Trip Report Epcot is Glowing

Hello Everyone. We made it back from our 10 day trip a few days ago. I had a lot of fun working on my last trip report, so I wanted to do one for this trip too. The big change from last time??? We took both kids along for their first trip to Disney.

Leading up to our trip, I had a lot of conversations with people I work with about our vacation plans. I guess I was just so excited that I was steering conversations that way. What I learned is that a lot of people see visiting Disney World with kids as an obligation. When I would tell them where we were going, I'd get, "Oh, you're going there..." It got to the point where I'd be able to finish their story before they did. They spent (insert high amount) of money to go there, it was hot and the kids only wanted to go to the pool, and they ended up not remembering the trip. They knew that Disney was something they should do with their family, but did not enjoy their trip while they were there. Maybe it had something to do with the fact I talked to a lot of dads.

I'm glad to say our trip was nothing like this. Sara, myself, and the kids had a great time, and Luke, our 4 year old, is constantly talking about what he enjoyed and what characters we met. As any parent can tell you, traveling with young children certainly has it's challenges (and that might be a nice way to say it). But it also has some truly great moments as children are able to fully immerse themselves in the magic. I'm very happy to say we had a good number of those moments.

The trip started at 3:15am on Friday.

We had done most of the packing the night before. The kids slept in comfortable clothes, so we were able to get them up and place them in their car seats with the goal being to have them go back to sleep. They did fall asleep, but Luke woke up again before the sunrise.

Yes, this was a drive to WDW, first time we had done that. We did have a DVD player in the minivan, and I can't put into words how helpful this was. Ok, I could, but I doubt you'd want to read it. We threw on a Jake and the Neverland Pirates DVD, and made it south of Richmond for breakfast at McDonalds. They liked the play area.

After breakfast, we continued our trek through the Carolinas, and ended our day in Brunswick, GA.

A few driving photos:

Sara taking a turn

Luke watching something on DVD

and Makayla taking it all in

We stayed at a Hampton Inn for the night, and had dinner at a Toucan Ale House. It was right by the hotel and made for an easy dinner. We don't have them in Pennsylvania, but it reminded me of an Applebee's.

Luke enjoying his meal.

Sara and Makayla

Time for a selfie (or groupie) Not sure what the cool kids are calling it these days. Obviously forgot to wipe Luke's mouth first.

Makayla didn't eat a lot for dinner (which is completely unlike her), and we noticed that she had a bit of a fever. We hoped it was just due to a long day in the car and gave her some children's Tylenol. It was time for some sleep and then we'd finish the drive to WDW the next day.

 

[Lyear]

The next morning we slept in as long as we could. We were heading to WDW after all, but we figured after waking so early and driving so long, the kids could use some sleep. After giving the kids baths and packing up again, we made it down for breakfast around 830am. Makayla woke up with a mild fever, and again barely ate. We also couldn't get her to drink much. We hoped that this would be a brief sickness that would pass. Luke was very excited and wanted to go, go, go this morning. We ended up putting on our magic bands at the hotel which made his morning. We ended up leaving around 9:30.

A pic of the man driving.

Wow did this section of the trip take long. I know, I know, it's probably the excitement of getting there. But I swear it felt like Disney was moving further and further away. Luke was watching Tangled in the back seat, and wanted to see this one particular part over and over. Unfortunately, the driver's controls to the DVD player are very limited, so our only option was to back up to the beginning of the "scene", which was like 15 minutes long. He was very upset that he had to watch that whole part of the movie for just a brief 5 seconds, but without a rewind or fast forward option he was stuck. Honda, just a note that maybe in the future you could add a rewind button?

After what seemed like 10 hours, but was actually 3.5, we made it to Disney's All Star Music resort around 1:30.

A view of the welcome sign.

Luke was SO upset that we pulled into a hotel when we told him we'd be going to Disney World. He couldn't grasp the fact that the hotel was on Disney property. We had a nice little meltdown while trying to get him out of the car (shoes were kicked off and arms and legs were flailed about), and then went through the check in process. Luke began as a grump, but as he looked around and saw what was happening he eventually calmed down. Luke and Makayla each got a balloon as their welcome present.

