Trip Report A Fastpass to Wackiness: a Multi-Generational May 2014 Trip Report

Weather_Lady · May 12, 2014

Day 2 (Monday, May 5):

Today was my daughter’s sixth birthday! After a relaxing cup of coffee on the balcony with my Dad, we were all out the door by 8:00am for the Magic Kingdom. I’d been hoping for a 7DMT soft opening, but after querying a couple of cast members near the front entrance, who were unusually forthcoming in their decided pronouncements that there would be no soft openings today, resigned myself to the fact that we just weren’t going to get to ride the darn thing. Instead, our rope drop destinations were Peter Pan’s Flight, the Peter/Wendy M&G (a request by DS – each child was permitted to select 2-3 characters they wished to meet), Winnie the Pooh (which was down! Ack!), the Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, the Barnstormer, Casey Gone Wild, er, I mean, Casey’s Splash Thingy, Pete’s Silly Sideshow (DD wanted to meet Daisy, but since there were no lines we did both sides, with the kids both soaking wet, but whatever, it’s Disney!) and the Little Mermaid. We had a BOG FP for 11:30am (thanks to @Ember, who tipped me off when they became available for our dates), and had a seat right in front of the Beast’s portrait in the West Wing. DS and DD were absolutely delighted to be there, and everybody raved about their lunch. (I had the veggie quiche and salad with the tropical fruit cream puff – both were exceptional.)

With full bellies and happy smiles, we took the WDW Railroad from Fantasyland to Main Street and went back to the villa for a nap.

Allow me to take this moment to tell you all my personal feelings about strollers. As a mother of two children who made extensive use of a stroller when they were small, I appreciate the labor-saving convenience they provide. Indeed, had strollers not been invented when my children were between 1 and 3, I no doubt would never have left the house. This trip, however, made me come to feel a level of hatred toward strollers that I typically reserve for Nazis or child molesters. I began to notice on Monday – and every day thereafter – what a pain-in-the-neck 10,000 strollers can present to everybody who isn’t armed with one. Not only do they snarl up traffic, delay buses, render walkways impassable and generally ruin the visual appeal of the lands in which they can be seen parked for miles, but after we returned to the Magic Kingdom on Monday afternoon, a rubbernecker distracted with the 3pm parade rammed the back of my 71-year-old father’s legs five separate times despite his polite requests for them to look out, leaving him with a gash on the back of one of his ankles so deep that it bled. I realize, of course, that if you have a child who can’t walk the parks, a stroller is your only option, but it seemed like the vast majority of the stroller pushers we saw were just winging heavy, hard-bodied strollers around willy-nilly, loaded up with merchandise like personal shopping carts, parking them in entranceways and walkways or wherever they happened to be standing when they found themselves distracted by something shiny, while their able-bodied, way-too-old-for-a-stroller children (if, indeed, any children appeared to be with them at all – the woman who hurt my Dad had none) skipped along beside them. Seriously, how many old men must be needlessly maimed before the madness stops? If your child is capable of walking, let them, and leave the stroller at home where it can do no harm! Exuent rant.

Upon our return to the Magic Kingdom, with DD now resplendent in her Aurora gown from home, DH, DD and DS cashed in their golden FP+ for Anna and Elsa (with visiting Princess Aurora) while Dad, Aunt and I went on Peter Pan w/FP+. If you heard a slapping noise around 4pm on Monday afternoon, it was the sound of my epic facepalm when DH caught up with me afterwards and said, “It was so easy – we were in and out of there in 5 minutes with that Fastpass. Why didn’t all those other people, standing in line for 3 hours, bother to get one?” Our next stop was Enchanted Tales With Belle (w/FP+), which we’d never done before. It was just adorable. The little girl chosen to play the Beast gave such a tiny, high-pitched little “raaaawr” that the entire room melted into a collective, “aaawwwwww.” It also became a family affair. My Dad was a knight, DS was the fork-and-spoon (the “SPORK!” as he excitedly declared), and DD was Chip. The magic mirror effect was very cool and a total surprise to the kids.

Anna, sans cape! At least she's got her top on.

