Dreaming of APs and Frantic Dress Sewing - Dec 2-11 2022 Trip Report *FINISHED*

[EilonwyWanderer]

Did my father-in-law come for Thanksgiving and stay until 3 days before we left? Yes. Did he sleep in my sewing room so that I had to move my machine downstairs to finish the little Elsa and Anna dresses before we left? Yes. Did I sleep at all? No! But we made it and despite a couple of challenges this trip was MAGICAL so let's get to it!

Day 1
Against ALL ODDS our waitlist for a concierge AKL studio came through for the first two days! So we didn't make any plans for the first day since we knew that there would be free food and we could just relax. I'd switched our flights to an earlier one once we knew, so that meant waking up at 4:30 am to make sure everyone was at the airport for a 7 am flight. We flew Delta and they did something I've never seen before: they gave us free snacks! Stuffy Bear and my youngest were very happy about that.



The flight was uneventful but this would be the first time we were taking Sunshine Flyer and I was not impressed. We figured out where they were, stepped outside into a SEA OF PEOPLE. Like a huge crowd just milling around. There were no signs anywhere. But there was a guy that called out 'Animal Kingdom Lodge' as soon as we stepped out, so QR code in hand we walked forward. He then started yelling at us that we needed to go to the back of the line to check in! And I was like okay where is the line? And he just kept yelling to go back and check in. So we headed back to the doors because that's how large of a group there were and people filed in behind us. After a moment a random guy who was waiting for a bus said "nono, check in is over to the left we're all just waiting." So we walked over to the left where there was a check in person hidden behind the crowd. There were also people just milling around waiting in front so we waited for another couple of minutes before someone said they weren't waiting to check in they were waiting for a bus and finally got to the lady who was checking people in. With a clip board. She wrote our information down and then sent us back to the bus where the guy had been yelling earlier. It was pure disorganized chaos and I think we'll stick with Mears and their nice lines next time.

But we finally get to AKL and boy do I love staying at this resort. For 2-3 days. I find bus transportation to just be bad, but for a couple of nights I can deal for nice views. We had already activated our bands so we get into the elevator and...they don't work to take us to the 6th floor. We get out on the 5th and my husband goes down to the check in desk to figure it out.



They can't figure it out, so we get an escort up to the concierge level still toting all of our luggage. They have us leave it by the desk since they were busy with another person and tell us to go sit down, relax, and have some snacks. We're all just soaking it all in when a guy comes up and asks if we're X safari. We say no and the people at the table beside us wave him down. He heads over to them and...well. I'm not going to say he craps all over DVC members, but it really sounded like he was saying in not so many words that they save the "absolutely gorgeous safari views" for the paying guests and the pool views for DVC members. It left a sour taste with us but whatever, we're at Disney, we're not going to dwell on it. We finally get called over to the desk to officially check in and get our welcome package with another person who was very nice. We say we're going to go to the pool and go look at the animals while we wait for our room assignment and ask if we can leave the luggage with them. They say no, take it down to bell services. We say okay and head down there.

We check our luggage in without issue and go to the store to look around. Not ten minutes later we get the text that our room is ready! We go up to take a look and, lol, it's a pool view. We are lowly DVC members after all, but it's fine, we really aren't picky. Since it was so soon after we checked our luggage in my husband just goes down to bell services rather than calling to collect it.



But they can't find it. They come out three times to ask him to describe it. Our luggage is a very unique color (a light blue-purple I've never seen anywhere else) but more recognizable is the bright orange Elena child's suitcase we have. They can't find it. They can't find it so badly they ask my husband to go in the back to look for it! He does. It's not there. Worse? They can't find the guy that checked it in for us. Is he on break? Is he gone for the day? No one knows. They have no answers so they say they'll call us.



He has sent me a bunch of angry text messages in the meantime as this unfolds, so I go out to the concierge desk to check to see if they might've sent the luggage up to them? Nope. By this time I am a little panicked. That has all of our clothes in it! We're still wearing our long sleeves and long pants from traveling. It has all the kids' princess dresses in it! The only thing I packed in the backpack I kept with me were the two dresses I sewed and the swimsuits. I get back to the room and someone is calling our phone. It's bell services!

...to ask if we had the luggage up there. I'm like no, I believe my husband is down with you looking for it. Yes, he is, they say, but they were just hoping it had already been delivered. I'm like...why don't you know??? My husband gets back up to the room and is very angry about the whole thing. I'm pretty mad too, so we decide to just go out and look at some animals, go see how far the walk to the pool is, and otherwise try to pretend we are not screwed if our bags are not found. I'm not going to lie, as we do so I'm looking around to see if anyone is wheeling our luggage around! But we see some giraffes, walk over to Kidani to check out the kids play area which was closed last time we were there (and my kids are immediately like LET'S GO SWIMMING!), we look at the Christmas decorations, and then head back to the room so it's been about two hours. As we're heading back through the Jambo lounge WE SEE OUR LUGGAGE! It's on a cart right in front of Bell Services! We are so happy and the guy takes it up with us. We ask where they found it and he says "in the back." My husband is skeptical and asks which back since he went through every part of where they store the luggage earlier. The guy stammers a bit and finally just tells us that the guy who took the luggage never checked it in, whatever that means. But we're just happy to have everything finally!



We change into our swimsuits and go have a blast at the Kidani pool. My oldest is all about the water slide, which turns tragic as we get out and she has clearly had some kind of reaction to the chlorine. Thankfully that resolves with a quick shower, but would be a recurring issue throughout the trip and was something I didn't know could happen! We spend the rest of the evening at the hotel, eating the delicious food (omg the Durban chicken is amazing!) and looking at the very awesome decorations. We decide to turn in early since we had Magic Kingdom in the morning and we wanted to get there first thing!



Next up: Magic Kingdom for a day!

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Day 2 - Magic Kingdom/Epcot

I was SUPER excited for the first "real" park day because the kids were going to wear the dresses I made! So of course my six year old decided to throw a fit because I did her hair the way she asked not once...but twice. And when she wanted it done a different way for the third time I said no because I'd just put on sunscreen and my hands were greasy. Cue total meltdown. I stayed behind with her and waited for her to calm down while the eight year old and my husband headed off to the park. Not the best start to the day. But she did calm down and the weather was perfect--warm but not too hot, and the parks were definitely not as crowded as they had been when we were there in March.



The dresses looked GREAT! I was so happy. We didn't get many comments at Magic Kingdom but who cares, we got some great pictures! The greatest one I swear should be used in a Photopass ad.



We rode a ton of rides and then had lunch at Crystal Palace. This was really special because it was the first time the kids could really interact with the characters--back in March they couldn't hug them. So these were their first real character hugs and it was perfect! The food was good and the location just can't be beat!



