Long Time Lurking, First Time Posting: A 2013 Trip Report (with a 2016 PTR bonus)

[OneTimePoet]

Hello World!

Do you ever look at someone and wonder, what is going on inside their head?

Well, what's been going on inside my head lately is a lot (A LOT) of Disney Trip planning, which means I've been spending a lot (A LOT) of time lurking on Trip Reports and Restaurant Reviews and other forums on the DIS.

We leave for our second family trip to Disney World in less than a month, and after a lot (A LOT) of trip report reading, I decided I want to do a trip report when we get back. And, what better way to practice my reporting than by going back over my photos and notes from our first trip in 2013.

So, this is a bit of an old trip report, and who knows if anyone will read, but here goes nothing!

 

[OneTimePoet]

Introductions

This is us.

I'm Alicia, and I really am that angry! Or not. I'm an English teacher and administrator at private school near Indianapolis. At one time, I was a poet. Perhaps I will be one again some day soon, but for now, this, and writing for work, is the only writing I do.

My DW is sadness. She's not really that sad either. She's also a teacher, and is lucky enough to teach music at our daughter's school.

Speaking of our daughter, she's every bit as sassy as Disgust. Seven going on seventeen for sure.

I never thought we'd be a Disney family. I never thought I'd be a Disney person. In fact, my school regularly runs a class on Disney as an icon (it's a three week intensive class that's part of our January Term and culminates in a trip to WDW - did I mention my school is awesome?), and I have been know to scoff at it more than once. But that was in the past. So, here's the story of our first trip to the World.

We decided to go to Disney World over our fall break in July 2013 in a moment of weakness. I had been having a small bout of health problems (i.e. extremely low blood pressure due to stress, dehydration and hormonal shifts) and was stuck in bed for several days. As the doctor slowly worked her way through diagnosing my unexplained near-death experience, I may or may not have panicked about not being able to take Parker to Disney World before I die. In hindsight, this was a bit of an exaggeration, but in truth, five straight days in bed with nothing but Harry Potter DVDs and the unending thought that I would never get to see my only child in the “Happiest Place on Earth” was perhaps the only thing that made me, an otherwise fairly conservative spender, commit to doling out the cash. So, we booked everything through the Disney.com website, bought a couple of guidebooks, and started planning.

It was about this time that we realized that starting three months out is not really the standard in the Disney preparedness. Luckily, we had just moved a few months ago and had about 100 hours of wallpaper stripping and repainting ahead of us. We passed many a night with one of us stripping or painting and the other out loud from the guidebook. And by “one of us”, I mean DW, and by “the other”, I mean me. (I know my strengths.) The summer passed, all but one room of the house got redone, and we made a decent plan of attack for the trip.

So, what did we do??

 

[OneTimePoet]

In order to maximize our time in Florida, we took the earliest possible flight out of Indianapolis on Day 1. This meant we were leaving the house at approximately 4:00 am.


DD started the morning looking like this.

In order to ensure that she slept the night before, we didn’t tell DD about the trip until we arrived at the airport. We packed up the night before, carried her down to the car in her pajamas, and headed out. Despite being as quiet as possible, DD woke up in the car. Our story the day before was that she would have to get up early to drop me at the airport for a work trip. This news, apparently, was almost as exciting as the truth, as she spent the entire ride to the airport talking about how she was going to get to tell her whole class that she went to the airport this morning. I think there may have even been a song involved. She was pumped.

Because DD had never flown before, and therefore had no idea how an airport worked, we had decided not to reveal the surprise until we got to the gate. She made it through check in and security – all in her pajamas – just thinking she was dropping me off. After we found some seats at the gate, I asked DD to go a drink from Starbucks with me (a caramel apple spice is a HUGE treat for her). Unfortunately, the airport Starbucks was out of apple juice that day, but fortunate for us, the dejected pout back to the gate created the perfect lead-in to the truth. When we sat back down, DW took out her camera, and I told DD that since she wasn’t able to get her favorite drink, we’d just have to go to Disney World! I believe her response registered in three distinct phases: first, the “I don’t have to go to school” shock; second, the “thank you Mommy and Mom” gratitude; and finally, unbridled joy.


My two girls on a plane, so excited for Disney!

Our flight was rather uneventful. DD didn’t sleep, which we were hoping she would as it was barely 6:00 am, but she didn’t freak out on her first flight either. Even though we took off on time, we managed to land in Atlanta with only about 15 minutes to catch our connection. DD now thinks of the entire state of Georgia as “that place where we ran through the airport.” Because we had such a short time to change planes, we did not claim our stroller at the gate since the man assisting with our ‘deplaning’ told it us it would be sent on to Orlando (SPOILER: It wasn’t). DD was a trooper through all the airport shenanigans, we made our connection, and had another uneventful flight.

