Friday came up pretty fast on this vacation! We were fortunate enough to snag a 8:45am reservation for the Bon Voyage Breakfast. Anna's favorite princess is Ariel, so she was super excited to see Ariel...again...for the 4th time! Andrew was excited because this breakfast included "boy" characters! I was excited because it was in our resort, so it was a super short walk! We arrived at 8:30am and waited about 20 minutes to be seated. It seemed a bit hectic in the waiting area, but I suppose that's expected.
On the way to the restaurant, we stopped for a few photos while waiting for Daddy to finish getting dressed...
The kids really loved these outfits, so they were all too happy to pose!
Walking down the walkway...
Once seated, the characters began coming around rather quickly.
All were amazingly in character, especially Rapunzel!
We ordered our breakfasts. The kids didn't eat much (seemed to be a trend the entire trip). Adam ordered the calzone and I ordered the steak and eggs. My steak wasn't that great and the eggs had peppers in them, which I don't like...so I made a meal of pastries and potatoes. Adam said his calzone was good, other than a bit too much bread. While eating, there was a character parade. Andrew isn't overly fond of these, but Anna loves them. She was picked by Ariel to walk around...and that just made her entire day!!! She grinned her greatest grins ever for those few minutes...just pure happiness!
After breakfast, we went to the room to change into swimsuits as we were going to Blizzard Beach. Through many trips to Disney, we have learned that we love both water parks. The kids had seen several YouTube videos and were determined to ride the Alpine Racer Slides...so this year's pick was Blizzard Beach! We didn't really want to wait forever for the bus, so we decided to give the new Minnie Van service a try! That was the beginning of a HUGE addiction and expense...though it was worth every penny spent!
We ended up in Van 44 at least 3 times...likely more! If you aren't aware, the deluxe resorts have partnered with Lyft to run this service. It's $20/trip and no tip is required (though we did tip a good bit). They have car seats and every driver is trained in proper installations! It's truly an amazing service!!! The only downside is that once you try it, you are hooked for the rest of the trip!
We arrived at Blizzard Beach quickly, and it was almost empty! The kids had to sit in the sleigh and pose with the snowmen!
We then enjoyed lots of attractions with no waits! We played in the wave pool, rode the Alpine Racers (super fast for us chubby folks...I finished miles ahead of everyone else), rode Teamboat Springs a few times, and played in Tikes Peak. We also discovered the preteen area later in the day and wished we had spent more time there...since our kids are 4 and going on 14 in terms of thrills!
After a nice few hours, a storm began to approach and we had to return to the hotel for our nighttime plans! Adam and I had reservations for Highway in the Sky and the kids were set for Lilo's Playhouse.
So...we used the busses to get back to Boardwalk and decided then and there that we were done with busses for the rest of our trip. Minnie Vans became our new mode of transport!
We took a Minnie Van to the Polynesian and checked the kids into Lilo's. I can't review much since we were not there, but they seemed to have an amazing time!!! They were super excited when we picked them up and already had on their pj's (we sent a bag with them in case they got too tired). We did learn that they don't allow PullUps, even if only worn at bedtime...so just keep that in mind. It wasn't an issue for ours, but is good to know!
Adam and I then discovered that I forgot my ID! I wasn't sure if I would need it for Highway in the Sky and we had some time, so we took another Minnie Van back to Boardwalk! The driver was awesome! He drove us from Poly to Boardwalk for me to quickly grab my ID and then to Contemporary all for $20. Yes...he got a nice tip!
We relaxed in the lobby and checked into Highway in the Sky around 6:45pm. This is a special dining experience that is essentially a progressive monorail dinner with drinks! You can find details on the main thread, but we both agreed it was a wonderful night out! We met some nice folks from different areas, enjoyed adult conversations (something we had little of this trip), and the food was great overall (not a fan of the beef at dinner...but otherwise wonderful)! We finished up around 11:00pm and then went to pick up the kids. Of course, we took the Minnie Van back!
We all crashed almost immediately after returning to Boardwalk! We were excited for Saturday and a little sad that it would be our last full day of the trip.