Trip Report A tale of two Values-Split stay Pop and Aoa May 2018

We just got back early this morning from our trip after an unexpected delay so I took the day off from work. I need to unpack and grocery shop but I would rather sit on the couch and start my TR-so here we go.
Who: Myself (Erica/Mom), DH R, DD O (5), and DS Z (3)
Where: 2 nights at Pop Century and 4 nights at Art of Animation
When: May 7-13
Why: I bought my annual pass a a little over a year ago with the intention of traveling again this May. We booked this trip to be just shy of my AP expiration.
Details: I had my AP and everyone else had 5 day park hoppers that I bought from a discount 3rd party seller. I booked both rooms with room only discounts. We did not participate in the dining plan this time around even though we have in the past.

 

[ELeigh]

Day 5 Part 1 May 12 (Mother’s Day):
I have tried to finish this trip report once a week for the past few weeks but being a mom on “summer vacation” is much more demanding than my normal work schedule and I have been tired!
That being said, Day 5 started with some sleeping in and eventually we moseyed our way to Landscape of Flavors for breakfast. The kids shared character waffles, R ordered a platter or some sort and I opted for a grab and go breakfast sandwich and Joffreys iced coffee. Everything was gobbled up quickly and we were ready for the pool.
We spent the rest of the morning in the big blue pool and the kids loved playing in the jellyfish area. My feet were glad for a break after lots of walking earlier in the trip.
We had a lunch ADR so after a pit stop to wash up and change in our room we boarded a bus to Disney Springs.
Our ADR was for Frontera Cocina. We were early but they were able to seat us right away. I noticed as we walked through the restaurant that more tables had been packed in since my last visit-I am not sure if this was temporary or not. Our table tucked in the back corner seemed fine until a couple clearly on a date was seated at the 2 top that was uncomfortably close to us. The looks on their faces plainly read that they were not happy to be sitting next to two small children so we switched seats to move the kids away from them.

The kids didn’t mind their new seats and when this arrived the problem was erased from my mind:

Watermelon Pink Flamingo margarita is second only to the Rose Margarita that was offered at Flower and Garden 2018.
I was feeling so calm after a few sips that I forgot to take pictures of our food. Our appetizer was the Queso Fundido which was a warm cheese dip with peppers and onions served with corn tortillas. It was ooey gooey and delicious but I would suggest requesting tortilla chips instead of the soft tortillas to make it easier to eat. We have since made our own version at home and added roasted garlic and it was even better.

The remnants of the dish can be seen in this photo. We didn’t leave much.
We were serenaded as we ate by a guitar player/singer who was circulating. A very nice touch to the meal and O was especially impressed as she loves the movie Coco right now and practices on her Disney Princess guitar singing “Remember Me” quite often.
Our main courses came and we’re devoured before I had time to take a picture. R and i shared the carne asada which was excellent as usual and I had to order a side of the fried plantains to myself and had no trouble polishing them off.
The kids split the kids quesadilla meal and the portion size has always been so large that both children can eat their fill and there are still some pieces left for me to snack on at the end. This time I was able to dip the last couple of pieces into the sauce that came with our appetizer and it was a perfect pairing. For any cheese fans out there I would highly suggest ordering the kids meal quesadilla if you can! The cheese is so creamy I believe it may be Oaxaca cheese, which I have only had before when we were on the border of Mexico. Lucky for me they just started carrying it in our local grocery store so I am going to try and make some quesadillas with it at home.

