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

[uem]

Great trip report. Thanks for taking us along.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Where we last left off, we were just beginning DS5's special night out with just mom & dad, this time heading to Epcot!



He was so excited for this special time (though I think still would say that DD6 had the better deal that's how popular Grandma is!) and so were we. We don't get a lot of 1:1 time with each kid typically and it's something we really need to prioritize more often!





^ Get a load of this guy, just living the dream.









We made it into Epcot around 6:45pm and were on a mission for dinner! But first, DS5 had found a dime at some point on our travels from AoA > Skyliner > International Gateway so we first stopped by the fountain in France so DS5 could make a wish. No pictures, only video so use your imagination

I will preface our dinner story with this little fact: up until just a few weeks ago, DS5 did not care for cheese. "but you like pizza, don't you, DS5?" "yes" "and you like mac & cheese, right?" "yes" "and grilled cheese sandwiches?" "yes" -- you see where I'm going with this. He thinks he doesn't like cheese, so we've been known to lie on occasion when asked "does this have cheese in it?" (depends, do you like it?????) and generally have to get creative with what we're presenting to him. Now I don't know how or why or what changed on this particular day, but he agreed to try a *gasp* ham & cheese croissant from France.

Yup. So I picked up the goods while Matt & DS5 staked out a table in Les Halles.



He LOVED it. I mean ate every last bite (Matt and I were banking on eating more of this, so we were still hungry!). And I think this encounter was what ultimately changed his opinion on cheese forevermore- thank goodness!!!

Unbeknownst to us, DD6 was having dinner at the exact same time with grandma! Looks like she opted for the less daring chicken strips & French fries



In no time at all (since DS5 wolfed that sandwich down) we left Les Halles and made our way to pick up more food for Matt & I since we had been shafted with our shared dinner.

 

[lacy1101]

Really enjoying your trip report! Sorry if this has been asked already, but where did you get your adorable fanny pack?

 

[MamaMouse0920]

As we left France I spotted this woman in the window and said "man, I aspire to be like her when I'm older". Drinking a (very full) glass of wine & not a care in the world (I too wouldn't mind living permanently in Disney World ) so had Matt take a picture with my new role model:



For whatever reason, on our stroll we decided to stop for an impromptu photo shoot:







Eventually continuing our way into the United Kingdom, where we could hear some bumpin music in that back garden area (which we'd never been in before)- again 90's music! I once again only have video (and TONS of it) and no pictures, but DS5 was absolutely GROOVING - I'm sure drawing quite an audience with his dance moves, ha! After about 15 minutes of dancing, the performers wrapped up and so we left the area with the crowd, but first stopping for a telephone booth picture:






Stopping again at the fountain, I think perhaps we took a potty break at these restrooms as well.





DD6 meanwhile had moved on to dessert:



As we walked through Canada, I decided to have Matt and DS5 go ahead toward Figment while I got in line for some maple popcorn and another shared beer (I can't remember what it was, I feel like it was something hoppy though and was hopeful we would like it!). I waited my turn, placed my order, and between paying & getting my beer (the popcorn was given immediately) the keg popped. The CM alerted the crowd (who were all waiting on the beer) as to what had happened and said you could hang out and wait for it to be switched our be issued a refund. Everyone else got their money back and left, while I waited. Suddenly the CM had been notified of lightning in the area and shut the entire cart down. Wait a minute!! So I had to quick stop a CM and say "uhhh can I get my $14 back?" which unfortunately took a long while but did eventually get sorted out. Only popcorn in tow, I scurried toward Figment to beat both the lightning/rain and re-join Matt & DS5.



We hung out in the after-ride area for a short while, it being after 8pm by this point. We figured we had time for one more ride so made our way to the Land Pavilion and joined the 10 minute standby for Soarin'. By the time we got off it was about 8:45pm and we had promised DS5 a treat so we power-walked as fast as our legs would carry us to France to get some ice cream at L'Artisan des Glaces- only to be greeted with a long line. Doh! While Matt and DS5 held our place in line, I went next door to get some champagne for Matt and I- deciding ultimately on getting the flight. It was so fun watching the CM pour the champagne, he was an absolute pro and filled it to the very brim... my kinda guy! Except then I found myself in the predicament of how exactly am I going to carry these 3 flimsy/cheap plastic champagne flutes that are absolutely to the top filled across the alley to Matt.......

So I took a sip from each til each glass was a bit safer to transport and made my way back to Matt. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

When it was finally our turn to order, we got a Croque Glace with mint ice cream (Matt & DS5's favorite) and a cone - I had asked the CM what their favorite was and they said hazelnut - so that's what I got! Unfortunately, the Croque Glace was NOT enjoyable thanks to the mint ice cream, unfortunately it wasn't the fake mint that we're clearly used to, this tasted like straight up mint leaves that had been chopped up and blended into ice cream We ate it, but none of us really cared for it. Next time I'll try a different flavor!







