4 Newbies and 1 Good-As: A February 2024 Lessons Learned TR COMPLETE 4/20/24

[awrites]

Hello! As lurking and reading others’ trip reports was very helpful in planning our trip to WDW this past February, I thought I’d write my own in case it’s helpful to others (and also, maybe this will help me actually remember what we did).

Introduction
This trip consisted of me, Amanda; my DH, our DD4, and my MIL and FIL (Grandma and Grandpa).

I’m a SAHM and freelance writer. DH is a software engineer. DD4 is wrapping up her second year of preschool. Grandma and Grandpa are enjoying retirement!

I don't have a recent non-trip picture of all of us, so here, how about this terrible one from the Test Track showroom where we picked the alien saucer background and yet no one except me wanted to pretend to run from them:


DH and I enjoy Pixar films, Star Wars (as perhaps evidenced by my Avatar), and the MCU. I wouldn’t consider us super-fans, but in general we can identify all the major characters, name what movies/shows they’re from, recount basic plot points, and the like. (And I can do this for the musicals/“pure Disney” as well.)

DD4 is still in the process of getting introduced to Disney. Prior to booking this trip, the only Disney movie she’d actually finished watching was Inside Out (I know, kind of weird for a first Disney movie!) She's autistic with mild-to-moderate support needs, primarily in the areas of social pragmatics. She's very sensitive to mild peril and depending on what else might’ve happened that day, she sometimes couldn’t handle the peril of many of the princess movies. She also very much prefers to rewatch rather than try something new.

But we made a concerted effort to help her through a good amount of the princess movies (of the current official Disney princess lineup, she watched all but Brave at least once) and to introduce her to the Sensational Six (thank you, Disney Junior and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!). We didn’t know how she’d react to the characters—or the whole thing, really—and thought that if she recognized the characters rather than them all being scary and new (and bigger than her), that would help.

Tl;dr: She’s a Disney fan in the making! Spoiler alert, it must’ve worked: Her favorite part of the trip was meeting characters (or so she said at the end of the trip; as of this writing most of her play-pretend has been of Disney World rides).

MIL and FIL are casual Disney fans, I’d say. We gifted them with a Disney+ subscription a while back and they’ve kept renewing it! And they love DD4 so are definitely keen to keep up with whatever she’s interested in.

Where: Caribbean Beach Resort

When: February 18-24 (park days: Feb 19, 20, 22, 23)

Why: Belated milestone anniversary gift for my in-laws (the milestone anniversary was last year; for various reasons DH and I couldn’t plan anything till this year). The in-laws’ anniversary is in February. Also my birthday was the day before we left so I did get myself a birthday button but then never really wore it.

Also also! I titled this TR “4 newbies and 1 good-as” because of the 5 of us, only I had been before. Even so, my most recent trip was in 2008, so a LOT had changed since then. And that trip was off-site; this was my first time staying at an official DW resort. So I consider myself a good-as-newbie (though I’ll admit a trip to Disneyland DH and I had in fall 2022 helped a bit with understanding Genie+. Maybe not quite enough! But more on that later.)

However, that ties into the “Lessons Learned” part of the TR title—as I was drafting the TR (I wanted to be reasonably sure I'd finish so I've pre-drafted posts up through the third day of our trip, and even as I’ve talked about this trip with DH, I realized I was thinking a lot about “things I’ll do differently next time.” They may not be anything new for veterans, but maybe for others like me/us who are new or returning after a long while, something will resonate.

Also it gives me a more solid direction/theme for the TR, which as a writer I supposedly care about.*

Re: the Resort: We wound up really liking Caribbean Beach. (Suggested by our TA; glad we had someone to help with that as I was getting overwhelmed just researching resorts!) We’re pretty low-maintenance and planned to spend the majority of our time in the parks so didn’t mind the bland theming. Would DD4 perhaps have better enjoyed, say, a Little Mermaid room at AoA? Probably! Does she have to know those exist and be subsequently disappointed we weren’t in one? For now, definitely not.

We were in Jamaica building 46, first floor, with connecting rooms. The convenience to the Skyliner (which we loved) and buses (which we tolerated) was excellent; maybe next time we’d try for a building slightly closer to the Skyliner, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. We never wound up eating at CBR so the distance to the lobby and main restaurants wasn’t an issue. DH and I would’ve loved more time to explore the resort, and I know DD4 would’ve liked to play on the playground. We’ll just have to go back, especially when the main pool renovations are done.

That’s probably enough of an intro, right?

Next up: Day 1, Travel!

*Another thing about me is that I like footnotes and feel they are often under utilized. So I may have a few sprinkled throughout the TR. Here’s the first: I often can’t tell what my theme is until I’m done with my first draft, or I’ll find it changed. This means the Lessons Learned may change or even drop off. Who knows for sure? Not I!

 

[footballmouse]

 

[awrites]

Day 1: Sunday February 18: Travel

I should mention I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures. I'll try to include what I can as well as some gifs so this TR isn't just block after block of text, but consider yourselves forewarned!

We had a 6:30am flight on SW. We're about a 25-30 minute drive from the airport. I got up around 2am and DH a little later; we woke up DD4 around 2:45. She was pretty cheery despite the very early morning and said, "Today's Disney World day!"

We were hoping to meet Grandma and Grandpa at our selected off-site airport parking place (Canopy, for those in the Denver area, though for our next trip DH and I will look for a new option that is hopefully not riddled with potholes).

Meetup and transport to the airport was uneventful, with potholes successfully avoided.


Not us, thankfully!

All of us have PreCheck, and we might’ve stumbled upon the new security area DIA had opened a week ago, or maybe it was a regular one, I don’t know I was running on 4 hours of sleep.

Anyway security was a breeze and left us plenty of time to head to C gates (because DIA technically only has one terminal) and acquire our way-early breakfasts. (Starbucks for me, along with a cake pop for DD4–-starting off vacation right!—and MickeyD’s for everyone else.)