After a quick stop to pick up our mugs, we drove to the Broadway section, where our room was ready. I had requested a first floor room since we'd be using a stroller, and yay! we were on the first floor. A few photos of the room, after we had already been there a while.

Makayla's bed

and some wall art

Sorry about the lack of photos. One thing we realized is that with traveling with two kids, your ability to stop and take photos is very limited.

As we were preparing for this trip, I was concerned about staying at All Star Music. I had read plenty of reviews that the rooms were tiny. I was concerned that we wouldn't be able to fit in Makayla's pack and play and still have room for everything else. Trust me, Sara packed A LOT . But Sara and I both felt like we had plenty of room. Were we doing cartwheels in the room??? No. We had to go outside to do our cartwheels . But we weren't falling over our stuff while we were there. Sara and I commented about halfway through our trip how happy we were with All Star Music, and will definitely be staying there again. On this day however, we didn't have much time to stay. We had big plans to visit Epcot.

 

[LisaBelle]

Off to a great start . We usually drive to Disney World and I can totally relate to feeling like WDW gets further away during the final leg of the trip. Following along!

 

[fractal]

Great start!

 

[Zipadeelady]

ready for more!

 

[KLeigh]

Such a beautiful family! I can't wait to read all about your trip!

 

[Jae99]

Great start! Looking forward to following along with your adventures. We are big fans of ASM as well. We stayed there last year over Christmas and will be heading back in 11 days.

 

[Lyear]

Off to a great start . We usually drive to Disney World and I can totally relate to feeling like WDW gets further away during the final leg of the trip. Following along!

Thank you LisaBelle

Great start!

Thanks Fractal

ready for more!

More is definitely coming. I took a lot of notes during our trip. Unfortunately the only time I have to write is from when our kids go to sleep until I crash for the night.

Such a beautiful family! I can't wait to read all about your trip!

Thank you very much.

Great start! Looking forward to following along with your adventures. We are big fans of ASM as well. We stayed there last year over Christmas and will be heading back in 11 days.

Very excited for you, and jealous. I've heard that mid December is the best time for avoiding crowds. I hope that's the case since we booked a bounceback for mid December next year, again at ASM.

 

[Lyear]

So Sara and I have always started our trips with the same tradition/routine/rut. We check in at the hotel, go to Epcot, ride SSE, then spend the rest of the day in World Showcase, ending with Illuminations. We had planned to follow this plan again. Saturday Nov. 14 was the last Saturday of the food and wine festival, and Sara had spent a lot of time looking into what she wanted to try. I was a bit concerned for the kids since we didn't have a planned nap this day (only day without one). We had slept in a bit for this reason (normal wake up time is between 5-6am for us). Illuminations was at 10, so I knew we'd be pushing it. I had thought about planning to take a taxi back to the resort after Illuminations since the bus lines are so long. But Sara brilliantly decided that since we're driving, why don't we just drive our car rather than paying for a taxi. Brilliant!!! We decided that would be the best plan to try to avoid a long wait for a bus.

So shortly after seeing our room for the first time, we were back in the van, heading to Epcot. The parking lot was surprisingly full, and we had to park towards the very back left part of the lot.

Approaching Epcot

Our row number

Once we got the stroller set up, I really wasn't in the mood to break it down for a tram ride, so we were hiking. It was definitely a long walk, but we made it without complaint. Got through baggage check and into the park. Luke was so excited to see Epcot. SSE became Epcot for this whole visit, as every time he'd see SSE he'd point and go, "Look, Epcot." We had a fp for "Epcot" so we parked the stroller and walked in. Luke was a bit concerned at first about the lightning in the beginning, but once we were through that he quickly fell in love with the ride.

Luke and Sara

Makayla and me

Following the ride, Luke was interested in checking out the games, but the lines were 3-4 groups deep for everything. We convinced him it'd be more fun to go check out the rest of the park.

