Should We Winnie the Pooh this Thing? - July/August 2018 Trip Report -Complete 8/18

[mamamelody2]

Just found your TR and enjoying it so far! Looks like a great trip!

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

Hi! First of all, love your report and am following You have a lovely family!

Also, it sounds like you are in psychology...so am I. I'm counting down the seconds til Feb 22 (when I find out if/where I've matched). I will DEFINITELY need a vacation after all of this.

Edit: realizing that there are other fields besides psych and medicine that also do a match. I can say though that as someone getting a PhD in Psychology...the overall process is STRESSFUL and no matter what field you are in, you definitely deserved a vacay

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We literally just booked this one for Minnie, as we had Mickey and Goofy through character meals. Cora had to meet her while rocking the dots!

I love Cora's dress, where did you get it? Very flattering for a pre-teen girl!

I love his face! We loved this breakfast. I want to do it again this summer.

Sounded like a great day. Def worth taking advantage of the pool!

 

[Jfsag123]

Just found your TR and enjoying it so far! Looks like a great trip!

Welcome and thank you!

Hi! First of all, love your report and am following You have a lovely family!

Thank you!

Also, it sounds like you are in psychology...so am I. I'm counting down the seconds til Feb 22 (when I find out if/where I've matched). I will DEFINITELY need a vacation after all of this.

Edit: realizing that there are other fields besides psych and medicine that also do a match. I can say though that as someone getting a PhD in Psychology...the overall process is STRESSFUL and no matter what field you are in, you definitely deserved a vacay

Yes, my PhD is in psychology. The stress doesn't end - currently studying for the EPPP! But yes, nothing compares to the stress of the match process and I remember it vividly. Assuming you're done with interviews at this point at least? I don't know if running all over the place doing interviews for the month of January or waiting in agony for match day in February was worse. Will be sending good thoughts your way! If it makes you feel any better, it gets so much easier after - the post-doc process is so much more laid back, at least in my opinion. And yes, definitely reward yourself with a vacation when it's all over!

I love Cora's dress, where did you get it? Very flattering for a pre-teen girl!

Thanks! My MIL actually made it for her. I love the cut.

I love his face! We loved this breakfast. I want to do it again this summer.

It was great! I wish we could fit it in again this summer, but it's not going to work out. Our trip is a little shorter than what we've done recently - 8 nights as opposed to 11-12. Still can't complain!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Thanks! My MIL actually made it for her. I love the cut.

She did a great job!

 

[ErinF]

Loved the update!! Glad you're back at it.

Glad you got to try out the Frozen ride not once, but twice! We rode it once, and I thought is was pretty cute and well done. But what I can't figure out is why my family's picture is so weird compared to everyone else's. What exactly were we seeing here again? I honestly can't remember!



I LOVE Cora's facial expressions as she's getting her game on....they are exactly the same expressions my daughter makes sometimes!!

Y'all had a fun day at Epcot, but sorry Illuminations viewing was a bust. Confession time: we never saw it in our 6 trips to WDW, and now I guess we never will. But I'm really ok with that. Don't judge me!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

How cool do to the double rope drop!

The Bon Voyage Breakfast looks like fun and those outfits were so cute!

Good to know about the Illuminations FP location. I am debating trying to snag one for our WS night once we use ours for FEA, but I think I'd rather be near the International Gateway so we can just quickly exit to BWV than have to walk against the vast majority of the crowd after the show. If the FP area is super crowded, than that's even less reason to see it from the opposite side of the lagoon from where we actually want to be.

 

[Jfsag123]

Loved the update!! Glad you're back at it.

Glad you got to try out the Frozen ride not once, but twice! We rode it once, and I thought is was pretty cute and well done. But what I can't figure out is why my family's picture is so weird compared to everyone else's. What exactly were we seeing here again? I honestly can't remember!
View attachment 378834[\QUOTE]

That picture is amazing. IIRC, we’re seeing Marshmallow as we speed backward away from him.

I LOVE Cora's facial expressions as she's getting her game on....they are exactly the same expressions my daughter makes sometimes!! [\QUOTE]

At least she’s in good company! Lol

Y'all had a fun day at Epcot, but sorry Illuminations viewing was a bust. Confession time: we never saw it in our 6 trips to WDW, and now I guess we never will. But I'm really ok with that. Don't judge me!

