A Whole New World, A Whole New Life! -- A Jan-Feb-Mar 2015 TR -- *COMPLETED* 9/29

[KathyM2]

home of the amazing carrot cake cookies, so obviously we had to get some of those

This is one thing that is definitely on my list to try next time.

It's funny how when you have a memory of something that is really great you want to recreate it...I think it's not just kids that do this....we all kind of have hopes that it will be as good as before. It's too bad that he got upset though when the song wasn't playing!! It's pretty cute though.

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Today we were up to be at Magic Kingdom for 9:00 opening. Everyone would be there except for Amy and Jack, who we wouldn't be seeing until later in our trip. Today was both Scott and Nathan's last day, so they both had to leave around 2:00 that afternoon. We planned to spend the morning together with everyone before they left, though!
We got ready, got all our stuff together, and were out the door around 8:00. We walked down to the boat dock and ended up taking a boat to the Contemporary because MK boats didn't start running until 8:30. A Contemporary boat was at the dock when we arrived, so we ended up getting there around 8:15.

We took the walking path from there to Magic Kingdom. We met everyone else at the front gate and found a spot over to the right to watch the welcome show. Everyone was excited for a day in the Kingdom!

Once the show was over and the gates were open, we headed straight to Fantasyland with the rest of the crowd! But unlike everyone else, today we were heading to Peter Pan instead of the Mine Train. We got over there easily and got right in line. We were very excited to see that they had the new queue open! It was our first time going through the new interactive Darling house queue. It was so cool, and the theming was amazing!

The biggest attraction and the "interactive" part of the queue is the shadow wall. It's a wall where your shadow is projected and by moving around you can interact with other shadows that are projected on the wall. For instance, sometimes they'll project butterflies on the wall that will "land" on you. It's very cool!
We didn't have much time to take in the queue because the line was only about 10-15 minutes long, but that's okay. Travis, Jack, and I rode together, and we had a really great ride! After Peter Pan we did Small World because it's right there across the street. That line was also only 10 minutes long. We practically took up a whole boat, and we had a really great ride. Small World was probably Emma's favorite ride, and she really enjoyed looking at all the different things there are to see.
After Small World we did the carousel, which was another 10 minute wait. Dad decided to stay out and take pictures of all of us on the ride!

Once we got off the carousel it was around 9:40. At this point we split up with me, Sam, Travis, Nathan, and Ginger going to Main Street to see Scoop at his 9:45 time. While we did that, everyone else went to Gaston's Tavern to get something to eat and they also went to the circus to ride Dumbo.
We headed to Main Street and got there right around 9:45. We were totally going against the flow of the crowd heading into the park, but it wasn't too crowded. We found Scoop within a few minutes, and we were one of the first to trade with him. We had a great time talking with him as usual, and we got some great new pins too! He was sad to hear that it was Nathan and Ginger's last day, but he was glad when they told him they'd be back in March.
After we said thank you and goodbye to Scoop, we headed over to the circus to meet back up with everyone. When we got there they had just gotten off Dumbo, and we decided to take the kids on Barnstormer next! Everyone went except for Dad, who stayed out to take pictures again.

Once we got off Barnstormer we headed out of the circus. Everyone else headed over to ride the teacups while Sam, Travis, and I went to Gaston's (we weren't going to miss out on giant sticky buns just because of pin trading). We had perfect timing because we were both done at the same time. We met back together at Pooh and hopped in line! The kids were very into the interactive queue.

We had a great ride, and by the time we got off it was around 11:00. Nathan and Ginger headed over to Frontierland at this point, and Scott and Lindsey also went off to do their own thing.
We decided to find a spot to eat lunch now, even though it was a little early. They have tables over by the Hall of Presidents, so we decided to go over there. We ate our packed lunch, then we decided to go over to Frontierland and meet up with Nathan and Ginger. On our way over we texted them to find out what they were doing, and they were in line for Big Thunder Mountain. Once we got over there we decided to wait outside the ride and watch for them. It was only a few minutes before we saw their train go by!

Once they got off we decided to go over and ride Splash Mountain! It wasn't the warmest day, so the line was only like 10-15 minutes long. We had a really fun ride, and nobody got too wet!

Once we got off Splash, we decided to head into Adventureland. We did Pirates first, which had about a 20 minute wait. After that we did Jungle Cruise, which was about 30 minutes. We had a great time on both.
Once we got off Jungle Cruise, we headed over to Tomorrowland to meet Scott and Sarah and ride Buzz Lightyear. The line took about 15 minutes, and we had a great ride! I went with Maddie, and she was a great partner. She had a lot of fun, but I don't think she was able to shoot the gun. When the ride was over, she looks over at me and in the most dead-pan voice goes,
"I got zero points."

