That's Cuckoo Bananas *Updated 9/21 Complete*

[disneyAndi14]

Joining in, sounds like a wonderful start, despite the crowded plane and airport.

I love the theming at AoA, we stayed in LM section the first year it was open.

 

[Paulaparm]

Joining in!

 

[ashw100]

Looks like a great travel day and arrival at the resort! Too bad about the non-compliance on the plane......some people are special friends.

Lol, I live in Texas, I am surrounded by special friends.

Sounds like a great travel day! A room with 2 bathrooms - how great! I can understand why it was a game changer. We flew to Orlando Feb 28 and home mid-March. Both flights were full but I didn't see any mask non-compliance. Interested to hear how you found the park crowds.

Probably has a lot to do with the demographic of people that are flying between destinations. We're were flying between Texas and Florida, so make you can make assumptions based on that. It was not any better on the trip back. Thankfully, we didn't get sick, but still disappointing to see.

Joining in, sounds like a wonderful start, despite the crowded plane and airport.

I love the theming at AoA, we stayed in LM section the first year it was open.

Welcome, we had a smooth start for sure, we just keep our distance and masks on, and try not to let the other people bother us.

Joining in!

Glad to have you reading along!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sorry it was a little stressful leading up to you leaving, but your travel day sounded pretty seamless!

 

[ashw100]

Sorry it was a little stressful leading up to you leaving, but your travel day sounded pretty seamless!

It was one of our better travel days, for sure.

 

[ashw100]

This is Cuckoo Bananas

N was very scared to get on the Skyliner.

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We stopped right at the turning station near Epcot and I thought N was going to loose it. Thankfully, he was able to keep some humor in the situation and just kept saying, “This is cuckoo bananas!” This became his catch phrase of the trip, and therefore my TR title.

After two trips on the Skyliner, we made it to Epcot. We walked over to the Swan and Dolphin.

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We had zero idea where we were going but thankfully the MDE app directions feature led the way. It was very awkward to get to because of all the construction at the new Marriott hotel.

As you’ll see, N always needs his own picture as well

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It took us 40 minutes to get there, which was a little longer than I had anticipated. I wasn’t sure if there was a place to park, so we opted for Disney transportation. Turns out there was a parking lot for Fantasia Gardens and it would have been MUCH faster to drive. Lesson learned.

We put our name on the waitlist, it was going to be a 20 minute wait. They still had the Magical Extra card sign out, so I if I was still allowed to use it, even after 4. They said yes! The total for us to golf would have been $66, and instead we only had to pay around $14, so it was a win for me. We also bought some waters, and sat down to wait.

Snagged a rare maskless picture, right after N took a sip of water.

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J didn’t want to sit with us, but you also get a good view of the new hotel.

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When our name was called, we had to stop to wash our balls.

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Time to golf!

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I’m a big fan of the Fantasia music, and it was appropriate to the hole you were playing.

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I really liked the Sorcerers’ Apprentice section. The brooms dump water on this hole, and the boys just loved that.

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Last hole

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The boys were fascinated by the ‘whirpool’

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We had a really fun time. I didn’t think it was the best mini golf course I’d ever done, certainly glad we got to do it for almost free, but is a great arrival day activity and fun for everyone. Our original plan had been to get dinner at the Polynesian, but it took much longer than anticipated to play golf and we still had to get back to the hotel to get our car. We walked back to Epcot and discussed what to do. The line was super long, wrapped all along that area, probably a 20 minute wait. It gave us plenty of time to peruse the menu at Landscape of Flavors. The hotel quick service menus are super limited at the moment, and there almost no variety. So it’s not like if you don’t like LoF you can go to Pop or CBR, because they have the same menu except for one or two things. So even though the food would have been much better at the Poly, we were just to tired to go over there at that point. We placed our order and got on the Skyliner.

We got to see the new Ratatouille area all lit up.

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On our return trip to the hotel N seemed to lose his fear of the Skyliner. I would say it was because it was dark and he couldn’t see below, but it never came back so….

