A tale as old as time TR (Pre Covid! Completed 5/7/21) - Started my 2019 solo TR! (Updated with F&W 7/10)

[WonderWoman28]

Hi there, hey, hello!

I'm Emily and I've been a Dis lurker since 2016. I've responded to a few threads, asked a few questions here and there but not much else. I've always really enjoyed following along with trip reports, and even wrote notes during my 2018 trip, but never actually wrote the report. The Disney hangover paired with the Disney blues is pretty real for me and I always feel like I need a few weeks to decompress after a trip, then never get back to the boards when the Disney blues set in. One thing I enjoy most about the reports is how they always aid in planning my next trip. I love reading people's honest opinions about resorts, restaurants, park day game plans etc. So, I'm going to do a little introduction, attempt a little bit of an old TR from 2018 because lets be honest, sometimes its nice to read a trip report from pre COVID Disney, and then talk about our upcoming plans!



Be warned - you know those recipes you find on google where the blogger tells you their entire life story before they actually get to the recipe? I feel like that's going to be this post. I tend to be a rambler, and I end up telling you all about my life before I actually get to the point. Look, I like to set the stage, paint the picture, really give you a good feel for what I'm like before I dive in. So if you want to avoid all that, feel free to skip this part, if you're going to brave the journey then hold on tight and lets dive in!



Like I said, I'm Emily, I'm a 32 year old mom of 3 who is also married to a Disney addict. I've been a NICU nurse for going on 9 years and I work nights, so you'll sometimes see me lurking around the boards at 3 am during a break from the babies. My first Disney trip was in 1991 when I was 3 years old, I feel like I shouldn't have a ton of memories from then but we had a photo album dedicated to that trip that I looked at often, which I think helped keep the memories alive. My next trip was in 1995 when I was 7, this trip it was just my grandparents (who took us on all of our vacations) and my only sister. This trip was a blast. At the time we were the only grandchildren and we were so spoiled with attention, it was the best. My last childhood trip was October of 1999 when Disney started their celebrations for Y2K, Epcot and SE being all decked out was so cool! (stock image below)



I remember discussions about more trips when I was younger but my grandparents thought we should go on different adventures. My grandpa hated going to Florida so we never went back, it was 14 years before I made the journey back to Disney and I swear I've been planning a new trip ever since.

My favorite Disney movies include Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Mary Poppins. There isn't a Disney ride I wont go on but Splash Mountain and PPF are my nostalgic favorites while Soarin' and FOP are my newer favorites. I absolutely love Disney food, and I have a huge collection of Disney mugs. I'm a fake Star Wars fan just to fit in with my family but have never watched a full movie. If I had to skip a park it would be HS, I used to say Epcot was my second favorite behind MK but AK is really right up there with the addition of Pandora. MK and Epcot are just so nostalgic for me, HS is nothing like the MGM I knew growing up and I visited AK only once as a child after it opened in 1998.

Ok, see, I ramble. Moving right along!

Next up is my husband Max, we've have known each other since elementary school (small town and what not) and started dating in high school. We've been together going on 16 years, married for 8 and somehow survived that weird finding yourself phase, nursing school, trade school for him (plumber), and having 3 kids. His first and only family trip was when he was 16, and he realized he was obsessed after our first trip together in 2013. We've taken a few non-Disney trips since and every time he says "we should have just gone to Disney" . He loves Star Wars, Marvel, The Nightmare Before Christmas, skips the thrill rides, and loves the food. He worked really hard for this trip we're currently planning - but more on that later.

My oldest daughter L is 11, and has been to Disney 3 times and thankfully still likes us enough to be excited for another trip. She loves the rides and the snacks, has never really been into the princesses but loves The Nightmare Before Christmas and Star Wars. Her favorite ride is Soarin' and is probably my most adventurous eater.

Next in line is my middle guy O who is 6, he's apprehensive about rides but gets dragged on them anyway. He's the worlds pickiest eater and his favorite Disney snack is popcorn . He loves Star Wars and Toy Story and is my guy that would have sat in the stroller the entire last trip just taking everything in.

Lastly is my baby that acts anything like the youngest, A who is currently 5 (O & A are 15 months apart ). She is so wildly independent, and on our last trip had places to go and people to see. She's willing to try new foods but tends to kindly decline most after the first bite. She's my girly girl, dress wearing, princess obsessed sassy pants.




Here's my crew from our October 2018 trip. ODD was 9, DS 4, and YDD 2.5 (FYI, my children are really tall, YDD I believe was about 41-42' this trip and was able to ride more than we thought).

So if you're still here, wow thanks! I'm going to attempt to write somewhat of a trip report that's almost 2.5 years old, just because I really miss Disney and pre COVID reports, and I feel like we learned so much with our last trip that I wanted to share in hopes that some day WDW can go back to a somewhat normal state.



I'll link the posts as I go! Hang with me, the first few are a little short!

