There's No Place Like Home......

[thornton0511]

There's No Place Like Home......


Disney home that is!

Hey there and welcome everyone to my 3rd TR here on the DIS!! After a first ever trip to Disneyland this summer we decided that a fall trip back to our familiar Disney World was a must do! Yes that means that we received a double dose of Disney this year ,which is awesome within itself, but after finally taking the plunge to go out west where it all began it left us with a void that could only be filled by making a trip back to our Disney home in Florida. And who wants to walk around feeling like that anyways? Thanks to free dining, and some budget magic that I worked on our Disneyland adventure, we were able to make this awesomeness happen and reunite with our favorite.

If you have followed along before on my adventures welcome back . You know what you are getting into And if this is your first time here hi there and I am so glad that you found me!

Everytime we travel to Disney we try to make it a whole new experience for us and I can tell you that this one was no different....I mean it was different from the others.....it was no different from making our other trips different.....oh good grief nevermind.

What I am not successfully trying to say is that I would love to have you follow along with me on our new family adventure full of new experiences and well as some old familiars. This trip was unlike any other we have had! ​

 

[thornton0511]

Table of Contents​

Introductions
A Double Dose of Disney
Oh The Excitement of it All
And So It Begins
Friday August 29th​

DAY1: SATURDAY AUGUST 30TH​

Travel Time!
Taking the Express……the Magical Express
Falling in Love with POR and Checking In
The Room Reveal
Lunch at Riverside Mill
A New Adventure Awaits
Luggage and Toe Hiccup and a Boat Ride to DTD
Dinner at DTD
And They Call Him YEHAA Bob!​

DAY2: SUNDAY AUGUST 31ST​

Sassagoula Floatworks for a Breakfast Treat
Frozen Summer Fun at HS
Rope Drop and TSMM
A Family First….Tower of Terror
A Rebel Spy and more Frozen Fun
Checking in to Coronado
Even Disney World is Not Always Perfect
Thornton Family and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day
The Never Ending Saga of Disney Technology
Dinner at Sci Fi
More Frozen Summer Fun….and FAKE SNOW IN SEPT?!​

DAY3: MONDAY SEPT 1ST​

It's Epcot Day! It's Epcot Day! Hooray Hooray It's Epcot Day!!
Mexico and Norway
"San.....Ni.....Ichi"
Lunch at Tokyo Dining
No Time to Say Hello, Goodbye I’m Late, I’m Late, I’m Late!!!!
Dinner at Ohana and Fireworks on the Beach​

DAY4: TUESDAY SEPT 2ND​

An Early Start to a Very Magical Kingdom Day
A Star Stuck Momma, More Fun Rides, and a DH Reunited with his Happy Place
A Perfect Afternoon in MK Part 1
A Perfect Afternoon in MK Part 2
Back to Magic Kingdom for an Evening of Fun!
Back to Magic Kingdom for an Evening of Fun! Part 2​

DAY5: WEDNESDAY SEPT 3RD​

Crying Uncle
Lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express
Disney Quest
More Disney Quest Fun
Spending an Entire Afternoon at DQ
Hanging out in Downtown Disney
Dinner at Peppermarket
A Disney Surprise that Melted my Heart​

DAY6: THURSDAY SEPT 4th

Rope Drop at Mk....of Sorts
Baby Elephants and Mermaids
More Fun and Lunch at Casey's
When Meeting Royalty
The One Where I Don't Have to Throw Someone Off Splash Mountain
Magic Kingdom Goodies and Character Selfies
Dinner at Chef Mickey's
Dinner at Chef Mickey's Part II
A New Way to Tour the Magic Kingdom
The Many Ride Pictures of Buzz Lightyear
The Fun Keeps Going

DAY7: FRIDAY SEPT 5th

Animal Kingdom for our Last Day
Kilomanjaro Safari
Pangani Forest Trail
Lunch at Yak and Yeti
Making the Best of a Rainy Situation
And the Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down...
The End of Our Last Day

Going Home

And Now for the Part Where We Say Goodbye



​

​

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Totally here and ready Jenn!!! Oh and by the way, it's about time...

