During Disney Social Media Moms, we got a lot of stuff to bring home. Some of these items were given to us (aka swag) and some items were purchased. Here’s a photo tour of what we got.

We woke up on Saturday, February 13th to our last day of Disney World. Soon, we would be going on a plane and heading home. But first, we would go to Captain Cook’s, have a nice breakfast, and then head to Downtown Disney for some shopping.

Well, that was the plan anyway. Every parent knows that plans are meant to be broken.

JSL decided that our trip didn’t come with enough “fun” so he decided to throw up as we were getting ready. B stayed behind with him while NHL and I got breakfast from Captain Cook’s to go. Then, NHL and I caught a bus to downtown Disney with a list of items to find. We went from shop to shop, looking and occassionally buying some things. We even called B a few times to see what else she wanted.

Finally, full shopping bags in hand, we booked it back to the bus. At this point, I’d like to thank NHL. He will often complain that his feet hurt if pushed to walk for too fast, too long. He didn’t complain, though, and just soldiered on. Thanks, NHL!

Anyway, we got on the bus and it went off…. to the next stop (still at Downtown Disney). At this point, our bus driver looked back at us and informed us that his shift was over and we’d be getting a new driver. Ok, fine. We were cutting it close, but should still be fine. The minutes passed and our old driver was still sitting behind the wheel while we all waited. More minutes passed and I began getting upset. I asked what was taking so long and he finally radioed dispatch to get an update. A new driver was on the way, we were assured.

More minutes passed and *finally* someone arrived. This person wasn’t our new driver, though, but another off-his-shift driver who told our driver that he just had to wait a half hour for his replacement. Excuse me?!! I didn’t have time for this. I had to get back, get packed and get to the airport! I expressed my displeasure and we *finally* had a new driver. It might have only taken us 15 – 20 minutes, but I expect more of Disney. This was a rare slipup on their part, but it was an extremely frustrating way to end our vacation.

We got back to the hotel, got all our bags set and went to do some shopping. We still had some money left on a gift card we got from Disney (part of a deal they had when we booked our pre-DisneySMMoms portion of the trip) and needed to use it up. B went through the shops in the Polynesian and found some items she liked. Then it was on the bus and goodbye to Disney World.

At the airport, we ate lunch while killing time until our plane boarded. Of course, JSL took this moment to proclaim that he pooped. *sigh* Off I went to change him only to discover that he hadn’t done the deed. I took a second to answer nature’s call when I got another one from B. NHL had a potty emergency and B couldn’t take him because she was watching over our carry on luggage!

So I washed up and swapped kids. When NHL was done, another call. JSL was really going to need a change this time. I got out to see him hiding behind the bench. Apparently, he wanted privacy. He was going to be a few minutes, so B took her turn. Unfortunately, when she returned, she was running. Somehow, we had missed that they had called our plane. It was already boarding!

Now, silly us hadn’t eaten lunch by our terminal. No, we set up shop in the food court. Our terminal was at the end of a long hall. So B grabbed half of our bags and ran with NHL. I grabbed the other half and called at JSL to follow me.

Except JSL wasn’t.

He was behind the bench yelling “me pooped! me pooped!”

*sigh* Wonderful timing, huh?

So I scooped him up in my arms and half-ran/half-walked down to our terminal. I got to the end (out of breath) to meet up with B and NHL. We were allowed on the plane and took a seat at the back where B asked flight attendents about diaper changing. We opted to do the change on the plane’s seats despite some looks we were given to the other passengers. Sorry, everyone, but two year olds don’t always have the best timing!

Luckily, the rest of the flight wasn’t as exciting and we landed safely. Of course, while it was good to be home, we missed Disney World terribly. Until I land my dream job of being paid to take photos at Disney parks while riding the rides, eating the food and blogging about it all, we’ll just have to console ourselves with our memories, photos and planning when our next trip will be.

After meeting up with B, it was time for our last dinner at Disney World. We arrived at the location early and waited while other bloggers began congregating. After some time chatting, it was time to go in. We got a seat right up front with Christina, Tom and TJ. We ate, enjoyed the music playing and NHL got to meet Mickey and Minnie one last time.

I also got to catch up with DaddyDigest again and explained to him what had happened the previous night. We talked for a bit before NHL came over and told me that he wanted some dessert and it was almost time to go to the second part of the night. I went with NHL, got some ice cream bars and then returned to B and JSL so we could head to the "second part."

