Trip Report A Disney Heat Wave (obviously)

Hi everyone! I’m going to attempt to start a trip report but I warn you, I may be slow moving between kids & work.
We were in Disney from Saturday January 11th until Sunday January 19th. This trip was myself (Jillian), my husband Nick and our two girls, Sage age 9 and Aria age 4. Our last trip previous to this was in September 2016. Sage was 5 1/2 and Aria had just turned one. That trip was like the perfect storm of Disney trips, so many things went wrong. One of the worst parts of that trip was the weather. It was 95 degrees and so humid every day. Literally sun up to sun down, there was no break. It made the kids so tired and grumpy, our New England bodies just couldn’t handle the heat! We swore up and down we’d never go in the heat again. That is why for this trip, we purposely chose January. Average high 71, average low 49. PERFECT. So of course, guess what happens while we’re there? An actual heatwave. Like, record breaking temperatures. It was 85, sunny and humid every day except one (the high that day was 79!) As expected, the kids didn’t handle it well. We were so disappointed that we once again had to deal with the heat :(
Another unexpected obstacle- the crowds. This was by far the most crowded Disney trip we have ever taken. Prior to that 9/16 trip, we had been 12/14, 9/09, 1/08 and 4/07. I know everyone says now that there is no quiet time and based on our trip, I will 100% agree with that. The lines were the longest I’ve ever seen them. Small World was consistently at 60 minutes, we only got to ride because we were able to get a FP later in the day. We waited 35 minutes for Journey into Imagination! There were so many rides my kids would have loved to do more than once and we just couldn’t. We rarely waited in standby without a FP.

On that trip in 2016, we stayed at All Star Sports and didn’t like it all. In 2014 we stayed at Pop and that, we liked. After our troubles at Sports, we thought we might like to splurge for a moderate this time. But, our kids really wanted to do a few character meals. And with the rising costs of hotel, tickets, food etc, we decided not to upgrade our hotel this time around. We knew this might be our last trip where they were super into the characters so we decided splurging for those character meals was a better way to spend our money.
I knew I definitely wanted a renovated room so we chose All Star Movies only because it was cheaper than Pop. We did pay a little extra for a preferred room, more for the theming than the location. I knew my kids wouldn’t care for the Mighty Ducks or Love Bug sections.
I have literally been planning for this trip for years so back when the the deals were released for January 2019, I wrote down all the different options. There was a room discount and also Play Stay Dine. I priced both options out based on the approximate dates we would be there. The deal that was actually released for January 2020 was a little different. It was called the Kids Meal Deal and basically, if you bought the adult meal plan at full price, you got the kids meal plan for free. Since we were staying in a value, the room discount was not that much, a couple hundred over the course of the week. So I priced out the room discount plus paying for food out of pocket. I included some food from home, and sometimes sharing quick service, plus the character meals we wanted to do. Then I priced out the kids meal deal with the dining plans and actually, the prices were very similar. We decided the convenience of the meal plan was well worth it so we booked the kids meal deal offer.
Initially, I only booked the quick service version and figured I would pay out of pocket for our 2 character meals. About two weeks before our trip though, I decided to upgrade to the regular dining plan. After factoring in the cost for the two character meals I was going to pay out of pocket for, it really wasn’t that much of a difference. I had to scramble a bit to add the extra table service meals to our schedule but, I am so glad we made this change. The character meals we did were 100% the best part of our trip. It was so nice to have an hour each day to relax in the AC. And it was so nice to have the characters come to us without having to wait in a crazy long line. My kids are fairly picky eaters so it was great for them to be able pick little bits of what they liked. And we were really happy with the adult choices as well!
One final note before I dive in day by day- we actually really liked All Star Movies. The renovated rooms are really nice. We loved all the extra storage. Being able to slide our empty suitcases under the bed was awesome. We loved that we each had our own end table with outlets and USB ports. The door between the room and bathroom was great at night when adults wanted to shower while kids were sleeping. And I loved the coffee maker and little breakfast nook. We left Sports knowing we would never stay there again. But we were actually very pleased with Movies.
I will start our arrival day in a bit! For now, here are a few pictures from Disney on Ice we attended a few weeks before our trip :cool:
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DisneyDreamer08

