Trip Report Choosing Disney Over Iceland... Duh.

Hi all!

Time for another trip report from yours truly. I was dreading starting this because that means it is OVER.. but we are officially 262 days until our December trip so it stings a bit less.

This trip was planned very last minute for us, only about a month out. Our plan for our tax return was to visit Iceland to see the Northern Lights (a bucket list item for my husband Ian). The volcano situation got a bit wild over there over the past few months so we had to put that on the back burner for now.

The question arose - what to do now?! Obvious answer - Disney World!

When: March 1-6
Where: originally AS Sports, upgraded for a small amount more to Pop for skyliner access two days before our trip began!
Who: me (Annie), Ian (my husband), and Nora (our newly 2-year-old)

Here we go!

 

[annienevells]

We woke up on our last full day SO excited for Magic Kingdom - we saved the best for last!

Ian was able to snag a TRON BG! I grabbed a Haunted Mansion LL for around 1020ish as we had a 9 AM reservation at Crystal Palace (Ian's number one favorite)

We made it onto the bus with minimal waiting.

And security was a breeze!

Nora asked me to take a picture of the "big big bus" lol

Though she has been to Magic Kingdom before, she was only a year old. I was excited to see her reaction at 2..

She was SO excited! Kept pointing and shouting "MY CASTLE!"

We grabbed a quick photo before lining up with the crowd for rope drop. Nora wasn't a fan of the photographer apparently...

Then we hit the wall with 15 minutes before Early Entry. Our destination was Peter Pan!

We made it there mostly unscathed (took a couple hits to my ankles by strollers though)

I think we waited probably 15-20 minutes but Nora loved it. Her favorite part was seeing the mermaids!

Once we got off we asked Nora what we should do next. She immediately said "horsies"!

Okay then!

There's just something about riding the carousel with your little family...

 

[annienevells]

It was finally time for breakfast! Time to make our way to Crystal Palace.

(PS - Ian was so happy to wear this shirt. He had been on the hunt for a simple Disney button down. He wanted it to be his yearly shirt to wear to Magic Kingdom. I found it a couple weeks before this trip. He had tears in his eyes when I gave it to him and was so proud to wear it on this day. He is already looking forward to wearing it again in December!)

We were seated pretty quickly and immediately got down to business.

I grabbed a pancake for Nora that she enjoyed.

No food pictures of my plate because once Nora was fed the gang started coming!

First up - Piglet.

Nora loved that Piglet was pink!

She was a little nervous about Tigger because of his size but allowed a group photo.

Same vibe with Pooh Bear.

She LOVED waving to "Heehore" though (I love toddler pronunciations lol)

While we were eating, our TRON BG was called. We decided Ian would ride first and I would take Nora on a ride or two while we waited.

Ian settled the bill while Nora and I headed out to the stroller. But she heard music coming from the castle and had to check it out ASAP.

She was in awe of the characters and music and was dancing all around. I was feeling ALLLLL the magic (and relief from a much-improved character dining experience lol)

I loveeeee this one

 

[Swissmiss]

She LOVED waving to "Heehore" though (I love toddler pronunciations lol)

Absolutely. It was a sad day when my daughter no longer called him "Boody"

 

[annienevells]

Once Ian squared up on our breakfast, we headed to TRON to set up our Rider Switch.

He headed off to ride while Nora and I took on some of our own adventures.

First up, her first ride on the PeopleMover

She LOVED it. Y'all... she was giggling and smiling the whole time. I was sending pictures to Ian and he was feeling a lot of regret about riding TRON (the line was taking quite a while)

After our cruise around Tomorrowland, Ian still was yet to board. I saw that Speedway was at a 20 minute wait and decided to go for it.

The line moved pretty quickly!

This was another win for Nora.

