We Skipped Wishes to Ride Stitch?! an October 2013 Trip Report (COMPLETED!~2/2/14)

[freckles04]

Welcome to my very first trip report!

Like most folks here, I'm a huge Disney fan. I'm normally a trip report reader, but the style of this trip was so influenced by the author of this DIS trip report that I felt inspired to write my own. In a moment, I'll share why.

Introductions: I'm Emily, I'm 29 years old, and this is me and my family (my SO, Matt, 34, and our DS Matthew, 9) in one my favorite pictures from our trip.

This was my third trip to Disney, Matt's first, and Matthew's second. I went as a kid with my family and we stayed at Caribbean Beach. My love for Disney World started then and there, but time passed and circumstances prevented me from going back until August of 2012 when DS was 8. Matt wasn't able to join us. We stayed at Pop Century and had an amazing time!

However, one of my regrets about that trip was that I made the mistake of trying to do everything at WDW in that one week. That resulted in lots of running around, stress, and frustration from both of us. This time, I was determined to do better, and when I read the trip report mentioned above, I was determined to be a "patient mom" too and let my kiddo take the lead (hence the title of this trip report, which I'll tell more about later).

I was also very excited to share my Disney love with Matt and I'm so glad he ended up loving it almost as much as me.

SOOOO, to the nitty-gritty! The details!

WHEN: October 5-13, 2013
WHERE: Port Orleans Riverside Resort
WITH: 6 day WPF&M tickets, no dining plan
ALSO: Halloween Party!
HOW WE GOT THERE: 14 hour road trip!

Did I succeed as patient mom??? Well, for the most part, but we had our moments... and it didn't start well with DS injuring his foot two days before we left! More on that to come!!!

 

[freckles04]

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Off to a rocky start

Chapter 2: Travel and Arrival Day

Chapter 3: Rest day and MNSSHP

Chapter 4: 1/2 Day at Epcot, Typhoon Lagoon, and Chef Mickey's

Chapter 5: MK Day 1 (Part 1)

Chapter 6: MK Day 1 (Part 2)

Chapter 7: DHS Day (Part 1)

Chapter 8: DHS Day (Part 2)

Chapter 9: Food & Wine (Part 1)

Chapter 10: Food & Wine (Part 2)

Chapter 11: Animal Kingdom Day (Part 1)

Chapter 12: Animal Kingdom Day (Part 2)

Chapter 13: Last Day/MK Day 2 (Part 1)

Chapter 14: Last Day/MK Day 2 (Part 2)

Chapter 15: Last Day/MK Day 2 (Part 3) aka THE END NEW!~2/2

 

[CdnCarrie]

Can't wait for more!

 

[freckles04]

Thursday, October 3rd

Last day of work before vacation. I was SO excited! I had been in intense planning mode since April and I couldn't believe it was finally almost here... THEN...

I got a call at work that evening from my mom that DS had stepped on a nail outside on her deck. My first thought was: His tetanus booster is up to date, right??? My next thought... we leave for WDW in two days! Unfortunately, I had to work late that night and decided to see how it looked the next day. DS said it felt okay, and after checking his records, found he was up to date with his tetanus.

Friday, October 4th

His foot was a little swollen where the nail entered, but I cleaned it up and sent him to school. Meanwhile, I worked like a madwoman, getting ready for the trip. I had to take our guinea pigs to a friend who graciously offered to keep them (two hour round trip) and the cat to the vet for boarding. Not to mention packing and obsessing over making sure we didn't forget anything. Needless to say, I was excited but a bit stressed.

I picked DS up from school and checked his foot. He said, "My foot is better Mom. I don't need to go to the doctor." His foot told another story... swollen, red, and starting to streak. To the doctor we headed. They cultured it, and put him on antibiotics by mouth and also topically. She told us to stay off that foot for a few days. Not the best thing to hear right before your WDW trip. I told her our plans and she gave us the green light, but said to take it easy any way possible, maybe rent a wheelchair for the first couple of days.

