"We don't need no stinking maps" Spring Break 2015 **Last Day 6/13 **

[maggiepie87]

Hello and to the newest installment of
“Margaret and a Family Member go to Disney”


As always the 4 W’s:

Who: As was last time, the people on this trip were my Dad and I. ​

Where: Art of Animation. Specifically Little Mermaid building 9, first floor, room 9533


When: March 21st – March 28th (Spring Break!)


Why: Well that’s a little more complicated If you were one of the few people who read my last TR you might remember how this was a mulligan trip. (Long story short: we were both sick last time)

So this time around we planned to stay as healthy as possible. We got our flu shots and Christmas came and we booked it.

Now stay healthy... Seems simple right….


Guess again. Just like last trip, there’s a small-ish pre-trip to go along with it.


Let’s flashback a bit…
​

 

[maggiepie87]

Chapter Titles:

Flashback

Day 0: March 20th day before travel day aka "work"

Day 1: March 21st Travel Day

Day 2: March 22nd Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom (pt 1)
Day 2: March 22nd Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom (pt 2)

Day 3: March 23rd Hollywood Studios (pt1)
Day 3: March 23rd Hollywood Studios (pt2)

Day 4: March 24th EPCOT (pt 1)
Day 4: March 24th EPCOT (pt 2)

Day 5: March 25th EPCOT & Downtown Disney (pt 1)
Day 5: March 25th EPCOT & Downtown Disney (pt 2)

Day 6: March 26th Magic Kingdom (pt 1)
Day 6: March 26th Magic Kingdom (pt 2)
Day 6: March 26th Magic Kingdom (pt 3)

Day 7: March 27th Magic Kingdom (pt1)
Day 7: March 27th Magic Kingdom (pt2)
Day 7: March 27th Magic Kingdom (pt3)

Day 8: March 28th Travel Day​

Side note: Enjoying summer vacation and getting ink​

 

[maggiepie87]

Let’s flashback a bit…


Last trip, a few months before, I woke up one day with the worst inflammation and pain in my joints that I have ever had I went to the doctor a month before my trip and he said go get blood drawn and take ibuprofen for the pain. So I did, the blood tests said “something isn’t right with your immune system” so they referred me to a rheumatologist, that wasn’t going to be able to see me until April. The trip came and went and it was fine. But with my Dad getting over pneumonia and me being in pain we sat in the airport on the way home and decided we were going next year.


April came and I saw the rheumatologist, he said that I have all of the beginning symptoms and blood results of lupus. What we don’t know however is IF I will ever get it full-fledged and if I do WHEN. Could be tomorrow, next year, or never. So that kind of just hung over me for a while, then I decided since there is nothing that can be done now, don’t worry about it. Thankfully, I haven’t had any pain to that extent since, a little flair up now and then.

School started in August and they had voted saying that if we got as much snow as last year on the 14th snow day they were taking the first two days of Spring Break. I’ve told both my administrators that I have a tripped planned and they are ok with it. So just sit back and see what winter we get.

October a friend asked me if I had bumped into a wall. Apparently my forehead looked really swollen. I chalked it up to my auto-immune issue and guessed inflammation, took some Advil and moved on.

However, after a month, it didn’t go away….

Also, I was working out 4 days a week and eating 1200 calories a day and yet I wasn’t able to lose any weight. Hmm something seems off here.

So I went in for my yearly exam and asked the doctor about both. She said the bump on my forehead was probably a cyst and a surgeon would have to drain it. So she put in a referral for that and told me to wait until they called me.

For my lack of losing weight she said “lets draw some blood” since diabetes is the first thing they always assume, we went with that. So the next day, I went to the lab and got blood drawn.

2 days later, I get a call from my doctor saying “I insist you go be seen by your primary doctor before you go home for Christmas” When a doctor insists you do something, it never seems like good news.

So I made an appointment to see my primary care doctor and she said my thyroid was acting up.

Earlier that year when I had the inflammation issues I had blood drawn and my thyroid numbers were normal. This time around they had tripled. She said “that increase that quick is typical in 80% of cancer patients” That was terrifying news anything you hear the ‘c’ word. She however was hopeful that thyroid medicine would be able to regulate it, and if it didn’t I would have to see a specialist for that and they would decide whether to take it out or try different medicine.

December came and while visiting my family for Christmas we booked our trip and talked about our plans. As of now we were both semi-healthy. Over Christmas break the surgeon called me and said come in for an appointment in a week (beginning of January) and we will see.

I came home and went to my appointment on the 6th of January and the surgeon walked in, looked at my forehead and said “How the (censored) did that happen?” He looked at it and said that it did need to come out ASAP. It is not a cyst and he isn't sure what it is exactly but it needs to go away.

He came back and made an appointment for surgery in 3 weeks. Meanwhile, I’m freaking out. I've never been in a situation even remotely close to this. I've never broken a bone, gone to the hospital for anything, been sick with more than a common cold, and now we’re talking surgery. Internal meltdown in 3,2,1


I called my Mom and she said that she hopes it all works out. Since when does my Mom not seem to care about me? Fast forward a few hours and I try to call my Mom again and she didn’t answer… I called my Dad, he didn’t answer. It is rare that both of them do not answer their phone, but I didn’t worry too much.


Fast forward 3 more hours and I still haven’t heard from anyone, now panic was setting in. Finally I hear from my Mom saying that they brought my Dad to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing again. Uh oh…


Long and stressful story short. My Dad was in the hospital with aggressive pneumonia. He was in ICU for about a week and had some major surgery to drain about a liter from his lung.


Meanwhile, my blood pressure was averaging 160/90. The school nurse almost called 911 because she was worried I was going to have a heart attack at work. So my Dad gets out of the hospital about 2 days before I had my pre-surgery hospital tests.


I went in for my tests and even the EKG technician said my heart beat was irregular and my blood pressure was borderline putting me in the hospital (it was around 180/100ish) then the cardiologist came and told me the same thing. That I was on the verge of a heart attack or a stroke. We all chalked it up to stress and got a reminder that if I need to call 911 I should.


