Trip Report Sage's First Magical Trip!

Hi everyone! I am so excited to finally be writing my trip report! The Christmas hustle & bustle has just been crazy since we got back and I'm still struggling to catch up!! We just had the most wonderous, glorious, magical, Disney trip! This trip was myself, my husband, and our daughter Sage. Sage was just a few weeks shy of her 4th birthday for this trip. We were there from Saturday 11/29 through Sunday 12/7. My husband Nick and I have been twice together prior to having Sage, once in 2008 and once in 2009, but this was her first trip!!
A little bit of back story- I work as a dance teacher and as a nanny so I am with little kids (especially girls) all day long. I see the change in girls around when they go to Kindergarten, they start to lose that 'everything is magical' , princess loving attitude and are much more influenced by older kids/shows/products. After Sage was born, I told my husband it was super, super important to me that we make it to Disney before her 5th birthday. I just really wanted to experience a magical trip through her eyes. We went through a bit of a financial struggle right after she was born (we have terrible health insurance and the bills we got from my pregnancy, labor and delivery were unbelievable) but we worked really hard to save for this trip. This trip was literally, five years in the making.
Finally, last March, we officially booked our trip. I had always wanted to go around Christmas time to see the decorations and special offerings so picking our dates was easy. The hubs only request, that we stay on budget as much as possible! I really wanted to stay at Art of Animation in a Little Mermaid room but, hubs said no, so, in an effort to save some money, we went with Pop Century.
Another way we tried to save money was by packing our own food from home. I packed bread (in a shoe box so it wouldn't get crushed), PB & J, Nutella, granola bars, dried fruit & nuts, small cereal boxes, juice, drink mix ins and tons of snacks. I also bought us all Hydro Flask water bottles so we could pack our own icy cold drinks every day. And, once again with our budget in mind, we left SUPER early on our arrival day, because that flight was the cheapest. Which brings me to.....

Saturday 11/29: Day 1
Our flight was leaving Providence at 6:05am (!) We let Sage travel in her PJs so we literally rolled her out of bed and into the car. We thought we gave ourselves plenty of time but the airport was surprisingly busy. We waited for quite a while both checking our bags and going through security. We had a mid B boarding pass for Southwest, but when we got to the gate, they had already loaded A's and B's and were almost on the C's. We basically ran (well fast walked) from security straight onto the plane. Thankfully, we found 3 seats together.
This was Sage's 1st flight and she handled it like a pro. I had bought lots of small toys, crafts, books etc at the dollar store and walmart before we left, both for the plane and for waiting in line. My mom also bought her a Kindle Fire for her birthday and gave it to her before we left. So she had books and games on there too. She never once complained or whined and just happily played. So that was a relief!

We actually landed a few minutes early, which is always awesome! Everyone has this picture, right?

Even though we were taking the Magical Express, we decided to get our bags ourselves. I just knew that if I had a certain outfit for Sage in our carry on, once we got to the hotel, she would suddenly change her mind and insist on something else. I'm sure anyone with a 3 year old understands Now, getting our bags, and getting to the Magical Express was ridonkulous. Longest walk ever. Tram rides, down escalators, up elevators. All while pushing Sage in a stroller, carrying 3 carry ons and eventually, pulling 3 big suitcases. Holy cow. We were exhausted.

So, we finally get to Pop Century a little before 11am (not bad at all!!) Stepping off the bus onto Disney property is just the best feeling ever. The Pop Century cast members were blowing bubbles and waving their giant Mickey hands. Everyone was so friendly and happy. I got in the check in line, Nick wandered a little with Sage. I was super excited to get the exact location I requested, 50's building, lake side. Look at our gorgeous view-

Sage was so excited to check out our comfy beds!

I will talk more about my overall Pop thoughts later, but I have to say, we LOVED it!!! It's so beautiful. The grounds, the attention to detail, the larger than life statues. So welcoming and kid friendly. The pools are gorgeous. I miss Pop Century....
So, we got Sage dressed (finally) and first off, we needed food!!! We had left our house around 4:30am, thinking we would have plenty of time to grab some Dunks at the airport but with all the rushing, we had no extra time at all. So here it was 11am, and the only thing we had eaten was the pretzels on the plane! So we made our way to the food court.
Stopped to see Lady

So our room was actually in the building behind Tramp and sadly, I never got a picture of him! So weird too, cause I take pictures of everything Every morning walking to the elevator we would say good morning to Tramp's butt. And then good night to Tramp's butt on our way back. So sad I never got a picture!

