Hello everyone! We just returned from our trip to the most magical place on Earth this past Friday. I usually like to start my trip report ASAP when we get home to help cure the Disney blues; however, as I am sure some of you saw on the news, central Illinois had some awful weather on Friday evening. Within three hours of being home, I was huddled in my bathtub with a tornado headed directly for my town. Thankfully it dodged my house by a couple of blocks! Before I start my trip report, I must preface by saying that, while I have completed a few different trip reports and pre-trip reports in my time on the Dis, I am no professional.
Planning for this trip started in December of 2020. It actually started while we were at WDW. My dad and I realized that we forgot how much we loved Disney when it is all decorated for Christmas. My dad brought up the point that the time of year is just right that, with enough advanced notice, my brothers should be able to get some time off of work to join us if we planned a 2021 trip.
And so it began, my brothers were able to ask for a few days off work and secure time for December 3rd-7th off while my parents, daughter, and I agreed to extend our trip through the 10th to make a whole week trip. One of my brothers asked his girlfriend if she wanted to come along and just like that we had our party of 7. My brothers and my brother's girlfriend had two-day park hopper tickets while my parents, DD, and I had 4-day park hopper tickets.
When: December 4th-10th 2021 (Ryne, Kyle, and Kimberlyn will be with us from the 4th-7th)
Where: 3 nights at Old Key West in a 2-bedroom villa, 2 nights at Saratoga Springs in a 1-bedroom villa, and 1 night at the Contemporary with a theme park view
How: We are flying this time around and utilizing Disney's Magical Express One last time
In case you missed my pre-trip report, let's jump right in with the introductions!
First, yours truly! My name is Amber and I am a 31-year old single mother that resides in central Illinois. I am a Registered Nurse and I just took on a side gig as a Disney Travel Planner for Destination Magic. This was my 19th trip to Walt Disney World. My favorite park is Animal Kingdom. My favorite ride is Kilimanjaro Safari. My favorite show is Festival of the Lion King (it was previously Illuminations, RIP). My favorite character is Tinkerbell. I don't claim a favorite restaurant because I enjoy trying new places and I feel like Disney is always changing. My favorite resort is Riviera but Old Key West and Wilderness Lodge fall in close behind.
Next up is my DD, Natalia. She is 5 and this was her 5th trip to Walt Disney World. I really enjoy seeing Disney through her eyes and watching her develop the same love that I have for it. Her favorite park is Magic Kingdom. Her favorite ride is Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad. Her favorite show is the bird show in Animal Kingdom. Her favorite character changes on a daily basis but right now she is obsessed with Raya, Moana, and Rapunzel. Her favorite restaurant is Be Our Guest and her favorite resort is Art of Animation.
Then comes my dad, the main planner behind this trip. You may know him as Tigger's Ally on here. This is somewhere in the neighborhood of his mid-30's trip to Walt Disney World. If I had to guess, his favorite park is probably Epcot. I'm not sure what is favorite ride or show is now. I feel like all of the recent developments at WDW have changed his favorites. Tigger is his favorite character (hence his Disboards name). Like me, he doesn't really have a favorite restaurant because we enjoy trying new places and new things. His favorite resort is probably either Riviera or Old Key West. My mom has been to WDW almost as much as my dad but not quite. She loves going to Walt Disney World but wants no part in the planning. Her favorite park is Magic Kingdom. Her favorite ride is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Her favorite show is Festival of the Lion King. Pooh Bear is her favorite character. She also really likes Rafiki. She doesn't really claim a favorite restaurant or resort
It has been a couple of years since you have seen my brother Ryne on a trip with us. He last went in 2018. We have lost count on how many trips he has been on but probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-12. I can't really attest to any of his favorites, but I do know that they change with every trip. This time around, his GF Kimberlyn joined us. This was her very first trip to Walt Disney World and we absolutely cannot wait to introduce her to our "home". She was super pumped to go too! Ryne and Kimberlyn joined us for the first half of the trip.
Also joining us for the first half of the trip will be my other brother, Kyle. He has not been to Walt Disney World since his high school graduation trip in 2011. He went to college out of state and has lived out of state for quite some time. His job and location have prohibited him from joining us on several trips. He was excited to finally get to come along this time. He was amazed at how much has changed since he has last been.
Welcome back friends! Let's jump right in with what I consider to be day one of the trip, Friday December 3rd. My dad had to work for a few hours that morning, but the rest of the adults were lucky enough to have the day off. After I put DD on the school bus at 7:45am, I hit the ground running. I am one of those people that like to leave my house completely clean when I go on vacation. It just feels wonderful to come home to a clean house! After doing a couple loads of laundry and getting the house cleaned, I went to get my pre-vacation mani and pedi. Then came lunch, a few last-minute errands, and getting the house prepared (locking all doors/windows, turning the thermostat down, unplugging the non-essentials, etc.). Before I knew it, my parents were arriving around 3pm. We loaded up my luggage and my dad and I walked down to the bus stop to eagerly await my daughter to arrive.
While we were waiting at the bus stop, my brothers and Kimberlyn arrived at my house. Once DD finally made it home from school, she had a quick change of clothes before everyone hopped back into the vehicles for our journey to Indianapolis. We live in central Illinois and have about an equal distance to both Chicago airports, St. Louis airport, and the Indianapolis airport. Indy is our favorite and probably the easiest drive so more often than not, we will fly from there. It was about a 2-and-a-half-hour drive, and we encountered a time zone change along the way. Indy is in the EST while we reside in CST. Shortly before we reached our hotel we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. We really wanted to eat at the Monicals Pizza next door but there was a large crowd waiting. At that point we were more concerned with getting to our hotel than we were with what exactly we were eating.