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Original Poster
Next was Caring for Giants. We promised the kids we could leave right after 🥺
We surprised them with this on Christmas. Sage loves animals and says she wants to be a zookeeper when she grows up. She’s done a few junior zookeeping camps at our local zoo and loved them. She WAS super excited for this program but sadly, was a little less interested once the day came. A combination of being overly hot and tired. Aria was a stinker the whole time and refused to get a family picture with us (to be fair, a lot of the material was a bit over her head)
For those of you unfamiliar with the program, we were taken backstage where we boarded a small bus. From there, we drove to a back area of the Safari that overlooked the elephants. A cast member talked to us about how they care for the elephants plus told us all their names and all about their different personalities. Then another cast member told us about what Disney is doing to protect elephants in the wild. It was really interesting, really well done and I LOVED it.

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DisneyDreamer08

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Original Poster
We then went back to the hotel, as promised. It was so disappointing to only accomplish such a small amount of my plans. We did have another day at AK later in the week however. I was just bummed because I was looking forward to eating a quick service dinner at either Harambe Market or Satu’li Canteen (neither of which I had ever been to) and instead we had to eat dinner at the Movies food court 😝
But of course, the kids were happy to finally swim (and eat cupcakes)
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DisneyDreamer08

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Original Poster
Day 3, Monday 1/13- MK

This was one of our longer days on paper but overall, it was pretty successful. Solid 8 out of 10.
We left our room right before 8 to make it to MK for rope drop. Everything was smooth and we were pretty close to the front for the opening show.
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We took the path through to castle to go back into Fantasyland. My kids had 9:30am appointments at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique so the plan was to do Peter Pan first and avoid having to waste a FP on it. We had a similar strategy on our previous trip (rope dropping Peter Pan) and were able to first use the Rapunzel bathrooms, then walk right on the ride. But, as we were noticing, this trip was the busiest we’ve ever been on and despite going right to the ride at a very efficient pace, we still waited a solid 20 minutes. I was panicking, thinking we were most definitely going to be late for BBB.
I only took one picture in line, I was far too annoyed 😂
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We walked off the ride at 9:27. And into BBB right on time. So stressful!
Sage did BBB on our last trip (Aria was too little) and we really loved it. The price has gone up from $60 to $75 but I’m still ok with the price for what you get. The bag they get to keep is so cute, plus all the make up, nail polish, hair accessories, sash.
Our two fairy godmothers in training were excellent. The took their time and did a wonderful job and were both super sweet with our kids. It was crowded but we never felt rushed in any way.
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DisneyDreamer08

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The packages have changed slightly and the girls had a choice of hair accessories. Sage, always wanting structure and routine, chose the same crown and Mickey clip as last time. But Aria chose a pink braid and super cute white bow.
Oh, and there was SO MUCH GLITTER 😂
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As we were taking pictures, Peter Pan randomly walked over and starting chatting it up with the girls. Such a fun moment.
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We then went over to the photo studio. I much prefer the set up at Disney Springs with the carriage but this was cute too.
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One last picture before continuing on with our day
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DisneyDreamer08

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Original Poster
Next up, Princess Fairytale Hall. I was able to successfully work the times out so we caught the tail end of the first fastpass, then immediately got into the second line for FP #2.

