Some firsts, some lasts, and a whole lot of laughs-April/May 2019

[Wayland10]

I'm really enjoying your trip report and your daughter is so cute!

 

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So, we left off with the whole gang returning to the resort to take a nap after a fun morning and afternoon at Animal Kingdom. After we rested up a bit, we changed and headed to Epcot. Originally, we had left this evening open as kind of a free evening for everyone to do what they chose. In the end, we all agreed upon trying a few different things at the Flower and Garden booths around the World Showcase at Epcot. To save us a long walk from the front of Epcot, we actually took a bus from OKW to Hollywood Studios and hopped aboard a Friendship Boat to Epcot. Here is my dad and DD waiting for the bus to DHS from OKW:

And here is DD and I on the bus:

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As you can tell, we love the boats and take every opportunity that we can to use them! Before we knew it, we were pulling up to the International Gateway entrance to the World Showcase. We headed in the direction of France stopping briefly near a photopass photographer to get a few shots of DD.

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We just loved the fountains and the Beauty and the Beast topiary! As you can tell from the crowd in the background, Epcot was booming on this particular evening. I forget who was performing that evening, but it was someone fairly popular I believe because I remember contributing a large crowd to that. The booths in this area had quite the long line so we continued on. There was a lengthy list of things we wanted to try on this trip, but we weren’t up to long waits just for a small sampling. We finally decided to stop near the American Pavilion. My dad and brother tried the beer flight from Block and Hans. My mom and S had a drink of some sort but I don’t remember what it was. Meanwhile, I went to The Smokehouse to get a frozen lemonade for DD. She really enjoyed it! You can also see one of our reusable stainless-steel straws that we brought. I purchased them from the Jane website as soon as Disney announced that they were resorting to paper straws instead of the traditional plastic ones. These were extremely helpful throughout the week because we did not like the paper straws which got soggy and started disintegrating if you didn’t drink fast enough.

My dad and brother only really liked a couple of the beers. After we finished with those items, we went to Primavera Kitchen where my mom and I both got the Pomodori Verdi e Mozzarella which was fried green tomatoes with mozzarella and a balsamic reduction. No one else was interested in trying them but it was quite tasty. Then the skies opened up and it started to downpour, so we took shelter in a little covered area by the bathrooms right before you reach Germany. It was just one of those quick Florida showers that only lasted about 10 minutes and seemed to come out of nowhere.

Once the rain slowed down, we went over to Germany to introduce S to the wonderful thing that is Karamell-Kuche I got a caramel covered marshmallow and DD got a cookie with caramel on it. Both were quite tasty, but DD ended up preferring my marshmallow. We also got a bag of caramel corn to take back to OKW as a snack for the week. Ryne and S got a caramel square to share. We all enjoyed our sweet treats before heading on around the World Showcase. At this point, everyone was choosing spots for Illuminations, so we decided to seek out our spot. We prefer to watch Illuminations from near the International Gateway but the way the wind was blowing, all of the smoke would be headed in that direction. We settled for looking around the Mexico pavilion. Ryne and S wanted to grab some nachos anyways. Once we reached that area, everyone took turns taking a bathroom break then my mom and I got margaritas while Ryne and S were getting their nachos. Meanwhile, my dad went in search of a perfect viewing spot for Illuminations. Sadly, since there was only 10 minutes until showtime, we couldn’t really find a good place around the lagoon so we settled on area close to Norway that was behind the main walking path. There was a large rock located there which we figured I could just hold DD up on so she could see. The rest of us had a fairly decent view. A CM was patrolling the area as soon as the show started and she yelled at us to get DD off of the rock. We were a little angry because there was a family next to us that had a teenager and a younger child both standing on an equally sizeable rock. They never got yelled at. Once we were further into the show, we thought the CM had wandered off so we put her back up on the rock. She came out of nowhere and told us that she wasn’t telling us again. The poor views plus the not so magical CM really ruined our evening. Illuminations is my favorite thing in all of Disney and since it is ending in September, this was going to be my last chance to view it. My dad also really enjoys it and we were both so disappointed that we immediately re-arranged our schedule to make room to try again on another night.



**Just a warning: The next day that I have to post was the most eventful and picture-loaded day of our trip so stay with me because it will take several posts to get it all out**
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We left off with a very disappointing evening at Epcot on Monday April 29th. That brings us to Tuesday April 30th which is the day that I most looked forward to on this trip. When I was in high school, college, and newly married I looked forward to the day that I would hopefully have a daughter so that I could do Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique with her. Then once I had DD, I was anxiously awaiting the day that she would be old enough (they have to be 3) to do it. This was the trip that she would get to do it for the first time! We watched so many videos and looked at so many pictures leading up to the trip, so we knew what to expect. My mom, DD, and I woke up bright and early this morning to make sure we were ready to go. Our appointment was at 8:30am at the Disney Springs location (yes, I had to be on the phone before the sun came up on booking day to get this time slot). Since the rest of Disney Springs was closed, we were very limited on transportation options, so my dad just drove us over there and dropped us off. He dropped us off in the Lime garage and we walked over to our destination. We got there with a few minutes to spare so we took a before picture in front of the door. We had her wear her dress there so it was one less thing we would have to do. I did have an extra outfit packed in our park bag for her to change into later if needed.