She wasn't upset or anything, and it was super hilarious. I, however, achieved Galactic Hero (999,999) on this ride, which was exciting.
After we got off Buzz it was time for our 2:00-3:00 Mine Train FastPass! So, we headed over there and got in line. James and Maddie had already tried the Mine Train on this trip, and they were not fans. So, Mom and Dad offered to stay out with them while the rest of us rode. The line took about 10 minutes, and we had a really fun ride!

Once we got off, Scott and Sarah took their kids back from Mom and Dad. It was around 2:45 at this point, which meant that it was time for Scott and Nathan to head back to their hotel to wait for Magical Express. It's always sad when you have to leave Disney, and we were also sad because we wouldn't see Scott and Sarah again for another 2 months. We hugged everyone goodbye and they all headed out.
Once they were gone, Mom and Dad used their FastPasses for the Mine Train. Sam, Travis, and I just waited outside for the 15-20 minutes it took for them to ride. While we were waiting this adorable little old lady started asking me a bunch of questions about where stuff was in the park and about the parade and different things. She was impressed that I had all the answers, and even more impressed when I told her how many times I'd been to Disney. She was here visiting wit her family for the first time. She was really sweet, and I was glad I was able to help her!
Once Mom and Dad got off it was a little after 3:00, and we were meeting Lindsey and Adam in Frontierland at 4:00 to watch their kids for them while they ate dinner at Be Our Guest. We weren't sure what to do until then, so we decided just to go hang out over in Frontierland for a while. Once we got there I remembered that you can meet Jessie and Woody outside the Splash Mountain exit, so we decided to meet them while we waited! Travis didn't want to meet them, so he rode Splash Mountain by himself while we did that. They weren't there when we got there, but we were first in line for their next time, which was in about 15 minutes. Soon enough they came out, and we were there to greet them! Sam came up with me, and we had a lot of fun with the toys. Jessie was checking out Sam's pins, and she got upset when she saw that he didn't have any of her. He assured her that he did have some of her, but he just wasn't wearing them. That seemed to make her feel better!

Travis was already off the ride by the time we were done. We still had about 20 minutes to kill before we were meeting Lindsey, so we decided to ride Splash Mountain again. We decided this while standing near the exit of Jessie and Woody's line, and while we were talking we saw the character attendant escort Woody backstage rather quickly. We figured he was probably having a wardrobe malfunction or something, because he came back out a a few minutes later. I had never seen that happen before, so I thought it was kind of interesting.
The line for Splash was practically a walk-on, so we were through the line and off the ride in like 15 minutes. We got a little more wet this time than the last time!

Once we got off it was time to meet Lindsey, so we went over to where the little play area is to meet them. They were already there when we got there, so they handed off their diaper bag and stroller to us before they headed out to have some alone time.
The kids were playing on the slide, so we let them play a while longer. Around 4:20 we gathered them up and headed off. We decided to take them on the train, so we headed up to the station. It was about 10 minutes before our train came, and we all rode together in the very back.

We just rode all the way around back to Frontierland, and it was a lot of fun. Once we got off the train we started making our way over to Fantasyland through Liberty Square. It was a little after 5:00 when we got over there, and the kids were saying they were hungry, so we decided now was a good time for dinner. We went to Pinocchio's to get something tonight.
Because it was pretty early it wasn't too crowded, so we ordered and got our food quickly. We sat on the left side of the restaurant at a big table near some windows. We could see the castle outside!

We had a good meal, and I think everyone ended up getting the pizza.

The kids love pizza, so of course they were happy. They were really funny throughout dinner, though. Jack and Max kept telling ridiculous knock-knock jokes where the punch line was always "grapes". They thought they were hilarious and kept cracking themselves up! It was really cute.
After dinner we decided to ride Small World because it's right there and the kids love it. The line took about 20 minutes, which wasn't too bad. We had a lot of fun, and the kids were good.

Once we got off Small World we had time to do one more thing before Lindsey and Adam would be back for the kids, so we decided on the carousel. The line was only like 10 minutes long, and we had a lot of fun. The boys really like being able to go on their own horses, and Emma got to go with Mom.

