Trip Report *COMPLETED* No bouche for you! But do you want to build a snowman?

Hello all! We've been back for almost two weeks now, and while the holidays are still winding down, I still wish I was back in Disney so I figured I'd get this TR started! First the intros -

Who: Myself (Frank), my wife K, and our 4 year old princess C. This would be our second trip as a family in just as many years. I had been many times when I was younger with my family, and K had been a few times in the past. Once we hit college years we had stopped (for some reason), but after last year we were hooked (again for me).

Also joining for the first half were my in-laws, G & P. They prefer to not have pictures on the internet, so they won’t be visibly appearing in this report.

When: December 9 - 15th 2018 (G & P were the 9th - 12th)

Where: Caribbean Beach Resort, stayed in Aruba 4626. I've always wanted to try this resort, and when I saw the concept art for the renovations I was really excited. We knew it was a risk that construction could get pushed back (and I started getting really nervous in August/September), but with a free dining promotion it was a deal I couldn't pass up! I'll give my thoughts on the resort including the renovations in the report.

Why: I detailed this more in the PTR, but long story short - we're expecting a little mouseketeer in April, and wanted one more big trip just the three of us. Plus the past year had it's ups and down and we could use a good vacation to round out the year. 65 days out G&P asked if they could join, and while it meant re-arranging a bit, we figured the more the merrier!

What this trip report has in store for you: Transportation failures, face-stuffing and imbibing, magic band failures, scooter drama, seasonal merriment, DVC dilemmas (do we join? you'll have to find out!) and of course quite a bit of magic.

 

[sheriffwoody]

As a quick aside - I have to admit that I had a bit of a pause before continuing on with this TR. Not sure if anyone follows Tim Tracker (I'm sure some do on here), but over the weekend he and his wife announced their pregnancy, which got surprisingly nasty. People were commenting some truly awful things, including threats and apparently some even found out where they and their family members lived. Apparently this is actually pretty common in the "DisTwitter" community, even though that is to an extreme. I don't understand how people who consider themselves a part of a community focused on the Happiest place on Earth could be so nasty, especially about something so wonderful.

I missed the drama (other than seeing her tweets) but did see their announcement. I don't understand how people can turn that into a bad thing! Some people just don't deserve the internet I hope it doesn't spoil their excitement...I mean I know it has to a little, but maybe they'll be able to put all that behind them. Honestly if it was me, I might just say F youtube and try to go back to being anonymous. I don't have the personality for fame, even small-time fame

 

[Songbird76]

As a quick aside - I have to admit that I had a bit of a pause before continuing on with this TR. Not sure if anyone follows Tim Tracker (I'm sure some do on here), but over the weekend he and his wife announced their pregnancy, which got surprisingly nasty. People were commenting some truly awful things, including threats and apparently some even found out where they and their family members lived. Apparently this is actually pretty common in the "DisTwitter" community, even though that is to an extreme. I don't understand how people who consider themselves a part of a community focused on the Happiest place on Earth could be so nasty, especially about something so wonderful.

Why in the world were people nasty about it? I have to admit, I don't follow Tim Tracker, and I had to google who his wife was when someone mentioned it in another thread, so maybe I'm missing some essential information about them. But....what's wrong with announcing a pregnancy?

 

[Songbird76]

I missed the drama (other than seeing her tweets) but did see their announcement. I don't understand how people can turn that into a bad thing! Some people just don't deserve the internet I hope it doesn't spoil their excitement...I mean I know it has to a little, but maybe they'll be able to put all that behind them. Honestly if it was me, I might just say F youtube and try to go back to being anonymous. I don't have the personality for fame, even small-time fame

Exactly! I am not equipped for that kind of thing. People here keep asking me when they will see me on The Voice, and I say quarter to never. I have no desire to be famous, even on a smaller scale. But I guess it's not something you can really plan for. You don't know how many followers your channel will get on Youtube, but I'd never have thought that people on a DISNEY vlog would be so awful. You might expect it with certain things, but Disney??

