That’s it! I want my money back! Extended Family Trip Aug 19 *NEW 12/5*

[ThePin Princess]

That’s it! I want my money back! Extended Family Trip Aug 19
August 14-21, 2019 | Pop Century

Alternate Titles:
Donner, Party of 9
THEY ARE NOT TWINS! Don’t you DARE go thinking they are twins! CAUSE THEY’RE NOT!

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Helloooooo humanssss!

Welcome to our crazy trip report. This trip was… A LOT.

A lot of rain. A lot of hot. A lot of pins. A lot of first timers. A lot of stress. A lot of fun. A lot of people.

A LOT

Here’s our crazy crew:

Grace: Moi. Your ghost host. Your cruise director. Your narrator.

If you’re new here, hi I’m Grace. I’m 24, a DCP alum, pin obsessed, ear maker, parks lover.

Donna/Mimi: My madre. My personal photographer & travel buddy.

Jill - my sister. Jessica - my niece & Jill’s daughter. Joe - Jill’s boyfriend.

Kelly - my sister. Logan & Nathan - my nephews. Chris - Kelly’s boyfriend

Special guest appearances: Dad - my dad & Sydney - Chris’s daughter

Donna proposed this trip many years ago to celebrate Logan & Jessica turning 12 (fun fact: they’re born 4 days apart). It was the first time going to Disney for Logan (almost 12), Nathan (9), and Joe. And both Kelly & Chris hadn’t been to Disney since the early 2000s.

Well, let’s jump right in! ​

 

[ThePin Princess]

Table of Contents

Day 1
Part 1: Disney Day!
Part 2: Rain, Rain, Go Away!
Part 3: All The Pictures!
Part 4: Tomorrowland & EMH!

Day 2
Part 1: The Jedi Are Coming
Part 2: Andy's Backyard
Part 3: Not My Magicband!

Day 3
Part 1: Rise & Shine & Swim
Part 2: You Betrayed Me, Brother!
Part 3: I'm Just TOO Tall!

Day 4
Part 1: A Magical Moment Donut
Part 2: Mickey & Minnie, I KNOW THEM!
Part 3: A Magic Kingdom Evening

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7
​

 

[PadfootnProngs]

New to your TRs and following! I'm excited to hear where the title comes in!

 

[ThePin Princess]

Day 1, Part 1: Disney Day!

WAKE UP! It’s DISNEY day!

My alarm was set for 4am, but I woke up every hour on the hour until 3am when I decided to get up and take a shower!

I packed my last few minute items and got myself all ready to go while everyone else woke up. We had a car service coming to pick us up at 5:00am to take us to the airport. Mom, Jill, Jessica, Joe and I were leaving from our house and Kelly & Chris and the boys were coming from Maine. The car service was very nice and convenient and much cheaper than parking at the airport or taking the Logan Express (airport park & shuttle) for 5 people.

We got to the airport at 5:45am and hopped in a very long baggage drop off line. We had an 8:05am flight so we weren’t too worried about time. We made it through security rather quickly, found Kelly & Chris & the boys, grabbed some breakfast and then hung out until it was time to board. The asked for people to volunteer to check their luggage so we stuck our extra DME yellow tags on some of our luggage and checked them. We boarded the plane around 7:30 and got settled.

This was the first time flying for the boys! Very exciting!

It was a rather uneventful flight, I watched Beyonce’s Homecoming documentary on Netflix. We landed at 11:10, it took a while to get off the plane (doesn’t it always) and we made our way to the Magical Express area!

We waited about 20 minutes in line for the bus, ate some lunchables and pringles in line, and then we were the first on the bus! Woo!

Ooooh, ahhhh, a gorgeous, clear, unobstructed WDW sign picture

Nathan got so excited when we went under the sign and were finally *IN* Disney! We arrived at our home for the next week, Pop Century, right around 12:45pm. We had done online check-in and got texts that Kelly & Jill’s rooms were ready while we were on the bus.

Their rooms were just a few doors away from each other so we headed up there and all got changed and ready to head to the Magic Kingdom. While we were in Jill’s room and just about ready to leave Mom got a text that our room was ready too, and it was right next to Jill’s. So we went over to our room and finished getting ready.

"Don't you dare touch a thing! I need to get my pictures!"

By 2:00pm we were on the bus headed to MK!

About 25 minutes later we were at MK and ready to roll!

Continued…​

 

[ThePin Princess]

Day 1, Part 2: Rain, Rain, Go Away!

If you haven’t met me or read my trip reports before you may not know, I like to take pictures. Lots, and lots, and lots of pictures. And my family members, particularly the soon-to-be 12 year olds, do not like to have their pictures taken. So of course, that makes me want to take their pictures more.

