Cass, Rob & Kira - WDW April 2023 - "Can't you just find my him?"

[dcassetta]

Stay tuned for the dumbest merchandise that Disney has ever sold and my Donald Trump sighting.

What a teaser!!!

 

[rndmr2]

Oooh Med cruise sounds lovely!!!

We don't have anything official planned yet but this October is our 25th wedding anniversary so I want to do something!

This cruise is actually for our 20th. Plus I turn 50 a few months before we go (July) so we are celebrating both.

I do hope to get back to WDW next year sometime.

Great latest updates. Haunted Mansion and Pirates are 2 of my faves. That salmon at CHH looks really good. I have taken quite a liking for salmon lately. I'll have to add CHH to my list for when we go next year.

 

[bcwife76]

Yay for meeting up with friends!!!

 

[Timon]

April 6th, Part 2

After riding Tron, Rob had to stop in the Tron store once more. He needed to buy a customized Tron air pod case. It took some time to get it customized so I perused the store...again.

This is where I found THE dumbest merch I have ever seen, in all of my trips to Disney!

There were these t-shirts, right by what is now the exit for Space Mountain (it was closed during our trip) and I saw "Youth Small" written on it. What?

So I went for a closer look. I thought maybe they were marker shirts, you know, maybe to mark all of the different sizes of the same shirt, maybe for a warehouse or something and they had accidentally been put out?

There were three youth ones and then when I looked at the other side, they had ones for adults too! There was one that was XXXL! What the frick!

The CM standing next to the door had noticed that I was looking at these shirts and came over to talk to me. She was laughing because she too was confused why they were here. They had been here for days, she said. We laughed about how silly they were.

Okay, first...why would anyone buy these shirts? They don't have anything to do with Tron, and NOBODY wants to advertise their shirt size ON their shirt!!!??? And secondly, they look terrible!!! They look like I made them at home and well, didn't do a good job.

I didn't check the price but if they were $5, that would be way too much!

After he bought and paid for his air pod case, we headed to get Dole Whips. We had done everything we had wanted to do in that park so our plans were to get dole whips, grab Rob's air pod case once the customization was done and then head back to the resort to rest. I think J & C were going to ride Mine Train and then go for a rest too at the hotel and then we were going to meet up later at Epcot to ride Guardians together for their first time with our ILL that we all purchased that morning.

While we were eating, I spotted a janitorial CM who looked a little like Donald Trump so I took this photo and sent it to Jen and said "I thought he was indicted yesterday?" She replied "He's here?"

Oh my dog, I laughed so hard when she texted that back because while he does resemble DT a little, it was clearly a joke so I expected a different reply. We have the same kind of humour and she is quick and witty and so hilarious so I was expecting a glorious comeback but I guess she didn't look too hard at the photo.

Rob headed over to the Tron store to pick up his case and Kira and I slowly headed over to Main Street. On the way out of Adventureland, I showed Kira a very tiny Hidden Mickey in the ground as we passed by the flying carpets.

Stopped to take a photo of my girl with her buddy.

I had to make a pit stop on the way out and Rob sent me this pic to let me know that they had reunited and were waiting on a bench for me. I love this pic. usually when Rob takes a pic of Kira, she kind of has that teenager-y face that says I'm gonna murder you.

Oh, kind of like this!

It took forever to get back to the resort, that walk back to the car seemed like an eternity and it was soooo hot and it had been a very early morning too so we were just spent. This was the one day we had a rest in the afternoon, it was now day number 5 for us going pretty hard at the parks. I have a funny video of Kira collapsing onto her bed after getting into our room.


Speaking of our room, here's the view looking the other way, down from just outside of our door. I love how the courtyard looks like a real street.

I think I micro-napped, woke up wondering what day it was and if I was late for the school bus.


Back to Epcot we went!

We met up with J & C and rode Nemo and Figment. We laughed during part of the last one because it looked like Figment's neck was broken as he was facing down. J is back at WDW and has informed me that Figment has been fixed.

It was now time for our ILL for GOTG. It's funny because J and I both had the idea to put on fresh shirts after our rest time so I changed into my Canada one and she changed into her blue 50th anniversary one, the same one that I had been wearing earlier that day.

J & C agreed with us that Guardians is the best ride at Disney, hands down!