More rides and then the 3 pm parade where Elsa and Anna made a HUGE deal about them when they noticed them waving it was awesome and I wish I'd gotten a picture. After that we headed over to Epcot to really show off! Perhaps because of the Frozen ride a LOT more people recognized the dresses. Castmembers, regular people, and PhotoPass people were awesome. I mean...the line for meeting Anna and Elsa definitely helped.



The Anna and Elsa we met were PERFECT. And they were SO EXCITED for the dresses. The CM before the room where you meet the princesses was falling all over them and said we needed to take a picture under the tapestry at the end of the room because the dresses were spot on. I was so glad for the tip! Also, this is going to be your picture overload for the day:








We had dinner at Akershus which was really amazing. The kids didn't like the food so much but we did, though really they were just always on the watch for the princesses. One thing that I liked here that I don't know why they don't do everywhere (more on that later) is halfway through dinner a CM came over and listed off the Princesses that were there and asked who we hadn't seen yet. I thought that was a GREAT idea! Luckily we'd already seen most of them and the only ones we were missing were on the way.



It was getting late and we were all tired from a very exciting day so we headed back to the resort to grab some snack and concierge entrees, but also to pack since we'd be transferring to the Grand Floridian in the morning!

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

What an aggravating check in to AKL. I too would have extremely miffed. Mostly by their lack of attention. glad to see your first day at the parks we a hit!

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Day 3 - Epcot/Magic Kingdom
Today we started the day out with Chef Mickey's which, while expensive, was totally worth it for the looks on the kids' faces when characters came out! I ate here when I was little so it's hard not to go here even though getting a reservation was craaaazy! Since we had to get here from Animal Kingdom Lodge we had to be up early so we could leave our bags with Bell Services (eeek) to get transferred to a 1 bedroom at the Grand Floridian, we took a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then walked to the Contemporary. Which is far! A lot farther than you think it is! Not a bad walk at all but oof. We were in a hurry so we were glad to be seated almost immediately when we got there.





After that it was onto the monorail to head to Epcot! Where our day started off both awesome and awful. We got a very early virtual queue for the new Guardians ride and we were SO EXCITED but had no idea what to expect. Well. It turns out the 6 year old is not a fan of dark rides or rollercoasters and while the other three of us LOVED it, it TERRIFIED her and we spent ten minutes after the ride consoling her. This would come back to haunt us later as she decided that pretending to be scared of things would get her extra attention!

We had wanted to go see Anna and Elsa again in our summer outfits BUT the Frozen ride was down so the time to see them was over an hour! It's usually 20 minutes! We ended up playing a matching game with the poor workers at the Frozen ride who seemed so exasperated that the ride "would be down for hours," which was a lot of fun. Then we walked around the world and met Snow White in Germany! We had reservations at San Angel Inn (my favorite) so we had to hurry through the last half of the countries to get there. It was delicious as always!




After that we debated trying to do the rest of World Showcase but we had a very special appointment at the Magic Kingdom we didn't want to be late for! We were surprising the girls with Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique! They were so excited when they figured it out!



A later in the afternoon appointment was the only one I could get, which turned out to have several consequences--we got the Deluxe packages for each girl and they picked out their favorite deluxe dresses: Aurora and Cinderella.

Both out in their sizes.

The only other two dresses available were Belle, which we had already, and Snow White, which they weren't thrilled with. The very nice lady working with us offered to downgrade the package so we could choose one of the non-designer dresses (which let me just digress here, why does the less expensive Castle package include ALL the princess dresses (except the 4 deluxe ones), while the Deluxe package only includes the deluxe dresses? Why doesn't the Deluxe include ALL of them?? Disney doesn't lose money if a kid picks Tinkerbell in that instance!). So the girls picked their second favorite princesses: Ariel and Tiana.

Both out in their sizes.

At this point I was starting to get a little annoyed and the girls were starting to get dejected. This was supposed to be an awesome, special thing but their first AND second choices weren't available. The lady finally just took their sizes and put a bunch of dresses from the characters they had in their sizes in the fitting room. Luckily each kid was able to find one they liked--the non-deluxe Aurora dress and the Jasmine costume. The Fairy Godmother appearing in the mirror was so cool!



Things picked up after that--their hairstylists were SO much fun and perked both kids up right away, as did being in the castle getting their hair done. The Photopass people were great and got a ton of pictures. Both of them were so delighted when the reveal happened! And here's something I never knew about that they directed us to--there's a Photopass studio in Sir Mickey's! They took AMAZING pictures and we'd go back here later (and unfortunately get a less great photographer but still get good pictures) and I was so happy to learn they were there!





The kids loved walking around in their costumes for the short time the Magic Kingdom was open that night (it closed at 6 for the Christmas party). However the younger one basically begged me to take the colored hair out of her ponytail after a half hour because it was too tight.

We then went back to the Grand Floridian for a photoshoot of our own and to check out our FANTASTIC new room! We had dinner at Gasparilla Grill and omg, you must get the caprese sandwich. I want to eat one of those every day for the rest of my life.



That night as I put the girls to bed we kept hearing these big booms, which I assumed was the fireworks from MK. I turned off the lights and suddenly we were seeing flashing lights. Surely, I thought, lights were bouncing off something. I peeked outside to see people standing down on the beach and OMFG WE COULD SEE THE FIREWORKS FROM OUR BALCONY! I woke the girls up quickly and we all stood out there and watched them! A totally magical end to a very magical (but exhausting) day!

p.s. our bags arrived with no issues, hooray!

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Day 4 - Animal Kingdom/Epcot (of course, all days are Epcot days!)

Sure, we were no longer in concierge digs, but having breakfast at our own table in our room was great! The kids took a long time to get ready since BBB had given them little makeup kits and they decided they needed to match their makeup. I'm not ready for this!



As soon as we get to Animal Kingdom things are magical. There's some puppeteers out with a little polar bear and polar bear mama! The kids go nuts for it!



We have a pretty early lunch at Tusker House so we decide to hit the one ride that we didn't do last time since it was down: Expedition Everest! My six year old was apprehensive, but game because it looked like a lot of the ride was outside. Well, she spent the whole time with her eyes closed and then burst into tears when it was over. Part of this was, as we would come to realize, she thought if she cried she'd get more attention. We assure her she never has to go on it again, but she starts throwing a huge fit. HUGE! The rest of the day she only wants to do what she wants! She refuses to do any rides (even ones she's already been on)! So my husband stays with her and my other daughter and I head to see Nemo.