After our bellies were full, we jumped back in the vehicles to finish the last 45 minutes of our journey. There was some unforeseen construction that caused us to miss our exit, but we eventually made it to our hotel for the evening, Embassy Suites. This is the same hotel we stayed in last year. We love this one! It is nice and close to the airport, but not so close that the planes really bother you. We get rooms that have two queen beds and a sleeper sofa. My brothers and Kimberlyn had one room while my parents, DD, and I were in the other. We had an early wakeup call for the next morning, so we pretty much just laid our clothes out for the following day and went straight to bed. Well, my dad gave my DD a Twix bar before bed, so she was wired for a little bit. Sleep eventually came though!
Let's get to the good part of the trip! Our alarms went off bright and early Saturday morning, 3:15 am to be exact. Our flight was at 6:05am and we had plans to leave our hotel at 4am. We were only about 10 minutes from the airport. Some would think that it would be difficult to get a 5-year-old up at 3:15 am but she was so excited that it really wasn't a problem. While I was in the shower and getting ready, she got up and got ready with a little help from her pawpaw.
We were successfully out the door a few minutes before 4am. From there we drove the 5 minutes to Fastpark. Fastpark is a great parking establishment that is close to the Indianapolis airport. Parking costs just a little over $7 per day and you get to leave your vehicle in a gated, secured lot in a covered parking spot. We got both vehicles parked and the shuttle came to pick us up at our parking spots to take us to the airport. We were safely in the airport and headed to the Southwest counter to check in. Since my brothers and Kimberlyn were only joining us for a few days they were able to pack everything in carry-ons, they just needed to get boarding passes. The rest of us had suitcases to check. We learned from previous trips that it is totally worth it bring an empty suitcase along to help provide extra space to bring souvenirs home. My dad had packed everything in his smaller suitcase and put the smaller suitcase inside of the medium-sized suitcase. I packed all of my stuff in my medium-sized suitcase and put the medium-sized suitcase inside the large suitcase. Sadly, my suitcase weight 2 pounds over the 50-pound limit. All I had to do was separate the two stacked suitcases and we were good to go. We had just packed one inside of the other to make transportation of them easier.
Suitcase drama resolved, we headed towards security. We had planned to stop at McDonald's before security and grab some quick breakfast as we had on our 2020 trip; however, on this day, McDonald's was still closed. Then we remembered that our flight was an hour later last year. Security lines were minimal and all 7 of us were through in under 10 minutes. We found our gate and parked ourselves. Kimberlyn and DD decided to play around on Snapchat and take some selfies.
My mom and I had our minds set on Starbucks for breakfast while the rest of the crew hit up a little snack kiosk. After standing in the line at Starbucks for 10 minutes and discovering that it wasn't moving, I found out that it didn't open until 5 am. We were scheduled to start boarding at 5:35 and I had about 15 people in the line in front of me, so I sadly had to give up on my Starbucks dream. Thankfully the little snack kiosk had bottled Dunkin coffee and muffins, so we were set. DD had a chocolate milk and a muffin.
Before we knew it, we were boarding the plane. The flight was uneventful. I love watching the sunrise from the sky.
.
DD was super excited at the beginning of the flight but it wasn't long before she was catching up on some sleep.
The flight itself was about 2.5 hours long and before we knew it, we were on the ground in sunny Florida.
Once we took the tram to the main terminal, my dad and I left the rest of the crew near the big Christmas tree while we headed to baggage claim to get all of our bags. Two people and 6 rolling suitcases was quite entertaining but we did it. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew was having a photo shoot.
Luggage in hand we took the long hike to the Magical Express area. The line at DME was quite long but it was moving fairly quickly. DD was tired after the long walk so she took the chance to ride on her uncle's suitcase.
We got a regular Mears bus, but it got us to our destination. Old Key West was the first stop although the bus driver wasn't originally aware that he was stopping there. He only had Saratoga Springs, Port Orleans French Quarter, and Port Orleans Riverside written on his paper. Thankfully he asked everyone on the bus before we took off where we were headed. He then had to confirm with the other staff inside that we were indeed on the right bus.
**I have reached my photo limit for this post so I will continue this day in my next post**
We left off with the whole crew on DME headed to these glorious gates....
Once we arrived at OKW, we checked our bags with bell services as it was only 9:30 am. Then we browsed the store and ended up with a few snacks. We enjoyed the snacks and checked out the Christmas decor while we waited for the boat service to Disney Springs to start up at 10am.
We were on the first boat to Disney Springs. Once at Disney Springs, we all split up. My mom, DD, and I had some shopping to do while my dad wanted to be reunited with his favorite Disney bar, the Hole in the Wall.
The rest of the crew browsed some shops and eventually ended up meeting my dad at City Works for lunch. My mom, DD, and I decided to give Chicken Guy a try. We have wanted to try Chicken Guy for a while but never had time for it before. DD loves chicken and just recently became obsessed with dipping sauces, so she gave Chicken Guy her seal of approval.
