Let's Do It Again! - First Family Trip, May 2024 (Updated 2/28 x2 - Epcot and Garden Grill)

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

It was much crazier at Storm Along Bay!

Oh Yeah!!! That pool can get super full! I mean it is for 2 resorts and both are pretty big! And it's pretty cool. But Poly is magical.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Oh Yeah!!! That pool can get super full! I mean it is for 2 resorts and both are pretty big! And it's pretty cool. But Poly is magical.

We only made it down there one afternoon, but it was pretty busy. We had to wait a while for seats for the lazy river. The Poly was so nice - between their great kids splash area and the much easier to navigate pool, it was my favorite between the two resorts. The view of MK is pretty awesome, too!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Hi, Mickey!
Day 1 – Part IV

Character Meal #1 of 10

Once M and I were bathed and changed and we woke L from her nap, we headed to the monorail for our first “ride” of the trip.

M was SUPER excited to ride the monorail.

Her mother was less excited to go through the new (to me) security screening in order to get on the monorail.

I pulled out our cell phones and umbrellas and security recommended leaving them on top of the stroller awning. (This was a great tip – once you know what items are likely to set off the scanners, placing them there kept them visible but out of our hands.)

Everything was pulled out… and I set off the scanner anyway.

I was a little frustrated as a monorail had just pulled up and we would miss it due to the bag check. Thanks to the children we had several bags to search (including a diaper bag with multiple inserts and pockets). The security gal was super nice and told me it would be okay – she suspected it was our autograph books with their spiral binding that set off the scanner.

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

Thankfully our bag search didn’t take much time (we were the only people in “in line” for the bag search – gotta love the resort monorail stops!) and another monorail came quickly.

Ah, the monorail:

M was dressed perfectly for our dinner in her Minnie sundress and matching ears. We brought an outfit for L but elected to keep her in what she was wearing - she was a little cranky when we woke her from her (too short) nap.

I think our favorite part of the monorail was wheeling the double stroller right onto it. G didn’t realize how much he appreciated this until we had to fold that side-by-side double stroller for the skyliner.

Just fifteen minutes later we’d made our way around the Seven Seas Lagoon and were in front of our dinner spot:

This was my first time dining at Chef Mickey’s. I love Disney dining and am a fan of character meals, but Chef Mickey’s has never been on my radar as I've never planned a trip with young kids. However, staying on the monorail with two kids in tow, dinner with the Fab Five seemed like the perfect way to kick off our trip!

We parked the stroller to the left of the restaurant entrance and waited about ten minutes before being seated. We got settled at our table and ordered drinks before M and I went to the buffet. There are two buffet lines with the same things on each side. Here’s a picture I grabbed on our way out of the end of the buffet (we started from the other end):

The buffet at Chef Mickey’s is HUGE and has a ton of options. You can make your own salad or grab fresh fruit, choose from a variety of breads, pick from several cold salads and warm soups, choose various items from the Italian, Asian, Latin, and American stations, and has several kid-friendly favorites like chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. That’s before you even get to the desserts!

I helped M choose things she would like from the line, including peel-and-eat shrimp, vegetables, a breadstick, and corn dog nuggets:

Thankfully M carried her plate as I was also getting food for L and myself. For L, I grabbed rice, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and a bunch of grapes:

I had the fullest plate, with salad, a meatball, pasta, stir-fried noodles, and mashed potatoes with gravy:

Other than the single meatball, two shrimp, and my salad, it was a carb-heavy night!

We got back just in time because our first (and to me, the best!) character was arriving:

It was my favorite, Goofy! I attempted to be on top of it and had both autograph books and the Sharpie ready to go. Also, that drink strap holding L's water bottle to her high chair was VERY useful - highly recommended if your kids still like to chuck things onto the floor! I wish I'd had it back when M was little.

We took a picture with M first:

Goofy waved to L, but that was as close as she wanted to get:

I also got a picture with Goofy as he’s my favorite character:

We didn't wait long for the next character as Minnie was close behind:

Quickly followed by the #1 duck:

Donald took a nice picture with both M and G:

Pluto came next:

Pluto tried hard to interest L. She was happy to watch him but was even more happy to stay right in her seat:

Our final character was the restaurant’s namesake. Hi, Mickey!

M looks so happy to meet Mickey.

Mickey also tried to entertain L. She was… skeptical:

I have multiple pictures of this interaction, and her face remained the same the entire time. G thought she might be more interested if one of us was holding her and she felt more secure, but… nope.

Between meeting Pluto and Mickey, they had a mini dance party throughout the restaurant. M loved watching the activity and clapping along.

Somewhere in there G also visited the buffet (I never got a picture of his plate) and I returned to the buffet for more stir-fried noodles and mashed potatoes as well as some focaccia I missed the first time. Everything was REALLY good!

After meeting all five characters in less than thirty minutes (!), M and I decided to check out our favorite part of any meal… dessert!

M was excited to get her favorite things, cupcakes and a chocolate cheesecake:

I grabbed a brownie and chocolate chip cookie for L and a few desserts for me. I loved the red velvet cupcake and the cookies and cream cheesecake cup:

You can also spot part of G’s dessert plate behind mine – he grabbed cupcakes and a sugar cookie.

M loved our first character meal at Chef Mickey’s. She loved meeting the characters and enjoyed the food (especially the dessert) that she was able to eat amongst the excitement.

What did we think of the restaurant? Honestly, I was impressed! I’ve read so many mediocre reviews of Chef Mickey’s that I had pretty low expectations. I thought the food was solid for a buffet (the mashed potatoes and stir-fried noodles were SO good) and there were so many options for a variety of palettes.

