May 2016 trip to Disney and Universal Studios!

[Jessicavoet]

So back in September 2015, I was sitting on a bed at Coronado Springs almost in tears talking to my mom. It was our last day at Disney World and I was extremely upset because I knew that it was our last trip for a few years, and I wanted to come back. More than just I wanted to come back, I wanted to bring my son back. Our trip in September was an adult's trip for us girls, and while we had an amazing time, I desperately wanted to bring my son back again. My mom is an angel, sitting on that bed she booked us plane tickets to come back in May and we started planning our next trip.

God I love my mother!

So first of all, it was supposed to be a budget trip. My mom was financing the majority of the trip and I didn't want her to have a huge bill. We booked at All Stars Movies for myself, my 10 year old son Jacob, 10 year old nephew Noah, and my mom. We planned one table service meal, at T-Rex Cafe, because I knew the boys would just die if they got the opportunity to eat there.

Then, as always, everything started changing.

My brother, Bryan, had some extra time off where he could fit in a trip, but not for the entire time we were there. I spent FOREVER in front of a computer working spread sheets to see what was more cost effective for resorts. We knew that once my brother arrived we'd have to change rooms so that we could sleep 5 people in a room. In the end we decided on staying at All Stars Movies for 2 nights, then when my brother arrived in Orlando we would switch to Art of Animation in a family suite. The extra room would be nice, and it was cheaper than the moderates that slept 5 people!

THEN we decided that since Bryan was coming, a trip to Universal was a must. He's a HUGE Harry Potter fan, so he would be in heaven if he got to go there. Jacob saw a video of the Jurassic Park area and ride and almost had a cow about it so we were sold, and added in the cost of a Universal Studios day.

THEN I started thinking "Mom is paying for the entire trip, I'm going to plan some table service meals that are nice, and I'll pay for those as a thank you for the trip." and I added in a dinner at Ohana, breakfast at Garden Grill, and a breakfast at Crystal Palace.

On top of all of this, it was supposed to be a surprise for my son and my nephew. They had absolutely no idea we were going, the moment that they got to open the "Disney Box" and found out about the trip was priceless.

Everything was all set, and we counted down the days. It seemed like forever, but finally it was the day! It was time to leave! Kind of.....



TRAVEL DAY! Wednesday, May 18, 2016.

So, it was Wednesday, May 18th at 6:45am and I was........

At work.

Because I forgot to take May 18th off when I submitted my time off request.

Good job Jessica.....

We live in Shreveport/Bossier City, LA and our flight left out of DFW on May 19th at 11:00am. We got SUPER CHEAP tickets for only $97 per person, round trip, by flying out of DFW instead of Shreveport. I was totally ok driving in the day of our flight, but my mom was uncomfortable with it just in case something happened on the way there. So we booked a hotel room at the Country Inn and Suites right outside DFW airport for the night of May 18th. We HAD planned on leaving around lunch time that day, driving the 3 hours to Dallas, and just hanging out and relaxing.

But I forgot to take off work.

So I had to work from 6:45am - 5:00pm instead. It was the longest day of my life.

Finally.



It was time.

I swung by my mom's house and picked up Jacob and Noah, they had both stayed with her all day "helping" her get ready to leave. We loaded the luggage in my car and then swung by my house so I could kiss my husband goodbye. My husband is not a Disney fan. It's borderline divorce worthy, but I'll forgive him for it because he's good to me.... We were on the road by 6:00pm.



It rained on us most of the way, but we still managed to make good time. There wasn't a whole lot of traffic, thankfully. We stopped at a Burger King somewhere in Texas for dinner and ate in the car.

On the left is mom, I'm on the right. In the back on the left behind mom is Jacob, my son, and behind me is Noah, my nephew.



There was some construction going on around the hotel, and I managed to take a wrong turn, but the handy dandy GPS got us back on track and soon we were pulling up at the Country Inn and Suites. Everyone here was amazing. They were actually baking cookies when we got there!



I managed to not get any pictures of our room, but it was pretty standard. We had two queen size beds, a desk, and an entertainment center with a tv. The lobby was very sleek and modern.



We had arrived around 9:00pm, and called it a pretty early night. The boys played a little on their iPads and my mom and I watched some tv, then we fell asleep for the night!

 

[Jessicavoet]

I wake up at 5:00am for work every day, so waking up at 5:00am to catch a plane to Disney was super easy!

My mom was wide awake with me, we tried to lay there for a little bit, but eventually gave up and started getting ready. We showered, got dressed, and then started getting the boys up and dressed. The Country Inn and Suites was a steal at $90.00 for a night and included a full breakfast the next morning. Not your typical continental breakfast either, FULL BREAKFAST. Fresh waffles, eggs, breakfast potatoes, sausage, bacon, oatmeal, and various cereals and pastries.

The picture doesn't look like much, but it was all tasty and very filling.



There was also a coffee station available.



These two were almost out of control. They're very well behaved, but they were buzzing with so much energy this morning! Understandably so.....



We ate breakfast and then went back to our room to finish packing. We were allowed one "personal item" and no actual carry on size bag with Spirit Airlines, so we were getting creative with packing our personal items. The boys needed their iPads, books, etc. and I just had my purse with a kindle and a bathing suit stashed in it. But, when we got to our room our room key didn't work. So we walked back to the front desk, where they happily gave us new ones, and then we went back to the room again. We ended up checking out of the hotel by 8:00am, and made a quick run into a Walmart that was right down the street for a few things that mom forgot to pack.

They had a lot of fun hanging out in front of the fake fire place.



I really really enjoyed our stay here, and I would stay here again, and definitely recommend it to anyone interested in it!

I HATE DRIVING TO DFW AIRPORT.

Hate it.

A lot.

So much so, that I almost started crying at one point.

So many cars, so many circles, so many everything. I can't stand it.

We drove into the wrong parking garage, made this big loop, and FINALLY found the right place. We parked, grabbed all of our stuff out of the car, and locked it for the last time for the next week.

I have to say, I am very proud of the boys for how they did at the airport. Jacob has never flown before, Noah has but he's still only 10 so I was impressed with them. They paid attention, did everything that me, my mom, or the airport employees told them to and security was not too big of an issue. The airport staff was actually really nice and friendly here, that wasn't the case when we were flying back from Orlando. But anyway, we made it past security, found our gate, and were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay early.......

What else do you do in an airport when you're waiting on your flight?

We wandered.

All over the place.....

And got stupid expensive snacks. This tiny thing of apples and grapes was $7.00.