When we got back to the hotel, we hit the I’m here button to get our food. It wasn’t long and soon we were eating mediocre burgers and fries. We also got some cupcakes since I had promised the boys a treat, but we took it back to the room to enjoy.

Everyone but me got this cookies and crème cupcake.

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I got this little beauty, the Mermaid Tail cupcake.

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Even though I had shown pictures of the cupcakes before ordering, as soon as N saw my cupcake he wanted it. I didn’t want to give it up, but I’m not a complete monster, we split our cupcakes so we each got half of the other cupcake. The cookies and cream one was fine, moist chocolate cake, cookies and cream frosting, blah. But the mermaid one, wow. I think it is my favorite cupcake ever. It was vanilla cupcake filled with pineapple and topped with a coconut buttercream. The coconut was just a hint, so to not be overpowering but still give you a nice tropical feel, yum! My only regret is that I didn’t get it again.

Once we finished our desserts, it was time for bed. Everyone wanted to sleep on the murphy bed, so we had to make a rotation schedule. N ended up on the pull out the first night.

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As I was tucking him in, he said, “I hope this wasn’t all a dream and I have to go to school tomorrow.”

The other two bunked in the murphy bed.

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Everyone was hyped, so it was hard to get everyone to sleep lots of talking and giggling. But eventually the snores started and dreams of tomorrow danced in our heads.

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[kclark9830]

Great update! So glad you got to use your vouchers for golf! We are considering doing the same thing on our upcoming trip, so it's good to see real life experiences.

 

[suse66]

Reading your update brought back great memories of golfing with my three boys on the Fantasia course on our last family trip in 2016. It's so much fun! Also, seeing your three littles all tucked in is just too cute. My three are now 19, 19, and almost 21. Our family Disney trips when they were little feel like five minutes ago. They grow up way too fast. Although hanging out with your young adult sons is pretty sweet too. ❤

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Following along! Sounds like a great travel day.

Your story about the plane, and people not keeping there masks on makes me itchy! Ha. It really why we are waiting to fly for awhile. It's just best for our family.

Glad you were able to concour the SKyliner. My oldest was nervous of it at first, but quickly got over it as well. It really is a great way to travel in Disney! Especially right now with getting your own cab? Car? Skyliner? What do you call it?

I always want to do the mini golf but never seem to carve time to do it.

 

[missangelalexis]

Glad you were able to still use your vouchers! Sounds like a fun night!

 

[ashw100]

Great update! So glad you got to use your vouchers for golf! We are considering doing the same thing on our upcoming trip, so it's good to see real life experiences.

I would definitely do it if you have the time. It is a fun distraction, and if you have the magical extras card, its free.

Reading your update brought back great memories of golfing with my three boys on the Fantasia course on our last family trip in 2016. It's so much fun! Also, seeing your three littles all tucked in is just too cute. My three are now 19, 19, and almost 21. Our family Disney trips when they were little feel like five minutes ago. They grow up way too fast. Although hanging out with your young adult sons is pretty sweet too. ❤

It's crazy how time flies. I always use Disney trips to really see how things change for our family. It seems like just yesterday we were two stressed parents trying to navigate the parks with a double stroller, a single stroller, and three kids 5 and under. I miss those days, but I am enjoying this age too.

 

[ashw100]

Following along! Sounds like a great travel day.

Your story about the plane, and people not keeping there masks on makes me itchy! Ha. It really why we are waiting to fly for awhile. It's just best for our family.

Glad you were able to concour the SKyliner. My oldest was nervous of it at first, but quickly got over it as well. It really is a great way to travel in Disney! Especially right now with getting your own cab? Car? Skyliner? What do you call it?

I always want to do the mini golf but never seem to carve time to do it.

Flying is definitely not the best. We each wore two masks, and only pulled them down to take a quick drink, so even though I was uncomfortable, I figured we were probably fine. But definitely don't recommend it unless you're comfortable with it.