We finally got home and finished packing but I felt nothing but anxiety and gloom over the trip. Wondering if I should cancel it altogether but also not wanting to. I decided that since we had a 14 hour drive ahead of us the next day that that would be one whole day DS would be off his feet, and we'd take it easy from there and cancel plans where needed.

Next chapter, the road trip, and I promise a couple pictures next update.

 

[momabaarjo]

With a title like this, I have to join!

What a beautiful family and a what a rough start. But I am sure Disney magic will work its course!

 

[freckles04]

Thanks, momabaarjo and CdnCarrie.

 

[freckles04]

Saturday, October 5, 2013

We left the house at about 4:30AM. I slept until daylight and Matt drove until we got to Atlanta, about seven hours. I drove the rest of the way. DS chilled in the backseat with his foot propped up watching movies.

Speaking of Atlanta, the highlight of this SUPER long drive was a stop at this gas station called Quik Trip right outside of the city. They had one of my favorite beverages in the world, horchata, RIGHT INSIDE A SLUSHY MACHINE!!! Also, the people working there are super friendly and yell WELCOME when you come in the door. That's Southern hospitality!

Definitely perked me up for the rest of the drive!

Finally, that afternoon, a lovely stopping place!

The rest area was closed last time we came through, so we were excited to get out, stretch our legs, and enjoy a cup of free Florida orange juice. The boys wanted a picture with this guy.

Roughly 4 hours later... (not sure of the exact time, kinda lost track) we came upon THIS MOST AMAZING AND MAGICAL SIGHT!

WE FINALLY MADE IT!!!!

We checked in roughly at 7 or so? Can't really remember. The regular check-in line was HUGE, but only two families ahead of us in online check-in. I was really happy that I had done online check-in and that my ONLY room request was a ground floor room (we booked in the Preferred category), since with DS's foot, I didn't feel like stairs would be ideal. We hit a snag in the road when we got up to the desk and had been assigned to a second floor room, but the CM got on the phone and pretty quickly secured us a ground floor room in building 27.

POR is a beautiful resort but a little bit confusing if you've never been there before. By mid-trip we were pretty confident about where we were going, but that first night, it started getting dark and we got turned around a few times trying to find our room and back unloading our luggage.

I'm not really sure bldg 27 should be categorized as Preferred, either. It's kinda far away compared to the other Preferred bldgs. Its one good point was that it was kinda close to the bridge to Ol' Man Island, but we weren't as motivated to refill our mugs a lot. Kind of a bummer since we paid for them OOP. It's not that it was a bad location, just not deserving of that extra $$$, in my opinion.

Anyhoo! I'm going to stop my whining!

I got to work right away decorating our window. I think it turned out pretty cute.

And how it looked at night:

The view out front of our building (not from our room, which didn't really have a view):

Our room:

Cute bathroom:

DS's foot was looking really good after a day of rest, so Matt took him for a swim in the quiet pool while I unpacked and got things organized. Then we were VERY tired and went to bed.

Plans for the next day were to rest, swim, go to Downtown Disney and then head to the MK for MNSSHP.

To be continued!

 

[freckles04]

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Ok, so it sounds funny to have a rest day when your trip just started! But after that long drive, we needed one. Plus, our only ticket into a park that day was for MNSSHP. We loved DisneyQuest on our last trip, and I wanted to get there when it opened at 11:30. We only went in the evening last time, and it was pretty crowded and difficult to find open games.

We slept until around 9. DS's foot was looking great, and those storm clouds over my head started to lift. We headed to Ol' Man Island. We were pretty bummed to find that the lifeguards were having some kind of training session and I'm guessing that's why none of the water features were running and the slide was closed. We had fun anyway. They turned the water features on right as we were leaving.

Some pool pics!

