4 Parks 1 Day- I’m Not Afraid of a Few Stinkin’ Cheerleaders: A February Tale: Update 11/5

[PrncessA]

Good to know that the kid's portions are pretty close to the adult size at SS. We could easily go with the kid's and save some money!!

Great update!!

So many of the kids meals can double as adult, although we found a few that were not adequate
.

I'd love a cricut! They're pretty pricey though, and I also have zero time for that stuff, hence why the sewing machine only comes out for Halloween!

I know that feeling!

Your hair looks great!

Thank you! I hate that most of my Disney photos have my hair up, so I wanted to leave it down as long as possible!

Never easy, this happens to DH too, he starts to sweat profusely and he shakes. Poor guys.

It is awful to watch!

Wow, I hope everyone was ok. Sorry you guys had to skip it though!

I hope they were too! We "saw" them as we walked by, but I didn't look because if it were me I wouldn't want people looking at me.

LOL! He is such a funny guy!

He is a hoot!

I love those! Have you ever seen Dancakes?!

It could have been them!

Awe your fur baby missed you!!

She is a huge baby!

Joining in!

 

[PrncessA]

We made it back to POFQ and we were all ready for a break and to get to our room and relax, it didn’t happen that way. When I got to the lobby there was a line of business people about 6 people deep. There was only 2 CM’s working at the check in/out area… it was taking forever. Each of them had to get a generic grey magicband, which took the CM forever to go back and get. Then they had to set up their credit cards and what was charged to them, vs the company times 8, since there were two at the desks already. I would have went over to the concierge, but there was only one CM working and there was a line there too.

After waiting at least a half hour, I finally was able to get over to the concierge and find out why I needed to go to the desk. Turns out not all of our magic bands would open the door. Did they need our magic bands to fix the problem? NOPE. They just played around on the computer and we were good to go. Why on earth we had to wait 30 minutes for that I will never know.

With our room number in hand, we headed over. FYI, I did not get any of the room requests that I had made either online or through touring plans. I thought about asking to move, but I was so ready for a room I didn’t want to wait longer. The room location actually wasn’t bad, so it wasn’t a huge deal.

The room was nice and comfortable, but I can see why they are updating them, they do feel dated with all the newer rooms around the WDW. Our checked luggage was already in the room.

A major benefit to this room over Coronado (although this change with the referb) is the amount of dresser space. The drawers were nice and deep and I was able to fit all of our non-hanging clothes in them and store the suitcases.

Erik called bell services and ask them to bring our stored bags and our Amazon delivery. The bell man brought our luggage, but no Amazon. It took another 30 minutes to get the Amazon delivery. Not the end of the world, but I really needed TheraFlu.

I unpacked while waiting and Erik and Lorelai ran to pick up some mugs. We had debated whether or not the mugs were worth it or to order extra drinks from Amazon, but in the end we decided that the mugs would get used enough to justify the $80.90 we spent on them, and the kids really like getting to use them. We probably got the use out of everyone’s but mine, since the majority of the trip I only drank hot water with lemon and honey.

After a bit of down time and TheraFlu, it was time for some pool time.

With our mugs of course!

Pool time!!

Pool time for the kids, meant poolside bar time for the adults. Let me introduce you to the Poolside Ice Tea

A couple of these and I had a feeling my throat wouldn’t hurt as much…

Erik had a Banana Cabana, which I am certain had some sort of coconut rum in it so I didn’t try it. But he liked it.

The kids wanted to stay longer, so we had another round. It could be an indicator of the effects of the ice tea that these photos are not in focus…

Erik had the Goose Island 312, which apparently is better in the can than draft.

The bartender, Marcia was great and we had a great conversation with the guy sitting at the bar who had retired in the area and was just visiting the bar for the night. My kinda life!

Finally we decided it was time to close our tab ($47.40+tip) head back to the room, clean up and get back to Epcot.

Erik wanted to take an Uber over to the Beach Club and walk over to the International Gateway instead of a bus. He said it saved walking time from the bus to the WS, I think it is about even, but definitely a more relaxing walk. Uber it was! The kids insisted on bringing the popcorn bucket… Lorelai swore she would carry it. My receipt says it was 7:24pm, which makes our timeline this night pretty amazing...

