Disney September 2018
My mom has the privilege to travel for her job. She found out back in June that she was going to be in Orlando for a week. So she wanted Melody and I to tag along, so we picked the week based on our schedules. We decided to go in September.
We picked Port Orleans French Quarter as our resort. Since my mom would be working during the day, I wanted to stay somewhere that offered a lot to do for toddlers, and it also has great transportation. We stayed here back in January, and we loved it. Our exact dates were 9/8/18 through 9/14/18. This was considered a slow week, and it worked perfectly since Brad was out of town. We also opted to fly. Mom already flies for work, and she was able to use points to pay for Melody’s flight. Then she was able to get a discount on my flight using points.
Travel Day - 9/8/18
Our flight left Huntsville at noon. So we arrived at 10:30 am. When we checked in with our luggage, the Delta employee gave Melody a Delta coloring book and crayons which was really nice. I was already prepared with our own coloring books and crayons, but this was a pleasant surprise. After we made it through security, Melody requested Cheetos, so I bought her some, and we relaxed while waiting on our plane.
Our first flight was fairly short. It was from Huntsville to Atlanta. So we didn’t have to occupy her long.
We had a fairly short layover. So as soon as we landed, we headed straight for our new gate. Melody found a seat on my mom’s bag, ha!
Our second flight from Atlanta to Orlando was a bit longer, but Melody had Mickey to keep her company!
As soon as we landed, Melody literally fell asleep as we were taxiing to the gate. We woke her up as we got off the plane, then we headed to baggage claim. After collecting our bags, we headed to get our rental car then we left for Target. We wanted to get a few groceries to have in the room along with an umbrella stroller. Needless to say, she fell asleep again in the car then on us while we shopped!
After shopping, Melody was wide awake and ready for a snack!
We made it to the hotel around 6:45 pm, and after checking in we took all of our luggage to the room. Then we headed for the bus stop to go to Disney Springs for dinner. We opted for the bus because we wanted to eat at Chicken Guy!, and it was right near the bus drop off. The boat would have dropped us off on the other side of Disney Springs.
As I said above, we first went to Chicken Guy! for dinner. We had a bit of a wait, but it went much faster than I expected. After dinner, we went to get my AP activated. Melody and my mom played outside while I waited inside. Also, don’t be fooled by the wait times they give you…I waited maybe 5 minutes, and I was quoted much longer.
We wanted to get a dessert, and we decided to take the boat back to the hotel and stop at Goofy’s Candy Company on the walk. Melody wanted a super large cookie which she attempted to eat on the entire week and barely made a dent!
After dessert it was time for a bath and baby doll cuddles!
Our Room
I thought I would add some pictures of our room below. We had a garden view room. We decided not to do online check in. Instead we checked in as soon as we arrived at the hotel. Of course the ironic part of this, we got the room I would have requested without requesting it. I say ironic because I very rarely get the room I request. January is the perfect example. I requested a corner room, ground floor. Instead we had a room on the second floor in the middle. So I do wonder if checking in before hand really helps…
Anyhow, below is what our corner room looked like. I also took pictures of the new shampoo/conditioner/body wash dispensers. My only complaint on this was that on our last day, I asked that we get more shampoo and conditioner. We barely used the body wash, but we went through the shampoo because I absolutely love it. I buy bottles of it to have at home. Anyhow, when she refilled it, she clearly put body wash in the shampoo container and shampoo in the body wash container. It was really frustrating but there wasn’t much I could do at that point.
Magic Kingdom - 9/9/18
In an effort to make it to the Magic Kingdom by opening, we headed to the bus stop at 8 am. We were on the bus and headed there at 8:30. Melody was still a bit sleepy…
We made it on Main Street right at 9 am. We stopped to get a few pictures in our matching shirts, but Melody wasn’t having it.
Mom also snapped a picture of just Melody and me at the castle.
We first went and used our Fastpass at Peter Pan’s Flight. After that, we went and did Philharmagic. That took much longer than we anticipated, so we headed straight for our 9:30 am breakfast reservation at Be Our Guest. I didn’t preorder because I didn’t think about how long the line would be after park opening. I am used to eating here prior to park opening. I will NEVER make that mistake again. It was 10:10 before we found a table, then it was 10:30 before we received our food. Definitely not part of the plan. But it was delicious as always!