We all got chicken strips. My mom had honey mustard and Teriyaki dipping sauces. DD just wanted ranch to dip her chicken in and I got ranch and Teriyaki. None of us are too adventurous. After lunch we did some more shopping and just walked around taking in the sites at Disney Springs. Remember, this was a Saturday. It was really crowded! It was a beautiful day though!
After a while, we met up with my dad at The Hole in Wall and let him know that we were going to head back to OKW. It was around 1pm at this time. We hadn't received our room ready text; however, we were ready to be away from the crowds. Around the same time Ryne, Kyle, and Kimberlyn decided to venture over to Fantasia Gardens for some mini golf. My dad decided he would stay at the Hole in the Wall for a little bit longer. My mom, DD, and I took the boat back to OKW then found a bench in the shade near the Hospitality House. There we were able to rest in the shade while we waited for our room ready text. This was our 4th time staying at OKW and each time we had stayed there previously, we had an issue with getting our room ready text. Each time it was after 5pm before we were in our room. This time we had requested the earliest available and had high hopes of getting into our room before dinner. Around 2pm I noticed that we had been assigned a room number in the app. My dad was the member of the party that was set up to receive the text; however, at this time he had yet to receive anything. Once I told him about the room number though, he decided to finish up at Disney Springs and take the boat back to OKW. While we were waiting on him to get back, I decided that we would go to our room once he got back and try to get in if it was clear that housekeeping wasn't there. If anyone questioned us, we would just play dumb and act like we thought that if a room number was assigned, the room would be ready.
We didn't have to do that though because by the time my dad got back, he had received a text message. Well, it wasn't THE text message, but it was something. It said it was message 2 of 2 and gave a link to a map of the resort as well as contact information for if we had any questions or problems. We believe that the first message would have been the message that said the room was ready, but he never did receive it. In 2019 when we stayed here, we never received the room ready text at all. We only found out then by asking the front desk. Just something to be aware of!
We were in building 34 , room 3432 in the Old Turtle Pond Road section. My next post will have pictures from our 2-bedroom villa!
Building 34 (Old Turtle Pond Road), room 3433, dedicated 2-bedroom villa
Old Key West is a go-to resort of ours. We just love the design and the laid-back atmosphere. We prefer the turtle pond road section because it is set back from all of the hustle and bustle of the main building and roads while still an easy walk. We always request to be close to the bus stop. This time we were directly across the road from a bus stop, on the third floor of building 34. We were lucky enough to get a villa on the end.
I lead a group on Facebook called Disney Tips, Tricks, and Info so I did a video tour of the room for them. It completely slipped my mind to also take photos of the room so thankfully my mom snapped a few.
This is the kitchen with dining area.....as you can see, the TV for the living room is built into the island. It is on a swivel base too so you can watch it from pretty much anywhere in the dining room and living room.
These doors lead from the dining area to the porch. The porch has the table and chairs that are shown as well as a ceiling fan and a great view. We could see the tennis courts as well as one of the ponds on property and a small piece of the golf course.
She didn't get a good picture of the living area. It has one sofa that folds out into a queen-sized bed, a sleeper chair that folds out into a twin sized bed, and a loveseat. There is a decent sized coffee table and an end table.
This is one of the bedrooms which has two queen sized beds. It also has a dresser with TV, table with two chairs, and walk-in closet. Attached to this bedroom is one of the full-sized bathrooms. It has a tub/shower combo, a vanity with one sink, and toilet. In the entryway to the bathroom is another closet and another vanity with one sink. The separate sink and vanity were super helpful when we had 7 people getting ready at once. Ryne and his girlfriend used this bedroom but Kyle used one of the closets and often got ready in there.
This is the master bedroom complete with King-sized bed, dresser, bench, chair, ottoman, and two nightstands. There is also another door to the porch. Not picture is the gorgeous master bathroom. If you enter from the master bedroom you will find yourself in the first half of the split bathroom. This half has the master closet, whirlpool tub, and vanity with one sink. Keep walking through it and you will find yourself in the other half which has a standup shower, toilet, and vanity with one sink. If you go out the other side, you will find yourself in the utility room with the washer and dryer before entering the hallway. I also forgot to mention that right as you enter the villa there is a closet that houses a highchair, pack and play, vacuum, and several more hangers.
We left off with my parents, my daughter, and I arriving to our villa at Old Key West. After we took the obligatory pictures and I did my room tour video, we called bell services to have our luggage and groceries delivered to the room. My heart went out to the bell services guy as we had 9 pieces of luggage, a case of water, and several grocery bags. Our villa was on the third floor, and as some may know, most buildings at OKW do not have elevators (there are only two in the whole resort that do).
I had done a small grocery order through a group called Essential Deliveries. I found the group on Facebook in a group called Ear for Each Other. Ear for Each Other is a page where cast members who were laid off or let go from their jobs at Walt Disney World throughout the pandemic come together to showcase their side gigs. Essential Deliveries had picked an order up from Walmart (they service several different stores) that I had placed and dropped it off with bell services around 11am as I had requested. Bell Services was able to place our refrigerated items in a refrigerator while we were waiting on our room to be ready. We didn't order much, mainly just drinks and donuts.
Our luggage arrived and we went to work unpacking. A short time after, Ryne, Kyle, and Kimberlyn arrived at the resort from their mini golf escapade. They unpacked their stuff while the rest of us laid down to rest for a bit. Our 3am wakeup call was a long time ago at that point. I had promised DD that if she rested for at least an hour, then she could go swimming. When Ryne and Kimberlyn got done unpacking, they went ahead and went to the quiet pool located in our turtle pond area. They enjoyed a few drinks from the pool bar. Kyle decided to take a nap. Once DD and I were up from our little rest, we changed and met Ryne and Kimberlyn at the pool.