2018 Family Trip
The plans before the plans and the actual plans
The pre-travel day
Day 1 - Travel day
Day 1 Part 2 - Where is our luggage?
Day 2 - Let's get to the parks!
Day 2 Part 2 - Pandora!
Day 2 Part 3 - Is that a freaking fire alarm?
Day 3 - Its Magic Kingdom's Birthday??
Day 3 Part 2 - I swear, they enjoyed the rides!
Day 4 - A not so lazy lazy day!
Day 5 - Soar around the world!
Day 5 Part 2 - Some food and some wine!
Day 6 - Boo to you and you and you and you!
Day 6 Part 2 - Spotting the big guy - no, not Santa.
Day 7 - A quick trip to HS
Day 8 - Tragical Express

2019 Solo Trip
How it all came together!
Solo Trip - Day 1
Day 1 Part 2 - And we just kept swimming.
Day 2 - OMG its Tigger!
Day 2 Part 2 - Have fun and hydrate!
​

 

[WonderWoman28]

The plans before the plans and the actual plans
This one is a wordy guy

Just what you wanted, a little more background before this trip

Let me just start off by saying that 2018 was a difficult year for us and my extended family. My mom had my sister and I young (she was 17 & 21), so growing up we didn't have a lot. All vacations we took were with my grandparents. Most of my fondest childhood memories were spending almost all summer at my grandparents and trips with them (they traveled 2-3 times a year). As I ventured into adulthood I had a strained relationship with my mother, which led to my sister (4 years older than myself) and I to rely on my grandma as our go to gal. We went to her for our life advice, to help with our struggles and celebrate our wins.

In February of 2018 while my grandparents were taking their 2 month winter hiatus in Gulf Shores, AL (we're from NY) my grandma became ill and was ultimately diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer (she was not a smoker, not that it makes it any easier). My grandparents had 3 daughters, 5 grandchildren (ranging 13-34 at the time), and my 3 were their only great grandchildren. One of my aunts drove with her husband the next week to help them pack and travel back home (my grandparents never flew, it was "a waste of money" and road trips were half the adventure). We spent the next 6 months trying different treatments to prolong the inevitable, but she ultimately passed at the end of August at home. My sister had been living with them at the time and had been taking on majority of the responsibility as her caregiver once she was placed in hospice, all while managing to work half days 5 days a week. My aunt and I stepped in as much as possible to give her a reprieve and as it seems to be with most families when their matriarch passes, there was a lot of family turmoil between the three daughters trickling down to the oldest grandchildren. My grandma would often kick them out saying she wanted time with her grandchild and great grandchildren as we were the only ones who got a long and didn't' stress her out.

The reason I'm sharing all this is because we had planned a year in advance to leave for Disney September 29, 2018 and my sister was coming with my family. We kept tossing around the idea of canceling the trip, or postponing it not being sure how much time we had left with her or if we'd even be in the right state of mind once the trip arrived. Ultimately we kept things as scheduled per my grandma. She said "don't you dare cancel that trip, you kids need it". Since you did what my grandma told you to do, we kept the trip, and of course it ended up being exactly what we needed.





A brief overview of my previous trips

My grandparents have owned in Wyndham since the early 80's and their timeshare ownership was in Tennessee. With their membership they also had access to RCI, which you could get cheap timeshare resorts booked last minute. Gowning up, our Disney trips were always at a timeshare off of Disney property, we always drove, and we rarely ate at Disney parks. When I took my first family trip as an adult in 2013 my grandparents and sister traveled with DH, ODD, and myself, I felt we had to travel and plan the same way they had. We went for 7 nights the first week in November and did 5 park days (no PH), we booked our offsite condos (about $600), drove down (from NY - about 17 hours), packed lunches only eating at 2 Disney restaurants, drove to each park, and did everything as cheaply as possible. One the drive down DH got an insane speeding ticket in VA that ended up costing us almost as much as flights would have, and we kept feeling like we wished we would have done more Disney dining, and wished we had stayed on site to take advantage of the parks transportation so we could have a few drinks during the day.



2013 - ODD4 and we had no good family picture from this trip

That led to our next trip being a full Disney experience. We had DS in September 2014, that spring we started booking and planning for our Spring 2016 trip when he'd be 18 months old. Surprise! A few months later we found out we were expecting YDD, we tossed around bringing her, canceling the trip, or shortening the trip. We ended up shortening the trip to a measly 3 nights and my sister and grandma (who were my regular babysitters as it was) kept YDD. The guilt that was involved was insane, but to this day obviously YDD doesn't remember missing Disney when she was 3 months old, and the other 2 don't remember us leaving her behind. This was a whirlwind of a trip, we did everything the Disney way. We flew down southwest nonstop (about 2.5 hours), took the ME and stayed in a Nemo room at AoA. We took the buses, we did the dining plan, we had the photo pass, and we park hopped. To say we were exhausted after 4 jam packed days would be an understatement. DH to this day still calls that our "trial trip" or the "learning trip". We decided we did love flying, didn't necessarily love taking the bus, we were not fans of the dining plan, eating at too many sit down restaurants ate up a lot of park time, and overall maybe my grandparents had the right idea - kind of. While it was an exhausting trip as I look back on pictures it was a blast!



April 2016 - ODD 6.5 and DS 18 months (Apparently DH doesn't smile, ever. Even in Disney)

The FINAL plans for 2018

Here we are, we took the knowledge from our previous trips to create this epic trip. We decided we needed to take this trip now as ODD was still a child per Disney standards at 9, DS was 4, and YDD was still free since she wouldn't turn 3 until December. My sister was also accompanying us on this trip. We wanted to go to MNSSHP (Halloween is our favorite), and friends of ours had their early September trip cancelled once during hurricane season so we tried to go as late as we could to avoid hurricane season but early enough that MNNSHP wouldn't sell out.

