Birthdays. Back Pain. Battlestar Galactica. - Our May 2024 WDW Adventure! *THE END! 09/01*

[Newsies]

When you finish a trip to Walt Disney World, there are two schools of thought. You can move on with your life, OR you can re-live it by writing a TR here on the DIS. After several years hiatus, I'm happy to be back with my latest (and, potentially, greatest) Trip Report:

​

Well, it is so great to have the creative juices flowing again and feeling up to writing another Trip Report, especially after such a fabulous week at Walt Disney World! We just celebrated a birthday (spoiler alert, it was mine) at our happy place.

We enjoyed a week at Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows from May 19-May 26, 2024. We visited three out of the four parks, skipping Disney's Animal Kingdom this time around to prioritize spending time at Epcot and Magic Kingdom, and we enjoyed the Disney Dining Plan for the first time since pre-COVID.

Yes, it was crowded (at times), and yes, it was HOT, and yes, as this TR title suggests -- my week was impacted by some moderate/severe back pain that prevented me from being able to do everything I wanted to do this week or spend as much time as I wanted to in the parks. But don't waste your time sending sympathies my way -- I still had one of the best darn vacations ever, and that's no lie! We ate a lot of outstanding food, grabbed some adorable souvenirs, had some very sweet moments in the Parks. I felt the love for Walt Disney World in a way that I haven't felt since pre-COVID, so this has definitely been a very special trip for me and I'm really excited to share all the details with you!

But first... some introductions are in order! Come and meet the Newsies family from New Jersey!

Here we all in all our goofy, pixie-dusted glory. We're a family of four and we've been driving to Walt Disney World annually since 2014. Since 2017, we've been DVC members at Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows (our home-away-from-home on this trip!) We love to visit the Parks and relax at the resort pool, and we always look forward to trying new restaurants. When we're home, we spend a lot of time together watching Disney vloggers live-stream from the Parks or reporting out on the latest snacks, experiences, and more!

On the left is Mom!
Mom (Susan) started traveling to Walt Disney World with her family when she was a child and she's always loved it. Her job for the past 35 years has involved working in real estate for a propane company, but she's getting ready to retire now so she and dad can move to Florida! Like I said, mom loves all things Disney and is always scheming with me to get back to the Mouse. She really shares my Disney Delulu! She loves the Skyliner, afternoons at the pool, and heading to the Magic Kingdom at night after the park cools down! She is also my very best friend and I love spending time with her

Favorite resort: Riviera
Favorite park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite ride: Haunted Mansion
Favorite character(s): Chip & Dale
Favorite restaurant: Kona Cafe
Favorite snack: Popcorn from Karamell-Kuche

Next to her is me, Kait.
I'm your host (with, potentially, the most). I'm newly 27 and I love TV, concerts, and Disney! You are going to hear a lot about me in this TR so I'll try to keep the intro brief, but what's important for you to know is that I love Walt Disney World so very much that I worked there on the Disney College Program twice -- once in 2016 (Fall '16 - Attractions) and once again in 2020 (Spring '20 - Character Attendant), where I got to work in my all-time dream role for about a month before COVID closed the Parks. Working for WDW taught me to love guests and the guest experience, and today I work for a luxury bedding company in a role I absolutely adore -- it's a mixture of hospitality, loyalty programs, customer experience, and brand marketing. Seriously, it is my dream job and I work with the dream team! I work hard/play hard, and when I play, I play at Walt Disney World, rope dropping Epcot, drinking all of the Joffrey's iced lattes, and finding new souvenirs!

Favorite resort: Riviera
Favorite park: Epcot
Favorite ride: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Favorite character(s): Megara, Tinker Bell, Hannah Montana
Favorite restaurant: Shula's Steakhouse
Favorite snack: Anything from Les Halles!

On the other side of me is my younger sister, Grace!
Grace is a 22-year-old full-time Grad student working to get her Masters in Education. She's very goofy and funny (which she gets from me) and also very go-with-the-flow. Whatever mom & dad do, she'll stick by their side. She does suffer from a bit of anxiety, so sometimes she'll head back to the resort when things get crazy and definitely prefers to spend her afternoons at the pool. Grace loves cats, chicken tenders, and all things Ratatouille!

