A Spell Casting, Rocking, Terrible Twos, B'day Disney Exploration – May '18 TR & Sept '18 Mini TR

[Smilelea]

Chapter 3 continued…

G loved this slide!
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I think he went down it 10 times before we called for a break. D refused to try it. C tried out this slide.
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Next thing we know we were all told to get out of the pool. Something had happened and it needed to be cleaned. We sat it out for a little while and watched a couple of lizards run in and out of the foliage. We also did some people watching. At one point, an older lady (older as in older than me but not necessarily “old”) got in the pool. C and I were surprised. I mean, come on! Did she not notice that there was NO ONE else in the pool? Did she not see all the people sitting and watching them clean it? She made it pretty far in when a lifeguard finally hollered (nicely) for her to get out because it was having to be cleaned. The lady hollered back that no one had told her and there were no signs posted. Really!?!

Shortly after this, we gave it up and headed back inside with 2 disappointed children. We did baths and started getting ready for the next day. Half way through packing the park bag I realized that we had left G’s hat at the pool.

This hat:
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I have no idea what he is doing.

In all honesty, this was the 3rd time we’d lost it. A nice stranger found it the first time and called out to us at AK. The second time was when we had been strolling trying to get him to sleep while D waited to see Dug and Russell. I had to backtrack our steps and found it.

So the third time is the charm or so they say. I loaded G into the stroller and headed to the pool. I was really stressing it wouldn’t still be there this time and this is one of his favorites. Thankfully, when I rounded the curve to where our seats had been, it was right were we’d left it.

I headed back to the room with a happy G and we finished up the packing and went to bed.

We had another first for us the next morning.

Side note: I did ask Gran & Papa their thoughts on FOP the next day. Papa loved it (as I knew he would). Gran, on the other hand, said she closed her eyes a lot. C had told them both to not look around but to look straight the entire time. Papa said he did look around once and got a little motion sick so he didn’t do it again. Gran said she didn’t like the sudden drops but she was happy she tried it.​

 

[Smilelea]

I really like Sunshine Seasons though. But it might not be your kids' kinda fare? I just like that they have "real" food, even for some of the kids' options. Also, last month I ate at the QS place at the American Pavillion for the first time, and I didn't have very high expectations, but I thought it was relatively decent for a burgers-and-fries kind of spot.

I like Sunshine Seasons too. We tried it the last trip and had a really hard time finding something D and G would eat. C couldn't find anything and ended up with a cinnamon roll. But i could eat there anytime.

Good to know about the American Pavilion. We need to remember that for the next time.

You guys must have been really proud of him for doing such a great job talking in front of everyone.

We were!

Great report! We have two boys, so I enjoy reading reports involving little ones. I love how timely you post. So jealous that you're DVC! We might rent points for February to test the waters before purchasing.

Thanks! Boys are the best! I'm trying to get as many updates done while it's summer and I'm not working as much. Once school starts back... who knows when I'll have time.

Staying deluxe after staying value was so cool! Our DVC friends did tell us that once you go deluxe, you won't go back. I think renting points and trying it out first is a good idea. We didn't do that but C did do a whole lot of research before we made any big decisions. We also visited AKL before purchasing just to be sure we liked the resort.

 

[Lesley Wake]

G was still off and on cranky but was, thankfully, staying in his highchair for the moment. When I finally got some tartar sauce for my fish he insisted on having some. I tried telling him that it wasn’t ranch but he didn’t believe me. I expected him to cry when he tasted it, but no, he loved it. He dipped his chicken in it and ate it . At one point, he tried to drink it.

Yeah that sounds gross to me, but if it keeps a kid happy?

He decided he wanted to sit with Gran and Papa. The cast members told us to load into 2 different cars, the 3 of us in one and the 3 of them in another. So we did. Well, it took a while to get everyone loaded and then a cast member went to their car and told Papa he needed to move to our car to make room for a couple more people. D lost it! He wanted to be in the car with both of them. So he cried the entire ride.

That is pretty annoying, especially if the kid is really upset!

