Wet, Sweat, Fun & Sun But You Have HOW Many Snack Credits Left?

[alliecat523]

Following along. The photos of your family with the characters (especially the EPCOT character spot) gave me chills. Just amazing. Real Disney magic.

 

[accountingbabe08]

Great review

 

[DizNee Luver]

Loved the update. This is probably my least favorite park but have to do RR and TOT. I do love the great movie ride also and a few other things but def not my fave and I could probably do the whole place in half a day if no waits. No TOT or was that later? You probably already know this but that one is cool cuz the elevator actually comes out and moves into the shaft. I love it. I prefer the drop sequence though in CA because I think it is longer. That is such a bummer that shy was sick. Must have made it hard to do much as you were probably afraid of her getting sick again. I am amazed Voyage of the Little Mermaid is still there. We did it on our very first trip when the girls were tiny. It was ok and the girls liked it but I don't think we have done it since. I agree too that it's a bummer that one man's dream is leaving and esp the area in the back with the characters. Got some great unusual ones there. I am so bummed too that we won't get to see Baymax at either park. We love him and would love to see him. I am glad we got Olaf at least and esp Oswald!

So much of DHS is shut down or shutting down for the mega overhaul of the park. We had shows we wanted to see and then 2 restaurants, so it made for a full day here but right now for those that have been there, done that....they might only need a half day.

No ToT....never been on it, never plan to get on it. Addy really wanted to ride it (she & Tony have done it in Cali with the boys) but didn't have time or anyone to ride with her.

Following along. The photos of your family with the characters (especially the EPCOT character spot) gave me chills. Just amazing. Real Disney magic.

Welcome!! Thank you!! We did have some real magical moments!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Great review

Thank you & welcome!!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Love the updates!! I LOVE Rockin Roller Coaster and I found Anthony's face in the ride pic hilarious

 

[ksromack]

Great updates! We are eating at Chef de France on our second night at WDW in 3 weeks.....but I didn't plan on anything after our meal and I believe our ADR is for 7:30 pm, just like yours was. So they will let you split up ordering (Pre Fix AND menu ordering?) I may order off of that menu. Perhaps the meal took so long because they were trying to mimic meals in Europe. lol.......Europeans take very long meals as they feel meals were meant to be enjoyed and lingered over with family and friends. It's a nice thought but not conducive to our quick-paced way of life (especially at theme parks, eh)?

 

[DizNee Luver]

Love the updates!! I LOVE Rockin Roller Coaster and I found Anthony's face in the ride pic hilarious

We were teasing him about having his eyes closed!! lol

Great updates! We are eating at Chef de France on our second night at WDW in 3 weeks.....but I didn't plan on anything after our meal and I believe our ADR is for 7:30 pm, just like yours was. So they will let you split up ordering (Pre Fix AND menu ordering?) I may order off of that menu. Perhaps the meal took so long because they were trying to mimic meals in Europe. lol.......Europeans take very long meals as they feel meals were meant to be enjoyed and lingered over with family and friends. It's a nice thought but not conducive to our quick-paced way of life (especially at theme parks, eh)?

Yes we had 4 people do the Prix Fixe meal (which includes an appetizer) and a couple of us ordered off the menu (entrée/dessert). The food was good & I understand the slower service thing....it was just too much in a theme park.

 

[DanInMN]

Seeing your pictures and reading your stories is really making me look forward to our next WDW trip! We are in the process of adopting twin teen girls, and are excited to do many fun things with them.

 

[disneycheerleader]

Following along. I love seeing these pics of you all and the kids are so cute. You are really brave adopting the girls that have special needs. I think you are a wonderful mother=)

 

[NorthernGrl]

Coming out of lurkdom to say that I'm loving this trip report! It's fun to follow along with a family who's dynamics are actually crazier than my own!
DH and I are fertility treatment flunkies who adopted 2 toddlers from fostercare. One has Fragile-X Syndrome that brings autism and adhd diagnoises with it. Her needs were known prior to placement. Our other adoption includes diagnosises of attachment disorder, adhd/odd and spd. Her diagnosises have come after placement and finalization.
We also have 2 post-adoption "miracle babies" one of whom is hypo-tonal and has gross and fine motor delays and bowel issues. My kiddos range in age from 4-11.
I think you've still got us beat! lol

 

[kelmac284]