We ran a bit late finishing up swimming and then getting ready for Downtown Disney. Despite having a vehicle, I had the bright idea that it would be really fun to take the boat to DTD. <--- NOT! It was blazing hot by this time, but we made our way to the "boat stop" near the main building. We didn't have a very long wait for a boat to arrive, maybe 5 minutes. The boat ride itself would have been more pleasant had the sun not been baking on us the whole way. We finally made it to DTD and we were all a bit sick of boat riding, so we decided to walk to DisneyQuest and get our PhotoPass+ voucher activated at Team Mickey on the way.

DS wanted to stop in at the Harley Davidson shop.

We made it to DisneyQuest around noon. It was nearly deserted and we were able to play pretty much anything. The boys loved the racecar games. My favorites were Guitar Hero, Digg Dugg and some game where you land airplanes and helicopters (for the life of me I can't think of the name of that game). We got hungry around 1:30 and I really wanted to try out Earl of Sandwich, but DS didn't want to leave DQ, so we ate something really forgettable at the food court and kept playing.

We didn't want to leave, but about 3, we headed back to the boat dock. I knew we were already not going to make it to the MK by 4, but I tried to relax and go with it... as long as we made our 5:15 ADR at the Plaza.

When we got to the dock, I was shocked at the line of people waiting for a boat! We had to wait for 2 boats to come before we got on. Luckily, they were sending them pretty quickly. By the time we got back to POR, it was past 4. I was definitely wishing we had taken our vehicle right about then, but at least we could say we did the boat to DTD.

We headed to the West depot and after a 20 minute wait (about standard our entire trip) got a bus to the MK. We were hoofing it, so no pictures, but we made it to our ADR about one minute early.

DS, at the Plaza:

DS got the corned beef sandwich, Matt got the philly cheesesteak, and I got the tuna sandwich. The tuna was pretty flavorless, and I was disappointed. ALSO: I decided NOT to go ahead with my plan of getting free cups of water from CS places, like I had read about on the Dis. I ordered tap water with my meal at the Plaza, and the taste was just: For some reason, I kept thinking "This smells like toilet water." Needless to say, I did not drink any more of it.

When we left the Plaza, we went to the restroom down the way from the Plaza. It was then that I realized the drinking water, indeed, smelled just like the toilet water and I then vowed: It's bottled water the rest of the trip, I don't care if it does burn through our snack budget!!!

Anyway, we made our way to the castle and had some pictures made.

This one was funny: bird wouldn't move off of Walt's head!

The photographer told us to look scared!

OH! I completely forgot to share what our costumes were, but I guess it's pretty obvious: Tennessee fans! It was wearing these shirts that made us realize there were a lot of Tennesseans at WDW while we were there. I guess this week was a popular one for Fall Break in TN. We got a lot of condolences from folks everywhere about our loss to Georgia the day before.

At DS's request, we headed to Space Mountain right away. I think we waited around 30 or 40 minutes. We were so excited that we didn't mind the wait. Somehow, I felt like it was WAY more scary than I remembered from last year. I don't know why, but every little turn and drop had me surprised! It almost felt like riding it for the first time. I was kinda glad when it was over even though it was a BLAST!

I let DS pick the next ride, and he chose Tomorrowland Speedway. Ohmygoodness, how I dislike that ride. Long, boring, outdoor queue. Stinks like gas and motor oil. The ride feels like it zips along at 0mph. Then it feels like forever until you can disembark. But he loves it, so the Speedway it was.

By this time, it was starting to get dark and DS reeeeeally wanted to trick-or-treat. I reeeeeeally did not want to waste time doing it! He had ZERO interest in meeting the characters. We trick-or-treated until about 7:45 and I knew it was past time to get a good spot for the parade. This was where Patient Mom went into hiding and Commando Touring Mom came out. I started fussing that because of this trick-or-treating business that we weren't going to get a good spot, and can't you just wait to trick-or-treat at home? then DS started to feel bad and I felt worse! GAHHH, I felt terrible. I apologized to him but by then he didn't want to trick-or-treat anymore and said he wanted to go line up for the parade.