Oh, I’m having to fight the judgment. No, it’s really ok. I love Illuminations, but we have skipped it before as well. However, it’s DH’s favorite of the night time entertainment, so we will be sure to see it again this summer before it’s gone forever.

How cool do to the double rope drop! [\QUOTE]

It was a lot of fun, but I doubt I’ll ever be that ambitious with planning agin!

The Bon Voyage Breakfast looks like fun and those outfits were so cute![\QUOTE]

It really was. Thanks!

Good to know about the Illuminations FP location. I am debating trying to snag one for our WS night once we use ours for FEA, but I think I'd rather be near the International Gateway so we can just quickly exit to BWV than have to walk against the vast majority of the crowd after the show. If the FP area is super crowded, than that's even less reason to see it from the opposite side of the lagoon from where we actually want to be.

Yes! We’ve seen it a couple of times from the Japan/France area which has made for a nice quick getaway out the IG. So great to be strolling back into your room 10 minutes after the show ends while everyone else is still trying to get out of the parking lot/waiting for a bus. We will miss that this summer.

 

[ariane37]

Well, back to the DIS, again

I wasn't impressed with FEA the first time we rode and I'm really not a Frozen fan, but it's kind of grown on me. I can take or leave TT and Steve doesn't particularly like Soarin', so if the kids aren't with us I'll often book a FP for FEA.

Breakfast at Trattoria always looks so good! I think you had one of the better looking Prince Eric's I've seen And as always I love the kids' costumes!

 

[Jfsag123]

Well, back to the DIS, again

I wasn't impressed with FEA the first time we rode and I'm really not a Frozen fan, but it's kind of grown on me. I can take or leave TT and Steve doesn't particularly like Soarin', so if the kids aren't with us I'll often book a FP for FEA.

Breakfast at Trattoria always looks so good! I think you had one of the better looking Prince Eric's I've seen And as always I love the kids' costumes!

I think we liked it better the second time, but I still shouldn’t have done it! We are giant Test Track fans, so usually use our FP there in Epcot. We love Soarin’ as well, but it seems to be pretty readily available as a 4th and now that we’ve started going to Disneyland too I feel less compelled to try to see it at WDW since it’s pretty much the same on both coasts.

on Prince Eric and thanks on the costumes!

 

[GrantDB]

Great report so far, looks like you guys had so much fun!

I'm stopping at CSR in August and I might request Casitas if both you and Ariane like it there, it must be good!

 

[Jfsag123]

For some reason in my post above it insisted on adding 4 "quote" tags at the end and will not let me change it no matter what I do. I think my iPad hates the DIS.

Great report so far, looks like you guys had so much fun!

I'm stopping at CSR in August and I might request Casitas if both you and Ariane like it there, it must be good!

Thank you! And yes, Casitas is fabulous! It's so beautiful and has easy access both to the main areas as well as bus stop 2, which is the first pick up.

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 6: July 26 – And on the 6th day they rested…sort of

We decided to give ourselves a break on this day to account for the craziness of the previous day. We slept in (read: 8:00am) and did not plan to go to a park in the morning. I actually needed to do some work on this day. As I previously said, my dissertation was technically PhinisheD (I will never spell it any other way from now on), meaning I had passed my defense and completed edits from my committee, but I still had to get it through the graduate formatting editor. Crap like this is why people hate academia. My university has a 60 page document just on how to properly format a dissertation. Seriously. I had sent the manuscript off to the formatting editor the before we left town, but didn’t get it back with the edits until we were already on our way to WDW. They weren’t too tedious and I figured I could complete them on the trip, so I set aside this morning to do that. As I trekked over to the business center at the Yacht Club, the rest of the family had some chill time (read: Stormalong Bay).

This was my first time seeing the Yacht Club lobby. It had such a different feel than the Beach Club! I have to say I prefer the Beach Club, but did not miss the smell of Cape May even a little bit. Sorry, no pictures – I was all business at this time. Except, of course, for when I spotted a bit of local wildlife in the canal on my way back to the room. Can you spot the gator?

