Disney Trip 2011 Day 3: Epcot, Day 1, Part 1

(Monday, August 29, 2011) We woke Monday morning and it was nice to take our time in the morning knowing that our breakfast reservation wasn’t until 10:40am.  We still arrived at Epcot early and took our traditional start of day group pics.  Unfortunately all the group ones I have are on our Disney Photopass and since I haven’t ordered the CD yet I cannot post the pics.   Just imagine the 4 of us with the Epcot ball behind us and yup, you’ve got the right idea!

Unfortunately this mornings map pic was taken with a less than cooperative co-pilot.  You’ll see in many of this trip’s pics that Hannah is at a stage where sometimes she’s a ham for the camera and calls to me to, ‘Take my picture Mommy!’ and other times she’s like, ‘Yah, I don’t feel like looking and you can’t make me.’  Oh well, it makes for cute pics that we will laugh at later!

I’ll say now that Epcot is always one of those parks that surprises me.  When I think of what it offers and going there with a toddler and tween, I wonder what we’ll do to amuse ourselves.  Before we know it 2 days of fun are behind us and there is still much that we didn’t do.  How does that happen time and time again?  Does anybody else find this?

After taking the customary pics at the front of the park we secured Fastpasses for Soarin’ (the favourite Epcot ride of Nana and I) and then rode ‘The Land.’  The Land is one of those rides we do each trip and yah, we probably don’t need to but since we had to wait for our reservation and it’s tradition, I coaxed dragged Rebecca on to it.  

By now it was time to make our way into the World Showcase and to the Norway pavilion,  destination:  Askershus Royal Banquet Hall for breakfast with the princesses!  Princess Hannah had checked herself in her royal mirror in the morning

but by the time we reached the restaurant the princess’ crown had slipped a little and she was showing her toddler side with flair!

After some crawling and rolling HRH was ready to wait for her name to be summoned along with that of her royal party.

While waiting she also browsed her autograph album with Bec Bec.

Upon entering the Royal Hall Hannah was immediately star struck!  Throughout the entire breakfast she looked up at the princesses like she could hardly believe they were truly there!

Belle in her formal ball gown!

Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Snow White who made Hannah’s day by asking her if she could kiss her forehead.  After that there was no washing for my little girl.  After a few hours it smudged off and I gently removed it when she wasn’t paying attention.

Cinderella

and finally Rebecca’s favourite, Ariel!

Throughout the visits with the princesses we were served an absolutely delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, sausage, hash brown casserole as well as fresh fruit and yogurt.  Askershus’ breakfast is my favourite breakfast at Disney!

While the princesses are visiting the tables, an announcement is made that it is time for the Royal Parade.  Look how adorable my sweet baby girl is walking holding Cinderella’s hand!  Part way through she runs back to the table to make sure we’re still there but then contentedly continues with the parade and is beside our table when the parade is finished.  Oh man did she enjoy this!  I still tear up watching this even though I’ve seen it over and over.  For so long I dreamed of Hannah and bringing her to Disney and here she is, holding Cinderella’s hand and happily parading through the restaurant!  Yes, dreams really do come true!!! 

After leaving breakfast the day was still young and we we off to enjoy the remainder of our day at Epcot!

Since there is still much to share I’m going to split this post into 2.   Coming next:  Epcot, Day 1, Part 2

Disney Trip 2011: It Was Great In Theory!

When I was preparing for this trip I had a lot of fun researching tips and tricks for Disney with a toddler and also Disney in August.  I learned a lot from other people, especially those at www.disboards.com.

One idea someone recommended was taking drinking cup lids to put the stick of a Mickey ice cream bar through to catch the drips.  What a great idea I thought!!  I gathered some together before leaving home and carried them with us to the park each day, excited to give this little tip a try! 

It wasn’t until the very last afternoon that we were there that Hannah had  an opportunity to have a Mickey bar and I pulled out my lids with confidence!

Heh! What was I thinking??!!!  With temps pushing 100o even though it was early evening, the lid helped for about the first umm….minute. After that it was all about containing the mess to a 3’ radius around her stroller!