After visiting Belle, we headed over to Cinderella’s Royal Table for DD’s birthday dinner. (She had asked to go there for dinner in lieu of any other presents, so we knew this was a must-do.) There was a placemat (signed by the Princesses) at my DD’s place, and the server brought her a birthday cupcake with a lit candle to wish on, which was a nice and unexpected touch. Everyone in our party ordered something different and was pleased with their meal. The best part of mine was the crawfish-and-grits appetizer, which I could have eaten all day. My entree (the Fish of the Day – salmon over an interesting relish of corn, black beans, banana peppers and tomatoes) was fine, and the dessert trio I ordered (raspberry cheesecake, pistachio mousse and a flourless espresso cake) was beautifully presented but otherwise nothing special. Still, you don’t come to CRT for the food, but for the gorgeous views and the experience. In fact, we weren’t the only ones for whom it was an extra-special night. When we sat down, I noticed a couple sitting at a window table beside us, both “dressed up” compared to the average guest. The woman had on a lovely sun dress, and the man, in khaki shorts and a polo shirt, not only looked visibly nervous, but had a jarringly large and angular lump extending conspicuously up from the front of his shorts, not unlike a ring box! (Please understand that I am not in the habit of eyeing the crotch-al region of men other than my adorable DH, but this gentleman was sitting sideways and his... um... bulge... was silhouetted against the wall from where I was sitting, so it was hard to miss.) Sure enough, some 20 minutes later, he pulled the ring box from his pocket and proposed to his date, who tearfully and joyfully accepted, and there was much picture-taking and applause and general merriment added to our already happy evening.

After dinner, DD changed out of her dress and we toured Tomorrowland, hitting Space Mountain w/FP+, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress, the PeopleMover, Stitch (I didn’t want to do it, but the kids had never been and wanted to go – afterwards they shook their heads in disappointment and said, “well, at least we can say we did it”) and, for the first time, the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. Everybody was pleasantly surprised by the Laugh Floor – it was genuinely funny, and my Dad and DH both got picked to make some hammy expressions and play the “parts” of Sully and Randall as the comedians told the story of the Monsters, Inc. film.

With Tomorrowland conquered, we ended up crossing back into Adventureland to ride the Jungle Cruise (which we’d had to skip the first day due to long lines). We’d never done it at night, and we had a wonderful female skipper who was among the best I’ve heard and even told a few jokes that were new to us, so great fun was had by all. We got tangled up in the MSEP route as we tried to exit the park, but that allowed us to see enough of the parade that we didn’t have to make an effort to get a spot for it later in our trip.

Tiggerish · May 12, 2014

I love both verbosity and sarcasm, so I am delighted to follow your trip report!!

Weather_Lady · May 12, 2014

Day 3 (Tuesday, May 6):

Today was our Hollywood Studios day! Like any devoted family on a multigenerational vacation, we began our day... by splitting up. DH and the kids went to TSMM while Dad, Aunt and I did Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster and the Tower of Terror. I didn’t want to admit it to the other grown-ups, but I really didn’t want to do TOT. I did it once, nine years ago, and all I remembered about it was feeling nauseous and terrified, and being tortured by a little boy next to me who emitted shrill, high-pitched screams from the moment we got in the elevator to the moment we exited it. I was so glad I tried it again – this time, with an elevator full of laughing, whooping passengers who were having such a great time that I almost forgot about the imminent death that awaited me with every downward lurch of our vehicle. It really was fun.

We met up with DH and the kids for the Great Movie Ride, and then headed to Star Tours (w/FP+), the Maleficent Sneak Peek, the Muppets, TSMM (w/FP+), and the Little Mermaid (w/ an unnecessary FP+, but we have to use them somewhere, don’t we?). I admit, I was pretty disappointed with the Little Mermaid show, which seemed a little half-arsed. I realize it’s not easy to cram an entire movie into 17 minutes, but I didn’t expect that 90% of the story would be told in a single video flashback, and the views from our seats were so dismal that we couldn’t see Ariel at all when she was wheeled out on her little rock formation. Ah, well. At least there were bubbles. Nobody can be mad when there are bubbles.

We had lunch at ABC Commissary, not so much because the menu appealed to us, but because it was nearly 90 degrees out (bear with us, we come from upstate NY and are not yet used to temps over 60 so far this year) and it seems that ABC stands for AIR-BE-CONDITIONED. We had other things on the itinerary, but by now the kids were clamoring to try out the pool at Wilderness Lodge, so we headed back there for naps and pool time. (We arrived back at the room around 2pm, to discover that during our absence, Maintenance had replaced all of our towel bars and toilet paper holders with better-themed versions than the overly-modern chrome ones that had been left after the recent refurb. Apparently parts of the VWL refurb are still going on, however invisibly.)

