Winging it with No Dinning Plan! A Feb. Trip Report

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hello Everyone!

Life has been super busy lately! Morgan turns 10 this Thursday and I have been busy with all of the planning for that. This past weekend we painted her room from a brown to a vibrant teal color with geometric shapes. It came out awsome but man it took FOREVER!!! We painted pretty much all weekend straight!

We started out with Brown Walls


Then moved over to Teal Walls


Then the fun/hard part... The shapes!


The finished product!






Morgan loves it! And I am pretty sure we will never see her again!

Day Two: Pandora!

I left us off, with us finishing our visit to Rafiki's Planet Watch and heading over towards Pandora!


Gwen grabbed yet another Piggyback ride. I love this photo other than the fact that I look old in it!

Once we got to Pandora, the girls checked out the spraying pod.

Trying to get a few god sprays in!


We made our way into the "World", snapping some pictures and looking around.


Andy took a picture of me taking a picture.


And the result of that picture!





We headed into the gift shop to look around. But by now it was about 4:30. And the girls had hit the wall. So, we ended up sitting outside of Pongo Pongo and just sat. The girls needed some let's say quiet time...

I took out some snacks from my bag for the girls and grabbed myself a Mo'Hara Margarita! YUM!!!! I also ordered a Night Blossom for Morgan. Which I didn't take a picture of. But it was basically like this....

(Picture from our September trip)

We sat and relaxed for a bit. We snacked and talked about what the plan would be after the ride. Andy and I said that we should grab dinner in the park and then head out for the day. The girls agreed and wanted to swim back at the hotel. The rest helped the girls mood a little and before we knew it, it was time to go use that fast pass!

But first I had the girls pose in front of the moss wall.


Right before this, they were standing really far apart from each other.

I said, "Pretend like you like each other!" And they did this!

At 5:05, we scanned our bands and were in the fast pass line!

We quickly passed ALL the people waiting outside.


And at first it seemed like smooth sailing!


The biggest down side of this ride, is that we basically only ride fast pass and the fast pass line just isn't that intresting. This was one of the most Interesting things I could find.


But then we hit a snag.... We stopped and no one was moving. I was starting to wonder if the ride was going down. We were waiting at a part where you could see the regular line through some glass, and I was really surprised at how many families were in that line with small kids! That is a LONG wait for little kids! Finally we started moving again and we got into a prep room around 5:30. (Not bad considering what other people were waiting)

When we were in the room where they "scan" you. There was a mom with 2 little girls, maybe around Gwen's age. And the one, was freak'n out!!! She just kept saying she didn't want to ride and that she was scared. And you could tell the mom was just like, REALLY!!! We just waited how long?!?! So, after they finished the scanning part, I turned around and told her it wasn't scary at all. And pointed to Gwen who looked to be about the same size/age and said that she loves it. The mom said thank you and we were directed into the next area.

Once we were in the rooms to get on our banshees, we were in the first room and they were in the second room. And we could still hear the little girl freak'n out. It took a long time before the ride got going, and I don't know if they were having issues, or if they were waiting to make sure the little girl was going to ride or not. While we were waiting, it kept "Calibrating" or something, and it was rumbling on your abs and it was not comfortable. Gwen did not like that part.

Soon enough we were off and riding on our banshees! As always, it was amazing. I did peak to the sides this time to see how the ride worked, as I was curious. And it did make me feel a little queasy doing that. So, my advice, if you are prone to that at all. DON'T look to the sides!!!!

After the ride, we took our time to wait for the mom to see if the little girl ended up liking it or not. The girl answered NO!!!!! Ha! The other girl loved it and the mom said she wasn't sure, but that she ended up leaning over and holding onto the little girl trying to reassure her, as she was crying the whole time! Oye!

All said and done, with the fast pass, it took us from 5:05 till 5:58! Somehow I think the 3 hour wait might be more like 4 at that point!

We stopped in the dump shop, as the girls wanted to cash in on there "One Thing" for the day. And they knew what they wanted. They had seen plush Banshees. So, they quickly located there items, we paid and headed out!


But first a quick waterfall picture!


And one with the girls newest plush!

I am going to stop here, before I loose everything I typed up!

Up Next Dinner! But where?

 

[MeghanEmily]

Morgan's room looks AWESOME!!

I feel bad for that poor little girl who hated FOP! I would have been like her at that age. I was a big scaredy cat with rides.