As seen in the picture, it had started raining by this point, which it would do off and on this whole day. Once I got back we decided we couldn’t sit around anymore. Our fastpasses were for Hollywood Studios, but they weren’t scheduled until late in the afternoon, so we decided to pop into Epcot again for a little bit for a little more World Showcase time. Why not – it’s right there!

We weren’t hungry, as we’d had breakfast and then our leftovers from Via Napoli in the room, but DH had set a goal of getting our pictures taken in as many WS countries as possible, so we knocked a couple more out. Pardon the frizzy hair! That rain had me pretty busted.

We also saw the American Adventure. It was everyone’s first time seeing it but me. The only other time we’d stopped there was on our trip in 2015. Alex had fallen asleep in his stroller, so DH volunteered to just sit with him somewhere in WS (likely while enjoying an adult beverage), so I decided to take Cora in to see the American Adventure to occupy her while her brother slept. Well she too was asleep within the first 5 minutes of the show, so I enjoyed it all by my lonesome. This year everyone stayed awake and everyone loved the show.

We hopped the boat from Epcot to DHS.

We made it in plenty of time for our first FP+, so we were fine to stop when we noticed the Star Wars stage show going on.

This was when Cora let out a shriek that scared me and probably everyone around us. Rey is her hero.

This was a highlight from our Disneyland trip we took in November:

Ok, no more Disneyland blasphemy in a WDW trip report (although it’s super amazing and I highly recommend it if you’ve never been, especially around the holidays)

After the show, we headed down Sunset Boulevard to our first FP

The kids had never ridden Rockin’ Rollercoaster before, but both said they wanted to. Cora’s gotten in line a couple of times, but always chickened out. She tried to do the same thing again this time, but we weren’t having it. This is her pattern – she freaks out and cries in lines, we look like terrible parents for not really caring or showing much empathy, then she does the ride and ends up loving it. She did it with Splash, Big Thunder, Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, and loves all of them.

I love this ride photo and find it hilarious. You can see that Cora’s been crying. But guess what…she loved it. They both did. Spoiler alert: she would end up riding it 2 more times this trip.

While we were in line for RnRC, the heavens opened up once again.

When we got off, it was time for our next FP and I got a notification saying it had been changed to a “Multiple Experiences” FP because the ride it was for was down because of the rain: Slinky Dog Dash. Uh uh, no way were we missing that again. We decided to head over and see the Beauty and the Beast show that was about to start and hope that SDD would open up again before the night was over. I took no pictures of the show, of course. We hadn’t seen that one since 2013. It’s cute, but definitely not something we need to do over and over again.

Fortunately, just as BatB was ending, I saw that SDD had opened up. We rushed over there and jumped in line because it looked like it could start raining again any second.

We made it!

OMG, this picture cracks me up! DH was sooooo into it. It’s not even that thrilling of a ride, but we were so happy to finally be on it!

We used our 3rd FP on Star Tours. I don’t even remember which locations we visited. I hopped on my phone and snagged a 4th for Toy Story Mania for later in the evening. In between we visited Muppetvision 3D, checked out the signatures and prints in front of the Chinese Theater (a favorite activity for my kids), took some photos, and had dinner at ABC Commissary, which was surprisingly decent.

Cora is petting Pluto here

Then it was time for our TSMM FP and something amazing happened.

I won! This is the first time I ever beat DH at this. EVER. And it was just by 100 points. Woohoo! Go me! I may or may not have been insufferable for the rest of the night.

We talked about staying for Fantasmic!, but decided to go ahead and call it a night. I snapped this picture from our balcony at BCV. This resort is just so gorgeous!

Up next: another Magic(Kingdom)al day

 

[buzzrelly]

What a fun way to double rope drop! I'll have to try that sometime…by myself. My kids aren't as motivated as me!

Can you spot the gator?

Yikes!

Ok, no more Disneyland blasphemy in a WDW trip report (although it’s super amazing and I highly recommend it if you’ve never been, especially around the holidays)

I don't mind hearing all about it. It's still my dream to get there someday!

