Trip Report 1st Timer Spring Trip Report - A Disney Odyssey

We just got back this past weekend and phew.....what a trip! I am still exhausted, but not too exhausted to post a report and pictures commemorating our first ever trip to the World (a first for every member of the family, to boot).

The Cast: Me, my husband, and 6-yr old daughter
Trip Dates: March 27 - 31st
Resort: Port Orleans Riverside

Day 1 Summary: Epcot
Dinner ADR @ Akershus

Day 2 Summary: AK & HS
FastPasses for Star Tours, Frozen Ever After, and Toy Story
Dinner ADR @ Hollywood & Vine with Fantasmic Package

Day 3 Summary: Magic Kingdom
FastPasses for 7DMT, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh
Dinner ADR @ the Hoop de Doo Revue

Day 4 Summary: Epcot
FastPasses for Spaceship Earth, Test Track, and The Seas w/Nemo & Friends
Mid-Day ADR @ Beaches & Cream
Dinner ADR @ San Angel Inn

Day 5 Summary: Magic Kingdom
FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion
Breakfast ADR @ Chef Mickey's


Day 1............
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We arrived in Orlando around 5pm on March 27th and luckily I had already gotten a text saying our room was ready so we headed straight to our room at Port Orleans Riverside. We had been placed in the Alligator Bayou section, which we thought was lovely (although I would love to stay in one of the "mansions" next time!). We even got a towel Mickey, which you can see on the bed below!

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I had arranged to have Disney Floral & Gifts send a special Easter "basket" to our room for my DD since we would not be spending Easter with family this year. She LOVED the monogrammed backpack, Minnie Mouse, and special treats.

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We had packed 2 princess dresses, princess shoes, and a whole megaton of glow jewelry so as soon as we got settled in and got our first-timer pins we lost no time giving my DD the royal DIY - BBB treatment. With that completed, we headed off to Epcot to make our dinner ADR at Akershus in Norway.

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As soon as we arrived at Epcot I paused to take a photo of my husband and daughter in front of the fountain and someone came right up and offered to take the picture for me so I could be in it. I'm not including the photo, because I look dreadful, but it was an awesome start to the trip to see that everyone was so amazingly friendly and helpful. That was a theme that would continue throughout the trip. :inlove:

Dinner at Akershus was awesome. I was a bit worried about the quality of food in Disney in general after reading so many less than stellar reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised. I love food, but am definitely not a food snob so maybe that helped. ;)
In any case, DH had the meatballs and I had the salmon. DD just had pizza.
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Then we had some fun goofing off at the table until the princesses started to arrive.......
(Don't worry, they were just playing in the shot below. No one was angry.:) )
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First up was Cinderella:
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Then Snow White.....
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And we also got to see Princess Aurora and Ariel, although I've hit my limit of photo uploads on this post. Just know that DD was adorable and the princesses were lovely as always. ;)

After Akershus, we started to watch IllumiNations, but the loud fireworks and fireball scared my daughter a bit. She was jonesin' to try out the hotel pool so we left while everyone else finished watching fireworks and headed back to Ol' Man Island at POR. After that we were all pretty pooped from travelling, walking, princessing, and swimming so we slept like zombies. :hungover:

More on Day 2 in Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios to come.............
 

anaitis4

Member
Original Poster
Before I get started on our 2nd day, here's a few shots from Day 1 I couldn't include in my previous post:

Port Orleans Riverside:
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Prior to dinner, my DD discovered the pins and lanyards in the very first shop we came to. I hadn't bought any of these before the trip because I just didn't think she'd be into them. Boy, was I wrong! The very first night after she put on that lanyard with her first 2 pins she held up the entire princess parade at Akershus while another little girl tried desperately to pry off the pin she wanted to trade. As you can see, my DD was a bit worried about where the rest of the parade had gone....