We also took pictures. We normally drive to Disney, Jacob has never ever been on a plane before, and this is only my second trip on a plane.

My mom and I



It was finally time to board, we got in our seats and settled in. I paid extra to make sure that we were all seated together. I was terrified that for some reason we'd end up split up and Jacob and Noah would be by themselves somewhere. They spent the majority of the trip on iPads and phones playing games.





Mom napped, I read my kindle and leaned over Jacob to take pictures from time to time.



Jacob was very nervous at first, but after take off was over he calmed down. He kept the window shut during the first part of the flight because it was cloudy out, so the sun was just reflecting off the clouds and it was too bright. When we got closer to Florida it cleared up and he looked out the windows a lot.



That is, until, we started descent into Orlando. It always amazes me that descent takes so long, when they say "We're starting our descent into XXXX" I assume we'll be on the ground in 10 minutes or so. Gah.... it takes like half an hour. Jacob's ears wouldn't pop during this time, he's always had sensitive ears and I'm a terrible mother and didn't think ahead about this. As a baby he had countless ear infections and ended up having tubes, he gets water in his ears easily, etc. So I should have thought about it and gotten him ear plugs, but it totally slipped my mind. He spent the entire descent with his head in my lap almost crying because his ears hurt. By the time we made it to the ground he felt better, thankfully.

Our 2 hour flight had turned into 2 and a half hours because of a big storm that was coming through. As we were pulling up to the airport, the pilot came over the intercom system and said that because of lightening in the area, the taxi ways were shut down so we couldn't actually pull up to the airport and get out. They weren't allowing people out there at the time. He said we had diverted all the way to Tampa, and zig zagged through the sky to fly around the storm all the way to Orlando. I for one am very very happy he kept this information to himself until we landed. While I like flying, because it's faster, it does scare me a little bit and I'm pretty sure I would have peed on myself if I knew we were avoiding a storm.

Anyway, after the storm had passed, only 10 minutes or so, we pulled up, and got out of the plane. Finding the magical express was very easy, you get on the fake monorail to the main building and head down stairs, there are signs everywhere. We scanned our magic bands at the desk, and got directed to a bus! The bus that was already sitting there was almost empty so we got right on.

Super relieved children to be off of the plane!

 

[Jessicavoet]

The bus driver said it's a 30 minute drive from the airport to Disney, but it seemed to fly by. Before we knew it, we were being dropped off at All Stars Movies resort! We checked in at the front desk, and our room was already ready. We got the dalmatians section! I didn't get the exact room I had requested, but we got a good one (I don't remember what number though!). We headed over to check it out immediately, and to change into some shorts.

Before opening the door, I told my mom "It's going to be smaller than Coronado, just FYI." Neither of us had stayed in a value before, so we didn't really know what to expect, but I had read that the rooms were small. They were right.

Now, it was fine for what it was. It was a room we were staying in for 2 nights and then checking out. If we were staying for longer, I would not have enjoyed it, to be honest. There just wasn't enough room in the room, the bathroom, anywhere. We were tripping over eachother, and there was nowhere to put our stuff. Actually, when our luggage was delivered later that evening, we could barely open the door because our luggage took up that entire area of the floor. Had I not stayed in a moderate before, I probably wouldn't have noticed these things. But I couldn't help but compare it.....







There were also large groups of kids staying there, we didn't notice noise from them, or even over crowding in the pool. But when we left our room and went to the food court, they were everywhere.... I got in line to get a hot dog, Jacob and I were going to split one. We didn't want to eat a lot because we had dinner reservations at T. Rex Cafe, but we were hungry so we needed something. I seriously stood in that line for a full 25 minutes waiting to order a hot dog. My mom and Noah split a piece of pizza and were much luckier, they got to get their pizza, sit down, eat it, and get up for refills on their drinks before we ever got to sit down.

No pictures, but it was all tasty. I have an obsession with Disney World hot dogs. I love them so much.....

After eating we hauled butt out of the food court and walked around the Dalmations area a little. It was very adorable, we enjoyed it a lot.



It's very in your face Disney, and we liked it. Now, Art of Animation blew it away with their theming, but All Stars Movies did a good job too.





I'm going to go ahead and say it now, will I ever stay at All Stars Movies again?

No.

It's not that the resort was terrible, because it wasn't. It's just that I know Disney has resorts that are better. Even with knowing that, I would have considered staying here if the buses were better. The buses were what really did me in and made me say "never again."

We stood in the sun, because there are no covered waiting areas for buses, for 20 minutes before a Disney Springs bus came. When it got there, it was full. I don't just mean that the seats were taken, I mean completely full with people using all of the seats and standing shoulder to shoulder inside. I don't know why the bus even bothered to stop because they couldn't fit anyone else on. We kept waiting, and sent the boys to go stand back by the building in the shade. When the bus finally did come, I was shocked that we would be able to actually sit down. The bus got crammed full of people and we were on our way. I had read that the 3 All Stars resorts shared buses, but I didn't think it would be that bad. I wrote an email when we got back about how bad it was, because it was the same when we tried to go to Epcot the following morning, and we would wait forever to get back to the resort from the parks. The buses alone made me say a firm "no" for ever staying there again.

Anyway, we finally got to Disney Springs and it was gorgeous! When we were there in September the new stores and restaurants weren't open yet, there were a lot of walls up, etc. so it was nice to see everything opened and ready. Jacob and Noah knew we had dinner reservations somewhere in Disney Springs, but didn't know where so they started guessing. They did of course guess "the dinosaur restaurant" but we just kept saying "Maybe, you'll have to see." When we walked up to the restaurant, Jacob's face lit up. He's in love with dinosaurs, and had asked in the past to eat here but we weren't able to fit it in so it was a first for him. We checked in at the podium just as it started to rain! Thankfully they were able to get us in right away! Our server was very attentive, and very sweet! He also saved my butt later in the evening, but we'll get to that. We were seated in the ice cave, and while all the pictures are tinted colors, I loved every second of it because of this



He couldn't stop looking at things with his jaw hanging open. He loved it! When the dinosaurs started moving he almost had a heart attack I think. He was so excited about it.



It was a really good meal. We ordered mozzarella sticks to share for the table, Noah ordered the kids pizza, my mom ordered the ribs with coleslaw and fries, and Jacob and I split the NY strip steak with a side of potatoes and applesauce.

It's not the best, but this is the ribs and the pizza (I forgot to take pictures of the steak....)



