"Hey look a Chevy truck"- Spring Break 2016 **Updated 5/28**

[maggiepie87]

We’re Back!!




Hello and welcome to the latest chapter of Margaret and a ‘family member’ go to Disney World…

The ‘who’ aspect of this trip is:

As always, me
Margaret




And returning for a third time… My Dad






When: Saturday March 19th - Saturday March 26th or when every teenager that plays a sport has a tournament week.

Where: POP Century

Why: Besides the obvious why not??


When I last left off last years trip report, the debate was who would come along. I met with my friend and we talked and since she was in a wedding coming up soon she probably wouldn't be able to afford it this time around.

So here we go yet another trip with my Dad, third time's the charm right?? The last 2 trips were great don’t get me wrong, but we spent so much time worrying about us having been sick or getting over surgeries that I don’t think we really got to enjoy the trip like we deserved.

So we decided in September that #fatherdaughterdisneytrippart3 was commencing next Spring Break and like last time, the goal was stay happy and healthy for 5 months. Seems simple right? Well keep reading and we will find out if it was or skip it.. It’s up to you

What has happened since the last trip report ended?​

 

[maggiepie87]

Past Year (If you want to catch up on my life)

Now for the actual trip report to begin
Day 0 - Day before Travel Day

Day 1 - Travel Day and 'Ohana (part 1)
Day 1 - Travel Day and 'Ohana (part 2)

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios (part 1)
Day 2 - Hollywood Studios (part 2)

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom (part 1)
Day 3 - Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom (part 2)
Day 3 - Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom (part 3)
Day 3 - Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom (part 4)

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom & EPCOT (part 1)
Day 4 - Magic Kingdom & EPCOT (part 2)
Day 4 - Magic Kingdom & EPCOT (part 3)
Day 4 - Magic Kingdom & EPCOT (part 4)

Day 5 - Magic Kingdom (part 1)
Day 5 - Magic Kingdom (part 2)
Day 5 - Magic Kingdom (part 3)
Day 5 - Magic Kingdom (part 4)

Day 6 - EPCOT & Disney Springs (part 1)
Day 6 - EPCOT & Disney Springs (part 2)
Day 6 - EPCOT & Disney Springs (part 3)

Day 7 - Magic Kingdom (part 1)
Day 7 - Magic Kingdom (part 2)
Day 7 - Magic Kingdom (part 3)

Day 8 - Travel Home

Closing Thoughts and Next Trip???​

 

[maggiepie87]

July 2015
My little cousin/bestfriend got married and guess who was the maid of honor… ME
My cousin Elisa and I grew up together, neither of us have sisters so we became eachothers.


When her mom and dad got divorced in early 2000 my aunt and 2 cousins moved to Portland. Ever since then we haven’t been able to see each other as much as we would like but we are still super close. So I packed up my dress (me in a dress is a miracle in itself) and flew the 4 hours to Portland. I spent the few days before helping set up and making decorations. One of my jobs was hot gluing the ribbon on the candy favor box and since being a teacher I’ve burned off all the feeling in my fingers it was a perfect job for me.

The wedding itself was perfect, the ceremony was beautiful and so like my cousin and Aaron. She walked down the aisle to Journey’s “Faithfully” we all laughed and cried.

Because we can very rarely ever take serious pictures….


There, that’s more like it…




This picture happened 20 some years ago…


Then we reenacted in at the wedding. Honestly, since my cousin David moved with his wife and daughter to Idaho and me to Arkansas and my cousin Elisa still in Portland. We haven’t been all together in over 10 years.. So we had to get another picture all together.


Overall it was such a great trip and I may or maynot have had a freakout moment when I learned my dress had pockets, seriously it was so exciting!! It was great to see family and spend sometime in the area that I was this …. close to moving to but in the end I got a job teaching and moved to Arkansas

I tried to get us all in one picture, but I couldn’t haha

August 2015
I don’t think I mentioned it last trip but me and my classroom was moving (why was a whole other drama filled 2 sided story) to another school down the road.

So my assistant Amanda took over the packing about a month or so before the school year ended. In the end 80 some boxes, 5 tables, 7 shelves, 5 rugs, 1 filing cabinet, and 25 some children chairs we moved to my new room.

Since I didn’t go home for the summer my Mom was a little sad about it so I looked and saw that flights were cheap!! So Mama came to visit/help set up my room with me.

So I finally get my new classroom key and walk into this…



AHHHH!!!


I think I just stood there for a good 45 minutes trying to process everything that needed to be done.

So the next 4 days we worked and unpacked and slowly it started coming together.

Now (March) it really looks put together and I really do love this classroom setup and layout more than my other building. Also being surrounded by 8 other Pre-K teachers is a definite plus.

October 2015
My Grandmother’s (Mom’s Mom) health had been declining pretty quickly and we knew that we didn’t have much time left with her. So I was on high alert for a while waiting for that phone call from my Mom saying that she had past, well on the 9th she called me to tell me that my Grandma had passed in her sleep.

Even though we knew it was coming, there was no way to really prepare for it. I was distraught, oh yeah and I was at work and it was picture day and we were making baked apples… ugh. It was a rough day to say the least.

But by the end of the day I had purchased my ticket home for the funeral.

I went home and even though it’s always great going home this trip just didn’t feel the same.
But in the end it was a stressful, emotional, joyus week. We celebrated my grandmother's amazing life and then a week after the funeral we celebrated what would have been her 85th birthday, with cake and singing.