SW Airlines Tangent--Skip if you want to avoid grumbling!
A side note about our lovely airline, Southwest. DH and I handled the flight booking for all of us. We are still getting used to the sticker shock of post-pandemic travel. I wound up finding us SW flights that averaged around $330 round trip, which appeared to be about the best we could get for Denver to MCO when flying on a holiday weekend and then returning on a Saturday.

I say “averaged” because the 5 of us wound up on 3 separate itineraries. This is because SW really likes to play bait and switch with their fares where they’ll claim they have “5 remaining!” at the listed price but then you go to actually book and boom! Your fare has increased $30-$50 per person.

So then you (read: me) adjust your party to 3 to get the original lower fare, then you book 1 more at the lower fare and realize you could’ve booked 4 and avoided having 3 itineraries, but oh well you’re not changing it now, and you tell your DH to book FIL’s flight, and the delay means that FIL’s flight winds up being the cheapest.
End SW tangent


What with waking up DD4 so early I was optimistic she'd sleep on the flight.

In the immortal words of Nelson:


She did not sleep.

But it was fine; DD4 is a remarkably good traveler and was happy to get a lollipop at takeoff (not sure if it really helps with the air pressure but hey. It helped keep a 4 year old who’d been awakened at 2:45 content).

DH colored with DD4. I alternately zoned out and read my Kindle. We’d gotten Early Bird Check-in for MIL and FIL to ensure they could sit together while the 3 of us stuck with family boarding, so we were kind of far apart on the plane. Not sure how they entertained themselves; I hope they wisely slept.

The flight was uneventful. No doors fell off! My favorite kind of flight. (It is probably too soon for that joke.)

We arrived at MCO around 12:00 local time. We were using Mears for transfer. SW flies into Terminal A and Mears picks up at Terminal B. This meant we had to pick up our bags at bag claim then shelp our tired selves and belongings to Terminal B.

With rolly bags it normally wouldn’t have been too bad, but we’d bag-checked our stroller. I managed my and DD4’s rolly bags and my backpack; Grandma and Grandpa managed their bags plus DD4’s backpack and DH’s rolly bag; DH carried the stroller in its bag check bag and wore his backpack.


dramatic reenactment of how we felt

PRO TIP: If you have to move from Terminal B to Terminal A for whatever reason and have a bagged stroller, go ahead and unbag it and roll it instead. We didn’t realize how long a trip it’d be to get to the Mears pick up point. I imagine we wouldn’t have lost any time in unbagging and rebagging it, and who knows, we might’ve saved ourselves a few minutes. If DH, DD4, and I have another trip to WDW that’s sans grandparents but while DD4 is young enough to still need a stroller and someone else to handle her bags, that’s likely what we’ll do.

(Yes, we could’ve rented a stroller but decided ours is old enough we didn’t care if it got banged up in travel. We didn’t like the idea of standing in line for daily rentals, and a long term rental would’ve still given us resort-to-parks transportation difficulties, with the con of us being less familiar with it. Also, it came very clear DD4 used the stroller as her home base and retreated to it to feel less overwhelmed. We’re glad we took it.)

Anyway, once we made it to the Mears check in everything went smoothly. I unfortunately didn’t take a picture of our Mears animal or note of the driver’s name, but we had an uneventful drive to CBR. I think we were the 3rd stop of 4, including an Express stop.

Mears was fine. Once DD4 outgrows the need for a car seat or booster, though, we'll likely just use ride share.

CBR Arrival
We arrived at CBR by around 1:30. You would think this would be the point at which I'd remember to take a picture, but nope!

Checked the app and our rooms still weren’t ready. Got ourselves situated in the lobby, ate some snacks we’d brought, checked the app again, and my in-laws’ room was ready but my, DH, and DD4’s was not.

Around 2:15 MIL and I got in line to check at the lobby whether our rooms were close together. Our TA had put in our room requests for first floor and same building, near the Skyliner, but assured us that if that wasn’t honored we could call or ask at the front desk. We figured if we could get any details maybe we could switch rooms quickly if needed.

Front desk CM was helpful though it was loud and I had trouble hearing/understanding everything. But he assured us everything looked good, our rooms were side-by-side, good location, etc. We returned to our camp-out spot in the lobby to continue waiting.

I also had a Wal-Mart delivery coming in the 3:00-4:00 window. We got the room ready text at around 2:45 but decided to wait for the grocery delivery.

I think it came around 3:30. It was drizzly and I was tracking things in the app and ran outside when notified the driver was 10 minutes away. We had alcohol in the delivery and needed to sign for it.

ONLY I FORGOT TO TAKE MY ID WITH ME. There I was, all old-school with a literal pen (which I did not need), and no ID, which I DID.



Luckily DH had come outside with DD4 and heard and was able to run back and get my Loungefly bag (when in Rome, etc.). I proved I am well over 21 (which one could’ve guessed by my thought of needing a pen with me!) and signed his tablet.

The driver then actually fetched a baggage cart to load the groceries onto (I’d envisioned us sharing fruit and granola bars and people had requested milk and I wanted yogurt, it wound up being more volume than I anticipated). I was glad I’d already pre-tipped the driver around 25% in the app, which in hindsight might’ve been why he was so patient.

Bag services CMs seemed mildly disconcerted at one of their carts being taken, but let the driver load up.

They became even more disconcerted when we took the cart inside, asking if we were going to bring it back. “Yes,” we said, “we have lots more bags in the lobby.”

“Oh okay, just bring all your stuff back out and we’ll take you to your rooms on a shuttle.”

It was still raining at this point. We took them up on it and were glad we had cash for tipping.

We arrived at our rooms at around 4:30. We had, I thought, about 30 minutes before we needed to start heading to our 5:15 Ale & Compass ADR.

Prime time for me to take a photo of the room, right?

Nope! have some happy travelers instead.