As we're passing over the bridge there's a water parade! We see Launchpad and Scrooge and Mickey and then SANTA!! It was so cool. I text my husband and he says he's >< to taking the younger kid back to the hotel because she's really being out of control. I tell him we're getting in line for Nemo. About ten minutes later the line starts moving and they show up to join us, she's calmed down and admits that she just wanted to get her way and thought crying would help. This kid man. We watch the show and it's great! The kids love it.

Then we head off to Dinosaur. We talk to the youngest extensively about it--she has been on it before, we don't want her pulling another freakout. She says she's just going to keep her eyes closed the whole time. I'm fine with that! We sit in the back for the very first time I think and omg the bouncing! It was so bad! I don't think I ever realized we have mostly sat in the front each time. The six year old is fine and the eight year old loves it. We check the time and decide to head to Tusker House.

Now let me say that this was hands down the most expensive meal of our trip somehow and I didn't really like it. The food was okay. There were four characters: Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy and my youngest was crushed Minnie wasn't there. Crushed as in, near throwing another fit. We tried to make light of it and just asked Daisy if Minnie was working at the Bowtique (she was!) which cheered the younger one up.




But it felt like buffet was WAY far away from us and the food was fine for the adults, but the kids barely ate anything but desserts. The characters were also not managed well--we saw Daisy, then there was a big gap, and then Mickey, Donald, and Goofy converged on us all at once. Like, all at once. We saw Mickey, who surprised my youngest, then Donald was right after him and Goofy saw Donald at our table...and skipped us.

Disappeared.




Now I have beef with Goofy ever since I went up to a buffet like 15 years ago and he stopped by the table and saw my husband then never came back. But him snubbing my kids (who, obviously, didn't want to leave without seeing all the characters) made this into a blood feud. I asked the waitress if there was any way Goofy was going to circle back (he really had disappeared into another room) and she was like "OH were you at the buffet?" I said "No, we were at the table, but Donald was at our table when Goofy was coming over so he skipped us." Our waitress got this skeptical look on her face and was like "It can take 60 minutes for characters to come around again" and left. Lady, I have VIDEO EVIDENCE OF IT! WE WERE AT THE TABLE! But, resigned, we sit back down wondering why they don't have someone keeping track of what's what like at Akershus.

Thankfully, we distract the kids with cupcakes and Daisy comes around again (but only waves and won't take pictures since we've seen her before) and then Goofy shows up! Yay! He comes right to our table and takes pictures so I GUESS all is forgiven. A little. We then get the heck out of there because we've already been there way too long. I don't think we'll ever be back.



Since we're down that way we decide to ride the safari, which both kids sort of protest since it was a long line since it closed at 4:45 and it was around 4. It was kind of overcast and looked to be threatening rain--the only time it would do that on our trip, we had BEAUTIFUL weather! It didn't rain and we had the BEST safari! We saw all the giraffes all together! We saw two cheetahs up and moving around! Rhinos! You name it we saw it! The only thing missing was the male lion, but we saw three lionesses so who cares!



We had dinner reservations at Epcot and my oldest wanted to go do Test Track (her favorite) so we decided to call it at a day at Animal Kingdom and head there.

Big mistake.

We get in line for Test Track and it says 55 minutes. Okay, a bit long but we have two hours before our reservation so we're okay. We get in line and...it's slow. It's not deathly slow, but it's slow enough that we have been in line for around 70 minutes before we get to the design space. But then we're happy! Because designing cars is fun!



And then...

And then the doors don't open. The ride breaks down and we are trapped in the little design room for 2-3 cycles. The door sat the end open twice, to see a room PACKED full of people. Like, packed shoulder to shoulder. Can't fit another person in there. Our whole room decides to just wait. Eventually they announce that the ride is back up, so people start filing into that room and it is a free for all. Most people were polite, but there were no castmembers directing people so it was very hard to keep your party together. Eventually we get up, we ride the ride, and woohoo we're done! An hour and a half later.

We rush over to Germany where we get in just as the band is finished playing a set! Bummer. The kids eat a bit more here but the 8 year old mostly sticks to the pretzel rolls. Sigh. However, the highlight of the meal is when the band comes back out a half hour later and the kids go running down and spend the entire time dancing. The entire time. There were a ton of kids out there just dancing their little hearts out and it was great! They danced in big circles, they made friends, it was really awesome! They are very tired when we head back, but not so tired we can't do a little Spaceship Earth. My 6 year old is so excited that we get to go into "BallBall." We get back and everyone falls asleep immediately.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Day 5 - Hollywood Studios

Today was a special day because Nana and Grampa joined us at Hollywood Studios! Both girls dressed up as Rey along with Gingerbread Jedi Stuffy Bear and Kylo Ren Duffy and we weren't really sure what we had planned considering Nana and Grampa didn't have the stamina we did. First thing we got in line for Runaway Railroad, which if you've never ridden it before is very much worth it. And, while I know it will make me some enemies, is WAY better than the Great Movie Ride. I said it!



We had an early lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe where they were SUPER nice and allowed us to combine our reservations (we had one for 4 and Nana and Grampa had one for 2 an hour later). However, we found the food to be kind of blah and didn't get a lot of interaction with our server, so we don't need to go back. The milkshakes, which were the big draw for everyone, were so thick you couldn't actually drink them, you had to use a spoon. This was after waiting almost the whole meal to see if they'd melt a bit. Nope.




After that the kids wanted to go on Star Tours and Nana and Grampa went to shop. It turned out the line was so short we walked right on twice! Sadly we got 2 out of 3 of the same clips and neither of the kids got picked as the spy. Boo! It was still really fun though. We walked around Star Wars land since my dad had never been and is a huge Star Wars fan and everyone rolled their eyes at me and the 8 year old hacking our way around the doors. Jokes on them, I'm now a Major in the Resistance, woohoo!




At that point the grandparents were ready for a rest so we headed back to show them our cool Grand Floridian room and then the kids wanted to go swimming. Nana and Grampa were cool with just lounging in the chairs while we swam. Then it was up and back to Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic! My husband was very excited for this because Fantasmic was his favorite show and the kids had never seen it. We thought showing up at 7 for the 7:30 show would be fine but they were saying it was standing room only! Or limited visibility seats! We were very sad, but decided to go in and see how bad the seats were.

Uh, the seats were fantastic? It was on the right hand side facing the stage, like 10 rows back, the seats were PERFECT! I don't think we missed anything and, in fact, by being on that side I believe we saw more than we would have sitting right in the center! The show was great and the kids were absolutely transfixed. They yelled and cheered and absolutely loved it, although the 6 year old had notes ("More fireworks, more princesses, more action, more DRAMA! It was pretty good but it could be BETTER!").



