Tut, Tut, It Looks Like Rain, A Very Merry Thanksgiving TR Updated 4/28!!

[PrncessA]

WOOHOO!!!! Congrats! What a great belated Honeymoon!

Thank you! We are keeping it on the downlow in the house because the kids would never forgive us. It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission right? I have a feeling getting them to camp if they knew we were headed to WDW would be impossible, but if they find out afterwards... many years afterwards.... the fallout won't be as bad. At least that is what I am telling myself. LOL

I am on the fence about buying Memory Maker for this trip. On one hand I love all of the photos they take, and it is hassle free, on the other hand it is a shorter trip. I am probably going to buy it... it is just so expensive!

I've always avoided those red, white and blue things; now I know why.

You made the right choice, stay far away!

It's like Grey's Anatomy; I just can't let it go.

I understand completely about Grey's! I cry my eyes out on nearly every episode, even the ones that I find the story line to be annoying.

I will be SO upset if they don't reopen this in another location.

Me too!

WHAT? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed that Good Dinosaur, but that is no reason to replace the Walt film.

My reaction when I found out:

This is adorable. The kid in the stroller behind them is a hoot too

LOL

I love this one!

It is one of my favs as well!

AWE! That's one for her future high school year book page!! You girls are too cute!

Oh, no way. I love RnRC but I could never.

Oh just wait for our wait for it on Thanksgiving!

And over an hour wait for RnRc! I'll do 30 for ToT or BTMRR, maybe Splash, and RnRc if older DS begged but that's my limit lol. I don't mind waiting if the line is moving; it's when you're standing still in line that I can't handle it.

I will never again wait that long for it!

I am reading your other TR right now to get some adult only trip tips!

 

[MissMaryQC]

It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission right?

When it comes to leaving your children behind to go to Disney secrets are a must. You're making the right choice.

I am probably going to buy it... it is just so expensive!

It is stupid expensive; Disney know what they have there. But it's so, so convenient. We didn't bring a camera into the park at all, and really only took ride selfies with the phones. Since it's a romantic trip with DH you guys will get such cute photos together. Like the missy ones in front of the castle! I love seeing those!

Oh just wait for our wait for it on Thanksgiving!

Oh no, it gets worse than that?!?!

 

[PrncessA]

Before I begin our next update, I wanted to give an update for our trip in July.

Everything is booked! Well at least my first version is booked. I will most likely change things a million times. Luckily, July 11 is right around the corner, so I don’t have a ton of time to change things around.

My major achievement? Getting our flights round-trip FIRST CLASS for $230!! Yes, our miles are nearly gone, but come on it is our very long overdue honeymoon. Neither of us have ever flown in FC, and seeing as we don’t have our kids it was really tempting. I actually didn’t go in looking for First Class tickets, it just happened to work out cheaper this way, kinda. REALLY it did!

So, without using miles our flights were working out to about $600r/t. But, I had a lot of miles to work with between the two of us. So I started with Erik, because he had a lot more than me, but there were no flights in the economy range available for July 11, at all. So I looked under FC, and there were tons of options, but there was only one that was non-stop, and it didn’t leave until 3pm. That is a no, since we only have 4 nights there. I checked Sunday late flights, considering adding a day, but the miles were through the roof for that day, so nope. So I we settled on a short layover, in Dallas. Yes, it added double the time to the trip, but we will still be there around 1pm, instead of leaving at 3pm.

So then on to our return flights. I had pretty much depleted Erik’s miles, but I still had mine. I started looking at economy flights and had enough miles to pay for them, but the options were all in early in the day… but that FC option was there, again, with the times we wanted… but I didn’t quite have enough miles to pay for it. I thought about buying the extra miles, and then checked the price of the flight without miles, and that option was cheaper. So I called Erik and ask him his opinion, fly out early for free, or fly out late for $230. And he said late! So I booked it, and that is how we ended up flying FC both ways.

I think that is a good update on July for now… next up… How do I fit everything we want to do into 4 nights?