 

[Mainahman]

Travel Day 5/7:
I am a big fan of early morning flights to Disney and hitting the ground running but R is much better with afternoon and evening flights so I decided on an after work/school flight. It was a bit of a tense night Monday packing up-there was some repacking of bags at the last minute after R pointed out that I had packed way too much (oops?).
Tuesday seemed to be the longest day ever at work. We have had bad luck traveling in the past which I have shared in previous TR and I get anxious that something will happen and we will miss our flight so I was on edge all day. I ended up calling it quits a few minutes early so I could have my last Dunkin Doughnuts coffee for a while-it’s a New England thing I guess.
After I got my caffeine fix I picked up O and Z from school. They were beyond excited for the trip and confirmed multiple times-yes were going to go home and change and then go to the airport.
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With a quick change while R loaded up the trunk, we made excellent time. We stopped for Firehouse Subs on the way to the airport (we don’t have one near us so it’s a special treat). The airport was a breeze, no line at the ticket counter and a quick trip through security so we made it to the gate with time to spare.
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We were ready to leave the cold and rainy behind for a few days. We flew southwest and we scored A boarding so we had our choice of seats. The flight down was only 1/2 full so plenty of room to stretch out. Neither of the children slept on the plane which was surprising to me. They were content playing games on the tablets we brought for them so I was able to watch Aquaman on my tablet.

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Our flight landed a little early at around 10:05. Luckily I re-read our Magical Express paperwork and realized we would need to go to baggage claim to collect our luggage-Disney’s pickup service ends at 10:00pm. We were able to get it and get to the Magical Express area without too much hassle. We saw others there who ended up having to go back to baggage claim to collect their luggage because they didn’t read the fine print.
We were soon aboard a bus to POP Century. The driver listed the stops, Boardwalk then Carribbean Beach then POP. I told R to brace himself for a longer ride while the kids were entranced with the Goofy cartoons that were playing. They were both asleep by the time we reached the gates to WDW. I was refreshing the MDE app constantly hoping for a room ready text so we could avoid the front desk. We finally got the text at 10:45-building 9 in the 80s section on the 4th floor. To my surprise our bus soon pulled up to POP-I guess the bus driver had it backwards and we were the first stop. The kids woke up as we exited the bus and were so excited to be at POP century. We had the choice of bell services delivering our luggage later or just taking it ourselves and we decided to just bring it along.
When we reached our room, we got a green light . I didn’t take pictures but here is one from online of what we were greeted with:View attachment 372970
I had a moment of panic that there was only one bed and I started to look up our reservation on my phone before my sense kicked in and I realized that the table was a Murphy bed. We turned it into its bed form and I went to town unpacking while the kids and R found some Disney cartoons on TV so they could unwind a bit. Once I was satisfied that we would have what we needed for the morning we turned off the tv and lights and said good night to Disney world.

YOu had me at Dunkin! as a northerner that now lives in the south... driving more than a mile for one is a travesty...

 

[ELeigh]

Day 5 Part 2 May 12:
When I planned our trip, I really wanted to see Pandora at night so I booked late afternoon FP for Animal Kingdom. By the time we made it to the DS bus stop we were less than 2 hours shy of our first FP window and we agreed to just go and get the FP done as quickly as possible. We considered a Minnie Van straight to the park until R reminded me that I had told him not to bring his and the kids magic bands...oops :/.
I thought we would be going towards the end of the FP window and that we would head to the room for a small break in between. That small break turned into arriving at AoA and me sprinting to the room, grabbing Magicbands and sprinting back to the waiting AK bus that R and the kids had gotten onto. They were the only ones on and asked the driver if she could wait for me, she said she could wait until another party showed up and luckily I snuck on while said party was folding up their stroller.
We were soon on our way to AK and I was drenched in sweat before even entering the park from my mini marathon (I never run so I was also sore :/). It didn’t make our experience there any better.
The first FP was split for R to ride FOP (I will need Dramamine to ride this one again) and for myself and the kids to ride Navi River Journey. I attempted to navigate through pandora using the MDE map but we got lost twice.

The kids loved Navi and I think the visuals were super cool. I get that this is just another Disney boat ride-but we like the boat rides . R took quite a bit longer so we sought out some shade and a cool treat.