When we got out of Fantasmic we went looking for food and whompwhomp there wasn't anything! Things were closing even though there'd be a Fantasmic show at 9! Whaaaat! But what was cool was in doing that we got to see the show to shut down Hollywood Studios, which we didn't even know existed! The kids fell asleep on the bus ride home, which was great because then we just put them to bed and fell asleep ourselves in order to prepare for the big MK till 1 am day!

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Day 6 - Magic Kingdom/Hollywood Studios/Magic Kingdom

Today would be a long day. Not just because Magic Kingdom was open past 6 pm for once (it would be open until 1 am!) but it was probably our worst meltdown day. And before anyone is like "well children get over tired!" let me assure you that we were looking for exhaustion (we got lots of sleep!), heat exhaustion (lots of water!), and hangry feelings (for the first time we brought SNACKS into the parks and I HIGHLY recommend doing so!).

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Since we learned about the studio at Sir Mickey's, the kids wanted to wear their special Anna and Elsa dresses to get pictures, so we dressed up and headed there right away (after first taking some time at Grand Floridian to get a few pics), keeping an extra change of clothes (and of course an extra change of costumes since we planned on going to Epcot later) in our bags since I didn't want them to feel like they had to wear the dresses all day. And we got some good pictures! And my husband even made a meme.







We met up with Nana and Grampa a bit later and decided to hit up a few rides. We watched PhilharMagic which is ALWAYS a joy, then went to Peter Pan, which despite saying it was a 70 minute wait was more like 30 minutes. My rule of thumb is if the line is OUTSIDE the inside area it's not worth the wait, but we basically walked into the kids' room part of the line so...what was that about? We generally found that wait times were inflated except for ONE instance which we'll get to on our last day!

Anyway, we also did Small World and then got in line for the Haunted Mansion. Now, let me just preface this that we were JUST in Disney in March and my youngest rode the Haunted Mansion AT LEAST six times without issue. In fact she loved the hitch-hiking ghosts! But she started pitching a bit of a fit that she didn't want to wait in line and wanted to go to Thunder Mountain instead. This ride was a favorite for the family so after some tantrum antics for her, her dad waited with her outside the line while we got into it. Around the time we got to the interactive part, she decided that yes, she DID want to go on the ride and joined us in line where she had fun getting me to read out all the tombstones. We get inside and she holds on tight to me during the room scene and the whole time I'm reminding her it's fake but also that she's been on this ride before--she's actually asking me how they do things like the footsteps and the floating candlesticks.

We get into the line and she starts freaking out a bit that it's dark. Then right before you get on the moving ramp she decides to start SCREAMING at the top of her lungs, drops down to the ground and is nearly trampled (I have to pull her back out of the way so she's not tripping people) and just keeps screaming over and over again. Which I'm sure joined the ambiance of the place for everyone else. Her dad and sister had already gotten on the ride, her grandparents passed by saying "It's not scary!" and then a cast member came over and asked if we needed an exit. I was pretty fed up and said yes and we walked outside where we sat down, she was instantly calm and just explained she didn't want to go on the ride, she wanted to go on Thunder Mountain, and she basically wanted to ruin it for me since I was forcing her to go on it. WHAT! I was fuming and when the others got off they came over concerned to see if she was okay. I was like "she is FINE she's not scared of that ride, take her back to the hotel." The grandparents were SHOCKED when I told them (and showed them pictures!) of how she'd been on the ride before! Her dad took her despite her now having a meltdown that she wouldn't go on anymore rides, and they went back to the hotel. I just could not believe her behavior!

Once they left Nana, Grampa, my 8 year old and I went to get something to eat at Peco Bill's. They placed their mobile order fine but my phone just would not load it. Like the entire app kept crashing! I went inside and asked if I could still order and they directed us to a line. We waited, get up in line...and my husband had taken my credit card earlier to make a purchase. No problem, just use the magic band! Well, it wouldn't work. So we had to walk away sans food and find the grandparents, who kindly put an order in while I tried to fix the damn phone! Turned out that that area is just kind of a dead zone--as soon as we walked out and away from it everything worked again, but how frustrating! We rode pirates and then the grandparents said that they were a bit tired and going to head back to their hotel for a nap. We thought that sounded like a pretty good idea and headed back to the hotel to meet up with my husband and the youngest, who was peeved that her sister had gotten to go on rides, but seemed contrite about her behavior earlier and had written an apology note.

We hung out for awhile and then headed to Hollywood Studios since the girls voted to go back there to go on Star Tours. It was late at this point and we weren't sure what we wanted to do besides Star Tours, which was a 5 minute wait. We looked on the app and it said that Rise of the Rebellion was a 50 minute wait which, let's be honest is a great time! But I was suspicious so I convinced the kids to let us walk by and see how long the line was.

The line was non-existent so we run into it! We waited maybe 20 minutes until the interrogation section and I'm doing package scanning like crazy, woohoo! Right before we get to the interrogation part, my 6 year old says she has to pee, but she can hold it because this is her FAVORITE ride. I ask if she's sure and she confidently says yes. We're at the front at this point so we're like 10-15 minutes from being off the ride so yeah that's doable!





We get rescued by the rebels, get loaded into the cars and then...then something happens with the group behind us before the ride starts. All four of them get off and we're just sitting there while they wait for someone to come get them. I think it was some kind of medical emergency? Anyway we are sitting there for a good 15 minutes and my 6 year old is starting to stress because she still has to pee and taking these people off the ride appears to have broken it. Eventually the workers (who were great!) tell us that we're going to have to go back into a different room and start all over. We follow them to a second room and as everyone is getting in my 6 year old looks up at me and is like, I can't hold it. So I turn to the worker and I'm like "I'm really sorry, but she has to go to the bathroom." They were SUPER nice about it, loaded my husband and other daughter on and off they went. We waited a few minutes for someone to come escort us backstage and I really thought what was going to happen was they were going to escort us all the way out and point us at public restrooms. My 6 year old was nearly in tears about it since it meant we'd miss the ride and have to stand in line again (I was assuring her that was fine, it was important to listen to your body, and I'd wait with her).

Instead they brought us backstage to a bathroom! She used it and then they escorted us right back to interrogation!! We were able to go on the ride and it was amazing! I put in a cast compliment for the whole team. The 6 year old was SO happy! And they made a big thing about how we'd been sent back since they hadn't been able to get Stuffy Bear to talk before, which was hilarious.

After that we met up with everyone else and decided to try Smugglers Run since it was listing a 25 minute wait. That was basically just the walk--it was walk on! Two of us were gunners and two of us were engineers and we had a blast but that ride is so short I think I would've been mad if I waited in a huge line for it! But we had fun so we went ahead and got in line again! This time we got the same roles so we switched up and we had competent pilots so it was a bit different but still short. We were glad for the experience though!