The characters were very good! All five were friendly to M and I appreciated that Pluto and Mickey made an extra effort to say hello to L (but also noticed she needed some space). The best part is they were SO efficient. There were several meals where we waited an extra long time for the last character (or completely missed some despite waiting a long time), so this restaurant did a great job seating people and moving the characters along. Go, Chef Mickey's!

It was a solid meal to kick off our trip. It was great to meet the Fab Five and our food was tasty and filling. Plus, it was a very convenient choice while staying on the monorail! It won’t be a must-do every trip, but I’d definitely visit again. It’s especially a great choice if you have young kids!

To help track our character meal experiences, I’m going to keep a running list on each character meal post.

Character Meal Ranking

1. Chef Mickey’s (It’s hard not to be first when it’s your first meal - but it was very good!)

We wrapped up our meal after about an hour. I didn’t realize it until after we’d left, but we never got our official picture in front of the Chef Mickey’s dinner plate! We were never directed over there and I completely forgot about it. Perhaps they weren’t doing that this evening as Mickey came around to meet people? Who knows, but I was disappointed we missed out on the picture.

After going back through security (and getting the bags flagged again – at least I had G carry them through this time!), we were back at the Poly in fifteen minutes.

We were getting spoiled by this speedy monorail service.

All of us got ready for bed and I prepared things for the next morning. It was still early in the evening but we were tired after our very early morning.

I’d packed the girls’ clothes in two sets of packing cubes, so it was easy to pull out their outfits each night. Each of them had a specific outfit for each park day and M often had coordinating ears. I’ve never been a “coordinating outfit” mom (minus an occasional matching dress here or there), but I had so much fun finding cute things for Disney World!

G and I didn’t have set outfits for each day (G NEVER would've gone for that! ), but we pulled out clothes as well.

I also finished setting up the stroller with the stroller flag and two pink bandanas (our beacons to help spot the stroller), carabineer stroller clips that would hold our water bottles, and the rain bag with our rain coats, extra ponchos, and an extra umbrella. I also repacked most of the diaper bag (minus the bibs and silverware, which were being washed by G). I also attached an air tag in the stroller basket just in case our stroller decided to walk away without us.

M was very happy to be settled in her special bed:

We had lights out before nine o’clock, which I consider a success at Disney World.

Unfortunately, we were all kept awake (or woken up, in M’s case) by the fireworks booms just thirty minutes later. We could even hear the slightly muffled music piped in despite our closed patio door. Thankfully it wasn’t long, but it did confuse M!

This was a downside of our very convenient monorail resort. I’d stayed at the Grand Floridian years ago but didn’t notice the fireworks noise as I watched them the two nights we were there. It’s tougher with young kids when you’d prefer an early bedtime. We'd stay at a monorail resort again but it is something to keep in mind if you like to turn in early.

Finally, we all drifted off to sleep. We were all excited to visit Magic Kingdom the next morning!

Daily Stats
Steps: 7,817
Attractions: 0
Lightning Lanes: 0
Characters: 5
(Goofy, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Mickey)
Table Service: 1
(Chef Mickey's)
Snacks: 0

Up Next: Magic Kingdom

 

[Woth2982]

My mom ALWAYS sets off the alarm. She must have metal in her body that she is unaware of lol. The ease of the monorail is the main reason we chose Poly for our trip in March. We are mostly doing MK with one night at Hollywood because both kids recently discovered Fantasmic on you tube and are obsessed, and a park hop to Epcot for me lol. Thankfully we only have to do one Bus with Hollywood!

Also, that drink strap holding L's water bottle to her high chair was VERY useful - highly recommended if your kids still like to chuck things onto the floor! I wish I'd had it back when M was little.

I still use it for Savannah! Hit a bump the right way in the stroller and the cup can get lost quickly! It is the number one thing I buy for every baby shower I go to! Also silicone lids that go over glasses turning them into sippy cups.

What did we think of the restaurant? Honestly, I was impressed!

We were too! My dad, who is not easy to impress and does not like Disney, really enjoyed Chef Mickey! He had a stroke a couple years ago, so he is not up for the parks so I think it was a nice way for him to see his grandkids with the characters.

I had so much fun finding cute things for Disney World!

I love doing this! My daughter gets so excited when I can find something to "Match" with her brother. Having one of each can be a bit tricky at times

G and I didn’t have set outfits for each d

My hubby and I don't either. I sometimes will try and pair an outfit with a park or coordinate with the kids, but if hubby doesn't play along it isnt fun.

I also attached an air tag in the stroller basket just in case our stroller decided to walk away without us.

This was such a great tip. I lost my stroller in the sea of strollers and used my phone to find it lol.

 

[pkondz]

we headed to the monorail for our first “ride” of the trip.

Counts!!

M was SUPER excited to ride the monorail.

Heh. I get that way too.

The security gal was super nice and told me it would be okay – she suspected it was our autograph books with their spiral binding that set off the scanner.

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

she was a little cranky when we woke her from her (too short) nap.

Me too.

Chef Mickey’s has never been on my radar as I've never planned a trip with young kids.

That was the reason I did it too.

The buffet at Chef Mickey’s is HUGE and has a ton of options.

Other than the single meatball, two shrimp, and my salad, it was a carb-heavy night!

You’re on vacation. Carbs don’t count.

I also got a picture with Goofy as he’s my favorite character:

Pluto tried hard to interest L. She was happy to watch him but was even more happy to stay right in her seat:

Awww

I have multiple pictures of this interaction, and her face remained the same the entire time. G thought she might be more interested if one of us was holding her and she felt more secure, but… nope.

