Nothing Can Stop Us Now! The End! Well almost, quick recap of Jan 22 trip! Update on April trip 4/21*

[disneyAndi14]

First off, the maple syrup looks great!
I am a fan of the early morning flight...but then there's the idea of a later flight a day earlier to get a whole day on your first day...hmmm. But we travel with our 5th wheel now, so it's a moot point for us
We ate at Homecomin' for the first time this trip (February) and loved it! We also loved the moonshine drinks. Thank goodness for Disney transportation
I agree with your assessment of the crowds. It seems like the low crowd times are non-existent now. I'm hoping that things will level out within a year or two, but who knows. That being said, I'll still go and enjoy myself!

I’m looking forward to more delicious syrup in the near future.
I agree, positives and negatives for both early and late flights. I am partial to the early ones!
I am excited to eat at Homecomin again, it has been awhile! I plan to try a moonshine drink so yes, yay to Disney transportation!
The crowds have been crazy. I’m glad we have been enough times to just do the things we enjoy and not stress if we don’t do everything!
Our main objective is F&G I love this festival!

 

[viatabuna]

I loved reading your reports and look forward to the April/May trip! Especially because I go to Disneyland so often with my own daughter; she is 11 now and we have been going since she turned 1. Our trips are so special, and it's just as special to read about yours with your daughter we are planning our first WDW trip (well, we've been planning it since 2019... and you know what happened) hopefully we will make it soon!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I loved reading your reports and look forward to the April/May trip! Especially because I go to Disneyland so often with my own daughter; she is 11 now and we have been going since she turned 1. Our trips are so special, and it's just as special to read about yours with your daughter we are planning our first WDW trip (well, we've been planning it since 2019... and you know what happened) hopefully we will make it soon!

I’m so glad you have been reading along! Mother and daughter trips are amazing. Some days I spend time looking through all our pictures from the many trips we have been on. It is such precious memories!
You are making special memories with your daughter, wow 10 years already!
We have been doing our trips since Andi was 10. We really want to get out to Disneyland one of these years. We are throwing around a possible Disneyland trip around Thanksgiving this year.
I hope you two get to have a special trip to WDW soon!
Our trip is a little over 30 days away now! I’m getting really excited, especially for F&G!

 

[viatabuna]

I’m so glad you have been reading along! Mother and daughter trips are amazing. Some days I spend time looking through all our pictures from the many trips we have been on. It is such precious memories!
You are making special memories with your daughter, wow 10 years already!
We have been doing our trips since Andi was 10. We really want to get out to Disneyland one of these years. We are throwing around a possible Disneyland trip around Thanksgiving this year.
I hope you two get to have a special trip to WDW soon!
Our trip is a little over 30 days away now! I’m getting really excited, especially for F&G!

Disneyland is pure magic and I hope you are able to go!

 

[Steppesister]

Making the rounds to say hello!

 

[Baileygina]

Nothing can stop us now

Hello Everyone,

We are back from our mother and daughter trip. This was our 25th trip traveling with just the two of us. We started these trips together in 2010 and we have not stopped! .

My name is Caroline and my daughter is Andi! I’m a nurse by day and Disney dreamer by night! Andi is a 4th year college student, wow time flies! She was 10 when we started our trips together!

She starts back to in person classes tomorrow. She works 3 part time jobs, she tutors Spanish to middle and high school students, she is a Teacher’s Assistant to one of her Spanish professors, and she works at a local garden shop in her college town! She is a busy girl. She has been on the Dean’s list every semester of her college career so far. She will graduate with a major in Spanish and a minor in Latin America studies. To say we are proud of her is an understatement!

We both love Disney trips and travel well together. Our trips have changed some over the years. We like to spend more time in lounges now and our park commando days are over. We love the parks, however, we don’t stay in the parks from rope drop to close anymore. We tour much slower and do the things we love, rather than hitting everything!
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AK has been our favorite park for the last few years, this trip I have to say DHS was right up there with AK.

Let’s get started with our August trip!

