Even when it's not perfect, it's still Disney 1/26-2/1/19 Trip Report

jknezek

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 19, 2016
Well this was a tougher trip. It's not that we didn't have fun, it just was a more difficult trip. Weather, sickness, travel issues, park issues, we had them all, but we soldiered on and made some great family memories.

1/25 -- Got a phone call from my kids' school. Daughter was running a small fever and had a sore throat. Trip to the Dr. and we had a strep diagnosis. Picked up the meds, start feeding them to her right away. Motorhome was packed, kids and wife put to bed in the coach, as it was pointed down the driveway. I slept for a few hours in the house before leaving Birmingham just after 2a.m. CST 1/26.

1/26 -- A difficult early morning drive. 26 degrees when we left and the old motorhome was a bit grumpy to start. But once we got moving, heavy, freezing fog settled in. About 30 miles down the interstate a stag with a death wish cut in front of the coach and I bet we missed contact by less than a foot. Didn't need that big cup of coffee anymore, but sure could have used a new set of underwear!

About 4 a.m. a trucker pulled in behind me on the Troy Highway. He insisted on using his brights, and sitting less than 5 feet off my bumper. After a few miles where he could have passed but didn't, I accelerated up a hill to move away from him. He caught me on the next down hill and settled in again. I slowed from 60 to 25, he followed right along. 45 minutes of this insane jerk behind me before he finally turned off the road. He sat on my bumper with his brights the whole time. I probably should have pulled in somewhere, but I didn't want to wake the kids. Still didn't need my coffee, but now I'm irritated.

7 a.m. -- kids starting to wake up as we hit I10. Sun starts to rise. Can't see a darn thing heading eastbound. Pull off for gas and to let the life giving ball of gas rise higher in the sky. Get back on the road, go 2 exits, get off again for breakfast. Retinas are feeling burned out.

2:30 p.m. EST -- pull in to Fort Wilderness after 550 miles. Assigned spot 231. Was hoping for an outside loop spot, but 231 is not a bad site. We fit easily, good room, broke out the chalk and let the kids go to town decorating the site. Daughter still down for the count from strep.

5 p.m. -- Took my twin boys to Captain Cook's for dinner. Small boat to the monorail, monorail to the Poly. Wife stayed with wiped out daughter and had P&J's takeout from The Fort. Captain Cook's was good. Pork nachos are a nice option. Boys had burgers. Sat inside because it was cold, but we wandered around for a bit. The Poly is still one of my favorite themed resorts. Beautiful. Love the pool area. Boys don't want to take the monorail back. Freeze on a boat to Magic Kingdom, freeze even more on the boat from MK to Fort Wilderness. Apparently one of the inside boats for the Fort-MK run is broken, so they are using a small boat instead. Cold weather and exposed boats is somewhat of a theme for this trip. On the upside, amazing boat captains gave my boys lots of transportation cards!

Early bedtime for all. Hopefully daughter will feel better for Park Day 1, EPCOT!
 
1/27 -- Alarm goes off at 6:30 to start moving. FPs for the day are TT at 9, Spaceship Earth at 10, Land at 11. Want to get to Soarin at Park opening. One problem, daughter didn't sleep last night, one of my sons fell out of his bed and didn't get back to sleep easily. Daughter slept with wife in my spot, I slept on horrible bed reserved for the kids, who don't notice. Only one kid slept last night. Wife tells me to forget it and go back to sleep. We are going to be late. Also, it's pouring. Like bucketing down, and has been all night. Still, it's Florida, the rain never stays long, right? And it's got to warm up from the low 40s, right?

7:30 a.m. Kids start waking up. Daughter is fever free. One of my boys is coughing. Figures. Wife and I look like death warmed over. Caffeine. Breakfast made in the motorhome, everyone bundled up. We brought good ponchos, not the Disney ones. Break them all out. Step outside. Go back in. Take ponchos off. Add more layers to everyone. It's cold. And wet. Really wet. Activate the lifeboats wet. Everyone is wearing 4 layers, plus a poncho. Extra socks in the bags for the day. We are loaded. Walk to bus stop at back of Fort Wilderness. Take internal bus to front of The Fort. Miracles happen! The EPCOT bus is sitting right there! We get off the internal bus, start moving to the EPCOT bus. It leaves. Literally as we walk up to the door he pulls out. Did I mention it is raining? And cold? Go sit down kids, next bus will be here soon. I hope.