 

[Spash007]

I missed the drama (other than seeing her tweets) but did see their announcement. I don't understand how people can turn that into a bad thing! Some people just don't deserve the internet I hope it doesn't spoil their excitement...I mean I know it has to a little, but maybe they'll be able to put all that behind them. Honestly if it was me, I might just say F youtube and try to go back to being anonymous. I don't have the personality for fame, even small-time fame

Exactly! I am not equipped for that kind of thing. People here keep asking me when they will see me on The Voice, and I say quarter to never. I have no desire to be famous, even on a smaller scale. But I guess it's not something you can really plan for. You don't know how many followers your channel will get on Youtube, but I'd never have thought that people on a DISNEY vlog would be so awful. You might expect it with certain things, but Disney??

Exactly, putting my picture on this site is enough fame for me haha. But a pregnancy? I don't get how that could even cause someone to feel something negative. I don't know if for them if their youtube channel has become a major source of income (I still have no idea how vloggers make money but I think it does for some), but then I would feel even worse if they "had to" keep posting unless they wanted to get a new career.

 

[Spash007]

Hope all the moms on here had a great day yesterday! Back to the last day.

Because this was different than normal, and there was going to be an 11 am FoF parade, next to nobody was lined up for it. We found a spot right along the Frontierland shops outside the candy shop.

A 4 year old outside a candy shop meant she had to go in, and with plenty of snack credits left, why not? After A LOT of deliberation, she settled with some sort of cake pop and we headed back outside.

Soon after, a friend came by for a visit. It was such a surprise, that this was the best shot I got.

It was around this time that K was on her phone... "Oh no" she says. "What??" I reply, thinking something happened back home. "You know that BTMR FP we had for 11? It's for 11 pm...."

Completely our fault, we should've checked the time but we get into a habit of assuming the park closes before then and that 11 means am. The wait for both BTMR and Splash both weren't awful at this point, so while disappointed, I figured we could get on after the parade.

I headed across the way to the carts and got K a pretzel, and myself a churro. While in line, the girls kept taking selfie's, and weren't moving up when there was space in front of them. Maybe I'm anxious, maybe I'm a jerk, maybe it's because I'm a New Yorker - but I HATE open spaces in a line. Just move! I was also getting a little worried as it was getting super close to 11, and I didn't want to get stuck on this side of the route.

Don't worry though, soon after I got back to K and C, an announcement came on saying the parade would be delayed. It wasn't raining any more, but I guess the ground was too wet? The announcement came on 3 or 4 more times, and we were erally wondering if it was going to be cancelled. Meanwhile, I was realizing that our chance of getting on BTMR or Splash were going down every minute we were just waiting. It just seemed to be a huge waste of time on our last day.

And I'll admit - I was becoming a major grump. K called me out on it, so I had to take a few minutes to try to relax. Going in to this trip, the one ride I wanted to go on was Splash since we didn't last year. With C's fear of getting splashed, I was ok with subbing BTMR. But now neither was going to happen. I've waited 15+ years since I last went on them, so while it stinks to wait longer, what's a few more years I told myself. This trip was about C, she was having a blast, and that was what mattered.

With some forced cheerfullness, around 11:25 the parade finally started. Albeit in a shortened version. Some of the Princesses weren't out, as weren't some of the other dances or Pinocchio.

 

[Spash007]

More FoF pics.

At least C's favorite was in it.

I never noticed her brother's were on the float!

And then what happens, but Daisy comes over and plants a kiss right on top of C's head. This of course cheers me up, and gets rid of the remainder of my foul mood, and now I'm just sad we're going to be leaving soon.

 

[Spash007]

As the parade wrapped up, I took a look at MDE with one last hope but Splash and BTMR were both over 30 minute waits, and we weren't going to be able to get them in. Ok, we probably could have fit one in it turns out, but it seemed to be too close so we forged on.

We went back to Country Bears, which would be another new one for us. Lore has it that back when I was about C's age, my mom and I would hang out in Country Bears while my dad and sister rode Splash and BTMR. Apparently I loved it back then, so I was really excited to see it again.

And it was definitely interesting. It's different than anything else in Disney for sure, but the quirkiness I think adds to it's charm and hilarity. Hearing the eyes on the AAs click is odd, and half the AAs look to have been up to some nefarious behavior before the show. It was nothing like what we expected (and I left questioning my childhood), but it was definitely a fun time.

After we left the Bears, we started making our way to the front of the park through Liberty Square.

I believe I stopped in the Christmas store to see if they had anything unique, but found it was just the same Christmas decor sold throughout the parks,

I realized that this is actually when we stopped to watch some of the Great Moments in American History.

We didn't stay for the whole show, but we enjoyed what we saw.