Stats for this trip

We stayed 6 nights at WDW and 1 night at Universal

We ended up staying at 3 different resorts in WDW

We had park reservations for each day

We had the Boo Bash scheduled for 1 night

We had wonderful dining experiences

We flew on Delta from Minneapolis

We do not rent a car, we use Disney/Universal transportation and Lyft as needed.

Join in, If you want excitement, 4 Resort reviews, a Boo Bash review, A Food&Wine review, and numerous dining reviewsyou are in the right spot!


Now for the back story and how I really didn’t want to go on this trip and how I almost turned around several times before I got on the airplane.

Unfortunately, I had developed an Achilles tendinitis on Sunday 8/22. I went to bed without any problems and woke up with severe pain in my right ankle. It was bad and I was told by my doctor, I should not be going on a trip, ugh! I could barely walk. My right ankle area hurt so much. I called my TA and had her change our dates to 8/28 instead of leaving on 8/26. I did everything possible to improve the pain. I rested, iced, and elevated all the way to Saturday and my ankle still hurt a lot.

I was taking anti inflammatory medicine and had my foot in a brace. I thought I would be better by travel day, boy was I wrong!

I had thought about renting an ECV but I was nervous about driving one and getting on the transportation with it.

Andi said she would push me in a wheelchair so I ordered a light w/c from scooterbug and hoped for the best.


8/28/21 Travel Day,

I had to leave my house at 5am to get down to my sister’s place by 8am. Andi was meeting me there. The flight was at 10:30am from Minneapolis.


The morning I left, it was so foggy out. I could barely see for the first hour or so, I seriously wanted to just turn around and go home. Eventually the weather improved and I made it to my sister’s house.

We got to the airport and checked our bags and as we headed to TSA precheck, which I have had for several years, I realized it was not on my boarding pass. Ugh! This was a mistake, but, of course, they wouldn’t let me through. Andi took everything she could and I had to head to regular screening. It moved fairly fast but I had to take my shoes off and this was so hard and painful for me, again, I was ready to turn around and head home. I could have just sat down and cried.

Thank goodness, our gate was super close to security and when we got there, I was able to sit down and rest. We had comfort + seats on the plane and this gave us extra leg room. This was really nice and we were the only 2 in our row.

Our flight was uneventful and we made it into MCO at 2:30pm. We gathered the luggage and headed to ME.

We got right on the bus and left shortly after this. We did have to stop at 3 resorts before the Riviera. We arrived at about 4pm. We had received a text about 2 hours prior saying our room wasn’t quite ready yet and nothing since. We did have to check in at the front desk since we didn’t get another text. The Riviera check in area is so small! I did talk with a CM and our room was ready now. We had a deluxe studio on the 9th floor. We really liked the room and we had a view of Epcot and Space Mountain. We would be able to see Epcot and MK fireworks from our balcony.

Stay tuned for the first evening! Did we make it to MK? Did we just hang out at the resort? Did we have one of the best meals of the trip? You will soon find out! Here are some pictures of The Riviera!
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My obligatory mirror selfie on travel day!

How fun! My mom loved Disney so much...I would give anything to have her back for one more trip. Thanks for sharing!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Making the rounds to say hello!

Hi Liesa! Thank you for checking in! I’m following your beautiful weather and Tucson days, so nice. We had 3 inches of snow again today, ugh! My April trip is coming up soon yay!
We leave in just under 30 days!

 

[disneyAndi14]

How fun! My mom loved Disney so much...I would give anything to have her back for one more trip. Thanks for sharing!

Ahh Thank you so much! Disney is my happy place. It sounds like it was for your mom as well! Sorry your mom isn’t here any longer!
I’m so thankful for all our awesome trips, making memories together!

 

[MaleficentMe]

I really want to try Trader Sam’s!

We didn't get the chance to go to TS in WDW (November 2020) but TS in DLR may be one of my most favorite-est places on the planet! If they have it at WDW, order the Uh-Oa!! Tons of fun!

I've really enjoyed this TR and am looking forward to reading the next one is a couple of weeks! ;-)

 

[Disneyhanna]

I am catching up but your January trip sounded lovely! I was there with a friend just before you over MLK weekend it was so cold for January, we were in sweaters and vests just about every day! I think the festival opened the day we got there and lines were sooo long, we waited half an hour for pretty much every booth. We enjoyed our foods though!