8:30 a.m. Get to the park. Get through security. Still pouring. Still cold. Not much in the way of lines though! We go straight to Spaceship Earth. It's a walk on! Except it breaks as we get within spitting distance of the entrance. Huh. Guess we'll wait a few minutes. We have plenty of time since our Test Track FPs were converted to a multipass since Test Track doesn't run in the rain. And did I mention it was raining? Interesting fact, the area under Spaceship Earth is a windtunnel. As the wind gets channeled under the ball and between the gift shop building on one side and the bathroom on the other, it concentrates to gail force with every breeze. But at least it is relatively dry. Kids reenact scene from Titanic standing on the lowest level of the fence and holding arms out wide. Almost lost one of them to a hurricane gust. Wait 20 minutes and ride starts moving again. Everyone is so happy to get inside and on board. Love Spaceship Earth. We ride twice because there are no lines. Everyone loves Spaceship Earth in my family. Kids have a blast playing in the exit room as well. Feeling dryer and warm again, we load all the layers back on, including ponchos, and head out.

We head to Nemo. Why Nemo? It's close, it's open, it has almost no wait, and it's close to The Land where our next FP is. Kids love the ride. We all love the manatees. We watch the divers. Have a great time in Living Seas. Despite the rain, things are looking up. So long as I ignore 2 of my kids hacking out a lung. Note to self, make sure kids put ponchos on the same way. One of them is wet on both sides already.

Living with the Land -- one of my favorite pavilions. FP The Land ride, which oddly enough has a 30 minute wait. Soarin is only 20 minutes, but our FP window is closing so we'll do The Land first. We all love the ride. My kids love gardening, so this is a great ride for us. We come out, wander over to Soarin, 75 minutes... Oops. You know what? It's still pouring, Test Track isn't going to open, we'll use the multipass. As always, Soarin is breathtaking. Absolutely love this ride.

Hmm... time to check on FPs availability. What's this? Test Track is open? Grab an immediate FP for TT and head outside. It's drizzling but this is a huge improvement. Get down the ramp from The Land, a gust of wind knocks my son backward, the skies open in a Biblical Fashion, and Noah is back in business. Test Track, however, is once again converted to a Multipass. Oh well. That was 5 minutes of hope. What's close to get out of this rain? Imagination? Sold.

By the way, my daughter hates Imagination. Me? I loved the original, I tolerate the revised version because it has Figment. And I love Figment. But it still makes me sad. Anyway, 5 minute wait and a ride on Figment. Hey kids, want to play with all the cool science stuff that is at the exit? Oh wait, that was the old Imagination Pavilion. The broken camera junk that is in there now is... well, junk. Pixar Shorts anyone? Warm and dry, that's sold.

Lunchtime! Kids, what do you want to eat? Chinese food? Good thing we're in EPCOT. Chinese quick serve is good stuff. You know, for American Chinese food. General Tzo's chicken was actually invented in the U.S. Navy , but hey, my kids like it so eat up! Haven't seen the China movie in decades. Warm and dry? Sold. Not bad. Kids enjoyed it.

Now what? Stroll around World Showcase? In the rain? Sure. It's Festival of the Arts! Lots to see. Except there isn't because all those tents are abandoned and floating way. That's ok. Popcorn in Germany, no trains though, and then the Voices of Liberty in the America Pavilion. Fantastic as always. Love them. I could stay and listen for the afternoon, but my kids aren't THAT patient. But they want to go on a ride. Hmm... Frozen at 80 minutes doesn't seem good, but Mexico never lets me down. Who doesn't love El Rio de Tiempo? I mean, Los Tres Amigos en El Rio de Tiempo Overlay? Actually we all love it. Three Caballeros are always good for me. Plus it's dry. And warm. We'll be back for dinner.

Snag a FP for Mission Space. With sick kids you can bet we are doing the less intense side. No barf bags for us, thanks. Kids enjoy it. One of them loves it. Now what? Well, we've got a multipass but Test Track has been converted to a biodome for those less hardy souls who didn't think to bring snorkels and fins. Us? We're off to Frozen. Yes, I didn't check to see if the multipass was good for Frozen. Didn't even think about it. Get to the FP check in and the very nice CM from Arendelle, I mean Norway, Arendelle isn't real Disney, don't put it in the World Showcase! tells me our multipass is no good. Oops. I thank her and go to step out of line and she throws us some Pixie Dust and lets us go anyway. I thank her profusely. I think she only did it because I was completely willing to follow the rules and not go on the ride. Either than or she took pity on the fact that we looked like drenched rats and it is a long walk back to something else. Regardless, she got a nice thank you and I also sent her a kudos to the email address Disney keeps for those things.

