Thanksgiving Vacay 2020- 10 people, 10 nights- Disney and Universal-Completed

[Nalshersmom]

November 25 continued...



We then went on our favorite Carousal of Progress. There is a great big beautiful tomorrow shining at the end of everyday. This ride was one my dad enjoyed when we went on our one trip when I was nine in 1989. Hollywood Studios had just opened. I was sad the People Mover was closed but super happy this one was open.

We tried to ride Space Mountain, but they had it temporarily closed the entire time we were in Tomorrowland.


I then watched them go on the tea cups. My brother and all the kids squeezed into one, and my oldest sat by herself. Space Mountain was still closed, so we headed to the hub for pictures. This was the first night when they began their firework puffs (I think). If you blink, you missed them.
Here are some Photopass pics. You can barely see the castle.


It was also getting more crowded.



We also took a couple with our phones.



We didn't realize how bad the pictures looked until much later, or we would have tried another photographer.

We then headed back to Haunted Mansion followed by Country Bear Jamboree. We enjoy its weirdness, especially Blood on the Saddle. The first timers were creeped out by the animals hanging on the wall who they thought were staring at them. I would not want to spend the night there.



We then went on Pirates, grabbed a Dole Whip, and I headed to Starbucks for the Twice Upon a Cupcake and a tumbler I really wanted featuring the Magic Kingdom. They were out of the tumber, but I did get the cupcake. My husband went to grab some Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards. We don't play the game but collect the cards. They were closed along with park, but Guest Services gave us a couple of packs. We said goodnight to the Magic Kingdom and took the bus back to the parking lot since it had the shortest line. Half of our party rode the monorail since they had never done so. The bus service is so much more preferred by us since we are not squished in and actually can sit down.

 

[Isabelle12345]

I love the group pics! Photopass photographers are doing such a good job... although the nighttime pictures must have been disappointing, to say the least
Looks like a great trip so far!

 

[RNicole1]

Loved reading about your trip. Have you all been healthy since you got back? Did any of you have Covid before going? Our family has not had Covid, therefore no antibodies. We leave next weekend for a 9 day trip and I have been so nervous that we will get sick during the trip since we are there for so long! We are flying, so it’s not like we can just drive our sick selves home...

 

[Nalshersmom]

Thursday, November 26- Thanksgiving in Animal Kingdom!

Some of our crew were feeling tired, so we decided to sleep in, have Thanksgiving in our cabin, and then go to Animal Kingdom. At first I tried to find a dining reservation but with little luck, we went with the Honeybaked Ham Company in our cabin kitchen. I usually cook several things such as crock pot mac and cheese, but this year I was giving myself a break also. I also had to Google how to use a convection oven because I had never used one. Everything turned out great. I also made Kraft mac n cheese on our stove top. We love their hams. Their stuffing, potatoes, and sweet potato casserole were just okay. It was also relaxing to watch the Macy's Day parade on tv. We went in 2018 it set a record coldness, and I think it was the coldest I have ever been. They said it was in the 60's this year.





The other cabin had to bring their own plates, cups, and silverware because each cabin only has supplies for 6.



We got a cheesecake for dessert, but it was just okay also. I had my cupcake from the day before which I did share. It was a little smooshed from its container.





It was a relaxing morning, but we really needed to get to Animal Kingdom.

We headed straight for Dinoland and Dinosaur. It was temporarily closed. Our app was not showing this. We then decided to watch It's Tough to Be a Bug and then go on the safari.




It was a little harder to see with all of the plastic in between seats.
We then grabbed Dole Whips and Mickey ice creams.




Then we decided to go ahead and see Pandora since we were short on time and this was a priority for the newbies.







We were in line for Flight of Passage when I pulled up our hotel for the last 2 nights. It was supposed to be the Holiday Inn with a waterpark. I wanted to show the kids. It said the hotel was CLOSED and would reopen in December! Panic and disbelief set in. I checked all my emails and messages from IHG. I only had reservation numbers and no cancellations. My plan was to call as soon as we were done with Pandora and everyone else was riding on Expedition Everest. I have never had reservations cancelled like that before, but it made me not happy with IHG. We have been platinum members for years, and this has by far been our only but ginormous problem.

