There's Always Too Much Sauce - A July 2022 TR *Updated 3/23

[suse66]

Thank goodness Landon and Evie were 100% done after the second go on Everest.

Landon got off saying, “It was still fun BUT I’M DONE.”

Love the look on Landon's face! It's awesome to ride EE twice when you have never been on it before.

But man, did the ice cream sure hit the spot. Sharing a cone was just enough to satisfy our sweet tooth without feeling bogged down with sugar. And sometimes, a simple ice cream is just what you need.

I am pretty sure ice cream is a food group.

And Landon knew what he wanted.

“Mom, can we please, please, PLEASE go ride Flight of Passage again?”



Alex smirked at me. He’s always up for adventure, especially if it’s at the end of the night and we’re trying to forget its closing time.


“Evie, are you really up for another coaster?”

“Yeah, yeah!”

Go Landon! He knows just what he wants.

“You guys realize the wait is going to be over an hour long. If we do this, you can’t complain, can’t tell us you’re tired of standing, can’t say you want to leave after a few minutes. Do you two think you can handle that?”



They both agreed that they could. Landon even whipped out their notebooks and pens packed in his backpack and proclaimed, “We’ll draw while we wait!”


How could I say no?

Impossible to say no to that!

The wait really was over an hour, and the kids were champions the entire time. In fact, it was at this point in the trip that I realized Landon hadn’t complained about ANYTHING. Never once did he say his feet hurt, talk about how hot it was, how long the lines were.

He was the perfect theme park companion.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, phased him. Rain or shine, hot or cold, busy or empty, he was game for everything.

Landon is an awesome park buddy!

“Landon, the way you’re acting, I have to ask….is Animal Kingdom now your favorite park???”


“It might be.”


YESSSS.


My job was done.

I’d successfully brought both kids over to the side of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Right there with you...nothing better than AK!

Alex and I needed to run to Publix and get some more eggs and fruit for the AirBnB, and while we were there we got some Pub subs for lunch. While there is nothing extraordinary about these subs, I like to get them occasionally for the nostalgia factor. I used to live in Central Florida, and my high school was right behind a Publix supermarket. Freshman year, my friends and I would sometimes stop in after school and buy a sub before walking across the street to the beach.

Sometimes something simple is perfect.

The TM entered the number in our app into several different systems and finally something pulled up. She was able to see our transaction!


Hooray!

That's great news!

We both ate a peanut butter chocolate donut, and oh my gosh it was delicious! It must have been fresh, because it was super soft and gooey, practically dissolved in my mouth.

The following day, I enjoyed the coconut cake donut with a cup of coffee, and I really liked that one too. Highly recommend both of them.

Both of those sound delicious!

 

[amazingact21]

April Plans:


Now that’s it’s 2023, and I need a break from thinking about our move this summer, I thought I’d come here and talk a little more about my trip plans.


This April, I’m flying back to Florida solo to run the Springtime Surprise Challenge. My mom will be joining me for the trip, so that we can have a Mom/Daughter vacation.



Now that plans are starting to come together, I’m getting really excited for the trip. I’m a little worried about how much move craziness I’ll be leaving and returning to, but hopefully I’ll be able to leave all that behind while I’m in Walt Disney World.


My training is going well, and I think I should be more than ready to run 19.3 miles over 3 days.



Our dates for the trip are April 12-19. I think I feel more guilty about leaving the kids for an entire week than they do. They told me back when I registered for the races that they were fine with me going, so long as I brought back the Dory medal.

And while I’m gone Alex has tentative plans to take the kids to Legoland with a friend and his two kids, the four of whom all get along great. So, while I’ll be missed, the kids will be consoled with theme park rides of their own.




Originally, my mom and I were going to do a split stay at the Beach Club and Shades of Green, but the closer we got to the trip, the more I could tell my mom was stressing about moving resorts. It was something she really didn’t want to have to worry about.

So, when Disney released their 25% off Springtime Deal, I did some digging and discovered we could stay at another resort for just a little more than we paid for the other resorts.

Which resort are we now staying at for the entire week?



Wilderness Lodge!!!



I haven’t gotten to this part of the trip report yet, but Alex and I LOVED our stay at WL. To the point where we regretted switching to the Swan, which is saying something because I love the Swan.

