"I've been waiting my whole life for this!" (says the 3 year old) - A September 2023 WDW Trip Report!

[MamaMouse0920]

Wednesday 9/13/23 - Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Day 2! (continued)



Matt and I were feeling quite full already but I said "we paid SO much for these tickets - we HAVE to at least have 2 beers!!!" so he went and got us each another round but we weren't able to finish them, ha! We downed about 3/4 of it and then left to find our spots on the hub for HEA.

After finishing our desserts/drinks, we met up with the host as instructed who directed us to our guide - who led us right to our area. We parked ourselves at the way back of the hub, with the stroller butted up to the fence.



Once seated and settled, I busted out our bag of glow sticks/light up toys for the kids to entertain themselves with for the next 45 minutes or so until the fireworks were scheduled to start. They had a blast!





While we were sitting there, we felt a few rain drops so I got out the rain bag while Matt checked the radar. He said a real doozy of a storm (that sounded SUPER Minnesotan in my head, lol!) was on it's way - about 40 minutes out. What! Would they cancel fireworks?!?! Our walk to the car was sounding like it was about to be a nightmare! But thankfully the radar kept showing it moving further away & we didn't experience any real rain, just a few drops which once again was welcome thanks to the heat.



As you can see from the pictures above/below the hub was getting more and more filled as it got closer to 9pm, but we never felt super crowded or like we were crammed in like sardines- and we had a great view of the castle. Soon enough, it was time!!





I didn't take a lot of pictures/video because I wanted to be in the moment and I'm really glad I did. I once again found myself in tears - I was just blown away by feelings of happiness, so fortunate to be there with my babies in my happy place. The kids faces were just FILLED with wonder- they loved every song and firework. Each "style" of firework they would say "ooh, that's my favorite!" but then .5 seconds later it would be "oh THAT's my favorite!" aaaand repeat for the entire show They loved getting to see Tinkerbell flying across not far from us and we were all sad when it was over.

After fireworks Matt and I had a brief disagreement over whether to leave the park or not- his rookie self wanting to join the absolute MASSES of people exiting the park... me wanting to take advantage of the walk-on rides as well as to let the crowds leaving the park die down a bit.

Eventually he saw the error in his ways and so we stuck around! I'm not sure how or why this was the direction we ended up going but we found ourselves in front of the Tea Cups and the kids said they wanted to ride so we got in the brief line. I was nervous but I figured after Star Tours & MFSR that maybe it would be okay? The kids had a blast- they kept pointing out the mouse that would pop out of the tea pot in the middle and I kept pretending to not see it. "What? A mouse?! Where?!" "He's right THERE!", me waiting the 10 seconds or so for the mouse to disappear under the tea pot lid "I'm not seeing a mouse?! Are you guys seeing things?!".

Matt and I let the kids spin the cup a little bit but for the most part we kept it relatively mild, not wanting to press our luck with the motion sickness



After tea cups we had time for one final ride before the park closed for the night at 10pm, and so the kids picked Little Mermaid since we hadn't done it yet that day. It was a walk on, and we had a great final ride. After Little Mermaid we said goodbye to the castle (cue tears!!) for the last time this trip.



We made our way down Main Street, me once again wanting to stall as we left my favorite park for the last time this visit... but wouldn't you believe it, MATT was actually the one who said "hey that line is really short for that PhotoPass Photographer, want to stop?"

Be still, my heart! Does he know me, or does he know me?! I sure love that guy.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Wednesday 9/13/23 - Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Day 2! (continued)

We got some really cute pictures!!







The kids had seen the little girl in line in front of us doing a pose for a magic shot so I think DD4 thought she had to hold her hands like that the whole time too as for DS3, I'm not sure why he's holding on to some fabric from DD4's dress, ha!





And we got to do a magic shot too!! The kids were SO excited when it showed up in our MDE app! They asked to see it over and over again, really amazed by the image of Tink in their hands.



After these photos we joined the masses returning to the TTC (even though we waited about 30-45 minutes after fireworks the crowds leaving were still intense and it was a stressful walk. Matt had another unfortunate stroller event (thankfully this one he kept his cool!)- we were standing on the ferry and it finally approached the dock and a similar situation as the night before where a woman was walking in front of but to the right of him and she started getting closer and closer and closer until Matt accidentally clipped her ankles and she turned around and screamed, I'm not exaggerating, SCREAMED, at the top of her lungs "CHRIST!!!!!!!!" and gave him the nastiest look. It actually stopped traffic, everyone in the area turned their heads to see what on earth this woman was screaming about. It was embarrassing, and Matt said he was sorry but there wasn't much he could do- he was being pushed from the masses behind him & it's hard to see what's going on at the front (especially near the ground) of the stroller.

When we finally made it to our car, yes the preferred parking was nice in that it saved us some steps but it was an absolute nightmare trying to leave, since our car was at the furthest possible point from property's exit/the freeway where we needed to get to. We also think there was an accident or something because at one point our car didn't move for 20 minutes. The kids were completely zonked out in their carseats but Matt and I were like what on earth?!

Eventually we made it back to the resort and I snapped this picture of DS3 not wanting to get out of the stroller at 11:30pm. Oof!



We decided right then and there that rope dropping Epcot tomorrow was out of the question so we turned our alarms off and dragged our butts to bed. The plan for the morning being to wake up, clean up/pack everything and then transfer all our stuff over to Caribbean Beach Resort- hoping to make it to Epcot by 10am.

Overall it was a wonderful, magical day and I really was reminded time and time again how fortunate I am and how much I LOVE Magic Kingdom!! I wonder if that will change when my kids get older?

