The one with the dusty, wrinkly, moldy-oldy 4 day park hopper ticket from 1992! August 2025 Trip Report

[MamaMouse0920]

Friday, August 15th (Day 3)

For some reason I had woken up at 3:30am and couldn't seem to fall back to sleep so I was not feeling at all rested when the alarm went off. I eventually pulled myself out of bed and we all got ready for the day. We got to the bus stop at 6:06 (the plan/goal being to leave the room by 5:45am, so slightly behind schedule but still about 1.5 hours before EE, which was 7:30am). If I'm being perfectly honest I was slightly leery of how rope drop was going to go with my mom - On one hand I feel bad for her (obviously don't want her to be in pain) and want to accommodate that but on the other I don't want to set my family up for failure because we're all slowing way down to match her pace. Additionally, she doesn't qualify for Early Entry because she's not technically an onsite hotel guest (yes the front desk CM added her as a guest but she's not on the reservation - so does not qualify for EE) so no matter what she couldn't be with us for the first 30 minutes of the day, which made me feel guilty for leaving her behind. We didn't have LLs or anything for this day so I wasn't worried about not being able to ride anything together, it was really just those first 30 mins of EE that I wasn't sure how to tackle. Our plan for the day really only included the kids haircuts at 9:20am and then our Capture Your Moment photo session immediately after at 10am... so other than the hustle & bustle of EE, it should be relatively smooth sailing the rest of the day... so I tried to brush off that guilty feeling and focus on how much fun we were all going to have.

Anyway, when we got to the bus stop at 6:06, we were the first family in line until a 2nd family joined us shortly after. I think this probably made my mom think "remind me again why the heck we needed to get here so early?!" but she never complained



Since we had gotten there so early and I felt confident a bus wasn't right around the corner, I snuck back inside the lobby to ask a CM for a couple of celebration pins - one for grandma & then I figured I'd also grab one for DD6 since she was a tad salty that DS5 got one and she didn't (she seems to have forgotten that LAST years trip was all about her, and that this year's focus was on DS5.....). I spoke with an older CM who was extreeeeeemely chatty (sir my family is waiting outside and if a bus comes and goes and I'm not on it... Matt will not be happy, LOL) and insisted on writing on the pins himself, despite me offering to do it myself. He wrote "Grandma" on my moms which was fine except he spelled grandma wrong and then for DD6's he just wrote her name, haha! He did also ask about the celebrations of the trip and showed me the process of adding some special messages to our TV screen (I did one day for DS5 going to kindergarten, and then a separate day/celebration message for Matt & my anniversary). It was cute & I didn't know they could do that so FREE TIP - if you want some extra special touches added to your celebrations, stop by the front desk and see what magic they can work with your TV but I was in a hurry and really only intended on taking the pins and going about my business haha!

Eventually I was able to tear away just in time for the bus to show up, so I was able to help Matt with carrying the bags etc. while he collapsed the double stroller and we boarded the bus. The family behind us was upset at the bus driver for not waiting for their other family members (... this always perplexes me - do you think the bus can/should wait for everyone???) but oh well, off we went to the Magic Kingdom!



I think it was this point, as we neared MK that the magic really started creeping in for my mom. MK was the park we frequented the most when the 4 of us (my siblings and I) were little, so I'm sure it was super nostalgic for her, here with her baby's babies.

When we arrived at MK (time stamp says 6:29am), I had Matt and the stroller + kids take off for security, me walking (slower) with my mom.



I think she felt guilty and kept saying "just go, Bethany!" but I wasn't having it so we walked together. We had a good place in line for security (Matt in the separate stroller line), and were through in no time. The 5 of us also got a good spot in line for the tapstiles, only 2nd in line.



As we waited, I pointed out the area that my mom would eventually be heading when they let us scan in (to the right, to rent her ECV) while Matt and the kids and I went into the park. I explained to her that for the first 30 minutes she wouldn't be allowed past a certain point on Main Street, but that she could walk (ride) through the different shops and grab a coffee at Main Street Bakery while she waited for us. We also used the time to confirm with a nearby CM how my mom's ticket should/would be scanned in, since it was her first time here (in the last 2 decades, anyway) and my first time using anything other than a magic band. Apparently the CM at Disney Springs had already added my moms ticket to her Wallet so all she needed to do was place the front of her phone to the tapstile and go, and it apparently was that easy. We were let in a little after 7am, this picture below taken at 7:06-











Castle pic timestamp 7:10, so 20 minutes before park opening for EE. We had a great spot in line for 7DMT, and I honestly have no complaints about the new Rope Drop process where they don't hold you at Cheshire Cafe anymore. People still ran, and Matt and I still laughed at them, but at least none of us got tackled or elbowed or stepped on, so I'd call it an improvement from the previous process.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

We were parked along the stone retaining wall type thing, and had maybe 30-40 people ahead of us?



DD6 offering to take this picture of me, Matt, and DS5



And then DS5's turn:



We spent our time waiting playing thumb wars and just generally soaking in the magic that is Magic Kingdom in the early morning.



