How high does SOAR'N go? - TR for a short Feb. Trip

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hello! Welcome to my 2nd trip report!

This trip was a short trip to Disney World, February 5th - 8th. With only 2 park days. But we made the best of the short trip and it inspired another visit. Woo Hoo!

Let me start by introducing who went on this trip. First is my immediate family:


First, there is me, Ariella I am the mom, and planner of all Disney trip! And your trip reporter. And then there is my DH, Andy. He has come to love Disney as much as the rest of us. Then we have our two lovely little DD's. Who are getting less and less little! Morgan is the oldest. She is currently 8 and in 3rd grade. And Gwen is the youngest. She is currently 6 and in 1st grade. This was our 4th trip to Disney World. As with most folks, the first trip was to be a one and done trip and then we just feel line love with Disney vacations and all that goes with it. This was by far our shortest trip.

That is because, technically, the "point" of this trip, was to visit my grandparents, (the girls Great Grandparents) Which they live in Sebring, Florida, which is about an hour and change south of Orlando. So, I mean if we were going to the area, how could we NOT go to Disney as well? right?

So, the plan was for my mother to fly down with us and my sister and her boyfriend we meeting us down there as well.

Here is a 4 generation photo from the trip. My mother is on the right, with my sister Lindsay next to me. My great aunt Kay behind her and my grandparent on the back right. It was quick couple of days. I was worried that the girls would have just kept asking when the Disney part of the trip started but they seem content with the family visit as well.

Well, I hope some folks follow along! It was a short trip but we will managed to pack in a number of firsts for us! One being my mother joining us for a day at Magic Kingdom! And many more. So, follow along!

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[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Pre-Disney Chapters:
Travel Day - But not to Disney,
That time we picked Oranges on a Roof!
More talking...
Sunday's doings & DISNEY Finally!!!!

Disney Springs Chapters:
Disney Springs - Now Vacation has REALLY Started.
Shopping for my "One Thing"
How far is the bus?!?
Tinker bell Does Come on Short Trips!

EPCOT Chapters:
How high?!
What Emotion are you now?
Nemo, Figment, & our Future!
Beverly Will NOT ruin our day!!!!
Lunch, Hidden Mickeys & Ice Cream Martini's, Oh My!
Lucky Owls!
Side Note:
Closing out EPCOT Day

Magic Kingdom Chapters:
Magic Kingdom Day!!!
One of my Favorite things....
My Neck Hurts!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Travel Day - But not to Disney,

So, our trip starts us on Thursday, February 2nd. We had a flight leaving Philadelphia Airport Thursday morning, so Wednesday, was business as usual, Work, School, Swim Lessons. All those good things. My mom came up to stay with us for the night, so that she would be here to just leave with us and not worry about traffic. So, we kind of treated Thursday morning like a regular day and got ready and out of the house by 8:00 and headed to the airport. Some traffic getting to the airport but nothing terrible. We parked at a long term parking lot and with minimal wait were on a shuttle to the airport. We checked our bags and made our way to our terminal all with little issues.

Gwen's book bag did get chosen to be searched. Which I found comical as it was a blue sparkly Frozen book bag. She did have some freshly sharpened pencils and this dull rounded kid scissors in her bag to do her homework. So, you just never know... But all was fine. Security guard asked What in the world was of her Ewok Tsum Tsum Plush and we were on our way.

We made it to the gate and our plane was already there! I find this amazing, the planes seem to be turned around so fast usually that I was surprised it was there already. We still had plenty of time, so we grabbed some seats and grabbed breakfast for everyone, since we wouldn't be landing till 2:00.


There was some waiting involved at the gate.

But then were were finally able to get on the plane. We flew Southwest this trip, so it was that whole no seat assignments nonsense which I don't love. But they let families with kids under 6 get on before some of the folks, so as to let the families be together. But this would be the last time for that!