We unpacked a bit, cleaned up a bit, and headed for the Skyliner at around 4:35/4:40.

I'll pause here because it's taking me a bit of time to find some suitable gifs (yeah, I need to get better about taking photos!)

 

[awrites]

Day 1 Feb 18 continued: To the Skyliner and our first ADR!

My initial thinking with the Ale & Compass ADR had been this:

1. Let’s have a nice, relaxing meal after travel instead of a food court or QS!
2. Grandma likes lighthouses!
3. We can get a Mickey Celebration cake there! (And yes, it was already preordered.)
4. DD4 will like the menu better than Sebastian’s Bistro!
5. It’ll give us a nice opportunity to try out the Skyliner and get used to using it in advance of needing it for the parks!
6. A 15-minute walk from the International Gateway will be easy!

I was generally right on the first 4 (TBF I made an educated guess on #4; as we still haven’t eaten at SB I’ll continue to assume I’m right unless DD4’s tastes start to sophisticate and become less stereotypically those of a preschooler.)

But with the last one, I was so wrong the wrongness just about negated all the other positives.



“Should we take the [still bagged] stroller?” DH and I asked ourselves, 5 minutes before leaving.

“Well, we’ve already had a lot of sitting today; a 15 minute walk should be fine.” I will admit that if I didn’t outright say that, I thought it.

We made it to the Skyliner station with no problem. It was still raining and we couldn’t see much due to the raindrops on the windows, but everyone still oohed and ahhed. I mentally patted myself on the back for planning well.

Picture of Skyliner view? Nope! Did you know that if you type "Skyliner" into a gif search you (perhaps unsurprisingly) get lots of gifs of skylines? And also, for some reason, this one:


If anyone knows the connection please enlighten me! I'm now curious.

At 4:55 we were still on the Skyliner and had another turn to go. As someone who likes to be punctual, this was making me nervous. I also wasn't sure at what point we'd be charged as no-shows.

We got off around 5:05, I think. Okay, 15 minute walk, 5:20 arrival isn’t bad, thought I.

It was still raining. I pulled up the MDE app to get walking directions. MIL had injured her knee about a year ago and it was still giving her problems. She said the three of us could go ahead.

DH, DD4, and I forged ahead. DD4 soon said she was tired of walking. DH picked her up to carry her. They had the umbrella. I checked our walking progress, only the MDE map wasn't updating with our current location.

OK, change to Google Maps. Look, a functioning route!

At 5:10ish I told DH I was going to go ahead to at least tell the restaurant the rest of the party is on the way and please don’t charge us as no-shows.



I followed Google maps, till it looked like it pointed me the wrong direction from what the MDE app had said. It wanted me to turn left. “But I remember this part; the MDE app said I should turn right. Can’t I follow the waterfront to the gazebo looking thing that is supposed to be A&C?”

I followed my instincts and turned right, found the gazebo looking thing. I found the rear entrance to YC, kept turning right, and found A&C.

Here I saw a text from DH that he was lost and DD was crying. I text back that I found it and would let check in know everyone else was coming. (In my head this meant “I will take care of this part that's before me right now and then can try to help figure out where you are” but in hindsight I can see it seemed more like “I’m getting warm and dry, figure it out” which is not what I meant. But we were all tired, my stress was only slightly less than theirs at this point, and specifics didn’t occur to any of us.)

While I was in line for check in, MIL called. She said they were lost. By that time I was first in line and said I was at the restaurant, I’d get us checked in and call back.

I was probably talking to the CM by 5:25 or so. She was kind and said she’d put our reservation on hold till everyone could get there. I also confirmed the cake was on the reservation because after everything I wanted some d*** cake. "Yes, it's right here! Dark chocolate celebration cake."



Cake status assured, I headed back out, moving toward the lighthouse that’s at the end of the pier, because I thought that was a good landmark, and I didn’t want to move too far and get lost myself, or have us cross paths trying to find each other.

I called MIL back. She was stressed and I asked if she could see the lighthouse. No, they see a building with swans on it. She sent pictures of where they were, and a friendly stranger overheard and explained they were on the far side of the Swan Reserve. (So yeah, they’d turned left when Google maps said to. I think it was routing them to the front of Yacht Club, but maybe also focusing on driving paths instead of the actual available walking routes? Unsure.)

At this point I understood that DH and DD were with them; I thought I had 2 separate lost groups. But MIL said “DD is crying and wants her mom.”

Ugh. I think this was the worst night of the entire trip.

Anyway, I started moving toward the dance hall, thinking I could still see the lighthouse and it might be one of the first buildings they saw once they came toward the other side of Swan Reserve.

And lo, the first picture I took during the trip, to show everyone else what the dance hall looked like:

This worked, and we reunited and got back to A&C around 5:45, maybe, with our table being ready at about 6:10, nearly an hour after the original ADR.

I do not remember what everyone got, though I think all the adults partook of alcohol.

The CM was nice but service was a bit slow. When she brought out the cake it was a “Happy Birthday” one instead of “Congratulations” as I’d ordered for MIL and FIL’s anniversary. The CM offered to take it back, but it was 7-something by this point, we’d been up since 2am our time, and we had a 4-year-old running on no nap and who was partially traumatized from thinking her mother was lost.*

“‘Happy birthday’ is fine,” I said. Mickey’s ears tasted the same, anyway.

Behold, the second picture I took (and the only food-based picture of the entire trip, sorry), where I was too slow to snap a pic before DD4 snagged and consumed a button.



We ate cake (and had leftovers), which TBF was tasty, and asked for the check.

It was still raining as we were leaving. We ordered a Lyft XL despite not having a booster seat with us. (We'd purchased a Bubble Bum to take on the trip as a just-in-case measure.)

Then it was back to our rooms, tired good nights, and bedtime. Tomorrow would be rope dropping at Magic Kingdom.