TOTAL STEPS: 27,176

Up next: Park day 5: Epcot Thursday 9/14/23

 

[Flavatog]

This has been one of my favorite Trip Reports. A good rundown, expectations of events, and photo updates. Hopefully you've found it has extended the magic a little longer going back through it.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Thursday 9/14/23 - Park Day 5: Epcot!

Our last park day - waaaaaaah!! Since we didn't get back to the resort until 11:30, after cleaning up/showers/teeth etc. it was well after midnight that I was crawling into bed so I just ordered Genie+ right then and there to get it out of the way.

We didn't have alarms set but I still woke up at 6:45 and made my first LL at 7am for Remy at 9:20 as well as bought an ILL for GotG for 5:25pm. DS3 woke up at 7am but the others were still snoozing, so him and I snuck out of the room to make some breakfast. I let the other two sleep as much as I could but since I knew we had a TON to accomplish that morning, I eventually woke Matt & DD4 up around 7:45 so we could get started. Him and I really scrambled and raced around the room to get everything packed/ready/organized and it wasn't until everything was loaded up and placed near the hotel room door that it hit me like a ton of bricks: there was no WAY all of this PLUS the 4 of us PLUS our double stroller was going to fit in the car. Matt would need to make two trips, waaaaaah again!! At some point closer to 8:30am I modified our Remy LL to 2:30pm since I didn't want to risk missing it altogether, and at 8:45 Matt left to take the first load at Caribbean Beach Resort, while I stayed behind with the kids and put something on TV to keep them occupied.

Thankfully, WBC (A on the map below) is literally just across the street from CBR (B on the map below) and Epcot is across the street from that (you can see World Showcase Lagoon top left corner)- so all 3 of our destinations that morning were in super close proximity to one another. Matt was there & back in less than 30 minutes- including waiting at Bell services, unloading all our stuff with them, driving back etc.



By 9:45 we were checked out of our resort at WBC, and were driving back to park and drop off a few more things with Bell Services before we hopped (for our first time ever!) on the Skyliner. It was around that time too that I started playing "Genie Slots" and constantly hitting "modify" to see if I could bump our 2:30 Remy LL up now that we were on our way to Epcot. Fortunately I was able to snag a 1:15. I'll take it!

We realized we didn't know where would be best to park our car since we didn't know where our room was going to be yet (of course it wasn't ready yet that early in the morning) so we just guessed and parked closest to the Skyliner, near Aruba. As we pulled the stroller out of the trunk & got it set up for the walk over to the skyliner, we realized that Matt had accidentally gave our rain bag to Bell Services!!! Whoops!!! He quickly looked at the forecast and didn't see anything concerning- and we were already much later than we wanted to be (I wanted to be there at rope drop, gosh darn it!) so we decided to forego the rain bag (dun dun duuuuuunnn) and just head over to the park. As we approached the skyliner we quickly asked the family in front of us if they knew whether we needed to collapse the stroller and they answered that single strollers do NOT need to be collapsed, but doubles do. Makes sense, thanks!

So we had the kids hop out and I grabbed the bags (we skipped the bubble wands bag and obviously had forgotten the rain bag so it was just the lunch box/snack bags & a small packing cube with a change of clothes for the kids in case of spills/accidents). Unfortunately for some weird reason the stroller did NOT want to collapse! As I mentioned in the very beginning of this TR the stroller we received from Strollerfy was a bit on the janky side, but it hadn't bothered us until this point. Poor Matt was getting so embarrassed wrenching on the darn thing over and over and over and over again until FINALLY when we were literally the next in line he managed to get it collapsed and hopped on. Whew. We were on our way!! I snapped the picture below at 10:10.



As we arrived outside the International Gateway and scanned into the park (no security line this time, yahoo!) guess who we saw greeting guests.... Daisy & Minnie!! For some reason (maybe because she was closest to the entrance?) Daisy's line was exponentially longer than Minnie's so we hopped in the line to visit our favorite (lady) mouse instead.










The kids were once again star struck and had the BEST time visiting with her and giving her all kinds of hugs. She loved both kids outfits (which were Mickey/snack themed- appropriate, I think, for eating around the world!) and the kids were grinning from ear to ear the entire time. What a perfect way to start our day at Epcot!!

We said goodbye to Minnie and since our Remy LL wasn't for 3 hours, we decided to knock out the rides outside of the World Showcase first- so we cut through UK and Canada. As we cut through Canada we spotted this talented CM making a cute little Mickey out of leaves.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Thursday 9/14/23 - Park Day 5: Epcot! (continued)

We eventually parked our stroller and walked on to Figment- all of our first times for this ride!







The ride itself was cute but what was the definite "hit" of the attraction was the after-ride area! The kids LOVED the interactive stations, and had a blast exploring that area and playing. They also were absolutely enamored with the two characters that were doing meet & greets- one was Figment (who had a HUGE line and I know just a few days prior was his inaugural visit and people waited 3+ hours to meet him...... whaaaat! So we quickly nixed that idea and instead hopped in line to visit with Joy from Inside Out!





After leaving the Figment area, we decided to make our way to the nearby Nemo - but on our way happened to catch a glimpse of Pooh attempting (failing miserably, it seemed ) to catch butterflies!



Nemo was a 5 minute posted standby and I'd say it took closer to 10-15 to actually get on, which was fine because my alarm went off while we were weaving through the queue, alerting me that it was time to book my next LL. I booked one for Frozen for 2:45pm, and soon enough it was our turn to ride Nemo.