We went through all of her clothes and each of the granddaughters found something to keep of hers that will forever remind us of her. We also all got a tube of red lipstick because my grandmother didn’t go anywhere without red lipstick on



Then we found her picture collection… Now I see where I get my love of pictures


Also, we all got to meet my cousins son Miles. My grandmother never got to meet her 8th great grandchild but we all know she would have loved him. There was also a moment when my aunt sang 2 songs to Miles that my grandmother used to always sing to us as a baby and I just smiled and cried knowing that she was up there looking down on us smiling and singing along.

And we found lots of baby pictures of us…

Ahh baby Margaret






I also found my 2 new favorite pictures!




I miss my grandma everyday but I see her in things I say or do and I know that she is up there saying “mija, remember to smile and put on lipstick”

December 2015
Christmas!! As always I went home for Christmas and we celebrated in style! With food, food and some more food

My cousin Alex and his wife and baby Miles were there too.


He’s rethinking being in this family…


Now he thinks this family isn’t so bad

Then New Mexico got snow….. and everything shut down and everyone panicked.

Including my Mom and Dad’s cat









Thanks to whoever posted those on facebook because they do a better justice than any picture I would have taken.

January 2016
Back in Arkansas, we were still waiting for our big snow of the season….



Then January 18th rolled around...bum bum bum….


Yeah a 1/2 an inch if even… whoomp whoomp

This was a very stressful month for us, it was when I had my surgery and when my Dad got sick last year Every sniffle, cough, pain was worrisome. But January came and went without a hitch.

Is it possible, can we make it to spring break with no issues?



February 2016
Nothing of value here, thankfully. No coughs, cold, pains nothing.

Just higher than normal temps for Arkansas. It was 71 degrees in the middle of the month. I think Phil the groundhog was actually right this year!

So close… 1 month out, can we make it??

Cue the runny nose and sore throat…
A few days later it became a full blown sinus infection.

The worst one i’ve ever had. To the point where I almost called 911 because I couldn’t breathe.


March 2016
Finally 2 weeks out I started feeling normal again. A round of antibiotics and lots of fluids I think helped.


Now last minute trips to Target for stuff and to start packing. Let’s go
​

 

[maggiepie87]

Day 0
Friday March 18th
Day before Travel Day

As always Friday began with a 4:15 alarm and a run to Chick-fil-A for my traditional breakfast.

Last year there wasn’t anyone behind me so I couldn’t pay it forward but this year there was someone so I paid for them.

The cashier asked me “Do you know them? What do you want me to say something to them?”

Why yes… I’m going to Disney tomorrow, so I’m in a good mood.


Man I love their breakfast

We had our Easter Egg Hunt day at school so I was hoping the weather would let up and the rain would go… But sadly, it didn’t. So we ended up hiding a couple hundred plastic eggs filled with confetti in our classroom, 20 children and 25 some adults. It was madness.

Thankfully most of the kids went home… Not that I was in hurry to get through the day or anything

We ended up with 5 kids left and we planned on napping until the end of the day.

But not before we cracked open the confetti eggs. You can only tell children no so many times before they end up not listening.



Man I was dropping confetti everywhere I went for the rest of the day!

The day ended and off I went home. To start/finish packing

At 2:49 I was out the door!!!



I always think I’m not packing enough but somehow my suitcase still ends up at 40 pounds.

​

 

[maggiepie87]

Day 1 - Travel Day and 'Ohana
Saturday March 19th

My plan for the night was to have cereal for dinner then sleep from 9-1 and get up and get up for my ride to come get me at 3 for a 5 ‘o'clock flight. Well 11 and I’m still wide awake… I guess I finally fell asleep around 12 because before I know it, it’s 2:15 and I slept through my alarm

So I woke up and hurried myself up to get my bags downstairs and make sure Staalzy has food and water

3:10 I text my ride to make sure she didn’t forget about me, knowing she would probably be pulling into my apartment complex at that time.

With no response I texted her at 3:15 and jokingly told her to wake up and 3 minutes later I not as jokingly tell her to wake up and hurry.

She texted me back saying she just woke up and slept through her alarm. She lived 30 minutes away from me and it’s 3:30 already…

Somehow she made it to my house by 3:50. She made her husband drive and who knows how fast they drove

I made it to the airport at 4:10 and dropped off my bag and went upstairs to security. They had all two lanes open and it was moving pretty quick actually.

I saw Sue who I used to workout with, I talked to her for a bit. She was going to Washington D.C with her family and grandchildren.

I actually made it to my gate with about 15 minutes until we boarded. So I planted myself and made myself comfy.




The one thing I love about flying out of such a small airport is it is so quiet in the mornings (and it's only 10 minutes away from my house!)

We boarded on time and we were wheels up by 4:58am



We landed in Dallas by 6:10 and I had about an hour or so until my Dad landed.

It was surprising how busy the airport was at 6:30 in the morning… Should have been a tip off as to how busy the traveling week would be.

I found my Dad and we stopped for breakfast. He was going to use my old camera and just use his memory card. He was using a mini SD card that you put in your phone with an adapter and for whatever reason my other camera didn't want to cooperate with it. So we played around with it for a bit until we got it to work

After breakfast we grabbed the skylink and made it to our gate.

We had about an hour or so until our 10:20 flight, so we just sat around talking and people watching.

Finally we started boarding, I got my window seat like I always do but sadly my Dad got the middle seat. I asked him many times if he wanted to switch and he said no it was only a 2 and ½ hour flight no big deal.

We get in our seats and take the first selfie of the trip

Then not 2 minutes later the pilot comes over the intercom and says “They’re experiencing some bad weather in Orlando and all flights are on an hour and a half hold. We will let you know what is happening in about 45 minutes”

I checked accuweather to see what weather they see and yeah you can say they were having some bad weather…


Apparently at some point I fell asleep and woke up a few minutes before 11 and we still haven’t moved..