Go forward a week, now time for my surgery. My friend Jamie was an angel and took the whole day off to take me. I was trying my hardest to not freak-out or have a meltdown because this is all new to me and the fact that my family wasn’t here and didn’t wish me luck, I was a little upset.


They took all my clothes and gave me a drafty gown and my IV and we waited. My surgery was scheduled for 9:30 and I got there at 8:00. Jamie and I sat and talked for hours about everything under the sun, there were laughs and an awkward walk to the bathroom in a gown dragging my IV stick around, but I made it without flashing anyone.


11:00 rolls around and my surgeon comes by. Gabriel the nicest anesthesiologist ever (in defense he’s the only one I’ve ever met) gave me my meds and shortly after, the rambling began. All I remember from that time was: rambling about not having my pants, having to go to the bathroom and hoping I wouldn’t go on myself during surgery, and hoping I don’t fall off the table during surgery. Apparently there was a conversation had with me and the anesthesiologist about if I fall off the table that I don’t have pants on, he chuckled and put the oxygen mask back on.


An hour and a half later I woke up with a monster headache, a red itchy eye and my pants thankfully.

I was given strong pain meds with the directions: don’t lie on your face and don’t touch it for a few days.


The next few days were a blur of pain meds and sleeping on my recliner. Friends came by to check on me and bring me food, so I was thankful for that.


I went back to school on Monday and all the kids asked me what had happened so naturally I told them, they took my brains.


The next two weeks were a mix of pain meds and uncomfortable sleep on my recliner.


I went for my follow up with the surgeon and got good/somewhat scary news. It was a tumor and ‘mostly benign’ but possibly becoming cancerous since it was growing at such a quick rate and denting my skull. And yes I do have a permanent dent on my skull between my eyebrows. But, if we didn’t get it now it would have cracked my skull, torn my skin, or slipped into my eye socket and made me blind. All I had to deal with was the healing process now.


Looking back, I don’t know how I didn’t see it.

It’s in all my pictures.





Post surgery I have a nice little scar somewhat in the middle of my face.

But a month later it was healing really nicely and some bangs helped cover it a bit.

Now on to the trip… Finally…​

 

[maggiepie87]

Day before travel day
March 20th

The day before travel day is always that day when you are supposed to give your all at work right? I planned on giving it my best…


The morning started like any other, got up at 5:00, drank coffee, and watched I Love Lucy. I put on my Disney World shirt to try and get myself in the mindset for the trip, since I was having a hard time with everything going on and leading up to this trip.





But I left a little earlier today because I needed my traditional Chick-fil-a breakfast.


I had planned on paying it forward and pay for the person behind me but apparently no one else wanted breakfast because I didn’t get to pay it forward. I had planned on it, I really did. Maybe next time.

As always it was amazing




(Ignore my messy desk please ha ha)


I got to work about 6:30 and I was the only one there, apparently people were already on a Spring Break mindset.


The school day went by like it normally does and finally it was 3:00, time to leave! Actually I had plans with Jamie to go see Insurgent in the afternoon and when I bought my tickets the night before, the woman told me that they was going to be a line and people making sure everyone stayed in their line, apparently she was planning for a rumble…


We got to the movies and no one else was there, so we grabbed popcorn and found some seats. Eventually people showed up and the movie started, since I had already read the book, I knew what things were different, but I still did really enjoy it


By the time the movie ended it was almost 7 and I needed to pack still. Normally I’m the person who starts packing early but I wanted to try that folding cubing packing technique and things were still needing to dry. I made a last minute stop at Walgreens for allergy medicine because my nose was determined to make me uncomfortable for this trip.


I cleaned up a bit and started packing, then I got side tracked and checked facebook, then I went back to packing, then got sidetracked and checked twitter, then back to packing, then got sidetracked and checked instagram. This vicious cycle went on for about 3 hours before I finally finished. I weighed my suitcase and it said 30 pounds. Wait what? My suitcase never starts a trip being under 40 it seems.


I even sent this picture to my Dad and asked him what was I forgetting???
​

I assumed I remembered it all and decided I should try and get some sleep. I finally got in bed about 11:30 with my alarm set to go off at 3:00am.​

 

[Victoriasmom98]

HI!!! I've come to join in the ride!!! I cannot believe everything you went through in your flashback..... OMG!!! Now, you never did (or maybe I missed it) say how the thyroid situation resolved. I'm just curious because I had thyroid cancer and was just wondering....

Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[Wendy5055]

I'm looking forward to more...and I'm happy you are feeling better!!!

 

[maggiepie87]

HI!!! I've come to join in the ride!!! I cannot believe everything you went through in your flashback..... OMG!!! Now, you never did (or maybe I missed it) say how the thyroid situation resolved. I'm just curious because I had thyroid cancer and was just wondering....

Can't wait to hear more!!

I don't think I really did answer it, but as of now the numbers are back to relatively normal so they are going to keep me on the meds for a few more months and then I'll do more blood work and we will see how it looks. A good friend of mine had thyroid cancer and they took hers out about a year ago.

I'm looking forward to more...and I'm happy you are feeling better!!!

and thanks for following. Thanks, I am doing good which is something I didn't know if I was going to be able to say anytime soon.​

 

[maggiepie87]

Travel Day 3-21

Well 3:00am rolled around sooner then it felt like it should have. I stumbled around until about 3:30 then really started getting ready. I got everything put in my suitcase and it came in weighing 35 pounds, that’s more of what I’m used to


My ride came by about 4:15ish and off we went. The last few times I arrived at the airport at 4:30 the airport is closed. So I figured showing up at 4:45 would be fine. We drove the long and tedious, 13 minute drive to the airport. Along the way we saw some police officers questioning a teenager with some random electronic thing tied to his skateboard. Don’t know what that was all about.