The kids enjoyed this one well enough but again the after-ride area was the real winner here! They LOVED the aquarium (both kids are obsessed with sharks particularly), as well as the fun little interactive area with the Bruce head:

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Thursday 9/14/23 - Park Day 5: Epcot! (continued)







As I mentioned the kids had an absolute BLAST at the aquarium and didn't want to leave! DS3 actually had a bit of a meltdown when we announced it was time to head to the next attraction, which poor Matt bore the brunt of. That meltdown ultimately resulted in us deciding lunch was in order since it was about 11:45 and food always helps So once DS3 calmed down a bit we parked our stroller in the large stroller parking area outside of Land and made our way inside, heading toward Sunshine Seasons around noon.

Matt & DS3 grabbed a table in the quiet, back area of the cafeteria style seating and DD4 helped me grab all the food. We got barria tacos (which were TO DIE FOR - granted I was pretty hungry so that can make anything taste better but still, I stand by that these tacos were pretty darn yummy), a kids size pepperoni pizza roll up (more like a calzone, not like the Tostinos variety we used to eat in college), and a kids meal mac & cheese. With the kids meals also came a side of green beans (which were also good), 2 pouches of apple sauce, 2 cookies, apple juice, and a chocolate milk- and since Matt was getting a little crabby after dealing with DS3's meltdown leaving Nemo, I also grabbed him a Jai Alai (craft beer). Overall it was a LOT of food for only $35, and just what the doctor ordered for all of us. We ended up packing up the apple sauce pouches & the cookies for later.

While we were eating lunch, I got a text from Matt's mom saying "how far away are you guys?"

Matt immediately called her and reminded her that not even 2 days ago she had said "no, no, don't drive all the way here after Epcot, get the hotel and drive down Friday morning". I didn't hear her end of the conversation but it seemed as though she had forgotten the arrangement and was expecting us to arrive any minute. Thankfully it was a brief phone call and soon enough we were tossing our trash and heading over to ride Living with the Land so we could digest our meals a bit more and enjoy some more AC. It was a walk on, and we of course requested to wait for the first row which, unlike our Everest experience took less than 60 seconds so that was nice!

After a relaxing ride (the kids loved pointing out all the fruits/vegetables they recognized and seeing more how they grow/look on trees. I LOVE that so many aspects of Disney can double as learning/educational opportunities!), we parked ourselves on a bench inside & applied sunscreen since it was approaching 1pm and we hadn't applied any yet. After we were all sunscreened up, my alarm for 12:58 started going off and I screeched to a halt- veering our stroller to the side so as to not stop traffic - it was time to make our 1pm LL AND attempt to snag a spot in the VQ for GotG! After giving Matt a super fast crash-course on joining VQs, 1pm rolled around and thankfully we both were successful! He joined the VQ, and I grabbed us a LL for Test Track for 2:35. To recap, here is what we had stacked, plus the ILL for GotG at 5:25.



Not bad! Feeling successful, we exited Land and made our way toward France since it was finally time to ride Remy's Ratatouille Adventure!

As we made our way through France and after parking our stroller we saw a rare site: a PhotoPass photographer with no line! Say what?! So we quickly grabbed some family photos- even though we were greasy/sweaty.





The kids really loved that magic shot- Ratatouille is one of our family's favorites!

Family photos done, we quickly scanned in for our LL and made our way through the queue. It was about a 10 min wait, so not terrible & definitely better than the 45 minute standby wait time!



Eventually we were all shrunk down to rat size & scurried our way through Gustau's, which the kids loved. They didn't immediately ask to ride it again (like they do with some other rides) but they still had a blast. After exiting the ride we of course had to stop and take pictures with the Vespa/motorcycle--

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Thursday 9/14/23 - Park Day 5: Epcot! (continued)







That one of DS3 cracks me up The kids also wanted a closer look at the fountain and since it didn't have its usual hoards of people around it, we let them take a peek.



And decided we should do a quick potty break before leaving France. Throughout the trip we would try to all 4 go in to the companion bathroom if it was available, as Matt sometimes struggles on his own with DS3 in the mens room, but in this case it was occupied for a really long time so eventually Matt and I parted ways and each took a kid. While DD4 and I were in the ladies room it was VERY apparent that someone in that bathroom was smoking a cigarette - YUCK! It literally stunk up the whole room. After DD4 and I washed up and left, Matt & DS3 still weren't done so I decided I'd head over to the CM nearby and let her know. There was a male guest chatting with her (just small talk, it wasn't anything serious) and I stood there, holding DD4's hand, for about 2-3 minutes before I saw Matt collecting the stroller and decided I'd give up. I don't know that it's "life or death", me tattling on this woman smoking in the restroom, but if the CM wasn't going to make eye contact with me or break off her small talk to see what I needed help with I figured they probably wouldn't care all that much anyway so I left it alone. Oh well!

After seeing a man drinking one (and thinking it looked amazing & refreshing in this 90 degree heat), I decided I'd try one of those Grand Marnier Slushes everyone is talking about. Matt parked the stroller in the shade nearby and I got in the line, waiting until it was my turn to order. I didn't realize that there is a lemon AND an orange flavor, how do I choose?! I asked the CM if they offered little spoonful samples of the two choices (thinking I probably knew the answer to this question... but it never hurts to ask!) to which she dryly responds "no." I said "oh, okay! Well, which do you prefer? Lemon or orange?" and she again dryly responds "I don't know".

Taking a stab in the dark I picked orange and it was very tasty!



Matt and I shared this cocktail as we walked through the neighboring countries, stopping for a test drive through the desert in Morocco (the kids loved that one), & pausing briefly to enjoy a quick performance by the drummers in Japan. We bypassed America altogether & stopped & watched the little trains weave around the track between Italy and Germany. After that, we stopped for a treat inside Karamell Kuche - picking up a delicious buttery, gooey caramel bar which surprisingly only I enjoyed. Oh well, more for me!