Even when DHS was fully operational we didn't have much we liked to do. I think too it is different if you have younger kids. We have already seen Beauty and the Beast and the Indiana Jones Show. Did Fantasmic once or twice but prefer the one in DL so never do that. The one good thing is we always went in Nov so the Osborne Lights was a huge draw but going in the summer that won't be there. I never liked the backlot tour and we did do the car show twice but I don't think I would do that again and I am assuming they are getting rid of it to add the new stuff. I also never ride Star Tours because as much as I think it is cool it makes me sick. So for us even with the park fully open there is so much that we have seen and don't care to do again etc that we really don't have a lot that we do there BUT we do like to go to do the few things we do like and I do like the shops and such. I am looking forward to eating at The Brown Derby next time. Always wanted to try it and haven't yet.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Seeing your pictures and reading your stories is really making me look forward to our next WDW trip! We are in the process of adopting twin teen girls, and are excited to do many fun things with them.

Congrats!!! I hope the twins enjoy their forever home & family and your trip is as memorable as ours was!!!

Following along. I love seeing these pics of you all and the kids are so cute. You are really brave adopting the girls that have special needs. I think you are a wonderful mother=)

Welcome! Thank you.....my life was truly blessed when we adopted the twins!!

Coming out of lurkdom to say that I'm loving this trip report! It's fun to follow along with a family who's dynamics are actually crazier than my own!
DH and I are fertility treatment flunkies who adopted 2 toddlers from fostercare. One has Fragile-X Syndrome that brings autism and adhd diagnoises with it. Her needs were known prior to placement. Our other adoption oncludes doagnosises of attachment disorder, adhd/odd and spd. Her diagnosises have come after placement and finalization.
We also have 2 post-adoption "miracle babies" one of whom is hypo-tonal and has gross and fine motor delays and bowel issues. My kiddos range in age from 4-11.
I think you've still got us beat! lol

Welcome!! Wow, you have your hands full too!! Congrats on your adoptions & your Miracle babies!!

Even when DHS was fully operational we didn't have much we liked to do. I think too it is different if you have younger kids. We have already seen Beauty and the Beast and the Indiana Jones Show. Did Fantasmic once or twice but prefer the one in DL so never do that. The one good thing is we always went in Nov so the Osborne Lights was a huge draw but going in the summer that won't be there. I never liked the backlot tour and we did do the car show twice but I don't think I would do that again and I am assuming they are getting rid of it to add the new stuff. I also never ride Star Tours because as much as I think it is cool it makes me sick. So for us even with the park fully open there is so much that we have seen and don't care to do again etc that we really don't have a lot that we do there BUT we do like to go to do the few things we do like and I do like the shops and such. I am looking forward to eating at The Brown Derby next time. Always wanted to try it and haven't yet.

When Mike & I went in 2013, we enjoyed doing the Backlot Tour (which is now gone) and we wanted to do the shows but didn't have the time since we were only there for half a day. (which included a table service meal). We loved the B & the B show, so-so on the Little Mermaid show, Liked Indy would have liked to seen the Lights, Motor, Stunt Show, etc so we needed the full day with our 2 TS meals but to also get to a few of the shows. Fantasmic never on our radar. I've youtube'd it and it's different & if we had been interested in tying it to a TS meal, we might have thought about going, but it just wasn't calling us to do it.

Until they are done with all the refurb/overhaul......we don't have much interest in going back. (like we'd be lucky enough to repeat this type of trip.....lol)

 

[kelmac284]

Yea the stunt show was really cool even if you don't like that kind of stuff but I can't help but wonder if it will leave as part of the overhaul. And yea you are not missing anything with fantasmic. The good thing is there are benches so no sitting on the ground, the bad thing is it is a smaller version. They don't have the pirate ship or the big Paddle boat just a smaller verison. And they have changed out some of the scenes. I have seen it so many times at DL that it honestly doesn't interest me anymore. I am getting that way with WOC too but if there are ever new bits we try to see it but don't go out of our way. I agree about the Little Mermaid and as I mentioned a lot of those shows to me are for the younger kids and my kids aren't really interested in that anymore so we skip a lot of that. We still love Aladin at DL but that is an amazing show you can never get sick of but even the Indy show and such to me seen it once that's enough. And I guess I am biased on the back lot tour because I have done Universal and Warner Bros which to me were more like real tours and this one was so short. The first time we did it they had more stuff to see and then they got rid of a lot of it for the stunt show so it was pretty sparse when we did it in 10. I do LOVE RNR and TOT and the GMR though and the Osborne Lights make it all worth it if you can go during that time of year but as I said def my least fave park.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Yea the stunt show was really cool even if you don't like that kind of stuff but I can't help but wonder if it will leave as part of the overhaul. And yea you are not missing anything with fantasmic. The good thing is there are benches so no sitting on the ground, the bad thing is it is a smaller version. They don't have the pirate ship or the big Paddle boat just a smaller verison. And they have changed out some of the scenes. I have seen it so many times at DL that it honestly doesn't interest me anymore. I am getting that way with WOC too but if there are ever new bits we try to see it but don't go out of our way. I agree about the Little Mermaid and as I mentioned a lot of those shows to me are for the younger kids and my kids aren't really interested in that anymore so we skip a lot of that. We still love Aladin at DL but that is an amazing show you can never get sick of but even the Indy show and such to me seen it once that's enough. And I guess I am biased on the back lot tour because I have done Universal and Warner Bros which to me were more like real tours and this one was so short. The first time we did it they had more stuff to see and then they got rid of a lot of it for the stunt show so it was pretty sparse when we did it in 10. I do LOVE RNR and TOT and the GMR though and the Osborne Lights make it all worth it if you can go during that time of year but as I said def my least fave park.