Our plans:

September 29th- October 6th (7 nights/8 days)
Used a Disney TA to book and help with plans
2 rooms at POP with the request to have rooms next to each other
Flying Southwest non stop with a midmorning flight down
Use all Disney transportation
No dining plan
3 Sit-down Disney meals reserved
No PH since we were staying so long
Tickets to MNSSHP
Plans for F&W

Alright, lets see how this goes.

​

 

[Tatum20]

I love the throwback trip reports! I feel my story is pretty similar- we went to Disney in spring 1993 as our first "vacation" but, in order to be frugal, stayed offsite, and ate most meals out, but at non Disney places, and visited again as an adult in 2011, 2014, and 2015 but staying offsite and eating mostly non Dis places. In early 2019 I decided I wanted the full Disney experience and we stayed onsite and got the Disney Dining Plan. Like you, we decided the Disney plan was not a good fit for us. Curious to read about the rest of your trip!

 

[Vero4us]

Enjoying your report so much. Very sorry about your grandma. I, too, had a grandma who was more like my mother. Miss her every day! I am looking forward to reading about your adventures

 

[WonderWoman28]

I love the throwback trip reports! I feel my story is pretty similar- we went to Disney in spring 1993 as our first "vacation" but, in order to be frugal, stayed offsite, and ate most meals out, but at non Disney places, and visited again as an adult in 2011, 2014, and 2015 but staying offsite and eating mostly non Dis places. In early 2019 I decided I wanted the full Disney experience and we stayed onsite and got the Disney Dining Plan. Like you, we decided the Disney plan was not a good fit for us. Curious to read about the rest of your trip!

Thank you so much for being here! It's funny how our childhood trips sort of shape our future trips, I think without the childhood frugal trips I wouldn't have thought so many adults trips would have been possible. You can go to Disney way more when you know how to do it on a budget.

Enjoying your report so much. Very sorry about your grandma. I, too, had a grandma who was more like my mother. Miss her every day! I am looking forward to reading about your adventures

Thank you for reading! Grandma's are the best. I'm so thankful for the time with her, but miss her tons. I'm also a little sad sometimes that my children wont have the same experience, but my older sister doesn't have children so we say she's practically their grandma-aunt.

 

[WonderWoman28]

The pre-travel day

As I noted in my intro, I'm a nurse who works nights. I work 3 12 hour shifts a week from 7pm to 7 am. Packing up a family of 5 is such a huge undertaking that I'm thankful I can tweak my schedule to have a few days to do so. My work week is Sunday to Saturday, we have prescheduled weekends and a few restrictions but otherwise we can make our own schedule. The week leading up to Disney I scheduled myself Sunday Monday Tuesday , I had to sleep a bit during the day Wednesday but that left all day Thursday and Friday free to pack up before we left on Saturday. The next week for me was a full vacation week off, we'd return on a Sunday and I went back to work that next Thursday Friday Saturday giving myself plenty of time to recoup and unpack. The perk of a nurse, 15 days off with only taking 3 actual vacations days. DH works Wednesday-Saturday, he worked Wednesday Thursday and Friday this week so he was able to get a lot done on the days he was off and I was working. Sometimes we're like ships passing in the night. Or something.



At this point my oldest 2 are in school but my youngest isn't. The day before our trip (Friday) we waited for them to come home and got some things done during the day - including checking into Southwest. Half of our tickets were bought with SW points and the other were paid for, so YDD and I got the end of boarding group A and DH, ODD, DS, and my sister got the top of group B. Doesn't matter much since with the kids they were able to board right after us. Once ODD and DS were home we had a fun pizza night with Disney movies and painted the girls nails. We had been on a Disney movie binge for months leading up to our trip in preparation, we had a panic thinking the youngest two hadn't seen all the movies they needed to before going. When DH came home from work he took our dog to my MILs, we're lucky she actually runs her own dog boarding at her home . I capped the night off with some laundry and a packing session. This was also the trip that I discovered packing cubes. Honestly - life saving. Made packing and unpacking so much easier!



Eventually it was time for bed, because tomorrow we were going to Disney!!!



​

 

[WonderWoman28]

Day 1 - Travel Day
Saturday September 29th, 2018

It's Disney day!




Who can honestly say that they get a good nights sleep the night before Disney? NOT ME!
I was up at 4:50 am for a 10:20 flight . I showered and DH was up shortly after I was. We got ready, packed up our last minute items and woke the kids up at 6:30. They're usually 7:30-8 am waker upers so DS's response to this earlier wake up was "mom, the suns off". I know buddy, I know. Soon enough we were packed up and ready to roll.



Spoiler alert, I am an over packer! I had 1 large suitcase that DH and I shared, another large one that all the kids shared, a medium and a small one that had shoes, toiletries, ears, snacks, stuff for in the parks, puddle jumpers (before I realized they had some lifejackets at the resort pools), wipes, and nighttime pull ups. One of the suitcases was packed a little lighter in anticipation of souvenirs. The two backpacks were for on the plane. Since we were coming from chillier weather everyone had a change of clothes that we'd put on once we were in Orlando, activities for the flights and a few miscellaneous items.