When we landed in Orlando, we waited a fairly long time for our stroller to not show up and then spent a fairly long time in baggage claim filing a report on the off chance that if our stroller did show up it could find its way to our hotel (SPOILER: It did.). After all that, we headed down to catch the Magical Express bus to Disney World!

The minimal amount of research we had done before booking led us to choose POFQ for our resort. It was the smallest of the moderate resorts, had several good reviews, and we liked the New Orleans theming. It did not disappoint. After we checked in, we dropped out luggage in our room, which was surprisingly ready four hours early, and scoped things out.


DD at the fountain in the courtyard outside our building.


We took many pictures with the "Gator Band" over the course of the week.

After a quick walk about, several “oh-my-god-we-are-at-Disney-World” photos, and a healthy examination of the pool by DD, we decided to eat lunch at the food court as it had been about seven hours since our breakfast. The food court at POFQ is pretty standard fare – burgers, sandwiches, pizza, some pasta – but also with some NOLA specialities, like Po’ Boys and beignets. There are also these large disembodied Mardi Gras float heads. A bit disturbing, but food was good.


Awkward Eating Photo


Floating Pucker Face

Our bellies full, and at least one of us too excited to take a nap (ok probably all of us). We headed out to the Magic Kingdom. Now, I’ve read several opinions that Magic Kingdom should NOT be the first park you visit on a first trip to Disney as it is largely the most anticipated park and therefore should be saved for last. Fat chance. We were going there first. It is worth noting that several years prior, when she was barely two, DD saw Cinderella’s castle at the start of a Disney movie and said, unprompted, “That’s a nice castle. I’d like to go there.” So go there we would.

After a short bus ride – I don’t know why people complain about bus transportation; it worked just fine for us – we were passing through the gates of the Magic Kingdom!

 

[OneTimePoet]

Day 1 continued

A lot of the research we did said that if you were coming to Disney World with a younger child, you should wait to do the Magic Kingdom, using the other parks to kind of build up to it, but we knew we wouldn’t be able to do that. See my previous “oh, that’s a cool castle, I wish we could go there” story. Anyway, there we went.


DD posing outside the Magic Kingdom

Since we went in mid-October, all the Mickey’s-Not-So-Scary-Halloween decorations were up. We didn’t buy the extra tickets for the party, but we did like the fall flare.


Me and DD and the pumpkins.

Before we left, DD's grandparents both gave her some spending money for the trip. She didn’t know it at the time, but she had a little wallet and some money to ‘buy whatever she wanted.’ Her first purchase was this:


Yes, that’s my daughter in pink, glittery Minnie ears.

Once we were appropriately decked out for the day, we set off. But we didn’t go too far. While we were visiting during the final stage of the MagicBand roll out, Disney’s Photopass (the Memory Maker pre-curser) was still a separate entity. We had purchased a Photopass before arriving at a discounted rate, and since the afternoon parade was about to start, I figured DW and DD could grab seats for the parade while I popped into the Town Hall to pick up trade in our voucher for the actual pass. Long story short, the Photopass place was poorly organized, the line was ridiculously slow, and I missed the whole parade. On the upside, DD loved it.


Complete joy. Yes, baby girl, you are in Disney World!


First Glimpse of Mickey and Minnie.

While I was bummed that I didn’t get to see DD “see” the parade, the look on her face as we walked up Main Street toward the castle was pretty priceless.


Gotta get up to get a good view.


We made it!

Other than going to the Magic Kingdom, we didn’t make much of a plan for the first day. We weren’t sure the flight would be on time, or if our room would be ready, or if the Fastpass+ would really work, so we just figured we’d go with it. I had been fiddling with the My Disney Experience App on the bus from the hotel, and grabbed a Fastpass for It’s a Small World. We probably didn’t need one, but we wanted to test the system out, and also to start with a mild ride as we weren’t sure what DD'a thrill level was (more on that later). The Magic bands worked smoothly, and we managed to get quite a few rides in that afternoon.


Poor photo but it’s our first ride!


My favorite photo of the trip – on the Tea Cups.


We are so excited!!


Checking out the view from Dumbo.


Family shot on the way out.

Based on internet, guidebook, and friend recommendations we had made reservations at the Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge for dinner. It was okay. The food was good and you got a lot of it, but part of the supposed charm of the place in the in interaction with your server. Ours just wasn’t that great. We were also really tired from having gotten up at 4:00 am, and we probably weren’t that great either.


DD on the rocks. Wilderness Lodge was beautiful. If we can ever afford to go deluxe, it will be on our list of places to stay at.


Yep. We’re tired.