I love the girls' plush! Very cute!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Morgan's room looks AWESOME!!

I thought that the lady with pale blue hair might like the new room!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I thought that the lady with pale blue hair might like the new room!

I'm all about color these days!!

 

[ArielSRL]

The finished product!

That is ridiculously awesome!

Gwen grabbed yet another Piggyback ride.

This is why I am renting a double until they are adults....lol.

and grabbed myself a Mo'Hara Margarita! YUM!!!!

Major yum!!!

I said, "Pretend like you like each other!" And they did this!

HAHA

she ended up leaning over and holding onto the little girl trying to reassure her, as she was crying the whole time! Oye!

Oh no!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

You definitely deserved another drink for those efforts, especially since Gwen has a few years (and likely pounds!) on my nephew!

Gwen is pretty tiny still. The girl eats nothing but junk too!

AJ is definitely too heavy for this at 6. Will is close at 4 but thats because he only weighs about 7 or 8 lbs less than AJ (at 2.5 yrs younger) and is a bowling ball. Can you say linebacker???

That is Morgan.... She is a solid gal! I could never pick her up. Of course she is getting dangerously close to being as tall as me!

This is one of those things we will eventually do once we get several trips in.

Meh. I am not sure we will bother to go out there again. Glad to did it but def not a must do for us. Maybe take the train out and back. That was nice.

My boys actually like Doc!

The girls did back in the day. Sigh... just another sign of them getting older.

I saw these in @kastoney 's report and thought they sounded and looked good.

Delish! I would eat these now!

Following along. I love how you gave us a food cost breakdown for your travel day. Are you going to give us another update at the end of your report?

Thanks for following along. And glad you like the food cost breakdown. I def want to try to do it for each day and then the whole trip!

These all look good to me.

I will say that the non-alcoholic drink was really good as well.

Oh no! I had a bad feeling this was going to happen.

The books were just from our September trip, I would have expected it with a whole year passing but it didn't seem long enough for that to happen. But I guess we timed it just right.

This is a great action shot. I think it went a good ways to erasing her WE disappointment.

It def helped!

I'm late but here, and totally loving your TR so far! Your family is too cute, and it seems like you are had a great time! DH and I are going DDP-free in June, so we definitely need all the tips you have

Glad to have you hear! I have to admit, I think I like being on the dinning plan, but it was a nice change of pace. For us, the biggest thing, was splitting food, which I guess you could do with the DDP but its' not as easy.

This picture is so cute! Some day when she doesn't need to be carried around you're going to love that you have this

I know. I am constantly reminding myself of this fact!

I just love how happy the girls look on Primevel Whirl! Glad you could get on it again!

That may or may not of been the last time we rode that ride...

I agree, it felt a bit too "sterile" and not that Disney theme park magic!

I am really hoping that they go with the rumor of re-theming that area Zootopia one day. That would be amazing!

Those fries do look tasty!

They were great and I love that they are something that you really don't see other places.

This is why I am renting a double until they are adults....lol.

You are smart! Andy keeps saying that Morgan is too old. And I always try to point out that yes, in the regular work but Disney is different. It is nice to not have to park the stroller, and then search for it later. And riding the bus is WAY easier now!

That is ridiculously awesome!

Thanks! Needless to say Hei Hei is still here. I barely left the house this weekend! Lots of layers of paint!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I'm all about color these days!!

The hair looks great! BTW

 

[BellaBaby]

I love the room color and design!!

Too bad it took so long to ride FOP with your FP and I feel sorry for the little girl that was scared!

We did both of those drinks in Nov and they were tasty!!

 

[Tracy161]

It came out awsome but man it took FOREVER!!! We painted pretty much all weekend straight!

Amazing work!!! Wow, her bedroom looks awesome!

Morgan loves it! And I am pretty sure we will never see her again!

This picture is so sweet

I said, "Pretend like you like each other!" And they did this!

What a cute picture!!!

 

[jchurch0409]

This is stunning!!

 

[missjackiemcg]

This turned out amazing!!! Looks like a pro job, and I can understand why she loves it and wants to be in there all the time!!

Is it just my Disney brain or does that giant rock in the middle start to look like a Hidden Mickey with the two smaller rocks above it at this angle!?