We were at my sisters by 7 am to pick her up, grabbed some drive through breakfast at Tim Hortons and we were on our way listening to Disney music the whole way to the airport.



Once the sun decided to turn on, it was a beautiful morning. It was 55 degrees and sunny . Which was amazing considering our drive to the airport for our 2016 trip took double the time thanks to a surprise snow storm and limited visibility, in APRIL!

We were at the airport and parked by 8am, it's about a 45-50 minute drive for us and I'm the type that likes to arrive 2 hours before a flight. We checked our bags and were through security pretty quickly and waiting at our gate by 8:45.



Our flight was on time, we boarded with no issues. YDD and I got on first in group A and sat far enough back hoping that everyone else would be able to sit near us, which worked out perfectly! My sister and I sat with YDD between us, and DH sat on the aisle across from us with DS in the middle and ODD in the window seat.



My sister is a nervous nelly, and this was only her 3rd flight. When the flight attendant came around my sister ordered a hot chocolate and a margarita, the flight attendant gave her the funniest look. She said "listen I'm a nervous flier, hot chocolate sounded like a good comfort food but I also needed some alcohol". The attendant laughed and gave her the margarita on the house Our first pixie dust of the trip!

It was a beautiful flight with no issues, and the kids all did amazing! No complaints.



Our 10:20 flight landed at 12:55 at MCO! No none had to use the restroom on the flight (even our YDD who had only been potty trained for about 2 1/2 months) so that was our first order of business, we changed into our warm weather clothes and soon we were on the fake-o-rail.





The best first ride in Orlando! Up next - getting everyone to POP!



​

 

[WonderWoman28]

Day 1 Part 2 - Where is our luggage?
We left off on the fake-o-rail, dressed and ready to head to Disney resorts!
We chose to have our luggage picked up by Disney, we did this on our 2016 trip and it arrived at our room within an hour of us. We were happy to skip the baggage claim and headed right over to the ME check in.




According to my notes we were out in that Orlando humidity and on a Mears bus by 2:08 and were taking off by 2:14. While on the bus we received our "room ready" text at 2:37 and after a quick AoA drop off we saw this lovely sight by 2:50. It was a beautiful day in WDW.



Thanks to the room ready text we walked through the lobby and headed right to the 70's building room 312. The area was perfect for us, during our 2016 trip we were first floor by the pool and it was so loud in the afternoons when we were trying to rest. This time we were close enough to the dining and buses plus we were between both pools. It was a preferable location for us. The downside was our room was right on the corner, and my sister's room was around on the other corner. Meaning, the back of our room/bathrooms shared a wall. Which at the time seemed fine, we weren't going to call and ask for a change. But the plan was for ODD to stay in her room, and obviously DH, DS, and YDD would be in our room. The whole trip it did seem like in the afternoons and evenings ODD would head over there and we really missed time with her. In retrospect I should have called to figure out if we could have a joining room. This ultimately lead to the decision to stay off site for our next trip so we could have a bigger condo to be together. In the picture below the orange line was our trip to the lobby, dining, and busses, the yellow dot was our room on the 3rd floor and my sisters was the blue that was around the corner. During our trip we went to both the Hippy Dippy Pool and Computer Pool in the 90's area and both were perfect distance.



It might be hard to tell by this picture but when we walked through the lobby on the way to our room it was packed! Extra thankful for the online check in but now that we're in the middle of COVID this picture just seems so odd.



This was the view right from our room balcony. Our room faced the middle of the 70's area and the kids enjoyed running around down here.



After we quickly checked out the room we headed down to retrieve our stroller from kingdom strollers - which I heard Disney did away with outside stroller rentals since we were there last. We grabbed our stroller and checked on our luggage which they said they'd be bringing up shortly.

At this point we hadn't had anything other than snacks since our breakfast, so we headed over to the food court to get some REALLY early dinner (around 4). Apparently I took no pictures, I just remember being really hungry. I think DH had gotten a burger and the kids shared some mac and cheese and chicken fingers. I believe I got a salad of some sort. We weren't on the DDP but ended up buying the refillable mugs anyway. We were hoping to get the Halloween ones but by this point they were all sold out. I like using the mugs back home, its funny that we bought them because we don't really drink pop (sorry NY-ers here). DH and I used ours for coffee every morning, and ODD would get lemonade, we didn't get them for the younger two. I ran to the bathroom and came back to this sight. My DH is just such a boss dad. I came back and he had everyone all squared away, NBD. He's just pretty cool and I like him a lot



By 4:15 we were back in the room taking a chill waiting on luggage, the plan was to head to the pool as soon as it arrived. At 5:00 3 of our bags showed up, and would you believe none of them were the bag with our swimsuits . At 5:35 we called again and they said they were working on it. After unpacking the first 3 we left the room and checked out the area around our room and the gift shop. By the time we got back to the room at 7:15 our last luggage was in the hall, we finally headed to the Hippy Dippy Pool until about 8, we were nearing bedtime and everyone was tired. We knew they gave you a wide time range with the luggage delivery, but in the future if we were to stay on Disney property again I think we would just grab our own luggage, or we'd pack the swimsuits in our carry on bags.