Mommy was so confident that I didn’t even pull her bib out of the diaper bag.

First bits of chocolate moustache when Mickey’s ears kissed her cheeks.

Still doing just fine

LOL!  This pic was taken a short 2 minutes later and the great ice cream meltaway was already in full swing!  Hannah doesn’t look too impressed in this pic!

Hannah attempting some damage control of her own

The stroller quickly became an ooey, gooey mess too.

So in the end yes, the lid did help contain some of the mess.  Who would have thought after this that her dress would remain clean but it did so I would call the lid tip a great suggestion and one I will use again and share with others. 

As M3 taught her girls early on and I now share with Hannah, ‘When we eat ice cream outside some will just end up on the ground!’  Hannah learned this lesson on this hot summer day at Disney.  And what didn’t end up on the ground?  It was a finger licking treat!

Disney Trip 2011 Day 2: Disney’s Hollywood Studios

(Sunday, August 28, 2011)  I was awake at 6am, excited about our first day in the parks!  Hannah stirred around 7 and I took full advantage of it by talking with her and asking her if she was ready to go to ‘Mickey Mouse’s House?’  That was all it took and she was awake and ready to go!  She hopped off the bed and ran over to visit with Nana and Bec Bec.

We headed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and were ready for a day of fun!   As a surprise I had made us matching t-shirts  so we decided to wear them day 1!  Rebecca would have preferred more colour but she humoured Nana and I by wearing it on 2 different days.  Thanks Bec!   

Hannah quickly took on the job of finding our route on the map and you can see that she took her job quite seriously.  ;o)  Each morning she asked for a map and after examining it for a bit would point in the direction we were to go.  it was quite cute!

After securing Fastpasses for  Toy Story Midway Mania we went into Disney’s Art of Animation (DAoA).  We didn’t know what was there so you can imagine our excitement when it was Mickey himself who was waiting for us!!  (Video in prior post)

Personally, I think meeting Mickey first thing is the very best way to start a Disney trip!  Hannah was super excited as she believes that every airplane she sees is on it’s way to ‘Mickey’s House’ and here she was standing right next to him! 

There were other characters inside and outside DAoA and we took time to visit with them too.

Minnie 

Pooh

Leo and Annie

Handy Manny

and for her friend Ben, MATER!  Ben, Hannah gave Mater a big hug for you and he said to say, ‘Hi’ to you!

Throughout the day it was cute to see Hannah hop on Nana’s scooter  occasionally for a little change from walking or sitting in her stroller. 

The weather the entire week was gorgeous with lots of sun each day and a brief downpours most afternoons.  Along with the sun it was hot, hot, hot!  I tell you, Florida in August is not for the faint of heart!  We knew it was going to be hot and dressed accordingly and drank lots of water and had a wonderful time!  I’m not sure what the temps were each day I just know it was 90 – 93o +70 or 80% humidity.  Thankfully we have a lot of humidity in Ontario so we handled it well and we were also thankful for how well Disney air conditioned their buildings so that we could get frequent breaks from the heat. 

Hannah found another way to beat the heat while we were walking down the Streets of America.  This little hydrant was spraying water and although she started by just hanging on the back of it, by the end of her playtime she was pretty wet…and cool!  It didn’t care that she was wet as she dried quickly in the sun.

Throughout the course of the day we visited many attractions and shows that Disney’s Hollywood Studios has to offer:

• Toy Story Midway Mania!  (Here Hannah has donned her 3D glasses,  yes, upside down and is ready to ride and play.  She did great and had lots of fun, even managing to score a few points.   Way to go XiaoFen!!)
• Backlot Tour
• Lights, Motors, Action!  Extreme Stunt Show
• The Great Movie Ride
• MuppetVision 3D
• Beauty and the Beast
• Fantasmic! and,
• Disney Junior Live On Stage

Hannah absolutely adores the Disney Junior TV station and the shows that are on it.  I like it because I know whatever shows are on it are safe for her to watch so if it’s on and I have to leave to room to change a load of laundry or do something else, she’s ok watching whatever is on.    There is a new show at Hollywood Studios that features the characters from the Disney Junior shows and it was great!  It’s geared for little ones and has lots of audience participation and Hannah got right into it!  Here’s a little snippet of the fun my little sweetie had watching her favourite characters in action.