After a refreshing dip, our evening’s entertainment was the Hoop-de-Doo Revue at Fort Wilderness. Because we were cheerfully delusional about our level of physical fitness and our ability to function in the heat, we opted to walk the “nature trail” to Fort Wilderness. (If you do this, be warned that the trail is not marked. You’ll take it to its terminus at a paved roadway, ignoring any spurs off to the side that say “Cast Members Only,” cross the road, come to a “T” in the path on the opposite side of the road, and turn left, simply because going left "feels right." If you’re lucky, you won’t be like us and be traveling with children in Tevas who keep getting sand between their toes and whining about it, while intermittently dashing off of the path to “collect” pine cones and tearfully insisting that they need to take home several dozen of them as souvenirs, notwithstanding the fact that they have pine trees, laden with such cones, growing in their yard at home).

Presently, dizzy and sweaty but undaunted, we reached Pioneer Hall, only to discover that the reason you are told to arrive at least 30 minutes before dinnertime has nothing to do with being promptly seated. Rather, you are told to show up 30 minutes early so that you can be subjected to forcible picture-taking (they will later offer to sell you the picture for something like $800 and a newly freshened cow), and made to stand in the sun for 30 minutes while all of the latecomers – the clever people who knew it was all a scam and didn’t want to stand in the sun for 30 minutes – get their pictures forcibly taken. Fun for sadists and masochists alike! Once we finally got inside, though, we had a ball. Our table was in the center of the balcony section, which gave us what Dr. Seuss would have called a "true new Hoop-de-Doo Revue view." The show was very well-done (the performers even came upstairs multiple times, so nobody had to feel “left out” because of their seating category), the crowd was lively, the sangria was refreshing and tart, and the fried chicken and strawberry shortcake were delicious. Watching my DH, Dad and Aunt all holding up their napkins and twirling them around while the kids played on a washboard, all laughing and singing along, brought tears to my eyes. It was one of those perfect little moments that makes a Disney World trip so worth all those months of penny-pinching and planning.

Weather_Lady · May 12, 2014

Day 4 (Wednesday, May 7):

We got to bed early after the Hoop-de-Doo so we could rise early for 8:00am EMH at Animal Kingdom the next day. Little did we know that the next morning would present our only big touring snafu... We were out of the room and waiting at the bus stop at 6:50am, where we discovered a dozen or so people also waiting for the Animal Kingdom bus. We waited. And waited, while about eight different buses came and left for other destinations, including 2-3 buses for each of the other parks. At around 7:20am, the crowd, which by now had swelled to more than 70 people (that I could see to count – the crowd actually wrapped around the side of the bus stop shelter, out of sight), started to get noticeably agitated. Folks were hailing bus drivers on other buses and asking them to radio in and find out how much longer it would be. There were guests with Tusker House breakfast reservations calling the dining line in a panic to explain that they weren’t going to get there on time and plead for later reservations. Several of us were on our phones, trying to reach anyone in transportation that we could, to let them know what was going on. And every one of us was being fed a different line of bullpucky by a different person or department. People were variously told that a bus was on its way – it would be there in 2 minutes! Now 4 more minutes! Now 12 more minutes!

Finally, after 7:40am – some 50 minutes after we arrived at the bus stop (and more than an hour for the people who had preceded us there), on a morning with 8:00am Extra Magic Hours, the very first Animal Kingdom bus of the entire morning showed up at the Wilderness Lodge. Thank God, there was a second bus to Animal Kingdom about 60 seconds behind it, because the angry mob that had gathered was not going to take “you’ll have to wait for the next bus” for an answer.

At this point, I was steaming mad (I’m OCD and we have a PLAN! You cannot mess with the PLAN!), but I tried to put on my “calm face” and kept reassuring the kids that it was all going to be just fine and that we’d still get to do everything they wanted with no problems. That turned out to be completely true, something I attribute to God’s providence, showing me once again that there is always a bigger plan that trumps mine, and that in the end, it all turns out alright.