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After my dad dropped us off, he went through McDonald’s to get breakfast for himself, Ryne, and S. Ryne and S had stayed back at the resort to get themselves ready. Once they ate their breakfast, they got on a bus for Magic Kingdom. While DD was getting her makeover, they were busy riding Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. They didn’t have fastpasses, they just did the standby line at rope drop.

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Once the doors opened to BBB, we checked in and were escorted to the magic mirror room to talk about the transformation to come.

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After our encounter with the Fairy Godmother, the family treasurer (me) paid the bill and we were escorted down the hallway to meet our Fairy Godmother in training, Kell. We had chosen the smallest (and cheapest) package since we already had a dress and shoes. This package included hair, makeup, a tiara, nail polish, a sash, and a little drawstring bag. At the end of the appointment you get to keep the brush, comb, bun maker, makeup, and nail polish used during your appointment. You also get a bottle of shampoo to help get all the hairspray and glitter out. Our appointment was the first of the day so all of the other little girls were still getting checked in while we were entering the salon. We got a few good pictures, some one-on-one time with the photopass photographer, and a lot of attention for about 15 minutes before the next girl was brought in. DD really enjoyed that! It made my early morning on booking day so worth it!

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We even got one last “before” picture before the transformation began:

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I was very nervous going into this appointment because DD will not sit still long enough for me to do her hair and makeup for her dance recitals and she is quite tender headed. Kell was very patient and did such a great job making sure DD was comfortable throughout the whole experience. There was not one negative word, tear, or tantrum which was a major win in my book. Overall, the appointment took about an hour and I was very impressed with the outcome! My next post will be pictures strictly from the process of getting it done then I will follow with the final product and some other fun pictures!

 

[garnwr32229]

Loving your trip report!

 

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As promised, here are the pictures from through DD transformation at BBB:



They started with the hair:

Then came the nails….

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And last, but not least, the makeup…..

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Before we knew it, we had the final product….



Here is DD’s reaction to her reveal in the mirror




Then we were escorted into a room with a different photopass photographer for a little photo shoot…..

 

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When we were done with that, we walked over to the Photopass area of Disney Springs. Now, the doors were locked when we first got there and there was no sign with hours posted but the Photopass photographer from BBB had encouraged us to go over there and we had heard a lot of good things about all of the different backdrops that they use there so we wanted to check it out. As we started to walk away, they opened the doors. The photographer said they don’t really have a standard opening time, they just open when they see the first princesses heading that direction from BBB. We took a lot of great pictures! Some of my favorites of the trip! There were literally about 20 photos but I will just post a few to save you a few more posts:

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They even let us get a couple of pictures together:

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After our photo shoot was complete, we were starving since we hadn’t had time to get breakfast before the BBB appointment, so we went over to Starbucks to grab something to do. While I was in line, I summoned a Minnie Van for our transportation to Magic Kingdom and my mom followed Natalia around doing her own version of a photo shoot. DD just HAD to have her pictures with the Cinderella and Aurora statues outside of World of Disney as well as the Lego people.

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I got one of their specialty banana split Frappuccino with an almond croissant. My mom had a mocha Frappuccino with a regular croissant. DD had a lemonade with applesauce and a regular croissant. Food in hand we walked over to the ride share pickup/dropoff area to meet our Minnie Van. This was our first experience with a Minnie Van although we had researched them and thought about using them on a previous trip. DD had loved seeing them all around Disney property so she was very excited to get to ride in one!

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I wish I would have remembered our driver’s name because she was very sweet and made sure to include DD in our conversations. She was very attentive to making sure that she chose the right carseat for DD and had it very secure before putting DD in it. Of course, we listened to tunes from the Magic Kingdom as we were en route. They had their own special drop-off area at MK, and we were there in about 15 minutes. It did cost $35 but it was worth it for the experience, the safety of having a carseat for DD, and not having many other choices for transportation. Unfortunately, Disney Springs was still not open at the time we were ready to leave so buses weren’t running to/from there yet. Our car was back at OKW and everyone else was already at MK so no one could come pick us up. Back in the day, we would have just had to wait it out for the bus service to start up or call a regular taxi. Minnie Van’s are a fantastic addition to the many methods of Disney Transportation.

 

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Once we finally made it to Magic Kingdom we made a quick pit stop in front of the castle for a few more pictures of our princess…..