I would love to go during the holidays to see the Osborne Lights!! Of course, I'd love to see WDW at Christmas anyways, because it is my favorite holiday!! I love DL at Christmas time & I imagine, that WDW does it even bigger!! I'd be going to see all the Gingerbread creations that's for sure!!

 

[kelmac284]

Oh you would love it for sure. I have only been once for that but it was awesome. We went over Thanksgiving and then stayed a few days into December. The bad thing is unlike DL they don't put "everything" up until about a week after Thanksgiving. So while there is some stuff like the Osborne lights and such at least back in 08 there was not everything. But the Lights are so cool and worth it and in Epcot they have the candlelight Procession which was really cool as well as each country has different santas or whatever that represent their traditions. Girls had a lot of fun with that. And of course all the decorations. The resorts go all out and the GF has the huge ginerbread house and the Yacht club also does a bunch of gingerbread stuff. It is truly magical!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Oh you would love it for sure. I have only been once for that but it was awesome. We went over Thanksgiving and then stayed a few days into December. The bad thing is unlike DL they don't put "everything" up until about a week after Thanksgiving. So while there is some stuff like the Osborne lights and such at least back in 08 there was not everything. But the Lights are so cool and worth it and in Epcot they have the candlelight Procession which was really cool as well as each country has different santas or whatever that represent their traditions. Girls had a lot of fun with that. And of course all the decorations. The resorts go all out and the GF has the huge ginerbread house and the Yacht club also does a bunch of gingerbread stuff. It is truly magical!!

Oh I know I would.....Derek was there through 2 holiday seasons & he sent pictures and even brought me a Gingerbread Shingle when he came home. I love seeing the pictures!!

 

[DisneyJo]

I'm so sorry to hear Shy was unwell. My DD seems to always get sick on vacation and we put it down to too much sun, fizzy drinks and not enough water. She won't learn though and is 18

Your Meal did take a long time, I would have thought they'd have sped it up a bit as there were so many children!

 

[DizNee Luver]

We had an early lunch reservation at 50's Prime Time Café. These are pics on our way to the restaurant.











We checked in & hung out in the lobby/front room and we got these pictures while we waited to be seated.





























At our table.





On our way to the table, Shyann threw up again. The staff was so nice & caring and the manager even came to our table to see what they could do to help. We decided that the chicken noodle soup broth might be a good thing. So the manager went back to the kitchen and had them just scoop up broth into a bowl for her. He also got her a gluten-free roll and a small cup of sprite with no ice. Over the top service which we appreciated!

 

[DizNee Luver]

I'm so sorry to hear Shy was unwell. My DD seems to always get sick on vacation and we put it down to too much sun, fizzy drinks and not enough water. She won't learn though and is 18

Your Meal did take a long time, I would have thought they'd have sped it up a bit as there were so many children!

We're finding that the twins are not able to regulate temperatures....where we'd be dripping in sweat....they weren't. They also get really cold in a/c.

We thought when it had slowed & that we had the kids the tempo would pick up, but nope........

 

[ksromack]

I would love to go during the holidays to see the Osborne Lights!! Of course, I'd love to see WDW at Christmas anyways, because it is my favorite holiday!! I love DL at Christmas time & I imagine, that WDW does it even bigger!! I'd be going to see all the Gingerbread creations that's for sure!!

Christmastime at WDW is unbelievably magical. We've seen both coasts' parks during the holidays and WDW just blows it out of the water to us. Every resort is decorated, Osbourne Lights, sleigh riding through the Wilderness Campgrounds, Gingerbread houses and carousels, etc......you need a few extra days to see all the resort decorations!