M and I decided to check out our favorite part of any meal… dessert!

Always the best part.

What did we think of the restaurant? Honestly, I was impressed! I’ve read so many mediocre reviews of Chef Mickey’s that I had pretty low expectations. I thought the food was solid for a buffet (the mashed potatoes and stir-fried noodles were SO good) and there were so many options for a variety of palettes.

Good to know. It’s been a long while since I’ve been.

We were getting spoiled by this speedy monorail service.

Some day I’ll get to experience this.


Someday.

M was very happy to be settled in her special bed:

Awwwww.

Unfortunately, we were all kept awake (or woken up, in M’s case) by the fireworks booms just thirty minutes later.

Oh!
A fly in the ointment.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Hi, Mickey!
Day 1 – Part IV

Character Meal #1 of 10

Once M and I were bathed and changed and we woke L from her nap, we headed to the monorail for our first “ride” of the trip.

M was SUPER excited to ride the monorail.

Her mother was less excited to go through the new (to me) security screening in order to get on the monorail.

I pulled out our cell phones and umbrellas and security recommended leaving them on top of the stroller awning. (This was a great tip – once you know what items are likely to set off the scanners, placing them there kept them visible but out of our hands.)

Everything was pulled out… and I set off the scanner anyway.

I was a little frustrated as a monorail had just pulled up and we would miss it due to the bag check. Thanks to the children we had several bags to search (including a diaper bag with multiple inserts and pockets). The security gal was super nice and told me it would be okay – she suspected it was our autograph books with their spiral binding that set off the scanner.

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

Thankfully our bag search didn’t take much time (we were the only people in “in line” for the bag search – gotta love the resort monorail stops!) and another monorail came quickly.

Ah, the monorail:

M was dressed perfectly for our dinner in her Minnie sundress and matching ears. We brought an outfit for L but elected to keep her in what she was wearing - she was a little cranky when we woke her from her (too short) nap.

I think our favorite part of the monorail was wheeling the double stroller right onto it. G didn’t realize how much he appreciated this until we had to fold that side-by-side double stroller for the skyliner.

Just fifteen minutes later we’d made our way around the Seven Seas Lagoon and were in front of our dinner spot:

This was my first time dining at Chef Mickey’s. I love Disney dining and am a fan of character meals, but Chef Mickey’s has never been on my radar as I've never planned a trip with young kids. However, staying on the monorail with two kids in tow, dinner with the Fab Five seemed like the perfect way to kick off our trip!

We parked the stroller to the left of the restaurant entrance and waited about ten minutes before being seated. We got settled at our table and ordered drinks before M and I went to the buffet. There are two buffet lines with the same things on each side. Here’s a picture I grabbed on our way out of the end of the buffet (we started from the other end):

The buffet at Chef Mickey’s is HUGE and has a ton of options. You can make your own salad or grab fresh fruit, choose from a variety of breads, pick from several cold salads and warm soups, choose various items from the Italian, Asian, Latin, and American stations, and has several kid-friendly favorites like chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. That’s before you even get to the desserts!

I helped M choose things she would like from the line, including peel-and-eat shrimp, vegetables, a breadstick, and corn dog nuggets:

Thankfully M carried her plate as I was also getting food for L and myself. For L, I grabbed rice, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and a bunch of grapes:

I had the fullest plate, with salad, a meatball, pasta, stir-fried noodles, and mashed potatoes with gravy:

Other than the single meatball, two shrimp, and my salad, it was a carb-heavy night!

We got back just in time because our first (and to me, the best!) character was arriving:

It was my favorite, Goofy! I attempted to be on top of it and had both autograph books and the Sharpie ready to go. Also, that drink strap holding L's water bottle to her high chair was VERY useful - highly recommended if your kids still like to chuck things onto the floor! I wish I'd had it back when M was little.

We took a picture with M first:

Goofy waved to L, but that was as close as she wanted to get:

I also got a picture with Goofy as he’s my favorite character:

We didn't wait long for the next character as Minnie was close behind:

Quickly followed by the #1 duck:

Donald took a nice picture with both M and G:

Pluto came next:

Pluto tried hard to interest L. She was happy to watch him but was even more happy to stay right in her seat:

Our final character was the restaurant’s namesake. Hi, Mickey!

M looks so happy to meet Mickey.

Mickey also tried to entertain L. She was… skeptical:

I have multiple pictures of this interaction, and her face remained the same the entire time. G thought she might be more interested if one of us was holding her and she felt more secure, but… nope.

Between meeting Pluto and Mickey, they had a mini dance party throughout the restaurant. M loved watching the activity and clapping along.

Somewhere in there G also visited the buffet (I never got a picture of his plate) and I returned to the buffet for more stir-fried noodles and mashed potatoes as well as some focaccia I missed the first time. Everything was REALLY good!

After meeting all five characters in less than thirty minutes (!), M and I decided to check out our favorite part of any meal… dessert!

M was excited to get her favorite things, cupcakes and a chocolate cheesecake:

I grabbed a brownie and chocolate chip cookie for L and a few desserts for me. I loved the red velvet cupcake and the cookies and cream cheesecake cup:

You can also spot part of G’s dessert plate behind mine – he grabbed cupcakes and a sugar cookie.

M loved our first character meal at Chef Mickey’s. She loved meeting the characters and enjoyed the food (especially the dessert) that she was able to eat amongst the excitement.

What did we think of the restaurant? Honestly, I was impressed! I’ve read so many mediocre reviews of Chef Mickey’s that I had pretty low expectations. I thought the food was solid for a buffet (the mashed potatoes and stir-fried noodles were SO good) and there were so many options for a variety of palettes.