The kids had never ridden Rockin’ Rollercoaster before, but both said they wanted to. Cora’s gotten in line a couple of times, but always chickened out. She tried to do the same thing again this time, but we weren’t having it. This is her pattern – she freaks out and cries in lines, we look like terrible parents for not really caring or showing much empathy, then she does the ride and ends up loving it. She did it with Splash, Big Thunder, Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, and loves all of them.

Ha! You know your own kids though. No judgement here

I love this ride photo and find it hilarious. You can see that Cora’s been crying. But guess what…she loved it. They both did. Spoiler alert: she would end up riding it 2 more times this trip.

Fun picture!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

an you spot the gator?

Yikes! I know they are there but we haven't seen one yet.

This was when Cora let out a shriek that scared me and probably everyone around us. Rey is her hero.

I think Cora would get along really well with Morgan!

The kids had never ridden Rockin’ Rollercoaster before, but both said they wanted to. Cora’s gotten in line a couple of times, but always chickened out. She tried to do the same thing again this time, but we weren’t having it. This is her pattern – she freaks out and cries in lines, we look like terrible parents for not really caring or showing much empathy, then she does the ride and ends up loving it. She did it with Splash, Big Thunder, Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, and loves all of them.

We have the same issues! With the same results.

I love this ride photo and find it hilarious. You can see that Cora’s been crying. But guess what…she loved it. They both did. Spoiler alert: she would end up riding it 2 more times this trip.

Glad she faced her fear finally! We didn't tell our girls that it went upside down. I don't think they would have gone on it if they knew. And now they can't wait to go on it again.

I took no pictures of the show, of course. We hadn’t seen that one since 2013. It’s cute, but definitely not something we need to do over and over again.

Yes! That show is fine, but we have seen it twice and that is enough for us. That and the little mermaid show. Meh.

 

[Wayland10]

but I still had to get it through the graduate formatting editor. Crap like this is why people hate academia

Yep. I FEEL your pain! Umpteen gazillion years researching and writing the dissertation, and what nearly kills you is formatting.

 

[ErinF]

Ok, no more Disneyland blasphemy in a WDW trip report (although it’s super amazing and I highly recommend it if you’ve never been, especially around the holidays)

So we were also at Disneyland this past November! We were originally going to go next month during our Spring Break, but due to a band thing my daughter has and some other factors, we had to move the trip up. We were there Nov 14-19 and had an amazing time. All the holiday stuff was incredible, I felt so spoiled and said that I might be ruined for just going back during a regular season.

I won! This is the first time I ever beat DH at this. EVER. And it was just by 100 points. Woohoo! Go me! I may or may not have been insufferable for the rest of the night.

I'm so happy for you!!! I love TSMM, it's one of my very favorites, and I have gotten better and better at it over the years since our first trip in 2008, which was right after it opened at HS.

Looking forward to more of your report!

 

[Jfsag123]

What a fun way to double rope drop! I'll have to try that sometime…by myself. My kids aren't as motivated as me!

I was surprised my kids were as up for it as they were! I had pitched them the idea before the trip and surprisingly no one looked at me like I was nuts. I'm glad we did it, but I don't know that I would ever attempt it again.

I don't mind hearing all about it. It's still my dream to get there someday!

I highly recommend it! Disneyland's Magic Kingdom felt a bit like being inside a funhouse mirror to me at first - it's familiar, but kind of disorienting because things aren't where I expect them to be. However, now I've come to love it in it's own right and it feels like home as well, though not at the level of WDW.

Ha! You know your own kids though. No judgement here

I appreciate that

Yikes! I know they are there but we haven't seen one yet.

This is the first time I'd ever seen one. I figure the odds are decent I've walked by them before and not noticed.

I think Cora would get along really well with Morgan!

We should do a meet up if we're ever there at the same time

We have the same issues! With the same results.

Ha! This makes me feel better. We definitely have gotten some dirty looks...

Glad she faced her fear finally! We didn't tell our girls that it went upside down. I don't think they would have gone on it if they knew. And now they can't wait to go on it again.

I (probably stupidly) did tell her it went upside down, but was trying to explain how it doesn't feel anything like you would expect it to. We had the same problem in November at Disneyland with the Incredicoaster. She cried throughout the whole line, went on it, loved it, and immediately asked to ride again.