Favorite resort: Poly
Favorite park: Epcot
Favorite ride: Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
Favorite character(s): Remy
Favorite restaurant: Biergarten
Favorite snack: Dole Whip

And lastly, to the far right is Dad!
Thomas is a zoning officer and like mom, he's getting ready to retire and move down to Florida. It's all he talks about, actually! His motto is "palm trees, not pine trees." He's our chief logistics coordinator and does the best job ever packing our truck efficiently and getting us to Florida as fast as possible! One thing about dad: he has an arsenal of Grumpy t-shirts, and he's not afraid to wear them. Dad is definitely a fan of spending time at the pool with a Shofferhofer and he always seems to scream the loudest on rollercoasters. Disney is his happy place and he loves trying new things!

Favorite resort: Poly
Favorite park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite ride: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Favorite character(s): Grumpy
Favorite restaurant: Shula's Steakhouse
Favorite snack: Cheeseburger Egg Rolls


If you'd like to read the PTR that accompanied this trip (and the current PTR for my September trip!), you can read here: Newsies: From Scratch

I think this brings us to the end of the introduction, so stick around for the following!

Copious in-depth dining reviews!
Dealing with back pain in the Parks!
Buying waaaaaay too many t-shirts!
Driving from NJ to FL!
Singing my praises for Buc-ees!
Very unexpected, very appreciated birthday freebies!
Detailing the plot of Hannah Montana to various characters around the park!
Horses!

If none of that interests you... identity theft is not a joke, Jim. Millions of families suffer every year. Please consult Michael Scott, Branch Manager, for more information on how to exit the TR.

All aboard who's coming aboard -- next stop, our May 2024 Trip Report!

Click here to begin

​

 

[Newsies]

Table of Contents​

05/17-05/18: Day 0 + Travel Day
Faith, Trust, and Pixel Dust

05/19: Day 1 (Hollywood Studios)
Hollywood, Here We Come!
MMRR, Muppets, and Our Last Round at Oga's
Kait and Lottie La Bouff: The Podcast

05/20: Day 2 (Magic Kingdom)
The "Wildest Ride in the Wilderness" Gets Even Wilder
My Review of TRON: Lightcycle Run (Plus Some Other Things)
Dinner at Steakhouse 71

05/21: Day 3 (Epcot)
My Morning with Walt
Epcot Afternoon I
Epcot Afternoon II
Dinner at Shula's

05/22: Day 4 (Hollywood Studios/Magic Kingdom)
Just Dropping In
My Own Little "Characterpalooza"
Yee-Haw! Me Time!

05/23: Day 5 (Exploring Ft. Wilderness/Disney Springs)
Happy Trails to Us
When Irish Eyes are Smiling

05/24: Day 6 (Epcot)
A Rough Time in Epcot

05/25: Day 7 (Magic Kingdom)
Breakfast at Boma
A Second Wind Comes In

05/26: Traveling Home & Conclusion
Driving Home/Conclusion

 

[disneyAndi14]

I’m joining in and very excited to hear all about it!

 

[DLo]

Popping over from your TR. can’t wait to read all about it

 

[Mollydolly334]

I’m here Kait!! Can’t wait to hear all about it I spent some solo time at the Poly on 5/19 and was keeping an eye out for you!! Sounds like it was a great birthday trip

 

[Newsies]

I’m joining in and very excited to hear all about it!

Caroline, thanks so much for joining along -- always so great to hear from you!

Popping over from your TR. can’t wait to read all about it

DLo, thanks for joining as always, I love seeing your posts!