Noah is the only one who didn't enjoy his meal. His exact words were "I didn't think it would be this bad." Now, my mom and I tasted it and thought it tasted fine, but he was definitely not eating it. He was offered the opportunity to get a different meal instead but he said he didn't want to. He ate some of my mom's fries, and then some of the steak and applesauce too. He didn't leave hungry, but I felt bad that he hated his pizza so much.

Our server, I wish I could remember his name because I'm so thankful for him, brought us our check and I paid the bill. Then we walked over to the shop where they have souvenirs and the build a dino. For anyone who hasn't been there, it's just like build a bear but with dinosaurs. I already knew that Jacob and Noah would both want to build one, so I planned ahead for it lol.

BUT when I reached into my purse, I discovered that I had no debit card.

When I paid the bill, I left it in the black folder.

Gah.....

I immediately ran off to find someone, who found my server, who walked me over to a manager. He had found my card and gave it to his manager immediately. Crisis averted, I shaked a lot of hands and said a lot of thank yous, and made my way back over to build a dino. It is my luck to leave my card somewhere on the very first night we're there.







After all the shenanigans, we walked around Disney Springs a lot, and still didn't see everything. We were getting tired, and it was getting pretty busy so we decided to head to the resort. Except, the line for our bus wrapped around all of the que, and then some. *sigh* When the bus came, we stood. I didn't care, I wasn't waiting on another one.

We climbed into the double beds, and had a terrible nights sleep. Not necessarily because of the beds, they were comfortable enough. But they were double sized beds. Anyone who has trouble waking up in the morning should sleep with either Jacob or Noah in the bed. Trust me, you'll be awake. I got kicked, kneed, pushed, etc. all night long. There was no room to move around, I put a pillow in between us but then I was almost falling off my side of the bed which wasn't comfortable so it wasn't that much better. But hey, crappy sleep in Disney World is better than great sleep at home, right?

The next day is my birthday!

We've been at Disney for everyone's birthdays except mine, so this was a first for me and I couldn't wait!

 

[RDawn]

I am enjoying your trip report and am especially looking forward to your day at Universal. We have a WDW trip booked this fall & have added 1 day at Universal
also. We have never been to Universal before but my 10 year old son wants to see Harry Potter, Jurassic Park & King Kong. Thanks for sharing your vacation with us!

 

[Jessicavoet]

I am enjoying your trip report and am especially looking forward to your day at Universal. We have a WDW trip booked this fall & have added 1 day at Universal
also. We have never been to Universal before but my 10 year old son wants to see Harry Potter, Jurassic Park & King Kong. Thanks for sharing your vacation with us!

Thank you for reading!! Hopefully I'll get to the Universal part in a few days here, we loved it! Honestly, we had so much fun there, it was way better than I had expected. We're planning a trip back in either March or May of 2017 to go to just Universal.

 

[Jessicavoet]

Friday, May 20, 2016.

Happy birthday to me!

Happy birthday to me!

I was turning 29 years old at the most magical place on earth!

It was bright and early at 6:30am, this is sleeping in for me! My mom and I were getting ready for our day at Epcot.

In all of our Disney trips, our Epcot days always end up being the ones that don't "follow the plan." I have accepted that at this point, so we had a loose plan ready and just planned on going with the flow.

We had a pre-park opening breakfast at Garden Grill, reservation time was 8:00am. Because of how the buses were the night before, we were out of our room and standing at the bus stop at 7:20am, just in case it took forever again.

Birthday girl waiting on the bus!



It did.

Thankfully, this time, it at least wasn't packed and we did get a seat. We had two bus drivers, one was actually driving, and the other was standing up asking trivia questions and telling us little tid-bits about Disney World. One of his questions was "Who was the nephew of Scrooge McDuck?" My mom yelled "Huey, Dewey, and Luey!" He laughed and asked the question again, and my mom once again yelled "HUEY, DEWEY, AND LUEY!" even louder. So the driver said "You can keep yelling it louder, ma'am, but it doesn't make it right!" I was dying laughing at her, it was all in good fun. The answer was Donald Duck! His next question was "Who is Donald Duck's nephews?" and he looked at my mom and says "Now you can say it ma'am!" It was awesome, and it made me a little less mad about our wait for the bus....

We made it to the gates of Epcot, walked up to the ticket stand and activated our tickets. We're military so we purchase military tickets at our base here in Louisiana, and then activate them at the front gates when we get there. It didn't take long and we were through the front gates before we knew it. Now, we were pressed for time because the bus took so long. I didn't want to be late for our reservation so instead of taking the time to really take it all in, and the fact that it was totally empty, we were rushing to the land pavilion. We made it just in time, and got checked in for breakfast.

Garden Grill breakfast in a nutshell:

Freaking fabulous.

Everything was delicious, the characters came around twice, and our server was awesome. The rotation is cool, but it's pretty slow so we made it from where the opening of the restaurant is, to a part with trees and we were done eating.

Dale came by first, and my mom, bless her heart, yells "CHIP!!"

Oh mom..... This is the same woman who stood in front of a picture of Kristoff last year and said "Take my picture with Gaston!" lol



Chip promptly scolded my mom and pointed at his nose, stomping his foot, and shook his finger at her. It was hilarious.



Jacob is not a big character person, he came out of his shell more the following day, but his smiles were totally forced at breakfast this morning.





I'm not entirely sure why all of a sudden he became in love with characters the next day, but I didn't question it. I loved watching him run up to them, especially the dogs like Pluto and Bolt. He, of course, knows that they're people dressed up, but he enjoyed it and I enjoyed watching him!

Chip was next, and this time my mom yelled "Chip!" and was right lol



Within seconds of being seated we were given our fruit bowl, sticky cinnamon bun, and drinks, then the chipmunks came by, then Mickey, followed by Pluto and shortly after that we were brought our platter of amazingness. I don't know if this is always the order they do it in, but it worked for us!

The sticky bun



It was pretty good, maybe a little dry but tasty.

Our visit from Mickey! In farmer clothes! He didn't stay and play at the table for as long as the chipmunks did, but we were ok with that because we were digging into our food and slurping down caffeine.



Also, if you like pictures, and aren't good at getting lighting right like me, don't be surprised when most of your pictures are washed out when you're facing the outside of the building. The sun was streaming in and while it was pretty in real life, it made the pictures pretty bad.



