UPDATED LIVE DAY 5: 4/22-5/1

[Disney Princess]

So we silenced our alarm this morning thinking that we'd be good to go to get up, but we all fell back asleep. Thinking that we weren't going to be able to hit rope drop, we checked the time and briskly got around and were still able to make it to the front gate within 5 minutes of opening.







We immediately headed to the safari as we've found the animals are always better early and again we weren't disappointed. As some of you can also probably attest to, I'm not sure why, but every time we get home from a trip we have a whole bunch of the same animal pictures from our safari like either the attraction somehow changed or that the photos might be so good that National Geographic will want to purchase them.









After exiting, we headed through the Pangini Forest to see if we might be able to see the animals while they were still pretty active and had some pretty good success. We were able to get a look at the newest member of the Gorilla exhibit, a 7 month old Silverback. It was pretty cool to see. The male Gorillas were in perfect position to be watched, so we stood there for a while watching. Jack really loved the Zebras, a bird that was bathing in a bucket, and the Gorillas.







Next we went to the Finding Nemo Musical and after missing it on our last trip, Jack LOVED this one!






We wanted to grab some lunch before heading home for pool and naps and decided to hit up The Mara at AKL. We had the Falafel Wrap and of course you can't go to the AKL without some Zebra Domes.


After getting back to the hotel, we went swimming again and Jack is loving jumping into the pool from the edge (to daddy of course). Now it's back to the room for naps and then Epcot for The Guess Who again as well as Living with the Land, The Character Spot, Spaceship Earth, and by popular demand "frrworks".

 

[TutuWahineLV]

Sounds like ya'll are having a good time. Glad the kids cooperated with no meltdowns. I am living vicariously through you, as I still have to wait 3 weeks before my trip.

 

[Disney Princess]

So, last night we enjoyed an easy night at Epcot. We arrived at Epcot around 5:30 and tried the Pineapple Float (Dole Whip) with Parrot Bay Rum.. as you can probably guess, it was DELICIOUS. We also sampled the Kir Imperial in France (Sparkling Wine with Chambord) before settling into the the American pavilion for The Guess Who again. Before the concert we tried the Brisket Burnt End Hash and the Piggylicious Bacon Cupcake in America and Matt grabbed a beer and a popcorn for the concert. After the concert was over, we finished our loop around World Showcase and headed to the front of the park and went on Spaceship Earth and utilized our Fastpasses for Illuminations (at Jack's request) again.















This morning we were up and at em and at the entrance of MK by 8:30. It was pretty packed given that we were 30 minutes early as we were stuck in the turnstiles and unable to enter the park until the park opening show was completed. We were still very productive as our agenda didn't include a ton of rides with significant wait times, yet we were still able to complete a lot in a very short period.





Once we were in, we really wanted to get rid of the stroller as quickly as possible and knew that we were going to spend the bulk of the morning in Fantasyland and Adventureland. With that in mind, we quickly parked our stroller at the Columbia Harbour House and proceeded to Peter Pan's Flight, we ended up waiting about 10 minutes to ride (the stroller parking slowed us down just enough to cause a small delay.



After exiting Pan, we knew that Jack would want to ride the Carousel as it broke down a few nights ago. We walked onto the Carousel which was a rousing time. Next we went to Philharmagic, again no wait with the doors open as we walked down the ramp. For the first time ever Jack really got the 3D and this caused mama to cry as he was constantly reaching for objects and LOVED seeing Donald causing trouble.



Next we headed to Haunted Mansion, again we waited less than 5 minutes. With Rylie needing a snack, we thought that the Hall of Presidents would be a good stopping point. It wasn't in the cards as we had just missed the start and weren't willing to wait 20 minutes. Feeling completely dejected, mom went to pick up the stroller while our slow footed 2 year old and dad headed to Adventureland. We ended up getting there at about the same time, and settled for the Tiki Room being Rylie's snack theater. Again waited less than 5 minutes. We then hit up Aladdin's Magic Carpets again less than 5 minutes. And Pirates while waiting less than 10.