The kids stopped to bang on some of the drums in Africa, which they enjoyed but was rough on the ears for everyone else nearby so we moved on pretty quickly. Back home, the kids' daycare provider's husband, named Kevin, loves to give the kids a hard time. The kids have quoted him (Kevin) often saying "I'm gonna kick your butt to China!" so when we approached China we took a video of the kids saying "Kevin kicked my butt all the way to China!" and then texted it to them, which they got a kick out of!



After China we still had some time to kill before our Frozen LL so we parked the stroller and moseyed around Norway, being sure to visit the Norway Troll while we waited.



Eventually it was 2:40 and we could scan in to our Frozen LL, which had about a 10 minute wait- but it's inside in the cool, dark AC so we didn't mind it much.

The kids enjoyed the ride, and we even got the front row!!



After scanning in to Frozen, I had booked a LL for Soarin' for 3:50pm, and after debarking Frozen we made our way toward Test Track for our next "stacked" LL of the afternoon. While walking that way, DS3 announced that he is ready for his nap (seriously, this kid, LOL) so we reclined his stroller and put the shade down and he was zonked out in no time- which worked perfectly since Test Track & Soarin' both have a 40" height requirement and we didn't feel like taking the gamble (2x) after Big Thunder Mountain's debacle the day before. So he snoozed and Matt sat with him while I took DD4 on Test Track.

We scanned in at 3:10, Matt sending me this picture while we were waiting in line:

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Thursday 9/14/23 - Park Day 5: Epcot! (continued)

DD4 and I, having ZERO idea what we're doing when it comes to designing cars, attempted to build a lean mean racing machine but I don't think we did a great job, ha! I pretty much just let her pick whatever settings/parameters she wanted and went with it.



DD4 enjoyed Test Track but was THOROUGHLY disappointed - almost to the point of tears - when the cars rolled up and they were all blue and looked NOTHING like the (pink) one she designed. I may have sold it a bit too much that she was designing our actual car, that we were about to drive? Whoopsie. She also was too short to show up in the ride photo, darn! I also found it kind of surprising that the two edge seats have shoulder belts and the middle didn't- and that the CM didn't say anything about which seat DD4 should be in. I guess I would kind of think that a shoulder belt would be a tad safer but maybe not if it's too tall for her? Either way, she survived the test drive so I guess all is well, ha!



While the girls were on Test Track, the boys (DS3 still sleeping) were sitting inside Connections Eatery. I met up with him (Matt opted not to do his turn for Test Track after we were done since it had taken DD4 and I a long time), filled up all of our water bottles while he sat with the kids, and then we all departed toward Soarin'. Since Matt opted out of Test Track, he obviously should be the one to do Soarin' with DD4 while I stayed behind with Sleeping Beauty. On our way, I stopped and refilled our popcorn bucket in case DS3 was ravenous when he woke up. After saying goodbye to DD4 and Matt, I pushed a still sleeping DS3 toward the Pixar Short Film Theater since it was just next door, but alas was told I couldn't bring the stroller in the theater. Darn! As I entered the area though, I saw that none other than MICKEY MOUSE himself was doing meet and greets right there!!!! WHAT?! How did I get so lucky to just stumble upon this?! I decided to get in line and snap a few pictures with Mickey even though DS3 was sleeping - I didn't know when these meet & greets were going to end and didn't want to risk not getting a picture with the big cheese himself!





After the sleeping pic with Mickey, I parked myself on a bench nearby (in the AC) and attempted to charge my phone but none of the 4 outlets in the area worked, go figure! So I just sat there and waited for Matt to text that he was done. Once he said that they were just about to get on (sending me this blurry picture as evidence):



I quick positioned myself in line, wanting to make sure that DD4 got a chance to meet Mickey. Soon enough they joined us (I offered to the family behind us to swap places so they could go first, not wanting to upset anyone with my "holding the line" but as they were all adults they vehemently declined my offer- it was very sweet). When we were the next family in line, I woke DS3 up. He was still sleepy so it took him a few moments to orient himself and catch on to who exactly he was about to meet- and when he finally saw him he absolutely LIT UP! I took video of both kids reactions while patiently waiting for Mickey to say goodbye to the family before us, and I swear both kids are rocking on their feet and DS3 is just wringing his shirt with anticipation. It was the cutest thing!









Mickey also loved their snack/Mickey theme outfits!

After saying goodbye to Mickey, we made our way outside, pausing at the water display.



While the kids were watching the water jump/splash around, I received a text from our Theme Park Nanny, Miss Maya, who was letting me know she had just entered the park and wondered where to meet us. I told her we were headed for a potty break outside Land and to meet us there! We had her from 5-9pm and Matt and I couldn't wait to get our date night (Epcot style) started!

After taking the kids potty, we met Miss Maya (we had been preparing the kids for a few days leading up to this, so they knew what was coming, but with DD4’s tearful episodes not wanting Matt & I to split up for our rider swap Tron rides, I was apprehensive about how she would react). Thankfully, they all hit it off wonderfully! We told Miss Maya how the kids did NOT want to leave Nemo, and that they also loved the Figment after-ride area so she could start over there if she wanted- and so that is what they did!

As for Matt & I.... well, we had a date with a few Guardians of the Galaxy. So that is where we headed, kid free!!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Thursday 9/14/23 - Park Day 5: Epcot! (continued)

Matt & I instantly darted off toward GotG and scanned in via VQ first - though in hindsight this ended up being a mistake, since we were short on time & should have taken the ILL route first. We realized this about 25 seconds after scanning in and seeing the loooooong line inside the building. Whoops. But nothing we could do about it, we were stuck in the line and had to make the best of it. Thankfully, the 45 minute wait is much more tolerable when you don't have young children with you, so we just chatted and enjoyed our time together- even though we were bummed that this was really eating up a lot of our kid-free park time.