Pluto was next, and he was great! When we were in Disney last time with the kids, Pluto ate Jacob's head at Ohana. He had come to our table and Jacob hid from him, Pluto tickled him and then walked to his next table. About 15 minutes later, out of nowhere, Pluto ran across Ohana and stuck Jacob's entire head in his mouth and then ran off covering his mouth like he was laughing. It was the greatest thing that ever happened, and Jacob has talked about it every time Pluto gets brought up in any conversation ever since. One of the things he said while talking about this breakfast was "I hope Pluto doesn't eat my head again!"

He didn't.





Pluto hung out for a while with us, and then made his way to the next table which was several tables down. Honestly the restaurant was pretty empty.

Our feast was brought out after Pluto, and it was so much food!



Hash browns, ham, bacon, eggs, and waffles on top of what we had already been brought out. Our server also brought out a trio of salsas that were TO DIE FOR. I was slathering my eggs in them, it was amazing. I asked him if I could buy it anywhere but he said they make it in house and don't sell it.

The syrup that comes with the platter is a hazelnut syrup? I believe..... The boys wanted regular syrup and our server happily brought us some.



Chip and Dale made another visit to our table, one of them (I can't remember which.....) sat down next to Jacob and was asking if he could eat breakfast with us. Jacob started making him a plate! It was adorable, maybe Chip helped him come out of his shell.... who knows lol.

We finished up and were incredibly full. We had gotten seconds of the eggs, and some more salsa for me.... paid the bill, and were on our way!

It was still only 8:45am!

The park was still closed so we moseyed our way over to where the second rope drop is for Test Track and there was nobody there. We chatted with the cast member there for a little bit, and they had their second rope drop at 9:00am when the park actually opened. We all were walked over to Test Track and we walked right in with no wait.

My mom and Noah were making a car together, and Jacob and I made a car together. Jacob let me make it pink in honor of my birthday since it's my favorite color.



Love this ride!



After Test Track we went over to The Seas and rode Nemo, one of my favorites! There was no wait at all. We walked around the aquariums some, and then walked into Turtle Talk with Crush.

The boys were playing with the screens doing the quizzes, it actually emailed me a certificate saying they passed, it was cute.

 

[Jessicavoet]

After talking with Crush we went to the "play area" with Bruce, and sat on the floor.



My mom and I took a break for a minute while the boys played, we were so full from breakfast that we needed to sit lol.

In the gift shop there Jacob found a dolphin that he HAD to have, so I told him to go the rest of the day and see if there was anything else he would rather have, and if he really wanted it we could come back. Prior to the trip Jacob and Noah had both been saving their money from birthdays and chores and had about $100 each to spend. I reminded him that it was also only day 2 of our vacation, and it might be best to not buy the stuffed animal now, in case he found stuff later in the week he wanted, because we could always come back.

If you want to test your sanity, try reasoning with a 10 year old about something they HAVE to have. It's great fun.

At the end of the day, it's his money and he knew that once he spent it that was it, so I told him if he still wanted it at the end of the day we would come back, but I didn't want to carry around a stuffed dolphin all day.

It was time for our Test Track fast pass so we walked back over there, this time we split up with my mom and I making a car and Noah and Jacob making a car. We were going to "race" and see who's was better.

Mine and mom's car



Jacob and Noah's car



We loved it, as usual!



But mom and I lost terribly.... in all things but style. Obviously our car is prettier, that's totally a category, right?

Side note real fast, we bought memory maker this trip.

LOVE IT.

I don't think I'll ever take a Disney trip without it again, honestly. We were able to get so many pictures, and they were GOOD pictures too!

Leaving Test Track we stopped in front of the Chipmunks topiary and had some pictures taken







I kind of lost track of time here.... Our ADR at Via Napoli wasn't until 1:00pm, but I don't really recall what all we did between Test Track and Via Napoli.... I know we had been determined to "do less" on this trip and go with the flow more. I remember being inside of a store at some point so maybe we were just looking at things....

My next picture is of us inside the Mexico pavilion. We stopped in there because we were hot, I know that much. It was warming up FAST today, and we needed some AC for a second. We rode the Donald Duck ride real fast since there was no wait, and then continued walking towards Italy.



Jacob wants to eat at the restaurant inside Mexico on our next trip, but I honestly don't think he'll like any of the food. He's not a very adventurous eater.... He just wants to eat there because there's a volcano lol.

Donald Duck was outside! Noah wanted a picture so we ran over there real fast



He was covering up the Mickey Mouse on Noah's hat lol



I wish we had tried some of the Flower and Garden festival booths, some of them smelled wonderful. But we were on our way to lunch, and I wait all year to eat this pizza, so I didn't want anything to ruin my lunch.

We got to Via Napoli and it was a gorgeous blue sky outside, a little hot, but still wonderful! It was time for my favorite pizza, not just at Disney, but anywhere. Ever. AND it was my birthday. Pretty perfect!

We walked in, checked in, and some people got up off of the bench inside there. I told the boys to go sit down because we were all standing and this lady almost shoved Jacob out of the way so that she could sit down instead. I'm sorry lady, but they're kids. You don't push kids. She wasn't older, she was maybe early-mid twenties. It pissed me off. I gave her an ugly look and told Noah to scoot down some so that Jacob could sit down next to him still.

Push my kid?

That's fine.

Now you get to sit next to him while he's sweaty.

Congratulations, I hope you enjoy your seat.

Thankfully our table was ready pretty quick so we escaped the pushy lady and went to our table.

We were seated at the table next to where we ate in September, we got a kick out of it.

We always order the same thing, an order of the fried cheese, and pizza. This year we did the Mezzo Metro size with half pepperoni and half cheese.



His face when they brought out the pizza was hysterical. He was clearly overwhelmed with how much pizza there was. I thought that between the 4 of us, with 2 of us being starving boys, we could eat the whole thing. We couldn't, and left with a to go box with about 5 pieces of deliciousness in it.

I ate it as a snack that night....

While we were waiting on our check to come to the table someone made the comment that it was about to pour.

What?? It was so sunny when we walked in! Florida weather is crazy....

Sure enough, we opened the door to leave and it was noticeably cooler, and everyone was putting on ponchos. It was sprinkling and not pouring yet, but it was obviously coming. So we stopped in one of the little alcoves of the Italy pavilion and pulled out ponchos. Bless Jacob's little heart, he always struggles with wearing a poncho. Last trip it ripped where his head goes so we were tying it together, this year I purchased a different kind and it kept falling off of his head. He ended up pulling it over his face and holding it. I told him to not suffocate himself.

We had already planned on going back to the resort anyway because we had the to-go box of pizza and wanted to swim, so we took our time. Honestly, we enjoyed it. There weren't a lot of people walking around so we were able to really enjoy walking around the world showcase, even if it was raining.