Luke really liked the fountain until a show started. He was right by a speaker and it was really loud, so the rest of the trip he wanted to take a wide path around the fountain.

As we made our way to World Showcase, we realized it was going to be a very crowded day. Lines for the Food and Wine stands I would guess were about 40 minutes long, and we were moving en masse along the path. We made the left and fought our way to Mexico. We walked inside and the Mexico boat ride line was out of the queue. People do realize this is a slow moving boat ride right? If you're looking for Test Track, you've gone too far. We got in line and about 15 minutes later we were in a boat. Luke loved this ride. He is a huge fan of Donald, so anything with Donald in it was a winner. Makayla on the other hand had had about enough. She laid her head down on my shoulder and fell asleep almost as soon as we were seated.

After the ride, Luke really wanted to ride again, so we figured why not. Another 10-15 minute wait and we were off.

Holding a sleepy Makayla

Luke loving the ride.

After the ride, Luke took some time to do the Kidcot coloring station. Makayla was still asleep. I ended up standing against a wall near the side wheelchair access ramp to Mexico outside. We had dinner reservations at San Angel Inn in about 40 minutes. Sara decided she would walk Luke over to Norway while I waited there with Makayla. They returned about 10 minutes later. Sara said the crowds had not gotten any better. A good bit of Norway was blocked off with the renovations they had going, though I didn't see this myself. We decided rather than get the stroller out again and fight the crowds, we'd just check in for dinner.

 

[Lyear]

We had eaten at San Angel Inn two times before, and always loved it. It was a no brainer that we would eat there again on this trip. We approached the check in desk, and we were relieved that they said they'd seat us in about 5 minutes. Makayla was still sleeping. I tried to rouse her to sit in her high chair, but she was not having it. She continued screaming until I picked her up and held her, and she promptly found another good resting spot and fell asleep.

I really liked their plates. I took a pic, after getting salsa on it.

Still holding Makayla. I tell you that girl gave my upper back and arms a workout this day.

Luke and Makayla on the other side. Yes I can hold Makayla and take a picture at the same time.

If you've read my previous trip report, you will probably remember that Sara and I are both vegetarians. We love eating at Disney as almost every restaurant has a great veg friendly meal, or even more than one. They started us off with complementary chips and salsa, which were excellent. Sara and I both ordered the Plato Vegetarian, which is a flour tortilla, topped with black beans and veggies. Luke got the kids cheese quesadilla. Eating while holding Makayla was a little tricky, but I managed. It was as great as I remembered from last time.

Luke's plate, about halfway through

About halfway through our meal Makayla woke up. I could tell she had a fever, so we gave her some Tylenol and sat her down in her high chair. She wasn't very interested in eating. You could tell she wasn't feeling great.

For dessert, I'm pretty sure I got the Bavarian custard dessert, Sara got a chocolate dessert, and Luke got ice cream. We pretty much split the desserts around the table. Makayla did enjoy dessert

As we were finishing, Sara decided to go stand in the very long ladies room line. It was at this point that Luke decided he needed to go potty. I quickly gathered Makayla and told our waitress that we were not dining and dashing, just running to the bathroom. Thankfully Luke is pretty much independent so we got through it without much hassle as I held Makayla.

San Angel Inn was great as always. The food was everything you would want it to be, and the dessert was very yummy too. I couldn't enjoy it quite as much as usual though since I knew Makayla wasn't feeling great. After we finalized the tip, we were on our way back outside.

 

[Lyear]

As we exited Mexico, Sara made the shocking announcement that she wanted to head over to future world instead of going further into world showcase. I had to check to make sure I heard her right, since I knew how much she was looking forward to the food and wine festival. But she confirmed she felt that World Showcase was just too crowded to take a stroller and two kids through. So it was with a sense of sadness that we made a right out of Mexico and headed back to future world.