As soon as we got in the park it started raining so we darted right for the Emporium to make our way up Main Street through the hub. Then we headed to take a group picture before starting the fun!

After our photo we headed to Adventureland to ride Pirates! Papa (my dad) wasn't joining the trip until later in the week, but this is always the first ride he goes on so we made sure to go on Pirates first.

Everyone enjoyed the ride, and the line moved super quick. We decided to get lunch at Peco Bill’s after the ride and before our BTM fastpass. I got chicken tacos, which are one of my favorite quick service meals.

OOPS forgot to take a picture til I was more than half way thru my tacos

We finished our meal and all the outside rides were temporarily closed because of lightning in the area. We got an email that our fastpass had been swapped for a multiple experience FP. Since everything was down we headed over to do Tiki Room.

The kids liked Tiki Room, but they were yearning for a coaster. When we got off the rides were still down, and we got another email that our Splash fastpass had been swapped out too.

We headed over towards Fantasyland to find something to do. The line for Haunted Mansion was wayyy too long and it was started to rain pretty heavily at this point. We ended up heading into Philharmagic.

I’d never seen Philharmagic with a fulllll theater before so that was wild. Everyone was seeking cover and looking for indoor attractions as well. When we were done with Philharmagic I checked the app and saw the rides were back up so we rushed over to Big Thunder Mountain. We hopped in the fastpass line, which was very long, but it moved pretty quickly and we were off the ride about 30 mins after getting in line. The FP line was SO long when we got off, all the way over the bridge to Frontierland.

We popped right over to Splash and hopped in that FP line as well. Again we were off the ride in about 30 minutes. The kids LOVED both BTM and Splash.

The water went rightttt over the kids heads and soaked Mom and I.

They wanted to do them both again but the lines were way too long. It was 6:30 by this time and everyone was needing a treat. Kelly & gang had been up since 2am and the rest of us had been up since 4am. And Nathan was the only one who slept on the plane.

Continued…​

 

[ThePin Princess]

Day 1, Part 3: All The Pictures!

We headed back to Main Street area took some photopass pictures and got a snack!

We bought this shirt for all of us, and mom and I were dying laughing in Kohl’s thinking it was the funniest thing ever, but Jessica didn’t want to wear hers and I didn’t want to get a sunburn on my shoulders because I’m incredibly pale.

** I think Photopass has gotten new cameras since we were there in April because the quality has improved SO much! Has anyone else noticed this as well? **

After our pictures the kids got some ice cream and the grown ups got some coffee!

We sat and took a little break while everyone enjoyed their snacks and then more pictures of course!

I deemed mom my “pers-ferssional” accidentally, and we couldn’t stop laughing. I was trying to say personal, professional but I just could not get the words out.

Off to the Purple Wall! We had some time to kill before our next FP.

There was a girl over at the purple wall with her mom and brother, I think, having a full on photoshoot. You go girl!

Continued…​

 

[ThePin Princess]

Day 1, Part 4: Tomorrowland & EMH!

Space Mountain time!

We had a fastpass and we breezed through the queue, and then right when we were near boarding there was a delay and the ride was stopped for about 20-30 minutes. We finally got on and we all had a great time. Space is one of my favorite rides, if not my all time favorites.

We had gotten over to SM at 7:30 and got out at 8:30. We headed over to Carousel of Progress next and got there at 8:30. Everyone enjoyed that ride which made me so happy. I love COP but I thought it might be lost on the kids.

After COP, we sung “There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow” as we made our way over to Buzz to defeat Zurg. Buzz was essentially a walk on, not even a 10 minute wait. It was 9:00pm at this point, so pretty much everyone was over at the fireworks. I scored 101,000. I’m not great at this game and I know none of the secrets.

We got off Buzz at 9:10 and headed right over to the Peoplemover.

We got a cool view of the fireworks from The Peoplemover.

We got stuck on Peoplemover for a few minutes, when we got off we thought we’d go over to Tomorrowland Speedway but by the time we got over there the line was ridiculously long with the post fireworks rush.

The park hours as of two weeks before this trip were 9pm with EMH 9-11. But when I checked the hours that morning, MK was open til 10 with EMH 10-12 which is fine, but we were banking on capitalizing on the low lines in that 9pm hour right after the fireworks during EMH but with it not actually being EMH everyone was trying to squeeze in one last ride or two.

We headed over to Dumbo and rode that quickly, 10 minute wait tops.

After Dumbo, everyone expect me and mom got in line for Barnstormer. I love that ride but I wasn’t feeling it. I ran over to the Big Top store and grabbed a snack before they closed for the night. I got a chocolate covered pineapple skewer. The line for Barnstormer took about 20 minutes, and then it was 10pm and EMH time. We popped over the Under the Seas and walked on to that.