But we found a row of 3 towards the back and then Andy grabbed one behind us, originally. My mom had to wait till her actual boarding time, and just grabbed a the first window seat she found. We actually weren't sure if she had gotten on the plane, as we didn't actually see her board. But she did. All was well.

Then a family of 5 got on LAST. It was a husband and wife with 3 little boys. By now the seats were scattered, so there was some shuffling and Andy ended up moving back a couple rows to clear a full row of three for the family. They apologized profusely about it and thanked the people that moved for them. But all was good. And we left on time! Woo Hoo.

Plane ride was fairly uneventful. Our row looked like this, I actually got to watch my own stuff! Probably a first for me. I just had to open a few bags of snacks. It was glorious! I think Gwen watched Wreck It Ralph and Morgan watch a bunch of Phineas and Ferb episodes. I watched documentary on the Royals from Netflix. (I know, not something Disney!)


I am pretty sure the mom of the 3 boys that came on last was super jealous of our quiet calm row, as her boys were good, they were just little, needed this and that. The usual kid things. I know I would have been when the girls were that age...

Anyway, we got off the plane, reunited with my mom, hit the bathrooms, changed into more summer like outfits then made our way to the fake-o-rail!

We gathered our bags from baggage claim and then sadly had to head to the car rental area. As we were headed to Sebring for the first part of our trip. We got our car, got loaded up and headed out! The drive to Sebring is literally a straight shot south. It's pretty easy. We made it to Sebring around 5:00, I think. Checked into the hotel and made arrangements to meet up with my grandparents for dinner. Where did we go? The very exciting Ruby Tuesdays! I know you are all jealous.

We made it a fairly early night. Had dinner with the grandparents and then back to the room for the night. Walking back to the room, the girls kept holding hands but every time I got my phone out to get the pic they would stop. Stinkers. But it was super cute.


Day one was in the books. Tomorrow my sister would be arriving and we had a fun filled day planned! (well, maybe)

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

That time we picked Oranges on a Roof!

We woke up on Friday, my mom and I headed to the local grocery store to get good for dinner tonight and the next day. Andy took the girls swimming at the hotel. A nice couple took there picture while out there. (Because the pool was NOT heated! And no adult really wanted to swim)



The hotel was just ok but the pool was really nice. If it was only heated...


Once mom and I got back, everyone got dressed and ready for the day. We headed over to my grandparents. Talked and talked. My sister and her boyfriend finally arrived. We had lunch and then it was time for picking oranges! Where do you pick oranges in Florida? You ask?

Apparently, in my grandparents old backyard! The tree ended up being bit tall for most of us to get the oranges, so we needed to climb a ladder and get on the roof of what looked kind of stable to me garage. So, my sister and Gwen volunteered to climb up.


A bit unorthodox, but it got the job done. And I think Gwen was super excited that we let her actually climb up there.



Morgan wanted to climb up on the roof as well, but her fear of heights really just kept her solidly on the ground. She ended up being in charge of collecting the oranges if they fell.


After collecting our oranges, we headed back to the house and did what you always do after picking oranges....

Make Orange Juice!


It was delicious Orange Juice. After some juice, hanging out and chit chatting. We headed back to the hotel to relax and let my grandparents rest for a bit.

The girls swam more and Andy & I enjoyed this!


This is so good! We discovered this at Disney World and always try and get it at least once on our trips. It's basically juice, very low alcohol content but very refreshing on hot days in the park.

After some swimming, we headed back to my grandparents for dinner. We hung out, talked and played a mean game of Skip Bo. Super exciting!

Up next, Saturday and Sunday. And I promise Disney!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

More talking...

Saturday was fairly non-eventful. The morning we headed back to my grandparents place. We hung and talked. See the them, here? My grandmother taught Morgan how to make Apple Dumplings. This was something she was super excited about! And took very seriously.