The main pool at Old Key West is super cute but is about a 15-minute walk from our area of the resort. Because of this, we prefer the quiet pool located within our little section. It is the perfect size and has its own bar/snack area, a hot tub, and a playground. We spent about an hour here before we headed back to our villa to get ready for dinner. On this night we had a 7pm reservation at Raglan Road at Disney Springs. We planned to be at the boat dock at 5:30pm to head that direction. This would give us plenty of time to wait for a boat and walk from the boat dock to the restaurant. Raglan Road is a family favorite. We are full-blood Irish by heritage, and we love listening to the Irish bands and watching the dancers. The food and drinks are fabulous too! A great plus about Raglan Road too is that it doesn't have to be booked through Disney. It can be booked through a website called Open Table which allows you to book much further in advance than 60 days.
We arrived at Raglan Road with plenty of time to spare so we enjoyed listening to the band that was playing outside at The Hole in the Wall. They were quite entertaining. My dad checked in with the hostess about 15 minutes before our scheduled reservation time. The men had a beer from the beer cart and DD took some selfies on my phone.
We waited and waited and waited until it was finally about 7:30pm (30 minutes past our reservation time) and my dad went up to check with the hostess as to when our table would be ready. My dad had requested for us to sit in the main room because the last time we sat in the back room and couldn't see the performers. Kimberlyn and Kyle had never been to this restaurant, so my dad wanted them to be able to see everything. It was because of this request that it was taking so long for our table to be ready. My dad ended up just telling them to forget about the request and just give us the next available table. Not two minutes later, the hostess came over and said that a table had opened up in the main room, but it only was set up to seat 6 and we had 7 in our party. She wanted to know if we would be comfortable squeezing another chair at the table. Since DD takes up very little space, we were ok with that and took the table. Little did we know, it was the best seat in the house! Right next to the dancers!
We enjoyed the delicious bread, wonderful drinks, and the entertainment while we waited on our meals to come out. Ryne, who is quite the picky eater and doesn't eat meat other than a hamburger, had onion rings (technically an appetizer) and a side salad. Kimberlyn, Kyle, and I all had the Serious Steak (absolutely delicious, I highly recommend it). My mom had the Braised Be Beef. She really enjoyed the beef and said it was super tender, but she wasn't crazy about the veggies that came with it. She doesn't eat many veggies to begin with, so I don't think there was really anything wrong with them. My dad had Bangers and Mash I believe (I didn't hear him order but I know he got something different than anyone else). My daughter had Gold'n Chicken.
Once my daughter's stomach was full, she was out! A common theme that you will see is that she can sleep anywhere!
After dinner, my parents, DD, Kimberlyn, and I headed back to OKW via boat while the other Ryne and Kyle preferred to take the bus (they thought it was too chilly to take the boat). Our first day was action packed but so much fun!
For my last post, I forgot to include a picture of some cool people that we found at Disney Springs while we were walking to dinner. A couple nights later, the same people were on roller skates instead of stilts.
Let's get started with our first park day, Sunday December 5th. Alarms went off pretty early and we enjoyed a quick breakfast of donuts in the room. We had a park reservation for Hollywood Studios on this day. The park opened at 9am so we were able to get in at 8:30am. We left the room at 7:15am to make sure we got to the bus stop in plenty of time for the first bus. The bus came not too long after.
We were excited to give Genie + a try on this day so my dad had got up early and purchased it for the whole group. Right at 7am, he hopped on and there were absolutely no times available for Slinky Dog Dash, so he grabbed a 10:30 time for Rock N' Roller Coaster. We arrived at the park around 7:45am and they were already letting people in. We went in and did a brisk walk to Rise of Resistance. My dad and I had rode RoR before and really liked it, so we were looking forward to introducing everyone else to the ride. DD had watched several YouTube videos of it and decided that she wanted to give it a try. As most of you know, the queue for this ride is quite long so it felt like we were walking forever but we were never at a standstill, so we believe they started letting people on around 8:15am.
We got off of Rise around 8:45am and decided to try Slinky Dog Dash before the parks opened to non-resort guests. It was about a 15-minute wait, but everyone really enjoyed it. By the time we got off of Slinky, we checked the wait time for Toy Story Mania, and it was only 30 minutes so that was our next stop. DD loves talking to Mr. Potato Head in line.
After that, my dad, brothers, and Kimberlyn went over to Rock N' Roller Coaster to use their Lightening Lane. This is where we messed up, you see, my dad had made Lightening Lane reservations for every member of our party; however, my daughter was too short to ride, and my mom and I aren't fans of this ride, so we sat out. Because we didn't scan in for that Lightening Lane, the app would not allow us to book any more Lightening Lane passes for Hollywood Studios on that day. It took us forever to figure out that this was the problem and that we all should have gone to Rock N' Roller Coaster and scanned our bands. Then those who wanted to ride could have ridden while the rest of us sat out. Lesson learned!