I arrived at the airport and goodness, everyone and their mother was at the airport. Keep in mind this is a small regional airport with 3 airlines and about 12 gates. I was a little worried that I would be stuck in line like my Dad was last year. I paid for my bag and got in line, 2 minutes later I dropped off my suitcase and according to their scale my suitcase weighed…





That’s still pretty good, gives me 10 pounds of space for things coming back. While I was at the counter, I asked the lady if I could change from the aisle that they randomly put me in when they changed airplanes back to a window, she was so nice about it and did it with no problem.


I grabbed my tickets and went up to security. Apparently it was busy today because they had both the x-ray machine and the metal detector open.


I get to my gate about 5:00am and had about an hour until we departed. I sat and re-organized my bags, putting liquids back where they belong and everything. Finally we started boarding and I got my exit row.





Man was that seat amazing, I had so much extra room I could have napped Yes I packed Allegiant, I had started reading it a week before and I paced myself so I would have a travel book.


The short 48 minute flight was over before I even cracked open my book or listened to my Disney playlist all the way through.


I landed in Dallas and had about 3 hours until my Dad landed so I busied myself with starting my trip report and watching the news.




That made time fly a bit because my Dad was landing and we needed to eat. We stopped at McDonald’s because it’s easy and its right there.

My Mom texted me to ask me if I found my Dad in the airport, I texted her back this picture and said I think so.




(He was in the middle of telling me how last year they changed his gate 2 minutes before boarding to across the airport)


We had a departure at 10:50 so we had about 2 hours to waste, so we walked to our departing gate and people watched. We listened as fellow Disney fans talked about their plans for the week and places they wanted to go. They changed our gate so we moseyed down a few more gates and waited a bit more, in the end we were 20 minutes late but not too bad. We were in row 31 which is the second to last row so of course we had to walk forever to get to our seats but we made friends with the people behind us, we laughed about being in the back back of the plane and feeling like we were walking for miles. Apparently being in the Disney mood made everyone have a low little sense of humor




Literally the back back of the plane.




My seat was right next to the engine, which included fun noisy times. It was about a 2 hour flight so I watched Mockingjay on my ipod and before you knew it we were landing.


We made it to concourse B level 1. Again I did it without getting lost. Yay me.


We made it past the first magic band area and were directed to the next, when we scanned our bands the lady verified our names “Margaret and Pat” but with her accent it sounded like she said “Microwave your pets” and we couldn’t stop laughing and I joked that that would possibly be trip title number 1, there were about 7 more over the week. We went down aisle number 5 and waited 3 minutes before we got on our bus. It was already half full so we found seats about half way down the bus.


We watched the DME video, I still miss the old one though. And before you knew it we were on property.







I got the text saying our room was ready so we walked over to building 9 and just like last year, they gave us a king bed. So I walked back to the main lobby and the CM gave us a new room. I texted my Dad and back to the new room I went. I was noticing that my shoes were giving me a little bit of trouble and some spots on my feet felt a little tender, I just chalked it up to power walking from the room to the lobby and back. *insert foreshadowing music here*


We got to our new room and unloaded carry-on’s and packed my park bag for the day. We had a dinner reservation at ‘Ohana at 6:55 and sometimes you never know how long it takes to get from your room to dinner so we decided to head out about 5:30.

Since I’m a little self-conscious about the scar on my face I had planned on having bangs to cover it for the week, um no, about 10 minutes after walking in the humidity I realized that it’s not going to work very well so I pinned them back. I had decided that I was just going to have to rock my scar and not care.





We grabbed a bus and off we went, even though we were officially on Disney property and seeing the Magic Kingdom and everything, my brain still wasn’t able to process everything that was going on.


We grabbed the monorail and checked in around 6:20 and sat and waited. We people watched, which for both my Dad and I is sometimes just as much fun as being there. I still had that nagging pain on the bottom of my feet so I went to the bathroom to check it and low and behold, blisters were forming. I put on a band aid I had in my bag and went back to sit down. I told my Dad and luckily I had moleskin and band aids packed, but still, never a fun way to start your vacation.


Our buzzer went off 5 minutes before our reservation time and off we went to over stuff ourselves with food.

Like always, we got some bread and ate a little, then we got some salad and ate some of that too, but of course what we were waiting for was coming next.


I’m apologizing in advance for my lack of pictures on the first day, I don’t know for sure why I didn’t take as many as last time, maybe because it hadn’t clicked that I was there or what, but I only got a few.


Our server Keith was really nice, he asked where we were from and I told him originally from southern New Mexico but I moved to Northwest Arkansas 5 years ago when I got a teaching job, he said he had a friend from London, Arkansas which is about 3 hours from me.


Back to the food, we got dumplings and chicken wings first. I tried to be lady like and eat with a fork, but after a few minutes, I gave up. No shame here…





The noodles are always my favorite so I had an extra helping of that. Then the steak and pork came by and I had my one helping of that. I really did like the sauce on the steak, I liked the kick it had to it, my Dad not as much as me I think. Then came the shrimp, the reason for going according to me.





And yes, I did eat all of them. But sadly that was all I ate, I could have eaten more but I knew that dessert was coming so I had to save room for that.





We ate as much as we could and then gave up. One day I will be able to eat all of the dessert, I tried, but alas failed again


We paid with our dining plan credits and left a tip. We grabbed the monorail back to the bus stop and grabbed a bus back to our room about 9:00. Both of our suitcases were there, unlike last year when we had an extra one in our room.


I packed my park bag for the next day, watched the Arkansas basketball game, and we called it a night around 11ish, with the alarm scheduled to go off at 6. ​

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Yay for arrival day!!! That's funny that you got the King bed room AGAIN!! I'm reading your 2014 trip report right now and it's sooooo good!!! I have to finish it up! You know what? That scar is barely noticeable! I'm sure you've seen the thyroid scar your friend has (and I have it). You go ahead and rock your scar! All it means is that you are a survivor. Oh, I hate the back of the plane! As you said it takes FOREVER to get to your seat. I've never been to O'Hana's for dinner, but we go all the time for breakfast. Your dinner looks amazing!! What was the dessert --- I can't quite tell. Ok, I'll go back to your 2014 TR now......can't wait for more updates!!