The hazelnut though was absolutely delicious, and thus taken over by DS5. This guy had once again monopolized our food!



We moseyed our way toward the International Gateway, the fireworks in full swing by this point (we couldn't really see them from the back of France) so we stopped and ate our ice creams while watching the fireworks- in the way back of the crowd so not a spectacular view or anything.



After battling some crowds we were on the Skyliner and back to Art of Animation by 10pm, and after super quick showers & brushing of teeth we were in bed by 10:30pm. What an absolutely amazing day we had!!!

TOTAL STEPS: 24,478 (11.3 miles)

Up next: Monday, August 18th (Day 6)

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Really enjoying your trip report! Sorry if this has been asked already, but where did you get your adorable fanny pack?

You're so sweet! It's a DIY by yours truly Both the bag & the patch were purchased from Amazon and then I used some industrial strength adhesive to glue the patch on to the bag!

Crossbody: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B27HTQGB?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1

Patch: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDTDFSWT?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_15&th=1

All said and done it's < $30 so not bad compared to the pricier inspiration (Stoney Clover)!

 

[lacy1101]

You're so sweet! It's a DIY by yours truly Both the bag & the patch were purchased from Amazon and then I used some industrial strength adhesive to glue the patch on to the bag!

Crossbody: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B27HTQGB?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1

Patch: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDTDFSWT?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_15&th=1

All said and done it's < $30 so not bad compared to the pricier inspiration (Stoney Clover)!

Bravo!

 

[RN_Mama_inFL]

Where we last left off, we were just beginning DS5's special night out with just mom & dad, this time heading to Epcot!

View attachment 1014329


Did you notice the reflection in the background? So cute!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Isn’t it such a treat to get one on one time with your kids? I still feel this way and mine are 23, 21 and 16 LOL but it was especially fun when they were little. The trip my youngest son and I took to WDW when he was 8 was just the best

 

[rdkeim]

Fabulous day! Your family is great at rolling with the punches which is a good thing at Disney How great to do a special evening with your DS. I'm sure he felt special. Thanks for sharing - love all the details!

 

[Stasieki]

Loving your TR!!! Soak it all in just like you are. My girls are now 15 and 19 so our annual trips like this have lessened. They both still love Disney but now with one in college and the other in competitive cheer our annual trips are to high school cheer nationals. Which are fun, but a totally different type of trip.

 

[iHEARTflorida]

Enjoying your TR!!

I might have to make my own custom patch bag now!!!

For Early Entry unless it has changed, we last came May 2025, everyone in your group can come in. We thought the same thing as we had family staying off site but the CMs told us everyone can come in early!!!

 

[disneywlf]

Fantastic TR! Love all of the family moments you have and all of the magic you encountered. Also love your writing style which does an excellent job at being detailed and witty!

On a side note, I know you mentioned seeing a lot of guests experiencing heat exhaustion due to not drinking enough water. When myself and my Mother were at WDW last July (TR to come I have been so behind!), my Mother had to go to First Aid (although me and other CMs had to beg her as she is a trooper!) due to injuring herself getting off of a ride. Thankfully, all was well and my Mother thought all of the CMs did an outstanding job (I agree 110%!), however, when we visited the First Aid Center, we noticed that many of the guests were in there for heat exhaustion thanks to our own observations as well as what the Medic on duty told us. He said the common cause of this heat exhaustion was you guessed it...not drinking enough water. Thankfully, we made sure to have plenty of water with us and since we live in FL these days, we don't mind the heat.

Anyway, wonderful TR. Cannot wait for more!

P.S., Although I am not in the service, I just wanted to add thank you to you and your husband for your service to our country!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Sorry for the hiatus yall - DD6's birthday party is on Saturday so I'm going to try to punch out one more installment before it's go-go-go getting set up for her party!!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Monday, August 18th (Day 6)

This was to be grandma's last full day with us, and we all had LLs that I was rolling up my sleeves and preparing to do whatever I could to get us on at least some of the same rides after scanning in to that first attraction (for our family of 4, Tower of Terror at 9am; my mom's was Frozen Singalong at 9:05). We left the room at our usual 6:45am to be one of the first people in line at the Skyliner, me snapping this picture at 7:06 after I had filled our coffee mug at Landscape of Flavors and re-joined the rest of the crew:





Matt and I were matchy-matchy Chewbacca style!