The pilot said that we were going to back away from the gate and hope that the window opens up and we can sneak out.

We finally were wheels up about 11:15. About an hour after our scheduled departure time.

I slept for about the first 15 minutes of the flight then woke up and didn't feel tired anymore. So I grabbed my ipod and watched Mockingjay part 2.

A little later it was apple juice and nilla wafers time


The weather cleared up nicely towards the end of the flight.



We officially landed in Orlando about 2:45, so we made up about 15 minutes by the end.


It was still a little gloomy looking outside.

When I turned my phone off airplane mode I got a text saying our room was ready. I just hoped that we got a room in the 70’s like i requested but more importantly I hoped we got a room with 2 beds… Not like the last 2 times.. Ugh.

We grabbed the faux-monorail and headed towards the main terminal.



We made it to the Magical Express line and joined the first line of the trip.


There were about 6 lanes open and about 3 bunches. So the CM at the beginning of it told us that there are lines and we don’t need to just stand around. So I found a semi empty line and got in.

The woman in the lane over wasn’t 100% sure we were doing what we should be doing because she kept asking “What are we doing? Is this the right line?”

I was so happy to see my first Mickey of the trip!!



We scanned both our bands and were directed to lane 5.



We were the 2nd family inline about the 10th overall people in line and ended up waiting about 20 minutes until we got on a bus.



We ended up in row 2 behind the driver. I sat by the window like I normally do and ended up telling my Dad to get a good picture of the entrance. He said “Do you want to just switch?”

So we made a quick troop movement and switched seats and took yet another selfie


A few minutes we were on the road


I don’t remember there being that much construction last time?

The lady behind us was already telling her son "Why can't you be quiet and listen? Why can't you be good?"
Poor woman.. It's a little early in your vacation to be bargaining with your child...

Before long we were finally entering the happy little bubble

I think that this might be the clearest picture I’ve taken so far.

We stopped at Art of Animation first. We said hello to last years resort and then off we went to Pop.

We dropped off and even though I got a text saying we had a room assigned to us I had to stop and make sure we got a room with 2 beds and I had a package to pick up that I ordered off etsy.

When I got to the front desk I double checked with the CM about our room and about my package. He left to go get my package…

A few minutes later he comes back and says I have good news and bad news…. Ah man that’s never a good sign.

Thankfully he was just being funny and told me that yes our room had 2 beds and that my package had already been delivered.

Since Magical Express was handling our bags all I had was my backpack, we stopped to get our refillable mugs and head off to find our room.

We found building 10. Went up to the 4th floor and found room 471

Our new home for the week


We walked in and yeah there was 2 beds.

Finally I got all my requests!





We dropped off bags and decided what to do until dinner at 6:25. We decided since it was already 4:30 we would wander around the resort for a bit then catch a bus around 5:30.

I stopped to take a picture outside our room.

We made it to the bus stop about 5:15 and were on our way 3 minutes later.

We get to the Magic Kingdom and were trying to trekking to the monorail when they say it’s down. So we go to the boat dock and wait for one to come.

While we wait we see a group of people in front of us and one older woman asked us how our family reunion was going. I told her good but it just started. She then asked me if we have entered crankytown yet, when i said no she said “just wait. Everyone does”.

She then told us the story about her daughter coming to visit and all she wanted was a picture on Main Street but instead her daughter was pouting instead of being happy. We all laughed about it and I reminded her to ask me at the end of the week ha ha​

 

[maggiepie87]

Day 1 - Travel Day and 'Ohana
Saturday March 19th (part 2)


We make it to ‘Ohana and checked in at 6:22. We barely made it despite all the transportation issues. We were given a buzzer and told to sit and wait. We made tinkle stops and then I stopped and took some pictures.





This was the emptiest I’ve seen the lobby. Maybe becasue they have started serving dinner earlier in the evening??

A few minutes our buzzer goes off and we are seated towards the back of the restaurant

Shortly after the food parade started



Oh shrimp.. My favorite.




Throughout dinner I kept an eye on the monorail and it seemed to be up and going.

After all the shrimp I could eat then came dessert.



Our personal best

We used my magic band and used 2 table service credits and off we went. We caught the monorail and walked all the way back to stop 30 and waited with all the other people.

10 minutes later a bus showed up and we luckily found a seat. The bus driver was funny he had trivia for us to pass the time. Shortly after we were back to the resort and we walked the back way to our room.

We made it back to our room by 8:45ish and our suitcases were in our room and we unpacked a bit. I called my Mom about 9 and we talked about our flight and eating dinner.

About 9:15ish we heard noises and I looked outside and saw the fireworks from Hollywood Studios. We went out to watch some but decided we were seeing them tomorrow so we would shower and call it a night early.

We set the alarm for 6 and lights out shortly after but according to my fitbit I was asleep by 11:30ish??

And my step count at the end of the night was:
​

 

[jandlinz]

Joining in! Sounds like a long first day. I hope things go well the rest of the trip and you both stay healthy.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

MARGARET!!!!! HI!!!!!! You're back!!! And DAD!!!! HI DAD!!!!!

 

[heaven2dc]

So happy that neither you or your dad got sick before the trip (and hopefully not during the trip)! So sorry to hear about your Grandma passing away Nice ending to your travel day - always love Ohana any time of day!

 

[maggiepie87]

Joining in! Sounds like a long first day. I hope things go well the rest of the trip and you both stay healthy.