We wondered which song we were going to get, Matt wanting Conga again (he thought the rhythm of that song goes perfectly with the ride) and I really wanted September since we've never had it.

Aaaaaaanndddd we got Conga. So Matt was happy!




We once again had a GREAT ride! It is both of our absolute favorites, hands down (or hands up, in our case!). After getting off the ride, we noticed rain was slowly making its way in - Matt internally KICKING himself for forgetting the rain bag - but it was holding off for now and we stopped at a Food & Wine booth in Canada for a beer & a Canadian filet mignon with truffle boursin mashed potatoes & mushrooms.



The picture doesn't do it much justice but it was super tasty! I prefer my meat a little more well-done than Matt does so I ate the edge pieces and he got the more rare inside. Match made in heaven, eh?



While eating our shared meal (more like an appetizer), we enjoyed views of the World Showcase Lagoon & some people watching- our particular favorites being the family who leaned over the sign that says "do not feed wildlife, it alters their behavior" to feed the birds

After leaving Canada we noticed the rain was only minutes away (or so we thought) so we quickly approached the Rose & Crown hostess desk outside and asked if they happened to have any walk up availability. They did! So we were seated almost instantly, requesting a table inside if you can believe it



Matt and I each ordered a beer (a Bombadier Amber & a Hart Lager) and an order of fish & chips to share.





WHY DID NO ONE WARN ME HOW HUGE THE PORTIONS ARE HERE?!?!?! I'm telling you those filets were EACH the size of my foot. I could hardly finish one!!! Thankfully Matt took one for the team and polished off the rest (I hate food waste) but holy moly, were those things delicious!! I could go for some right now!



Our waitress' name was Emma and we had a great time chatting with her. She let us know that she's actually due to return home in about 2 weeks and commented how it will be hard to go back to "being an adult" haha! We asked what she did back home and she said she was a pharmacist. Whaaa? Maybe they don't make as much money across the pond as they do here, but we both were baffled at the idea of a pharmacist opting to come to America to serve people fish & chips at a restaurant in Disney World. ((no judgement, I'd love to work at Disney World! Seriously, Matt and I have discussed this as a retirement plan for us since Matt is 10 years older than I am! But I also don't make boatloads of money LOL)). After we paid & said goodbye, Matt goes: "Bethany - her name tag said she was from England.... But we're in Ireland!"

uhhhh.... honey.... we're in the UK Bless his heart. That gave me a good chuckle!!

Of course, the whole time we're inside the restaurant (about 40 minutes? Super quick service!) and I'm looking out the window, it appears that there is maaaaybe a drizzle coming down, if even that. When we leave the restaurant around 7pm, we snapped this quick selfie --



And shortly after this picture is when the rain really decides to come down! So we are walking to America where we snag an outside (but covered) seat, Matt about to go in and get us another beer when he goes "you know what? Why are we sitting in America? WE LIVE HERE!" so he takes my hand and I guess we decide that if we're going to be stuck in one country waiting out the rain, it ain't gonna be the good ol' U S of A. But wouldn't you know it, as we're walking (past Italy) it becomes a torrential downpour, and we scurry inside Germany where we know there is that little bar. We are drenched, but at least it's still semi-light out at this point so it wasn't freezing cold yet. We order a beer each and notice that the one table inside only has one couple standing at it so we ask if we can join them.


I have to hop off but I hope to finish this TR tomorrow!!!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Thursday 9/14/23 - Park Day 5: Epcot! (continued)

So, we asked the couple if they minded us joining their table, they said they didn't, and we spent the remaining 2 hours of our date night just chatting with them! They had two kids as well but had left them at home with the grandparents and were enjoying a week long Disney/Universal trip just the two of them. We found out we had a bit in common with them: the husband was a PT & the wife an athletic trainer AND they had visited Minnesota- WAY further south than where we live, but we knew the area- just a few months prior!

Throughout those 2 hours in Germany, we were checking in with Miss Maya (who didn't even know it was raining LOL), and it sounds like the kids were having an absolute blast with her! They pretty much strictly did Figment/Nemo for the entire 4 hours, ha! Sounds about right. She sent me these pictures throughout the night:

















The kids had been pestering us for these pressed pennies scattered throughout the parks but I'd always told them no (typical mom LOL) buuuuuuut I guess Miss Maya is a nicer person than me When we had left the kids with her we gave her a Disney gift card with $25 on it in case she/the kids needed anything and I guess the pressed pennies & two bags of sour gummy snacks were what the kids picked!

As we neared the end of our time with the nanny (9pm), it felt a bit like Cinderella nearing midnight. Sigh. Overall the night didn't go as we had planned, we didn't get to "drink around the world" and only got to go on GotG once but we still had a great time just us two. 10/10 recommend hiring a Theme Park Nanny to hang out with your kids, if it's in the budget. It's a bit on the spendy side ($160 for 4 hours) but TOTALLY worth it in my opinion.

And so eventually around 8:30pm, Matt and I decided that we'd better start our long, WET walk back to the other half of the park, so we took a deep breath, grabbed each others hands and darted out into the pouring rain. If there's one thing I hate, it's sopping wet tennis shoes and let me tell you - I didn't make it 5 feet before my Brooks had standing water in them. UGHHHHHHHHH.

The rain was coming down so hard I had to take my Mickey ears off and put them across my forehead like a visor in attempts to keep the rain out of my eyes. It was a miserable walk!!! I looked longingly at all the people with their ponchos and umbrellas and flip flops, sending a quick covert side eye to Dingus McGee to my left who left the rain bag with Bell Services!