Our first day was a wonderful success and we saw all that we wanted to at the Studios which left us with a free day later in the week.  

It didn’t take long for Hannah to crash for the night (like most nights) so this was a pretty common occurrence.   Hannah sleeping in Bec Bec’s arms while Mommy loaded the stroller and bags onto the bus.  When this happened she was done for the night and would stay asleep during the drive back to the resort, walk home, diaper change and pj change.  Yes, she’s an awesome sleeper!  Thanks for all your help with Hannah Bec!! 

Tomorrow…Epcot, Day 1.

Disney Trip 2011 Day 1: Travel

(Saturday, August 27, 2011)  Our vacation fun began as soon as I finished work on Friday, Aug 26th.  A quick trip to pick up Hannah at daycare and we were off to supper with Mom, Dad and Bec Bec.  We were excited to have Bec Bec staying with us Friday night and our conversations were filled with stories that we remembered from our previous Disney trips.

Saturday we excitedly woke early, ready for the adventures that were before us.  We picked Nana up at 6am and began the 2 1/2 hour drive across the border and to the airport.  Thankfully traffic was great and there as no wait at the border (phew!!) and we even had time to fit in a quick trip to Target before heading to the airport.   A trip to Target is always a good thing!

Our first flight left late in the morning and we made our way to Atlanta, very, very thankful not to be affected by hurricane Irene.  We had a 3 hour layover in GA where we had hoped to meet up with some bloggy friends but unfortunately that didn’t work out this trip.  Hopefully another time.  We enjoyed lunch and then decided to wear out my energizer bunny a bit by walking around the airport and taking a ride on the underground train that moves between terminals.

Our final flight left shortly after 5:00 and we were less than an hour away from Orlando.  Yay!!!  3 excited girls!

When we arrived at the Orlando airport it was a treat to not even have to think about our luggage and instead made our way to Disney’s Magical Express and we were quickly on our way to Pop Century, our resort of choice.  We were located in the 50’s wing in the Tramp building which is Bec Bec’s favourite so that worked out perfectly!

Check-in went smoothly and as we donned our pirate hats we were off to our room and our luggage arrived within minutes of us.  What a treat not to have to fuss with luggage!

  

It had been a long day and after quickly unpacking and preparing Hannah’s diaper bag for our trip to Disney’s Hollywood Studios the following day we were off to bed.  I slept fairly well but was so excited that I was awake my 6am Sunday, ready for our first day in a park!

Two Is A Terrific Age for Disney!!!

We’re home from Disney and had a blast from start to finish!!! 

The fun began early each morning and continued into the evening as we often closed whatever park we were in that day!  Poor Nana.  I had told her we’d probably find time to rest and swim some afternoons but um, yah, that didn’t happen.  There was just too much fun to be had and before we knew it each day was ending and we were still finding things we hadn’t done yet.

I have a ton of great pics and stories to share with you but for now I leave you with this wonderful little video captured within minutes of entering Disney’s Hollywood Studios the very first day we were at Disney!  As you can see, Hannah was more than ready to get up close and personal with the characters and she had a blast meeting each of them and asking for their ‘au-go-graphs!’  Heh, she ran up to Mickey so quickly that he didn’t even see her at first!  Bec Bec helped her out and she was all set to meet her favourite character!!

Before our trip people would occasionally question my judgement in taking Hannah at such a young age.  I’ll agree that if you can only go to Disney once or twice you probably want to wait until your child is older but if you’re able to go more often, two is a GREAT age for Disney!!  It’s all about living in the moment and Hannah lived each moment to the fullest and Mommy soaked in all her excitement, smiles, dances and more!  I can’t wait to share more with you here so that you can see just a snippet of our fun and adventures that we shared together these past 9 days!  More Disney fun to come……