We have 2 pirates & 3 princesses to feed!: Our March 2017 trip with the QSDP *FINAL UPDATE 4/25*

[wdwnut61]

Ok the line for Jedi sign ups looks like my slushie line
Thank goodness they let you in early.
We love Buzz and Woody such a great picture of the family.
Glad you enjoyed H&V and got to see Fantasmic. Your youngest DD and her adorable expressions.
The younglings look great in their robes.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Following along. Your kids are so cute! I also have a DD10.

Thank you for reading!

Fantastic report so far. I adore all the coordinated outfits, makes for some excellent photos. You seem to be such a loving family, Disney should use you guys for commercials!

Wow, thank you so much!

Adorable family! Enjoying your TR!
I am a huge fan of pop century food court, perfect after a long day at the park.

Thank you! We really enjoyed Pop Century overall. Since we need two rooms and can't fit in the family suites anymore, we've decided Pop will be our go to Disney resort when we stay onsite - unless the doors somehow open for us to be able to rent DVC points for a 2 bedroom villa.

Loving your review! We are doing QSDP this October 4 adults 2 grandchildren (DGS8 on spectrum too) so really making notes!!! What a beautiful family you are

Thank you so much and I hope my report can be helpful in some way. Disney is such an awesome and welcoming place for children on the spectrum. DS15 attends a private school with a dedicated autism support environment and one of his classmate's family (that we've known for six years) goes to WDW annually; so we've learned some things from them over the years. There are many things my DS15 tolerates and enjoys at Disney that certainly aren't the case at home. Truly magical!

I just got all caught up on your report and want to say what a lovely family you have! I also have 15 yr old twins but mine are identical boys. I also have an almost 17 year old son. I thought travelling to Disney as a family of five was busy so hats off to you for managing it as a family of seven! Loving your reviews, so much yummy food and treats! Looking forward to reading more.

Thank you so much! We were a family of four for five years and I remember that taking trips and being out and about got just as hectic then at times as they do now, lol! We just learned to adapt somehow, lol!

How did your kids like Jedi training? Mine are the same age and I think they would love it, but it's a hassle with the sign up and everything. Did you feel it was worth it? We won't be doing the early breakfast so we'll be up early and waiting...

It was more than worth it. DS8 is a Star Wars fanatic and DD10 didn't stop reminding me how she didn't get to do JTA on our last trip ; so if anything was a must do for us it was this, lol! Looking back on it, I'm not sure how they would have did at 4 and 6 years old (their ages on our last trip); but this was an amazing experience for them at 8 and 10 years old .

I love watching JTA...so, who did your children face? Vader or Kylo Ren, and how did they feel about the experience?

Both DD10 and DS8 were on the upper platform and fought Darth Vader . JTA was definitely one of the highlights of this trip. It was super fun for them to participate in, and super fun for the rest of our family to watch .

Ok the line for Jedi sign ups looks like my slushie line
Thank goodness they let you in early.
We love Buzz and Woody such a great picture of the family.
Glad you enjoyed H&V and got to see Fantasmic. Your youngest DD and her adorable expressions.
The younglings look great in their robes.

Thank you so much. I couldn't believe how long that line got so fast that I just had to take a picture of it, lol! This was definitely one of the things I was prepared to handle thanks to being on the Dis!

 

[Sailormoon2]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE...is it wrong, that I wish I could do JTA???

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE...is it wrong, that I wish I could do JTA???

That is how DH feels. DH is 40 and Star Wars was everything during his childhood and still is, lol! DS8 and DD10 were definitely living his childhood dream .

 

[Harambe]

I am loving your report!! We, too, have moved to more QS than TS, since we feel there is plenty of choices now at WDW. In a typical 10 day trip, we would normally do about 7 TS's, but last January, we ended up cancelling a bunch and did QS. We also felt that QS for a family of four (we are all adults, though) was plenty of $$ to spend - LOL!

You are a fantastic writer, by the way! And I have to wonder . . . if so many of your kids were born in February, what is going on in MAY at your house!!! LOL!!

