Trip Report Pop & Hop, Snack & Shop, Graduation Celebration - Sept 2016

We arrived home late last night and as usual, we are all in Disney depression mode. Seriously, the return to reality is so hard!

It was an AWESOME trip. However not without a few hiccups. Let’s just say that the name of my Trip Report could easily have been, “I Almost Killed My Husband In The Happiest Place On Earth” or… “”Did The Ride Just Stop?” or… “Bathrooms Around The World”

Needless to say that Disney Magic outshines small issues – even my husband’s behavior that almost landed him in Cinderella’s moat more than once.

Warning: I have some commitments over the next few weeks, so I’m not sure how much updating I will be able to do. But I wanted to start writing before my memory and notes start to fade away. Besides, I’m so sad – it helps to re-live it! Lol

For those of you who don’t know us – our cast of characters:


Me – Mary

Ross – My hubby who drove me INSANE throughout our trip.

Julia (14)

Hope (7 with Autism & Sensory issues)

What I didn’t mention in my Pre-Trip Report is that we were celebrating the fact that Julia is starting 9th grade this year. As homeschoolers, we have never acknowledged graduations or moving up ceremonies. So since my sweet girl is starting high school, I figured she deserved a Disney Celebration, so I had that put on our reservation.

Since Ross agreed to family shirts, I had my friend make them for us. Julia was surprised and really happy!

So if you are ready to join in the fun & craziness… welcome aboard!!

 

[Figment Forever]

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 5 Continued...

I didn't like that you had to choose between Fantasmic and the Star Wars Fireworks. However, Fantasmic won out...

After Fantasmic, we headed for another galaxy. Last year, Hope didn't want to ride Star Tours so I wasn't sure what to expect. Sure enough, she was willing to give it a go.

I had been wanting to meet Chewie all day so finally we were able to make our way over to the Launch Bay. Kylo Ren's line was shorter, so we opted for him first.

I didn't really like Kylo Ren - it was odd that he yelled at us - a little bit awkward. Ross did NOT like him at all. Chewbacca was a completely different story.

 

[Figment Forever]

We didn't leave Studios until after 11:00. Hope fell asleep on the bus ride home.

It was a nice treat to find this back at our room...

Up Next... Hope surprises all of us.

 

[Ciara]

We found the line for Pocahontas and waited. The line was not even officially opened yet, but I didn’t want to chance it being cut off. We waited at least a half hour if not more. It was HOT – but we stuck it out. As we got closer, we realized it would only be her. Last year, there was a second character to meet – but not this time. We were the next in line and we noticed the couple in front of us were Pocahontas super fans. I don’t know what they were showing her, but they has her sign a million different things and then were talking to her about something that happened in her movie. It was a little weird.

Finally it was our turn. Pocahontas has never disappointed us! She is so amazing! I have to say, she takes a long time to spend with people. Julia was quick – a picture and an autograph.

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But when she saw Hope in her outfit, she went crazy. She sat her down and started to tell her a story! All the characters are good and kind to Hope, but some some reason, Pocahontas seems to have a special insight. Hope of course LOVED it!

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She is probably the one character I don’t care how long we wait because the interaction has always been amazing.

This is the most precious meet and greet I've ever seen!!

 

[Figment Forever]

This is the most precious meet and greet I've ever seen!!

Thank you!!

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 6 – September 17th

Today was the day I learned the power of a Tsum-Tsum.

We had a morning ADR at Chef Mickey’s and then we would head to Epcot. Julia wanted to wear our family T-shirts today and Hope would be celebrating her “Disney” birthday.

Our reservation wasn’t until 9:30 – so we could have a little breathing room in the morning. Soon enough, we were on our way. We took the bus to MK and then hopped the monorail to the Contemporary.

We arrived at Chef Mickey’s and got a pager.

We had our picture done.

 

[Figment Forever]

I was happy we only waited a few minutes and then we were seated. I saw our server from the last couple of years, Robert from NY, and thought about requesting to sit in his section, but didn’t. I didn’t want to have us wait any longer but in hindsight I wish I would have because he is an awesome server

Soon we were stuffing our faces.

They brought me GF waffles and doughnuts – and oh my gosh – the doughnuts were INSANE. So yummy! I asked for more so I could sneak a couple with me for later on! Lol

 

[Figment Forever]

The Fab 5 soon made their way around.

