First Trip With Kids - MNSSHP - F&W Festival - Sept 2017 TR

[jrmint427]

Welcome to my trip report! This is my third report, but first since we have had kids. It was a different experience, and so much fun to see the parks through our girls' eyes. One daughter turned 3 on our trip and the other turned 1 a few days later.

Why: Why not? Not that we needed a good reason to go, but my oldest daughter's 3rd birthday was the main reason for the timing. One trip while both girls were still free, and what's more magical than spending your 3rd birthday at WDW?! The timing also worked out so we would be there for the Food & Wine Festival and MNSSHP.

When: September 23 - October 1

Who: Our full group was 10 people! Our family of 4, my parents, my MIL, 2 of my husband's aunt's and 1 uncle

I'm Jessica. I've been to WDW twice as a kid (ages 3 and 10) and twice as an adult (for the Disney Marathon and Goofy Challenge). This was my 5th trip. Here is me with Mickey in 1995:



My husband is Pat. He went to WDW 3 times as a kid, and twice with me as an adult. He was skeptical about a Disney trip as an adult but was sold after our first trip - I don't have to beg too much to get him to go back! This one is from our 2012 trip:



Our oldest daughter turned 3 during our trip, and our youngest turned 1 two days after we left. We celebrated both birthdays at WDW!



We were lucky to have three grandparents joining us on this trip. It meant that our girls got spoiled, but so did we! My MIL's sister and husband have a place nearby, so they, along with another aunt, decided they would meet us there! We only did one park day as a full group of 10, but the aunts and uncle went to MNSSHP with us too.



Where: Port Orleans Riverside

This was our first time at POR, and we had a room next to my parents in Magnolia. My MIL stayed with us for a few nights and with her sisters for a few nights.

How: This was our first trip using a Disney travel agent! I have always loved planning our Disney trips myself, but was so glad to work with an agent this time. She let me plan as much or as little as I wanted to, and it was awesome to have someone else who loves Disney (and knows more about it than I do) to bounce ideas off of, and someone else to be up at 5 AM to help with making dining and FastPass reservations. She also helped with a few things while we were at the parks!

What: Okay, this one is a bit of a stretch. But I did want to mention upfront that we used Memory Maker and ended up with almost 700 pictures over 8 nights / 7 park days! There were a few duplicates in there, but we were so glad to have all these pictures!

We also used the dining plan for the first time. More to come on that...

Stay tuned for our adventures as we celebrated two birthdays, walked 50 miles, had one trip to urgent care, experienced the Food & Wine Festival (& Sugar Ray!) and MNSSHP, received some pixie dust, battled crazy heat and some rain, and had an amazing and magical first trip with our family of four (and ten)!

Table of Contents

Day 1 - Travel Day / Dinner at Boatwright's
Travel Day
Port Orleans Riverside (Check-in)
Dinner at Boatwright's

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios
First Stop - Toy Story
Muppets, Frozen & Indiana Jones
Lunch at Mama Melrose's
Thrill Rides
More Shows, Rides & Pictures
Olaf
Fantasmic

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom
EMH Fail & Safari
Na'vi River Journey
Discovery Island Trail & Lion King
Lunch - Flame Tree BBQ & Restaurantosaurus
The Boneyard & Expedition Everest
Meeting Mickey & Minnie
Finding Nemo and Dinner at Yak & Yeti
Evening at Animal Kingdom

Day 4 - Epcot
First Family to Epcot
Breakfast at Garden Grill
Soarin' & Living with the Land
Nemo, Crush & The Seas
Spaceship Earth & Club Cool
F&W Festival / Frozen Ever After
Meeting Anna & Elsa
F&W / Around the World
F&W / Frozen Ever After (again)
Snow White, Sugar Ray, and Sunshine Seasons

Day 5 - Magic Kingdom
Bus Disaster
It's a Small World / Seven Dwarfs / Carousel
Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch)
Rapunzel & Tiana
PhilharMagic / Under the Sea
Dumbo
Trip to Urgent Care
Space Ranger Spin