At this time the park was pretty empty as it was just about closing time. People were taking cool pictures with lightsabers of all kinds and colors and our 6 year old was so tired Daddy had to carry her. We wanted to see how long the wait was on Toy Story Mania--again it said like 35 minutes but in reality it was walk on. The 6 year old REALLY wanted to ride it before we left so we did one ride through and it was really, really fun. I wish we'd been able to do Slinky Dog but...next time! We walked out of the park after 9 pm and while the 6 year old emphatically stated she was done and wanted to go home to bed, the 8 year old was super excited to go with her dad to Magic Kingdom. We parted ways and we went back to the hotel to grab some food and collapse while they stayed out at MK until 1 am! I was surprised she lasted so long, but apparently they had a really great time and there are some magical memories right there!

Also, Stuffy Bear had a photoshoot at the Gingerbread House:



All in all a day that started out awful but turned out great!

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Day 7 - Epcot/Hoop de Doo!

Today would be another day of meeting up with Nana and Grampa, this time at Epcot and then later for Hoop de Doo! In fact they'd beat us there since we slept in a little bit, but it was clear the 8 year old was going to be a bit moody all day. Not unheard of since she was up so late. The kids decide they want to wear the summer Anna dress since they didn't get a picture and their Mulan dress since we'll be going by China. That's fine, but I again pack a change of clothes. One thing I love about them wearing costumes is that there's actually GREAT coverage on them so their legs and shoulders don't get sunburned, I love it! We meet up with Nana and Grampa and go on Nemo, which had a surprisingly long line. Once we do that, we head into the aquarium where we see the dolphins, TWO big sea turtles and a ton of mantas/rays! Very cool. We then headed to our Garden Grill reservation where, once again, they are super accommodating on putting our two reservations together. The whole time my 6 year old is talking about how she wants her dad to be picked for the Fairy at Hoop de Doo and she's going to Make it Happen. We'll see!




I found the food here meh, it's probably not something we need to do again, but the kids LOVED that the restaurant turned. We saw Chip, Dale, Mickey, and Pluto so that was great. At this point we had autograph books and the girls were SUPER excited to get them signed.



After that we rode the Land, where the parents sang "Living with the laaaaaaaand, living with the land!" over and over again to the annoyance of the children and then we headed over to ride Nana's favorite Figment ride! I'm still made I didn't get one of those sleeping Figment pillows, but oh well. We picked up one of those little shoulder riding Figments and he is ADORABLE.

Then we headed to the Disney Visa picture place, which was very different from the last time we visited. Much smaller somehow? It was just one room with Goofy and Mickey in their 50th outfits which, don't get me wrong was nice, but last time I swear they had 3-4 characters each in their own station?



Then the kids had a blast playing with the leap frog water fountains while the adults rested in the shade on the benches. This of course all ended when the 6 year old got soaked by one, but luckily she thought it was funny. We headed out from there to do the World Showcase, did Mexico, rode the boat ride (my favorite!), and got as far as Norway before Nana and Grampa called it quits. We would see them later for Hoop de Doo, so they left.



We had managed to get another virtual queue for Guardians, which turned out to be complicated in two ways--we had made it all the way to Italy and last time we looked had an hour to get to our queue time. But be warned--it changes! So when we got to Italy and I asked how much time we had--turned out our time was NOW! The kids were watching a show (the juggler is hilarious and they failed at throwing balls to him!) so my husband told me to run back to ride the ride and he'd meet me there with the kids so I could watch the 6 year old while he went on it with the 8 year old. I got like six steps before the 8 year old freaked out and ran after me since she wanted to ride with me. Okay then!

We get there and go inside...and the line is huge. Like the last time we did it we basically walked into the first room but this time we're stuck way, way far back at the beginning. I text my husband and I'm like...the pass is only good for another 40 minutes and I think this line is going to take that long. Talk to someone out front about how we have to swap with the kid since she won't ride it. He does and they end up giving him a Lightning Lane for when I get out! Whew! The queue DOES take 40 minutes, but we get on and since we knew what to expect we have a great time! We get off, meet up with the other two, and he goes off to ride while I have both the kids. With his pass he's in and out in like 20 minutes.



Which is good because it's almost 7:30 and the Hoop de Doo website says to allow an hour for travel. I am briefly like "Surely it cannot take THAT long" and we debate going for another ride but ultimately decide to head to the Fort Wilderness bus stop, which is stop #1 and SO FAR. My feet were killing me. The bus comes fairly quickly and we're off to Fort Wilderness!..after a stop at Wilderness Lodge. Which is fine. But we get off at Fort Wilderness and now we have to wait for a shuttle! I'm watching the clock like we are going to be LATE! But in fact we are ten minutes early and Nana and Grampa are nowhere to be seen! They also did not realize that a shuttle would be needed. They do arrive as the doors are opening though!



We have table 32C in section 1 which has a GREAT view, but is VERY close to the table next to it (they were very nice, but it would've taken nothing to push the tables together we were basically one party of 12). The show starts and it is, of course, hilarious. Flora comes down and tries to talk to my 8 year old, who is very shy and speaks to her in whispers, but the 6 year old is loud and SUPER into it. Everyone loves the cornbread...but the waiter like doesn't want to bring us more? He says he can only bring things out in certain order but he'll ask if he can bring us more. Okay?

We heartily enjoy the show. The fried chicken is delicious, the ribs are meh, and we get two new cornbreads!...which the waiter then takes away one whole one as he's clearing the plates. GIVE ME BACK MY DELICIOUS CORNBREAD, MAN! D:<

The 8 year old is clearly getting sleepy since this is the 8:30 show but the 6 year old is very into it. When they have us stomp our feet she gets up and hops around like she's the Energizer Bunny! So of course when they come down into the audience to choose people to participate--THEY PICK HER!!!!! She is ecstatic. Her sister? Is devastated they didn't pick her. She spend the rest of the show basically in tears despite us trying to console her. But the rest of the show is HILARIOUS, my kid is amazing, and even funnier when she makes a big face on stage looking right at her dad when they bring out the other man they picked to be the fairy. I have it all on video and it's great! Definitely a magical memory.

I didn't end up eating any strawberry shortcake (it looked good!) because I sat and talked to the 8 year old to try to cheer her up, pointing out that SHE had her magical memory staying in the parks late and riding rides with Daddy until 1 am, while this was her sister's magical moment. That seemed to finally mollify her, but I expect she'll bring this up in 20 years with her therapist.