My mom wanted a picture with her favorite character



By the time we made it to Future World it was full on pouring rain, and we just kept laughing and walking. The ponchos I got from Amazon this year worked pretty well, they were $6.00 for a pack of 4 so I bought a few packs and figured we could throw them away if we needed to. We made it to the bus, and it stopped raining.

We waited.

And waited.....

And waited....

Finally a bus came and took us back to All Stars Movies. We dropped off the food in our fridge in our room and laid down for a little bit. One more complaint about All Stars Movies.... there was no where to sit other than the bed. There was technically a little table with 2 chairs at it, but they were awkwardly in the corner and not comfortable. The bed worked, but when we got to Art of Animation we had a couch and a full table with more comfortable chairs. It was nice to have a place to relax that wasn't the bed.

This was waiting for me in our room, I love it!



I had also graduated with my associates right before this trip, we had marked it on our reservation but I was still surprised!

After resting we walked around the resort a little bit. We had initially wanted to come back and swim, but the boys ended up saying they didn't want to and wanted to go back to the park. So we walked over to the Toy Story section to check it out before heading back to Epcot.

It was so cute! There's RC waiting in front of the section that you can sit inside





And then a giant door that goes into Andy's room!











The checkers were made of cement, so you can't play with them but you can jump on them!

 

[Jessicavoet]

After taking in all the sights there, we waited forever for a bus again and went to Epcot.

Photo Pass!







Yes, I changed clothes. I have more Disney shirts than Disney days, so I did frequent clothing changes lol.



It was so pretty, there were flowers everywhere.





We had reservations at Teppan Edo for dinner. I love hibachi food, so I figured hibachi food in Disney is going to be wonderful!

Now, I will preface this dining review by saying the boys had started getting on eachother's nerves a little, and were starting to fight. We were having to walk with my mom and Noah in front, and then Jacob and I followed behind. That way they weren't walking next to eachother and wouldn't accidentally touch eachother. Because God forbid if one of them touched the other one. On top of that Noah had started complaining about doing things that he didn't want to do. We explained to him that we were doing things all day long that he wanted to do, so if I or mom or Jacob wanted to do something, we were going to do that thing, and we expected him to not complain about it because he was getting to do what he wanted. It's fair.

So anyway, we checked in for dinner, and were seated almost immediately. We were seated with another family, which was fine, and they were very quiet, but so were we. Server was nice enough, and so was the chef. He did some of the usual tricks, and made some jokes.

At some point during the meal, I got poked in the eye with a chop stick courtesy of Jacob. He was pretending it was a sword and was fighting some imaginary bad guy.

Fun times.

I split a meal with Jacob, we split the chicken and steak. My mom and Noah did the same.

Now, at home, Jacob also loves hibachi. He's a big fan of fried rice, broccoli, squash, chicken, etc. and we eat it frequently. The rice here is not fried rice, which I knew going in, and I enjoyed it, but Jacob didn't like it. More rice for me!

He also didn't like the vegetables, and only moderately liked the chicken. The steak was a no go altogether.

Honestly, I wasn't that impressed either. It really lacked flavor, maybe because they expect you to use the sauces? I don't know.

Overall it wasn't a bad meal, but I wasn't that impressed either. We can get way better for way cheaper at home so it's a meal I won't be repeating.



We grabbed a photo pass picture in Morocco



And then we split up. Noah and my mom wanted to ride Mission Space, but I just wasn't feeling it so I told them I'd sit it out. Jacob said he didn't really want to ride either, so we headed back to the seas. We walked around the aquarium, rode Nemo again, and purchased the beloved dolphin that he had to have. It was nice to be just the two of us. I love my nephew and my mom, but sometimes those quiet moments when it's just you and your kid, it's nice.

We met back up, and took some more photopass pictures.

The dolphin made it into the pictures too.





We did not make it to see Illuminations. We were tired.

So we got in line for the bus, and eventually made it back to the resort.

That night I had a snack, it was a chocolate cookie with caramel drizzle from the caramel place in Germany, and I also ate some of the left over pizza.



Overall, it was a good day. We got to ride Test Track twice, and had 2 amazing meals. Even though the boys started irritating eachother, they still had a good time too, and I was able to get some one on one time with Jacob. It was a good birthday!

We were changing resorts the next morning, and we hadn't really unpacked much because we were only there for two nights, but we packed up what we needed to and called it a night.

 

[DVCAshleyJ]

After taking in all the sights there, we waited forever for a bus again and went to Epcot.

Photo Pass!







Yes, I changed clothes. I have more Disney shirts than Disney days, so I did frequent clothing changes lol.



It was so pretty, there were flowers everywhere.





We had reservations at Teppan Edo for dinner. I love hibachi food, so I figured hibachi food in Disney is going to be wonderful!

Now, I will preface this dining review by saying the boys had started getting on eachother's nerves a little, and were starting to fight. We were having to walk with my mom and Noah in front, and then Jacob and I followed behind. That way they weren't walking next to eachother and wouldn't accidentally touch eachother. Because God forbid if one of them touched the other one. On top of that Noah had started complaining about doing things that he didn't want to do. We explained to him that we were doing things all day long that he wanted to do, so if I or mom or Jacob wanted to do something, we were going to do that thing, and we expected him to not complain about it because he was getting to do what he wanted. It's fair.

So anyway, we checked in for dinner, and were seated almost immediately. We were seated with another family, which was fine, and they were very quiet, but so were we. Server was nice enough, and so was the chef. He did some of the usual tricks, and made some jokes.

At some point during the meal, I got poked in the eye with a chop stick courtesy of Jacob. He was pretending it was a sword and was fighting some imaginary bad guy.

Fun times.

I split a meal with Jacob, we split the chicken and steak. My mom and Noah did the same.

Now, at home, Jacob also loves hibachi. He's a big fan of fried rice, broccoli, squash, chicken, etc. and we eat it frequently. The rice here is not fried rice, which I knew going in, and I enjoyed it, but Jacob didn't like it. More rice for me!

He also didn't like the vegetables, and only moderately liked the chicken. The steak was a no go altogether.

Honestly, I wasn't that impressed either. It really lacked flavor, maybe because they expect you to use the sauces? I don't know.

Overall it wasn't a bad meal, but I wasn't that impressed either. We can get way better for way cheaper at home so it's a meal I won't be repeating.