Rounding back to Main Street.

 

[Spash007]

As luck would have it, right when we were passing through the hub, the rain day equivalent of Friendship Faire started. It was interesting because they announced the show was cancelled, but would present some entertainment for those waiting.

It was getting hot and sticky at this time, so pulled off to the side in front of CP to watch,

It was a really fun and spontaneous way to end the trip!

After missing out on the lantern pictures, K had one more thing she hoped to accomplish: a silhouette picture of C. I never knew they did these, but there;s a little cart off of Main Street by the Jewelers where they make a silhouette of you for a very reasonable price.

We expected them to take a picture of C, and then black it out and print it. But the man did it all free hand. We got an extra for G&P, including two frames that were only I think $5 more!

We then had one more FP to use up on our way out. I was trying to stall as much as possible and kept popping into stores to see if there was anything interesting. IIRC we were fish going upstream at this point as the Christmas crowds were finally here and heading into the park.

 

[Spash007]

I'll admit I was thinking of putting off the final posts, because it really is almost as bad as ending the trip itself! But, after 6 months, I figure it's time to round this thing out.

We had one more FP left - to meet Tinkerbell. We started the trip by meeting Mickey, and ending by meeting Tink seemed to come full circle. In the FP queue there was a larger family behind us with one older kid who was super excited to meet Tink. She kept bumping into us, cutting in front of us etc. The family was really nice and kept apologizing, and we told them we totally get it and not to worry about it. Obnoxious people I don't like - Excited kids who forget their manners because they are THAT excited I don't mind. It's actually kind of endearing to see people so purely happy.

Soon enough we were in Pixie Hollow, and we were all blown away by the details.

I thought I got a picture of it, but apparently not, but there was a strangely disguised corner that I assumed was the photography box.

When we got closer to Tink, her personality was super bubbly, her voice was high pitched, and we were kind of relieved when the lady behind us also seemed suprised someone could be THAT excited all the time. I believe our conversation with her had to do with the special Pixie Dust Tink must have back stage to keep up that persona for so long.

Anyway, soon enough it was C's turn to meet Tink, and like always she ran right up for a hug.

For all my snarkiness about Tink's personality, this was an awesome M&G and was one of the top of the trip. She was so into character it was exactly what we needed to end the trip on.

I believe this was when C showed Tink the ornament for her to sign.

I remember Tink kept talking to her about Pixie Dust and if C had ever flown before. Before this trip C knew Tinkerbell and liked her, and afterwards she started absolutely loving the character.

A bit blurry, but an enthuastic high five good bye

 

[Spash007]

We finished up with Tink a bit before 1, and had about 2 hours before our TE came to pick us up. Being at the front of Main Street there wasn't much else for us to do except to mosy around and take in some of the last details of the park.

We realized we didn't take any PP pictures in front of the trees in any of the parks, so we got o n the relatively short line for one.

At this point it was humid, and as you can tell in the pictures, a lot of people were coming in to the park. We were glad that we had the time in the park that we did, but were content in that it was time to leave. It was odd - we weren't as sad about leaving this time as last. I think it had to do with the trip itself, the crowds coming in, exhaustion and also the time of year. There was so much Christmas stuff to do back home, that our minds were getting antsy to start on that.

Still, I remember I had a big sigh as we walked under the Main Street RR bridge realizing that it was all over.

A CBR bus came pretty quickly after we got in line, and off we went. When we got back to OPR we were hungry and had over an hour to kill, so we grabbed some food in Centertown to use up our last QS credits. I got the Turkey Sandwich with a Red Stripe (now that they're included in the QS why not!), K got a burger and C got a pizza. The food was good, but nothing amazing (of course I didn't take any pictures).

We then headed into the store to use up our last snack credits, and to see if there was anything else we wanted. When we were there C mentioned she wanted something. She's the type of kid who never asks for stuff in stores (except for a month ago when that's all she did), and she really didn't get a lot of souvenirs this trip, so we said ok. Considering she doesn't understand the cost of things yet, this could have gone sideways, but luckily she was between a pen and a keychain. she chose the pen, which had all the Princesses on it, and that she actually uses a lot now!

We then took our turns using the restroom and hung out in the lobby a bit.

I loved that there were some hidden Mickeys to "Disneyfy" the space!