 

[Texans_loyal]

you would love DVC! we rented points for the first time back in Jan and i will never be able to stay in a value again. especially because it cost us less than a value!

 

[ewalshslp]

I am loving all of your reviews!!!! Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

if so many of your kids were born in February, what is going on in MAY at your house!!! LOL!!

That is too funny, lol! I blame the harsh, long winters here for making us a little too happy once spring rolls around!

you would love DVC! we rented points for the first time back in Jan and i will never be able to stay in a value again. especially because it cost us less than a value!

Wow, for a two bedroom DVC? I really need to do some more research. I think I should look more into the process of renting points directly from an owner. The price brokers quote for the points we would need for a two bedroom villa seem rather steep, lol! From what I've heard, there is a big price jump from the one bedroom to the two bedroom and I don't think we would be allowed to stay in anything less than a two bedroom if we went the DVC route.

I am loving all of your reviews!!!! Can't wait to read the rest!

Thank you for sticking around

 

[Texans_loyal]

oh no, sorry i am talking about a 1 bedroom. hopefully you can find somebody with points they need gone fast.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Day 5: Sunday 3/5 - Art of Animation Landscape of Flavors, Animal Kingdom Tamu Tamu treats, Flame Tree Barbecue, and Starbucks!

Our plans for today revolved around a late start at AK. A couple days before our trip began I was able to snag us ROL fastpasses for the second show (which didn't start until 8:30pm), so I rescheduled our Kilimanjaro safari and Expedition Everest fastpasses for the early afternoon. With our morning being pretty open, we slept a little longer and decided to roam the Pop grounds a bit before making our way over to Art of Animation for an early lunch at Landscape of Flavors food court. It is an easy walk over to Art of Animation from Pop and it is an adorably themed resort. The food court at AOA is really nice and has an excellent variety of options. They were still serving primarily breakfast when we got there. We all opted for the create your own pasta bar with the exception of DD3 and DS15 who wanted breakfast food and got the breakfast platter with the Cars themed waffles, bacon, sausage, and fruit. The create your own pasta bar was excellent and has a lot of pasta options as well as a nice spread of add ins to choose (veggies, meats, etc.) reminiscent of an omelette bar. I didn't feel particularly adventurous and just got farfalle a.k.a. bow-tie pasta with marinara sauce and meatballs, lol! We used snack credits to get a few plates of the garlic parmesan tie knots which were addictive, lol! Prepared with just the right amount of garlic and olive oil, just how I like it, lol!



The kids getting goofy with Goofy as we roamed around Pop

Strolling past the lake at Pop as we made our way over to AOA

The year I was born, lol!

There are a lot of fun photo ops in the Cars area of AOA. It looks just like Radiator Springs!

DD10 and Rafiki

Landscape of Flavors

DS15's plate

My plate and the yummy garlic knots

 

[Texans_loyal]

I must try the pasta bar! your plate looks delicious!

 

[amberpi]

Looks fun! You're family is so cute!

Because of the size of your family where ya'll guaranteed to have adjoining rooms? For our next big family vacay my folks and my brother's fam are arguing villas vs. room reservations. I'm staying at the Swolphin or CR as per usual.

 

[tybrilinja]

Loving your report so far. Delicious looking food and adorable pics of all you guys.

 

[Sailormoon2]

Great photos around POP, and i love the matching shirts!!

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I must try the pasta bar! your plate looks delicious!

It was definitely a good lunch and as you can see they aren't skimpy with the portions, lol!

Looks fun! You're family is so cute!

Because of the size of your family where ya'll guaranteed to have adjoining rooms? For our next big family vacay my folks and my brother's fam are arguing villas vs. room reservations. I'm staying at the Swolphin or CR as per usual.

Thank you for reading. In terms of the connecting rooms, I don't know if connecting rooms are ever truly guaranteed; but we chose Pop Century because it has such a large number of rooms which increased our chances of getting connecting rooms. We were originally assigned connecting rooms in 90's building 8, but after asking if it was possible to get a location closer to Classic Hall we were reassigned connecting rooms in 50's building 3 lake view

Loving your report so far. Delicious looking food and adorable pics of all you guys.