I had mentioned to the girls that I remember when I was little using a little item to suck orange juice directly out of the orange. And ever since they have said they want them as well. So, my aunt told us to check out the local orange store. So, after lunch we headed out to find this store. We were able to find the desired orange "suckers'! Along with little cartons of orange gum balls and gator dummies.

They also had Orange Ice Cream! I assume it was similar to the Citrus Swirl at Disney. It was delicious! We all had one.


Here are the girls with there orange "suckers"



That is pretty much the only semi-interesting things that happened. Lots of hanging out and talking.

Sunday we were headed to Disney!!!!

 

[thumper*]

Cute family. I love the orange picking. I'm sure your grandparents were very happy to have the excitement of your visit.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Cute family. I love the orange picking. I'm sure your grandparents were very happy to have the excitement of your visit.

Thanks!! And Welcome to my trip report! I will be getting to the actual Disney part soon!

 

[DisneyElite4]

Your girls are adorable!!

We have family near Disney also, so many of our trips include short visits to see them. It's always fun, but I often find myself ready for the Disney part of my trip fairly soon!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Your girls are adorable!!

Welcome!!!

It was def something that I am glad we did, but we were SOOOOO ready for Disney after all the talking and more talking!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Sunday's doings & DISNEY Finally!!!!

So, the plan for Sunday was to have breakfast with the grandparents and then head back to the greater Orlando area. So we got up and packed up the room. The girls were sent with a week's worth of homework so as to not fall to far behind while away. So, each morning they would sit in the hotel and get some work done. One of my DD's was better at doing this than the other... Ahem.... So, one of them STILL had work to complete Sunday morning. I basically said she wasn't leaving the room until it was done. She was not going to want to do it once we were in Disney.

So, this was Gwen for a good amount to time.

But she did finish and we headed out for breakfast at my grandparents. I had 2 goals for the morning. First, was a questionnaire that I had found on Pintrest that I wanted Morgan to ask my grandparents. Things like how many siblings they have, what is there favorite food. Simple things but just some things for her to ask and find our more about them and start some conversations. Which with my grandfather some how turned into how he used to butcher pigs when he was little. Now I know people do this, we are just more of city folk than country folk. That's all.

But we were able to complete that! And the other was some generational photos.
Check and Check!

It was FINALLY time to head to Disney. We were so excited. But I tried to contain my excitement until we left. My sister and her boyfriend were heading back to NYC that night, so, they were dropping us off on property.

We all put our magic bands on in the car. We were ready!


We were staying at Caribbean Beach. A first for us! The first a many 1st this trip! It amazes me that this can be our 4th trip and there still be so many ways to have 1sts still.

I want to say we arrived at Caribbean Beach around 1:30. I had already received a text saying our room was ready! We were in Barbados 13, 2nd floor. Now, I was worries about the size of this resort but I was more concerned about being close to my mom than our overall location. I probably should have requested certain rooms but we were just not staying long, it seemed silly. And it was fine for the most part, but with little kids, the walk to the pool is kind of long. We did have a corner room!

We unloaded all of our stuff into the room. Had potty breaks and then headed back out. We were going to try and play mini-golf. So, we headed over to the Sorcer's Mickey course. Which turned out to have a 60 minute wait! Now, I don't know why it didn't occur to me that there would be a wait but it just didn't. So, we passed on that, and headed to Disney Springs.

I will start a separate post with real Disney trip reporting next! But it's time to feed the fan dinner...

 

[luckylady]

Ok I'm with Morgan by keeping my feet on the ground. Picking fresh oranges wicked. The orange suckers neat idea. Drink the juice without the mess. Now on with the Disney report.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Ok I'm with Morgan by keeping my feet on the ground. Picking fresh oranges wicked. The orange suckers neat idea. Drink the juice without the mess. Now on with the Disney report.