AND a Day 6 TR Update!

 

[MissMaryQC]

REALLY it did!

Lol! Even if it didn't you guys deserve a little bit of luxury!

So I booked it, and that is how we ended up flying FC both ways.

I love it!

 

[RDawn]

Hi Sarah, I finally got caught up and have to say how much I have enjoyed all your trip reports, and how Lorelei just gets prettier! Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly, but I think Ethan looks more chipper in your pics too. We will attend our first ever MNSSHP this fall, so your Christmas party activities are helping me have a clue about time management. I originally thought that we couldn't possibly squeeze in rides, but now I think we can. We don't plan on meeting many characters, unless we stumble across any with a VERY short wait. It's also great to read about your anniversary trip. My husband and I got away for a long weekend a few years ago for our 10th anniversary. It was about a 4 hour drive for us to go to Gettysburg and we just talked the whole trip! No kids fighting, interrupting, blasting music. It was wonderful. I have a fantasy of an adults Disney trip some day too. Until then, I will enjoy reading about your grown up get away. Thanks for sharing!

 

[mzpoirot]

Love reading your trip report!
Sorry to hear about the rain for MVMCP - I am praying the rain stays away for our party night for our upcoming trip this November. Excited to read the rest of your trip report and then to read your report for you July trip!

 

[Chicago Mo]

We had another chance for Pixie Dust later in the day and Erik blows it. LOL

i know how that goes!

but got sidelined by taking photos…

Seriously you are all adorable!

Then by the Streetmosphere!!!

LOVE LOVE THESE GUYS!!! so sad some will go away!

thrilled that we got to see Finn and experience the new Jakku scene.

Ohhh want to SEE!

Erik said he was glad to see it once.

I have to agree with this. Zack was a huge fan.. None of the rest of us felt the same!

Since I was sure it was going to be closed soon, we headed into here:

This is SO SO sad,. I mean it's the backbone of WHY WDW and DL etc is HERE!!! Why get rid of it!?!? Stipud stupid

I don’t know if it is always so crowded or just last year because of the closing, but YIKES I was having a hard time not panicking to be honest. It was crazy crowded.

It was just this year. we have been before and NEVER had the crowds we had in 2015!! Insane!!!

NO pixie dust for us.

Epic Fail!!!

an hour and 15 minutes.

Holy... Cow...

Before I begin our next update, I wanted to give an update for our trip in July.

I AM SO SO HAPPY FOR YOU AND YOUR TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PrncessA]

Lol! Even if it didn't you guys deserve a little bit of luxury!



I love it!

Thank you! We are so excited!

Love reading your trip report!
Sorry to hear about the rain for MVMCP - I am praying the rain stays away for our party night for our upcoming trip this November. Excited to read the rest of your trip report and then to read your report for you July trip!

I will be praying for you!

An update is coming right up!

LOVE LOVE THESE GUYS!!! so sad some will go away!

Me too!

It was just this year. we have been before and NEVER had the crowds we had in 2015!! Insane!!!

It was panic inducing crowds!

Epic Fail!!!

He doesn't do well under pressure apparently.

Holy... Cow...

Yep, it gets way worse on Thanksgiving.

I AM SO SO HAPPY FOR YOU AND YOUR TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you!!

 

[PrncessA]

Since we had a relatively early night, we were all up early the next morning. At least that is what I am going with. To be honest I am not sure, the only vivid memory I have of that morning is trying to dry our still wet ponchos from the night before so I could pack them up.

Whether or not we were all up by our own choice, or by the incessant noise of parents being incredibly loud on purpose, we were all up bright and early. We were at the bus stop by 7:15am and on the bus by 7:25.

Unfortunately, that is too late to realize that you don’t have your magic band on, in Lorelai’s case.

I can’t say for certain that she is pouting over that, or something else, but she clearly isn’t wearing her magic band, which I noticed moments before we pulled up to the MK.

