Escape From Craziness to Pandora, Po Boys, and Oppressive Heat - Finished & New TR Link 12/28

[cstorm65]

Loving the trip report, and your boys are so precious!

Thanks for reading along!!

 

[ilgirl51]

I just caught up on your trip reports, and now I'm even more excited about going in a few weeks. I've loved reading about your great family and seeing all those big smiles! We're staying at Pop Century too.

 

[cstorm65]

I just caught up on your trip reports, and now I'm even more excited about going in a few weeks. I've loved reading about your great family and seeing all those big smiles! We're staying at Pop Century too.

Thanks for reading along! We love Pop! Hope you have a great trip!! We are heading out in just about two weeks ourselves!

 

[ilgirl51]

Nice! Are you staying at Pop again?

Edited: I just realized you have a pre-trip report going too. Have a great trip! My DD9 is excited about going to Disney for the 2nd time in her life. First time was 4 years ago for a 2-day trip and stayed at AS-Movies). This time we're staying at Pop and plan to do 4 days total. Still a relatively short trip but longer than last time! We're driving from Illinois so doing more than 2 days should help! I'll look forward to keeping up with your reports.

 

[cstorm65]

Nice! Are you staying at Pop again?

Edited: I just realized you have a pre-trip report going too. Have a great trip! My DD9 is excited about going to Disney for the 2nd time in her life. First time was 4 years ago for a 2-day trip and stayed at AS-Movies). This time we're staying at Pop and plan to do 4 days total. Still a relatively short trip but longer than last time! We're driving from Illinois so doing more than 2 days should help! I'll look forward to keeping up with your reports.

Thanks for reading along over here. We are Dolphin with Starwood points for the first part of our trip, then we were supposed to be Port Orleans Riverside for the 2nd half. But about two weeks ago I was lucky to find a travel agent rate room at the Yacht Club for about $200 more than our Riverside room so we jumped on that for the second half. We love Pop too though!!

 

[ilgirl51]

Awesome!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 10 - Part 1 - How Long Does it Take a 5-Year-Old to Pick a Snack?

After we all got in bed at an early hour last night we were up and getting ready by 7:15 this morning as we had a rope drop opening at Magic Kingdom to make it to. We got to the bus stop at 8:05, a bus came at 8:10, and 20 minutes later we were at the Magic Kingdom. We used this entrance:

We didn’t use all the time on our trip, but there are definitely times when the line there is much shorter than the rest of the lines, so it is a nice option to have. After we got in there was still about 25 minutes until the park opened so we stopped to let DS5 pick a snack. He had earned one with good behavior so we headed in the confectionary.

So, let’s just see how long it takes a five year old to make this decision, shall we? He started off with a football rice krispie treat.

We also looked at this little beauty.

He then headed over to the area with all of the specialty items they make and DW proceeded to try and get him to make a selection.

After about 15 minutes he finally decided on this:

It looks like a rice krispie treat, but it was actually a cookie. He loved it and had it all about finished before we got to our first ride. So, with about 10 minutes until park opening we headed down main street. But wait…:

Pandora is not at the Magic Kingdom! DW had to tell me that is referring to a different Pandora.

We wandered through the Emporium as we were heading towards Adventureland and saw this new Happily Ever After merchandise, which was pretty new at this point.

And a castle shot here early in the morning.

Before to long we were passing one of our favorite breakfast spots, although not eating there today.

We headed towards Adventureland, but the park wasn’t quite open yet so we had to wait here for about 2 minutes. Thank goodness it was longer, the people were getting restless!

We made our way through Adventureland and our goal was to cut through to ride Big Thunder Mountain a couple of times before the crowd got to long. DS5 and I rode while DW and DS2 went and played at the playground area around the exit of Splash. DS2 LOVED it!!!

Meanwhile, DS5 and I got a ride in on Big Thunder before we moved on with our plan.

Up Next: I Love Mobile Ordering​

 

[disneyAndi14]

Great updates, we love the arancini at Via Napoli to. The cookie your son finally decided on is my dd’s favorite!