During the bus ride (with DS on my lap and the bus crammed to capacity with angry people and sharp, pointy folded strollers), I tried to change our evening Epcot FP+ to morning FP+ at Animal Kingdom, but already, all of the major attractions (Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali, Expedition Everest and Dinosaur) had no availability whatsoever until late afternoon. And of course, because I had to “drop” the Epcot FP+ I’d already made in order to discover this information, I then had to try and re-make the Epcot FP+, and couldn’t get them for the same times, which meant our evening touring plan was now shot. Deep breaths now, deep breaths!)

We arrived at the Animal Kingdom at 8:15am, managed to pick the slowest Bag Check line in the history of recorded time, and didn’t get inside the park and truck our way to Kilimanjaro Safaris until well after 8:30am. Still, our wait was a measly 10 minutes, the safari was great, and my blood pressure was returning to normal. DH, Dad and the kids then walked the Pangani Forest Trail while my Aunt and I rode Expedition Everest, which was a walk-on even after 9am – twice! (Does anybody know if some sort of movement has been added back to the Yeti? It could have been a trick of the lighting or the wind in his fur or the angle and speed of the coaster, but it looked to me like his hand moved slightly both times we passed beneath him.)

Then we met up and did Kali River Rapids. Nervous about getting drenched and never having ridden it before, we wore disposable ponchos, prompting a red-headed girl in braces on our raft – a dead ringer for Darla, the dentist’s niece in Finding Nemo, actually – to intermittently scream at us with palpable venom, “CHEATERS! Y’all is CHEATERS!” Thanks to our ponchos, we didn’t get soaked, but a young couple from Australia who sat across from us did, and they couldn’t stop laughing for the rest of the ride. The more I meet people from Australia, the more I become convinced that it produces the happiest, most fun and laid-back people on earth... And as dorky as we may have looked, we found eager “takers” for every one of those ponchos when we offered them to people standing in line!

We then headed into Dinoland for Dinosaur (which was clearly having "issues" -- multiple animatronics that weren't working, which they tried to disguise by making the whole thing pitch black!), Triceratop Spin and the Finding Nemo show. The latter was a first for us, and it was just delightful! The costuming, acting, music and puppetry were really impressive. After Nemo was good and found, we went to Restaurantasaurus for lunch. (Sadly, once again the heat reduced our counter service dining choices to “closest place with air-conditioning, regardless of what they serve.”) We found a table inside the AirStream trailer portion of the indoor dining section, which was secluded and nicely decorated, and although I had hoped for more exotic fare, I really enjoyed my black bean burger with apple slices and chocolate mousse.

After a return to the resort for naps and pool time, we toured Future World at Epcot: Mission:Space, Spaceship Earth, Club Cool (my Dad’s puckered-up “Beverly face” will now be the stuff of family legend), Soarin’ (w/FP+), Journey Into Imagination (at 15 minutes, it was our longest wait of the night – I never thought I’d find myself thinking, “Gee, I wish we’d Fastpassed Imagination” but I did!), Living With the Land (which I find I cannot say aloud, except to sing it to the tune of “Running With the Devil”), The Seas with Nemo, Turtle Talk with Crush, and dinner at The Coral Reef, where we had a bottom-tier seat with a nice view of the tank. Two years ago we dined here and I ordered the Lobster Pasta and hated it. I have no idea why – perhaps my hopes were buoyed by my positive re-experience at TOT – but I ordered it again this time, irrationally expecting a different result. And guess what!??! It was a different result! The “basil oil” they used to drizzle over this dish (which tasted inexplicably like tarragon and industrial chemicals) is gone, the cheesy sauce is thicker, richer and more full-bodied than the leftover seafood bisque that they dumped over it 2 years ago and called "sauce," and one no longer needs a magnifying glass and tweezers to locate the pieces of lobster. This time, it was a total win as far as I was concerned! For dessert, I ordered the Turtle Cheesecake. And it came in the shape of a little turtle, with cookie legs, a frosting head and a garnish of blue melted sugar! As my younger friends would say, “totes adorbs.” Then we called it a night.