I’m here Kait!! Can’t wait to hear all about it I spent some solo time at the Poly on 5/19 and was keeping an eye out for you!! Sounds like it was a great birthday trip

MOLLY! Believe me, I kept an eye out for you too -- kept thinking about your family and hoping you were having fun! Going to check in on your TR now that I've had a moment to relax (and throw a load of laundry into the washing machine). Thanks for being here as always!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

 

[luvndisney358]

When you finish a trip to Walt Disney World, there are two schools of thought. You can move on with your life, OR you can re-live it by writing a TR here on the DIS. After several years hiatus, I'm happy to be back with my latest (and, potentially, greatest) Trip Report:

​

Well, it is so great to have the creative juices flowing again and feeling up to writing another Trip Report, especially after such a fabulous week at Walt Disney World! We just celebrated a birthday (spoiler alert, it was mine) at our happy place.

We enjoyed a week at Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows from May 19-May 26, 2024. We visited three out of the four parks, skipping Disney's Animal Kingdom this time around to prioritize spending time at Epcot and Magic Kingdom, and we enjoyed the Disney Dining Plan for the first time since pre-COVID.

Yes, it was crowded (at times), and yes, it was HOT, and yes, as this TR title suggests -- my week was impacted by some moderate/severe back pain that prevented me from being able to do everything I wanted to do this week or spend as much time as I wanted to in the parks. But don't waste your time sending sympathies my way -- I still had one of the best darn vacations ever, and that's no lie! We ate a lot of outstanding food, grabbed some adorable souvenirs, had some very sweet moments in the Parks. I felt the love for Walt Disney World in a way that I haven't felt since pre-COVID, so this has definitely been a very special trip for me and I'm really excited to share all the details with you!

But first... some introductions are in order! Come and meet the Newsies family from New Jersey!

Here we all in all our goofy, pixie-dusted glory. We're a family of four and we've been driving to Walt Disney World annually since 2014. Since 2017, we've been DVC members at Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows (our home-away-from-home on this trip!) We love to visit the Parks and relax at the resort pool, and we always look forward to trying new restaurants. When we're home, we spend a lot of time together watching Disney vloggers live-stream from the Parks or reporting out on the latest snacks, experiences, and more!

On the left is Mom!
Mom (Susan) started traveling to Walt Disney World with her family when she was a child and she's always loved it. Her job for the past 35 years has involved working in real estate for a propane company, but she's getting ready to retire now so she and dad can move to Florida! Like I said, mom loves all things Disney and is always scheming with me to get back to the Mouse. She really shares my Disney Delulu! She loves the Skyliner, afternoons at the pool, and heading to the Magic Kingdom at night after the park cools down! She is also my very best friend and I love spending time with her

Favorite resort: Riviera
Favorite park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite ride: Haunted Mansion
Favorite character(s): Chip & Dale
Favorite restaurant: Kona Cafe
Favorite snack: Popcorn from Karamell-Kuche

Next to her is me, Kait.
I'm your host (with, potentially, the most). I'm newly 27 and I love TV, concerts, and Disney! You are going to hear a lot about me in this TR so I'll try to keep the intro brief, but what's important for you to know is that I love Walt Disney World so very much that I worked there on the Disney College Program twice -- once in 2016 (Fall '16 - Attractions) and once again in 2020 (Spring '20 - Character Attendant), where I got to work in my all-time dream role for about a month before COVID closed the Parks. Working for WDW taught me to love guests and the guest experience, and today I work for a luxury bedding company in a role I absolutely adore -- it's a mixture of hospitality, loyalty programs, customer experience, and brand marketing. Seriously, it is my dream job and I work with the dream team! I work hard/play hard, and when I play, I play at Walt Disney World, rope dropping Epcot, drinking all of the Joffrey's iced lattes, and finding new souvenirs!

Favorite resort: Riviera
Favorite park: Epcot
Favorite ride: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Favorite character(s): Megara, Tinker Bell, Hannah Montana
Favorite restaurant: Shula's Steakhouse
Favorite snack: Anything from Les Halles!