I can't remember if I mentioned it and I'm too lazy to scroll through the last 7 pages to confirm but for both kids special nights with grandma, she bought them a shoulder buddy at the gift shop: DS5 choosing Baby Groot & DD6 choosing Baby Yoda (yes I realize he is not baby yoda but it's what the kids (and a lot of other people I guess) refer to Grogu as). I borrowed him for a second and posed for a picture while we waited for the Skyliner to open up:



This would be grandma's second ride on the Skyliner, the other night going to Riviera being the first.



After seeing the process I think this also helped 'seal the deal' that renting a 3rd party ECV would probably be her plan for next trip, since she said that in her mind, getting on/off the Skyliner in a scooter was much scarier than it is in real life- having watched a couple people navigating the process without issue.

After our transfer at CBR and then debarking at Disney's Hollywood Studios (& going through security), I had Matt claim our spot in line and then found a CM to inquire where the 'offsite' guests should line up. He said that they don't have a dedicated line (that's a change for us since the last time we stayed offsite in 2023!) and that they queue up with everyone else but are held at certain points within the park where they scan Magic Bands to confirm onsite hotel reservations. Regardless my mom found a place in line on the far right side since she would be 'rope dropping' the ECV scooter rental place and we would be heading for Rise, assuming of course that it wasn't down. I found Matt and the kids in line and we started the process of sunscreening the kids up in order to maximize our waiting around time.



We had a pretty decent spot in line at the tapstiles but because we are cursed, always seem to pick the line with a group in front of us either A) using cell phones or B) having never entered a park before so it takes an hour to scan in the whole group. Not bashing as we all were 'newbs' at some point, it's just comical since it seems to happen to us every rope drop morning, ha!

We were let in at 8am precisely (EE 8:30) but again had a slight delay since ours was one of the slower moving lines so it seemed we already had a hefty crowd in front of us as we entered the park.



We took our usual "shortcut" past Gertie and Indiana Jones (being sure to veer to the left to avoid the stairs with the stroller), and that seemed to help us get ahead of at least some of the masses!





Time stamp on the photo below is 8:06 as we joined the queue, not too shabby!



Before coming to at least a brief pause to snap a picture at 8:09--



We had a weird incident at this Rope Drop though, where we had people budging past us to "re-join their group" (though they didn't say this, it's what we assumed they were doing) but then turning around and going the opposite direction (toward the end of the line) before finally settling in behind us. I thought that was pretty shady since they never re-joined a group and still managed to budge ahead of hundreds of people, but there aren't CM scattered throughout queues so I imagine people just know they can get away with it. Neither we nor the group behind them said anything, and Matt didn't eek out a smelly fart so they won this time - but be warned, next time you might not be so lucky!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

By 8:22am we were in the pre-show area with BB8 & Rey, I love how Rise consistently opens long before the park is officially open!!!







I can't remember if I've mentioned this in previous TRs but Matt is convinced (and therefore has also convinced the kids) that mom has a massive crush on Kylo Ren (I don't) so any time we see him in the movies or on the ride or walking around DHS the kids & Matt haaaaave to heckle me and go 'oooh mom look, it's your BOYFRIEND' this time being no exception as he assured us he would return to deal with us personally.

We had a great ride and were off by 8:37, so 7 minutes into EE. Woohoo!



After Rise we decided to leave Galaxies Edge (first being yelled at by CM because as we were leaving the tunnel back toward Muppets 3D (RIP) we didn't realize we were going the wrong way down a (temporary) One Way street as the CM were there scanning Magic Bands for early entry- whoops!) and head to Tower of Terror for a 2nd ride during our Early Entry time.



Posted standby was 13 minutes, so a walk on! I love this ride so much.



By 8:53 it was our turn to ride!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

And we got front row again, woohoo!!!!!





After debarking Tower of Terror it was after 9am by this point, but since we had just ridden it I didn't want to immediately scan right in again.. but I needed to in order to get my mom and our LLs even somewhat matched up.. but upon looking at the available LL return times I realized there wasn't a shot in hell that I could even remotely get us matched up, so I put on my brave girl pants and stopped at a blue umbrella to do the unthinkable (for me)..... ask a CM if there was ANY way they could work some magic and help a girl out. I explained to the nice CM (Josh from Palm Springs, CA!) that grandma surprised the kids last minute but is an offsite guest so couldn't book LLs 7 days out and that I had been trying my darndest to figure out a way to get us on some rides together and he basically cut me off (nicely), waved his magic wand (iPad) and got my mom added to our 3 existing LLs. OMG. As if it was totally nothing, he was able to do what I couldn't seem to figure out and I was almost brought to tears I was so thankful!!!!! What a special way to send my mom off (and certainly saved me lots of phone time & headaches!). Though as I type this out and cross-reference what we HAD booked & the order we ended up riding, I'm thinking he must have had to shuffle some things around because it was previously arranged like this:

9:05am - Tower of Terror
10:05am - Toy Story Mania
11:05am - Slinky Dog Dash

But we ended up riding in a different order (Toy Story Mania, then Tower, then SDD)... so I surmise that must have been what happened. Either way, I was thrilled!

