Trip Report Shookie's Family Four Pack...Plus Two (I think that equals six)

Hey Everyone –

My daughter convinced me to jump back into the TR game.

She says this is going to be an epic trip, and I must agree.

It is the first time the family 4 pack is back together in almost three years (wooHOO)!

It's going to be our longest WDW/Uni Vacation ever (almost thirteen full days)!

Even more exciting?? We’ve got a couple of new (newbees) players in the game AND my daughter said she would help me along with the TR, so how can I not??

What I will be submitting for your approval is a

  • 1 Pre-Trip Report
  • 1 Live Trip Report

A regular old trip report seems like it MIGHT be too much work, but we will see.

Let’s start with this PTR and see where it takes us.


We are less than 2 weeks away from our “Epic Trip” so I probably shouldn’t waste anymore time.

Let’s get rolling.



The Players:

Shookie, Mrs. Shookie, Son, Daughter...and their other halves!
We've always been park commandos, squeeze every little bit out of our vacation type family, so this will be a true test for our kid's other halves. I should probably warn them...but what fun would that be?

The pressure is on.

Anyway - here we are:


Daughter: Avery (25)
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Son: Pace (21)


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Shookie & Wife: Enzo & Tina (50 something old people)

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All of us together on the last trip in 2018 last time we went as the family four-pack

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And introducing our two new players:

(My Daughter &) Boyfriend: Chris
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(My Son &) Girlfriend: Jill

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Both Chris and Jill have been to WDW when they were young, minus a quick 4 day trip Avery and Chris took in August 2019 (That picture above is from that trip) anyway they're basically WDW newbs. Well as newb as you can be living in this household. These kids have been subjected to all things WDW since the day they started dating our kids.

Here is someone that is part of our immediate family that won’t be making trip with us.

Meet Chewbacca:

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I think he may have sensed he was NOT going to be part of this trip because yesterday he decided to take a little trip of his own.

First let me just let you in on something. My wife worries about that dog like you would not believe. She worries about EVERYTHING with him. What he eats, what he doesn’t eat, is he sleeping ok, Is he hot is he cold, is his fur too short, too long, did he have bowel movement? It drives the household crazy.

Of course, when I first decided I wanted to start taking him for rides in the car she yelled after me “hold onto him, he's going to jump out the window”
I laughed at her and said, “come on, what kind of dog would do that?” Well, I know what kind of dog would do that now.

The kind of dog I own. The kind of dog that goes by the name of Chewbacca.

Chewie and I usually cruise around our neighborhood or out to get gas right down the street. He’s just starting to get used to the car and honestly beside tug of war with his rope toys, these rides are part of how we bond.

I will keep the window down and he’ll occasionally pop his head out. But usually just sits on my lap. Well yesterday I was pulling up to our house after our trip and I saw my neighbor.
So I waved hello, well apparently Chewie wanted to say “hi” too, so he jumped out the window of our CRV.

Yup. You read correctly he jumped out of a moving vehicle. He tried to land on his feet, but from that height with the car moving it kind of turned into a barrel roll/chest plant sort thing…I don’t know how he’s alive or how in the world he doesn’t have any broken bones, I just don’t know.

He did get the wind knocked out of him, but THAT’S IT. He got up and tried walking up the sidewalk to our house, but I tentatively picked him up waiting for him to yelp because his ribs were shattered or maybe his leg would be hanging there limp, I don't know, but there was nothing wrong with the dog. I don’t get it.

I am grateful as heck but I just don’t get it. My neighbor sat there with her mouth agape. We both couldn’t believe what happened.

Yikes - I would NEVER have forgiven myself. My wife would have never forgiven me that's for sure.
This PTR would have been titled "Shookie's Solo Trip to the Doghouse, and Other Tales of Woe"

Did I mention I am grateful? Wow.

Sorry, I digress……back to my PTR.


The Dates

May 2nd – 14th


The Plan:

  • 1 Night at an offsite hotel
  • 2 Nights 3 Days at Universal Royal Pacific
  • 8 Nights 9 Days at WDW (gotta save the best for last right?) Wilderness Lodge Boulder Ridge Villas
  • 1 Night at an offsite hotel

The Breakdown:

  • May 2nd- Flying into MCO late afternoon. Shopping for snacks and beverages and staying at a cheap hotel acquired via Priceline.
    • Dinner: Maybe somewhere at DS

  • May 3rd– Checking into Royal Pacific at Universal first thing in the AM hitting the parks. IOA\US
    • Dinner at Mythos