Just kidding! But seriously it did suck. We eventually made our way to Nemo and re-joined the kids. They were, I'm not kidding, mad/sad when they saw us approaching They didn't want their time with Miss Maya to be ending!


We pretty much knew that the Skyliner wouldn't be running (we could see lightning frequently span across the sky) but still stopped to ask a CM because obviously when you're staying at a Skyliner resort, well.. the Skyliner is much preferred.

The CM was less than helpful. She didn't know if it were running or not, and said to go to the International Gateway and ask those CM but as a general rule of thumb lightning = no Skyliner.

Matt and I were obviously not about to schlep our kids (with no rain cover for the stroller, by the way, since that was in the rain bag) literally to the opposite end of the park just to be turned away and told to hoof it all the way back to where we just came from so we decided to just nix the whole thing and make our way toward the buses as that seemed like the safer bet.



We parted ways with Miss Maya, thanking her profusely, and as soon as she was out of sight DD4 burst into tears. She was so, so sad to be leaving Miss Maya and between sobs even said "can't.. you and daddy.. go on.. another... date.. so we... can be.... with Miss... Maya?!?!" That obviously made me chuckle/feel sad/feel happy that clearly she had a great time while daddy & I had our special alone time. We assured her that we would be back again someday and would see Miss Maya again. This sad sobfest of DD4's lasted all the way to the park exit, where we stopped briefly to re-situate when we saw a PhotoPass photographer with no line- this time only slightly less surprising since it was raining and just about at park close.

The CM was absolutely heaven-sent, and I'm only now realizing I never submitted that Cast Compliment I swore I was going to do- anyone know the time limit on those?!?! I have her name - Abby - near the park exit of Epcot! Anyone know??

Anyway, this CM noticed DD4 sobbing over her goodbye to Miss Maya and immediately jumped into action. She immediately turned DD4's mood entirely around, talking about mermaids and Figment and just doing everything she could to brighten DD4's mood- and it worked!

Matt and I look like miserable, drowned rats but at least the kids were happy again and we got these family photos:





The kids LOVED that magic shot, Figment quickly became a favorite of theirs after this day!

Also- peep the teensy tiny little square of dry shirt under Matt's left armpit in the first picture


DD4 considerably happier, we said goodbye to Abby (seriously, what a saint!) and made our way to the buses headed to Caribbean Beach Resort. Since this is a Skyliner resort, we had to wait 2 rounds for a bus but in that time while we were waiting we discovered two things- some good news and some bad news.

The bad news: EVERYTHING in our stroller was soaked- not just wet, but 10,000x heavier absolutely DRIPPING wet soaked.

The good news: whatever sticky grossness that caused the stroller to not want to collapse earlier that day had conveniently been washed away with all the rain and it was good as new!

So when our bus finally arrived, Matt had no trouble at all collapsing the stroller and lugging it onto the bus. There were 2 seats available so the two kids plopped down and Matt and I stood in front of them holding on to the rails. It was a relatively short jaunt to CBR, and Aruba was the last stop so we were the last ones on the bus. As we exited the bus, we realized we could see the tail end of Epcot's fireworks just over the bus stop station!! What?! So we turned the kids around and caught the last minute of fireworks, which the kids enjoyed. I was super surprised they still did them that night!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Thursday 9/14/23 - Park Day 5: Epcot! (continued)

I only snapped this one quick picture after the last firework went off, but you get the gist of our view:



We also noticed that the Skyliner was back up and running. Go figure!! We turned around and instantly spotted our car- what luck! We had happened to park in the BEST spot- 20 yards from the bus stop, and about 50 yards from our room. Score! We had requested a ground floor room (Fun fact - CBR has NO elevators! So if you have a stroller and get a room on the 2nd floor, you will need to lug that giant thing up/down 2 flights of stairs every single time you come/go from your room) and thankfully Disney was able to accommodate!





In no time we made it to our first floor room, Room 5521, and called Bell Services to bring our luggage.



The room was pretty standard, a tad on the dumpy side for what I would expect from a "Moderate" Disney resort - not nearly as nice as my recent stay in Coronado Springs but for one night, it did the job.



While Matt was dealing with Bell Services, the kids and I hopped into the shower to warm up. Once all of our luggage arrived, I quickly unloaded the cooler (the ice had all melted but the contents were still cool to the touch, whew!) into the mini fridge/beverage cooler and attempted to get things decently organized for our early morning departure the next day.

We were all hungry but all of the QS stations/restaurants at CBR were on the literal opposite side of the resort- I don't think Matt would want to make that walk (time stamp says 9:15pm for the above room photo) at that time, and he didn't particularly want to get in the car and risk losing our primo parking spot either so we just had some snacks (finishing off that popcorn bucket, for one thing) and called it a day. We turned on the TV which was playing Disney music videos of all the kids favorite Disney songs so we watched that for a bit before turning the TV off around 10pm and going to sleep.

Overall it was a slower-paced day, but as I mentioned in a comment prior in this TR, we didn't rope drop and guess what, we still rode everything we wanted thanks to Genie+! I think I will definitely still continue my early rope-dropping ways, but will also keep in mind during subsequent visits that the world will NOT end if we aren't the first ones in the park every day. The rain put a tiny damper on some things (like that wasted $45 on our GotG ILL that we never got to use!) but as with everything in life, it's what you make of it. You can either let things ruin your day or not, simple as that. We always say "a rainy day at Disney is better than a sunny day at home" and today couldn't have been a better example of that logic!

TOTAL STEPS: 19,324

Up Next: Departure day Friday 9/15/23 - heading to Ft. Myers!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Friday 9/15/23 - Disney Departure Day Heading to Ft. Myers!