I really miss Maelstrom. Last time we went I held it against Frozen and was determined not to like it. This time I Let It Go. It's a cute ride. It's in the wrong place and I still miss Maelstrom, but I was able to enjoy FEA and especially the advanced animatronics. Ok Disney, you win. And yes, it had me humming the song for a while. Uggh.

Off to our early dinner. 5 p.m. reservation, it's 4:55. San Angel Inn is completely empty. We check in and are told it'll be 25 minutes. What? Why? We are changing over to dinner. Then why give me a reservation at 5 p.m.? Oh well, time to ride Tres Cabelleros again. Kids love it. Again. Check back in, 15 minutes. Finally seated at 5:45. Random, but we are dry and also got to meet Donald who was up front in the Pyramid. Nice table right under the pyramid in the back except it wobbles. Use some napkins and somehow I have to do 3 legs to get the table to be still. Not sure of the physics of that, but it works out in the end. Dinner is... ok. Nothing to write home about. Kids don't eat much. They are tired, wet, and coughing. Time to go home for the day.

Head back up front. Have to pass under SE again. Wind blows. Kids no longer have the strength to pass. It's like Gandalf on the bridge. Thou Shalt Not Pass. We form a human chain and I pull everyone through the gale. It uses up the last of my strength and I beg the family to leave me and complete the hike to just about the farthest bus stop at EPCOT. Fortunately they realize I have the motorhome keys so we do a quick huddle, share some life giving snacks, and soldier on.

After 30 minutes in the cold at the bus stop our bus arrives. We've made it. We get on the bus and it's freezing. Driver explains the door at the rear won't seal and the heat can't keep up. We huddle together for warmth on the ride back. As we pull in to Fort Wilderness there is an internal bus just ahead of us. Deja Vu! Except no... this driver's heart has not been frozen and he waits for us. He also has heat. We are back at our motorhome by 6:45 and after quick showers everyone is in bed by 7:45. Blessed sleep comes quick.
 
1/28 -- Day 2. MK Day 1
FP: 9 a.m. Splash, 10 a.m. Space, 11 a.m. BTMRR

6:30 a.m. Alarm goes off. Wife kicks me and tells me to forget it. She's probably right. Was up at least a half dozen times during the night with the kids. Cold, wet, day at EPCOT didn't seem to make them healthier. What's wrong with these kids?

7:30 a.m. Everyone starts stirring. Hurry, hurry, hurry. We need to get dressed, eat breakfast. The sun is out! It's going to be a fantastic day at MK! Everyone looks at me like I should crawl in a hole and die. Sensing some hostility this morning but everyone is moving at least. I'm going to start cleaning up and take out the garbage. Open the door. Close it super fast. It's cold. Sub 40 cold. I know Disney once thought about building a park in Virginia but I didn't know they moved WDW there over night? What the heck. Layer up people. Seriously, we put at least 4 layers on the kids. We're going to have to do laundry. We didn't bring this much cold weather gear.

8:15. Everyone is out the coach door and we are skipping (well I am, they have more of a Prisoner March Trudge thing going on) to the Fort Wilderness docks. At least it's a 50/50 chance we'll get one of the inside boats, right? That'll be nice. Guess which boat we got? Yeah, not the warm one. Small, open boat. 15 minute ride. The boat captain is wearing a fur lined parka. I'm jealous. Wish I had thought to bring gloves.

8:55 a.m. Security at MK is much improved by having it distributed to the monorail resorts. And, while I miss the Station Welcome Show, the one is the hub is much more civilized. I don't feel like a sardine, though given the cold that might not have been unwelcome. And the new show is cute. Overall, I'm giving Disney an A for both of these changes.

9 a.m. We are off to Tomorrowland. The kids want to ride Astro Orbiters, and I'm not waiting in line for it, so we better do it now. 20 minutes, they ride the rockets, everyone is happy. Off we go to Haunted Mansion. 10 minute wait. As fantastic as always. Early morning at MK is just the best. Did I mention our first Fastpass is for Splash? Did I mention it might be 40 degrees? Maybe I should also mention that Splash is most likely my favorite ride in the whole world. My wife refused to get on. The kids and I? We are made of stupider stuff. I mean sterner stuff. No, probably the first. Anyway, we get lucky and don't really get wet. There is no wait because, well, who is going to ride Splash when it is freezing? Around we go again! Not as smart as we got a little more wet this time.

Just as we get off it turns to 10 a.m. Our Space Mountain FP is open! But it is converted to a multipass. Space is down. No problem, let's go to BTMRR! Oopps, that's down also. My 11 a.m. just got converted to a multi. I've got 2 multis, you know what that means? It means I can book more FPs and still bank those 2! So Jungle Cruise and Pirates get added on and I'll hold the others for when Space and BTMRR come back up. They can't be down all day right? Ok, who wants to go on Splash again? Oops. Splash is down also.