Day 6 - Animal Kingdom
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Rafiki's Planet Watch
Doc McStuffins & Rafiki
Dinosaur & Expedition Everest
Tusker House
Flight of Wonder
Flight of Passage
River of Lights

Day 7 - Disney Springs & MNSSHP
Resort & Disney Springs
Jungle Navigation
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP)
Boo to You Parade
Halloween Fireworks
Seven Dwarfs

Day 8 - Magic Kingdom (3rd birthday!)
Meeting Cinderella
Cinderella's Royal Table - Part 1
Cinderella's Royal Table - Part 2
Talking Mickey & Columbia Harbour House
Meeting Belle & Gaston
Be Our Guest Dinner

 

[jrmint427]

Travel Day
This was our first time flying as a family of four. I ended up packing three suitcases; one for my husband and I to share, and two smaller suitcases for the girls. I went a little overboard on their outfits for this trip (we're talking 1-2 outfit changes most days). I had their outfits for each day packed in plastic bags, labeled by the day, which helped me to stay organized. We had to pack a lot of diapers and snacks, and just a lot of gear that you need when traveling with a toddler and a baby.

My parents were thankfully on the same flight as us going to Orlando, but we had to take separate cars to the airport due to all of our STUFF. We left extra early, and it was the first trip in a long time that I felt like I had done a pretty good job of packing everything we needed. It turned out I had forgotten a few small items, but nothing that we couldn't easily replace at Disney (e.g. dish soap to wash bottles, bibs for the baby, and ponchos).

The airport wasn't too busy, and we got through security really fast. It helped that they gave us Pre-Check, which made getting through security with the kids especially easy - our first bit of pixie dust and we weren't even in Florida yet! My toddler was proud to carry her own backpack.



We picked up breakfast sandwiches and coffee, made a bottle for the baby, and hung out for awhile in a mostly empty area before we met my parents at our gate. We can get pretty stressed when traveling, especially with young kids, but everyone was pretty calm this day. The girls enjoyed watching the planes as we waited.



Our flight was on time, and our seats were just a few rows away from my parents. This was the first flight we had to buy a seat for our toddler, and she was not happy with the seat belt situation. She wanted to sit on our laps, so it was a bit of a struggle every time we had to buckle her in. It was the baby's first flight, and she did great! It helped that we could pass a kid or two back and forth to the grandparents.

I was feeling giddy by the time we landed! Everything was so easy on the flight out. We made our way to the Magical Express. I saw people around us had paper tickets and I started to get nervous because we weren't sent any. But when it was our turn, we swiped our Magic Bands, and we were good to go.

We didn't have to wait very long before our bus took off. I think we made stops at Old Key West, Saratoga Springs and POFQ before we got to Riverside. All of the resorts were so pretty, and I was surprised that OKW and SS looked pretty similar to each other. We were so excited to finally arrive at POR. It was beautiful!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am joining in! We were in Disney September 18th - the 24th, we had one day of overlap! Can't wait to hear about the trip.

We picked up breakfast sandwiches and coffee, made a bottle for the baby, and hung out for awhile in a mostly empty area before we met my parents at our gate. We can get pretty stressed when traveling, especially with young kids, but everyone was pretty calm this day. The girls enjoyed watching the planes as we waited.

It is so much easier to be relaxed on your trip when you have time to chill. We usually like to have plenty of time at the airport. it's just not worth the stress of rushing.

I feel like this is a required photo when flying with small children! Love it.

 

[jrmint427]

I am joining in! We were in Disney September 18th - the 24th, we had one day of overlap! Can't wait to hear about the trip.


It is so much easier to be relaxed on your trip when you have time to chill. We usually like to have plenty of time at the airport. it's just not worth the stress of rushing.

Yay, glad to have you here! I'm going to read your trip report as well It was definitely nice to have plenty of time and not be rushed.

 

[jrmint427]

Port Orleans Riverside
My parents and I had requested rooms next to each other. We both received text messages on our way to the resort that our rooms were ready, and with our Magic Bands, we could have gone straight to the room without stopping at the front desk. But we had a few questions and wanted to pick up a map, so we stopped anyway.