For the rest of our trip my daughter was completely obsessed about pins and trading them. In particular she was on the hunt for a Chewbacca pin and a Bullseye pin, neither of which we ever found. :(
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And the obligatory night-shot of the big golf ball:
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Day 2: Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios

We got up bright and early on March 28th to get to Animal Kingdom by rope drop. I had researched a ton before coming to Disney, and naturally I had come across the fact that the crowd calendars were predicting 10+ level crowds for the days of our trip. The evening before in Epcot really wasn't bad so I thought maybe we had been spared.

After arriving at AK and queuing up to enter the park I was quickly disabused of that notion. There were easily 300-400 other people who had also arrived prior to rope drop, so I knew we'd have to hustle to fit in some rides that morning. As soon as we got in we ran to Kilimanjaro Safaris and luckily had no wait at all to get on. Almost all the animals were out and about and we even got to hear the lions "chuffing" as they sat out on the rocks. The elephants were also really cool and we got to see a baby (well, not quite, but definitely young)!

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We then headed over to Dino Land and rode the Triceratops Spin twice for my DD and then went to DINOSAUR since the line was only 15 minutes long at that point. I loved DINOSAUR, but unfortunately I think it was too scary for my DD. She never complained or cried, but did put her head down for the entire ride, which was probably for the best.

After DINOSAUR, we played in the Fossil playground for a bit, walked around to see the animals and take in all the sights and sounds of the park. After a quick lunch at Pizzafari, we went back to POR for some pool time. Unfortunately, as soon as we got to the pool the lightning and thunder started up so we never so much as got our feet wet.

On the bright side, that left us free to sit at Muddy Rivers Pool Bar and drink and watch the storm. I had a mango margarita that was divine and my DD had Bullfrog Brew in a light-up, color changing mason jar that was totally adorable.

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We never did make it into the pool, but went back to the room instead to clean up and make it over to Hollywood Studios. After we arrived at HS and hopped on the tram, it started to downpour. I had brought ponchos, thankfully, and we put those on and resigned ourselves to a soggy afternoon. After only about 10-15 minutes of hard rain, the whole thing cleared up and turned into a fairly sunny day and allowed us to dry out.

We headed over to Toy Story Midway Mania first and the toy soldiers were out. This one my daughter got a photo with stood so still for so long that when he finally moved he scared the bejeezus out of a lady near us. :joyfull:
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Next was Frozen Ever After. I was a bit concerned that this show was just going to be "filler" since there isn't much going on at HS right now. As it turned out, we all really enjoyed the show. It was funny (even a bit edgy in places), the kids loved the singalong, and the "snow" falling from the ceiling at the end was a nice touch.
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Last, we headed to Star Tours. My daughter and husband both loved that ride, but it had me a bit queasy! We wandered around the Launch Bay and the star wars gift shop after that. My daughter bought a light saber and proceeded to pretend to beat my husband senseless with it.

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After that, she got stopped by a storm trooper. She attempted to thwart him with her light saber, but he just politely moved it to the side.

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Then we were off to dinner at Hollywood & Vine. The food was surprisingly really good! (Or it could have just been that we were starving and would have probably gobbled down boiled tree bark at that point and been happy). The best part was definitely the characters. They do a wonderful job and we all loved it. Goofy even say down with my husband and started playing with the little Toy Story aliens we had bought for DD.

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We had the Fantasmic Package, but DD had no interest in staying for that. She was itching to get in the pool back at POR after our failed attempt that afternoon so we gave our VIP passes to another family (I was sad. I really wanted to see those fireworks!! :cry:) and went back to the resort.
We jumped in the pool and swam for a bit before baths and bed.

Stay tuned for our Day 3 report tomorrow...........
 

