Escape From School to Crazy Christmas Crowds - A December 2017 Trip Report - Finished 5/20

[cstorm65]

Man, good thing you guys didn't wait around for the room to be ready! That is really late. I wonder if they were having issues. I hope that isn't normal for there!

I'm sure it wasn't normal. Also, it was a Sunday which is probably their biggest check in/check out day of the week if I were guessing.

I am sure that location was perfect for you guys! It would have been TOTALLY lost on my girls.

The boys loved it. DS5 actually fell in love with the football field and wanted to play out there all of the time!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 2 - Part 1 - The Great Bag Check Nightmare

After getting a good night's sleep we were up bright and early, at 7 AM to get ready to head to the Magic Kingdom. We were so excited to see all of the Christmas decorations as we had only ever seen pictures of the parks at this time of year. It was a foggy morning as you can tell from the baseball pool area.

The boys were ready to go as we headed to the bus stop at about 7:50.

The bus came at about 8:10 and it was a charter bus instead of a Disney transport bus. The ride was quick enough and by 8:25 were were here:

DS5 evening wanted his picture taken in front of the train station, so of course we obliged.

I will say this was an absolute nightmare to get into the park this morning. The bag check area was a disaster and was completely understaffed for the number of people that were coming in. I usually take the boys in the stroller through the no bags line and DW takes the bag through the check. It took here from 8:25 to about 8:40 to get the bag checked. Thus the train station pictures!

But anyway, we were here, in the Magic Kingdom, and it was Christmas!!! We were very excited to see Main Street USA decorated for the holidays and we weren’t disappointed.

We meandered down Main Street and only had to wait about 5 minutes for the show to start once we were in the hub. Big crowds around the castle, but we got ready to head into Tomorrowland.

DS5 had decided he wanted to ride Space Mountain on the last day of our summer trip and he loved it. So, naturally we were headed back there today. We were on the ride by 9:15 and as you can see in the ride pic he looked a little nervous.

He settled in though and we had a great ride and he came off ready to go again with his mom! We had pulled a child swap for her so we would do that later in the day. Of course he loved the escalator at the exit to the ride...who doesn’t. Although I think they’ve done some re-configuring of this exit now, not sure what the finished product will be.

We headed across Tomorrowland to Buzz Lightyear and in less than 5 minutes we were fighting off Zurg.

I scored pretty well for me. I’m not very good at these types of games, especially when I am trying to help DS5 hit some targets, but it was fun anyway!

It was about 9:30 when we got off the ride...where to next?

Up Next: I Always Pick the Wrong Seat​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I will say this was an absolute nightmare to get into the park this morning. The bag check area was a disaster and was completely understaffed for the number of people that were coming in.

I don't understand it, but the bus security seems to be pretty bad, alot! We stood in a couple long lines there as well.

Such a serious face! He was concentrating!

 

[cstorm65]

I don't understand it, but the bus security seems to be pretty bad, alot! We stood in a couple long lines there as well.

I understand why they did what they did and really I like the idea of moving the security perimeter wider for the monorail & to the TTC. It makes the arrival area outside the train station so much less hectic. I also feel it has increased the wait time everywhere, especially the bus arrivals, but I think in most cases its just that this area seems to be a little unorganized, which doesn't happen much at Disney. They check your bags and then they have metal detectors, but the lines don't really lead to specific metal detectors as they are just randomly stuck after a few different bag check lines. Then if you're like me with a stroller you have to leave the stroller to the side. I'm going off on a rant here, but I just think with a slight increase in the number of security cast members they could run that area smoother and quicker. Of course, with all that said, I'm all for safety!

Such a serious face! He was concentrating!

He takes these games very seriously and he doesn't like it when he loses. Unfortunately it is not in me to just "let him win" at things. I guess that's what you get when you have a coach for a dad!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 2 - Part 2 - I Always Pick the Wrong Seat

After we finished at Buzz Lightyear it was time to follow our typical park plan and head up into the Storybook Circus area. A lot of our Magic Kingdom mornings start like this as those are some of the rides our boys currently enjoy.

DS5 and DW took a spin on the Barnstormer.