Your sons are sure hanging in there with all the activities. How lucky for the boys to experience Disney so much at such a young age!

My dd was 5 on her first trip and my son was 10.

 

[ilgirl51]

It sounds like a fun day, especially picking out a treat in the morning! My DD9 loves treats in the morning. We may use your idea of letting her pick out a treat if we get there early. She's got multiple food allergies, though it looks like there are many pre-packaged items in your confectionary picture too.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I have to say 15 minutes isn't THAT bad. Ha! Good selection.

 

[cstorm65]

Great updates, we love the arancini at Via Napoli to. The cookie your son finally decided on is my dd’s favorite!

He loved it for sure. He ate almost all of it before we made it to Big Thunder.

Your sons are sure hanging in there with all the activities. How lucky for the boys to experience Disney so much at such a young age! My dd was 5 on her first trip and my son was 10.

We just haven't given them a choice about hanging in there! No, really we just take a bunch of breaks and make sure they get enough naps and rest throughout.

It sounds like a fun day, especially picking out a treat in the morning! My DD9 loves treats in the morning. We may use your idea of letting her pick out a treat if we get there early. She's got multiple food allergies, though it looks like there are many pre-packaged items in your confectionary picture too.

Yes, there is quite a bit of pre-packaged stuff in there, actually more than I remember. We ended up doing several of those later in our trip to take home to some various people with us.

I have to say 15 minutes isn't THAT bad. Ha! Good selection.

It's not too bad for DS6 either! I've spent 30 minutes with him in Dollar Tree before picking out one, $1 toy that he earned. I think this day it helped that we had to get to Big Thunder at rope drop so that sped him up a little bit!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 10 - Part 2 - I Love Mobile Ordering

We picked up after Big Thunder, but I just realized the last picture on my last update was from Splash. I got one picture ahead! Splash was where we headed next as DS5 and I took a spin. Love this view:

Meanwhile DW and DS1 were still down at the playground area. He was having the time of his life! Of course he had to stop and get a drink, playing is hard work!

A few more pictures from our ride:

And our ride photo:

And DS1 was still going strong at the play area.

DS5 and I love Splash. DW is not a huge fan because she hates getting wet, even the slightest bit, so it’s almost always us that get to go on it. DS5 loves it, especially the drop.

We headed out at about 9:40 and Frontierland still wasn’t very crowded.

We next headed over to the Magic Carpets for a quick spin and to try and avoid getting spit on by the camel. DS5 thought showing his muscles was relevant!

It was a great ride. DS5 is old enough to move it up and down himself so he always tries and get us wet! Luckily we didn’t get spit on during this ride, but DS5 wanted to get it after the ride so we let him get a little wet!

Next we headed across the park to Tomorrowland. We wanted to try and do Buzz if the line wasn’t too long yet. At 10:10 the wait time was 20 minutes so we decided DS5 and DW would go and I would take DS1 on the TTA. We just didn’t think DS1 would make it very well in a 20 minute line. I think it ended up taking them about 15 minutes, but DS1 and I had a fun ride on the TTA.

DS5 had to get a picture by the Buzz statue while he was in line.

A couple more pics from on the TTA.

DS1 and I were done before DW and DS5 so we went in search of a snack. I had been wanting to try the Jalepeno Cheese Pretzel from the Lunching Pad, but the line was super long. I thought I remembered this place had mobile order so I checked my app and sure enough. It took me about 60 seconds to order two of the pretzels and click the button that I was present to collect my order. It told me just a few seconds later my order was ready so I headed to the mobile order window. The lady grabbed my two pretzels and even gave me two cups of ice water since you can’t order those on the app and we were on our way. So, here was our mid-morning snack:

It was delicious! I can’t believe we hadn’t ever tried this on a previous trip and here it took us to Day 10 to try it on this one. The cheese was good and the jalapeno flavor was present, but certainly not overpowering. DS5 ate about half of one pretzel and enjoyed it just fine. So, a delicious snack and mobile ordering for the win!