My mom really wanted to stay at a new to her resort, and I think she is going to love Wilderness Lodge. When I told her about possibly being able to switch, her eyes lit up on FaceTime.

I know she would have loved being able to walk to Epcot, and I’m sure we’d adore the Beach Club, but I think, secretively, my mom wanted to try Wilderness Lodge.



It’s too early to book dining reservations, and I’ve been dropping the ball and haven’t bought our tickets yet, therefore haven’t booked park pass reservations, but these are our tentative plans:



April 12th: My flight lands late evening, so I am not doing anything on this day. I’ll grab some Chick Fil A from the airport for dinner and find a way to get to property. I haven’t decided if I will Uber or use Mears Connect. I have zero experience with both, so any recommendations???

My mom will be driving down, so she’ll get there much earlier than me. (It would stress her out too much to pick me up from the airport so that’s why I’m not having her do that.) She hasn’t told me what she’s planning for this day, whether she will hang out at the resort or venture somewhere else on property.




April 13th: This is packet pickup day for the races. Disney’s Animal Kingdom is looking like it’s opening at 8:30 for resort guests, so I am thinking of starting our day in that park. I want to ride FOP, and both of us want to go on the Safari and see FotLK. Then, I’ll try and get us an early lunch at Satu’li Canteen. (With sauce on the side!!!)


After lunch, I’ll head to ESPN for my bibs and to check out the expo. I don’t have any desire to buy any merchandise so this should be quick and easy.


Then, for the evening, I’m thinking my mom and I will head over to Epcot. The Flower and Garden Festival will be happening, so a spin on my mom’s favorite attraction (Soarin’) and munching on various dishes at the Festival booths sounds perfect. Because it’s the 5K the following day, I don’t need to worry too much about what I eat, so grabbing whatever suits our fancy will be just fine.


Naturally, every night of race weekend will be an early one for me. I hope to be in bed by 8:30 (which if I don’t get acclimated to US time will be 1:30 a.m. back home).




April 14th: This is the day of the 5K, so I’ll be up in the wee hours of the morning. After returning from the race and showering, my mom and I will head to Hollywood Studios for a little while. We probably won’t do much this morning, maybe Mickey and Minnie’s and Frozen Sing along.

Then, the hope is to have lunch at Beaches and Cream.

Because a No Way Jose sounds like just the thing to celebrate completing my first race and just the right preparation for the 10K.





The afternoon and evening will be up in the air from here. Either my mom and I will head into Epcot, go back to DHS, or go back to WL.

My mother in-law mentioned wanting to meet up with me on this day, so I don’t want to plan too much in case she comes over.


And again, I’ll be tucked up and drifting off to la-la land nice and early.





April 15th:

10K Day!

This is going to be my down day. I’m not planning on doing anything other than the race and resting up for the final run the following morning. I envision lots of time spent laying around the pool and lots of napping.

My mom is still deciding on whether or not she wants to go into the park this day.

And hopefully on this day, I’ll finally try Geyser Point!





April 16th:

The 10 Miler!

Needless to say, this is all I’ll be focusing on this day. After I complete the run, I’ll hobble back to Wilderness Lodge, shower, and crash. After a hopefully restorative nap, I plan on doing laundry and resting.

Then, that afternoon, my mom and I will (so long as we get an ADR) eat our celebration dinner.

Do I even need to say where???



Give me all the pizza and tiramisu at Via Napoli.





April 17th:

Because this is our first of only two full park days, I’m dedicating the entire day to the Magic Kingdom. My mom and I will spend our morning in the park, then head over to the Contemporary for lunch at Steakhouse 71.


Spoiler for my next trip report update: I love this restaurant. So much. And cannot wait to eat there again.









Later this night, there has been talk of doing the fireworks dessert party, since Happily Ever After will be back.




My mom is on board, so why not?



If you’re seeing a theme on this trip, you’re not wrong. My mom and I have joked that we are planning our trip around all the best desserts. Give us all the sugar!

Ice cream sundaes, tiramisu, Magic Kingdom cupcakes, and we will have to share our classic Disney treat, a Dole Whip.


I’m worried there will be an After Hours Party at the MK this evening, so getting a reserved spot for the fireworks might be a smart idea. Not having to stand with the masses on Main Street sounds worth the price of the party.




