Three kids ages 2-12, two late night After Hours events, and no Genie+ for us-how will this go?!?

[Cherrychip]

Day 4-R&R and MK!

After our late night, I was hoping to sleep in as late as possible today. I had MK booked for today and also a reservation for Storybook Dining at Artist Point with Snow White. I had originally booked it for 6:50 pm and planned to go to MK before dinner,plus hopefully after as well but after we started our trip, I realized it would probably work better for us to have an early dinner here and try to make fireworks then close at MK since it was open until 11pm that day- that would give us lots of rest and pool time and we wouldn’t have to travel to and from MK more than once. I was able to switch my reservation to 4:15pm the evening before so that was perfect.

DS of course woke up earlier than I wanted so I had him cuddle in bed for a while, then had him take a bath and play in there for a bit to try to let everyone else rest a bit longer.
DD12 seemed unusually tired and a bit “ off” today but when I asked if she felt ok, she insisted she was fine. She perked up when I mentioned swimming.

DS was in his element in the kiddie pool






It’s always a bit stressful for me to take DS swimming because he has no fear of water and thinks he can swim even though he actually can’t, so I’m always on high alert that he isn’t aspirating the water or drinking it-I was really glad this pool was completely enclosed so at least I didn’t have to worry about him making a dash to the big pool and leaping in!

Pretty sure DS had a short nap after swimming. The day seemed to go by very quickly between swimming, rest and just resetting for the park so I was very glad we didn’t try to go to a park before dinner.

I think we were the first seating for dinner or close to it, so we were seated very quickly after checking in for our reservation. DS colored for a minute but then started throwing the crayons so they had to go away!


We got our drinks and appetizers- I thought the waiter brought 5 adult apps, although I only see 4 in the picture so not sure if it was only 4 or if one of us took one of each before I took the picture. We had three adults, one child and one toddler and were given at least 4 adult apps, 2 child apps, 5 adult desserts and a side of Mac n cheese for DS, which he refused to even taste.

 

[Cherrychip]

I had the gnocchi, DH had the beef stroganoff and DD12 had the chicken, which I think was my least favorite dish. My gnocchi was very flavorful. DD9 was happy they brought enough desserts for her to try although I think she ended up only liking the “poison” apple. I enjoyed all of them.





During the meal we were visited by Snow White, Grumpy and Dooey. DS was more nervous about people characters so no hugs at this meal! He did enjoy the song with clapping that they did part way through the meal!





After we finished our meal, we received our summons to meet the queen.

 

[Counting Stars]

Fantastic trip report! Great pictures and loads of good info! I congratulate you on your trip planning skill set. You obviously did a lot while modifying when needed based on how everyone was doing. I know that is an accomplishment, A family of five can feel like herding cats . Great job!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Your girls are darling and your son‘s face in the pictures with Dopey and Grumpy is priceless. Too cute! Looks like a fun relaxing pool day. Those are the best.

 

[Cherrychip]

After we finished our meal, we spent a few minutes looking around the lobby area.






Our plan for after dinner was to go to Magic Kingdom and spend the evening. DD12 had seemed a bit off all day and during the meal had started saying she was cold. I asked her if she felt like she was coming down with something and suggested maybe we should just take the evening off to rest, but she was quite adamant that she felt fine and wanted to go to the park. DH also was taking an online class that met tonight and had originally planned to go back to the room for this, but he decided to drive to the parking lot and see if he could watch from the car and ended up just coming to the park with us- it was recorded so he decided to just watch the recording later.

We grabbed a picture of the kids on the way in:



We were a bit late to get a good spot for fireworks viewing and ended up with someone tall in front of us and a tree partially blocking the fireworks, so it was my least favorite fireworks experience from all of our trips and I kind of wish we would have just watched from behind the castle as it was very tiring to stand in one spot for a long time and try to keep DS2 happy. He didn’t like the fireworks either since they were loud and he only wanted me to hold him and screamed when DH tried to take him to give me a break so I was very glad when the show ended! Hopefully by the time we go back he will be old enough to enjoy the fireworks!