Dawg4Mickey

Well-Known Member
What an awesome report so far. Too bad you didn't get to Fantasmic, we have a meal with tickets in August and can't wait to go, but I understand when the kids want to go, you don't need the breakdown. Can't wait to hear the rest
 

prfctlyximprct

Well-Known Member
Your daughter is adorable! Loving that the took the light saber to the storm trooper! LOL... Enjoying your report! Staying at Riverside in November, not sure if I want alligator bayou or the mansions, they both look amazing. :) :)
 

WWWD

Well-Known Member
Just an FYI.... If your daughter continues to like to trade pins, ebay is a great place to buy lots (like in bulk) of trader pins really cheap. We use the pins as stocking stuffers for future trips to WDW so our kids have plenty of pins to trade. We will not let them trade any of the expensive pins we buy at Disney, because a young child will try to trade a $10 pin for a cheap one.
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Enjoying your report. Love the expression on your daughter's face when the other child was trying to trade pins during the princess parade! Precious! Looking forward to reading more.
 

anaitis4

Member
Original Poster
Just an FYI.... If your daughter continues to like to trade pins, ebay is a great place to buy lots (like in bulk) of trader pins really cheap. We use the pins as stocking stuffers for future trips to WDW so our kids have plenty of pins to trade. We will not let them trade any of the expensive pins we buy at Disney, because a young child will try to trade a $10 pin for a cheap one.

I had heard about the better pin prices on ebay, but didn't take advantage before the trip because I really thought she wouldn't care for the pins (and especially the trading part). If/when we go back I'll definitely get more on ebay and may do it for holidays anyway, as you mentioned, to help her fill out her collection. Thanks!
 

anaitis4

Member
Original Poster
Day 3............MK

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Day 3 was our first day at Magic Kingdom. We got up bright and early and took the bus, arriving a few minutes after rope drop. I have to admit, after spending our first evening in Epcot and then the 2nd day in both AK and HS I thought I had a pretty good idea of what the crowds were going to be like throughout the parks. I was wrong. Again. So, so wrong.

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Magic Kingdom was a zoo the likes of which I have never seen before and hope to never see again. Apparently AK, HS, and Epcot were not so bad because everyone was at MK! In any case, we made the best of it and headed over to FantasyLand, as that would be where we were spending the day. But not before a pic in front of the castle, which would go on to become my favorite photo of the whole trip:

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The first thing my DD saw in FantasyLand was the teacups ride, which we rode twice. And as soon as we were getting on for the 2nd time Alice and the Mad Hatter materialized seemingly out of nowhere and got on the ride, too! Afterwards, we were able to get pictures with them. Alice in Wonderland in my favorite Disney movie, so I was totally excited about getting to see them! My daughter had her autograph book with her and got them both to sign it. It's my understanding that these are some of the harder characters to find (is that true?) so I was pretty stoked.

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After the teacups and pictures with Alice & Mad Hatter we went over to Ariel's Grotto, which only had a 10 minute wait. Ariel is my DD's favorite, so this was a big deal for her, especially since she had her tail on. In fact, my DD looks sort of dazed in all the pictures. This may because it was very early and she was very tired or it could just have been her being a goof since she was meeting her fave.

Ariel asked her to touch her scales to make her feel more comfortable. Good move, Ariel. ;)

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After that we had a FastPass for Peter Pan, which I did not get any photos of. Then another FastPass for 7DMT, which I DID get photos of. My pictures weren't very good, though, so you'll have to make due with this shot of Snow White's cottage:

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Then we rode the carousel..........

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And wandered around for a bit, eventually ending up at Pinocchio's Village Haus for lunch. We waited FOREVER in line for lunch, but at least it was good. My DD loved the gelato they had there!

Afterwards, we used our FastPass for Winnie the Pooh and watched the parade work its way down Main Street. By that time, we were all feeling pretty worn down by the crowds and frustration of dealing with the sheer number of people so it was definitely time to head back to the room. We made it back to our resort, wandered around Riverside for a bit, and eventually ended up checking out Disney Springs.

We had to park in the Orange parking lot since most of the others are closed or nearly inaccessible due to construction. I didn't realize that this would put us far away from the Marketplace area, where Pin Traders is located. We were still on the hunt for the elusive Chewy and Bullseye pins so Pin Traders was the real destination. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. As soon as we got there it started pouring and I had forgotten to pack ponchos that day. I DID have my umbrella, but it was not quite big enough to fit all of us so we all got a bit wet. We stopped into a shop to get a poncho for DD, but she was still freezing. We decided to try to find her a sweatshirt to buy, since I hadn't brought anything warm with us.