April 18th:

If the Magic Kingdom gets its own full day, then it’s only fair to give Hollywood Studios the same treatment. There’s so much in this park my mom has not done before, so we are going to bite the big one and buy Genie Plus this day. I want my mom to experience Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Slinky Dog Dash, and all of Galaxy’s Edge.

I kind of want to book us a nice meal on this day, since it our final day of the trip, but I’m not sure where I want. We’ve both eaten at 50’s before, and neither of us feel the need to go back again. Sci Fi is mostly burgers, and it’s not conducive to having a conversation.

There’s Hollywood Brown Derby, but aside from the Cobb salad, I’m not sure what else is offered there.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Go with Brown Derby? Leave property for somewhere else? Skip a sit down meal and focus on attractions?




April 19th:

This is an interesting day for me. My mom will head out early for her drive home, but my flight back to England doesn’t leave until nighttime. I don’t have to leave for the airport until 3 o’clock.

That leaves me almost half a day to figure out what to do. While also taking into account I won’t have access to a shower to clean myself up and will be reliant on the plane to sleep. If I can’t rest on the flight, then I’ll be running on fumes once I land, tube into London, and getting onto my train back home, then walking to my house.

I did this last year, and I know I can’t have a wild day then not sleep for over 24hours and still navigate all those hoops.

So I have to be careful with my plans.

Alex suggested I rest up in my room until late morning, go have breakfast at Steakhouse 71, then walk over to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours.

He’s a smart guy.



This idea sounds wonderful, but I’m still on the fence about buying a park ticket for this day. What if I decide I want to hang out at the resort and soak up the sun by the pool? Or maybe head to Disney Springs? I don’t want to buy a park ticket if I’m not sure I’ll go into one. And on that same vein, I don’t want to stress about going into a park if it’s not what I want to do.



In addition to these plans, when Gideon’s Bakehouse releases their cake schedule for the month, I’m planning on running over to Disney Springs and buying a slice of their chocolate peanut butter cake whenever that day may be.



Like I said, this is a trip of desserts.

Running and sugar.


I like this plan.




Up Next: Squint Through the Pain, We Need These Classic Photos!

 

[NJlauren]

April sounds fun!!

I enjoyed brown derby with DD last year, it was a nice meal, but I had the Cobb salad!

 

[rdkeim]

Your April trip sounds fabulous! I appreciate your dedication to train for all that running! Oh, to be young and in shape. The races are a great excuse to spend time in WDW. I haven't stayed in all the resorts but quite a few. WL is my fav - enjoy your time there! I think your Mom will love it. Anxious to hear where you and your family are moving to.....

 

[Woth2982]

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I love the Yachtsman Steakhouse! Near by and a very nice meal! I also hear the steakhouse at Swan is pretty good too

I won’t have access to a shower to clean myself up

The pool locker rooms have showers!

 

[vamassey1]

My training is going well, and I think I should be more than ready to run 19.3 miles over 3 days.

I'm so in awe of you.

Our dates for the trip are April 12-19. I think I feel more guilty about leaving the kids for an entire week than they do. They told me back when I registered for the races that they were fine with me going, so long as I brought back the Dory medal.

You deserve this. The kids are finally at the age where you can do this, so do it. Mommy/daughter time is important.

Wilderness Lodge!!!

I'm so jelly. This is on my bucket list.

I haven’t decided if I will Uber or use Mears Connect. I have zero experience with both, so any recommendations???

I used Mears connect last year on my solo trip. It was easy to book online. I booked both ways not knowing what Danielle's schedule would be. She ended up being able to come get me, but she had not even left for the airport when we landed so I told her to wait and meet me at the room. I didn't want her to get flustered either. She is now an expert at the airport having flown a few times herself and dopped off and picked up friends from there. I will I had let her come get me. It took a long time to get to my resort since it was the last on the route. I've read reviews where others didn't have this issue. You know when you get there you just want to be at the resort asap. I didn't have any issues on the way back and I didn't wait long at all to board the bus to the resorts.

Naturally, every night of race weekend will be an early one for me. I hope to be in bed by 8:30 (which if I don’t get acclimated to US time will be 1:30 a.m. back home).