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After our final photo shoot was complete we went over to Fantasyland to meet up with my dad, Ryne, and S for our 9:40-10:40 fast pass for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The standby line was about 60 minutes so we were happy to have the fast pass. This was DD favorite ride on the last two trips but for some reason she got scared a couple times this time around and claims she no longer likes it. After that was over, we still had time before our next fast pass so we walked over to Dumbo making a quick stop for La Fou’s Brew along the way. The wait for Dumbo was posted at about a 25 minute wait but only took about 10 minutes before our buzzer went off and it was our turn to ride. Only DD and I did this one. After we got off, I looked up the wait time for Under the Sea with the Little Mermaid and it was only posted at 10 minutes so we all jumped in line.



Lunch on this day was at 12:30 at The Plaza. This has become one of our go-to dining locations over the past couple of years. It is nice and small but has a great selection on the menu. Once we got seated and placed our orders, I took DD to the bathroom to change out of her dress. She was starting to get quite toasty. For lunch, my dad had the baked honey barbecue brisket macaroni and cheese. My mom, S, and I all had the meatloaf. Ryne had angus chuck burger. DD had the peanut butter and jelly with bananas and French fries.

After lunch, we watched the tail ending of the Move It! Shake It! Parade. Then we looked around a few shops before hitting the bus and heading back to the resort for a break from the heat. After we were well rested, we changed clothes then headed out in different directions for the evening. My mom and dad had a date night planned at the Grand Floridian complete with dinner at the Grand Floridian Café. This was a new restaurant for them and they really enjoyed it. Prior to the trip they changed their reservation about three times because they couldn’t decide on a location. They ended up wanting to try something new so that is why they chose GFC. They did really enjoy their meal!

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Ryne and S spent the evening at Epcot and were able to ride Soarin and Test Track. They ended up eating dinner at Big River Grille and Brewing Works. I’m not sure what they had but they both said they enjoyed it.



DD and I had a mommy-daughter date night planned at Magic Kingdom including dinner at Be Our Guest.

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We got there a little bit early and were able to do It’s A Small World and the Carousel before our dinner reservation.

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If you read my trip report from my previous trip you would have read about DD’s first interaction with the carousel and how she screamed bloody murder throughout the whole thing. I tried to talk her out of riding it this trip for fear of a repeat, but she was practically begging so I made her promise that she wouldn’t scream. She ended up really enjoying it! Our dinner reservation was at 7:40pm. We were seated in the main ballroom with a great view of the Rose Gallery and the enchanted windows.

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We started off by enjoying the bread service and lemonade to drink. As some of you may know, Be Our Guest dinner is now prix fixe. For appetizers I had the assorted meats and artisanal cheese selection and DD had the house-made peach applesauce. For our main course I had center-cut filet mignon and DD had the house-made macaroni and cheese. We both enjoyed the dessert trio that we were served as well. I did take pics of our cute little chip cups but they were too dark and you couldn’t really see them. I could highly recommend dinner here. It was totally worth the price. About halfway through our meal, they announced that the Beast was meeting guests. DD immediately started begging to meet the Beast and I promised her that we would do so after we ate our dinner. She was a little apprehensive at first but then decided that he was okay as long as I was holding her.

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By the time we made it through the line to meet the Beast, there was only about 5 minutes before Happily Ever After would be starting. We had planned to meet my parents towards the front of the park on Main Street, but I knew that there was no way we would make it there through the crowds. I sent a quick text to them and let them know that we would be watching, we just wouldn’t make it to watch it with them. I fast-walked over to an area by Tomorrowland Terrace and we found a good area to watch. Our view was somewhat obstructed but that is to be expected when you don’t leave enough time to scope out a spot. After the show as over, we met up with my parents at the bus stop and headed back to the resort. This was my favorite day of the week!

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We left off finally concluding my favorite day of the trip which was Tuesday April 30th. That brings us to Wednesday May 1st. Our pre-determined itinerary left this morning wide open so that we could all decide what we wanted to do. Ryne and S wanted to go mini golfing, so they went in the direction of Fantasia Gardens. My dad wanted to ride Soarin and try a few things out at Epcot, so he went solo. My mom, DD, and I went to Hollywood Studios, hopping on a bus around 8 am. The whole group was going to hit up Hollywood Studios in the afternoon, but we wanted to see a few of the shows that we knew no one else would be interested in. If you will remember, this was Hollywood Studios’ 30th anniversary. I will admit, it was pretty cool to be there and receive the swag (buttons and posters) but it got a bit crowded the later it got in the day. The decorations and special entertainment were pretty awesome too.

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My mom had her mind set on getting some of the celebration merchandise, so we followed all of the signs back to that area. We did have to stop a couple of times and ask cast members to point us in the right direction. No one outright said that it was back by the Muppet theatre. If they would have said that then we would have known where to go. The line was super long, but my mom insisted on waiting. She really wanted some of the annual passholder things too. DD and I left her there and went to meet Olaf since the wait was posted at just 5 minutes and it was just around the corner.

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We were in and out in under 5 minutes. A quick text to my mom confirmed that she had not even moved in line. Apparently, they let people in the park at 7 am to line up for merchandise. I informed her that we would head across to the Animation Courtyard so we could hit the first Disney Junior Dance Party show. We had saw the touring version of this show last summer, so DD was super excited to see the abbreviated version here. It was really cute, and DD got picked to wave the flag for the Roadster Racers.

