Do you need a license to drive a candy corn? October 2015 TR! updated 4/23

[bbak30]

Hi all and welcome to my 3rd trip report here on TheDis. I went back and forth on doing this trip report, but ultimately decided that I really like having recounting the details of my trip, so I decided to get started.

This trip was our second trip of 2015 and was to celebrate my oldest DDs 10th birthday! My parents, my niece, my in-laws and my sister-in-law were all joining us.

I will block out the faces of my in-laws, I’m not sure how they would feel about being online!

Our dates were October 23rd-October 31st. We were originally going to arrive on the 24th, but flights were so much cheaper when we arrived on the 23rd which was a Friday. We also spent the first 2 nights offsite, which was new for us and I was originally NOT happy about it. My in-laws own a timeshare through RCI and attempted to get us 2 2 bedroom condos with absolutely no luck. I had a feeling we wouldn’t be able to secure anything—I did tons of research and realized that October was among the busiest of times for DVC. And apparently 1 bedrooms are a lot easier to get than 2 bedrooms. Oh, well. Lesson learned on that front. We did end up securing 2 2 bedrooms at Saratoga Springs with free dining, but couldn’t check in until October 25th.

We went back and forth on what to do the first 2 nights. We were thinking about staying at Port Orleans-French Quarter, trying out a value and even splurging to pay the outrageous price to stay at Saratoga Springs. However, my ever so generous in-laws offered to get us a place at The Fountains off site. Originally I wasn’t too happy about this for a couple of reasons.

• We were flying and not driving, so logistically this would be difficult. I really didn’t want to rent a car, but stressed about getting to the resort from the airport and getting to the parks.

• I just really didn’t want to stay off-site! I was afraid we wouldn’t be immersed in the Disney Bubble. I was pouting and being a bit of a brat.

However, we LOVED The Fountains and had a great time there. We have tossed around the idea of staying there for future trips. It was really nice.

So we were set. 2 nights at The Fountains, October 23-October 25 and then 6 nights at Saratoga Springs, October 25-October 31. DDs birthday fell on a Thursday, October 29th and it was the perfect opportunity to try out MNSSHP! Our flight left New Orleans at 5:00 pm on Friday the 25th and we were set to leave MCO at 9:35 on Saturday, October 31st.

Leading up to the trip, I did ALL of the planning. This was super stressful to me because I was trying to please everyone. We are all so different and I was worried that the restaurants I chose would be disappointing or that someone would miss out on something they wanted to do. However, nobody was really giving me any input other than my SIL. So I made reservations (which wasn’t always easy when booking for 10) and put together a loose itinerary.

Turns out, I was stressing for nothing and we all had an AMAZING time!

Next up: Travel day!

 

[bbak30]

Day 1, Part 1: Travel Day!​

We decided to fly this time, something I kind of regret. We are fortunate that we can make it from our house to Disney in about 10.5 hours with stops. Not a bad drive at all. The only way it makes sense to fly is to have a direct flight out of New Orleans. New Orleans is about 1.5 hours from me. So by the time we drive to the airport, park, check in and wait, get on the plane, get off and grab luggage, make it to the resort, it’s been 7-8 hours. Makes more sense to me to drive and then we have our car should we need it. And no worries about packing and fitting everything. But our parents wanted to fly, so that’s what we did.

We were booked on Southwest, the only airline that offers non-stop flights from New Orleans. Our flight was set to leave at 5:00 pm on a Friday, so we had to leave plenty of time. We planned to check the 3 girls out of school around 11:00 and have lunch before we headed to the airport.

This was a new restaurant for us, The Grapevine in Donaldssonville, LA. It was absolutely delicious and a great was to start our trip! Unfortunately I didn't grab any food pictures, I guess I was too excited for the start of the trip!

After lunch we headed to the airport. It was an easy drive and before long we were dropped off curbside while the guys went to park. It was about this time that I got a text saying our flight had been delayed by 55 minutes. Booooo.



Me and my mommy!



My dad shared his hot dog with Kate. The first of MANY hot dogs eaten on this trip.

This nice man showed us some yo-yo tricks while we waited.




When it was time to board, we were herded on the plane like cattle. I’m REALLY not a fan of Southwest or the boarding process. I really wish we had another airline to choose from. However, we did manage to find seats together without any problem. But the whole process was stressful.

DH sat with Allie (birthday girl)!