Hi It was an eventful busy day. But I feel it was a great start to the trip

MARGARET!!!!! HI!!!!!! You're back!!! And DAD!!!! HI DAD!!!!!

Hey! Yes we are back I'm so excited to do this trip report I feel like we got a bunch done this trip and I can't wait to share it!

So happy that neither you or your dad got sick before the trip (and hopefully not during the trip)! So sorry to hear about your Grandma passing away Nice ending to your travel day - always love Ohana any time of day!

Yeah I had to email my doctor and ask her if it was ok to take so many allergy pills. She said whatever works take it Thanks it's been hard on all of us as times but knowing she's not in pain anymore is nice and we say shes up there having a good time in the big casino with unlimited quarters now We've done 'Ohana on arrival day for a few years now and it feels like a great transition to the trip and a good way to prep your stomach for all the food ​

 

[PirateRachel]

I'm loving your trip report so far, you are totally adorable! Your dad is a cutie, too!! Your pictures are great. I especially liked the snowy mountain, so pretty. Your Grandma's pictures were so lovely, I'm sure she was an awesome lady!! Can't wait to read more...

 

[maggiepie87]

I'm loving your trip report so far, you are totally adorable! Your dad is a cutie, too!! Your pictures are great. I especially liked the snowy mountain, so pretty. Your Grandma's pictures were so lovely, I'm sure she was an awesome lady!! Can't wait to read more...

Hi!! Thanks for following along She was a pretty amazing lady if I do say so myself ​

 

[maggiepie87]

My plan was to post this last night. I sat down, turned on the computer, opened google docs and photobucket. Then I fell asleep When I woke up it was Big Bang Theory time and my bedtime ha ha. So here is the update that was indented for yesterday

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios
Sunday March 20th

The alarm was set for 6 but my internal alarm got me up at 5:45 (darn school/teacher brain). I got up and got ready while my Dad got up to take a shower.

Hollywood Studios was an extra magic hours opening at 8. We planned on being at the bus stop about 7ish.

According to my time stamp, we made it to the bus by 7:10.

​

And through bag check/security and in line by 7:25.

There was a few clouds still lingering and at some point in line I guess they opened up a little, because people panchoed up. Then a few minutes later they put them all away… But I kept mine out just in case.

While we passed time we discussed what our plan for the day was and whether or not my Dad was going to go on Rockin’ Rollercoaster this year.

Our fastpasses for the day were:
9:50-10:50 Tower of Terror
12:20-1:20 Toy Story
1:25-2:25 Star Tours

The gates were officially open at 8 on the money and the race was on. We planned on walking on to Toy Story even though we had a fastpass for the day.

We were through the line and moving through by 8:05

In the end… I won

Afterwards we huffed it to Rockin’ Rollercoaster and my Dad decided he was going to ride it this year!! But we walked out the door and there was a nice sprinkle going on.. Not enough to wear the poncho but enough to use part of it to cover my head and shoulders ha ha.

When we got to Rockin’ Rollercoaster the walk on time said 15 minutes.

We passed the germ infested marble door at 8:25

When we were in line about to get into the sound booth, there was a father and his two sons (8/10 years old maybe?) and the boys were a little apprehensive about getting on the ride. The Dad kept telling them it is over in like 30 seconds and that they will love it at the end. I smiled and told them it's maybe even 28 seconds long. He bet them their iPad for his iPhone When we got on the ride they were in line behind us and I gave them a smile and a thumbs up.

I was telling my Dad where the camera was and when it took a picture and even though I know where it was and when to expect it but that didn’t stop me from making an awkward face (which is the reoccurring theme in my pictures)

We finished and even my Dad said it wasn’t as bad as he thought. The rain was still a steady sprinkle and we were debating what to do now, since we still had an hour and a half until our fastpass. So we were going to do The Great Movie Ride but it wasn’t up yet so we decided to try Star Tours.

The wait time was posted at 10 minutes but it was a walk on…. I shoved my ponchos in my backpack and off we went. The CM informed me that I could go to the gift shop and grab a bag if I wanted, I told her thank you but I had bags in my backpack

We saw the new Force Awakens pieces (I still haven’t seen it.. I have no good movie friends, I’ll just buy it when it comes out) and when we were done it was only 8:45. We still had an hour so we ventured back to The Great Movie Ride and it was open so we got in line with everyone else. It posted a 15 minute wait and it was closer to 10 though.

When we were in line I saw a magic band on the floor so I picked it up and handed it to the next CM I saw. He asked us how many and since we were a 2 we didn’t have to wait in line and got to get in the first car.

I grabbed some pictures along the way. The people next to us were “newbies” as my Dad and I call them.. They were really enjoying the ride. I love it too but I’m a big theatre nerd and worked at Hollywood Video for 5 years. But they were “ahh” for everything.

We were done and heading back towards TOT by 9:50 on the dot and my nerves were kicking in. Again, I love and hate that ride all at the same time

The wait time was 60 minutes by the time we got there so our fastpass was well used.

Before long we were in our elevator and my nerves were getting the best of me. I kept an eye on my fitbit heart rate and it was about 114. Which might be from walking.. Yeah let's go with that

"

"
And the video because it’s worth a giggle

The computer was generous today because we had several full pulls and drops. We got to the ‘end’ before I realized nope it wasn’t the end and we had another round.

When we were done I checked my fitbit and I had no pulse. We joked that it must have killed me ha ha.

My friend wanted a coffee cup from the gift shop but I decided to get it later in the evening so we just walked on though and since the rain had finally let up we stopped for some photopass pictures. Our goal this trip was to get as many as possible.

