Disney Trip 2016 - Rest Day!

This is the 4th post of my Disney trip report! To start from the beginning, click here!

Since we hadn't gotten back to our room until midnight, we slept in until about 8 am. I've been to Disney in October several times before and I've always scheduled our rest day for the day after the Halloween party in order to sleep in.

After we did wake up, we got moving because Emily wanted to go to Disney Springs (formally known as Downtown Disney). We took the bus there, and walked a bit to get over to the World of Disney store.

My husband, who we called several times a day while we were gone, decided to give Emily an extra $20 in spending money and it was burning a hole in her pocket. But the first thing we saw when we walked into the store was that there was a visiting princess doing meet and greets. 

I had read about this before our trip and knew it was a fairly new thing. Because we were curious who it was and because there was no wait, we went to see the princess who turned out to be Aurora. Emily got her picture taken with her and then went off to look for something very specific she

wanted.

She had seen a little bear stuffy from 'Brave' and she had to have it. I had to ask a cast member but we were directed in the right place, and Emily got her precious bear, that she named Bear. I got some pins, and was tempted by the Captain America ears, but decided not to get them.

From there, we went to the LEGO store. Emily played with some Legos and I got new lego keychains for my keys. We also had to get pictures with the different LEGO statues, which are all very cool!

We didn't really have much else we wanted to look at, so we headed back to the bus. Thankfully everything was well marked so we could find our way back. The whole area had pretty much changed a ton since our last trip.

Once we got back to our resort we had some lunch in the

food court. I had given Emily the choice of mini golf or swimming for after lunch and she picked swimming. Since we had quite a bit of time, we opted to go to the Big Blue Pool to swim. Emily also played some in the Nemo splash pad. 

The hurricane was coming closer but we only had a few sprinkles so far. The sky was a bit dark while we were swimming but thankfully no bad weather - yet. After swimming for a while, we headed back to our room to change for dinner.

We had reservations at the Whispering Canyon Cafe which is located at the Wilderness Lodge, We took a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then we rode a ferry boat to the resort. At this point, it was raining some so we had to ride on the inside of the boat. No-one could be on the outside.

It took us a bit to figure out what way to go but we got some help from some lifeguards that were standing around, waiting for the pool to be able to reopen because of the weather. The resort was beautiful! I would love to stay there someday.

We didn't have to wait very long to be seated. I had heard good things about this restaurant, not just for the food but for the fun games they play. Before we left for our vacation, I was told by several people to ask for ketchup. So I did that right away.

Our server yelled for ketchup and people brought us about 20 bottles of it! It didn't take too long before another table needed ketchup so Emily and I took our bottles over. Though Emily did keep one and hoarded it like it was her precious.

The food was really good and our server brought Emily a cupcake with a candle in it for her birthday. Then the entire restaurant sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. She was thrilled about that and still talks about it.

As we waited for our dessert, it was time for some fun and games. Emily took a horse on a stick and parades around the room with the other kids, as everyone else twirled our napkins in the air. It was a blast!

Once we were done, we decided to look around the resort a bit. It is beautiful! I'd love to stay there sometime. There was a bit of a break in the rain, so we headed back to the ferry to get back to the buses to get back to our resort.

It was really easy and not that long of a wait to use the other transportation options after we took the bus to the Magic Kingdom. Of course, all our meals that were at other resorts were at Magic Kingdom resorts. But it was nice not to have to use my car at all during the week.

Night was falling when we got back to our room, but the rain had stopped and it was clear and warm out. Since I knew the hurricane was coming, I asked Emily if she wanted to go swimming which she did. She really thought swimming after dark was a blast!

After swimming, we got to bed at a decent hour because we had to be up fairly early the next day since we were going to go to Animal Kingdom!

Up Next - Animal Kingdom & Hurricane Part 1!

Disney Trip 2013 - Rest Day

This is the 5th post of my Disney Trip report – click for  post #1, post #2, post #3, and post #4!

On our Disney honeymoon, we went non-stop. Long days in the park, one rest day and our trip was eight days long. Three weeks after we got back, Todd ended up in the hospital with a heart attack scare. He didn’t end up actually having a heart attack, but he likes to say that Disney tried to kill him.

So when planning this trip, we decided only to be less commando about it. We planned on taking mid-day breaks so Emily could rest and nap. We also put in a rest day near the middle of the trip so we could just relax. Also, this was the day that I was going to go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party solo.

We started out the day just sleeping in. Emily got up around 7 am and we watched cartoons while Todd slept. After he got up we

started moving because we did want to go to Downtown Disney for a little bit. After taking the bus, we got down there just before the shops started opening up.

The Christmas shop was the one that I really wanted to go to so I could get my 2013 ornament. Right outside the Christmas shop was a carousel. Emily wanted to ride it, but didn’t want to go alone. We purchased two tokens, but since I was just going with her it only cost us one. We used the other token to ride on the little train that was nearby.

While Emily was riding on the train, I went into a nearby pin shop. I love Disney pins though I’m not into pin trading. All my pins are special to me and I actually try to collect Haunted Mansion pins in particular. I got a Madame Leota 2013 pin and then saw the end of Emily’s train ride.

We hit the Once Upon A Toy shop where Emily played with the Mr. Potato Head parts and then we went to the Lego store. I love the Lego store and could spend a lot of money there. Emily had fun playing with the Legos. I restrained myself and only bought two minifig key chains.

Since Emily had spent the last of her money the day before we opted not to go into the World of Disney store. It was getting close to lunch time so we just went back to our room. We got lunch from the food court and ate it in the room. Emily really wanted to go swimming in the Big Pool Blue so I went down with her for an hour or so.

Emily currently doesn’t know how to swim so I was very vigilant about being close to her. She did want to get out of the pool and wipe her face. That kind of became a game as I would say

“Wow, that didn’t take too long!” each time she came back.

We headed back to the room so Emily could nap. I just vegged out with Todd while for a few hours and then I started to get ready for the party. I thought Emily was old enough for the party but Todd disagreed and instead of fighting with him, it was decided that I would go by myself. We’ll be back so I figure Emily can go to the party sometime. 

Up next post – Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!