A trip unlike any other you've ever had? So that means your didn't get lost, didn't take the long way, and didn't get locked in a bathroom? Oh well, I'm here anyway.

 

[thornton0511]

Introductions
Before we get to story time first I would like to introduce you to my family

Hi I’m Jenn! I am now 33 years old and have what most people would call and “unhealthy” obsession with Disney. What do they know lol? This is why I am so happy that I came across the disboards when I was in the planning process of our first trip in 2011. I now feel normal thanks to many of you! I am married to a wonderful guy and have 2 equally wonderful kiddos . I also just recently left the company that I had worked for 17 years to start a brand new career. The timing of this trip ended up being perfect because I officially left my job the day before we left for Disney and started my new job as soon as we got back so it ended up being a celebration within itself. I am now currently training to take over two skilled nursing facilities as their billing coordinator. This whole process will probably take a year before I can fully take over all by myself so work is like school. Enough about me let’s move on…..

This is the DH. He has grown into a bit of a Disney fanatic over the years even if he won’t admit to it. He is 37 years old and works as a Network Engineer. Yeah I don’t really know what that is exactly either lol. Basically he works with computers and servers and coding and that’s when I get lost. He also is the manager of his dept so that translates to a lot of working hours. Our Disney trips are literally the only times that he is allowed to detach himself from his job 100% so we really like Disney vacations. This trip he discovered character selfies and it became his favorite thing to do. I love him!

Up next is our oldest, Cory. He is turning 13 this month…..ugh teenager I know. He was 9 when we took our first trip and I have to say it has been hard for me to accept that he is not 9 years old anymore. His Disney interest has changed a lot from that first trip but he still has a good time and every now and then he will let his guard down and I will get a glimpse of that little boy he once was. He is also one smart cookie and does very well in school which helps a lot when trying to justify taking your kids out of school for an entire week for Disney. He also keeps busy playing percussion in the middle school band and also active in football in the fall and baseball in the spring.

Last but certainly not least is our little Sydney. She is 8 years old and a Disney rock star in the making. Since she has been fortunate enough to have taken her first trip at age 5, she is more Disney educated than most adults that tour the parks lol. She is also my little Disney companion. We have our own secret club at home that no boys are allowed in because they do not understand Disney like we do….ha. We have made a pact that if there ever comes a time when the boys grow tired of taking Disney trips that they are free to go wherever and we will have girls’ only trips because a life with no Disney is just too sad to bear. She too does very well in school. This is her first year to actually get letter grades in all subjects and so far straight A’s like her brother! Outside of school she keeps busy with ballet. We did have her in gymnastics but decided to switch it around a bit this year and try something new. Now she wants to do both lol.
So that’s us in a nutshell. This fall trip would make number 4 for us and our 3rd trip onsite. We also took a trip to CA this summer for DL but you can catch up on that experience if you like from the TR in my siggie. I would be thrilled to have anyone follow along on our newest adventure! ​

 

[thornton0511]

Totally here and ready Jenn!!! Oh and by the way, it's about time...

A trip unlike any other you've ever had? So that means your didn't get lost, didn't take the long way, and didn't get locked in a bathroom? Oh well, I'm here anyway.

Bahahahaha aren't you just the funny one huh Rob?! Lol first of all let me say that it is an honor to have you follow along on our new adventure! You have become quite popular here on the disboards my friend and I can totally see why! You rock!! Secondly I am pretty sure that the deal was that if you did a TR that I would too....never did I specify when that would be lol. And C I recall my opening post to also say that this TR would be full of new experiences and some old familiars.....so it's still quite possible that I indeed did get us lost at some point and lock myself in bathroom.....ha! Actually I am sad to say that for the first time in two Disney trips I did not get locked in a bathroom. The tradition is no more.....
Seriously though so happy to have you here! I could not imagine doing this whole report without you

 

[BellaBaby]

Yeah!! You started!!

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures this trip!!

Sorry no story about being locked in a bathroom though….

 

[thornton0511]

Yeah!! You started!!

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures this trip!!

Sorry no story about being locked in a bathroom though….