Great day plans and yes you need your sleep.

Then, the hope is to have lunch at Beaches and Cream.

Because a No Way Jose sounds like just the thing to celebrate completing my first race and just the right preparation for the 10K.

Love Beaches and Cream and I have yet to get the No Way Jose. Eat some for me too.

10K Day!

Good Luck!

The 10 Miler!

More Good Luck!

Give me all the pizza and tiramisu at Via Napoli.

Great reward. Dennis wants to eat here too on our trip.

My mom and I will spend our morning in the park, then head over to the Contemporary for lunch at Steakhouse 71.

Another place on my list.

Later this night, there has been talk of doing the fireworks dessert party, since Happily Ever After will be back.

I'm down for it too and so is Danielle.

There’s Hollywood Brown Derby, but aside from the Cobb salad, I’m not sure what else is offered there.

I ate here for the first time last April. We enjoyed it but I didn't like the blue cheese on the Cobb, Danielle liked it. The have good appetizers, you could do that too. If you're really hungry and like BBQ, Wood's Round Up will be open too.

Alex suggested I rest up in my room until late morning, go have breakfast at Steakhouse 71, then walk over to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours.

He’s a smart guy.

I like this idea.

Or maybe head to Disney Springs? I don’t want to buy a park ticket if I’m not sure I’ll go into one.

I would have trouble springing for a park ticket if I didn't know for sure too. I also like some Disney Springs time especially if you're getting something from Gideon's.

 

[afwdwfan]

WHAT?!?!
Oh noooooo!
That's the only thing Alex likes from Via Napoli. It's going to be really hard to convince him to go back again now.

Unfortunately... seems to have been replaced on the menu by the piccante pizza - Italian spicy sausage. I looked around when we ate, but all I could see seemed to be margherita or quattro formaggi pizzas.

Speaking of your trip, how was it?!

It was really great. We did a lot more than I ever expected we'd do and got lucky with booking some good ADRs. Definitely used Genie+ to it's fullest. We got a little bit too ambitious when we tried to watch the MK NYE firework show at 6:30 then hop to EPCOT for WS and the midnight fireworks there. EPCOT was actually way more crowded than MK was when we left there and it was just too much.... we decided to leave at about 10 when DW had a longer wait for the restroom and any ride we had been on all day.

That and we had both had plenty to drink by then and knew we wanted to be up early the next morning.

Skipping Genie Plus is worth considering if only for the fact that you have to wake up early to make your first selection.

It’s cruel, Disney!

I get that Genie+ is a big revenue stream and it isn't going away. I will concede that point to Disney. But for the love of God, could they make it a little bit more user friendly at least?????

She had to manually go in and enter all four numbers into a new page to get our tickets printed and ready to go, but thankfully she was a good sport about it. She never grew impatient and worked all the angles she could until she came up with a solution.

I'm glad that you were able to find a good TM willing to take the time and resolve your problem!

(Foreshadowing??? Nah, while the possible list is slightly smaller, we’re still waiting to find out where we’re going.)

I hope you get some answers soon. And get to be somewhere you want to be!

In the past, I have planned down days, but we end up doing so much that it’s not really “resting.” But this time, I felt like we were successful in saving our energy.

That's great! I struggle with rest days.

Some Gideon’s cookies for dessert, and I felt like we were ready to go to bed and hit another park day, hard. And we needed to be, because the time had come for us to FINALLY go to the Magic Kingdom.

Only 5 days into the trip.

About time!

My training is going well, and I think I should be more than ready to run 19.3 miles over 3 days.

In addition to the 29.34 miles you're going to walk each day?

So, when Disney released their 25% off Springtime Deal, I did some digging and discovered we could stay at another resort for just a little more than we paid for the other resorts.

Sounds good!

Wilderness Lodge!!!

Sounds great!!!! We ended our quick trip with breakfast at Whispering Canyon. We spent an hour or so just walking around the resort afterwards. Still my favorite. And it was still decorated for Christmas!

My mom will be driving down, so she’ll get there much earlier than me. (It would stress her out too much to pick me up from the airport so that’s why I’m not having her do that.)

I can understand that.... although Orlando really isn't too difficult with the phone lot.