Our Uber came pretty fast and we were off! $6.90 for the trip, plus tip. On the way over we discussed what to get for dinner, we were HANGRY. Erik wanted a good burger, I checked Beaches and Cream but the only ADR available was at 10pm and that was too late. We decided that some Fish and Chips from the UK would be a good option.

My photos of the walk over are laughable, this is the best one by far! This was also about the time we realized that Lorelai had left the popcorn bucket on the bench back at the resort. Bucket #1 down.

We headed straight toward the Yorkshire Fish and I was surprised that Erik was able to get us a waterside table! I picked up two orders of fish and chips, a couple of sodas and a couple of ice waters, $30.42. It was the perfect size for us to all split!

We actually didn’t take a lot of photos, but I know we walked around WS a pretty good clip, because our time stamp for Frozen Ever After is 8:38pm, meaning we ate and made it all the way around the WS in an hour! Probably why we only have one photo of the journey-

We made it to FEA and they didn’t give us an issue about or DAS only saying 2ppl and they approved us all.

Oh, here is when we found the Norway Figment!

We decided since it was EMH that we would head over to Future World to get some rides in while Illuminations was going.

E liked the light show on Spaceship Earth

No words:

Soarin’ had an okay wait so we headed that way… only to be stopped at the door and told it was down, indefinitely. They closed the entire building.

That’s okay, we will visit our favorite imaginary dragon!

With no wait:

Fig-E

Even Erik got in on it… lol

Then we visited a friend:

We thought about Joy and Sadness, but the kids didn’t want to wait in the 5 minute line… oh well.

Since we were close to the popcorn stand where be bought our now lost popcorn bucket, I thought I would stop and see if they could replace it. It was worth a shot. She ask me if I had my receipt, I had a photo of it which was just as good. I ask if I at least should pay for the refill and she said not to worry about it, that it happens all the time.

Before we left we HAD to ride Spaceship Earth, because a day at Epcot is not complete without it! But we did stipulate that we were exhausted and there would be no games after the ride. We had an early morning the next day as well.

This cracks me up:

Good night Epcot!

Popcorn=life

1st Day Down

We were very glad we were not waiting for POR, as the line was CRAZY. There was only a handful of people waiting for POFQ. When the bus came a few people from POR came over and rode the bus to FQ, not sure if they were going to walk back to POR but it probably was faster than waiting for the busses.

Since this our first trip without the dining plan, I really wanted to see if going w/o the dining plan was a good idea for us. I will add in the cost of the Amazon delivery at the end and I also had packed a few snacks from home that we enjoyed in the room, but actually kept costs way down. I am not sure how accurate this trip would prove to be since everyone but Lorelai ended up sick this trip and didn’t have an appetite, and she isn’t a big eater as it is.

Food Breakdown Day 1

F&B that would have been covered by dining plan: $158.81

Food and drink NOT covered by plan: $66.9

Total Spent: $225.71

Daily Cost of DDP x4 “adults”: $301.96

Daily Cost of QSDP x4 “adults”: $210​

Next up: We Attempt #4Parks1MagicalDay

 

[teetee830]

Its really too bad you were all sick on your trip. I hope you managed to have a good time anyway.

Its funny to read about POFQ needing the referb because our first stay at that resort was right after the last one, we were the first guests in our room. That was December of 2010.

 

[jchurch0409]

Can't wait to read about your 4 parks challenge! We are really thinking about this for our September trip!

 

[Stasieki]

We tried the 4 parks in 1 day challenge on Sunday 2/11. Ended up doing 3. Probably could have squeezed in the 4th but we were so tired.

 

[disneyseniors]

Late to the game, but joining in. We were at POFQ late Feb to first week of March. Can't wait to hear how it went for you.

 

[MagicAddict123]

We love the POFQ! Great resort with great theming and great Cast Members. We are going in August and have planned the Four Park Challenge for our last full day. We were there 12/27 -01/01/18 and on New Years Eve we hit three parks in one day and loved the experience!!!