Despite being almost comatose on the way back to the hotel after dinner, DD was determined to get in that pool. And clearly, we just weren’t that good at saying no in Disney World.


Ready for a Mardi Gras dip.


Finally swimming.

After a few quick laps, or floats, or pulls, depending on your perspective. We called it a night. It was already later than we had planned, and we wanted to make it on time for the ‘rope drop’ at Magic Kingdom the next day.

 

[VACamm]

I love love love your trip report so far! We also love Port Orleans French Quarter! I'm subscribing and I can't wait to read more!

 

[VACamm]

Also..... I LOVE your Halloween costumes. My photo is from last Halloween of my husband and I sporting our Disney side too! We might have to 'steal' your idea because it looks great!

 

[OneTimePoet]

I love love love your trip report so far! We also love Port Orleans French Quarter! I'm subscribing and I can't wait to read more!

Thanks and We loved French Quarter, but are trying the Royal Rooms in Riverside when we go in a few weeks. I'm a bit nervous as DD is a creature of habit, and may be upset we aren't staying in the same place. Fingers crossed the headboard fireworks make up for it!

Also..... I LOVE your Halloween costumes. My photo is from last Halloween of my husband and I sporting our Disney side too! We might have to 'steal' your idea because it looks great!

We stole it from another family, so steal away! I did feel a little bad that our family had no Joy in it...though I guess we have no Fear either!

 

[OneTimePoet]

Day 2

We wanted to make the most of our time in Disney, so we tried to maximize our efficiency to get out the door right away in the morning. This often meant that I got up, ran over to the food court, picked up some breakfast items and brought them back to the room while DW showered and ParDDker stayed in bed. While it wasn’t always the best job, I did get to enjoy a lot of the resort in the early morning hours.


One of the many courtyard fountains at POFQ.


We were in building two, a really short walk from the pool and the front ‘clubhouse/food court/store’ area.

We didn’t make it out of the room in perfect time every morning, but we did manage to make it to the Magic Kingdom for opening ceremonies on Day 2 (having a child who routinely wakes up at 6:00 helped on this front). We were also so excited that we arrived at the park way early and had a bunch of time to kill before the park opening.


DW and I are ready to make memories.


DD checks out the memory montage.


And she also eats a leftover Mickey Rice Krispie Treat, or as we like to call it “Breakfast of Champions.”


I didn’t get any great shots of the opening, but we did manage to get one good castle shot that morning.


Family at Disney!

Although we had read several guide books and websites about how to maximize your time at the Disney Parks, I’m not sure we did that. It worked out ok though. DD didn’t want to go on any of the ‘Mountains’ yet, and we managed to get a lot done. As my child has an obsession with driving, our first stop was Tomorrow Land Speedway, where DD was just tall enough to steer if I operated the pedal.


Pre-ride selfie!


Mom! I know. We go this way!

Since we were there, we did some of the other rides in Tomorrowland.


Buzz Lightyear. Guess who won?


Me and DD on the Astro Orbiter, which was way more intense than I predicted.



Catching a ride on the People Mover.


Meeting Buzz. DD's first character interaction. She was a bit nervous.

What I wish I had a picture of from this morning was our time on the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor. DD was terrified and in tears almost the whole time. Seriously. In the stand-up comedy attraction. She would go on to ride Expedition Everest and Tower of Terror without screaming once, but the risk of audience participation and humor, too much. We almost left. We didn’t, but we were very close. After all that trauma, we got some lunch at Cosmic Ray's, and left Tomorrowland for less ‘dangerous’ places, Storybook Circus and New Fantasyland.


The Barnstormer. DD's favorite ride of the trip. We rode it at least four times.


Outside Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which was pretty cool for a “boring dark ride,” as DD called it.


Meeting Ariel in her Grotto. This was very hard on me. I am not a princess fan.


And another awkward snacking photo.


We did some other Fanstyland stuff in here as well, including exploring Belle’s Village, and I think riding the Tea Cups again. After that, it was getting hot, so we headed back to the resort to “rest,” which really meant swim as DD never successfully “rested” during the trip.



DD on the bus back to French Quarter, just catching up on some email.

I should have mentioned earlier that what we also did on this day was purchase DD and lanyard and her two first pins. She had been pointing to the pins ever since we got there. Two specific pins to be exact – a baby Minnie (because babies, duh!) and the Rainbow Flag Mickey Head. She was pretty cute because she just kept saying “this pin means my Moms can get married.” Who can say no to that? Not us, at least, not for long. She ended the trip with those pins, a 2013 pin, a P, and pins for two of her favorite rides (Barnstormer and Mission Space). I don’t have a good shot of them, but if she’s wearing the red lanyard, that’s them.