Because a No Way Jose sounds like just the thing to celebrate completing my first race and just the right preparation for the 10K.

Running then eating a half gallon of ice cream. This can't end badly in any way!

Gotta say, No Way Jose is like my holy grail of Disney desserts. I want one sooo bad. It just never works out. We actually snagged an ADR there on New Year's Day. But we also wanted to go to Oga's Cantina and the ADR I was finally able to snag there was for the same time. We were adults. We didn't have kids with us. Alcohol won.

Then, that afternoon, my mom and I will (so long as we get an ADR) eat our celebration dinner.

I got one for 2 people on New Years Day at 2 weeks out. I'm confident you will be able to get one, especially at 60+ days. Enjoy that pizza!!!!

Because this is our first of only two full park days, I’m dedicating the entire day to the Magic Kingdom.

WHAT????? I think you spelled Animal wrong?

If you’re seeing a theme on this trip, you’re not wrong. My mom and I have joked that we are planning our trip around all the best desserts. Give us all the sugar!

I'm not judging. I think I gained 6 pounds after 2 days there!

Does anyone have any suggestions?

If nothing else at DHS is really calling your name, you could always do Woody's Roundup BBQ... It's actually opening the day we'll be in DHS. I kind of want to check it out, but my sister is going with us and the ONLY thing she requested for the trip was Sci Fi.

This idea sounds wonderful, but I’m still on the fence about buying a park ticket for this day. What if I decide I want to hang out at the resort and soak up the sun by the pool? Or maybe head to Disney Springs? I don’t want to buy a park ticket if I’m not sure I’ll go into one. And on that same vein, I don’t want to stress about going into a park if it’s not what I want to do.

Look. Yes, you can go to Disney Springs and get some good desserts from Gideons. But how often do you get to sleep just a short boat ride away from the Magic Kingdom? And how often do you get to walk down Main Street USA, just by yourself? You get to decide what to do. Want to ride pirates? Want to sit and people watch after you grab a sundae at the plaza? Want to go ride BTMRR back to back? You decide what you want to do! You don't have to worry about what anybody else likes or wants. Just buy the extra park day and enjoy the independence in one of your favorite places in the world.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Loving all the updates and plans. So glad you got the ticket debacle sorted.
I’m with Alex on your last day adventures. We love getting every last moment out of our trips and always end up popping into Epcot for one last snack/drink/soak up every last bit of atmosphere possible!
Pro tip - stick some baby wipes in your bag to freshen up with before heading for the airport. You’ll be amazed at how much they help make you feel clean ( or at least less sweaty lol).
Have you eaten in Mama Melroses in HS?
I love the atmosphere and even though the fussiest eater youngest child doesn’t like the menu ( bread rolls and dessert for him) the rest of us always find the food good. Pizza, pasta and the steak are all pretty decent plus it’s cool in there and has sparkly lights so what’s not to love.
I’m in awe of you running all rose races and wishing you luck for each and every oneYou’ll bring back that medal for sure

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I'm finally catching up!

Love the rest of your AK day. I also absolutely hate blind bag toys, but the kids think they're fun. There's one brand of surprise doll that they love which, of course, was super unpopular and only had one set release. So, every Christmas and Easter, Santa and the bunny are scouring the internet to find stuff from the brand the kids don't already have. They have, like, a set of quads and maybe 3 triplet sets of the dolls, but being an ID set themselves, they think it's fun rather than being disappointed with duplicates.

I'm so impressed that your kids tolerated the whole FoP line!! There should be a spot in the baby book, somewhere after first day of school, for first hour plus line that didn't leave one of you in tears.

Good job resting on your rest day. We still don't really know what one of those entails. Parkstormers all the way!

April sounds amazing, I'm incredibly jealous! I think a 10 miler is the perfect distance run. I'll take a half, but a 10 feels like an accomplishment without overdoing it. With my chemo (I'll be fine, my cancer has an extremely high cure rate), we had to cancel our Spring Break trip entirely. Can't be hopping on an airplane when you've essentially got no immune system. Boo!

 

[TEAMJACOB]

I'll be at WDW from April 15 through 20th.
MK on the 15th
AK on the 16th
EPCOT on 17th
HS on 18th
EPCOT on 19th

I'll look for you. Would love to say hi.
Good luck in all your races.
I have used both Uber and Mears. Both are fine. If you want to save money, Mears. If you want to save time, Uber.