Kate and I sat together and then SIL joined us.



This was the first flight for my niece Isabelle and she did great. Kate had flown when she was 18 months old and didn’t remember it, but she did great. Allie also enjoyed the flight.

It was a calm, uneventful flight. It takes just over an hour to fly from New Orleans to Orlando.

Soon enough we were on the tram and headed to baggage claim.

Kate and Isabelle


Kate, Isabelle and Allie


We decided to rent a 10 passenger van to bring us to The Fountains from the airport. We briefly discussed taking the Magical Express back to the airport from Saratoga, but it was less than $60 to add return to the airport so we just added it.

It was really nice to have this. Our driver met us at baggage claim and assisted us with our things and off we went.

We got checked-in and headed to check out the rooms. It was close to 9:30 local time by this point.


The rooms were VERY nice. One room had 2 queen beds and the other room had 1 king bed. The sofa bed also pulled out to a full sized bed.








There was a Dominos in the complex so we ordered a few pizzas before calling it a night. We were exhausted and I had us up bright and early tomorrow!

Next up: Animal Kingdom and our first Uber ride!

 

[bbak30]

Day 1, Part 1: Animal Kingdom!​

So our first day we were headed to Animal Kingdom. I chose this park because I wasn't able to secure FP ahead of time.
My in-laws stayed behind to attend a timeshare presentation and would be meeting us later. We had some cereal and/or Pop-Tarts at the condo before heading out.

We chose this day to try our first Uber ride! I was pretty apprehensive about getting back and forth to the park on this day and really didn't want to spend a fortune on transportation. We each requested a car since we would need 2. Pretty quickly my parents had a nice BMW there to whisk them away!

Ours was a different story. I don't know why, but our driver could NOT find us. He called me and I could barely understand him. That, coupled with the fact that I wasn't familiar with the complex, I ended up cancelling the request about 20 minutes later. I requested another one and the driver was there within 8 minutes. I don't know what happened.
Our driver was AWESOME though and we even scheduled him to come back for us the next morning and bring us over to Saratoga!

Waiting for our ride!


While we were having Uber frustrations, my parents arrived at AK with Allie and Isabelle and proceeded to attempt to active our package tickets a day early. I was hoping to be the one to do this, but we were still at the resort. I was nervous and hoping that everything I read on The Dis was true and it wouldn't be a problem to activate....and it wasn't! My mom had all of our tickets activated quickly and when we pulled up my SIL quickly activated hers and we were on our way!

We were ready for our first ride, Expedition Everest!

Even Pop was up for a ride!


The girls were super excited, they were too short last trip to enjoy this ride.


Unfortunately, I have NO idea where my Memory Maker photos are for this ride?

After that we headed to Dinoland where we did this...


And won these...


And despite all of my stern warnings that THEY would have to carry around their winnings, they all ended up in my backpack shortly after this photo was taken.

We took a spin in a dinosaur.


And stopped for a cookie treat.


We took a ride on Dinosaur, which ended with 3/3 kids crying. Not a good idea apparently....




After that we noticed a short wait for Safari Minnie and Mickey so we jumped in line!








This was a really great meet and greet and we really enjoyed it!

We did some shopping while we waiting for our FP for Festival of the Lion King.




We made our way in to the theatre and got ready for the show. We were texting with my in-laws at this point and they made it as well. We didn't sit together, but they were there!
My only complaint about this show is the hard hard benches with no backs. After about 20 minutes, it becomes really uncomfortable.









As usual, we LOVED this show. I was excited for everyone else to see it and of course they loved it too. We let the kids play in the BoneYard for a little while and then it was time to head to the front of the park for our lunch reservation.

Note, we did NOT get to ride the Safari this day. I didn't have a FP for it and the wait was really long. We knew we would be back later in the week, so no big deal.

Up next: Lunch at Rainforest Cafe!

 

[bbak30]

Day 1, Part 1: We eat, rest and then eat some more!

We headed to the front of the park for our lunch reservation. This was a surprise hit during our last trip and we couldn't wait to go back. I love the theme of the restaurant and it's so nice to sit down in the cool a/c for a while on a hot day!



We let the kids get the Animal cups with the frozen drink in them.






I have to report here that I was a very bad Diser, I didn't take any photos of our food. I'm so bummed that I forgot! Our food was absolutely delicious though. I love the shrimp scampi with rice. Everyone else enjoyed their meals as well.