Sage with the Pop Christmas Tree

So we got our lunch, and our refillable mugs and then went back up to the room. I unpacked our stuff and then the plan was to rest, but crazy enough, our FP times were fast approaching so we pretty much had to get ready to go. We were planning on heading to MK that day. We knew it would be busy, being the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but Sage of course really wanted to go there first. Our 3 FPs were for Splash, Thunder (Sage's picks, she wanted to ride them first!) and Haunted Mansion (my pick since it would be closed the rest of our trip). My goal was the accomplish those 3 things, see the parade, meet Tiana, and maybe do one other thing in the Frontierland/Liberty Square area.
So before we left, we had to do a few things with our tickets. It's kind of confusing but basically, we bought a 6 day base ticket for each of us. We have a family member who works for ESPN and he was able to get each of us a one day park hopper. My husband works for CBS and he was able to get two 1-day media passes. So, myself and Nick had a total of 8 days but Sage only had 7. So we had to add an extra day to her ticket, and we also had to assign the hopper pass to the last day of our trip. We were told we could do that either at guest relations in any park or at the hotel concierge. The line for the concierge was so, so long and of course, they had no clue how to do what we needed.
So, we went out to the bus stop as luck would have it, the MK bus took FOREVER. I forget what time it was, but I remember I was really nervous we wouldn't have time to do our ticket business and make our first FP time. I wanted to do the ticket stuff first because I didn't want our band to use the hopper ticket on our first day when I knew we would not be hopping.
So, I got on my phone to try and change our FP times. A note that I discovered at this time, the Disney wifi would only work in our room at Pop Century. I tried many times throughout the week to use it at the bus stop, and in the parks and it NEVER worked. So frustrating. Also frustrating, I wish there was an option to bump all 3 FPs back by one hour. I couldn't move our Splash FP without first moving the other 2. I was able to bump back HM, but there were no times left for BTMR before like 9pm. So, I had to keep all 3 of our original times.
So, we finally get to MK (yay!!) and the guest services line is like a mile long. There's no way we would make our 1st FP if we waited. So we had to risk it, and enter the park.

Gorgeous!!

I had a plan to surprise Sage the first time she saw Cinderella's castle. So Nick went in a little ahead of us, I carried Sage, covering her eyes. Once we were on Main St, I uncovered eyes to reveal the castle. Nick took a video so here is a screen grab from it

Awesome right? We were jumping up and down screaming, we're here, we're here! We finally made it!!!! It was all so surreal. The entire trip was actually. I had literally been planning this trip, financially, in my mind, on paper, for five years. It was so strange that it was actually HERE. If that makes sense
I'll add more in a little bit!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Hi everyone! Happy New Year! I'm going to do my best to finish this up over the next few days. Thanks so much for following along!
After meeting Santa & Snow, we started walking back towards Mexico to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour. On the way, we passed a path off to the side and we saw Pluto standing towards the back with just a few people around him. We assumed it was because he was leaving and the line was closed (like always) so before we even mentioned it to Sage, I snuck over to the CM and said 'is Pluto leaving'? She looked at me strangely and said no, we just got here. I explained that characters are always leaving when we see them and she said, oh you should use the Times Guide. Well duh. Thanks anyway lady
Sage had a great time meeting Pluto and they did the hot dog dance together. Pluto spun her around and kissed her hand like a prince would. It was very cute. Sadly, like many of my other photos from this day, a lot came out blurry.