Thank you for reading

Great photos around POP, and i love the matching shirts!!

Thank you

 

[amberpi]

Thank you for reading. In terms of the connecting rooms, I don't know if connecting rooms are ever truly guaranteed; but we chose Pop Century because it has such a large number of rooms which increased our chances of getting connecting rooms. We were originally assigned connecting rooms in 90's building 8, but after asking if it was possible to get a location closer to Classic Hall we were reassigned connecting rooms in 50's building 3 lake view

Interesting. Thanks for the great advice on the larger resorts - hadn't even thought of that but makes TOTAL sense. Now I just have to figure out which monorail/Epcot resort has the most non-villa rooms.

Again, your family is just adorable and since I don't eat a lot of counter service, I'm thinking that I might try some more in late May, and won't feel bad for the teenager and 22 year old eating CS without us. Looks yummier than I remember!

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Day 5: Sunday 3/5 Animal Kingdom

Following our early afternoon arrival at AK, we progressed through our itinerary and eventually decided to make use of some snack credits with treats from Tamu Tamu Refreshments in Africa. We had Mickey ice cream sundaes and my favorite - Dole Whips. They have the Dole Whips with rum here; but it was Sunday so I decided to behave myself, lol!

DD10 getting in the Harambe spirit!

When it came time to choose what we wanted for dinner we chose one of our favorite counter service places in all of Disney, Flame Tree Barbecue. The food is delicious here. We each had the rib and chicken combo, and we used snack credits to get a few onion ring baskets (you've probably figured out that we love us some ribs ). The meat may appear to be a little on the dry side in the photo below but it really wasn't. The jalapeno cornbread that comes with the dinner was pretty tasty too. The onion rings were golden and crisp. I don't do coleslaw (there is a story behind that ) so that was the only thing left untouched on my plate.

One thing to note about Flame Tree is that you really do get an interactive animal experience here . Our feathered friends have no problem making themselves comfortable on the table right next to you, lol! I do have to say they seemed a lot more well mannered this evening than what we experienced when we ate here on our very first Disney trip. DS8 was two years old at the time and our feathered visitors completely freaked him out that day .

The Discovery Island Carnivale evening performances started up during our Flame Tree dinner

As night fell upon AK, my Starbucks addiction kicked in so we trekked over to Creature Comforts and made good use of those snack credits . The Starbucks location at AK is my favorite one out of the four parks because it fits in so well with the AK theming.

After I got my Starbucks fix, we watched the Tree of Life Awakening then eventually made our way back over to Asia to get seated for our Rivers of Light fastpass. This was our first time being at Animal Kingdom at night and it was truly a beautiful experience all around.

Up next: more Pop Century eats (and drinks ) and Goofy's Candy Co. treats

 

[mom2my3kids]

loving the reviews

 

[ariane37]

There are a lot of fun photo ops in the Cars area of AOA. It looks just like Radiator Springs!

That's my favorite section We stayed in a LM room for a couple nights a few years ago and while I think the entire resort is themed great the Cars area is done superbly.

The jalapeno cornbread that comes with the dinner was pretty tasty too.

We've only eaten at Flame Tree once and the cornbread was my favorite part

One thing to note about Flame Tree is that you really do get an interactive animal experience here

You're not lying! Older DS was a bit freaked out by this and he was 13 at the time lol. Not to mention before he'd finished eating a rather large bird flew above him, on the low side, and when he "relieved himself" it missed DS's arm by millimeters

This was our first time being at Animal Kingdom at night and it was truly a beautiful experience all around.

I love AK at night. I hope with RoL and Pandora opening that more people experience this.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

loving the reviews

Thank you for reading

You're not lying! Older DS was a bit freaked out by this and he was 13 at the time lol. Not to mention before he'd finished eating a rather large bird flew above him, on the low side, and when he "relieved himself" it missed DS's arm by millimeters
.

Oh my! Definitely an "interactive animal experience!"