We made it to Main Street, well, actually the bridge area between Main Street and the hub. Maybe a Disney expert can tell me what that's actually called. There were no front row spots left but we sat down behind some kids who were younger than DS so that he could see over them. That was really my main goal to start with was for DS to have a good view. He is way too big to be picked up to see better anymore, but still shorter than adults, so it can be hard to get him a good viewing spot.

I let him buy some of those flashy light-up toys to occupy himself before the parade started.

Waiting:

I didn't take any pictures of the parade... I figure those can be found anywhere online and wanted to enjoy the moment!

One thing I learned is that we probably won't stake out a place for a parade ever again. Right before it started, people swarmed in practically on top of us (a small child fell into my lap once!). Some older lady parked herself right in DS's personal space and kept bending over to talk to her granddaughter in a stroller, sticking her butt right in his face. He would have to lean waaaay back to keep from faceplanting right into her behind. He begged to switch places with me, and usually I will take any kind of suffering in his place, but I just REALLY did not want to this time! Plus, it was too packed at that point for us to move anyway.

After the parade, we stayed about where we were and watched HalloWishes. It was fantastic but can never compare to regular Wishes, which is my favorite thing EVER (you can see why the title of my trip report is a big deal!).

We all felt pretty tired after that and DS begged to go back to the resort and get to bed. The crowds were so thick that Matt and I kind of felt the same way, but I really wanted to ride the Haunted Mansion and get our PP picture taken by the carriage, so we made our way to Liberty Square. We were ready for a long line at HM, did NOT anticipate getting stuck right before the bridge to Liberty Square! The crowd was packed and stuck like sardines in a can. Everyone was looking at each other like: but no one could move. We finally made it to the Haunted Mansion.

I'm pretty sure something was supposed to be added to make this a Magic shot, but no Magic for us

Still a funny picture. DS and I were SUPER glad we did not get stuck for 20 minutes in the seance room like we did last year! But we did get stuck for about 10 minutes by the holographic evil bride.

We would have loved to stay longer, but we were all just completely exhausted and with those awful crowds, we headed back to POR.

Next update: EPCOT and Typhoon Lagoon!

 

[RatherBeInAK]

I'm joining in! Your TR title drew me in. I haven't done Stitch but based on all the things I've heard about it I can only imagine how bummed you were to skip something you love for it!
I'm pretty sure people loose all sense of decency and sensitivity when there's a parade (or fireworks). People do the most ridiculous and insensitive things!

 

[freckles04]

I'm joining in! Your TR title drew me in. I haven't done Stitch but based on all the things I've heard about it I can only imagine how bummed you were to skip something you love for it!
I'm pretty sure people loose all sense of decency and sensitivity when there's a parade (or fireworks). People do the most ridiculous and insensitive things!

Hi! I know, right? I think some people lose all sense of decency when they enter the WDW gates! Especially people using strollers like battering rams! & trust me, you are missing NOTHING by not riding Stitch!!!

 

[MonsterWDWmom]

Looking forward to more updates! I also have no had the pleasure of riding stitch , I have hear horrible things about it and would rather not get spit on while I am in Disney! Can't wait to read what was up next!

 

[momabaarjo]

I have to agree about getting around POR. My room was farther in when I stayed there and I swear every time we tried to get back to the room we were lost and it was worse in the dark. I do love the refurbishments they have done to the room!

What a great afternoon at DisneyQuest, my boys would be so jealous. We have not made it there!

Love the Halloween Costumes! As for rude people at the parade...it has happened to me so many times. I hate to be rude back at Disney, so I sit and be grumpy. Last time we tried to push the people back out by constantly getting in their space, no luck...I don't understand why people think they can arrive at the last minute and push their way in.

 

[freckles04]

Monday, October 7, 2013

We decided to drive to Epcot and got there just after park opening. We only planned to do our favorites in Future World before heading over to Typhoon Lagoon. I had FP+ for Soarin' 9:00-10:00, Test Track 10:00-11:00, and Mission: Space 11:00-12:00.

It was SO NICE not to make that mad dash to Soarin'... one of my favorite rides at WDW, right up there in my top 3!

We stopped right up front and had our picture taken.

