Taking on Disney: One nap at a time (November 2017)

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This is so cute!!


Great group picture, love the matching shirts!


I LOVE this! Everyone looks so happy! Except the little guy, but it's still adorable!
 
Adding to Day 4: Part 1


I forgot we rode Big Thunder Mountain before we made our way over to Fantasyland. I really enjoyed this ride much more than Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and I don’t like roller coasters! I really wish it had ride photos like Seven Dwarfs. Also, the family rode Seven Dwarfs Mine Train before heading back to the resort. That was D favorite ride of the trip! We also had to have a Mickey Bar during our break.


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Day 4: Magic Kingdom Part 2


After our break we headed back to the Magic Kingdom to hit up Tomorrowland and watch some fireworks. People were already flooding Main Street for prime spots so we decided to watch from behind the castle or from the People Mover when the time came. We watched the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor Show, the kids seemed to really like it. I always enjoy it because Monsters Inc is one of my favorite movies. Next, we used a fourth fast pass on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. D wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do so I had to give her a quick tutorial before we were off. She did pretty good for her first time. Following our journey to space, everyone stopped to grab something small to eat for dinner, Mickey pretzels haha.


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Sarah and I hopped on the People Mover and then Sarah went to hunt down some Star Wars merch, so I rode again with the rest of the family. We ended up off the People Mover too early to watch the fireworks so we headed over to see what the wait was for Tomorrowland Speedway. It was a little long so we headed over by Dumbo and the fireworks began going off. We watch some of the fireworks (a little bummed we didn’t see them from in front but I’ll see them next time) and the kids hopped onto Dumbo before they were over. D rode The Barnstormer and she really liked it. She actually went on twice before the crowd started to make their way over. We ended up calling it a night after the fireworks. We were all pretty tuckered out from the busy day!

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(K wouldn’t let Kristi make Dumbo fly lower for a picture haha )​
 


Day 5: Animal Kingdom- Part 1


Animal Kingdom is on the list today. Grandma and Grandpa Great are joining us from their home in Florida. Grandma Great picked Animal Kingdom because she really wanted to see Pandora. We started the day off pretty early with a breakfast at Tusker House. I really enjoy the breakfast here because of the variety on the buffet. K really enjoyed meeting the characters this morning. Once he saw Donald, he got very excited and even tried to share his food with him. It was a delicious breakfast!

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Following breakfast we made our way to wait for the first showing of the Festival of the Lion King. We were able to sit in the front few rows due to Grandma Great using a ECV and everyone really liked it.

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Following the Festival of the Lion King we made our way over to Pandora for our first fast pass of the day Na’ Vi River Journey. We picked this one because the whole family can ride. The boats are smaller than most and we had to split up into two boats. It was ok. It was beautiful but it wasn’t a mind blowing ride.

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After our Pandora adventure we made our way back to the resort for our mid day break. I watched the kids while Peggy and Kristi did their DVC tour and Mom, Sarah and our Grandparents went to the Disney Outlet. Tune in next time to see how we spent our afternoon and evening at Animal Kingdom!
 
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Day 5: Animal Kingdom - Part 2


Following our break, where K did not take a nap and drove me crazy until his Mom came back we made our way back to Animal Kingdom. We met with Mickey and Minnie. K was a sleep so he had to miss out on this one. We then made our way over to Kilimanjaro Safari. I really enjoy this ride. We choose to go later in the afternoon hoping to see more animals but we saw about the same as our AM safari last year. I forgot to put my longer lens on my camera before the safari so I didn’t get the photos I had hoped for but some turned out pretty good. I wanted to do the walking trails after the safari but they already closed them. A lot of things closed early due to the park closing early for a special event. I’m definitely doing them next time!

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Following our safari we went to eat dinner at Pizzafari. It wasn’t very busy because the park was closing early due to a special event. Following our dinner we made it over to Rivers of Light and were told it was standing room only. We were about an hour early. Kristi couldn’t hold K for the length of waiting and the show and Grandma and Grandpa couldn’t stand so we made it back to the Tree of Life awakenings. We watched for a little bit and then went back to the resort for an early night.

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Join us next time for our final park day.
 


Day 6: Hollywood Studios - Part 1


Our last park day was spent seperated in the morning. Sarah and I hit up Hollywood Studios while the rest of the family went to the Magic Kingdom to finish meeting characters and riding rides left on their list. We stopped out front for a quick picture and then entered the park right at opening.

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We made our way over to meet Olaf, Minnie and Mickey. We stopped for some breakfast (a cream cheese mickey pretzel) and to admire the Christmas decorations.
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We went to see Star Lord and Baby Groot (like no one was in there) and then used some of our DVC fast passes for Toy Story Mania, twice. Following our short adventure in Hollywood Studios we made our way back to the Wilderness Lodge for lunch. We had Geyser Point for lunch. It took a little long for our food to get ready so we could take it back to our room but the chicken sandwich was really good.