The one duck actually begged. He would quack periodically and look up at C and D. I’ve never seen a duck beg. The boys loved watching them

I'd totally think that was cute too!

 

[jchurch0409]

Joining in!

 

[Smilelea]

Hello my disfriends! I don’t know about the rest of you but our summer has flown by. School (work) starts for me in 2 weeks and for the boys a week after that. I haven’t done any school supply shopping . I was at a week-long conference last week and I’ve spent this week resting as well as trying to fill our last few free days with fun things before its back to the grind. On Sunday, D asked me to schedule the rest of his playdates . He gave me a list of 6 friends he wanted to play with but we only had 3 days we could do playdates . In the end, we got it figured out for him to be able to play with 2 of them. We scheduled one more zoo trip and one more science museum trip.


In the midst of being depressed about going back to work/school, we’ve also been working on plans for our Sept. Disney trip. Well, really and truly, C has been doing most of the planning as usual. Tomorrow is our FP day. We were able to get the ADRs we (I) wanted and I’m excited to say we are trying some new places. D still doesn’t know about this trip. He has, however, consented to being Buzz for a “special Halloween party” and I’ve been able to get his costume taken care of.


So, just to summarize our plans so far:


9/19 – fly in; check in @ BCV; Epcot for a few hours; transfer to HS for Moonlight Magic (don’t have tickets for this yet and C is stressing a little over possibly not being able to get them)


9/20 – Cape May ADR; Check-out; AK for a while; Chef Mickey’s ADR (new); Check in @ BLT; watch fireworks from balcony


9/21 – check-out; HS Toy Story Land Preview if don’t get MM tickets; MK; CRT ADR (new); MNSSHP; Check in @ CCV


9/22 – check-out; lunch ADR at either WCC (new) or B&C; fly home


And as far as January trip goes – I’m all registered for WDW Half Marathon and D is registered for the kid’s race!!!!!! We’ve also gotten ADRs made for this trip but I’ll update on those at a later time.


Now on to another May update.​

Chapter 4: Hollywood Studios – “A Minnie Van Disaster”

Steps: 17,058

We were up at 6:10 am because we were trying a new restaurant before heading to HS. The plan was to tryout the Minnie Vans because we were going to another resort and we didn’t want to risk being late by taking multiple buses. C had downloaded the app previously. So we got downstairs to the lobby and he put in that we needed one. The boys parked themselves in front of the TV while we waited.



A few moments later, it canceled our request. So he did it again. And it canceled. Then he went for a third time . In the meantime, he suggested we walk to the buses just in case. As we rounded the bend, we saw a HS bus waiting. At the same time, the Minnie Van canceled for the 3rd time. So we jogged towards the bus in hopes he would wait on us and thankfully he did. We were the only ones on the bus. While on our way, I messaged Gran to tell her we had to change our transportation and we were coming by bus. They were on their way via personal car. When we arrived at HS we headed towards the walkway. We saw all of the construction and got a little confused. Then we saw a bus that was going to the resort, so we walked over and asked the driver how long it would be. He said he couldn’t pull-out until 8:00am. I asked C if that would still give us enough time to make our ADR and the driver said he would pull-out a few minutes early. So we got on and I messaged Gran again.

We arrived at Boardwalk right at our ADR time. We got off the bus and headed inside – not really knowing where we were going. A couple behind us said they were following us (they had overheard where we were going and were going to the same place). I mentioned that it might not be a good idea and the lady said “You’re sense of direction can’t be worse than mine.” We all laughed and kept going at a brisk pace. We made it inside and were immediately caught by a DVC guy. It must have been obvious that we were in a hurry because he asked if we were headed to eat and he nicely gave directions. He also put in a little DVC plug which we were able to say “We’re already members” as we walked away.

We finally arrived at Trattoria al Forno 3 mins late and Gran and Papa were there. We’d been waiting about 2 minutes when the parade started. The boys wanted to join in so we did. Flynn Rider tried to give G a high five as we walked by and G snubbed him . G was focused on Rapunzel. The parade ended and we joined the others back to wait. We only waited a few more minutes and then they called us.