While my dad, Ryne, Kyle, and Kimberlyn rode Rock N' Roller Coaster, my mom, DD, and I went in search of a cold drink en route to 50's Prime Trime Cafe. We had an early lunch reservation there at 10:55 am and the rest of our party was concerned that they wouldn't be off of RnRC in time. We found a stand where my mom had a frozen Jack and Coke, DD got a regular Coke, and I had a frozen Rum and Coke. They hit the spot! Then we took a couple of pictures while we waited outside of 50's Prime Time.
While we were waiting, Goofy walked by. They had an area in front of Echo Lake roped off and he was walking up and down waving at people. He was kind enough to stop and take a picture with Natalia and a few other guests.
The rest of the crew made it over to us around 10:45am and we got checked in for our reservation at 50's Prime Time. We only waited about 3 minutes before they called our names to be seated. My parents, brothers, and I ate there when us kids were really young and were excited to go back. We just love the atmosphere and all of the jokes and ridicule. The food is pretty good too. For lunch, Kimberlyn had the Ceasar Salad with Chicken. Ryne had a junior order of macaroni and cheese (not on the menu but he didn't like any of the menu items and asked to order the kids macaroni and cheese. The junior is bigger) with a side of onion rings. Kyle had Aunt Liz's Golden Fried Chicken. My mom had the pot roast while my dad and I had the meatloaf. DD had the Grandma's Macaroni and Cheese with a PB and J milkshake.
Crowds had definitely picked up after lunch. We shopped in few stores while we were letting our food settle then everyone, but my mom jumped in line for Tower of Terror. This was a first for Kimberlyn and DD. They both ended up enjoying it although it may have been better if we hadn't done it right after we ate. At this point, DD was starting to get tired. This was the first trip that we didn't get a stroller for her. Overall, she kept up great, but we did have to go back to scheduling regular breaks. Everyone else agreed they wanted a short break before we headed to Epcot, so we went back to OKW. While back in our room, at 1 pm, we attempted to set up Lightening Lane reservations for Epcot and to purchase an Individual Lightening Lane for the new Ratatouille ride. We kept getting an error saying that none of our guests were eligible. We had Epcot set on our Genie +as our second park of the day but we just assumed the error was because of our issue at DHS earlier in the day. That was the moment that we decided Genie + just wasn't worth it to us. We spent way too much time trying to get it to work. The rest of the week was much more enjoyable without it.
We left off with the whole crew giving up on Genie + and heading back to the resort to rest a little. We were only back for about an hour and a half before we set off on our next adventure. DD was able to catch a much needed 45-minute nap. We wanted Kyle and Kimberlyn to get the experience of the Skyliner, so we took a bus to Hollywood Studios then went to Epcot via Skyliner.
Once we arrived, we noticed quite quickly that all of Central Florida must have chosen this day to go to Epcot, it was so crowded. My brothers, Kimberlyn, and my dad stopped at a booth to get a beer. It was about this time that DD decided she needed to use the restroom. Her and I went ahead to find a restroom and told the others we would meet them at Test Track. We used the restrooms right near the entrance to World Showcase from the rest of Epcot. After our quick bathroom break, I assumed the rest of the crew was still in that long line for beer so I took the time to stop by a booth and get some pineapple wine. It was quite delicious. DD and I made our way over to TT and found a place to sit and wait for everyone else.
My dad chose to sit this one out so no one would have to be in a separate car. My brothers and Kimberlyn teamed up to make a vehicle and my mom and I let DD design our vehicle. Here is what we ended up with:
We beat my brothers and Kimberly in every category but one, but they smoked us in that one category, so their overall point score was higher, and they ultimately won. This was DD first time on TT and she initially said she didn't like the fast part at the end but then recanted and said she really enjoyed it. After test track, we crossed over to Soarin'. This was a first for Kyle, Kimberlyn, and DD. Everyone loved it! As we were walking off DD said "Mama, that was good good good". She has since deemed it her favorite ride at WDW. By this time everyone's tummies were growling so we set off to the World Showcase in search of food. Ryne, Kyle, and Kimberlyn wanted to explore the WS so they took off on their own while the rest of us scouted a spot for Harmonious and took turns going to get food. DD wasn't too hungry and just requested some churros from La Cantina de San Angel. My mom thought that sounded good too, so I grabbed her some while I was in line. I ended up with the kid's cheese empanadas meal from there too. I forgot what my dad ended up with, but it was something from the booth in the Mexico area too.
Bellies full, we held our ground while we waited on Harmonious to start. DD was just exhausted and had begun to perfect her art of sleeping pretty much anywhere. Tonight, it was using my legs as a pillow while lying on the ground just outside of Mexico in the World Showcase. She got a good 30 minutes in before the crowds got too thick, and we had to stand up.
Ryne, Kyle, and Kimberlyn made it halfway around the world before they got fed up with the crowds and ended up back in Mexico to grab a quick dinner before heading back to the resort. I was kind of sad that they didn't stick around for the fireworks. To me, Disney isn't Disney without the fireworks at the end of every day. Here are a few photos that I captured of Harmonious: So, here's the thing. Anyone who has read any of my past trip reports, especially my last two, knows that Illuminations was my favorite thing in all of Disney. I was so sad to see it go and there were many tears when I watched it for the last time. I still can't get through watching it on Youtube without tears. I understand that things need to change over time and that is why Disney brought about Harmonious. I did not watch any part of Harmonious online prior to our trip and I tried to stay away from any reviews about it as I wanted my first impression to be from watching it live. Was it good? Yes, it was entertaining. Was it on the same level as Illuminations? No, not even close and I was quite disappointed. Put it this way, we were scheduled to watch it again later in the week and I chose not to. This was a one and done for me, sadly. I really missed Illuminations and although the story line kind of remains the same, this show needs its own song and something that makes it more "Epcot-appropriate". The inclusion of the Disney movies and characters just reminds me so much of all the different fireworks shows that have been put on at Magic Kingdom over the years and really resembles parts of Wishes, Happily Ever After, and Enchantment. I know, unpopular opinion, but Illuminations will always have my heart.