When I was in the men's room, I heard one of the songs they were playing in OPR throughout the trip - it was along the lines of "We Wish you a Reggae Christmas". It was odd the first time we heard it, but we got so used to it, and I realized I was actually going to miss it! It probably personifies our stay more than any other song this trip.

Soon we headed out front and collected our last carry on bag from bell services. I once again enjoyed this light fixture

And right on time, our TE showed up.

As we were on board, I found it a bit strange that the rep on the video from MCO really emphasized that MCO is a "continuation of the Orlando experience". That part kept replaying my head when we were in the airport...

After getting a bit lost, we found our way to security and were met with biggest cluster I've seen in an airport. We sat for afew minutes to go through our bags and remove drinks, and since it was also very humid in the airport, K and I both took some tylenol because we felt headaches coming on from the temperature at the very least. When we were sitting there, we over heard an employee tell a frazzled traveler that "this is nothing, usually the line extends pass this point".

We finally get in a line that is moving beyond slow to a TSA agent to check our ticket. From what we could tell, once you got through this line you went into a holding area that was hardly moving at all. This was then backing up the line we were in. Finally, as we were a few people back from that first TSA agent, the lady in front of us kept moving around her boarding pass. Going into one pocket, back into her hand. Into her pants pocket, into her bag etc. Considering I get extremely nervous about losing my boarding pass (K now holds onto it for me so I don't stress as much), I was getting agita just watching this.

Sure enough, as she approached the TSA agent, she couldn't find it. And she also couldn't speak English, so she had a major communication issue with the TSA agent. After a few minutes, and when he was starting to wave us to come up, she found it. K and I looked at each other and quiety agreed that in the holding area we had to get away from that lady to not hold us up.

Once we made it through, the holding area was not moving AT ALL. They were pretty much just cramming more people in, but no one was coming out. The family in front of us sat down, and of course C then wanted to as well. Normally I'd be a little skeeved about her sitting on the floor in such a busy place, but I felt for her here as I really wanted to sit too to be honest.

Finally they opened a few new security lanes, and because were near the edge of the holding pen, we were able to get right in one line and fly through. That is, until they took 2 of our 3 bags off the belt

I went over to the TSA agent to claim them, and they gave me one right away. The other they kept scanning, before the agent asked if they could look inside. Being the nervous airport goer I am, I was getting antsy, but then she told me she had an idea of what it was, but had to be sure. Sure enough, she was right - it was C's candy apple from the Big Top! Apparently that comes across as an odd shape, and they have to check them a lot of times.

With that behind us, we headed to the fonorail, before settling in to some seats and getting some food. Our food options were poor, I think we got some sandwiches from a cooler in a deli, and just sat for a bit. We were all exhausted at this point, K and mine nerves were shot, and C was starting to get antsy.

Finally it was time to board around 6 pm, and we couldn't wait to get home. That relief though was upended when the pilot mentioned that he would try to have the seat belt signs off, but to be prepared for a rough flight.

The first half was ok, but the last 45 minutes were probably the bumpiest I've ever dealt with. There was a huge rain storm covering the east coast, and I guess that meant he had to take a slow descent which meant we were in it for a very long time. Put it this way - I ran out of prayers, and decided I want to drive next time.

Finally we landed (a bit early none the less!) in a very wet and cold Northern Virginia, and went to claim our bags.

At least the airport was decorated.

There was a bit of a delay in the bags coming out, but it wasn't too bad. For having skipped a nap, being 8:30 pm and having been in Disney for a week, C was a champ and stood patiently to wait.

On the way out we had some issues finding the parking shuttle (there were signs for a bus one way, and a shuttle the other). We only had to dip into the rain here for a bit, and were soon on the bus. Luckily I parked the car earlier in the week somewhat close to the bus stop, as it was pouring when we got there. I offered to bring the car for K and C, but they were game for running through the rain. I gave them the car keys while they ran to the car, and I got the bags over. Soon enough we were in the car, C fell asleep and we arrived home.

First thing I did? Turn on the Christmas tree! We got a second wind, had a quick dinner and got to bed.

I'll post my final thoughts on the trip in a bit, as well as any future plans. Thank you though for anyone who followed along - it was a lot of fun reliving the trip here, and definitely helped with the PDD!

 

[krisri18]

We finished up with Tink a bit before 1, and had about 2 hours before our TE came to pick us up. Being at the front of Main Street there wasn't much else for us to do except to mosy around and take in some of the last details of the park.