 

[bigbabyblues]

I'm also interested to read about 4 parks in 1 day. My DS wants to do it on his bday in June.

 

[SweetSerenity]

Hi! I am enjoying your reports. I'm so sorry you started your trip feeling sick. Looking forward to more.

 

[UrsulaTime]

Hiya! Following along.

I can't get enough of your Epcot photos! I keep thinking we'll cut that park short if we need to, but then I see stuff like this....!

 

[iwasdaisy]

Just joining in!

 

[PrncessA]

Its really too bad you were all sick on your trip. I hope you managed to have a good time anyway.

It happens! I was able to keep going for the most part, I felt awful at times but I was not letting it ruin my Disney trip. When Ethan finally came down with it, it did change our plans significantly. Adults can pull it together, kids not so much.

Its funny to read about POFQ needing the referb because our first stay at that resort was right after the last one, we were the first guests in our room. That was December of 2010.

I can't wait to see the new design of the rooms!

Can't wait to read about your 4 parks challenge! We are really thinking about this for our September trip!

It was a lot of fun! A lot of work as well! LOL

We tried the 4 parks in 1 day challenge on Sunday 2/11. Ended up doing 3. Probably could have squeezed in the 4th but we were so tired.

Tired is the name of the game on this day!

Late to the game, but joining in. We were at POFQ late Feb to first week of March. Can't wait to hear how it went for you.

We love the POFQ! Great resort with great theming and great Cast Members. We are going in August and have planned the Four Park Challenge for our last full day. We were there 12/27 -01/01/18 and on New Years Eve we hit three parks in one day and loved the experience!!!

We did enjoy POFQ, but I think POR is a favorite of the two. Good luck!!!

I'm also interested to read about 4 parks in 1 day. My DS wants to do it on his bday in June.

Coming right up!

Hi! I am enjoying your reports. I'm so sorry you started your trip feeling sick. Looking forward to more.

Hiya! Following along.

I can't get enough of your Epcot photos! I keep thinking we'll cut that park short if we need to, but then I see stuff like this....!

Epcot is our favorite park for sure! We are never bored there, there is just so much to do! On our first trip we only did a half day at Epcot and I wished that we had done so much more.

Just joining in!

 

[PrncessA]

When we were planning this trip we ask the kids if they wanted to attempt to visit each park in one day… and of course they were all for it. It was something new and seemed like a good “easy” challenge. I had no idea just how much of a challenge it would be!


I woke up early like I always do at Disney, albeit a bit later than normal, it was 6:58 when I left the room. I really wanted to have my traditional early morning walk around the resort before everyone else got up. Spoiler alert: this would be the only morning I did this.


I walked over to the food court and got some hot water with honey and lemon then walked around:

He looks like he is having a good time:

They were working on the room renovations pretty early:

It looks like new windows are part of the reno:

I headed back to the room and everyone was awake. Some in the party headed back over to fill their mugs. I just ask for hot water for my TheraFlu. At this point I really considered rescheduling our 4 parks day in hopes that I would feel better. I am glad I didn’t as the parks got more and more crowded as the week went on, and I didn’t ever end up feeling great on the trip.


We had breakfast in the room, donned our matching shirts and headed out at 8:10am!

So what was our plan for our #4Parks1MagicalDay… or our rules. We needed to visit each park, ride at least 1 ride (preferably with a photo) and get photopass photo. We had originally wanted food of some kind at each park but we didn’t even think about it while we were there, we did however end up eating in each park I believe but just by chance. We had considered our order carefully. We knew our last park was going to be MK since it had EMH that night. Epcot landed 3 since we planned to take the monorail over to the MK. That left AK and DHS. We were saving our FastPasses for Epcot so we decided that AK would be easier to navigate without FP’s since we were not planning on Pandora this day.


So we headed off to DHS! Our mission? TSMM and StarTours! We arrived at 8:30, took a few pictures and got in line.

Look how refreshed and ready for the day we are!

They began to let people in at 8:45, but held us all until 9:00am.