 

[Nalshersmom]

I love the group pics! Photopass photographers are doing such a good job... although the nighttime pictures must have been disappointing, to say the least
Looks like a great trip so far!

We love the Photopass people and pictures! I was very surprised when we couldn't see the castle. The last shot where you can see the castle was taken with my daughter's GoPro since the park had already closed.

 

[Nalshersmom]

Loved reading about your trip. Have you all been healthy since you got back? Did any of you have Covid before going? Our family has not had Covid, therefore no antibodies. We leave next weekend for a 9 day trip and I have been so nervous that we will get sick during the trip since we are there for so long! We are flying, so it’s not like we can just drive our sick selves home...

We all have been very healthy since returning. 4 of us should still have antibodies, so it made it less stressful. My daughter piked it up from school in the end of September. She had symptoms so mild that she would have gone to school pre Covid, but we wanted to verify it was just allergies to be safe. We were shocked when she tested positive. My household immediately quarantined for 2 weeks. I started showing symptoms 5 days later. No one else we know got it, and my case was also not bad. My mom and brother were the most nervous about the virus and our trip. My brother managed to get it independently from us a few weeks later and gave it to my mom. My mom was a trooper despite having asthma and being 66. We all continue to wear masks and take precautions since there is never a guarantee on immunity, but my mom felt 100% better about our trip. No one else in our party has had it. We used so much hand sanitizer after every ride and also periodically. We also washed our hands throughout the day. We wore masks and tried to socially distance. The only place it felt crowded was in the Harry Potter areas. I think parks were at capacity every day we were there. With all that being said I was still nervous that someone would get sick before of during our trip. We had a fabulous time and did feel very comfortable. This is also our only times to eat inside which felt fabulous and normal. Our trip was a dose of normalacy. There is always a chance of catching something, and you should always use precautions. We have gotten sick on previous trips and had to use the Urgent Care there. We also made sure everything on our trip was refundable which helped our peace of mind in case something happened.

 

[Nalshersmom]

November 26 continued...

Everyone enjoyed all of Pandora. When we were done with both rides, it was dark. This was our first time seeing it in the dark. It was so pretty! We then headed to Expedition Everest, and I called IHG. They were absolutely no help, and I wasted my time talking to them. They said they were putting back the free nights and points we used to book. I decided to wait until we got back to our cabin to rebook for the last couple of nights. My brother had also developed a dark spot in his vision which he was concerned about. He was on the phone with my friend who is an optometrist during my phone call. He decided to visit a local optometrist the next day since he is also diabetic. We have visited Centrecare a couple of times during our trips since things seem to happen. My brother once had a sinus infection, my husband once got food poisoning from ribs at Fairfax Fare inHollywood Studios, and I was dehydrated once ( I now make sure everyone stays hydrated). My husband and kids LOVED Expedition Everest in the dark. They said they now love Animal Kingdom the most at night. This was my phone call area.



This was my family's first ride on Expedition Everest at night. My son's eyes say it all.



They were more prepared to pose by the next time.


The park was closing soon, and my husband and kids wanted to ride Kali River Rapids. They rest of us headed to Dinosaur. It was really strange with zero preshow info. I wish I had at least told the 1st timers what was happening. It just seemed intense and confusing without any preshow.



The park was then closed. We missed a chunk of the day, but it was worth it for a relaxing morning. The lights were beautiful! We stopped to watch the Tree of Life Awakening which was so nice. Earlier in the day we took some Photopass pictures with the Tree of Life, and I am just now realizing they never showed up.



We went back to our cabin and finished up our Thanksgiving day food. The kids also swam while I packed up and made new hotel reservations. We reserved 3 rooms a the nearby Staybridge Suites for our last two nights. The kids really enjoyed the heated nearby quiet pool. We just never made enough time to head to the main pool using the buses this time. We previously have swam in it and enjoyed the slide.