While they were on Barnstormer DS1 and I had plans to head on Dumbo. We went in the building, but figured out quickly that they only had one side of the ride operating which is not the typical thing for them to do on a summer morning, but today only one was working. The line would have been about 30 minutes, so we just jung out until they were done with Barnstormer.

After they were finished we headed over for a ride on Under the Sea. DW loves this ride!!

We then made the walk across the park to do some of our favorites in Frontierland, but took a few pictures along the way.

It was about 10:20 by this point and DS5 and I had a FP scheduled for Splash Mountain so we went off to do that, but I had booked DW a FP at the same time for Magic Carpets. This ended up being a good strategy as she was able to drop DS5 and I off at Splash, grab a child swap for later and then go use her 2nd FP of the day for a ride with DS1 and her. Then she still had a Splash child swap pass for later. They had a great time on their ride as you can tell...get ready for cuteness overload!

Meanwhile, DS5 and I were having a great ride on Splash as always. I love this ride and DS5 does as well, especially the drop.

The only part I don’t like about this ride ride is that I always pick the wrong seat and end up on the right side, which happens to be the exact side of the ride that always sits you next to the waterfall after the big drop and that spot always seems to be backed up so you have to sit there for a few seconds and get wet. Of course, DS5 is always sitting on the left just laughing at me because I’m getting wet! Oh well, maybe I’ll remember to get on the left side next time!

We eventually got to welcome Brer Rabbit home.

It was about 10:50 when we got off and we had plans to meet up with DW and DS1 for a fun music show that DS1 loves!

Up Next: Cream Cheese Pretzel…”I Want One”​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

This one is the cutest!

The only part I don’t like about this ride ride is that I always pick the wrong seat and end up on the right side, which happens to be the exact side of the ride that always sits you next to the waterfall after the big drop and that spot always seems to be backed up so you have to sit there for a few seconds and get wet. Of course, DS5 is always sitting on the left just laughing at me because I’m getting wet! Oh well, maybe I’ll remember to get on the left side next time!

Which side is key for that stupid waterfall for sure!!!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I always sit on the wrong side because my daughter won’t give up the other side, lol! She knows the ride very well.

The magic carpet pictures of your wife and son are so stinking cute! How fun

 

[cstorm65]

This one is the cutest!

He's a ham!!!

Which side is key for that stupid waterfall for sure!!!

So true! DS6 just likes to be the one who gets on the ride first and that is bad new for me in relation to the waterfall.

I always sit on the wrong side because my daughter won’t give up the other side, lol! She knows the ride very well.

I think DS6 just won't ever let me be the one who gets on first so he always ends up on the that side. Of course I never remember to sit on that side until we get to the waterfall!

The magic carpet pictures of your wife and son are so stinking cute! How fun

One of my favorite pics of the trip!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 2 - Part 3 - Cream Cheese Pretzel…”I Want One”

We had just finished a ride on Splash for DS5 and myself and we headed over to meet DW and DS1 at a family favorite attraction of ours, the Country Bears. For some reason I didn’t grab any pictures of this, but DS1 LOVES’s this show! He just dances the entire time!

After we were done we of course had to stop here:

After getting our Dole Whip fix we headed back through the passageway into Frontierland and DW and DS5 headed off to take a spin on the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness. Meanwhile DS1 and I stopped to watch these guys.

DS1 loved watching them and danced a little, but I couldn’t get him to go dance with the bears themselves. He is very shy and only wants to be around his mom and dad, which we think is a good thing for the most part. So, this was about as close as he got. Meanwhile DW and DS5 were having a great time:

They even found a photopass photographer outside of the ride and got some great pictures, even a magic shot!

It was about 11:45 at this point and we headed across the hub as we had one final FP of the morning to finish before we left for a break. On the way we had to stop though because the street party was taking place. I for the life of me can’t remember the name of this because it changes so often, so we’ll just call it the street dance party!

We got over into Tomorrowland after the dance party wrapped up and DW and DS5 headed in to use their final FP at Space Mountain. While they were riding I mobile ordered us a couple of Cream Cheese pretzels from the Lunching Pad. Can you believe we had never tried one of these beauties in all of our trips?

