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Trip Report Glad Tidings and Thrill Riding - November/December 2025 *Completed*

Hellllooooo, humans!

We've been back from WDW for a month, so it's time to get this trip report cranked out before I forget all of the details. Let's get down to business!

Who: Me (Katie), my husband Jason, and our 4-Year-Old, Lincoln
image0 (35).jpeg


When: November 29th-December 6th

Where: The Holiday Inn at Disney Springs, followed by All Star Music

A little background on this trip. We live north of Atlanta and drive to WDW - it's about a 7-8 hour drive, depending on traffic. In 2023 and 2024, we got stuck in awful traffic on I-75, between Gainesville and the Florida Turnpike, delaying our arrival by 2+ hours one year. On our way home in 2024, I told J that I wanted to start driving part of the way down the night before checking in to WDW so that we would have less of a drive and hopefully less traffic getting to that area of Florida earlier in the day. We monitored hotel prices in Lake City and Gainesville about 2-2.5 hours north of WDW, throughout the year, and they rarely dipped below $200/night for the decent hotels. I had a hard time coughing up $200+ to stay at a Best Western in Lake City, but I was determined that we were going to make most of the drive the night before we checked in at ASM. About two weeks before our trip, I told J we need to make a decision about where we wanted to stay. On a whim, I decided to check prices of hotels around Orlando, thinking since it was a much bigger city than Lake City, we might find some more affordable options. Lo and behold, the Holiday Inn at Disney Springs had a room for $117. Sold! It still meant we'd be making the 7-8 hour drive all in one go, but we decided it'd be nice to wake up on our check-in day and already be in the bubble. How did we like the Holiday Inn? Stay tuned to find out.
 
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Piglet_the_brave

Well-Known Member
I’m sad that your trip report is over, it went far too quickly and I’ve enjoyed following along. Love L’s face on all the ride photos, he really is a thrill seeker. And brave on ToT, my girls refused to ride it at that age after their first time because they found the spooky bit too scary even though they loved the thrill of the drop. We stayed at Riverside a lot when the girls were L’s age and they all enjoyed it, hopefully you will too
 

muddyrivers

Well-Known Member
Riverside is the best resort in all of WDW! You are going to have such a good time there. You might enjoy a horse drawn carriage ride around the property or renting one of the surrey bikes. I know it's late after a full day at the parks, but check Yee Ha Bob's schedule the week you're down there and try to see him play. I have a feeling L will enjoy it and you and J will certainly get in the spirit too. No one has more fun than Bob! :D
 

Minnesota disney fan

Well-Known Member
Riverside is the best resort in all of WDW! You are going to have such a good time there. You might enjoy a horse drawn carriage ride around the property or renting one of the surrey bikes. I know it's late after a full day at the parks, but check Yee Ha Bob's schedule the week you're down there and try to see him play. I have a feeling L will enjoy it and you and J will certainly get in the spirit too. No one has more fun than Bob! :D
Riverside is the best resort in all of WDW! You are going to have such a good time there. You might enjoy a horse drawn carriage ride around the property or renting one of the surrey bikes. I know it's late after a full day at the parks, but check Yee Ha Bob's schedule the week you're down there and try to see him play. I have a feeling L will enjoy it and you and J will certainly get in the spirit too. No one has more fun than Bob! :D
Don't know why this repeated. Oh well.....'I just wanted to add that if you want a horse drawn carriage ride, you have to schedule it in advance. At least that's the way they have done it before. I don't want them to be disappointed if they wait til they get there and can't schedule a ride.
 

k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Great TR & thanks for sharing!!
And, YAY for Riverside!! How exciting!!😊
You were the first person I thought of when I booked it! 😊
started going to WDW (and DLP) when my daughter was a bit younger than L. We (myself and her godparents) would try to manage her expectations before each trip by each of us picking a “must do” ride in each park so that anything additional would be a bonus. I also would try to put the wait times in terms she would understand (at the time she watched a lot of Dora the Explorer, so I would use that as a measure) and tell her that I was happy to wait if she thought she could wait the time of X episodes of Dora.
That’s a great idea!
I really enjoyed your tr with L. It brought back lots of good memories of when we took our young kids. It's fun to watch how things change with the little ones over the years. Lots of good pictures of L. too.:)
Thank you for reading! 😊
Thank you for such a wonderful report. Hope you post a few photos of Lincoln through the year as he’s growing so fast.
Thanks for reading! I’ll try to remember to post a few photos throughout the year!
I’m sad that your trip report is over, it went far too quickly and I’ve enjoyed following along. Love L’s face on all the ride photos, he really is a thrill seeker. And brave on ToT, my girls refused to ride it at that age after their first time because they found the spooky bit too scary even though they loved the thrill of the drop. We stayed at Riverside a lot when the girls were L’s age and they all enjoyed it, hopefully you will too
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I hope he still loves our family Disney trips when he’s your girls’ age!
 

k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thank you for such a fun report! L looked like he had the time of his life; I was not nearly as brave as him as a kid. My parents apparently had to bribe me to even get me on Haunted Mansion. I was not big on "scary" rides 😅

Wishing you a swift countdown to your next trip! Riverside is lovely.
L loves all things spooky - he was obsessed with Spirit Halloween this past year! 😂 Thank you for reading!
Riverside is the best resort in all of WDW! You are going to have such a good time there. You might enjoy a horse drawn carriage ride around the property or renting one of the surrey bikes. I know it's late after a full day at the parks, but check Yee Ha Bob's schedule the week you're down there and try to see him play. I have a feeling L will enjoy it and you and J will certainly get in the spirit too. No one has more fun than Bob! :D
We’re excited! We definitely plan to make time to enjoy the unique experiences at Riverside while we’re there!
Don't know why this repeated. Oh well.....'I just wanted to add that if you want a horse drawn carriage ride, you have to schedule it in advance. At least that's the way they have done it before. I don't want them to be disappointed if they wait til they get there and can't schedule a ride.
Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for another great TR!
Thank you for reading! 😊
 

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