The show has changed a bit since I last saw it, but it's still great. There was an ASL interpreter for our show and honestly his bit with Sixpence was the highlight of the show and I have no idea if it was scripted or improv. We'll definitely go again! We said goodbye to Nana and Grampa at the bus stop since they were leaving for their cruise, and then we took a bus to MK and got on the monorail to get back to our hotel. Long and not ideal, but at least we were all so exhausted we fell asleep almost immediately!



Next up, probably tomorrow: Blizzard Beach/Epcot!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I'm enjoying your report! I was also there last week. I just read through your Day 6 at Hollywood Studios and I believe you were there on 12/7. We went to DHS on 12/6, the day before you, and it was insane. Touring Plans ranked it at a 6 for crowd levels and then the following day edited it to an 8. Ride times just after noon: Skinky Dog 120, Toy Story 105, RotR 130, Tower of Terror,105, etc....The line for the Lightning Lane entrance at Toy Story Mania was backed up past the entrance to Toy Story Land, almost to the bathrooms near One Man's Dream.

I also used that backstage bathroom at Rise of the Resistance. It's kind of embarrassing to be escorted to the bathroom as an adult, but I can't quite figure out the balance of coffee for those early mornings, hydrating for Florida, and then waiting in long lines. I left part of the queue, and then they returned me a little further up in the queue to wait on the sideline to rejoin the rest of my party, who approached very soon after I was dropped off there. They have all these exits and entrances to the queue and a general idea of how many minutes pass between the two. It's really fascinating!

I was wishing they had bathrooms right in the queue like Flight of Passage does, but apparently that is not On Theme. I realized the downside to this, however, when I again mismanaged my coffee/hydration/queue ratio. My parents kept going in the queue, but there was no CM depositing me upstream to wait to rejoin them. I had to do the "excuse me, excuse me, sorry, not cutting, rejoining my party, coffee *mumbles*, excuse me" scenario up the line and feeling like a line cutter. Turns out, that's more embarrassing than a CM escort to a backstage bathroom.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Yep, day 6 was 12/7 and we were at the park around like 8/8:30 pm. The lines were barely there--I think cause of Fantasmic and it being so late. Your input makes me glad that first day (12/6) we just went back to the hotel to chill before Fantasmic!

I found the CMs to be SO NICE at RotR. We kept apologizing and they were like "It's totally fine!" I thought it was funny that while a rebel person took us to the bathrooms, at one point she had to call a First Order person to take us on the interrogation floor cause she was like "Sorry, I can't go in there. It'd be bad!"

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Day 8 - Disney Springs/Blizzard Beach/Epcot

After a late night we slept in a bit which was fine because the kids decided they wanted to go to a water park, which the only one open was Blizzard Beach and that didn't open until 10. We decided to head to Disney Spring for two things:

1. Getting a picture on the Pooh bench, which we've done every year since I was pregnant with my first.

2. Shopping for gifts for the neighbors at home that were picking up our packages and watching our cats.

The kids dressed in their swimsuits so we could just go right over to the water park after we were done with shopping, which was fine, but when did they get rid of the kitchen store!? One thing I REALLY wanted for my artist neighbor were the butter knives from Artist Palette that I SWEAR I have seen in Disney Springs before but no one had them! I was sad. And the kitchen store is now a tea store! And the big Disney store barely had any Home stuff. What happened??



Disappointing, but we bought other things, shipped them home, had a train ride and then had some ice cream at Ghiradelli. I feel like they got rid of a lot of options since we were there last but it was still really good! Then we headed over to the buses where...you can't get there from here! You have to go to Animal Kingdom and get a bus to Blizzard Beach. Whoops, we are too used to Typhoon Lagoon! We jumped on the first bus we saw, which was Port Orleans, got off there and were lucky two times in a row: an Animal Kingdom but showed up right away and as we walked up to the stop a Blizzard Beach bus pulled up. Perfect!

Now let me preface this by saying that i have always, ALWAYS been a Typhoon Lagoon fan. That wave pool! Those slides! I'm not sure I've been to Blizzard Beach in ten years because I always thought of it as the sub-par water park.



We loved it. When we left in the morning we had a reservation for Magic Kingdom and I assumed that we'd last 1, maybe 2 hours at the water park and then head over there.



We closed Blizzard Beach. We had a BLAST. Got in the lazy river, floated around, and then the kids basically spent the rest of the day in Ski Patrol Training camp. They LOVED the bit where you hold onto the ropes and cross on the icebergs, they LOVED the little slides where they got to sit in a float. Love, loved, LOVED it! And we figured out that my daughter's issue with the pools only happened when she went down waterslides without a float. So we simply stopped doing that and she was fine! Whew! But people with little girls...just be aware that slides can cause some irritation.

Anyway we had an amazing time. We spent some time in their little wave pool but while my kids CAN swim, they aren't STRONG swimmers, especially the six year old. She was really scared of going down water slides in general--wouldn't go down the one at Kidani or the Grand Floridian, but after the amazing lifeguards cheered her on at Ski Patrol she was all over them! It was so great to see. We ate there and I have to say the burgers at the water parks are just about the best ones you can get in Disney World. We've never had a bad meal at either of them and the kids loved the chicken fingers.



We left as the park was closing and headed back to the resort to quickly shower and change. By that time it was after 6 pm and Magic Kingdom was closed for the Christmas party, so we headed over to Epcot thinking...since we couldn't swipe in but had used our parkhopper/water park pass that day it would be fine right?



Wrong. We try to scan in around 6:45 and the lady, exasperated is like "Did you make an Epcot reservation today?" No, we had magic kingdom BUT we have park hoppers. She's like "You need to go to Magic Kingdom first." Okay, well it's closed?? She sighs again and sends us to guest services. We're kind of annoyed. It's after 2 pm--WAY after 2 pm--and the park we had a reservation at is closed for a private event. What the hell?

We get to guest services who lectures us about how we need to swipe in at the park we reserve for. We explain that we had fully intended to, but had so much fun at the water park we stayed there longer than we thought we would and now the park was closed otherwise we'd be over there?? They still tsk tsk at us the whole time and tell us to "keep it in mind for next time." KEEP WHAT IN MIND? THE PARK IS CLOSED NOW! I would still love to know exactly what we were supposed to do. Go to Magic Kingdom before we left for Disney Springs that morning, stand in line, swipe in, turn around and leave? We had no intention of NOT going to Magic Kingdom, but the early closure and us having fun at Blizzard Beach just meant the timing didn't work. But also we were using our Water Parks and more perk and...I just don't get it.