View attachment 372535

View attachment 372536

We realized we didn't take any PP pictures in front of the trees in any of the parks, so we got o n the relatively short line for one.

View attachment 372537

At this point it was humid, and as you can tell in the pictures, a lot of people were coming in to the park. We were glad that we had the time in the park that we did, but were content in that it was time to leave. It was odd - we weren't as sad about leaving this time as last. I think it had to do with the trip itself, the crowds coming in, exhaustion and also the time of year. There was so much Christmas stuff to do back home, that our minds were getting antsy to start on that.

Still, I remember I had a big sigh as we walked under the Main Street RR bridge realizing that it was all over.

View attachment 372538

A CBR bus came pretty quickly after we got in line, and off we went. When we got back to OPR we were hungry and had over an hour to kill, so we grabbed some food in Centertown to use up our last QS credits. I got the Turkey Sandwich with a Red Stripe (now that they're included in the QS why not!), K got a burger and C got a pizza. The food was good, but nothing amazing (of course I didn't take any pictures).

We then headed into the store to use up our last snack credits, and to see if there was anything else we wanted. When we were there C mentioned she wanted something. She's the type of kid who never asks for stuff in stores (except for a month ago when that's all she did), and she really didn't get a lot of souvenirs this trip, so we said ok. Considering she doesn't understand the cost of things yet, this could have gone sideways, but luckily she was between a pen and a keychain. she chose the pen, which had all the Princesses on it, and that she actually uses a lot now!

We then took our turns using the restroom and hung out in the lobby a bit.

View attachment 372539

I loved that there were some hidden Mickeys to "Disneyfy" the space!
View attachment 372540

When I was in the men's room, I heard one of the songs they were playing in OPR throughout the trip - it was along the lines of "We Wish you a Reggae Christmas". It was odd the first time we heard it, but we got so used to it, and I realized I was actually going to miss it! It probably personifies our stay more than any other song this trip.

Soon we headed out front and collected our last carry on bag from bell services. I once again enjoyed this light fixture

View attachment 372542

And right on time, our TE showed up.

View attachment 372543

As we were on board, I found it a bit strange that the rep on the video from MCO really emphasized that MCO is a "continuation of the Orlando experience". That part kept replaying my head when we were in the airport...

After getting a bit lost, we found our way to security and were met with biggest cluster I've seen in an airport. We sat for afew minutes to go through our bags and remove drinks, and since it was also very humid in the airport, K and I both took some tylenol because we felt headaches coming on from the temperature at the very least. When we were sitting there, we over heard an employee tell a frazzled traveler that "this is nothing, usually the line extends pass this point".

We finally get in a line that is moving beyond slow to a TSA agent to check our ticket. From what we could tell, once you got through this line you went into a holding area that was hardly moving at all. This was then backing up the line we were in. Finally, as we were a few people back from that first TSA agent, the lady in front of us kept moving around her boarding pass. Going into one pocket, back into her hand. Into her pants pocket, into her bag etc. Considering I get extremely nervous about losing my boarding pass (K now holds onto it for me so I don't stress as much), I was getting agita just watching this.

Sure enough, as she approached the TSA agent, she couldn't find it. And she also couldn't speak English, so she had a major communication issue with the TSA agent. After a few minutes, and when he was starting to wave us to come up, she found it. K and I looked at each other and quiety agreed that in the holding area we had to get away from that lady to not hold us up.

Once we made it through, the holding area was not moving AT ALL. They were pretty much just cramming more people in, but no one was coming out. The family in front of us sat down, and of course C then wanted to as well. Normally I'd be a little skeeved about her sitting on the floor in such a busy place, but I felt for her here as I really wanted to sit too to be honest.

Finally they opened a few new security lanes, and because were near the edge of the holding pen, we were able to get right in one line and fly through. That is, until they took 2 of our 3 bags off the belt

I went over to the TSA agent to claim them, and they gave me one right away. The other they kept scanning, before the agent asked if they could look inside. Being the nervous airport goer I am, I was getting antsy, but then she told me she had an idea of what it was, but had to be sure. Sure enough, she was right - it was C's candy apple from the Big Top! Apparently that comes across as an odd shape, and they have to check them a lot of times.

