June 10- We got a 10 o'clock check in at All-Star Sports Resort and swam for a few hours. Later that night we met a family member at T-Rex which was cute but terribly unorganized. It was similar to Rainforest Cafe and a little too loud for me. We also shopped at Basin and World of Disney.
June 11th- We woke up early to go to Magic Kingdom. We had early Fastpasses for Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad, and Haunted Mansion. We also met Rapunzel, Cinderella, Merida, Snow White. We also met Talking Mickey, which was a blast! That meet and greet and the Tinkerbell one are both highly underrated, so much fun! Since we were on the meal plan we had 8.45PM reservations at Crystal Palace but luckily got in at 6.45PM. One lady was arguing she had early reservations but they were showing up much later. She was screaming and making a scene. When she finally got in she was calling over the manager trying to say she already paid for her meal in advance, this went on for over an hour... She was not the only scammer we encountered that day, the Rapunzel line was 45 minutes and the Anna and Elsa line was over an hour. A mother and her daughter went all the way through the Rapunzel line and claimed they were in the wrong line.
June 12th- We unfortunately woke up to shocking news of the Pulse night club shooting. We went to down to the food court for breakfast and for the first time we saw security in their. At 12.30PM we drove to Hollywood Studios. A good portion of the parking lot was empty. Nobody spoke of the shooting on the tram or in the parks, maybe they thought if nobody said anything it wasn't real. The "Disney bubble" is a real thing and it felt so distant even though the shooting was minutes away from our resort... We rode The Great Movie Ride and during the shooting scene you could see the color drain from people's faces, it just seemed inappropriate. On a lighter note we were very excited to meet Olaf, and even more excited when we saw the wait time was 5 minutes. I seriously believe most people have no idea you can meet him. When we sat down outside of Hollywood and Vine waiting for our pager to go off we read the news and saw ISIS took responsibility. I think the thought crossed all of ours heads "what if they target Disney?" but we also realized we cannot live our life in fear. Hollywood and Vine was wonderful, a great peaceful alternative to Chef Mickeys.
June 13th- The news came out that the terrorist was going to target Disney Springs. Every single item in our bag was removed we were sent through the metal detectors. I know some people are annoyed by this level of security but I encourage it, especially now. Epcot was especially hot. We wanted to meet Joy and Sadness so we headed to that line right away, it was only 30 minutes. We left the park around 3.00PM and swam at the resort. At 7.30PM we headed to The Grand Floridan for dinner. We sat in the lobby exactly 25 hours before the alligator attack. It was prospering and full of music, joy , and life. We had a blast at 1900 Park Fare.
June 14th- We ate at Ohana for the first time ever. We adore The Polynesian, it is always full of life. Ohana was very different from other character meals and we all loved it. We headed down to Animal Kingdom in the afternoon and stayed until 7.00PM. A few hours later a text crossed my phone reading that a little boy was attacked by an alligator at the Grand Floridan.
June 15th- We had an 8.00AM reservation at Grand Floridan, and it never felt so somber in that resort. Our hearts ached for those parents. The band was not playing and as we sat down on that familiar couch in the lobby instead of kids laughing and parents chatting we saw two friends hugging and talking about the horrific events that happened that night. We saw one lady calling a family member to let them know it was not her baby who was killed. While we were enjoying breakfast with Alice in wonderland and the mad hatter there was a family upstairs hysterically crying, we almost felt guilty for enjoying ourselves. The monorail ride was uncomfortable. We saw several boats and helicopters searching for his body. You could hear the faint whispers and see the parents shaking their heads. A group of children were saying " he should have listened to his mommy" and the mother was enabling it everyone's jaw dropped when one of her children said " he deserved to die " and her face flushed. I believe nobody was in the wrong. It was a freak accident. This family was from Nebraska and they most likely had no idea what lurks in Florida water. We spent a few hours in the park before packing up and heading home. The trip was not tainted but it was quite somber at parts.
June 11th- We woke up early to go to Magic Kingdom. We had early Fastpasses for Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad, and Haunted Mansion. We also met Rapunzel, Cinderella, Merida, Snow White. We also met Talking Mickey, which was a blast! That meet and greet and the Tinkerbell one are both highly underrated, so much fun! Since we were on the meal plan we had 8.45PM reservations at Crystal Palace but luckily got in at 6.45PM. One lady was arguing she had early reservations but they were showing up much later. She was screaming and making a scene. When she finally got in she was calling over the manager trying to say she already paid for her meal in advance, this went on for over an hour... She was not the only scammer we encountered that day, the Rapunzel line was 45 minutes and the Anna and Elsa line was over an hour. A mother and her daughter went all the way through the Rapunzel line and claimed they were in the wrong line.
June 12th- We unfortunately woke up to shocking news of the Pulse night club shooting. We went to down to the food court for breakfast and for the first time we saw security in their. At 12.30PM we drove to Hollywood Studios. A good portion of the parking lot was empty. Nobody spoke of the shooting on the tram or in the parks, maybe they thought if nobody said anything it wasn't real. The "Disney bubble" is a real thing and it felt so distant even though the shooting was minutes away from our resort... We rode The Great Movie Ride and during the shooting scene you could see the color drain from people's faces, it just seemed inappropriate. On a lighter note we were very excited to meet Olaf, and even more excited when we saw the wait time was 5 minutes. I seriously believe most people have no idea you can meet him. When we sat down outside of Hollywood and Vine waiting for our pager to go off we read the news and saw ISIS took responsibility. I think the thought crossed all of ours heads "what if they target Disney?" but we also realized we cannot live our life in fear. Hollywood and Vine was wonderful, a great peaceful alternative to Chef Mickeys.
June 13th- The news came out that the terrorist was going to target Disney Springs. Every single item in our bag was removed we were sent through the metal detectors. I know some people are annoyed by this level of security but I encourage it, especially now. Epcot was especially hot. We wanted to meet Joy and Sadness so we headed to that line right away, it was only 30 minutes. We left the park around 3.00PM and swam at the resort. At 7.30PM we headed to The Grand Floridan for dinner. We sat in the lobby exactly 25 hours before the alligator attack. It was prospering and full of music, joy , and life. We had a blast at 1900 Park Fare.
June 14th- We ate at Ohana for the first time ever. We adore The Polynesian, it is always full of life. Ohana was very different from other character meals and we all loved it. We headed down to Animal Kingdom in the afternoon and stayed until 7.00PM. A few hours later a text crossed my phone reading that a little boy was attacked by an alligator at the Grand Floridan.
June 15th- We had an 8.00AM reservation at Grand Floridan, and it never felt so somber in that resort. Our hearts ached for those parents. The band was not playing and as we sat down on that familiar couch in the lobby instead of kids laughing and parents chatting we saw two friends hugging and talking about the horrific events that happened that night. We saw one lady calling a family member to let them know it was not her baby who was killed. While we were enjoying breakfast with Alice in wonderland and the mad hatter there was a family upstairs hysterically crying, we almost felt guilty for enjoying ourselves. The monorail ride was uncomfortable. We saw several boats and helicopters searching for his body. You could hear the faint whispers and see the parents shaking their heads. A group of children were saying " he should have listened to his mommy" and the mother was enabling it everyone's jaw dropped when one of her children said " he deserved to die " and her face flushed. I believe nobody was in the wrong. It was a freak accident. This family was from Nebraska and they most likely had no idea what lurks in Florida water. We spent a few hours in the park before packing up and heading home. The trip was not tainted but it was quite somber at parts.