Welcome!!!! Yeah, I was totally ok with her not climbing up but I also wanted to encourage her to at least try, if that is what she wanted to do. Oh, the juice "suckers" are WAAAAAAAY more messy!!! you end up with juice down your hands and arms. But it's part of what makes it fun! (I guess)


I appreciate everyone who commented on my pre-disney portion! Disney Springs update will be coming tonight! I promise.... I hope...

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Disney Springs - Now Vacation has REALLY Started.

We got to Disney Springs and parked in one of the new parking garages. They are pretty sweet, if you ask me. Having the number of spots left is pretty cool. But I didn't have to deal with the craziness during construction.

My sister requested a stop at Starbucks. We had been drinking crappy hotel coffee for the past couple days and I think we were all hankering for some caffeine. I ended up getting a tea drink called "The Mad Hatter" It was a Tazo Red Tea with strawberries, and other fruit in it and vanilla syrup I think. And maybe something else. All I know, is if I tried to order it at a regular starbuck, it would have taken me days to give the order. But I got that, so I could share with the girls. The girls also requested the MOST EXPENSIVE cake pops ever!

Once everyone had there caffeine/sugar needs met. We headed towards the Lego Store. Morgan was very upset about not getting to play mini-golf. She thought we were going to a different course, not Disney Springs for "Just shopping". So, we tried to appease them with the Lego Store.

I have to say, we were not impressed with the Lego Store. Granted we have 2 semi-near us that we can and have gone to. Maybe that has something to do with it. That and we weren't actually interested in buying legos. We did check out the lego statues!

First one we found was a Lego Girl, Gwen wanted to pet the doggie...

She thought she was SUPER funny.

Then we found Woody! Howdy Partner!


And Buzz Lightyear! To Infinity & Beyond!

You can see there cake pops in there hands. Gwen was liking hers like a lollipop. It was pretty gross. Also, she thought it was funny that she was "pushing" one of Buzz's buttons.

Then the best Lego Photo Opt with The Hulk!

HULK SMASH!!!!

There was a long going joke about Gwen using her birthday money to buy Andy a Disney Infinity Hulk figure. So, this was a must.

We headed out of the Lego store after that. My sister and I were talking about what we wanted to do for dinner/lunch when I looked over and the girls were posing literally just like this!

I thought it was kind of funny. They were just chilling' with the orange bird.

We decided to go to Blaze for lunch. I had originally booked reservations for us at Homecoming. I REALLY want to try this place. But I was worried about the timing and everything. So I dropped it right before the 48 hour window. Which was fine I think by now, my sister was getting anxious to head to the airport and all. So, we headed to Blaze for a late lunch.

So, I will just apologize now.. I didn't take ANY picture in or around Blaze. I just wasn't thinking. It was busy but not super crowded when we got there. BUT there was no line and I think it worked against me. I felt like I needed to make a decision fast, so we went with the pizzas off the menu. And I TOTALLY should have customized one. Sigh. But none the less, it was good. Andy and I split a pizza and so did Morgan and Gwen. The girls weren't really hungry being that they just ate cake pops and a million snacks in the car on the ride up.

• We asked for half cheese (Gwen's half) and half mushroom (Morgan's Half). Well, they ended up just making mushroom all over and not very much! So, Gwen of course melted down over this and I ended up picking mushrooms off her side. Sigh.
• Andy and I went with the Meat Eater pizza. It def good but not amazing. Def excellent pizza for Disney.
• It was nice, they had to-go boxes for leftovers, which was nice, since the girls only kid of ate there pizza.
• Andy and I both got a Florida Beer that they had on tap. And we let the girl get a drink to share. They had a couple Agua Fresca options. And the girls decided on half Lemonade/half Prickly Pear Juice!

Overall, Blaze was a good quick lunch. I knew Andy and I were going to want to eat later and get a snack or two. So, it worked out well.

After lunch, my sister and her boyfriend parted ways with us to head to the airport. We were sad to see them go but it also felt like NOW vacation had really started!

Up next, where to go now?... Star Wars Store of course!