We took an Uber back to The Fountains. DH said he wasn't tired, but he did this...


We also spent some time at the pool, but I didn't bring my phone or camera. The pool area was very nice and I believe we also enjoyed an adult beverage or 2.

My mom bathed the girls for us before dinner.


For dinner, we were heading to Benihana which was in the complex. My in-laws had the concierge make us a reservation earlier and I'm glad they did. It was packed!










Our chef was amazing and put on a great show!


We all paid a small charge to upgrade to the fried rice, so worth it!





I failed again and didn't take any photos of our main entrees, but we had chicken and shrimp. It was AMAZING. This was one of our favorite meals of the week. We will probably head over there again when we go back to Disney in February.

After that, we headed back to the room to pack up and turn in early. We had to get up early and be ready to leave for 6:30am. We needed to bring our luggage to Saratoga Springs and check-in, then hop a bus to Magic Kingdom for our pre-park opening ADR at Be Our Guest!

 

[bbak30]

Day 2, Part 1: Getting to Saratoga and breakfast at BOG!
​

We started off Day 2 by waking up at 5am. It was sooo early! But we had a lot to get done before our 8am reservation at BOG! We got all of our things together and headed downstairs for our scheduled 6:30 Uber ride. He was there on time and we were headed out! We took 3 different vehicles this morning since we had luggage. But it was super smooth and before long we were in the lobby at Saratoga checking in!



I was THRILLED to find out we were assigned to the Grandstand section, which was the first stop on the bus route. This was important to me because I wanted our parents to be able to sit as often as possible. I didn't mind taking an extra 10 minutes to go around the resort to pick up others. We were also the first to drop off on the way back, which was AWESOME! We had great bus service this trip, I have no complaints at all!

We headed to catch the bus to Magic Kingdom and took the opportunity to take a few photos.




Within a few minutes, a bus showed up to collect our crew and head to The Magic Kingdom!


Some very excited girls!




It was a beautiful morning with just a light chill in the air.

We headed to BOG and were checked in quickly. I had ordered online for all of us. TIP: If you are staying in separate rooms but have one reservation and order together, you will have to pay together! We were on the DDP at this point and I just swiped my band and my in-laws owed us 3 QS meals. It wasn't a big deal, just something I wasn't aware of.

We chose a large table in the ballroom and within minutes our meals were delivered!

I opted for the cronut again.


Pastries that we barely touched.


The Three Musketeers!


Other entrees included the quiche, the eggs florentine and the kids eggs and bacon. Everyone really enjoyed their breakfast. Especially my FIL who likes to have a substantial breakfast.

My thoughts on BOG breakfast: We have enjoyed it twice now with the DDP. As a quick service, it's a good use of a credit. I would only eat here if I could get a pre-park opening ADR though. With the increase in the price, there is NO WAY I would pay $23 (or whatever it is) for this breakfast. That is CRAZY! And now that our DD is 10, there is no way we will get the DDP if we have to pay for it. I can never justify those prices for her. We will also be skipping most buffets and AYCTE places next trip. I will let them pick one or two, but that's it.

We left our parents behind to finish up their breakfast and DH, SIL and I took the kids on Mine Train before the park opened!



I love love love this ride! It was awesome to get a spin on it before the park opened! After that we headed out into the rest of NFL!

 

[bbak30]

Day 2, Part 2: Magic Kingdom!​

With our bellies full and a ride on Mine Train down, we headed out to enjoy the rest of The New Fantasyland.

Our first stop was Winnie the Pooh. I just love this ride. It's classic Disney!


Next up was our turn on "The Happiest Little Cruise That Ever Sailed!"




We hit up The Teacups and then Dumbo!


I got to ride Dumbo with my daddy!


The kids insisted on The Tomorrowland Speedway. I absolutely HATE this ride! It's so jerky! But there were plenty of adults (aka grandparents) that were willing to ride with the kids so I was able to get out of it.

My mom and Kate


Ben and Allie


We all did some browsing in the big gift shop in Tomorrowland. In fact, we spent too much time there and had to move fast to get to our FP in Frontierland!

Next up was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. My mother-in-law sat this one out and I didn't schedule a FP for my father-in-law for this because he didn't think he would want to try any coasters. He changed his mind and I was happy to let him have my fast pass! MIL and I sat back and people watched for a little bit!