Sage loved the Grand Fiesta Tour. It's basically Small World with Donald Duck so she was in heaven! After that, it was about 4:30 so we knew we should head towards the Candlelight Processional. We were shocked earlier in the day to see a line forming around 3pm. Since we had our tickets from our lunch package, we were hoping we would be ok getting there closer to 5.
We started walking towards America, stopping once along the way to try to find a certain snack I had seen online before we came. I thought it was in Germany but sadly, it was not. When we got to America, we couldn't believe the length of the standby line for the show. The ticket line was just starting to be let in so Sage and I set off to get in line while Nick parked the stroller. We kept walking, down, down the line looking for the end. The line went all the way through America, through Japan and through most of Morocco! We couldn't believe it!! We got in the gigantic line and prayed for the best. Once we got to the front, the CMs didn't really seem to have a plan. We assumed our tickets meant we would be in a certain section. But it basically seemed like a free for all. Sometimes they told you where to sit, sometimes, people just sat wherever. It was so frustrating. Why did we just overpay for lunch if we weren't going to at least get our own section? In true Disney fashion, anything to make a few extra bucks. So finally, we get to the front of the line and the CM tells us we can sit in the back in the section behind the trees (why are there trees again?!?!?) or we can sit in the front row. There's no way I paid an arm an a leg for an obstructed view so we sit in the front row.
As we sit, waiting, we clearly realize we are too close and we can't see much. Plus, it's so LOUD. The two rows behind us are roped off with a reserved sign and thankfully, as the show is starting, a CM comes over and tell us they won't be using the two rows so we can move back if we want. We move back to the third row and the view is much better.
Our celebrity narrator is Jonathan Groff (who we had to google before arriving to find out who he was). He did fairly well. He seemed a little nervous and awkward at times but overall, he did his job. The singers in the middle wearing green, as well as the orchestra, also did a nice job. The singers on the side in the yellow however, were not impressive at all. I'm still very confused as to who they actually were. They were very young, mostly teenagers it looked like, and it was very clear most of them did not want to be there. Many of them looked down right miserable. Not smiling, scowling faces, mumbling the words, some not singing at all. It was very distracting and very, very strange. I was under the impression this was a professional, at least to Disney standards, show. I'm not sure how these children were allowed to perform but I was very disappointed.
Overall, the show was nice. Good to see once. The narration was nice, the orchestra and real singers were nice. I thought there would be more to see though. It was nice to listen to, but not much actually happening if that makes sense. I would not pay for the package to see it again. I would have been just as happy to grab a quick bite somewhere and eat it outside the pavilion while listening to the show. Maybe that makes me a scrooge but I was expecting a little more from the show. I still can't believe how long the standby line was. Anyways, a few pictures

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

After the show, Sage was most definitely done for the day. The show itself was a big struggle for her and she had trouble sitting quietly. Thankfully, we had most of the third row to ourselves so she laid across the bench and played on my phone. Obviously she wasn't interested in the show and she did everything she could to let us know that I was feeling a little discouraged with our Epcot day. For the first time, I felt we didn't accomplish that much. We missed quite a bit in Future World (all of Innoventions, all of Imagination, Spaceship Earth) and in the World Showcase, we had only walked on the left side (Mexico through America) We only stopped to eat, meet a few characters and do the Mexico ride. I didn't get to go in any shops, I hadn't found the snack I was looking for, and we hadn't even walked through the Japan through Canada side. Nick said he would take Sage back to the hotel and suggested I stay and walk around some more. I decided to do just that, mostly just to shop a little. So they left, I stayed.
They had a little bit of trouble getting back. A lot of people were leaving after the 5pm show and much, much more were coming in for the other shows and Illuminations. He said it was so crowded walking out and they had to wait for the bus for quite a while.
So I shopped and walked through the pavilions as best I could. I was surprised by the lack of lights throughout. It was very dark, at times hard to see when off from the main walkway. I finally found my snack in France so that was a big plus Ice coffee with salted caramel ice cream and whip cream! I sat outside and enjoyed my delicious snack, and the pretty view

Walked around and shopped a bit more

After walking around World Showcase, I went back towards Future World. I decided to ride Test Track using single rider, since we never got to ride earlier in the day. When I got to the ride, they said they were experiencing problems and it was closed temporarily. Of course, right? It's like I wasn't meant to ride this ride!

I walked around the area a little, checking back every few minutes. Finally, about a half hour later, it reopened. I was first in the single rider line. They let us in, single rider skipped the design your car part, however, regular stand by people took part so we waited another five minutes in the hallway before going in to ride. The ride was great, similar to the old version but nice updates as well. I enjoyed it!
I then decided to head out for the night, I was exhausted!!

Thankfully, the bus stop was not crowded and I got back to Pop very quickly!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I'm so happy you stayed and wandered around by yourself! I would have loved soaking in all that Disney goodness without worrying about my husband or children.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Yes, it was nice to walk around by myself and shop uninterrupted. I would have liked to stay longer but I was exhausted! And like I said, it was strangely dark throughout the World Showcase, not really ideal for picture taking.

That Snow White was great! Super sweet Thanks for the info on the Candlelight. I'm still surprised people line up in the standby queue that early.