 

[jandlinz]

What a great first day! You rocked your scar and looked great. Honestly I really didn't notice it too much. Can't wait to see what your trip is like.
Lindsey

 

[kclark9830]

Following along! I loved your TR from last time (I had read it previously, but don't think I ever commented). The "microwave your pets" remark had me chuckling! Looking forward to more!

ETA: I am glad you are doing well. My daughter had cancer when she was 3, and the area where the cancer was had gotten all swollen. Yet, we totally missed it until the doctor pointed it out to us. We also have pictures of just before she was diagnosed, and I look at them now and think, "How on earth did I not see that?!" I hope your dad is all better, too!

 

[yeheyprincex2]

Ohanas, I can not wait to be seated so I can stuff my self. On our last trip after our Ohana meal my DH says "I have never seen you eat so much!"lol
I'm sure the exit seat was NICE, I have only been in that aisle once and now I never can again because I have kids
Hope you and your dad make full recoveries from your illnesses for many more trip to DISNEY

 

[maggiepie87]

Yay for arrival day!!! That's funny that you got the King bed room AGAIN!! I'm reading your 2014 trip report right now and it's sooooo good!!! I have to finish it up! You know what? That scar is barely noticeable! I'm sure you've seen the thyroid scar your friend has (and I have it). You go ahead and rock your scar! All it means is that you are a survivor. Oh, I hate the back of the plane! As you said it takes FOREVER to get to your seat. I've never been to O'Hana's for dinner, but we go all the time for breakfast. Your dinner looks amazing!! What was the dessert --- I can't quite tell. Ok, I'll go back to your 2014 TR now......can't wait for more updates!!

That's how I'm viewing my scar now I've never sat that far back on a plane before, normally it's the middle. We couldn't even see the stewardess do her safety spiel at the beginning ha ha. We did 'Ohana's for the first time last year and we loved it! The dessert is so yummy. It's this bread pudding with banana's, ice cream, and caramel sauce. It's so good!

What a great first day! You rocked your scar and looked great. Honestly I really didn't notice it too much. Can't wait to see what your trip is like.
Lindsey

Thanks, I was really worried about how it would look or if people would stare. Some people did but I just smiled and kept going.

Following along! I loved your TR from last time (I had read it previously, but don't think I ever commented). The "microwave your pets" remark had me chuckling! Looking forward to more!

ETA: I am glad you are doing well. My daughter had cancer when she was 3, and the area where the cancer was had gotten all swollen. Yet, we totally missed it until the doctor pointed it out to us. We also have pictures of just before she was diagnosed, and I look at them now and think, "How on earth did I not see that?!" I hope your dad is all better, too!

We couldn't stop laughing the whole afternoon. Even my Dad said that it should be my trip report title, then again he said that about all the others I know it's weird, looking back and thinking how can you miss something that's smack dab in the middle of my face? But now my unicorn horn is a crater, so it's better in the long run.

Ohanas, I can not wait to be seated so I can stuff my self. On our last trip after our Ohana meal my DH says "I have never seen you eat so much!"lol
I'm sure the exit seat was NICE, I have only been in that aisle once and now I never can again because I have kids
Hope you and your dad make full recoveries from your illnesses for many more trip to DISNEY

It seems somewhat illogical for it to be the first Disney meal because at that point our stomachs and minds are not ready for all that food. But that didn't stop us, we pushed through I've always been a window seat person, but I think it's because I'm a sleeper and its easier and a little more comfortable leaning on the window then on complete strangers ​

 

[maggiepie87]

I hope everyone had a good Easter, I spent it with friends. We went out to eat and watched hockey. It was great

Day 2 3-22

The alarm went off at 6 and we were up and moving about 6:30. We were ready and heading out the door by 7 for an 8 am park opening. Since the tender spots/blisters on my feet were still annoying me, I put squishy band aids and moleskin on. I was going to do everything in my power to prevent them from getting worse


Since I knew the walk to the bus stop always seems longer at the beginning of the trip, I accounted 15 minutes to get to the bus.

According to my picture, we made it to the bus stop by 7:16, right as a bus was pulling up.







There was a little nip in the air which was nice, but we knew that today was supposed to be the hottest day of the trip.


We got off the bus and made our way to the entrance.








We got in line with everyone else and discussed our plans for the day. Our fastpasses for the morning were:
Dinosaur 9:00 – 10:00
Everest 10:10 – 11:10
Kilimanjaro Safaris 11:50 – 12:50


The CM was handing out maps to people, when he asked me if I needed one and I told him no thank you. My Dad jokingly asked why not and I proceeded to point to my head and say that it’s all up there. Then I randomly said “we don’t need no stinking maps” Now I know it from Troop Beverly Hills when they say “we don’t need no stinking patches” which is a play on the other “we don’t need no stinking badges” which I remember from Blazing Saddles but the original version is from the novel, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Hence the trip report title because it was repeated a 500 more times from then on.


Ok back to your regularly scheduled trip report…


Our am plan was like last year, we planned on doing Everest as a walk on.

10 minutes till they opened the park and off we went. Since my Dad and I are both members of the ‘I’ve fallen on the ground at Disney World’ but not because we were running but because we slipped or missed a step, we always secretly hope someone falls. Not that we are the people that wish harm on others but because they always tell you to walk to where you are going and that there is no need to run, but people always do, so we secretly hope karma gets them and they fall. I’m all about power walking but running isn’t safe.








We cut through Dino-Land like we always do. I think some people don’t realize that it may not be shorter in the long run but there are less people that early in the morning so there are smaller chances of you getting run over by said people running.





We joined the stand by line that said 5 minutes and like always it was exactly 5 before we went down.


It wasn’t until I got off the ride that I noticed the yeti was back at the end.


When we got off we sat by and watched other people go by.


I love the little darkness and little sunshine in this one.