Meeting the Main Mouse at Town Hall. (Note the pins).

After our ‘rest’, we returned to the Magic Kingdom for our dinner reservations at Crystal Palace. Now, many people recommended Crystal Palace, but I’m guessing it’s because a pre-opening breakfast can get you into the park early because we found it to be not such a great experience. In fact, it may have been the worst meal of our trip. We had to wait about 30 minutes after our reservation time to get a table, the food was so-so, and the characters took forever. We were in there for at least two hours. That’s two hours we weren’t doing something else! But we did get to meet Pooh and friends. DD was still a bit hesitant about character meetings, and she requested DW in most of the photos.



Winne the Pooh!


And Tigger too!

After we finally made it out of dinner, we walked around Adventure Land and did a few rides – Magic Carpets, Pirates, and something else – before scoping out a spot for the Parade.


Clowning in line with ears. One of my favorite photos of the trip.

I was pretty excited about the Main Street Electrical Parade. It’s one of the few things I remember from our first trip to Disney as a kid, so I wanted to get good seats. We managed to snag a spot in Frontier Land, and waited around for things to get going, which of course means we had to buy something.


Electric Minnie!

DD really liked the parade. The highlight was Alice. She’s got a mic and talks to the crowd. DD was wearing her Minnie ears at the time, and she looks right at her and says “Oh My! Little Girl, You have four ears!” She was over the moon. Until 20 minutes later when she feel asleep during the fireworks, again. Oh well, it was still a great day.


Alice and DD get personal.

 

[OneTimePoet]

Thursday was our third day at Disney, and we started it off with one of the things I remembered from my childhood trip to Disney World – breakfast at the Grand Floridian. We took the bus over to the Magic Kingdom and then the monorail over to the hotel. I’m pretty sure this morning was the only time we rode the monorail while we were there. DD, who pretty much adores subways, railways and public transportation of all kinds, thought it was great, though she was clearly pretty tired. Because DD was a bit wary of the characters at last night’s dinner, we weren’t exactly sure how this would go.

After a short wait, we were seated. This was billed as the Supercalifragelistic Breakfast with Mary Poppins and Alice, but Winnie the Pooh and Tigger were making the rounds as well. Since we had already seen them, and DD wasn’t too keen on a second visit, we let them pass by and got some food. The other characters were across the restaurant so we had plenty of time to eat first. The food was good. A pretty standard buffet with Disney flare. The juice, however, was great.

Our first real visit was Alice, and DD got to reconnect with her new friend from the night before.


Oh hey, Alice!

She stayed and chatted with DD a super long time. She even told DD her favorite recipe for cupcakes. She was the perfect Alice, and really helped DD get over her character hump! Alice was always my favorite character growing up, and it was great to see DD love her so much as well.


Me, DD, and Alice

The other characters of the morning were Mary Poppins, who looked EXACTLY like a friend of ours back home and reminded DD about the importance of proper posture, and the Mad Hatter. DD was a little nervous about the Mad Hatter, but he picked upon her hesitation, and did a great job talking with her from a safe distance.


Two girls who are practically perfect in every way.



Clean cup! Move down!

Overall it was a great breakfast. Afterwards, we took a few minutes to use the facilities in the Grand Floridian and then monorail hopped our way over to EPCOT!


Obligatory ‘golf ball’ shot!

Because we didn’t really know how long breakfast would take, we didn’t plan very much for this day. I know we rode Spaceship Earth first. The line was a tad long, and the ride stopped for about 10 minutes sometime during the height of the Roman Empire, but DD seems to enjoy it, particularly the stars at the top, and the descent photos. This was my brother’s favorite ride when we came as kids – seriously, we had to ride it four times – and DD got a kick out of me telling her that. We were debating what to do afterwards, and decided on Mission: Space. I had been going back and forth on whether even the low-intense version would be too much for DD, but we decided to give it a whirl. She loved it! We had a ‘shuttle’ to ourselves each time, and DD really bought into the individual jobs. She was yelling at us to make sure we did our at the right time. Really, she had a ‘blast’.


Yeah, we flew to Mars. No big deal.



I don’t remember the exact order of things following this. We thought about Test Track, but the wait was over an hour. I know we ended up riding Journey into Imagination, and Nemo and Friends, and that DD asked for a snack about every five seconds. We also tried some drinks at Club Cool, and spent a lot of time in the Journey into Imagination building. Basically, we hung out in Future World.


Making some music.



DW and DD and Nemo.


DD was having fun, but she didn’t like Nemo as much as I thought she would, and after the ‘horrifying’ experience of the Laugh Floor, we decided to pass on Turtle Talk with Crush. Without a plan, we asked DD what she wanted to do next. Her reply: “I don’t want to go on another boring boat ride.” So back to Mission: Space it was!