With that behind us, we headed to the fonorail, before settling in to some seats and getting some food. Our food options were poor, I think we got some sandwiches from a cooler in a deli, and just sat for a bit. We were all exhausted at this point, K and mine nerves were shot, and C was starting to get antsy.

View attachment 372544

Finally it was time to board around 6 pm, and we couldn't wait to get home. That relief though was upended when the pilot mentioned that he would try to have the seat belt signs off, but to be prepared for a rough flight.

The first half was ok, but the last 45 minutes were probably the bumpiest I've ever dealt with. There was a huge rain storm covering the east coast, and I guess that meant he had to take a slow descent which meant we were in it for a very long time. Put it this way - I ran out of prayers, and decided I want to drive next time.

Finally we landed (a bit early none the less!) in a very wet and cold Northern Virginia, and went to claim our bags.

At least the airport was decorated.

View attachment 372546

There was a bit of a delay in the bags coming out, but it wasn't too bad. For having skipped a nap, being 8:30 pm and having been in Disney for a week, C was a champ and stood patiently to wait.

On the way out we had some issues finding the parking shuttle (there were signs for a bus one way, and a shuttle the other). We only had to dip into the rain here for a bit, and were soon on the bus. Luckily I parked the car earlier in the week somewhat close to the bus stop, as it was pouring when we got there. I offered to bring the car for K and C, but they were game for running through the rain. I gave them the car keys while they ran to the car, and I got the bags over. Soon enough we were in the car, C fell asleep and we arrived home.

First thing I did? Turn on the Christmas tree! We got a second wind, had a quick dinner and got to bed.

I'll post my final thoughts on the trip in a bit, as well as any future plans. Thank you though for anyone who followed along - it was a lot of fun reliving the trip here, and definitely helped with the PDD!

It's always the apple! Had the same thing happen to me last spring (and mine was just a plain old regular apple) but the TSA agent wouldn't tell me why they pulled my bag (plus lots of other people's) and no one was coming over to check them! I think we waited at least 30 mins before someone was finally checking the pulled bags. All that fuss for an !

 

[TheMouseFan]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! I really enjoyed following along!

 

[sheriffwoody]

MCO is pretty much the only reason we got TSA precheck The security lines are almost always madness!

 

[Tuvalu]

I feel for you with return airport travel at MCO, @Spash007. My last three attempts to leave that place have been the pits. Driving next trip!

Enjoyed your report and C is a real cutie.

 

[Spash007]

It's always the apple! Had the same thing happen to me last spring (and mine was just a plain old regular apple) but the TSA agent wouldn't tell me why they pulled my bag (plus lots of other people's) and no one was coming over to check them! I think we waited at least 30 mins before someone was finally checking the pulled bags. All that fuss for an !

At least we were lucky that they looked pretty quickly! I don't even want to know what an apple can look like that they make all that fuss!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! I really enjoyed following along!

Thanks for reading!

MCO is pretty much the only reason we got TSA precheck The security lines are almost always madness!

We don't fly that often so we never got it before, but we may before our next trip!

I feel for you with return airport travel at MCO, @Spash007. My last three attempts to leave that place have been the pits. Driving next trip!

Enjoyed your report and C is a real cutie.

Thanks for reading! I'm really leaning towards driving, but 12 hours with 2 young kids may not be much better, so I might look into pre-check for now.

 

[Spash007]

Final Thoughts

This trip was definitely different in a lot of ways, and while a lot were good (I'll get to those in a second), there were some negatives too. I'd be lying to say I wasn't disappointed we didn't get on 7DMT, BTMR and Splash. When we left I was wondering how that was even possible considering I felt like we even overdid it in some ways this trip. I knew we did extras, BBB for example, but this TR really helped me get my thoughts together on all those things that were worth it that we did instead. We ate extra TS meals, we repeated favorite rides, we did A LOT of M&Gs. A lot of things that made great memories, which is really the purpose for this trip.

For the hotel - CBR is lovely, especially the grounds. I never stayed there before the renovation, but the new OPR is gorgeous. The pool was wonderful and the rooms while a little dated, worked great for us. One of my biggest regrets is not taking more advantage of the resort amenities, especially watching the fireworks from the beach or doing the nightly campfire. The biggest downfall for us of the resort was that it was bigger than we pictured. While having the bus stop close to our room was really convenient, I missed going through the lobby every day as a "home base". Also, I have to agree with @TheMouseFan in her latest report - the service wasn't there. Nothing really bad happened, but overall the service was more on the negative than the positive. Add in that on on the CBR FB groups it appears some guests get a ton of extras (balloons, treasure chests etc), and others have been being bumped because it's overbooked. I don't think we'll stay here again too soon, at least until they figure out a consistent customer service strategy.