To be honest, I don’t really remember much other than G fussing pretty much the entire time. He refused to sit in his high chair. He only wanted to sit with me. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with any of the first 3 characters. He kept asking for Rapunzel which so happened to be the last one to our table (of course). He refused to eat anything, including the fruit, until after Rapunzel came over.

Here are some of the pictures:



Didn't remember to take a picture until after we'd already eaten some of it.



This picture says it all!


At least G isn't screaming

All is right in the world now.



But after he saw Rapunzel, he ate ALL of the blueberries from everyone’s fruit bowls. And that’s it. I was able to eat once he chilled out. I ordered the Tangled Eggs and I think Papa did too. They were good but I don’t remember them being great. I tried some of the pastries and didn’t have any complaints about them. D tried one of the muffins and said he really liked it. I believe it was C that ordered the Tower of Pancakes. I think D went with the Mickey Waffle. I don’t remember what Gran ordered but it may have been the Tangled Eggs.

As far as the character interactions, D was his usual “in awe” self and they did try to engage G, he just wasn’t having it until Rapunzel. But as usual, Character interactions at character meals are not what I’d consider ideal. We do them because the boys do like meeting the characters and in many cases, it’s the only way to meet some of the characters. Another positive I liked about this one is the Bon Voyage Adventure Journal that D got. Before this trip, his teacher told us that she wasn’t going to send home any extra work like she did our last trip because he was doing so well. She did say that he could write a little something and share it with his class when he returned. When we saw this, we thought it would be perfect for him to fill in and share with his class (which he did and he said all but 2 of his classmates clapped when he finished sharing ).

Summary: We were very disappointed with the entire Minnie Van fiasco. After that morning, we saw them EVERYWHERE, including our resort and in the morning time at that. All we can figure is that a driver never picked up our request so it just automatically cancelled it after a period of time. Will we give the Minnie Van’s another chance? Maybe one day.

We finished up breakfast and headed back to HS. D chose to ride with the grandparents and the 3 of us chose to walk. We beat them there and started applying sunscreen while we waited. C told me we were in our RnR FP window but after talking to Gran & Papa we decided to just skip it. I could tell G was already getting tired so we headed over to the Disney Jr. area for meet and greets.


G didn’t want to meet her.



G wanted to see him but then didn’t want to interact with him. He refused to get a picture with him.​

Continued in next post….

 

[Smilelea]

Chapter 4 continued…

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It was pretty much the same for BB8.


We asked D if he wanted to meet Kylo Ren and he said no – again. Papa and Gran didn’t care either way even though Papa is more of a Star Wars fan. So we meandered out through the gift shop. G and I headed on outside while the others looked around. I just happened to check the Disney Jr. Show time and say it was starting in 1 minute. I asked the Cast Member if we could still go in and she said if we hurried. I yelled and started waving at the others to hurry and we ran in just in time. G had moments of excitement and then moments of “I don’t really care”. He did love the bubbles and kept asking for more after they were gone. D was enthralled even though he had told us previously he didn’t care to see it again. G was very disappointed when it ended and they didn’t do the Hot Dog Dance (well, that is how all of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse shows end ).


After the show, we finished up with these character meets…



G was so excited to meet Jake.



Gran had to get some Pluto love, too.


G almost didn’t get a pic with Pluto. He decided last minute that he wanted in.


Then it was time for out ToT FPs. Gran stayed with the boys while the rest of us rode. G fell asleep.





Then we headed over to meet…





They are always a great interaction for us. Dale insisted that we include G in some of the pictures. It was so sweet!


While in line for C&D (less than 10 min wait), Gran and Papa wanted a picture in front of the Star Wars wall.


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Continued in next post….