We were able to accomplish a pretty nice chunk of activity in about 2.5 hours (without utilizing Fastpass at all...oh the glories of rope drop) and decided to grab some lunch. A nice Taco Salad at Tortuga Tavern was definitely in order until WHAT!?! they stopped serving them about a month ago. Now it's burritos and a southwest salad. Won't be going there again anytime soon until there is a menu change.



Devastated, we left the park and headed to the Contemporary where we settled in for some counter service at the Contempo Cafe. We ordered a flatbread that was decent and jack got a kids meal that was...meh. The service definitely left something to be desired as every worker that we encountered there just seemed to be moping around.

We then hopped the monorail back to the TTC just before a huge storm that came in that is finally letting up. The kids then fell asleep on the way back to the hotel so we decided to run a couple of errands (Publix and Sunglass Outlet). We just got back to the room and are laying low for another hour or two and then we will be heading to DHS to use our Disney Jr Live, The Little Mermaid, and Fantasmic Fastpasses. We will probably try to get Muppets and meet Sorcerer Mickey as well.

It should be a great night! We'll keep you posted!!

 

[janiejo]

Sounds like you are having fun. So glad your son enjoyed the 3-D at Philharmonic. I remember seeing Disney from my kids' eyes at that age - priceless! Enjoy a Dole Whip for me and keep making memories!

 

[RDawn]

I was smiling as I read about Jack reaching for the 3D objects. Thanks for letting us tag along on your trip.

 

[TEAMJACOB]

Get a dole whip for me on your return trip this evening. Enjoying your report.

 

[Disney Princess]

Update coming in the morning. Just reposted some of the earlier pictures as well.

 

[luckylady]

Following.

 

[NJlauren]

Sounds like a great trip! How is having the baby in the carrier? I noticed you were using it and wondering if it was to hot as we are going next week and trying to plan

 

[Disney Princess]

Last night we headed over to DHS after nap time to utilize our Fastpasses. We ended up using 2 of 3 which is pretty good for us.





First thing we did was head to the place where they used to have the Animation Studio and met Sorcerer Mickey. We've definitely had better photo ops, but Mickey was a great Mickey. Jack has ALWAYS been so great with characters, but Rylie is a bit more apprehensive.



Next, we used our Disney Jr. Fastpass and both of the kids had a lot of fun watching it. Jack knew the characters and Rylie liked the music and lights.





On our way to Muppetvision in threeeee D, we stopped for Jack to play on the speeder. Jack liked the Muppets, but not as much as Philharmagic.







It was definitely a quick night as we then headed to the Fantasmic Theater and used our Fastpasses there. We picked up a couple of treats at Sweet Spells on our way to the theater and Jack was a big fan of his cookie (he only was allowed to eat a couple of bites)!! Rylie proceeded to fall asleep in the first couple of minutes after eating her snack, but Jack loved seeing Mickey. We dropped off our stroller over by Hollywood and Vine just to avoid the stroller mayhem that exists over by Fantasmic when it ends which worked out really well (except Rylie was sleeping and there was some major burning of the back muscles). During the show Jack kept getting mad during the Pocahontas and non Mickey parts saying "Mickey up there!". He enjoyed the show, but when asked which he liked more, he said "Epcot Frrworks".







This morning, we all needed a sleep in day and the kids slept until 845. We are heading to DTD for a little browsing and perhaps and EOS!!! This evening we are planning on an MK evening of Parades/Frrworks/Mine Train/Belle.

 

[Chellymouse]

Looks like you're having an awesome trip! Love all of your pictures! How was the piggyliscious cupcake? I have the recipe and thinking about trying them! The spiked dole whip is also one of my favorites!

 

[SusanU]

Love seeing your family pics and hearing about all the fun. You are introducing lots of new snacks to me! Looking forward to tomorrow's adventures!

 

[Disney Princess]

Looks like you're having an awesome trip! Love all of your pictures! How was the piggyliscious cupcake? I have the recipe and thinking about trying them! The spiked dole whip is also one of my favorites!