 

[sheri18]

Following..

 

[Nalshersmom]

Friday, November 27- Kona and Epcot-

We got ready, packed up, and we headed to the Polynesian. I really like these cabins!


We always go to 'Ohana's on our trip for dinner. We love their food. My youngest daughter could eat all of the shrimp, and I always save room for the delicious bread pudding. The construction made the entry to the main building kind of confusing, and the entrance turned out to be all around the back. We walked by the closed 'Ohana's.



We always eat at the Polynesian but have never stayed there. It is always out of our budget. This was our second time to eat at Kona. We were split up into 2 groups. The girls wore their tiaras which got uncomfortable fast. Breakfast was great. My son was excited to get Spam. My kids were disappointed they did not have Mickey waffles.


After breakfast we were excited to look at both of their stores. All 2020 merchandise was 70% off. We all go zip up sweatshirts and ornaments along with a few shirts. My daughter and her best friend got matching retro shirts that match my Disneyland shirt. My oldest got the matching sweatshirt. I was excited to get cookies from the Honolulu cookie company. They remind me of our trip to Hawaii, and I love them! I still have a few left and am rationing them.


This was a picture we took in the Poly in 2012 when they still had the waterfall.



The lobby was nearly empty, so we had a photo shoot.







We then headed to Epcot which was opening soon. My brother had made an appointment to get his eye looked 2 hours later, so he picked the first ride. He picked Soarin'. It did not disappoint as us because we love it. I can actually keep my eyes open the entire time without getting sick. The new ones loved it, although a couple preferred Flight of Passage. I prefer Soarin'. We then headed to Frozen Everafter. They said the line was 2 hours. My brother with our family friend to get to the optometrist on time. We ended up waiting almost an hour to get on, but the line outside was hot! We ended up getting an icecup from a vendor nearby who did not have water and sucking on the ice cubes which really helped in the heat.



My brother said they were going to ride Spaceship Earth on their way to the car so we decided to head that way and ride it also.

 

[Nalshersmom]

November27 continued...

We did hang out in Norway a while before heading over to Spaceship Earth. I had never tried school bread, so we made it happen. We all kind of liked it. The custard was good, but the actual pastry had an unusual aftertaste to me. There is a spice that I was not too fond of. I am super glad I tried it, though.



We also bought a hat and perfume in the pavillion. This was also our first country for our Kidcot card with stickers for every country. We also took our obligatory troll picture.




Who doesn't like Spaceship Earth? I even laugh at the crazy stories at the end. These pictures were edited so horribly that they were especially cracking me up. My oldest has black eyes, and my mom's face is just a few misshapen pixels.




We then headed to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. There was no line. I think it is the exact same storyline as the submarine ride in Disneyland. The last time we were here during Spring Break, both rooms were filled. We then explored the Seas until my brother met up with us. He was super happy that his eye issue was just a floater. We have been watching the Animal Kingdom on Disney Plus, so we were excited to see the manatees. We were only missing a picture with Bruce who was closed off.










We then headed to Living with the Land and then to Canada for Le Cellier. My daughter's BFF's grandparents were just sworn in as US citizens this year. They now have dual citizenship in the US and Canada. They originally came to the US to play hockey.



I also got the beer cheese soup. Yummy. I wish I had some now. I tried to make it at home, but it was just not the same and took forever to make.



The filet and mushroom risotto were delicious! My husband said he still preferred the one at Be Our Guest.

 

[Nalshersmom]

November 27 continued...




It was all very delicious!



Our table got our food first by a while, so instead of dessert, I got a Starbucks coffee next door. While we waited on them, we also took in the environment. It was the first day of the Festival of the Holidays, and the kids were super excited to look for Vloggers. We also picked up our Canadian Kidcot sticker. We did not see the movie.



We then made our way around the world with a stop in the World Showplace to see what the festival had to offer.



We tried a couple of things ( we had little room after Le Cellier), but I was the most excited about the Epcot cookie. We liked it. It was nice inside, and there were performances on the stage. There was also a Vlogger in there which my girls kept walking by trying to be in her livestream.