After fireworks we made our way over to teacups. I love this ride at night, it’s so pretty when it is all lit up!

DH and DD12 took DS2 in the slow teacup. DD9 wanted to spin as fast as possible so I went with her in a separate teacup.


I always try to catch a selfie when the mouse is peeking out!



After teacups we decided to take DS2 on the carousel. DD12 said she wanted to wait on a bench. That isn’t like her, she normally wants to ride anything we go on, so I asked her again if she was feeling ok and she assured me she was. The rest of us got in line and were soon getting settled onto our horses:




The cast member running the ride had just started going over the safety speech when my cell phone rang and I saw DD12 was calling me. I answered and she goes “Mom, I need to go home right now, I just threw up!” At this point the ride started moving so I was stuck until it ended so I told her to just stay still until I could get to her to help her. DH and I tried to spot her as we spun around and he finally saw her sitting down. I ran over to her as soon as the ride stopped and a cast member showed up at the same time with a bottle of water for her. I got her in the bathroom and helped her clean up, then we had to make the long trek to the front of the park, then take the monorail, then the parking tram to get to our car- it was the longest trek ever! We finally got back to our room and got her showered and in bed. I was worried that this might be the end of our trip if she had caught a stomach bug and it worked it’s way through the rest of us. We also had after hours at HS tomorrow night and I wasn’t sure what we would do about that if she or someone else was sick. We clearly would not be rope dropping in the morning in any event. I had brought a plastic table cloth thinking I might need it for DS to eat on in the room so I set that up by the bed with some towels in case she was sick in the night and we all went to bed. I was crossing my fingers that it was just a combination of motion sickness and tiredness, as she is sometimes prone to motion sickness or nausea if she isn’t feeling well.

 

[Cherrychip]

Day 5-HS and After Hours day.
The original plan for this day was to rope drop HS, a 1:35 Fantasmic lunch package at Sci Fi, resort break, Fantasmic, then the After Hours event. I had already canceled Sci Fi before DD12 got sick, as I didn’t want to be tied down to both lunch and Fantasmic, it just felt like too much after our first day or two. Even though we were no longer rope dropping, I was awake bright and early to check on DD. She hadn’t thrown up in the night and when she woke up she claimed she felt fine - not that I trusted her judgement on that after last night! She did sound and look fine and not sick or off today, but I told her we were taking it easy and would evaluate in the afternoon if we could go to HS today. I also decided we should cancel our Soace220 reservation for the next day, which the girls were disappointed about, but assuming we made it to After Hours tonight, we would not be going to Epcot early tomorrow and I didn’t want to take more time away from our Epcot day at a sit down meal.

This unplanned resort day ended up being my favorite part of the trip because it was the most laid- back and relaxing! We went for a late morning walk and took some pictures of the resort grounds and walked over to the French Quarter side where we ate lunch and some delicious beignets for dessert. The girls loved the pool on that side so we plant to come there the next time we swam. We spent some time at the playground ther letting DS run around and play. Whose were ready to go back to our room, we rode back to our side on one of the boats just for fun.

 

[Cherrychip]

I was surprised by how much I loved the French Quarter side of the resort. The theme of Mardi Gras wasn’t something that had sounded particularly appealing to me and in pictures and videos I preferred the Riverside half of the resort, but in person I just loved the more colorful buildings, the playful cartoon statues, and the whole vibe on that side- when it comes to Disney I’m truly a kid at heart and it just felt more fun and playful compared to Riverside!

 

[Skywatcher1206]

Great trip report! Looking forward to more!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I just love the side eye baby boy was giving Grumpy. And I'm sorry DD got sick. But I get her pushing on. Glad it was just temporary.

 

[Cherrychip]

I just love the side eye baby boy was giving Grumpy. And I'm sorry DD got sick. But I get her pushing on. Glad it was just temporary.