Up Next: That Was a Long Bus Ride​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I love how this is kind of after you think the ride if over. A nice surprise. I sometimes forget that it's there. Even though I have been on the ride many times already.

DS5 and I love Splash. DW is not a huge fan because she hates getting wet, even the slightest bit, so it’s almost always us that get to go on it. DS5 loves it, especially the drop.

Splash is a family favorite too, although Morgan doesn't like the drop.

It was delicious! I can’t believe we hadn’t ever tried this on a previous trip and here it took us to Day 10 to try it on this one. The cheese was good and the jalapeno flavor was present, but certainly not overpowering. DS5 ate about half of one pretzel and enjoyed it just fine. So, a delicious snack and mobile ordering for the win!

I haven't tried this yet. I am not sure I would like the cream cheese, but I think I need to give it a try!

 

[cstorm65]

I love how this is kind of after you think the ride if over. A nice surprise. I sometimes forget that it's there. Even though I have been on the ride many times already.

I always agree! There is still some neat things on this ride after the drop. Of course I hate the waterfall where boats always seem to get "stuck", but this room is great!

Splash is a family favorite too, although Morgan doesn't like the drop.

My DW doesn't like it either. She loves roller coasters, flips, and things like that, but a drop on a water ride...count her out!

I haven't tried this yet. I am not sure I would like the cream cheese, but I think I need to give it a try!

Well, I got hungry last night writing that and I'm on a diet so I can't indulge but I started looking at pretzels at Disney World. I'm sad...I know! But anyway, this pretzel is actually pepper jack cheese, not cream cheese. They used to have a cream cheese pretzel here, but not anymore. I combined the two in my mind. Anyway, it is delicious!

 

[Scrappingjen]

I am loving your trip report, So much information and its great to see your happy family. Thank You

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Of course I hate the waterfall where boats always seem to get "stuck", but this room is great!

That is Morgan's favorite part! Ha!

Well, I got hungry last night writing that and I'm on a diet so I can't indulge but I started looking at pretzels at Disney World. I'm sad...I know! But anyway, this pretzel is actually pepper jack cheese, not cream cheese. They used to have a cream cheese pretzel here, but not anymore. I combined the two in my mind. Anyway, it is delicious!

Either way, I will have to try it next time maybe..... Who know how many times it will change by the time we get back there!

Reading these trip reports isn't good for the diet!

 

[cstorm65]

I am loving your trip report, So much information and its great to see your happy family. Thank You

Thanks so much for reading along!

That is Morgan's favorite part! Ha!

DS5 and I have a joke. He almost always jumps in the boat before me when getting on the ride and I can never remember that the person who sits on the left gets most of the waterfall until we are actually approaching the waterfall. So, DS5 always laughs at me! That may need to be my goal this trip to make him sit on the right hand side at least once!

Either way, I will have to try it next time maybe..... Who know how many times it will change by the time we get back there!

I know, I always wonder what places are going to have gone through a menu change since our last trip.

Reading these trip reports isn't good for the diet!

So true!!! Especially when I'm trying to lose weight and be healthy so I can enjoy our next trip!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 10 - Part 3 - That Was a Long Bus Ride

After finishing our morning at the Magic Kingdom we headed out of the park. I did just notice some pictures we got from a Photopass person around Pirates earlier in the day. Sorry, I’m not sure how these got out of order.

As we were leaving it was about 10:45 AM. Crazy, I know, to be leaving that early, but we had done everything we wanted to do that morning. The crowds were still pouring off the Ferry as we left.

DS5 continued to love getting everyone to look at every monorail he saw!

We were at the bus stop at 10:50 and a bus didn’t come until 11:10, but we were back at French Quarter by 11:25. We did pass our future home on the way:

Before finally arriving at our current “home”!

Once we got back we headed over to Sassagoula Floatworks for lunch after dropping a few things off in the room. On the way we saw the neat horse and carriage that goes around Port Orleans. DS5 loved it, especially that it went #2 right in the road! Sorry this is not a great picture!