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The show was about 20 minutes long. DD and I took a potty break after this and decided we probably still had plenty of time to meet at least once character in that area. Doc McStuffins had a pretty short line so we hopped right in. It was only about a 5 minute wait for her. I am assuming the line was so short because the 30th Anniversary Parade was happening at this time. I didn't really have an interest in watching the parade due to the large crowd. It sounds like I made the right decision too because a lot of people were really disappointed in it.

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DD was really disappointed that we didn’t have time to meet Vampirina and Fancy Nancy after Doc McStuffins but I wanted to make sure we made it over to see the Frozen show. I knew we were coming back later in the afternoon and those characters are out until 6pm. A quick check with my mom showed that she was still in line for merchandise, but she felt she was getting close to the front. She encouraged us to go to the show without her.

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It was a really cute and funny show. They made sure to throw a few things in there that got the adults laughing too. By the time we got out of the show, my mom said she was almost done in the merchandise line, so we headed in that direction. Around the same time, my dad sent us a message asking if we wanted to meet at the Boardwalk for Lunch at the Pizza window. DD was starting to get a little hangry because we had skipped breakfast so we told him that we would just grab something quick in the park before heading back to the resort for nap time. We ended up over by ToT where all of the little food booths are. DD had cheese pizza with a chocolate chip cookie and a lemonade. I had an adult lemonade with a Caesar salad and a breadstick. My mom had chicken strips with fries and a margarita. Bellies full we headed to the bus stop. Much to our surprise my dad came walking up to the bus stop behind us. He had taken the boat from Epcot over to DHS so he could ride the bus back with us.

**Coming up next: a little room drama and the rest of our day at DHS**

 

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We left off with my mom, dad, DD, and I returning to OKW for a break from the heat. Ryne and S returned from their morning of mini golf shortly thereafter. Remember at the beginning of the week when I said that getting into our villa was delayed for some maintenance issues? Well when we first got there, we noticed that the carpet at the entrance to the master bedroom was soaked. We figured this had been the maintenance issue, so we didn’t think too much of it. We had just assumed that something had happened to the carpet and they had to shampoo it. On Monday and Tuesday, we had noticed that it was getting worse and not better. Finally, on Wednesday morning, Ryne and S had noticed a leak in the ceiling of their bathroom. They were in the bedroom with the two beds that had its own bathroom. We placed a call to maintenance to notify them of the leak and mentioned the wet spot on the carpet in the opposite bedroom. We just didn’t want them to think we had done something to cause the wetness.
When we returned from DHS that morning there were three maintenance carts parked outside of our room. My immediate thought was “Oh no, it’s never good when they need that many maintenance people”. We were really worried they were going to make us move and didn’t want to give up our prime location and nicely remodeled villa. They had spent the morning working on fixing the leak and were just finishing up when we arrived back. We mentioned something about the wet carpet, and they said that they were not notified of it but offered to bring fans in to dry it out. We said that it really wasn’t a big deal we had just been placing towels over it and walking around it. They did check out the refrigerator, sink, dishwasher, and whirlpool tub to make sure none of them were leaking but never did find a source. With all the work being done and having limited time anyways, we didn’t get a nap. There was just enough time to cool off and change clothes before we headed back out to DHS. We had to be there in time for our fast pass for Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage. I had not seen this show since I was very young, and DD is obsessed with Belle, so we made sure to make time for it.

After getting off of the bus and making our way into the park, my dad noticed that he did not have his phone which he knew he had on the bus because he had been using it. He made an attempt to go to guest services to see what could be done because the phone had to be on the bus, and we knew the bus was going to Caribbean Beach and not back to OKW. The line at guest services was long so he tried to call them. It was an automated system that had you leave a message. After that was taken care of, we made our way to the theatre and got in the fast-pass line. It started to rain just briefly but this was the hottest day of the week, so it actually felt pretty good. While we were waiting to be let in, my dad received a call (he was using my mom’s phone) from the guest services people who stated that he had to fill out a form online. He had stepped out of line to handle this call and my brother went with him in case they wanted him to go somewhere. The rest of us filed into the theatre and attempted to save seats for my dad and brother. We were informed by a very rude cast member that we were not allowed to do that even if we knew they would be right behind us. When they came in, they saw seats open in the adjacent row so that sat there to be close to us. They then got yelled at by the cast member stating they had to slide all the way down. They informed the cast member that they were with us and the cast member then said, “well you should have had fastpasses like they did then you could sit together”. My dad informed them that they did have fast-passes but were just two minutes behind us and we were not able to save seats for them”. The cast member still made them slide down but allowed the people in the row directly in front of them who had done the same thing to remain as they were. Maybe I was a little hot and tired, but that really did not sit well with me. My dad and brother were literally the only people that sat in that row but they were still made to sit as far away from us as possible.

