Trip Report Spoiler Alert. No Pandora, but Flowers and Gardens and Waves Galore.

Time for my first trip report!!! Exciting! First off going to tag some people in no particular order. @21stamps , @figmentfan423 , @Gabe1 , @betty rose , @littleroo, @Tony the Tigger , @donaldtoo, @Mr Ferret 88 , @Tuvalu , @TheMouseFan , @blgauger , @bee , @Cesar R M , @Songbird76 , @StarWarsGirl , @MinnieM123 , @MOXOMUMD , @ajrwdwgirl , @93boomer , @Courtney6682 , @amjt660 , @Doc Disney , @Goofyernmost @everybody

If you haven't read the ptr here is a link to it.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/our-hopefully-pandora-thrown-in-f-g-trip-2017.925406/

The planning for this trip May 19-27 started in November last year after I received a precious pin code in my email. I couldn't say no to that.

Eventually I ended up getting a better rate when the AP discounts came out(dh had an AP at the time), so I rebooked for the same resort, The Cabins at Fort Wilderness.

Who was going: me, dh, and the 4 kiddos(dd15, ds13, dd9, dd6). Who we were leaving at home(3 dogs, 3 cats, 1 cockatiel, and a dear SIL who was housesitting for a price. )

 

[21stamps]

I loved this trip. We were not stressed. We kind of went with the flow. We gave the kids downtime without feeling we needed to do everything. The water parks were amazing! Those were some of our funnest days. We didn't need to worry about lines or crowds.
We did just get back this past Saturday from a trip to our happy place celebrating dd15's Sweet 16, which was why we upgraded to AP's. We will definitely try and avoid going back in the middle of summer. It was incredibly crowded and we were done with the parks by noon at the latest. I was also bummed that there was no Sounds of Summer concert series. I will get to a tr on this trip at some point. I still have loads of others tr's to catch up on. Thanks to everyone who followed along!

I loved your report!! Thanks so much for writing it!

I have to say that I am so impressed with how much you accomplished each day without feeling stressed. I took notes

I also just can't get over your WS photos!! It's been so crowded during our last 2 times at Epcot..I'm going to try early morning next time.

Can't wait to read your next one! Happy Sweet 16 to your daughter!

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

SIL came down to our abode in PA from NJ on Wednesday night, the 16. The plan was for us to leave when dh was done with work around lunch time on Thursday. I had packed the week before and had all the luggage down and packed in the car by the time dh came home 1 hour ahead of schedule!! Would that extra hour mean we would get to our overnight destination in Savannah an hour earlier then we expected?? Well, we live in South Central PA so we do have to drive through VA which in the past has been a bad state to drive through for us. Got stuck on 95 last summer without any movement due to a massive pile up. This was at 3 in the morning.

Luggage packed with a curious sniffing pup(Hershey), wondering what is going on .
View attachment 208679 View attachment 208680 The clock is 30 minutes fast. I hate being late for anything. The radio station got changed by the time we were down the driveway. (Overplayed song).

following. Love your little dog! We had a bichon, too, and loved it so much. Can't wait to hear your adventure

 

[Tuvalu]

Thanks for sharing your family fun. And welcome to the "go on another vacay before finishing a TR" club.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

I loved your report!! Thanks so much for writing it!

I have to say that I am so impressed with how much you accomplished each day without feeling stressed. I took notes

I also just can't get over your WS photos!! It's been so crowded during our last 2 times at Epcot..I'm going to try early morning next time.

Can't wait to read your next one! Happy Sweet 16 to your daughter!

Thank you! Hope you enjoyed your July vacation! Hitting WS in the early AM makes for a beautiful morning. Don't know when I will do a tr of the bday trip. I should have done a live one. As I did not take as many pics it may have been easier to do it that way. I will see how my time goes.

following. Love your little dog! We had a bichon, too, and loved it so much. Can't wait to hear your adventure

Thank you for reading along!! Hershey is half Bichon and half Cavalier. He is a sweet dog!

Thanks for sharing your family fun. And welcome to the "go on another vacay before finishing a TR" club.

Hooray! A member of a Tuvalu club. If only we lived 6 hours closer. Unfortunately we won't be back until May. Hoping to read a lot more tr's from you while waiting for our next trip.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Great report of a great family adventure
Look forward to the next one

Max

Thanks Max! It was a memorable adventure. Great ages for traveling with kids!

So does your DD6 steal your food? My dd did that everywhere...I had some sort of rice at Sanaa...she fell in love with it and ended up eating more than half. We go to a restaurant here and she picks off my plate. Good thing I share well with others. LOL

Dd6 has an affinity for soup apparently. It is my only way of getting veggies in her.

Loved your report. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Thank you!! Glad you enjoyed it!

Sorry...I just started reading this....I've just gotten into TRs a lot lately and I have been reading a TON of them so it's slow going. But loving all the pictures. What is the violet lemonade? Violet as in the flower? I need to try that!!

Violet as in flower. Yep! A violet is placed on top of the drink. Do you know the Violet candies? They are purple and have a perfumey smell. I think it is a combo of that flavor and lemonade. It is truly yummy! Wish they offered it all year.

Don't fool yourself....those birds are THIEVES! One of them got on our table at TL and stole my DS's fish right off his plate. Handouts indeed!

It was so funny watching the birds! Yes they are sneaky little buggers, but very smart.

Looks like it was a great trip! Thank you for the POFQ pics. I miss that place. I wasn't sure how I felt about the decor changes they made to Sassagoula Float Works, but I am glad that they added the beads.

Being the mom of older kids, one being close to the age of the son in the dynamic duo you encountered, I blame Pinterest. Many of my friends, when they are revisiting places, are in to re-enacting pictures from when the kiddo was little. I am guessing this mom probably got it in her head that not only did it have to be on the carousel (which would have been enough for me), but was probably going for the exact same horses. Every time we go, I try and get pics of the kids on the speeder by Star Tours.

I really love POFQ. I did not know they had gotten rid of the beads at some point. The kids always try and grab some when we eat there.

Yep! We've been here since the 10th. Can't wait to enjoy Epcot in all its glory in the spring!

Congrats on the move! Lucky!!!! No more snow shoveling for you. Jealous.

All finished! Your trip was a good one except for the gobs of people and heat. Plus, the rude lady on the carousel. Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I never have gotten around to doing one. Too much going on when we returned so probably skipping it. Also, thanks for showing our fav resort POFQ at the end. Made me smile!!

Glad the pics could make you smile!!

If my son had picked out that horse and was already sitting on it, the tears wouldn't have been fake. It would have been interesting to see what she did. Perhaps she has some sort of mental illness or something?

I guess she is tough having older siblings. Either that or she noticed how calm I was and fed off my demeanor. I did not want her fussed.

Imagination was one of my kids' favorites last summer. We did it several times. They LOVED it. DD just mentioned it yesterday that she missed it and wished we could go back this year.

We did that ride a few times on our trip last week, or was it 2 weeks ago. Time is zoomimg by.

 

[King Racoon 77]

Great TR

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Great TR

Thank you! Your trip is just around the corner.