Yeah, all 3 mountains, down at the same time. Everyone in the park now has multipasses basically, so the FP lines later in the day are going to be as long as the standby lines. Well, lets go make the best of it. Off to Tom Sawyer Island. Now I know what you are thinking, "why are you going there?" The reason is that my kids have never done it. And, frankly, I haven't been in probably 30 years. So across the raft we go. And you know what? It's awesome. I love the tunnels, and the barrel bridge, and the kids get unstructured time to run and play and everyone has a blast for an hour. And then we decide surely something must be working so we'll go find something to do.

First we go to Pirates and use our FP right at the end of the slot. It's great. Like always. Love the smell. Not enough to buy the candles, but close. And I think the change to the redhead scene is just fine. I'm on Disney's side here, but I never had a huge attraction to the old scene. Red as a pirate looks good.

It's the beginning of our Jungle Cruise window, so off we go. And our skipper is even more punny, yes punny, not funny, than usual. Well done to him. A great dry voice. He got an attaboy to CM Services as well. Another classically great ride.

Lets see, BTMRR is still down. Splash is back up, but I'm just not liking my odds. It's still cold. How about Space? Nope. Still closed.

Ok, who wants lunch? It's time to head to BOG! I know this is a love-hate kind of place. Personally I won't do the breakfast or dinner, but the QS lunch? I like the ambiance enough. Plus it's cold, and the French Onion Soup is pretty good. We eat in the music box room. It doesn't echo as bad as the ballroom and I can see my food, which is an issue in the Rose Room. So overall, we have a good lunch. I like it as a QS, but I get why other people give it a pass.

People Mover time. Kind of odd because the lights are on in Space Mountain. Looking at the infrastructure I can see all my kids having doubts about riding that one. To be fair, I once rode Space with the lights on and it scared the poop out of me. I didn't go back on that ride for a couple trips. It's terrifying watching the supports try and behead you.

On the upside, once we get off PeopleMover BTMRR is open! Yeah. Off we go. Everyone loves BTMRR. How can you not? It's a great ride now that the track is smooth. A decade ago it almost crippled me, but that refurb really solved the problem and it's once again a favorite. Sadly it's 30 minutes for the FP line because, A) it's crowded and B) everyone is trying to use their multipass on it.

Conveniently once we do get off Space is back open. A little cajoling and off we go. 2 years ago I almost died riding Space Mountain. Ok, not died. But my back almost froze in place and my teeth felt jarred out of my mouth. So I am a little skeptical of going again. But last time the CM directed us to the right when we got to the top, this time we went to the left.

PEOPLE THERE IS A DIFFERENCE! The track to the left is much gentler than the one to the right. My love for Space Mountain returns, but when we went to ride it again the next day, I did practically get down on my knees and beg the poor CM to let us go left. I might have also been willing to slip him a $20... GO LEFT PEOPLE. It's not just for security and entrance lines. It works for Space Mountain as well.

Ok, so it's midafternoon and we are planning to do fireworks tonight. That means I'm sending my daughter, wife, and one of my sons back to the motorhome to rest. My other son has an appointment with Harmony Barber Shop. He's been growing his hair out for 2 years to donate and today is the day it gets cut. So we all march up Main Street and get him checked in. He's feeling nervous. This beautiful long hair has been a thing in his life for 2 of his 7 years. But the folks at Harmony are fantastic. Sadly we are early. So that means we get to watch the 3 p.m. parade.

Conveniently the parade ends right after the Harmony Barber Shop, so we have an awesome, not very crowded view. He and I watch the parade and we are so happy to see Maleficient back. Sure we didn't visit while he was missing, but I'm glad he's back terrifying the crowd. My son is feeling much happier when it ends and we head in. Once again we get an outstanding CM who gives him a great cut. Another attaboy given. My son is all smiles as we take his hair out and head back to the motorhome for his rest.

Did we get the inside boat? No we did not. Is it still cold? Yes it is. Sigh.

Still, we get back, he rests, I rest, we all rest. Dinner comes from the crockpot. Sadly we misjudged it and it isn't the best, but it is hot and comforting. We layer up. I put on the long underwear I wore when driving the other night, and once again we catch the outside boat back to MK. With 6 layers on the kids, long johns and a wool hat on me, and my wife looking like a starfish, we feel reasonably happy. Other people on the boat look like Elsa is sitting next to them. I don't think anyone was prepared for this weather.