It was around 7:20am that the CM announced that 7DMT was down and would NOT be open at 7:30, and that they didn't have any ideas as to when it would open. About half of the crowd (us included) abandoned our spots, but some die-hards stayed put. We ended up power walking to Peter Pan (as I'm sure did a lot of the others, though we saw a handful join the Winnie the Pooh queue), the kids pretty bummed to miss out on 7DMT. As we parked the stroller near Prince Charming's Regal Carousel, the kids of course wanted to ride (I seriously don't understand the infatuation with that one, ha!) but we convinced them to do Peter Pan first.



I LOVE the new queue for this one!! So stinking cute. We obviously didn't get to enjoy it too much since at this point in the morning it was a walk on. I was paired with DD6 and Matt with DS5, and I have video of the ride itself at 7:28 so they obviously were open a little bit earlier than the posted 7:30am park open- woohoo! We were off by 7:31, and as we exited the ride discovered a TON of characters walking around Fantasy Land!!! I think this may be part of Cool Kid Summer?? but I really hope it stays- it was so magical.






All in all we saw: Tiana, Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Captain Hook, Smee, Chip & Dale, Pluto, Princess Elena, ANNNNNDDDDDD....

THE BIG CHEESE HIMSELF WAS ON THE CAROUSEL WITH US. We didn't sit by him because he (Mickey) was already really focused on one little boy and we obviously weren't going to be "those" people but it still felt super special to be riding the carousel with Mickey Mouse.



The best use of Early Entry time? No, not so much. But super special for the kids? Abso-freaking-lutely.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

While we didn't get to sit near him, we did still get to give him high-fives after we all got off the ride - so that was nice!









After Mickey, we decided to take a whack at the Sword in the Stone -









But try as they might (those facial expressions!), no luck.

We moved on to Captain Hook & Smee, who were nearby. I think it's hard for a lot of people to handle these types of informal meet & greets, so I wouldn't be surprised if they don't stick around. Kids obviously don't understand it, and it doesn't seem parents put in the work to explain to their kids a few points:

1. This is not a formal character encounter. You didn't wait in a line, you don't get undivided 1:1 time with them. Say hi & move on. Snap a picture, sure, maaaaybe they will sign an autograph if you're lucky, but these characters are really just moseying around. That's it.

2. You can't just run full speed up to the characters and tackle them into a hug. If they're interacting with another guest, wait your turn (and prepare yourself that your 'turn' may not come at all because again- this is not a line, they're just moseying) and be respectful.

I was sure to explain points 1 & 2 to the kids multiple times throughout the trip but it seemed we were the minority in that regard.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Time stamp on the photo above is 7:47, so we had already eaten up more than half of early entry- but I think the kids would argue that character time is well worth it. My mom was texting around this time as well, asking where she should meet us. I said that I thought Jungle Cruise would be a good idea, since Adventureland isn't open during EE anyway so it should be a low wait time.

We initially got in line for Winnie the Pooh shortly after, however when we found our place in line discovered it was going to be a longer wait than 10 minutes so ended up bailing and just heading over to Adventureland.







Can anyone remind me what happened to the Adventureland sign? Is it coming back?

Grandma was already parking the ECV down near the Jungle Cruise entrance, the kids were desperate to see her again (you'd think it had been 30 years since they'd seen her, not 30 minutes ha!).



Reunited, we walked through the queue for Jungle Cruise, which was a walk on at 7:58.



After our trek, I mobile ordered our beloved Nutella waffle from Sleepy Hollow while Matt took one for the team and got in line for a coffee at Main Street Bakery. They gave him a cute little Mickey spider in honor of the first Halloween party that evening!



I didn't get any pictures of our breakfast and I'm pretty sure the kids devoured it- DS5 being sure to get some Nutella on his cream colored outfit since we had pictures coming up in a few hours and that's just what 5 year old boys do, right?? We didn't really have anywhere to be and our haircuts were in 45 minutes so I mobile ordered 2nd breakfast (we are hobbits) in Tomorrowland since I am a huge fan of the Breakfast Bowl at The Lunching Pad and I knew my mom would enjoy it too. Matt is insanely picky and wouldn't touch that with a 10-ft pole, so he took the kids on Astro Orbiter since we'd never ridden it before. Meanwhile I sat with my mom and enjoyed our shared breakfast.







After they rode & got off, I spotted Chip & Dale in some sort of spacey/alien type outfit nearby so the kids of course had to go say hello!

We then figured we had time for a relaxing (/digestive, ha!) ride on People Mover so that is where we headed next. The CM at the top of the escalator/moving angled walkway thing was an older gentleman and he was so sweet- he spotted my mom and had me & DD6 stop and get out of the way so that grandma could go first. We did, she did, and we all were seated on a ride my mom remembered well- likely because I'm sure she used it as a napping tool for at least one of her 4 young kids back in the day!



After our relaxing ride around Tomorrowland, we made our way back to the front of the park for the kids' haircuts. A tradition, at this point!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

I love those free roaming character moments! But you're definitely correct that that don't seem to work very well in WDW. We went to Disneyland last year and that is super common there, much more so than WDW. I feel like since that is more of a "locals" park people seem to get it. But we are so used to queuing up for character meets in WDW, I think many still don't get how that works.