Or in Kira's case, hands up! I rode this 8 times on my recent trip and so now the songs are all kind of mixed up in my head and I don't remember what song we got but I know that it wasn't September because that was the ONE song that I had really wanted and we hadn't gotten it yet.

After Guardians, J & C went their own way. They had dining ressies that night at Yachtsman at 9pm. I remember earlier that day, when she texted me to tell me that she had gotten a ressie for 9pm, I told her that I would feel so sick eating that late at night, especially something so heavy!.

Remember that for later.

I had gotten us a DAS for Frozen when we had scanned into the park and it was now time for us to ride it.

Officially one of the worst ride photos for me. I had been looking back behind me when we started to go down the drop so I totally wasn't prepared for it and was a little startled.

It's been a minute since I've ridden it.

Stay tuned to see how the rest of the evening pans out and if I end up eating my words.

 

[missjackiemcg]

Oh, I love this one!! I've not seen it before. I always enjoy finding little hidden mickeys and touches like this are what makes Disney so special

Such a nice picture of Dad and daughter I have the same problem with my 13 year old son! If I'm taking the picture, I usually get a nice one, but with his Dad they're both clowns! LOL

Officially one of the worst ride photos for me. I had been looking back behind me when we started to go down the drop so I totally wasn't prepared for it and was a little startled.

This is the worst ride photo anyway! Could they at least angle the camera so you can't see the evacuation stairs in the back. It has annoyed me from the beginning!

 

[lilsonicfan]

OMG those shirts have GOT to be a mistake made at printing... the size seems to match up with what's printed on it at least? hahahaha

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Omg those shirts

 

[dd316]

For those of you who don't already know, the Toronto airport SUUUUUUCKS! It's known for it's delays and lost baggage and just plain general airport suckiness. Like most other Canadians, we try to avoid it when possible but sadly, as this was a Spring Break trip and the prices were crazy, it was unavoidable.

But it inspired such an amazing Rush song!

 

[dcassetta]

This is where I found THE dumbest merch I have ever seen, in all of my trips to Disney!

I spotted a janitorial CM who looked a little like Donald Trump

Teaser fulfilled!

 

[bcwife76]

I remember when you posted those shirt pics on FB......what on earth were they thinking with those?

Yay for GotG altogether

 

[Timon]

April 6th, Part 3

We had thought about sticking around for Epcot Forever but Kira and I were just done with crowds at this point. I've gotten to a point in my life where I prefer skipping the shows in order not to have to deal with the massive crowds afterwards. Kira's anxiety makes it hard for her to be in a crowd so she was totally fine with skipping it. Rob on the other hand would have loved to stay and watch the show but his love and consideration for his two girls overshadows his own personal desires so we headed out of the park. If the park stayed open after the show, I would have found a quieter spot to watch them and stuck around but since the park closes at the same time as the show, the entire park would be exiting at the same time.

Rob and Kira hadn't seen the awesome new lights on Spaceship Earth yet so I am so glad they got to see them this evening. It's the best thing that came out of the 50th anniversary, in my opinion.

Once we got on the other side, I told them about the little shows that they have every so often. We stuck around a few minutes and were rewarded with the best one I have seen so far! It was a tribute to old Epcot and had music from older attractions and it ended with the best music ever, Tapestry of Nations and Illuminations!

Both are very special to Rob and I so this was the perfect way to end our night! They did an AMAZING job with this little show!

At the end, as they played the finale Illuminations music, "We Go On", they used the lights to emulate the ending of Illuminations, so pretty!

Here's a portrait video of the ending:

We saw some of the fireworks from the parking lot and we beat the crowds!

Kira had eaten a crap ton of snacks while we took a break in our room that day so she was full and we never stopped for dinner at Epcot. Rob also had some snacks but was always up for eating more.

We got back to the room around 9:20pm and we were debating on heading over to the main building to eat something. Kira said she was still full from her snacks and didn't want anything and I really didn't want to eat this late but if I skipped it again tonight that would make it three nights in a row that I didn't have have any dinner and with just having those two spring rolls all day, I was now starving.