I woke up around 7:15 (no alarms set this day!) and let the others sleep in a bit more while I showered and got ready. I made Matt & I two coffees (they had a Keurig style machine but it had two spouts so able to make two coffees at once, I'd never seen that before!). Matt started bringing rounds of our luggage to the car, and lastly met the representative from Strollerfy to pick up our stroller outside the main lobby. I forgot to mention that when we decided to extend our stay I had TOTALLY spaced on not having the stroller for that extra day at Epcot! YIKES! So I lightning fast had emailed the Customer Service email address asking them what I can do, is it possible to extend our reservation and change the date/location of our pick up? Thankfully they said yes and only charged me an additional $5.32 for an entire extra day. What?! Sweet!

We ended up leaving later than we wanted, and eventually said goodbye to our room (after only being in it for less than 12 hours, ha!) and made our way to grab some breakfast before hitting the road to Ft. Myers. The lobby area of CBR is beautiful, and I wished we had more time to explore the resort! Instead we made our way to the ordering station and quickly ordered some grub - a Caribbean omelet for me, a ham & cheese omelet for Matt, scrambled eggs with sausage & yogurt for DD4, Mickey waffles with bacon & applesauce for DS3, an apple juice, a chocolate milk, and an iced mocha for Matt & I to share. The total was $44.36- a bit steep for breakfast but it is what it is.



Sad faces as we say "goodbye" to Disney World - our favorite place!!





After breakfast we made a last minute potty stop before hitting the road - finally starting the 3ish hour drive at 9:10am. Goodbye Caribbean Beach Resort, and goodbye Disney!!! Cue tears!!!



At some point during the drive home, DS3 got a hold of Matt's phone and went on a MASSIVE selfie spree



3 hours later, around noon we pulled into Matt's parents parking lot- we made it!

Since the Disney portion of this trip has come to an end, I won't bore all of you with the nitty gritty on our remaining 2.5 beach days with Matt's parents in Ft. Myers- I'll just share a few pictures from our time there:

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Friday/Saturday/Sunday 9/15-9/17/23 - Ft. Myers











Our time in Ft. Myers was wonderful and I'm glad for any and all time spent with Matt's parents- the kids' grandparents. The kids love them SO much, we were all crying that Sunday when it came time to flying home!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

** Final Thoughts **

All in all, this trip seriously felt like our most MAGICAL visit to Walt Disney World. We were pixie dusted so many times, in so many ways and by so many different people- CM and guests alike! We were so fortunate with the weather (only ONE rainy day?!? An average of 85 degree weather across all 8 days?! YES PLEASE). Yes we had some lows (DS3 vomiting, Matt's unfortunate run in with not one but two guests in a stroller vs guest situation, a stressful last minute hotel change) but overall the highs WAY outnumbered the lows. We were so fortunate to be able to take this trip as a family and I really am truly dying to get back. DD4 starts kindergarten in the fall of 2024 (HOW?!) and Matt has said a few times that he doesn't want to pull her from school in her first year... which of course I understand but C'MON. It's DISNEY WORLD! Sigh. I'm not sure. We're all dying to get back, Matt included, so we'll see what ends up happening. As for the age old "onsite vs offsite" question... I still am unsure. We love the convenience of WBC but obviously staying onsite has it's fair share of benefits too... I'm not entirely sure if we would stay at CBR again based on our one night's stay......... ugh, who knows.

Matt and I are in the process of booking a February 2024 visit without the kids! The 6 nights at Coronado Springs are booked, Matt's flight is booked, but my conference tickets + flights, which are purchased & booked by my work, have not yet been purchased.... ugh, stressful! I have a work conference (yes, the same conference as my Feb 2023 coworker visit) and this time Matt is joining along! My mom has agreed to watch the kids for the short trip (Feb 23-28) and I'm so excited! I'm sure I'll get around to making a PTR closer to Christmas, so stay tuned & keep an eye out for that!

Anyway, as I mentioned this trip was truly magical and I am beyond thankful for every single minute we spent in our favorite, happiest place. If you stuck around this long, thanks for joining! I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have, and thanks again for hanging out with me as I relived our magical trip! See ya next time!

--Bethany

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

It really did look like a wonderful trip and I love your positive attitude and that you didn’t let a few bumps in the road get you down! Great example for the kids and hopefully they’ll roll with things just as easily on future trips. Thank you for sharing and for all the super cute pics

 

[MamaMouse0920]

I slacked on the video recaps this TR - sorry! Here is the one I posted to my social media a few days after we returned, highlighting the trip as a whole I hope you can see the magic, cause trust me when I say-- IT WAS THERE.

 

[VicarJT]

You do fantastic trip reports. Thank you for taking the time to write and share!

 

[rdkeim]

Wow what a trip your family had! It was fun following along. I like all the detail and that you included the not so fun moments. Keeping it real! Writing this must have taken an incredible amount of time - thank you for sharing your trip!

 

[ambula603]

Whew! I caught up on your trip report and I gotta say, I am sad it is over! I really felt like I was THERE with you guys. So thank you so much for sharing your family with us!

I am a dork and I took notes while reading this week...here we go!

Where did you get the Mickey bucket hats? Did you make them? I LOVE them and need one!

What a genius idea to add the air tags to their sandals! I caught it on one before you mentioned DS lost his, so glad you found it.

I applaud you for remaining in the room when DS threw up. We have had similar occurrences (once I got sun poisoning, but we weren't sure if that was all I had!) and it is a hard decision to make. But sometimes a day of rest is all you need. One time we didn't stay in the room and we found out after we got home that my daughter had strep throat. I felt terrible to have possibly spread that!