This was our only slight hiccup of the day. Sage suddenly got super stressed about who was going to hug which princess first. Aria doesn’t give in, at all, so we had to deal with some sisterly fighting. This inevitably caused bad moods and grumpiness but thankfully, we resolved it after getting through the two princess lines.
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We then went over to Be Our Guest for our lunch ADR. Holy cow, this place is always so crowded!! I really think they need to schedule less ADRs. I had been telling the fam for days we needed to preorder and kept forgetting. So I literally placed the order about an hour earlier but I’m so glad I remembered. The preorder line definitely moved faster.
Our day definitely took a turn in the right direction at lunch. Never underestimate relaxing in the AC and a delicious meal!
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DisneyDreamer08

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Original Poster
After lunch, it was time for FP #3- Enchanted Tales with Belle. After tapping in, I checked the app for FP #4. After seeing wait times all morning of 45-60 minutes, I secured a FP for... Small World. I never thought I’d see the day where I need a FP for Small World.

Sage & I did Enchanted Tales on our last trip but Nick did not. Aria had fallen asleep in the stroller right before so he stayed outside with her. Sage didn’t want to participate in that last show ( she was the only kid who didn’t want to) and she was adamant this time that she again wasn’t going to participate. Aria was all about it though and happily took a role. Nick was given a role as well!
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Small World fastpass time! Aria was AMAZED by this ride. Literally shrieking with excitement the entire time. And her name made it on the screen! (Not creepy at all)
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DisneyDreamer08

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Original Poster
We then went over to the Ariel ride and meet & greet (we also grabbed another FP for Dumbo)
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After reading about LeFou’s brew in many places, I decided I needed to try it for myself. We also got one for the kids to split. Delish!
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After this, I remember looking in the app to see if anything had a short wait in the area. Sage wanted to ride the carrousel but Aria didn’t for some reason. So Nick and Sage went for a ride. I don’t remember what Aria and I did!
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DisneyDreamer08

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Original Poster
Time to meet Merida! My fav!!!
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We then went over to Dumbo. On our first day, since we had a FP, we bypassed the play area and the kids were dying to go back and play. So this time, we specifically asked for play time and let them have at it. Our kids really needed time like this each day to just run around and get some energy out.
We did have to put an end to it eventually, to ride Dumbo before heading off to dinner.
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DisneyDreamer08

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Dinner was at Crystal Palace. It was our first time dining here and we loved it! Sage isn’t quite as into the Pooh characters as Aria is so she sat a few pictures out. I wanted to do a character meal though since they were all fancied up. We were very happy with the food, characters and our server!
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As you can see, Aria stinks at looking at the camera. It’s so frustrating.
A few pictures on our way out. Sadly, no dream lights on this night.
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DisneyDreamer08

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Day 4- Tuesday 1/14 DHS

Looking back, this was the day our downhill slide started. I have a lot of Disney loving friends and I’m part of many Disney groups online. I know everyone ‘does Disney’ differently. Because our trips are so far apart, and so expensive, I’ll admit, we tried to do A LOT. Maybe it wasn’t the best choice. On paper, I had a few days where I thought we might be done by 2 or 3pm. But because of the crowds, we never were. So unfortunately we had more long days than I anticipated. In the end it was too much for our kids to handle :(
Anyways, this day stressed me out a lot prior to our trip beginning. All because of one thing- Star Wars 🤦‍♀️ My husband is a big Star Wars fan. Me and the girls, not so much. When I first did our fast passes, DHS was opening at 9am. Then they switched to 8am and I had to modify our day a bit. Then, they switched it to 7am. The plan was always for Nick to check things out himself but once the opening hit 7am, he decided he was out. Obviously I wasn’t going to wake the girls that early for no reason. And Nick didn’t want to get up that early alone.
Our first FP of the day was at 8:40 for Slinky Dog (changed from 3pm after the first opening time bump back). So the plan was to arrive for about 9, FP Slinky and hope the standby wasn’t too long for Aliens.
So that morning we arrived a little earlier than expected, at about 8:45. As soon as we tapped in, I tried to get a boarding group for Nick. He ended up with a back up number, 150 something. There were some days that number was reached so we were hopeful. First up, Toy Story Land (completely new to us!) and Slinky Dog.
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So guess what? My kids HATED Slinky Dog. They both came off in tears. When the picture was sent to our MDE app I couldn’t help but laugh at the terrified looks on their faces. I know that sounds terrible 😂 We assumed it was a family coaster but I guess not for our family! Nick and I liked it.
After Slinky, we checked the wait time at Alien Swirling Saucers. It was listed as 35 minutes and my grumpy kids decided that was just too long. We had ruled out Mid Way Mania as Sage really disliked it last time. She was very upset at how fast it moved and that she couldn’t take the time to properly line up her shots. So we decided it was not worth the aggravation this time around. We then checked out the lines for the Toy Story characters but they were all 45-60 minutes. Again, not doable for my kids. So sadly, we were done with Toy Story Land.
We had about an hour until our ADR so I thought we might try to squeeze in a show. I went into the app only to discover all the shows don’t start until at least 10. So the only thing kid friendly to do that early were the characters. So we set off to find Olaf!
We arrive at Olaf and see his wait time is 40 minutes. Ouch. My kids say pass. So we poke in the Frozen gift shop and then walk over to Hollywood and Vine to see if they can accommodate us early. Unfortunately, they cannot. I was able to go into the app and change our ADR from 10:15 to 10. So once again, we poked in some gift shops until it was time. I wish I had known all the lines would be that long that early. Between that and the late show times, we may have showed up a little later.
 