Lorelai was GRUMPY! this morning. So no selfie with her in it. At 9am we headed toward TSMM along with nearly everyone else. We didn’t run so the line was already crazy when we got there.

When I saw how crowded the area was I knew I didn’t want to start our morning with that. I saw the CM with the iPad and decided to grab a DAS. Surprisingly he was not at the line, but standing in the middle of the area. There were quite a few other people who did the same thing as me.


Instead of going into TSMM we decided to do something we have never done… Meet Woody and Buzz!


The Claw!

Oh no he broke the plastic!

Where is Lorelai you ask, still grumpy and sulking over something. But what better way to cheer her up than a character meet and greet!

It really did work, she left the room in a much better mood! We still had a few minutes until our DAS for Toy Story so we decided to walk over to Star Tours, since the wait was nothing.


Coming soon:

Obviously we took our time…

Pretty empty on this side of the park.

Star Tours is one of our favorite rides in all of Walt Disney World. We could ride it over and over!

 

[PrncessA]

None of us were the rebel spy, but our ride was great and we loved the new scene from The Last Jedi. We made it to the drop shop when I realized I had left my ears under the seat. E and I waited until the next ride was over and he ran back in and grabbed them. We shopped a little. Lorelai’s teacher is a Star Wars fanatic so she wanted to find her a gift. She found her a Yoda keychain and found the love her life when we paid. JediStitch!!!

Seriously she didn’t want to leave him behind! The cashier told us that there were 4 Stitches in the park. One at Star Tours, one at the Indiana Jones shop, one at RRC and one at ToT. We HAD to find the Indiana Jones one!

So that is what we did:

Omgoodness, how cute is he????

We headed back toward TSMM and stopped for some pictures:

but I realized it was only a few minutes until 10am, when Star Lord and Baby Groot opened, so we ducked inside. My kids are so awkward when meeting face characters, and this meeting was no exception! We were the second group to meet that morning. The first was a young woman who was alone, she brought Star Lord a rose. It was sweet… and awkward. I think it was just Star Lord, he was very awkward period.


Ethan spent most of this meet and greet trying to figure out Baby Groot.

After our awkward encounter with Star Lord and Baby Groot (too cute), we finally made it over to TSMM to use our DAS. The line is all weird because of how they are changing the queue entrance so all the lines are outside. The CM was clearly having a bad day. He wasn’t rude, just looked overwhelmed. We waited for a long time in the FP line considering we were the only ones in it for most of that time. He disappeared into the building and didn’t come back out. A manager walked by and noticed and went in after him. She wasn’t happy. Poor guy!

Finally we were in and on the ride in minutes!

I beat Lorelai, but Erik beat us all!

We grabbed a refill on our popcorn bucket, which had made through the morning without being lost, and headed out! We never made it to RRC or ToT to meet the Stitches there

Of course we needed more photos!

To a bus stop that was essentially as far away as you can get from the entrance!

We had finished our first park and at 11:14am we were heading into AK, our day was going right on track!

Next upark 2- Animal Kingdom!

 

[MissMaryQC]

I've been reading on my phone as I can; been a little nutty round here!

I'm glad you rallied so well, even though you were sick. I gotta say, you look great for being sick! What is your secret? Seriously.

Glad y'all enjoyed HS, even if you only got to see 2 outta 4 adorable aliens. I may need to bring one, or four of those cuties home on our next trip!

Can't wait to see what AK and the rest of the day bring you guys!

 

[PrncessA]

've been reading on my phone as I can; been a little nutty round here!

I COMPLETELY understand!!

I'm glad you rallied so well, even though you were sick. I gotta say, you look great for being sick! What is your secret? Seriously.

LOL, When I was adding the photos I was kinda amazed, I don't look as bad as I feel, but as the day wears on I definitely see it. The glasses hide a lot I think! Plus the mornings always seemed easier, I had a lot of theraflu in my system. At some point I also ordered Musinex and I was taking both.

Glad y'all enjoyed HS, even if you only got to see 2 outta 4 adorable aliens. I may need to bring one, or four of those cuties home on our next trip!