Waiting on Launch Pad 3


Parker would have done Mission: Space a third time, but the line was long, so we settled on buying a pin to commemorate the experience, and headed over for our Fastpass on Soarin’. Some people really dig this ride, but it didn’t do it for me. DD and DW weren’t super fans either; they hate IMAX shows, so it could be that aversion.

After Soarin’, we were pretty hungry, so we stopped for lunch at Sunshine Seasons. The food was really good, but I was not feeling well. I was really dizzy, so DW was a trooper and helped me all the way back to the hotel so I could nap. She even took Parker to the pool!

After a nap and a swim, we hopped on a bus and headed back to EPCOT. We hadn’t done any of the World Showcase, or the Food and Wine Festival, and those were things I was really looking forward to.

We headed around the World Showcase from the Canada end first. We had dinner reservations in Morocco, so we were trying to move toward that destination. The crowds were manageable, but nothing in Canada or England really stood out to us. If I had been feeling better, there probably would have been a beer stop (or two), but we’ll have to save that for next time.

The we crossed a little bridge into France. I had been to France on a school trip the previous January, and now any time any one says anything about France or the French or Paris, DD goes “Mom! France! You’ve been there!” This was no different. DD does believe that we will go to France for real as a family some day, and I hope she’s right.


Mom! Look! France!

After our walk, we wound our way back through the Moroccan pavilion to Restaurant Marrakesh. Now, it is worth noting that most members of our family (i.e. DW and DD) are NOT adventurous eaters, but I had made a request that we try something ‘exotic’ for dinner in EPCOT. I mean, it has all those choices, why eat a cheeseburger? We had asked some friends who had recently been to Disney, and they said their best meal was Restaurant Marrakesh. The restaurant isn’t as busy as other locations, partly, I think, because it’s hidden in the back of Morocco and partly because people are afraid of the food. It was awesome. One of the best of our trip as well. DW and I each had sampler platters, with yummy salads, and a great selection. The desserts, a couple forms of baklava, were huge and tasty. It was a great time and got me back on my feet.


Outside the restaurant.


Parker and Suellen cheesin’ in Morroco.


Full from a yummy dinner, we decided to try one of Agent P’s missions while we browsed the rest of the World Showcase. It was pretty cool. The first one we did was in Germany, and it involved many cuckoo clocks and beer steins (DW shopped through most of this, so it also involved a new Christmas ornament, and some carmel treats). DD really liked it, so we ended up doing the one in Japan later on in the evening. You will be happy to know, we stopped Dr. Doofenschmirtz each time.


Our own Agent P, getting mission instructions.


I had read somewhere that a cool, and relatively cheap, souvenir idea was picking a pearl from an oyster in the Japan pavilion. We asked DD is she wanted to try it, and she said yes. Of course, as soon as she said yes, picking a pearl immediately became the most popular attraction in all of Disney World. After we fought our way to the front of a crowd of ill-behaved and poorly supervised children who mostly did not speak English, DD picked her oyster and got her beautiful pearl.


Parker’s oyster ceremony. Note the crowds.

Pearl in hand, we left Japan, grabbed a few things to taste from the Food and Wine booths and some school bread in Norway, and settled in to watch Illuminations. At one point, DD looked out over the World Showcase Lagoon and said “Isn’t it Beautiful?” (which it was). Then about twenty minutes later, she was completely passed out on DW and missed the whole fireworks show. So, at that point, we called it a day.


Looking out and taking it all in.



And passed out completely.

 

[OneTimePoet]

In other non-2013 news, our magic bands shipped today!

Only 24-days until we leave on Most Epic Road Trip - a stop in the Smokies, WDW for 7 days, 7 days at the beach, and then 4 days at a Great Wolf Lodge. This summer's vacation is Go Big or Go Home!

 

[KarriTigger]

Loving this trip report!

 

[VACamm]

First, your photos are terrific!
Second, Ya'll are packing in a lot of fun stuff! I love school bread from Norway too... its a must have each trip for me! It goes great with a nice glass of wine from Italy haha. I can't wait to read more!

 

[ALEXandFAB]

Adorable family! Looking forward to reading more about 2013 and soon...2016!

 

[PinkyBean]

First, I really like your family photo but, your emotions are all over the place. . Great trip report! Keep up the good work and be sure to write more because I am looking forward to reading more.
Your DD is adorable by the way.

 

[OneTimePoet]

Loving this trip report!

Thanks!

Adorable family! Looking forward to reading more about 2013 and soon...2016!

We leave in 11 days!!!!

First, I really like your family photo but, your emotions are all over the place. . Great trip report! Keep up the good work and be sure to write more because I am looking forward to reading more.
Your DD is adorable by the way.