As you might have guessed from the title of this post, the second part was Toy Story Mania. They were opening the ride just for the Disney Social Media Moms and their families. We got on line and had a blast. I rode with JSL and B rode with NHL. After we got off, we went right back on line. Unfortunately, just as we were to board the ride, NHL declared that he needed to use the restroom. I left JSL and B to ride the ride while NHL and I sought out a bathroom.

When we got back, I decided that I couldn’t let NHL leave Disney World without riding Toy Story Mania one more time. So we waited on line, talked a bit with some folks and then played Toy Story Mania again. We got out, met back up with B and, seeing as how it was extremely late, we needed to leave the next day, and JSL was already passed out, got on the bus back to the hotel.

Friday morning, February 12th, B went with Christina to some DisneySMMoms events. Tom and TJ (Christina’s husband and son) were going to spend the day with NHL, JSL and I in the Magic Kingdom. First, we needed breakfast and I had just the thing…. Tonga Toast at Captain Cook’s!

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We arrived back at Epcot after our day at Epcot and the Magic Kingdom and made our way to the Disney Social Media Moms dinner. Eventually, we came upon one of the entrances to the gated off area. Of course, we were early and couldn’t enter right away.

I was getting nervous, because we could feel the temperature dropping and the dinner was scheduled to be outside. I was both relieved and troubled when I saw a tweet come through that someone got a seat by a heat lamp. Relieved because Disney had obviously taken steps to protect us from the cold. Troubled because the tweet implied that others were being let in while we were still being kept out. Finally, we were allowed in and we made our way to a table right next to a heat lamp. Score!

The tables all had cool Disney Volunteer themes to them complete with “nutritional labels.”

After a short wait, it was time to eat. There was a lot of food and plenty for a non-meat eater such as myself. You’ll forgive me if I’ve forgotten some of the dish names in the ensuing months, but rest assured that it all tasted great. In our haste to sample all the wonderful food, we neglected to take photos of much of it. Here are some photos that we did take.

After the meal came dessert, of course, and Disney didn’t disappoint. It all was so good, especially the warm brownie tort! Sorry, B

After we were done with dessert, Robert Irvine came out to talk about the Dinner Impossible challenge he had just completed and the Disney volunteers (who the dinner was really about). I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed when, months later upon watching the Dinner Impossible episode, I learned that our food wasn’t really from Robert. Still, given what he made, I think I preferred what Disney offered more.

All during dinner and dessert, we had some lovely converation. Besides sitting with Christina (from CutestKidEver), her husband Tom and TJ, we also got to meet Katie from Katie’s Nesting Spot.

After Robert made his exit, we were treated to a mini-concert by Joe Jonas & Demi Lovato.

It was late at this point, though, and both boys were exhausted so we headed back to our hotel room. Of course, this is when we ran into DaddyDigest only to have JSL hurt his arm by sticking it into some metal poles. Luckily, this injury wasn’t bad and we were able to go right to our hotel for some much-needed sleep.

We began Day 5, February 11th, getting the boys and us ready. This was to be a big day. B was headed to the Disney Social Media Moms conference. I, in turn, was going to take the boys with me to Epcot. We weren’t going to be alone, though. We were going to meet up with Tom and TJ while Christina from CutestKidEver went to DisneySMMoms with B.

First, we needed to get breakfast. So we headed to the Polynesian Great Ceremonial House (their main hall) and began surveying our options. After Tom and TJ arrived, I had something selected and we got ready to go. JSL climbed into the stroller and sat down. I began to back up and he decided that this was a good time to get out. He turned around in the seat and, before I could react, slid out of the stroller and slammed his head on the marble floor.

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While we were at Disney Social Media Moms, we were included in a dinner along with 400 volunteers. At the time, we thought that the food that we ate was part of a Robert Irvine/Dinner Impossible challenge. Sadly, it turned out not to be the case. The volunteers got Irvine’s food and we “just” got Disney food. I say “just” because the food was exceptional (as is par for the course at Disney). In fact, having seen what Robert Irvine created, I’m happier with what we were served. Still, it would have been cool to have been part of a Dinner Impossible challenge.

One dessert in particular stood out. It was a warm brownie torte that tasted like it was uncooked warm brownie batter (and I mean that in the best possible way). Here’s a photo, although Disney Food Blog has a better one.

We had gotten a couple plates of these and when the boys (who by this point in the night were exhausted) refused it, I ate the second plate. For some reason, my chocolate-brownie-lust overpowered my brain and I only realized too late that I had eaten B’s plate! I vowed to recreate the dish as soon as I saw how it was made on Dinner Impossible. Of course, once the episode aired, it became apparent that this dish wasn’t part of the show. I’m on my own now in recreating it, though I have a few ideas.