I picked up First Visit and Birthday buttons for both girls. We also noticed that we had 2 flat tires on our double stroller when we landed in Orlando.

I bought a used double stroller just for our trip. I didn't want to take our nicer one, and I was going to rent a double stroller for $90 for the week. So when I found one in pretty good shape for $65, I decided to buy used instead. I figured I could sell it after the trip for almost the same price. And since we are already planning our next trip (woohoo!), I'm thinking we might hold onto it just a little longer! It is a Baby Trend Expedition.

I was so proud of finding this good deal, but now my husband was worried I had bought a dud. I assured him that Disney would take care of us - and of course, I was right!

I asked the front desk if there was somewhere we could go to inflate the tires. They sent me to Luggage to check if they had a pump. They said they had one backstage, so they wheeled our stroller off and brought it back with all of the tires inflated. This is why we do Disney! I always feel like we are in good hands and don't have to stress when problems arise. We didn't have anymore issues during our trip, thankfully.

We then went to pick up our refillable mugs for the dining plan, and made our way to our room.



The rooms were nice. The size was about what I expected, and we were able to comfortably fit 2 pack n' plays in our room. The bathroom was a little small, but it worked fine for us. We had hoped for adjoining rooms with my parents, but we were right across the hall from each other. For some reason I didn't take any pictures of our room. I must have been really tired.

We wanted to use the time to unpack, but we didn't have our suitcases yet. So we dropped our stuff off and headed to Boatwright's to check in for dinner a little early.

 

[jrmint427]

Dinner at Boatwright's
We checked into dinner almost 20 minutes early. They took my cell number and said they would text when our table was ready, so we decided to browse the gift shop until then. Our table was ready in less than 10 minutes, so we quickly turned around to go eat.

I liked the way the restaurant was decorated. This was our first time using the meal plan, so we had a lot of questions for our server about what was included and how the meal plan would work. I knew that we had 8 TS credits and had reservations that would require 10 TS credits, so we were going to have to pay for two meals out of pocket, and had questions about that. Looking back, I wish we had used just 1 TS credit between my husband and I that evening, because the 2 TS credits we used ended up being way too much food!

We all loved the cornbread they brought out first. I could have filled up on that alone!



Even though we were getting 2 meals, I really wanted to try the fried green tomatoes. I'm glad we did, they were one of my favorite parts of the meal. I loved the sauce they came with and the corn relish.



My husband and parents ordered steak, and I ordered the vegetarian jambalaya. We ordered a kids meal of mac n' cheese and French fries for the girls to share, and got them yogurt as the dessert. The vegetarian jambalaya:



I was so full from the cornbread and fried green tomatoes, I could barely make a dent in the jambalaya. It was very good, but not really special. Next time I would probably just order vegetarian appetizers and share a dessert with my husband. I packed up the jambalaya to take back to the room, but with all the food throughout the week, I only nibbled on it one other night.

I could not believe the size of the desserts. It was way too much food for our family. For the 6 of us, we normally would have ordered 1-2 desserts to share.

My husband wanted the sorbet, but they were out of it. So he ordered the Banana Pudding, layered with salted caramel. It was very good!



I ordered the Bourbon Street Pecan Pie and was surprised to get an entire pie! They gave me the option of adding vanilla ice cream on top, so of course I said yes. The ice cream was my favorite part, it tasted like real vanilla bean ice cream. Maybe it had bourbon in it? I ate the ice cream and packed up most of the pie to go.



My dad ordered the chocolate cake - also delicious.



My mom ordered the red velvet cheesecake. Of course I had to help her with this one too.



Do you feel like you've gained weight just by looking at these pictures?!

We were completely stuffed after our first meal. We took a very slow walk back to our room.



I wanted to check out where the bus stop was, so I walked around a bit to find the nearest one. My daughter loved the fountain and didn't want to leave it to go inside.



