13 Days of Disney - Everything We Never Knew We Always Wanted - June 2016 TR Update 1/30

[ErinF]

I've been out of town and super busy so I'm glad to get caught up here on your trip report.

I remember June 9, that was our off day which was lucky because there was rain on and off. We were actually at Disney Springs late morning through lunch time. We had lunch at Earl of Sandwich before you all had dinner there! And when we met Cinderella (a few days later I think) she talked to us about if we had come in a pumpkin carriage. When we said no, she said, well you wouldn't have come in an asparagus carriage, would you? She was so funny!

Love all the pictures of your cute kiddos!!!

 

[Jfsag123]

I'm so glad you posted! I was wondering where you've been. Life happens, I totally get it!

I love your pictures with the characters and watching how your kids get into interacting with them.

We love IASW, too. We ride it several times each trip. The new goodbye screens at the end of the ride were a big hit with my boys. I knew they had been added, but they did not, and it was a real treat seeing their reactions the first time.

Darn rain! I'm glad you were able to recover your day with a trip to DS.

Yay for early nights! Those are needed every once in awhile when at Disney. I know my family has to rejuice every couple of days.

Thank you! Yeah, I kind of fell of the map there for a bit lol. I'm going to try to be better in the future, but yes, sometimes life happens.

And omg, my kids get SO into meeting the characters! I always think about trying to meet fewer because of how much time it takes, then realize that seeing the interactions is one of the highlights of every trip.

My kids thought the goodbye screens were great too. I hadn't told them either. They were so surprised and happy.

We love the occasional early nights as well. Bonus: we're in the room in time to see the Duffy bedtime story.

I've been out of town and super busy so I'm glad to get caught up here on your trip report.

I remember June 9, that was our off day which was lucky because there was rain on and off. We were actually at Disney Springs late morning through lunch time. We had lunch at Earl of Sandwich before you all had dinner there! And when we met Cinderella (a few days later I think) she talked to us about if we had come in a pumpkin carriage. When we said no, she said, well you wouldn't have come in an asparagus carriage, would you? She was so funny!

Love all the pictures of your cute kiddos!!!

Welcome back! I understand the out of town and super busy issue, as that has been my life for the past little bit too.

June 9th would have been a good day to be off because of the weather. I love that it sounds like we were kind of having alternate dimension trips lol. I am enjoying the visual of an asparagus carriage.

 

[ariane37]

I'm so bummed IASW is closed for refurb when we go later this month! I really want to see our names on the screens lol.
I have never had a candy apple in Disney but they look so good. I want to make our own rice Krispy treats at Goofy's Candy Co. in Nov. because we've never done that either, but I may have to try an apple, too......

I was also wondering where you were Good to see ya!

 

[Jfsag123]

I'm so bummed IASW is closed for refurb when we go later this month! I really want to see our names on the screens lol.
I have never had a candy apple in Disney but they look so good. I want to make our own rice Krispy treats at Goofy's Candy Co. in Nov. because we've never done that either, but I may have to try an apple, too......

I was also wondering where you were Good to see ya!

Thanks! I want one of those rice krispy treats too! It is so happening next year. I get my yearly caramel apple (with nuts!) at the State Fair of Texas, but I'm all about those rice krispy treats.

Is small world supposed to be back up for your November trip? I hope so.

 

[Jfsag123]

So this is not an actual update, but I had to share. DH decided to Mickey-fy his guitar and I figured I'd share it with folks who could appreciate it.

 

[ariane37]

Is small world supposed to be back up for your November trip? I hope so.

Yes it is, luckily! BTMMR is also down when we go later this month but opens again the day before we arrive in Nov.

Loving the guitar!! That's the strap, right?

 

[Jfsag123]

Yes it is, luckily! BTMMR is also down when we go later this month but opens again the day before we arrive in Nov.

Loving the guitar!! That's the strap, right?

I'm glad they will both be open in November! It would be tough to miss both of those.

And yes, the strap is the classic Mickey cartoons and he painted pieces of the black guitar red, yellow, and white to complete the Mickey-fication.