I also applaud your DH for apologizing at Fantasmic. I swear, Fantasmic entry and exit makes me rage. We haven't done it in years due to Covid but I actually think we might skip it in lieu of a quieter park just for that reason. Maybe because it is late night and people are exhausted? We saw a drunk mother hit her kid after she wrecked their stroller one time coming out, it was AWFUL. I actually cried I was so mortified.

I had a chuckle at playing "Genie Slots" - totally stealing that phrase!

I LOVED your Rapunzel skirt. I loved all of your family fits. We also coordinate (rarely match these days as my girls are middle and high school now) but we usually stick to a theme. My husband loves it and makes it fun!

The Theme Park Nanny - man, I wish I knew about that when mine were little! What a neat idea. I am glad they loved her and you guys got some alone time. Sounds like quite the memory. My daughter LOVES those fish and chips and always eats every bit of it, which was quite the feat when she was small!

I also had a laugh at you guys not wanting to give up your parking spots. A good spot is worth its weight in gold! We rarely drive to Disney and we always stay on property but I am like that with other places. I am like one of those "becoming your parents" commercials where I talk way too much about parking and exiting events. It just makes things so much easier at the end of the night to have a good exit plan!

Can't wait to follow along with the adults-only trip. We have never done that so I am super jealous. Have you guys ever done a Disney cruise? I think your kids are the perfect age and would LOVE it! We are going on our 4th one and to Disneyland next April. I CANNOT WAIT! I haven't done a trip report in a long time, but maybe I will try again. How do you post pics and GIFs these days? Last time it was so hard because all my pictures are on my phone and I do disboards on my work computer. So maybe I am missing something?

Anyway, that is all for now!

Amber

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Where did you get the Mickey bucket hats? Did you make them? I LOVE them and need one!

Thank you!! The kids and mine were both DIY by yours truly. The kids hats were Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08WRK4R6G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) as was mine (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BMY7FJX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and then I just bought a bulk thing of Mickey ears (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AWMBAIQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1), cut them off the headband and sewed them on. Easy peasy! See PTR for more details!

What a genius idea to add the air tags to their sandals! I caught it on one before you mentioned DS lost his, so glad you found it.

It was a wonderful peace of mind! Thankfully we never needed to use it (except for that one time we lost it, haha!) but better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it in my opinion

I applaud you for remaining in the room when DS threw up. We have had similar occurrences (once I got sun poisoning, but we weren't sure if that was all I had!) and it is a hard decision to make. But sometimes a day of rest is all you need. One time we didn't stay in the room and we found out after we got home that my daughter had strep throat. I felt terrible to have possibly spread that!

Thank you!! It definitely was a tough call but we ultimately made the right (safe) decision. Last trip I had COVID and didn't know it, but I only truly felt icky on my one rest day and the rest was fine except for my voice was gone, so I was completely in the dark until I got home and DD4 tested positive so I was like "hmmmmmm... maybe I should test". I to this day feel awful guilt!!

I also applaud your DH for apologizing at Fantasmic. I swear, Fantasmic entry and exit makes me rage. We haven't done it in years due to Covid but I actually think we might skip it in lieu of a quieter park just for that reason. Maybe because it is late night and people are exhausted? We saw a drunk mother hit her kid after she wrecked their stroller one time coming out, it was AWFUL. I actually cried I was so mortified.

Ugh!! Now that we know what we know about the entrance/exit I'm not sure what we'll do for subsequent visits either. The way my kids LOVED the show I feel awful opting to skip it but seriously - the entrance/exit and stroller parking is an absolute fiasco!!

I had a chuckle at playing "Genie Slots" - totally stealing that phrase!

LOL! Not my term actually, I got it from Rob from Ear Scouts!! He describes it best, look him up on YouTube or Instagram!!

The Theme Park Nanny - man, I wish I knew about that when mine were little! What a neat idea.

I'm not sure if I can give company recommendations, but this one I would shout from the rooftops how much I recommend them - anyone reading this, send me a PM if you want a personal recommendation!!

I am like one of those "becoming your parents" commercials where I talk way too much about parking and exiting events. It just makes things so much easier at the end of the night to have a good exit plan!

This made me chuckle!!! I am also like those "becoming your parents" commercial, ha!! Matt and I often give each other a little side eye and go "...............BLUE" when we see someone with bright colored hair hahahaha

Have you guys ever done a Disney cruise? I think your kids are the perfect age and would LOVE it!

We haven't!!! They are sooo stinking expensive I haven't yet been able to pull the trigger. We did however literally JUST book a (non-Disney) cruise for May 2024!! So we will quite literally "test the waters" and see how it goes. DS3 has a history of motion sickness (in the car, specifically since rides he seems to do okay) so I am a little bit nervous. We shall see!!

How do you post pics and GIFs these days? Last time it was so hard because all my pictures are on my phone and I do disboards on my work computer. So maybe I am missing something?

I do the same thing - iphone photos & work computer for Disboards. What I do is break down the pictures by day - so in your iPhone (if you have one?), click and highlight all of the photos you want to send. Then when you have them all selected, click the little box with the arrow pointing up on the bottom left corner of your phone. It should go "copy photos", then "add to album" and then "copy iCloud link". Click that button. Then open up an email, paste the iCloud link into the body of your email and email it to yourself. Then on my work computer I open the email, download the photos, and save those to a folder on my desktop labeled "Epcot" or whatever. Then I open them and just copy/paste where I want them in my Dis TR.

For GIFs, on the little icon of a photo, you click the "by URL" option and copy/paste the GIF you want to insert - I primarily use GIPHY.com

Hope this helps! There may be a better way (I know some people use FlickR but I've never been able to figure it out) but that's how I do it anyway!