Walt Disney World Oct 2015 - Day 7: Heading Home

Looking out the window on our way home

The next morning was our last day and we had to go home.  We ate breakfast at the Italian restaurant on the boardwalk.  It was delicious.  We wondered why we didn’t eat there more through the week.  After breakfast, we went back and finished packing.  We were done right at checkout time, and took our luggage to the lobby.  We dropped off the stroller with bell services and then took our luggage to the airline check in location.  First, the stroller rental was great.  It was very easy to pick up and drop off and it was a great product.  We would highly recommend Orlando Stroller Rentals.  Second, the airline check-in was very easy.  They check you in to your airline so you don’t have to at the airport, and they put tags on your baggage as well.  The bags are actually picked up at the hotel and you don’t see them again until you get to your home airport.  It was great. 

We had some time to kill before our bus was going to pick us up, so we walked over to the Beach Club.  Lisa wanted to walk on the beach with Ellie before we left and they have a small beach at the Beach Club.  Before we did that, we walked through the hotel.  It was really nice and they have a great gift shop, which we walked through.  Then we went to walk on the beach.  Lisa got her shoes off and I took Ellie’s off and right when we put Ellie down in the sand, she started crying.  She tried to walk a little, but did not like the sand at all.  It was kind of funny, but sad for Lisa because she wanted to walk on the beach with her daughter.  That ended our walk on the beach and we headed back to the Boardwalk.

While we waited for the bus to pick us up, Spence’s family had a later flight so they played in the pool.  I sat on the edge with Ellie and we splashed a little bit.  She had a lot of fun and we wished that we had done that more through the week.  It was fun and relaxing.  

It got to be time to leave and we loaded up on the bus.  The bus driver was a little frazzled when we got on and come to find out, the air conditioning was not working on the bus.  Great….. We got to the airport and walked around and got a bite to eat because we were there a little early.  The line for security was crazy.  It took us quite a while to get through, and to top it off they searched several of our bags.  Once we were through, we got to the gate and waited a while longer to get on the plane.  When it was time to get on, we got in line with the other families with small children and when I gave my boarding pass to the ticket taker, they said it didn’t show I had a baby.  So I had to go to the desk at the gate with Ellie’s birth certificate to get her cleared to board.  By the time I was done, I was one of the last people on the plane.  Thankfully, Lisa and my parents had already boarded so I had a seat saved.

The flight was a little difficult for Ellie.  It was over her nap time so she got pretty cranky about half way through.  Lisa tried to get her to go to sleep and after 15 minutes of crying, SUCCESS!!  She got her to sleep on her lap, which Ellie doesn’t ever do.  The second half of the flight, could have been a little stressful.  The Royals were playing during our flight in Game 2 of the ALCS and I didn’t think I was going to see it.  Well I was wrong.  Southwest offered free TV service through Wifi to everyone on the flight.  I figured out how to set it up and I got to watch the whole game on the flight.  It was great.  To make it better, the Royals came from behind and won the game.  A great cap to end the trip. 

Finally asleep on the plane

We landed no problem and I went to get my car at the Parking Spot.  I love the Parking Spot.  The drop you off at your car and you are on your way.  It is great.  I went back and picked everyone up and we headed home.  On the way, Ellie threw up in her car seat and we stopped and got Mexican food for dinner. 

Another great trip.  This was our first with our little girl and we all had a great time.  It was amazing to see her enjoy one of my favorite places.  We’ll see where our journeys take us in the future.  Here’s to the next trip…..

See ya real soon!

Walt Disney World Oct 2015 - Day 6: Animal Kingdom / Magic Kingdom

Happy Ellie ready to go to Animal Kingdom

Friday started with breakfast at the bakery, as usual.  We then hopped on the bus and headed to Animal Kingdom.  This is not our favorite park, but there are some good rides.  When we got to the park, we headed to Expedition Everest, it was our first FastPass.  Our FastPass schedule was split up a little on this day too, which caused some problems.  Because of the different schedules, Spence and I and my parents rode Everest first.  It is a lot of fun.  Probably my favorite roller coaster at Disney World.  After we went, Sam and Lisa went.  They had fun too.  After Everest, we wondered through the park and ended up back at the Tree of Life.  We found Starbucks, and got a drink.  Not a mug this time.  After that, we found that Tarzan was down a trail behind the Tree and Riley wanted to see him.  We headed down there and then after meeting Tarzan found that the path went all the way to the other side and came out at the Mickey and Minnie Meet and Greet.  We had FastPasses to meet Mickey and Minnie and ours were at this time and Spence’s family’s FastPass was later on in the day.  Ellie fell asleep waiting on Tarzan so we traded Magic Bands so that Spence’s family could go now and we would go later.  It seemed to work ok.  We traded back after they were done with the meet and great.