 

[ariane37]

I finally made it over!

So, I mean if we were going to the area, how could we NOT go to Disney as well? right?

Exactly! It was SO HARD when I was at Universal for that training to not be able to go to Disney. Visiting DS once helped a bit but I was absolutely dying to get in a park, especially since I have an AP!

We flew Southwest this trip, so it was that whole no seat assignments nonsense which I don't love.

That's why we've never flown SW-I don't totally get the seating thing We always do JetBlue so in addition to each of us having a TV we pick our seats when we book. I did fly Delta last summer alone to visit my sister and hated not picking my seat-which I could have done if I paid for an upgraded flight.

Then a family of 5 got on LAST. It was a husband and wife with 3 little boys. By now the seats were scattered, so there was some shuffling and Andy ended up moving back a couple rows to clear a full row of three for the family. They apologized profusely about it and thanked the people that moved for them. But all was good. And we left on time! Woo Hoo.

Yup again, a reason we haven't tried it. Even at 14 and 11 my boys don't like the idea of not sitting with us so we still do 1A/1C and the other 2 either across or behind. Is there ANY way you can reserve seats on SW?

The girls swam more and Andy & I enjoyed this!

Oh, yeah

Along with little cartons of orange gum balls

OMG do you have a picture??? My Great-Grandmother lived in St. Petersburg and I swear I used to get orange gumballs in what looked like a milk carton years and years ago when we would visit!

First, was a questionnaire that I had found on Pintrest that I wanted Morgan to ask my grandparents. Things like how many siblings they have, what is there favorite food. Simple things but just some things for her to ask and find our more about them and start some conversations. Which with my grandfather some how turned into how he used to butcher pigs when he was little. Now I know people do this, we are just more of city folk than country folk. That's all.

I love that idea. My mom has a notebook filled with questions and answers that she asked her grandmother years ago; she came over here from Germany. My mom has given that to me to keep. I did meet her grandmother (Great Grandmother mentioned above) and I love having all that info. about her growing up in Germany and her first years in America No butchered pigs though lol but I'm sure if my mom asked the right questions she would have gotten some answers along those lines!

The first a many 1st this trip! It amazes me that this can be our 4th trip and there still be so many ways to have 1sts still.

I've been over 30 times; between family trips and adults only trips, Steve and I have been together 15 times. There are still tons of things we haven't done, which is one of the wonderful things about WDW

My sister and I were talking about what we wanted to do for dinner/lunch when I looked over and the girls were posing literally just like this!

I had originally booked reservations for us at Homecoming. I REALLY want to try this place

I do too......

Overall, Blaze was a good quick lunch.

I feel the same, a decent quick lunch or dinner. Not somewhere I'm dying to go back to but if someone I'm with wants to try it I'm not opposed to eating there again.

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

That's why we've never flown SW-I don't totally get the seating thing We always do JetBlue so in addition to each of us having a TV we pick our seats when we book. I did fly Delta last summer alone to visit my sister and hated not picking my seat-which I could have done if I paid for an upgraded flight.

I love Jet Blue, but they don't fly from Philly to Florida. WE would have to fly to Boston and then back down. Which makes NO sense! We do have Frontier, so we might try that for our Sept. Trip. We will see.

Yup again, a reason we haven't tried it. Even at 14 and 11 my boys don't like the idea of not sitting with us so we still do 1A/1C and the other 2 either across or behind. Is there ANY way you can reserve seats on SW?

You can, you have to pay a per ticket cost. Well, you don't get reserved seats but it garentees you Group A boarding (aka first ones on) so you know you get the seat you want.

I was actually more nervous 2 trips ago, we flew US Airways but didn't wan to pay the extra fee to pick our seats. We figured that no one would want to sit with our 4 year old with out us. But I was so nervous about getting it all squared away, I barely slept the night before! Of course it all worked out just fine. But man all these airlines are making the folks that work there, there jobs so much harder. There was 4 families all trying to do the same thing. Poor people.