We grabbed a photo pass picture in Morocco



And then we split up. Noah and my mom wanted to ride Mission Space, but I just wasn't feeling it so I told them I'd sit it out. Jacob said he didn't really want to ride either, so we headed back to the seas. We walked around the aquarium, rode Nemo again, and purchased the beloved dolphin that he had to have. It was nice to be just the two of us. I love my nephew and my mom, but sometimes those quiet moments when it's just you and your kid, it's nice.

We met back up, and took some more photopass pictures.

The dolphin made it into the pictures too.





We did not make it to see Illuminations. We were tired.

So we got in line for the bus, and eventually made it back to the resort.

That night I had a snack, it was a chocolate cookie with caramel drizzle from the caramel place in Germany, and I also ate some of the left over pizza.



Overall, it was a good day. We got to ride Test Track twice, and had 2 amazing meals. Even though the boys started irritating eachother, they still had a good time too, and I was able to get some one on one time with Jacob. It was a good birthday!

We were changing resorts the next morning, and we hadn't really unpacked much because we were only there for two nights, but we packed up what we needed to and called it a night.

It looks like you guys had a great time!!!

 

[Jessicavoet]

Saturday, May 21, 2016 - Hollywood Studios!

I'll be honest, I didn't expect to enjoy Hollywood Studios much. I loosely planned out a day for us, and figured we'd be there through lunch, leave, and park hop somewhere else for the evening. Little did I know we would spend the morning, leave after lunch, and then spend the entire night here. We loved it.

But before all that, big things happening today. We were changing resorts and going to Art of Animation. It was super easy, we brought out our luggage, and even a Disney shopping bag, and dropped it off with bell services out in front of the front door to the resort. He put a tag on all our bags and assured us that everything would make it into our new room within a few hours. We grabbed a quick bite to eat, no pictures! Sorry! Then we waited in the forever line for Hollywood Studios.

We were there either right at, or right after rope drop and were able to walk right into the park. We headed towards Star Tours and that was our first ride. Jacob was the rebel spy! Him and Noah spent the entire time walking the que, it was walk on but we still had to walk to the ride, discussing what they would do if they were picked as the rebel spy. It was essentially a range of funny faces. But, it ended up being Jacob smiling all cute. I wish I'd had access to my camera but it was stowed away under my seat!

After Star Tours we took a ride on the Great Movie Ride. Got the gangster version. My mom really enjoyed this, she loved all the movie scenes so much!



When we got out of the Great Movie ride, there were a few characters signing so we started hopping in lines.

Jacob REALLY came out of his shell, and was ALL ABOUT meeting the characters today. He would see one and ask if we could go get a signature and a picture. Such a huge change from his last trip.

We got to visit with Stitch.



He's always a hoot



And then Goofy!

Goofy kisses my hand and proposes to me every time I meet him. I'm getting to the point where I'm convinced it's the same guy every time. That or they all do the same things...... Guess we'll never know lol. Really funny thing, while in line to meet Goofy, Jacob was arguing with me that Goofy is NOT a dog. He is a baby giraffe.

Oh my child.....

So we met with Goofy.



And I told him that Jacob thought he was a baby giraffe.

He got a good laugh over it and was showing Jacob his ears and his tail to prove that he is, in fact, a dog.



After this, Jacob started asking to meet with Pluto. So we found him, got in his short line, and soon enough he met his new favorite Disney character!







This one is my new wallpaper



We saw that it was time for the storm troopers march, and we found a spot to stand to watch. The cutest little boy and his dad were behind us, the dad was explaining to the boy that they were watching a march for the Star Wars storm troopers. The boy turns to him and says, "What's a star wars?" It was ADORABLE. I let him stand in front of me, next to Jacob and Noah, so that the kids could see better. They were so sweet with each other, I love that kids can become best friends in a matter of 2.2 seconds.





My mom said this was her favorite part of the day. I thought it was interesting, but I'm not a big Star Wars fan either.

Actually, I'll admit this.... I've never seen any of the movies. The one time I tried to watch one of the movies I fell asleep and promptly got a lecture from my husband and son about how I slept through the best movie ever created. Oh well, maybe next time.

We were walking back over towards Star Tours for another ride, when the boys saw Bolt and demanded to meet him immediately. Of course we walked over there!



I love these pictures!

 

[Jessicavoet]

Next up on our Hollywood Studios day was a fast pass at Star Tours!

If you can't tell, they're huge Star Wars fans. They would have spent all day playing Star Tours over and over and over and visiting with the Star Wars characters.

We timed our Star Tours ride towards the end of the fast pass time, so that when we were done it was time for our next fast pass which was Toy Story.

My mom wasn't a fan of this ride. She said it was amazing and fun, and very well done. But, she had surgery on her wrist a few years ago, and pulling on the string over and over was really hurting her wrist by the end of the ride, so she ended up not finishing the games.



I whooped Noah's butt....

We decided it was time to go check out the Star Wars characters. The boys were dragging us they were so excited.

He was kind of scary.... I don't even know who this is, but he creeped me out





Our Chewbacca pictures didn't turn out great, which sucks because he was so much fun! I don't know how they do it, he must have been 7 feet tall. Maybe more. I was impressed.



Probably one of my most favorite parts of the day, my mom trading with the jawas.

We'd heard that they like shiny things, so my mom pulled out one of those little hooks, the kind that look like climbing hooks but aren't. The jawa took it, inspected it, walked over to the light to look at it....



And then gave her a bandaid in exchange.





I was DYING.

Like I had to go stand against a wall because I was laughing so hard.

She got a bandaid.

At least it was unused?

My mom wanted to ride Tower of Terror, it was our fast pass time, and the boys said they wanted to try it out too. I was kind of surprised because they're not really the adventurous type when it comes to those kinds of rides, so I didn't think they would get on.

First a photo pass picture!



But we scanned our bands and hopped in line. We made it all the way through the que, and into the room where they play the video about the twilight zone.

Jacob said "I'm out."

Noah said "Me too."

That was fine, I vowed to them that I wouldn't force either of them to do anything. I would be proud of them for whatever they did ride, but I wouldn't force them on it. So I let the cast member know that we were going to need to take the exit, and he said it was easier to just stay with mom and go to where the ride is, and they'll put you into the "escape elevator" to go back downstairs.

So we got to stick with mom through the que, which had a super short wait once you were past the movie part. We got to the front and told a cast member that we needed to take the exit, he called for an elevator and a man in a white shirt showed up to escort us. He opened the elevator and I stepped in, while the boys stood there staring at me. I had to promise them I wasn't tricking them, that it was not a ride, and that it WAS a legitimate elevator that was taking us downstairs.