Weather_Lady · May 12, 2014

Day 5 (Thursday, May 8):

Thursday was a full day at Epcot. DH, the kids and I arrived at rope drop to do Test Track, since we’d saved our first-tier FP+ for Soarin’ later in the evening. True to form, DS designed a lime green race car with flames, while DD lovingly crafted a pink monster truck bedazzled with flowers. (Incidentally, hers was actually the better performer.) Halfway through the ride, which the kids had never done before because it was being refurbed on our previous visit, my son turned to me and said, “Mommy, I like this ride. I don’t really get what’s going on here, but I like it.”

After some wandering through Innoventions and another trip to Mars on Mission:Space, we met up with Dad and my Aunt (who decided they’d had enough of early mornings by now) at the entrance to World Showcase at 11:00am, and did the Mexico boat ride, Maelstrom, the American Adventure/Voices of Liberty (DH paused for an jalapeno-cheese stuffed pretzel, one of his personal must-dos), lunch at Tangierine Café (tabbouleh and couscous and baklava, how I love thee!) saw Impressions de France and rode a Friendship Boat before naptime. The Flower and Garden exhibits were also lovely to see. In the evening, we returned for dinner at the Biergarten. We are always excited to meet people from around the country (or even the world) with the group seating, but wouldn’t you know it? Our companions were another couple from our home state of New York, who’d also been looking forward to meeting a family from elsewhere! At least we got to share a laugh over it, and hear some of that familiar “lake effect” accent that we New Yorkers all share. After dinner, we meandered through the rest of World Showcase and revisited Soarin’ (w/FP+) and Spaceship Earth.

Weather_Lady · May 12, 2014

Day 6 (Friday, May 9):

Our last full day at WDW! How did the time go by so fast!??! My initial plan for this day had been to take my son to HS and see if we could get him into JTA, but at the last minute he said he’d really rather go to the Magic Kingdom. Nobody else had a preference, so off we went! DH and the kids and I arrived at 8:30am and waited near the left-hand entrance. There were mothers and daughters there who had been standing at that entrance since before 7:00am, desperately hoping to get to Princess Fairytale Hall in time to see Anna and Elsa without a multiple-hour wait. We were surrounded by starry-eyed little girls in Anna and Elsa dresses (some lovingly homemade by their mothers or grandmothers and quite stunning), and it honestly made me a little angry that WDW hasn’t accommodated them better by making more Anna/Elsa M&G opportunities available. With what people pay to visit WDW, nobody should have to wait 3-4 hours to do something when it would cost Disney a relative pittance to relieve them of that wait, and when Disney is professing in all of its MDE/FP+ advertising to care about guests’ wait times.

My daughter's reaction to the news that the Welcome Show was still 20 minutes away:

Rope drop happened (with a colossal stroller jam, when somebody’s wheel got pinned against a flower pot next to the underpass, and another stroller hit it and somehow they got stuck together – hilarious stuff if you weren’t immediately behind them, losing 30 seconds of ropedroptime), and we headed through the Main Street shops, side-stepping the glitter-draped Frozen-princess-bound hordes, toward the bridge to Liberty Square, where we were stopped by a second rope for a few minutes. (I get that. But seriously now, what’s with the third and fourth rope drops inside Frontierland? The cast members did everything but insist that we wear leashes and hold their hands as they shuffled sloooooowly toward Big Thunder and Splash. I see it as a theming problem: such paternalism is so not consistent with the free-spiritedness of the American pioneer!!!)

After FourthRopeDrop, we rode Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and POTC, and were joined by Dad and my Aunt for our first Dole Whip floats of the trip. The crowds were building quickly, so we headed over to Tom Sawyer Island to explore. DH and I were the only ones in our party who had been there before, and we spent a pleasant hour or so just letting the kids run free. Okay, I admit it: it wasn’t just the kids. DH and I got just as much of a kick out of exploring the caves, traversing the Fort’s escape route, jumping around on the barrel bridge, firing the guns, etc. as the DS and DD did. We visited HM, had lunch at Columbia Harbor House, where I had the best lobster roll I’ve ever tasted outside of Boston, plus a lemonade slushie, and went back to the villa for our last naptime. (DD and I each took advantage of the opportunity to try out the Jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom for big, Calgon commercial-style bubble baths – it was awesome!)