He really wasn’t sure what to make of Grumpy and Dopey, lol! They were clearly not animals but not quite people either haha! He made some murmurs about hugging them when they were far away but wasn’t so keen when they were up close!

 

[Cherrychip]

Continuing day 5:

As I hadn’t really had a chance to take room photos earlier in our trip, I also took advantage of our relaxed day to tidy the room and snap some pictures-the room definitely looks lived in as I really over packed! But I was pleased with how well everything fit into the room-we had a pack n play and tons of food and drinks I brought in addition to our luggage- honestly way too much in the snacks department and I will cut way back next time! Dollar store storage for the win keeping it at least somewhat organized! We used them in the dresser to organize mine and my DDs clothes and some of our food and by the door for our shoes, as well as in the closet area for more clothes! There are definitely photos out there that better showcase all the cute details of this room but if anyone is looking for a realistic overview of what it might look like actually living in this room for a week with your family, here you go!



Drawers were full of clothes, DS diapers, and snacks. I kept our breakfast type snacks out on top for quick grab and go in the mornings, along with ziplock bags to throw snacks in and our water bottles.


More breakfast snacks on the table


Dollar store shoe organizers worked great.

Suitcases and pack n play fit great here.

More food in the boxes under here-I brought way more than we needed for sure!

 

[Cherrychip]

More room pictures:




Excuse the full trash bags! Lots of storage room here by the sink.

We are used to staying in one room when we travel and we found the space here worked great for us! And I loved all the cute details in this room!

 

[Cherrychip]

As DD was clearly feeling better, we planned to head over to Hollywood Studios in the early evening. I was hoping to go around 5 but we were moving slow and didn’t get there until almost 6:30 pm. but we were just in time to catch the Frozen sing along. After the show ended, we got our AH wrist bands and grabbed some pretzels for dinner before heading to Mickey and Minnie’s RR ride.



I don’t recall the exact wait time but it wasn’t too long at this time of the evening. It was a fun ride although I think DS was a little unsure about it as it was loud. I think he will love it in a year or two.
Next we headed over to Rise- I want Ed to get this one done before the official start of AH as the ride is a long one and we needed to rider switch. DH went with the girls first and the cast member giving rider switch saw we had AH wrist bands and pixie dusted us with a rider switch for both girls to be able to go again with me. The line was only around 30-40 minutes at this point as Fantasmic was either starting or just started. I explored the area and fed DS some snacks while I waited:


Toby thought Chewy was a “ big doggie” and liked him haha!


I think DS and the girls finished Rise around 9 and I took the girls for our ride switch- I was thinking we would be done before AH officially started but unfortunately the ride broke down shortly after we entered the line. It was still down at 9:30 when AH officially started and the girls didn’t want to stay in line as they weren’t that excited to ride it again and didn’t want to be missing AH time in line so I texted DH to meet them at the line entrance and take them over to TS land. I was determined to stay in line for at least a awhile longer as I really wanted to ride. Almost as soon as the girls exited, the ride came back up!

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Loving your report. You guys are getting a lot done!

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

Great report so far. Sorry DD12 got sick, but glad that (1) the cast members were kind to her and (2) that she recovered quickly. And DD2 might have been more shy with "face" characters, but love that he is absolutely fixated on them in the pictures.

My 3 y.o. niece was very shy about the characters and Chef Mickey's - so much so that we almost cancelled Toppolino's for later that trip. Glad we didn't - she LOVED it. And the video we got of her dancing along with the characters is my favorite video of her ever.