On our way down to the giant Disney store, we stopped at the Ganachery and the Cuban cigar store (to get gifts for my mom and dad, who were back home watching the pets). Then my husband's sunglasses literally exploded (fell off his head in pieces) so we stopped at Sunglass Hut to get a new pair for him and me. By the time we made it to the Disney store we were soaked. We found a sweatshirt for my DD that had Minnie holding an umbrella on it (how fitting) but the place was so packed it took the better part of 30 minutes to check out. That left us with no time for Pin Traders since we had to get back in time to make it to dinner at the Hoop De Doo. My DD was so wet from the rain she didn't even care at this point.

We chose to drive to Fort Wilderness since we had our car with us. Despite all my research, I had not realized that you still needed to take a bus to Pioneer Hall once you got there and it was very confusing figuring out which bus to take and from where (when we got there a Magical Express bus was picking people up from a different location than the regular depot). To add to the confusion, it was still raining. Not pouring now, but definitely a cold, soul-sucking drizzle. :confused:

After a 25 minute wait outside Pioneer Hall in the rain (the overhang area was full of people already) we were let in. We weren't letting the rain and crowds set us back! We were all ready for some good pioneer fun and food!

When I booked Hoop de Doo I was a little worried that it was going to be too cheesy for us, but we all loved it and the food was awesome!

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My DD loved playing the washboard and swinging her napkin around. The strawberry shortcake was to DIE for. I think I'm still salivating over it............. :inlove:

Between walking MK, heavy crowds, walking Disney Springs, all the rain, and gorging ourselves at the Hoop de Doo we were all exhausted. In fact, I'm pretty sure "exhausted" doesn't quite cover it. We went straight to bed.

Next up: Day 4 at Epcot and our epic trek to and fro trying to locate Beaches & Cream
 

anaitis4

Member
Original Poster
Day 4...............EPCOT

After 2.5 days of running all over creation with a 6-year old and dealing with rain and crowds we were just too tired to worry about getting to Epcot at rope-drop. We slept in a bit and still managed to make it there between 9:30-10am. Honestly, I didn't think the crowds in Epcot were bad at all that day (March 30th), although that could be due to the sheer size of that park.

The first thing we did was head to The Seas with Nemo & Friends. We all really liked that ride, but didn't stay for Turtle Talk with Crush since the wait was 30+ minutes. We did walk around a bit to see the sea life. My DH and DD's favorite thing in that exhibit were the dolphins. Mine was the cuttlefish (I am utterly fascinated by them).

Next, we strolled around and took photos of the grounds since everything was so beautiful for the Flower & Garden Festival. Even the places without flowers or topiary were stunning. It's just a really well-manicured and beautiful park, imo. Here's a few shots we liked:

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Next we used our FastPass for Spaceship Earth, which ended up being my DH's favorite ride (I think mine was Dinosaur and my DD's was 7DMT). Then we went on Living with the Land, which had a 35 minute wait, but I felt it was worth it. What a cool ride and production they have! My daughter asked lots of questions so I know she was thinking about conservation and the unique ways in which they grow the food in the greenhouses. That made me a happy mama. As with many fish-farming operations, I was sad to see how overcrowded the fish are in their tanks. I would be interested to know the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels in those tanks, but I digress.............

We started meandering our way around the World Showcase, stopping here and there to buy pins for DD, go through the shops, get alcohol in every country for DH, and to try food. I love that many of the little carts offer small portions so you can get a taste and still not be filled up so you can continue tasting throughout the world. I may or may not have pigged out a bit this day.... :p

We had headed to the right around the showcase so the first stop was Canada. A live band was playing and singing in French. They were very good, but we did not stop to listen for long. We headed straight through to England and got a beer at the cart outside of Rose & Crown. I had the Pear Cider from the Cider House as well as a corned beef dish. DD got a lemon-blueberry scone.

Ok, now i Have to take a time-out for a moment to say that the pear cider may have been the best thing I have ever imbibed. I was in LOVE with it and chugged it down. I would have loved another (and another and another) had DH not been nudging me to get moving. The corned beef and the scone were also really great. My only regret was not holding out a bit longer because as we rounded the next corner the fish & chips cart came into view and the smell was amazing. C'est la vie, right?

