It Only Gets Better From Here...Right?! WDW TR July 2025 update 8/3

[kclark9830]

Magic Kingdom part 2

Morning! I'm all ready for Hollywood Studios today. The family is getting ready, so I'll give another update on the next leg of our MK day .

I left off just after we'd eaten lunch, and we were splitting up. Most of the group headed for Space Mountain...






The rest of us headed to Pete's Silly Side Show. We had a duck and a dog to meet .

It was only a 15 minute wait. We'd never been in this part of Storybook Circus before, and it was super cute. The meet was quick and fun. I never have any conversation with the characters. I'm not good at that sort of thing . But Miles sure loves it all, and I know this might be the last year he's interested in meeting characters, so I wanted to indulge while I still have the chance.







Once we met the characters, we headed over to do Journey Under the Sea with the LM. We had made new LL's for it, since our earlier ones were converted. We got right in and were about to load when the ride shut down. It was down for probably 5-10 minutes but then it restarted and we had our bubbly ride.

We met up with the rest of the family back in Tomorrowland, and it was time for our LL for Buzz Lightyear.



I look really focused, huh? Lol Micheal beat me but only by a little!


At this point, me, Micheal, and Miles, and my parents, headed back to our resorts. My sister and her family, and Ashlyn, stayed behind to get in line for Tron.

The posted wait was 55 minutes, actual wait was around 70. We still haven't gotten our ride photos from this one. I put in a request with photo pass to get them, but they've come back and said they can't find them . So I'm going to keep trying with better descriptions I guess?

Anyway, that's all for now! Up next will be our evening at MK, with the fireworks dessert party!!!

 

[kclark9830]

Magic Kingdom part 3

Well my friends, our park days have come to an end. We finished up at Hollywood Studios today and we are done for!

While we lay around and relax in our resort room, I will put off packing by finishing up our MK day for you .

We last left off with our midday break. We headed back into the park around 6PM. In general, we have had decent bus experiences this week. Never had to wait too long, and they've had plenty of buses for the crowds at Sports.

When we got into the park, we did some shopping and hung out on Main Street for a bit. I got a Pandora necklace, and Micheal got a pocket watch. Ashlyn found a puzzle she wanted, but she didn't buy it just then.







My parents called and said they'd been back in the park for a while, so we met up with them and headed over to the happy haunts.

The line at Haunted Mansion was odd. Even with a LL, we waited a really long time. Then, they let a horde of people in, and we all squished into the loading zone to load onto the ride. I've never seen them do it this way. It was really uncomfortable!

But I assume they were having issues because we kept stopping during the ride .



Miles rode with my parents, and this picture makes me laugh because it sums up Micheal and Ashlyn's relationship so well .

By now, my sister called and said they were back in the park, so we met up at Pirates where we all rode together. It was a fun and lively boat! On the way out, we got a few souvenirs.



I mentioned earlier that we would be doing the post fireworks dessert party tonight, and I was so excited! But first, I needed to stop by first aid to see if they had an OTC medicine I needed. Unfortunately they didn't have it, so on we went to meet up with everyone else who had gone to Journey Under the Sea with the LM.

At this point, we gathered our kids and my parents and went to check in at the Tomorrowland Terrace. We were given wristbands and sent to the grassy hub area.

We still had an hour until the fireworks, and they told us we didn't have to stay there the whole time, but we decided we were too tired to walk around. We sat in the grass to relax.

However, Micheal did take Ashlyn over to the Emporium to get the puzzle she wanted!

We also got a bonus viewing of the new nighttime parade! That was unexpected and exciting!





On our very first visit to WDW, they had a nighttime parade. That was over a decade ago. Seeing this parade brought back those memories! .

Continued in next post because I won't have room for pics...

 

[kclark9830]

Magic Kingdom part 4

Continued...

I wanted to soak in the fireworks, so I didn't take pics of those, but oh we had a GREAT view! It was as magical as I'd hoped!

Afterwards, I was just glowing inside!



We laughed so hard at this picture .








A few minutes after the show had ended, a CM came through holding a sign and a red light to guide us to the dessert party back at Tomorrowland Terrace.

They gave us a quick tour of the food and drink offerings, then they showed us to our table.