We discussed changing our plans for the next day. We were supposed to have a repeat of what we did that day, go to MK at opening, ride our two pre-selects as well as Tron VQ & ILL and then rest and hop over to Epcot to ride Guardians via ILL but since we had already ridden Tron three times and with GOTG being our favourite, we made the decision to change our park reservation to Epcot, get up at 6:55am to get GOTG VQ & ILL and then go back to sleep and head over to Epcot around noon, ride Guardians twice and then head over to DHS so Kira could ride Tower of Terror again.

I had texted J about our change in plans and then Rob and I headed over to the food court. It was very pretty at night.

Ironically, they were playing Tron Legacy at the pool.

I was originally going to get something light but I was so hungry and I was really craving a burger. Since we were in no rush in the morning now, I could stay up a little longer and let my body digest it now.

Rob got the stir fry and I got the burger. I don't know if it was because I was starving or more likely it was because it was not a busy time so they made everything fresh but this burger was FANTASTIC!!! I would put it up there with my top 5 burgers I've ever had at Disney!

I had a burger at the food court at Riverside on my second trip and it was so gross! But it was around prime lunch hours and they had them already wrapped in foil and sitting under heat lamps.

Rob also got a cupcake but I think he put it in the fridge and ate it the next day.

It was nice to walk back and see all of the lights lit up.

Even with our rest today, we still managed to put on some steps!

After their dinner, J had texted me to say that they were also going to change their plans and head to Epcot in the morning. They too had wanted to ride Guardians twice that day and get in all of the other big rides at Epcot.

Stay tuned to find out what our final two Guardians songs are. Do I get my "September" or do we leave heartbroken.

 

[dcassetta]

At the end, as they played the finale Illuminations music, "We Go On"

One of my all-time favorite songs and I LOVED the video.

"We call it Epcot"

How are people just walking by in the video?!?!?!?

(One of my co-workers just asked me if I am okay because I teared up watching it.)

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

I am still shaking my head at those shirts. Just…why?

 

[Timon]

April 7th, Part 1

I got up in time to make a VQ and ILL for Guardians and then I snoozed until about 10am.

I made Rob and Kira their little bowls of fruit, which along with Rob's coffee run, would hold them off until after we rode a few rides.

Kira was so tired and so lazy that morning, she ate hers from her bed, under her blanket, it was cute.

More wildlife as we headed to the car.

And here's the biggest lizard we've seen at Disney. I saw the tiniest one I've ever seen (I thought it was a spider, it was so small!) on my second trip.

We got to Epcot and we rode Guardians with our virtual queue. J & C had already ridden using their VQ since they had gotten to the park earlier that morning.

We all decided that the front row was the best so this time Rob and Kira did the very front and I sat behind them. So fun! I think we got Blondie...again! Not a bad choice but still, it wasn't "September".

Then we rode Spaceship Earth.

The best part of this ride is seeing how funny your photos look. Disney never disappoints.

We even saw ourselves on the big screen as we got off the ride.

Although she had ridden it before, (she didn't remember any of it) Kira yelled out "That's MY Peoplemover!"

I had told her the day before that the Peoplemover was one of my faves, something I could literally ride over and over again and never get sick of, so obviously she loved Spaceship Earth.

Rob was getting hungry so we headed to The Land for him to grab something.

He got some kind of Asian dish and he said it was just okay. He ended up cutting up his pineapple and adding it to the dish and he said that made it so much better.

We made a stop at the bathroom before heading to Mission Space and Rob took this photo when he came out. She always managed to find a quiet corner with shade. She's soooo much like me, sometimes it's scary.

I had gotten us a DAS for M:S when we entered the park but it wasn't quite time yet, so we headed into the exit of M:S so we could grab a seat somewhere in the A/C.

Why is most of the Mission Space store filled with Star Wars merch?

Shade, A/C, a seat and Wifi = happy girl.

Time to ride!

They went without me because sadly, I can't do anything that spins anymore. They were going to ride the less intense version of it for me but I knew they would prefer the more intense Orange side, so I went and waited for them in that very loud but air conditioned room near the exit, while they enjoyed the spinney version.

Then it was time to meet up with J & C and use our ILL for Guardians. This was going to be our 7th and final ride of the trip!