Right now you do get your own gondola, so the lines are pretty long, but I like not sharing. In fact the COVID restrictions in place to keep distance is preferred over what visiting was like before.

Glad you were able to still use your vouchers! Sounds like a fun night!

It was a nice surprise, and it's always good to save money too.

 

[andthenjsaid]

I get nervous about very, very few things, but my recent trip was my first time using the Skyliner, and one evening it stopped for a few minutes while it was REALLLLLY windy outside - the car (cab? vessel? air boat?!) was swaying around and the doors fluttered a few times so that there was some real estate between them. THAT made me nervous!

 

[ashw100]

Wake Up, Time for School

Given N’s nervousness about being in Disney being all a dream, we decided to wake everyone up by saying, “Wake up time for school”. Kids were not amused, parents were. Joe got everyone up and ready. I had already been up for hours (no sleep in Disney) and I had a mission. Seems not much had changed because back in 2014, I remember having no cell reception at AoA, and I still didn't now. I didn’t want to use WiFi, so was on the hunt for a good signal. I walked over to Animation Hall, and right outside the Big Blue Pool and had four bars. Did an internet speed check, looking good. If you can’t tell what my mission was, it was to get a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. A few minutes before 7, I started to refresh the page. Everything was going well, but I stupidly got distracted by a person on an ECV and missed the 6:59 to 7:00 change over. I furiously clicking buttons, not reading or paying attention at all. And, I thought I missed it. I tried to go back in, sorry all passes are gone try again at 1. My heart sinks, I know this is top priority for everyone and I feel like I let them down. I sadly make my way over to landscape of Flavors to get some coffee, and go back to the main page of MDE, turns out, my furiously clicking without reading was a good and bad idea, because I did actually get us a BG. We got BG 61 to be exact, crisis averted. I went back to the room and gathered everyone up to drive over to DHS.

We stopped at the Speedway to grab case of water. We quickly realized something, we didn’t know where the entrance to DHS was anymore. We have driven most of our trips, and it used to be across from the Speedway. Due to taking only Disney transportation to DHS the last couple of years, we were a little turned around. Siri kept trying to take us through CM entrances, so we did the next best thing, just followed the signs. After much aimless driving we found the entrance, and we weren’t allowed to enter. After doing a ton of research, I found that the best way to get to DHS early is to park at a Boardwalk hotel and walk over. I had originally considering doing that, but I really didn’t think with the crowds, we NEEDED to be the first ones there (we didn’t BTW). So the next best thing is arriving by car, because if you do Skyliner especially from Pop/AoA or bus, you will be behind a lot of people. They don’t even let you into the parking lot until an hour before opening, and they don’t let you line up at the booths. So we pulled over on the grass, following the lead of many other cars. After it got so crowded, the police came and told us to move along. Cue round number two of driving around aimlessly.

By the time we made it back to the entrance, the lines were about ten cars deep. They still didn’t open the parking lot for about ten more minutes, but finally we were in. I was getting really anxious thinking the lines were getting long, and stressing a little. We get to the tap stiles, and N doesn’t have his band on. I guess he took it off in the car. I’m not great under stress, and now I was quite agitated. So N and I get in line at guest services. It seemed to take forever, but was probably only ten minutes. We got his card, and were FINALLY in the park.

We headed straight back to TSL, to see how bad the wait was for Slinky Dog Dash. I think the wait said 35 minutes, and was back to the end of the bridge.

Here’s the troublemaker

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These boys were unperturbed by our morning setbacks.

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N is still at the stage where he doesn’t remember all the specifics of Disney. He knows he’s been and certain rides or experiences stick out, but much of it seems new to him each time. If I could have captured his joy and wonder while we waited in line, I would keep it forever. He loved looking at all the toys and games.

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He kept saying hi partner to everyone, just like Woody. The wait was only ten minutes, and so we were off on the wildest ride in Andy’s back yard.

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N looks mad, but everyone had a great time.