Day 1 Lessons Learned

• Mears and MCO: see previous post.
• Order maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the groceries you think you need, especially if you’re making guesses about a travel party members outside your household.
• Skip the alcohol delivery if you have something time-sensitive coming up (since otherwise bell services could’ve held it for us, for a fee).
• If you don’t skip the alcohol delivery, remember your fricking ID at pickup. Only take a pen if you’re particularly attached to it, like a lovey.
• For arrival day dinner, either plan on food court/quick service or choose an ADR at your resort. That, or ensure you 100% know how to get to your destination and how long it’ll take to get there.
  • Alternatively: double the estimated travel time to give yourself plenty of buffer. If there isn’t time for that buffer don’t make the ADR.
• If worse comes to worse, there is some sort of grace period before the no-show charge. Since the reservation will be suspended anyway till everyone is there, probably fine to show later up as the complete party.
• But really, keep it easier on yourself if it’s been a long travel day. Getting everyone to the resort safe and relatively happy is accomplishment enough.

*Maybe 2 months before our trip, I had a bad dream that we were at Disney World and I’d separated from everyone else to take DD4 on some ride or other, and she darted away from me and got lost. I then made the mistake of recounting this dream in DD’s earshot, which then caused some “I don’t want to go to Disney World! I’ll get lost!” conversations and subsequent reassurances that it was just a dream, not real, and that it was a good reminder to take precautions and ensure no one got lost.
WELP. First night and to her mind, DD4’s worst fear came true (though to her mind I was the lost one). Like I said, not a good time.

 

[KimM82]

I tried replying, but lost internet. I love your style of writing, I am following along!

 

[torontominnie]

The skyline gif is because the car is a skyliner (it’s from the first fast and furious I think). That sounds like a brutal first night - I totally feel your pain with lost in laws and an upset kid!

 

[Wood Nymph]

That's a lot of walking if you get lost after coming off the Skyliner. The boat would have been perfect for the trip to Yacht Club, but timing is tricky for it.

 

[awrites]

I tried replying, but lost internet. I love your style of writing, I am following along!

Thank you! Headed to the in-laws’ to celebrate MIL’s birthday today so may not have any time to post, but will try to get back to it tomorrow.

The skyline gif is because the car is a skyliner (it’s from the first fast and furious I think). The sounds like a brutal first night - I totally feel your pain with lost in laws and an upset kid!

Ooh, thanks! I never really kept up with the F&F franchise.

Yeah it was a rough first night but things improved later!

That's a lot of walking if you get lost after coming off the Skyliner. The boat would have been perfect for the trip to Yacht Club, but timing is tricky for it.

Ooh, I didn’t even think about trying the boat! If we ever hit up A&C again (or wonder of wonders, stay at YC) I’ll look into it. Thanks!

 

[awrites]

Day 2: Monday February 19—Magic Kingdom

Wakeup
I’m unfortunately a light sleeper and never sleep well on vacation. This meant that despite my body supposedly still being on Denver time, I was awake by 5am. I got up and started getting ready, and also bought Genie+ for the 5 of us. $35 per person, oof*.

DH and DD4 were waking up by 6:30, I think. DH helped with DD4’s breakfast and some other things, then hopped into the shower.

I needed to get VQ for Tron for myself, DH, and FIL. (MIL isn’t one for thrill rides.) I’d never had to get VQs for anything but had read a bunch about the various tips. I got our party selected in the app at 6, double-checked at 6:50 or so, then used the “2nd device on time.gov” approach vs the rapid-refresh approach. At 6:59:59 I hit refresh. Success! I think we had group 57, but if I took a screenshot, which I thought I had, I apparently deleted it.

From there I tried to get our first LL. My target was PPF or JC as I’d read those tend to go first. I didn’t like the available times for either; I was hoping for one before 10:30 so we could use the “churning” approach for LLs. That’s what DH and I had done in DLR in October 2022 and it’d worked well then.

No love. I grabbed JC for noon, thinking I'd follow the advice of various vloggers and use Modify to try to get a better time. (Modify wasn't available in the DLR app in 2022 so this was my first time trying it.)

This was a BAD idea. I don't know how much of the issue of it was that we were on a holiday week and had a bigger party, but several times I'd try to snap up an earlier time, but missed that the time I'd picked changed between my first tap and my confirmation tap. In this case, our time changed to 12:30, maybe even 1pm.



I eventually got it back to noon then left it.

The plan for all 5 of us was to leave the rooms by 7:15, I think we said, then our reality was more like 7:30. We headed to the bus stop. We/I had forgotten to check the estimated bus arrival time in the app and we wound up waiting 15-20 minutes. We must’ve just missed it.

However, I snapped my first pic of the day! (And apparently my only picture of the morning.)


Chillin in the stroller, waiting for our ride


MK Arrival
Once the bus came, it was a smooth trip and we arrived at MK around 8:15. Not bad, except then MIL and I got selected for extra screening.

Both our security CMs were helpful, though, and explained the believed culprits: an umbrella for MIL and an aluminum first aid case for me as well as a portable charger.

We were instructed to pull those items from our bags and hold them in front of us when heading through the scanners next time. Good tips! (I removed the aluminum case entirely on subsequent days, and that must’ve been the main problem because there was at least one day where I forgot to hold my charger in front of me, but I never got held back again.)




To Fantasyland!
By the time this was done, the EE lines into the park had already opened up. We made our way into Fantasyland for our rope-drop destination: The Barnstormer.

Yup. This was a pick solely for DD4’s benefit. As she’d never been on a roller coaster before DH and I wanted to see how she’d handle it before trying any bigger coasters.

MIL didn’t want to ride, so it was me, DH, DD4, and FIL. DD4 picked me as her ride buddy. I tried to emit appropriate “wheeee!” noises even though nothing about that coaster warrants such, at least not when you’re older than, say, 8, but even so every time I looked over at DD4 she had this horrible grimace on her face.