 

[Figment Forever]

We sang Happy Birthday to Hope and then she sang it again to herself!

 

[blreinsel]

Did Hope eat the Mickey face on her cupcake? If I remember correctly, didn't she get extremely upset with Ross on a past trip because he ate the Olaf from a cupcake? I couldn't help but giggle at the memory.

 

[Figment Forever]

Did Hope eat the Mickey face on her cupcake? If I remember correctly, didn't she get extremely upset with Ross on a past trip because he ate the Olaf from a cupcake? I couldn't help but giggle at the memory.

lol You have a great memory! This year, she didn't get upset when we ate the character cupcakes or the Mickey waffles. She actually really liked the Mickey waffles. My sister bought Julia a Mickey waffle maker for Christmas so we "practiced" a lot! I think that really helped her. But she did not eat her cupcake at all. Believe it or not, Hope doesn't like desserts except vanilla ice cream and fruit. Sounds strange, offer this kid a piece of chocolate or a piece of broccoli and she will take the green veggie every time!

 

[Asian2000]

We were at Hollywood the same time as you! We must have met Kylo and Chewy right before you did, and we opted to watch starwars fireworks instead of Fantasmic that night. I did see you a few times at magic kingdom though

 

[blreinsel]

lol You have a great memory! This year, she didn't get upset when we ate the character cupcakes or the Mickey waffles. She actually really liked the Mickey waffles. My sister bought Julia a Mickey waffle maker for Christmas so we "practiced" a lot! I think that really helped her. But she did not eat her cupcake at all. Believe it or not, Hope doesn't like desserts except vanilla ice cream and fruit. Sounds strange, offer this kid a piece of chocolate or a piece of broccoli and she will take the green veggie every time!

She is too funny! I wish I preferred green veggies over chocolate!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Loved your face on RnR coaster! So glad you guys tried it this time!

 

[Figment Forever]

We were at Hollywood the same time as you! We must have met Kylo and Chewy right before you did, and we opted to watch starwars fireworks instead of Fantasmic that night. I did see you a few times at magic kingdom though

Oh wow how funny is that? I wish you would have said hi to us at MK!

 

[Figment Forever]

She is too funny! I wish I preferred green veggies over chocolate!

Me too!

 

[Figment Forever]

Loved your face on RnR coaster! So glad you guys tried it this time!

It was so much fun! Julia still likes ToT best, but I loved RnR!

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 6 - September 17th Continued...

Before leaving Chef Mickey’s we visited the restrooms. Hope decided to have a photo shoot.

We said goodbye to The Contemporary and boarded the monorail. We got off at the TTC and then walked around to get the monorail to EPCOT.

 

[Figment Forever]

Hope made sure to pick up another map. She LOVES maps! She has a workbook – “Maps, Charts & Graphs” that she already finished for the year because she loves to work in it! Lol

We had a FP for Frozen so we walked excitedly towards Norway. Of course, we had to take a detour though our imagination.

We shopped around in the gift shop where I purchased a Figment oven mitt that I love – even though it doesn’t work very well. Lol I also purchased a T-shirt and Julia picked up the latest edition of the Figment comic book. Hope fed her Tsum-Tsum addiction and cashed in her Disney Dollars for 3 new ones.

Now for the last several years, Julia has been trying to get upstairs to see the remains of the Image Works, especially where the rainbow bridge was. So this year when she heard that the upstairs was made into a DVC lounge, she thought maybe they would let her up there to sneak a peak. Alas – no – they would not allow her up there. She was so disappointed that she actually started to cry as we left the building. She is so into abandoned Disney and it meant so much to her. But the CM would NOT budge.

 

[Figment Forever]

Sadly, we made our way to Norway. Hope was so excited to ride the Frozen ride. I had mixed feelings because I, like Julia, do not like change and even though I wasn’t crazy about Maelstrom, I like original things to stay.

As we approached, we noticed no line and the doors were closed. Yep – it was down. We were told a FP replacement would show up on our MDE app. Hope wasn’t too happy, but I was glad – no meltdowns. She understood that something was wrong with the ride and it would open when they got it fixed. But would we get to ride it?

I wanted to stay close for a while just in case they got it going again so we settled for a boat ride with Donald and walked over to Mexico.