Late in the afternoon, we headed to the MK and took the monorail to the Polynesian for dinner at ‘Ohana. As others have reported recently, the monorails were filthy, with visible dirt and trash in the compartments. (In fact, a number of the ride queues were also full of trash – I even found a discarded Nestle Quick bottle in my Splash Mountain log – but I really don’t blame Disney for this. I saw cast members picking up garbage constantly, everywhere, but they can only do so much to stay ahead of the unwashed miscreants dropping rubbish all over the place. When it comes to littering, I don’t see it so much as Disney declining by degrees, but rather, modern civilization declining by leaps and bounds.) I was disappointed that we didn’t get leis and that there was no Photopass photo opportunity (perhaps those are just for breakfast, but for some reason, I had this idea that we’d get them for dinner as well), although the kids got leis for participating in the hula later with the beautiful singer who circulated around the restaurant with her ukelele. Dinner at ‘Ohana was wonderful, and lived up to its stellar reputation. Everyone raved about the pork dumplings, even though we were so full with the huge variety of food we were offered that nobody could eat more than a couple of them. The steak and shrimp were particularly succulent, and although the noodles and chicken wings were maddeningly sticky and messy, they were also wildly tasty. The bread pudding with caramel banana sauce was everything that bread, caramel or bananas could ever aspire to be, and we all left uncomfortably full but happy.

We returned to the Magic Kingdom with the goal of revisiting everybody’s favorite attractions. We did Space Mountain (w/FP+), Big Thunder Mountain (w/FP+), POTC and HM. At that point, DS and I were heading to Splash Mountain (we had a 9:20pm FP+ – I knew I was cutting it close with “Wishes,” but it was the closest to my desired 8pm time that I could get, even 60 days out) while the rest of the family staked out a spot to watch the fireworks. I had suggested to DH that the view might be nice somewhere near the Plaza Restaurant, not even thinking about the fact that the view of the castle from there is currently totally blocked by construction walls! Splash broke down just before DS and I boarded, delaying us for a few extra minutes, and once we were done with it, we had to skip around the MSEP route.

(There was a comical moment at the MagicBand readers -- thanks to you folks and Josh over at the website-that-must-not-be-named, I knew that FP+ are honored if you are between 5 minutes early and 15 minutes late, so since we were in a time crunch we stepped up and scanned our MagicBands for the 9:20pm FP+ at 9:15pm, getting the "green light" to go ahead. The cast member manning that post looked at his screen and said accusingly, "When is your Fastpass for?" I resisted the urge to correct his grammar and simply said, "It's for 9:20, but I thought it was okay to use them 5 minutes early. Is it not?" The cast member looked shocked for a moment and then wailed, "you're not supposed to know that," but waved us through with a look of defeat. So it's true: knowledge is power.) After a harrying attempt to get through the darkened hub area (with Cast Members screaming, “please move along!” at hundreds of guests in front of us, all of whom seemed dumbfounded as to why they couldn’t simply stop and stand in the middle of walkways because GoodGodThereArePrettyLightsBeingProjectedOnTheCastleSoIAmParalyzedNow!?), DS and I joined up with the rest in front of the Plaza’s side entrance at 9:55pm, just before “Wishes.” The timing of that whole debacle was very bad planning on my part! Still, we made it, and although the construction walls blocked much of our view of the castle itself, it actually turned out to be an excellent place from which to see the fireworks above, far from the madding crowd and easy to “escape from” afterward.

Fastpassed 5 minutes early and we don't care, because that's just how we roll:

The fireworks were scheduled for 10pm and the Magic Kingdom was going to be open until 12am, so we had this crazy idea that a lot of families would leave after the fireworks and we’d have some additional elbow room and/or lower wait times. Silly us – everybody in the Magic Kingdom just strapped on their sleeping babies, rented an additional stroller just for the fun of it (I kid, I kid!), and stayed until the bitter end. We forged ahead anyway and stood through 25+ minute waits for Pooh and Peter Pan, since it was our “last night in the nursery.” After an unsuccessful attempt to board the WDW Railroad in Fantasyland (a CM told us it would be running but it was decidedly not so), we walked the path to Tomorrowland, revisited the Laugh Floor (Dad was featured once again!) and snaked our way out of the park, finally boarding a bus at 11:59pm.