We waited in the gift shop for my mom to finish her ride, and she was down a few minutes later. She said she loved it, her ride picture and video are hysterical.



I love ride photos.

We walked back to ABC Comissary and I ate an AMAZING bacon cheese burger, my mom ate..... something..... and the boys both had chicken nuggets. We also got cups of water to refill our bottles. When we were done eating, we were dramatically stuffed and decided to take a break for a little bit. We headed for the exit and I got my favorite picture!



As soon as the picture was taken, a huge gust of wind blew in and I was being beaten by balloons.

Still totally worth it.

We left Hollywood Studios, and grabbed another picture for our memory maker



And then we hopped on the bus to ART OF ANIMATION! I was so psyched to finally be going there. I'd been watching videos, looking at pictures, everything I could get my hands on leading up to this trip. Nothing prepared me for how cool it really was. I loved it! It's definitely my favorite resort we've stayed at so far.

 

[Jessicavoet]

I forgot to put this in the last post, when we were eating lunch I got a text that our room was ready that had our room number in it.

WE GOT THE LION KING SECTION!!!!!!!!

We had been hoping for either Nemo or Lion King so I was ecstatic!

When we booked we were given the option of either a guaranteed Cars room, or we could be surprised when we got there with Nemo, Lion King, or Cars. We chose to be surprised and I'm glad we did!

The lobby was gorgeous!



It smelled heavenly too. Very citrusy.

When you leave the main building, the big blue pool is dead center in front of you, Lion King is to the left and Cars is to the right.

We headed left!



I LOVED IT!!!!

Every second of it!!!





My mom and I had a debate about whether this was Mufasa or Simba. I think it's Mufasa, because Simba is with Timon and Pumba on the log. So it MUST be Mufasa, because you can't have two Simba's.





This hallway, while pretty, is the end of cell phone service....



No cell signal will penetrate its walls.

It's workable though. Wifi still worked in the room, so I could still send iMessages to people, use Facebook, etc over wifi. I just couldn't call people or send actual texts.

This place, especially after staying at Movies the last 2 nights, was MASSIVE.

When you first walked in there was a dining room on the left (that I didn't get a picture of while it was a table......)

On the right/in front of you is the living room area. The couch opens into a bed, the cabinets have plates, bowls, cups, utensils, and napkins in them. There are also coffee cups and coffee mixes. There is a fridge and a microwave for use.



The two little tables were easy to move around the room, and were super cute!

Across from the couch was the dresser with the tv. There was a stand next to it where you could hang clothes, and the bedding for the table bed was located in the drawer in the bottom.



Our view!



There are 2 BATHROOMS.

This was incredibly helpful. Two people could shower at the same time. Two people could use the potty at the same time. It was so helpful, I loved it.

The bathroom located off of the living room had a separate shower and sink area. The first door led to the sink and mirror



Then you would walk through an additional door to get to the toilet and shower.

I was so in love with the tiles in the shower, I wish I could do something like this at home!

Shower curtain:



TILES!



The bedroom had a queen sized bed, which was very comfortable, two end tables, a dresser, tv, and another area to hang clothes is behind the door.





This bathroom was a standard bathroom with everything in one room, and had a large shower instead of a tub.



I won't lie. I spent a few extra minutes in the shower every day because I loved the tiles so much.



Plenty of space under the sink for storage



Here is where the real excitement begins!

My brother had landed in Orlando!!!!!!

And his pilot overshot the "parking" so they turned off the seatbelt sign, everyone started getting things out of the overhead bins, and then the pilot came over the speakers and informed everyone that they had to back up 2 feet so everyone had to sit back down and close the bins so they could "park" properly.

I thought it was pretty funny.

Then they got off the plane, and stood around the luggage carousel. My brother had initially planned on not checking a bag, so he didn't have the yellow tags on it for MDE. But in Dallas they asked him to check his carry on during the flight to Orlando, so he had to wait at baggage claim for it. No ones luggage came out....

Someone from the airline kept coming out and saying they were looking for the bags.

Looking for the bags?

Where did you put them.....?

45 minutes later, he had his bag and was on his way to Disney World for the first time in his life!!!!!!!!

Despite the fiasco at the airport, he was very excited and was texting me every 2 seconds. We'd been relaxing in the room, and knew we had about 30 minutes before he got there so we walked to the food court to fill up our mugs and grab a snack. We wandered around looking at all the food options and at the gift shop. We ended up back in the food court to refill our mugs when I heard "UNCLE BRYAN!" and then the kids disappeared.

They had seen him across the room and took off running.

Nearly took him out.

It was amazing.

With Bryan at the resort now, we were all together!! It was awesome. He had the biggest smile and couldn't wait to get to the parks.

So, back to the room, he wanted to see where we were staying. He was very impressed with the room, especially the size of it. We couldn't get over how much space we actually had the entire time we were there!

We sat in the room for a few minutes deciding what to do. My brother already knew, he wanted to go to Hollywood Studios. So back to Hollywood we went!

The bus experience here was so different, we barely waited, and there wasn't a line there like at Movies. We were on our way to Hollywood Studios in no time, through the gates, and into the park!

I loved watching Bryan's face. He was in total awe the entire time. He's a paramedic, and has a very stressful job. He sees ugly stuff all the time, and to see him so happy touched my heart. The first thing we did?

Star Tours.

Of course.

We rode twice, wait times were very low today for everything except Rock n Roller Coaster which went down multiple times today.

After that was....

Tower of Terror!

Suddenly the boys had an incredible burst of fearlessness and wanted to ride again. Uncle Bryan there helped them to not be afraid of anything.

I love this ride.



While waiting in line we took a group selfie




My face is so ugly, because when the doors opened I glanced over and saw Jacob's face. And Noahss face. Jacob was holding my hand, and I couldn't stop laughing at them both.

I'm a terrible parent.



The best part is that we got off the ride, expecting them to have hated it, based on their faces.

They LOVED it and wanted to ride it again!

I've successfully raised a thrill junkie!!!!

Another ride on Tower of Terror, and then mom and Bryan rode of Rock n Roller Coaster while it was running.

Then, my brother said he hadn't eaten since breakfast. It was, maybe 7:30? at this point, so we went to Rosie's and grabbed some food and waters. We walked around a little bit until our food settled, and then rode Star Tours again. Around 8:00pm the wait for Toy Story was posted at only 20 minutes, so of course we went there! My mom didn't want to ride again because of her wrist, so she said she was going to meet Buzz and Woody while we rode. We decided it would be Bryan and I vs. Jacob and Noah.