After breakfast, we went ahead and rode Journey of a Little Mermaid since it is so close to Be Our Guest. It is one of my favorites at the Magic Kingdom.
We went and used our Fastpass at Haunted Mansion, and Melody fell asleep. That ride always puts her to sleep. So I went to find our stroller after and it was no where to be found! I looked all over. My mom finally had to ask a cast member. Turns out the cast member folded it up and hung it on a fence. That was super frustrating! I know it is common for it to be moved, but to be folded up and no where in sight is not right.
So we walked to Tomorrowland to let her sleep more while in the stroller. We first did Carousel of Progress to let her sleep some more. She woke up midways through though. Then we went and did Buzz Lightyear using our Fastpass. While in line I scheduled a fourth one for the Safari at Animal Kingdom that evening.
Our last ride at Magic Kingdom was the PeopleMover. It is a requirement!
On our way out, we stopped and got some popcorn and a bubble wand. Apparently it was a requirement and a fit was thrown for it. Then we headed to the bus stop back to our hotel.
Here is how hot it was! My mom’s back was covered in sweat from wearing the backpack. It was insanely hot!
We spent about two hours in the room trying to get Melody to nap. She was having no part of it. So after laying down for that long, we headed to Animal Kingdom. And of course, she fell right asleep on the bus!
Because she was napping, we headed to It’s Tough to Be a Bug to kill some time. She slept the entire show. She woke up not long after, and we headed to The Boneyard and let her play until our dinner reservation. She made a new friend, and she hated to leave when it was time for dinner.
We headed to our dinner reservation at Yak and Yeti at around 6:30. It was surprisingly really great. Melody was a terror though.
So we started to head to the Safari to use our Fastpass, but then a storm started heading our way. To risk not getting caught on the ride in the middle of a lightning storm, we headed back to the buses, but I first stopped to take this perfect picture.
Then it was off to bed!
Resort Day/EPCOT - 9/10/18
Since we had such a jam-packed day the day before, we decided to sleep in. We ate breakfast in the room, then we took our time getting ready. My mom had to work this morning, so it was just Melody and me. I decided to take her to the playground for a while. She really enjoyed it, but it was super hot. So we would go inside of the lobby and gift shop to cool off for a bit before going back out. Melody was obsessed with the stage they had outside of the bar area. We also went and grabbed a pumpkin scavenger hunt sheet from the front desk. We never ended up finishing it, but it gave us something to do around the resort.
We went and grabbed lunch at the food court around 12:45. I ordered a pizza for me, fries for Melody, and she also wanted some apple slices. I had to wait about 7 or 8 minutes for the pizza to cook, but it was really good. They also had really great fries. Although Melody didn’t love them because of the seasoning they put on them. I brought Melody some peanut butter crackers to eat along with everything.
After lunch, we went back to the room and Melody was able to take a nap. She napped for quite a while. She even slept through housekeeping and my mom getting back from work. We finally all got up and put back together to leave around 4 pm for Epcot. We first headed to Spaceship Earth.
We then made our way around the World Showcase for our dinner reservation at Teppan Edo. Melody was an absolute terror at dinner. She didn’t want anything we had or anything they had. We were able to get her calmed down using our phones.
After we ate dinner, we went over to Liberty Inn and ordered Melody french fries. That really made a difference in her attitude. We also listened to some of the concert before heading back around the World Showcase. We went to the Festival Center to get our free magnet. Melody loved the “Big Ball”. Then we headed back to the hotel.
So I originally promised Melody we would go to the playground at Epcot that is there for the Food and Wine Festival. However, it was closed by the time we made it there. So I compromised and took her to the playground at our resort. Then we headed off to shower and bed!
Disney Springs/EPCOT - 9/11/18
After getting up and getting ready, my mom headed to work, and Melody and I headed to Disney Springs. She was super cute on the boat ride. She wanted to bring her Minnie Mouse and Daisy toys, and she lined them up next to her on the ride. And we had to wear our hats!
We first did some shopping. Melody was great at first, then she threw a few tantrums over not wanting to go inside of Once Upon a Toy. What kid would not want to go in there?!?! We went to The World of Disney, and it was awful. The store is under refurbishment and I didn’t realize that. It had about a quarter of what it normally has. I did let Melody pick one stuffed animal as a souvenir. She decided on Minnie Mouse, and she had to walk around with us.