Weather_Lady · May 12, 2014

Day 7 (Saturday, May 10):

Even with everyone sleeping in as long as they wanted and taking the time to pack our bags, we were checking out of the Wilderness Lodge and bidding a fond farewell to our villa by 9:30am. My Aunt was dying to have one last ride on the Tower of Terror, so I had made a FP+ for us the night before and we all headed to Hollywood Studios for TOT, One Man’s Dream (what a beautiful exhibit and film - thanks for the recommendation, @minniemickeyfan!), Lights, Motors, Action!, Indiana Jones, Star Tours and the Back Lot Tour. The Back Lot Tour became my favorite thing of the day, quite in spite of its inherent lameness, when one of the volunteers for the “Harbor Attack” segment – a rotund gentleman who barely fit into his raincoat – was so dedicated to the director’s initial instruction that he “wash the boat” that he kept forgetting to react to things like bullets and bombs that were going off! So he would flail his arms for a moment, long after the special effect was rendered, and then go right back to scrubbing the boat with all his might as all hell broke loose around him, like some kind of Mousekeeping action hero. I don’t know why, but it hit my funny bone just the right way, and next thing I knew, I was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face and it took me several minutes to compose myself. Just as I’d finally gotten a grip, they played the filmed “Harbor Attack” segments on the screen and I fell to pieces laughing all over again. After that, everything was anticlimactic.

We headed back to the Wilderness Lodge at 3pm, picked up our bags (DH’s backpack was not misplaced this time) and had an uneventful trip to the airport and home, arriving around 10:00pm and going straight to bed.

The next morning (Mother’s Day), I awoke to find that my son had placed a homemade card on the edge of my pillow, covered with hearts drawn in red marker, that simply said, “Best trip ever, Mommy.” (Sigh.) I could ask for no better ending than that.

ShookieJones · May 12, 2014

Short, Sweet and Freaking Hilarious!

I mean I seriously had some LOL moments..which I must say NOT FREAKING COOL when you're at work trying to act like you're uhm... working and instead you're obnoxiously laughing out loud...then having to explain that "Excel can be sooo funny sometimes!"
So needless to say - I'm totally P.O'd with you about the fact that you were NOT thinking about your fellow WDWmagicers who goof off a bit during the day.

This one was a winner: "Seriously, how many old men must be needlessly maimed before the madness stops?"

There were more than a few more that I would love to point out -- unfortunately someone thought it was a good idea to post an extremely funny TR during work hours...Now that I'm exposed and under watchful eyes, I have to actually do some work THANKS!!!

BTW - Beautiful family!

Ember · May 12, 2014

Nice trip report! I can't believe your trip is over already

But it sounds like you guys had a great time!

Weather_Lady · May 12, 2014

ShookieJones said:
Short, Sweet and Freaking Hilarious!

I mean I seriously had some LOL moments..which I must say NOT FREAKING COOL when you're at work trying to act like you're uhm... working and instead you're obnoxiously laughing out loud...then having to explain that "Excel can be sooo funny sometimes!"
So needless to say - I'm totally P.O'd with you about the fact that you were NOT thinking about your fellow WDWmagicers who goof off a bit during the day.

This one was a winner: "Seriously, how many old men must be needlessly maimed before the madness stops?"

There were more than a few more that I would love to point out -- unfortunately someone thought it was a good idea to post an extremely funny TR during work hours...Now that I'm exposed and under watchful eyes, I have to actually do some work THANKS!!!

BTW - Beautiful family!

Thanks, @ShookieJones! So glad you enjoyed it, and I hope I didn't get you into too much trouble.

lebeau · May 13, 2014

I haven't started reading yet, but I'm excited to see your TR posted. I've been following your planning since we're going soon too (and you've been exceptionally helpful more than once). So I can't wait to read about how it all played out.

Edit: Just finished. Great TR. Sounds like you had a good time. Glad it all worked out (aside from a few inevitable bumps).

mrdrift · May 13, 2014

Great trip report. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful moments of your trip with us. I feel the same way about the stroller issues. I had the same thing happen to me were a man pushing his kids ran into me cut my leg and a cast member noticed lots of blood. They called for medical team and they took me up to first aid area with a wheel chair and proceeded to send me to a local hospital because they thought I needed stitches. They were right needed 4 stitches. Was told no water, so no water parks that were planned for the next two days.Taxi back to resort this cost me a fortune, oh well. Sorry I'm going on about a past trip, this is suppose to be about your trip. Thanks again for sharing.