We had an early morning planned the next day at Hollywood Studios, so we tried to get the kids to bed quickly. We were going to put the TV on for a bit, but the sound didn't work. I called the front desk and asked if someone could fix it while we were gone the next day. The kids were ready to sleep and we didn't want them woken up by a technician, but it was a bummer to not be able to watch TV while we were unwinding that evening.

We also started with one pack n' play, as we planned to have the toddler in bed with us at the hotel. That didn't work out very well, so we ended up asking for a second pack n' play after a few nights. I was glad our room was large enough to accommodate both!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Port Orleans Riverside
My parents and I had requested rooms next to each other. We both received text messages on our way to the resort that our rooms were ready, and with our Magic Bands, we could have gone straight to the room without stopping at the front desk.

We were over at French Quarter in February. We liked it a lot. But we didn't make it over and see Riverside at all.

Do you feel like you've gained weight just by looking at these pictures?!

ha! Right?

The kids were ready to sleep and we didn't want them woken up by a technician, but it was a bummer to not be able to watch TV while we were unwinding that evening.

I don't understand how Disney can have tvs that don't work?!?

Boatwrights seems to just keep getting meh reviews. Not horrible but not great.

 

[jrmint427]

We were over at French Quarter in February. We liked it a lot. But we didn't make it over and see Riverside at all.

I don't understand how Disney can have tvs that don't work?!?

Boatwrights seems to just keep getting meh reviews. Not horrible but not great.

We never made it over to FQ! We liked Riverside but have said if we stay at Port Orleans again, we would like to give FQ a try for comparison.

I was really surprised by the TV issue. Of course it’s Disney and they offered to send someone to fix it that evening, we just didn’t want to wait. And when we returned from the parks the next day, it was fixed!

I felt meh about my main entree at Boatwrights. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t stand out. I loved the cornbread, fried green tomatoes and dessert. Unless they change the vegetarian entree, I wouldn’t feel strongly about needing to go back - and if I do, I’ll probably stick to the appetizers next time.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I was really surprised by the TV issue. Of course it’s Disney and they offered to send someone to fix it that evening, we just didn’t want to wait. And when we returned from the parks the next day, it was fixed!

Well, that is good to hear, for sure!

From what I heard, FQ is much smaller than Riverside. The one or two times our bus picked us up and then went over to Riverside. There were many more people waiting at RS. But it does look nice. I would be willing to try RS sometime as well.

 

[jrmint427]

From what I heard, FQ is much smaller than Riverside. The one or two times our bus picked us up and then went over to Riverside. There were many more people waiting at RS. But it does look nice. I would be willing to try RS sometime as well.

The buses were an issue for us at RS one day because we were one of the last stops... I’ll write more about it on our MK day, but it took an hour to get a bus that day!

 

[jrmint427]

First Stop - Toy Story!
I was so excited to take the girls to their first park. I had wanted to get an early FP to Toy Story Mania since it is the only real ride for our girls at this park, but we ended up with a 5:15pm FP. So we decided to rope drop and take advantage of EMH at 8am. It was an early morning, but I was able to bribe the girls into the Toy Story dresses I had brought for them :-D. We stopped for our first Photo Pass picture on our way into the park. The girls were really not sure what to think of this whole experience.



I wasn't sure what they would think of the rides and characters at this age. My toddler tends to be cautious, so I knew it might take her a little time to warm up. It seemed like everything about the park - the sights, sounds, etc. - were overwhelming at first. She wasn't upset, but seemed really quiet and maybe a little nervous, taking it all in.

As soon as the ropes dropped, we followed the crowd straight to Toy Story Mania. It had been almost 5 years since we had been to WDW, so I was surprised I mostly remembered where to go. It probably helped that I had looked at the maps again before our trip too. We quickly found a spot to drop our stroller and got into a relatively short line.



The toddler was so nervous. She didn't know what a ride was, but was pretty sure she didn't want to find out. We kept telling her that it was fun, not scary. The line moved quickly, almost too quickly, as I held up the line a few times to get pictures in the Toy Story room.