We made our way over and spotted another photopass person so we stopped again…

​

After our photopass stop it was 10:20 and we had an 11:15 lunch at 50’s Prime Time so I bought a water and we found a table next to the Dockside Diner and waited. They opened at 10:30 and people were buying hotdogs like crazy and we were commenting about the fact they were ginormous. I think we were officially hungry now.

We checked in a little after 11 and waited until we were called.

The theming made me miss my Grandma. She had a bunch of this kind of stuff in her house.

​

A few minutes later we were called back. We got a nice little 2 top in the back corner

I ordered a shake because why not.. And as much as I love peanut butter and jelly I tried for a white chocolate raspberry.

Man oh man was that amazing

My Dad caught me mid picture…

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My Dad went with a chocolate shake and his was in the metal container. I think because mine was a special one it came in a little glass. Which honestly was fine by me. I never can finish a full one.


I ordered the fried chicken and my Dad went with the fish of the day which was salmon.

[​

​

The chicken was yummy and I was full but here comes dessert. Last year I had the sundae and I didn’t finish it so I thought peanut butter chocolate cake seems like a better idea.

And my Dad went with the sundae again.

Yeah not even a dent this time. But that was a yummy cake. I’m a sucker for chocolate and peanut butter anything

I told our cousin/waiter that we had the dining plan so he took my magic band and went to cash it out. When he came back he said the computers were down park wide and he couldn’t get it to cash out but we were good to go (it comes full circle later ) so we left him a tip and headed out.

It was barely noon and we still had some time until our 12:20 fastpass so we decided to wander over towards Toy Story and just wait around. ​

 

[maggiepie87]

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios
Sunday March 20th (part 2)

But first a photopass picture

We had time still so we decided to wander over to Star Wars Launch Bay and see what that area looks like now.

Hey look another photopass person…

This pose was one of their go-to poses and I actually ended up loving it. There are some really cute ones later on

We wandered the area for a bit and nothing screamed let's go so we decided to go stop at the bathroom then head towards our fastpass area.

I stopped in front of One Man’s Dream to put some sunscreen on and my Dad starts pointing randomly. When I looked up to see I noticed he was pointing at some of my favorite youtube vloggers. They had posted saying they were going to be there the same time and I said I would look for them, because honestly what would be the odds they would be in the same park let alone the same area as me? So I smiled and before my brain could function they were gone

It was 12:20 now so we were off to Toy Story. But not before we saw another photopass person! I told you I was determinded to find them all.. I kept quoting Pokemon "Gotta Catch 'Em All"

We used our fastpass, thankfully because the wait time was 85 minutes. Which at 12:20 wasn’t that bad at all in reality.

I won again

I think my Dad gave up beating me towards the end ha ha

After that workout I felt like an icee so we stopped to get a cherry one and ventured off towards the Streets of America one last time before they leave

As a Once Upon a Time fan, I had to stop here

I didn’t take many pictures because I wanted to just walk around and soak it in one more time.

We stopped at Muppets because what’s not to love about a tribute to all countries but mostly America

Afterwards we had a few minutes until Star Tours so we went back that way. Ironically we got the same scene we did the first time.. I was kind of looking forward to getting a different one though.

It was around 1:45 now and we decided we had done things we wanted to now, so I went back to Tower of Terror to get my friends husband his coffee cup.

But we stopped at the fastpass area to get a fastpass for Fantasmic even though you never really need one.

I stopped to say hello

My Dad got a shirt and we had the package sent to our room, which must have been the first time the new CM had done that so it took a little longer then normal. But we weren’t in a hurry so we just waited.

We hit the gift shops on the way out to see if anything jumped out at me. And of course it did I used a gift card my Mom gave my Dad to give to me.

I love this bag I can fit a million things in it!! I’m such a bag lady ha ha

I stopped and said hi/bye to Gertie

Then we called it an afternoon.

But not without another stop at a photopass stop ha ha

We got to our bus stop, waited a couple of minutes and back to Pop we went.

Since we were close to the food court, we stopped in to refill our mugs. Then went back to our room to charge phones and relax a bit.

We decided to head back to HS about 5:45ish.

We got on a bus with a bunch of teenage boys. We couldn’t help but listen to their plan for the evening. They were going to eat at "Pizza Planet Place, Ride Tower of Terror, Ride Rockin’ Rollercoaster and then the Toy Story one". The park closed at 10 so honestly who knows how much of that they actually got done, I was tempted to tell them they might need to find a new place to eat dinner… But I didn’t say anything in the end

I went through bag check and was randomly selected for the metal detector

It was finally 6:20 when we got back into the park and since we weren’t hungry hungry we decided to stop for popcorn and water and sit at the tables we did this morning.

Disney popcorn is just so good

This little girl a few tables over was having a heated discussion with the duck near by. She kept telling him no she wasn’t going to share her popcorn but the duck kept following her around ha ha

Spring Break crowds don’t seem so busy….

Around 7:15 we decide to head over to Fantasmic so we can get an edge seat towards the top.

We scan our magicbands and end up sitting in Pocahontas in a decent area.. Minus that darn pole…

We took a selfie to send to my Mom to say hi.

And had a nice photobomb

We had an hour to pass the time. Two years ago there was an emcee to keep us entertained. Last year there wasn’t anyone, we just did the wave and kept ourselves busy. Now they have a prerecorded man? Maybe.. He sounds pre recorded back in the booth but maybe not.

They played some Taylor Swift, which I may or may not have known the words to. But so did the 70 year old grandma a few rows over from me. She was dancing as much as the next person.