PolynesianPrincess · May 13, 2014

Loved this report! Sounds like you had an awesome time! You are right, saving and penny pinching for months makes it all worth it when you're there, all smiles, having the time of your life

I agree with your comment about it not being Disney that's declining, but rather society. A couple trips back we saw a family of probably 5-6 leave ALL their trash on their table at Cosmic Ray's. A CM had to come over an clean it all up. I know CMs are there to make sure the place is looking good but that does NOT give ANYONE the right to leave their trash on a table and just walk away. That's pure laziness right there. That kind of stuff makes my blood boil. It's just so inconsiderate!

WL is tied for my top favorite resort w/ the Poly. It's just so peaceful and serene, even though it's not that far from all the action over at MK, you feel like you're worlds away. Can't wait to get back there sometime

buseegal · May 13, 2014

I have a way to stop from being hit from behind. second time I am hit by same stroller and I " loose" my balance grab my husband's arm and start to fall backwards into stroller. boy do they move back as I have to stop and regain my balance as I repeat to husband glad my knee did not go out all the way. I have only once ended up in the stroller and yes I do have a knee that can go out if hit just right as in going clearly too the ground. I do make sure it is not a tiny baby. did have one parent yell to not fall on his baby, so I calmly said make sure you do not knock my knee out as when it goes out I go down and usually backwards and I can not help where I fall

PrincessNelly_NJ · May 15, 2014

I kept hoping to see myself in the background of some of your pictures LOL, sadly each day we were at separate parks, except May 10, I was at HS too! How cute are your children! I never cared for the wilderness lodge villas but after seeing your pictures of the refurbished rooms, I'd really like to give them a try.
And I have to say I like your touring plan better than how my own worked out.
I think I used the 5 minute before window nearly every time but I didn't know about the 15 minutes after.
After our trip last week, DFi and I have decided to try to wait until out kids are passed stroller age to take them to Disney.... I really dislike them and refuse to lug them, park them, fold them, unfold them... ugh! makes my head hurt just thinking about them.
But I'm glad you had an amazing trip and can't wait for the next trip report!

FlaggNL · May 15, 2014

Love the pictures, no time for reading your great texts now, but absolutely will do that!

Weather_Lady · May 19, 2014

PrincessNelly_NJ said:
I kept hoping to see myself in the background of some of your pictures LOL, sadly each day we were at separate parks, except May 10, I was at HS too! How cute are your children! I never cared for the wilderness lodge villas but after seeing your pictures of the refurbished rooms, I'd really like to give them a try.
And I have to say I like your touring plan better than how my own worked out.
I think I used the 5 minute before window nearly every time but I didn't know about the 15 minutes after.
After our trip last week, DFi and I have decided to try to wait until out kids are passed stroller age to take them to Disney.... I really dislike them and refuse to lug them, park them, fold them, unfold them... ugh! makes my head hurt just thinking about them.
But I'm glad you had an amazing trip and can't wait for the next trip report!

Thank you!

I hope you had a great trip, too!

Weather_Lady · Jun 3, 2014

buseegal said:
I have a way to stop from being hit from behind. second time I am hit by same stroller and I " loose" my balance grab my husband's arm and start to fall backwards into stroller. boy do they move back as I have to stop and regain my balance as I repeat to husband glad my knee did not go out all the way. I have only once ended up in the stroller and yes I do have a knee that can go out if hit just right as in going clearly too the ground. I do make sure it is not a tiny baby. did have one parent yell to not fall on his baby, so I calmly said make sure you do not knock my knee out as when it goes out I go down and usually backwards and I can not help where I fall

That's a good tactic, but I'm such a klutz that I would inevitably fail to "regain my balance" and would end up crushing some poor child -- or somebody's merchandise. Either way, somebody would be really angry with me!

Betsyboo · Jun 3, 2014

So glad I found this TR. It's nice to see how things turned out after following along in planning etc. I couldn't agree more about the strollers. Fantasyland is like a stroller parking lot most of the time. I understand the need but wow, wouldn't an umbrella fold up stroller work just as well as the shopping cart version? LOL Thanks for sharing your trip.

Trip Report A Fastpass to Wackiness: a Multi-Generational May 2014 Trip Report

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