On the other side of me is my younger sister, Grace!
Grace is a 22-year-old full-time Grad student working to get her Masters in Education. She's very goofy and funny (which she gets from me) and also very go-with-the-flow. Whatever mom & dad do, she'll stick by their side. She does suffer from a bit of anxiety, so sometimes she'll head back to the resort when things get crazy and definitely prefers to spend her afternoons at the pool. Grace loves cats, chicken tenders, and all things Ratatouille!

Favorite resort: Poly
Favorite park: Epcot
Favorite ride: Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
Favorite character(s): Remy
Favorite restaurant: Biergarten
Favorite snack: Dole Whip

And lastly, to the far right is Dad!
Thomas is a zoning officer and like mom, he's getting ready to retire and move down to Florida. It's all he talks about, actually! His motto is "palm trees, not pine trees." He's our chief logistics coordinator and does the best job ever packing our truck efficiently and getting us to Florida as fast as possible! One thing about dad: he has an arsenal of Grumpy t-shirts, and he's not afraid to wear them. Dad is definitely a fan of spending time at the pool with a Shofferhofer and he always seems to scream the loudest on rollercoasters. Disney is his happy place and he loves trying new things!

Favorite resort: Poly
Favorite park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite ride: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Favorite character(s): Grumpy
Favorite restaurant: Shula's Steakhouse
Favorite snack: Cheeseburger Egg Rolls


If you'd like to read the PTR that accompanied this trip (and the current PTR for my September trip!), you can read here: Newsies: From Scratch

I think this brings us to the end of the introduction, so stick around for the following!

Copious in-depth dining reviews!
Dealing with back pain in the Parks!
Buying waaaaaay too many t-shirts!
Driving from NJ to FL!
Singing my praises for Buc-Ees!
Very unexpected, very appreciated birthday freebies!
Detailing the plot of Hannah Montana to various characters around the park!
Horses!

If none of that interests you... identity theft is not a joke, Jim. Millions of families suffer every year. Please consult Michael Scott, Branch Manager, for more information on how to exit the TR.

All aboard who's coming aboard -- next stop, our May 2024 Trip Report!

​

Can’t wait to read this. From NJ too and taking our first collective family vacation for Thanksgiving and will be celebrating 3 Birthdats so anxious to hear how we can especially celebrate these family members. Thanks and watching!

 

[Newsies]

Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

Thank you so much for commenting and for being here!

Can’t wait to read this. From NJ too and taking our first collective family vacation for Thanksgiving and will be celebrating 3 Birthdats so anxious to hear how we can especially celebrate these family members. Thanks and watching!

Thanks for joining in! We did a Thanksgiving trip a few years ago -- lovely time to visit the Parks, the weather is so mild and all of the Christmas decorations are up Celebrating 3 birthdays can be tough -- so many options to choose from when you're figuring out how to celebrate a birthday at WDW! We chose to celebrate with a special souvenir and a special meal, but the complimentary birthday button alone was enough. Cast Members (and other guests!) went out of their way to wish me a happy birthday and make me feel special every time I wore it. Hope you'll find some inspiration from my thread as I talk about how the week went!

 

[Newsies]

Day 0 + Travel Day: Faith, Trust, and Pixel Dust​

Our story begins, as such stories often do, on a Friday morning – about 14 hours before we left for Disney and 48 hours before we’d arrive at the Poly!

I woke up around 6 in the morning and went on a quick walk in my neighborhood like I always do on my WFH days. I listened to the new Zayn album, did a few laps around the park, and then walked back home so I could take a shower before I started my workday. I still had time after drying my hair, so I ran out and grabbed coffee before logging on for the day!

I normally take the day before we leave off from work so I can help my family get our affairs in order before we leave, but given that I was going to be out for longer than usual, and that I needed to put a few meetings down with some team members before I left, I worked until 2:45. And man, it was the longest workday of my life! While I was working, my family ran some errands, including dropping our dog off at the puppy hotel.

After several productive meetings (a productive day, actually!), it was time for me to set my “away” message on GMail, set my status to “away” on Slack, and step “away” from my work laptop for 10 magical days!