I can't exactly remember the order of the countries through this section of WS so excuse me if I'm all over the place, but here were our general experiences:

We stopped in Morocco to really take in the architecture and mosaics, since I knew that King Hassan had sent artisans to WDW to design and build parts of the pavilion. We were really amazed at this part of Epcot and took a moment to sit and just stare at the lovely buildings. It was at this point as well that DH and I started to notice the sheer abundance of different languages being spoken and families from places all around the world. The 3 of us took the time to have a conversation about how wonderful it was to see all these cultures come together, not just in the form of the pavilions around us, but in the presence of all these actual families and see how happy and friendly and hospitable everyone was even despite language barriers and cultural divides. It proves that in this world where so much is violent and there are so many conflicts and sources for hatred, that it doesn't have to be that way. It was a good teaching moment for DD and the moment when it really sank in for DH and I as first-timers that this is truly the happiest place on Earth.

The location of our kumbaya moment:
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Moving right along, we stopped for Moroccan beers and alcoholic slushies. DD got a non-alcoholic slushie. I also stopped and got a kebob and tabouli, which were FANTASTIC.

In Germany we stopped to marvel at the huge outdoor train set:

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DH stopped in a shop at Germany and got a beer stein to add to his collection. This particular stein had a real piece of the Berlin wall on top and came along with a certificate of authenticity along with a number assigned to his piece of the wall. Pretty cool!

We saw taiko drummers in Japan and stopped to watch that. My education and background is in music education and performance. Although I ended up choosing not to teach and no longer perform, I was in my happy place getting to see these drummers perform live. :joyfull:

We stopped at the American pavilion but I have to say I was not nearly as impressed with it as I was with many of the others. Maybe I would have felt differently if we had spent more time exploring it, but I was feeling the pressure to keep moving as I knew that our ADR at Beaches & Cream was nearing.

We stopped in Italy and had a drink and some Italian chocolate (OMG it was good. Wish I could remember what it was called!). Here you can see DH and DD in Italy, complete with blue teeth from her Moroccan slushie:
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We decided that we shouldn't go any further if we wanted to make it to Beaches & Cream on time. But before I get to the next part, I have to mention that this moment in our trip is why I entitled the post 'A Disney Odyssey'. By this point we were very tired. Too many early mornings and late nights. Too much walking that we hadn't prepared our bodies for prior to coming (I know, rookie mistake). Too much backtracking through parks (another rookie mistake). Add to that inconsistent weather and the fact that our 6 year old did not find Epcot interesting at all and chose this moment to start complaining that she could not walk a step further. All of our dogs were barking.

Despite that, my DH valiantly put DD on his shoulders and proceeded to carry her back through the park towards the International Gateway. By that point I was really dragging due to my feet hurting and with DH carrying DD he wasn't in much better shape. I had read that the international gateway would take you to the Beach Club, where Beaches & Cream was so we had made the decision to walk there for ice cream.

On a normal day I think it would have been a nice little walk. This day, with the shape that our feet were in, it felt like the Bataan Death March. To top it all of, we got a bit turned around. They were prepping for a wedding or some other big event on the beach next to the walkway and had parts of it blocked off. We also weren't sure how to locate Beaches & Cream although we could see the Beach Club. After much unnecessary wandering, I located a CM standing (guarding?) one of the entrances to the BC pool and walked up to ask for directions. She scolded me for being in that area. I'm not sure if she thought we were trying to pool hop or what (we weren't), but she said non-resort guests weren't supposed to be in that area and that we should have entered through the BC lobby only. She did eventually give us directions and after a very circuitous route around the pools, we finally made it to Beaches & Cream. Although we were right on time for our ADR, we were told it would be a 15 minute wait. DH had had DD on his shoulders this entire time and because of the crowds there was a not single place to sit and wait. Our feet were in agony.