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The show was really good, and DD thoroughly enjoyed it. I spent most of the time on my phone filing the online claim for my dad’s missing phone with guest services. Once the show was over, my mom, dad, brother, and S wanted to go try to make it through the standby line for Toy Story Mania. While they did that DD and I went over to meet Vampirina and Fancy Nancy. They were both such fun meet and greets! Vampirina took the time to dance with DD and Fancy Nancy got into a tickle war with DD.

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After we made it through the meet and greets, the rest of the crew had rode Toy Story Mania twice. We walked over to meet them for our Slinky Dog Dash fast-pass. My dad, Ryne, and S rode it while my mom was waiting on DD and I to make the trek over there.

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They really enjoyed it! DD was still too short to ride it so my mom and I rode it as soon as they got off. For some reason our ride photo didn’t attach to our photo-pass account, but it was really fun. My parents have said that it may possibly be their new favorite ride. We were thankful for having fastpasses because the wait was like 120 minutes when we went back there. After everyone was done, we walked over to the Alien Flying Saucers. My dad just wanted to see them in person. Most of the crew felt like they would have gotten sick riding this one and the wait was about 90 minutes at this time, so we didn’t ride it. Instead we went over to Sci-Fi to check into our reservation. We checked in about 20 minutes early and still waited about 10 minutes past our reservation. DD though it was so cool to eat in a car! This was a first for all of us!

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For dinner, my mom got the chicken strips which was technically an appetizer with fried pickles which was also technically an appetizer. S got the buffalo chicken strips (appetizer) and a chocolate milkshake. Mom and S felt like they should have just shared the chicken strips because they got so many that neither was able to eat more than half of their order. I can’t remember what my dad got, maybe the steak? Ryne got the classic American burger (surprise surprise). DD ended up with chicken tenders, fries, and lemonade in a specialty Little Mermaid cup with a cool light-up mermaid. I got the cheese steak sandwich and the magic star cocktail.

After dinner was over, we headed over to Rock N Roller Coaster for our fastpass. I chose to sit this one out with DD. Don’t get me wrong, it is a fun ride, but I am so short that my head literally just bangs back and forth between the restraint and gives me a headache. My mom and dad felt too full of dinner so they decided to sit that one out as well.

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While Ryne and S did that, the rest of us went over to Lightening McQueen’s Racing Academy since it was closeby. DD loves the movie Cars and was thrilled to see that they were just getting ready to start a show when we made it over there. It was a really cute show!

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We all met up and took a bathroom break before deciding to head out of the park. Ryne and S decided to go to extra magic hours at Magic Kingdom while the rest of us decided to head back to OKW. DD was starting to get cranky since she hadn’t had a nap. My dad wanted to spend some time at the Gurgling Suitcase anyways. While at MK, Ryne and S completed Splash Mountain (a couple times I think), Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion. I’m not sure what time they got back that night, but it was late because the rest of us were asleep.

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We have arrived at Thursday May 2nd which is known as Epcot day on our trip. S had been looking for a lion king lanyard throughout our whole trip and was not able to find one. We figured that Animal Kingdom would be the best place to find one and since we hadn’t really had time to look through the stores when we were there, Ryne and S decided to go there first on this day. They were not able to find her Lion King lanyard, but she did end up buying a shirt. While they were there, they took the opportunity to ride Everest since we hadn’t made time for it earlier in the week.

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My mom, dad, DD, and I stuck with the Epcot plan and made it there in time to grab some Starbucks before our 9:30-10:30 am fast pass for Frozen Ever After. If you read the headlines leading up to this day you would know that the Blue Angels were scheduled to fly over the park at 9 am. This was such an amazing site to see. I was in line for our Starbucks the first time they flew over, but they came around a second time and I shot some really neat video on my phone of them flying over Spaceship Earth. My mom also got a couple good pictures. For some reason I guess I didn’t save her pictures so unfortunately, I don’t have them to share with you. It was a pretty neat experience though!

Frozen Ever After was a first for us and we really liked it! We are in the back row so it’s hard to see DD but she sung along the whole time.

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After we got off the ride, my dad was ready for some breakfast since he didn’t get anything at Starbucks earlier. He went into the bakery at Norway and got a pastry. It wasn’t schoolbread but something smaller and kind of similar. We touched base with Ryne and S who said they would be leaving AK shortly and were still planning to meet up at Epcot. It was starting to cloud up at this point and we were afraid it was going to rain, so we made a beeline for Mousegears since we had some items that we still needed to check off of our souvenir list. We each bought a couple of things and my mom got her passholder magnets. When we came out, the skies had opened up and a torrential downpour was in progress. We stayed under cover for a little bit but as soon as we saw it start to lighten up, we put the rain cover over DD and the stroller, and my mom donned a poncho so we could head towards The Seas. My dad and I aren’t really into wearing ponchos and didn’t mind the cool rain. We spent some time looking at all of the aquariums and drying off inside the Seas. It seems like most of the people in the park had the same idea. It was so crowded you could hardly move. We had wanted to ride the Nemo ride, but the wait time took a drastic increase once the rain started. After a bit we saw the crowds thin out so we figured the rain must have stopped. Ryne and S were on a bus headed to Epcot, so we decided to go outside and wait for them. Once they arrived, we all rode The Seas with Nemo and Friends together.