I did peak to the sides this time to see how the ride worked, as I was curious. And it did make me feel a little queasy doing that. So, my advice, if you are prone to that at all. DON'T look to the sides!!!!

I found myself doing the same thing!! I just wanted to get a peek at how they have you on different levels like Soarin' but looking around was not worth it!! Also, my glasses were sliding down the whole time, so I got a bit disoriented!

 

[MeghanEmily]

The hair looks great! BTW

Thank you! Having fun with it for the spring/summer before I need to go back to a more professional/appropriate look

 

[vamassey1]

Amazing!!!

The girls needed some let's say quiet time...

Sometimes we all need some quiet time.

I took out some snacks from my bag for the girls and grabbed myself a Mo'Hara Margarita! YUM!!!! I also ordered a Night Blossom for Morgan.

These looks so good. I wanted to try them but ran out of time.

But first I had the girls pose in front of the moss wall.

I still need to find this. Nice that the girls "liked each other".

The biggest down side of this ride, is that we basically only ride fast pass and the fast pass line just isn't that intresting. This was one of the most Interesting things I could find.

I've only done this as a walk on. We rode it opening day at opening. Now I know what to expect if we ever get a FP.

Soon enough we were off and riding on our banshees! As always, it was amazing. I did peak to the sides this time to see how the ride worked, as I was curious. And it did make me feel a little queasy doing that. So, my advice, if you are prone to that at all. DON'T look to the sid

Love this ride. I did peek up and down but that was all. It's way too easy for me to get motion sickness.

And one with the girls newest plush!

Very cute! They did well.

 

[missangelalexis]

WOW, Morgan's room came out fantastic!!

Great Pandora pics, the girls look so cute in front of the moss wall and with their banshees!

 

[Stasieki]

Love love love her room! You all did a great job.

 

[iheartbelle87]

Morgan loves it! And I am pretty sure we will never see her again!

Her room came out GREAT!

I feel so bad about the little girl not liking the banshee ride, and that they waited so long in line! OYE is right!!

 

[MissMaryQC]

I'm behind, again, lol!

I can't believe you carried Gwen all day! Mom of the year, for sure. Elora's only 3.5 and I dread when she wants me to carry her, quite a workout!

Sorry Morgan wasn't able to finish her book, again, that is frustrating. I mean, if you're gonna have the WL in the park, the CMs need to be available. Glad she was able to get past it seemingly quickly.

I have heard the FoP FP line isn't much fun. I rode Standby in September and the queue is incredible! But I can't imagine doing it with kiddos, I know Elora would be bouncing off the dang walls. It was nice of you to reassure that other little child. Poor thing, and her poor mom. Waiting in those lines and then having to split before the actual ride is not fun, at all! Glad you guys had a good flight though!

And Morgan's room looks amazing! Double digits and a big room makeover, she's officially a tween! Glad for you guys.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Day Two: Eating in the Dark...

I left us off, with us heading to dinner. Andy really wanted to try Flame Tree BBQ again. We hadn't been there since our very first visit. And I did want to try the pulled pork loaded fries, so I didn't argue too much about not going to Santuli Canteen. The girls.... well... they were pretty done with the day. Which was fine, I figured we would eat then head out.

I feel like it got dark fast! And I feel like Animal Kingdom as a whole needs better lighting! There are spots all over that just seem so dark!

We made it over to Flame Tree BBQ and it was pretty quiet. We decided what we all wanted to eat. Gwen said she had to pee bad. So, I ran the girls across the way to use the bathroom REALLY fast. The girls both used the bathroom and we ran back across the way to meet up with Andy. We got back right as he was getting the drinks. So, I took that from him and the girls and I went to find a place to sit. We needed up walking all the way down to the seats by the water.

There was no one eating her now, it was nice a quiet.... and dark.... Like SUPER DARK. You could almost not see what you were eating! But we had this as our view!

Not too bad, huh? And it is probably an interesting view for ROL. I am sure there are some things lost from that angle. Morgan said she should stay and see how it looks, but I think ROL didn't start for another 2 hours or something.

Andy found us in our seating area, and we dug into our food. You can see how dark it was with all of the following food photos...


Morgan and Gwen decided to share the Mac N Cheese with Pulled Pork. This was ok. The girls were at first put off that the pulled pork was onto of the mac n cheese. I guess I could have asked for it in separate container but I didn't think about it at the time. I ended up separating the two as best I could. And basically told them to suck it up. (as any good mom does)


I went with the Pulled Pork Loaded Fries. These were really good! I mean how can you go wrong with plastic cheese and pulled pork!