Anyway, after swimming we decided to try and grab sundaes as a little night cap but the dinning area was insane! We were able to grab some for the kids and I grabbed a premade turkey sandwich since "dinner" was so early, I'm sure DH grabbed some treats as well. We were back to the room by 8:45 to get ready for bed. Pop rooms have a queen sized bed and a queen sized murphy bed. The plan was to have DS and YDD sleep on the murphy bed, but that ended up being a no go. DS slept with DH and YDD slept with me on the murphy and it stayed that way for the whole trip. Which is fine, as long as everyone was sleeping.

Everyone was asleep by 9:45 and ready for our big day at AK tomorrow!
​

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[suse66]

Sounds like such a fun trip! Thanks for sharing all the backstory....it really helps to set the stage. I have a major soft spot and incredible respect for NICU nurses as my firstborn (turning 21 in June) was a 35 weeker with pneumothorax. His NICU nurses were angels on this earth and took such amazing care of him. So thank you so much for all you do.

Pop is an awesome resort! Looking forward to reading along!

 

[WonderWoman28]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for being here!

Sounds like such a fun trip! Thanks for sharing all the backstory....it really helps to set the stage. I have a major soft spot and incredible respect for NICU nurses as my firstborn (turning 21 in June) was a 35 weeker with pneumothorax. His NICU nurses were angels on this earth and took such amazing care of him. So thank you so much for all you do.

Pop is an awesome resort! Looking forward to reading along!

Thanks for reading!

And I love a good NICU success story. That's the best part about my job, we have these little babies that we help and pre COVID they'd come back to visit. I have babies that I watched take their first breath who are 8 years old! That's just so crazy to me. And to think your son is now 21, which was probably hard to imagine when he was little and sick. Congrats to you!

 

[WonderWoman28]

Day 2 - Lets get to the parks!
Sunday September 30th, 2018

I hope everyone slept well, because it's time to head to the parks! I think I was so tired from the travel day that I slept relatively well, even if I did have a 2 1/2 year old monster all up in my business all night. It's cool, we're in Disney. Today we were headed to AK. For some reason during all 4 trips I've been on as adult, the first park we always visit is AK. I don't want to start the trip with MK because then the anticipation is over. I love AK and it just seems like a good "ease you into things" kind of park.

I was up first at 6 and in the shower, where the water was ice cold. It was a solid 5-7 minutes before the hot water kicked in, I was about to call down to the front desk when it decided to wake up and start working. I don't know if it was just so early and the hot water didn't have a chance to turn on? Not sure, but I was in Disney so I didn't even care. Once I finally showered I carried out my favorite Disney resort tradition, going to get breakfast by myself. DS was starting to wake up as I was leaving but he was in bed with DH so I wasn't worried about it. I grabbed mine and DH's mugs and headed down. Everything was just opening up, and there were only a few stragglers dining at this time. I got this amazing tomato, feta, and spinach omelet with hash browns and filled mine and DH's mugs with coffee. DH isn't a huge breakfast guy so I figured he might eat a little of my food, I got it to go and was back in the room just after 7. DH was up and ready and YDD was just waking up.

I forgot to mention earlier that we had gotten a grocery order. We mainly got a few things for the kids (poptarts, juice boxes, yogurts, un-crustables) and 2 cases of water. This morning the kids had poptarts (breakfast of champions, I know), and as predicted DH ate a little bit of what I had. I'm more of a savory breakfast eater and he's more sweets, so he'd be ready for something in a bit once we were in the park. When ODD headed back to my sisters room the night before I made sure she had her clothes for the day. They headed over by 8 as we were prepping the stroller for the day. The stroller rental came with a small cooler so we loaded it with waters, and a few snacks. We got to the bus around 8:25 and the line for AK was really long!



According to my notes there was a long line waiting on a bus loading a scooter and then 2 more AK buses arrived behind it and loaded while the first bus finished up. Once more buses arrived things moved pretty quickly. We were on a bus at 8:36 and arriving at AK by 8:50. We were through bag check and walking through the park right at opening.

Now, the way we do parks probably isn't the way most do. Usually if people get to a park right at opening they head to the busiest attraction, in this case we would have rushed Pandora especially since we didn't get a FOP FP+. When we plan for the parks, everyone picks a few things they really really want to do and everything else is just a bonus. We know every trip we're not going to fit everything in, that seems like such a daunting task, especially with the ages of our kids. We know we'll be back to WDW eventually, so we try and do the best we can and it takes the pressure off. I knew I would watch the times for FOP, but it probably wouldn't be in the cards for us this trip.

So after all that, where did we head after rope drop? Right to TOL for a family pic while everyone else ran to Pandora.



Theme of the trip pics, DH not smiling and YDD's mouth wide open. As the day goes on the poor girls face turns beat red from the Florida heat.

After the pictures we stopped at a WE station, ODD decided this was something she really wanted to do this trip.