Thursday 12/4: Day 6
This was a really fun day; it was our low key day! We got a slow start, taking our time waking up and getting ready. Then we decided to walk around and check out the rest of Pop Century. It really is a gorgeous resort, perfect for families (although I would definitely stay there without kids as well). I was picturing it to be similar to All Star Sports, where I have stayed twice, and in some ways it is, but in other ways, it's very different. The biggest difference is in the landscaping. Maybe I'm imagining it differently but I feel like when standing in the center of All Star Sports, you can look around and clearly see most of the buildings. Not the case with Pop. The landscaping is so lush and plentiful, gorgeous trees and shrubbery everywhere! Because of that, we were anxious to finally walk around and find all the larger than life statues. We did a full lap basically, all around the resort, checking out all the buildings and pools. I took a bunch of photos so here we go!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

After touring Pop, we continued with step two of my low key day- a monorail ride around the deluxe resorts to see some Christmas decorations! Sage saw the monorail on our first day and she was strangely excited to ride. I had plans to do it on this day because I really wanted to see the resorts & decorations, so it worked out well. She was asking all week long, 'how many days til we ride the monorail?'
So we took a bus to MK, then walked over to the Contemporary. The Contemporary seems like a very nice, classy, business like resort. Its hard to imagine relaxing there. Or staying there with kids It was a total different vibe walking in. Pop had been playing Christmas music throughout the lobby & resort grounds all week- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, The Chipmunk song, etc. Not the Contemporary! Their holiday music was all classical, instrumental only songs.
We went up to the 4th floor to check out their little Frozen display

That seemed to be all of their holiday decorations so from there, we went to the monorail!

We skipped the Polynesian and got off at the Grand Floridian.

As underwhelming as it was walking into the Contemporary, it was OVERwhelming walking into the Grand Floridian! WOW! What a gorgeous place! Walking in on the 2nd floor, looking over the balcony at the lobby below was just amazing. What a beautiful place. I would stay there anytime! I'm not sure we could ever actually afford it but, a girl can dream right?

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

So down we went, to see the big gingerbread house!

We then purchased a shingle and Sage was so excited to eat some of the gingerbread house!

As we were sitting, snacking on our shingle, Aurora walked right by us! I think they do a tea party in the Grand Floridian right? Sage had to give her a quick hug!

We took a few more pictures in front of the big tree, then Sage and I went upstairs and Nick took our picture on the balcony

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We took the monorail back to MK, then bused it back to Pop. Sage had been asking to swim all week and we just hadn't had time. So finally, it was time to swim!! Even though our building was right next to the bowling pool, she wanted to go down to the kiddie pool near the main Hippy Dippy pool. First, we made a quick stop in the laundry room. I had checked the weather very thoroughly before we left and packed accordingly. However, the weather turned out to be much hotter than expected. Before we left, it was a mix of 60's & 70's so I packed Sage and I both pants and capris. It ended up being mid to upper 70's for our entire trip though so we never wore the pants. So I had to wash our capris to wear again!
Then, down to swim!

Sage splashed around in here for quite a bit with another little girl. She was having so much fun just playing! Then eventually, we went over to the big pool as well. Nick and I swam too. It was such a gorgeous day. So warm and sunny. It was strange also too, we were having such a nice relaxed day and I remember thinking, I wish we had more days like this. It's such a tough balance though, trying to schedule down time and pool time but also, still feel like you are actually getting your monies worth. If we had multiple down days, we would have accomplished much less overall and it would have been disappointing to go home feeling like you didn't "do" enough. Tough to find the right balance!

So after our lovely morning and afternoon, we got changed and ready to head to DHS for the dancing lights!!
Sage had packed a bunch of dress up stuff from home, one being her Sofia dress. She wore it this night and even though we already met Sofia at breakfast earlier in the week, she wanted to meet her again in her dress!

After Sofia, we saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid, something we didn't have time for our first day. Sage loved the Ariel parts but covered her eyes when the giant Ursula came out!
We then went into the Animation building to see what characters were in there. I was so bummed we missed Ralph and Vanellope by just a few months. So was Sage actually, we both LOVE Wreck it Ralph. It wasn't out the last time we were in Disney so I was really hoping to meet them. Sadly, they had just been replaced with Big Hero 6 characters.
Sage decided she wanted to meet Sorcerer Mickey. The line was quite long so I waited while her and Nick did the little coloring book activities on the near by screens.
Sage (of course) had to teach Mickey how to do a freezing pose!