DS wanted to ride Spaceship Earth first thing. This was where FP+ was so wonderful. We were able to stop by and ride it just because we wanted to. I can't even express what a freeing, fun feeling that was! Spaceship Earth, of course, was a walk-on. I saw two people board in front of us and no one was behind us.

Next, we leisurely headed over to Soarin' when I noticed the Epcot Character Spot. We popped in there with no wait to meet some friends.

I told Minnie how pretty she looked:

Finally made it to Soarin' and our first FP+ of the trip went off without a hitch. GOSH I love that ride. The wind in your hair, the scents, the sights... it's just fantastic. When we got off the ride, I pulled one FP- with my KTTW card, not noticing the return time. It was already out to 3pm and I knew we would be at the water park by then, so I just kept it for a momento.

Even though we ate breakfast in the room, it was nearing 10:00 and Sunshine Seasons was smelling good. We got two breakfast platters between us and split them. Yum!

I noticed Living with the Land had a wait time of 0 minutes... but honestly, I'm going to go against most Disney fans and say I just dislike that ride. DS didn't like it either. Matt was up for whatever we were up for... he's such a laid back, sweet kinda guy. So we headed to Test Track. I was really excited about riding it, because it would be my first time ever. It was under refurbishment on our trip last year and it didn't exist on my first Disney trip, so I couldn't wait.

On our way to TT, we stopped by Club Cool. It wasn't open yet, but it was 10:25 and opening time was 10:30, so we waited by the doors. Club Cool was a new one for all of us, too - I did not know it existed on our last trip! The CM opened the doors and completely shocked me by asking if we wanted to be their opening family! Of course we said yes! We had to stand with them and do this little clapping type thing and chant something, but I don't remember what it was exactly. They then made us free Frozen Cokes. It was really cute and special.

I didn't get pictures, but you can imagine our faces when we tried Beverly. Our favorite was the soda from Mexico. Yummy!

We would have liked to have stayed longer but we had to scoot over to TT before our window was up. The FP+ line was a bit long but was moving much quicker than the 100+ minute standby. Matt and Matthew designed the car, and we made it to a point just before boarding when the CM told us that the ride was down momentarily. I had a bad feeling about this! He told us it may just be a few minutes or it might be shut down for awhile and in that case we would get anytime FP's. We chatted with a very nice couple from Canada while we waited. Sure enough, whatever the problem was, it wasn't easily fixable. I felt SUPER bad for people who had waited over an hour to ride! Gladly, the FP- we received didn't expire until after our trip was over, so I knew we could come back to ride on our second Epcot day. I tucked those suckers safely away in my wallet for later.

Timing was working out pretty good. We went to Mission: Space and rode, green side of course.

Getting a picture with the astronauts in the training room is a bit of a tradition now.

We headed off to Mars after Lieutenant Dan gave us our training, and after another round at Club Cool, headed back to POR. It was heavenly not to have to wait on a bus, and we got such a great parking spot that it was a quick walk.

After some resting in the room, about 1:00, I changed into my swimsuit with my coverup and the boys put on their trunks and t-shirts. With flip-flopped feet we drove to Typhoon Lagoon. It looked as though everyone else was leaving as we were coming in and we got a fantastic parking place. Another score! My happiness was short lived, because I realized I had left my camera in the room. I then realized I left my PhotoPass+ card and lanyard in the room, too! (This turned out not to matter, because I didn't see any photographers there, anyway.)

So no pictures of TL, but I'll give a quick description. It was, of course, MUCH less crowded than on our trip last August. We nabbed a couple of lounge chairs by the surf pool... there was a sea of empty ones!... and caught some waves. The TL surf pool is probably in DS's top 10 at WDW things to do. I think he would stay in it until shriveled up into a pruny husk. After awhile though, he did decide he would like to do the Crush n Gusher. We were very happy to find it a walk-up. We rode about 4 times in a row and then relaxed a few rounds on the lazy river. The boys headed back to the surf pool and I caught a few zzz's in the sun on a lounge chair.