As soon as I finished my work day, it was time for mom, Grace, and I to head to the nail salon for our very favorite pre-vacation tradition: mani-pedis! I normally do a matte purple or light blue, but this time, I really wanted sparkle and I settled on what was basically a transparent, very light-pink glitter color. I swiped a peek at the bottle while my nails were being done and it turns out the color was called Pixel Dust! How perfect is that?

Dad turned in for a few hours of sleep before the trip, but mom, Grace, and I grabbed some pizza for dinner. Once I was finished eating, I tried to go upstairs to get some sleep, but Grace stopped me. Unbeknownst to me, she ordered a birthday present for me and she wanted me to open it before we left.

She actually got something very sweet for me based off of a conversation we had a few weeks ago. See, I’m a huge record collector and I pulled a few of my mom’s old records from the basement earlier this year so I could spin some for Grace and I. While I was spinning them, I mentioned that I wish I still had a CD player for my large collection of CDs, and a way to play cassette tapes so I could start collecting those, too.

So Grace went on Amazon and found a combination CD/Cassette player.

​

It was a really sweet gesture and it made me emotional because she knew it was something I wanted, but it wasn’t something I would typically buy for myself

Not much happened for the rest of the evening – we did go back out to the grocery store to visit the Coinstar machine and cash in the pocket change we’ve been collecting for the past year, which came out to $123. Then we watched a little Full House, a bit of Roseanne (the episodes where they visit WDW, naturally!), and then at around 10:30, we heard the unmistakable jingle of dad’s car keys in his pocket, which meant it was almost time to hit the road!

I got changed super quickly into my outfit for the car ride and took this giddy selfie.

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With the car loaded and our hearts full of excitement, we officially said “Good Trip!” and started our vacation (and 20 hour drive) at 10:59 PM EST!

We didn’t get too far before our first stop, which was Wawa to load up the car with some gas and grab a cup of coffee. I also grabbed a bag of Hello Panda cookies with strawberry filling. We already had a salty snack (Newsies Sisters’ Trail Mix!) in the car, so we needed a sweet one, too. Life is all about balance, right?

Then we were finally southbound for real. The first leg of the drive down (11 PM-7 AM) was the worst. It rained like crazy. I slept on and off. I snacked on trail mix and Hello Panda cookies. We stopped at several rest areas.

At around 7:00 AM, I woke up from a pretty deep nap. With Grace and Mom both awake too (and, yanno, Dad, being the one driving… he was also awake), we decided to pull into Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We end up at the same Cracker Barrel in North Carolina almost every year!

I got a half-and-half to drink and the country biscuit platter for breakfast, with country ham and two sides: fried apples and hashbrown casserole.

It was pretty good! But service was sloooooow this morning, so we were there for a pretty long time.

We got back on the road around 8:00 but didn’t make it very far. Mom & dad pulled into a rest area around 8:30 and we all slept until around 9:30. Then it was back on the road and we drove until noon, where we were greeted with the sight of our all-time favorite gas station/brisket mecca…

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BUC-EES!

Since opening their first location on the east coast in 2021, we’ve enjoyed stopping here for brisket sandwiches, jerky, assorted snacks and tchotchkes on our journey to and from the mouse. If you’ve never been to Buc-Ees, it’s crazy. It’s like a TJ Maxx mixed with a Wawa. It’s the biggest gas station you’ll ever see in your life… and you’ll never have brisket quite like the brisket sandwiches here!

I got an iced tea, a chopped brisket sandwich and a bag of dill pickle potato chips. AND I got to meet Buc-Ee. I was a happy, happy girl!

​

The brisket sandwich was lovely as always, but very sweet with an abundance of BBQ sauce. The dill pickle potato chips were amazing – so crispy and fresh-tasting with a spicy, garlicky dill flavor!

We kept trucking on through on-and-off rain, appreciating the sun whenever it poked out from behind the clouds (we had just had 12 straight days of rain in NJ). Around 5:30, we arrived at our stop for the evening: Kingsland, GA.