Inspired to an eerily accurate Michael Scott impression at the tender age of 4

Maybe she’ll like it anyway! I thought, over the course of the 90 seconds or however long the ride is. After all, our TA said her 3yo kept saying “I don’t like this at all!” for the entire Barnstormer duration, then wanted to ride it 3 more times in a row. (That wasn’t an outcome I particularly wanted for this ride, mind you, but I would’ve settled for a lone, tiny “yay.”)

DD4’s final verdict? “It’s too fast! I don’t want to go again!”

Womp womp.

Despite having Genie+, I remained armed with our custom touring plan as I had a paid subscription to Touring Plans. Its original recommendation after I forced it to accept Barnstormer as a first choice was to hit up 7DMT standby. With DD4’s reaction to Barnstormer we axed that and headed to PPF. I think the posted wait was already at 45/60 min, but we finished in closer to 45.

PPF has a cute queue and DD4 enjoyed looking for Tinkerbell, but IMO if we continue to do this ride the LL is warranted, cute queue or no.

From there we went to iasw, since it's across the street. This wait was much shorter, maybe 10 min. When I asked DD4 how she liked it, she said the music was too loud. A sentiment after my own heart, especially if you replace "loud" with "irritating."


Trapped with no escape

If in future years if she wants to skip iasw that’ll be just fine.**

Somewhere around here I was checking 7DMT ILL availability. Estimated standby wait was up to 90 minutes and I knew it wouldn’t decrease till late in the day/night. After some deliberation I got me and DH ILLs for 5:30 (was 5 when I first checked; another case of the time changing on me! Argh). MIL and FIL declined, and after DD4’s assessment of Barnstormer I didn’t think she’d like it.

We had an ADR for Liberty Tree coming up in about an hour. Again going with the path of least resistance/whatever was close, we headed over to Philharmagic.

This was another miss for DD4. She didn’t like the 4D no matter how we tried to explain that nothing could actually hurt her. I suspect it may’ve been a bit loud for her, too. She hasn’t previously expressed such auditory sensory sensitivities that we felt she needed noise-canceling headphones, but in hindsight I do wonder if decreasing the auditory input in these cases would help her better handle the visual input.

(Side note, since now we're getting into accom: I knew about DAS in advance of the trip, but since we didn't have clear evidence that DD4 couldn't handle the waits, we decided to try out some rides first and apply for it only if it came clear she needed the accommodation. She handled the lines well so we never applied.)

Potty Talk
Philharmagic done, most of us needed a restroom break.



Prior to this trip, DD4 had avoided public restrooms like the plague. Her aversion is/was likely a combo of noise, unfamiliarity, and some vestibular and core strength issues that make her feel unsteady on the larger, adult-sized toilets.

She was good at home, however, and with the smaller toddler-sized flush potty at preschool, and she’d done fine at friends’ and family’s houses and hotel rooms with the use of our travel potty seat. This is the travel potty seat we have:



It's foldable and came with a nylon bag to carry it in. It fits well in a Loungefly-sized backpack. Solid choice, IMO!

To use a truly terrible mixed metaphor, DD4 has the bladder of a steel camel. It's good in that we've never once had a public accident (spoiler: even at WDW!) but also, we certainly don't want to get into withholding issues that might cause medical problems down the line.

Anyway, my hope had been that DD4 might like the Rapunzel restroom in FL. She was willing to come in with me but it remained too noisy/busy in there. Unfortunately, the theming didn’t make her feel anymore comfortable.

Especially because we’d forgotten the owl potty seat back at our hotel room.



Liberty Tree
Our LTT ADR was next. I hoped that there the restrooms might be quieter and she’d go. We made the walk from the Rapunzel restrooms to LTT in plenty of time for the ADR.

I think at this point yesterday’s early wake up time, plus a bunch of “just okay” rides this morning, was catching up with us. We were all a little tired, DD4 was getting whiny, and I was getting worried about the potty situation.

I’d also somehow completely forgotten that LTT is a 3-course meal. All I’d remembered was the food quality was supposed to be among the best in MK, and they had mac & cheese, which DD4 would eat. We were all a little dismayed at the time, I think. DH and I had been keeping track of the Tron VQ boarding groups and were a bit worried we’d get called during lunch.

Oh, and we had our JC LL return time coming up. Then I think at 10:30 I'd set up a Pirates LL because there was one close to our JC window, and it was a ride all 5 of us wanted to do.

Good planning in theory. It all probably would've worked great without the ADR.

LTT food (which I also failed to take a picture of, or even the restaurant's theming) was fine, at least what I could eat of it. I tried taking DD4 to the restroom three times, I think, two of which were to the companion restroom. While it was quieter DD4 still didn’t want to sit without the owl potty. I eventually convinced her to try, reassuring her I wouldn’t let her fall, but shortly after sitting she claimed she “didn’t have to go.”

We went back to the table. I ate a bit of salad. DD4 had a bit of Mac & cheese. She remained cranky. I asked again if she needed to go potty. She said she did. Companion restroom was occupied. We headed to the ladies’ room upstairs where we repeated the previous bathroom experience.

Back down to eat more. Everyone else was mostly done with their mains. DD4 eventually said she needed to go again. DH took her. I scarfed down my Thanksgiving-equivalent meal.

While they were gone, the Festival of Fantasy parade passed by. FIL, MIL, and I enjoyed watching a bit from our seats, but I failed to get any pictures just as I failed to get any pictures of food.

DH and DD4 returned in time to see part of the last float or two, but no potty success. We requested dessert and the check. Somewhere around here I think I took DD4 back to the companion restroom again.

The main dessert was... a cobbler of some sort? I can't remember, everything is so blurry with this meal. DD4’s dessert was ice cream with Mickey sprinkles.



