We're on the brink of an adventure, Children. Don't Spoil it with too many questions!

[ZellyB]

Hello, and welcome to my delayed trip report for our summer extravaganza to Disneyworld, July 6-13, 2019. I loved the movie Mary Poppins Returns and the title of this little trip report is my most favorite line in the movie and I use it with abandon when harassing my kids about something. We've made multiple trips to the world, many of them for runDisney races, but this summer was all about just enjoying the parks with my two youngest, Paige and Sophie (16-year old twins). My eldest, Drake, is grown up and holding down a job now, so he didn't get to come along.

Anyway, I'm excited to share this wonderful trip in all it's sweaty/hot/crowded glory! So, as Mary Poppins would also say, "Off we Go!"

We'd opted to fly Allegiant airlines for this trip since it's a non-stop flight and a bit cheaper than the legacy airlines, particularly due to their nice discounts for military members. The only downside was that the flight for the day we wanted to leave was a late evening flight with an arrival time in Sanford of 11:30 PM. Still, I'd planned a down day for our first full day at Disney so all was going to be well! Alas, when we arrived at the airport we discovered we were delayed by 2 hours. Oh no. What do you do when your flight is delayed? You take a selfie and complain about it on Facebook, of course! Which leads me to introductions for those of you who haven't read one of my reports before or followed my training reports and posts on the runDisney threads.



That's my husband of 30 years, Chris, up close and personal. He enjoys running and enjoys Disney almost as much as I do, so he's usually in agreement with my plans to go. Did I mention this was going to be our 3rd trip of the year with another one planned for the fall and the Wine and Dine race weekend? No? Well it was. Do I have a Disney problem? Maybe...but maybe not. I figure nobody on this forum will think I do.

Next up is me, Gisele. Disney aficionado and obsessive trip planner. Can I explain why I love Disney so much? Um, no. Do I need to to this audience? Um, no. That's why I love it here.

Next up is Sophie and next to her Paige. I've also managed to convert these two into Disney lovers. Doing my job as a mother to indoctrinate them in the ways of Disney. They will be running their first runDisney races with us in November and I'm so excited for that!!!

So, yeah, that's us.


Eventually, our plane did take off and we were on our way. Sophie thought the level of excitement that Chris' and I were showing on the plane was worth a photo op!



HA!! What can I say? We are old and need our sleep!!!

Anyway, we did eventually arrive in Sanford. I got the rental car while Chris and the girls collected the luggage and then we were off to the Happiest Place on Earth! It was 2 AM by the time we arrived at Shades of Green, so after an easy check-in we headed off to our room and collapsed into bed. Thankfully, we knew we could sleep in some the next day.

Next up - Let's go ride a boat!



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[rteetz]

Joining in!

 

[roxymama]

First...following!!

edit: dingdang ryan beat me to it

 

[ZellyB]

Joining in!

Hooray!!

First...following!!

edit: dingdang ryan beat me to it

Glad you are here even if you didn't beat out Ryan.

 

[SarahDisney]

Yay! Trip report!

I am very bad at following along with trip reports and the way things are going I just keep getting worse at it, but I promise to try to think about maybe trying to keep up a little bit, because I'm excited to read all about the trip!

 

[ZellyB]

NOW it feels like Vacation!

We awoke to a beautiful blue sky and this lovely palm tree centered right in front of our balcony. When Sophie saw it she said, "Once I see a palm tree, I know I'm on vacation!" Sing it, sister. Shade of Green is a beautiful resort and we had a great room with a lovely view.

Ahhhhhh! Vacation!

We got all unpacked and settled in the room before heading out for a walk over to the Polynesian to catch the Monorail for our breakfast reservation. It's another one of the nice things about Shades of Green that you can take a (not too far) walk to the Polynesian and use the monorail easily. Once there and on the Monorail we were arriving at the Contemporary in short order for our breakfast. Chris and I discovered the Wave restaurant a year or so ago and have been huge fans of it ever since. It's really good food and service in a nice atmosphere and it's a great option when you are in the Magic Kingdom area. They have a great buffet and regular menu as well. We were all HUNGRY too!

And, yes, that's my Bloody Mary on the table. It was delicious.

Once done with a leisurely breakfast, we decided to walk back over to the Magic Kingdom and take the boat back over to the Poly. Paige was more interested in just taking the Monorail, but she was outvoted.
It was late morning by this time, so the boat was not at all crowded and the breeze felt delicious as we cruised over to the Poly.

We strolled through the Poly grounds and were headed back to Shades of Green. Sophie has such a good sense of direction doesn't she?



Quick Photo Op with my posing girls


Somehow this walk always seems shorter on your way to the parks rather than on your way back. Plus it was HOT by now. Hello, Florida in July.

We made it back though eventually and decided to cool off and relax in the room. My girls love the snap chat filters that show up when you are at Disney.


While they were being goofy, I was posting on Facebook about the trip so far. The girls love to make fun of me for that, but they serve as my little mini-vacation journal while we travel. Plus, I don't know about you, but I'm much happier looking at my friends' vacation pictures than reading political stuff on my social media. So, hey, I figure I will contribute to drama-free content whenever I can. Doing my part to make Social Media a happy place.
But, given that I like to document everything, I was telling the girls and Chris to send me any pictures that they took on their phones. The girls opted to make fun of their poor old mother on their own social media...