Hey you found me! YAY!!! So glad for that and yeah no locking myself in the bathroom this time. I figured that you guys would be a bit disappointed, hopefully not enough to lose interest in my report though!
I remembered that you had mentioned that your family too ended up going back to WDW in Sept and you had the same anniversary buttons, but I just noticed in your siggie that you guys celebrated your 15th anniversary, congrats by the way, we had our 14th. I just thought that was kind of neat. You know I was thumbing through my DL TR just before starting this one and I know that we just went in June but man looking at those pics made it seem like ages ago that we were there. I think you guys did the same this summer right? Does it feel like ages ago for you too? Or is that just me being weird?

 

[BellaBaby]

I don't know…it doesn't seem like that long ago to me.

The trip we just took to WDW was our first "adults only". We met up with my DSIL and her DH who were also celebrating an anniversary. They went for 9 days and we weren't even going to go, but about 5 or 6 wks before my DH got offered a lot of overtime and we found out DGPs would watch the kids for 5 days. We felt weird not going with the kids, but we ended up having a great time!

FP+ worked out for us this time because it was only two of us and it was not crowded at all. (We didn't bother coordinating those with DSIL & her DH). We did get SDMT FP a little over 30 days out. We didn't need A&E at this time. But I'm concerned for when we go at the end of May again, it will be 5 of us and a busier time. I do miss the old FP system. But I liked the MBs as far as not carrying tickets and FP papers. I know it will be easier when we go back with the whole family since I was always in charge of all that. I do feel for the people who have trouble with it and have to spend a lot of time at CS fixing it!! Anyway, sorry for getting into all of that! I was just thinking about our WDW trip I guess!

Looking forward to the next installment!!

 

[thornton0511]

I don't know…it doesn't seem like that long ago to me.
lol must just be me
The trip we just took to WDW was our first "adults only". We met up with my DSIL and her DH who were also celebrating an anniversary. They went for 9 days and we weren't even going to go, but about 5 or 6 wks before my DH got offered a lot of overtime and we found out DGPs would watch the kids for 5 days. We felt weird not going with the kids, but we ended up having a great time!
oh wow that sounds like a lot of fun! I have been trying to talk my DH into an adults only trip but he says that he would feel guilty the entire time not having the kids there with us lol. Still working on that one
FP+ worked out for us this time because it was only two of us and it was not crowded at all. (We didn't bother coordinating those with DSIL & her DH). We did get SDMT FP a little over 30 days out. We didn't need A&E at this time. But I'm concerned for when we go at the end of May again, it will be 5 of us and a busier time. I do miss the old FP system. But I liked the MBs as far as not carrying tickets and FP papers. I know it will be easier when we go back with the whole family since I was always in charge of all that. I do feel for the people who have trouble with it and have to spend a lot of time at CS fixing it!! Anyway, sorry for getting into all of that! I was just thinking about our WDW trip I guess!
I agree we noticed the same thing with not really needing FP+ this trip. The ride times were always really low, surprisingly so even with 7DMT. I would not worry too much about May, we have been both in mid May and end of May/beginning of June and found the crowds not terrible at all. But I agree legacy FP will always be something I desperately miss and will never get over
Looking forward to the next installment!!

Thank you!!!

 

[thornton0511]

