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

[ashw100]

Awesome morning at MK, so glad the rain didn’t last long.
We found in April some of our Photo Pass pictures did not show up either. O f course it was on the rides i didn’t take many additional pictures, thinking I would have the PP picture.
We saw so many people eating turkey legs at MK this trip, I guess they are really popular especially with the limited options.
I saw a few changes to JC in April.

It was very frustrating because for some of them we actually physically scanned our bands (my kids love doing this), and they still didn't show up.

Trader Sam was missing when we visited in April.

Glad the rain didn't last too long! Sounds like a great morning, you got so much done!

Me too, rain won't stop us, but it's definitely nice not to have to deal with it for long.

I love this! Books are the best .

N has had a very tough reading journey so far, and the pandemic certainly hasn't helped. But he loves non-fiction, especially about animals, so that has really helped.

 

[ashw100]

This is Funner than Video Games

Our next ride was on Space Mountain, the line was very intimidating, but it was about 20 minutes.

​

The little guys are scared of this ride, as you will see in the following picture. Joe and I tried to hang on to them, which is so hard on this ride.

​

Our next attraction was Carousel of Progress, which is one of C’s favorites. This ride actually had a wait, which I’d never experienced before. It was only one rotation of the theater though.

​

While we waited a CM gave us an impersonation of every Disney character known to man. The boys were thoroughly entertained.

My favorite scene

​

We finished up Tomrrowland with a spin around the track at the Speedway. I know everyone says Animal Kingdom is the hottest place at WDW, but I think it’s this ride’s queue. Between the sun beating down on you and the fumes from the cars, I always feel thoroughly ill by the time I get in the car. We were able to check out the Tron construction though.

​

C was finally tall enough to ride alone.

​

After our ride, I sent the boys off to do the tea cups, while I went to the bathroom. I had some time so I went into the shop there in Tomorrowland in search of some ears. I had, like always, brought a pair of ears for each day in the park. Sadly, I had forgotten that day’s ears in the room. Feeling very naked without them, I browsed the shop looking for the perfect pair to add to my collection. I selected the cornflower blue ears, and looked around some more. A super cute tie dye collection had been released and I was eyeing the pants and shirt. I decided not to get them just yet, since I didn’t want to carry more stuff around. I paid for my ears and made my way into Storybook Circus. The boys were still on the teacups, so I found a nice spot on the wall and waited. When we all met back up, we got some treats to enjoy.

​

Everyone got something different except C and I, we both got the churro. After our nice break, we were ready to hit some more rides. Dumbo was a walk on, so we had to fly on that next.

​

Everyone sat alone except me and my ride buddy, N.

r

​

The boys insisted that we ride Barnstormer next. This is a ride, I could never go on again and not be sad about it, even worse the wait was 20 minutes. One of the longest waits all day and it was for Barnstormer . We did get to see more of the Tron construction though.

​

The boys had fun identifying animal footprints while we waited.

​

After a thrilling 60 second ride on Barnstormer we were ready to move on. We got in line at the Little Mermaid, which had a 15 minute wait.

​

We got in line and it didn’t move for 10 minutes. CMs kept making announcements to keep moving and stay with our party, but there was literally no where to go. I think maybe someone may have stopped in the line, but even to be stopped for 10 minutes without realizing or anyone asking them to move up is strange. Once we started moving though the line didn’t stop and we were on the ride 5 minutes later.

​

We continued on through Fantasyland, to Mickey’s Philharmagic.

​

It was definitely the longest I’ve ever waited for it (about 25 minutes), but it’s must do for the boys.

Our next ride was on Peter Pan. The ride was SUPER long. I went down into Liberty Square and wove all through Columbia Harbor House, even though it was physically long, I think we only waited 25 minutes. I have zero pictures of the queue or ride, because this pain in the butt is difficult to photographic, so I won’t hurt your eyes with my blurry pics.

We stopped at the Tangled Toilets, as it’s a must do tinkle spot. I mean look how pretty…

​

Since it was right there, and another walk on, we re-rode Haunted Mansion

​

C and N are the only ones who have still not seen Country Bear Jamboree, so we stopped there for a nice break.

​

C loved it (I knew he would), N did not (also predictable).

It was dinner time and we were all hungry. The park had really cleared out at this point, which also means dining locations are more limited for dinner. We opted for Pinocchio Village Haus. We mobile ordered some flatbreads and the place was empty, so there were plenty of options for seating.

​

As we were eating, N proclaimed that this was funner than video games (meaning the trip). Now coming from N that is a huge compliment, I didn’t think that kid thought anything was more fun than video games.