Then, naturally, we headed over to DinoLand

Dinoland to me doesn't have a ton to do, but I also find the openness of the area to get blazing hot during the afternoon. Our first FP wasn't until 10:30 at the Safari, so we decided to just knock out a few things here first. We rode triceratops spin twice, ODD and my sister did primeval whirl. We opted to skip Dinosaur as to not traumatize the younger two at the first park. We checked out a few of the games, hit up another WE station and on the way out we saw Doug and Russell and the kids were thrilled.



We walked around The Discovery Island trails and checked things out on our way to Kusafari, which isn't showing up on the map right now so it must not be open. It was a little window in a random corner past Creature Comforts on the way to the safari. The menu is limited but I got an iced coffee, some fruit, a colossal cinnamon bun, and an elephant ear for everyone to share (DHs sweets breakfast). The line is significantly shorter than CC but the snacks are just as yummy. We ate and watched the performers in Africa. By 10:40 we were on Kilimanjaro's Safari.







The thing about the Safari is that it literally never gets old. I find myself laughing every time I'm on it, the CMs are so entertaining. My favorite thing about this ride was that we'd literally be looking at a herd of elephants and YDD would just go "WOW mom, look at that tree". Half the time the girl was more entertained by the foliage than the animals

After the Safari we were headed over to Asia for mine and ODD's first ever ride on EE. The previous trips she wasn't ready or probably not tall enough, and DH doesn't like thrilled rides. So this was my 4th trip to AK and I hadn't ever been on EE! On the way apparently we were hungry again and stopped at Mr. Kamal's for some yummy snacks.

Just a note: you don't want me hungry. Often times I'll apparently have a look or my demeanor changes, I don't know but DH would just say "don't poke the bear, she needs a snack" and we'd be headed to find food. This was one reason the DDP didn't work for us, we tend to be grazers, loving to stop and try different snacks all day. Sometimes making snacks our lunches, or sharing meals at QS restaurants so we can have more snacks. DDP always just felt so rigid to us, and we don't like to be controlled!

Ok, back to our current snacks. I can't find Mr. Kamals so they either changed the name or its gone. It's not even showing up under AK's "temporarily closed" dining list. Anyway, we got the falafel and the fries with sriracha ketchup. Yuuuum. These hit the spot so close to lunch time!





Next we headed over to one of our "must do's" for the day. ODD and I were going to find the yeti! The funny thing about my gal is she's such a "face your fears" kind of kid. She was pep talking her self through the entire queue, she kept admitting she was nervous but that she was going on anyway.



And she loved it! I'm not sure she would have gone on again right away, but she was laughing the entire time and admitted it was a great ride.

Next up we head to Pandora for the first time!

​

 

[WonderWoman28]

Day 2 Part 2 - Pandora!
Sunday September 30th, 2018

When we left off, ODD and I had just gotten off of EE. Once we got off I realized that snack may have not been the best idea right before chasing a yeti. We found the rest of our crew and DH and my sister had grabbed some adult beverages while they waited for us. DS and YDD were snacking and had somehow both acquired misting fans. At this point it was just after noon and it was HOT. This was the theme of the trip, 90+ the entire time. We used the crap out of our misting fans and also had cooling towels. The annoying thing about cooling towels is they harden when they dry, so they were constantly a pain to try and store. Next time I think we'll wet them in the resort and put them in a gallon bag.





At this point it was time to head over to Pandora for the first time, we had a FP+ for NRJ coming up!







As most people are, we were blown away by Pandora. People I know who "don't get Disney" or who have never been just don't understand how Disney just totally immerses you into each individual land, ride, and experience. Pandora truly felt like you had been transported to a different land. It was a little crowded when we were there, but it was still such an amazing area to be in.

By 12:40 we were heading into NRJ



The picture below really just shows how HOT we were. Even blurry poor YDD's face is so red and sweaty. (you're welcome for skipping the picture I have of DH in the row in front of us with huge sweat spots on his back that were highlighted by the black light ). I almost wish we would have done the queue instead of the FP line to enjoy the AC a little more.



I know a lot of people are indifferent towards NRJ, because obviously FOP is the star of Pandora, but I loved it. I know I maybe wouldn't have felt that way had I done FOP first, but I'm a sucker for a nicely themed boat ride. Give me Splash, IASW, LWTL, POTC, even when FEA was Maelstrom it was one of my favorites. First of all, there's nothing like the smell of a Disney water ride, and they're always a nice break from the heat and so calming.

Ok, moving on from my boat ride obsession.

Next we headed over to Satu'li Canteen around 1 for some lunch. Lots of us needed a potty break so we were passing around my phone for mobile order. Soon enough I was heading right in to grab our lunch. I know right now mobile order is the only way to get a QS meal, but at the time I was so fascinated by the people who weren't utilizing it. There was a huge line around the inside of the restaurant and I just breezed past to grab our order. Inside was packed and I couldn't even seen a table let alone imagine navigating the stroller inside. DH & company found a table outside while I grabbed the food. This wasn't ideal since it was sooo hot but it was in the shade so it was better than nothing.

DH and I split the Combination Bowl: Grilled Beef & Chicken which was "Slow-Roasted Sliced Grilled Beef marinated in a blend of Garlic, Herbs, Red Pepper Spice and Red Wine Vinegar, paired with Wood-Grilled Chicken Thighs marinated in Garlic and Olive Oil, topped with crunchy Vegetable Slaw and Boba Balls served with your choice of Base and Sauce" we got it over rice with the garlic herd sauce. It was delicious! I think the best QS meal we ate all trip. It was so fresh and amazing, and I really love food. I've thought about this meal many times since then.