We loved the Piggylicious Cupcake. It was fantastic, we'd give it 4.5*

 

[Disney Princess]

Obviously this day was a bit slow developing as we took the morning to recuperate. The kids slept until nearly 9am so they definitely needed a morning off. At about 1030 we headed over to DTD to hit WOD and EOS. We parked in the new parking structure and were actually quite impressed by it. Parking at DTD has always been one of our biggest turn offs and it was quite easy to navigate. It probably helped that it was very slow there today. It is located much closer to the West End, but it didn't take nearly as long to get over to the village as anticipated. You can definitely see the redesign taking form as everything is very well themed and looks nice, clean, and new. The biggest problem for us with DTD still exists even with the redesign, which is outside of just a couple of things, there isn't a whole lot that would draw us to it. With Disney shifting to the one size fits all model of merchandizing, you can find virtually every item that Disney offers at DTD in the parks somewhere (with a few exceptions obviously). That leaves basically just all of the 3rd party vendors/restaurants which isn't really why we go to Disney. So ultimately to us, it looks kind of like a somewhat Disney-fied Galleria Mall. It's great if you need to waste a day or don't have AP's and can't get into the parks, but not something that would make us need to go there every trip (outside of EOS of course). We did take a nice photo of Saratoga so that SSRMonkey and Koala could get excited for their home away from home here in just a couple of days.













After DTD, we came back to the hotel and hoping to miss the rain went swimming. We never actually got any rain today even though the forecast called for it, so that was a huge win for us. Jack has been really enjoying jumping off of the rocks into the water. We're working on learning to swim, but we were impressed that he was brave enough to take the plunge.

 

[Disney Princess]

We love using it. It can get warm, and it definitely can wear out your back, but we love "holding" her hands free. She likes being up at our level so she can see what we see. And when we park our stroller in a region (like Fantasyland) and do multiple attractions in that area, it is a lifesaver having her "safe". She can face in or out, so when she's tired, we just turn her around and let her nap. I'd recommend having one!

Sounds like a great trip! How is having the baby in the carrier? I noticed you were using it and wondering if it was to hot as we are going next week and trying to plan

 

[NJlauren]

We love using it. It can get warm, and it definitely can wear out your back, but we love "holding" her hands free. She likes being up at our level so she can see what we see. And when we park our stroller in a region (like Fantasyland) and do multiple attractions in that area, it is a lifesaver having her "safe". She can face in or out, so when she's tired, we just turn her around and let her nap. I'd recommend having one!

Thanks! I am going to bring it in only worried about it being to hot for one of both of us... But better to have it and not use it right!

Your trip looks so fun! Hope you have another amazing day today!

 

[DrivenByDisney]

Enjoy your day today even if it is rainy this morning. Unfortunately it looks like it supposed to rain pretty much all day today. Good old Spring time Florida weather.

 

[Disney Princess]

At around 5pm we headed to the MK for our Fastpasses (Meet Mickey, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train).





We got to the park and of course, Rylie fell asleep in the first 5 minutes in the stroller. So we thought we'd let her sleep and the 3 of us shared a Nutella and Fruit waffle in Liberty Square and it was delicious. We then decided to let Jack decide what we would do until our Mickey Fastpasses, so we went on the Teacups and Dumbo (both had nominal wait times) before hopping the train back to Main Street to Meet Mickey. Meeting Mickey once again was fantastic, and Jack couldn't stop talking about getting to meet Mickey.







We knew that the evening was going to be busy, so we hiked it over to Peco's Bill's and shared a burger (Jack had Chocolate Milk for the first time) before trekking it back through Fantasyland to use our Belle Fastpass. Again we let Jack determine our activities, so we stopped in for Small World and Philharmagic before heading over to Belle's cottage.







After Belle, not expecting great seats, we headed to the bridge between Cosmic Rays and the hub to at least get a mediocre viewing of Wishes, only to discover that there was no audio being piped to that bridge which seemed odd to us. We ended up moving to near Cosmic Rays to at least get a view of the fireworks for Jack, knowing that we will get a good spot tomorrow night.

After the fireworks, we still had Seven Dwarf Fastpasses to use, but decided against it as we were starting to feel some drizzle and both of our kids were on the cusp of passing out (which they ended up doing while loading the boat back to the TTC). It was another really great day and can't wait to do it all again tomorrow!!

 

[DrivenByDisney]

LOVE the picture holding the balloons

 

[jchurch0409]

Great day!! I love all the awesome photos!!