I thanked him profusely and then made my way back to my family, Matt first stopping at Trolley Car Cafe for a coffee while me my mom and the kids joined the ECV entrance for Frozen. My mom had scanned in but didn't actually join the queue, but we were in the area and weren't in a huge rush to our next LL so we figured it was a good use of the next 20 minutes or so. Since we had the scooter we were in the very front row which actually isn't as nice as it sounds for his one LOL because you basically have to crane your neck to look up at them- though we did get some special waves & eye contact for being so close to the Arendelle Historians and Elsa/Anna/Kristoff etc.!










My mom really loved this one! She was laughing along (the historians are always a hoot!) and had a great time. After Frozen, DS5 was whining that he was STARVING so I took out some of the pb&j Uncrustables from our Walmart order that I had packed to tame the beast.


OH that's one thing I forgot to mention -- Before our trip I had bought on Amazon a PackIt Freezable lunch/snack bag. It's super compact so doesn't take a ton of space (which is nice) but held what we needed it to - a couple yogurt/applesauce pouches and a (frozen) Uncrustable sandwich or two.



I like that it has the buckle so we would either clip it right to the stroller handle or throw it in the basket of the stroller. Every night after a day in the parks we'd throw it in the freezer compartment of the 'beverage cooler' in our room and then the morning we'd take out the bag & a frozen uncrustable or two, pop 'em in the bag and were on our way. It kept them cool all morning! This is also what we brought our plane snacks in- so it fit two pb&j sandwiches & 2 sliced apples in ziploc baggies, keeping them cool from 4:30am CST to at least 11:30am EST. Works like a charm!


Anyway, after DS5 had finished his mid-morning snack, we headed toward another first for my mom - Toy Story land as a whole!



After scanning in to TSM I booked us for a 8:20pm LL for Remy's, since our plan was to hop to Epcot that night. It was funny, I must have somehow snagged the very last Remy's LL because after I booked us on that one it immediately went to "no further return times available" or whatever verbiage it says. Score!

The TSM pairings were DD6 + grandma, DS5 + Matt, and poor little ol' Bethany was all by her lonesome!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

I beat the pants off my opponent though!



After TSM we took a brief potty break, and then spotted a PhotoPass CM doing pictures in the area between Toy Story Land and Galaxies Edge so we hopped in line and waited our turn!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

 

[MamaMouse0920]

As you can see we got the mother load of all magic shots!! For some reason I didn't get this CM's name but I wish I would have, she was SO thorough!!!

After our mini photo shoot we made our way back into Andy's backyard since I had mobile ordered us an early lunch (it was 10:45am by this point), first pausing to say hi to Buzz, at DS5's request:



Finding a table was no picnic, but somehow between the 3 adults all scouring the area like vultures we finally got a table big enough for our group and tucked into our lunch- grilled cheese + tomato soup for the kids to share & a brisket totchos for the adults.



Look at that cheese pull!

After we finished our lunch we made our way back to Sunset Boulevard to scan in for Tower of Terror! A running joke in our family is that despite all our years going to Disney World my mom has NEVER ridden Tower of Terror due to a multitude of reasons/it just working out that way, but I think the main one was just the timing of her 4 pregnancies and us very rarely going to parks other than MK since it was our favorite park as kids. We were about to change that today!

As we parked the stroller I happened to spot TJ was the CM working at the entrance to the queue and of course had to ask him if we could pose for a picture, which he happily obliged!



I'd like to point out that he is the one that suggested we stand there with the Hollywood Tower Hotel sign in the background, I didn't force him to squint with no sunglasses on, ha!!! That was his own doing!

We said goodbye and scanned in, the kids super excited to sit on either side of grandma for this one!







For someone who claims to love this ride, he sure is holding on to grandma for dear life!!!

After Tower of Terror we made our way BACK to Andy's backyard for our Slinky Dog Dash LL.





After Slinky Dog it was about 12:30 by this point so we decided a 2nd lunch (+ an AC break) was in order, so we stopped inside ABC Commissary though they didn't have any food (more specifically we wanted some sort of a drinky treat (milkshake, slushy, etc.) that I'd promised the kids) we wanted, so I ended up ordering from Backlot and bringing it back to ABC since we'd already parked the stroller & claimed a table.