My first thought was that we would have to go back and get it, but then I thought about all the other stories I had heard where this had happened, and we headed straight for Guest Services. The CM wasn’t the most cheery, but she got the job done, and in just a few moments Lorelai was the proud owner of a hard ticket instead of a magic band.

We went through the turnstiles and stopped to take some photos.

Originally this day had been planned very differently, then Disney went and changed the opening time from 9am to 8am. Originally we had a pre-park opening BOG breakfast at 8am, which HELLO, wasn’t very easy to get. But then the opening changed, and the 8am would eat up a ton of time, but we still wanted to eat there. So I scoured the site constantly for a later time, and the day before we left I scored one that was a bit later. But not by much.

So what rides would we use our hour of nearly empty park time? None!

That’s right, we had an empty park and we spent the entire hour on Main Street playing Lorelai’s SOTMK and since Lorelai had forgotten her MB, we had to start a new game with the hard ticket. Yep, fun… Ethan was pretty good about the fact that we were playing Lorelai’s game, but at times he was a little too overzealous in “helping” her.

After Lorelai defeated Cruella, we headed toward breakfast. But of course stopped and took more photos…

Opps

There it is!

 

[PrncessA]

And then some more photos…

We almost made it and we were stopped by another photographer, so….

Finally we made it to BOG

We had preordered so all we had to do was confirm our order and find a seat. I wanted to sit in the music box room, but I was overruled by everyone else who wanted to sit in the West Wing. Still, I got to walk around and take photos.

I usually prefer savory breakfasts to sweet, so I ordered the meat and cheese platter.

It was good, but let’s be honest nearly $25 for meat and cheese is ridiculous.

Erik ordered the Croque Madame or something. He didn’t care for it, he said the bread was inedible.

Lorelai had the oatmeal, which she didn’t eat more than a bite or two of. I ask her if she really wanted anything, other than a pastry, since she had a bowl of cereal already, and she swore she did. She didn’t. Ethan on the other hand, didn’t want anything other than a chocolate milk, after his bowl of cereal. I don’t even think he had a pastry, although I could be wrong.

The pastry plate wasn’t that good in my opinion either, not a lot of taste in anything.

Our verdict on BOG breakfast is: PASS Way too expensive. But great atmosphere!

We headed out into the park and Lorelai was insistent that we go to the Hall of Presidents. So we did!

We were one of only three families in the entire show.

 

[PrncessA]

Hi Sarah, I finally got caught up and have to say how much I have enjoyed all your trip reports, and how Lorelei just gets prettier! Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly, but I think Ethan looks more chipper in your pics too. We will attend our first ever MNSSHP this fall, so your Christmas party activities are helping me have a clue about time management. I originally thought that we couldn't possibly squeeze in rides, but now I think we can. We don't plan on meeting many characters, unless we stumble across any with a VERY short wait. It's also great to read about your anniversary trip. My husband and I got away for a long weekend a few years ago for our 10th anniversary. It was about a 4 hour drive for us to go to Gettysburg and we just talked the whole trip! No kids fighting, interrupting, blasting music. It was wonderful. I have a fantasy of an adults Disney trip some day too. Until then, I will enjoy reading about your grown up get away. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for joining!!! It is definitely rewarding to watch the kids grow in Disney. Ethan enjoys it so much!

We got a lot of rides done at the party that is for sure!

We are so looking forward to our trip in July!

 

[Chicago Mo]

first i love your DH shirt!
What a riot they missed the mistletoe! Can i tell you how i DON'T LIKE THE SoM game?!?! takes up way too much time!

I love all your pictures they all came out way too cute.

Sorry you had a bad BOG breakfast yet your not the first to feel this way!!

umm yeah.. Forgotten MB's Peanut did that in Epcot. for a PP akershus breakfast. it took forever to get the band THEN it took forever to get into Akershus we were being punished for being late..

Whatever.

 

[MissMaryQC]

Whether or not we were all up by our own choice, or by the incessant noise of parents being incredibly loud on purpose, we were all up bright and early.

Heehee, DD and I do that to my DH all the time; he is not a morning person... Oh well!