We got the 3 kids 2 of the hot dogs to split and the cheeseburger pod for everyone to try. DH and I ended up eating the cheeseburger pod, DD ate a hot dog and I think the younger two basically ate the grapes and some yogurt we packed . Anyway - prime example of why DDP wasn't for us, we ended up eating an adult meal and a kids meal

We also got the blueberry cream cheese mousse for dessert - which I'm not normally a blueberry fan but this was yum!





After lunch we headed over to Pongu Pongu. During lunch my sister just picked at our food because she was saving up for this stop. We got the Pongu Lumpia to share and I believe we all grabbed a drink, but I don't have it documented anywhere I do remember ODD getting a night blossom because she had the little light up seed all afternoon.

At this point we were more than roasting, still, and we kind of completed everything on our "must do" list. We headed to the big shopping area in Discovery Island and grabbed some souvenirs and watched the Flights of Wonder bird show which is real cool. FOLK has always been on my "if we get to it, I'd love to see it" list, but it didn't happen this trip. Everything is always a little slower when you go with young kids, and I know this would have been a good time to get into the AC and enjoy a show, but the younger 2 were so antsy and DH was kind of done. I didn't think anyone would really sit long enough for the show to be enjoyable, and I know it's something you really have to enjoy.

We exited AK and at this point it was about 2, we were back to the room around 2:30 to rest for a bit. We had dining reservations tonight at my dream resort, stay tuned! ​

 

[WonderWoman28]

Day 2 Part 3 - Is that a freaking fire alarm?
Sunday September 30th, 2018

When we left off it was around 2:30 and we had just gotten back to our resort. The plan was to chill and take a rest because we had dinner plans at OHANA!

It has always been a dream of mine to visit the Poly. As I said earlier, during my childhood trips we always stayed off site which meant taking the monorail from the TTC to MK and back. Every time we took the monorail I was always in awe of The Polynesian. As an adult researching Disney resorts I would see the monorail resorts and GF and The Contemporary didn't stand out in my memories like the Poly did. During our 2016 trip we visited the GF to have dinner at 1900 PF which was a blast - the evil step mother and ODD had the a greatest interaction. It's a goal of ours to do more resort eating, so we were really excited for this one.

I don't think anyone actually slept, but vegging out in the AC was a treat. Just before 5 we headed out to the buses to catch a ride to MK, and the line was insane. It didn't take long to notice everyone in their costumes, it was a MNSSHP night . I supposed I should have checked this out ahead of time and avoided taking this rout. We could have taken a bus to DS then over to the poly, or any resort for that matter. But we also wanted the opportunity to ride the monorail. It didn't take long before we were loaded on the bus and headed to MK, and we were hoping it would be smooth sailing after that with everyone going into the party and we were not. Well, I was wrong again. Once we got there we got caught in a rush of people leaving MK to avoid the party, so now the line onto the monorail was also long. But it would be fine, because we were going to the POLY!

We arrived just after 6 for our 6:55 reservation. Oops

So we spent some time exploring!









At 6:40 we went to check in. We were upstairs waiting in the lounge area when at 6:50 we hear a fire alarm. DH so astutely says "is that a freaking fire alarm?" Yes it freaking was. 5 minutes before our reservation. So outside everyone went, at least the weather was nice while everyone ran off some energy.



We finally headed back in and were seated around 7:15, about 20 minutes after our reservation. I was nervous about such a late dinner reservation for my usual 4:30 dinner eaters. Now with being seated a little later I was really worried. Also, in general, we don't eat out often. Maybe 2-3 times a year do we go to a sit down restaurant as a family. It just never made sense to order the kids a meal that half the time they don't eat. So I was overall nervous for this meal, but really excited.

Downside first so that we can get it out of the way, our server wasn't the best. And I waitressed for 7 years, so it takes a lot for me to be bummed by the service. I do feel bad, I think he was rushed to get everyone in and out, I'm sure they were behind schedule with the fire alarm and what not. He came to our table right away and grabbed our drink order, then next thing you know he was back with food. I was glad, because I wanted to make it somewhat quick, but also didn't realize that's how it would go. I'm guessing if you had allergies or food intolerances maybe you would address them when they grabbed your drink order? I just assumed like any other restaurant they'd come back with drinks to confirm your food. Which I understand its family style, so there isn't much you can change, but we had wanted to order some mac and cheese for the younger two, so when he dropped off the food I asked, he looked annoyed but agreed. Unfortunately, we were about done eating when their mac and cheese came out. Thankfully they filled up on bread.

Now that that part was out of the way - the food was amazing! The drinks were amazing! The bread pudding was amazing! We had a view of MK and the castle was al lit up for MNSSHP. ODD participated in the coconut races, and overall we had a great time.



















Then it was odd because our server was in such a rush, but then once he gave us the check we had to find someone to pay. He sort of vanished? Maybe he was done and that was why he had been in such a big hurry, who knows. All weird things aside, the meal was amazing and we would return.