By the time we were done with that, it was getting close to lunch time. We decided on eating at the World Showcase and knew that the best place where everyone could find something they liked was the Liberty Inn in the American Pavilion so that is where we went. My mom, dad, DD, and I took the boat across the lagoon while Ryne and S insisted on walking all the way around. We actually made it there at the exact same time. For lunch, Ryne and S had the macaroni and cheese all-beef footlong hotdog but asked for the mac and cheese to be on the side. I had the macaroni and cheese all-beef footlong hotdog as well, but I had the mac and cheese put on the hotdog with a frozen Coca-Cola. We found that if you ask for the mac and cheese on the side you don’t get as much. My mom had the Southern Fried Chicken Sandwich. My dad had the BBQ pork sandwich and DD had chicken nuggets and fries. We were kind of on the earlier side for lunch (11:30ish) so there were hardly any people in there.

After lunch we had to head towards the front of the park for our 12:30-1:30pm fast pass for Spaceship Earth. We made a brief stop in Mexico to ride the Three Caballeros boat ride. I’m really surprised they haven’t turned this into something Coco related since the pavilion itself has a lot of Coco references now. By the time we made it to Spaceship Earth, it was time to ride. It was a nice relaxing ride to close-out our first half of the day. When we were done, we went back to OKW for a little R and R. We actually had a fast pass for The Seas with Nemo and Friends from 1:45-2:45 but chose to skip it since we were able to get right on the ride earlier in the morning. It’s kind of a one and done experience for us each trip.

 

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Good morning everyone! We left off with the crew returning to OKW for a little break from the heat and a much-needed nap. Originally, we had a dinner ADR for Rose and Crown scheduled for this evening. We had made it for 7:45pm with hopes of being seated outdoors and getting a prime view of Illuminations. Some time after we made our reservation Disney announced that they were doing a special package at Rose and Crown for Illuminations viewing. This pretty much squashed our idea, so we sadly canceled the ADR. At first, we settled for just not having an ADR at all but as the day approached, we felt like we needed an ADR somewhere, so we looked at the availability and settled on Via Napoli. My parents had been there before and really enjoyed it.
When it came time to head out for the evening, Ryne and S decided they didn’t really feel drawn to return to Epcot. Instead they would rather spend some time back at the resort checking out the pool, the bar, and the little quick service window. My mom decided that she had no interest in seeing Illuminations again but was game to go to Epcot for Via Napoli.
Via Napoli was wonderful. Mom and DD shared a medium pepperoni pizza. I had an individual Margherita pizza and my dad had an individual picante pizza. After we finished dinner, my mom and DD took off walking to the International Gateway with the idea of taking a boat over to DHS and then hopping a bus back to OKW. My dad and I continued around the World Showcase in search of a yummy drink, a poncho or umbrella, and a good viewing spot for Illuminations. The sky looked like it was ready to open up and pour any time, so we stopped in every little shop in search of a poncho or umbrella or something to keep us dry. We never did find one. By the time we made it over to Mexico, my mom was texting saying that due to lightening in the area, they were not running the boats so her and DD were walking all the way to the front of Epcot. This was the one evening where we opted not to bring the stroller since we would just be in the park for a short time. She was greatly regretting that decision!

There was literally only 30 minutes until Illuminations at this point and we were positioned right at the entrance to the World Showcase with a great view so we told my mom that she might as well stay. We may have bribed her with a Pineapple Soft Serve Ice Cream with Rum from Pineapple Promenade. We got DD some ice cream which may have been a little bit too big for her. My dad had to help her. We picked this location partly because of the view, partly because of the table availability for our drinks, and partly because it was close to the festival store that we could duck inside of if it started pouring. Thankfully it never did rain! We jut got to see a fantastic lightening show!

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Our view was much better than earlier in the week when we attempted to watch Illuminations and we had no mean cast members disturbing our show this time around. This was the night that I said farewell to my favorite thing in all of Disney. Needless to say, I was a little sad when it was over. I have no doubt in my mind that the next thing will be bigger and better, but I have really become attached to Illuminations over the years and it is involved in so many wonderful memories for me, so I am really sad to see it go. After the show was over, we took a slow walk to the front of the park and up to the buses. This was our last night at Disney! It’s amazing how long it takes a Disney trip to arrive then how fast it flies by once its here.