OMG do you have a picture??? My Great-Grandmother lived in St. Petersburg and I swear I used to get orange gumballs in what looked like a milk carton years and years ago when we would visit!

Here you go!

Isn't it cute! We actually ended up getting them for the girls to give the teachers. Not a big gift but I thought it was something cute, if nothing else and different.

I love that idea. My mom has a notebook filled with questions and answers that she asked her grandmother years ago; she came over here from Germany. My mom has given that to me to keep. I did meet her grandmother (Great Grandmother mentioned above) and I love having all that info. about her growing up in Germany and her first years in America No butchered pigs though lol but I'm sure if my mom asked the right questions she would have gotten some answers along those lines!

I love that. I need to figure out something nice to do with the info Morgan wrote down. I was thinking some sort of Snapfish book with photos and stuff. That will have to come after this report is completed!

 

[ariane37]

I love Jet Blue, but they don't fly from Philly to Florida. WE would have to fly to Boston and then back down. Which makes NO sense! We do have Frontier, so we might try that for our Sept. Trip. We will see.

Oh yeah that makes no sense. Luckily JB flies nonstop from all 6 of the airports that we can choose to go from

Here you go!

Yup! Different pictures on carton since I got mine close to 40 years ago but that's them!

Isn't it cute! We actually ended up getting them for the girls to give the teachers. Not a big gift but I thought it was something cute, if nothing else and different.

It is cute! I think it's a great teacher gift

I need to figure out something nice to do with the info Morgan wrote down. I was thinking some sort of Snapfish book with photos and stuff.

I like the snapfish idea, or some type of scrapbook if you do that kind of thing

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Shopping for my "One Thing"

After my sister and boyfriend left, we headed towards the Star Wars store. Andy and the girls are big Star Wars fans. The girls love Star Wars Rebels. I really hope they integrate them into the new stuff some how. Anyway, we wondered around and checked out the stuff. Andy was hoping that they had some of these at the store here.

He loved these when we were on one of our last trips. But decided against it, since they were kind of $$. But he got a $250 gift card from work for something that I can't for the life of me remember why. But he wanted to burn it on these. But sadly, they didn't have them. And we weren't planning on going to Hollywood Studios this trip. So, it was a no go.

Andy ended up getting a Bobo Fett Shirt. And the girls got to do some pressed pennies. They had a machine that took credit cards! What? I let them do all 6 for the price of 4 deal. It's not quiet the same running a credit card through the machine and not adding your own pennies. But you get nice shiny pressed pennies!

Next we went into the Superhero Store but didn't see anything interesting. So, we headed out and started to make our way back the other way. Now, this was going to be the first trip that we weren't getting a stroller of any kind. And I wasn't really sure how the girls would do. So, walking back the other way seemed to take forever!!!! (this will be a theme later)

But we took our time, we didn't have anywhere to be. I wanted to go into Goofy's Candy Shop and we told the girls we would check out the World of Disney. They wanted to get their 1 thing for the day. We made a deal with the girls a couple trips back that they could get one thing a day. It worked out well to not have them ask for a million things in one day and they started to really weight there options. Weeeell! They made out this trip! Being that it was only 2 park days, they still ended up with 4 things!

As we were walking, I noticed someone getting ready to get in one of the AmpheCars by Boathouse. So, we stopped and watched. The girls only found it mildly interesting. We have done the Duck Boats in Boston, so they weren't "amazed" by the whole idea. But still cool to see.


We continued on, passing this guy.

And headed into the World of Disney.

Holy Cow! That place is CRAZY big. You could spend forever in there! We all looked around.