Once we got off the carousel, Lindsey and Adam were waiting outside the exit. The kids were happy to see their parents again, and Jack was really excited to tell them about everything we did. Lindsey and Adam told us that they had a great time at BoG and thanked us for watching the kids for them. We gave them back all their stuff and said goodbye for the night. We would see them again tomorrow for their last day.
Once they had left, it was a little after 7:00. We talked about what we wanted to do, and decided it would be a good time to head home. We would be back at MK the next day, and there just wasn't anything else we really wanted to do that night. So, we made our way toward the park exit. We made it to the boat dock and a boat was there within 15 minutes. We got back to the Fort and walked back to the RV. By the time we got back it was close to 7:45, and we spent the rest of the night cleaning up some stuff in the RV and just hanging out. We got our stuff ready for the next day, which was Lindsey and Adam's last day and also our last day of "vacation" before going back to school and work.​

 

[wiscbugs]

Looks like a fun day. Can't beat Splash Mountain, Mine Train and eating at Pinochhios

 

[KathyM2]

I, however, achieved Galactic Hero (999,999) on this ride,

Wow, you are a rockstar!! I guess you have had a bit of practice lol

Lindsey and Adam in Frontierland at 4:00 to watch their kids for them while they ate dinner at Be Our Guest.

That is sooo nice of you! I'm sure they enjoyed a nice dinner and knowing that you were watching the kids must have been good because they could relax with them in good hands!

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Magic Kingdom opened at 9:00 this morning, but we weren't trying to make it for rope drop. We slept in a little bit and we were ready to go around 9:30. Lindsey and Adam were heading home today after spending some time at MK, so we were going to meet them there and hang out until they had to leave. Once we walked to the docks and waited for our boat, we ended up getting to the Kingdom around 10:00.
It was really cloudy this morning, and the forecast said we were in for some rain. it wasn't raining yet, though, when we arrived. Once we got there we noticed that they had some of the Main Street vehicles running. The Main Street vehicles include the trolley, omnibus, fire truck, and little cars. You can ride them up and down Main Street, and they're really cool. We decided to hop on one of the little cars that was right there at the entrance.

Our driver's name was Jack, and he was really funny. He told a lot of pirate jokes and gave us stickers.
Once they dropped us off at the end of Main Street, it started raining. It wasn't too heavy at first, but it kept getting worse. We made our way as quickly as we could over to Fantasyland, which is where we were meeting Lindsey and Adam. About halfway there we stopped to take shelter because the rain got so heavy. We put our ponchos on and got back out there. We made it over to the teacups and we took cover there. Lindsey and Adam showed up within a couple of minutes, and we all got in line for the teacups. It took about 15 minutes, and we were under cover which was great!
I went with Travis, Jack, and Max, and we had a lot of fun!

Once we got off it was still raining, but definitely not as hard. We decided to ride Pooh since it's right there, so we got in line! That line only took about 15 minutes as well, and we had a great ride!

Once we got off Pooh, the rain was pretty much over and it was about 11:00. We decided we would do one more thing before eating lunch, and we picked Mickey's Philharmagic. We only had to wait about 15 minutes until the next show. Philharmagic is a favorite of Jack's, so that was a lot of fun. Just as the show was starting, though, Adam had to take Max out because he needed to use the bathroom. They weren't able to make it back in, which was sad. Once we got out of the show we met them in the gift shop. Apparently Max had gotten really upset when he found out that they wouldn't be able to go back into the show. He started crying, and the cast members in the store took notice. They gave Max a lollipop for free to help make him feel better! I thought that was just the sweetest thing, and I seriously love the way cast members will go the extra mile to make guests (especially children) happy.
Once we were all back together and we got the stroller, it was time for lunch! We had a packed lunch, so we just needed to find a place to eat it. We try to avoid eating our own food in restaurants as much as possible, but the rain had left all the outdoor seating soaked, so we headed into Pinocchio's to find a table. Lindsey and Adam decided to buy food, so it ended up being fine.
We actually ended up sitting at the same table we had been at the night before, which was funny. Lindsey had packed sandwiches for the kids, so we ate our sandwiches with them while Adam ordered food for him and Lindsey. Jack and Max decided now would be the perfect time to repeat all of their jokes form last night for their parents to hear, and they were just as "funny" as they were the first time. We had a really nice lunch together, and it was great to spend time with them before they had to head back home!

Jack and Max were excited because after lunch they got to share the lollipop Max got.

Once we were done eating we headed out of the restaurant. We decided to ride Small World because all the kids love it and it would be a good thing to do as one of their last rides. The line took about 20 minutes, and we had a lot of fun!
It was around 12:30 now, and Lindsey and Adam had Mine Train FastPasses from 12:30-1:30. We didn't have FP's, but Lindsey and Adam were kind enough to let Travis and I use their Magic Bands so that we could ride with Jack (Max was too short). So, we borrowed their Magic Bands so we could use the FP's and took Jack over to the Mine Train while everyone else hung out around Fantasyland. Jack was super excited to ride with us because it was one of his favorite rides!
Once we got over there we scanned our FP's and got in line, which took about 10 minutes. We got to ride in the very front, which is kind of exciting but definitely less thrilling. We had a really fin ride, and we were really glad that we were able to do that with Jack!