Breakfast time

View from under/behind the Tree of Life

After Riley met Mickey and Minnie, we went back over to see the Nemo musical.  Ellie was still asleep and when we got there they said it was a 45 minute show.  We decided to skip the show, but everyone else watched it.  Shortly after we walked away, Ellie woke up and was hungry.  We stopped at the Flame Tree BBQ for a snack.  To preface this meal, I was born and raised in Kansas City, and Lisa has lived in Kansas City most of her life.  We have a pretty high standard for BBQ and are pretty picky about it.  When we walked by earlier, it actually smelled really good.  We ordered a BBQ chicken meal for the 3 of us to split.  I also got a Safari Amber beer at the recommendation of our fishing guide.  The beer was pretty good and the BBQ was actually really good.  I was surprised.  It had a nice rub and a good smoky taste.  The sauce was ok, but the meat was good.  It came with beans and cornbread, which were both good too.  Ellie really liked the chicken. 

Ellie really like Miss Lady

When we finished lunch, we went to meet the rest of our group at the Safari in Africa, since we had a FastPass for it.  We got there just as everyone was getting in line and it worked out really well.  As this was our first trip with a kid, I thought the stroller parking for the safari was really cool.  It was in the line, close to where you get on, and then it is easy to pick up the strollers after the ride.  We piled in to our jeep and headed out.  They had changed this ride a little from in the past.  There was a poacher storyline that was taken out, and the ride seemed to be a little slower.  It was a lot easier to take pictures and see the animals.  I enjoyed it and I think everyone else did too.  Ellie and Riley really liked see the animals.  Ellie called them all “doggies”. 

Safari Time

Hippos

Crocs!

Simba or Scar?

We split up again after the safari because we used Spence’s FastPass for the Mickey and Minnie meet and great.  Because of this, we switched Magic Bands with them and headed back to meet Mickey and Minnie.  We got there and it was nice and air conditioned inside.  Most of this trip was unseasonably warm and this day was probably the hottest.  Ellie started getting cranky while we waited to see Mickey and Minnie and by the time we got there, she didn’t want anything to do with them.  It was a pretty cool spot and the character interaction was great.  The couple ahead of us was recently engaged and Mickey and Minnie went back and forth about getting married.  They would point at the ring and other body language in reference to not being able to make the jump/commitment.  It was cute.  Then it was our turn and Ellie was done.  She didn’t want anything to do with Mickey and Minnie.  As a general rule she likes them both in cartoons and stuffed animals, but she was not happy with the life sized versions.  We took a couple of quick pictures and got out of there.

Ok with Mickey

Done with Mickey

I texted my brother and they were getting lunch at Yak and Yeti.  We went to meet them.  Through the week I had been talking to my cousin who lives in Orlando and we were trying to find a time to meet them.  This was the only day they had available so I was waiting to hear from her to figure out a time.  She contacted me on our way to Yak and Yeti saying they could meet us at Animal Kingdom, but we were all pretty much done with Animal Kingdom.  We decided to go to the Magic Kingdom instead.  Lisa and I decided to leave our family at Yak and Yeti because Ellie needed to nap.  She was really fussy at this point.  We also needed to trade Magic Bands back so that we all could get into another park.  During the process of leaving and getting Ellie ready to go and calmed down, I lost my Magic Band.  I looked and looked as we walked out of the park, but I couldn’t find it.

In the past there were not buses from one park to another, you had to take a bus to a resort and then take a bus/boat/monorail to another park.  Because of this, I decided to take a bus to the Polynesian and then take the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  We were a little worried about fussy Ellie on the bus, but she calmed down and was ok.  When we got to the Polynesian, I went through all of my pockets and backpack and realized my Magic Band was gone.  So, we walked into the lobby of the Polynesian and talked to the concierge.  I let them know that we were staying at the Boardwalk and I lost my Magic Band.  They used Lisa’s band to find our reservation, and they gave me a new Magic Band.  It was really easy and they were very nice and helpful.

The Polynesian resort was awesome.  I’m not sure if I have ever been there other than to eat at Ohana, but Lisa and I both really liked it.  It has been recently renovated and they did a great job.  The other highlight we found at the Polynesian is you can get Dole Whips at the resort.  So we did, of course.  It was delicious.  We then walked up to the monorail stop and got on after a short wait.  It was so nice to just roll the stroller on to the monorail rather than collapse everything and haul it on to the bus like we had been doing all week. 