There’s the people…





We had some time until our Dinosaur fastpass but we headed in that direction anyways. Seeing the wait time was only 10 minutes we decided to make a go for it. Somehow we ended up being at the end of the room and the end of the line. When we got into our time rover this happened.


We got to go by ourselves. This has never happened to me, we always ride with others. So I was super excited about it! Clearly…


We got off the ride and decided to sit for a bit since we had some time until the fastpass for Dinosaur rolled around. We people watched and talked about how warm it was getting, also about how we’re getting sweaty and there goes our sunscreen *yup foreshadowing music goes here*


We got back on and I remembered to point out the red, white, and yellow tubes within the queue.





This time we weren’t by ourselves, but I think my Dad is catching on to the posing for ride photos concept.



We were done with that side of the park for a bit we decided to head to It’s Tough to be a Bug because why not, plus we knew it was somewhat early so the wait wouldn’t be bad.



Whoo hoo


We didn’t have any wait since we were a group of 2 they let us in to the show 2 seconds before they closed the door.


We finished that and loved it as always, so we decided to head back to do Everest, we stopped for a bathroom break and found a bench to sit and wait.



My dad got to the point where if I took a random picture he would laugh and say “for a point of reference on time” because he knew that it’s the best way for me to remember what order we did things lol. While we were sitting there we saw this older woman carrying her flip flop as she was walking and her husband laughing at her. I don’t know all of what happened but all I heard her say as she walked by was “Nobody knows me here, I don’t care” we laughed and agreed. We also re-quoted her several times throughout the week, mostly me in regards to my scar.


When our window opened up we walked right on, no long line this time like last year.





We finished and saw a photopass person so we took advantage.





Then I made this oh so lovely face….



We finished with that and decided it was about 10:30 so we were going to head over and find lunch, we narrowed it down between Restaurantosaurus or Yak and Yeti QS. We decided Chinese and save the hamburgers for later on in the week.

We made friends with the CM at the window. He said “you’re always welcome at the Animal Kingdom” and directed it to me then to my Dad he said “but you’re not, wearing that shirt”. He noticed my Dad’s Rangers shirt, he’s from Montreal so naturally he’s a Canadians fan, we talked hockey for a bit until our food was ready then we bid him farewell. We found a seat to eat and people watch. We saw a lot of people wearing “Family Vacation” shirts and we discussed the possibility of all of our family coming to a family vacation. We proceeded to consider it for about 3 minutes then quickly shot that idea down, imagine if all of us tried to do Disney together.. To many chiefs not enough Indians ha ha.





We had finished eating about 11 and knew we had some time until our next fastpass so we ventured that way anyways figuring we had some time to kill in gift shops or taking pictures. Which is exactly what we did, and sit and get some sun.






Our window opened up so we made it over to the fastpass line and noticed the standby was 65 minutes, wow.


Not long later we boarded our safari vehicle, said jambo to our new friends and we on our way.













(Despite my finger being in the way, it’s a decent picture lol)




















We had discussed what we were going to do when we were done. Head back to the room or hit Magic Kingdom, we had a 7:00 dinner reservation at Crystal Palace and we didn’t want to chance being late, so we decided to just head on over to Magic Kingdom.


We stopped for one more picture and some shopping. Since we were heading straight over to the Magic Kingdom I had my cup and magnet delivered to my resort.







Not sure where my Dad is pointing exactly ha ha ​

 

[maggiepie87]

Then we found the bus stop.




According to the picture time stamp, we got to the bus stop about 1:00.


We didn’t wait long because by 1:20 we saw this.




We were dropped off and made the way to the entrance, maybe now my brain would be able to comprehend where I was.


So naturally we stopped for a picture, while there was not much of crowd.





Last year was when you were only able to make 3 fastpasses for the day and no park hopping to add extras, so this year we were going to try and add some more as we were going. So we hit City Hall and set up our first extra fastpass for the day. But first we stopped for a family reunion button since it technically was. The CM saw my Arkansas shirt and asked me if I watched the game the night before, yes I did I’m still bummed they lost.


So we went in City Hall and picked whatever fastpass we could, we ended up with Pirates from 2:30-3:30. So that gave us about an hour, so onward we went.


But first, photopass pictures….












It’s slowly starting to kick in, that we are actually here.


We decided to hit up the people mover first, it’s our traditional last ride of the trip but maybe it’s our first Magic Kingdom ride too now.







It’s never a people mover picture until there’s a foot picture.


We finished that and decided it was almost 2 so we would get over to Adventureland.


But first, another picture.



We made it to Adventureland and were through the fastpass line in about 10 minutes. We ended up first row and on the drop we ended up soaked. The people behind us were as surprised as we were. All my Dad could say is “Don’t taste the water, it’s horrible”


We got off Pirates and decided to head to the fastpass machine by Diamond Horseshoe and see what else we could get for the night. We lucked out and got the Haunted Mansion for 3:15-4:15. Ironically, the 2 rides that we waited for last trip since we didn’t fastpass them and this trip we were able to extra fastpass them on our first day.


By that time there was a line for FOF and I knew that we wouldn’t be able to get across unless we made a dash for it now so we did.


Along the way, we saw one of many duck families. What is it about baby animals that make all humans go “ahh”




My Dad noticed that there was the Mama duck and Daddy duck and about 6 babies. The Mama and 5 babies went one way, and this little fella got side tracked by goldfish crackers. So he pecked it a bit then went on with the rest of his family. Well Daddy duck waited behind until the last baby duck was with the rest. How sweet.

We sat and people/duck watched for a while and a custodial services guy came by and since my Dad was wearing his birthday button, he asked him how old he was and he said "old enough". He told my Dad that he can go by his Disney age instead. He informed us that you add the two numbers of your age and that's your Disney age. So he told my Dad that he is 7 and he wrote it on his button. Then I questioned that theory, so how he can be 7 and have a 9 year old daughter?


We moseyed on towards the Haunted Mansion with about 45 minutes until our window. So we decided to hit up PhilharMagic for a little break and to smell cake.