Unfortunatly I don't think you can buy them anywhere. Each location just dressed up a Stitch and gave him a # and a nametag. If they had been for sale we would have 4 as well. LOL

Can't wait to see what AK and the rest of the day bring you guys!

Coming right up!

 

[Madison2018]

Chiming in to say that I am enjoying your Trip Report. Can’t wait to hear about your 4 parks in 1 day experience. We did this a couple of years ago and it is still one of our favorite Disney days ever!

 

[jrmint427]

I'm joining in! I have to ask, are you a Gilmore Girls fan? I love the name Lorelai, and I also love GG!

for this trip I did spring for new luggage that I decorated with vinyl Mickey heads.

I love how you decorated your luggage! You are inspiring me for our next trip...

Turns out the gate agent had called them forward and let them board with family boarding.

I'm so glad to hear this. I always wonder why sometimes customer service can't just be this helpful upfront. I hate when families are separated on flights.

She even put Mickey’s on the tops of the slushes, which I thought was adorable. She said it was her favorite part of the job!

The slushies are so cute! I love how many Disney CMs seem passionate about their jobs. We really liked the CMs working in Club Cool too!

Looking forward to hear how the rest of the 4parks/1 day went! I love the matching shirts!

 

[tinawv]

Looking forward to reading more about your trip. I’m not sure I could tackle four parks in one day - lol.

 

[PrncessA]

Hi to everyone who is sticking with me. I am so sorry about the lack of updates, but this semester just about killed me! One of my classes had an intense semester long project that ended up being over 90 pages and another was part 1 of my senior thesis, which was crazy stressful. I officially have two weeks off until my summer course starts and I finish my senior thesis. The fact that a B.A. degree even requires a thesis is crazy in it's self, but that is besides the point. Then I am hoping I have an easy final two semesters and I am done!! Until I go back for my masters, but I am taking a few years off!

We are still discussing what to do for my graduation, and I think we have decided on a cruise. We just cannot swing a Disney Cruise, so we were leaning toward Royal Carribean. Then a good friend of mine suggested Disney, but going togther, and she would book the rooms. They are military, so we could possibly get a good rate, but we would have to wait till much closer since those rates aren't released or even guarenteed. I guess we are still weighing our options...

Now on with the show...

We officially had made it to two parks, which we have done so many times before, but I was definitely feeling it at this point. As we were walking up to the entrance I took a selfie to remind myself that at this point in the day I had lost my voice completely!!

I have to admit that even though I remember how bad I was feeling, and I had completely lost my voice, I don’t look as awful as I feel. Animal Kingdom would cure that! Nonetheless it was time to power on. The kids weren’t exactly complaining that I wasn’t talking as much!


We made it through security and since took the obligatory selfie:

We were running pretty low on energy at this point. The day before I had made the decision to cancel the Sanaa ADR. I was heartbroken, and really wanted to go, but I don’t think on this trip I would have enjoyed it as much as I should. Instead I was excited to eat at Satuli’ Canteen again.


We started our journey…

The kids really wanted to ride a Pandora ride, but were pretty good about accepting the promise that we had a couple FastPasses and we had an early morning there as well.


I had mobile ordered while we were on the bus, so while we were taking some photos I let them know we were coming. It only took a couple of seconds after we arrived and our food arrived. We found a table in the back corner area near the drink station and settled in.


Lorelai had ordered the "Teylu" All-Beef Hot Dog Wrapped in Dough All-Beef Hot Dog wrapped in a Parker House Dough served with Vegetable Chips and Grapes, and small Dasani® Bottled Water or Lowfat Milk $6.79

She liked it. It was a bit too much bread for her, so at the end she picked the bread off. She loved the chips, especially the purple ones and ate all of them. I had a bite of both and really liked the hot dog.


Ethan had the Cheese Quesadilla Cheddar and Mozzarella Cheese in a Tortilla served with Vegetable Chips and Grapes and small Dasani® Bottled Water or Lowfat Milk $5.99

He was, and still is, on a quesadilla kick. On the weekends he goes through a lot of quesadillas. This one was just as described. Hard to mess up cheese on a tortilla. He didn’t eat all the chips, I think I helped him.