Back we go and we get on Barnstormer, the Carousel, and the People Mover before heading to Main Street to watch the nighttime show. Yes I miss Wishes. But HEA is tremendous. The projections are amazing, the fireworks are great, the music to me just doesn't quite resonate as well. But it's an amazing show. The problem is you have to be in front of the castle to see it. And kids are short. And the show is long. So it's just not possible to hold up by 70 lbs twins or my 75 lbs daughter for the whole show. So I think they miss a lot of it. Not the pyro obviously, but some of the projections at least.

Still, we all have fun and head back to the motorhome. Blessedly we are far enough back on Main Street to get a decent start and we get on the first boat out of MK to Fort Wilderness. Sadly it is, once again, an outside boat. I think it's a conspiracy...
 
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1/29 - Day 3. MK Day 2
FP -- 9:50 7 Dwarfs, 10:50 Space, 11:50 Splash

Having been out late for fireworks, I didn't set my alarm. Good thing. Kids coughed a lot and sleep was elusive. So we all slept in a bit and got a slow start. As you can tell from the FPs, I had planned for this. Didn't stop me from getting up and going, but I get the rest of the family is slightly more sane than I am.

Anyway, a good breakfast and a peak outside and mercy, mercy, it's warmer! It's in the 50s. Maybe heading to the 60s! Fewer layers! Even better, we got the inside boat for the first time. Everything is coming up us!

We get into the park at 10:35. It's a sprint to 7 Dwarfs but we make it. Kids love this ride. My wife loves this ride. I'm more neutral. I appreciate the mix of coaster and dark ride elements, but I come firmly on the side of people who say they scrimped on the ride length. Lots of fun, though the whole swinging barrel thing doesn't really do much.

Next we are off to Space, where, as I mentioned, I begged to go left. It all worked out and it was another glorious trip through the dark. We hiked back to The Little Mermaid and hopped on that one before coming back to Philharmagic. Where we got stuck. Yep, the doors broke. We were trapped in the anteroom for 30 minutes. By then, it was too late to watch the show so we headed to our last run on Splash for the trip. My wife and I planned poorly. All the adults in our log sat on one side, all kids on the other. We were decidedly lopsided and we paid for it by getting very wet. It's warmer this day, but I still could have done without that. Oh well.

Turkey leg and snacks for lunch, a ride on the PeopleMover, a good time at Buzz Lightyear and it's about 2 p.m. The kids are starting to drag again. Not enough good sleep and too much coughing has us chalking up the inevitable. It's time for a rest.

Things we missed that in a normal visit we wouldn't? Philharmagic, Laugh Floor, Tiki, Country Bears and the Treehouse. I'm sad to have missed them, but it was just a reasonable thing to do. So we headed back and took a nap.

Kids woke about 4 and wanted to go to the pool. Yes it was cold, but the pool is heated right? So I figured it wouldn't be a big deal. Well, the pool heater for the main pool at Fort Wilderness was down. That water was cold. Super cold. We sat in the hot tub instead. Then back to the coach for a much better crockpot meal than we had the day before. 2x4 soup. Good stuff. Hot showers for all and early bed time.

2 more park days to go!
 


1/30 Day 4, DHS Day
FP: 9 RnRC, 10 Star Tours, 12:15 Slinky Dog Dash

I'm going to go on record as saying DHS is a very difficult park for me. I love RnRC, but much of what is left at DHS just doesn't interest me much. I was very curious about Toy Story Land and was excited to get a FP for it.

Alarm went off at 6:45. I set it back 15 minutes to avoid dirty looks. Didn't happen. Everyone is still grumpy. The night was better. Only up really one time. Of course that one time my son coughed so much he made himself sick. Figures. But everyone else seems to be feeling better. By 8 we are out the door to the internal Fort bus stop. Up front we go. Where we wait. And wait. At 8:40 we catch a bus to DHS.

Everyone who agrees that the new bus loop is a long way out is absolutely right. It's a long way out. Temporary or not, save energy to make it back. Especially if you are staying at Fort Wilderness which is literally the second to last stop to leave. After all the Charter stops for some idiotic reason. What's up with that Disney?

Anyway, we trudge our way in and go directly to Midway Mania. I've always really liked this ride, though I like the queue even better. And the new queue is even better than the old one. Seriously. It's everything Disney should strive for. Well done. The ride is great. Even better is Toy Story Land. It's adorable. Is it large? No. But what is there is done unbelievably well. The decor, the colors, the characters. It's all great. Well done Disney. The only complaint is it seems there is already a large amount of wear on some surfaces. That implies Disney used cheap material or rushed what they were doing.

