Let's Try This Again. Day 3, Part II

After a rough and eventful start to our day and calling it quits, the kids stopped the sickly fun at about 6pm and wanted food. We hadn't canceled our dinner reservations in the event we got this lucky! The walk to Epcot was peaceful as always and we arrived at 6:30. Since our reservations weren't until 8:15 we decided to walk toward the UK and around to Italy the long way to catch some sites, window shopping, and make sure the kids were actually fit to be out of the room.

 Daddy playing with Ally at a shop in World Showcase, trying to get a smile.

With the exception of some complaints from Ally that it was cold, all went well and we were seated at Via Napoli about 5 minutes after arriving. I don't recall if we were early or right on time for our reservation. This restaurant is a show piece at the back of the Italy pavilion! Absolutely beautiful. It's in a very large building that looks as though it were transplanted right out of Italy...not that I've ever been but still. ;-) Our table was in the area of the restaurant that can be opened for outdoor dining so it was a long line of sliding glass doors with a view of the pavilion courtyard. We immediately ordered a pitcher of sangria and decided on the calamari for an appetizer and a shared entree of their version of white lasagna with spinach. The kids stuck with a buttered spaghetti and bread with olive oil. Our food arrived at appropriate times and the portion sizes were perfect for us. The dessert choices were great and Ryan and I each had a treat; Ryan the tiramisu and I a vanilla ice cream sundae with ammaretti cookies and cherries with whipped cream. Oh. My. Gah. This dessert is worth going to the restaurant and I WILL go back for that alone (though the rest of our food was also very good)! Ryan said his tiramisu was really good too. The sangria was tasty but maybe just a bit sweet for my taste. I would've preferred it made with a dryer red wine I think.

With Jace starting to melt down as the clock passed 9, we headed quickly back to the resort so as to miss the booming fireworks that get him so flustered. On our way out of the restaurant Ally pointed out the fountain in the pavilion and decided we needed a picture there on our return visit to Epcot tomorrow morning.

Strange side note and observation...maybe one of you Mousebuzzers can enlighten us on this issue. Why is the Yacht and Beach Club only partially and randomly lit on the outside? There is such an interesting roof line and architectural design, it seems so odd that they only light a few of the many peaks and nothing else. It's really not very attractive, ha!

The kids were tucked in by 10ish after a bath and Ryan and I took this opportunity to use our reusable mugs for mixing another adult beverage (which I'm enjoying as this is being typed).

Goodnight from the House of Mouse.

The Good, The Bad, The Sickly

Here I am, Day 3, sitting on what has been officially named "The Awesome Balcony", deciding to give in and call this day a bust. *sigh* Long story short, both kids have been throwing up since 5am yet acting absolutely normal. All very bizarre. Ryan had a bout of it at midnight but has been fine since that one time, and I seem to have been spared...so far. Not sure if it was the food at dinner last night or a bug wreaking havoc but our day hasn't gone well.

Ryan and I had breakfast of School Bread we picked up at Norway in Epcot last night, and coffee on The Awesome Balcony while the kids slept in. This was about the highlight of the day.

The kids seemed fine by about 9am when they woke up so we decided to be risky and head out for a walk to Hollywood Studios and see how it went. Made it there and through the Great Movie Ride and that was it. Walked back to the resort with the sickies and have been hanging out ever since. Ryan and I had some not awesome counter service flat bread pizza and the kiddos are now napping. I sure hope this passes soon. Stomach issues in Disney World is probably my worst vacation nightmare. The saving grace here is, the kids aren't acting like they're miserable (no good when my babies feel yucky) and, this was a calm day on our plans. We only anticipated a half day at Hollywood Studios and dinner reservations at Via Napoli tonight in Italy at Epcot but I'm going to venture a guess that will be canceled. Oh well. At least we have 6 more full days and lots of fun still to be had. It has to get better from here, right?

No exciting pictures from today but still super cute.

While I have very little to share from today, I figured I'd talk about our thoughts and opinions on Disney's Beach Club Villas and a few other things we've noticed since arriving.