After that we were able to get into Epcot and did the World Showcase backwards (if you don't start with Mexico you're a monster!) so that the kids could get their last few Kidcot cards. Which let me just say is so disappointing as I was hoping some of the crafts would come back after the college program started up again. This was fun for me because I could get some champagne at France and then a violet sake in Japan, yum! When we got to the American Adventure the kidcot desk had just closed so we went inside and asked if we could just get two since they were our last ones and they said yes AND gave us the postcards that they have when you get every single one! The kids were thrilled.




Thrilled but tired, so we started to head out. We stopped in France again for a macaron ice cream sandwich (am I dreaming that they used to have more than two flavor options?) and then rode Spaceship Earth one last time because we weren't sure we were going to get back to Epcot on our last day. Afterwards, the 8 year old wanted to play some of the games in Project Tomorrow but the 6 year old was adamant that she was tired and DONE and wanted to go back to the hotel, so the two of us headed out.



While we walked to the exit Elsa's song from Olaf's Frozen Adventure started to play and the ball lights up so we stopped to watch that until I was tapped on the shoulder by a stranger who was like "I'm sorry if this is weird but I took a picture of the ball and you and your daughter are in it and it's great can I air drop it to you?" We couldn't figure out airdrop (so many phones!) so she texted it to me and I LOVE it and looking at it makes me cry. I don't like taking pictures so I very rarely have many of me and just have the kids take them so it was really sweet and I'm glad she said something!



We got home in time to watch the fireworks from our balcony and then climbed into bed. The other two were home about an hour later and we all got plenty of sleep for our bittersweet last day in the parks!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I had full intentions of making it to Blizzard Beach on my trip, but it just didn't pan out! BB had been closed for a while, and it's open now but I read somewhere that it's closing down again in a couple of months so I really wanted to get over there. It's so hard when you have lunch and dinner ADRs (first world problems, I know) and the water park is only open 10-5. It was really warm some afternoons and I really wanted to swim, but the only times I had available to swim were early mornings and late nights, and those were not as warm as I wanted them to be for swimming! Next time!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I'm so glad they let you into Epcot. Of all the Covid policies, the Park Reservations, 2p Park Hopping rule, and the Have to Go to the First Park trifecta of frustrations are the worst as far as I'm concerned.

That photo of the two of you with Spaceship Earth is great!

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Day 9 - Magic Kingdom

Our last day! We were determined to make the most of it. We had brought the girls' Christmas dresses so we put them on and got some pictures around the Grand Floridian. They got lots of compliments and everyone thought they were twins!



Then we quickly changed and headed to the Magic Kingdom where the girls were SO EXCITED to get some Princess autographs! Except...we'd left them at the hotel So Daddy was the hero that volunteered to go back and get them and we did some Photopass pictures and then rode the Ariel ride, which had a 20 minute wait. By the time we were off of that, he was back with the books and besides a quick stop at the Teacups they REALLY wanted to go see the Princesses so we got into the line to see Merida which, while looking long, went really fast!






Merida was great but the girls could not understand a WORD she said. At all. They look so confused in most of the pictures! When we got out of that line we saw that the stage show was going on and--pro tip, you can see the characters getting ready to go on stage if you stand by Cinderella's wishing well on the side of the castle, so we headed there. People usually line up on the OTHER side of the castle on the walkway, but no one seems to know you can do it over here so it's great. Or it was. We've used it MANY times to wave to all the characters and they usually really ham it up, especially the Princesses and Flynn Rider/the Barbarians. They normally pay more attention to the OTHER side, but we've had some really magical interactions with Anna and Elsa from afar over here (Anna once saw my kids were wearing Anna/Elsa outfits and ran to get Elsa to show her) so my kids till get really excited.

This time as we stood there the kids got excited to see Daisy and started waving. Daisy waved...then leaned over to say something to her handler. She then went on stage and the handler stood there staring at us like she couldn't believe we could see them. Then she brought two security people in black over and they started talking amongst each other while staring at us and I was like...what is going on? People line up to do this every show? But they're acting like they're shocked people can see the bridge? The handler then RUNS into the castle before Anna and Elsa come out and when they do...they go almost immediately to the two little walls by the stage that block them from view. Elsa gives us a REAL down low wave, but they were CLEARLY told not to interact with the people that could see them, which is so, so sucky. All they were doing was waving and making someone's day! So that was a sour note and we left.

We walked over to Princess Hall and the Tiana side had a 20 minute wait while the Cinderella one had a posted wait of 55 minutes. The fact that I said "posted" should tell you what's about to happen. Anyway, Tiana is my 8 year old's favorite so we get into that line first and are WHISKED through it, it probably only took 10 and we meet Snow White and Tiana! They were over the moon!



Then we got into the line for Cinderella. Let me just state up front that if we had had ANY idea how long that line would take we would NEVER have gotten in it. 55 minutes? Try 90. The time outside never changed and that line NEVER moved and I have NO IDEA why. I suspect the Lighting Lane screwed it up because they'd just...stop our line to let every single person in Lightning Lane through and only when that line was done would they let our line move. It was a NIGHTMARE. Both kids and EVERYONE around us were close to a meltdown.

Finally we get inside and...I have no idea what took so long. We were in there for about three minutes. We met Cinderella, we met Elena, then we were out. Elena as great.



I will never stand in that line again. F that line. There MUST be a better way to handle it! Also what happened to the Photopass people? There were none in either line! You had to take your own pictures. After over an hour I want LIGHTING PEOPLE!

We went on a couple more rides and asked the kids what they wanted to do--we had to be back in the Magic Kingdom that night for a 6 pm dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table but this was the last time they'd be able to hit ANY of the other parks. What did they want to do? They were adamant that they wanted to go to Epcot to try to do the Frozen ride (which we hadn't been able to do yet) and Test Track one more time. My husband is like okay. Fine. We will buy a pass for Frozen if there's a good time. He gets on and there is one! 4 pm! We can get there and back no problem! He gets it. He goes to make another reservation.

It deletes the Frozen pass. The next time is like 7 pm, which we can't make. He's really upset as are the kids and tells me to head to Epcot and he'll go to Guest Services.

This time Guest Services are great, can apparently see what screwed up, and give him a non-timed Lightning Lane for the Frozen ride. PERFECT! When we get to Epcot we head over to Norway and get on the ride right away. Basically no line! It was great and my 6 year old was so happy since that was the main ride she wanted to do all week but it was always down when we were there or with a 120 minute wait when it finally reopened.

We then head over to see Anna and Elsa one last time and head over to the front of the park to check out Test Track. Which says 55 minutes...but is down right now. My 8 year old is anxious because she REALLY wants to ride so we make a deal with her that we will stand in the line outside and time how long it takes us to get to the doors so we know if we can do it.