Agreed on Enchantment being a bummer I saw it once and was like no need to watch that again! I thought the music was awful and the projections were worse, I would like to see the projections on Main St but no way do I want to deal with those crowds.

We saw Harmonious and loved it though, I absolutely loved the Rainbow Connection lighting they did on Spaceship Earth and wish it wasn’t just for the festival. The lights on SE are just so spectacular!

Sadly my friend came home with Covid that trip despite all our precautions, and I came home with a nasty cold but thankfully tested negative multiple times!

We went again over Princess HM Weekend and they added back a few rides to Genie+ which made it so much better, I didn’t have to pay or rope drop for Runaway Railway this way! I agree the 30 minute early entry is such a doozy. We never got more than one ride in and the buses didn’t always get us to EE in time. It seemed like the lines were so long for EE anyways, I feel like we didn’t save any waiting time, just park hours time.

With all the changes it really does feel like they don’t want us on property! We did a paid fancy ride almost every day and while it was worth it because we hate waiting, I so miss booking them as one of my 3 FPs! I think I miss park hopping the most, I wish they would at least move it to noon instead of 2. We are planning to renew our APs too but wow have prices gone up! I rented a DVC room for the first time and while I hate being locked in on dates, wow is it cheap!

 

[disneyAndi14]

We didn't get the chance to go to TS in WDW (November 2020) but TS in DLR may be one of my most favorite-est places on the planet! If they have it at WDW, order the Uh-Oa!! Tons of fun!

I've really enjoyed this TR and am looking forward to reading the next one is a couple of weeks! ;-)

I have heard DL TS is better! We have tried at least 3x to get into TS at the Poly and the wait has always been to long!
My plan is to get there 30-40 minutes before it even opens. I’m hoping we will get in with the first group of people! I will look up the Uh-Oa! I definitely want a souvenir cup for one of the drinks.
Thanks for reading along, I will be writing a TR for the April trip. I have to get back in the practice of taking notes again, since I just did recaps of our December and January trips.

 

[disneyAndi14]

I am catching up but your January trip sounded lovely! I was there with a friend just before you over MLK weekend it was so cold for January, we were in sweaters and vests just about every day! I think the festival opened the day we got there and lines were sooo long, we waited half an hour for pretty much every booth. We enjoyed our foods though!

It was so cold on our trip! It really was a bummer! I wanted to get away from Minnesota winter and ugh! Hardly any sun and very cold. I read your DR from your trip!

We saw Harmonious and loved it though, I absolutely loved the Rainbow Connection lighting they did on Spaceship Earth and wish it wasn’t just for the festival. The lights on SE are just so spectacular!

We are definitely going to watch Harmonious in April. We haven’t seen it yet!
I also love the lights on SE, it is simple but evokes such happy feelings that is the Disney I love! Heartwarming simplicity!
Now the fiasco in MK, a whole different story! I couldn’t quote your response about Enchantment for some reason, also I can’t use the emoji’s here anymore since the update, not sure why?? I was not thrilled at all with this show. The music sounded so fake and the fireworks and projections just meh for me!

Sadly my friend came home with Covid that trip despite all our precautions, and I came home with a nasty cold but thankfully tested negative multiple times!

Oh no, I hope she wasn’t to sick
I’m surprised with how cold and damp it was we didn’t get a cold

We went again over Princess HM Weekend and they added back a few rides to Genie+ which made it so much better, I didn’t have to pay or rope drop for Runaway Railway this way! I agree the 30 minute early entry is such a doozy. We never got more than one ride in and the buses didn’t always get us to EE in time. It seemed like the lines were so long for EE anyways, I feel like we didn’t save any waiting time, just park hours time.

I’m so disappointed in Disney’s pay for attractions system. I hate it! Genie+ did help us some in January but it is so clunky and not at all user friendly!
The 30 minute EE is such a joke! I have learned a few tricks about stacking rides with Genie+ for later in the afternoon/evening and I am going to try this in April. I’m hoping some of the crazy spring break crowds will be a little less the end of April, fingers crossed

With all the changes it really does feel like they don’t want us on property! We did a paid fancy ride almost every day and while it was worth it because we hate waiting, I so miss booking them as one of my 3 FPs! I think I miss park hopping the most, I wish they would at least move it to noon instead of 2. We are planning to renew our APs too but wow have prices gone up! I rented a DVC room for the first time and while I hate being locked in on dates, wow is it cheap!