Ryan and I agree we prefer the Wilderness Lodge, and it took a lot for us to admit that. It's not that there's anything wrong with the Beach Club, it's unrelated to the theming or rooms but more just feeling we aren't getting. We love the location but the resort seems to be lacking something special. Not sure what that is or how to describe it. We also find the counter service options to be sub par and minimal. While we aren't the owning members of this Vacation Club Resort, we did kind of expect to still hear "Welcome Home" from Cast Members; they don't know we aren't members, only that we are Disney guests. Hasn't happened. We really haven't gotten much in the general friendliness area from Cast Members. The gal at our concierge desk and the gal that did Jace's haircut seemed downright unhappy to be where they were. The nicest people we've spoken to have been from Mousekeeping. On the up side, the rooms are much quieter than we anticipated. I'd read reviews that you can hear every single noise through the thin walls and we haven't noticed that at all. The beds and pillows are surprisingly comfortable, even the fold out sofa sleeper. Our room is an appropriate size but it doesn't fit our family of 4 as well as it would fit 4 adults. We have the sleeper sofa out for Ally and a Pack n Play style crib for Jace and those take up the majority of the room. A major observation is the lack of storage. I always unpack our suitcases since we're here for a full 8 or 9-day week and suitcases take up too much space. There are only 4 small drawers under the TV that barely fit my clothes and the kids'. Ryan's clothes ended up on a high shelf in the closet and on top of the TV stand. The foyer/entry area seems to be a terrible waste of valuable space but the rest of the studio is a nice layout. Lastly, for some reason, I expected to have double sinks in the vanity area and it's only a single. Maybe I had the 1 bedroom stuck in my head. Not a big deal since I'm almost always ready before anyone else needs it but it would be nice.

The other odd and not-like-Disney thing we noticed was the large number of twinkle lights that were burned out on the buildings in World Showcase in Epcot. We've never known Disney to let such a detail slide! We have also seen trash on the grounds which is unheard of in our experiences. Flukes? Maybe. I hope so. We know how much Disney prides itself on unwavering customer service and having every detail just so; it's one of the silent pieces that make Disney such a magical place.

Sorry for the negativity in today's report...some days are just like that. Send us some good vibes if you've got any to spare. ;-)

Tomorrow will be better! We'll be off to Epcot for the first part of the day and Magic Kingdom for the evening!

Learning to do Disney with toddlers (read: RELAX)

This is Tara Huffman, reporting LIVE from the Happiest Place on Earth (yes, that is fact as opposed to my opinion)! For those that don't know me as well, the Cast for this tour of The World is:

Ryan (Daddy) age: 30-something
Tara (Me, Mommy) age: Younger than Daddy ;-)
Alexandra (Ally) age: 3
Jace (Jacerman Boogerbutt according to Sissy) age: 14 mo.

The facts:

7 nights at Disney's Beach Club Villas in a Studio and 1 night at Disney's Polynesian Resort, 8 day Park Hopper, and an over-planning, obsessive, Disney-loving Mommy.

I won't share much about Day 1 since it was nothing more than a travel day. We left home (Kansas City, MO) at 4:!5pm and landed in Orlando at 10:40pm. We walked into our room at 12:05am and were in bed at 1, both kids passed out to the world. Stressful 2nd leg of the flight but that's irrelevant when the destination is WDW.

Day 2: The fun begins!

Well, the fun did begin but much, much later than we normally shoot for. We decided to be nice (read: smart) parents and let the kiddos sleep in until they woke on their own. I love Disney World to a fault and all but I'm no dummy. 2 well-rested toddlers are essential, especially when the opinionated 3 year old is super sensitive to noise, sounds, and general excitement (or fear as it could be with characters and some attractions).

I got up at 7:30am and had myself and our belongings ready by 8:15. Coffee brewing for The Hubby and clothes set out for the Littles, I stepped out to have some forced relaxtion on the balcony and get some pictures of our view. Oh, my idea of relaxing in Disney World is pacing the balcony on a beautiful, cool, Florida morning while waiting for the sleepy heads to realize where we are. They finally rose about 9:30 and we were off before 10.

Breakfast at the Main Street Bakery, which would've been a great idea if we had been there at park opening. Horrible idea that ended up with our first wait in a line for about 30min. Breakfast was had and we headed for Cinderella Castle at Ally's request. Dumbo was her next request but the line was already too long for the patience of 2 toddlers so we side-stepped to It's a Small World among others in Fantasyland, saving Dumbo for a time when we were earlier birds or for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We also were instructed by Ally to go back to see the Fairy Godmother whom we'd passed by earlier when Ally refused to say "Hello" to her.