I do want to say our server was great. She could tell we had some parental stress going on (and surely she didn’t miss DD4’s repeated absences from the table along with a parent). She checked directly with DD4 if the ice cream sounded yummy. She was good about making sure all our food was fresh due to my and DH’s lengthier absences. It did feel a bit wasteful, but it was nice of her to try to make sure we were happy. So no complaints about the food quality or service, but I really feel like I can’t offer an accurate assessment of LTT because I was so focused on DD4.

Also, I was getting worried about making TRON, because our BG was called during our meal.

Dessert achieved, potty not, we booked it out of there.

Up next: MK afternoon--do we make it to TRON? to JC? Does DD4 use the potty in the park or hold it till we get back to the hotel room? Stay tuned!

Footnotes
*I have mixed feelings about Genie+. I agree with the argument presented in Defunctland’s Fastpass: A Complicated History, which is that fastpass/LLs are “solving” the problem of long lines that Disney caused, and now charging for the privilege. (It’s an excellent, well-researched documentary and I highly recommend it for those who haven’t watched!)

But when Genie+ works it works well and saves a ton of time (based on my and DH’s experience at DLR; it didn’t work so well for us at WDW), and I also agree that after spending thousands on flights, accommodations, park tickets, and food, this add-on is kind of a drop in the bucket.

Still, the money spent on Genie+ for the day also could’ve covered a meal/meal and a half. I think it’s a genuine shame that a WDW trip is becoming out of the question for many families. But Disney frankly doesn’t care about my opinion, so this really falls under “middle-aged woman shouting at clouds.”

**My previous trip to WDW in 2008 was with 2 of my close college friends, one of whom adores iasw. The way she tells it, when she was young and her parents took her and her sister to WDW, they insisted she try HM. She HATED it, was terrified, and after that her parents felt so bad they took her on repeated rides of iasw till she calmed down and became happy again. So to each their own!

But I won’t lie, I’m glad DD4 didn’t glom onto it.

 

[jrmint427]

However, that ties into the “Lessons Learned” part of the TR title—as I was drafting the TR (I wanted to be reasonably sure I'd finish so I've pre-drafted posts up through the third day of our trip, and even as I’ve talked about this trip with DH, I realized I was thinking a lot about “things I’ll do differently next time.” They may not be anything new for veterans, but maybe for others like me/us who are new or returning after a long while, something will resonate.

I also pre-draft the first couple days before I start posting! And I almost always end up taking lengthy breaks anyway before coming back to finish a report I'm enjoying the lessons learned, no matter how many trips I take, I always learn something new or get great ideas from other trip reports.

If worse comes to worse, there is some sort of grace period before the no-show charge. Since the reservation will be suspended anyway till everyone is there, probably fine to show later up as the complete party.

I think you made the right call going ahead of the rest - we almost lost an ADR because our full party wasn't at Rodeo Roundup BBQ on time, and they only held it beyond the 15 minutes because half our party was there and they shared that the rest of us were literally running to be there in a few minutes. They told my dad that if he hadn't been there, they would have cancelled our reservation at the 15-minute mark and we could have gotten on the stand-by waitlist. It may just depend on how busy a restaurant is, but it can be stressful trying to make those ADRs at times!

This was another miss for DD4. She didn’t like the 4D no matter how we tried to explain that nothing could actually hurt her.

My DD9 has never liked the 4D movies... she still refuses to wear the glasses because she doesn't like that sensation of things coming at her.

Sorry to hear about the stress with the potty situation! Hoping the rest of your day was a little more relaxing!

 

[Wood Nymph]

You had a really tough morning. I agree that the rides are too loud for young children. Our grandson had a really hard time with the sound. It made it hard for us to find things that he could handle.

I hope the afternoon is better.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Following!

 

[Keladry84]

Following! Great trip report so far!

 

[awrites]

I also pre-draft the first couple days before I start posting! And I almost always end up taking lengthy breaks anyway before coming back to finish a report I'm enjoying the lessons learned, no matter how many trips I take, I always learn something new or get great ideas from other trip reports.

I think you made the right call going ahead of the rest - we almost lost an ADR because our full party wasn't at Rodeo Roundup BBQ on time, and they only held it beyond the 15 minutes because half our party was there and they shared that the rest of us were literally running to be there in a few minutes. They told my dad that if he hadn't been there, they would have cancelled our reservation at the 15-minute mark and we could have gotten on the stand-by waitlist. It may just depend on how busy a restaurant is, but it can be stressful trying to make those ADRs at times!

Pre-drafters unite!

Oh, thanks for sharing about your ADR experience! That makes me feel a bit better about going on ahead of everyone else.

You had a really tough morning. I agree that the rides are too loud for young children. Our grandson had a really hard time with the sound. It made it hard for us to find things that he could handle.

I hope the afternoon is better.

Yeah, it's tough! In our case it seems to be a mix of stimulation types as to what she can and can't handle, plus just whatever her baseline is for the day (due to poor sleep or not feeling well, whatever). I can't blame her; I have days where noise/stimulus bothers me more than other times, as well! But it can make it tough to judge how to best help her.

Following!

Following! Great trip report so far!

Thank you both! Welcome aboard!

 

[awrites]

Day 2: Monday February 19—Magic Kingdom, pt 2.

When I left off, we'd finished our lunch at Liberty Tree, had our VQ for Tron called, and also were at the tail end of our JC return time.

Since we were already close to AL we decided to keep our JC LL. During the ride, though, I pushed Pirates to later because I didn't think we could do Pirates and still make Tron.

JC turned out to be another ride DD4 wasn’t impressed with. Skipper Gwen had some decent jokes, but I think I was the only one of our party who chuckled much at them. I tried pointing out some of the animatronics to DD4 but soon concluded that at this point, she was uncomfortable and tired and nothing really was going to make her happy.

JC also had a few minor delays, and we were getting close to the end of the Tron window. I was getting anxious at this point, knowing the reports that CMs are more serious about sticking with the Tron VQ return time.

We got off JC. Both DH and I were on our phones, checking Tron status. Our BG was still in the now-boarding list, but we had maybe 10 minutes left in our hour. MIL said the rest of us should go and she’d make her way to TL with DD4 and the stroller more slowly.