The CM wasn’t the most cheery, but she got the job done, and in just a few moments Lorelai was the proud owner of a hard ticket instead of a magic band.

Cool! I figured they'd give her a grey MB. Sorry the CM wasn't so cheery, maybe she's not a morning person either?

the day before we left I scored one that was a bit later.

Phew! Glad you were able to grab something better suited for your day.

Disney went and changed the opening time from 9am to 8am.

I gotta say this really bugs me. We have to plan at 6+ months from our vacations (ok, fine, I love that part), and then like 30 days before the trip Disney switched EMH or changes opening times. What in the what?! I call shenanigans.

But of course stopped and took more photos…

I LOVE these!! So cute!

There it is!

I love your shirts!!!

Great shot! Nothing like having Main Street in the background! Not so common anymore either; I feel like this area is closed off a lot.

These are great too! the PPPs have gotten so much better the past few years.

It was good, but let’s be honest nearly $25 for meat and cheese is ridiculous.

The pastry plate wasn’t that good in my opinion either, not a lot of taste in anything.

Our verdict on BOG breakfast is: PASS Way too expensive. But great atmosphere!

Yep... That's how we felt about breakfast there too. Dinner is amazing. But breakfast was a one time thing for us too.

Cuties. I've always loved how sweet your kids seem to be to each other.

Lorelai was insistent that we go to the Hall of Presidents.

We were one of only three families in the entire show.

LOL! Not surprised, I don't think too many people enjoy that attraction. But I'm glad Lorelai was into it; not something most young girls are interested in these days.

 

[PrncessA]

first i love your DH shirt!
What a riot they missed the mistletoe! Can i tell you how i DON'T LIKE THE SoM game?!?! takes up way too much time!

I love all your pictures they all came out way too cute.

Sorry you had a bad BOG breakfast yet your not the first to feel this way!!

umm yeah.. Forgotten MB's Peanut did that in Epcot. for a PP akershus breakfast. it took forever to get the band THEN it took forever to get into Akershus we were being punished for being late..

Whatever.

Erik (and both kids) are huge NBC fans, specifically Jack fans.

I am so glad that the kids never realized that there is an additional game you can play in Adventureland, or we would have been pulled into that as well.

I can honestly say after our breakfast and dinner at BOG this trip we probably will not be going back for a few trips.

I feel with all the MagicBands that I have now I should just keep an extra one for everyone in our park bag.

Heehee, DD and I do that to my DH all the time; he is not a morning person... Oh well!

LOL

Cool! I figured they'd give her a grey MB. Sorry the CM wasn't so cheery, maybe she's not a morning person either?

Most likely. But she got the job done and we were on our way in minutes.

gotta say this really bugs me. We have to plan at 6+ months from our vacations (ok, fine, I love that part), and then like 30 days before the trip Disney switched EMH or changes opening times. What in the what?! I call shenanigans.

Me too! I am waiting for them to change July right now.

I LOVE these!! So cute!

Thanks!

I love your shirts!!!

Definitely our personalities, Jack and Minnie!

Great shot! Nothing like having Main Street in the background! Not so common anymore either; I feel like this area is closed off a lot.

I agree, the Castle entrance is always blocked off for the majority of the day. Boo!

These are great too! the PPPs have gotten so much better the past few years.

I agree!

Yep... That's how we felt about breakfast there too. Dinner is amazing. But breakfast was a one time thing for us too.

After our dinner there later in the trip we are finished with BOG for a while.

uties. I've always loved how sweet your kids seem to be to each other.

They really are best friends, I hope they stick close as they grow up. They get mistaken as twins all the time, and at times I forget they are two years apart in age.

LOL! Not surprised, I don't think too many people enjoy that attraction. But I'm glad Lorelai was into it; not something most young girls are interested in these days.

Her teacher assigned her the task of going before we left and Lorelai LOVED her teacher last year. She was so excited to take the photos back to class.

 

[PrncessA]

Next up was our FP for Splash, and look who we saw on the way over, and I feel completely different about seeing it after yesterday's news. So heartbreaking and horrible.