 

[Smilelea]

Chapter 4 continued…

By this time, I was getting hungry and I think everyone else was too. Since we were already in the area, we decided to try a new-to-us QS – PizzeRizzo. I had to wake up G which I knew was probably going to be bad. AND it was. I told C just to order us a pizza to share and to get D whatever he wanted. I took G to find a table. He screamed and he fussed and he refused to eat anything and it was just another mess. I managed to eat some before finally taking him out to change him. We initially didn’t bring the stroller in because I wasn’t sure if we could. When we walked in, I saw others that had and wished that we had brought ours in. So after changing him, I went and got it. By this time, the others were finished eating so we packed up and left; which is when G decided he wanted to eat. And he did. Continuously. I thought he was going to eat everything I had packed.

We headed to see Olaf but on the way, we saw they were starting Jedi Training. D wanted to watch so C took him closer and the rest of us found a semi-shaded spot so G could keep eating.

D said he liked it but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to do it.

Next we headed to Olaf where we waited 15 -20 mins before…



Then it was time for Star Tours FP. D refused to ride so I sat it out so the others could ride. We found a shaded spot by Olaf’s entrance and people watched. G climbed on anything and everything and D kept asking when they would be back .

They returned and we headed to find a snack that I’d been wanting to try. I told C to get on his phone and find which place had it. He did and we went looking for the Trolley Car Café. I knew I had read that the original place that had this had closed and that in the move the cookie itself had somewhat changed. Well, I never tried the original one but this one was excellent. Gran and Papa each got one as well as some kind of iced coffee. I got the one cookie, a brownie of some kind for D, and I think 4 ice waters. I didn’t realize until after I was out that I didn’t even think to get C anything . He did end up helping D eat his brownie once D decided he was finished. C is not a carrot cake fan. Ha! More for me!

Anyways, back to the plan. We were headed to meet the characters from the boys’ shirts when we made the snack pit stop. I knew it was going to be a long wait so I figured having a snack to help fill the time was a good idea. I explained what was about to happen and encouraged Gran & Papa to find a seat in the shade to eat their snacks and wait. I told them I would let them know once we were close to the front of the line. They agreed with my suggestion and even took G with them. D chose to wait with us. Gran & Papa texted at one point to say that the green army men were out and G was enjoying watching them, as well as, enjoying playing with the straw in his water cup and making a mess. Whatever works!

When we were about 3 families back, we texted to tell them to join us. Soon after, we were seeing…



G loves him some Woody!


Gran had to get one with Buzz.

Another exciting moment was that Buzz SIGNED G’s pillowcase. We were excitedly surprised! We expected a stamp that I wasn’t so sure would work out once it was washed but I was willing to risk it. Afterwards, D wasn’t happy because Buzz hasn’t signed his pillowcase (we didn’t even get his out because Woody already signed his). So, now we have to try for another Buzz signature at some point.

On our way to the last thing planned for this day we walked by One Man’s Dream and Papa saw the sign for Guardians of the Galaxy meet. We asked him if he wanted to stop and he said it didn’t matter. So we asked D (knowing he didn’t really know who they were) and he said yes. I don’t ever remember walking in the building before and was very happy that we had afterwards. There’s a lot of cool stuff in there!

Anyways, back to the character meet. C explained to D who we were about to meet as best as he could. The wait was extremely short (which we knew it would be) and before we knew it…



This was another great interaction. The boys thoroughly enjoyed this one despite not knowing who they were. G sat right down and had a conversation. Then he showed off some dance moves . Because of this great interaction, D wanted to watch the movie (which he did once we got back home) and now he wants to be Groot for Halloween (real Halloween. Not for the “special Halloween party” ).​

Continued in next post….

 

[Smilelea]

Chapter 4 continued…

Before we left the park for the day, we managed to see a few more fun and even some new characters.


C was trying to take this picture and he told me to "Move closer. She won't cast a spell on you." In which she replied, "Maybe."


G wanted to see Donald.


But not Minnie.. at least at first.

After some coaxing from Minnie, he gave in.



Then we decided to call it a day and head out. The boys really wanted to swim again and Gran and Papa were tired. So we split ways with a plan to meet back up the next morning.