J & C told us that they had gotten September as their song earlier that day, and this was our very last chance to get it so, we were crossing our fingers and toes! J & C wanted to ride the back and we wanted to ride the front so we tried to time it so that we could be in the same car. When we were put into our rows, we were set to be in the same vehicle and then just before we got on, we looked way down and saw that they were actually going to be in the car after us so the lovely lady that was going to be riding next to Rob had heard our plan and suggested we let the party behind us go ahead of us. We ended up on the same car AND we got September!!

It's so funny because I am deaf in my left ear and I don't hear what song we have until way after Kira hears it and as we were going backwards, she was nudging me and yelling "We got it!!!" So, I knew we got it before I even heard it.

Kira was going for the serious face here.

Our plan was to go get some Dole Whips and then Rob was going to go back to the car, head over to DHS and Kira and I were going to take the Skyliner and meet him there since Kira had never ridden it before.

J & C walked with us, their plan was to go eat at Beaches & Cream I believe but J wanted to have a first so we walked all the way to the Dole Whip place together and then they kept going while we got in line for the Dole Whips. Well, on the walk over, Rob had asked C if she liked Dole Whips and she said she loved them and apparently, Rob did not hear about their plans so when he got to the DW place, he ordered FIVE Dole Whips.

I didn't know this until he came around the corner with all of these cups! I had gone to get us a little table in the shade and had no idea what he was doing.

I texted J to let her know, maybe she was still close enough to come back but they were already out of the park. So, Rob and Kira had two whips each.

We ended up checking in for our flight right after we finished the five dole whips. We were booked on two different reservations so it was a little trickier trying to get us all in the same row but we somehow managed to get it done. It was a little stressful but I'm glad we got seats together because both flights home were full.

Stay tuned for our evening at DHS where you finally find out where the title of this trip report comes from.

 

[Timon]

For a second I thought I was going to have to be all “wait CHH has spring rolls say what?” And then I realized what you did

Stupid hot is something my dad would say lol

I do do not want to deal with magic band plus but I feel that’s what’s happening. Still waiting to hear if my upcoming sailing will include magic bands or not

I wish they sold them at CHH!

I say stupid hot a lot!

Yeah, I wouldn't mind if the regular bands were used on the ships but I'm not thrilled about the MB+.

What a teaser!!!

Hahaha, I gotta keep you entertained and coming back, right?

This cruise is actually for our 20th. Plus I turn 50 a few months before we go (July) so we are celebrating both.

I do hope to get back to WDW next year sometime.

Great latest updates. Haunted Mansion and Pirates are 2 of my faves. That salmon at CHH looks really good. I have taken quite a liking for salmon lately. I'll have to add CHH to my list for when we go next year.

Oh wow, well then it's going to be epic!!!

I don't eat seafood but Rob says it's delicious! He was still talking about it the other day.

Yay for meeting up with friends!!!

I'm glad we had some time together, even if it was way too short!

Oh, I love this one!! I've not seen it before. I always enjoy finding little hidden mickeys and touches like this are what makes Disney so special


Such a nice picture of Dad and daughter I have the same problem with my 13 year old son! If I'm taking the picture, I usually get a nice one, but with his Dad they're both clowns! LOL


This is the worst ride photo anyway! Could they at least angle the camera so you can't see the evacuation stairs in the back. It has annoyed me from the beginning!

Hahaha, teenagers, right?

Lol, right? Lovely stairs in the photo! They could even just add more frost to cover it up.

OMG those shirts have GOT to be a mistake made at printing... the size seems to match up with what's printed on it at least? hahahaha

Yes, all of the sizes on the front were the sizes of the actual shirts!

Omg those shirts

Right!?

But it inspired such an amazing Rush song!

With no words! Just like YYZ, I have no words.

Teaser fulfilled!

I remember when you posted those shirt pics on FB......what on earth were they thinking with those?

Yay for GotG altogether

I just had to post those, they were ridiculous!

One of my all-time favorite songs and I LOVED the video.

"We call it Epcot"

How are people just walking by in the video?!?!?!?

(One of my co-workers just asked me if I am okay because I teared up watching it.)

Yes!! To all of this!!!

I am still shaking my head at those shirts. Just…why?

I should have checked to see if they were still there on my second trip, I didn't get much time at MK though.