The desserts were soooo yummy! The apple cinnamon crepe was to die for, but everything was delicious. I had strawberry lemonade which was also so good and refreshing.







Overall, I am so happy that we booked this! I'm not sure I'd do it repeatedly, but for a one-time splurge, we were really pleased with it!

By now it was 10:50. We gathered our stuff and headed out of the park. We were soooo tired. Main Street was full of people waiting for the second nighttime parade. I hoped that would mean the bus wouldn't be packed, but I was very wrong . This was the only ride where we had to stand. Poor Miles was holding on to me, and he looked up at me with super tired eyes and said, "Mom, I can't stand up anymore."

I told him to just sit on the bus floor . He did, but we made sure to wash well when we got to our room!

So, that's the end of our very magical Magic Kingdom day! I will be sharing more in the coming days about our Epcot and HS days, plus I will get around to our arrival day and Disney Springs day! You're going to want to hear the story of our arrival day. It is actually kind of traumatic, and we even heard random people talking about it at Disney Springs the next day . It all turned out fine or else I wouldn't be writing this trip report, but I think I'm avoiding writing about it because it truly was something!

So, ta ta for now! I'll be back! (Now I need to pack . Boo.)

 

[buzzrelly]

Sounds like a fun day at MK! I think the dessert parties are worth the splurge sometimes!

I though I had missed the story and was wondering why you said the arrival day was so bad! Can't wait to hear about it!

 

[kclark9830]

Arrival Day

I'm back! We are home and rested up from our HOT but super fun trip. Since I'm not doing "live" updates now, let me go ahead and back it up to arrival day.

So, we arrived at All Star Sports right around 2PM. I had gotten our room ready text, but my sister didn't have hers yet, and neither did my parents (who were staying at PO Riverside).

We parked outside of building 2, in the Hoops section, which we had requested. We got our request! Yay!

Just as we finished unloading our bags, my mom got their room assignment, so they were soon on their way over to Riverside. We went up to our room.



We were all pretty excited! The plan was for everyone to get ready and head to the water park. We were going to Blizzard Beach since there was a dedicated bus from Sports.

We spent the next hour changing into bathing suits, unpacking, and checking out the resort.






But by 3:15 or so, my sister and her family still didn't have a room assignment. She had even gone to the front desk. They came up to our room to change into bathing suits, with the plan to just head to Blizzard Beach, but as soon as they changed, of course, they got their room ready text .

We made the decision that they would go ahead to their rooms, and we would head to Blizzard Beach. They would just meet us there later.

We headed to the bus area, and it only took a short wait for a bus to pull up. It was a short ride, of course, and then we were there! We were pretty excited, but we had realized on the bus that we hadn't eaten since our breakfast at the hotel much earlier in the day. We were STARVING!

So our first stop was Lottawatta Lodge. Well, it was jam packed. I wanted to just do a mobile order, but Micheal said he didn't mind waiting in line.

I don't mean to be all down on Blizzard Beach, but I'll just go ahead and tell you that I didn't enjoy any part of our day here . We waited nearly 45 for the entire process of ordering then getting our food, and then when we got our drink cups, the freestyle coke machines were out of ice and most of the drink choices.

By now, my sister had text to say they were getting on a bus, but they'd be eating when they arrived. So we decided to get towels, find a chair for our stuff, and head to the lazy river.



The lazy river was nice enough, except there weren't nearly enough tubes for the people in the river, and most of us had to walk it. Still, we were pretty chill and happy.

Once my sister and her family had eaten, they called to see if we wanted to meet at the wave pool and see who wanted to do slides, etc. So out we climbed and headed to the wave pool.

It was quickly decided that my brother in law, and niece, would go to Summit Plummit. No one else wanted to do that, so for the time being, we were just going to stay in the wave pool.

Here's the breakdown:

*Brother in law and niece go to Summit Plummit
*Me, my family, my nephew, and my dad get in the wave pool
*My sister andy mom lay in lounge chairs on the beach

Within minutes of being in the wave pool, with the waves coming in pretty fast and furious, we saw my nephew playing with a boy his age nearby in the waves. We all took note of it and just kept an eye on him.