The characters were very good! All five were friendly to M and I appreciated that Pluto and Mickey made an extra effort to say hello to L (but also noticed she needed some space). The best part is they were SO efficient. There were several meals where we waited an extra long time for the last character (or completely missed some despite waiting a long time), so this restaurant did a great job seating people and moving the characters along. Go, Chef Mickey's!

It was a solid meal to kick off our trip. It was great to meet the Fab Five and our food was tasty and filling. Plus, it was a very convenient choice while staying on the monorail! It won’t be a must-do every trip, but I’d definitely visit again. It’s especially a great choice if you have young kids!

To help track our character meal experiences, I’m going to keep a running list on each character meal post.

Character Meal Ranking

1. Chef Mickey’s (It’s hard not to be first when it’s your first meal - but it was very good!)

We wrapped up our meal after about an hour. I didn’t realize it until after we’d left, but we never got our official picture in front of the Chef Mickey’s dinner plate! We were never directed over there and I completely forgot about it. Perhaps they weren’t doing that this evening as Mickey came around to meet people? Who knows, but I was disappointed we missed out on the picture.

After going back through security (and getting the bags flagged again – at least I had G carry them through this time!), we were back at the Poly in fifteen minutes.

We were getting spoiled by this speedy monorail service.

All of us got ready for bed and I prepared things for the next morning. It was still early in the evening but we were tired after our very early morning.

I’d packed the girls’ clothes in two sets of packing cubes, so it was easy to pull out their outfits each night. Each of them had a specific outfit for each park day and M often had coordinating ears. I’ve never been a “coordinating outfit” mom (minus an occasional matching dress here or there), but I had so much fun finding cute things for Disney World!

G and I didn’t have set outfits for each day (G NEVER would've gone for that! ), but we pulled out clothes as well.

I also finished setting up the stroller with the stroller flag and two pink bandanas (our beacons to help spot the stroller), carabineer stroller clips that would hold our water bottles, and the rain bag with our rain coats, extra ponchos, and an extra umbrella. I also repacked most of the diaper bag (minus the bibs and silverware, which were being washed by G). I also attached an air tag in the stroller basket just in case our stroller decided to walk away without us.

M was very happy to be settled in her special bed:

We had lights out before nine o’clock, which I consider a success at Disney World.

Unfortunately, we were all kept awake (or woken up, in M’s case) by the fireworks booms just thirty minutes later. We could even hear the slightly muffled music piped in despite our closed patio door. Thankfully it wasn’t long, but it did confuse M!

This was a downside of our very convenient monorail resort. I’d stayed at the Grand Floridian years ago but didn’t notice the fireworks noise as I watched them the two nights we were there. It’s tougher with young kids when you’d prefer an early bedtime. We'd stay at a monorail resort again but it is something to keep in mind if you like to turn in early.

Finally, we all drifted off to sleep. We were all excited to visit Magic Kingdom the next morning!

Up Next: Magic Kingdom

We also went on May and our first time to chef Mickeys and were on the DDP so we tried a lot of restaurants that trip and I recently asked my husband what his favorite was and he said chef Mickeys because he thought the buffet had the most options which he liked. (The atmosphere was too busy for me but that's me being me)

Also we saw people taking pictures with the plate when we were exiting. (We decided not to stop because we didn't think the kids would like it and I was over people by that point) But also we had no one directing us or telling us about it. We went to Goofys Kitchen in CA and they have you take the picture first and definitely guide everyone to it. I prefer that method.

 

[Sarahh1027]

I binged your PTR the other day and just got caught up here! Lovely trip so far! I take my littles for their first trip this May and your report is making me even more excited!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

My mom ALWAYS sets off the alarm. She must have metal in her body that she is unaware of lol. The ease of the monorail is the main reason we chose Poly for our trip in March. We are mostly doing MK with one night at Hollywood because both kids recently discovered Fantasmic on you tube and are obsessed, and a park hop to Epcot for me lol. Thankfully we only have to do one Bus with Hollywood!

Poor woman! The bag check lines weren’t bad (I was used to them in a way because I always had to go through bag check with the old security procedures), but it was frustrating when you saw people stream past you while you waited.

It took us another full day to figure out what was setting off our bags - it’s pretty ridiculous what we overlooked.

The ease of the monorail is amazing. We especially liked that it was easy to travel to MK (at the Poly station) and Epcot (at the TTC). It was great to not have to take the resort monorail to switch to the Epcot monorail. It was a very easy walk (especially from the DVC side of the Poly!) and cut down the travel time.

I’m so hoping we’ll get to Fantasmic this time! I think my older daughter would love it and I haven’t seen it in ten years!

I still use it for Savannah! Hit a bump the right way in the stroller and the cup can get lost quickly! It is the number one thing I buy for every baby shower I go to! Also silicone lids that go over glasses turning them into sippy cups.

L has started throwing her cups back onto the floor - although only at home for now. I almost pulled it from our diaper bag but I think it’s staying for now.

And what are these magical lids you’re speaking of?! L wants to drink from the “regular” cups like her sister does at restaurants, and this requires more assistance from us to avoid spilling the contents. I’d love a hack for this!

We were too! My dad, who is not easy to impress and does not like Disney, really enjoyed Chef Mickey! He had a stroke a couple years ago, so he is not up for the parks so I think it was a nice way for him to see his grandkids with the characters.

What a great idea! I prefer meeting the characters during meals - two birds with one stone. I’m glad your dad liked Chef Mickey’s! And I’m sorry to hear about his stroke - that’s hard.