I had the Chili-Spiced Crispy Fried Tofu Bowl Crispy Fried Tofu seasoned with Chili-Spice topped with Crunchy Vegetable Slaw and Boba Balls served with your choice of Base and Sauce $11.49

I had it with the Quinoa & Vegetable Salad and the Creamy Herb sauce. It was fantastic, although I do think that the tofu could stand to be a bit more seasoned. When it Chili-Spiced, you expect a little kick of flavor. There was flavor, but not enough. I did enjoy it very much!


Finally Erik had the Chopped Wood-Grilled Chicken Bowl Wood-Grilled Chicken Thighs marinated with Garlic and Olive Oil topped with Crunchy Vegetable Slaw and Boba Balls served with your choice of Base and Sauce $11.49

He had it with the Red & Sweet Potato Hash and the Creamy Herb sauce as well. He loved this dish and said he would order it again in a heartbeat. I had planned on trying the potatoes, but I enjoyed mine so much that I never got around to it.


We also decided to try the two Satuli’ beers to share. Mo'ara High Country Ale - Draft Beer 16oz Amber Ale brewed for the Nature Lover with herbal spice hop aroma and a malty flavor profile featuring notes of caramel, toffee, and nuts, $8.25 and Hawkes' Grog Ale - Draft Beer 16oz Green in color, with a fruity hop character including apricot and peach with a hint of wheat on the finish, $8.25

Looking back we should have only ordered the Hawkes' Grog Ale, as that one is more our type of beer. But both were okay. Not the best, not the worst.


We thought about ordering dessert but I really wanted to try the lumpia at Pongu Pongu. We ordered one, and to my delight no one in my family enjoyed it. Well not my delight, I do wish the liked it, but it meant more for me.

We took bathroom breaks in they pretty cool bathrooms in Pandora and headed back out. Even with my lumpia, I was feeling rough and it was HOT!! We took it slow.

Our destination?

I had originally planned on both Dinosaur and Everest, but neither of the kids were remotely interested in riding Everest and I wasn’t in the state of mind to care or argue with them. So we headed to Dinosaur. I was feeling rough, really really really rough and I honestly wasn’t sure if I could make it through the wait. The wait was about 35 minutes and although it probably moved faster, I wasn’t going to bet on it. I instead sat down at a table outside Restaurantosaurus. I ask Erik if he could go get a DAS pass while I recovered a bit.


While he was gone I ordered a couple of the signature drinks by mobile order and I went and picked them up when he got back.

Wildberry Lemonade

$4.79

The kids were glad for the break as well. It had been only a half hour since we got up from lunch and we were all spent. It was so hot and I don’t think we were prepared for it. The sugar in the lemonade did pick us up a bit, at least enough to finish our AK adventure.


At 1:14 we were heading into Dinosaur… and you can see the day was wearing on me in my eyes.

E took this photo after I told him it was the chemical makeup of Ketchup, Mayo and Mustard!

Before we knew it we were headed through the toaster and into the jurassic period!

We all love this ride, it is a must do for us!

FINALLY we started making our way out of the park, when we realized we still hadn’t gotten our photos. We stopped in front of the Tree of Life, where they had two photographers. The line wasn’t very long, but the line we got in the photographer was very through. LOTS of poses, lots of individual shots, lots of jokes. Usually this isn’t an issue, but all we really wanted to do was get our photos.

When it was our turn the photographer made a huge deal over Lorelai’s birthday button, including a round of crowd Happy Birthday. I had noticed that he was scanning MagicBands before the photos were taken, but during the ruckus over Lorelai he didn’t scan any bands.

We had our photoshoot.

Park #2

As we left I ask him to scan my band but he insisted that he had already scanned a band at the beginning. I should have insisted, but he was already on to the next family. I noted the time, as I had a feeling that we would end up in a PhotoPass store that evening.

We headed out of the park and as we were walking toward the exit I called a Uber. I was soooo ready for a nap. $8.95 but WELL WORTH IT!!

Next Up: A nap and we soldier on!