  • May 4th– Volcano Bay\US
    • Dinner at CowFish


  • May 5th– Getting up early and trying to get boarding pass for ROTR – If this doesn’t work out, we’ll spend the day IOA\US. Head to WDW check in and MAYBE hit EPCOT
    • If we do get ROTR we will plan our day based around our boarding group, but it will of course involve heading to DHS and then POSSIBLY back to Uni for a couple of hours to touch on anything we may have missed. At some point, during this crazy day check into the WL

  • May 6th– Our first full day at the World. We’re kicking it off with MK and hopping to EP
    • Dinner: Biergarten

  • May 7th– AK and hopping to MK
    • Dinner: Liberty Tree Tavern

  • May 8th- DHS – Don’t know where we are hopping to but we are making a stop at Olga’s Cantina
    • Dinner Sanaa

  • May 9th- We have a DHS Park pass but this is a safety net in case we miss (knock on wood) ROTR
    • Dinner: California Grill

  • May 10th- Park pass for DHS –This was real DHS day – We’re scheduled to build a droid or two. We effed up on the light sabers. – More about that later
    • Dinner: Garden Grill

  • May 11th– Park pass for MK – Hopping to DHS
    • Dinner: Prime Time

  • May 12th– Park pass for AK – Hopping to ???
    • Dinner: Tiffins

  • May 13th- Park Pass for MK – hopping to ???
    • Dinner: The Wave
    • Staying at a cheap hotel acquired via Priceline

  • May 14th - Departure day – Our flight home was originally first thing in the morning. It has since changed to an evening flight home so we’ll figure out something to do this day. Maybe DS who knows.


A couple of quick notes. I've always been the trip planner, my daughter has since started helping me out and she's pretty darn good at it too. Well the two of us had booked this trip last May then rebooked for July, then rebooked again...at some point we had made reservations at Savi's Workshop.

I say "at some point" because we BOTH thought we had it booked for this time around...Well that wasn't the case.
It slipped out minds...and we realized the other day that we missed out. We'll keep trying and see what happens, but like my daughter's boyfriend, Chris said,

"If we can't get in this trip, it will give us an excuse to go next year" << The kid is learning!

Anyway. Trip starts in T-minus 11 days.

I will be spending the next few days getting everything in order here at home. Believe it or not, I am fully packed.

To answer your question: Yes there is something wrong with me.

Speaking of packing. My last PTR was in 2016. At the time I included this pick of my brand-new luggage

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I probably should post a side-by-side pick of me then and now too…hahahaha
I'll tell you what: that beat up luggage has fared a lot better than I have.

I will add anything I think of between now and then, but I should probably just leave you all alone for now because LTR is coming next. And you're going to be seeing plenty of us in 11, 10, 9, 8……
 

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93boomer

Premium Member
With all of us together we did this a lot as it was fun to compe....watch Pace win.View attachment 557197
We worked up an appetite getting our butts kicked by my son, so stopped at Woody’s Lunch Box. Another very good QS spot! This grilled cheese is exactly what grilled cheese should be!
Perfectly crunchy and chewy outside and creamy inside. So good.
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We ate twice this past trip at Woody’s. The grilled cheese is amazing!!
 

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
We headed back to WL as it was beginning to rain and then, for one of the only times during this trip, the skies opened up.
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Once the skies cleared up we headed to MK for a late dinner,
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but first a stop to pick up this sweet Mickey sipper for Avery
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noticed this dining area at Peco’s that I have walked by, seen, but never noticed:
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And this space that I have always noticed and now miss
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ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
Dear Sweet Madam Leoata
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After our tour of the Mansion one of these wild Florida weather moments happened.
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Which is perfect, because we were headed to CBJ - this furry bunch always puts on such a great show!
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next up we end the night with what was our best dinner all trip and yes this includes the California Grill
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I got the catfish and shrimp with cheesy grits, Pace and Jill, got the fried cauliflower, Tina and Avery got prime rib and Chris got the fried chicken. Everything was exceptional. If you don’t know already this is the Crystal Palace and it’s all you care to eat. This meal was so good I made a point to let the kitchen crew know.
If you have a trip coming up, make plans to dine here. 😎
 
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93boomer

Premium Member
Deer Sweet Madam Leoata View attachment 557258
After our tour of the Mansion one of these wild Florida weather moments happened.
View attachment 557270
Which is perfect, because we were headed to CBJ - this furry bunch always puts on such a great show!
View attachment 557271
next up we end the night with what was our best dinner all trip and yes this includes the California Grill
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I got the catfish and shrimp with cheesy grits, Pace and Jill, got the fried cauliflower, Tina and Avery got prime rib and Chris got the fried chicken. Everything was exceptional. If you don’t know already this is the Crystal Palace and it’s all you care to eat. This meal was so good I made a point to let the kitchen crew know.
If you have a trip coming up, make plans to dine here. 😎
I had no idea it was that good! Thanks for the tip!! On my list now.
 