After that it was time for Splash Mountain! I was able to switch a FP for FIL for this one. We got stuck at the top and DH snapped this photo! I posted this on Facebook with the caption "BEST DAY EVER!" I was so happy! All my family, together in WDW. We were having a fantastic time!


The look on my mom's face was because she realized she was probably going to get wet! We kinda lied to her and told her she wouldn't......

It was around 1pm at this point and it was getting HOT and the park was getting pretty crowded. We decided to grab a snack and make our way out of the park. I had gotten a text that our rooms were ready and we wanted to freshen up before our ADR at the Hoop De Do Revue at 4pm!

Of course I wanted a Mickey Pretzel! The stand we went to get them from was out and they told us it would be a 10 minute wait. No problem, we didn't mind waiting. When they arrived, the CM told us there would be no charge! Pixie Dust!


Kate share another hot dog with my dad as well....


And I believe my FIL had some chicken nuggets from Columbia Harbor House. He likes to eat on a schedule and doesn't do well skipping meals. He enjoyed his nuggets.

After that we headed out to check out our rooms!

 

[bbak30]

Day 2, Part 3: Saratoga Springs!
​

We knew when we checked in that we were assigned to The Grandstand Section. I requested this section because it was the first pick-up and first drop-off in the bus route. I really didn't want to have trouble getting a seat on the bus if possible. More for our parents than us. And we NEVER had an issue. I want to say they never had to stand. Ben and I did a few times, but that was our choice. We gave up our seats to others who needed them.

I also requested a ground floor room, but we were on the 2nd floor. No biggie, we certainly had the means to get up and down a flight of stairs. And to our delight, our rooms were across the hall from each other!

Our 2 bedroom villa was VERY clean and we loved all the space we got!

Our bedroom with 2 queen beds


Our bathroom


Living room (sorry it's dark, I was trying to get photos before we destroyed it)


Kitchen. We didn't do any cooking but it seemed to be well stocked.


Mom and Dad had a king in their room


Large tub in their room


I regret not taking any photos from the balcony. We had a view of the courtyard. It was very pretty. I didn't spend much time out there, because we are either sleeping or at the parks! I don't tend to waste much time relaxing when I'm at Disney!

Next up: We head to the HDDR!

 

[bbak30]

Day 2, Part 4: Hoop De Do Revue!

We took a bus back to Magic Kingdom and then caught the boat to Fort Wilderness. It was a very nice ride!

After that we waited in a fairly long line to get the tickets to the show.

Allie did some hula hooping


So did Kate, kind of....


We took the required photos, I was thrilled with these!








We made it in and had a seat. I would just like to mention again that I LOVED having both sets of our parents there!


We enjoyed our cornbread and salad!


Everyone loved the show! I will admit that I was in kind of a funk, there was a large post blocking my view. I volunteered to take that seat because I wanted everyone else to have a good time. But I was bummed.


Allie loved the chicken!






DH playing the washboards!


We really enjoyed the show and the food was good. I really failed at getting food photos though.

Following the HDDR, my parents and in-laws were done and decided to head back for the day. Isabelle and Kate wanted to go with them, leaving me, DH, sis in law and Allie to enjoy the rest of the night!
We really wanted to head to Epcot to see Tiffany! And I knew HS had EMHs--would we make it to 3 parks in one day?

 

[bbak30]

Day 2, Part 5: EPCOT and HS!​

We all hopped on a boat back to MK and parted ways. The old and young people headed to the buses and back to Saratoga and we caught the monorail to EPCOT!





We headed directly to the World Showcase and Ben stopped for a beer. I honestly have no idea where this came from....


Then he had a beer flight!


We slowly walked around, just enjoying being in the World Showcase. It was CROWDED, especially for a Sunday night. Or at least I thought so!

We made our way to the theatre and grabbed seats. It was pretty full and we were in the back.


That's really the only photo I have. They came our so DARK! But we had a GREAT time and Tiffany was AMAZING! She sang several 80s hits. It was awesome, I wish I could go back this year to see some of the other performers.

After that I proposed heading over to HS to ride RNRC during EMHs, they said sure! So off we went!

I had a secret reason for wanting to go to HS. A friend I used to work with was there with his daughter and I wanted to say hi!

We headed straight for......


This is one of my favorite rides! Allie's too!




We had a great ride! I was so proud of SIL for trying it out, even though she said never again!