We were out of there by 8:20, our monorail trip was a lot quieter on the way back, we had a sneak peak of the front of MK all deck out and we were back in our room just after 9.

​

 

[Tatum20]

Sounds like a great day! We did the 1900 Park Fare in 2019 on our one and only dining plan experience and I did not love it- it was between that and Ohana and I feel I picked wrong. I picked 1900 because it was a buffet and I felt like what was served at Ohana would not appeal to my picky eater kids. But I don't know, while the stepmother and evil stepsisters were cool, the overall vibe of the place to me was reminiscent of a Golden Corral. I was kicking myself for not picking Ohana. Next time...

​

 

[WonderWoman28]

Sounds like a great day! We did the 1900 Park Fare in 2019 on our one and only dining plan experience and I did not love it- it was between that and Ohana and I feel I picked wrong. I picked 1900 because it was a buffet and I felt like what was served at Ohana would not appeal to my picky eater kids. But I don't know, while the stepmother and evil stepsisters were cool, the overall vibe of the place to me was reminiscent of a Golden Corral. I was kicking myself for not picking Ohana. Next time...

​

I 100% agree with you on the atmosphere. We've been to 1900 PF, Hollywood and Vine, Garden Grill and Akershus as far as character dining goes. We go into any character meal with really low expectations for the atmosphere and food, and know that we're only there for the character experience (which is why we only do 1 a trip, and will probably skip them all together once the kids are older). 1900 PF and H&V are almost identical in food and atmosphere, both your standard golden corral buffet food - but we had amazing character interactions at both. For us, that was worth it to be able to skip long character lines. Akershus is a princess meal in Norway - this is actual plated meals with a cold salad buffet and the food is a little more adventurous but really good. Garden Grill is Pluto, Mickey, Chip & Dale and maybe Donald? We went into GG with extremely low expectations and used it to fill a void for a TS meal when we had the dining plan - it was our favorite meal that trip. This food is served family style and was honestly amazing. I added a picture below - I highly recommend giving it a try. It's a restaurant that really flies under the radar as far as character meals.



This is the description on the site right now, our meal was in 2016 but its pretty similar. We also had rolls with the salad, sweet potato fries, Italian sausage and peppers, and green beans as the veggie.

Harvest-inspired Garden Salad
Grilled Beef with Chimichurri
All-Natural Sliced Turkey Breast
Seasonal Vegetables
Herb and Leek Stuffing
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Macaroni & Cheese
Berry Short Cake

 

[Tatum20]

Haha, I think I booked (an subsequently cancelled) just about every sit down place in the joint. Garden Grill was an early cut, as was Hollywood & Vine, Liberty Tavern, The Plaza, Cape May Cafe (both breakfast and dinner!) and Coral Reef. We did the Disney Dining Plan and I felt like most of those would not give me enough bang for my buck. Our final dining choices were Biergarten at Epcot, Rapunzel's Bon Voyage Breakfast, and 1900 Park Fare. Although we LOVED Rapunzel, one $250 dollar breakfast after tip is enough for us for one lifetime. The other two I wouldn't go back even if it was free (OK, Biergarten I would if it was free, but I am telling you nothing will bring me back to Park Fare).

I still want to go to the Coral Reef mainly because that restaurant was featured so prominently on the 90s ABC sitcoms, and I would love to try Ohana once Covid is over. That's it for table service though- I just can't justify the insane table service price mark up.

 

[WonderWoman28]

Haha, I think I booked (an subsequently cancelled) just about every sit down place in the joint. Garden Grill was an early cut, as was Hollywood & Vine, Liberty Tavern, The Plaza, Cape May Cafe (both breakfast and dinner!) and Coral Reef. We did the Disney Dining Plan and I felt like most of those would not give me enough bang for my buck. Our final dining choices were Biergarten at Epcot, Rapunzel's Bon Voyage Breakfast, and 1900 Park Fare. Although we LOVED Rapunzel, one $250 dollar breakfast after tip is enough for us for one lifetime. The other two I wouldn't go back even if it was free (OK, Biergarten I would if it was free, but I am telling you nothing will bring me back to Park Fare).

I still want to go to the Coral Reef mainly because that restaurant was featured so prominently on the 90s ABC sitcoms, and I would love to try Ohana once Covid is over. That's it for table service though- I just can't justify the insane table service price mark up.

OK! I 100% hear you on the Coral Reef for the 90's sitcom feature. I remember the episode of Full House where they had gone to Disney and I knew I needed to go there to eat some day. I have heard the food is eeeh, but that was during out 2016 trip so maybe things have changed. It's on the list but not really high up there. We will see!

And I hear you on the $250 breakfast bill. We're not a huge breakfast family as it is, let alone a breakfast that cost that much. But we're suckers for a good dinner, and when in Disney .

 

[Isabelle12345]

Following!
I am enjoying your trip report so far! I am so missing pre CoViD Disney right now and in need of some magic... your TR is perfect for that!!

 

[WonderWoman28]

Following!
I am enjoying your trip report so far! I am so missing pre CoViD Disney right now and in need of some magic... your TR is perfect for that!!

Thank you for being here! I'd glad pre-covid Disney was what you needed as well! It's helping me to relive so much fun before the world went wonky on us