Trip Report Chapter 13: Birthday Celebrations and First WDW July 4

Hello! I started chronicling past trips into one report and got through one trip so far. But rather than write entirely in order I'm going to write more contemporaneous while memories are still most fresh. And that leads us to today where I'll start getting into our July 4 birthday trip extravaganza.

When: June 30 to July 10

Who: The normal cast. Myself, my wife (M), son (H), and daughter (O). H had just turned 5 pre-trip and O would turn 8 on this trip.

Why: Three purposes from least important to most important: (1) attend Flower and Garden, (2) July 4 activites at Legoland and WDW, and (3) celebrate both kids. As you'll see, H's birthday celebration was more loose and not contained to one day like O's birthday.

We'd never celebrated July 4 at WDW so we read up on different activities and found that between the Polynesian resort activities and everything we wanted to do that we'd need to cut some stuff out.

We're also still Legoland AP holders after last year's Brick Friday sale. When I'm caught up with old trip report I'll have more on our Legoland decision there in Chapter 11 (December 2022). Pertinent to this trip we decided to take one day to check out Legoland's July 4 weekend activities.

Where:
Polynesian DVC standard studio, July 1-5
Beach Club Villas studio, July 5-10

My wife and I enjoy the EPCOT festivals and had not been to Flower and Garden this year. For those keenly aware of festival dates you'll notice that the last day of Flower and Garden was July 5, the day we checked into Beach Club. It was unfortunate planning that we had a lot of EPCOT things we wanted to do when at a MK resort and then the festival was over for most of our Beach Club stay. Alas, we did not consider F&G dates when booking in early Fall 2022. Instead we asked our daughter where she wanted to be for her birthday and, she chose Beach Club, and we workes backwards from there. No regrets though! Polynesian for the 4th is fantastic!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Second! Eager to read more!

 

[Swissmiss]

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

How apropos to be fourth.

 

[cgersic]

I'm here for the celebrating!!

 

[mpaulam]

Following along

 

[Wicked Sisters]

Looking forward to this. Birthday celebrations in WDW must be so magical.

 

[Doberge]

Pre-Trip
Thursday, June 30

I woke up Thursday morning feeling okay. O was having a sleep over with a grandmother so I only had to get H to camp. Pretty uneventful until driving him to camp and starting to feel a right sided abdominal pain that was dull but uncomfortable.

Uncoincidentally I had an appointment with my internist in 30 minutes. I had some unusual upper abdominal pain the previous weekend and it was suggested I make an appointment. Of course, days later, I started feeling better but kept the appointment because we were about to travel and it seemed prudent to be checked out. I dropped H off and drove toward the clinic connected to the hospital. By this point I'm in more pain.



If you've entered a garage and seen the white bars with a clearance height and thought "who has a car tall enough for that to be a problem?" Well, the raised truck in front of me had a problem. He was pretty easily hitting the marker and then verrrrrrry slowly entered the garage. I'm following feeling like I'm about to give birth (I've cleared this analogy with someone who has experienced birthing a child and having kidney stones). I have no way around.



Eventually the truck figures out how to make a turn and exits. I circle my way up getting calls from my MIL and then wife looking for me. I can’t talk.

Walking to the office I start getting texts that O might have pink eye. I'm pretty useless at this point but thankfully my MIL takes care of it after I send her the insurance information.

I'm sitting in my internist's office and I'm sure he wasn't expecting my wrecked self.



After an initial workup I was presented two choices: I could stay in office but it would likely take longer and there wasn't much to do about pain, or I could walk across the street to the hospital and likely get worked up faster and be helped with pain. I chose the hospital and started slowly making my way over.

At this point I knew I was looking at either kidney stones or something like appendicitis or a gall bladder issue. With a pending vacation and hoping to leave the next day I was hoping "just" kidney stone and to avoid surgery that would likely cancel the trip.



Of course, as soon as I start to be triaged I start to feel a little better but continue, again, because I know I'm about to travel. I eventually tell my mother, wife, and MIL that I'm in the ER. I was hesitant because I was feeling a little better and didn't want anyone to drop what they were doing, but I then reasoned not saying anything would have been worse.

I was worked up in the ED and eventually learned I *likely* had a kidney stone and passed it. I've heard of folks passing stones after riding Big Thunder and I'm glad I didn't have that experience. Honestly though, the pain was bad enough that I'm unsure how people go a week or so with it, few hours was enough. I was lucky about timing as this easily could have happened on our trip.