• Morgan weighed her option on whether to get a pin or a plush. She perused the pins, choose one out and then moved over to the plush. Finally she decided on a Nala Plush. She has a different one, so she wanted to ad it to her collection. Plus she just "knew" that Gwen was going to pick a plush. (Which she was and did)
• Gwen picked a Marie Cat doll. Very cute but kind of big. She said she could get a pin in EPCOT.
• I found a scarf that I liked. The woman with the 3 boys that came on the plane last had a Mickey Circle Scarf on and it inspired me to get a scarf. This is a picture that I found of it online. I like that you can wear it and not be screaming Disney. But if you were a Disney lover, you would notice.
• I also was looking for a Vera Bradley Wallet to match the book bag and tote I ended up getting for Christmas. But I had no luck. I have a feeling the pattern is older. Which is fine. I looooove it! Anybody know where I could get a wallet to match without paying an arm and a leg extra for it?
• 

We purchased our items and headed out.

Here are the girls with their selections.

They were so good! Morgan's eyes practically bugged out at the site of a huge store just for just Pins! She looked around but knew that she already picked her "thing" for the day. And didn't ask to get any.

By now, we were getting tired and ready to leave. But I had one more thing that I wanted to do. So, we headed to Goofy's Candy Shop! We had never been in here either, and man alive! YUM!!!! I mean just look at all of the choices!


I could take one of everything! But we were here for something else!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

How far is the bus?!?

I left off with us arriving at Goofy's Candy Shop. I wanted to make the 'Make your own Treats" We looked around just a little then got down to serious business. Choosing our rice krispee treats!

This is what we choose...

Andy's is for both DH & Me. (And I basically choose for the both of us)

This took what felt like forever! Thank goodness there wasn't really anyone else in there. I think we were all getting tired too!.

Here are the girls watching the Cast Member making the treats.


Kitty "wanted" to see as well.


The woman made the treats but then put them in a chiller. So, the girls entertained themselves some more by using the fun house mirror in the store.

They thought it was pretty funny being so tall.

It still seemed like it might be a while. So, I left the girls with Andy to wait and I snuck across the way to the Marketplace. I wanted to get some of the teas that they have over there. I perused the mugs over there and the teas. Decided on 3 different types of tea and a pink pig tea ball that I knew the girls would get a kick out of. As I was paying the girls and DH walked in with completed treats!

At this point we were all ready to head back to the resort. So, we started heading back towards the buses. The girls were def getting tired. And this was the first time they were asked to walk EVERYWHERE. There was some whinning about how far we had to walk. And how we were NEVER going to make it back. I mean NEVER!!!!

But we did intact make it to the bus area. Successfully found the Caribbean Beach bus stop. (Thankfully not the VERY last group) I want to say we waited maybe 10 minutes. Not too bad. And we were on a bus back to the room. Which was super close but........

We were in Barbados, and the entrance that the bus came in, went basically counter-clockwise from Aruba and around. So, we basically got a tour of the resort. And it took a good 15 minutes to get all the way around and stop at each stop.

We got back to the room, the girls threw there bathing suits on to head down to the pool. But first we needed to do a little taste test of the treats!

• Morgan's is the Top Left with Dark Chocolate, Cinnamon Sugar and White & Milk Chocolate chips.
• Gwen's is the Top Right with Milk Chocolate, Cinnamon Sugar and Oreo Cookie.
• DH & Mine is the bottom with Butterfingers & M&M's.

Can I just tell you. Butterfingers was the WAY to go!!! So good! It took DH & I all 3 nights to eat the thing. It was HUGE.

Morgan's First Bite.



She barely made a dent!

They were super good and I def would do it again. I wish I had one now.... The problem is, I am not sure how often we will visit Disney Springs. It's nice looking but shopping for the most part isn't our family thing. But there are SO many good restaurants, so maybe we will. I did also see that these make your own treats qualify as a snack credit! I find this amazing!

After a quick bite, we headed down to the pool for a quick dip. I sent DH & the girls ahead. As I had something to set out and didn't want little eyes to see.