We stopped off a Jambo House for supper at The Mara. Hey, did you know that even though mac-n-cheese isn’t on the menu you can ask for it? Yep! Life saver! G said he wanted mac-n-cheese and he got it. Thank goodness! C got a burger of some kind. D got a burger and I got the chicken flatbread. We ate fairly quickly and then managed to walk out right as the shuttle was there.

We checked for animals and saw some. Yay!



We then changed and headed to the pool. This time we started with checking out the kids’ area first. The boys played for a few minutes but they didn’t seem all that thrilled with it. There were a couple of other boys playing rather rough and loud. They kept aiming the water shooters (whatever they’re called) at the boys and screaming. D said he preferred to go to the big pool so we did. G went down the slide a gazillion times. D continued to refuse to even try it. I tried out the big slide this time. It was fun but once was enough for me. They were having a pool party and had balls out as well as a dance party going on. G loved playing with the balls and about 20 minutes before going in, D got up enough nerve to join the kids in the dance party. He had a blast and came out of it with a glow in the dark necklace, glasses, and bracelets. G ended up going under the water and it scared him so much that he and I got out of the pool. I wrapped him up in a towel and he passed out a few minutes later. We decided then to call it a night.​

 

[Smilelea]

That is pretty annoying, especially if the kid is really upset!

Agreed! I know he gets upset easily, and he did get over it once we did something else to take his mind off of it, but still...

Joining in!

 

[missjackiemcg]

What an awesome character-filled day!!! Rough start with the Minnie van issue, but thankfully it did'nt spoil your reservation.

 

[Smilelea]

7 Days!!!​

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We leave in 7 days!!! ​

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So much for getting this report done before we leave. I’ve had absolutely no time to do anymore updates since school has started. I have managed to stay up to date on the trip reports I’ve been following but mostly as a lurker (sorry everyone!). ​

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On the other hand, have I mentioned that WE LEAVE IN 7 DAYS?!?!? I’ve been secretly taking things downstairs to get ready to pack since we aren’t telling the boys until we get them up to go to the airport. We’ve managed to keep it from them but still be able to talk about the trip in front of them under the cover of our January trip. We feel so sneaky! ​

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So, small update on our upcoming trip: C did manage to get us into MM at HS the night we arrive. We’ve also decided to keep the AP Toy Story Land Preview passes in case MM turns out to be a bust. Plus C couldn’t figure out how to cancel them without calling and decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. ​

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C has our spreadsheet for MNSSHP ready and Moana is first. She is #1 priority since the boys are now obsessed with the movie and the music. G demands that we play the songs over and over every time we get in the car as well as at home. I finally had to download them because we were you-tubing them every time he asked. C says we should go as Moana characters instead of Toy Story. He would be Maui, I would be Moana (Ha! Yeah right!), D would be Pua, and G could be Heihei. I’m not sure what he’s trying to hint at .​

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So, I say all of this to say, we leave in 7 days! We are excited! AND I will try to get an update in by Fall Break . I’ll probably do a mini-update on next week’s trip within this trip report.​

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Adios! ​

 

[missjackiemcg]

7 days! Hoooray!!! My countdown is a slightly longer 466 days LOL Enjoy the last few days of secretive packing and prepping. Can't wait to hear how the morning surprise goes

 

[Smilelea]

Chapter 5: Magic Kingdom – “It goes down!!!!”


Steps: 23,173

We were up at 7 am, at the bus stop by 8:10 am, and the bus arrived about 8:35 am. We made it to MK with hopes of getting through security quickly. No such luck. Our security guard was a talker! I thought I was going to scream. We were in a hurry and he just wanted to chat with everyone! Another guest noticed the look on my face and said “He is in the wrong job if he just wants to talk.” I agreed. Didn’t he realize we were here early for a reason!? ​

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We finally made it through. Gran & Papa decided they would wait and meet us for our first FP at 10:05 so we headed to the far right and squeezed in as close to the front as we could. D did not like this but G was perfectly content in the stroller. We could see bits and pieces of the welcome show but that’s about it. Finally it was time to go through. ​