I rested the remainder of the day. Luckily I had finished most packing but of course we still had all of the last minute stuff like toiletries, car snacks, kids entertainment, bubble wands, etc. We still forgot a few things, chiefly a popcorn bucket.

 

[littleroo]

I am sorry to hear about the kidney stones but at least you got it checked out! I am glad you are doing ok?

 

[Doberge]

Friday, June 30

Friday was a typical departure day where we left later than anticipated. Our drive is about 10.5 hours with stops. If we leave at noon central we get in around midnight eastern. Unfortunately we left at 1:45.

We made a traditional stop at Buccees outside Mobile abs it was pretty slammed but better than I expected. We have a pretty good idea of what we like so we efficiently made our way through. I've been into the California chicken wrap lately so that ended up being my dinner. H gets a blue raspberry icee and pretzel sticks. O gets cheese cubes and grapes. M gets some cheese, sausage, and a brisket taco. We're back on the road after *only 30 minutes* (read in your best Jean Shepherd voice Carousel of Progress voice).

At some point during the drive I booked a Hotwire deal in Flamingo Crossings for, I think, a 3 star hotel for $98. It ended up being the Residencd Inn. Pretty good deal despite a parking charge, but I had the charge refunded because there were no parking spots when we pulled in at 1:24 am. I had to park across the street in the mall parking area. Honestly, not a problem and was worth not paying to park.

The Residence Inn room was great. It had two queens in a bedroom separate from a living room and full kitchen. I believe it was only a walk-in shower. Breakfast was served buffet style downstairs with a mix of hot and cold items, pretty typical. There were multiple make-your-own Mickey waffle stations. I'd stay here again at the pricepoint.

Up next: crossing 429 to enter WDW.

 

[Doberge]

Looking forward to reading more!

Congratulations!

Second! Eager to read more!

View attachment 730674

How apropos to be fourth.

I'm here for the celebrating!!

Following along

Looking forward to this. Birthday celebrations in WDW must be so magical.

Bienvenue!

 

[Doberge]

I am sorry to hear about the kidney stones but at least you got it checked out! I am glad you are doing ok?

Yes, I've done okay since including the entire trip. I have some followups planned to learned more to help in the future.

 

[MickeyCB]

I'm following feeling like I'm about to give birth (I've cleared this analogy with someone who has experienced birthing a child and having kidney stones). I have no way around.

Following along on your TR and a quick story.

I'm a retired internist and one day I had a young male (30's) patient in the exam room.
He holds up a urine cup (that I have no idea why he had at home) and in it is a kidney stone almost the size of a green pea.
I fling open the exam room door and yell out into the office area, WE HAVE A REAL MAN HERE!!!!
He almost rolled off of the table laughing and I remain very surprised I didn't get fired for that.
You pass a stone in the parking garage, you get credit!!!

 

[Doberge]

Saturday, July 1. Part 1

July at WDW! Our initial plan had been to drive straight to EPCOT and then go to Polynesian later in the day and either pop into MK or swim at the resort. Then we realized it's hot so M suggested we audible and go straight to Polynesian. If you've not been down World Drive to experience the new roads, the routes to Poly and Grand Floridian hang a left toward the car care center and then around the MK parking lot, ending up at the corner of Seven Seas Drive (the street Poly entrance is on) and Floridian Way. You take a right and go the old entrance. As a tip, I think they moved the magic band car entrance because later in the trip I missed it. Also, be careful when you exit because I was used to turning right on to Seven Seas Drive but it's now a left on Floridian Way.

Back to check-in. We got to Polynesian at 11:11 and I checked in with the desk despite doing online checkin. On some past trips I had issues with online checkins but no problem this time. But I also like to check in with desks to say "hey, I'm here, it'd be great to get a room soon!" I picked up a package from the desk, a new pair of sweet Smokey the Bear Keen Newport H2s. Zoom in for Smokey.

M and the kids unloaded with Bell Services while I was at the front desk. I parked the car and met the family at Bou-Tiki. We had our swim stuff expecting a long wait before our room would be ready but at 11:41 I got that sweet text message that our room was ready. I miss being able to select a specific "arrival time" but I think the new system works will be better for people who actually show up early. Len Testa has hypothesized that Disney may now be using magic bands to tell when a guest is actually on site, so that might help as well.

We made our way to the room. For the first time we did not make a Poly room request before traveling but at the desk I simply requested "not Pago Pago" and was told I had already been assigned Tokelau. We ended up in Tokelau 1907. It was our first time on the first floor as we usually requested upper floor for a better view, but we really enjoyed the first floor and not needing to use the elevator with a stroller. Our room had a great garden view.