DisneyDreamer08

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Original Poster
A few pictures in front of the back drop-
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We then went over to check Olaf’s wait again (45 minutes, kids said pass) then over to Pluto. I had told my kids different characters were at H&V at lunch so when we went over to the Disney Jr courtyard and all the characters they just met were outside, it was actually perfect timing. They were like, looks like they’re done at breakfast! The line for Pluto was only about 10 minutes. Phew!
In line Aria told me she was going to do a puppy dance with Pluto. I said Great! Not really knowing what she was talking about. When we got up to Pluto, she put her hands in front of her like paws and started bouncing side to side. Pluto copied her and they did the cutest little dance together! I’m so bummed I didn’t get a video but I wasn’t prepared!
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DisneyDreamer08

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Original Poster
From there, I took the kids to The Little Mermaid Show (fastpass two under the current ridiculous tiers) and Nick went over to Galaxy’s Edge. He was so super impressed with the land and did single rider on Smuggler’s Run. He liked it but said it made him a bit motion sick as he had to keep looking down at his buttons then up at the screen.
I got in the FP line a little early with my kids, thinking they might like to just hang in the AC but of course, this meant extra time for bickering 🤦‍♀️
Cute show though!
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I then told my kids if they wanted to meet Olaf, it was now or never. The line was never going to be short so they just had to suck it up. The posted wait time was 35 minutes. Nick joined us part way through. We actually waited about 45.
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Time for FP #3- the Frozen sing a long. After tapping in, I was able to secure FP #4- Alien Swirling Saucers! Woo hoo!! My kids were so excited!
We LOVE the Frozen sing a long and of course, Aria loves that there is a character named Aria.
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DisneyDreamer08

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Original Poster
Alien Saucer time! My kids loved it! This was the highlight of Toy Story Land for them.
While we were in line I was able to secure FP#5- Tower of Terror
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They really wanted to ride again so I told them I would try for another FP after ToT.
Obviously my kids weren’t going to ride ToT so Nick went ahead first and we just wandered a bit. Then I took my turn while Nick took the girls in a few gift shops.
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I was able to get another Alien FP so they were happy.
We then decided to get dinner on Sunset Blvd. We got the kids pizza at Catalina Eddie’s and Mexican for ourselves at Fairfax Fare. I love that there are a few different choices all in the same area. And the Mexican was really good! One of the best quick service we had all week.
We had time until our Alien FP so we decided to do single rider on Rock N Roller Coaster. Nick went first and I took the kids to the Beauty and the Beast show.
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