I don't remember how long we waited, but it wasn't bad at all! Pat took the toddler, my parents rode together, and I think my MIL and I took the baby.



Even with the baby on my lap, I did pretty well. I don't remember my husband's score, but he was by far the highest score for our group.



We could have ridden again, but I knew we wanted to get in line to meet Buzz and Woody before EMH were over. It was just across the way, and I think the time posted was 30-35 minutes when we were getting in line, but quickly flipped to say 45 minutes. I had our day carefully planned out and was not expecting this long of a wait, but knew we wouldn't have time later in the day, so we committed. I think this is one of the longest lines we waited in our entire trip. It ended up being almost a 50 minute wait. My dad decided to go get coffee while we waited. We were still outside when he left the line, but were just inside when he came back. I had said something to the cast member at the door as we were coming in, and she said it would be fine for him to join us.

It was difficult to wait in a long line with such young kids, but it helped to have 3 grandparents to help entertain them. And extra arms to trade off as they both wanted to be held quite a bit. There were some photo booths we took pictures in as we waited.




We gave the toddler her autograph book as we got closer to the start of the line. She was nervous to meet the characters, but this helped to distract her for a bit.



When we were almost at the front of the line, Woody came through a door (coming back from a break?) and she got a first glimpse of him. I'm not sure if this helped or not. When it was our turn and we went around the corner, she started crying. She was scared of Woody and Buzz, so she kept her distance. The baby didn't want to get too close, but couldn't stop staring.



I won't bore you with all the pictures, but we got into a pretty good rhythm with all the characters. We would take a picture with our family of four, and then the grandparents would jump in for pictures. I often felt a little rushed to get both sets of pictures in and still have time for interaction with the characters, but for the most part, the photographers and character handlers were all really nice about it.

We were running a little behind in our schedule at this point, and quickly headed off to find Muppet Vision 3D!

 

[jrmint427]

Muppets, Frozen & Indiana Jones (& We Lost One)
We hurried to see the Muppets. There was no line, so we were able to walk right into the theater and it wasn't overly crowded. The Muppets were always my dad's favorite, so this was a must-do for us.

We had a FP for the 10:30am Frozen show. I don't remember what time it was, but remember thinking as we left the show that we needed to really book it to make it on time. I think we wanted to be there by 10:15am. As we left the Muppets, there was a bit of a crowd, and we somehow lost my MIL. I ran back to the theater while one of my parents ran ahead to search for her. We both came back a few minutes later without finding her. We tried calling her cell phone several times, but had no luck.

We were short on time at this point - it was already after 10:15, I think about 10:20-10:25. My dad offered to skip the show to stay on the lookout for her. I was disappointed my dad and MIL would miss the show, but knew the girls would love it, so the rest of us scanned our FPs and went into the waiting area. And there she was!

I was impressed that she knew to go there to meet us. I called my dad and he ran back to meet us just before they opened the theater. I was so glad we all got to watch this show together - it was great for the kids and adults! I was cracking up the whole time. The toddler was still a little unsure about everything.





After the show, I had planned for us to see the 11:20am showing of Disney Junior Live. But we needed bathrooms and a snack, so we decided to skip it. My girls hadn't watched Disney Junior shows yet anyway. We got some Mickey pretzels with cheese dip and sat for a bit while the baby napped in the stroller.





Up next was the 12pm showing of Indiana Jones. I have always loved this show, but I knew it would be a risk to take the toddler, who was even a little scared of the Frozen show. We decided to try it anyway and see how she did. Great parenting, right? We were late to the show and had to stand at the very back, which I knew was for the best in case we'd have to leave.

I got to see my favorite scene with the rolling ball stunt, but at this point, the toddler had had enough.



The toddler didn't want to watch, but she didn't want to leave either. I took her to the very back of the arena to wait and see if she would want to go back. A cast member came over and warned me that it was just going to get louder from here. I told the toddler this and asked again if she wanted to leave, and she said yes.

She and I walked around and took some Photo Pass pictures while we waited.