The wait was super short, so Ben, Allie and I wanted to go again! On the way in, one of the CMs stopped Allie and asked her to come back and see him after the ride. We were a little confused, but said ok!

DH is so silly! Allie's face cracks me up though!


So we went back to the line to see the CM that wanted Allie to come back after the ride.
Turns out, there is a special number you can call and Goofy will sing Happy Birthday to you! We thought that was SO sweet of him to stop her and do that. Thanks Brandon, you're the best!


After that, we made our way out of the park. We were EXHAUSTED! But so proud of ourselves for doing 3 parks in one day! There was a bus waiting for us and we were back to Saratoga Springs in no time!

Next up: EPCOT and Chefs de France for lunch

 

[kastoney]

Just realized you had started a TR but all caught up now. You all have packed a lot into your first couple of days!!!!! Glad to hear you enjoyed Hoop Dee Doo. We are trying it for the first time on our next trip and are really looking forward to it

 

[bbak30]

Just realized you had started a TR but all caught up now. You all have packed a lot into your first couple of days!!!!! Glad to hear you enjoyed Hoop Dee Doo. We are trying it for the first time on our next trip and are really looking forward to it

Thanks for joining. Yes, it was an action packed trip!
You will enjoy HDDR, the show is awesome. And dessert is my favorite part.

 

[bbak30]

Day 3, Part 1: EPCOT and lunch at Chefs de France!​

After our late night in HS the night before, we were dragging a little this morning. However, the bus was quick and we were in EPCOT by 9:30.





We had a few Fastpasses to knock out in Future World before heading to the World Showcase for lunch.

We headed to one of my favorites, Soarin'! I can't wait to see the new one.


Then we noticed Living with the Land was a walk-on, so we hopped on it. We were actually given front row, but I wanted my in-laws to have it because they LOVE this kind of things. DH and his dad would actually be taking the Behind the Seeds tour later that day.






We also hopped on Under the Seas with Nemo before heading to France for lunch.



When we got off, my MIL realized she must have dropped her phone on the boat on Living with the Land, so DH ran back over there to see if he could retrieve it. Luckily, a CM had it. She was very lucky!

I'll admit that I wasn't very excited about this ADR. I don't remember who requested it, but it wasn't on my list of places to try. But I booked it anyway. We arrived around 11:50 for our noon ADR and realized the place wasn't even open yet. I thought a noon opening was kind of odd.....
By the time we were sat, quite a crowd had formed.

We were given a nice table and a not so nice waitress. Maybe it's a culture thing, but she was just not nice at all. Not rude, but definitely not friendly.

Several of us got the price fixe and had the lobster bisque.


My dad said it was the best bisque he ever had.


I got the salad and macaroni gratin. I wasn't impressed at all. In fact, none of us were impressed with our entrees. There were a few croque monsieur sandwiches and they were very dry. And our waitress disappeared and our food took forever, I think that's why I don't have any other photos after this.

I think it's safe to say we won't be returning to Chefs de France. Yuck.

After this, we parted ways a little bit. My mom and dad and MIL wanted to tour the World Showcase and my DH and his dad wanted to take the Behind the Seeds tour. The girls really wanted to ride Test Track so I took them. And my SIL wanted to explore on her own. That is one of the things I LOVED about this group. Everyone did what they wanted to do and there were no hard feelings. It was so simple and easy.

The girls and I took a boat back to Future World.


I used the ride to explain to them that the wait was about an hour and they would have to be patient. They said they understood, but I wasn't convinced.

We waited exactly 58 minutes and the girls were angels. I was impressed with their behavior!















Up next: More EPCOT and some pool time at Saratoga Springs!!

 

[bbak30]

Day 3, Part 2: Finishing up EPCOT and pool time
​

After our spin on Test Track, we spent some time in Innoventions and the girls played some games. I updated Facebook (the important things in life). After that we met up with my mom and MIL.



We took our turn on Spaceship Earth.


I was by myself since Allie rode with my MIL and the 2 little ones rode with my mom.




Following Spaceship Earth, we basically shopped our way out. We ended up in Mouse Gears, I swear that ALWAYS happens. I do love this store though. We browsed a bit and I think my MIL purchased a few things. Eventually DH, my dad and FIL met back up with us. We were pretty tired by this point and the girls wanted to check out the pool. So we headed back.