They loved the Night Blossom and shared a little with me. The “Pandora Rangers” (name I found in MDE to describe this-Sounds like power rangers to me) we’re performing and there were people crammed everywhere.
When R finally found us and we headed to our next FP, the crowds of people were even more prominent. I don’t know the specifics of AK but I have to assume that there aren’t enough attractions to absorb as many people and so many people are left to just sit and wait for their next FP. A lot of what makes AK special to me are the details but with people crammed into every crevice there is no way to enjoy the details.
We hopped on a safari ride with our next FP to escape the masses.

The kids enjoyed the animals but we didn’t see any giraffes or lions so it was a little uneventful for me until....

This guy camped out right in our path for what seemed like forever and finally moved to the side. Our driver was visibly worried as she called for some kind of backup. Another vehicle pulled up with what I assume was assistance and we were able to drive off. I know that many of the animals are spectated by optical illusions but if anyone can explain how they deal with the Rhinos I am really curious. This is the 2nd or 3rd time a Rhino has crossed the path of a safari I was on and every time I am pretty terrified something is going to happen.

 

[ELeigh]

Day 5 Part 3 May 12:
I can’t believe I’m still working on a TR from May when it’s about to be fall but I want to finish it and I will try to get this done!
After we left the safari we had a split FP for our final FP of the day and of the trip.
I wanted R to ride Everest so he headed that way. Myself and the kids went for a very important meeting. I originally had something else planned for this time but when I realized that we were ending our last park day without visiting the big guy himself once during this trip I had to change that.

We finished up quicker than R so we waited for him where we had split up.

I am not sure he would want this ride photo shared but ooops..
During the few minutes we waited for him, O proceeded to have a serious meltdown. She was not happy about sitting around waiting

Even a passing drum parade didn’t help but Z did enjoy it.

When we saw R coming we were all ready to hightail it out of the park so we ended our last park day a bit unceremoniously.
We had canceled our dinner ADRs and replaced it with our lunch at Frontera and back at AoA R declared he was done with “cafeteria food” and I agreed. Our last dinner in WDW was a papa johns pizza which I have to say was much more to my liking than Disney resort pizza. For dessert we had more of my favorite thing.

I packed up our things while R and the kids caught whatever movie was on tv. We got the kids to sleep by 9 so that we could watch Game of Thrones which we only had access to on our iPad. For anyone who is a fan of GOT and knows which episode aired that night, it was not a good one to try and watch on such a small screen :/. And you will also understand why I drifted off to sleep a little unsettled.

 

[ELeigh]

Day 5 May 12 Recap:
We had always done 4 day park hoppers prior to this trip and this day proved that we really can’t handle the 5th day. It didn’t help that the park we chose was AK-I love the idea of this park but I don’t think I have actually really ever enjoyed myself there.

Steps-14,567

Disney Snacks-2

Rides-4

Characters met-2

New experiences on Day 5:
Navi River Journey: The kids and I really enjoyed NRJ and I can now say I have ridden all the rides at AK (the only park I’ve completed). I would definitely ride again if I can bring myself to return to AK.

Ordering off site food at AoA: When I ordered pizza, I was under the impression it would be delivered to our room but that was not the case. It does make sense that it’s actually not allowed-so I had to run to the main lobby to meet the delivery driver. Something to consider if you find yourself in the same situation.

 

[ELeigh]

Day 6 Part 1 May 13
Our final Disney day started with lots of last minute packing. Once we were all set R set off to find a luggage carrier and when he returned we brought everything down to the airline checkin area. There were a few families ahead of us in line but once we got to the front the experience was easy and quick. Our boarding passes were printed for us and our checked luggage was taken care of. We then had to check our carry ons with bell services which again had a line but was quick once we got our turn.
Once we were unburdened we called a Minnie Van. As we waited it began to sprinkle.
Our destination of the boardwalk was so close it felt wrong to use a Minnie Van on it but since it would require 2 separate busses to get there I decided it was better to have a smooth ride.
We arrived early for our Bon Voyage Breakfast ADR and had little time to explore while we waited. We snuck into abracadabar for a peek.
Soon our name was called and we were assigned a table. We had a good view of the kitchen from our seats which amused me. The kids were really excited about the kids menus/coloring pages were toy story 4 themed.