 

[bcwife76]

haha that's a lot of Dole Whips! I'm sure they managed them just fine, though ;-)
The only time I've done Mission Space I was on the green side with my girls and hubby took the orange side,which he loved. The girls and I (who were 9&6 at the time I believe) were like "one and done." Yup. That is not a ride to be on if you are claustrophobic, not matter what the colour

Looking forward to finally finding out the origin of the title of this TR ;-)

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Sure Rob “accidentally” ordered extra Dole Whips. Just kidding, that was super sweet of him. I just have read enough of your trip reports by now to know that extra ice cream is not a problem for your family!

 

[juniorbugman]

Yup my family did Mission Space once and I waited in line then saw how tight the ride was and claustrophobia set in and I was gone. Took the escape route.
5 Dole Whips must be a family record eaten at one time.
Can't believe your trip is almost over.

 

[Timon]

April 7th, Part 2

Once we were done our flight check-ins, Rob headed to the parking lot and Kira and I went to the Skyliner.

She ended up LOVING it!

As we got closer to DHS, we started wondering if Rob would make it to the park before us. Kira said for sure he would and I said we would probably beat him since he had to walk all the way back to the parking lot at Epcot. Since Kira had had only some fruit and two Dole Whips and I had only had a Dole Whip, we were both starving. We had originally told Rob to meet us at Backlot Express because we were jonesing for some chicken strips and I knew that Backlot Express had the good strips and the good honey mustard.

About half-way to DHS on the second Skyliner ride, she yelled out, rather abruptly, "Can't you just Find My him?"



That's such a Kira thing to say, it made me snort-laugh.

Why yes, I can Find My him. Hahahaah!

I opened the Find My app and saw that he was just coming up the main entrance to DHS and we were just about to go over that main drive, so I told her to look past the trees, to the left, he should be the next car to come through. Sure, enough, he was and we passed just as he took that left turn to park. Talk about timing!

We watched him all the way down as he parked in the third row from the front. Since we were so close, we decided to wait and surprise him right after security. We were betting on whether or not he would see us as he passed (he has a hard time finding us in crowds ) but the joke was on us because once he got to just before security, he "Find My us!"

Straight to food for us, we were starving! Backlot Express was so busy, it was hard to find a seat inside! That place is huge and we never have problems getting a nice seat in a quiet corner but I guess we've never been at Spring Break.


I got a side of cheese sauce too, just in case Kira wanted to try it. She didn't but I did have some with my fries.

Once we were in the park, I got a DAS for TOT and it was time to ride it now.

Look how happy my kid is!

Since she has now done this one a few times, I suggested we do something for the photo. She still wasn't comfortable not holding onto the bars at the base of the seat, which ironically, I didn't even know were there until this trip , so I suggested we pretend we were sleeping, she could do that while still holding on, right?

She said the best she could do was close her eyes!

Once we were done with TOT, I got a DAS for Smuggler's Run.

Why is there Haunted Mansion merch in the TOT store?

Kira was eyeing some jewelry. She's normally not a big shopper but again, just like her momma, she magically turns into one while at Disney.

She had her eye on three rings, I told her she could pick one and we would buy it for her.

She picked the one on the left.

Rob said he was getting hungry and needed to eat. He mentioned pizza and I told him that there was only terrible pizza in DHS but he didn't care and we ended up stopping at Catalina Eddie's.

It filled him up, I guess.

As he ate, we debated on what to do next. The ride times were all insane and our DAS wasn't up for another hour. I mentioned that we should do Muppet Vision but Kira was not very pleased. I guess in her mind, since the Muppets are not popular anymore, that it would suck. I told her that it was right up her alley and that she would enjoy it. She begrudgingly agreed and so off we went. Worse case scenario, we kill some time in an air conditioned theatre. I pointed out some of the corny easter eggs and she ended up laughing at the pre-show.

I told her all about the crazy meltdown she had in this pre-show room when she was just shy of 3, where she was rolling around all over the floor, as if she was suddenly possessed

See our 2009 Trip Report for that lovely photo. (my chapter links on my old trippies don't work anymore since the DIS has changed servers but they are all there, just gotta go page by page).

She ended up loving the show, just like I knew she would. Obviously, Disney needs to update the Muppets advertising because the material is still awesome, outdated but awesome and more kids should see this show! I've seen it a gazillion times and I still love it!