My MIL and FIL opted to just head to the food court for dinner. We changed into our suits and headed down. At Saratoga, the food court is near the main pool. So we picked up our meals and headed outside.
I wasn't impressed with the food court. I think it's because I'm used to staying in moderates and the food courts are so much larger with more choices. I guess when there are mostly rooms with kitchens, more people do their own cooking, so a large food court isn't needed? That was my thought anyway. The food at Saratoga was find, just limited in options.

Anway, we enjoyed what we did have and added some treats.




I thought the main pool was fabulous. The girls enjoyed the slide and we loved the bar, lol.

We fell into bed fairly early, we had a 7:45am reservation at Chef Mickey's the next morning. Ouch.


Next up: Chef Mickey's for breakfast and more Animal Kingdom!

 

[bbak30]

Day 4, Part 1: Chef Mickey's for breakfast!​

We were up so very early the next morning. We had a very early ADR for Chef Mickey's! Again, this was one I wasn't too excited about. BUT, it was the one thing the birthday girl requested, so I made the reservation. And even though I searched multiple times a day for the last 6 months, I was only able to get a 7:45am on this day. So off we went....

The birthday girl was very excited!


Isabelle was also ready to go!


It was early and we were the ONLY ones at the bus stop. I wanted to make sure we left super early. MK didn't open until 9:00 am so I wasn't sure how it would go getting a bus that early. I wanted to allow plenty of time to call an Uber if we needed to.


Turns out, no need to worry and a MK bus pulled up shortly. It was right at 6:45 when we got on the bus. I was feeling comfortable that we would get there in time. All we had to do was hop on the monorail when we got there.....Or not. Totally didn't realize that the monorail doesn't run that early. It really wasn't a big deal, we could walk to the Contemporary.

We stopped to take a few photos, we had plenty of time.




We were very excited to see these signs, we would be attending our first MNSSHP later in the week.


My dad with Isabelle and Kate


With all 3 of the girls!


We took a very short walk over to The Contemporary. I LOVED the walk. I really really want to stay here one day. I've always wanted to, and the short walk from the MK just made me want to even more. Until this day, I 've never actually set food in this resort. I know some people think it's a little boring, but I loved it!

We checked in


Before long, we had our photo taken! Love this photo, so cute.


We were sat all the way in the back of the restaurant.


Our waitress informed us that the characters would be a little while, so we headed to the buffet.
Kate had bacon.


Mickey waffles!


Allie was even presented with a birthday card, signed by all of the characters!










Mickey was hilarious! Allie got tons of attention and was thrilled!














I will admit that I was skeptical of Chef Mickey's, but we all LOVED it! The food was very good and the character interaction was wonderful! Now, I probably would have been cranky if I would have had to pay the $40+ per person that this buffet commands, but since we had the dining plan, I wasn't cranky. And that's why I like the DDP so much. We will probably definitely return here again, but it will be for breakfast. I'm not a fan of buffets to begin with, so breakfast is a safe option.

Next up: Animal Kingdom!

 

[kastoney]

Love all the girls matching outfits. They ware all way too precious. Casey would love them ; )

Not sure if I shared before but my brother went to LSU. What a great place to go to school, especially with New Orleans in your backyard. Might have visited him one, two, or twenty during those years ; )

got the salad and macaroni gratin. I wasn't impressed at all. In fact, none of us were impressed with our entrees. There were a few croque monsieur sandwiches and they were very dry. And our waitress disappeared and our food took forever, I think that's why I don't have any other photos after this.

I think it's safe to say we won't be returning to Chefs de France. Yuck.

We did Chef's once years ago and I was never impressed. I'm not much of a french food fan to begin with, but french food americanized is even worse. Sorry you had to endure it, but lesson learned.

After this, we parted ways a little bit. My mom and dad and MIL wanted to tour the World Showcase and my DH and his dad wanted to take the Behind the Seeds tour. The girls really wanted to ride Test Track so I took them. And my SIL wanted to explore on her own. That is one of the things I LOVED about this group. Everyone did what they wanted to do and there were no hard feelings. It was so simple and easy.

You are very lucky everyone had this mantra. We've discussed larger family trips, but its the enforced togetherness that always scares me away.

Following Spaceship Earth, we basically shopped our way out. We ended up in Mouse Gears, I swear that ALWAYS happens. I do love this store though. We browsed a bit and I think my MIL purchased a few things. Eventually DH, my dad and FIL met back up with us. We were pretty tired by this point and the girls wanted to check out the pool. So we headed back.