 

[Tink0812]

That brings us to Friday May 3rd. Our last official Disney day! We woke up bright and early this morning as there were early morning extra magic hours at Magic Kingdom and we had to have everything packed up so we could check out before we left. Ryne and S also had to check their luggage in with bell services at Old Key West since they would be taking DME back to the airport later. Once we got to MK, my parents made a quick pit stop at guest services. On our girls trip last year, we suffered an unfortunate encounter in which Disney was very apologetic about and sent us a letter saying that on our next trip, everyone in our party could have three extra fast passes at the park of our choosing. They just had to present the letter to guest services upon entrance to whichever park we decided to us it at. We had purposely saved it for our last day so we could make the most of it! We assumed that we would have to have which attractions we wanted to use them on ready when they stopped at guest services but they never asked. The way it worked is that they were kind of “blank” fast-passes which you could use for any three rides with the exception of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, The Meet and Greet with Minnie and Mickey on Main Street, and one other thing (which I can’t remember right now). Not even everyone in the party had to use them for the same things!

While my parents were dealing with guest services, Ryne, S, DD, and I went ahead and entered the park. We made a rope drop beeline to Peter Pan’s Flight to make sure we got on. It was about a 10-minute wait by the time we parked the stroller but that is lowest I have ever seen it, so we got in line anyways. My parents weren’t going to make it back to that area in time, so they took our Starbucks order via text and picked up Starbucks for us all. After we got off, we decided to do It’s A Small World while the crowds were low. We had to chug our Starbucks but then we walked right on. DD and I had ridden this earlier in the week but now we got to enjoy it with the whole crew. By the time we were done with this, it was time for our 9:05-10:05 am fast pass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. My dad chose to sit this one out with DD while the rest of us rode. He enjoys the ride but there are many other rides that he would prefer to do that I would sit out on.

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From there we crossed over into Tomorrowland for a nice, relaxing ride on the People Mover. People don’t give this ride enough credit. It really is a cool design and you get a nice vantage point of MK. We even got to see a bit of the Tron construction. After we got off, we used one of our “bonus” fast passes for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. We didn’t really need it because the wait was only 10 minutes, but it was still a nice plus. DD has ridden this on our previous two trips, but this was the first time she was able to sit on her own and operate the gun. She couldn’t see very well but she still had a blast!

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Somehow, we didn’t end up with my parent’s ride picture this time around. Once we had completed our competition on Buzz, we all felt like it was time for a snack. We crossed the hub and got in line at the churro stand. Let me tell you, this was the slowest churro operation I have ever encountered. We were only the second in line and it took 20 minutes just to get one churro and one drink. It didn’t help that they had one elderly lady manning the station. We decided to head in the direction of Haunted Mansion while enjoying our snacks and we ran into the Muppet Show outside the Hall of Presidents. We stopped to watch for a bit but the sun got to us pretty quickly, so we stepped into the Christmas store to cool off. I had been looking for a new Christmas ornament all week and hadn’t settled on one yet, but I finally found one I liked in this store. Next stop, haunted mansion. Now, I had debated whether or not to let DD ride this one since she is so young; however, one of her Disney sing-a-longs has Grim grinning ghosts on it and she loves that song. Leading up to the trip we talked a lot about the Haunted Mansion and how it isn’t really that scary. She was asking to ride it, so I decided to let her. The wait was only posted at 15 minutes but we walked right into the stretching room.

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This time it was DD and I that got left out of the ride photos! DD actually ended up really liking this ride and thought the ghosts at the end were super cool. Next, we decided to head over to the Country Bear Jamboree to see if there was a show coming up soon because DD just adores that show. Luckily, they were just 5 minutes from opening the doors for the next show. As always, we sang, clapped, danced, and laughed. It is a one and done per trip for us but it is always a must do on each trip. Since we were in the neighborhood, we ventured over to the Magic Carpets of Aladdin to check the wait time there. DD had never gotten the chance to ride this one and since the wait was only posted at 5 minutes, we took advantage of it. DD and I were the only ones to ride and everyone else took a bathroom break while we did so. Once we were done, we took our bathroom break then it was time to split the group up!

 

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Alright everyone, we are coming to a close of this trip report. We left off with DD and I riding The Magic Carpets of Aladdin while the rest of the crew took a quick bathroom break. After all of that was completed, it was time to split the group up. My dad, Ryne, and S headed over to Tomorrowland to use the fastpass they had previously arranged (this was not a bonus fastpass) for Space Mountain. While they were doing that, my mom, DD, and I had a fastpass to meet Mickey and Minnie in their celebration outfits on Main Street. Of course my mom wanted nothing to do with the pictures, she just wanted to be there for the experience.

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After that was complete we met up at Tony’s Town Square for our 12:30pm lunch ADR. I don’t care how bad of a rep this place gets; we love it! We are also big fans of all Italian food. We were starving so we got a couple of appetizers. My mom and I shared the caprese while Ryne, S, and my dad shared the fried mozzarella. For entrees, I had spaghetti and meatballs. S had Chicken Parmesan. Ryne had a cheese pizza. My mom had chicken alfredo. My dad had a roman-style steak. DD had spaghetti as well.