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 5 – June 10: Resort Day

Our early night was followed by a late morning, as this was our first of 2 scheduled down days. We really didn’t do much at all this day. I desperately needed to put my foot up for a good long amount of time and the kids desperately wanted to spend several consecutive hours at Stormalong Bay. We both got our wishes.

This day kind of epitomizes the title of this Trip Report. We are typically a go go go kind of family at WDW. Because of my injury, we were really forced to slow down this time. We canceled a bunch of ADR’s, took days off, and turned multiple park days that were intended to be full days into half days. At first we were extremely disappointed by this. But you know what? We ended up loving it. We still got a lot accomplished, but we relaxed somewhat on being incredibly scheduled. We still followed a touring plan, but we were much more flexible in the way in which we implemented it. The change arose out of necessity, but we will likely plan future trips in a way similar to how this one turned out. Of course, we also had the luxury of being there for almost 2 weeks. If this had been a 4-5 day trip I likely would have gone a little nuts.

Anyway, this was my morning.

Minnie here is a Bluetooth speaker. Rees took a load of laundry to the BCV laundry room while the kids and I sat out on the balcony, listened to Disney music and colored.

Once the laundry was done we headed down to Stormalong Bay for some quality time there. I, of course, couldn’t get in because I still wasn’t allowed to swim, but I came down and sat on one of the lounge chairs for a while and watched.

Please excuse the swollen foot.

He called this his “grotto” and insisted I take about a billion pictures of him with this waterfall.

As you can probably tell from the photos, the weather was a bit of a rollercoaster this day. It was sunny, then overcast, then pouring rain, then sunny, then sprinkling, then overcast and so on.

At the end of our pool time we got ice cream from the take-out line at Beaches and Cream. Yum! Then we headed back up to our room to shower, have dinner, and have a little rest time before our evening plans. Dessert before dinner, baby. We live dangerously at WDW!

We had decided to head over to Hollywood Studios this evening. Though we had another full day scheduled at DHS the following day (spoiler alert!), there was something we wanted to see that we would not get a chance to see on either of our DHS days – Star Wars fireworks! Disney didn’t release the fireworks schedule until just a little before our trip. Of course, they didn’t have fireworks scheduled for a day we would be in DHS. By that point our plans were pretty set and I didn’t want to move everything around so we decided to just try to view the fireworks from outside of the park on our off day since it’s pretty easy to get over to DHS from the Beach Club.

We headed out to the Yacht and Beach Club dock just a little before 9:00pm. Some views from around the lake:

As we waited for the boat, Illuminations was taking place over in Epcot.

We hopped a boat, made our way over to DHS and secured our spots. There were several other people doing the same thing as us. The time for the fireworks to begin came and went and we started to think maybe they weren’t going to do them because of how messed up the weather had been. However, just as we started to head back toward the dock, we heard the music start up.

The view was actually really good. This was the previous fireworks show, so we didn’t have to worry about missing any projections, and we could hear a lot of the music from outside. We stood in awe as we watched. After it ended we were silent for a few moments, then Alex burst out: “best moment of my life!!!” Of course, I pulled out my phone. I apologize for the darkness.

Yeah, I’d say it was worth the trip.

Up next: Back to DHS!

 

[disny_luvr]

As much as we love the parks, we appreciate no park days, too. Since we have no plans of returning to the World until 2019 , I told DH I think we should stay for two weeks and he totally agreed! We plan on building in a few no park days and I'll be able to enjoy them because I'll know I have plenty of days left to visit the parks.

I'm glad you were able to make it over to see the SW fireworks. We saw the new show but, unfortunately, we could only see 2/3 of the projections. Oh well, we still enjoyed them.

 

[ArielSRL]

Ok so I've been quite absent myself. Back to school is kicking my booty. I'm up late tonight, watching the Olympics, which is also kicking my butt!

Loving the updates. It's late so I'm not going to comment too much but we got our names on IASW also and I love the ride as it seems so quintessential Disney. Plus it was one of Will's faves!

Loved, loved the SW fireworks. Hoping the new show can even compare because yes they were awesome (love the video!)!