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
Dessert is actually Winne the Pooh themed and quite delicious. Each of these had its own unique flavor with surprisingly the Tigger (banana cream pie) being everyone’s favorite.
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After dinner and our compliments to the kitchen we made our way to hub for some pics before wrapping up our night.
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so that’s all for yesterday!

We checked out of the WL today but the fun isn’t over! In classic shookie family fashion, we went hard again today.

More later friends!
 

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
This is another pic from this morning.
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We went so heavy on DHS this trip because of galaxy’s edge and fear that we wouldn’t get ROTR. These fear was completely unfounded as we were able to secure a boarding group every single day we were there. I will provide details on how we did this once I am not doing these reports from my phone.
I digress, I wanted to say that we went heavy with park ressies for DHS, nothing for EPCOT and only one for AK the rest were all MK.
We still didn’t feel like we had enough MK so the goal was to make up for lost time. We got packed and loaded the rental van up and jumped on the boat to MK. A quick pic of this to remember the BC Villas by! You lucky WL DVC members, I am jealous!
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forgot to mention, the sun never shown it’s face and the temperature never rose above 75 degrees. Aside from a few very light rain drops for about 10 min total throughout the day, it made for a very comfortable and enjoyable day in the park!
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I think I caught 3 forms of WDW transportation in this pic! 😀
 

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
I will interrupt the timeline again to give you a good morning, amd to give a you a little contrast! It will make up for my flexing my WL view! Hahahahah!

This is from the Fairfield by Marriot
7100 Augusta National Drive Orlando, FL 32822

it’s a really nice hotel clean, nothing broken and no one putting on a performance of “It’s Tough to be a Bug” in your room. Also free continental breakfast and super close to MCO. Depending on your vacation plans, this info may be handy to you!
anyway - good morning y’all!
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ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
Last Disney Parks day continued. I don’t know if I mentioned or what everyone knows but the parks are opening on average a half hour early. The process is get to to park about an hour or so early, wait at the vehicle turnstiles. They start letting people in and depending on what parks you may just be waiting at the queue entrance until 30 min before the stated park opening.

In customary WDW fashion we went to 7DMT and then booked it over to Splash, which was not yet open. Of course this results in a rip on BTMR. From there we headed to Tomorrowland and rode Space. While everyone was in the restroom, I grabbed some pics

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donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
I heard rumors that they were getting stricter on anxiety/therapy animals around WDW this scene and the accompanying conversation we had with this person would indicate different.
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I noticed the increase in scooters, therapy animals and double wide strollers over the last 10 years, and it made me think, Without debating the validity or need for any of these things, what will WDW look like in 10 years?

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donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
View attachment 556670
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View attachment 556672Made a stop at the new Gelateria in Italy 🇮🇹 pavilion before leaving to go back to DHS parking lot to retrieve our whip!
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one last photo op after jumping off the Skyliner and calling it a night. Tomorrow (today) we are finally back at MK!

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That first pic with the Imagination pavilion, monorail beam, etc., on the bokeh, is really nice...!!! :)👍:)
 

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
The look here from Tina, is “oh no, not Tom Sawyer Island!?” I love hiking and adventures in the wilderness (as long as I have running water and air conditioning to return to at the end of the day) Tina is not crazy about hiking, but she’s a good sport about everything else, so we let her relax on a rocking chair while we explored!
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Sbk1234

Well-Known Member
Headed over to see what was up with Splash, on the way we jumped on POTC



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Splash was up but everyone second guessed it because

1. Colder temps
2. No Disney room to go back to change in case they got wet.

valid points, so the decision was: BTMR and and boat trip to TSI
I don't know why, but I've always been enamored by this little ship. In person it creates such a neat effect to me. Glad you got a picture of it, as I've never been able to.
And enjoying the rest of your trip report, as well.
 

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
Another cavalcade. Although I am not a huge fan of parades, I think I would like them to return, but if they didn’t — these are a pretty fun and creative solution.
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a last wave goodbye to the castle and we were back off to the WL to retrieve our van and head off to the AK to show it some love. But first a few photo ops at one of the most amazing resorts (and certainly lobby) in all of WDW. Just 🤩!!

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ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
I “found” these beautiful areas outside the FotLK and behind the Tusker House. No one was anywhere near here, it was peaceful and perfect for picture taking. I really wish I could have teleported Chris @fractal here (I bet he wishes too for myriad reasons) to take some real pics, but these should do fine until he can get to this area for all our enjoyment!
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I got to say, I am no world traveler, but I’ve seen a couple o’ places outside the US, and I think most folks would be hard pressed to tell me these shots were from some theme park in Orlando, FL.
 

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