After Mickey, I saw Frozone and I told Sage I really wanted to meet him. She came over with us, there was no line so we walked right up. As we are approaching the CM, Sage says, Mom who is he? She's never seen Incredibles so I say, he's from a movie I like. Nick says, and he has freezing powers! The CM says, that's right, Frozone is the original Elsa! Sage thinks this is so cool of course and is excited to meet him.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Sage then asks if she can take a picture of me, Nick and Frozone on my phone (I had been using my camera all week and really wasn't using my phone at all and my mom had requested some pictures texted to her). So I give Sage my phone and she goes and stands next to the photopass guy. She's having a little trouble so Frozone goes over to help. Sage goes to take a picture of just Nick and I, and then Frozone sticks his head in front and photo bombs us!

That instantly went to Facebook One of my favorite photos of the trip!
After Frozone, we started towards the Streets of America, thinking we would meet Santa Goofy before the lights started. When we got there, his line was closed so he could get ready to turn on the lights. We still had a little less than hour til the start of the lights but we decided to just find a spot. We got a great curb side spot right in front of the giant switch. Nick sat with Sage while I set off to find us all snacks- a Mickey pretzel for Nick, a Mickey ice cream sandwich for Sage, and for myself, another delicious snack I had just read about online- a caramel apple milkshake from Min & Bill's! It took quite a while to walk around, gathering up our requested snacks at various locations. But I made it back, we enjoyed our delicious treats and then it was just about show time!

Right before showtime, it started POURING! And once again, I did not have our ponchos. Bad mommy. Before the lights, a little pre show snow (slash rain)

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

It's hard to describe the beauty and awesomeness of the Dancing Lights. Even going through my pictures after the fact, I don't think I really captured just how amazing it really is.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

And we finally got to meet Santa Goofy!

Sage was having the best time dancing to the music! We got some great videos We would walk around, looking at all the lights, and then when a song would start up, she would bust out dancing until the song was over. We could have stayed there all night. Sadly, we couldn't stay too long. We had an early morning planned for the next day so we had to get Sage in bed at a decent time. This was a problem we ran into all week. Trying to plan our schedules from day to day.
Anyway, this was our last bit of time at DHS so Nick and I decided to take turns riding Rock N Roller Coaster again. Nick stayed at the lights to let Sage dance some more, and I went over to ride. I walked right through the queue, right into the recording room, and then right out to the loading area. I thought it was going to be so quick and easy but when I got out to the loading area, there were like 30 people in line! It took FOREVER! Good for Sage I guess, she got to do lots more dancing
We all met up after the ride, Nick went to take his turn and Sage and I pressed some pennies. We left after that, getting back to Pop much later than I hoped.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Friday 12/5: Day 7
This was our 3rd planned Magic Kingdom day. We still had to do all of Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Storybook Circus and we (FINALLY!) had our FPs to meet Anna and Elsa!!
Even though, it was our 3rd day at MK, it was the only time we saw the welcome show. Our 1st day was our arrival day and we didn't get there til the afternoon, and our 2nd day we had an early ADR.
The welcome show is so amazing. I love it so much. It puts you in such a great mood. The man who was the mayor that day (everyday? I don't know?) was the best. You could tell he loves his job so much.

Our first stop was Adventureland. The next hour or so was one of my favorite parts of our entire trip. We were literally the only people in Adventureland. It was amazing. We were just walking along, by ourselves, walking right onto everything. It was awesome.

First up, The Magic Carpets (twice in a row)

 

[Tuvalu]

Christopher George Weaver is the one and only Mayor of Main Street. On days when he is not the opening show greeter, the welcome is given by Smokey Miller (the fire chief) or Scoop Sanderson (newspaper reporter).

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

After riding the Magic Carpets twice (both times by ourselves) we went over to The Jingle Cruise! We were the only ones there and we had a boat to ourselves. Awesome, but also a little awkward because we were the only ones there to laugh at the skippers jokes! She was great though, really into her character, she didn't slack off at all even though we were the only ones on the boat. The ride was super cute, I loved all the holiday additions!

Next, over to Pirates! We walked through the whole queue by ourselves, it was like being in a ghost town.
Once again, we were the only ones in the boat. Sage was nervous to ride so we had to keep pointing things out to distract her- Look at the cute dog! Look at the silly pig!