 

[Cherrychip]

After I got off rRise, I headed over to Toy Story land to meet up with DH and the kids. They had gotten ice cream but not done any rides yet. We headed back to so Smugglers Run which had a 10 minute wait posted. I asked about getting rider switch but the cast members at the entrance weren’t sure if/how to do it so I just got in line with the girls while DH waited with DS. The line seemed to take a little longer than posted and I think they only had one side open. The ride was fun and we got to be gunner/pilots as we were by ourselves on the ride. By the time we got off, the posted wait was 20 minutes but DH asked another cast member about rider switch and they let him and one of our girls go in the lightening lane. I headed back to Toy Story land with DS and DD and we grabbed ice cream and pop while we waited. Once DH finished and met up with us, he took DS and did AlieoSaucer swirl and midway mania with him while the Gand I did thrill rides. We headed over to Tower of Terror and rode that twice with basically no wait, then speed walked back to Toy Story land and did Slinky twice, then dashed over to Alien Saucer Swirl and closed the night with three rides on that. I was a bit sad we didn’t do Midway Mania, but the girls weren’t interested in doing that. We grabbed more ice cream as we headed out. It was a fun event but I think overall I preferred the AH event at Magic Kingdom. I might do this one again if Rock n Rollercoaster was open, it was closed for maintenance during this trip.

 

[Cherrychip]

Day 6-Epcot. Since we were out late the night before, we did not attempt to rope drop today but I did get up in time to try to get a boarding group for Guardians and was successful today so my girls were super excited to get to ride again. We were inside the park by around 10:30 am



I don’t remember our boarding group number but. our group was called pretty soon after we entered the park. DH decided to ride today so we got a Riderswitch for him and DD9 got to be the lucky one to ride twice. I took this picture at 10:55:

DD9 wanted front row, so we asked and got to sit there again. The first time I rode this, I felt a bit motion sick at the end but it was less this time, so I guess earlier in the day is better for me! Love this ride, it is so fun!

While DH and DD9 rode, DD12, DS and I did a restroom break and then went to Club Cool. DS loved drinking all the pop he could hold! Good thing I had plenty of diapers packed!



DH texted that they were off the ride, so we headed back to meet them and got a family picture in front of the Donald and Daisy topiary.


Then we stopped back by Club Cool so DH and DD9 could sample the drinks before meandering to Sunshine Seasons for lunch, making several stops/detours for pictures:

 

[Cherrychip]

We were starving by the time we made it to Sunshine Seasons. DH waited with DS at a table while the girls and I grabbed food- we ended up with a hodgepodge of food and I kind of ended up with the unwanted items from everyone else’s meals! After we ate , DH took the girls on Soarin and DS and I rode Living with the Land. I love this and DS enjoyed it too, especially the part with the fish!



Since DD9 got to ride Guardians a second time, DD12 got the extra ride on Soarin with me, while DH took DS and DD9 on Living with the Land.

After that DD12 decided SHE wanted to ride LWTL so DH went with her while DD9, DS and I waited and did a restroom run.

By now it felt like we were Living IN the Land since we had spent so much time here! DS was still awake and I wanted to take him to the Nemo ride as I knew he would like it, we headed that way. It was around 3:10 pm by the time we got there.



He enjoyed this and LOVED the aquarium area.

 

[Cherrychip]

Next up was a first time ride for all of us- even though this was our third trip, we had never been on Figment before, so I was determined to ride it this trip.

Not one I would go out of my way to ride again but glad we checked it off the list to try!

Now it was time to meander around the world and I promised the kids ice cream in France.
We took lots of pictures on the way:



DD9 had her Peter Pan ears so had to get some pictures







We finally made it to France and the girls and I got in line for ice cream. I got a cup with two flavors to share with DS and DH, but DS had fallen asleep by the time we came out. DH suggested waking him, but I nixed that in a hurry, he needed sleep and waking him would not be a good idea!

 

[Cherrychip]

The girls sat down to eat their ice cream before we continued on. France is such a pretty backdrop!

I had to get a selfie by Cogsworth and Lumiere!







We picked up smoothies or some type of drink in Morrocco.


I love Flower and Garden festival at Epcot and could spend all day just taking pictures of the topiaries but unfortunately we were trying to get back to the room in time for DH to attend an online evening class this night so we couldn’t spend too much time exploring.