We’ve been stopping at a motel in Kingsland for many, many years as a family. This is the last exit in Georgia before Florida, so you can get through 75% of the drive from NJ, sleep for a few hours, wake up in the morning, and still potentially make it to the parks for rope drop if you wake up early enough.

We’ve not always enjoyed the restaurant scene at the exit in recent past, but we noticed this year that there were multiple new restaurants on this exit – one of them being a Freddy’s Steakburgers, where we stopped for dinner. You would think I’d get a burger, but no – I ended up getting a hot dog and fries.

It was a pretty good hot dog! The bun was like Texas Toast and the hot dog was just a regular ol’ Nathan’s frank. Real simple, real good. Fries were shoestring – they were good but I wasn’t “wow”ed by them like my family was. The rest of the family got burgers and loved them.

When that was over, we headed to Fairfield Inn and Suites closer to 6. Fairfield Inn and Suites Kingsland is our absolute favorite place to stop overnight en route to Disney – super clean, friendly staff, nice rooms. After a quick shower, we all settled in for a few hours of sleep… well, it was really more like a few hours of laying down in the dark and wishing we were able to sleep!

Coming up next: our 4 AM wake up call and our first morning at Disney!

Click here to continue​

 

[footballmouse]

 

[PAsFab5]

I’m here and following along!! Love your reports and your family!! I am SO happy for your parents-congratulations to them on their retirement!!!

 

[alohamom]

Following along and can't wait to read more!

 

[Newsies]

Thank you so much for joining in, Jen!

I’m here and following along!! Love your reports and your family!! I am SO happy for your parents-congratulations to them on their retirement!!!

Thank you so, so much for joining along and for your kind words! To be super clear: my parents are still 3-5 years away from retirement, but it's all they can think and talk about these days! We spend a lot of our evenings watching YouTube tours of homes on the market in Florida

Following along and can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much for joining along!

 

[David G Farr]

Having retired parents is awesome. Both of mine are retired and have taken all of their kids and families (there are 3 of us) to WDW on individual trips.

 

[Newsies]

Having retired parents is awesome. Both of mine are retired and have taken all of their kids and families (there are 3 of us) to WDW on individual trips.

Love this so much! Very excited for my parents to retire -- they have put in such hard work throughout their lives and I can't wait to see where this next chapter will take them!

 

[Paulaparm]

Following!!

 

[piglet1979]

BUC-EES!

Since opening their first location on the east coast in 2021, we’ve enjoyed stopping here for brisket sandwiches, jerky, assorted snacks and tchotchkes on our journey to and from the mouse. If you’ve never been to Buc-Ees, it’s crazy. It’s like a TJ Maxx mixed with a Wawa. It’s the biggest gas station you’ll ever see in your life… and you’ll never have brisket quite like the brisket sandwiches here!

They have the best bathrooms too. I never heard of them until the kids went with band to Disney last year and they stopped. Still didn't the big hype but we stopped at one on our way to my dad's in Kentucky. It was the the best place to stop.

We’ve been stopping at a motel in Kingsland for many, many years as a family.

When we drive we stop here too. We have stayed at the same hotel each time but I can't remember which one. We haven't driven to Florida since 2018. Jeff and I flew last year when the kids went with the band. It is the perfect location to stop.

 

[Newsies]

Following!!

Paula, thank you for being here!!!

They have the best bathrooms too. I never heard of them until the kids went with band to Disney last year and they stopped. Still didn't the big hype but we stopped at one on our way to my dad's in Kentucky. It was the the best place to stop.

Yes! The BEST bathrooms! It's so crazy, my parents were so unsure what the hype was all about until we pulled over into the Jacksonville one in 2021 -- clean bathrooms + great snacks + beaver merchandise = the best stop!

When we drive we stop here too. We have stayed at the same hotel each time but I can't remember which one. We haven't driven to Florida since 2018. Jeff and I flew last year when the kids went with the band. It is the perfect location to stop.

It is really such a great place to take a break overnight!

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Eeeeee!!! I have missed your TRs

So excited to follow along. We were at BWV May 19-24, and it was a great week for a WDW trip!