The ride breaks down 3 more times while we stand there. We only move up because of all the people leaving the line. We decide to ditch and make it up to her by going on Spaceship Earth one more time!

Then it's back to MK for our reservation. Now, let me say that we have now been here for 9 days and EXTENSIVELY used the reservation checkin system. We check in for our CRT reservation the MOMENT we are able to--like we are on the app waiting for it to let us check in. It does and we find a seat by the entrance to BBB to wait for our text. Our reservation was for 6:10. We wait. And wait. 6:10 comes and goes. But we're like okay they're busy. By 6:25 we're like, something is not right, so my husband goes up to ask what's going on.

Turns out that while they saw we checked in, they didn't know we were THERE. My husband was like...but that's what the check in feature is for? And the woman at the front was like "But you also need to come up here and check in in person." and he was like "NOWHERE does it say that extra step is needed and it HASN'T been needed for any other reservation." The woman shrugs. He comes back pretty mad and is like "Let's go sit over by the door so that they can SEE that we're REALLY HERE." But seriously, if we hadn't gone up would we still be sitting there??

They called us about two minutes later and we go in, the kids excited to see Cinderella!

She's not there. The guy downstairs says she'll be there in 40 minutes and we can come down then. The kids are a bit disappointed, but we're called next and so they go racing up the stairs. While at first I felt rushed, our server was great and I though the food was some of the best of our whole vacation. The ambiance can't be beat, though the wishing star celebration just being a voiceover was a let down for me, the kids didn't seem to mind.





No one ever told us Cinderella was back, but since we were by the stairs we saw her come out of the break room and get into the elevator so the kids went down and were placed at the front of the line since the guy remembered us. Got a picture and then came right back up, so at least that was good!

Then they seemed to forget our desserts so that rushed feeling really went away and I kept checking my watch because I wanted to be out for the fireworks. Eventually our sever appeared to also be annoyed and went and got them himself. They were really good, but I was rushing us at that point because I knew the pathways on the sides of the castle would be shut down and we'd have a bit of a walk.

Sure enough as we go out they've blocked it all off and are already watering the tops of the buildings. We HURRY all the way around and end up about halfway down mainstreet in the street.

And while the day was frustrating, what happened next was one of the truly magical aspects of our trip!

Both kids were VERY nervous that they couldn't see much. They could see the top of the castle but that was about it and they wanted to make sure they could see Tinkerbell. The people around us were FANTASTIC and basically shuffled them around until they could see and they promised them they'd tell them when Tinkerbell was going to appear. The show starts and it's magical! And then...a guy steps into the middle of the road and puts his kid, wearing mickey ears, onto his shoulders, basically blocking EVERYONE's view, but especially the kids. Again, people shuffle them around and one person even goes to confront the guy, who appears unmoved "She can't see!" "Well now no one behind you can either!" He doesn't take her down from his shoulders...but about five minutes later he does and they just leave. YAY!

The kids are transfixed by everything AND there are lights that come on and little shows on the shops on Main Street! I had no idea! The family we are standing next to are pointing everything out. Finally Tinkerbell is about to come out. I pick up the 6 year old (just basically holding her in front of me at chest level, she's not above my head) and my husband does the same with the 8 year old and we see Tinkerbell! There are gasps and clapping and yelling and it's just fantastic. We put them down, watch the rest of the show hugging and of course get teary eyed.

The husband of the family we were talking with tells my husband that one of his magical memories of the trip will be seeing my 8 year old's face light up as Tinkerbell appeared. I thank them profusely and tell them this was our first time watching the fireworks here and it's our last night and they made it REALLY magical! I wish I had gotten their names, but if you read this board THANK YOU! It was a mother, father, and their teenage/adult son. They were so great!

After that the park was open until 11 pm so we decided to stay as long as we could and it was EPIC! We rode Splash Mountain, WE GOT THE BACK AT THUNDER MOUNTAIN and loved it! We were pushing park closing then so we decided to skip Pirates to finish with our usual Last Ride: the carousel. My 6 year old REALLY wanted to ride Cinderella's horse but I couldn't pinpoint it so I told a little white lie that it had a gold ribbon on it (I mean it does) and we spotted one with one on the saddle and she rode that totally thrilled. NO ONE EVER TELL HER IT WASN'T THE RIGHT HORSE!



After that...well. Things were shutting down. The castle was all lit up, Main Street was all lit up, and it was beautiful. The kids had some Disney dollars they wanted to spend so we headed to the stores where they bought those cuddly character pillows and some cotton candy. Then we all teared up as we walked out.







...to find that the resort monorail was down and they suggested taking the boat. But the boat had a huge line! So. Despite having already walked 20k steps that day...we and a bunch of other people walked the path back to the Grand Floridian. My feet were ACHING and I still had to pack everything since we were leaving the next day but...it was all worth it. Despite some issues it really was a very magical vacation.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Some extra pictures and a fun fact: I AVERAGED 19,402 steps that week. AVERAGED! While I was sad to leave my feet were NOT sad and my ankles, which had inexplicably swelled up to three times their size every day, definitely are glad to be home!

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Things we never have to do again:

-Smugglers Run - Was it fun? Yeah. But it was like a minute long. I would NEVER stand in line for that ride. I'd do it again if it was a walk on. I want to be a pilot!
-50's Prime Time Cafe - Maybe we caught them on a bad day but our server wasn't interested and the food was gross. Bartender was nice though!
-Tusker House - Way too expensive and badly laid out. Also Goofy and I still aren't completely square.
-Garden Grill - the kids just didn't eat even though it was cute. My husband would go here again, but I was meh.
-Cinderella's Princess Line Meet and Greet - Just no. Not until they figure out how to make it not suck.

Things we loved:
-Blizzard Beach - yeah, this surprised us too.
-Crystal Palace - pretty good food but always GREAT character interactions in a pretty location
-Fireworks from Main Street - Usually we're closer to the castle but I'm won over!
-Cosmic Rewind - Well, three out of four of us loved it!
-Hoop de Doo - Definitely will try to see this every time we come back!
-That frog Photopass picture - seriously that should be a Photopass ad!

We probably won't be back until 2024 at the earliest, which is sad, but I think we made enough memories this trip to last us until then!

 

[DLo]

Thanks for taking the time to report and review. You did a great job on the dresses!

 

[DL1WDW2]

Loved this trip report so much.
You’re the best and those dresses look beautiful !

 

[Wood Nymph]

I really enjoyed your trip report. You did a huge amount of things during your trip! It all sounds fun. I especially loved your homemade dresses. The girls looked great and the dresses fit perfectly.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Thanks for reading and commenting!