Safe journey.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

With my chemo (I'll be fine, my cancer has an extremely high cure rate), we had to cancel our Spring Break trip entirely. Can't be hopping on an airplane when you've essentially got no immune system. Boo!

Wishing you the very best of luck with your treatment. Chemo really can take a toll but hang in there. So glad your prognosis is great and hopefully you’ll be booking a trip before you know it

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Wishing you the very best of luck with your treatment. Chemo really can take a toll but hang in there. So glad your prognosis is great and hopefully you’ll be booking a trip before you know it

Assuming things go according to schedule, chemo ends when school lets out, so the kids and I will be equally looking forward to summer break! We've got a San Diego/ Disneyland for August that we're hoping to keep on the books. Fingers crossed!!!

 

[suse66]

This April, I’m flying back to Florida solo to run the Springtime Surprise Challenge. My mom will be joining me for the trip, so that we can have a Mom/Daughter vacation.

So nice that you are having this special time together!

My training is going well, and I think I should be more than ready to run 19.3 miles over 3 days.

Wow!!!

Wilderness Lodge!!!

Yay!!!! Nothing better.

And hopefully on this day, I’ll finally try Geyser Point!

Yes!!!

Give me all the pizza and tiramisu at Via Napoli.

On my list with the twins in August.

This idea sounds wonderful, but I’m still on the fence about buying a park ticket for this day. What if I decide I want to hang out at the resort and soak up the sun by the pool? Or maybe head to Disney Springs? I don’t want to buy a park ticket if I’m not sure I’ll go into one. And on that same vein, I don’t want to stress about going into a park if it’s not what I want to do.

So there are free cabanas by the Boulder Ridge pool. Grab one of those earlyish, spend a pool morning, have lunch delivered to your Cabana from Geyser Point and generally soak in all the WL beauty.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Assuming things go according to schedule, chemo ends when school lets out, so the kids and I will be equally looking forward to summer break! We've got a San Diego/ Disneyland for August that we're hoping to keep on the books. Fingers crossed!!!

I’m crossing everything for you that all goes ahead. Chemo is tiring but there’s something very special about finally getting to the end of it that deserves celebrating. Wishing you the very best of luck

 

[DL1WDW2]

It really helps the room not feel like a disaster. Keeps them organized and Gwen loves having them on display. Which is nice, since we probably already spent her college tuition on plushies.


We let the girls sit next to each other one trip. Once. Problem is they both want to sit with me! Poor Andy gets the short stick.


She is just living her best vacation life!


See!!! it's what makes her vacation a vacation!


Oh no!!!! I would have pancied big time!


Why? Why does this have to be so difficult?! I know they want to verify you are military but come on? That is silly!

Oh Boy!!! Morgan gets car sick, thankfully no plane sickness. Is it always after he get off the plane?


Seriously if only we could be fired sometimes.... Not from being there mom but from all the chores that come with it.


I almost always bring shorts for us in our carryon. And I always have to pee when we land, as I try NOT to use the bathroom on the plane. So those pants some off almost immediately of landing in Florida!!! The humidity hits you hard when you take those first steps outside!!!


Well, thankfully, I know you guys make it to the parks so I know you resolve the ticket issue somehow.... hopefully it wasn't too much of a pain!!!

We had a little bit of this issue on this trip, as well. Usually, Evie goes with Alex and Landon with me, but there were a lot of rides where Evie started crying because she wanted to sit next to me. We had to start implementing a take turn system. One ride with one kid, the next with the other...




I can definitely see Evie going to Disney just for the food when she's older.




What's funny about it, too, is that most people in the states can go to their base's ticket center and get their tickets. So the majority of people using Shades are last minute guests and international members.




This was the first time he'd ever done that! He was still battling a lot of congestion due to Covid, so I think it was just hard to get his equilibrium back. But because it was a new occurrence we weren't expecting it!




Right!
Here lately, my kids have been bad about walking right past Alex to ask me to do something. Usually when I'm in the middle of a task, too. And Alex just has to stop them and say, "I'm LITERALLY right here. Why couldn't you ask me?"