I was a little worried about leaving DD4 behind with MIL considering the potty situation, but then thought maybe DD4 was picking up that I was getting anxious, and maybe she’d be able to relax with Grandma enough to go.

So DH, FIL, and I walked swiftly as we could to TRON. At some point we turned the wrong way and made the route a bit longer than we needed—I think maybe we followed the curve of Astro Orbiter too far south? But we course-corrected quickly.

By the time we got to the tapstiles, our BG was no longer showing. I think we arrived technically 2 minutes past our return time, but the tapstile turned green for us all and the CM didn’t say anything. Phew!

I was still worried about DD4 and Grandma but couldn’t do anything about it right then so I tried to enjoy the queue. And I guess I did, because it seems I took my first pictures of the day aside from DD4 at the bus stop!









Both DH and I enjoyed TRON the most of all the MK rides we did. It marked the beginning of our first row good luck! (Seriously, we wound up in the first row of so many rides this trip! That’d never happened to me before.)



It’s a fun coaster, but short, and both of us found the light cycles a bit awkward. We don’t think we needed to lean as far forward as we did and could’ve been a bit more upright. That also would’ve made it a bit easier to watch in front of us (though I have heard looking down is an advantage for folks with motion sickness!)

Also, the speed of this coaster made my eyes water constantly. That's why I'm so squinty in our ride picture.

Regarding the story/theme of the ride, I kind of wish there was a way to truly compete with another team. Like dueling coasters or something, with a random element thrown in so that sometimes Blue “wins” and sometimes it’s Red/Yellow/whatever. It’d improve the rerideability, IMO.

DH is more of a TRON fan than I am (he picked TLCR for his MagicBand), but even so I think he felt the story somewhat lacking, too.

FIL’s assessment: It was cool!

However, I don’t know that any of us think it’d be worth, say, a 90-minute wait.

MIL was waiting with DD4 close to the TRON entrance. We were greeted with this:


So very, very sleepy...

A plan hatched. We were pretty close to the TL companion restroom. I thought maybe we could head there, wake up DD, and maybe she’d be groggy/relaxed enough to go potty.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
IT WORKED!

She woke up on her own as we were arriving at the restroom. I immediately said "There's a potty! Let's go!" and took her in.

She was still a little anxious but I kept repeating I realized it was new and different, but I wasn’t going to let her fall, I was there with her, etc. And she did it! Without her owl potty seat! I was so proud of her.

She was much happier after that. I’m sure she felt much more comfortable, but also the Mickey Bar we got her to celebrate helped, too.

But a Mickey Bar is food and I've already mentioned I failed utterly at taking food pictures so there's no evidence, heh.

DH also got a Mickey Bar, and MIL, FIL, and I each got a frozen lemonade. They were too hard to spoon out much and took a long time to eat.

Next we rode Buzz Lightyear. I think it was an LL but can’t remember when I made it.

I don’t know what it is about this ride but I suck at it. It also starts hurting my hand, the guns are so bulky. (This was the case even back in 2008, so I don’t think it’s age-related so much as my hand size/anatomy.)


The face of a woman whose hand is in pain

DH got best in vehicle.


The face of victory!

I was second because DD4 never wanted to shoot her gun. Not sure of MIL and FIL’s scores.


The faces of two people who kindly went along for the ride, literally

Exit-through-the-gift-shop meant browsing, and DD4 picked out a light-up Slinky Dog, which Grandma purchased (DD4 isn’t the sole grandkid on their side, but she is the youngest and only girl. We have our work cut out for us making sure she doesn’t get spoiled!)

First time I've run into the photo limit! Continued in next post.
Edit: but not till tomorrow--need to leave soon to pick up DD4 from preschool!

 

[jrmint427]

Skipper Gwen had some decent jokes, but I think I was the only one of our party who chuckled much at them.

We had Skipper Gwen on one of our JC rides too! Glad to hear the afternoon was going smoother for you all!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I'm glad to hear that you made it to all your rides.

 

[erinch]

Following! You are a terrific writer! I have a quote on footnote I will try to find

 

[awrites]

We had Skipper Gwen on one of our JC rides too! Glad to hear the afternoon was going smoother for you all!

It did, happily!

I'm glad to hear that you made it to all your rides.

Yes, we were too! Nice relief to have things work out.

Following! You are a terrific writer! I have a quote on footnote I will try to find

Thank you! I'll keep an eye out for the quote.

 

[awrites]

Day 2: Monday February 19—Magic Kingdom, pt 3

Slinky Dog purchased, we next headed back to AL for our modified Pirates LL.

Pirates was fun, as always! I realized late we never got our ride photo for it. We’d paid for Memory Maker so I sent in a request to retrieve it, and CMs found it!



Then again, maybe the Photopass people were trying to save us from ourselves. Clearly none of us had any idea where the camera was!

Since Pirates also exits into the gift shop we browsed a bit. More so than BLSRS and PotC, DH would’ve preferred shopping time at the TRON gift shop, but since it’s not a direct exit into it we missed it, plus we'd needed to meet up with MIL and DD4. The lack of “exit through the gift shop” on newer rides I thought would be a plus, but I found I actually kind of missed it! I like taking a few minutes to browse, and having it built in means I actually do it.

Anyway, DD4 picked out another souvenir, Pluto holding keys like the Pirates dog. (DH and I purchased this one for her.) It became her bedtime companion for the rest of the week, and even some at home.

On the way out we spotted Captain Jack!


After that, DH and I had a bit of time to kill before our 5:30 7DMT ILL. We were close to Magic Carpets and DD4 wanted to ride, so DH and I got in the standby line with her. MIL and FIL declined and just hung out nearby and waved while we ride. 30 minute posted wait I think, and that seemed accurate.