We continued to make our way around the World Showcase collecting our Kidcot stickers. We saw a few minutes of Voices of Liberty.





This was our first trip to complete our Kidcot list. We also stopped by Karamell Kuche because their caramel popcorn is awesome.

 

[Nalshersmom]

November 27 continued...

We then made our way back to Future World and Test Track. I don't miss making cars because I never had much fun doing that.






I have never ridden Figment either. The last time we were there during Spring Break the line was too long. Before that I had just never done it. We headed there. It was okay. The last scene was fun, but the moon face was kind of creepy.



I was glad I tried it! It was almost closing time, so we headed toward Spaceship Earth for one last ride. This time, all of our pics were cartoon heads. I am not sure why. This ride is just so comfortable and familiar. My middle daughter was excited to see the Jesse Owens part. She runs cross country, and there are several meets at the place he is from named in his honor.



We then had to leave because the park was closed ☹ We had a great day, but we were excited to sleep in the next day. We headed to our newly booked hotel. It was the Staybridge Suites now switched over to Sonesta Suites. They were perfect for us! I would definitely recommend them. We got 2 1 bedrooms, and a 2 bedroom for our 5. We were a little hungry, so we order some Papa John's which was right next door.

 

[Nalshersmom]

Saturday, November 28- Night of a Million Lights-

We slept in and went for a swim. They love to swim, so that was their only requirement for our new hotel.





We then picked up some lunch at Steak and Shake which was right next door. We swam some more and got ready. We were headed to Pop Century to try to ride the Skyliner. We let them know we wanted to get a snack in their food court, and they let us in. With the other resorts that we dined in, they checked our reservations. We headed to the Skyliner first. This was a first for all of us. It was so fun! We all rode in one, and we had to be fast to all get in.



We rode to the Riviera because I really wanted to explore it. The murals are gorgeous!







We then got headed to the Boardwalk and did a lap. It felt very weird to be so empty. We stopped by the gifts shop and made our way back to the Skyliner to head back to Pop. Ample Hills will truly be missed by me! I loved their ooey gooey butter cake ice cream. They were on my March trip list. I may or may not have had a cart full of the ice cream that could ship to my house, but I could not justify the $45 order.




We got to see the sunset which was gorgeous.



The lake was gorgeous too. I really like the Skyliner!



We put in our mobile order for Everything Pop, and we arrived almost right on time. We got some chicken finger kids meals which we ate super fast because we had tickets to Night of a Million Lights for Give Kids the World. The food court was much nicer with mobile ordering and not having to search for seats. We have stood in super long lines there before.

 

[Nalshersmom]

November 28 continued... Night of A Million Lights

I was so excited for this! My mom used the money she had spent for the tea party to buy these tickets. I was very sad that the houses were unable to be filled with Make a Wish kids but excited to be able to visit the village and see it lit up. I had prepped our entire party on the history of the village. It truly is an amazing project that continues to be so important. I am a school counselor, and I know of at least one of my kids who have stayed there. My son's dream is to become an astronaut and has even been to space camp. He was excited to hear about how the astronauts have helped with it.
We arrived and followed the signs and people holding lights. We parked in front of a villa. We walked to where they scanned our tickets ans our temperatures. It was gorgeous!! We have been to the Osbourne lights once and love the lights.




There were just so many villas, and they were so well decorated.





This house was decorated by an actual Wish kid. A volunteer told us his story.





They had hot chocolate and ice cream included with the tickets. They were served in the pool area.



They also some kiosks where they sold glasses that made the lights look like Christmas objects and also ornaments made by Make a Wish children. My mom bought some for everyone, and they are really cute.

 

[Nalshersmom]

Night of a Million Lights continued...



The kids were also excited to ride the rides there.
















Give Kids the World Village was so nice, and I'm really glad we got to experience it. We went to our room for a late night swim and our last night of our trip.

 

[flowergirl45]

I am so enjoying your trip report! Such adorable families. I bet your mom had a blast being with her grandchildren! Is the Night of a Million Lights available every year, or is it new this year?