At this point, we had pretty much done everything we wanted to go, but we weren’t ready to leave just yet. Everyone got to pick one attraction they wanted to re-ride. C wanted to go Space Mountain again. Since the other two hate it, Joe took them to ride Dumbo again and maybe Barnstormer, Joe’s bad at pictures so I’m not sure.

​

Meanwhile C and I flew through space.

​

When we got off the ride, I got this notification on my phone.

​

I am not sure what prompted it, as I never saw it in August or any other day on this trip.

We met back up at Winnie the Pooh.

​

It was time to head to the other side of the park, for the rest of our re-rides. The castle was just starting to be lit at the sunset, it was beautiful.

​

We once again, took advantage of being able to walk through the castle.

Next Post​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I think maybe someone may have stopped in the line, but even to be stopped for 10 minutes without realizing

That is strange... How could you not notice the line moving for THAT long?

As we were eating, N proclaimed that this was funner than video games (meaning the trip). Now coming from N that is a huge compliment, I didn’t think that kid thought anything was more fun than video games.

That is high praise!

You guys did alot!!! Sounds like a great day.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great afternoon! I love the ears you ended up buying!

 

[ashw100]

That is strange... How could you not notice the line moving for THAT long?

That is high praise!

You guys did alot!!! Sounds like a great day.

It was high praise, we had an amazing day.

Sounds like a great afternoon! I love the ears you ended up buying!

Thanks, they're my favorite pair now.

 

[ashw100]

Everyone Likes a Backside

J’s re-ride choice was the Jungle Cruise. It was fun to do it at night. We ended up using our fastpass from the Toy Story Mania evac here.

​

Hidden Mickey

​

We had the best Jungle Cruise skipper ever. I feel like I have made this claim before, but this time was even better. He had a lot of original jokes and we were laughing non-stop. My favorite is when we saw the backside of water and he says, “everyone likes a backside”. We made sure to let a supervisor know on the way out, how awesome skipper Jordan was.

Joe’s choice was Pirates of the Caribbean. The wait was longer than I would have liked, I think around 30 minutes. I was worried about having enough time to ride Splash again, N’s choice. It ended up being a little less than that though.

​

Plenty of time to ride Splash we walked over, but sadly the ride had just gone done and they were not going to reopen it again that day. N was very upset and I felt terrible. Not going to let it ruin the end of the night (at least we weren’t, N pouted). We got in line for my choice, Big Thunder.

​

I absolutely love this ride, but at night, it is just so much better.

​

Our day had pretty much wrapped up, but we couldn’t leave without one final treat. Joe went with he raspberry/pineapple swirl Dole whip.

​

I went with the Kakamora Float

​

This was amazing, coconut and pineapple, it was like a tropical vacation in a cup.

After we devoured our treats, there was about 5 minutes left of park time left. We asked if we would be able to see the Tiki Room, and the CM told yes but it would be after park close. Of course, we got in line.

​

With that it was time to leave for the day. I had complained to Joe while we waited in line that I wish he would take more pictures of me and the boys. He never thinks to snap a picture of a sweet moment, and so I never have those memories to share. Where as I always whip out my phone to capture him and the boys. It’s not a big deal and I know I am not the only mom that struggles with it, I just wish I had more pictures with my kids. I only tell you this because on the way out, Joe took this as a cue to take this wonderful photo.

​

Yes Joe, these are exactly the moments I want to capture.

​

N asked for a picture with Walt and Mickey and I was kind of surpised. I didn’t even know N really knew who Walt was, but I guess he does.

​

We got in line for a PP picture, and N was having the best time dancing around to the music. This is what I love about Disney, you can just be carefree and have fun. I wouldn’t exactly call N shy, but he also doesn’t just dance around in public either, so I had to capture the moment.

​

We stopped in the Emporium to see if there was anything we wanted to buy. I still had my heart set on the tie dye pants and shirt, but they didn’t sell them there. One day I will learn to buy my Disney souvenirs when I spot them, so I don’t walk away empty handed. But today was not that day. C was the only one who bought anything, a shoulder Forky.

We got one final PP with Roy and Minnie before leaving for the day.

​

We got in line for the Monorail back to the TTC. C showing off his Forky.

​

N really wanted a to take a family picture.

​

We got the newly refurbished green monorail back to the TTC. We didn’t even have to share on the journey back.