Once we got off we called Mom to see where they were. They were hanging out in the Sir Mickey's store, so we headed over there to meet them. We met them in the store and spent a few minute looking around. The entire store is filled with Frozen merchandise, and we found out later that it's because that's where you exit the Anna and Elsa meet and greet. Even Minnie was getting in on the Frozen action.

After we looked around for a while and Lindsey and Adam got the kids a couple of souvenirs, we headed out of the store. We had Pirates of the Caribbean FP's from 1:30-2:30, so we headed towards Adventureland. This would be the last thing we would do before Lindsey and Adam had to head back to their hotel for Magical Express.
We got over there a little early for our FP's, so we hung out on some benches outside the ride. I took a picture of Emma while we were waiting, and she was being super adorable. Every time I would take her picture she ask for "More!" which was one of the few words she could say.

We still had about 5-10 minutes left to wait for our time, but the kids were getting kind of fussy and it was staring to drizzle again. Pirates wasn't one of their favorite rides anyways, so Lindsey and Adam decided to pack it in and head back to the hotel. We helped them get the kids to the bathroom and then buckled into their stroller. Everyone gave hugs and kisses and said their goodbyes. It was sad to say goodbye, especially because we wouldn't see them for almost two months (way longer than we had ever been away before). But they had to get back home, so we waved goodbye as they walked away.
Once they were gone, we used our Pirates FP's to ride. When we got off it was still kind of lightly raining, and we decided that now would be a pretty good time for us to head home, too. We had spent the past 2 weeks going at full speed, and we were all tired.
We made our way out of the park and to the boat docks. A boat was waiting for us when we got there, which was nice. We made it back to the Fort and decided just to walk back because it was pretty much just misting at this point. By the time we made it back to the RV it was around 2:30.
Once we got back to the RV, Mom and Dad decided to go out to the store to get the food and stuff we needed. The rest of us stayed home and just hung out. It wasn't raining anymore, but everything outside was wet. Once Mom and Dad got home, we helped them unload the truck and get everything put away inside. Mom made french toast for dinner, and afterwards we talked about what the rest of our time at Disney would look like. It was at this time that we decided not to go stay and the Gulf for 4 weeks like we had planned, but to stay at the Fort for the rest of our time in Florida. It took a little work to get the extra reservations, and we didn't actually get them until a week or two later, but it all worked out in the end. We planned FastPasses for our extra Disney days and talked about what this next week would look like (a lot of work and school).
Once we were all done talking, Travis and I decided to go swimming! We got changed and walked down to the pool. We had fun swimming around and going in the hot tub. Once we got back, we showered off, changed, and got ready for bed. We hung out for a while before getting to bed with plans of getting back to our "normal" routine the next day!​

 

[DisneyFreak98]

This morning we all slept in, as it was or first day not going to the parks in about 2 weeks! Today would be a very busy day, getting back into the swing of "normal" life at the Fort. We spent the morning catching up on a lot of school and work. Mom made spaghetti for lunch, and after Travis and I did a little more schoolwork before calling it a day. Dad and Sam continued to do their work for most of the afternoon.
Once Travis and I were done, we decided to go swimming! We got changed and rode our bikes down to the pool. The weather was much better today than it had been recently, and we had a lot of fun swimming around.
While we were there the Swimming Hole Jamboree was going on, which is pretty much just pool games. The activities staff was really great there, and we started recognizing them after a while. Our favorite guy was PJ, partly because he was super fun, and also because he reminded us a lot of one of our friends back home.
I'm sure that during the summertime the pool is super crowded and they get a lot of participation, but every time we went down there the pool seemed to be dead. We felt bad for the activities staff because they always seemed to have, like, 2 kids participating, so a couple of times we went up and played with them. They did stuff like hula hooping and relay races, and it was actually a lot of fun.
Once we were tired of swimming, we grabbed our towels and rode back to the RV. We showered off and changed, and by that time it was around 3:30. Travis went to play basketball, and Mom and I played cards for a while. Dad and Sam finished their work around 4:00, and once they were done we all went for a walk together. We got back to the RV, and we had sandwiches for dinner around 5:30. After dinner we decided that we would go down to the campfire that night. We hung out at the RV until around 7:20, when we all headed down to the campfire to make s'mores. The movie that night was Tangled, and I planned to stay for that. I actually have a Rapunzel animator's doll, and I decided to bring her down with me to watch the movie (if you forgot how much of a child I am, there's a reminder for you).
After we made s'mores, Travis went back to the RV while everyone else stayed with me to watch the movie. The weather was fair that night, and we had a great time watching Tangled together.
Once the movie was over, we headed back to the RV. We spent the rest of the night hanging out, making FastPasses for the next day, and getting ready for bed. We got to bed around 10:00, with plans of going to AK the next afternoon!​

 

[DaisyDuck001]

​

This is a cute Minnelsa. Or Elnie. I saw they also have Minnariel (Minnie/Ariel) dolls.