We had Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch before catching the boat back to the hotel. Melody took another nap, then after mom got off work, we headed to Epcot again.
We started off this trip riding the Nemo ride. Then Melody was super engrossed in the aquarium. They also have a small play area that Melody played in for a while.
Then we headed over to The Land. A few pictures were mandatory for Brad. We headed to ride Living with the Land first. It is our favorite ride at Epcot!
So we were torn on where to eat dinner on this night. We didn’t have any reservations. We contemplated eating quick service, but deep down I really wanted Garden Grill. I was very fearful of how Melody would do here since she was terrified of the characters in December. Well we decided to just bite the bullet. I was able to look online, and I found a reservation for about 25 minutes later. I booked it, then we went and washed our hands in the restroom and checked in.
We were seated within about 10 minutes in great seats. We had one of the outside booths which was perfect for Melody to hide in. Of course they originally had Melody’s booster seat on the outside, but that was not an option. We sat down, and the food immediately started coming at us. First off are the rolls (yummy!) and salad with fresh pickles. The salad has changed over the years. When we first visited they had fabulous homemade ranch. Now it is a vinaigrette dressing, and the salad had chopped olives which I wasn’t prepared for (I hate olives). Oh and the pickles were ok, but not worth more than a few bites.
Next up was dinner which has also changed since our visit in December. The main courses were roast, turkey, and pork tenderloin. The sides were fries, Mac and Cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes, and corn succotash. I couldn’t eat the pork, but the roast was great and the turkey was ok. My favorite sides were the Mac and Cheese and mashed potatoes. It was all great, but those were my favorite parts. If they would change the salad back, this would be my absolute favorite meal at Disney! Dessert was strawberry shortcake which was also great.
Melody did ok around the characters. She whined when they came and wanted to crawl under my mom, but she didn’t require us to leave the table and as soon as the characters were out of sight she was immediately fine. Hopefully on our next trip she will pose with them!
After dinner, we headed over to Journey of the Imagination. We used our Fastpass so that I could attempt to get a 4th one that was tier one. No luck and no need at Figment. Oh well!
So Melody loves the play area after the ride. The ride itself she enjoys until the dark part, but the play area is what she is really here for. Oh and the photo booths are part of Memory Maker!
We stepped outside and took a few pictures…
Then we headed to MouseGears for some shopping.
After we were through shopping, we headed back to our hotel. Tonight’s movie was Up! And it was conveniently located right outside our room. We did watch for about 15 minutes, but it was time for showers and bed! We had an early morning the next day.
Toy Story Land/Disney Springs/Epcot/Magic Kingdom - 9/12/18
I was able to secure us reservations to the Annual Passholder Toy Story Land Play Event for this morning. It was the only day still available for our trip, and the only time available was 7 am. So we had to be at Hollywood Studios at 6:45. We opted to drive because I was unsure of the bus schedule that early, and I knew the walking was awful. Well the walking was awful from our car too.
We were lined up about 5 til 7. They started letting us scan to get in right at 7, and then they led us to Toy Story Land. So I won’t go into too much detail about the event yet, but I absolutely adored Toy Story Land in general. This may have been because I was spoiled by having no lines at any of the rides, but it was great. Melody loved the Alien Saucers, and Slinky Dog totally exceeded my expectations.
We ended up leaving Hollywood Studios around 8:15 am. We could have stayed and continued to enjoy it, but Melody was getting hungry and so were we. So we headed back to the hotel and had breakfast there. Mickey Waffles were a must!
After breakfast we just relaxed in our room. My mom had a full day of work so she would not be joining us at the parks until around 7:30 pm. So Melody and I napped and hung out.
I decide to venture to the parks with Melody alone. We needed dinner, and Chicken Guy! was so amazing I wanted to go back. So we started off by heading to Disney Springs by bus for dinner. There wasn’t much of a line at 5:30 pm, but we did have a somewhat inconvenient table. Having a stroller and a toddler, getting drink refills wasn’t possible since we were sitting outside. But I survived!
Then we caught a bus to the Beach Club. I decided to venture to Epcot through the International Gateway. I wanted to go to Japan anyhow, so this made the most amount of sense to avoid a bit of walking. We spent some time at the Beach Club because it came a downpour as soon as we arrived there.