We enjoyed that as always. What’s not to love about air that smells like cake, really I would by that smell as a car air freshener any day.


By now it was Haunted Mansion time. I love the Haunted Mansion, love love it. It might very well be my favorite soundtrack, it’s my ringtone. Sometimes when people call me I let it ring longer than it should, just so I can listen to it.


We went through the stretching room, then the madness ensued, the standby time was 45 minutes so they were moving people as quickly as they can and we had a clusterfudge. Too many people trying to fit in a single file line, we hit the chokepoint and people were throwing elbows.


The family in front of me turned around to look at the crowd I assume and they noticed my Arkansas shirt and asked me where I was from. I told them Rogers and I guess they were from Arkansas too and looking for someone else from the state. Honestly at that point in day 1 I had already seen about 25 other Arkansas shirts, apparently the whole state had the same Spring Break.


We got in our doom buggy and the quoting and singing commenced. My poor Dad had to listen to me, the kids in my classroom don’t mind but I’m thinking my Dad might have a bit lol.

We finished Haunted Mansion and saw a photopass person outside, so we stopped obviously.








I got into the fastpass line to see what else I might be able to get before dinner. I lucked out again and got Buzz from 5:10 – 6:10. We hungout in Fantasyland for a bit, well more like we took a bathroom break and sat in the sun and people watched for a while.





After getting some sun we ventured towards Tomorrowland with no real plan in mind, we walked by Mine Train and noticed the 90 minute wait and talked about how we have fastpasses for it later in the week thankfully.


We hungout until our window opened then on we went.


I lost again…




We finished and decided that we had about an hour and a half until dinner so we would find a spot and relax and people watch. Since my Dad had had serious surgery before the trip, he assured me he was ok, but I wanted to take as many breaks as possible just to make sure he was ok.


We watched this little girl, about 2, have a field day feeding the birds some of her peanut butter crackers.


Since we were close to the Launching Pad, I wanted an icee.




It was so good and really hit the spot.


We decided to head towards Crystal Palace a little early and check-in, even if we have to sit and wait, at least we will be sitting and waiting in line for dinner.


I checked in about 6:15 and the manager in the background said he had a table ready. So I went and sat down and told my Dad it wouldn’t take long, and 2 breaths after the sentence the buzzer went off.


We were seated relatively close to where we ate breakfast last year.


Marie was our server and she took our drink order and told us Piglet should be around shortly. So my Dad went to get food first then I went shortly after.




Salad is healthy right? Lol




What’s not to love about Piglet?





There was some wiggle room between Piglet and the Eeyore so we went for round 2 on food.




Clearly I love mashed potatoes and mini corndogs. They both make appearances again in a few days.




As you see Tigger wasn’t far behind so I didn’t even have to sit down before Tigger came by, more like took 2 steps towards me.







I’m in the middle of a laugh because I had my Dad take 2 pictures, to be sure that they came out. Well he turned it off after Tigger and it wasn’t turned on in time so he was asking me what button to push and I was explaining it while Pooh did his “think think think” action and I thought it was adorable.


We tried to eat dessert but we both decided we were stuffed so we passed. We were done about 7:30 but the family next to us were having technical difficulties with what credit card was used to pay or something so our server was assisting them before coming back to us. Which was ok because food was trying to settle before we embarked on walking to bus stop 34.


We used 2 credits and left a tip and out the door we went.











We had discussed staying but we had already had a 14 hour day so we decided to head back and get some rest, no need over doing it on day 1.


We got to our bus stop and waited about 10 minutes, got on the bus and out we went.


We got on the bus and it was standing room only so we placed ourselves in the doorway and hoped we didn’t go flying out the door. We made friends with the lady standing next to us. She was from Canada, but never specified where, and was super friendly. I about found out her life story, she has 4 kids but her and her husband recently adopted a girl from China. They surprised her older kids by not telling them where her, her husband, and their daughter were going, until they got to Disney. Then she informed me that she recently sold her business for a couple million, secretly I hoped she would adopt me to and offer to pay my bills and student loans off, but alas it didn’t happen. We discussed that they should install dimmers in the buses instead of the cataract shattering sudden flood of light you get when you get to the resort. We all agreed and then bid goodbye to our new friends.


We got back to the room and since it was still early, I walked to the lobby to refill our cups. I left my Dad in the room since I figured he was tired.


I got back, showered, packed our park bag for the next day, and called it a night by 11.​

 

[Sailormoon2]

OMG! Your face in the empty Dinosaur car photo is absolutely priceless!!! I almost spit out my sip of water. Awesome!!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

You didn't mention anything about blisters, so I'm assuming the squishy band-aids and moleskin worked. Yay!! We are at that point where we don't need "no stinkin maps" too. I do take the times guide just to make sure we don't miss anything. I love Animal Kingdom, but I seem to be the only one in my family. Ugh! I think it's awesome that you pose for the pictures and I especially love the one on Dinosaur in the empty car!! Yep good ole T-Rex ate your travelling companions! LOL! How adorable is that baby duck! If you ever had the time to read my trip reports you'll see that my daughter and Disney ducks get along famously!! We have about 30 chickens at our home, but no ducks, so she really wants one. I love all the photopass pics you got! I always buy the memory maker and love those pics! You have some really awesome borders. Are those photopass borders? I haven't seen the Haunted Mansion ones. Your dinner at Crystal Palace sounded wonderful. We are doing the breakfast this coming September. I look forward to reading more!!

 

[maggiepie87]

OMG! Your face in the empty Dinosaur car photo is absolutely priceless!!! I almost spit out my sip of water. Awesome!!

Thanks As soon as I realized we were in the vehicle alone I knew what I was going to do. It is by far my favorite ride photo ever!!