We killed some time and then off we went to get some coaxium.

This time, Rob and Kira switched sides as pilots.

After Smuggler's Run, I got us another DAS for TOT as Kira wanted to ride it one last time. It's so funny how we started this trip with zero intentions of going on this ride and in the end, she wanted to go on it over and over.

We waited a bit until our ride time was up.

We did ask about that Cast Member that we loved but no one knew who she was and she wasn't around that night sadly. I took a screenshot of her from the video and showed it to some CM's on my second trip and eventually I ended up showing it to one of her best friends. I had asked for her name and her friend seemed very reluctant to give it to me. I assured her I just wanted it so that I could send her a Cast Compliment and I did, that very night. Since we had her as a CM two nights in a row, I sent her two compliments.

Her name is Alyvia, and I hope she gets all sorts of kudos because she totally deserves it!!

And for those of you who don't know, if you come across an amazing CM, you can go into the App, click on those three little lines in the bottom right corner and scroll down to where it says "Cast Compliment" and take a minute to fill it out.

Rob and I were glad to see that they brought back this cute little easter egg, They did it back in the day but stopped doing it for some reason. It's hard to see but notice the missing letters? Well, if you check out the bottom of the board, where the letters have fallen, they spell something out.

It used to say different things on each trip that we took, this time it said "Take the stairs".

This would be our last ride on TOT, so we came up with something that Kira could do while still holding onto the bars. We agreed to have no expression at all. I did an okay job, Kira, with her hair and the lighting, looks downright terrifying and Rob, well, I don't know what he is doing. Did he not get the memo?

After scanning in for TOT, I had booked us one final ride, Rise of the Resistance. The times had dropped significantly as people shuffled into Fantasmic so we were able to ride it right after TOT.

We had wanted to try to make it to Fantasmic but the lines for Lightning Lane were painfully long and we got out of the ride 10 minutes into Fantasmic. We knew from experience that it was a seven-minute walk over there so we opted to get ahead of the crowds and just head back to the hotel.

Mousekeeping had some fun with our blankets.

I should mention that Disney was supposed to have daily housekeeping back but we had it every other day on this trip. I am totally fine with that. In fact, when I went on my second trip, I only had it once in seven days. I'm pretty neat though and didn't really need it.

Out of order but I snapped a pic of our building, returning back that night. It's funny how you take so many pics of all the parks stuff but you rarely take the time to photograph the mundane. We went back and forth from here to the parking lot so many times, I guess I just wanted to capture something that was just so routine for us for a week.

Another day with lots of steps! I was looking forward to a few days with not so many.

Stay tuned for our final day of the trip, our journey home!

 

[Timon]

haha that's a lot of Dole Whips! I'm sure they managed them just fine, though ;-)
The only time I've done Mission Space I was on the green side with my girls and hubby took the orange side,which he loved. The girls and I (who were 9&6 at the time I believe) were like "one and done." Yup. That is not a ride to be on if you are claustrophobic, not matter what the colour

Looking forward to finally finding out the origin of the title of this TR ;-)

Hahaha, yes, they both managed them just fine. The ones at Epcot are actually much smaller than the ones at Magic Kingdom so it was quite easy for them to have two. At MK, they are bigger and less expensive.


Oh yeah, that is not a ride for the claustrophobic!!

I loved the ride, pre-dizziness but I'm sure not a lot of people can ride it, I'm shocked they haven't replaced it yet actually!

Cat's out of the bag now, although you probably guessed it already.

Sure Rob “accidentally” ordered extra Dole Whips. Just kidding, that was super sweet of him. I just have read enough of your trip reports by now to know that extra ice cream is not a problem for your family!

Hahahaha! Yeah, it's not like they were ever going to waste, right?

Yup my family did Mission Space once and I waited in line then saw how tight the ride was and claustrophobia set in and I was gone. Took the escape route.
5 Dole Whips must be a family record eaten at one time.
Can't believe your trip is almost over.

I bet a lot of people take the escape route!

Yup, definitely a record but they are pretty small! I don't think they could have eaten four of the ones from MK!

I know, right?! This was probably the shortest trip we've ever taken but we didn't want to leave Luna too long, we weren't sure how it would go for my brother with three dogs.