Andy went with the Ribs & Chicken meal that we all kind of picked at. I think Gwen ate some of the chicken. Andy said it was just ok. Oh, and those 2 onion rings were on top of the girls Mac n cheese.


And we got an order of onion rings, because well, just because... We all picked at those as well. They were good onion rings.

I would say overall, Flame Tree BBQ was just ok. I don't think it was anything amazing but it was ok. We had a nice meal sitting by the water dinning in the dark. And we were staring at Everest. And Morgan REALLY wanted ride Everest again and I kept checking to see what the wait time was. And as we were sitting there, it was dropping little by little. Gwen was maintaining that she did NOT want to ride and Morgan kept begging her to go. Which of course only made Gwen want to not ride even more.

After we finished eating, we decided to give it a try and ride Everest. So, we headed over that way via Dinoland. The girls got a second wind after eating dinner and now with the sun down, it was cool out.

We used the bathroom in Dinoland, and decided to take another spin on the girls new favorite ride!


Like I said, I had a hard time getting good pictures at this point in the night.


This area does look pretty cool at night with all of the lights.

We decided to take a ride on Triceratop Spin since there was literally NO wait for it.


The girls sat in front and Gwen STOLE our joy stick to control the dino!



Our romantic evening... riding on a dinosaur... in a circle....




I took this picture because I mean when do you EVER see that as the wait time!

We then went across the way and rode Primevil Whirl AGAIN!!!!!

This time there was no wait, maybe 5 minutes...

After this, I checked the wait time for Everest and it was pretty low. So, Andy said for me and Morgan to go ahead and ride Everest. That him and Gwen would meet us outside of the ride. So, Morgan and I ran over and got in line. And we briskly walked all the way through the que. It probably probably took 5 minutes to walk through the que itself.

We had a woman in line behind us and she said she ran over here to ride while her husband waited with there kids. She asked it it was always this way at night. And I told her it is a good idea to ride rides during the night shows but it isn't always THIS quiet.

We were moving so fast, that I texted Andy and said that him and Morgan might be able to ride after.


Our ride photo. We LOVED riding it at night! It was so fun and really is almost a different ride at night. I loved it! It will now be a must do for us to ride at night.

Unfortantly, as we were riding the ride, ROL finished up. And Andy said everyone just started filling out of ROL and straight into the que for Everest. And the time went from 5 minutes up to 20 minutes immediately. I told Andy to go anyway, as it was totally worth it. But he said it was fine. So, we started towards the front of the park. As we were walking, Morgan asked to see what the wait was for FOP. That was like 2 hours still. So, that was a no! I said Dinosaur was only 10 minutes. So, I suggested Andy and Morgan go ride that. As Gwen said she didn't want to ride that either.

So, Andy and Morgan went to do that. Gwen and I hit the ladies room and then poked around the dump shop. There was a CM walking around with some puppet like Dino and Gwen did NOT like it. So we just avoided him. Thankfully, I think he figured it out that Gwen was avoiding him and he went and moved on to someone else.

Gwen shopped for a little gift for her BFF from school. And decided on a keychain for her friend. She was completely content shopping instead of riding the ride.

Meanwhile, Morgan and Andy were enjoying their ride on Dinosaur.

This picture cracks me up! The man in the back row... And then Morgan is just looking straight ahead cool as a cucumber.

After Gwen made her purchase, we sat down on a bench outside of the shop.

And waited for Morgan and Andy to come out. And I swear at 9:00 on the dot, the CM came over and closed the doors to the dump shop. Gwen and I weren't sure if we were locked in for a minute. But It was the way out of the ride, so I assumed there had to be another way out. Right?

Well, people started coming out of the ride, and trying to open the doors to get out. But they were locked. They soon realized that they needed another way out, and walked around the side. Shortly after, Morgan and Andy came out and we headed out as well.


We got a glimpse of the Tree of Life as we walked out. By now, I knew we needed to get back to the hotel. I had not planned on being at Animal Kingdom ALL day!