We were going to go do Haunted Mansion but when we got to It’s A Small World we opted for that instead. We got off IASM at 11pm and we headed out.

We knew we wouldn’t make it back to the hotel in time for the food court so we stopped and got a snack. Mimi got Logan and Jessica Mickey Pretzels and the rest of us went to Casey’s. I got a hot dog and fries and we ate our food as we walked out of the park.

The line for the bus was crazy long, of course. We got on the bus at 12:05 and back to pop at 12:40. The kids all fell asleep on the bus.

We got back to the room and I unpacked and went to bed at 1am. Woof! I went right to sleep and mom was already asleep by the time I got in bed.

Continued… ​

 

[cajunfan]

Can't wait to read more! You did good on your first day...especially with such a big group!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Wow can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip!

 

[ThePin Princess]

New to your TRs and following! I'm excited to hear where the title comes in!

Thanks so much for joining in!

Can't wait to read more! You did good on your first day...especially with such a big group!

Thank you! It was tough haha it's hard to wrangle 9 people!

Wow can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip!

Thanks for joining, Cloe!

 

[Echo queen]

Love your report.

 

[ariane37]

Joining in, love the title! Now to freak you out a bit -

I swear I saw your niece down there! We were there the 18-21st and I remember the shirt she has on in your first day pictures....which I'm sure at least one other person in the country has but I really swear I saw HER wearing it So now I'll have to keep reading and see if we were in the same park on the same day at all!

 

[Beauty_Belle]

Where did you all get your neon Mickey tanks? I saw someone wearing on on a youtube video so I've been searching but I can't find them anywhere.

Edit - I just read farther and saw it saw it was Kohls. Sorry. Great report!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Joining in! Sounds like a great trip so far but I'm sure traveling with that many people gets overwhelming!

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more

 

[ThePin Princess]

Love your report.

Thanks for joining in!

Joining in, love the title! Now to freak you out a bit -

I swear I saw your niece down there! We were there the 18-21st and I remember the shirt she has on in your first day pictures....which I'm sure at least one other person in the country has but I really swear I saw HER wearing it So now I'll have to keep reading and see if we were in the same park on the same day at all!

Yay! Welcome!

Omg! So funny! I bet you did! We were there the 14-21st!

Where did you all get your neon Mickey tanks? I saw someone wearing on on a youtube video so I've been searching but I can't find them anywhere.

Edit - I just read farther and saw it saw it was Kohls. Sorry. Great report!

No worries! Yes we found them at Target in the Juniors clearance section I think!

Joining in! Sounds like a great trip so far but I'm sure traveling with that many people gets overwhelming!

Thanks for joining in! And yes it sure does

Following along. Looking forward to reading more

Thanks for joining!

 

[sheri18]

Joining in. We are from the Boston area too. What a busy fun day you had

 

[ThePin Princess]

Joining in. We are from the Boston area too. What a busy fun day you had

Thanks for joining in! Woo Boston! We love living up here Except it's a litttleee far from our favorite place

 

[ThePin Princess]

Day 2 Part 1: The Jedi Are Coming

Rise and shine. It’s 6:00am.

This was the only morning we were getting up early so we powered through.

The biggest to-do for the boys this trip was Jedi Training and this was going to be our only day in DHS. So we woke up bright and early and trekked it over for park opening so we could make sure they got a spot, and hopefully an early spot. Our goal was to be on the bus at 7:30.

I got up and showered at 6:15 and then made some coffee while Mom showered.

We LOVE Joffrey’s coffee. We even order the Disney In-room K-cups off their website.

We headed down to meet the gang in the lobby, we brought our poncho drawstring bag again and took turns carrying it throughout the day. Kelly & her gang were finishing eating breakfast and Jill’s gang was making their way down to the lobby.

We were on the bus by 8am and on our way. Luckily DHS is incredibly close to Pop so the bus ride was quick. My DCP roomie/best friend sent me pictures to tell me she got a new puppy while I was on the bus.

AWWW

We got to the park, through security, and in the park by 8:20am. Park open was at 9. The boys, Jessica, Mom, and I went directly to sign up for Jedi Training while Kelly & Chris grabbed Starbucks and Jill & Joe joined them there.

Jessica did not want to do Jedi Training so we just signed the boys up. They still had spots for the 9:40am group so we signed them up for that one so we could not have to worry about coming back later in the day, and there was rain in the forecast so we didn’t want the rain to interfere with the class either.

After signing the kids up, we walked back over to Starbucks to join everyone else. We sat on the benches by Prime Time to enjoy our Starbucks and wait for the boys Jedi Training. They told us to come back at 9:20 so we just hung around that area.

