn't get the reservation online to accept the new expiration date). They took in these great sketches:

I got our room assignment, in building 7 of the Little Mermaid section, and off we headed in that direction.

Again, I was prepared by posts here and elsewhere for a looooong walk to our room. I was pleasantly surprised (a theme for this trip if there ever was one) by how short the walk turned out to be compared to my expectations! Plus, wandering through the Lion King section was such a treat! Here's R and K goofing around in the boneyard on our way to our room:

R loved seeing Simba and "Scarf," her lion friends, every morning and evening. But the main attraction was, of course, the Little Mermaid section. Hold on for a bunch of pictures now!

So our room was in the Ursula building:

R loved her fingernails!

R also loved seeing King Triton every day, too.

After dropping our carryon bags in the room, we set out for a stroll around the rest of the property, walking along the water and counting the bowling pins at Pop Century. When we reached the Nemo section, R insisted on trying out the little playground while I snapped a few more shots of the great exterior theming in the area.

We took a quick tour of the Cars section, but R has not been super interested in the first movie (and I *loathed* the second one), so we didn't linger too long. The pool looks adorable, though! Although it was a bit on the early side, we were all a little hungry, so we headed inside to get a bite to eat at Landscape of Flavors.

That is, until we passed the arcade. R is a sucker for driving games, and the beauty of this - at least for now - is that she doesn't care if there's money in the game or not. She just wants to press the buttons and steer (which is why the only tantrum she had on the whole trip happened after we got off the Tomorrowland Speedway). So she pushed buttons and steered for a bit, discovered the photo booth and dragged us into it, and finally announced she was ready to eat. Thank goodness because I was starving!

And yet another moment when my hesitancy about Disney reared its head: fully prepared to find the food inedible, I walked into the cafeteria, took a breath, and ordered a chicken burger. B had a turkey sandwich, and R had a kid's pizza with apple slices. D had a salad, and K had some sort of burger. The food was . . . good! Not a bite left on any of our plates, with plenty of room for gelato, which is what we had next. Well, everyone but me. I had a turtle brownie.

Scratch that. I inhaled a turtle brownie. It was delicious. I shared with no one. It was delightful.

After dinner, D and K headed back to the Poly with plans to meet bright and early at the Magic Kingdom. We traipsed back to our room and opened the door hoping to see our luggage, but it was not meant to be. We waited another hour or so before the bags arrived, and another hour after that for my package from Amazon Pantry with a few breakfast staples and bottled water to arrive. Meanwhile we got cozy in our pjs, watched lots of cartoons, and talked excitedly about plans for the next day.

Once our items arrived, we turned in very early. R, who is a notoriously bad sleeper (has been since the day she was born), was out like a light by 8:00 or so, and by 9:00 even the two of us adults hit the pillows. I had lucked out with my own bed as R had requested Daddy share a bed with her the first night, and I luxuriated in the space! Soon we were all dreaming, and no one stirred until my alarm went off at 6:00 am, shooting me straight out bed and into the beginning of our day at MK!

 

[Steel78li]

Great pics!

 

[nenglim]

And the truly magical moment that excited R to no end: the snow!

My family loved the Frozen show. DH and I as well as my 17yo DS were laughing at the grown up jokes they had. My 5yo then was singing to her hearts content. When the snow came we were so further back we didnt get any. So when we came back summer of last year we lined at the right spot to get the close to middle seat. it was perfect! You would think this kid has not seen snow ever which is further from the truth living in NJ.

 

[gracer9977]

Following

Love this report. R is adorable.

 

[melissainwonderland]

Great pictures!! Looks like an awesome time! What camera do you use? The details are amazing

 

[Sarahboo]

Awww, I love your TR so far! Taking both of my kids at that age was so magical, and I'm glad you didn't wait until she was older. There's something really special about them really believing the magic.

How funny that she went back and forth on Star Wars being scary and demanding that you all see the cave and the march again. Love!

 

[PrincePluto]

Great day at DHS! One observation that you may want to correct: In the section where you were at Pixar, you spelled out R's full name. Don't know if this was by accident or intentional...

 

[ChaseTheWind]

I love this day. It really helps me to see how a 3yr old's mind works. I didn't take my kids until they were 8/9 and now that they are in their teens, I forget what a preschooler is like. I already have detailed touring plans set up for our August trip but reports like these continue to reinforce the amount of flexibility I need to have.

If I could manage taking my father to WDW and not show an ounce of impatience when he asked to play video games with my son after Space Mountain followed by a leisurely breakfast snack (in the PRIME first hour after rope drop!), I can do anything Especially since that was a 7am rope drop and we had all hauled ourselves out of bed at a super early hour. And of course, those stops meant we faced a 20+ minute line at BTMR. OK - my Type A optimizer soul is still a wee bit upset haha. But I kept a giant smile on and we had an amazing time together. I'm planning to stay in the same frame of mind and expect to alter plans continually based on what my niece wants to do.

It is so interesting the way all of the planning creates a story in my head about how the day should unfold. Nobody else is aware of that story, though, least of all my daughter! So rolling with the stories they have in their heads is a compromise, and I'm not the best at compromise. But it seems like so many times on this trip it was worth it. Letting the three year old lead (in some ways - she still had to eat green beans) was really exciting and fun.

 

[ChaseTheWind]

Sounds like a fun and productive day! I don't blame R for being nervous around the Stormtroopers--they're a bit intimidating even for a grown person!

Right? Although it was kind of hilarious to watch adults suddenly struck silent by their imposing gestures!

 

[ChaseTheWind]

Subbing! I am loving this trip report! <3

So glad you had a magical trip.

I'm glad you're following along! And thank you!

 

[ChaseTheWind]

I can't get over how precious your little girl is.

What a fun and special trip- thanks for sharing! Can't wait to read about the rest of it.

Thank you for your kind words - I only see her through a mother's biased eyes

 

[ChaseTheWind]

LOVING this report...such great memories! Just a fun read even though my little kid days are far behind.

Plus I had to mention R's favorite book...that was a BIG favorite of ours as well when my 17yo was little!

"ALL THE HIPPOS GO BERSERK!!!"

Yes! I was not at all surprised that she chose this book to come along with us. She knows it by heart and loves to point out the hippo with the telephone on his head as if he is the height of comic genius.

I highly recommend it, and I'm so glad it was a favorite for your family, too.

 

[ChaseTheWind]

Great pics!

Thank you!

Great pictures!! Looks like an awesome time! What camera do you use? The details are amazing

A lot of the pictures are from an iPhone, but I also took photos with my Nikon D7100. Mostly I used the kit lens, but for the welcome show and parade at MK, I used a Sigma 70-300mm lens, which is a little heavy but I've always liked it.