A Double Dose of Disney
To understand how we ended up with a second Disney trip this year first I have to back track a bit. Picture it, May 2014……
We were counting down the days to our CA/Disneyland trip that was coming up in June and I was following along with the excitement of the anticipation of the release of fall Free Dining. In my mind I was thinking about how awesome a fall trip to WDW would be and free dining too. These are two things we have never experienced before. But then reality set in that we were already invested in this summer trip out west and at this point there was no way to cancel and do anything else.
Regardless of all of this I still brought it up to my DH one evening just for conversation sake thinking maybe for next year this is the route we could go for our vacation. Once I brought up the words "Disney Dining Plan" and "Free" his reaction was can we get out of our CA trip and do this instead? Nope. We both kind of sat there like two children asking for ice cream before dinner and given a no.
Then we starting playing the "what if" game and the possibility of scaling down the Disneyland trip financially came up. What if we were able to save money on the one, and instead of one big trip we take two smaller trips? I was so surprised that I was even having this conversation at this point that my heart was racing at the idea that we might just get to do both. If I could find a way to budget it we could do it…I was given my mission.
So now that I had basically been given a green light operation double dose of Disney was in effect. I frantically started to research ways to cut back on our summer trip, also preparing myself for the release of free dining. Without getting into the details I did manage to make a budget friendly Disneyland trip. Now there was only one more thing to accomplish……booking free dining.
I was one of many here awaiting the release of fall free dining. After years being a member here on the disboards and following along with the excitement of others getting ready for the chance to book free dining I was so excited to finally be a part of this. I subscribed to the threads and kept up multiple times a day awaiting the release. Since we have a Disney Visa I knew that there was a good chance to book earlier. Then one afternoon it happened and people were reporting that they had been given the go to book the promotion with their Visa…..and I was at work! That was the longest day ever!! By the time I had gotten home it had been reported (as some of you might know) that CM's had made a boo boo and were not supposed to be allowing people to book yet lol. Some were lucky enough to have already gotten though but for everyone else, they were told that it was no longer happening……on this particular day. That could only mean one thing. Tomorrow morning at 6am EST it was go time.
​

 

[thornton0511]

Oh The Excitement of it All
Now that I knew, pretty much, that tomorrow was the day I tried to wrap my head around how to make this work. 6am EST means 5am for us. It was also a weekday in May which means kids at school and me to work by 8am. I was going to be a hectic morning. The DH would be there to help too, but what if it was time to leave and I was still on hold? That would not be fun at all. Then something happened. DD started to complain about her throat being a bit sore, but at the time she had no fever. As the evening went on she was not feeling much better so I gave her some pain reliever and put her to bed telling her if she was not better in the morning we would go from there. I set my alarm for 4:30am and tried to get to sleep, with really no success. Fast forward to about 2am I was woken up by Sydney not feeling good, at all. And now she had a fever. Once I had gotten my, now sick child, back to sleep I emailed both her teacher and my boss letting them know that she and I would be spending the day at home and at the doctor's office. Then I finally got to sleep, but not for long at all, because I was soon awakened by my 4:30am alarm. It was time to get ready.
I logged in to the disboards and had my phone ready. I killed the time waiting by posting back and forth with all the other crazy people on the DIS also waiting for 6am EST. My heart was literally pounding out of my chest and my hands were shaking as the clock ticked closer to exactly 6am. The excitement of it all was almost too much for me lol. I, like others, tried to call a few minutes before just to see with no success. I tried again at 5:59am and it was still a negative ghost rider. Then at 6am and 10 seconds I tried again…..and it worked. Oh my goodness gracious it was for real you guys! Pushing buttons and getting through the prompts was a big huge scary blur but at last I had made it and was now waiting in the queue, with everyone else.
I continued to post on the DIS thread and follow along with the info of everyone else still holding and getting though. Every now and then someone would post that they got though and were a go. This was taking forever and a day as I made the music loop all the way back around to the beginning of Winnie the Pooh. It had been exactly one hour on hold and at this point I realizedthe sheer magnitude of this promotion and how many people were calling to book. And this is just Disney Visa people folks and there was no official info out there that this was a booking possibility either at this point. Insanity. At this point the DH had gotten up and I updated him with everything including me staying home with our sick little one today. He took care of getting our oldest ready for school and tending to our youngest while I stayed on hold. Then he left with Cory at 7:30am….and I was still….on…hold. At this point many who were on hold with me were reporting their call being dropped. Then they could not get back on hold because all of the lines were busy! Please oh please do not let this happen to me….
At exactly 8:30am, after being on hold for two and a half hours……I GOT THROUGH! I was almost in tears with the reality that I was actually speaking with a cast member and booking this trip. Within 10 minutes we had officially booked our fall trip! It was an experience to say the least and I was so happy to have been able to spend all of that time with so many others on the DIS going through the same thing I was.
The remainder of the day was spent with a trip to the doctor, strep throat confirmed, antibiotics, and lots of rest…..for both of us. It is never a good thing when your kiddo is sick but as I laid there cuddling with my sleeping daughter on the couch I thought about how funny life can be sometimes and all of the events that had lead up to this moment in time.
​

 

[thornton0511]

And So It Begins

Ah. The moment when you now get these in the mail before your trip begins. Pure Hapiness. This would be our second trip to use Magic Bands and since that first trip people had started to get a little creative with these. So we thought we would do something new this time. when I say "we" I mean Sydney and I. The boys opted out lol.