Please remind me (if you already mentioned this, sorry if I forgot): did you all have Memory Maker for the whole three months you were there?

When I visited Ft. Wilderness a couple of weeks ago, being there reminded me of your trip report. (I went there for the campfire singalong).

 

[DisneyFreak98]

This is a cute Minnelsa. Or Elnie. I saw they also have Minnariel (Minnie/Ariel) dolls.

Please remind me (if you already mentioned this, sorry if I forgot): did you all have Memory Maker for the whole three months you were there?

When I visited Ft. Wilderness a couple of weeks ago, being there reminded me of your trip report. (I went there for the campfire singalong).

I actually don't think I have talked about Memory Maker yet! We purchased one Memory Maker, which ended up being good for about 2 months. It was a really nice thing to have, and the photos are great, but it ended up being very confusing and causing a lot of problems. We must have talked to at least 5-10 different PhotoPass employees, and they each told us different things about how exactly the Memory Maker works. I'm sure that if we were just there for a "normal" amount of vacation time it would have been fine, but because we were there for so long it ended up getting confusing trying to figure out how long we would be able to use it. I'd say it was definitely worth it, though!

I hope you had fun at the singalong!

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Today was Saturday, so we all slept in a little bit! We spent the morning doing our school and work, then we barbecued chicken for lunch. It was a nice day, so we ate outside. After lunch we cleaned everything up, then we got ready to go. Mom, Travis, and I were heading to Animal Kingdom, and Dad and Sam had to go out and do some stuff for the business. We each packed everything we would need for the rest of the afternoon/evening, and we headed out around 2:00!
We said goodbye to Dad and Sam and headed to the bus stop. We had to wait about 5-10 minutes for the internal bus, then another 10 or so for an AK bus.
We arrived around 2:45, and we headed right over to Everest for our 3:00-4:00 FastPass.

We got there like 5 minutes early, but our Magic Bands scanned us through anyway. We found out during the trip that the "grace period" for FP's is 5 minutes early and 15 minutes late, which is good to know.
The line took 5-10 minutes, and we had a great ride! We were right in the middle of the train, which isn't bad. Because you go backwards, there isn't really a bad seat on Everest.
Once we got off, we decided to go walk the Maharajah Jungle Trek (which we usually just call the tiger trail, with the Pangani Forest being the gorilla trail). We spent about 20 minutes walking through and looking at all the different animals.

The tigers were up and walking around, which was fun to see. We learned a lot about the tigers in all our visits to AK over the course of our trip. We learned that they have 4 different tigers, 2 older females, a young female, and a young male. Females usually don't get along well together, but the two older girls had been together since they were very young, so they learned how to coexist with each other. They had just recently got the two younger cats in, and their ultimate goal is to start breeding them. You'll usually only see the two older females out in the open, and if you do see the others they'll be in a separate area (the older females would attack the young female). Things have probably changed since we were there, though, so I'm not sure exactly what's going on right now! Hopefully in the next year or two though Animal Kingdom will have some baby tigers!

The bird room is probably our second favorite thing on the trek after the tigers. There are so many crazy cool birds you can see, and a lot of them walk on the ground so they're much easier to see than the birds in the Pangani bird area. On this day the young male pheasant was out and about and making a lot of ruckus. His call is one big, loud "whoop!" and he really likes to be heard! He was actually just hanging out on one of the benches, posing perfectly for some photographs.

Once we exited the trail, it was getting close to 4:00. They have a little area with some small tables by the water in between Asia and Africa, so we sat down there and had a snack. They have some colorful boats floating in the water down there, which is a detail we had never noticed before!

I just love all the little "Disney details" that you can find throughout all the parks.
Once we were done, we headed back up and made our way to Africa. We didn't have a FP for the safari, and the line was around an hour, so we decided to skip that for today. Instead we just walked the Pangani Forest trail. We stopped to look at some of the other animals, but we mainly watched the gorillas. We also learned a ton about the gorillas on the trip.
They have two separate groups of gorillas, the bachelor group and the family group. The bachelors just kind of hang out together and do their own thing. The family is made up of the dad, two moms, an adolescent, and two babies. We learned that the one female is the dad's favorite, and so he also pays more attention to her baby. We learned a lot about how they interact with each other, how the adolescent had been acting up ever since the babies arrived, and how the dad would "discipline" her when she was being a brat. It was really cool to see the family dynamic! A couple of times we actually got to see the young gorilla acting out for attention, and she was hilarious!
Here's one of the babies:

And riding on his mama's leg:

Once we said goodbye to the gorillas we headed out of the trail. It was around 4:20 now, and our next FastPass was for Dinosaur from 4:30-5:30. We decided to go ride Everest single rider before heading over to Dinoland. We got over to Everest and ended up waiting about 20 minutes. I rode with a little boy, and it was his first time. He was really nervous, but I assured him it was a lot of fun! I don't think he liked it, though, and neither did his sister who was behind us. They were both very glad when it was over.