We won.

By a lot.

Bryan got best in vehicle



Afterwards Bryan wanted to meet Buzz and Woody too, so we got in line.









But while waiting, they went on a break, and we didn't want to spend the little time we had left in the park waiting in a line to meet them. So we left, and took off towards Rock n Roller Coaster. I still have never ridden before, so I definitely wanted to!

We snagged pictures with an army man



And then we paused for pictures in front of the sign



We split up at this point, my mom took Jacob and Noah to ride Star Tours for the seven thousandth time today, and then to meet Olaf while my brother and I waited to ride RNRC





But, when my brother and I walked to RNRC, it was down again.

So Tower of Terror it is!



Then back in line for RNRC because it was running again!

We had a plan for our picture.

We were going to have cool rock star faces.

Then we started moving and my glasses flew off my head because I forgot them and had to catch them.

So this is the result.



The ride was awesome though!

The park was closed at this point, so we headed out. One more picture before getting on the bus!



Got back to the resort, got another snack, because we're on vacation and that's what you do on vacation, and then crashed.

 

[Jessicavoet]

Universal Studios day! May 23, 2016

Ok so we're being traders....


Whatever....


We'd never been to Universal Studios before, so we didn't really know what to expect. I had read that Universal required way less planning than Disney, and that you pretty much just show up and go for it. So I read very minimal about the park. I knew some basic things we wanted to do, and other than that I didn't do a lot of research.


Thankfully my brother did....


Because we were able to almost walk onto the Harry Potter rides by getting there early. Later in the day they were an hour or more.


We started our morning out with a quick breakfast at Landscape of Flavors, I had my usual breakfast sandwich and I think everyone else had waffles and pancakes.


Today was our first experience with Uber! It went FANTASTIC! We put in for a request, the app said someone would be there within the next 9 minutes, and I sent a message to the driver that we would be waiting out in front of the check in doors. There were 5 of us so we went with Uber XL, we got a super clean Dodge Caravan. It was really, really nice. I've always vowed off mini vans, but I won't lie, this mini van had me thinking maybe I wanted one. Our driver was very nice as well, and got us to Universal Studios very quickly. He let us know where he would be dropping us off, and also where we should wait for a ride to come pick us up. We had a coupon for $15 off of our first ride, and ended up out of pocket $8, so $23 would have been the total trip. I didn't think that was too terrible at all.


We got to the parking garage, went up the escalator, and the first bathroom trip of the day started.


First one of the boys said they had to go, I asked the other if they needed to go and they said "no." Wouldn't you know it... as soon as we were done with one of the boys, the other one that said no decided that he did, in fact, need to go. We were there very early, so time wise it didn't make any difference, thankfully.


We made it through security, down the moving walkways, and finally to the gates. The walk from the garage to there is crazy!



While standing in the line to the gate, we were looking around and noticed that no one had paper tickets, as in printed on computer paper. My brother happened to look at them, and realized that it says you have to trade them in at the ticket counter to use them!


Gah!


Why hadn't we noticed that....


Back through the crowd, we went to the ticket counter, quickly exchanged them for "real" tickets, and then we were in luck! A new gate was opening so we were still able to get in the front of the line!


Reasons I want to go back to Universal:


1. We were in such a mad dash to get to Diagon Alley that we were rushing past everything. Now, we weren't running by any means, but we were walking quickly. I'd love to be able to go back and actually take our time walking through the park.


We made it to where the outside of Diagon Alley is, and it was amazing. From the outside street view it just looks like a brick wall, you have to go through the brick wall to get inside! It was incredible.


Now, I am not that big of a Harry Potter fan. That spot belongs to my brother. But I was completely blown away by everything. I'm so thankful that my brother was there because he would see random things, like an alley way that looks like nothing but is actually where the dark wizards hang out and there are stores back there. Cool tricks throughout the park, it was just awesome.



I couldn't get a picture of him blowing fire, but an employee there said he does it about every 15 minutes or so, and they're really good about letting everyone know that it's about to happen so you can be ready to watch.


We dropped off everything at Gringott's lockers and then took a ride through the bank.


I could not get over the theming.


I had heard a lot of people saying that Universal is no where near as "themed" as Disney, and that we wouldn't be impressed with it. They were so wrong. It was mind blowing how many details were everywhere, and the rides were insanely well done.


Jacob didn't like Gringott's that much, so I was a little concerned about how he would like things the rest of the day, but those fears would all be put to rest soon!


Bryan said that we should now make our way out of Diagon Alley and to Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure. We had park hopper tickets, so we walked to the Hogwarts train! He said that it was better to ride Gringott's early in the morning before there was a wait (we walked on) then catch the train to Islands of Adventure for the rest of the morning, so that's what we did!



Entering the train station, looked like a regular old train station.





But then you go through the wall to enter the "secret" part of the train station, and there were little things everywhere!







The train ride itself is a ride, on the way there they close the doors to your little train room and the "door" becomes a screen. You see shadows of the Harry Potter characters, hear voices, and the "window" in the train becomes a screen as well that makes it look like you're pulling up to Hogwarts.


We arrived at Hogsmeade, and made our way inside!

 

[Denamac]

We loved AoA but won't my husband won't stay there again because of the no cell service once you're in your room. Like you, we could get iMessages, etc. off wifi; but it was really aggravating to not have actual service. Other than that, we loved the resort but I will never be able to convince him to stay there again. (We were in the Cars section so it must be the entire resort with that issue.)

 

[Angelia'sthree]

Loved reading about your trip! Hoping to read more.

 

[Catvondita]

Sounds so fun! I also read about the shared buses at All Stars which is why we typically go for POP but we also stayed at AOA. The theming is really great

 

[GracieKam]

Loving your report!

 

[Nohal]

Enjoying your trip report can't wait to hear how the rest of your trip went. Love all of the Disney shirts, where did you get them all?

 

[Raeven]

Yikes that's making me reconsider AoA for future trips, but I want to stay in the Little Mermaid rooms someday for at least a night!

Loving the report so far! We're doing the Garden Grill one morning too and I can't wait!

 

[Jessicavoet]

Enjoying your trip report can't wait to hear how the rest of your trip went. Love all of the Disney shirts, where did you get them all?

I actually made most of them! I have a Silhouette vinyl cutter so I just cut them out and ironed them on. A few I had made before I got my machine.