I love doing this! My daughter gets so excited when I can find something to "Match" with her brother. Having one of each can be a bit tricky at times

I had a lot more fun than I expected. I did less matching and more “themes” - but it was still a hoot! M certainly liked the special outfits (and ears) every day.

My hubby and I don't either. I sometimes will try and pair an outfit with a park or coordinate with the kids, but if hubby doesn't play along it isnt fun.

Yes, G would NEVER go for that. I didn’t do much coordination with the kids either (except for our matching “Best Day Ever” shirts on the first day), but I did buy two pairs of ears that I wore a bit during our trip. It was fun!

This was such a great tip. I lost my stroller in the sea of strollers and used my phone to find it lol.

I’m sure I read that tip somewhere and thought it was a good idea. We never had an issue finding our stroller, but it was reassuring to have it tagged. I plan to do it again!

Counts!!

Sure does!

Heh. I get that way too.

Me, too. It was fun to have so many monorail rides on the trip!

I couldn’t believe what set off the scanner once we figured it out. Only took us a few more times through security (and a few more bag searches).

That was the reason I did it too.

I think that’s the reason most people go to Chef Mickey’s! There were a LOT of children in that restaurant!

You’re on vacation. Carbs don’t count.

That’s right!

I have to get my vacation photo with Goofy. It’s practically a rule!

Awww

I was so impressed with the character interaction with L! They were kind to notice her and equally kind to notice she was nervous about them. She did eventually warm up to them (a little bit) but is definitely less enthusiastic about the characters than her sister.

Always the best part.

Absolutely!

Good to know. It’s been a long while since I’ve been.

It was a much better meal than I was expecting. It was great to kick off the trip on the right foot!

Some day I’ll get to experience this.

Yes, you should! I highly recommend renting points - it cuts down the cost significantly. Our room at the Poly was 45% less than we would’ve paid directly for a full-cost room. Still pricy but much easier to swing.

Awwwww.

She LOVED those beds - they were very special to her!

Oh!
A fly in the ointment.

I knew you could view the fireworks from the Poly but had no idea how loud they were! You could hear each boom across the lake! We (especially the kids) got used to it, but I did appreciate the lack of firework noise once we moved to the Beach Club. Somehow even with the nearby Epcot fireworks we never heard them there!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

We also went on May and our first time to chef Mickeys and were on the DDP so we tried a lot of restaurants that trip and I recently asked my husband what his favorite was and he said chef Mickeys because he thought the buffet had the most options which he liked. (The atmosphere was too busy for me but that's me being me)

I’m glad you had a good experience, too! The food quality was very good for a buffet and there were so many good options to choose from. I agree it was busy and a little loud, but the significant table spacing felt better to me than some other restaurants like Crystal Palace (or Le Cellier, which we didn’t visit this trip but those tables are REALLY close together).

Also we saw people taking pictures with the plate when we were exiting. (We decided not to stop because we didn't think the kids would like it and I was over people by that point) But also we had no one directing us or telling us about it. We went to Goofys Kitchen in CA and they have you take the picture first and definitely guide everyone to it. I prefer that method.

I can’t believe I missed the picture with the plate! I think they used to do what you describe at Goofy’s Kitchen - I think you started your meal with the picture and then headed into the restaurant. That’s what I used to read in trip reports. It’s not a big loss, but would’ve been fun.

binged your PTR the other day and just got caught up here! Lovely trip so far! I take my littles for their first trip this May and your report is making me even more excited!

Welcome - thanks so much for joining in!

You’ll have so much fun! I’m glad my report is adding to your excitement about your trip. It was a different trip for me with young kids but there were many rewarding moments, too.

Stick around on my PTR report as well - I’m going to highlight some must-bring items I found very useful on our last trip that I plan to use during our March adventure. Hopefully that helps you think of things that would be useful on your trip!

 

[Woth2982]

And what are these magical lids you’re speaking of?! L wants to drink from the “regular” cups like her sister does at restaurants, and this requires more assistance from us to avoid spilling the contents. I’d love a hack for this!

https://a.co/d/d4fGkp1

These lids will change your life! I keep two or three in the diaper bag at all times. We were at my husbands grandmother's funeral in December and the reception did not have kid friendly cups, put this on a glass and my son was able to drink his milk! The staff at the venue were so impressed.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Meeting the Fab 5 is such a plus of Chef Mickeys! We have not been since way before the pandemic and I don’t remember the food being all that great so it is nice to hear you all enjoyed it!
It reminded me of the hospital cafeteria where I work, haha actually our hospital cafeteria is really pretty good now.
Do you still twirl the napkins during the parade! We loved that part!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

These lids will change your life! I keep two or three in the diaper bag at all times. We were at my husbands grandmother's funeral in December and the reception did not have kid friendly cups, put this on a glass and my son was able to drink his milk! The staff at the venue were so impressed.

Thank you so much for mentioning these! These will be helpful for our upcoming trip and beyond.

I really appreciate your mentioning (or in regard to the SlumberPod, validating) helpful purchases that makes traveling with kids easier. I freaking love that SlumberPod and your endorsement helped me feel better about pulling the trigger!

Meeting the Fab 5 is such a plus of Chef Mickeys! We have not been since way before the pandemic and I don’t remember the food being all that great so it is nice to hear you all enjoyed it!
It reminded me of the hospital cafeteria where I work, haha actually our hospital cafeteria is really pretty good now.

I was very surprised by the food as I’ve never heard great things about the food at Chef Mickey’s. Meeting the Fab Five was an excellent way to kick off the trip and the tasty food was a great bonus!

Do you still twirl the napkins during the parade! We loved that part!