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We met up with the family after lunch and headed back to an afternoon full of fun at Hollywood Studios. Check my next post to see how my first ride on Tower of Terror went.
 
Day 6: Hollywood Studios - Part 2


Following our lunches back at the Wilderness Lodge. Everyone was refreshed and ready to take on Hollywood Studios. First ride of the day was Star Tours. I didn’t ride because I didn’t feel well last year when we rode. Sarah and D was a little apprehensive at first but there was a little girl young then her who was riding, by herself! The little girl’s mother didn’t ask Sarah to watch her but when the exited the ride, Sarah made sure (from a distance) she made it back to her mom. Maybe the little girl was older than we thought lol


Next we made our way over to watch the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. Since K had just woken up from a nap we thought it would be a good idea for him to go and watch the Disney Junior Live Show. He loves Disney Junior. We were still in the show when Kristi texted and said she was done and waiting in line for K to meet Jake. She was going to try to meet Doc as well but her line was a little longer.


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Next we made our way over to Tower of Terror, before dinner at Sci Fi Dine-In. Mom watched K and the rest of us made it into the line for the ride. As we were walking through, we said something about the ride begin dark. D, freaked out! We had watch a video of the ride before and she said she wanted to ride but we made it into the holding room and she said she wanted to leave. As we made our way to the elevator, she kept on asking for the chicken exit. We offered her $20 to ride and she said no. Kristi took her off and Sarah, Peggy and myself braved the ride. I’m not a fan of heights or dark rides. So I was a little scared when we got on. Then I went to tighten my seat belt and it wouldn’t move! I panicked! I was strapped in but not as tight as I would have liked! I’m not crying in the ride photo but it sure does look like it! I was holding on for dear life!


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After our doomed adventure on Tower of Terror we made our way over to Sci Fi Dine-In for dinner. It was pleasantly good. We were set in a car in the front row and D was our driver haha. We have never been there and it was a must for D! The dessert was the best part! After dinner we went to do a little bit of shopping before our Toy Story Mania Fastpasses. Everyone really liked Toy Story Mania and they all used their DVC Fatpasses to ride it again. As we made our way over to Fantasmic! we watched a little bit of the new Sunset Seasons Greetings show on Tower of Terror. The kids loved the snow. We would have watched more of it but we needed to get into the theater for Fantasmic! seating. We then made our way over to Fantasmic! I like Fantasmic! and D enjoyed it too. She liked seeing the Princesses and Villains.

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It was a busy night and as we left the theater we were joined by a few hundred of our closest friends. This was our last park day but we weren’t done with Disney just yet. We have Disney Springs to do before we left on our late flight!
 
Day 7: Disney Springs and Departure


We didn’t begin our day as early as the others. The kids got up early and went swimming while the rest of us packed up the rooms. We left our bags with bell services and headed out to Disney Springs around 10:30am. We did a bit of shopping and I stopped off and go “breakfast” (if you can call a little cake and macaroon breakfast haha). Kristi, Peggy, K and D all had a lunch reservation at Rainforest Cafe and we ate at Earl of Sandwich. It had a huge line, all the way out the door! We should have went in before or after the lunch rush. We didn’t have to wait long for the food and it was delicious. After lunch we did some more shopping. Sarah and I headed back a little earlier than everyone else. We waited what felt like forever for a bus!

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The family did some shopping and stopped by the Portrait Studio to have a few photos taken. While we waited for the family to join us at WL, we were told they had to take a cab because the bus was not coming. Someone at the stop said they had waited 45 minutes. They walked up and down Disney Springs trying to find where the cabs picked up and finally met theirs. They were back at WL in less than 20 minutes. I’m not sure if it was just a bad day but waiting that long for the bus at Disney Springs, makes me not want to go back via Disney Transportation.

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We picked up our bags from bell services and waited for our Tragic Express pick up time. As we made our way out, another express bus was leaving and one of the bell boys chased down the bus thinking my Aunt was supposed to be on that bus. We shouted at him that she wasn’t and he finally stopped. We were the last to be picked up and loaded on quickly. This was the second day the Magic Express was picking up 3 hours early instead of 2 hours. The Orlando Airport needs some updates. About half of the Southwest check in machines were down or malfunctioning. Finally got our luggage check in and make our way to security. Post time was 35-45 minutes. It took about 45. Poor K wasn’t feeling good and he got sick when the made it to the metal detectors. We took the monorail over to the terminal and hunted down baby tylenol for K and new socks for Peggy. We ate, played some games and K slept. We finally boarded 20 minutes late at 10:20pm. It was another full flight. We finally made it home at about 2:45am. It was a great vacation and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. I will have one more post with tips and thoughts. See you then!