After Midway we hike to RnRC. Yep. Love this roller coaster. As someone with a fear of heights but a love of speed, this kind of launch coaster suits me to a T. As a child of the 80s and 90s, the music is perfect. My kids all loved it. My wife enjoys it. Would I be sad to see it rethemed? Yes, but it is showing it's age with Aerosmith. I wouldn't be surprised. It doesn't really fit in the park either. But for now? Good stuff.

We wander to Star Tours and get the prequels. Uggh. Oh well. Still fun. The kids all love Star Wars so this is a good ride for them. Not a favorite for me, despite also loving Star Wars, but the giant construction site a few yards away holds all kinds of promise. With a break before SDD we head to Launchbay. Passing the Chinese Theater makes me sad. I loved The Great Movie Ride. May she rest in peace.

Meeting Chewie is always fun. He's a good character interaction because it's not forced. He can't speak English. We don't have to chit chat. Picture, roar, hug, moving on. Love it. No one in my family is really interested in character greets, but Chewie is kind of a tradition for us. We meander over toward Slinky Dog Dash. It's not time yet, but we have fun wandering around TSL looking at the details. Seriously love this little addition. It puts New Fantasy Land to shame. Buzz calls out to my kids and they banter for a bit before he goes back to his line. Woody and Jesse are accessible as well. Can't get the kids interested in anything from Woody's Toy Box, but it looks decent enough.

Anyway, Slinky Dog is fun. It's not a great coaster, though the double launches are entertaining. The theme stuff is good. But basically it's an outdoor kids coaster. Fun to go on and but nothing groundbreaking. Have fun with it, have the right expectations, and it won't let you down.

On our way out I score an Alien Swirling Saucer for the kids for later in the day. Personally I couldn't care less, but it's new and they expressed interest, so I grabbed it. In the meantime, we are heading to Indiana Jones.

I haven't seen this show in probably 15 years. Nothing has changed. They do have some issues with the sets getting stuck, but they get it sorted out and it's good fun. The kids really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. I wouldn't hurry back, but if it's still there in 5 years or so, I'd probably wander by. The fact I think it will be long gone by then makes me happy we stopped by to see it at least once more.

We grab some snacks and head back for Saucers. The kids have fun and the green army men are there at the exit. The kids have fun chatting with them and I got some interesting responses when I warned them about the dangers of magnifying glasses. They weren't happy I knew about that and I was regarded with considerable suspicion afterwards!

At this point we packed it in. The Star Wars clip show, the Disney Junior stuff, it just doesn't appeal. And no one really wanted to ride Tower of Terror. I know people love it, but neither my wife or I like heights and that ride just pushes my buttons, even though I appreciate the theme details. Fantasmic just isn't a favorite and I'd much rather we save energy for the big push to AK the next day.

You can't just leave DHS, however. You have to prepare for an epic trek to the end of the earth. Or at least a really long walk. From TSL my fitbit showed it as a little more than a mile to the Fort Wilderness bus stop. Seriously. A mile. To get to the bus. That's ridiculous.

Anyway, we eventually get back and set up a Traveling Fire Pit we were fortunate enough to borrow. Fort Wilderness has a strict definition of a fire pit, so people sometimes buy them and leave them in the company of other campers and they get passed around for a while. We were lucky to score one of them and very much appreciate it. We also passed it along, so I hope the next people enjoy it as well.

We grilled basic hot dogs and burgers, made S'mores and enjoyed the fact that my Mother In Law drove up to visit with us. She's going to Animal Kingdom with us, and sticking around until we leave Friday, so it's great Grandma time for the kids and mom time for my wife. Nice when a plan comes together.
 
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1/31 Park Day 5, Animal Kingdom
FP: 9 a.m. Everest, 10 a.m. Safari, 11:30 Flight of Passage

Alarm went off again. I didn't even try this time. Just let them sleep. I get fewer death glares. Actually we got more sleep last night. Probably had to do with giving the kids Nyquil that my mother in law brought for us. Drugs for better living!

We do get up and moving because my plan is to be at AK at opening and rush to Navi River. Since I have a Flight of Passage FP, I wanted to get the other new ride done at opening. Sadly the buses failed us. We wait for 45 minutes at the front of Fort Wilderness and by the time we get to AK, it's open and Navi is already a 50 minute wait. With our Everest FP, we just can't do it so off we go. On the upside, we ride Everest three times in 40 minutes. It's a good coaster. Disco Yeti is always disappointing, but mostly because I'm one of the few that was actually lucky enough to ride in that brief window when he worked. Still, 3 rides on Everest and we are all feeling a bit ill. Probably a little too much roller coaster given we are all still under the weather.