You didn't mention anything about blisters, so I'm assuming the squishy band-aids and moleskin worked. Yay!! We are at that point where we don't need "no stinkin maps" too. I do take the times guide just to make sure we don't miss anything. I love Animal Kingdom, but I seem to be the only one in my family. Ugh! I think it's awesome that you pose for the pictures and I especially love the one on Dinosaur in the empty car!! Yep good ole T-Rex ate your travelling companions! LOL! How adorable is that baby duck! If you ever had the time to read my trip reports you'll see that my daughter and Disney ducks get along famously!! We have about 30 chickens at our home, but no ducks, so she really wants one. I love all the photopass pics you got! I always buy the memory maker and love those pics! You have some really awesome borders. Are those photopass borders? I haven't seen the Haunted Mansion ones. Your dinner at Crystal Palace sounded wonderful. We are doing the breakfast this coming September. I look forward to reading more!!

Yeah the band-aids and moleskin really helped. I love baby ducks and ducks in general. I'll have to read them Yeah I live in a weird mix of farm/city area. I see cows next to Chick-fil-A and Walmart.
So when I go walking I see geese all the time, but they aren't as cute as ducks That was the first time I've ever seen a photopass person there and when I mentioned it she said something to the tune of "Only here until 5". Yup they are all photopass borders and stickers. Thanks for following along
​

 

[maggiepie87]

Day 3 3-23


The alarm went off at 7 and I stumbled around trying to get ready. At this point I looked in the mirror and all I saw was red Oops I guess 14 hours means I should have reapplied sunscreen at some point throughout the day. I applied some anyways and hoped it wouldn’t get worse today. I put band-aids and moleskin on. It really didn’t look like blisters today but I still wanted to be safe so I used it.


When I looked out the door, I saw rain. Well they had forecasted it and it had shown up earlier then the planned. So I dug out the ponchos from my bag, buttoned them and off we went, about 7:45.


We got to the bus stop and waited until one showed up. Luckily, there was one pulling in shortly after.

When we got on the bus I pushed back my already frizzy hair and noticed I had lost a backing to one of my earrings. So I put them in my bag and used that as an excuse for a reason to buy some new ones.


I took a selfie to show my Mom we were wearing ponchos and sent it to her at 8:15.


Our fastpass plans for the day were:

Tower of Terror 10:05-11:05
Toy Story Mania 1:20-2:20
Star Tours 2:25-3:25


We stood around and listened to people around us discuss their plans for the day. In previous years they had opened at 8:45 but I guess not today, 8:58 they let us in and off we go towards TSM.





Part of me can’t wrap my brain around the hat actually being gone.


We got to TSM, thankfully without falling in the rain, and walked right on. I won! So Buzz is not my forte but TSM is





We got off and had sometime until our TOT fastpass so I had planned on doing Rockin’ Rollercoaster, so we went that away, then shorty realized that sadly it was closed. So we went back and found a table and chairs and sat for a while.


I figured we had some time so I went to the bathroom by Rockin’ Rollercoaster, the CM’s at the entrance were determined to not let anyone get by, I had to plead my case about the restroom for them to let me go by.


We had packed up the ponchos when I got back because the rain had stopped now it was just a little sprinkle. I’m telling you, I loved my park bag. It was something I randomly found in the travel section at Target and I knew I would need to pack a few more things so I thought it seemed like a good fit. Well it was, I was able to fit 2 ponchos folded, 2 sunglasses, a wallet, cosmetic case, and my camera comfortably.


We people watched for a bit then our window opened. Now I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times. Out of all the rides, this one is the only one to give me an anxiety attack. But I think I’ve finally realized why








When we were flying to Disney when I was 3, I had to go to the bathroom, so my Mom took me. While I was sitting there taking care of business and we hit an air pocket and the plane dropped. My Dad still says that he remembers hearing my scream on the other side of the plane.


Ok moving on from that apparent life changing event.





No turning back now right…




It never seems as bad when you’re on there as actually getting on there to me.

I love how the first part of the video is us talking about where my Dad was going to hold on.

My Dad said it was the most drops he’s ever had, about 6 full drops. I knew that it wasn’t over yet and on the last one I felt it going up so I told my Dad ready and he said he thought it was over.


We get off the ride to go look at our picture and my Dad says “It looks like I’m giving birth” (Trip title possibility number 2) followed shortly by “I needed to go to the bathroom but not anymore, I think it scared it back up” (trip report title possibility number 3) After those laughs we see a photopass person so we took advantage of that.




Gracious look at my hair…


He told us to be surprised… but be surprised for what, I do not know.




I turns out we just look surprised at the fountain… Deep down maybe we are supposed to be taken back that they used that for interior decorating ​

 

[maggiepie87]

We had finished and my Dad had to go to the bathroom again (ha ha) so I stood and waited. When he got out I looked over and checked to see if Rockin’ Rollercoaster was back up and it was, so off I powerwalked. I mumbled something to my Dad as I went, something about, where are you going to be. I never got an answer so hopefully I can find him when I’m done.


I was in my stretch limo about 5 minutes later and somehow I ended up riding alone. I pushed my restraint down as far as it could go and I still had about an inch of space. I kept trying to push it down one more but it wouldn’t go.


I posed but on the wrong flash…




I love this ride but that inch of space made this ride a little more intense than any before. I would hold on and then it would push forward and for a split second it would feel like it would pop open all the way. Deep down I knew it wouldn’t but it was an uneasy feeling.


I got out by 10:30 and the wait was 50 minutes. I really did luck out there…


We had a lunch reservation at 50’s Prime Time at 11:15 so we decided to head that way. We parked ourselves under a bench with an umbrella and people watched for a while. We checked in at 11:00 and hung out inside until we were called 10 minutes later.


Our server Donna was great. My Dad picked the restaurant but he was worried that we would get a server that was really into the role and he’s not a big fan of overdoing it. Luckily Donna was a bit of both.

At the table behind us, one of them asked where the bathroom was. Donna replied “Out back, Grandpa needs help watering the lawn” I missed it but my Dad said the look on the girls face was priceless.


We were seated right outside the hallway for the bathroom and the kitchen.