Once we got off it was close to 5:00, so we headed over to Dinoland. We got over there and used our FP for Dinosaur. We waited about 10 minutes, and we had a lot of fun. We were in a car with a group of young girls who didn't speak English, and they were hilarious! They were screaming at the top of their lungs practically the whole time, and it was all we could do not to just laugh at them. It was really funny, though.
Once we got off it was close to 5:30, and we had Primeval Whirl FastPasses for 5:30-6:30, so we headed over there. We got in line, which took like 5 minutes, and we had a great ride! We kind of noticed on this trip that Primeval Whirl was looking a little worse for the wear. It seemed a bit dirty and unkempt, but we weren't sure if they did that on purpose to add to the "carnival" feel of that area. At any rate, it's still a great ride!

When we got off we decided now was a good time to eat dinner. We had packed sandwiches, so we just had to find a place to eat them. We noticed throughout the trip that Animal Kingdom has the least amount of seating areas out of all the parks. We always had trouble finding a place to sit there, so a lot of times we jut ended up sitting on benches. Tonight we ate at the outdoor seating area of Restaurantasaurus, though, because it didn't seem too crowded there.
We ate our sandwiches and watched the people go by, and once we were done we decided to head back home. We cleaned up our stuff and started making our way out of the park. We got to the bus stop and a bus was waiting for us! That was always the best feeling, walking up to your bus stop and getting right onto a bus.
We got back to the Fort around 6:30, and only had to wait about 5 minutes for our internal bus. We got back to the RV and Dad and Sam were still out. We hung out for a while, then Travis and I decided to go swimming! Mom stayed at the RV and worked on a blanket she was crocheting for someone. We got changed and walked down to the pool.
We were so used to being the only ones at the pool at night, but that wasn't the case tonight! There was a group of probably around 10 or so people that looked to be around 18-20 years old. It was weird having other people there, but they mostly stayed on the other side of the pool. We still had a lot of fun swimming around.
Once we were done we walked back to the RV. Once we got back we dried off and got changed, and by that time it was close to 8:30. We spent the rest of the night hanging out and watching TV, and we went to bed around 10:00. Dad and Sam didn't get back until around 11:00, but they had gotten everything done that they needed to!
This day was probably one of my favorite days of the trip. Some of the days kind of blur together, but the really good days stick out crystal clear, and this was just one of those days.
The next day was Sunday, so we had plans of going to church then maybe visiting Magic Kingdom later in the day!​

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Today was Sunday, so we got up and got ready to go to church. We left around 9:30, and we went to the same place in Orlando that we had been to a few weeks ago. We had a nice time, and we got home around 12:30.
Once we got home, we had sandwiches for lunch. After lunch we hung out at the RV for a while before deciding to go explore Fort Wilderness! We wanted to see some stuff other than the couple of loops we had walked around, so we set off to find a new path. We ended up walking through this path in the woods that goes back near Bay Lake. There are a couple of nice places to fish back there, and we saw a ton of deer. We see a lot of deer up where we live, but they're extremely skittish. Disney deer will let you get right up close to them, so that was really cool! Obviously you don't want to get too close, but at least they don't run away the moment they see you. I was bummed because I didn't think to bring my camera.
We walked around, and you can actually see Cinderella Castle from back there, which was really cool. The path takes you all the way to the boat dock, so we hung out on the little beach there for a bit. We took the same path back around to where we started and made it back to the RV. It was really fun to see a side of Fort Wilderness that we hadn't seen before!
It was around 2:30 when we got back to the RV, and for the rest of the afternoon we just kind of hung out. Travis and Sam went to play basketball for a while, and Mom and I played cards. We grilled pork chops for dinner, and it was nice so we ate outside.
Once we had eaten dinner and cleaned up, we decided to head over to Magic Kingdom for a while!
We put a couple of snacks and some water into our backpack and left the RV around 6:00. By the time we got to the boat dock, the sun was setting beautifully.

A boat came within 10 minutes, and we arrived at Magic Kingdom a little before 6:30.