She wasn't too excited about that idea either, and was getting scared of the noises we could still hear from outside of the arena. So we walked down a ways and found a bench to sit and people watch while we waited. Our travel agent gave us the water bottle she is holding, which also had a button to spray water. This came in handy since it was really hot this day!



At one point we thought the show should be over soon, so we started walking back. But then we heard some more booms, and ran back to our bench until we saw people walking out. This was exciting because it meant it was time for lunch!

 

[jchurch0409]

Joining in!!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I think this is one of the longest lines we waited in our entire trip. It ended up being almost a 50 minute wait.

I remember waiting in that line. It does seem to move slow!

One the pic. The photos in the waiting area are fun.

When it was our turn and we went around the corner, she started crying.

Oh. Poor thing!

I won't bore you with all the pictures, but we got into a pretty good rhythm with all the characters. We would take a picture with our family of four, and then the grandparents would jump in for pictures. I often felt a little rushed to get both sets of pictures in and still have time for interaction with the characters, but for the most part, the photographers and character handlers were all really nice about it.

You deserve to take the pics that you want. You waited like everybody else. No different than if you all waited in individual groups.

I love the Mickey Preztels! I could go for one now!

 

[jrmint427]

Joining in!!

Yay, welcome!

I remember waiting in that line. It does seem to move slow!

Even though my toddler was scared of them, she keeps talking about wanting to meet Buzz and Woody when we go back. I hope the line moves much quicker next time! But I'm guessing it could be even worse with the new Toy Story land opening.

 

[jrmint427]

Lunch at Mama Melrose's
We had reservations at Mama Melrose's for 1:10pm. We were doing the Fantasmic dining package, to guarantee seating at the evening show.

On our schedule, I had tentatively planned to meet Mickey and Minnie before lunch, but we decided we would try to do that later if we had time. I had plans to change the girls' clothes before taking them to an Italian restaurant! I didn't want their Toy Story dresses covered in red sauce.

I think we got there a little early, but we were seated pretty quickly. The restaurant was really cute and would be nice for a romantic meal. I really liked the light shade near us.



I started with the Mozzarella and Vine-ripened Tomatoes. I loved this.



I should have done a better job of taking pictures and tracking what others ate! Someone must have ordered the Margherita flatbread.



My toddler was being goofy while we waited for our food.



I ordered the penne alla vodka (pretty sure that's what this was - it's my usual go-to on Italian menus). I thought it was very good, but Pat's cousin still makes my favorite penne alla vodka ever, and she has Disney beat.



My MIL ordered the vegetable lasagna, which I might order if we were to go back again. It was very good!



The baby did not want to sit still. I was thankful to have 5 adults to pass her back and forth so I was able to eat my lunch too!



This is one of those meals where if we weren't on the dining plan, we may not have ordered any dessert. Or we might have ordered one or two for the table to share. Instead, we felt obligated to take advantage, but it also felt a bit wasteful since we couldn't finish all our desserts.

I ordered the dessert sampler: blood orange cake, lemon cheesecake topped with passion fruit pearls, and tiramisu.



I'm not a big fan of tiramisu, but this one was decent. I LOVED the blood orange cake and the lemon cheesecake. I ate way more than I should have and was absolutely stuffed by the time we left. I think everyone else at the table may have gone with gelato, which was also good. Proof that I shared my dessert:



After lunch, we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and agreed to split up for a little over an hour. My parents took the girls while Pat, my MIL and I headed for the thrill rides. We had a 2:45pm FP for Tower of Terror we needed to make!

 

[NYCgrrl]

Joining in too!

 

[jrmint427]

Thrill Rides
After lunch, we had planned in advance that my parents would take the girls and Pat, my MIL and I would go on the thrill rides - ToT and RnR. I made an afternoon FP for the Muppets for the first group (my dad loves that show!) and 2:45pm FP for ToT for us. I reasoned that both thrill rides would have long lines, but we could use the single rider line at RnR to save some time. We wanted to be able to meet back up in time for the 4pm showing of Beauty and the Beast.