As we turned the corner. Luke noticed that SSE was lit up for the night. He was truly filled with wonder over this, pointed at it and said over and over, "Epcot is glowing." I could tell he was trying to alert those around us to this wonder of the world. And I loved at this point how excited he was over seeing "Epcot" glow, and also just to be here in general.

We decided that we'd try to head to Mission space to let Luke play in their playground area. Unfortunately, a child had a little mishap in the playground before we got there, and it was closed for cleaning. We did buy him this cool necklace while we were there though.

He saw it and wanted it immediately, and Sara and I couldn't bring ourselves to say no. We realized later that almost everyone had them throughout our visit. We then went over to Ellen's energy adventure, but it had closed at 7. So we had now struck out twice. We decided to try Nemo, which was open, and he loved it. Makayla enjoyed it too. We were all able to get in one clam shell, which made it great. We did Nemo twice, then checked out the aquarium areas a bit. It was then time for our fastpass for Soarin.

The height requirement for Soarin is 40 inches. I know this well, because we knew Luke was going to be very close before we left. We had packed thick soled shoes for him for this reason, but today he was wearing sandals. We walked up and they pulled him aside to check his height. They then called another cm over, who made the final decision that he was just a bit too short. Luke was clearly disappointed, but we told him that just gave us opportunity do to other things. He wanted to get his pic taken with Bruce the shark, so we headed back to Nemo. We rode a 3rd time, then got some photopass pics.

It was quite a line to do this, but Luke was very happy to be doing it.

We then took some time to do Turtle Talk. Some photos while we waited. Makayla liked Luke's necklace too.

Luke waiting patiently.

Luke was a bit upset he didn't get to talk to Crush, but he also didn't raise his hand. He was ok after we explained this to him. He then wanted to go on Nemo again, and since we had a bit of time, Sara took him while I took Makayla out to the stroller.

After our final Nemo ride, we were headed back to World Showcase. It remained very busy. We found a spot in Canada to watch Illuminations from. A poor photo taken by yours truly showing our family enjoying the show.

Makayla watched from her stroller, and Luke was wearing his earmuffs which he uses for all loud noises. Luke was a bit concerned with the amount of fire involved, but other than that they enjoyed the show. I personally didn't focus on the show too much as I was trying to follow the kids' reactions. They were both pretty focused throughout.

After Illuminations, we made the long trek back to the car. Luke enjoyed helping me find our car, and then he and Makayla both promptly fell asleep before we made it out of the parking lot. Once we got back, we got them inside our room and in bed. Sara and I did some brief unpacking, then joined them in sleep. Our first day was in the books.

 

[MinnieM123]

What a pleasant trip so far. Your children are adorable. Looking forward to more of your trip adventures!

 

[TheMouseFan]

I'm in! I love "Epcot is glowing"!! How adorable is that!?! Can't wait to read more!

 

[acrab3t]

I am loving your TR! Your kids are absolutely precious. Makes me nostalgic for my sons first trip.

 

[Lyear]

What a pleasant trip so far. Your children are adorable. Looking forward to more of your trip adventures!

Thank you Minnie M. We think our children are adorable too!

I'm in! I love "Epcot is glowing"!! How adorable is that!?! Can't wait to read more!

That was definitely one of my favorite moments of this trip. He was blown away by it.

I am loving your TR! Your kids are absolutely precious. Makes me nostalgic for my sons first trip.

Thank you! Yes, I love that we have these memories now. Even if Luke and Makayla don't remember them perfectly, Sara and I will.

 

[Lyear]

On day two our plan was Animal Kingdom. We knew going into this trip that it was going to be a busy time at the parks. Word from the internet was that certain resorts were completely booked up. Our overall plan was to avoid extra magic hours parks as much as possible, and avoid magic kingdom on the weekend. The plan was moderately successful. Crowds certainly seemed to grow as we got closer and closer to Thanksgiving.