Once again we were on the meal plan because we got it for free. While that's great, and I think we actually got pretty good value out of it, next time we will be skipping it. We feel like we have to go to a certain number of restaurants, and also only go to the ones that would be good value (skipping places like the Plaza, or Beaches and Cream because we can't justify using the plan). We also do want to try another sig next time because Citrico's was amazing. Luckily C is the type of kid who (usually) can handle a restaurant like that. Let's hope her brother is the same way.

I think in some ways we also pushed too hard in the beginning this trip. From MVMCP the first night, to a full day of Epcot > Citricos > HEA, and then staying all day at AK with a late dinner , we were exhausted and our bellies were too full. I want to figure out a way to get in the nighttime shows (we didn't even see TSL or Pandora at night!) and also get some earlier nights in at the resort for next time. Extra days maybe? We'll see.

MVMCP was awesome and would definitely do it again. Maybe we lucked out since the crowds weren't awful, but the parade was a highlight of the trip. Overall we really enjoyed going this time of year, since the crowds were manageable, the holiday decorations were up the temperature was pleasant.

Traveling with the in-laws was actually great! It was kind of nice to have extra people along for the ride, and it didn't hurt to have someone else who could go on EE and TT with me. Traveling with larger groups definitely depends on the people involved though, so I think we're pretty lucky that we all get along well.

We were very concerned about going when K was pregnant, and overall it worked out better than expected. If she continued to need the ECV that might have been a different story, especially once her parents left. I definitely have a new found respect for people who have the stress of the ECV!

Favorite meals were by far Citrico's, CRT and Crystal Palace. The Cantina was really great, as was the mac and cheese in AK. I'm sorry to say Boma was a prey big disappointment. Besides MVMCP, my favorite day was probably AK, since we did just slow down and enjoy it. I wish we would have had more time in Epcot to enjoy WS some more, but I feel we did make the best of the time we had there.

As for future plans, we're probably taking a break for a bit, just because life is crazy. Two kids in daycare = $$$, we probably want to move from our townhouse into a single family, and C and her brother are on such different schedules right now, it would mean a lot of splitting up which we want to avoid. Tentatively we're looking at December 2021, and would probably rent DVC points at either Beach Club or Bay Lake. We would probably still need to do rider switch quite a bit, and with all the new attractions by then, and trying to satisfy at 3 year old boy and a 7 year old girl, you bet I already started a spreadsheet. And to help with the Disney blues . There is a VERY slight possibility K will have a conference next spring in Disney, but in no way am I counting on it.

Thank you all for reading along, and as this post really showed me - I apologize for any times I was too verbose. Sometimes I over-explain and/or share too much, so thank you for dealing with it all!

In ending, here's a few final pictures:

These are the ornaments we had the characters sign. K made most of them, and I did a few. Sofia was definitely my pride and joy.

It's funny to think 5 short years ago our goal was to have our tree be mostly red and silver. Now it's colored with a Disney explosion!

The day we got back, all C wanted to do was see her puppy brother Toby. When she was first born he was definitely confused what to do with her, and even still is getting used to taking commands from her, but the love of these two is great. He actually walks the best when she's holding the leash, even though I'm very careful about being nearby when she does.

So until next time, I'll be following along on everyone else's adventures, and be living vicariously through you. I do have all of the pictures from our 2017 trip and @riverside has given me some ideas to do a post dated TR because that trip was even better than this one!

Thanks again for letting me share this all with you

 

[Swissmiss]

Thanks for sharing with us . I’ll be looking out for your 2017 TR

 

[KellBelle]

Thank you again! Your family is beautiful and your trip looked like it was awesome! Congrats on the new addition.

 

[sheriffwoody]

We don't fly that often so we never got it before, but we may before our next trip!

I don't either...or didn't. I have the last couple of years, but I don't see that continuing. I love that it's good for 5 years! It felt worth it even if we only flew once a year. My husband travels for work occasionally, so his work paid for it.

 

[ELeigh]

Great TR Would love to read about the 2017 trip if you decide to share.