After the show was over, we were walking shoulder to shoulder to get out of the park. We were so worried that DD would get separated from us, so my dad carried her on his shoulders. After we finally made it to the front of the park, we were crammed on a bus like sardines. We all had to stand, and DD managed to fall asleep standing up on the way back to the resort. I would have liked to get a picture of that, but I was too worried about holding her up as the bus driver wasn't quite so gentle with the breaks and turning.
After a late-night Sunday night, one would think we would want to sleep in on Monday. Well, we don't get much sleep on vacation. Our park reservation for Monday morning was Animal Kingdom, which was set to open at 8am; however, since we were resort guests, we could get in at 7:30am. We left our room at 6:15am and headed to the bus stop where DD kindly reminded us that people were still sleeping, and we needed to be quiet. She learned these little hand gestures when she was the line leader at school.
It was a little chilly on this morning but not near as cold as it was on our 2020 trip when we went to AK. The Christmas tree looked beautiful with the morning fog.
We arrived at the park around 6:50 and there were very few people there. They eventually let us in around 7:15am and you were allowed to walk up to the area that you were going to. Who am I kidding? Everyone went to Pandora. They held us on the bridge going into the Pandora area until about 7:25 am. DD and my mom were quite a way behind us in the crowds because the rest of us did a little fast walking to be towards the front of that crowd; while, since they were not riding the ride we were after, they took their time. While we were waiting to get in, we were standing next to this family who was at Walt Disney World for the very first time. This was their first park day, and they were all so excited. I loved listening to their joy and excitement! Then the dad asked the mom if she had made any dinner reservations for them on that day. She said they had reservations at Sanaa and her husband asked her where in the park that restaurant was so they could plan their day to end in that section. I cringed a little. Then the mom proceeded to pull out her park map and looked it over for a few minutes. She couldn't find it and was like "why don't they even have it in listing of restaurants? You would think they would have all of the restaurants there". I couldn't take it anymore, I broke the news to them that Sanaa was actually at Animal Kingdom Lodge, not in the park. I then explained to them how easy it was to take a bus there and then take the bus back to Animal Kingdom. At one point she was just going to cancel the reservation, but I told her that it really was a great place to eat, and it would provide them with a nice break from the parks. She ended up keeping it and I wish I would know how they ended up liking it.
Anyways, back to our trip. As one can imagine, we were trying to get into Pandora for the purpose of riding Flight of Passage prior to the non-resort guests being let into the parks. Kyle and Kimberlyn had never ridden this one before. It isn't Ryne's favorite ride because he suffers from motion sickness, but his Dramamine usually helps him out. Once they let us into Pandora at 7:25am we walked right on Flight of Passage. As usual, it was great. While we were doing that, my mom and DD found some breakfast and a place to hang out near the exit of the ride. Once off of the ride, it was nearing time for the non-resort guests to enter the park, so we went to Kilimanjaro before the line got to be obnoxious. It was only a 5-minute wait before we were on safari. This is my favorite attraction at WDW, and I have tons of pictures from previous trips, so I tried to just enjoy the ride and take very few photos. Here are a couple I did get:
After our safari was over, we headed in the direction of Everest. Ryne, Kyle, and Kimberlyn wanted to ride. My dad went with them to show them the way while my mom, DD, and I hit up a couple shops and watched the monkeys swing around on their island and rope bridges. On our way to Everest, DD had to test out the drums.
After everyone got off of Everest, the rest of us were ready for a snack since we hadn't eaten any breakfast. Ryne, Kimberlyn, and I had a pretzel with cheese. While my dad and Kyle had popcorn. It was enough to fill us up. Thank goodness Kali River Rapids was still closed for refurbishment or we would have had to go there next, I think. Instead, we went to Dinoland as DD wanted to ride the Tricerotop Spin. Kimberlyn rode with DD and I. While we were riding Ryne won DD a stuffed Dinosaur at one of the game booths. Then everyone (but me) wanted to ride Dinosaur. Now, I had tried to warn everyone that I had ridden this ride once a few years ago and hated it, but everyone insisted on going. Guess what? No one liked it. It's dark and rough.
After our adventures on Dinosaur, it was around 10am so we ventured back to Africa for Festival of the Lion King. The first show was at 10:30am and it was a packed house. The show was good, but we missed the tumble monkeys and the part where each section in the crowd gets to participate. We also missed being able to pick our own seats. We prefer to sit at the very top of the bleachers so that DD can see better, and she can stand to watch if she wants. Instead, she sat on my dad's lap so she could see this time because we were much lower and crammed in. You can see her new dinosaur that Ryne won her in this picture.
When FOTLK was over, we still had a little bit before the 11:30am bird show. I can't even remember what the name of the show is called anymore. It used to be Flights of Wonder, then it was the UP! show. While we were waiting for it to be time for the bird show, we stopped to get something to drink at one of the carts nearby. The men and Kimberlyn all got beers while the rest of us got diet cokes. Kyle also got a thing of their seasoned fries which my daughter ended up stealing most of.