If you look *really hard* you can see the new tower construction that is supposedly ruining Polynesian.

We decided to take advantage of the early room and completely unpack. Polynesian weirdly gets a bad reputation for storage, but the DVC rooms have plenty of space. Two under bed drawers, one on each side, with suitcase room as well. Wife and I can get away each using one side. Each bathroom also has a pair of drawers under each sink. Each kid gets one set of drawers. My daughter gets a little more space in the closet and there's plenty of closet space for our hanging stuff. The kids would share the murphy bed and we did not use the single sleeper.

The kids checked in with their grandparents and played around with the "Hey Disney" device. Personally, I think it's mostly useless. I tried asking "what are the pool hours?" and it struck out. The kids used it to some trivia games a few times. As it exists now I don't see it working long-term.

After settling in we decided to grab lunch and swim. We ordered from Captain Cooks. M loves the Pan Asian Noodles and Vegetables and I got the pulled pork nachos. O got the chicken and pineapple skewers and that came with sesame-soy dressing she didn't use. I put that sauce on the nachos with a drizzle of Barbecue sauce and a drizzle of soy sauce to balance the sweetness. It was delightful and the best version of the nachos I've had before. Would use sauces again, but may cut out barbecue next time.

After lunch we went to the Lava pool. Super packed, we were lucky someone made space for us to have one seat. H mostly hangs out on the Splash Pad, the best on property in my opinion. O loves the volcano slide but the lines were long so she did it once and we played around with waterfall. After some fun in the sun we went back to the room to change and get ready for our first park, EPCOT.

 

[Doberge]

Following along on your TR and a quick story.

I'm a retired internist and one day I had a young male (30's) patient in the exam room.
He holds up a urine cup (that I have no idea why he had at home) and in it is a kidney stone almost the size of a green pea.
I fling open the exam room door and yell out into the office area, WE HAVE A REAL MAN HERE!!!!
He almost rolled off of the table laughing and I remain very surprised I didn't get fired for that.
You pass a stone in the parking garage, you get credit!!!

I had been triaged and had a bed when it likely passed. By this point kidney stone was on the differential diagnosis list and I let staff know I had to urinate. In hindsight, I should have been given a cup to empty into in case I did pass it. It would have been great to have had it analyzed to have a better idea how to treat against a future episode. Hopefully never again, but I'm also only mid 30s and know odds are +50%.

 

[Doberge]

Saturday, July 1, 2023 Continued
After swimming we returned to the room to change and prep for EPCOT. While we were out of the room we had a package of treats delivered to the room. M connected with someone from Ear for Each Other on Facebook to get the birthday celebrating started early.

O loves Tower of Terror and H loves Haunted Mansion so we went with those themes. The themed blue things.are chocolate covered oreos that were then printed. Also a birthday cookie for each, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate dipped dipped pretzels, and Rice Kristie treats. I was disappointed because I thought the chocolate chip cookies tasted a few days old. But who cares? The kids loved everything!

We then loaded up the stroller with plenty of water. On this trip we added 40 oz insulated water bottles for the parents and 16oz versions for the kids. Here's a link to the model: https://www.costco.com/thermoflask-40oz-stainless-steel-water-bottle,-2-pack.product.4000114783.html

Cheaper in store and I think they were on sale too. We also filled up a 64 ounce Manna jug with ice water. All worked really well and we'd usually still have ice at the end of long days. At minimum, water kept very cold and that's all we can ask. In the future we'll absolutely miss loading down the stroller with umbrellas, water bottles, and other stuff.

Speaking of rain, there was like a 5% chance so I wore my "dry" shoes. I bring multiple shoes and this particular pair doesn't do as well in rain as another pair I had.



One of the Polynesian DVC advantages is proximity to the Ticket and Transportation Center. We walked to TTC and began our string of setting off the security detectors despite our best efforts. This time it was M. We hoped on the EPCOT monorail and jumped into park late on a beautiful day around 5:00.

EPCOT was looking beautiful son we stopped family photos. One I used in the first post. Here's another festival specific one:

From here split up. M and O had a virtual queue experience for Guardians of the Galaxy so H and I went to the Camera Center under Spaceship Earth to kill some time. To this point, H was still afraid of many rides that he loved when 2-3 years old. At EPCOT he has refused to go back on Spaceship Earth, Frozen, and Ratatouille so we haven't even tried Test Track and Soarin. My plan was to pop in the shop and then go to Seas Pavillion. We looked for a MagicBand+ for H but didn't see anything that really stuck out.