Melody and I took a few pictures throughout the World Showcase, then we did some shopping in Japan. I was able to buy Brad a few souvenirs. Melody was actually really great during our time alone. She used my phone some to keep her occupied, but she didn’t fuss and stayed in her stroller without complaint.
My mom met us at Epcot as we were leaving so that we could all take the monorail to Magic Kingdom. There was extra magic hours that evening and the only two rides we didn’t accomplish Sunday was Jungle Cruise and Pirates, so we were hoping to squeeze those in. First up, the monorail.
We picked a super poor time to arrive at Magic Kingdom. We literally arrived right as the fireworks were starting. A lot of people were lined up trying to get in to see them. We finally got in, but we were forced in on the right side of the park. Unlike what I have experienced in the past, there was no walking path to cut over to the left side of Main Street. Instead, we had to walk ALL around to get to the Jungle Cruise! Literally, Tomorrowland to Fantasyland to Liberty Square, then finally to the cut over to Adventureland. Looking back, we should have just stopped on Main Street and watched the fireworks, then walked to Jungle Cruise from there. But Jungle Cruise wasn’t part of extra magic hours and we didn’t want to risk missing it. Melody wasn’t impressed though…
Next up was Pirates. At this point it was after closing so they had to scan our bands to ride the ride.
When we first arrived at Magic Kingdom, a nice castmember gave Melody a cookie outside of the Confectionary. Well as we were leaving we decide to give it to her. I assumed it was a chocolate chip or sugar cookie. Nope, peanut butter cookie covered in chocolate. A mess was made, and we had an emergency bathroom stop on the way to the buses!
When we got back to the room, we ate some snacks I picked up at Disney Springs earlier. Melody ate one bite of a cake pop she thought she wanted, and mom and I had a delicious apple!
Resort/Epcot/Disney Springs - 9/13/18
We woke up as usual and ate breakfast in our room. Melody was a bit moody…
Mom went to work and we hung out in the room during the morning time. We eventually got ready and headed to the food court for lunch at around noon. I decided to try something new today. I bought Melody one of the Uncrustables meals that came with goldfish, carrots and a cookie. I got a pizza kids meal that came with carrots and a cookie. Melody ate goldfish and a cookie. She wouldn’t even touch the uncrustables.
We spent some time playing on the play ground and walking around the resort to burn some energy.
We rested at the room until my mom was off work, and we headed to Epcot around 3:30. We used a Fastpass at Frozen Ever After, and Melody’s expression was as expected. I thought she hated it, but she wanted to do it again. Of course she wasn’t waiting an hour!
Next up was the Gran Fiesta Ride in Mexico. I really love this area, I just wished the food was better!
Since this was our fourth visit to Epcot, we headed to the Festival Center to get our free cutting board. Then we enjoyed the only Food and Wine Festival purchase our entire trip, a Frozen Mimosa from the Mimosa bar inside of the Festival Center. It was delicious and very different.
Mom was jealous of our Chicken Guy! dinner from the previous night, so we caught the bus from Epcot to Disney Springs to eat there again (it’s REALLY good).
After dinner, we decided to head back to the resort. We wanted to get in some pool time, and we also had to pack for our early flight.
This was our first visit to the pool. Looking back, we should have went sooner because she LOVED it! The splash pad area was a lot of fun. My only complaint was the lack of enforcement of the height restriction. Kids that were WAY too big were mixed up with the toddlers and young children. The pool had a slide, so there was really no reason for the teenagers to be hanging out in this kid area. They did eventually leave though.
We were ran off by the lightning storm headed our way, so we went back to the room and showered and snacked before bed!
Departure Day - 9/14/18
We were up early and headed to the airport around 6 am. We had to drop of our car, and check our luggage since we needed the car seat for the car. Then we were through security in a breeze.
We waited to have breakfast at the airport. Since we had quite a bit of time until our flight, we decided to eat breakfast at Outback. It was actually a good breakfast. I had the breakfast sandwich on a bagel and the potatoes were great with ranch.
Melody was able to run around a bit while we waited at the airport for our flight.
Melody did pretty good on our flight to Atlanta. She actually fell asleep which helped. Our flight from Atlanta to Huntsville wasn’t as easy. She refused to sleep and wanted to play. It made for a fun flight, ha!
We had so much fun on our trip. It was our first trip with my mom and Melody to Disney World. Melody is definitely a handful these days. It will make things interesting on our next trip!