The frozen temporary tattoos were bought and the fun began! Since this trip morphed into a kind of split stay for us we had two sets of Magic Bands….so that meant we had two sets of bands to decorate! Woo hoo!!

These are the two that I decorate for myself. I was especially happy about Olaf!

And for Sydney we just crammed as many images of Anna, Elsa, and Olaf that we could get on a band lol!
After accomplishing this we waited and continued to count down the days until our adventure could begin. We had decided the best week to go would be Labor Day week so that the kids would only miss 4 days of school. Free dining started on Sunday, August 31st so we booked a 6 night package with the DDP and 5 day tickets to start on the first day of the free dining promotion. I really wanted to stay at POR but alas it was not included with the promotion so we opted for CSR since we have already stayed at CBR once before. But we did not want to arrive on Sunday and kill half of a day for travel so we added a one night stay for our arrival day using a room only discount promotion that was also going on at the time. And since we were not able to book POR for our package, we opted for this resort for our one night stay and a split stay was born! The time waiting for our trip went super fast and before we knew it the kids were starting their first day of school.
The start of school this year brought something else new with it. Little Sydney was finally moving upstairs to 3rd grade and she wanted to have a new look to go with her "growing up". This translates to I want to cut my hair. This may not seem like a huge deal for some, but for us it's a big deal. We have been growing her hair out since birth and other than getting a trim now and then to keep it healthy she has maintained her long locks for her entire life….and now she was asking to get rid of them. My first thought was no way but after giving it more time to sink in, we agreed that she was at the age to make decisions like this with herself and agreed to changing her hair length.

So here is her before picture

And her after. Now I realize it was not a huge amount of hair but it was still heartbreaking for me. And she was so excited about her new look so that is all that matters right?
So anyways hair was gone and school had started. The kids would only be going this first week before our trip so that was a fun note to send to teachers the first week lol. "Hi I know that it’s the first week and all but I need to let you know that my kids will be missing the 2nd week of school for Disney"…ha! Thankfully this was not our first time to do this and the schools have always been really great about not making a big deal of it. Soon enough we had reached the end of that week and it was now officially vacation time!!!!



​

 

[thornton0511]

Friday August 29th
This Friday morning started like any typical weekday morning. I got the kids up and ready for school and then after dropping them off I returned home to a quiet house and enjoyed a nice cup of Joe in my Eeyore mug……..

The only difference with this day is that in less than 24 hours we would be leaving for Disney!!!! GAH this is the best feeling in the world! Unfortunately there was no time to waste because I had not even started to pack yet lol. Fact: I hate to pack. Seriously. So much so that I will put it off until the last possible moment which usually means the evening before a trip I am frantically throwing things into a suitcase and trying not to rip my hair out. This tends to put me in a not friendly mood and my family has learned to not be within 100ft of me the evening before vacation. Well this is a horrible tradition that I intended to put a stop to starting with this trip. I had the entire day to myself to get this accomplished so that I would not be in beast mode when my family got home this afternoon. And you know what? It paid off. I had everything packed by the time the family returned home….

TA-DA!!!!
I was very proud of me lol. Also the DH had brought home a surprise for me to take on the trip! Along with taking way too many pictures on our vacations I also like to video….a lot. And the handheld camera that I have been using forever just was not ideal for all of the walking around and riding rides that I like to capture and eventually make into a family video or whatever. So the hubs came home with…..

This little guy!! Oh my goodness I was so excited! I could not wait to charge it up and try it out in Disney. He also bought a head strap to wear on your head for hands free recording. For him. Lol I was not going to wear a head strap with a go pro connected to it walking around!