I started the tradition on our first trip to Disney that Tinkerbell would leave small gifts for the girls. I did it to help curb the I want this and I want that's of the trip. It did work well. The first night has been PJ's that they then wear the rest of the trip. This year, it is Star Wars Rey PJ's.

I layed the PJ's out and headed out to catch up.

I took a couple photos on the way, since I was by myself! A light post along the walk way. It was a very beautiful resort at night.


And a beautiful sunset across the lake!

I caught up to DH and the Girls in the splash pad area. And DH headed to the bar to get us drinks!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Tinker bell Does Come on Short Trips!

I found the girls in the splash area. This was there favorite spot at Wilderness Lodge last year when we were at Disney.
The way they theme these areas is just awesome. Take something simple into something super cool. And these are way better than a boring ankle deep kiddie pool.

The girls were having a great time until...


A lifeguard came in and asked to measure Morgan. I swear she was 1/4" too tall. So, sadly the lifeguard told Morgan that she couldn't play in the area or go down the slides. Sigh...

This was obviously devastating. And Morgan was crying while Gwen was obliviously still running around having fun. I tried to console her and lead them both out to the main pool. After I calmed Morgan down they went into the big pool.

I had to promise to get in with them. Which is of course when DH came back with our drinks. DH wanted to listen to the Football Game. (It was Super Bowl Sunday.) So, I took a big gulp of whatever drink DH had picked out for me and I got in the pool with the girls. Morgan braved the smaller slide without me knowing it and she popped up with a super surprised look on her face. I don't think she expected it to be so fast! But she loved it! So, she proceeded to do it over and over again.

She even convinced Gwen to try. She did it only a couple times. Then Morgan moved over to the bigger one. This one was dark but def fun as well. This became her preferred slide. Eventually DH got in as well. We all took at least one trip on each slide. But then it was time to head back to the room. We had a big day ahead!

On a whim, I turned around as leaving and took this photo of the pool. How amazing!!!! It looks like it could have come off of Disney's website. It jsut show you how beautiful the pool is.


DH & I picked out a couple apps to order from the bar. DH stayed to order them while I took the girls back to the room. It took FOREVER!!!! But we made it. Gwen insisted on opening the door with her key. And then they found this!

They were super excited. Promptly changed into them and started to get settled for the night. They both had some snacks and a bit more of there treats. Morgan tried to eat some of the leftover pizza. But declared two bites in "I don't like cold pizza" We had some leftover watermelon from the other portion of our trip so she ate that and some treat.

Gwen the natural night bird stayed up a little bit later and watched some of the super bowl with us. She made it to the halftime show.


Andy and I watch the game and ate our apps. I believe we got the Nachos, which were caribbean/mexican themed and an order of the wings, which were jerk chicken spiced. Both were really good. I like the Nachos the best. And they had def though of how to package it up if you were taking it to go with was nice.

Finally both girls were asleep! And poor DH had to watch the second half of the game in a hotel room with (3) sleeping people. Me included. AND he is a Patriots fan. And if you watched the game it was VERY dramatic at the end!


All in all, Sunday was a good day. We kept going back and forth about whether to do a park today, but I kind of stuck with the non-park day theme. And I am glad we did. Disney Springs usually gets bumped on a regular trip for us. So, this was a nice change of pace.

Next up... EPCOT!!!!

 

[ariane37]

Looks like you guys really had a good first day! I don't feel the need to go to DS every trip either, other than WoD and a couple other Disney specific stores I just don't care to shop at stores on vacation that I can shop in at home. I do however want to try a couple new restaurants and we still haven't done the make your own treats at Goofy's! Something else that didn't get done last Nov. so I'll try to do on our next family trip.
That stinks that the lifeguard made Morgan leave the splash area It didn't look crowded at all and what's a quarter inch??? He couldn't let her stay in with her sister??? I understand enforcing the rule if it's a child who is WAY over the age/size limit or is causing problems but c'mon. At least you all had fun in the main pool