I agree totally on this! We have rented a handful of times and it is a great deal.
We really miss park hopping! The 2pm time is stupid. I have found the last few trips we didn’t PH much because of the time restrictions. Our old way of touring is now nonexistent.
Thanks for checking in Hanna, are you going back to WDW this year? We are going the end of August but I do think it is our last trip for awhile, sad
I’m not renewing our WDW AP’s when they expire the end of September!

 

[Disneyhanna]

It was so cold on our trip! It really was a bummer! I wanted to get away from Minnesota winter and ugh! Hardly any sun and very cold. I read your DR from your trip!

We are definitely going to watch Harmonious in April. We haven’t seen it yet!
I also love the lights on SE, it is simple but evokes such happy feelings that is the Disney I love! Heartwarming simplicity!
Now the fiasco in MK, a whole different story! I couldn’t quote your response about Enchantment for some reason, also I can’t use the emoji’s here anymore since the update, not sure why?? I was not thrilled at all with this show. The music sounded so fake and the fireworks and projections just meh for me!

Oh no, I hope she wasn’t to sick
I’m surprised with how cold and damp it was we didn’t get a cold

I’m so disappointed in Disney’s pay for attractions system. I hate it! Genie+ did help us some in January but it is so clunky and not at all user friendly!
The 30 minute EE is such a joke! I have learned a few tricks about stacking rides with Genie+ for later in the afternoon/evening and I am going to try this in April. I’m hoping some of the crazy spring break crowds will be a little less the end of April, fingers crossed

I agree totally on this! We have rented a handful of times and it is a great deal.
We really miss park hopping! The 2pm time is stupid. I have found the last few trips we didn’t PH much because of the time restrictions. Our old way of touring is now nonexistent.
Thanks for checking in Hanna, are you going back to WDW this year? We are going the end of August but I do think it is our last trip for awhile, sad
I’m not renewing our WDW AP’s when they expire the end of September!

I can’t get the emojis to work anymore either so annoying! I am waiting to head back until the week after Thanksgiving with my mom as her last trip was that exact week in 2019! I will be doing Marathon weekend as well, and then Princess weekend with a friend. My AP will last through the MW trip but not for the Princess trip so I will have to decide about renewing. I wish park reservations were gone as it’d be nice to be able to wait longer to make that choice! Maybe you will have to do a Disneyland trip if you’re taking a break from APs! I am so eager to get back there, that may be the route I take. I feel guilty going there when I have a WDW AP!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I can’t get the emojis to work anymore either so annoying! I am waiting to head back until the week after Thanksgiving with my mom as her last trip was that exact week in 2019! I will be doing Marathon weekend as well, and then Princess weekend with a friend. My AP will last through the MW trip but not for the Princess trip so I will have to decide about renewing. I wish park reservations were gone as it’d be nice to be able to wait longer to make that choice! Maybe you will have to do a Disneyland trip if you’re taking a break from APs! I am so eager to get back there, that may be the route I take. I feel guilty going there when I have a WDW AP!

We definitely want to plan a DL trip within the next year and a Disney cruise!
I think taking a break from the AP’s will allow us to travel to some other destinations and actually relax on a trip. 🏝

 

[disneyAndi14]

Hello Everyone

I wanted to check in one more time before our trip.

We leave on 4/26 for 7 nights at WDW, yay!

Our flight is an early one. We leave at 5:40am and if all goes according to plan, we land in sunny Florida around noon!

Our weather here has been terrible, we are at least 10-15 degrees colder than normal, ugh! We have also had around 20 inches of snow in April, what? Yes it has been rather depressing for me!

This trip is a gift for the weather alone! It looks like 85-88 each day and sunny I am so excited for the weather. Mother Nature please don’t let me down!