Tower of Terror is one of my 2 favorite rides (along with Expedition Everest). I love that it is unpredictable how many times you will drop! I was really sad we would only have time for one ride today, but at the same time, glad we got to ride it together thanks to having grandparents with us.





With our FP, we were basically able to walk up to right outside the first room where you watch the video. We hardly had any wait before we were at our elevator!



I think I had read there are 50 different combinations of tracks your elevator can take, so you never know how many times you will drop, from how high each time, etc. Well we had a really good one this time. I didn't count the number of drops, but it felt like more than usual, and I was thrilled! I was also really impressed with the little girl in the front row who seemed to enjoy the ride. I'll be shocked if we get my toddler on this ride before she is much older!



We hurried over to RnR. I know we were nervous about how much time we had left before the show, so we jumped in the single rider line, which still had quite a wait.

At some point, my parents texted me a picture of the girls both sleeping in the stroller. This became a theme throughout the week. They had no problem taking naps each day in the stroller. When they were tired, they slept. We initially had planned to have time each afternoon where we could go back to the rooms for naps if needed, but it clearly wasn't necessary for us.

We started to worry that we would not make the Beauty and the Beast show while we were in the single rider line. It was moving slower than we had expected it to. I had wanted us all to get there early for good seats, and my parents were waiting for us outside. I finally told them to go ahead without us, and hopefully we would make it in time.

Even on the single rider line, my husband and MIL got to ride together - I guess someone else was on their own and offered to switch.



I ended up with this goofy group!



After the ride we rushed over to the show, which was very close. My parents were saving us seats. They were pretty far back, but there were still plenty of seats. Well the seats they were in put part of our group in the sun, so we moved to the other side of the arena. It was such a hot day, and we had had enough sun!

Stay tuned for more on this show and our evening plans! More shows, rides and character meets to come!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I haven't really been interested in eating here, but both of those dishes look great!

Both of my girls were bald little babbies, and my youngest was bald for a very long time. Love her! So cute.

This is one of those meals where if we weren't on the dining plan, we may not have ordered any dessert. Or we might have ordered one or two for the table to share. Instead, we felt obligated to take advantage, but it also felt a bit wasteful since we couldn't finish all our desserts.

This is kind of my issue with the dinning plan. We def don't need dessert at every meal. The kids meal desserts kind of suck though, and there have been a couple places that I let the girls pick out my dessert for me.

After lunch, we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and agreed to split up for a little over an hour. My parents took the girls while Pat, my MIL and I headed for the thrill rides. We had a 2:45pm FP for Tower of Terror we needed to make!

So, nice that you were able to split up like that. Especially with the girls being so young.

I was also really impressed with the little girl in the front row who seemed to enjoy the ride. I'll be shocked if we get my toddler on this ride before she is much older!

My girls won't ride this, still. One says it is too scary looking and the other says she won't because it's too high.

They had no problem taking naps each day in the stroller.

So VERY lucky about this. My girls NEVER slept in random places. Car or stroller.

OMG, the guy next to you... his face is hilarious!!!!

 

[jrmint427]

I haven't really been interested in eating here, but both of those dishes look great!

Both of my girls were bald little babbies, and my youngest was bald for a very long time. Love her! So cute.

So, nice that you were able to split up like that. Especially with the girls being so young.

So VERY lucky about this. My girls NEVER slept in random places. Car or stroller.

Mama Melrose’s is one of those places where if you can get good Italian food back home, it’s not extraordinary. But the food was very good and the ambience is nice. The only other place we’ve eaten at HS was Brown Derby and I would pick MM’s over it! But planning to try somewhere new next time.

My oldest had very little hair until she turned 3 and at 3.5 still doesn’t have long hair! But I love her little curls . I think the baby is following in her footsteps!

We were spoiled with my parents there. They can’t do wild rides and don’t like anything that causes motion sickness, so we split up for a little bit most park days! We didn’t have to do rider swap at all.

And I know we were lucky with the stroller! I was nervous because they aren’t like that back home. But our schedule had them worn out I guess