It was at this point I guess I decided I wasn’t going to take pictures for a while. We went inside of Sassagoula for lunch. I had a Po’boy again and it was great again! DW had a protein shake and the boys both wanted mac ‘n cheese cups from the room. So we were kind of boring, but that’s ok!

We were done with lunch by 12:15 and DS5 and I went swimming for about an hour. When we finished we went back for DS5 to take a nap and I did a load of laundry. We let the boys sleep for a while as we knew this was going to be a late night as we were planning on staying through Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom.

We headed to the bus stop at 5:40.

We waited on a bus until 5:48, so not too bad of a wait, unfortunately the wait would increase, we’d just be on the bus to do it. This was the first bus we got on all week here that picked us up at French Quarter and then proceeded to stop at all of the Riverside bus stops as well. It took us 15 minutes just to get out of Port Orleans and then another 15 minutes to Animal Kingdom because they route you up around Epcot Drive to get to AK. It was quite the bus trip. We arrived at Animal Kingdom at 6:19.

We stopped to get some Photopass pictures on our way into the park.

And before long we were heading into the park and DS5 found something he liked!

We also snapped a few pictures in front of the Tree of Life, although there was no Photopass person to be found. Not sure why DS1 was being such a ham here, but it’s cute!

Up Next: Our First Nighttime Safari​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

After finishing our morning at the Magic Kingdom we headed out of the park. I did just notice some pictures we got from a Photopass person around Pirates earlier in the day. Sorry, I’m not sure how these got out of order.

Forget, I am not following along any more! ....

I love that they are holding hands!

As we were leaving it was about 10:45 AM. Crazy, I know, to be leaving that early, but we had done everything we wanted to do that morning. The crowds were still pouring off the Ferry as we left.

I don't know if we would be able to leave that early... I always feel like one minute we just got there and then next thing it's 12:00!

We did pass our future home on the way:

Ha! When you move there, I am coming to visit.

We waited on a bus until 5:48, so not too bad of a wait, unfortunately the wait would increase, we’d just be on the bus to do it. This was the first bus we got on all week here that picked us up at French Quarter and then proceeded to stop at all of the Riverside bus stops as well. It took us 15 minutes just to get out of Port Orleans and then another 15 minutes to Animal Kingdom because they route you up around Epcot Drive to get to AK. It was quite the bus trip. We arrived at Animal Kingdom at 6:19.

When we were at French Quarter, Animal Kingdom was the only time we did this as well. I guess that it is a standard thing? Which seems so strange... Animal Kingdom is a popular park right now, why would it be there that is sharing and not Hollywood Studios. I hope the ride back wasnt' too bad.

Has your wife worn that shirt already? I only ask becasue I was thinking that I really liked it but then I got a serious case of deja vu! Regardless, I love her shirt!

 

[cstorm65]

Forget, I am not following along any more! ....

Hey!!!

I love that they are holding hands!

I know, DS5 is so good with him!

I don't know if we would be able to leave that early... I always feel like one minute we just got there and then next thing it's 12:00!

We've done that a bunch of times as well!!

Ha! When you move there, I am coming to visit.

If by some chance the stars align and teachers start getting paid millions and millions of dollars and I do get a house there we will certainly take visitors!!

When we were at French Quarter, Animal Kingdom was the only time we did this as well. I guess that it is a standard thing? Which seems so strange... Animal Kingdom is a popular park right now, why would it be there that is sharing and not Hollywood Studios. I hope the ride back wasnt' too bad.

We had the same though as to why would they not be doing it at Hollywood Studios. The ride back was ok, only because French Quarter was the first stop. The bus was packed to the brim!!

Has your wife worn that shirt already? I only ask becasue I was thinking that I really liked it but then I got a serious case of deja vu! Regardless, I love her shirt!

Most likely she has! We usually only take 7-8 days of clothes an we always wash around the time we change resorts.