Once our bellies were full, we were on to more fun. We went over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for our 1:15-2:15pm fastpass. My dad chose to sit this one out with DD. She was starting to get a little sleepy as this would typically have been her nap time but since we were checked out of the resort and leaving Disney later in the day, we didn’t really have a place for her to nap. A photopass photographer did come up and take some cute shots of my dad holding DD while we were on the ride.

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Once we were off, my parents, Ryne, and S used one of our bonus fast passes for Splash Mountain. I pushed around a sleeping DD in her stroller. We mostly stayed in the Splash Mountain store because the love bugs were literally swarming outside. We learned a lot about the love bugs on this day because they were everywhere and just loved to divebomb your face. Even with the fast pass, it took them about 30 minutes to get through the line and ride.

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When they finally came out the other side, my dad, Ryne, and S wanted to ride again so they hopped back in line using their last bonus fast pass. While my mom, DD, and I chose to use our last bonus fast pass for Enchanted Tales with Belle. DD enjoyed this so much on our last trip but she was a bit young to do things on command, so she didn’t get a part that time. This time she got to play the part of Chip which was perfect for her. She loved hopping around!

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Once we were all done using our last bonus fast passes, we decided to meet at the front of the park. We looked through a few last-minute stores, bought souvenir popcorn buckets to take home, and headed for the bus saying goodbye to Magic Kingdon and another wonderful Disney Vacation. It was a little after 3 at this point. We made it back to OKW around 4. I turned the stroller back in to bell services so Kingdom Strollers could come pick it up then we all took a quick bathroom trip before we said our goodbyes and parted ways. Ryne and S boarded DME at 5:30pm back to MCO for their 8:25pm flight to Indy. We loaded up in the car and drove to Cordele, GA where we had a reservation for a Comfort Suites that we had stayed at before (it was only about 3 hours away from Orlando). Ryne and S landed in Indy around 10:30 and had a hotel reservation there for the evening. It was 1 am by the time they got their luggage, took the shuttle to their parking location, retrieved their vehicle, and made it to the hotel. I think we all slept pretty well that night!

Next up: The final leg of the trip followed by a highlights post!

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My dad and I woke up on Saturday May 4th around 5 am. My dad took a quick shower then headed out to gas up the car and grab breakfast and coffees for the rest of us from McDonald’s. While he was gone, I took my shower then woke up my mom and DD. While my mom was getting ready, I got DD ready and we were leaving Cordele, GA by 6 am. While my dad was out and about, he realized he had never had breakfast at Chick Fil A before so he didn’t end up getting breakfast from McDonald’s as planned (he still got my mom and I our mocha and frappe though) and we went through the drive through at Chick Fil A. It was actually really tasty!
My daughter had to be home in time to go to her dad’s that evening. He was pretty chill about what time we dropped her off but of course, we didn’t want it to be too late and we had about 12 hours to drive on this day. We hit a few minor traffic problems and quite a bit of nasty weather making the drive a little more difficult than our travels there.
Ryne and S woke up early in Indianapolis and drove three hours to pick up a puppy that S was getting. She had arranged to pick it up on this date since they would already be in Indiana. It is a super cute husky which she named Heidi. She has the prettiest blue eyes and is growing like crazy.

As always, we had a wonderful time and without a doubt, we will be going back.

Some of our favorites from the trip include:

• The Lion King Suite at Art of Animation (we wished these had been around when we were younger as it would have been perfect for our family of 5)
• DD enjoyed the splash pad at Art of Animation as well
• Great bus service all week!
• Bonus fast passes at Magic Kingdom
• Being able to split up and accomplish the things that everyone wanted to accomplish
• Flight of Passage
• Stroller rental from Kingdom Strollers
• Garden Grocer
• The whole experience at BBB
• The photo shoot at the photopass studio in Disney Springs after BBB
• Watching the Blue Angels fly over Epcot
• Our 2-bedroom villa at Old Key West
• Character interactions (especially Fancy Nancy and Vampirina)
• Watching DD dance with the dancers at Raglan Road and Animal Kingdom
• The Minnie Van
• Being able to experience Hollywood Studios’ 30th anniversary

Some of the things that we didn’t like so much:

• Attack of the love bugs
• Distance to Art of Animation bus stop at Disney Springs
• Cast member interaction during our first Illuminations viewing
• Heat
• Saying goodbye to Illuminations
• Awkward show times at Animal Kingdom making it impossible for us to see all of the shows we wanted to see without spending an extra day there
• Photopass pictures in the parks (just not the quality we are used to)
• The merchandise line/set-up for Hollywood Studios’ Anniversary

Thank you all for following along! Our next trip is a land/sea trip with just DD and I in September 2020.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

When I was in high school, college, and newly married I looked forward to the day that I would hopefully have a daughter so that I could do Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique with her. Then once I had DD, I was anxiously awaiting the day that she would be old enough (they have to be 3) to do it.

TY so much for your BBB report. My DD5 will be going for the first time in 2020. I really appreciate you speaking about what it means to you as much as your DD. And I'm so happy you both had such a good experience.]

 

[cassidy57]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report. Kids really make a Disney trip extra special.