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Souvenirs: Pins, Shirts, Figment sketch, Holiday tote, frame, soap, Chip and Dale Eiffel Tower and candy.
 
Wrap Up

We all had a pretty good trip! We got to do a lot of things that were on on list but still have things to do for next time.

We are currently in the process of planning a Disney Cruise for December and hopefully our other cousins who were supposed to join us on this trip will be able to join us on the curise. We will have 4 days on the Dream and 2 days at Disney World. I'm sure once K reaches 3, we will plan a family cruise :)



Thoughts
  • Transportation wasn't a huge issue but we did have some issues with it, like at Disney Springs. This is one of the most important reasons we arrive to our reservations and park openings early.
  • Getting K in and out of the stroller wasn't difficult but loading onto the buses, he need to be occupied so he didn't try to run off. On our Epcot night, we were waiting to load a bus and K was sleeping in Kristi's arms. The driver loaded the ECVs on (there were two) and then took one off and let a mother who had a double stroller roller her stroller on in place of the ECV he had just taken off. I'm not sure what was going on but I can tell you that D might have just started her Disney journey but she knew strollers were supposed to be folded up. It was a packed bus as well.
  • Wilderness Lodge is much larger now with the addition of the Copper Creek cabins and boat transportation was full most of the time. This was one of my favorite ways to travel on our last trip but this time around it wasn't.
  • The Minnie Van service was very much worth it! I'm sure we will use it again if it is still offered.
  • We will be using Touring Plans to request our room again. We got our Magic Kingdom view and near each other both granted.
  • I miss the old Roaring Fork menu. The chicken sandwich from Geyser Point wasn't bad but we did have bit of a wait for our food.
  • Used Amazon Prime Now and our order was left with bell service. This was fine but the men at bell service didn't have the order marked as delivered on their sheet. I'm not sure if this was an Amazon or bell service mistake. They did locate it and everything was still cold so we were all good.
  • If I had the money we would have a DVC at Copper Creek.
  • Big Thunder Mountain maybe my new favorite ride.
  • I wish we didn't choose an early closing night for Animal Kingdom. I really wanted to do the walking trails but they closed extra early.
  • I can't wait to see Toy Story Land open up. I feel it will bring more people into Hollywood Studios.
  • Most of the cast members were great!
  • All our our meals were delicious in my opinion. I love doing the dining plan because all you have to worry about is paying the tip.
  • The Orlando Airport is busy at all times it seems.
 
You guys had a good trip! A cruise will be fun. I've never cruised before but have one booked for November. It's a 4 night on the Dream. We will probably stay at Disney a couple of days before but might not do the parks. It's still up in the air. I'm looking forward to a much more relaxed vacation and the cruise fits that. I can't wait to not have to worry about ADRs. I was driving myself crazy for our November trip.

I've never stayed at WL. It looks really nice. It's on my short list of places to stay pre-cruise. Do you know if there's a lot of activities for the kids to do at the resort?
 
I've never stayed at WL. It looks really nice. It's on my short list of places to stay pre-cruise. Do you know if there's a lot of activities for the kids to do at the resort?

They are going to open up the Reunion Station which will have various activities for the kids and families to do. I saw pool, ping pong and air hockey but from what I have heard it will have a lot more. They also have bike rentals. We saw lots of people riding this time around.
 
They are going to open up the Reunion Station which will have various activities for the kids and families to do. I saw pool, ping pong and air hockey but from what I have heard it will have a lot more. They also have bike rentals. We saw lots of people riding this time around.

That all sounds perfect for us. Thanks for the info!
 
Sounds like you guys had a great trip!
DH and I were there November 12-20. Such great weather! We really loved the time of year!
 
Sounds like you guys had a great trip!
DH and I were there November 12-20. Such great weather! We really loved the time of year!

We did have a great trip and the weather was great! We will definitely be back around that time again!
 
Finished going through your TR! I feel bad that I hadn't checked it out until now. Looked like it was an awesome trip! You're so funny being afraid of ToT, lol. I got some of the same pins as you on my trip. I love the Chip and Dale ones too.
 
Finished going through your TR! I feel bad that I hadn't checked it out until now. Looked like it was an awesome trip! You're so funny being afraid of ToT, lol. I got some of the same pins as you on my trip. I love the Chip and Dale ones too.

Thanks for checking it out. I don't like heights or the feeling of falling so ToT is not my friend haha I still need to put my pins on a new lanyard
 

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