We had really good seats for the bird show and enjoyed it. Kimberlyn really got a kick out of the birds flying right over her head. DD decided that Kyle's lap was where she could best see the show.
By the time the bird show was over it was time for us to start heading towards the front of the park as we had a 12:45 lunch reservation at Rainforest Cafe. On our way there, we stopped in a couple of shops and took a few pictures.
We had a little time to look around the gift shop at Rain Forest Cafe too before our table was ready. For lunch, Ryne had the Rainforest Burger. Kimberlyn had the Jungle Turkey Wrap. Kyle had the Iggy's Piggy Sandwich. My mom had the blue mountain chicken sandwich. My dad had the Beastly Burger. DD had macaroni and cheese. I had the mozzarella flatbread with arugula (technically an appetizer) with a Little Islander Ceasar Salad.
After lunch, we hopped a bus back to OKW for a short rest period before heading out to Magic Kingdom. Stay tuned for our evening at Magic Kingdom.
Welcome back friends! Let's jump right in with what I consider to be day one of the trip, Friday December 3rd. My dad had to work for a few hours that morning, but the rest of the adults were lucky enough to have the day off. After I put DD on the school bus at 7:45am, I hit the ground running. I am one of those people that like to leave my house completely clean when I go on vacation. It just feels wonderful to come home to a clean house! After doing a couple loads of laundry and getting the house cleaned, I went to get my pre-vacation mani and pedi. Then came lunch, a few last-minute errands, and getting the house prepared (locking all doors/windows, turning the thermostat down, unplugging the non-essentials, etc.). Before I knew it, my parents were arriving around 3pm. We loaded up my luggage and my dad and I walked down to the bus stop to eagerly await my daughter to arrive.
While we were waiting at the bus stop, my brothers and Kimberlyn arrived at my house. Once DD finally made it home from school, she had a quick change of clothes before everyone hopped back into the vehicles for our journey to Indianapolis. We live in central Illinois and have about an equal distance to both Chicago airports, St. Louis airport, and the Indianapolis airport. Indy is our favorite and probably the easiest drive so more often than not, we will fly from there. It was about a 2-and-a-half-hour drive, and we encountered a time zone change along the way. Indy is in the EST while we reside in CST. Shortly before we reached our hotel we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. We really wanted to eat at the Monicals Pizza next door but there was a large crowd waiting. At that point we were more concerned with getting to our hotel than we were with what exactly we were eating.
After our bellies were full, we jumped back in the vehicles to finish the last 45 minutes of our journey. There was some unforeseen construction that caused us to miss our exit, but we eventually made it to our hotel for the evening, Embassy Suites. This is the same hotel we stayed in last year. We love this one! It is nice and close to the airport, but not so close that the planes really bother you. We get rooms that have two queen beds and a sleeper sofa. My brothers and Kimberlyn had one room while my parents, DD, and I were in the other. We had an early wakeup call for the next morning, so we pretty much just laid our clothes out for the following day and went straight to bed. Well, my dad gave my DD a Twix bar before bed, so she was wired for a little bit. Sleep eventually came though!
We hit monicals about twice a month. It is very expensive for the food you get but it is so good! I remember Avanti's from my two week stay up in Peoria when I played baseball many years ago. Loved the Gondola's! and the pizza....
My last post left off with us taking a short rest break at the resort before heading out to MK for the rest of the day. Ryne and Kimberlyn went to MK early because she was on a mission to purchase a few items for family members and wanted some time to look through the stores. They only left about 45 minutes before us and reportedly had to wait about 15 minutes for a bus. Once we arrived at MK, we met the rest of the group at Splash Mountain. There were some obligatory pictures along the way.
The wait for Splash Mountain was 60 minutes, but it was the one ride that Kyle really wanted to do and would be the last time we would get to see it in its original form. Kimberlyn wasn't too happy about getting wet but ended up really liking the ride. After the ride was over Ryne, Kyle, and Kimberlyn went to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain. My mom, dad, Natalia, and I went to Adventureland to see about riding The Magic Carpets of Aladdin but there was a 30-minute wait. Normally, 30-minute waits wouldn't bother me, but I will not wait 30 minutes for that ride. Next up was bathroom breaks then, while in Adventureland we stopped and got my mom a Strawberry Dole Whip and I got a Dole Whip Float. From there we determined that we had better start staking out a spot for Enchantment if we wanted a good one. We originally stopped near Crystal Palace but were quickly informed that it wasn't a viewing area. So sad, it would have been a great view!
We did eventually settle on a place in the hub near the walkway to Tomorrowland. My dad went to get himself some popcorn and a drink as well as a Mickey Ice Cream bar for DD. Originally, the rest of the group was going to join us, but they decided to skip out. Kyle was meeting a friend and Ryne and Kimberlyn wanted to re-visit Disney Springs in search of a few more souvenirs for Kimberlyn's family.
At first, it wasn't too bad, as you can tell from the crowds in the pictures above. We sat on the ground to wait and give ourselves a little more space but the closer it got to showtime, the more evident it was that we had picked a bad spot. In the first picture above you can kind of see the yellow tape on the ground that indicated the walkway. People were trying to come/go down that walkway and kept running us over with strollers and ECVS, hitting us with bags, and bumping into us. One lady tried to cut through where we were standing and hit DD with her double stroller. Not a single person apologized, and it was really starting to frustrate us as well as the group of people next to us. At the beginning of our waiting period, there was a cast member directing traffic and advising people that they couldn't stand between the yellow tape as they had to leave a clear walking path. About 30 minutes before the show, they stopped fighting the crowds and started just letting people stand there.