What a fun morning though! That is what makes rope drop so worth it, IMO. Getting photos and sometimes special character moments before the masses of people descend

 

[MamaMouse0920]

DS5 opted to go first:











Followed by his sister:



Who I apparently didn't get any 'after' pictures of, but she only had an inch or so trimmed off the ends so not a drastic change

After the kids' haircuts we left the barber shop (the kids LOVING getting to tip the lady) and discovered the horse-led trolley was out! My god are Clydesdales big hahaha I think you forget just how big they are until you're next to one!!!



We did a quick potty break where my mom had her first run in with needing to kick that ECV in reverse when you realize the path you're on leads you to a set of stairs and not a ramp, but she is a pro at navigating that thing - the only 'embarrassment' is the ridiculously loud beeps to let everyone in the tri-county area know that you're backing up.

We then backtracked again to Liberty Square to check in for our CYM session!



We checked in and tried to make ourselves small - the place was packed! We found our place next to a larger family nearby and eventually a photographer CM came and greeted us. She asked a question or two (I can't for the life of me think of what they were, but I remember when she asked them I was like ?? huh?? and later found out that she went to the wrong group- she was supposed to be assigned to the larger family next to us! But since she already met with us and we had talked about the game plan, they switched gears and she ended up being our photographer). We told her we were celebrating DS5 entering kindergarten in a few weeks, and the poor 2nd photographer (the 'helper' one) struggled big time with spelling kindergarten and it took about 10 minutes to get the sign squared away The 3 of us (photographer 1, me, and photographer 2) were all feeling like we belonged in kindergarten since we couldn't get the spelling figured out, I had spelled it/said it out loud so many times that I was starting to second guess myself haha!! Kind of where you say a word so many times that it stops sounding like a word, you know?

Anyway, once the sign was accurately spelled we asked the CM where SHE wanted to go. We told her we'd done the castle thing, done The Confectionary/Main Street and wanted something semi-neutral. She suggested the teacups/Storybook Circus area and I was like YES. PERFECT!!! So that's where we went! Prepare yourself folks for a photo overload -- there are SO MANY cute ones!!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

^that is one of my favorites!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Pretty quickly in the beginning of the tea cups portion, I kept having to block off traffic from passerby walking between photographer & kid - something in our previous experience was what the 2nd photographer was supposed to be doing. We also had people lining up thinking this was a posted CM taking pictures in a designated spot, so I would gently let them know that this is a private session, hoping to save them some time/disappointment... also what, in our experience, the 2nd photographer would typically do. About halfway through the teacup portion though, the 2nd photographer left abruptly (Matt and I joked later (privately) that perhaps he had to go to the bathroom LOL) and never returned. Oh well!

After we had gotten plenty of good ones at the Tea Cups, we moved over to Storybook Circus - where she first had us all cram into the Dumbo which was a tiiiiight squeeze!





Which again had people lining up to get their pictures taken. I think maybe Disney should consider having these photographers wear different uniforms than the regular PhotoPass CM??? Once I was done being in the pictures, I described to another mom who had lined up how good of a deal this is ($99!) plus the $20 haircut and you could tell the mom's mind was absolutely blown (mine too, tbh). I'm not sure how it is where you guys live, but here in the Twin Cities area you can't get a 20 minute photo session for less than $250/$350!






^another one of my favorites! And this next one too:



Shortly after this photo was when a circus performer on giant stilts walked over and asked to be in the picture!



Our PhotoPass CM laughed and said "well that's a new one for me!"

The next set of pictures I think had the potential to be some of my favorites but the angles were weirdddd and I couldn't sit right so they didn't turn out as cute as I would have hoped- but still cute nonetheless!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

After Dumbo we made our way to Barnstormer (I didn't watch the clock too closely but I seriously doubt she stuck to the 20 minute rule, I think we went WAY over! We had over 100 pictures all said and done!) for another set of family photos.




















After wrapping up with the Barnstormer area (again, another line forming behind the CM) we went to a spot I'd never even seen before, back by the railroad tracks!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Last one!!!!

 

[princesserin1350]

These photos are absolutely precious! I've never even considered Capture Your Magic but definitely will after seeing your photos. Loving your trip report so far!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

These photos are absolutely precious! I've never even considered Capture Your Magic but definitely will after seeing your photos. Loving your trip report so far!

We've technically done 4 sessions now (1 was a repeat after 3/4 of our photos were blurry) and that one 'dud' was literally the only one where I haven't been obsessed with the pictures - it is SO worth it IMO!! I think the only way it would not be worth it is if you don't have memory maker - otherwise you'd have to pay individually for each picture, and as I said this session came with over 100 to choose from so that obviously could get spendy real quick.

The photographers (at least the ones we've had) have been pros at posing/angles etc. and for the most part do a really good job of making it look like you're the only ones in the park - no small feat especially when the session is on Main Street or near the castle!! Overall I highly highly highly recommend - best $100 you'll ever spend, in my opinion!!