We got leis at the Polynesian Resort

We took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and found my cousin at the hub in front of Cinderella castle.  She was there with my aunt, who was also in town from KC, and they said her husband and 4 kids were at the Dumbo playground.  Right before we headed that direction, the rest of my family joined us.  My dad said they found a direct bus from the Animal Kingdom to the Magic Kingdom.  Darn.

On the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom

We walked over to Dumbo and I made a detour and walked through new Fantasyland to get Ellie to fall asleep.  The ground is pretty bumpy through new Fantasyland and is a great place to get her to nap (and I got to walk through new Fantasyland which is really cool).  Once she was asleep, Lisa and I got a snack at the Friar’s Nook.  They had pot roast mac and cheese.  It was awesome.  We then went over to Dumbo to meet our group.  We waited outside about half an hour or so before we saw them ride Dumbo.  As they all got off the ride, we got to say hi and visit a little.  After saying hello, most of the group was hungry so we went to Cosmic Ray’s to get a bite to eat. 

Lisa and I decided not to eat because we were going to try and go to EPCOT to eat at the Food & Wine Festival.  We did get a rotisserie chicken dinner for Ellie though.  It was pretty good.  Cosmic Ray’s is an interesting place.  I don’t think I have ever been in there before.  They have an audio-animatronic alien named Sunny Eclipse singing for your entertainment.  The kinds seemed to enjoy it.

Once everyone had finished eating, we decided to ride the Journey of the Little Mermaid in the new area of Fantasyland.  We enjoyed this ride a lot.  After that ride, the kids wanted to ride the race cars in Tomorrowland, so we went over there, but Lisa and I did not ride.  We chatted with my cousin and my parents while everyone else went on the ride.  When they were done, it was 7:00pm and the park was closing to everyone not attending the Halloween party so we had to go.  We said our goodbyes and headed out.

Our original plan was to take the monorail to EPCOT to eat at the Food & Wine Festival.  We did not anticipate the crowd and line to get on the monorail as everyone left the park.  We skipped that and headed back to the hotel.  We got sandwiches from the bakery and beers from the lobby bar and went to our room.  After putting Ellie to bed, Lisa and I watched Game 1 of the ALCS, in which our Kansas City Royals were playing the Toronto Blue Jays.  The sandwiches were pretty good, the beers were better and the Royals won.  Ended up a pretty good evening.

Walt Disney World Oct 2015 - Day 5: Magic Kingdom / EPCOT

Our next day started early.  I was looking forward to this day the most.  I had seen pictures on Disney blogs that showed the park before it opened and it looked really cool.  There was either no one or very few people in the park and you could get great pictures.  We scheduled breakfast at the castle for 8:15am and the park opened at 9:00am.  We got there about 30 minutes early and got to walk around and take a bunch of pictures.  Lisa got a picture of Ellie that is the definition of sheer joy.  We all thought Disney could use it in their advertising.  Ellie was very happy that morning and really enjoyed walking around the park that morning.  I got some really good pictures of the park as well, but the one of her made the trip.

Walking Around Before the Park Opens

Not a lot of people before the park opens

All together and ready for breakfast at the castle

Epitome of Disney World

Just a girl and her castle

After we got the pictures we wanted, we headed to the castle.  The entrance is in the back and it is upstairs.  Before we went upstairs, we stopped to take pictures with Cinderella.  Riley really enjoyed that, but Ellie didn’t really care.  We went upstairs, and were seated for breakfast.  It was a very nice space with a lot of light.  The light was actually a problem for pictures.  I’m not going to go through the whole meal, but the interactions with the princesses was pretty cool and Riley really liked it.  I was less than impressed with the meal.  It was outrageously expensive, and I was still hungry after the meal.  I wouldn’t do it again. 