20 minutes before the show, DD decided that she just HAD to go to the bathroom. We sadly gave up the spots we had been protecting for so long to take her to the bathroom. By the time we were done, there were no good spots left and we ended up watching the show from the walkway to Tomorrowland. We couldn't really see a lot of the castle projections but had a great view of the fireworks and Tinkerbell flying. I enjoyed what I could see of Enchantment. It was certainly better than Harmonious. Once the show was over, we exited the park and hopped a bus back to OKW. Another great Disney Day in the books!
That brings us to Tuesday December 7th. We got to sleep in a little bit today. Breakfast was at 7:45am at Olivia's which, for those who don't know, is located at Old Key West. My dad had called Bell Services to have them come pick us up at 7:30am as Ryne, Kyle, and Kimberlyn were flying home on this day and we would have to take their luggage with us to breakfast. Olivia's has a couple of different places that you can store luggage while you eat. You will always hear me rave about Olivia's breakfast. It is the only meal I have ever eaten there, and I always really enjoy it. Kimberlyn had the Sombrero Beach Omelet. Ryne and my dad had the Olivia's Breakfast. Kyle had the waffles and eggs. DD had oatmeal with bacon. My mom and I both had the banana bread french toast (it is seriously the best breakfast item on Disney property in my opinion).
After breakfast, we browsed the gift shop again and said our goodbyes to Ryne, Kyle, and Kimberlyn. DME was set to pick them up at 9:15am. After we made sure they knew where the bus stop was, we walked back to our villa and finished packing our stuff up. This was our rest day, but it was also the day we were changing resorts. With the other three gone, we no longer needed a 2-bedroom villa. We were moving to a 1-bedroom villa at Saratoga Springs. I have always wanted to stay at Saratoga Springs. Once our stuff was packed, we summoned Bell Services again and they kindly gave us a ride to the Hospitality House. Bell Services kept our luggage as they would be transferring it to Saratoga Springs for us and we got on the boat to Disney Springs. We only kept our backpacks with us as they had our clothes for our evening plans just in case our room wasn't ready, or our luggage wasn't delivered in time.
Once at Disney Springs we returned to the Christmas store as my mom had her eyes set on something for her boss for Christmas and I wanted to get DD's teacher an ornament for Christmas. My dad went to go hang out at his favorite place, The Hole in the Wall. Then we browsed the spice store followed by the pin store where my mom picked up a couple of pins that Kimberlyn had been looking for but was never able to locate before they left. DD liked the statues in the pin store.
Finally, we returned to World of Disney to pick up a few items. At this point, we felt as though we had pretty well exhausted all of our shopping desires, so we went to The Hole in the Wall to meet up with my dad. My mom and I had some type of delicious Bailey's drink. At this point, it was about 1pm and we still didn't have a room ready text. We knew it was technically early, but we had requested the first available and since it was a Tuesday, we thought our chances were pretty high of the room being ready at a decent time. Even though our room wasn't ready we still decided to head in that direction. We took the boat so that we would end up at the main building. My dad wanted to "check-in" and see if they had an estimate on when our room would be ready.
It turns out, all of Disney's systems were down. They said even if our room was ready, housekeeping had no way of documenting it since the system was down. Luckily, my dad and DD had their bathing suits packed in our backpacks, so we headed to the main pool for a little swim time. We kind of had the feeling that we were going to have some downtime in the afternoon which is why we brought along their swim gear.
My mom and I aren't big fans of swimming, so we sat in the shade and enjoyed some adult beverages. As you can see, DD really enjoyed both of the slides there. She did them both again and again. Around 2pm, I placed a mobile order for a snack from Artist's Palette. We got a couple orders of the homemade chips for the adults to share and an Uncrustable with a chocolate chip cookie for DD. Those chips were delicious. I was able to coax DD out of the pool long enough for everyone to enjoy their snacks and for my dad to grab a drink. Before we knew it, they were back in the pool. A few minutes later, we received our room ready text. DD went down the big slide two more times then we set off to find our room. We had requested to be in the Congress Park section and that request was granted. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the room to share with you. I did a video walkthrough for my Facebook group followers and assumed my mom would take pictures, but she didn't this time.
The room itself was beautiful. We were on the third floor, and unlike Old Key West, our building had an elevator. Our balcony had a beautiful view of Disney Springs and the water. Being a 1-bedroom DVC villa, we had a full kitchen, washer, and dryer. The bedroom had a King-sized bed along with dresser and TV. The living room had a fold-down twin sized bed that DD loved as well as a fold down queen sized bed for me. The bathroom was split into 3 sections. One housed the toilet, another housed a small vanity and the shower, and the final one had a large tub, big vanity, and the closet. Our only complaint was that there was only one closet for us all to share, and it was kind of small. Also, the locks were going the wrong way on one of the bathroom doors (just an installation issue). After we checked the room out, we called bell services to see if our luggage had made it over from Old Key West. It had and they were going to deliver it as soon as possible. Meanwhile, we took our clothes for the evening out of our backpacks and put them in the dryer to help with the wrinkles.
We will stop there for now! The next post will be a picture-heavy one!
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