They played Walk the Moon “Shut up and Dance” and of course I like that song it’s on my iPod, It's fun to sing along to at 6:30 in the morning when I’m driving to work My Dad kept saying I don’t know this song either, but all of the teenagers in the amphitheatre knew the words because they had a great time singing off key loudly to it ha ha. They played Journey because what’s a singalong/ karaoke session without Don’t Stop Believing?? Of course My Dad and I both know all the words to that song so the whole theater starts singing along and 75% of the teenage crowd stops singing after the first verse but of course us “old” people knew all the words so we kept singing along

We did the wave a couple of times, before all our arms got tired and we stopped.

The couple in front of me had a son and the son and father went to get food. Leaving the Mom to try and hold the edge seats for them. She tried to spread out jackets and her bag but people kept eyeing it when they were going down the stairs. So I propped my feet up and helped her/stretched my feet out. She said thank you but really I just wanted to stretch my legs out a little ha ha

Finally it was show time!! I love Fantasmic. I think it’s really grown on me over the years. So much so that the beginning is my text message tone

I took one picture

Then decided to just watch the show instead of trying to get pictures, maybe if I was closer or took picture taking seriously.

We had planned to beat the crowd out and head towards the front to catch the Star Wars fireworks. So when the boat turned the corner, off we went.

We followed the crowd in front of us, which this time let us out by the bathrooms at the entrance. Since that is where we were wanting to watch the fireworks from it was a perfect spot. It was only 9:00 and we still had some time until the 9:15 fireworks so we walked around in the area a bit and I took a picture or two.

Hey look another photopass picture

The fireworks started at 9:15 and since they were new I tried to catch all of them

I took a picture or two along the way though.

We decided to try and beat the crowd out a bit and get a headstart to the bus stop. We walked to the bus stop by 9:30 and on a bus by 9:45.

Ok from here on out, when I say “we walked” it wasn’t a leisurely stroll. I spent most of the time trying to keep up with my Dad

I kept saying “Wait for me and my little legs” many a times ha ha

When we got back to the resort it seemd we were a little hungry and the popcorn wasn’t tying us over anymore. So we went to the food court to find some dinner. Because eating dinner at 10 is perfectly normal for 2 people that never eat past 8:00pm ha ha

We both ended up with the tuna sandwich which was really good actually. The cucumber slices were super fresh. My Dad gave me one of his and I have him my tomatoes

My dessert was the carrot cake and it was yummy but super sweet. I ended up pulling most of the frosting out of the middle.

We finished dinner and walked back to our room. My Dad was flipping channels and low and behold he found the Blackhawks vs Wild hockey game on tv, so of course we watched that, because why not

I called my mom at 10:15 and told her about our day. I showered and watched the rest of the game. The Wild won in a shoot out

The alarm was set for 6:00 again and It was after midnight when I went to sleep (my fitbit says so, but I felt I was asleep sooner than that??)

My step count for the day was:

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[frostymojo]

Joining in...can't wait to read more.

 

[maggiepie87]

Joining in...can't wait to read more.

Hi Thanks for following along! ​

 

[maggiepie87]

I want to add that today is my Mom's birthday! Even though she won't see this:
Happy Birthday Mom!
Ok update time....

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom
Monday March 21st (part 1)

The alarm was set for 6. I rolled over at some point at looked at my fitbit, it told me 5:20 and I knew I had sometime before I had to wake up officially so I closed my eyes for a few minutes.

I opened my eyes at it was 6:24… Oops

So i rushed to get ready and somehow we still made it to the bus stop and in line by 6:59 according to the time stamp.

I remember in the past few years being at the bus stop at 7 it would be a lot quieter and slow, but I guess the Spring Break crowds were rolling in.

We made it through bag check and security and were in line by 7:45. Not bad all things considered. I made a quick run to the bathroom since we were close and I still had some time and I have a teacher bladder, there's a bathroom, might as well try ha ha

Our fastpasses for the day were:
Everest 9:10-10:10
Dinosaur 10:20-11:20
Kilimanjaro Safaris 12:00-1:00

The park opened officially a few minutes before 8 and we joined the dash to Everest.

We made it to the end of the line and it was pretty long but it took them a minute or two to open the ride. But once it started moving it was quick. Somewhere along the way someone found the bells and everyone decided to give them a little tap along the way.

We made it to our train by 7:59. The woman in front of me said hey cousin. It took me a minute or two to realize that they were the couple that was at the table next to us yesterday at 50’s Prime Time I was pretty surprised that of all the people at all the parks in all the lines we see the same people from the night before

I had been talking to my Dad in the weeks leading up to the trip about what poses we were going to do for our pictures and we had a few ideas

When we were done the man behind me turned around and said “Was that planned?” I smiled and told him it was and he just smiled at me and walked away.

The plan was the same as last time, after Everest walk on Dinosaur before our Everest fastpass.

So we walked over there, the standby time was 15 minutes. It look 10 if even. The little kid in front of us kept talking about how much he loves dinosaurs. I wonder if he will feel the same way at the end?

I’m thinking he’s not that fond of dinosaurs anymore ha ha poor kid. The Mom kept telling him "you're alright, you're ok" I felt for that kid, I felt the same way after I rode it when I was about 10 ha ha It took me a few years to finally be ok with it again...

We were done with Dinosaur at 8:30 and we still had about an hour until our next fastpass so we decided to ride Primeval Whirl… Yeah cause we’re weird that way

The wait time showed 15 minutes but we kept saying “we have nowhere else to be”

We’re an enthusiastic bunch aren’t we

We ended up by ourselves which was good but I kept sliding around, I think I ended up with a bruise or two.