Thank you for reading!

 

[OneTimePoet]

I'm baaaack! Life intervened, but I'm going to try to finish this report before we leave for the next one.

Day 4 took us to the Animal Kingdom, and I should say up front that this was not our best day. Fatigue was starting to wear on us, and we were losing steam. Still, we ventured off into the wild.


Welcome to the Jungle.


We got to the park fairly early, though not right at the opening, and made our way back to Kilimanjaro Safaris since we heard the best time to ride was either early morning or as late as possible to get the most action out of the animals. I don’t know if this actually paid off for us. There were decent animal views, but I don’t really have anything to compare it to.


DD on our safari truck.



We got the closest to the rhinos.

After the safari, we stopped to look at the gorillas and started to do the African animal trail, but then we noticed that it was almost time to catch the Festival of the Lion King, so we headed that direction.


Mommy and DD waiting for the show to start.

The show was really well done, and we all enjoyed it. After we left the theater it was time to head over to Tusker House for our lunch reservation. It was pretty hot out and we had to wait longer than expected, even with the reservation, but just when we thought we couldn’t take it any more, we rounded the corner on Donald Duck.


Getting a quick autograph.

Not too long after Donald we were seated and eating. This buffet was awesome, with a good mix of African food for the adventurous (me) and more American fair for those who weren’t (the rest of my family). There was also really good service and character interaction.Out of the three we did, this was definitely the best character meal, and it’s probably the one we’d be most likely to do again.


Posing with Daisy.



Cheesy smile with Goofy.


Meeting the mouse.

You will notice that DW is in all these photos. That’s because DD was quickly reaching her character limit. I believe she actually declared that she was ‘done with characters,’ though we did manage to finally squeeze Minnie in; DD had been looking forward to her the most. We didn’t really know what we wanted to do after lunch. We all kind of hate walking around while wet, so Kali River Rapids was out, and we though Dinosaur was probably going to be a bit much for DD. Not having a good plan, we asked DD what she wanted to do. She wanted to do Mission: Space again. Uh…wrong park sweet P. Since she seemed to be into the thrill rides, I asked her if she wanted to try a ‘big roller coaster.’ She said yes, so we grabbed a fast pass for Expedition Everest, and headed out to meet Minnie.


One last, “I’m done with photos pose.”


Minne Mouse!


A final character photo (because now that we’ve met Minnie, we were done).

After our final character interaction for the trip, we headed off to Expedition Everest. When we crossed into the Asia section, we could see the mountain in the distance, and while we stopped to take a few pictures, I doubled checked with DD to see if she was still up for it. She said she was, so we got in line.


I want to ride that!

Now, I will give DD credit. She was very excited to ride a thrill ride, and she kept her excitement up, for the most part, until the moment at the top of the ride where the tracks ‘are broken’ and you fall backwards toward the yeti. Then she was done. I think the scare factor of the yeti got to her more than the intensity of the ride. But, she didn’t scream. She didn’t cry. She just burrowed into my side and hid until it was over, and when we got off, she just said “I do not want to do that ride again.”


DD in line for ‘the yeti ride.’ She’s very excited.


The in-ride photo clearly marks a drop in the level of excitement.


When we met DW in gift shop, and finished laughing hysterically at the photo of us on the ride, DW presented DD with a baby Dumbo – the animal she had pointed out three times already – as a prize for doing such a good job. In truth, DW purchased the Dumbo in case we needed something to stop a massive breakdown if the ride didn’t go well. I’m glad it could be a celebratory present, and not a ‘please-god-stop-the-screaming’ present.

Having gotten our thrill fix for the day, we wandered over to Dinoland to kill some time before Nemo and Friends. We rode the dinosaur version of Dumbo, played some games and had some ice cream all before we took in the show.


DW and DD on TriceraTop Spin.



DD and I do our best to win a prize.


I didn’t get any photos during Nemo, and I’m not sure why. We thought it was well done, and DD liked the bubbles. We also saw It’s Though to Be a Bug sometime during the day, but I don’t have photos and DD really didn’t care for it. We were all pretty tired by the time Nemo was over, and we decided that after all the morning’s excitement we needed some down time, which of course meant more swimming at the hotel.


One last stop to get our wild side out before leaving Animal Kingdom.

Tonight was supposed to be the night was saw Fantasmic, but we ended up not going. I know it’s supposed to a ‘don’t miss’ activity, but we tired and the thought of going and waiting in the sun for an hour for seats did not appeal to us. We opted for what we thought would be an ‘easy’ night of shopping and dinner at Downtown Disney. Unfortunately, this ended up being our worst night of the trip.