Let me just say it was an absolute miracle that I was able to save one for DW and DS5 to split. DS1 and I had the one we shared gone in less than 30 seconds I think! But I did manage to save one for them and we all loved it!

Meanwhile they were riding Space. Come on people...I’ve trained you better than this to look at the camera!

Anyways, they had a great ride and by the time they were done and enjoying their pretzel it was about 12:35 and we were headed out for a break. On the way DS5 had earned enough “points” for good behavior that he could buy a small toy. Of course he takes FOREVER…………..to shop for something. I mean he looked at stuff for 20 minutes. Finally, but 1:00 we had settled on something in the Emporium and headed to the bus stop. We were at the bus stop by 1:10 and a bus came almost right then! Awesome! DS5 just had to sit on the floor so he could play with his new toy that he got. I know...we get the parent of the year award for this!

We headed back to All Star Sports and grabbed a little lunch in the food court. I got the Turkey Panini - house-roasted turkey, cranberry mayonnaise, Muenster Cheese, and field greens with house-made chips and fruit. I thought this was really good. The pieces of turkey were nice and thick cut and the cranberry sauce it had on it was really good as well.

DW got the Brie & Apple grilled cheese which is not listed on the menu anymore, so I don’t have a description. Which is interesting because DW didn’t love it. She said the flavors were pretty good, but that the slices of apple were way too thick and overpowering. She said it would have been good if the apples slices would have been thin sliced, but it was almost as if they just pulled regular apples slices out that you would eat by themselves.

DS5 just wanted a salad for lunch, which if you’ve read our reports you know he likes that sometimes and he ate every bit of it! DS1 got pizza and he enjoyed it. I think DS5 finished off the one piece he didn’t have.

That was it for the first part of our day. Time for a little rest time!

Up Next: “That’s A Big Bear”​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Awesome! DS5 just had to sit on the floor so he could play with his new toy that he got. I know...we get the parent of the year award for this!

My girls have ended up sitting on the floor. After a long day in the park and not seats left, there was no stopping them. So far they have survived.

 

[disneyAndi14]

I really enjoyed the cream cheese pretzel as well!

Country Bears is a fun and quirky show, we try to do each trip!

 

[cstorm65]

My girls have ended up sitting on the floor. After a long day in the park and not seats left, there was no stopping them. So far they have survived.

It's definitely not a fight worth fighting at the end of time in the parks!

I really enjoyed the cream cheese pretzel as well!

Country Bears is a fun and quirky show, we try to do each trip!

Country Bears is one of my only memories of the parks when we came for one day in my childhood. I find it weird that it is my main memory, but it is the one thing that is so vivid in my mind from when I was young. So it always holds a special place for me!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 2 - Part 4 - “That’s A Big Bear”

We had just finished lunch and were ready to settle down for a nice afternoon of relaxation, but DS5 wanted to swim a little first, so we headed to the Baseball Pool which was less than a minute from our room.

We had a nice swim and then I took DS5 back for a nap. My parents were supposed to be joining us today, but some weather had delayed and eventually cancelled the flight they were on. It was about this time they finally got out of Oklahoma City, but it was about 4 hours late and were having to fly to Baltimore before arriving in Orlando late in the evening. So, they were going to make it today, but not in time to join us at Disney Springs like we had hoped. So, we went on a headed to the bus at about 5:00 to spend a little time at Disney Springs. A few fun parts of the resort on the way to the bus stop:

We were on a bus at 5:15 and off to Disney Springs. We were excited as this was the first trip we had been on since the Disney Springs construction was basically finished. So there was a lot to just take in for us. DS1 loves sitting with DW on the bus and looking out the window!

We arrived at Disney Springs at 5:35 and headed on in from the new bus stop area. Yes, I know it’s old news now, but it was new to us in December of 2017! I know, I know I’m way behind on updates...oh well, I’m not quitting now!

We didn’t make it far into Disney Springs before the Coca-Cola store caught our eye.

We loved this store. Some really unique things. We didn’t really want to purchase anything, but it was a fun store to just look at the stuff in. I snapped a pic of the neat little elephant figurine.