Thankfully, we DID get in and the ice cream was totally worth the wait. DH got a hot dog, as he was ready for real food. DD got the Milky Way Sundae and I got the No Way Jose:

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It was shortly after we finished eating that we all came to the realization that we were going to have to repeat our trek back out through the International Gateway, hopefully avoiding Attila the Hun guarding the pool so as not to get scolded a second time. :eek:
We successfully avoided her and with DD lodged firmly on DH's shoulders again we were on our way back to Epcot proper. Later in the evening we were scheduled for a FP on Test Track and a dinner ADR at San Angel Inn. But by the time we reached France again it was about 4:15pm. Not enough time to go back to the resort and recharge and not enough energy and miles left in our feet to enjoy the rest of the WS (or anything else for that matter).

We made the painful decision to abandon the rest of our plans for Epcot. I canceled the dinner ADR and we headed back to POR. Once there, we relaxed in the room a bit, traded foot massages, swapped out shoes, and headed to POR's food court for dinner. It was actually pretty good and between that and some pool time it was just what we needed.

DD (aka the Energizer Bunny now that she wasn't in "boring" Epcot anymore) on her way to dinner:
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POR is beautiful at night:
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After swimming we went straight back to the room and collapsed. We slept like the dead.......

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.....which was a good thing since the next morning we would have a 7am ADR at Chef Mickey's. Stay tuned............
 

P_Radden

Well-Known Member
Great report! These pics are awesome, especially the one with your daughter "lightsabering" the Storm Trooper LOL!!

Looks like you guys had lots of fun !
 

anaitis4

Member
Original Poster
Day 4...........MK Part 2 & our last day

The next morning I woke at 5am to get everything packed into the car and get everyone ready. This was March 31st, our last day at WDW. The plan was to pack up the car, drive to the Contemporary for our 7am ADR at Chef Mickey's and then leave the car there until later that afternoon while we explored MK some more.

Everyone was a bit grumbly that morning after all the fatigue from the day before at Epcot had set in, plus it was just very early. I managed to get DD into her second princess dress of the trip (Merida) for breakfast:

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We forged on and made it to the Contemporary, which we all thought was really cool. We were the first ones there and had plenty of time to pose for pictures:

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Breakfast was really, really good and DD loved the character meals so much that I was very glad we were able to begin the last day of our trip this way. Here she is with Chef Donald:

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DD wrote little notes for all the characters and gave them to each one as they came to our table. She is in Kindergarten and is loving learning to read and write. This was actually her idea and there was nothing for a proud, book-worm mama to do but encourage her own budding learner to write those notes!

After breakfast we made our way over to MK via the walkway from the Contemporary. I had mentally prepared myself for the MK crowds this time around. I'm not sure if my mental state was better or if there were indeed less people, but it didn't seem as bad as our 1st MK day earlier that week. This day the plan was to spend all our time in AdventureLand, FrontierLand, and TomorrowLand, so the crowd issue could just be that everyone flocks to FantasyLand, making it nearly unbearable. In any case, this wasn't too bad.

We rode the Haunted Mansion first with no wait and we all loved it. I got this shot in the queue (indulge the music nerd in me):

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After that we headed further into the park. We hadn't planned on riding Splash Mountain because I thought DD would be scared and I knew DH would not want to get wet but there was only a 10 minute wait and DD was begging, so we hopped in line. DH was very apprehensive. He HATES being wet. I tried reassuring him since it didn't look like people exiting the ride were all that wet.

I was wrong. Very, very wrong. I knew the minute I sat down as a trickle of water on the seats immediately soaked into my pants and I thought "uh oh" just as the ride was taking off. Where's a poncho when you need it?!