First, DD fell and skinned her knew running down the ramp to the boat dock.


Recovering with Dumbo post traumatic knee injury.

Then, construction in Downtown Disney had reduced the number of boats running, so we had to wait almost 45 minutes before we could actually get on a boat.


View on the Sassagoula River, finally!


Then, every place to eat had at least an hour’s wait, including the Earl of Sandwich (the line was out the door). I’m no good with crowds, and this place was crowded. We browsed some shops, got a Christmas Ornament, and made rice krispie treats at Goofy’s Candy store, but pretty much the mayhem made the evening less than magical.


Fall decorations at Downtown Disney.

We decided to leave, and since the boat ride was at least another hour wait, we opted for the bus, where we probably waited 30 minutes, and I got the biggest nosebleed ever. Awesome right?! The best thing, or at least what DD thought of as the best thing, to come out of tonight was that in a moment of weakness, and as an attempt to avoid the crowds, I conceded to spending a billion dollars on custom t-shirts, which we wore the next day. Exhaused, we made it home and crashed.

 

[OneTimePoet]

Day 5

Day 5 was our last full day in Disney World. We started by visiting the one place we hadn’t gone yet: Hollywood Studios, which was decked out for Monsters University. DD didn’t really care for this. She’s not a big Monsters fan; I think they scare her a little. She was, however, excited to wear our custom family shirts.


These shirts were brought to you by a mental breakdown!

She was also excited to see the Disney Jr. show. At the time of trip, DD was on a huge Doc McStuffins kick, and while you can now meet Doc, have pictures with Doc, invite Doc over to your house for dinner, all you could do while we were there was see the Doc McStuffins segment of this show. So that’s what we did. We had a little time to kill before though, so what did we do? Tower of Terror. Why not! DD had see the tower while we drove in, and asked about it. She did ask if there would be a yeti. We said no, and she was in. We had made it to the park at opening, so there was almost no line.


Fake scared face before we got in line.


Real scared face mid-ride.

As you can see, our adult-thrill-ride experience was pretty constant. She didn’t cry. She didn’t scream. She just burrowed as far into me as she could. In all fairness, the drops did life her about six inches off her seat, and that was with me actually trying to push her back down. When we got off this time, DD called this a “stinking awful ride.” Ok then. Let’s go see Doc.


Ready for the show.


Watching with Dumbo and Mommy.


Doc!

Overall, this was a pretty cute show. It had segments from Micky Mouse Clubhouse, Sophia the First, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates in it as well, and even though she doesn’t really know those shows, Parker liked them all. It was clearly more age appropriate than Tower of Terror. Oh well.

Because Disney knows what they are doing, we were inundated with Disney Jr merchandise after the show. Now DD had been asking for some time for a stuffed Doc McStuffins. They sell them in stores back home, and we were going to get her one for Christmas, but clearly, we just could not hold out any longer, and since neither DW or I seem to be able to say no in Disney World, DD spent the last of her ‘grandma money’ on a Doc. Purchase made, we headed over for our Fast Passes on Toy Story Mania. This ride gets a lot of hype, and I think it’s worth it. It was a long ride, and a lot of fun. I sort of wished we had done the rope drop dash and ridden it twice. Oh well.


DD and her Doc in line for Toy Story Mania.

After the ride, we tried to find some place to eat, but all the restaurants we were interested in were crazy busy. We ended up riding the Great Movie Ride, and catching the Beauty and Beast Live (another really good show). Since we did not want a repeat of last night’s congestion-related breakdown, we headed back to Port Orleans for lunch, new friends in tow.


Talking with Dumbo and Doc as we wait for the bus.

Of course, after lunch, it was time for the pool!


She really is happiest in a pool.


And serious on the slide.

After one last dip in the pool, where DD even got brave enough to jump in, we clean up and re-donned our custom shirts at DD's request. We had reservations for the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue that evening, and since we’d have to go to a park to transfer to Fort Wilderness, we decided to spend a little more time in the Magic Kingdom!

Our first stop was the Main Street Barber for a little sparkle. This was a great – and free tip – from some of our most Disney obsessed friends. And, if it’s your last night in Disney World, you might as well get your hair did.


A little Pixie Dust.


Showing off the sparkle.

I don’t remember exactly what else we did here before dinner. DD was done with characters, and I tried to convinced her several times to try Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain, but the yeti had ruined her on roller coasters for the trip. The only pictures I have are from Haunted Mansion, so that must have been the major ride of the afternoon. Once we left Magic Kingdom, we took a boat over to Fort Wilderness. We saw some of DD's friends from school in line – it is a Small World after all – and I got yet another nosebleed.


Horseless Carriage


Playing the Haunted Mansion piano.