Sara and I woke up early and got ready, then woke up the kids. We were out the door by 8:15. This would be our first day walking through the resort as we had just walked from the parking lot to our room previously. Luke loved the giant instruments. He would point out each one as we walked through each day. He often asked us to go a different way so he could see something different. So I think the resort was a hit. Sara snapped a few photos as we walked this morning.

The fountain in the Jazz Inn section

The Jazz Inn Drums. These were a big hit.

Calypso building

More Calypso. Honestly, who can ever get enough Calypso???

Yes that's me pushing the double stroller. Luke was wearing his Goofy Hat. We made a quick stop to fill our mugs, then made our way to the bus stop. Bus trips were very interesting on this trip. We had Makayla's diaper bag, a restaurant bag, and we each had backpacks. I felt like we must be overpacked, but each day we would use everything. I'm sure there is a simpler way to do it, but we certainly didn't find it this trip. As we boarded the bus, Sara would take Makayla and Luke and find a seat. Luke would sit pretty good, but Makayla always proved to be squirmy. I would fold the stroller and stack the bags on top of it, and try to find standing room near the rear exit door. Then once we'd exit the bus, we'd help the bag checker meet their quota before their first break.

Successfully exited the bus and heading for the entrance.

The tree was up at Animal Kingdom, so before we entered we took some photopass photos.

I love the AK tree, can I have a miniature one at my house please?

Luke then saw red eyed tree frogs in the distance and went running. Keeping him with us on this trip was quite the challenge.

 

[Lyear]

We were now ready to enter the park. The plan was to go to the Safari for our first fastpass. I know when they made Animal Kingdom they wanted it to be full of discovery and exploration. The problem is they did too good of a job. Luke wanted to explore EVERYTHING. He wanted to walk down every path to see what was there. He had a great time in the Oasis and Discovery Island.

At one point we found a bridge that went across the water. The problem was we were on the wrong side. All the traffic was coming the other direction. We told Luke we'd return later in the day, but he didn't like this answer. That led to some grumpy tree photos.

After a bit more exploring, we made our way to the Safari. Luke enjoyed looking at the animals, and Makayla seemed to enjoy it too. She still wasn't quite acting like herself and would break out into fits of screaming. It seemed like her fever was gone though.

After our safari, we made our way back into the African section and checked out the drummers for a bit. We then made our way to our next fastpass, Finding Nemo. Makayla was really not happy as we were seated, consistently screaming for all to hear. I took her for a little walk to the aisle of the auditorium and let her crawl around a little, but this didn't seem to help. Once the show started, she did a little better but still broke out in some crying episodes. About two thirds of the way through the show, Luke told us he had to go potty, so we attempted to discreetly make an exit. Not so easy when you're sitting in the middle of a seating row. And did I mention we had a bunch of bags? We got Luke outside and ran to the bathroom. Luckily we made it in time.

The good news about leaving early is that we got the beat the rush to eat lunch at Restaruantosaurus. This was our first time eating here. Sara and I got the black bean burgers, and Luke got the peanut butter and jelly uncrustable with French fries. Luke loved that his meal came win a bucket with a pail.

Makayla still didn't look like she was feeling great, but she ate well so we were hoping the worst was behind us. After Luke had finished, he began practicing his jumps, leaping from his seat into the middle of the aisleway. We took that as our cue to leave. We had a bit of time, so we walked back to Africa and took the Rafiki Planet Watch train on a round trip voyage.

With that it was time to leave the park for nap time. Not before we found that bridge though. A promise is a promise.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Looks like a fun trip. Love the Ducktales shirt!

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Looks like you guys really had a great time!!

 

[Lyear]

Looks like a fun trip. Love the Ducktales shirt!

Thanks. Yes the Ducktales shirt. That is like an instant flashback to my childhood. I was SO excited when I found that at Target. If I remember correctly I bought it the night before our trip while I was picking up a few last minute things. While we were in WDW I saw at least one other person wearing the shirt everyday. I was a bit bummed that it wasn't as unique as I hoped.

Looks like you guys really had a great time!!

Yes we did. Definitely had it's ups and downs, but overall it was a great trip.