When we were done it was still 9ish and we had 10 minutes until Everest so what can we do???

It was actually pretty chilly that morning, so there wasn’t much pretending to be cold needed.

Now it was Everest time again

It was about 9:30 and we had time until Dinosaur we decided it seemed like a good time for It’s Tough to Be a Bug

It still didn’t seem that crowded

It was a 10 minute wait but more like a walk on. We ended up all the way to the end of the row, which made for not the best seats but we were able to make a quick escape when it was over. I say it once and again, I love people's reactions towards the end with the “bugs leave” everyone panics and jumps

We had another plan for the morning. My Dad really really wanted to see Baloo and King Louie and since it was 9:50 we were on a mission

We got to the meeting spot and it was empty. So we found a table and hung out until either a line showed up or they showed up. 10 on the dot here they come a walking by. So off we go, we were the 3rd group in line.

I don’t know who was more excited in the long run, my Dad or the kid if front of us

Or maybe me

We headed towards Dinosaur but first.. Photopass

Look Margaret making weird faces again

After our pictures, we had a Dinosaur fastpass to head to. When we got there the standby line showed 40 minutes. Which is something I haven't seen ever...

We knew what our plan was for this picture

I had to crop out the teenage boys behind us who were showing inappropriate fingers in the picture.. Ugh…

It was 10:35 and we had an 11:15 Tusker House so we decided to leisurely/power walk over there ha ha.

There’s some of the crowds ​

 

[maggiepie87]

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom
Monday March 21st (part 2)

We made it to Tusker House around 11 and checked in. They took my phone number and said they would text me when our table was ready.

We sit down and 2 minutes later they texted me (11:00 according to the text message)


We were seated and our server told us that we still had some time until the characters were coming around. So my Dad ventured off to get food. Meanwhile I finally met Jungle Juice

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Oh goodness that was yummy!!

My Dad came back with a plate full of breakfast stuff. I guess we made it before the breakfast to lunch transition.

Since there were no characters coming around I decided to go get some food.

I was walking back when I see Donald and Mickey a table over. So I maneuver around some children who were just standing in the way. Pretty much what I do everyday at work

Hey look food
Those potatoes were yummy and so was the orange bread

A few minutes later Daisy and Goofy came around. I think their safari gear is just so darn cute!!

We had officially seen all 4 by 11:37. So I decided to venture back after I saw people with lunch foods on their plate.

Lunch.. And some more Mickey waffles

We handed over our Magic Bands and cashed out 2 credits.

I grabbed a few pictures on the way out

It is such a pretty place though

It was 12:03 (thanks timestamp) so we wandered off towards our next fastpass.

Ok now it was officially getting crowded

The wait time was posted at 90 minutes. Thank goodness for that fastpass.

18 minutes later we were on our vehicle and on a safari and the source of our trip report title

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There is the infamous chevy truck.
We’re surrounded by zebras, giraffes, hippos, alligators all these animals that we don’t see on a daily basis and what does the man say sitting next to us “Hey a chevy truck” me and my Dad looked at eachother and laughed. Really sir that's the first thing you get excited about??

We finished up and realized we had done everything we wanted/could do. So we decided to do a little shopping and then call it a day.

But first… More photopass

Hey look me making yet another awkward face

Plus it was getting a little crowded...

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We said we wanted to get a photopass picture in front of the tree we always do…

But we got sidetracked

I have a collection of 'year' vinylmation that I get for every trip. We had looked yesterday at HS and couldn’t find them for whatever reason. But we found them in Island Mercantile.

The yearly ones always have a traditional one and the ones that are a little more rare, I always end up with the traditional one so I decided to grab one from middle My Dad got one too and we were joking about who will get the rare one.. So I threw mine in my backpack and his was in the bag in my backpack…

These are the 3 options… Thank you google

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We happened to walk by when the pretty birds went flying by.. I tried to catch them

We found the photopass person yay

The line was actually pretty long by the time we got there. We were right up against where the road forks to to into the oasis. Every time people tried to get by they would push through then say excuse me. Come on people that’s not how it works… ugh…
I said goodbye to the tree and reminded it I would see it next year
​

 

[maggiepie87]

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom​

Monday March 21st (part 3)​

We made it to the bus stop by 1:20 and we waited in all about 20 minutes. We went back to the room and walked to refill our mugs. We decided since we had no ‘plan’ for the evening so we would just head back around 5:00.

According to the timestamp on this picture, we were in line by 5:12

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And according to this timestamp, we were through security and walking down Main Street by 5:50

First though we made a stop at City Hall to make a fastpass for whatever we could for that night. There was a gigantic line so I just got in it until a CM asked me how he could help, when I told him I was making a fastpass he said I could just use the other door and go in. If he didn’t ask I would have just stood in line with everyone else, but at the same time I didn’t want to just get in front of everyone if that’s what they were in line for too. We ended up with Pirates at 7:10 which is the same one we got last year too.. Kind of ironic

My Dad said he wanted a new “I’m Celebrating” button too but there wasn’t a button lady this year

So we just kept walking….

It was looking a little crowded but not too bad…

Then we kept walking…


Into this…

Hello Spring Break crowds

The past 2 years the Peoplemover has been our first ride at the Magic Kingdom, so that’s where we tried to get to.

Ok… now my brain is trying to process the crowds

This was right as we got in line. You can see the entrance in the background....