Quick pic at the castle.

We got to Pioneer Hall in plenty of time (and my nose stopped bleeding). It took DD a few songs to warm up to the Pioneer Players, but once they started singing “Oh they come from Indiana when they come”, she was hooked. I didn’t get any good shots because of the lightening and where were seated, but we all had a blast.


DD is having fun; she’s just tired.

After the show, we took the boat back to the Magic Kingdom. At this point, it was probably close to 9:00 at night, and Parker was getting a second wind. So, we instead of catching the bus, we headed back into the park. And this is what we saw:


Main Street fireworks crowd.

We were excited that maybe Parker would actually be awake to see Wishes – or any other night show for that matter – but she wasn’t interested. She wanted to ride, so we took advantage of the fireworks, and road the Tea Cups, Barnstorm and Buzz Light Year and the People Mover with no wait at all. At one point, I said something to DW about not knowing how many hours DD had left in her. Parker didn’t miss a beat and replied, “I’ve got lots of hours left!”


Tea Cups were also a favorite ride.


Barnstormer at night.



DD's ice cream fell all over the ground almost immediately after this photo. So we just got on more rides.

Finally we had had enough, and we headed back. Some where on the way, Parker declared this the “best day ever!”


Last night in Disney.

 

[ALEXandFAB]

Out of the three we did, this was definitely the best character meal, and it’s probably the one we’d be most likely to do again.

So happy to hear this! It's the only character meal we have planned for our upcoming trip (son will be 9 by then and is growing out of character interactions ) so to know that it's the one you'd most likely do again make me glad this is the one we chose.

Now, I will give DD credit. She was very excited to ride a thrill ride, and she kept her excitement up, for the most part, until the moment at the top of the ride where the tracks ‘are broken’ and you fall backwards toward the yeti. Then she was done. I think the scare factor of the yeti got to her more than the intensity of the ride. But, she didn’t scream. She didn’t cry. She just burrowed into my side and hid until it was over, and when we got off, she just said “I do not want to do that ride again.”

That's one brave little girl!

DW presented DD with a baby Dumbo – the animal she had pointed out three times already – as a prize for doing such a good job. In truth, DW purchased the Dumbo in case we needed something to stop a massive breakdown if the ride didn’t go well

And that's one smart momma

DD called this a “stinking awful ride.”

I wholeheartedly agree. Rode the Disneyland version ONCE. About ten years ago. NEVER. AGAIN. (I may or may not be a chicken.)

 

[OneTimePoet]

Day 6 – our last day

When we planned this trip, we decided to get the latest possible flight home on Sunday so that we could spend a little bit of time in parks. DW had to go back to work on Monday, but DD and I still had it off for Fall Break. We figured that would give us a day to recover on the couch and do some laundry. We had our usual breakfast in the hotel room, packed up our stuff, did the at-resort airline check-in, and after dropping our carry-ons at bell services, we headed out to the Magic Kingdom for one last day.


Barnstormer was first, of course.



Followed by more Dumbo.


And more Buzz.

We realized we hadn’t done a lot of the classic attractions, so today also included the Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room and Country Bear Jamboree. I didn’t get many pictures of any of these though. We were really maximizing our fun.


DD checks out the tikis.

After some rides, we ate lunch at Casey’s and caught the Move It Shake It Celebrate It parade. The Casey’s lunch turned out to be a bad choice. I had the time and route of the parade wrong, and made us eat there because I thought it was get us the perfect spot. It didn’t and we ended up sitting around the hub in the center of the park.


DD is not amused with the wait for the parade.



DD and DW get up to move and shake it!


The above mentioned moving and shaking.

After the parade, I think we headed back to do the Ariel ride again – I know we did it at least once that day – and then DD and DW rode the tea cups, which ended up being the final ride of the trip. We finished up by wandering through ‘old’ Fantasy land, and buying some candy with our remaining snack credits.


Trying to pull the Sword from the Stone. We couldn’t.


Outside Rapunzel’s tower.


A sucker for the road.

We were all sad to leave, but there weren’t any tears. We just said our good byes to the castle and headed back to French Quarter to catch the Magical Express back to the airport.


DD ‘plays’ the piano – her last act at Disney.

All in all, it was one of the best family vacations we’ve had. Parker still asks when we are going back, and I’ve clearly become mildly obsessed. We leave to go back in 9 days and I can't wait.

 

[OneTimePoet]

I wholeheartedly agree. Rode the Disneyland version ONCE. About ten years ago. NEVER. AGAIN. (I may or may not be a chicken.)

In order to find out what DD would want to do on this year's trip, we've convinced her that we are going to Disney in summer of 2017. Neither ToT, nor "the yeti ride" made the must repeat list.