DD4 picked me as her ride buddy again (actually, I was always her ride buddy on the 2-seaters) and wanted the back row of the carpet. DH sat in front and raised/lowered us. Supposedly the rear could tilt the carpet but I didn’t notice much of a difference no matter how long/hard I pressed the button.

Unsurprisingly, this ride isn’t worth a 30-minute wait, unless you have a 4-year-old who hasn’t had the best of days so far and expresses something she wants to do. Later she claimed this as her favorite ride of the day so I guess it was worth it to her!

DH’s and my return time for 7DMT was about to start. We headed toward FL as a group. Now was the point DD4 seemed to register just Daddy and I were going on 7DMT. She’d seen videos and had alternated on saying yes/no to riding it, and as I wrote previously her claim of Barnstormer being “too fast” made me decide not to get an ILL for her.

Well, now she wanted to ride it.

I reminded her it was a roller coaster “like Barnstormer” which she hadn’t liked. She still seemed a little upset but as we walked we came upon the carousel, which she deemed an appropriate substitute. MIL was happy to take her; FIL less so I think, but took one for the team. Their wait was posted as 10 or 15 minutes. We dropped off the stroller at the Carousel stroller parking, bid each other adieu, then DH and I headed on.

Our ILL wait was pretty short, 5-10 min max. DH & my first-row luck was in play! 7DMT is a cool one to get the first row, because it gives you the best view of the Evil Queen disguised as the wicked witch knocking at the dwarves’ cottage.


You can tell I'm evil because I'm old and ugly and cackle hideously!



Overall verdict: 7DMT is a decent coaster. Not one I have to reride anytime soon, but once DD4 is ready to go on it (and I’m sure she will be by the next trip; here at home she keeps talking about how she missed going on it and she wants to see all the gems in the mine) we’d probably be willing to splurge on ILLs again to avoid a 90-minute wait.*

DH and I finished 7D and figured the others would be done with the carousel by then (it’d been at least 15 minutes, plus walking time) but we didn’t get a response to our text. We walked back to the carousel and eventually saw them on it. They must've just gotten on because they had several revolutions while we waved!



Next we had Winnie the Pooh. This might’ve been our last LL but I don’t remember for sure. I like this ride all right; bouncing with Tigger is kind of fun, but I was never the hugest WtP fan as a kid so the nostalgia factor is lacking for me. DD4 has watched a couple of the WtP movies, including Many Adventures, so I think she liked it.

We went to JotLM, which was one I knew DD4 really wanted to do. LM had had its phase of heavy rewatches so I figured it was one she was excited for. I’d noted at DL the effect of going under the sea, with the water imagery on the ceiling as the clamshell descends backward. I do think it’s a neat effect, but frankly if it weren’t for DD4 this is another ride I could’ve passed on, esp. since DH and I had ridden it not that long ago at DL.

By the time we finished it was after 7 and we were getting hungry. We decided to forgo the last items on our touring plan (Mansion, teacups, Dumbo) as well as all our maybes (BTMR, SM—DH and I had done both of those at DL, and I guess I’m getting old because they both bumped me around more than I like so I wasn’t keen to ride them again. I think DH regretted skipping SM though) in favor of food. We picked Cosmic Ray’s because it was somewhat on our way out, but it turned out to be a decent decision because we caught a little of the fireworks from our seats.

I didn’t manage any pictures of those or of the food, and in this case I've forgotten entirely what we ate (I was tired!), but I did get a pic of Cinderella’s Castle on our way out!



The castle is gorgeous at night! One of my biggest regrets is that we didn't get our iconic PP picture in front of the castle, whether daytime or nighttime. I felt like we were always rushing to the next thing--and our party couldn't rush that quickly. I also hate to say I "should've" forced us to stop for more pictures--because when people are getting tired it's hard to pull out an enthusiastic smile, you know? Maybe if we'd managed to get there early before the EE lines let people through. Oh well.

We headed out of the park and to the bus stop. The CBR bus was way more crowded than in the morning. A kind mom had her tween-age son stand up so DD4 and I could sit. We’d gotten somewhat separated from everyone else at the driver’s insistence everyone crowd on back, so DD4 and I went up the stairs to the back, but DH had the stroller and MIL and FIL understandably didn’t want the stairs.

This might be a good point to say that all our encounters with fellow guests were good ones! I guess we had good trip-luck on this count, but everyone was pretty patient. I think the few times we were jostled or accidentally jostled someone else apologies were quick and did the trick.

Anyway, aside from the crowding it was an okay trip back to the rooms. By 9-something we were again saying tired good nights, and it was lights out in our room by 10pm.


Day 2 Lessons Learned
For Genie+

• If possible, try to ensure a second person is available at 7, so one can do the VQ and the other can do the LL selection. Those seconds really do matter!
• Especially on a busier day and if you have a larger party, ignore all the vloggers who talk about how it’s “not that hard” to modify for an earlier time. It’s not worth it and it’s very unlikely you will actually get a better return time. Indeed, like me, you may make your time worse.

For touring in general

• If touring with a younger child, maybe consider using EE to knock out a bunch of the Fantasyland (or TL, if applicable) rides they’ll enjoy. Might start off the day with a happier child, and then you won’t have to return to those rides later/risk missing them entirely.
• Getting around with 5 people and a stroller is going to take much longer than you think. (In Touring Plans I had our pace set as “relaxed” but I think we were even slower than that. Later in our trip I adjusted all our remaining TPs to use “very relaxed.”)
• VQs are fabulous, except for the limit of only joining once a day. If you're a fellow early riser, take advantage!

Up Next: Day 3: Tuesday February 20: EPCOT (part 1, because who am I kidding, each day will take me a bit to get through)

Footnote
*Actually, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ought to be open whenever we go next, and I’m wondering if 7DMT will be added to Genie+ at that point so TBA can be the other MK ILL attraction after TRON. Then again as long as Disney thinks people are willing to pay for 7DMT they’ll probably leave it in.