I’m trying not to overpack, this is hard for me! I have a couple new Disney shirts to wear. I have today off of work and I am starting to pack my suitcase! I certainly won’t need to wear any of my shorts or t-shirts here in Minnesota anytime soon!

Some highlights for this trip are Savor the Savannah tour!

Yes, I decided to book this after reading some very awesome reviews! Thanks Liesa, Pkondz, Ariane, Jenny, and Su-Lynn. I read their reviews and knew this was a must! It is pricey, however, the experience sounds worth the $$$. I also get 15% off for being an AP holder.

The next highlight is hugging characters again! Sully is on my list! I love his hugs. He is meeting at DHS again!

Another is dining at Artist Point in the WL. The character dining with Snow White and friends. The menu is friendly to Andi and myself, plus the Evil Queen is worth the cost! Plus, it is right in our resort!


The Electric Parade is another, I love this!! It is Disney all the way. The music and floats ahh very nostalgic for me.

Staying at WL will allow us to see this several times, yay!

WL, another highlight, we haven’t stayed here before and I am very excited to explore this resort and enjoy all the amenities and beautiful lobby. GP is another must for us. We will spend time here, having a drink and snacks. I have several recommendations from Dis friends on what to try at GP.

I’m trying to decide if we want to tour differently this trip.

This would mean, starting our day later and stacking LL aka FP$. I have been researching and find you can do more without long waits later in the afternoon and evening. This is so strange for us! We usually RD get a ton done, take a break, PH and use our (FP) at the second park. This new system does not work well for our way of touring!

Morning brings huge crowds now and you literally get one ride in with the 30 minute early entry! This is not my idea of fun anymore. The parks feel so crowded now right at RD, ugh!

All the parks open early next week and stay open later than I have seen in quite sometime!

MK is open until 11pm each night, good and bad! We are planning to do the evening EMH for deluxe resort guests and it doesn’t start until 11pm, yikes I’m usually sound asleep at that time. 🛏

I plan to wake up each morning before 7am to get a fancy ride and LL. This is such a stupid thing isn’t it? Why on earth have it at 7am, resort guests should be able to book everything the night before or even at the beginning of your trip! This really irritates me about this new system, almost as much as the cost of it!

We are going to spend a day or 2 half days over at Universal this trip. I am renewing our AP there! Andi will ride Velocicoaster and I will watch safely from below! One thing about Universal, you can get quite a few things done there in just one day! I’m still not sure if I will upgrade to the AP that gives you EP after 4pm. I just don’t think we would use that very much. I will decide at the time of renewing.

I will definitely ride ET, I love this ride!

One more big highlight is F&G. We plan to spend time at Epcot enjoying drinks and snacks from the different booths.

We want to try the arepas, avocado toast, flatbread in Morocco, spicy chicken in China, and many more! We definitely will have Fruishi, Violet Lemonade, Italian margarita, and the signature drink in France!


We missed the AP preview of Guardians by a few days. I think it will be to scary for me anyway. Andi really wants to ride it!

Maybe, they will have sneak peek rides while we are there, you never know!

I will take good notes and plan to share my trip with you all on the Dis!

See you real soon!

 

[pkondz]

Have a great trip! It’s just around the corner now!

 

[SEAGULL59]

Hello Everyone

I wanted to check in one more time before our trip.

We leave on 4/26 for 7 nights at WDW, yay!
View attachment 663980
Our flight is an early one. We leave at 5:40am and if all goes according to plan, we land in sunny Florida around noon!

Our weather here has been terrible, we are at least 10-15 degrees colder than normal, ugh! We have also had around 20 inches of snow in April, what? Yes it has been rather depressing for me!

This trip is a gift for the weather alone! It looks like 85-88 each day and sunny I am so excited for the weather. Mother Nature please don’t let me down!

I’m trying not to overpack, this is hard for me! I have a couple new Disney shirts to wear. I have today off of work and I am starting to pack my suitcase! I certainly won’t need to wear any of my shorts or t-shirts here in Minnesota anytime soon!