After stepping back out we noticed that rain clouds were moving from north to south, from Epcot's entrance toward World Showcase. This was the 5% chance of rain. It was really interesting standing under SSE with rain on the entrance side and dry, clear skies on the Showcase side. I tried taking some photos and videos panning from one side to the other but it's not very clear what's happening. M and O did make it to Guardians before the rain. Lines have been longer there so after the rain stopped we went to Seas to check out Nemo. My shoes survived the wet pavement but were a but slick inside the attraction.

H loves the Nemo attraction so it's a regular for us. After finishing we hung out at Seabase waiting for a call from M that they'd finished Guardians. We checked out the Bruce area and this is H's scared face:

M eventually called and we made a plan to meet at the Land Pavillion. I moved the stroller to Figment and traced back to Land with H.

 

[Doberge]

Saturday, July 1 continued

We met at the Land Pavillion. I had last ridden Soarin with O but knew I'd be out of Soarin on our next visit while still on surgery recovery. I gave O a choice which parent to ride with and she chose M, so they went off to Soarin with a short, maybe 10 minute wait. H and I popped into Awesome Planet right as the doors opened. It's enjoyable enough and worth viewing if needing some air conditioned time in summer (read: everyone). O wasnt into the idea of "Veggie Ride" so H and I hopped on to Living With the Land, a walk on. It's one of H's favorites. He loves looking got hidden mickeys.

O and M were at the exit and we walked out together. We asked H whether he wanted to do Garden Grill breakfast for his birthday but he was pretty set on O'Hanna breakfast later in the trip.

We walked over to butterfly exhibit, between Land and Imagination. Near the end of Flower and Garden there were very butterflies remaining but the kids still enjoyed the experience.

H and O got some snacks, I think some fruit, cheese, and our first Mickey pretzel of the trip. O had recently declared before the trip that a Mickey pretzel with cheese is her favorite WDW snack. With some stuff for the kids we packed the stroller and made our way toward World Showcase so mom and dad could enjoy some Flower and Garden.

 

[Doberge]

Saturday, July 1, 2023 continued

First stop was The Honey Bee-stro Hosted by National Honey Board.

Id had the cheesecake before and its alright but not repeat worthy. M was surprised I passed on the chicken and waffles, but the flatbread description was droolworthy.

Pollinator Flatbread with honey-whipped mascarpone, honey caramelized onions, blueberry gastrique, prosciutto, honey-whipped goat cheese, arugula, honey vinaigrette, and bee pollen – $6.25.

This was quite delightful and a great summer pizza. Light and fresh toppings on a soft but chewy dough. Cpuld have used some crunch, and maybe thats what bee pollen was for. Id probably also rather something like spinach over arugula, but thats really nitpicking to personal taste
I loved it. You can probably guess my favorite Via Napoli pizza.

Next, M and the kids found a standing table while I went to Trowel and Trellis and very slowly walked back carrying too many treats.

Starting with the least interesting dish, the IMPOSSIBLE Lumpia with Thai sweet chili sauce. $5.50. First, it's a really great deal to share with a group, especially compares to Adventureland spring rolls up to $9.50 for two. Here, you get five lumpia. I thought they were totally fine but not great. Kinda plain and saved by a sauce. Not bad but also not recommended unless sharing with a group and only eating one or two to try.

Boneless IMPOSSIBLE Korean Short Rib with cilantro-lime rice, Danmuji slaw, and kimchee mayonnaise. $6.75. Once you get past that it's not a short rib and that the texture is very different, it's a really well composed, delicious dish. I had to look up Danmuji to learn that it is a pickled daikon reddish. I was surprised by the sweetness of the slaw. Nreddish. sugary sweet just from the pickled raddish. The dish doesn't really need rice, it'd be great even without, but it does help fill the belly easier. I'd recommend this if it's brought back.

I also got the Twinings Iced Green Tea with Cranberry and Lime ($4.50). I went in skeptical and left with a new favorite festival nonalcoholic beverage. I made a note to try it another day with vodka. UT never made it back around.

M had the Parrish Bloom Hazy IPA. (6oz, $5.50). We claim Parrish as local as it's about two hours from home. Pretty good IPA, but neither my favorite Parrish IPA nor the my favorite Parrish beer at Flower and Garden. That would come later.