Our waitress was amazing with the kids, she took the time to ask them exactly what they wanted and going over their options with them. She also got them very excited for the characters.

She quickly delivered pastries and the spiked ice coffee I had ordered which were all delicious. I felt a little good afterwards and took this picture of the light fixtures-I think because my friend just got something like this in her dining room and I wanted to show her? But I never sent it...

It didn’t take long for our main courses to arrive.

Both myself and R had the Royale Breakfast which consisted on Steak, Eggs and Potatoes and I found it be a perfect combination and a good value. This breakfast kept me full quite a long time.
The kids each ordered character waffles with fruit and hadn’t eaten much before they joined an “under the sea” parade.

A lot blurry I guess that drink got to me...

 

[ELeigh]

Day 6 Part 2 May 13:
The characters visited our table every few minutes as we ate. First was Flynn Rider

Z really wanted to show off his Sebastian shirt but he was braking up the wrong tree. We had to explain to Flynn who Sebastian was.

We were supposed to share our dreams with Repunzel but the kids couldn’t think of anything and just stared at her instead.

Prince Eric liked Z’s shirt so he was pretty excited.

Ariel complimented O on her tail and we let O show her that her dress made music so we was over the moon.
After we settled the bill we took some pictures on the boardwalk

Then we explored the Boardwalk Hotel a bit.

As we waited at the bus stop for our next destination O wanted to take some pictures

Then we had to take some of her

The sun was shining here but that didn’t last long.

 

[ELeigh]

Day 6 Part 3 May 13:
We had a while to spare before catching our Tragical express so we had planned to catch a movie at Disney Springs.

We got there and had enough time for a quick look around some of the shops near the theatre and I ended up getting myself an olive green spirit jersey (which I practically live in these days). R wanted to check out the marvel superhero shop but was highly disappointed. I think you can find more superhero gear at your average target. I really hope when Marvel campus opens in Disneyland that they offer some good Marvel merch.
By the time we were done perusing it had begun to pour buckets. We made a run for the movie theatre but ended up all getting pretty soaked. Our first stop was to change into dry spare clothes that I had packed.
We had got our tickets and loaded up on popcorn and drinks and sat down to watch Detective Pikachu. Pokémon is right up there with Disney for my kids, and R and I both grew up playing it and we haven’t stopped yet. The movie isn't winning any awards but for a kids movie it was pretty good.
After the movie we debated grabbing food at the springs but we were still full from breakfast.
We decided to head out to the busses. I got a notice that our flight was delayed due to storms. I checked a few times as we waited and while we rode back to AoA and it kept changing to a later time each time I looked. This would now put us getting home well past midnight and I had something I had committed to at work the next day.
When we got to the resort, R and the kids went to spend the rest of their arcade money while I tried to decide what to do.

It was too late to change our Tragical time and I wasn’t really sure there was much difference between waiting at AoA and waiting at the airport at this point so I didn’t look too far into it.
We gathered our luggage from bell services and waited for our ride. It came on time and we were the last stop so it was pretty full and we had to split up. At the airport the wait felt like eternity but we passed it with each of us on our own electronic devices watching tv/movies.

We ended our Disney trip with a McDonald’s meal and we were relieved when we were finally able to get on the plane and all of us slept most of the way.
When we landed I got a text from my coworker saying that the field trip I was supposed to go on had been cancelled and I did a mini happy dance. I felt bad for the kids but so relieved that I could call out guilt free. R loaded up on caffeine to drive us home and once again everyone else slept. We walked through our door a little past 2am and straight to bed. Not a peep was made until 10am and then the rest of our day looked a little like this (we did change clothes at some point I promise).