DD and I were in the front row and we got a thorough soaking. She loved it, I loved the ride but hated being soaked, and DH was displeased in general about the water. This photo is a perfect representation of how everyone felt in this moment:

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The shot of us going down the drop:
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We stopped after that so I could attempt to do something with my hair and maybe even locate a hand drier to hang out underneath for the next 20 minutes. We did find a bathroom, but I have to note that I find it odd that the bathrooms right after you come off Splash Mountain have only ONE mirror in the women's. ONE. So every woman coming off this ride with mascara streaked halfway down their face and their hair an utter wreck are all vying for a spot in front of that mirror. I eventually made it front and center and was able to make myself semi-presentable again after some magic with a comb, powder, and some elastic. I was, alas, Mrs. SoggyBottoms for the rest of the day.
:arghh:

We rode a few more rides, saw a mama duck and her ducklings scuttling through the crowds near Cinderella's Castle, and stopped shortly thereafter to take a photo next to the Wishing Well:

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Then we were off again to locate more ride and of course, more pins. Chewy and Bullseye pins were still eluding us and DD was salivating at the chance to find one. We went in many gift shops and stopped at many carts and outdoor stands, but there were none to be had. We climbed the Swiss Family Treehouse and got a wonderful view of MK spread below and beyond:

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We used our FastPass for Big Thunder Mountain and at that point everyone was starting to get hungry. We went to Pecos Bill's for lunch. DH had the Burger, I had the chicken fajitas, and DD had PB&J. The food was just meh, unfortunately, but not outright bad. Despite the lackluster food, this turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip because it was here in Pecos Bill's courtyard that we met Kevin:

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Kevin 2.0 to be exact. Kevin is not afraid of you. Kevin will come right up to your table. Kevin will steal your food.

At first, we were delighted as we are all total nutso animal lovers and I proceeded (stupidly....I totally know better) to feed him bits of cheese. This only emboldened him and since I had cemented our pushover status in stone, he now would not leave. A waitress came out and told us the staff had named him Kevin 2.0. There was an original Kevin and after he disappeared, this guy started showing up. They know it's a different bird because of the coloration on his beak. Kevin has apparently stolen several cheeseburgers and an entire plate of nachos from patrons recently.

We stopped feeding him, but did watch him for a while longer. He tried several other families and managed to make off with some kids packet of grapes. Heaven help me, I know I should not have found all of this funny, but I was dying laughing at this bird's antics. You have to hand it to him....he's a pretty smart cookie with a pretty cushy gig. For the rest of the trip we would find ourselves continually referring to Kevin and DD started looking for other birds like him. She still talks about Kevin.

After lunch, we said our reluctant goodbyes to Kevin 2.0 and meandered over to Aloha Isle because I was determined not to leave WDW without trying a Dole Whip. After a ridiculous amount of time waiting in line, I finally got my hands on one of these little buggers and proceeded to finish the job of giving myself Diabetes.....

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I also picked up a Dole Whip car air freshener that morning at POR's general store, so feeling very satisfied with this as the end of our WDW adventure we all headed back to the car and said our goodbyes to the Mouse's House.

From there we drove a few hours over to Clearwater, FL and relaxed on the beach for the next 2 days detoxing from the crowds and chaos of Disney. Sea and sun were the perfect way to relax and process all the memories and great times we had in the World.

I loved our trip and it was hands-down the best family vacation we've ever had. I'm sure we will be back, although not for a few years probably. It was quite an adventure and one I'm very glad we took (as long as I don't look too closely at the bill ;))!
 

WDWDarling

Well-Known Member
I loved your report! Sad it's over so soon but glad that your family had a great first time :D. I think spending a couple days at the beach relaxing is a great idea after a busy WDW trip. Gives a little time for transition back to real life.
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Great report! You experienced quite a bit for first timers! LOVE the picture of all of you after riding Splash Mountain! I know what you mean about the restroom by Splash only having one mirror. My sister got SOAKED and we too had to wait a bit for our turn to spiff ourselves up. So happy that your family enjoyed your first visit and hoping you'll make it back again soon. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Wonderful report! I used to think the same thing about the American pavilion until we saw the Voices of Liberty and American Adventure. Great "Splash" and "Kevin 2.0" stories. Last summer we spent a week in Clearwater and did a day trip to WDW. Although I thoroughly enjoy Clearwater Beach, I liked your itinerary better. :D
 

cgersic

Well-Known Member
What a great report!! I too love to see and hear Disney stories from first timers. My love for the House of Mouse never fades, so thank you for sharing this with us!
 

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