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We were off the ride before the park had even officially opened, even with the delays we had. I had a very specific plan for which rides needed to be done before the lines got too long, so even though it wasn't very efficient for our feet, we did save a ton of time in line. So our next ride was in Galaxy’s Edge. It was basically a walk on and soon we were on the Millennium Falcon.

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Once we got to the last room before the cockpit, there was a little technical difficulty.

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We had a little bit of a wait, and then we were directed to another pod to get on. Soon it was our time to fly.

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I was engineer, which stinks. I am really not a fan of this ride unless I’m pilot and even then it’s just meh to me. The boys, however, love it even if they're not great at it.

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As per usual, we wrecked it.

I could see the wait time for ToT was creeping up, and I couldn’t wear my ears without riding, so we headed over there. The boys were not thrilled, but they tolerate it, just barely. I think the wait said 50 minutes, but I knew it would be less. I had great success to stave off boredom and randomly touching things in line with J in August by bringing along my old phone and letting him play on the Disney Play app. So I pulled it out for the boys to play. It never actually worked right for us, like it didn’t recognize we were in the park, so they could only play the Toy Story games, but they had fun.

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Had to get a picture in my ears.

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I don’t remember there being this plexiglass up last time, but I still had to get the same pictures I take every time I’m here.

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All of the boys were starting to get scared once we got into the boiler room. I was worried we were going to have to take the chicken exit for the first time. By a miracle they did get on, but N and J in particular were scared.

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They hated it, but they survived.

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To reward their bravery, we got them ice cream even though it was 10:20 in the morning.

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There were low waits in TSL, so we headed back that way. First we rode TSM.

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I always try so hard on this ride, but I never seem to get better.

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This is Joe gloating that he beat me, once again.

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[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Given N’s nervousness about being in Disney being all a dream, we decided to wake everyone up by saying, “Wake up time for school”. Kids were not amused, parents were.

Ha! I love this. I am sure the kids were NOT ammused.

I sadly make my way over to landscape of Flavors to get some coffee, and go back to the main page of MDE, turns out, my furiously clicking without reading was a good and bad idea, because I did actually get us a BG. We got BG 61 to be exact, crisis averted.

YEAH!!! It is stressful getting that boarding group!

He kept saying hi partner to everyone, just like Woody. The wait was only ten minutes, and so we were off on the wildest ride in Andy’s back yard.

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So cute.

was engineer, which stinks. I am really not a fan of this ride unless I’m pilot and even then it’s just meh to me. The boys, however, love it even if they're not great at it.

I am the opposite, I did not like being the pilot. I would much rather let someone else drive! (or crash)

They hated it, but they survived.

My oldest is this way on ToT.

To reward their bravery, we got them ice cream even though it was 10:20 in the morning.

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Best Vacation Breakfast!

This is Joe gloating that he beat me, once again.

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My oldest and I watched youtube videos before one of our trips to try and beat my husband. And my daughter did! Me not so much... but that is ok.

 

[ashw100]

I get nervous about very, very few things, but my recent trip was my first time using the Skyliner, and one evening it stopped for a few minutes while it was REALLLLLY windy outside - the car (cab? vessel? air boat?!) was swaying around and the doors fluttered a few times so that there was some real estate between them. THAT made me nervous!

Omg, that would be so scary. I don't like when it stops at all, but I am more worried about just getting stuck up there.

Ha! I love this. I am sure the kids were NOT ammused.


YEAH!!! It is stressful getting that boarding group!


So cute.


I am the opposite, I did not like being the pilot. I would much rather let someone else drive! (or crash)


My oldest is this way on ToT.


Best Vacation Breakfast!


My oldest and I watched youtube videos before one of our trips to try and beat my husband. And my daughter did! Me not so much... but that is ok.