My Aloha Friday question for this week is: Have you ever recreated a dish you’ve eaten out somewhere? If so, how successful were you? If you haven’t, is there a particular dish that you’d love to be able to recreate?

Oh, and if anyone has any pointers for recreating this, I’d be happy to hear them.

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #41

Last week, I ended with our trip to Epcot and leaving Pop Century for DisneySMMoms. After making our way to the Polynesian, we checked in and were told to go to the hospitality area to check in for Disnet Social Media Moms. B went in there while I waited in the hallway with the kids. After awhile, she came out with a ton of swag and we made our way to our room.

It was quite nice. I’m a fan of Pop Century, but the rooms do tend to run small. (Can’t expect much different from a Value Resort.) The Polynesian’s rooms were huge by comparison. The one criticism I’d have is that all of the buildings looked the same. We had trouble finding our way to our building. At least the Pop Century had different looking buildings.

We marvelled at the room for awhile but had to get ready to go to ESPN Wide World of Sports. We caught up with Christina (CutestKidEver), her husband Tom and son TJ by the bus stop and took the bus with them. This wasn’t your usual Disney bus. The strollers weren’t folded up and carried on board. They were stowed underneath (enough room to stow them unfolded) and we sat an nice, soft seats.

At ESPN Wide World of Sports, we were directed where to go. B and Christina went to the Disney SM Moms area to listen to some presentations while Tom, TJ, NHL, JSL and I went to the "dads and kids" area. They had taken a few of the fields and set up some games to keep the kids busy. They had basketball, football, soccer, volleyball and other sports for the kids to play.

The kids had a blast running around chasing balls. The only glitch was when I went to kick a soccer ball. The grass was slightly wet and my feet went right out from under me and I landed on my read end/back. Getting up, oddly enough, my first thought was "B’s going to kill me if I got grass stains on these jeans!" My second thought was "Am I injured." Luckily, there were no grass stains or injuries.

Soon, it was getting dark and time for us to head in to eat. We made our way to the dining area, parked the stroller and found the table the girls had saved for us. Going with the sports theme, they had peanuts and Cracker Jacks for us to snack on.

Alcoholic beverages, too… trying to get the moms drunk?

The food was mostly meat-based (hamburgers/hot dogs) so there wasn’t much for me, but I made do. Burger bun + cheese meant for cheeseburgers + tomatoes = cheese sandwich. Some fries with cheese sauce & fruit and you’ve got a meal. Later on, they had ice cream including Mickey Bars. YUM!

Of course, it wouldn’t be Disney if characters didn’t make an appearance. Pluto, Mickey, Minnie and others were on hand. Unfortunately, not all of them stopped by our table. TJ seemed upset about that, but I knew that we would be going with him to Epcot the next day so I told him that I knew where he could go to see Mickey, hoping that would make him feel better. (Nobody should be sad at Disney!)

It was late so we gathered our things and started out… until I couldn’t find my camera. I ran back to the table and there it was underneath my chair! WHEW! Two lost things recovered in the same day.

With that crisis averted, we left ESPN and headed for the bus back to our hotel. On the way out, though, we were handed some ESPN hats. Very nice touch. Though it was late, NHL and TJ didn’t conk out but enjoyed some time together on the bus ride back.

Then we went back to our hotel rooms and got some sleep. We all had a big day tomorrow. B at Disney Social Media Moms and me with the kids in the parks!

It’s been awhile since my last DisneySMMoms post. This update has been long overdue. I last left off on our rainy day 3. Day 4, February 10th, was a big day. We would be leaving the Pop Century and moving to the Polynesian Resort for the Disney Social Media Moms conference. That would need to wait until later, though, because breakfast, in the form of a Cape May advance dining reservation, awaited!

We took the bus from the Pop Century resort to Hollywood Studios. From there, we could have taken a boat ride to the Boardwalk, but the boat didn’t look like it was running right then. Instead of waiting, we decided to walk. This was a bit of a mistake. It was pretty chilly to begin with and walking alongside the water just seemed to encourage strong gusts of wind. Read more of this article »

When we last left our brave Disney Social Media Family, they were braving a potential rainstorm to spend some quality time in the Magic Kingdom. At the end of Part 1, they – I mean we – had just finished up a nice pizza lunch.  This meant that it was time to ride what quickly became JSL’s other favorite ride: It’s A Small World.

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