We decided to skip the Tiki Room and Tree House, only because we were worried we wouldn't have time for everything, so off we went to Storybook Circus!

First stop....

Dumbo!
We chose to bypass the play area, hoping that Sage didn't notice it (spoiler, she did and we had to go back later)
But first, our ride on a flying elephant!
Dumbo Selfie!

Next, on to the Barnstormer!

After a very brief wait, we were on our way! A super short ride but actually pretty fun! Sage LOVED it! So much, so wanted to go again. Nick stayed on the ground this time and Sage and I rode together

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Sage then wanted to go back to Dumbo, not only to ride again but to play in the play area.
Obviously I read about the play area back when they built it and it wasn't really what I was expecting. For some reason, I was picturing carnival type games (ring toss and whatnot) I didn't realize it was just stuff to climb and play on. Its a great idea really. It was however pretty small in there. We were totally fine, there was still a very short wait for Dumbo so there were not many kids in there. They told us to play for as long as we wanted. On busy days, I imagine that place fills up very quickly. We were lucky, we could sit and watch Sage play but if it was crowded, we would have had to follow her along. And I didn't like some of the areas up top, very easy to lose sight of your kids up there! Sage loved it though!

Sage didn't want to leave. We had to pretty much force her. She got over it quick though with another Dumbo ride! This time, Nick rode in front of us, and Sage and I rode together.

After Dumbo, it started raining a little so we quickly ducked into Big Top Souvenirs. Just to clarify a few things, I checked the weather every morning. That day, there was something like a 20% chance of showers. I think I thought I would grab the ponchos just in case but of course I forgot. There was just so much to remember. Not only magic bands, debit cards, etc but I was also packing lunches, snacks and drinks for all of us. Plus toys and games for Sage to do while waiting in line. Plus camera, phone etc. So once again, no ponchos. I have been to Disney 3 times in recent years, April 2007, January 2008, and September 2009. This was the only trip we got rained on. And not just once, several times. I just wasn't used to packing ponchos, I had never done it before!

So after waiting out the rain a little, we were done with Storybook Circus. We asked Sage if she wanted to meet Minnie and Daisy but she did not. I have to say, I loved Storybook Circus! Great theming & attention to detail. I loved the peanuts in the pavement throughout! I definitely miss Mickey & Minnie's houses though. I hope they move them somewhere, they were so cute!

Our next stop was Tomorrowland so we walked along that path in the back that connects the two. Sage saw the Speedway and just had to ride! When we got in line, the wait said 10 minutes. When we exited, it said 20 minutes. We definitely waited at least 20 minutes. Sage wanted to ride with me and since the cars only fit 2, Nick decided to sit out instead of riding alone.

Holy cow, most painful ride ever! Sage wanted to steer and of course, had no clue how to do it. So we kept bumping into the track. I had to control the pedals and it was surprisingly difficult to hold down. You have to press really hard! After a while, Sage wanted me to steer which was hard to do from the passenger seat. So overall, this ride was a lot of work!
Next stop-

I love this show!! It's always so funny. We had some great audience participation too. The guy they kept calling on to dance was hilarious!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

After Monsters, it was time for our 1st FP- Buzz!
Nick and I actually do not really like Buzz, we booked this FP thinking Sage would like it. Once we experienced Toy Story Mania for the first time, we realized just how lame Buzz is. It's impossible to tell whose red dot is whose and impossible to aim. It's pretty much just a ride, not a game at all. Sage was entertained so thats good!

After Buzz we stopped to eat our packed lunches. We had a FP later for Be Our Guest but we were planning on just getting dessert. So we also went online and chose our cupcakes. I really wanted to see the inside of the restaurant but in an effort to save a little money, we decided to not eat a full meal there.
After we ate, it was just about time for our 2nd FP, Space Mountain. Sage was not tall enough for this so Nick and I planned on taking turns. Nick went first and Sage and I walked over to meet Tiana since we hadn't met her yet!
Like Merida, the line was long. We waited about a half hour. Nick texted me part way through to say his line was taking longer than expected as well. Also like Merida, the set up for Tiana was beautiful! I love the detail in some of these character meets! I had never met Tiana so I had to jump in as well