Ellie meeting Snow White

We left the castle, and the line for the Mine Train was manageable so Spence and his family decided to ride it.  Lisa, Ellie, my parents with Crosby and I headed toward Haunted Mansion.  We stopped and rode Small World again since Ellie and Crosby both enjoyed that ride.  After Small World, we went to ride the Haunted Mansion.  This is one of my favorites.  I was not overly worried about Ellie because she doesn’t really understand “scary” yet, but you never know.  We got on the ride and put her between us.  My parents rode in the doom buggy behind us and put Crosby between them.  Within a couple minutes, Ellie fell asleep.  Of all places, she falls asleep on the Haunted Mansion.  We got off the ride and when my parents met us, Crosby had fallen asleep on the ride as well.  I guess that is the ride to take babies on when they need a nap.  We put them in the strollers and let them sleep for a while.  We met Spencer and family in Adventureland to try and ride Pirates of the Caribbean.  The line was pretty long so we went to see the Tiki Birds.  Lisa, Ellie and I split a Dole Whip before the show, and then went in.  It was delicious.  The show has aged and it was pretty hot inside.  Afterwards, they went to ride Pirates, but we decided not to because Ellie needed to eat.  We went to Pecos Bill’s to get some food instead.  We got Ellie a kid’s meal with a quesadilla and grapes.  She did pretty well eating it.  We found that Disney sold packages of grapes all over the parks and not only are they easy to eat, but Ellie loved them. 

It's a Small World

In line to ride the Haunted Mansion

After riding the Haunted Mansion

Ellie's first taste of a Dole Whip

Surprise, surprise, she wanted more

We then went through some shops and walked around just enjoying the park.  We were also trying to get Ellie to sleep, unsuccessfully.  We ended up running into Sam on the other side of Pecos Bill’s getting a snack herself.  Funny enough, Ellie ended up eating more of Sam’s food too.  Everyone met us there and we headed toward Fantasyland.

Riding the Teacups

We walked over to ride Dumbo because half of our group had not ridden it.  We all got to ride it and it again was a good time.  We then went across and shopped in the Big Top Souvenirs.  That was a pretty cool shop that had a lot of stuff.  After that, we headed back to Main Street on our way to the hotel to take a nap.  We wanted to go through some of the shops there as well.  We got a coffee mug at Starbucks and some candy in the candy shop.  I was surprised at how many branded shops there were.  There was a Starbucks, a Pandora shop and a bag store carrying Dooney & Burke and Vera Bradley.  As we were walking through the shops, we realized the parade was coming through, so we stopped to watch it.  This was the 3^rd time.  I can’t remember the last time I watched a parade and this one we saw 3 times.  Pretty crazy.  As we walked out, Spence and family decided to go back to the hotel via bus, and I wanted to take the Monorail through EPCOT.  My parents came with us and we headed to EPCOT. 

The Parade - Round 3

Walking through the Candy Shop

I might have bought several items :)

I really enjoy riding the Monorail.  It is a relaxing ride and you get some great views of the resort.  Ellie stayed awake on the ride, but fell asleep when we were walking in to EPCOT.  We stopped in Future World and bought a coffee mug at their Starbucks too.  They are pretty cool mugs, similar to the city series that Starbucks sells.  I have a Kansas City mug at home.  After we got our mug, we wanted to check out the Food & Wine Festival.  We first went to the Craft Beer spot, which was next to First Aid (we had some experience there).  Then we started at Mexico and wondered around the World Showcase.  My parents really enjoyed the Food & Wine Festival.  Lisa and I didn’t eat too much because we had other dinner plans (we’ll get to that) so my parents we making the stops.  I did “have” to drink several beers with my dad.  When we got to Italy, Lisa and I headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. 

We had 7:30pm dinner reservations for 4 at Monsieur Paul’s that night.  Lisa and I were definitely going and Spence and Sam went with us.  We all needed a break from the kids.  My parents were nice enough to watch all three kids for us.  Monsieur Paul is the restaurant upstairs at the France pavilion.  It is a little fancier than Chefs de France (the downstairs restaurant) and Lisa and I have eaten there before and it is amazing.  This time did not disappoint.  It was still amazing.  We had escargot as appetizers.  Lisa and Sam got scallops, which were great.  Spence had duck, which was very good.  And I order the mushroom crusted filet mignon in red wine sauce with truffle mashed potatoes.  The steak was amazing.  The mashed potatoes were better.  I took a bite of them and said, “Oh……” and stopped moving.  Lisa asked what was wrong and I gave her a bite.  She had the same reaction.  I gave Sam and Spence a bite, and they also had the same reaction.  Unbelievable.  Great meal.

After dinner, we walked around the World Showcase enjoying the evening.  There were several drinks consumed as well as an alleged pastry (I got a danish on the way out).  The most interesting thing we saw was a member of the cleaning crew that was doing something with his broom and water on the ground close to Mexico.  We stopped to watch and he was drawing Disney characters on the ground with water and his broom.  It was really cool.  We watched him draw Goofy and Scar.  It was crazy.  And that ended our night (after I went back to the restaurant to get our camera that I left there.  Oops.).