DW did find some things she was interested in!

While DW was browsing one of the workers told us we had to go up to the rooftop deck to see the view and also that the Coca Cola Bear was doing a meet and greet on the 2nd floor. We didn’t even know there was a Coca Cola Bear!

So we first headed up to look at the rooftop view...and it was spectacular!

What a great view of the Characters in Flight Balloon:

They also had drinks, specialty beverages, and other things like that for sale, but we were heading off to dinner so nothing for us right now. We did stop back on the 2nd floor to see what this Coca Cola Bear thing was all about and we found a pretty cool meet and greet. Although the boys were both a little scared of the bear because it was huge! I mean most characters are a little smaller...Goofy is tall, but this bear was just big. When we walked in DS5 said, “That’s a Big Bear!” And he was right!

This was a fun meet and the pics worked just like a photopass picture. They were trying to sell some sort of magic shot or something that I can’t remember about as we left, but it was still a nice experience.

By this time it was about 6:15 and time for some dinner...but where would we end up eating? You’ll have to wait and see!

Up Next: The Best Mac ‘n Cheese Ever​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

That bear is HUGE!

 

[disneyAndi14]

What a fun adventure at the Coke store, the bear is cute and huge!!

We checked out this store a few times, it is fun with the different levels and the rooftop deck!

 

[cstorm65]

That bear is HUGE!

That was our thought when we went in the room. There was no line for this meet so we just walked in and boom...there it was!

What a fun adventure at the Coke store, the bear is cute and huge!!

We checked out this store a few times, it is fun with the different levels and the rooftop deck!

It is a neat store. Nothing I'd go out of our way for, but since we were walking through it was very cool to check out and get an impromptu meet.

 

[cstorm65]

Day 2 - Part 5 - The Best Mac ‘n Cheese Ever

We had finished up our touring of the new Coca Cola Store, or at least it was new to us at the time of this trip! It was time for some dinner so we headed over to one of our favorite places:

It actually wasn’t all that crowded and we saw a table, so DW and the boys sat down while I went to order. DS1 decided he would make a toy out of his sippy cup!

And DS5 decided he would give his OSU cowboys signal...for who knows what reason!

I got back from ordering and the food was ready not too long after. DW decided to try The Earl's Cobb - Field greens, Grilled chicken, bacon, cheddar, Roma tomato, cucumber, cranberries and Ranch Dressing; gluten-free for $7.99. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of this, but she loved it. I got a new sandwich for the, the Italian - Salami, capicola, ham, mortadella, mozzarella, Roma tomato, Italian seasoning, and Italian dressing $7.99.

I usually get the Full Montagu and I decided to try something different. The Italian was good and I would definitely order it again, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoy the Full Montagu. DS5 just wanted a salad for dinner, yes he was on a salad kick this trip, and he enjoyed it. We got DS1 some mac ‘n cheese and the boys tore this up.

DS1 ate a good bit of it, but was finished with a few bites left, so DS5 finished it off and exclaimed “This is the best mac ‘n cheese ever!” Overall, we loved our meal at Earl as we normally do. After finishing dinner DS5 had been really good this day so we told him we’d let him pick out something at Goofy’s Candy Company so we headed across the street.

DS5 was in candy heaven! Of course it’s hard for him to find some things in here because we’ve found out he seems to have some sort of adverse reaction to Red 40 food dye. I’m not sure if its a real thing or not, but his behavior is sure a lot better if he doesn’t have it and DW did some research and says food dye’s can cause some kids to have a sort of reaction. Anyway, we keep him away from it and when we do he seems to do better. I don’t know...it may all be in our mind! haha

I of course had to get a pic of the Periodic Table of Candy...I don’t teach Chemistry anymore, but I used to and this is still cool to me!

DS5 finally found some stuff he wanted in the blue cotton candy and some green/yellow candies. This store makes it easy to pick something without the Red 40 dye as each of the candy types has the ingredients right on the front of the container.

We left Goofy’s and happened upon a little dance party and the boys had some fun dancing. Well, DS1 is the one who loves to dance, DS5 is a little too “cool” or “shy”, however you want to look at it.