 

[1Grumpy9]

I am hoping that this upcoming trip that we can enjoy it with some relaxation. I am like you...a go, go, go type of person, but we are there for 11 nights so we have some off days in between some of the longer nights.

I am really struggling with our DHS day, as I am a fan of Fantasmic, but I would like to get see the Star Wars Fireworks. You might have just given me an idea about how to do both as we have 4 down days to be able to do what you did.

 

[cajunfan]

Enjoying your report! Next time get a scooter woman! It would make your life so much easier than a wheelchair!
Can't wait to read more!

 

[Jfsag123]

As much as we love the parks, we appreciate no park days, too. Since we have no plans of returning to the World until 2019 , I told DH I think we should stay for two weeks and he totally agreed! We plan on building in a few no park days and I'll be able to enjoy them because I'll know I have plenty of days left to visit the parks.

I'm glad you were able to make it over to see the SW fireworks. We saw the new show but, unfortunately, we could only see 2/3 of the projections. Oh well, we still enjoyed them.

We were so spoiled by the 2 week trip! Be careful, it may be hard to go back to regular-length trips after doing one. We are going to try to take another long one next year because we probably won't be able to anymore after that, as I likely won't be able to get that much time off once I'm done with school.

Do you think the new SW fireworks show is worth trying to book the dessert party for? For some reason, I'm not super excited about seeing it.

Ok so I've been quite absent myself. Back to school is kicking my booty. I'm up late tonight, watching the Olympics, which is also kicking my butt!

Loving the updates. It's late so I'm not going to comment too much but we got our names on IASW also and I love the ride as it seems so quintessential Disney. Plus it was one of Will's faves!

Loved, loved the SW fireworks. Hoping the new show can even compare because yes they were awesome (love the video!)!

The dang Olympics have taken over my life! lol I have so much stuff I need to be doing instead, but I rationalize that it only happens every four years.

IASW was one of Alex's favorites on our first trip! I have a video of his little 2 year old self just looking around in wonder as he softly sang the song to himself - the birth of a Disney kid!

I am hoping that this upcoming trip that we can enjoy it with some relaxation. I am like you...a go, go, go type of person, but we are there for 11 nights so we have some off days in between some of the longer nights.

I am really struggling with our DHS day, as I am a fan of Fantasmic, but I would like to get see the Star Wars Fireworks. You might have just given me an idea about how to do both as we have 4 down days to be able to do what you did.

A long trip with relaxation is the best of both worlds, as you have time to go go go but also to take some downtime. I know myself well enough to know that, on a shorter trip, on the go will win for me every time.

I would really struggle with skipping Fantasmic! for the fireworks as well, as we all love that show. I wonder how well the viewing from outside the park will work with the new show, given how much of it is reported to be projections. I don't know that I've seen many reports, but I haven't been keeping up with the SW thread.

Enjoying your report! Next time get a scooter woman! It would make your life so much easier than a wheelchair!
Can't wait to read more!

Thank you! I thought about a scooter, but went with a wheelchair for 3 reasons:
1. I didn't want to pay Disney prices for the ECV rental for a 13 day trip.
2. I didn't want to rent from an offsite company and have to store it in our room, as I knew we'd be pressed for space.
3. - this one is most important - I have terrible visual-motor coordination (hence the constant injuries) and did not want to have to try learning to drive one of those things for the first time in the crowds of WDW! No one would have been safe. My mom is in a motorized wheelchair. I have tried driving it before. It was not pretty!

The wheelchair actually ended up working really well for us, I just hated to be immobile in any form. Fingers crossed there will not be a next time! I am fortunate that I was only in one due to a temporary injury. I definitely gained new appreciation for people who have to tour that way consistently.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Joining in. I just read your report all the way through. So sorry you're having foot issues and right before the trip but it looks as though you've handled it well. My family tends to tour like yours, go go go but one day I hope to stop and smell the roses a little. Keep up the good work, loving the report!

 

[Jfsag123]

Joining in. I just read your report all the way through. So sorry you're having foot issues and right before the trip but it looks as though you've handled it well. My family tends to tour like yours, go go go but one day I hope to stop and smell the roses a little. Keep up the good work, loving the report!