I should mention now that Ally took a bit of warming up this morning which was no surprise so we let her be hesitant and a tad grouchy and let the fun soak in. She nursed her way through It's a Small World, coming up for air long enough to point out the monkeys and a couple of other random items...no interest in singing the song which happens to be her favorite and she knows every single word. Another time perhaps. By the time we got to Snow White's Scary Adventures she had fun yelling at the Evil Queen to "Go-A-Way!!" and then making a big deal out of our ride vehicle leaving the scene. This was Mommy and Daddy's trick for keeping the attraction fun instead of dark and scary.

We got Fast Passes for Peter Pan's Flight since the wait was already 45 min and out popped a "Surprise Fast Pass" for Mickey's Philharmagic. I thought this was pretty cool and Ally was all excited to tell Daddy. Unfortunately my excitement was spoiled when we later got a Fast Pass for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the same thing happened. Oh well, we thought we were cool for a little bit!

We had lunch at Pinnochio's Village Haus which was fine; just your expected Disney counter service. Big building though with lots of seating options. The kids refueled and we headed back to Main Street for Jace's first haircut!

The Harmony Barber Shop was busy as usual and we waited at least and hour. Side note: They now take appointments! We'll be doing that next time. Ally got Pixie Dusted and held her head funny all the way back to the bus so as not to disturb and of the dust. It wasn't until she left the awake world that she let her head move. ;-)

(Sorry for all the haircut pics...it was kind of a big deal to cut off all his long, curly locks!)

The kids napped for a couple hours. Ryan and I relaxed on our awesome balcony and enjoyed an adult beverage with the liquor we brought from home and soda in our Reusable Disney Mugs (yes, purchased new on this trip, for all you MouseBuzzers!) as well as some must-have, family-traditional Disney vacation snacks.

After the kids woke up we walked the short distance to the back entrance of Epcot. We meandered a bit until we got closer to our reservation time for La Hacienda de San Angel.

Right after entering Epcot, we spotted Princess Aurora in the France pavilion and the line was only a few people long so we of course had to stop. This is Ally's first princess encounter for this trip! She held Aurora's hand and told her that Daddy's favorite princess is Princess Aurora which got a big "Thank you!" from the princess. We had our picture taken with Aurora by a Photopass Photographer so I don't have a pic to share just yet but I will after we get home. I'll have to do a separate blog entry to share all the Photopass photos that you don't get to see in the live report.

The Aristocat Marie was taking time for guests as well but Ally didn't have any interest in talking to her...a little too big still...she prefers characters with their helper's face showing.  Hopefully we can get her to branch out a little before our breakfast at Cape May Cafe with the Classic characters!

We checked in at the restaurant at the Mexico pavilion and requested a table by the windows so we could see Illuminations. Our table was ready about 5 minutes later and it was indeed by one of the huge windows. Really, most of the tables in this restaurant would provide you with a great view of Illuminations. We enjoyed our food very much! Both of the kids devoured everything we gave them and some of ours too. Ryan and I had one of the meals for 2 and were really impressed. It was a grilled variety of seafood, corn, veggies, rice, and beans to prepare fajita style. We would definitely recommend this restaurant as well as the particular dish we ordered. I had the empanada dessert, also good but pretty ordinary really. Our margaritas were good but needed more oomph from something...it was lacking a little but was still good and satisfied my need for a margarita. Sorry no pictures of dinner...the camera got left in the stroller outside of the restaurant. I'll do better next time.

After realizing it was only 9 and Illuminations didn't start until 9:30, we decided to venture outside to see if we could find an acceptable view instead of sitting at the dinner table with restless toddlers for another 30+ minutes. We found a decent spot and watched for as long as the kids would tolerate. It ended up being just too intense for our sensory-sensitive little ones. Jace really got upset as we were walking back to the resort when the fireworks got more frequent and the finale started. His arms started flailing and he burst into tears. Oh boy, walk faster! He was fine after the final booms and we had a nice, peaceful walk back to the resort. I love that we didn't have to fight crowds at a bus station or a wait for the next boat to get back "home". We love Epcot so the Beach Club Resort is really an ideal location for us since it's a 5 minute walk to the park.

It was about 10:15 when we got back to our room so we got everyone in jammies and settled in for some books, some final play time, and a choice of bed time movie for Ally (Sleeping Beauty was her decision, of course).

Tomorrow: Hollywood Studios!