The line moved quickly though. It only took about 8-10 minutes until we were enjoying our first Magic Kingdom ride. Even though we’ve been here for a day and have done 2 parks, it just feels official now

And it's not official until there's a shoe picture

We finished our little break by 6:30 and we had about 40 minutes so we decided to head towards Adventureland and find something to do…

Get a Dole Whip of course. My Dad and I planned to share and use one snack credit. So we both got in line and at the same time a table opened up so my Dad went over to hold a table and a few minutes later I joined him.

When I sat down my Dad was telling me about the table next to us how a 12ish year old boy dropped his whole Dole Whip float in his lap and the look his mother gave him… yikes…

Then a family sat next to us and both little girls (around 5 maybe) had their own float and we were talking about how long until they drop it? Well it took one about 10 minutes before it spilled all over the table, but to her defense she was sitting in a regular size chair with a spoon trying to reach into her cup that was on the table. However, this time her Dad ended up going to buy her a new one and she was happy and content.. Unlike the older boy next to us who was getting the death stare from his mother.

After our yummy Dole Whip we walked over to Pirates to use our fastpass and it was a good one too, the wait time was 65 minutes.

I had heard about how after the refurb the front row gets wet and if last year we got wet if we were to get the first row this time we would get soaked so I kept saying “not the first row, not the first row”

Thankfully in the end we ended up in the 3rd row but I still held on to my backpack and picked up my feet just incase. In the end, not a drop ha ha

I didn’t notice any changes besides the dog and that one I knew about. Were there really any changes?? Or did I just not notice them?

We finished Pirates with me singing along the whole time too and we were debating what to do? It was 7:45ish and we knew we wanted to catch the fireworks tonight. Since we had 3 nights there we knew we had time to catch them and the parade on different days. We were thinking about New Fantasyland for the fireworks. So that was our next stop. First though was another fastpass. So we went to the one by Diamond Horseshoe and I got in line with a couple of other people. There weren’t very many ‘name’ rides left so I picked Under the Sea at 9:45. Yes we're grown ups ha ha. But My Dad hasn’t been on it and I haven’t in at least 3 years.

We decided that we had an hour until the fireworks so we would at least head in the right direction…

Hey crowds don’t look as bad.

Then we rounded the corner

We saw that we were near PhilharMagic so we went that way, but there were a bunch of people just standing around since they had already blocked off the castle for the fireworks. So I asked the CM if we could still go and she said yes. I didn’t see the wait time but it showed 15 on the app when I checked it in Frontierland.

But according to timestamps I took this one at 7:56

And this one at 8:06, so 10 minutes in all. The usual wait time for it.

​

Afterwards we finally decided to head towards New Fantasyland.. How many times have I said that so far ha ha.

We decided to plant ourselves on the railing/seating in front of Be Our Guest but we passed a churro/pretzel stand along the way but they were out of churros so we got a pretzel instead to share.

About 2 seconds after we sat down I declared I wanted something to drink and since the closest area was Gaston’s Tavern, I headed that way. I ended up coming back with a winter Le Fou’s Brew (hot chocolate with vanilla, whip cream and shaved peppermint) and 2 waters.

It was good but sweet and super hot. I burned my tongue

9:00 rolled around and the fireworks began. We moved over to lean on the rail by Mine Train. Which ended up being a really good spot!

I’ll throw in a few pictures here, if you don’t wanna see firework pictures then keep scrolling Seen one seen them all right? Ha ha

Afterwards we still had some time to kill so we decided it was a great time to have a snack

And some photopass pictures along the way

Again.. Me making an awkward face

We thanked the man for our pictures and off we went. We didn’t get very far before we saw another photopass person

After getting sidetracked a few times, I think after all these years teaching little kids they've rubbed off on me.. Seriously squirrel moments

We finally made it to Storybook Circus

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It was nice and quiet

We ran into Big Top Souvenirs to grab some ‘dinner’ snacks, because we’re grownups.

I got a red velvet and purple cake pop because I can

And my Dad got a chocolate one
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After our very nutritious dinner we went to use our last fastpass for the evening.​

 

[maggiepie87]

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom
Monday March 21st (part 4)

The wait time showed 15 minutes, so we really didn’t need one but we got it so we had to use it.

I got a few pictures along the way

My Dad hasn’t seen the movie (I know what’s wrong with him ha ha) but we joked that by experiencing the ride, it's pretty much the same

We decided that we were going to stick around for Celebrate the Magic at 11:15 and it was 10:00 now so we still had time to get a few more things to do and since the Electrical Parade was at 10 we didn’t want to tackle that traffic so we stayed in the same area.

We got to Haunted Mansion and the wait time showed 25 minutes so we decided that was a decent enough wait time and for a ride we love why not?

We were on and off our doom buggy by 10:37 (according to the time stamp)

Now seemed like a good time to venture to the hub area to find a spot for Celebrate the Magic. With a few pictures along the way

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Don’t you just love that castle!!

There was a family trying to take a selfie in front of the castle. They attached their phone to a mini tripod and it didn’t seem to be working, so I offered to take it for them.

Before long 11:15 came around and Celebrate the Magic began

I always try to get some good pictures and try and watch it at the same time so I’ll put the ones that turned out decent

Man I love that show!!

We decided we were going to call it a night, even though the park closes at 2:00am I knew there was no way we were going to make it, plus we were coming back in the morning.

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Hey look another photopass person

And another

Ok now we can call it a night

Such a pretty fountain I love the lights on it at night

Hey another photopass picture

Then I had him take this picture for me..

I love Main Street at night

We made it out and to our bus stop by 11:45 (thank you time stamp)

And according to my call log I called my mom at 12:39 for 9 minutes.
And according to my fitbit, I was asleep by 12:49.

My step count for the night:

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