I didn’t realize it until you mentioned it, but… they didn’t! I looked back at the video I took of M during the dance party and didn’t see a single person twirling a napkin. I remember how fun the napkin twirling was at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue - I hope they still do it there because is was fun!

 

[Woth2982]

I really appreciate your mentioning (or in regard to the SlumberPod, validating) helpful purchases that makes traveling with kids easier. I freaking love that SlumberPod and your endorsement helped me feel better about pulling the trigger!

You are so welcome! I tend to be an "over packer" but really everything I recommend I 100% use! My husband is always on me for having so much stuff, then I need something random and I have it! LOVE the slumber pod. My son is about to be 3 and is now refusing to sleep in it. Makes me so sad, mostly because it means I am done with babies . New phase of life coming up I guess. I will just miss my cuddly babies!

 

[suse66]

Loved your smooth and easy travel day, arrival at the Polynesian and fantastic room location! This trip is off to a great start!

Glad you had a great meal at Chef Mickey's. M was so into the characters and then L was not having it. They are adorable!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

You are so welcome! I tend to be an "over packer" but really everything I recommend I 100% use! My husband is always on me for having so much stuff, then I need something random and I have it! LOVE the slumber pod. My son is about to be 3 and is now refusing to sleep in it. Makes me so sad, mostly because it means I am done with babies . New phase of life coming up I guess. I will just miss my cuddly babies!

Awww, I’m right behind you as L is around 2.25 years old. She’ll still sleep with the SlumberPod (and I hope that continues through July with our planned travel!) but I hope she still fits okay in the Pack N Play. She’s very comfortable in her crib at home so I hate to upset the apple cart by using an inflatable toddler bed instead.

I’m also done with babies and have moments of wistfulness. On the other hand, it’s fun to see my girls’ personalities continue to develop as they age. Plus, travel gets SO much easier the older our kids get!

Loved your smooth and easy travel day, arrival at the Polynesian and fantastic room location! This trip is off to a great start!

I was so happy that our travel day went well. Honestly, it couldn’t have gone better. The flights went well and were on time and our airport transportation was seamless.

I was thrilled with both our room and its location. I was shocked to get into the DVC room so early but was grateful that it allowed us to unpack and for L to get a brief nap.

Glad you had a great meal at Chef Mickey's. M was so into the characters and then L was not having it. They are adorable!

It was so much fun! It was the perfect meal to kick off our trip - the food was good and the characters were, too.

Thank you! M was certainly into the characters (and was the whole trip - she’s a lot like me!) and L remained skeptical of 99% of them the entire time.

 

[Woth2982]

Awww, I’m right behind you as L is around 2.25 years old. She’ll still sleep with the SlumberPod (and I hope that continues through July with our planned travel!) but I hope she still fits okay in the Pack N Play. She’s very comfortable in her crib at home so I hate to upset the apple cart by using an inflatable toddler bed instead.

I’m also done with babies and have moments of wistfulness. On the other hand, it’s fun to see my girls’ personalities continue to develop as they age. Plus, travel gets SO much easier the older our kids get!

It is funny you say this, because he is STILL in his crib! He has yet to climb out! It is just the slumber pod and pack and play he is over. Probably because he can see big sis in the big girl bed at the hotel. We are keeping him in his crib as long as humanly possible. He is still tiny for his age, so we will go as long as we can

Yes! I love seeing their personalities develop. My two are night and day. DD is a Girls Girl and DS is a boys boy, so DD gets mad when he won't play princess dress up with him. She got very excited when he put on her princess Jasmine costume a few weeks ago. The whole nature verse nurture thing is so fun to watch because I have not encouraged their personalities one way or the other.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

It is funny you say this, because he is STILL in his crib! He has yet to climb out! It is just the slumber pod and pack and play he is over. Probably because he can see big sis in the big girl bed at the hotel. We are keeping him in his crib as long as humanly possible. He is still tiny for his age, so we will go as long as we can

Yes! I love seeing their personalities develop. My two are night and day. DD is a Girls Girl and DS is a boys boy, so DD gets mad when he won't play princess dress up with him. She got very excited when he put on her princess Jasmine costume a few weeks ago. The whole nature verse nurture thing is so fun to watch because I have not encouraged their personalities one way or the other.

I understand that - I kept M in her crib as long as possible. She did well when we transitioned into a toddler bed but keeping her captive was nice!

Yes, one of my favorite parts of parenting is to see how they grow and change and become their own person. That's so sweet that your son was willing to be a princess with his sister! My youngest is getting old enough that my girls can play together and it is so sweet.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Early Morning Magic
Day 2 – Friday, May 24th

Our first night at the Polynesian was a rough one.

M had trouble sleeping after the fireworks woke her – she said she was trying to go to sleep but it sounded like there were “volcanoes in her head.” She finally drifted off to sleep and stayed that way until morning.

I was not so lucky.

I struggled to settle down after the fireworks noise, too, but finally fell asleep a bit after ten… only to wake up shortly after 1:00 in the morning. I tossed and turned for the next four hours. I think I fell asleep here and there, but definitely saw every hour that night.

Lucky me.

I don’t know why I had such trouble (excitement about being on our trip? Nervousness about using Genie+ the next day?), but I felt VERY tired. Nothing like a full Disney park day on around three hours of sleep!



I finally gave up and got up around 5:30am. I took a shower in that glorious walk-in shower and then made my first Genie+ purchase of the trip.

It was the Friday before Memorial Day and Magic Kingdom was priced at $29 per person. I also purchased lightning lanes for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for M, G, and myself.

Whoo-hoo for dropping more than $100 just for lightning lanes!