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Let me just say that we really aren’t rope drop people. None of us like the crowds. But we were on a mission this morning and I was going to be highly upset if we missed out. (Because we were here for me, right? – Yeah C had to reign me in a bit )​

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So we make it over to the place we thought we were supposed to be and we waited. We were the only ones. Eventually a PP Photographer came over. We asked if we were in the right place and she told us we were “if” the character was meeting that day. She didn’t know because she was really Merida’s photographer. So we kept waiting. Then we asked her if we could get the Cheshire cat magic shot and she said she doesn’t usually do that one but she’d try. ​

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Afterwards she mentioned the character should be out in about 10 minutes. 10 minutes passed and nothing. She left and we kept looking and hoping to see another photographer come out. A few minutes later we saw her coming.​

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Then, this….​

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D was awestruck. Alice kept trying to get him to converse but all he could do was smile and stare. It really is great how the characters can carry on a conversation without anyone really having to converse back ​

Continued in next post…..

 

[Smilelea]

Chapter 5 continued…

Then we headed over to see Merida but the wait ended up being longer than we thought so we headed to get my obligatory once-a-trip breakfast. Gaston’s Tavern was surprisingly not crowded. C took the boys and found a table right outside. I joined them shortly after and C decided to go check the line for Gaston. The boys and I ate my cinnamon roll and then we joined C.





He asked D if his name started with an A. He told him no that it started with a D. Gaston asked him something else but I missed it due to trying to corral G. #terribletwos


Next we headed to meet Gran & Papa at our first FP. They got a little lost but finally found us by Peter Pan. D rode with them while the 3 of us rode together.


D insisted on riding Small World afterwards.





Then we headed to our next FP. Now, if you’ve been following along then you may know about D and his anxiety. I’ve also mentioned that we make him choose at least one new ride to try every trip. This trip he decided to try 7DMT. On the way over we started talking about it and he started getting upset. C got pretty frustrated with him but didn’t make him ride. He, Gran and Papa went to ride. After they left, D decided he wanted to ride with me.





When they got back, we went to ride. He was okay walking through the FP queue. But, when we got up to the front and he saw the ride take-off he started to freak-out. He kept saying, “It goes fast!” I managed to get him on and he grabbed my arm. Then he saw the downward slope and started saying over and over, “It goes down! It goes down!” He kept a death grip on my arm and his head down the entire ride until we slowed in the mines. Then he looked up. But he grabbed my arm back when we sped up again. He managed to make it through without crying. He now says his favorite part is the mine part and he never wants to ride again.





Since we were close by, we decided to get on one of G’s favorites before grabbing some lunch.


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Continued in next post…

 

[Smilelea]

Chapter 5 continued…

We grabbed some lunch at Pinocchio’s. Gran & Papa split the chicken parmesan sandwich, fries, and a salad. G&D both chose the mac-n-cheese. I tried the Mediterranean Salad (it was okay) and C got his usual chicken nuggets.​

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Then it was time to head to our 3rd FP. Our last time to see Talking Mickey before he no longer talked. ​

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I had to post enough pictures to tell the story. They boys were ecstatic. They paraded with Mickey until G started his usual “being a typical 2 year old”. Then we all joined in for a family pic. I love the look on G’s face. ​

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We paused to shop around a bit and G found the hats.​

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D got a couple of ideas for what to spend his money on and we ended up getting the hat for G. Gran found a shirt she wanted but not in her size. A cast member called around and said they had one at another shop so we headed over to get it. ​

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Next, we headed to a must for Gran & Papa. Right after we used our FP for Mickey, C got on the app to grab one for HM. G fell asleep on the way over (which is what I had hoped for) so he and I went to find a seat by the Rapunzel bathrooms while the others rode. We found a bench semi shaded and chilled for a bit. By the time they met up with us, I decided it was time for a snack. So we headed to Storybook Treats for some ice cream. It was crowded and there were no open tables. I eyeballed a family that looked like they were finishing up and started inching that way. I tried not to be “that” person but I also wanted that table with the umbrella. They left and we grabbed it. There were no evil looks exchanged, etc. ​