We got to the bus stop and there was a LONG line of people. Andy and I thought for sure we would need to wait for at least the 2nd if not 3rd bus to get on. But we just told the girls to be prepared to wait. And then... the bus gods happened... One bus showed up just as we were getting in line. And I thought ok, at least one bus will fill up and leave. But THEN ANTOHER bus came and pulled up right in front of the other bus! They loaded the 1st bus with the folks in the front and then directed everyone to the second bus that pulled in 2nd. AND we managed to get on that bus. We had to stand but I didn't care! We waited only as long as it took for everyone to walk onto the buses. It was a Disney Bus Miracle!

Our bus left first, since it was in the way of the other bus. So, we actually left before the people in front of the line! Animal Kingdom shared both French Quarters and Riverside going back. So, I wasn't sure which would be first. Morgan and Gwen sat on the floor once the bus started moving and before I knew it they were basically laying on the floor. And I am pretty sure they both might have fallen asleep a little.

And AGAIN, a bus miracle, French Quarter was the first stop! I woke the girls up and we were back at the resort.


The girls asked to walk back to the room with there shoes off. I said they could. (This became a tradition from the late nights)

We left our room this morning at 8:14am and were getting off the bus that night at 8:48pm! I was amazed that they made it all day! That I made it all day! needless to say, we went straight to the room and everyone went to bed!

Tomorrow we were headed back to Magic Kingdom and we had a very special thing planned!

 

[kastoney]

Morgan loves it! And I am pretty sure we will never see her again!

Wow! This looks amazing. You all have some serious painting skills.

Once we got to Pandora, the girls checked out the spraying pod.

I don't think we've ever seen this before. Casey is always obsessed with the big flower thing behind them I don't think we even knew these were there. Will have to correct that.

(Picture from our September trip)

I thought I was going crazy for a minute. I was thinking I don't remember you having that shirt on before

The girl answered NO!!!!! Ha! The other girl loved it and the mom said she wasn't sure, but that she ended up leaning over and holding onto the little girl trying to reassure her, as she was crying the whole time! Oye!

Poor thing. We've certainly all been there, just thankfully not after a 3 hour wait

And one with the girls newest plush!

I don't think Casey spotted these on our trip, because no chance one wasn't coming home with us

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I love the room color and design!!

Amazing work!!! Wow, her bedroom looks awesome!

This is stunning!!

Amazing!!!

WOW, Morgan's room came out fantastic!!

Love love love her room! You all did a great job.

Her room came out GREAT!

Wow! This looks amazing. You all have some serious painting skills.

Thanks to Everyone for the complements on the room! Morgan had a birthday party this weekend at the house and she got to show off her new room. And most of the girls were just in awe of her room. So, that was nice.

This turned out amazing!!! Looks like a pro job, and I can understand why she loves it and wants to be in there all the time!!

I told Andy we may have done too good of a job!

And Morgan's room looks amazing! Double digits and a big room makeover, she's officially a tween! Glad for you guys.

God help me! She is rapidly turning into a tween too! it is happening so fast!!!

This picture is so sweet

Thanks! I am a sucker for the photos from behind. They all seem to turn out so sweet.

Is it just my Disney brain or does that giant rock in the middle start to look like a Hidden Mickey with the two smaller rocks above it at this angle!?

I think it is a little of your Disney brain but it could be!

These looks so good. I wanted to try them but ran out of time.

Isn't that always the case!?! There is never enough time to do it all!

I've only done this as a walk on. We rode it opening day at opening. Now I know what to expect if we ever get a FP.

I want to do this as walk on at some point, so we can see the que.

I feel so bad about the little girl not liking the banshee ride, and that they waited so long in line! OYE is right!!

I know right!?!! I felt for the mother, she had one kid who wanted to ride and one that didn't. It's one of those almost impossible situations.

Sorry Morgan wasn't able to finish her book, again, that is frustrating. I mean, if you're gonna have the WL in the park, the CMs need to be available. Glad she was able to get past it seemingly quickly.

I was annoyed that there was no CM at that post for almost half the day!

I rode Standby in September and the queue is incredible!

I want to try and ride first thing in the morning next time, so we can see the que next time.

I don't think we've ever seen this before. Casey is always obsessed with the big flower thing behind them I don't think we even knew these were there. Will have to correct that.

Hmmm, I don't think we have noticed the big flower thing. We will have to keep an eye out for that!

Poor thing. We've certainly all been
there, just thankfully not after a 3 hour wait

Right! After3 hours, you are getting on that ride kid! Oye!