Yes! That show is fine, but we have seen it twice and that is enough for us. That and the little mermaid show. Meh.

Agreed. I think it's past the time to replace them.

Yep. I FEEL your pain! Umpteen gazillion years researching and writing the dissertation, and what nearly kills you is formatting.

YES! So many hours of my life I will never get back...

So we were also at Disneyland this past November! We were originally going to go next month during our Spring Break, but due to a band thing my daughter has and some other factors, we had to move the trip up. We were there Nov 14-19 and had an amazing time. All the holiday stuff was incredible, I felt so spoiled and said that I might be ruined for just going back during a regular season.

We keep having almost overlapping trips to DLR! Our plane landed on November 20. The holiday stuff was soooo great! It definitely spoiled us and I can't imagine going during regular season again either. We may end up being back at Thanksgiving again this year.

I'm so happy for you!!! I love TSMM, it's one of my very favorites, and I have gotten better and better at it over the years since our first trip in 2008, which was right after it opened at HS.

Thank you for sharing in my joy! I'm not great at it, but my primary goal has always been just to get good enough to beat DH. After who knows how many rides, I finally made it. It's the little things lol

 

[Jfsag123]

A brief visit to that other coast

Ok, I can’t resist. Here are some pics from Disneyland, November 21-25, 2018

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 7: July 27, Part 1 – So when exactly is this ball?

Another early morning! This time the goal was morning extra magic hour at Magic Kingdom. Would we make it on time? Heck yeah! I woke us up even a little earlier than I typically would because this was to be a costume day, and that takes some extra effort.

On the bus!

Cora and Alex decided that they loved each other on this day. Other days, not so much…

Could you tell who they were from that picture? How about now?

Yep. Tiana and Naveen. We were planning on stopping in New Orleans on the way home from this trip, so it was appropriate.

Anywho, we made it for rope drop and headed toward Peter Pan’s Flight as soon as they let us go. Have you ever seen Old Fantasyland so crowded???

Truly, morning EMH at Magic Kingdom is one of my favorite things ever. We were first on Peter Pan for the day. We followed that up with Winnie the Pooh and the Little Mermaid ride before heading to meet the princess for whom the children had dressed. We had a FP for the first hour of regular opening, but the line was super short so we decided to go ahead and do the princess meet at that point and I switched the FP to Pirates for later in the morning.

We had fun with this meet. This was the most talkative Tiana I’d ever seen. She started talking to the kids about a ball that they were going to be having and saying that they should come, since they were already dressed for it. The kids had a good time talking about everything and everyone they would see at the ball with Tiana.

After we’d finished talking to Tiana, she walked them over to Rapunzel and we had a few moments of interacting with both princesses.

After the meet, it was time to let the kids change into more practical clothes.

I told them to show their muscles, but instead they both basically made ballerina arms. WTH?

I sat out the next ride, as I always do.

What was unique about this time is that DH sat it out too. The kids begged to go through the line by themselves, since they’d never been able to do that. We figured this was a safe one to try with, as the whole queue is outdoors and visible. They actually ended up just running right back around to the entrance to go again after getting off, with barely a wave for us. The line was practically non-existent, so it was fine.

We naturally followed Barnstormer with its ridemate, Dumbo.

I got one decent picture before Cora had to start being Cora again.

Serves me right for asking them to wave…

I’m flying!

Next we rode the teacups (barf!), then headed into Tomorrowland where some talented cast member had drawn the characters with water on the concrete.

We had split fastpasses at this time – Buzz Lightyear for me and Alex, Space Mountain for Cora and DH. I’m fine to ride Space, but Alex hates it. I don’t care about missing it at WDW after riding the one at Disneyland, which is just the absolute best. Space is my favorite ride in all of DLR, but sadly it’s ruined WDW’s version for me. Alex is happy to benefit from my indifference, as I’m now willing to forgo it and ride something else with him. However, Cora loves Space at both parks (though, of course, she cried horribly in line for each of them the first time), so she did not want to skip it.

I always look so out of it in Buzz ride photos.

We hopped a ride on the Peoplemover (because why not??) before crossing the hub into a land of adventure.

To be continued…