Speaking of the weather, it has improved. It was in the high 60s when we were at DHS and it's in the mid 60s at AK. Great walking around weather when the sun is out from the clouds, a bit chilly when it is hiding.

Something my kids absolutely love at AK? Wilderness Explorers. Seriously. They love those badges, so we are hunting them down all over the place as soon as 10 a.m. kicks in. I think we got most of them, though that was helped by the fact that Rafiki's is closed so those are moved to a more accessible spot.

Anyway, we make the hike from Everest to the Safari and have a great ride. Another outstanding CM running our bus and, since it was cooler and nice, tons of animals were out. My kids were using that Wilderness Explorer book to mark them off and I was amazed how many they got. Even heard the lion roar as we came by. Just a great experience.

We had a bit of a gap before our Flight of Passage FP but we headed to Pandora anyway. It's beautiful. The plants, the "floating" mountains, the sounds, the colors, the street lamps. Everything. It's extremely well done. I can't say enough about the two new lands and seeing them has to give Star Wars fans all kinds of excitement for how well done SW:GE will be. There really isn't much to compare Pandora or TSL to at Disney. Universal's Harry Potter stuff is the only analogy I can think of. These two areas are just so much more highly themed, as sections, than anywhere else on property. I hope it can be maintained.

Flight of Passage is amazing. My whole family loved it. The graphics are incredible, the saddle is amazing, right down to the feeling of breathing and wings snapping open, the wind, water, and scent effects are perfect. The only nit I'd pick is the pre-show. It's too long. I get they are trying to move people out of lines, but the pre-show is just slow and he's not very good as the main character. Still, the ride itself deserves all the plaudits it gets. Really fantastic.

After FOP we were feeling peckish, so we settled in to Satuli Cafe. I think it ended up being the adults favorite meal on property. Seriously. The bowls were really, really good, and just different enough to feel unique. I highly recommend it and look forward to going back someday. Love the seating area as well.

We got to see Crash in his suit on the way out. That's a neat little feature of Pandora that I liked. My twin boys were fascinated. The show itself is entertaining, though it may stretch on a bit too long. Overall, Pandora gets high marks. Wish we could have got on Navii River, but the line rarely dropped below an hour and we just decided other things were more important. So we waved goodbye to Pandora and headed out.

On to Festival of the Lion King. This is one of my favorite shows on Disney property. The songs, the animatronics, the actors, it all just works. So I was happy to score a FP and some good seats just after lunch. With enough tumble monkeys we got the whole show, which my kids loved even though they've seen it before.

We followed FOLK with a trip to Dinosaur, but it broke right as we got there. Interestingly they didn't convert our FP to a multipass, so we just decided to move on Dinosaur is neat, but not a must see. So off to Bugs Life we went. Everyone laughed but my daughter, who has the same complaint about Bug's Life as Figment, she hates the smelly part. Oh well, can't please everyone. But we wandered the island, looked at the tree, scored some more Wilderness Badges and then took the crowd temperature.

We had a 5 p.m. Yak and Yeti and a 6:05 RoL FP. AT 3:30 I managed to swap the RoL for a last FP for Nemo, which we hadn't seen in years and we settled in for a rest. It's a great show. I prefer FoLK, but there is nothing wrong with Nemo. The actors are great and the puppets amazing. As soon as we exited, I managed to score that same 6:05 ROL FP, so we headed to dinner.

Now I like Yak and Yeti. It's consistent and it was this time as well. But the best thing we had were appetizers. The main courses came out a bit bland and we all kind of wished we had just stuck with small plates. It happens, but it's strange that both sit down dinners we had, San Angel Inn and Yak and Yeti, places we have liked in the past, were off this time.

Sadly my kids were done in again. Being sick just took a toll, so we left before RoL. I'm sad, because I've never seen it. But maybe next time. We did catch a Tree Awakening and did stroll through Pandora just to see it start to light up, but basically we headed back and to bed closing out our park days.
 


2/1 Clean up and the Trip Home

We got up Friday knowing our park days were done. So there was no need to set an alarm which ensured my kids, now starting to feel better, got up at 6:30 for the first time all trip. My wife and I, who were starting to feel the effects of being around sick kids in a small motorhome for days on end, needed to rest, but that wasn't going to happen.

So we stepped outside to the warmest, most beautiful day yet. Which I suppose was nice for cleaning up our campsite, but kind of infuriating as well. Anyway, we got all cleaned up and mostly ready to go before 9 and called the front desk to request late checkout. They were kind enough to give us to 1p.m., as opposed to 11 a.m., so we met Grandma and hopped the boat to the Contemporary.