Okay, I seriously need to remember to do this. I need to beat him

 

[missangelalexis]

Despite the stressful start, the morning sounds like a success! You got a BG and on a bunch of rides before the wait times picked up!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Okay, I seriously need to remember to do this. I need to beat him

We had to watch the video twice, once literally the day before we left so we would remember the tricks! Some are for you to team up with someone at the end, that last target is cumalitive so if you both shoot the same one, you will both get more points overall.

 

[ashw100]

Despite the stressful start, the morning sounds like a success! You got a BG and on a bunch of rides before the wait times picked up!

This is the park I was so nervous about the lines, and it worked out perfectly.

We had to watch the video twice, once literally the day before we left so we would remember the tricks! Some are for you to team up with someone at the end, that last target is cumalitive so if you both shoot the same one, you will both get more points overall.

On second thought, maybe I'll have to wait until their older. N, my eternal ride partner, can barely hit the targets as is lol.

 

[ashw100]

Howdy Partner!

Next up, we wanted to finish up the trifecta in TSL. N loved taking pictures with all the characters and kept saying howdy partner to them all.

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My kids have gotten increasingly interested in hidden Mickeys on each trip. And I have to say, I think we got pretty good at it. Can you spot the one in this picture?

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It was finally warming up, so Joe was able to take off his pullover and reveal his awesome Mandalorian Hawaiian shirt.

Up close look

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Time to ride

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After our ride on Alien Swirling Saucers, we were quite hungry. I really wanted a Ronto Wrap, but the kids options in Galaxy’s Edge are terrible so we placed a mobile order for PizzaRizzo. I know Disney pizza gets a bad rap, but I like it. We sat upstairs in the wedding reception area.

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Joe got the meatball sub, he liked it.

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At one point we had the entire dining area to ourselves.

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I don’t work there, but as the mama I still gotta clean up.

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Since we were right there, we decided to do Muppet Vision next. The wait was about 20 minutes and used up all the queue line, but we had fun playing Heads Up while we waited. I had never been back here, I loved all the Muppet movie posters.

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While we were in line for Muppets we got an alert that it was time to ride ROTR. We watched Muppet Vision, the boys absolutely love this attraction, especially N. Joe fell asleep, which is pretty typical, I may have even closed my eyes for a bit. We needed to rest up for Rise. The line was all the way to the entrance of GE to get scanned in. Then we had about a 20 minute wait in line. The boys had fun scanning all the objects into their data pad.

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Once we got to the briefing room, we were placed on color circles. I think back in August it was numbers, but the colors was much more confusing. There were multiple groups that shared the same color, and it led to a lot of confusion and CMs yelling at everyone. They should go back to one number per group and simplify it.

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I just noticed N is mad in this picture. I have no idea why, but if I had to guess, he wanted to get a picture alone and I made him take one with his brothers. I’m a mean mom like that.

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We were directed to our color dot, which wasn’t a great view. We’ve been on it enough that it was fine though.

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Is it weird that my favorite part of the attraction is the hanger bay?

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It’s just one of those experiences that makes you feel like it is all real, I will never not be in awe of this ride.
Very soon after we got in the secondary line, a CM came by to tell us that the ride was down. He said it usually takes 30 minutes to reboot, but he was not told how long it would be. We had the choice to get out of line. Joe really wanted to stay, so we settled in and played some games on the phone.

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We lucked out and it ended up being about 15 minutes until the line was moving again. The CMs before you go into the interrogation room are always so great. One was scaring N, trying to get the resistance base info from him.

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He’s ready

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The ride was amazing as always. We figured we would stay with the Star Wars theme and ride Star Tours next. We got to wait in the Endor forest section, which we’ve never been in.

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When we got put into our bay for ST, we were not allowed to load, apparently that one had gone down. We were having bad luck today. We all got moved into a new bay, and J got to be the rebel spy!

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We got trapped by the dump shop after, N was itching to spend his money. We warned him that it was just the first day, but that gift card was burning a hole in his pocket. He went with the Jedi Mickey lightsaber.

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The other two held off, but J really wanted to do the build your own light saber, but wanted to think on it more.

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