The boys joined the group, got their robes, and learned about their duties. And in no time I was time to walk over to the stage.

I had fun shouting “THE JEDI ARE COMING” along with the group as we walked over.

This show was a lot of fun and the kids were beaming during the entire thing. We’ve never stopped and watched this before, but it was really cute and fun.

Peep the little girl in front of Nathan, she was bawling crying as soon as Kylo Ren & Darth Vader came out, and she cried the rest of the show, but she was so dang cute and she even went out and fought him, still crying, when it was her turn. We all cheered so loud for her! If I was her, and a 4 year old again, I know for sureeee I would have just left and gone to my mom.

Logan vs Darth Vader

Nathan vs Darth Vader

Little crying girl vs Darth Vader

Continued…​

 

[ThePin Princess]

Day 2, Part 2: Andy’s Backyard

When the Jedi Training show ended, we went straight to Toy Story Land and got in line for Slinky Dog Dash.

The line said 110 minutes, but we just hopped in. I ran over to grab some lunch box tarts from Woody’s Lunch Box. I got 1 raspberry and 1 chocolate hazelnuts and headed back to find them others in line. I cut the tarts into 10 pieces and we all tried some. It was the perfect little snack to get us through. The line took about 70 minutes, and was constantly moving so it didn’t feel that long. While we were in line I saw a familiar face from instagram and I blurted out “Hey! I follow you on instagram!

It was Brett! A.K.A. guybehindthemagic, formerly guybehindthecastle!

We chatted for a few minutes and talked a little about Galaxy’s Edge, and as the line moved we said goodbye and wished each other to stay cool in the heat!

We all had a blast on SDD. Jessica was so worried her buns were going to fall out she held them pretty much the whole ride.

This was new for everyone except Mom and I and all the kids especially loved it. We got off SDD at 11:30 and headed over to Alien Saucer Spin. The posted wait time was 40 minutes, but I think it was closer to 30.

After Aliens, we had some time to kill before our 12:50 FP for Toy Story Mania. We made a bathroom stop, and then everyone agreed they were hungry. The kids were a little testy from the early wake up call so we headed down to the Pixar area for some snacks. I opted for popcorn, the kids got churros, Jessica got a blue raspberry ICEE/freeze, and there was some coffee and beer in the mix also. My favorite treat is the Key Lime Pie on a stick from this area but I wasn't feeling it right now.

When we were done munching our snacks, we headed into One Man’s Dream to poke around and enjoy the air conditioning. It was incredibly hot so we all needed a break.

We just missed the movie so we had time to kill before the next one. Everyone enjoyed the movie and looking around at all the things. I don’t think the kids really understand who Walt Disney really is and like the history of the parks. Jessica has some base because we’ve been to Disneyland and did the Walk in Walt’s Footsteps tour, but the boys not so much.

Patiently waiting

We watched One Man’s Dream and everyone enjoyed it. That movie always makes me emotional, and I love that Julie Andrews is the narrator. We headed back to Toy Story Land. In hindsight, we should’ve gone to TSM then One Man’s Dream, I forgot that the exit would bump us out over at Launch Bay. Which as soon as we got outside there the boys were asking to go in… of course. Didn’t even know what it was, just knew it was something Star Wars related and the instantly wanted in.

We bopped back over to TSM and got in the FP line at 1:25. Everyone lovedddd this ride. This has always been one of our favorites and I knew everyone else was going to enjoy it, too. I rode alone which was weird. It was both easier and harder not planning with someone else. There were screens were it was less stressful because there wasn’t another person shooting things also so it was much less chaotic. But the bullseye screen was harder because I was the only one shooting and making things pop out.

I scored 145.900 and I think Chris had the highest score out of all of us with something like 155,000.

It was raining when we came out of TSM and everyone said it was off and on. It would pour for a minute then stop then start then stop. We opted to walk through it but this started a trend for the rest of the day.

Popsicle stick wall!

Pre-teens, am I right?

We were done with TSM at 2pm and it was time for lunch. We had read the lunch menus a little earlier while we were waiting in line for Aliens and decided on Backlot Express. Not conveniently located, but the people spoke, and that’s what the people wanted.

As we made our way over there Logan got lost from the group, we went straight toward the Frozen show and he somehow turned at ABC Commissary. Luckily he has a cell phone and we were able to call him figure out where he was and send someone to go get him.

We regrouped and made our way back over to Backlot Express and got in line. It was drizzling at this point, but when we got there it really started pouring. I ordered chicken tenders.

Finding tables inside was a struggle. We needed two tables for our group of nine and when we finally did get two tables someone tried to swoop in and take one of them. Sorry, lady, but this is my table!

Continued…​