But as the waves kept crashing, the two boys were getting farther and farther from us. (My nephew is 10, for reference.)

Micheal decided to swim over to them and tell my nephew he had to come back. But in just those few seconds it took, with waves going up in the air around him, Micheal got over there and my nephew was gone.

He looked at me and my dad and shrugged, as if to ask, "Where'd he go?"

So we all kind of spread out and started looking for him. No one was panicked. We had literally seen him moments before. But after a good 5 minutes of not being able to find him, I was starting to worry.

Keep in mind, the waves are still rolling.

Now let me tell you about my nephew. He is a good swimmer. He is quiet and reserved. He is VERY clingy to his mom (my sister) and always has been. He doesn't spend the night at friend's houses because he doesn't like to be away from her.

So we didn't know what to think.

Meanwhile, my sister and my mom are still up in their lounge chairs, oblivious to all this. I made the decision to tell them what was going on.

Well, my sister wasn't worried. She got up and started helping us comb the water. She knew he was (a a good swimmer, and (b not going to wander off.

But after a total of 30 minutes and none of us being able to find him, she started to panic a little.

She alerted a life guard who took her to the Lost Children tent. She made a report.

My dad and my husband began looking in other nearby areas. They went through the lazy river, and the nearby water slides.

In the meantime, my brother in law (who is a policeman) and my niece returned. We filled them in.

Now we had nine people in our party searching diligently for him, as well as the staff at Blizzard Beach.

Two hours passed with no sign of him. My sister was bawling, my mom was bawling. My dad and my husband had stationed themselves at the exit of the park.

My job was to stay at the wave pool in case he returned.

My sister and Mom were being kept at the Lost Children tent as they (the staff) decided how to proceed.

It was a nightmare. I don't know how else to say it. Literally, in the blink of an eye, he had disappeared. And not only him, but the boy he'd been playing with. That kid was nowhere. And I kept wondering...where were HIS parents?

Shortly after this, I was sitting at the wave pool with my kids, just praying and trying to stay positive so my kids weren't more upset than they already were, when the other little boy came running by. Like, full on RUNNING.

I gasped and said, "that's him!!!" I told my kids to stay there, and I bolted after the kid. But he was too fast, and he disappeared into the crowd.

I made my way back toward the wave pool, and that's when I spotted my nephew. He was also walking back toward the wave pool.

I started crying, and he saw me and looked at me like I was a little crazy.

I called my sister, and my mom, and soon we had alerted everyone. The life guards were literally celebrating with us.

Gosh y'all! I'm crying as I type. It was very emotional.

Apparently, my very reserved nephew had chosen this particular day to be brave and daring, and make a new friend.

That boy had asked if he wanted to ride a waterslide. He said yes, and so they took off.

Though the Blizzard Beach staff had all been alerted, none of them spotted him in the lines.

And apparently that other kids parents didn't notice him missing?! I really don't know, but my sister said no one else was there in the Lost Children tent.

Needless to say, we left the park immediately. We were all exhausted, physically and emotionally.

My BIL, who is the police officer, was very emotional.

For my own little family, Micheal knew our kids needed to decompress and feel normal, so he suggested we get right into the pool at Sports. That was such a good observation on his part, because it turned out that was EXACTLY what our kids needed.



We finished the evening out strong, thankful, and exhausted. It was an arrival day we never want to repeat. And the next day, as Disney Springs, we did indeed hear random people talking about the event.

Now you all can at least understand this trip report title! Whew! I'm glad that's over!

Stay tuned for our Disney Springs day .

If you skipped ahead to read here, you can go back to our first park day here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...tr-july-2025-update-8-3.3970945/post-66277402

 

[kclark9830]

Sounds like a fun day at MK! I think the dessert parties are worth the splurge sometimes!

I though I had missed the story and was wondering why you said the arrival day was so bad! Can't wait to hear about it!

Yes, we loved the dessert party!

And I have now gotten around to sharing the story .

 

[mickey916]

What a terrifying start to your vacation! Relieved to hear it all turned out well. Also, kinda weird they didn't have enough tubes for the lazy river. It's not quite so "lazy" if you have to walk the whole way. Your dessert party looked fabulous! Glad your vacation turned around after that bad start.