When we got there the line was only 15 minutes or so long, so we hopped in line first.

Then we used our FP for a second ride:

I think we could ride Splash all day and never get tired of it. It is such a wonderful family ride!

Next up was BTMRR of course! And since the line was so short, we rode it twice with our FP as well.

After our adventure out west, we decided to take the train and head to Tommorrowland.

Here’s where the lines were!! We stopped and picked up some popcorn, and maybe another snack or two. I love this photo, between Erik being mid-chew and the guy who unintentionally photo bombed, it is hilarious.

Next was a must do:

I LOVE this ride. I like to imagine that Walt Disney once sat in whatever spot I am sitting in. Yes, I know that isn’t possible, but I like to imagine it.

Then we headed over to the PeopleMover of course.

Then we looked around some shops.

 

[PrncessA]

And headed over to Monster’s Laugh Floor. I helped Lorelai send in a joke, and it was picked, but now for the life of me I can’t remember what it was. But we have Ethan, who has a memory that never fails, and the joke was: “What do you call a bear with no teeth? A GUMMY Bear!”

We were all getting pretty hungry now, so we decided to head over to Casey’s and share some corn dog nuggets and fries.

I ask the CM if we could get extra fries instead of the dessert and she said no, but another CM heard her and said we could. She showed her how to ring it up, and we were good to go. We stood at a high top and ate, but I am still really sad that they got rid of the “stands” to eat in.

No photos of the glorious corn dog nuggets, because I was famished! After our quick lunch, we decided that it was time to go claim our FP viewing area for the 3:00 Parade. Anyone know what time the 3:00 parade begins?

But first Lorelai needed to change into her princess dress.

We were only the second family to arrive at the viewing area, so we picked our perfect viewing area and sat down to finish our fries.

At about 2:35 we felt a drop on our heads, we were sitting on our ponchos… maybe we should put them on. Then the sky opened up on us, and we did! When it seemed like the rain was worse than our ponchos could handle, we jumped into the train station and went upstairs.

We had some pretty upset and disappointed kiddos.

We stuck it out for a while, but finally decided to move on and see the parade another day. The kids were GRUMPY! We considered going back to the resort, but we didn’t really have enough time for that since we had an early dinner ADR. What to do…

Well, since we are here, and it is really raining, why not ride the train? So that is what we did.

We had no other plan other than letting the kids cool off and regain their composure, and get out of the rain. We jumped on the next train and we were off… we stopped in Frontierland… didn’t get off… in Fantasyland… nope… back to Main Street… stayed on the train. Lorelai fell asleep…

Finally on the second time around we jumped off at Fantasyland and headed into Tomorrowland again.

The kids were in a better mood after playing with the giant ball.

With Erik’s help they did manage to stop it.

What to ride now? We actually wanted the Peoplemover, but they were having an issue and the line was crazy. Yep for the Peoplemover. Well Buzz didn’t have a terribly long wait… so we headed over.

I spent the entire time in line reading on my phone trying to find hidden bonus targets…. Let’s just say I failed… miserably. I am awful at that game… really awful. But I still had fun!

Next up I am almost certain we headed across the way to Stitch. I can’t remember if this was the first time we rode it, or maybe we had rode it a few nights before and I forgot to mention it. What an awful ride.

I already knew from the Dis to stop the shoulder pads from coming down too far. And I passed that along to my family. But what a stupid ride. Just stupid. I kept waiting for it to get interesting, and it never did. The kids thought it was okay though. Obviously, since we rode it twice during the trip.

When we emerged from our Alien Encounter, we saw that the line for the Peoplemover was gone, so we headed over for our second ride of the day.

 

[PrncessA]

After our ride through Tommorrowland, it was time for dinner, so we headed out of the park and over to the Grand Floridian. To be honest, I felt like a drowned rat, who shouldn’t be there, but it is what it is. I did go into the powder room to try and make myself presentable.