The first thing we did was head to Frontierland for our 6:30-7:30 Big Thunder Mountain FastPass. We got over there and got right in line, which took about 10 minutes. We got to sit in the back, and we had a great ride! Our next FP was 7:30-8:30 Buzz Lightyear, so we made our way over to Tomorrowland for that. Once we got over there we still had about 20 or so minutes until the FP was ready, so we rode the Peoplemover in the meantime. We had a nice time on that like always.
By the time we got off, our FastPasses were just about ready, so we went over to Buzz. We used our passes and got in line, which took maybe 2 minutes. We all went by ourselves, except for Mom and Dad who went together.

We had a great ride, and once we got off we decided to do the Speedway. That line took around 20 minutes, which wasn't bad at all. I drove Mom around, and we had a lot of fun. When we got off the Tomorrowland Dance Party was going on, and Travis and I danced around to the music for a while. There was a college program guy working at one of the merchandise carts, and he asked us to come over and dance with him because he couldn't leave his cart. His name was MJ, and he was a lot of fun!
When we were done dancing, we decided to do the Laugh Floor. We got inside and waited about 10-15 minutes for the next show. We sat in the back, which we don't usually do, but it was actually nice to be able to see the rest of the audience. The show was great, and the people they put up on the screen were super hilarious.
Once the show let out it was just about 8:30, which was perfect because we had 8:30-9:30 Space Mountain FastPasses! So, we headed over there and got in line. The line took about 10 minutes, and we had a really fun ride! I sat in the very back, and I pretty much screamed the whole time.
Once we got off Space we decided to call it a night. We started making our way out of the park, and because it was just about 9:00 (electrical parade time) they had the secret back exit open. It just takes you around the back of Main Street and lets you out at the end near the park exit. It helps you avoid the crazy crowded Main Street during parade and fireworks times.
We made our way out of the park and to the boat dock, and we only had to wait about 5 minutes for a boat. We got back to the Fort and walked home, getting back to the RV around 9:30. We pretty much got ready for bed and hung out for a bit. We got to bed around 10:00, with plans of staying around the Fort the next day.​

 

[dvc at last !]

Love your TR and pics - beautiful family !

 

[xlsm]

I had so many comments and then I saw your sunset picture, and they all flew out of my head! That's so pretty!!

I love that photo of your mom and dad together on Buzz!

My favorite thing about SDMT is that they do the ride photos now! Ours from this year are so funny to me, because I was in a car with the dad of a big group, and they all had matching shirts but me, LOL. My kids were riding together in the cart behind me, so they were too far away to even it out. The other family is all cheering with their hands up in matching shirts, and then there's me, in my plain blue tank top, just sitting there with a smile on my face. I don't know, it just cracks me up when I see our pictures.

As for AK, we had such an amazing day there a couple weeks ago on our trip! It's really creeping close to becoming my favorite park! I never tire of seeing pictures of it, that's for sure!! I think it's going to be SPECTACULAR when all of the updates there are completed.

 

[sara1215]

Finished reading page one and I'm posting so I remember to come back and read the rest. This sounds like a fascinating adventure and I can't wait to see how it unfolds!

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Love your TR and pics - beautiful family !

Thank you so much!

I had so many comments and then I saw your sunset picture, and they all flew out of my head! That's so pretty!!

I love that photo of your mom and dad together on Buzz!

My favorite thing about SDMT is that they do the ride photos now! Ours from this year are so funny to me, because I was in a car with the dad of a big group, and they all had matching shirts but me, LOL. My kids were riding together in the cart behind me, so they were too far away to even it out. The other family is all cheering with their hands up in matching shirts, and then there's me, in my plain blue tank top, just sitting there with a smile on my face. I don't know, it just cracks me up when I see our pictures.

As for AK, we had such an amazing day there a couple weeks ago on our trip! It's really creeping close to becoming my favorite park! I never tire of seeing pictures of it, that's for sure!! I think it's going to be SPECTACULAR when all of the updates there are completed.

Thank you!
The ride photos are great, and the same type of thing happened to us a few times!
Animal Kingdom is amazing, especially since it's so different from all the other parks. We got to see a couple new things there, but there were still lots of walls up when we left. Can't wait to see it all finished!

Finished reading page one and I'm posting so I remember to come back and read the rest. This sounds like a fascinating adventure and I can't wait to see how it unfolds!

Thank you so much for reading!

 

[sara1215]

What a great trip! I have a question about weather. We are planning to go to Disney on February of next year (our first time). I noticed in many pictures you and your family had sweatshirts and jeans on. Is that typical for the weather in February? Or are there some warmer days?