So after getting all of our little last minute duckies in a row for our trip and getting the kids to bed I was able to relax using my last bath bomb from Basin that I had been holding on to since December for an evening such as this. This whole day off the day before to pack ended up being great thing for me and for the first time in my vacation life I was able to actually get some sleep before leaving for our trip. I drifted off into a slumber filled with dreams of what adventures this new Disney Trip would bring. For in a few hours we would be getting up with excitement because…..


​

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

I'm here and reading along... I followed along on your last two TR's but don't think I posted... So I figured I better post something this time...

Hi, I'm Nancy, and I'm a lurker...

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh yes you did indeed find a way to to find a budget friendly Disneyland trip you coupon cutter you.

Hmmmmm.... Not that I would ever suggest such a thing, but Nah Sydney would never get sick intentionally just so you could stay home to be on hold to book a Disney trip with free dining. Although she is becoming a real Disney pro...

Seriously though, that sucks that she got sick. Strep throat is no joke.

Yeah, we don't get such gifts in the mail like Magic Bands in Canada. I assume it's shipping cost and what with Disney being such a small company and all.

Awww Jenn, Sydney's growing up. How cute she wanted a "new look". But have no fear. She's a Disney kid so she'll never really grow up.

Look at you all efficient with the packing. Well done!

OK... It's Time!!!!

 

[petals]

joining in luvin the build up to the trip!

 

[BellaBaby]

Awww! Sydney is so cute with her new haircut!

I'm with you…I HATE packing!! Maybe because we have to do it for the whole family?! Yep, I usually wait until the last minute too!!

Great start!

Forgot to add: I loved the way you both decorated your MBs! I think we will try something like that next time!!

 

[thornton0511]

Travel Time!
I'm not sure why we have a trend of starting our trips at the booty crack of dawn, maybe it's so that we can get to Disney ASAP, but this trip would start no different. Alarms went off and we were up and out the door by 2:45am

We had an early morning flight out of Dallas Love Field. We chose to fly Southwest again because we had such a great experience with them in June with our departure flight to LAX.

On our way to Dallas we made a quick stop at our favorite gas station to fill up. It has become a tradition to stop here anytime we are traveling and no vacation can officially start without it!

With the car full of gas and coffee in my hand we were ready to get this trip started!

We made the 2 hr drive to Dallas with no issues. Not much going on this early in the morning and it made for a nice and easy drive. It's always so neat to drive by and see all of the buildings lit up.

Once we were in Dallas we made our way in the direction to Love Field which is surprising close to downtown Dallas. Instead of paying the insane cost to park our car at this tiny airport we chose to try something new and used a parking spot. It was literally 5 minutes down the road and offers a free shuttle to the airport. It was also half the price of airport parking. They also offered complimentary water bottles!

It was extremely easy to get in and park. A bus showed up literally as we were unloading our luggage out of the car! The driver helped us with our bags and wrote the location of our car on a card for us to keep for when we returned.

Once we were on the bus we had a very short 5 minute shuttle to the airport. The entire process was extremely easy and something we will definitely do again!

We were dropped off and at this point things did get a little confusing I will admit. This airport is tiny compared to DFW but still the only other time we have used this airport my MIL dropped us off and the front and the check in area for Southwest was literally right there. This time around we had no clue where we were, which basically meant we were lost and this is not uncommon for us lol. We found a random entrance close to where we were and headed inside. Better to be lost inside an airport than outside. Especially at this time of night/morning.

Once inside we found a very friendly police officer who was able to help us find our way to Southwest check in. One cool thing about flying with this airline is that each person gets 2 free checked bags, plus on carry on and one personal item. Basically you should never be in a position to pay to travel with bags. On our June trip I was terrified of checking all of our bags because we had connecting flights (which we had never experienced since we normally take direct flights with American) and I did not want to chance our getting to our destination and our bags not get there too. So we only checked one bag and lugged around the others with us which obviously was a pain in the rear. Well this time I was well over that and all of our bags were checked except for one small one that contained things we would need incase our we arrived before our luggage did at the resort.

This was also our first time to actually get to use our ME luggage tags! I cannot tell you how nice it was to pass off all of our bags and not have to see them again until we were in Disney. Oh the freedom of walking through an airport without rolling a big suitcase behind you!