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We finished our snacks and G was still sleeping soundly. So we found another shaded spot over by King Triton and the rest of the group went to see Ariel.​

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Continued in next post…

 

[Smilelea]

Chapter 5 continued…

G was still sleeping so we headed to ride Dumbo. Gran & Papa decided to sit this one out. D said he wanted to ride with me so C rode by himself.​

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This is my terrible attempt to take a pic of C behind us.​

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We asked D what he wanted to do next and he chose Goofy and Donald. They all went to see them while I sat with a still sleeping G.​

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I have no idea what they're talking about.
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C & D finished up with the guys just as G finally woke up and decided he wanted out. So we went to meet Daisy and Minnie.​

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G refused to go up to Daisy but he ran over to Minnie. Then of course afterwards he wanted to see Daisy but it was too late. #terribletwos​

Continued in next post…

 

[Smilelea]

Chapter 5 continued…

We all met back up outside and Gran & Papa decided they wanted to split up and go do a few things on their own. We decided we’d let them know when we were headed back to the room and they might come over and visit. They headed to the Hall of Presidents and we headed to Winnie the Pooh. C had grabbed a FP for it right after HM. We got over there to find it was closed down. They didn’t know for how long. Shortly after, C checked the app and we all had a multi-experience FP (good for everything but 7DMT & PP). He looked and saw Enchanted Tales with Belle was available. We asked D and he said he wanted to do it again. So C grabbed it for a little later.


We still had time to kill so we headed to People Mover. It closed and then reopened within a short period of time so we got on. Then we headed to see Belle. D decided he wanted to participate this time. He was chosen to play Maurice!





He was great! We kept waiting for a meltdown but none came. He followed instructions and did exactly what he was supposed to when he was supposed to. He loved it and we were so proud!


Gran & Papa sent a text about this time saying they were headed back to the camper. We headed to ride Pirates.





Then we decided it was time for another snack. I finally got to try the Pineapple Float and the guys got… I honestly don’t remember. I’m pretty sure D got a plain vanilla swirl and I think I just shared mine with G. C got his own…something. We snacked and then headed to Jungle Cruise for another FP. C grabbed a 5th or 6th or I-don’t-really-know-what-#-FP for Cinderella and Elena while we were in line. We had a little time to kill before the window opened so we decided to check out SFR Tree House for the first time.





D had a meltdown about half-way up over the height but there was no turning back so we just had to push through. C kept talking him through it and he calmed down.


Then we headed to see Cinderella and Elena


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Continued in next post…

 

[Smilelea]

Chapter 5 continued…

Then Carousel. G kept asking to ride “horses” every time we passed it so we had to get it in before we left. ​

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Finally, we were ready to leave. They were roping paths off to get ready for the fireworks so it took some maneuvering to get out. We finally made it to the bus and it was packed. There was standing room only and D got upset. Another extremely sweet guest gave up his seat so D could sit. He passed out pretty quickly. I texted Gran and Papa and they said they were just too tired to get back out. We didn’t blame them so we all just called it a night. ​

Whew! Well at least I got in one more update before we leave. 3 DAYS!!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Ooh, I don't think I've seen that Cheshire Cat magic shot before! So cute! And how awesome that you got to ride with Alice!! I also loved your family photo with Mickey - how sweet! I hope you have the most amazing trip coming up!

 

[Smilelea]

7 days! Hoooray!!! My countdown is a slightly longer 466 days LOL Enjoy the last few days of secretive packing and prepping. Can't wait to hear how the morning surprise goes

A countdown is a countdown! That's got to better than no countdown, right?
So far the packing is going well. No ones seems to suspect a thing. It helps that I'm also having to get items ready to sale in our local consignment sale right when we get back. They're used to that chaos so the packing fits right in.

Ooh, I don't think I've seen that Cheshire Cat magic shot before! So cute! And how awesome that you got to ride with Alice!! I also loved your family photo with Mickey - how sweet! I hope you have the most amazing trip coming up!

Thank you!