We headed back towards the bus stop at about 7:40 and stopped to take some pics in front of the Christmas tree.

DS5 took a picture of DW and me...he did a pretty good job!

We were back at the resort by 8:20 and got the boys in bed. My parents were not going to arrive until about 10:30, which would put them at the resort at around 11:30, 5 hours later than planned, but at least they were going to make it.

After getting the boys settled DW wanted an ice cream cookie sandwich. It was delicious and so big that we split it. It was so delicious I forgot to get a picture of it! DW went to bed at about 9:45 and I was going to wait up on my parents. They ended up arriving at about 11:20 and got settled into their room shortly there after. We were excited that they got a connecting room to ours...so we planned a nice little surprise for the boys in the morning!

Up Next: A Beautiful Morning at All Star Sports​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

DS5 was in candy heaven! Of course it’s hard for him to find some things in here because we’ve found out he seems to have some sort of adverse reaction to Red 40 food dye. I’m not sure if its a real thing or not, but his behavior is sure a lot better if he doesn’t have it and DW did some research and says food dye’s can cause some kids to have a sort of reaction. Anyway, we keep him away from it and when we do he seems to do better. I don’t know...it may all be in our mind! hah

I am pretty sure Morgan throws up every night that she drinks Hawian Punch. Usually at birthday parties, of course. So, I am with you on the Red 40 food dye.

We were excited that they got a connecting room to ours...so we planned a nice little surprise for the boys in the morning!

That is cute!!!

 

[cstorm65]

I am pretty sure Morgan throws up every night that she drinks Hawian Punch. Usually at birthday parties, of course. So, I am with you on the Red 40 food dye.

That's awful! Speaking of that the stomach bug has hit our house this week. DS3 and I have managed to avoid it so far, but it got DW and DS6 bad. Hoping the other two of us can stay away from it!

That is cute!!!

Update coming up...of course we forgot to photograph the reveal because DW was filming.

 

[cstorm65]

Day 3 - Part 1 - A Beautiful Morning at All Star Sports

Before long it was morning and we were ready for our first full day with the grandparents. We had plans to go to Magic Kingdom for an 8 AM opening until about 10 before heading to our breakfast reservation. Since my parents got in late the night before we decided to forgo the Magic Kingdom that morning and just head to breakfast which made us not have to leave the hotel until about 9:30 instead of 7:00. I took the later start to go down and get DW and I some drinks in our refillable mugs and it was just a beautiful morning to walk around All Star Sports. For a value resort I loved taking pictures and walking around this place!

When I got back to the room DS1 was awake and DS5 was trying to wake up, but it takes him a bit!

I texted my parents and told them to knock on the adjoining door in a few minutes. When it happened our boys didn’t know what to think, but we told them to answer it and they were super surprised and excited to see the grandparents. We hadn’t told them they were coming so it was a neat moment. Of course we failed to photograph it, I think DW was videoing, so sorry about that!

Anyways, we got dressed and got to the bus stop at about 9:30 and waited about 10 minutes for a Magic Kingdom bus. DS1 wanted to wear his backpack.

By 10:00 or so we were at the Magic Kingdom and the boys loved showing the grandparents the monorail.

Then we got excited to see the Thor bus, although I know this is old news now!

We were heading to our 10:30 breakfast and just went to the Wilderness Lodge bus stop instead of going to the boat. That’s the only bad thing about the new wider security perimeter is that we would have had to waste a lot of time going through security to get to the boat dock just to leave the secure area again. So the bus was much easier. Before long we were heading into the Wilderness Lodge!

It was about 10:15 at this point and our ADR was at 10:30, but we were so excited to spend a few minutes looking at this:

My mom loved the Wilderness Lodge lobby with the tree up and we were lucky enough to spot a photopass photographer with no line whatsoever. So, of course we had to get these pics and they are some of our most favorite of the trip.

It was a great photopass session that we didn’t even know was going to happen. Anyways, it was getting time for our breakfast at DW’s favorite place!

Up Next: “We Will Need Biscuits and Gravy for Everyone Else”​