Welcome! The foot issues definitely changed the touring style, but the go go go girl still lives inside of me. I'm thinking a bit of a combo next time - go go go for the first half of the day, smelling the roses for the latter half. Thanks for reading!

 

[ArielSRL]

.

I would really struggle with skipping Fantasmic! for the fireworks as well, as we all love that show. I wonder how well the viewing from outside the park will work with the new show, given how much of it is reported to be projections. I don't know that I've seen many reports, but I haven't been keeping up with the SW thread.


.

The new show is mostly projections on the Chinese Theatre so if you watch outside, you would miss most of it now. This is why I'm thinking of booking the dessert party. Apparently it's one of the best spots for watching without having to stake out a spot an hour or more in advance.

 

[Golfjbc89]

I know im jumping in late but loving everything so far!

 

[ariane37]

There is definitely something to be said for "down" days, even for us go-go types. It's very hard for me to actually PLAN a down day or a day without going into a park at all, but we've had some of our best days when we've slowed down and changed plans last minute, resulting in us going slower. Occasionally that's meant not doing a park, often it's meant sleeping in, being a bit lazy for part of the day, or switching things up and doing golf or DisneyQuest for a bit instead of rushing to whatever park I'd planned. Even though I may cringe at the thought, everyone else has a good time when this happens so in turn it makes me happy

Glad you were able to relax and enjoy the day!

 

[Jfsag123]

I know im jumping in late but loving everything so far!

Better late than never! Welcome and glad you're enjoying it!

There is definitely something to be said for "down" days, even for us go-go types. It's very hard for me to actually PLAN a down day or a day without going into a park at all, but we've had some of our best days when we've slowed down and changed plans last minute, resulting in us going slower. Occasionally that's meant not doing a park, often it's meant sleeping in, being a bit lazy for part of the day, or switching things up and doing golf or DisneyQuest for a bit instead of rushing to whatever park I'd planned. Even though I may cringe at the thought, everyone else has a good time when this happens so in turn it makes me happy

Glad you were able to relax and enjoy the day!

It's so hard to plan! I'm trying to settle on a tentative idea of which parks we'll do each day next year just so I can figure out what kind of tickets we'll need and I'm struggling with leaving things as off days or half days, even though we loved it! I'm trying to talk some sense into myself.

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 6 – June 11: Hollywood Studios

After having trekked over to see the Star Wars fireworks as our final activity of the previous day, we woke up early this day and headed right back over for our second (and final) day at HS for this trip. The kids chose Star Wars garb for this day. Alex was Luke Skywalker. Cora wanted to wear her Rey costume, but it somehow got left out of my packing (bad Mommy!), so she settled for her Rey t-shirt and this hastily thrown-together Rey inspired hairstyle.

Alex rubbed his sunscreen in with his hands, then immediately rubbed his eyes. Below is the result.

He still tried posing for his pictures and it took everything I had not to laugh hysterically at him.

We showed up around 8:20 and they started letting people into the park early again. This time we weren’t trying to sign up for Jedi Training so we just headed over to the internal rope by Starbucks and waited there. While we waited, we enjoyed chatting with some of the folks around us as well as the CM holding the Starbucks sign, who was way more chipper than I ever would have been with the number of times I heard her have to answer the same questions.

Once they started letting folks head for attractions, we made our way down Sunset Boulevard for our first ride of the day.

I had never gotten to ride Rockin’ Rollercoaster before and I was determined that it would happen this time! On our first trip, we got a rider swap pass and Rees took the first ride. When we came back later to try to use the pass for my ride, the ride was broken down and then we never made it back by. On our second trip Cora had decided that she wanted to try riding it, so Rees went on single rider while I took the kids somewhere else, then later Cora and I got in line. When we got to the loading area she freaked out and started screaming so I had to take her out and, once again, missed my ride. This was right before Fantasmic!, which we had dining package passes for, so we had no time to come back and try again.

Again, I let Rees go on first (why do I keep doing this? lol). We got a rider swap pass, as Alex is still too short, and we waited while he rode with the rope drop crowd. By this point Alex had recovered from his sunscreen fiasco and was ready for more pictures.