About 4pm we left to get ready for our 6:40 ADR at Chef Mickey's. After showers, we decided to continue the bus-free streak today and drive there.

I just LOVE the Contemporary. How fun is that monorail going right through the hotel? I would love to stay there one day.

The check-in for Chef Mickey's was super long, but once we checked in, we barely had time to sit down in the waiting area before they seated us. Here's some friends who visited our table:

The food wasn't as good to me as our trip last year. I couldn't really put my finger on it. Matt & DS said they thought it was pretty good. It was a great way to end the day and we headed back to POR to rest up for an EARLY morning Rope Drop at the MK! Stay tuned!

 

[momabaarjo]

I think it sounds amazing not to have to run for fast passes the first thing in the morning! What a great thing! Congrats on Club Cool Family of the Day...great magic!

 

[xDisneyAngelx]

Hey, just tuning into your TR. The slushies looked so amazing and yummy. Great pictures as well. I really hoped you had an amazing time and your son's foot didn't get any worse while you were up there. Have a magical day!

 

[freckles04]

I think it sounds amazing not to have to run for fast passes the first thing in the morning! What a great thing! Congrats on Club Cool Family of the Day...great magic!

It was a really great feeling! And thanks! I had no idea Club Cool even did anything like that, so it was a great surprise.

Hey, just tuning into your TR. The slushies looked so amazing and yummy. Great pictures as well. I really hoped you had an amazing time and your son's foot didn't get any worse while you were up there. Have a magical day!

Hi! His foot got better every day and we were careful to make sure he didn't miss any of his antibiotics. Not fun to deal with on vacation (caused a bit of a stomach upset for him) but it could have been much worse!

 

[freckles04]

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

We got to the MK early, about 8:00AM. We were not the first people there, but pretty close to it. The boys kept themselves busy while we waited for rope drop. I didn't need a distraction and just soaked up the atmosphere and chatted a bit with the friendly CM who was "guarding" the entrance.

I just LOVE this :

There's just nothing like that beautiful castle.

We headed to our favorite, Space Mountain, and rode stand-by.

More pictures. I LOVE PhotoPass+. Now that I've used it once, I will never take a Disney trip without it.

Our plan was to concentrate on Frontierland and Adventureland today, so we headed to Liberty Square. I couldn't help but snap a castle photo on the way. ALMOST got one without people in it!

DS loved this little place here last year, but I didn't end up taking a picture then, so I had to take one now. He loves anything "old" and historical so the items in here were right up his alley.

Such a lovely view of the castle from this bridge.

Photo op!

We headed to Frontierland next.

We were walking along, taking in the sights of Frontierland when I noticed Chip and Dale just to our right! With no line! They looked lonely, so we kept them company for a minute. DS was happy to get some autographs in his book that he didn't already have from last year.

It was time for our Pirates of the Caribbean FP+, so we crossed over into Adventureland. But when we got there, there was no wait, so instead of wasting our FP+, I got out my phone to change it. I wanted to switch it to the Jungle Cruise, but there were no more FP+ for that ride for the day, so I picked something else nearby, which was Aladdin's Carpets. (We like the spitting camel.) We rode POTC with no wait. It was our first time riding it; somehow we missed it last year.

We browsed the gift shop for awhile; DS enjoyed looking at all the pirate stuff.

Next, we headed over to Aladdin's Carpets. The line was surprisingly long and I was actually glad for our FP+. We still ended up waiting close to 10 minutes even with it.

We got spit on, too!

(Excuse the hair... it was looking like a complete mess. I finally learned around mid-trip that it was just much easier to throw it up in a ponytail! Florida humidity!)

[We also double-dipped and got regular FastPass for the Jungle Cruise, since FP+ for it were all gone. I can't remember our return time, and I don't even remember when we rode it, but we did ride it at some point this day. Weird how I can't remember the details!]