We played some of the outdoor games, shopped the gift shops, and moseyed around this original resort until 11, when we decided to have lunch at Contempo Cafe. Now we've had good burgers here before and I was really looking forward to one, but they don't start serving lunch until 11:30. Go figure. So instead we all had a second breakfast and then split some of their delicious cup cakes.

Around 11:30 we wandered back outside and played ping pong, connect 4, foosball and more by the dock until we boarded a boat back to The Fort at 12:30. With a round of hugs for Grandma and some final unhooking, we pulled out of our site at 12:55 p.m. and started the 557 miles home.

We made some decent progress though I started to feel some vibration in the motorhome when we turned onto I10. It's an odd thing, driving a 43 year old motorhome. Especially when you've been rebuilding, fixing, loving and caring for that machine for 12 years and 40K+ miles. You get to know when something is wrong and my motorhome sense was tingling a bit.

We stopped for gas and again for dinner and I checked around the coach looking for something wrong but didn't spot anything. So we pressed on. But around 9:30 p.m., about 90 miles from home, the vibration got bad. Real bad. We had put the kids to bed, even my wife was trying to sleep off the sickness that was taking over her, when I pulled into a gas station, busted out a flashlight and found something I didn't expect to see.

The drivers side front wheel had cracked like an egg! The wheel cracked through in multiple places and it was only the grace of luck that it hadn't shattered while driving. We needed that wheel off and the spare on, or we weren't going anywhere. Well I carry the stuff to change wheels but I also carry AAA and I decided to call for help. I figured the 90 minute wait I could take a snooze.

Sadly when the AAA driver arrived we discovered another problem. The spare wheel used different lug nuts, and I didn't have enough of them. So we swapped the wheels, secured it as well as possible with 3 correct lug nuts and 5 incorrect ones, and limped to a Firestone 5 miles away. I shut it down in the parking lot just before 2 a.m. and that's where we slept until 7 a.m. when the Firestone opened.

Luckily the folks in Firestone knew who to call and while we hiked to a Panera Bread to grab some breakfast, they tracked down 5 useful lug nuts. Once the wheel was secured we drove the last 85 miles home and pulled into the drive before 11 a.m. 2/2. About 12 hours late, but safe.

So there's our trip report. It was an interesting trip. We faced some obstacles, missed some things we'd like to have done, but basically I'm proud of the family. We had a good trip. Not the best, but a good one. We made some great memories, and Disney held enough magic to remind us all why we love to come visit.

I hope everyone who follows us to WDW gets to share in that magic. I hope you also get warmer temps, less rain, less sickness, fewer ride breakdowns, lower crowds, and smoother transportation. But even if you don't, enjoy it anyway. It's still a wonderful, magical, amazing place, unlike anywhere else!
 
I feel for the sickness part! We had one kid getting sick(ear infection so not contagious) and one kid getting over being sick at the beginning of our November trip. So stressful when there are so many plans made and money spent!
 
We were at MK on 1/26 so a day before you arrived and I remember that next day 1/27 was miserable!!! I'm sorry everyone was sick but it sounds like you made the most of it. You probably needed a vacation from your vacation!!
 
We were at MK on 1/26 so a day before you arrived and I remember that next day 1/27 was miserable!!! I'm sorry everyone was sick but it sounds like you made the most of it. You probably needed a vacation from your vacation!!

Honestly I'm just really proud of my kids. They all had colds at various times but they all just kept going. No complaining, no whining. And while I get that we would hope they would love Disney that much, it's not that simple. It's a lot of walking, waiting, moving. It's hard to do when you don't feel great. So for them to have just kept going and having fun and enjoying it as much as they did... well I'm a proud Dad. Twin 7 years old boys and a 9 year old daughter.

As for us parents, my wife was home today getting over the last of the strep and sinus infection she picked up at the very end of the trip and suffered from mostly on the ride home. I've about shaken the cold I was gifted mid trip. So yeah, it feels like a vacation would be nice. But as I wrote the trip report it was a good reminder of the fun we had. Have we had better trips? Absolutely. Even 2 years ago our last Disney trip was just better in about every way.

But it was still a ton of fun.
 
Nine and seven are such great ages to go to Disney. It sounds like you have a strong and fun family. Thank you for sharing your trip report.
 
Thank you for this trip report-- love the straightforward style, and love how you all soldiered on and made the best of some tough circumstances.

What a great family you all are!

Glad you are feeling better, and my prayer for you all is that you get to go again (soon) and have great weather and better bus luck! pixiedust:
 

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