We packed up the kids and wandered a few hundred feet ready east toward Mexico. M went to Jardin de Fiestas and I popped into a festival shop both to check out merchandise. 30% off before another 20% for AP, but there was nothing worth buying every even at those discounts. I considered the crocs but decided to pass. I went with the kids to find a table and M met us.

Quesadilla de Flor de Calabaza: House-made masa tortillas with squash blossoms, bacon, onion, zucchini, and cheese. $8. This wasn't on my list because it's ultimately a pretty simple vegetable and cheese quesadilla, but it was pretty good. I'd neither recommend not steer anyone away. Pretty fair for a F&G dish.

The drink is the Cristal Margarita: 100% Agave Tequila Blanco, Ilegal Mezcal Joven, clarified lemon juice, and orange liqueur in a souvenir cup. $16!!! I had one taste and it was enough for me. It's Judy not my profile with mezcal, but if you like that smokey mezcal taste, like M, then it'd be up your alley. She loved it and said it's one of the better Mexico pavillion margaritas.

At this point mere mortals would have pretty full bellies but I knew there was more I wanted to try and that we'd be limited in our next visit. So I walked over the Florida Fresh booth and had to make a decision.

Grilled Street Corn on the Cob with Savory Garlic Spread and Spicy Corn Chips. $5.75. I was between this and the garlic and cotija cheese version. This was alright. I would have liked to have seen topping spread over the length of the Corn. Not spread, more than half of the corn is pretty plain. I'd get it if really craving corn but think it's probably just as well done at your favorite local place. I wouldn't target this one.

Lastly, Blackened Fish Slider with Roasted Tomatoes, Watercress and Citrus Remoulade on Brioche. $6.75. I really liked this one. It's a pretty good sized piece of reddish and a lot for $6.75. Well Grilled and the perfect amount of citrus remoulade. I would go out of my way for this one again. Thankfully it was after 7:45 by this point because I'm unsure I'd want it in the middle of day heat.

From here we decided we should find something to do with the kids. They were super patient and were ready for another attraction.

 

[Doberge]

Saturday, July 1, 2023 continued
Feeling very fullnwe let the kids decide on a ride and they chose "Donald Ride." Olé! We were just outside Mexico so we sauntered over to the pyramid for Grand Fiesta Tour. After quickly browsing the shop we got in linr and were off. Pretty uneventful. Every time I ride I look around at the beginning nearnthe pyramid and wonder if I'm crazy or if there used to be more twinkling lights like stars? At this point I've settled on crazy.

We got off the ride and it was about 8:30. The kids made their... I'm not sure what to call these spirits from Coco.

Now about 8:40 we gave O a choice between one more ride or going back to the hotel a little sooner to swim. She tossed around doing Test Track with me during fireworks but decided she wanted to swim. M met up with a friend she had been trying to connect with all evening. We found a spot right in the middle and EPCOT really looked great, at least away from construction walls. In the distance, Spaceship Earth was lit up for July 4.

M ran and got some sort of alcoholic drink from some Connections. We lost a little time getting back "early" during fireworks but still made it to the front of the park as EPCOT Forever was ending. We were quickly stopped at the exit because there is a rule to not exit with alcoholic drinks. It totally makes sense and isn't something we thought about it, but yeah, no one wants people walking toward cars with open beverages. We were fine but all the blessings to the cast members dealing with less friendly folks. The unfortunate part here was that we saw a monorail before we were stopped so we knew it was coming around. It was the mix "should we hurry to try to make it, of course its worth trying" versus "we will never make it." This continued as we left the park as the monorail pulled intonthe station.

We decided to at least *try* and hussled up the ramps. At the last ramp we were blocked by a group of young men completely oblivious to their own ability to make or miss the monorail. We did not try to blow past them and instead slowed until we saw them closing gates as we reached the platform. If they had tried we'd all have made it. I muttered something loud enough to make my point and we all moved on.

The next monorail was about 10-15 minutes later and we were quickly back at TTC and Polynesian. After a cookie break we changed into our suits and walked over to the nearby Oasis pool. The Oasis poop is a favorite of mine. IMO. It's better than the Contemporary feature pools. I have some memories of swimming with O at this pool at night, like now l, when she was 5 in 2020 on a covid Disney trip when WDW was empty. M had never been to this pool. It reall ly is magical at night with the toches lit. Many were out after 10pm but not uncomfortable because the pool swallows crowds well.

We spent about an hour out and made out way back to the room for showers and sleep. Legoland was on the Sunday agenda and we knew ahead that it'd be a long day.