Next on the agenda was a pineapple Dole Whip! I didn't know about them last trip, and after reading all the hype, we had to try one. Turns out Matt and I could have shared those giant things, but it was delicious, and will be a must-do from here on out. DS doesn't care for pineapple, so he had a root beer float. We sat down nearby and enjoyed our treats before walking over to the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse for a tour. I love all the little details there.

It was nearly time for our lunch reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern. I chose it because I knew DS would like the historical details there. We all liked it, but it turns out that getting Dole Whips right before lunch wasn't the smartest idea. None of us were hungry! I was glad we were not on the dining plan and our credits weren't wasted. The boys both had a bowl of clam chowder and shared some fried cheese. I ordered the colony salad, which I mostly picked at. It was good, but I just wasn't hungry.

My plan had been for us to try the toffee cake I've heard rave reviews about, but of course, that didn't happen.

I did snap this cute picture from our table of my guys on the balcony (it's dark, but I love it).

I think that's enough for now. Next chapter will finish out our day and tell the story of how this trip title came to be!!!

 

[momabaarjo]

what a great start at MK...I love seeing your family in all the pictures. That salad looks so yummy...I have been eyeing it on the menu. I am thinking that next trip it is a must! And Dole whips tend to be my breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack!

 

[freckles04]

what a great start at MK...I love seeing your family in all the pictures. That salad looks so yummy...I have been eyeing it on the menu. I am thinking that next trip it is a must! And Dole whips tend to be my breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack!

It really was a great start. And I think I would have loved that salad if I'd had any appetite... everything looked and tasted very fresh.

 

[freckles04]

Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - Part 2

After lunch at the LTT, we soaked up the atmosphere in Liberty Square. Our tradition is to get a new Disney Christmas ornament every year, so we stopped into the Christmas shop. DS chose this one:

Then we checked out the Liberty Bell replica.

We missed the Hall of Presidents last trip, so we did that next.

With DS being a history buff, I was surprised to hear him sigh in boredom a couple of times. It did drag on a bit, but I liked the end with the spotlight on each president, and them all being on one stage together, I even got a bit teary eyed. It is a nice tribute.

We were well within our FP+ window for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I had made that selection with Splash Mountain after it, so we headed to Frontierland. When we walked up to BTMRR there was a massive crowd of people outside of it. You couldn't tell if they were in the standby line or the FP return line, it was so huge. Everyone seemed confused. I asked a CM who told me it was, indeed, the FP return line and that it would eventually move quicker than what it looked like. So we got in line. It ended up being about a 15 minute wait.

It was just time for our FP+ at Splash Mountain. It was pretty warm out and a great time of day to get wet. I love the area around Splash: watching people come down, screaming and laughing. Getting splashed. We people watched for a bit, and then took some pictures with the sign.

Compared to BTMRR, we boarded this ride with NO wait using our FP+. Taking pics on a ride is not usually my style, but I really dug this view of the Splash details with the castle in the distance.

Down we went, and get wet, we did!

The crowds were thickening and so was the heat. I'm thinking it was about 1:30pm by now, although I can't remember exact times anymore. We decided it was a good time for a resort/swim break.

We stopped at the shooting gallery, first, though. I sat this one out and just enjoyed watching the two of them.

I didn't take any pictures, but we did enjoy our pool break. DS joined in the pool party for a little while, but mostly horsed around with his daddy while I relaxed in the hot tub (oh, my aching feet!). Even as hot as it was, we all thought the pool temperature was too cold and we heard other guests make comments, too (lots of gasps while getting into the pool).

After a bit of relaxation back in the room, it was getting time to leave for our 'Ohana reservation. Since we were going to spend more time tonight at the MK, we didn't take the car; we bussed to the MK and took the monorail to the Polynesian. I was really glad we left with PLENTY of time to spare because we waited about 45 minutes for a bus to the MK. I was completely shocked. They sent bus after bus after bus to other parks and sometimes no one got on them, for example busses to DTD came twice in a row and no one got on either one of them. If we hadn't left about 2 hours before our ADR I would have been really stressed out, but I was just annoyed. By the time an MK bus came, all of us who had been waiting were packed it absolutely like sardines.