Love mouse gears! Always seem to buy something there.

We were up so very early the next morning. We had a very early ADR for Chef Mickey's! Again, this was one I wasn't too excited about. BUT, it was the one thing the birthday girl requested, so I made the reservation. And even though I searched multiple times a day for the last 6 months, I was only able to get a 7:45am on this day. So off we went....

You're a good Mom!

Kate had bacon.

She's a girl after Casey's own heart. My kid would eat bacon alone for breakfast day in and day out if that was an option

I will admit that I was skeptical of Chef Mickey's, but we all LOVED it! The food was very good and the character interaction was wonderful! Now, I probably would have been cranky if I would have had to pay the $40+ per person that this buffet commands, but since we had the dining plan, I wasn't cranky. And that's why I like the DDP so much. We will probably definitely return here again, but it will be for breakfast. I'm not a fan of buffets to begin with, so breakfast is a safe option.

Wow, its rare to hear something good about Chef Mickey's but I'm sure the dining plan helps. Never done it ourselves, but as you know I'm rarely ever a buffet fan, even if Mickey is the Chef

 

[bbak30]

Love all the girls matching outfits. They ware all way too precious. Casey would love them ; )

Not sure if I shared before but my brother went to LSU. What a great place to go to school, especially with New Orleans in your backyard. Might have visited him one, two, or twenty during those years ; )

No, I didn't know that! We happen to think LSU is the BEST college ever. Love my hometown. And we love New Orleans too, so many fun things to do there!

 

[bbak30]

Day 4, Part 1: Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios​

After our yummy breakfast at Chef Mickey's, we headed out to catch a bus to Animal Kingdom. Wow, are the buses at The Contemporary always such a cluster? There was no clear line and TONS of people. I always wanted to stay there, but after that cluster, I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe it was an off morning?
Anyway...after a good hour, we made it to Animal Kingdom.



We didn't have any FastPasses, so we headed to the Safari, the one thing we missed on Saturday. I knew my in-laws wanted to ride so we wanted to wait until we were all together.









It was a good Safari and we enjoyed it. We browsed some gift shops.





Then we headed to see Nemo, another of my favorites!






By this time, it was raining. We caught a bus to Hollywood Studios because we had a 2:30 reservation at Mama Melrose. Otherwise, I would have headed back to the resort. We were soaked and exhausted by this point.

Some of us headed to see The Frozen Sing-a-long








I love the Sing-a-long, and I sang at the top of my lungs and embarassed my family!

Next we had FastPasses for Toy Story.




By this point, it was getting close to our ADR time and it was STILL raining. So we browsed some shops.


Once we checked in for our ADR, for some reason I just stopped taking photos. I remember having a pretty long wait for our table at Mama Melrose. We were finally seated and really really enjoyed our meal. There were several bowls of pasta and a few steaks on our table.

Then we were left to wait for Fantasmic. It was still raining, hard. I think this is why I don't have many photos. We just couldn't get out of the rain. It was everywhere. And there just isn't much to do in Hollywood Studios. I remember watching the Indiana Jones show and it was so hot and humid!

We eventually made it over to Fantasmic and the rain stopped, for a minute. Then it started again. My parents ended up leaving with Isabelle and Ben and I left with the girls soon after. Before the show even started. We were so wet and just exhausted. My in-laws all stayed for the show though. I'm glad because they had never seen it. The rest of us were passed out back at the resort.

Next up: Magic Kingdom and I get back to taking photos!

 

[kastoney]

We've had the same trouble with busses at AKL and the Poly too. I think because the deluxes are a free for all for all and there is no line it ends up causing lots of issues.

Can't believe all the rain you all encountered. Poor girls. Did they actually have Fantasmic in the rain?

 

[cajunfan]

Loving all the pictures! Thanks for sharing! Where are you all in LA? My family is all on the outskirts of New Orleans, but my son lives in Geismar right now (he's a senior at LSU!)

Lynn

 

[bbak30]

Loving all the pictures! Thanks for sharing! Where are you all in LA? My family is all on the outskirts of New Orleans, but my son lives in Geismar right now (he's a senior at LSU!)

Lynn

Thanks! We live just outside of Baton Rouge, not far from Geismar!