​

When we got back to the room, C, J, and I went to Animation Hall to refill. I had forgotten this was a pet friendly hotel, but we did see a few dogs while we stayed there. However, as we walked back to the room we saw a cat on a leash outside Animation Hall. Can cat’s stay at the pet friendly hotels? I was under the impression that it was only dogs? Not that I would bring her, but I always hate leaving our cat behind, so I get wanting to take your pets. After that strange sight, we spent the rest of the evening watching the remainder of the Super Bowl.

Next Post​

 

[suse66]

Really enjoyed your latest updates! Looks like you had an awesome MK day! I like your system of letting everyone pick a favourite ride to redo. Your boys are so sweet....it brings back nice memories of mine when they were little. Now everyone will be away at university/college this fall. It goes by so fast!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Watching the Super Bowl in the hotel room is a tradition for us! We usually go around that time! Next year!

Sounded like a great day!

 

[disneyAndi14]

What a fun MK day. I always say I will come back and buy what I want and often I never do.
Having a wonderful and funny skipper makes such a difference on the JC.
Isn’t Big Thunder awesome at night. I love it.

 

[rdkeim]

What a great MK day! A long day but you got a lot accomplished. Your boys are real troopers to make it to park closing. You always get great PP pictures - it will be nice to ditch the masks next trip. Hoping to go again in Feb. or March next year.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great night! I had to laugh at the picture Joe took Men just don't get it!!

 

[15isto2]

Love the report so far. Perhaps the cat identifies as a dog

 

[tbholc81]

All caught up! Great reading so far!

 

[ashw100]

Really enjoyed your latest updates! Looks like you had an awesome MK day! I like your system of letting everyone pick a favourite ride to redo. Your boys are so sweet....it brings back nice memories of mine when they were little. Now everyone will be away at university/college this fall. It goes by so fast!

I try to enjoy them being little as much as possible, but they grow too fast!

Watching the Super Bowl in the hotel room is a tradition for us! We usually go around that time! Next year!

Sounded like a great day!

How fun! We have taken three trips during the super bowl, Joe always get a free day off for his birthday and his birthday is always near the super bowl, so it just works for us.

What a fun MK day. I always say I will come back and buy what I want and often I never do.
Having a wonderful and funny skipper makes such a difference on the JC.
Isn’t Big Thunder awesome at night. I love it.

Big Thunder at night is the BEST, but we don't do it often so it was a nice treat.

 

[ashw100]

What a great MK day! A long day but you got a lot accomplished. Your boys are real troopers to make it to park closing. You always get great PP pictures - it will be nice to ditch the masks next trip. Hoping to go again in Feb. or March next year.

I couldn't believe how well they did, it's fun to see how far they've come from each trip.

Love the report so far. Perhaps the cat identifies as a dog

Thanks for reading!

All caught up! Great reading so far!

Thank You!

 

[ashw100]

Walt Disney Must Really Like Blue

Today was our last full day. Epcot had a late opening, so we were able to have a more leisurely morning. We went to Animation Hall for breakfast. We did mobile order and then browsed the shop while we waited.

​

Everybody got a kid’s order of waffles. The kids breakfast meals are a good value and I find them satisfying.

​

After breakfast we did something we’d never done before, took a stroll around the resort. Typically we are so busy and spend very little time at our resort, so we never take the time to check it out. We really only checked out the cars section, but the boys had a lot of fun.

​

After our photo tour around the cars section, we went back to the room to get ready for the day. Soon we were headed back and walked over to the Skyliner.

​

We had some time, so we let the boys run around the play area for five minutes.

​

There was no wait at the Skyliner station.

​

There was a long line at CBR though. The back of the line was winding like a snake all the way back to the road. The line moved continuously, and it ended up being about ten minutes. Had to snap a picture of the poster for our family’s next vacation destination (t-minus 55 days now!!).

​

On our way to Epcot!

​

There was another super long line to get your temp checked. We entered the park about 20 minutes prior to official opening. Festival of the Arts was happening at the time, we stopped to get our picture.

​

We had a ride to get to, but I quickly snapped some pictures of the chalk art.

​

The queue for Test Track was already super long, but knowing it wasn’t going down any time soon, we got in line. I think the wait was posted at 45, but we only waited 15.

​

The boys had fun checking out all the food and activities there were to do during the festival on the maps they grabbed on the way in.

​

I always find it so funny the things that my kids notice or pick up in the parks. N was very disappointed to see so much blue on the ride (his favorite color is pink). He determined that Walt Disney must have really liked blue because of the all the blue on the ride.

Next Post​

 

[DL1WDW2]

I love your trip report w/ so many photos... I never carry my cellphone It is old and doesn’t hold a charge, etc.
When do you take your next trip to Aulani?