G woke up when I got out of bed and showered after me. I finished getting ready in the other bathroom (these split bathrooms were spoiling us!) and we let the girls sleep as long as possible. We finally woke the girls around 6:30 and got them dressed and in the stroller.

One tip I gathered from Pixie Dusted Mom was to put sunscreen on the kids as they were getting dressed. I know many people like to wait and put sunscreen on later in the morning, but I’m never doing it any other way. It was so easy and took just an extra minute to take care of sunscreen immediately. Plus, it kept us from getting sunscreen on their clothes (or forgetting to put it on later). Highly recommended!

We were out the door and to the Polynesian monorail station before 7:00. I made a quick detour for coffee in my refillable mug (using the stroller to store the cup made this an easy decision) and we had our third bag check of the trip.

We’d pulled the autograph books out this time, so we knew it wasn’t them.

We were on the monorail when I made my first of only two critical Genie+ errors during the trip.

I took this cute picture of M showing off her Rapunzel sundress and ears:

That's when I noticed it was 7:02am.

Drat! I’d missed the 7:00 Genie+ opening!

I immediately jumped on MDE and booked our first lightning lane for Jungle Cruise, but because I was two minutes late our return time was 1:40 in the afternoon. This was not ideal as I’d hoped to book an earlier return time and use a few additional lightning lanes that morning.

I’d see what I could do.

We made it to Magic Kingdom and entered the park around 7:10:

I was practically giddy to be back at Magic Kingdom!

M was pretty excited as well. She spotted one of the decorated windows and insisted to get out of the stroller for a picture:

Next, we walked up Main Street to get the girls’ first view of Cinderella Castle:

We also got some nice family pictures, including this one:

And thank goodness we stopped for those pictures. We were fresh off the air-conditioned monorail and were therefore not completely sweaty yet. Plus, I found it challenging to get my family to take multiple pictures. We got many great pictures (M, in particular, got more into it as the trip went along) but I had higher hopes for picture variety (and quantity). We’ll have to work on that next time!

We swerved to the right and headed to the Fantasyland rope drop.

While we waited, I kept refreshing our Jungle Cruise lightning lane. I moved it up once to around noon and then got an even better window of 10:20-11:20. I decided that would be fine given our morning breakfast at Crystal Palace.

Thank goodness for refreshing and other people changing plans!

We were waiting for the early entry rope drop for less than 15 minutes and were in a pretty good spot. I couldn’t believe how many people filled in behind us:

G was NOT a fan of rope drop. He doesn’t mind waking up early (he’s naturally an early riser) but didn’t like the crowds or the bustling of people once the “rope dropped” and people moved (err, shoved) forward. Thankfully we never got bumped or shoved, but it is like salmon swimming upstream. People are even more aggressive at rope drop than I remembered!

Early entry started on time at 7:30am and we headed in. My original plan was to head to Peter Pan’s Flight (as we had lightning lanes booked for 7DMT and weren’t too far back in the crowd), but M spotted Pooh and wanted to go there.

Sure, why not?!

We parked the stroller and walked right on.

M enjoyed walking in the little treehouse at the entrance and playing with the honey wall. I figured this was the best time to try the honey wall as almost no one had touched it yet that day:

M was very excited for her first official Disney ride:

L, as per her personality, was reserving her judgement about the experience:

She was especially concerned when we hit the bouncing in the Tigger portion of the ride - she was NOT a fan.

The final conclusion on her first ride of the trip? M immediately turned to me once the ride was done and said…

“Let’s do it again!!!”

And a trip report title was born!

Throughout the trip, I knew that M loved a ride when her first comment was, “let’s do it again!” She said it multiple times during our vacation and I loved hearing it every time.

We bypassed a second round of Pooh (although we promised we would ride it again during our trip) to try something else. M was interested in the tea cups but they must’ve been having issues as they weren’t open yet. Instead, we stopped for everyone’s favorite attraction in Tomorrowland…

The Tomorrowland Speedway:

Oh heck, why not?! If you have littles that insist on Speedway, first thing in the morning was perfect as there was absolutely no wait.

L was just a smidgen too short, so she and I walked around a nearly empty section of Magic Kingdom while M and G enjoyed the ride:

M was very excited to drive the car:

Here they come!

M loved the ride (it really is a great attraction for young kids), so I'm glad she had a chance to ride it.

We walked back toward Fantasyland and the teacups were up and running, so they were next:

G does NOT do spinning rides (they make him feel ill) so I went with the girls by myself. Our local theme park has a teacup ride and M loves spinning fast, but I didn’t do my usual amount of extra spinning as I wasn’t sure how L would react.

L started out not too sure about the experience:

But soon started to help me spin the teacup:

I think we're starting to convert her! Both girls were fans of the teacups. I love any spinning ride so I'm glad I'll have people to ride them with on future trips.

We passed a very looong line outside of Mine Train to head into Storybook Circus next. It seemed that 7DMT was down that morning and that’s where the majority of the Fantasyland folks were waiting. I felt bad for them, but it meant short lines for us!

Storybook Circus was very quiet:

We walked right onto Dumbo. I was glad the indoor circus playground wasn't open yet that morning because I didn't want to stop for the germ factory (err, I mean, playground).

We just had to wait for the previous ride to finish. M was excited to ride!

I rode with M while G took L:

M loved pushing the button to get us high in the air!

We finished Dumbo and walked back out of Storybook Circus. We could’ve ridden Barnstormer with no wait, but M was still a bit nervous about the roller coasters. Instead, we stopped at the carousel for a quick ride before heading to our Crystal Palace ADR.

It started off well and we walked right onto the carousel, too. Even G rode as he thought the carousel was large enough that the spinning forces wouldn’t bother him too much:

This is where our early morning good luck stumbled a bit.