Oh and we stopped and the kids changed into warm dry socks before we headed downstairs.

Classy, right?

They were not in the mood for pictures:

I tried to get a photo on the stairs, but Lorelai was NOT cooperating.

We checked into 1900 Park Fare, and our buzzer went off pretty quickly. We headed over to get our photos taken and before we knew it we were at our table.

I was really excited for this meal and the fun interaction, plus I was really excited to try the strawberry soup. The soup did not disappoint, but the experience turned out to be less than great for one member of the family... but we will get to that. FYI my photos are not great during this meal, my camera was having issues. I have a lot of video, but Ethan would NEVER forgive me if I posted it and he found out.

Let’s start with Prince Charming:

He was hilarious and really cracked Ethan up talking about his armour , i.e. his Under Armour sweatshirt. Lorelai was smitten.

Next up was Cindy… and she was kinda boring.

Cindy and PC began their dance right before Lady Tramaine got to us and she had me rolling with her sarcastic humor.

Lorelai too:

She attempted a serious face, LOL.

Next was Anastasia, and Ethan was not prepared for what happened next.

She made a HUGE deal over him, teasing him that it could be their anniversary. He was a good sport about it, but immediately after she left our table he freaked out and began crying. He was completely overstimulated and freaked out. He panicked when he realized that there was another step sister. We let him head to the bathroom before she got to us. I felt so bad. I really hadn’t anticipated that reaction at all.

 

[PrncessA]

Edited: For some reason the last post to finish up the night is not showing photos. I will see if I can post it later.

 

[ariane37]

Ooh, I have some catching up to do!

That’s right, we had an empty park and we spent the entire hour on Main Street playing Lorelai’s SOTMK

Interesting, because I was just discussing SOTMK with another poster in her TR. I've been begging my kids to do this on like our last 3 trips and they won't I almost did it by myself when DH and I went sans kids in January lol. If they don't want to do it in November I'm going to buy cards and just start doing it until they get jealous!

Our verdict on BOG breakfast is: PASS Way too expensive. But great atmosphere!

We did BOG breakfast in January, just DH and I. We've had dinner there many times and LOVE it; we've also done lunch so I wanted to be able to say I've done all 3 meals. It was nice being in an empty park (we had PPO and they didn't change the opening time on us, luckily) and we rode 7DMT 3x before the RD crowd arrived, but definitely not worth the $$. I did enjoy my eggs Florentine but the pastries as you said were nothing special and DH ordered the kids French Toast, which was about enough food to satisfy a 2 year old

I think we could ride Splash all day and never get tired of it. It is such a wonderful family ride!

We've ridden multiple times in a row, too! Love it!

Casey’s and share some corn dog nuggets and fries.

Even though you don't have a picture, I have to do this whenever someone mentions these: Mmmmm, Casey's Corn Dog Nuggets

We stuck it out for a while, but finally decided to move on and see the parade another day

Our parade got rained out back in November, too, I think it was the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We had been standing by Casey's and shortly after they announced the FoF parade definitely wouldn't happen we were surprised to see the Rainy Day Parade start. It was so cool!!!!

But what a stupid ride. Just stupid. I kept waiting for it to get interesting, and it never did

OMG DH and I did Stitch for the first time in Jan. and we will NEVER do it again, nor make our kids ride unless they do something really, really bad They never wanted to try it and in this case, I have to say they were smarter than me. No point to that ride whatsoever................

Next up was Cindy… and she was kinda boring.

I've actually heard this about Cindy at this particular meal quite a few times. Wonder what's up with that?

Poor Ethan I feel so bad for him. I hope he recovered enough to enjoy some more characters later in your trip.

 

[PrncessA]

Our parade got rained out back in November, too, I think it was the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We had been standing by Casey's and shortly after they announced the FoF parade definitely wouldn't happen we were surprised to see the Rainy Day Parade start. It was so cool!!!!

I am in a rush, but I had to say this was the same day, the Sunday before Thanksgiving! Can you believe it we had just left Casey's and you were there???!!! So cool!