We made our way over to security and thankfully it was a breeze! I always get so nervous here because I am afraid that I am going to be randomly selected to walk through the naked scanner thing lol. Thankfully I survived and was able to go through the normal check like everyone else. Whew!

Once we were through security we found our gate and place to camp out. Now we wait.

The kiddos passed the time playing games. It was now 5:45am and our flight was due to depart at 7:00am. Bleh. I hate this part.

Finally the time came and it was time to board the plane. I had made sure to be in front of a computer exactly 24 hrs before our flight time to check in and thankfully was able to get us all in the A group. This is important since Southwest uses a first come first serve seating arrangement instead of assigned seats.

We had no issues finding a row of seats together (DH being the odd man out and sitting across from us) and we were ready to get this party started!

I had made sure to remember to purchase ear plugs for the kids this trip. In the past they have had zero issues with pressure but for some reason our flight this summer both of them had a lot of pain associated with this so I wanted to make sure this would not be a problem this time around. Nothing worse than your child being in pain and not being able to do anything about it.

Before no time we were up in the air, at a height that I don't even want to think about, and it was time to break out the breakfast food. Today's breakfast on the go consisted of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (that I had stowed in my bag) and soda lol. The airline also handed out the complimentary peanuts and pretzels which I gathered up and placed in my bag for future snacking.

We were only in the air for about an hour before making a pit stop in New Orleans.

At the time of our travel Southwest had not been given approval to have direct flights out of Dallas (that has since been changed and we will now be able to take direct flights to MCO!) so we had to land and swap out some passengers. Thankfully this was not a flight that we had to get off and onto another plane so I was very thankful for that.

The remainder of the flight was uneventful and we had officially planted our feet on MCO ground! I love arriving at this airport because it means that we are almost in Disney!!!

We made our way over to the first fun ride of the trip….the fake-o-rail!! I love this part lol. Thanks to the awesomeness of Disney we had no luggage to collect. Now off to find Disney's Magical Express!




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[thornton0511]

I'm here and reading along... I followed along on your last two TR's but don't think I posted... So I figured I better post something this time...

Hi, I'm Nancy, and I'm a lurker...

Well hi there Nancy! I am so happy that you decided to come out of lurkedom! I have to confess I am a lurker around these parts too but I am so very happy that you decided to join in and post this time around

Oh yes you did indeed find a way to to find a budget friendly Disneyland trip you coupon cutter you.
lol Rob
Hmmmmm.... Not that I would ever suggest such a thing, but Nah Sydney would never get sick intentionally just so you could stay home to be on hold to book a Disney trip with free dining. Although she is becoming a real Disney pro...
......no but it was very coincidental
Seriously though, that sucks that she got sick. Strep throat is no joke.
yeah strep throat is no fun at all and sadly it has become a common thing to get around here
Yeah, we don't get such gifts in the mail like Magic Bands in Canada. I assume it's shipping cost and what with Disney being such a small company and all.
are you serious? I no idea that was the situation in Canadia. That really makes me sad Rob
Awww Jenn, Sydney's growing up. How cute she wanted a "new look". But have no fear. She's a Disney kid so she'll never really grow up.
This is true
Look at you all efficient with the packing. Well done!
thank you
OK... It's Time!!!!

here we go!!!

joining in luvin the build up to the trip!

Yay you decided to join in!!! Glad to see you here

Awww! Sydney is so cute with her new haircut!
awww thank you!
I'm with you…I HATE packing!! Maybe because we have to do it for the whole family?! Yep, I usually wait until the last minute too!!
glad to know that I am not alone! I think you may be on to something. It sure takes me a whole lot longer to pack for me and two kids than it does for my DH to pack just for himself
Great start!
thank you!
Forgot to add: I loved the way you both decorated your MBs! I think we will try something like that next time!!

Thanks! It was really a lot of fun and not a hard concept at all lol, which I appreciated

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

That's the extra reason to start so early. I wouldn't even know there was a 2:45am (unless I just hadn't been to bed yet, lol) if there was no Disney.

"The Parking Spot". What a clever name! Hire them Disney!

You got lost???? The heck you say.

Curious Jenn. How long was the stopover in New Orleans? I've always wondered about that since you didn't have to de-plan.