My Dad picked the pot roast and I picked the creaser salad. Drinks wise my Dad picked a coke and I got the peanut butter, jelly, and chocolate milkshake. Also known as Reese’s peanut butter cups and ice cream in a cup











We finished all our food and had to pick a dessert so logic said pick the ice cream sundae.



No problem, who doesn’t love ice cream. I can do this…






Yeah no, I didn’t even make a dent in it


We finished lunch and ventured back outside, where it was raining again. So we ponchoed up and off we went. We had nothing to do for about 2 hours so we just walked. We decided to do Muppets since it was one of the few things we didn’t have fastpasses for and knew there wasn’t much of a wait for.

It said 5 minutes when we got there.


Apparently I was a little overzealous when I took my poncho off and got the guy in front of me a little wet. Sorry sir.

We got our glasses and waited until the show started. I sat down and my chair seemed a little wobbly, I was afraid it would break with me sitting in it, so there wasn’t much moving to try and get comfortable. I remember years ago we went to the movies as a family and my cousin’s chair broke and by the end she was pretty much sitting on the floor. Yeah I didn’t want that to happen to me…


We finished the show and hit the Muppets gift shop, I always look for a Bean Bunny thing, is it just me or do they not make one?


My Dad bought my Nana a magnet about being old ha ha. Don’t worry, she’s not easily offended.


We wandered around towards TSM because we had a fastpass coming up. We stopped and I couldn’t help take this picture because I was astonished because last year the crowds were heavy and today it seemed a third of it.





We went potty because it was right there, so why not.


By that time our window opened so we walked on and yes, I won again.





We finished and again, wandered around with no real plan. We had about an hour until our Star Tours fastpass, so we hit the Great Movie ride with about a 25 minute wait.








Of course I sang along during the Wizard of Oz and of course I was the only one.


We finished by 3:00 so we made our way to Star Tours. The CM we had was a little cranky, but then again the guy behind us waited until she had done her seatbelt check before he asked if his kids could change seats. I wouldn’t have minded waiting an extra 4 minutes so the kids in the last row could see but she said no. The kids didn’t seem to complain so I guess it was ok in the end.


We were done for the most part minus Fantasmic in the evening so we decided to call it an afternoon. But first, shopping and pictures.








We decided to fastpass Fantasmic because why not. The CM was so nice, I knew what I was doing so when she saw me just tapping away she laughed and said “you don’t need me do you? You know what you’re doing. Want to switch jobs?” I told her I teach 4/5 year olds for a living and she laughed and said “no thank you”. That’s the reaction I get from a lot of people ha ha.


We went back to TOT because I wanted to buy something. I ended up with the desk bell and that thing is in my classroom and it’s the best $8 I ever spent ha ha.


I grabbed one more picture before we called it an afternoon.





We got back to the room and I went to refill our mugs and pick up my package from the Animal Kingdom the day before. Then I bought some stuff too what’s not to love about new tshirts


We had left a tip for mousekeeping and I guess she appreciated it because she left us a pretty flower and she used my white hair bow that I guess I left somewhere on the table or chair.





Since we weren’t hungry we decided to pass on dinner and just hangout until 6:30. The time passed by pretty quickly and off we went. I took some pictures on the way to the bus stop.







The fluffy rain clouds in the distance.




I sent this to my Mom would the text “Off to Fantasmic we go”


We were walking to the bus stop and we see a car, no biggie, they’re always parked there. Then we looked closely and see this…




A cute little dog sitting in the driver seat, we laughed and joked about him being the new bus driver.


We got to the bus stop about 7:00 and were walking into Hollywood Studios about 7:30.


I took some walking pictures and we strolled towards Fantasmic.











We were looking for the fastpass line and I guess at that point they were letting everyone in standby and fastpass together. So we make it through and scan our magicbands and went to find a seat. We got a seat to the left of center 3 rows from the top. Actually pretty nice seats. It was filling up fast and people were trying to fit into any spots they can find. We noticed this man in the row in front of us…




My question. Did he know he took the TSM glasses or did he just really like them?


There was no preshow this time around so we had to keep ourselves busy. Someone had started the wave and we did that about 20 times back and forth. We smiled at the family in front of us and waved at the baby. We laughed as people left to get food, then would come back and try to find their party again. I made a comment about wanting to buy the glow with the show ears, I say it every time but never do.


Finally 8:30 rolled around and it started. I knew I wouldn’t get good pictures being that far up and I didn’t want to spend more time trying then watching. So I just sat and appreciated it.


We had decided that we were going to try and beat the crowd out, so we were going to leave at the boat scene at the end. Well I thought it would be back by then so I waited, then when it didn’t come out and the characters were on the rock I told my Dad to go now, so we huffed it out and beat the crowds nicely.


We were walking in front of Tower of Terror as this family comes out of the gift shop and the older people were smiling and the child (probably 8) wasn’t smiling. They asked her “Did you like it?”

She responded “Yes, but I don’t want to do it ever again”


We made it to the bus stop by 9:15 and were first in line for the next bus. We were waiting and standing, and standing and waiting, in the meantime our bus stop is starting to fill up.


We saw some buses coming around the corner and there was one that said “Tiana” but with my contacts having been in since about 7 and the darkness, my genius self said out loud “Does that bus say Tuna?” Now I know it didn’t but for some reason I really thought it did. So were standing and low and behold, the Tuna bus pulls up to our stop.


Trip report title possibility number 4: “We get the Tuna bus”


We were talking on the bus about whether we were hungry or not. Kind of but not really, but I knew that we hadn’t eaten in 12 hours and it would be another 12 hours before we eat so we should eat something.


So we hit the landscape of flavors with the idea of a hamburger and fries. We asked for it to go and we walked back to the room.





Half way through eating we realized, we were hungry after all.


I called my Mom, surprisingly my phone was the only one that actually got service. We talked about our day and how it did rain a good chunk of it but we still got everything we wanted to done. I told her I was excited about Via Napoli pizza tomorrow. We said our good nights, showered, packed my park bag for the next day and called it a night about 11.​