Within 15 minutes, Rees was out. Here was the result of his ride.

I love how both he and the guy in the next row look absolutely terrified and miserable. He actually loves this ride.

So did I finally get to ride? Why yes, yes I did.

I liked it a little bit. Seriously, this instantly became one of my favorite rides. I will be making a point of riding every trip from now on.

After RnRC, we headed back to the center of the park and saw the Little Mermaid show. We saw it on our first trip, skipped it last year, so figured it’d be good to see again this time. We don’t need to see it over and over, but it’s cute.

Next we decided to spend some time in Star Wars Launch Bay, as we had to meet Alex’s favorite Star Wars character.

He may or may not be someone else’s favorite SW character as well…

So tall! I loved that he made noises.

Next came Kylo Ren. When we first walked in, I seriously wondered if he was a statue for a minute. He did not move AT ALL, just stared down Alex.

Our faces betray how uncomfortable we were.

He finally started chatting toward the end, “join the dark side” and all that jazz. We were happy to move on to something a little less threatening – trading with Jawas! I had brought some shiny things specifically for trading, but had forgotten them at the resort that morning (again, bad Mommy!), so I had to improvise. I quickly dug through the backpack and came up with an unopened emergency poncho and a metallic Sharpie. We gave one to each kid and tried trading. This was a lot of fun. I apologize for my less-than-awesome pictures.

Cora received a shell necklace for her trade and Alex got a little wind-up bug toy. They were both quite satisfied.

As we walked around, an awesome CM noticed the kids’ Star Wars attire and offered to pose them in the darker area with lightsabers. They were thrilled.

And here’s Rees geeking out some more over Star Wars memorabilia. This was pretty much his face the whole time we were in Launch Bay.

Next we decided to keep the Star Wars theme and headed over to Star Tours to use a FP. This trip took us to Jakku (duh) followed by the Death Star, which felt appropriate.

Because we had missed the Indiana Jones show in favor of characterpalooza earlier in the week, we decided to try to see the show at this point. The kids have actually never seen any Indiana Jones movies, but they really wanted to see the show because of the vacation planning video, which highlights the show. As we were getting close, I noticed a sea of identical shirts and a flag headed the same way – tour group! At that point I ditched the wheelchair up against a wall, grabbed the kids by the hand, and hobbled as fast as I could toward the entrance, shouting “go, go, go!” at Rees. Not one of my finest moments, but we made it in ahead of the group and got decent seats. The theater actually did fill up, so I’m glad we hustled a bit. We all enjoyed the show and would see it again.

After Indiana Jones, we were about to head to our FP reservation at Toy Story Mania when Rees realized he didn’t have his safari hat. I secretly thanked God and hoped it stayed lost. But alas, helpful CM’s at Indiana Jones had picked it up and returned it safely to him. Oh well.

When we got to Toy Story, I had to snap this picture because I couldn’t believe it.

A 20 minute wait at 12:52 in the afternoon during peak season! That 3rd track seems to have really improved the waits here. Anyway, we rode, we had fun, I lost again.

We were planning on heading out for the day at this point, but Alex begged for one more ride on Great Movie Ride (pretty please with sugar on top?!), so we did that first. Now I’m glad we did since it seems like it’s uncertain whether it will still be there next time we go.

At this time we really did need to head out, as it was after 1:30 and we realized we hadn’t eaten a real meal yet! We do this sometimes at WDW if we don’t have meals scheduled – just get wrapped up in what we’re doing and forget to eat! We had had breakfast bars while waiting for rope drop that morning and I always packed little snack baggies in our backpack, but we hadn’t had a full meal. This is why I always lose weight at WDW – lots of moving, less eating! We didn’t want yet another chicken strips and fries meal, so we headed back to the resort so we could make something we had there, as we had brought food with us.

Guess what the kids wanted to do with the rest of the day. Here’s a hint:

One last night at Stormalong Bay. I used the free time to pack us up, as we were scheduled to change resorts the next day. When 9:00pm arrived, we went out on our balcony to see our little bit of Illuminations for the last time, as we could see the high fireworks through the trees.

Up next: Characters characters everywhere and bye-bye BCV, hello BLT!