Some highlights for this trip are Savor the Savannah tour!
View attachment 663983
Yes, I decided to book this after reading some very awesome reviews! Thanks Liesa, Pkondz, Ariane, Jenny, and Su-Lynn. I read their reviews and knew this was a must! It is pricey, however, the experience sounds worth the $$$. I also get 15% off for being an AP holder.

The next highlight is hugging characters again! Sully is on my list! I love his hugs. He is meeting at DHS again!
View attachment 663979
Another is dining at Artist Point in the WL. The character dining with Snow White and friends. The menu is friendly to Andi and myself, plus the Evil Queen is worth the cost! Plus, it is right in our resort!
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The Electric Parade is another, I love this!! It is Disney all the way. The music and floats ahh very nostalgic for me.
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Staying at WL will allow us to see this several times, yay!

WL, another highlight, we haven’t stayed here before and I am very excited to explore this resort and enjoy all the amenities and beautiful lobby. GP is another must for us. We will spend time here, having a drink and snacks. I have several recommendations from Dis friends on what to try at GP.

I’m trying to decide if we want to tour differently this trip.

This would mean, starting our day later and stacking LL aka FP$. I have been researching and find you can do more without long waits later in the afternoon and evening. This is so strange for us! We usually RD get a ton done, take a break, PH and use our (FP) at the second park. This new system does not work well for our way of touring!

Morning brings huge crowds now and you literally get one ride in with the 30 minute early entry! This is not my idea of fun anymore. The parks feel so crowded now right at RD, ugh!

All the parks open early next week and stay open later than I have seen in quite sometime!

MK is open until 11pm each night, good and bad! We are planning to do the evening EMH for deluxe resort guests and it doesn’t start until 11pm, yikes I’m usually sound asleep at that time. 🛏

I plan to wake up each morning before 7am to get a fancy ride and LL. This is such a stupid thing isn’t it? Why on earth have it at 7am, resort guests should be able to book everything the night before or even at the beginning of your trip! This really irritates me about this new system, almost as much as the cost of it!

We are going to spend a day or 2 half days over at Universal this trip. I am renewing our AP there! Andi will ride Velocicoaster and I will watch safely from below! One thing about Universal, you can get quite a few things done there in just one day! I’m still not sure if I will upgrade to the AP that gives you EP after 4pm. I just don’t think we would use that very much. I will decide at the time of renewing.

I will definitely ride ET, I love this ride!
View attachment 663986
One more big highlight is F&G. We plan to spend time at Epcot enjoying drinks and snacks from the different booths.
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We want to try the arepas, avocado toast, flatbread in Morocco, spicy chicken in China, and many more! We definitely will have Fruishi, Violet Lemonade, Italian margarita, and the signature drink in France!
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We missed the AP preview of Guardians by a few days. I think it will be to scary for me anyway. Andi really wants to ride it!

Maybe, they will have sneak peek rides while we are there, you never know!

I will take good notes and plan to share my trip with you all on the Dis!

See you real soon!

Your trip sounds fun! Please let us know if you try the afternoon touring strategy. I think I want to try the same on my next trip in November. Last trip, I felt the same about early entry. We hardly got one ride in and still had to be up and out of the hotel super early.

 

[rdkeim]

Hope you and your DD have a great trip! I'll be interested to read about your touring strategy. I also hate Genie + and having to pay for the ILL's. I think if you're a resort guest you should be able to book either from home or at least the night before. I'm secretly hoping with all the negative Disney news right now maybe they'll make a CEO change. Is it wrong to hope for it? I just feel they're going in the wrong direction in many ways.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Have a great trip. Can’t wait to hear how it all works out. Enjoy

 

[disneyAndi14]

Have a great trip! It’s just around the corner now!

Thank you we sure will and I can’t wait for the warm sunny weather!

Your trip sounds fun! Please let us know if you try the afternoon touring strategy. I think I want to try the same on my next trip in November. Last trip, I felt the same about early entry. We hardly got one ride in and still had to be up and out of the hotel super early.

I sure will! I want to try the stacking and touring a little later during the day!
The morning extra 30 minutes just is to little time to get much done!

Have a great trip. Can’t wait to hear how it all works out. Enjoy

Thank you so much! Right I am mostly looking forward to the beautiful sunny weather!