There was a little girl on a horse in front of us. An adult needed to ride with her (she was well under seven – maybe around five?) and her mom was on the ride. Unfortunately, her mom was wearing her baby in a carrier and the ride attendants said she couldn’t stand on the ride wearing the baby.

Then the dad came on with a younger sibling (perhaps a three-year-old?) who was NOT having a good morning. She threw a full-on tantrum and REFUSED to sit on a horse. She was face-down on the carousel screaming.

Fun times.

The ride attendants couldn’t start the ride until she was seated and were unable to help the dad move the screaming girl. The older girl sat patiently on her horse – perhaps she was used to the theatrics of her younger sister? Finally, the dad managed to calm the girl enough to get her to stay on a horse. It only took five minutes but it felt like a LONG five minutes.

I was glad our girls were calm! I felt for that family because I hate to think how the rest of their day went once the heat and long lines kicked in.

Once everyone was seated they started the ride.

I love carousels, in case it’s not obvious from my big smile:

And L was also a huge fan of the carousel! We realized she loved rides that traveled in a circle. G said she enjoyed Dumbo and she also had big smiles on the carousel:

Our ride finished and we had to rush back to the stroller and to our breakfast reservation.

Overall, I was pleased with our first hour in the park! We rode five attractions – perhaps not the top-billed attractions, but all ones that got longer lines later in the day. Most importantly, the girls loved the rides and we all enjoyed walking right onto less busy attractions. Our first early entry was a success!

Up Next: Breakfast at Crystal Palace

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Well Boo, Pooh
Day 2 – Part II

Character Meal #2 of 10

We checked in just a few minutes late for our 8:30 ADR for Crystal Palace. I originally had an 8:05 ADR but bumped it out when the park hours changed and MK opened at 8:00 instead of 9:00. I decided taking advantage of early entry was worth using some extra park time to eat breakfast.

I must preface this segment by explaining that I LOVE the Crystal Palace breakfast. I ate here for the first time back in 2012 when I discovered you could book pre-park opening ADRs. I booked such an ADR for Crystal Palace and fell in love with the Pooh’s puffed French toast and adored the custom omelet station. I ate here with a first-thing-in-morning ADR on each trip from 2013-2016.

I came in with high expectations, folks.

We only waited a few minutes before being called into the restaurant. As became standard for us, I took M to the buffet to get plates for her, L, and myself while G waited with L at the table.

I’d read before our trip that two of my favorite items at Crystal Palace (Pooh’s puffed French toast and the custom omelet station) were no longer there and I was sad. Still, I was interested to try the churro Mickey waffle and other foods.

Here was my first plate with the waffle, eggs with salsa (not the same as my omelet!), a frittata, a blueberry coffee cake, and strawberries:

M only wanted a regular Mickey waffle, a pancake, and fruit:

While I picked a pancake, scrambled eggs, and fruit for L:

G ran to the buffet and picked a simple breakfast of oatmeal and fruit:

Needless to say, we don’t eat our money's worth at buffets (especially with Disney prices!), but the food was good. I enjoyed the churro waffle but admit I liked Pooh’s puffed French toast better. I also REALLY missed my omelet – I like the Disney powdered eggs but a fresh omelet with mushrooms, tomatoes, and bacon is tough to beat!

We’d been there for almost 45 minutes before the first character came to our table.

Good morning, Piglet!

Piglet was quite adorable and “chatted” with M for a minute:

As usual, L wanted to look at Piglet but was NOT interested in getting out of her seat. M tried to reassure her sister that Piglet was a friend:

L was not convinced.

While we waited for our next character, M made friends with the little girl at the table next to us:

The family was from somewhere in the South as they had strong southern accents. The girl’s little brother was a HUGE fan of Piglet and his interaction with the character was quite adorable. So many hugs!

It took another 15 minutes before Tigger made it to our table:

I did get L out of her seat for a picture, but as she wouldn’t even turn toward the camera it’s not worth posting here. I’d say our interaction with Tigger was average but good.

Just minutes after meeting Tigger the gang started their parade around the restaurant. M danced and waved to Pooh as he walked by. I'm glad he waved back:

And that was as close as we got to Pooh at his restaurant.

After the parade, we decided to call it at Crystal Palace. We’d paid our check earlier* and had been done eating for 20 minutes. We’d only met two characters in the hour we’d been there and Pooh seemed too far away from our table to bother waiting longer. (Although better than Eeyore, whom I hadn’t even spotted!).

*I’ve done that for years at Disney World buffets – I pay immediately so you can leave anytime instead of waiting around to settle your check. I’m all for saving time!

What were our thoughts about Crystal Palace?

I learned my lesson about this restaurant.

I enjoyed my first-thing-in-the-morning ADRs here because we were able enter an empty park, get unique food I enjoyed, and get out within 30-40 minutes. The characters move through more quickly with fewer people in the restaurant, but even back then I’d only meet three of the four (with the fourth usually not being present yet when we left). With us meeting only two characters in an hour (!) and the good but basic food options, our experience dropped this place down in the rankings for me.

Time to update our rankings!

Character Meal Ranking

1. Chef Mickey’s
2. Crystal Palace

It pains me to put Crystal Palace below Chef Mickey’s (pains me!), but that reflects our experience this time. I’d return but only with a first-thing breakfast ADR. They don’t do a good job rotating the characters here, but I’ll take three within 40 minutes instead of two within an hour any day.

Up Next: More MK Attractions

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

LOL love that pic of your girls on the teacups and also the one of you on the carousel. We’re all just kids at heart!