 

[ashw100]

I love your trip report w/ so many photos... I never carry my cellphone It is old and doesn’t hold a charge, etc.
When do you take your next trip to Aulani?

Thank you, I love taking photos. We are going to Aulani in August. It will be our first and probably only trip, but we are so excited!

 

[ashw100]

Going on a Hunt


Our next ride of the day would be Mission Space. We have always done the green side with the boys. J had done the orange with me in August and convinced everyone they had to try it.

​

I was so stressed about N not looking ahead and then getting sick on me.

​

He’s ready y’all

​

Everybody did great and loved it. Everyone expect Joe that is. Joe has never been a fan of the orange side because he is prone to motion sickness. He declared this the last time he would ride the orange side.

We stopped for another art picture.

​

had one more ride in mind before we headed back to the World Showcase. With Epcot being such a maze, it was hard to get to. At least the walls are fun.

​

Our last ride for the morning would be on Spaceship Earth.

​

It was time to head back to the World Showcase to so some Festival of the Arts fun. We had actually been in Epcot the first year, but found ourselves disappointed with it. I have heard so many great things about it since then, I wanted to give it another shot.

​

Our first stop was in the giftshop at the front of WS to pick the boys up three Figment’s Brush with the Masters Scavenger Hunts. The boys love these type of activities, but we never do them at Disney because there isn’t enough time. They were so excited.

We were starting to get hungry, so we stopped at Pop Eats. We picked up the almond frangipane cake layered with raspberry jam and Belgian Chocolate and the tomato soup with grilled cheese. We were so excited to try the cake. Last spring, during quarantine, we had all gotten into the Great British Bake Off. They make kinds of cakes we’d never heard of, frangipane cake being one of them. It was just okay though, too dense for my liking and a little crumbly. The tomato soup and grilled cheese were great though. We wanted to split everything so we could try more, but I really would have loved to get a second one of these.

​

As we were enjoying our food, the princess cavalcade were coming through.

​

We actually had someplace to be, so we scurried on back to the back of the World Showcase first. Joe went to stop at Cuisine Classique, while I took the boys to Italy to pick up their Kidcot postcard and find our first Figment. Sadly, they were out of Kidcot in Italy, but we did find Figment.

​

We met back up with Joe and enjoyed our Red-wine braised short rib and opera cake (another kind of cake from GBB).

​

This was by far my favorite stop. The braised beef was perfectly balanced with the balsamic and tomatoes. The opera cake, was so moist and flavorful, it practically melted in my mouth.


We made our way further back and got in line for the animation class at the America Pavilion. I took the boys in to get a seat, while Joe went in search of another dish from one of the booths.

​

Joe brought us back a beef wellington from the Artist’s Table booth. This is another dish that had been made famous (to us) by a TV show, Hell’s Kitchen. We’ve always wanted to try it, but never had the chance.

​

I was not a fan. I do not like mushrooms and to me they overpowered the beef, felt like I was eating dirt. Joe and C liked it though.

Ready to draw!

​

We had a really great animator, who kept us entertained with fun facts and stories. We got to draw Jack-Jack, which made N so happy. All my kids love art so much, but J and N are still on the young side for the animation classes. They get frustrated easily and discouraged, but I knew to expect that going in.

​

After the animation class, I wanted to check out the new Soul exhibit in the American Adventure. First we stopped for some more PP pics.

​

The Soul exhibit was…disappointing. I don’t know what I expected, but it was basically just a whole bunch of posters about Jazz in different cities, and two display cases.

​

We went on a hunt for the Figment here, but couldn’t find him. We did see another PP out and stopped for more pictures. The family ones didn’t show up in our account, but he did some cute individual ones of the boys too.

​

While the boys were taking their pictures, I spotted the door for the Epcot Club 33.

​

We stopped in Japan next, nothing in the food booths called out to us. But the boys did want to check out the store. I ended up buying each of the boys a lucky figurine, I took a picture so they wouldn’t forget what kind of luck it brought them.

Next Post​

 

[cajunfan]

Ii am just glad I am not the only one that wants to try things I see on tv shows! (And the things I learn from HGTV!) And I am with on mushrooms (and beets)...always feel like I am eating dirt.

Love the pictures!

I can't do Mission Space at all anymore. I used to have no problem with it even before they gave you an option. Then one time I went on it and had to sit and wait for the crew while they did a few things and I could just rest. So not worth it to me anymore.

When I win the lottery I will make it down for Festival of the Arts...I can't as long as I am in the current industry that I am in as there is no vacation time between 1/2 and 3/15, and we do not get federal holidays off either, so not even a long weekend trip for me!

Can't wait to read more!