Just as we were exiting the line, Nick texted me to say he had just finished. So we met up in the hub. As we were walking towards each other, it start to rain again. For the next hour or so, it POURED. There were no down pours mentioned in the forecast at all. Just occasional showers. Oh Florida....
So I went and rode Space Mountain and Nick and Sage stayed on Main St, looking through the stores.
A few pictures on my way to Space

The last time Nick and I were in Disney in 2009, Space was closed for a lengthy rehab. Other than changes in the queue, we really couldn't remember if the ride itself had changed at all. It seemed darker to me overall. Maybe I'm imaging that though
It was still pouring when I exited Space Mountain. We had a few minutes til the start of our next FP (ANNA & ELSA!!!) so we asked Sage if there was anything she wanted to do again in Fantasyland. Of course she chose Small World so we met up there. We rode Small World one more time and then finally, off to meet some Frozen characters!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

First up- Anna!

It happened fairly often that Sage would plan on questions she wanted to ask a character, but then when we actually got in there, she would get all shy and not talk at all. She had a question planned for Anna but insisted that I ask her instead. I'm sure Anna gets it all the time but I couldn't resist. I said "Whats that smell"? And she said "mmmm chocolate!' She and Sage both started giggling. It was very cute.

And finally, the moment Sage had been waiting for all week. ELSA! When it was her turn, she let out a big squeal and ran up to her.

They compared icy powers, and talked for a bit. She was a very nice Elsa.

One last hug!

It was a dream come true for Sage!

It was then time for our BOG FP, it was almost 2pm by this point and the restaurant was still packed. Even though we had a FP, we waited in line for quite a bit. And even though we had pre ordered, we still had to go to a kiosk to verify our order. So I'm not sure that even saved us any time. We were in a bit of a hurry. Since Sage didn't want to see the parade on our first MK day, we had to see it today! The parade was at 3 so we were doing our best to be efficient.
The inside of BOG is gorgeous! We walked through all the rooms and Sage really wanted to sit in the ballroom. Our cupcakes were brought over and we asked for waters as well. We were told to go up the drink station and help ourselves. So that was a nice surprise. We were able to get coffee/soda/etc at no extra charge. Some pictures from our visit:

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

A few more

We then left and walked towards Liberty Square to get a spot for the parade!

 

[Tuvalu]

First up- Anna!
View attachment 78516 View attachment 78517

It happened fairly often that Sage would plan on questions she wanted to ask a character, but then when we actually got in there, she would get all shy and not talk at all. She had a question planned for Anna but insisted that I ask her instead. I'm sure Anna gets it all the time but I couldn't resist. I said "Whats that smell"? And she said "mmmm chocolate!' She and Sage both started giggling. It was very cute.
View attachment 78518

And finally, the moment Sage had been waiting for all week. ELSA! When it was her turn, she let out a big squeal and ran up to her.
View attachment 78519
They compared icy powers, and talked for a bit. She was a very nice Elsa.
View attachment 78520 View attachment 78521

One last hug!
View attachment 78522

It was a dream come true for Sage!

It was then time for our BOG FP, it was almost 2pm by this point and the restaurant was still packed. Even though we had a FP, we waited in line for quite a bit. And even though we had pre ordered, we still had to go to a kiosk to verify our order. So I'm not sure that even saved us any time. We were in a bit of a hurry. Since Sage didn't want to see the parade on our first MK day, we had to see it today! The parade was at 3 so we were doing our best to be efficient.
The inside of BOG is gorgeous! We walked through all the rooms and Sage really wanted to sit in the ballroom. Our cupcakes were brought over and we asked for waters as well. We were told to go up the drink station and help ourselves. So that was a nice surprise. We were able to get coffee/soda/etc at no extra charge. Some pictures from our visit:
View attachment 78523 View attachment 78524 View attachment 78526

Though you were not aware, sodas and coffee are not free at Be Our Guest. You order your beverage at the kiosk when you order everything else. As you learned, the cups are located next to the beverage dispensers. Water is free of course, but other beverages are supposed to have been paid for. Just an FYI for next time .

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Ah ok thanks. I'm sure that happens all the time, you would think they would have caught on by now. I'm sure people will take advantage and it will soon be changed. If you order water, as we did, they should bring water to your table. We thought it was odd that each room had its own drink station. That's why we assumed it was free. There was no one there monitoring it at all.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Be prepared for lots of parade pictures!! It was my first time seeing Festival of Fantasy and wow! It's amazing!!