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Today was Monday, the beginning of our first full week back living our "normal" life since our family vacation. Everyone was up by 9:00, and we spent the morning getting our work done. Travis and I did our school work while Dad and Sam did their thing. Mom usually spent her time in the mornings straightening things up around the RV, helping us with our school if we needed it, reading, crocheting, and other stuff like that.
We had sandwiches for lunch around noon, and once we were done Mom and Dad left to go to the store. We needed groceries and a few other things. After lunch Travis and I finished up our school for the day while Sam continued his work. We hung out at the RV for a while before Travis and I decided to go swimming around 1:00. We got changed and rode our bikes down to the pool!
The weather wasn't awesome today - it was overcast and a little chilly - but the pool is heated so we didn't mind. We got there and swam around for a bit, then around 1:30 the Hoedown Dance Party started! Basically they just play your classic party songs (Cha-Cha Clide, Cupid Shuffle, Cotton-Eyed Joe, etc.) and the activities staff invites you to come up and dance with them. That had barely just begun when it started raining! They had to pack up their equipment (known as the Party Cart) and take it all inside the little pool house shed.
Most people left the pool at this point, but Travis and I were already wet, so we decided to stay! We swam around some more, talked to one of the nice lifeguards, went in the hot tub for a while, then jumped back in the pool. It started raining really hard at one point, but there was never any thunder or lightning so they didn't make us get out.
Once the rain subsided a bit, we decided to get out and head home. We grabbed our stuff (which had been under an umbrella so it didn't get wet), hopped on our bikes and rode back home.
We got back almost the same time as Mom and Dad, which was about 2:15. We helped unload the car and unpack all the groceries, then we got showered off and changed. Dad and Sam both finished up their work for the day, and we just spent the rest of the afternoon doing regular stuff like reading, going on the internet, and playing games. The weather was still pretty bleak, so we didn't go for a walk today.
Mom made sloppy joes for dinner around 5:30, and afterward we pretty much did more of the same thing. We hung out for a while, I edited some of my pictures, then we watched some shows on the Food Network before going to bed around 9:30.
Days like today when we didn't go to the parks were actually really nice. It gave us a chance to get stuff done and to just kind of relax a little. Being at the parks all of the time can be really draining, especially when it's crowded. It was nice to take some time off and just do what we would regularly do back at home.
The next day we were planning on spending the morning at home and the evening at Magic Kingdom!​

 

[KathyM2]

By the time we got to the boat dock, the sun was setting beautifully.

That was a really great picture!!

Once we got off Space we decided to call it a night.

Once again...I just love how you were able to just go to MK for a few FP+ and hang out a bit and then leave...without feeling pressure to do more.

Being at the parks all of the time can be really draining, especially when it's crowded.

I'm sure...you're lucky though to have the time to take a day off once in a while...and just go use your FP+ and leave anytime. I think I'd like to try an extended stay at the fort one day )

 

[dvc at last !]

I love your life - it is a dream come true !

Has anyone in your family ever though of employment with Disney ?

 

[jandlinz]

That was a beautiful sunset picture. Did you venture over to River Country? I think that would be interesting to see. How's the new house?

 

[DisneyFreak98]

What a great trip! I have a question about weather. We are planning to go to Disney on February of next year (our first time). I noticed in many pictures you and your family had sweatshirts and jeans on. Is that typical for the weather in February? Or are there some warmer days?

If you go in early February the weather will definitely be on the chilly side, especially in the mornings and evenings. The afternoons are usually warmer, and for us it usually got up to the high 60's low 70's, especially if the sun was out. Later in the month there were definitely warmer days, but for us it didn't start really getting hot until March.

That was a really great picture!!



Once again...I just love how you were able to just go to MK for a few FP+ and hang out a bit and then leave...without feeling pressure to do more.



I'm sure...you're lucky though to have the time to take a day off once in a while...and just go use your FP+ and leave anytime. I think I'd like to try an extended stay at the fort one day )

Thank you!
Yes, it was definitely nice to be able to take some days off! I don't know if we (or anyone) could have survived going 3 months straight at the parks.
You should absolutely try an extended stay! Even if it's just for 3 week or a month, it would be so fun!

I love your life - it is a dream come true !

Has anyone in your family ever though of employment with Disney ?

Thank you!
Yes, many of us have thought about it before. Most of my older siblings already have jobs and families, so I don't think they really consider it anymore. Travis and I would probably be the most likely to move down there, and we're talking about possibly doing the College Program sometime in the future!

That was a beautiful sunset picture. Did you venture over to River Country? I think that would be interesting to see. How's the new house?

Thank you! No, we never made it over there to poke around. The most we saw was what you can see from the boat traveling to Magic Kingdom. My parents actually went to River Country back when it was still open! It does look very interesting, the way they just left it there to rot.
The new house is great! Things are coming along nicely. The project we're working on right now is redoing the stairs, and after that we still have quite a bit of painting to do!