 

[Nalshersmom]

I am so enjoying your trip report! Such adorable families. I bet your mom had a blast being with her grandchildren! Is the Night of a Million Lights available every year, or is it new this year?

Thanks! My mom had a blast with all of her grandchildren! This was the first Night of a Million Lights. They were looking for a way to fundraise so they could be prepared for when they can open again to all of the Make a Wish Kids. It was a very happy time that we could enjoy it, but it was sad that the other kids are not enjoying it. I am thankful that they have been able to open it up and raise awareness of their awesome and amazing place.

 

[Nalshersmom]

Sunday, November 29- Disney Springs

We slept in a little, packed up, and we headed to Disney Springs at opening. This was my husband's and I's actual 17 year anniversary, so we wore our buttons again and had reservations for the delicious Homecomin'. The screening lines moved fast.

We headed straight to the World of Disney store where we waited in line for about 15 minutes. It was strange to have to find the end of line person for a store, but at this point in our trip we were used to searching out for the end of lines.


I need a much smaller one of these fountains for my backyard.



It was busy inside. We ended up buying a mug that is now my favorite that looks like a teacup from the ride, my Starbucks tumbler of the Magic Kingdom, a baby Yoda, socks for our stockings, a shirt for me, and some other random things that we needed because this was our last day. The check out lines were super long but moved very fast.
We had to visit the Lego store also. I did not tell anyone about the tree trail because we didn't have enough time. I also noticed even more that there is delicious food everywhere, and there is not enough room to eat it all. Today we had to save room for Homecomin' so I had to shut down every attempt to snack. Everything just smelled so good!
My girls had to pose with Elsa and Anna. The movie was a favorite growing up.

 

[Nalshersmom]

November 29 continued...

We went to several stores to look around. We also went in Goofy's Candy Company to get some last goodies to go. Our family really loves their gummies, so we bought some and also this delicious apple to eat at home. We were really ready for lunch which did not help.



We then headed to Homecomin'. This was a first time for all of us. We were also able to to order off of the brunch menu. I got the Hallelujah biscuit with mac n cheese. It was beyond delicious and also incredibly big. I was sad I could not eat all of it or save it for later.




My husband got the chicken and donuts which he also loved.






It was all sooooo good!! They also asked us about our anniversary pins, and they brought us our the hummingbird cake because it was our actual 17 year anniversary.



The cake was also delicious, and we shared it with our crew. This is now one of my favorite restaurants. The staff were all fabulous, and I really like the setting. The food was beyond delicious! The only bad part was now the drive home. We had 8.5 hours on the road ahead of us not counting stops or traffic. We had an uneventful trip back home aside from a little rain. We stopped for gas and the bathroom at one of the gas stations advertising gators.



We only had to make one more stop for dinner from our a Cook Out drive through and a gas station stop and got home at 11:30 pm. I went to work the next day and all of the kids went to school. I love to have a day to rest when we get home, but I really wanted to maximize this trip.

We are still healthy and happy that we went. Some things were missing, but some things were a whole lot better. All of our eating experiences were easier although it was much harder to get reservations. The mask wearing was only hard when we were wearing a too tight mask. I did change a couple of days into disposable ones. My kids and I wear masks daily at work and school already, so we were used to them. We rarely observed people breaking these rules, and when they did, at both parks the employees took notice and told them to fix it. The lines often looked very long at Disney but moved constantly. The biggest issue was finding the end. We never waited over an hour for any of the rides despite the times given. I have waited much longer for headliners during busy times with no fastpass available. The Universal Express pass cannot be beaten. I would stay at any Disney hotel if they offered that. We never waited more than a few minutes except for a couple of times at Kong and the Fast and the Furious which were both a one and done ride. It was a great trip. We always had the pools practically to ourselves. I am very glad we went and loved all of the Christmas decorations which would have not been there last March. I also loved Night of a Million Lights. We don't have any specific plans for our next trip yet, but I know we will be back.