And, no, I don't care. I'm shameless when it comes to my picture posting.

Next up: Straws love Disney too!!!


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[ZellyB]

Yay! Trip report!

I am very bad at following along with trip reports and the way things are going I just keep getting worse at it, but I promise to try to think about maybe trying to keep up a little bit, because I'm excited to read all about the trip!

Welcome! Given my current delinquency in all things Disboards, I feel you!

 

[ZellyB]

It's Take your Straw to Disney Week!!!


Meanwhile, Sophie was telling me about how one of her friends was on a crusade about plastic straws and sea turtles, so Sophie had decided to bring her own stainless steel straw to Disney. We were joking about taking your straw to Disney for vacation and she decided to do her own Instagram story about her straw's adventures in Disney.


We are easily amused.

Once we had literally cooled off for a bit, we got into the rental car and headed into town for supplies. Target was a bit crazy, but not as bad as the Wal-Mart we went to the last time. After loading up on some essentials, we decided we were hungry and headed to Olive Garden for an early dinner. They were busy already! But, we were seated fairly quickly and this large sangria helped soothe my nerves.


After a tasty dinner we headed back to Shades and enjoyed some nice soft serve ice cream before relaxing in the room and hitting the bed early.

Not wanting the girls to have all the Snap Chat fun, I decided my Minnie girl needed some love as well.


We were all pretty wiped out by this point and crashed out to an early bed time. Tomorrow was an early wake-up!

Next up: SIVAKO!!!​

 

[run.minnie.miles]

You're back AND have a trip report! Yay!
You gals are so cute with your filters!

 

[ZellyB]

You're back AND have a trip report! Yay!
You gals are so cute with your filters!

Welcome!! If only my eyes were actually as big as snap chat filters makes them. Glad you are here!

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

Joining in! Looks like a fun summer trip between the 4 of you- can't wait to read more!

 

[kclark9830]

Joining in! Can't wait to hear more. And yes, your reasons for loving the Dis are the same as mine . We all "get" each other's love for WDW!

 

[michigandergirl]

I'm here! Glad to see you around again!

 

[TeeterTots]

Yay! Super excited you’re back to share all of your Disney fun!!

 

[ZellyB]

Joining in! Looks like a fun summer trip between the 4 of you- can't wait to read more!

Welcome! Glad to have you here. We had a great trip.

Joining in! Can't wait to hear more. And yes, your reasons for loving the Dis are the same as mine . We all "get" each other's love for WDW!

Welcome! It's nice to be among "my" people.

I'm here! Glad to see you around again!

Hi! Glad to have you here.

Yay! Super excited you’re back to share all of your Disney fun!!

Welcome. Nice to have you read along.

 

[ZellyB]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!


Monday morning our first park day of the trip and just so happened to be my birthday as well. What better place to spend your birthday than at Disneyworld, right?

It also was an EMH day at Animal Kingdom so we were up bright and early to be there and head for Flight of Passage. It's no small thing to get two teenage girls up and out of a hotel room at 6:30, but as I mentioned, they are well and truly indoctrinated and so they were up and out the door in order for us to be in line at 7:00 AM in advance of the 8:00 opening. They started letting us in around 7:40 or so I think and we expected them to stop us at the bridge into Pandora, but instead we were walked straight into line. We've done several EMH mornings for Pandora, but this was definitely our easiest and smoothest trip into the line. We love the thrill of the hunt and getting there early! It's a Disney-sickness...


SIVAKO!!! Love this ride!!!
Next up was a quick ride on the Nav'i River Journey before heading off for the Safari. This turned out to be a great safari ride.
Baby Giraffe

And then the best part of the safari hands-down was the lions. They were up and walking around and the female let out a couple of roars. Our driver sat for a minute saying the male often answers her, but after a few seconds of silence she drove around the bend and then suddenly up comes the male lion and he starts roaring back. The two roared at each other for probably 30 seconds before falling silent again. It was like they were having a conversation. So incredibly cool! The driver seemed pretty excited we got to see it.

After Safari we grabbed a quick coffee and pastry at Starbucks and then off for a ride on Expedition Everest. We even talked Chris into riding it.

Not his favorite. LOL
But he does like the way it looks from the outside.

We had a goal on this trip to try something new that at least one of us had never done before in each park. Turns out...there's not a lot we haven't done, but we did find that the girls had never seen the Nemo show, so off we went.

The excitement and anticipation had clearly exhausted Chris


But once the show began we did all enjoy it.



Next up: Fun with Ears and Dinosaurs, Bugs and Birds, Oh My!

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[disneydaydreamer33]

Score with getting to line up early! And I love that your girls are so trained in Disney habits!
Edit: And Happy Freakin' Birthday (in July )! We are stuck in our ways of Disney-ing in the winter that I'm not sure if I'll ever get a birthday in the parks, but I would love to sometime!

 

[ACS1016]

Looks fun! Following!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Joining in!

 

[DLo]

Hopping aboard a little late . Read your last race TR and looking forward to reading this one.