Waiting on the monorail.

It wasn't a long wait at all, but my only complaint is that it smelled like stale pee. Yucky.

Waiting on our table and soaking up that lovely Polynesian atmosphere.

Luckily, we brought our appetites this time! The food was delicious, as usual.

DS didn't want to join in the kids' luau thing this year. He was all about it last year, but I could tell he felt he was too cool for that. My baby is growing up.

After dinner, more MK time!!!!!

Love that view.

We stopped for some PP+ pics on the way in.

I just LOVE the Walt and Mickey statue. It makes me all emotional just looking at it.

We headed into Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain and took some pictures on the bridge. The castle was lit up and looking beautiful, but it didn't really show up in the pictures.

I honestly can't remember if we pulled FP- for Space Mountain earlier in the day, or if we waited in stand-by. I do remember that we didn't wait very long so I'm guessing it was the former. I know we pulled a FP- for it once during the trip but I have no idea if it was this day or our second MK day. It tends to blur together a bit.

We had some time to kill before Wishes, so we rode the PeopleMover... we love it! DS wanted to ride the Speedway, but it had a 30 minute wait and none of us wanted to wait that long for the Speedway. After that, we decided to check out the Carousel of Progress. We missed it last trip. Remember me saying that DS is really interested in history? Well, CoP quickly became a favorite of his and ours, too! We loved it! And we also loved that it was Walt's original idea. Since I didn't know what to expect, I was a little unsure about that last scene. I know the popular Dis opinion is to leave it like it is, but I thought it was really outdated and cheesy. Everything about it just screamed 80's to me yet it was trying to be futuristic. I think they either need to update it or go back to Walt's original last scene. Despite my complaining there, we really did love it and it's a must-do for us from now on!

After CoP, we went on the PeopleMover again. It was just about time to go nab a spot for Wishes. As we passed Stitch's ride (which we had never done), I jokingly told Matt and DS that, in many people's opinion, it was the worst ride in WDW. DS perked right up and said: "I want to ride it! Can we go and ride it now, please?!?"



Me and my big mouth! He's never even noticed Stitch's ride before.

I said, it's almost time for Wishes! Let's go watch Wishes and then we can ride Stitch.

"Oh, please! I want to do it now!" he said. I could tell he really, really wanted to. I asked him if he would really want to miss Wishes for Stitch??

YES! he said. Matt had no opinion, he had never seen Wishes or done Stitch anyway, so he said it was up to us.

So I gave in! I honestly am not sure if I would have given in had we not had another MK day scheduled, and the Dessert Party at that. But I REALLY REALLY REALLY love Wishes, and I love the view from Wishes that you get from Main Street. I was so looking forward to seeing it twice, from two different angles.

Anyhow, that is how I found myself first in line outside the double doors leading in to Stitch while hearing the booms of my beloved Wishes somewhere not visible above my head! But I love to go to WDW to experience the magic through my son's eyes, and I wanted to let him lead the way. And he sure was happy to be boarding Stitch during Wishes, so there we were.

As for the ride, it is not one I ever want to go on again. I thought the queue area (with the robot) was cute, but the ride itself... NO. The restraints were tight and painful, the smoke had me choked, the smells were awful. Matt had the same opinion. DS said he thought it was "awesome!"

We browsed in the shops for awhile to let the crowds thin out. When we did get to the bus stop, we were shocked at the line for POR. It filled up the ENTIRE queue and then some. All the other resorts on that side had one or two people waiting. It was insane! And busses for other resorts came and went several times, and still no POR bus. The line was growing every minute. A bus had recently came for POFQ, and no one was in line, so we hopped over there. A bus quickly came for POFQ and STILL no bus for POR. We made the walk from POFQ to POR. I'm not going to lie, it was an awfully long walk after a full park day, but it was a time-saver, and it was neat to see a little bit of POFQ.

Next chapter will be our day at Hollywood Studios... a recommended park... would crowds be low as predicted??? Stay tuned!