I thought about bringing shorts, but we only brought backpacks and there wasn't a lot of space left in them. Why we didn't grab shorts after we retrieved our bags, though, I don't know. Exhaustion muddled my brain.




I always forget what an ordeal flying international is, until I'm trying to do it again. I do look forward to when I'm living stateside again and it's not SUCH a long trip to get home.




I suppose with as much as Alex and I travel and drop the ball on important details, we have conditioned ourselves to going with the flow. I think our reaction might have been worse if we were already in Florida and were trying to fix the issue, immediately. As it was, we just had to sit back and wait.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I think I am lost in this fun trip report But that’s ok

And did I miss Universal part of your vacation ?
You had me at box of VooDoos so I can wait …
No sauce to worry about on donuts!

 

[cindianne320]

I'm so glad Universal was able to fix everything! And I know all about those ticket windows- we had group tickets last May and no one could seem to help us. The sun was not my friend!

Your April trip sounds AMAZING! <3

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

This morning of the trip was glorious, if for no other reason than the fact that Alex and I didn’t have to set an alarm for 6:55 a.m. Skipping Genie Plus is worth considering if only for the fact that you have to wake up early to make your first selection.

This... This is why I don't like Genie+!!! But it is what it is...

She had to manually go in and enter all four numbers into a new page to get our tickets printed and ready to go, but thankfully she was a good sport about it. She never grew impatient and worked all the angles she could until she came up with a solution.

Glad she was able to figure it out for you guys!!! Tickets aren't cheap! Even with your discount. It's not like forgetting toothpaste!

I’d say, start to finish, it took almost an hour to sort out.

That is a long time!

We both ate a peanut butter chocolate donut, and oh my gosh it was delicious! It must have been fresh, because it was super soft and gooey, practically dissolved in my mouth.

I think that is the key, they need to be fresh!

In the past, I have planned down days, but we end up doing so much that it’s not really “resting.” But this time, I felt like we were successful in saving our energy.

This is an art that we have not mastered yet!

Our dates for the trip are April 12-19. I think I feel more guilty about leaving the kids for an entire week than they do.

This is so true! The mom guilt is so real!

Wilderness Lodge!!!

YEAH!!! That will be nice!

Later this night, there has been talk of doing the fireworks dessert party, since Happily Ever After will be back.

That will be nice as well!!! Which one do you think you will do, pre-post or during?

Does anyone have any suggestions? Go with Brown Derby? Leave property for somewhere else? Skip a sit down meal and focus on attractions?

Hmmm... This is tricky, we tend to leave HS for dinner. But if you are only doing one day you probably don't want to do that. What about the Brown Derby lounge?

Alex suggested I rest up in my room until late morning, go have breakfast at Steakhouse 71, then walk over to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours.

He’s a smart guy.

Smart guy indeed!

In addition to these plans, when Gideon’s Bakehouse releases their cake schedule for the month, I’m planning on running over to Disney Springs and buying a slice of their chocolate peanut butter cake whenever that day may be.

Although, it does sound like you a leaning towards a Disney Springs day. Shopping as you want with no kids sound really nice as well!

 

[piglet1979]

Our dates for the trip are April 12-19. I think I feel more guilty about leaving the kids for an entire week than they do. They told me back when I registered for the races that they were fine with me going, so long as I brought back the Dory medal.

I am just missing you. We leave early on the 13th.

And while I’m gone Alex has tentative plans to take the kids to Legoland with a friend and his two kids, the four of whom all get along great. So, while I’ll be missed, the kids will be consoled with theme park rides of their own.

This will be a good distraction for the kids. I am sure they will have a great time.

I have zero experience with both, so any recommendations???

We are using Tiffany's town car to get to the resort but will Uber/Lyft back to the airport. This is the first time we will be flying so this is new to us and I can't give a review at the moment. I have heard people on here talk about them though and seem to like them.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We are using Tiffany's town car to get to the resort but will Uber/Lyft back to the airport. This is the first time we will be flying so this is new to us and I can't give a review at the moment. I have heard people on here talk about them though and seem to like them.

We used Tiffany last year. And they were great. The car is parked basically right by baggage claims. So it was GREAT!!! But it might feel a bit much for just one person.

@amazingact21 - An uber / lyft might be the way to go as one person.