We made our way back to find Ian after riding TRON and had a little photoshoot. Nora thought the flowers looked pretty

I got some popcorn to snack on and shared a little with Nora while watching her like a hawk because I am an anxious first time mom

Ian met up with us and let me know he had fun but really wished he hadn't missed out on the rides with Nora. He said he had just been SO excited that he managed to get TRON that he felt he needed to ride it

His feelings had me make up my mind - I was going to pass on it in favor of more time with my little family.

I had to get the spirits back up, so we headed to ride some teacups!

Nora loved watching the mouse pop up over and over again out of the teapot lol

another round of "ARMS UP MAMA"

 

[annienevells]

At this point we realized that our HM LL had changed to a multi experience. Nora requested that we use it on Dumbo, so we obliged.

I think this ended up being one of Ian's favorite moments of the trip. Look how happy!

We then immediately grabbed another LL for Barnstormer. Nora was tall enough. Would she be brave enough?

OF COURSE! Characters = terrifying, rollercoasters = a blast

After this, we let Nora run around a bit in the Casey Jr. area to get her wiggles out. I was wishing it wasn't closed for the water effects because we were also HOT

As we relaxed for a moment, I grabbed one more LL for the first half of our day, IASM!

We made our way through the crowds and walked right on.

We were dancing and singing the whole cruise!

Plus Ian and I both had our names appear on the screens!

 

[cgersic]

Feeling all the feels on that PeopleMover picture!!!

 

[erstwo]

I think this ended up being one of Ian's favorite moments of the trip. Look how happy!

View attachment 779897

I like to say when I die and my life flashes before my eyes, I will remember the first time I rode Dumbo with each of our kids - LOL. First in the old location and then again in the dueling Dumbos location. But honestly, the joy of these moments.

 

[Minnie1986]

At this point we realized that our HM LL had changed to a multi experience. Nora requested that we use it on Dumbo, so we obliged.

I think this ended up being one of Ian's favorite moments of the trip. Look how happy!

View attachment 779897


View attachment 779898

We then immediately grabbed another LL for Barnstormer. Nora was tall enough. Would she be brave enough?

View attachment 779899

OF COURSE! Characters = terrifying, rollercoasters = a blast

View attachment 779900

After this, we let Nora run around a bit in the Casey Jr. area to get her wiggles out. I was wishing it wasn't closed for the water effects because we were also HOT

View attachment 779908View attachment 779902

As we relaxed for a moment, I grabbed one more LL for the first half of our day, IASM!

We made our way through the crowds and walked right on.

View attachment 779904

We were dancing and singing the whole cruise!

View attachment 779905

Plus Ian and I both had our names appear on the screens!

View attachment 779907View attachment 779906

This makes my heart so happy, and reminds me of when my nana was still alive. She LOVED Small World and she and I would bounce and sing along throughout the ride.

 

[annienevells]

I like to say when I die and my life flashes before my eyes, I will remember the first time I rode Dumbo with each of our kids - LOL. First in the old location and then again in the dueling Dumbos location. But honestly, the joy of these moments.

I love that, same here

This makes my heart so happy, and reminds me of when my nana was still alive. She LOVED Small World and she and I would bounce and sing along throughout the ride.

What a sweet memory! I hope Nora remembers me doing the same with her!

 

[annienevells]

After exiting IASW, we headed out of the park.

First we had to stop to wave at Gus as we always do (our goldendoodle's name is Gus Gus)

We also wanted to grab one more castle photo while it was light out. I knew the sun would be long gone by the time we returned that evening.

I wanted to grab a new sweatshirt for myself on the way out and found one that I LOVED (photos from back in the room)

Simple and comfy!

Ian wanted to check out the fire station on our way out to the buses so I obliged.

We were all ready for a break. Our hope was that by pushing naptime a bit we would be able to make it for Happily Ever After.

Once we got back to Pop, Ian brought Nora right to the room to get her down for her nap while I grabbed us some food.

I should have purchased this magnetic chip clips, they were SO cute.

As I mentioned, we were on the dining plan. We had one quick service meal left. I purchased two meals and said one was a credit and one would be charged to the room. The CM cashier is silent for 5 minutes tapping away and then goes "oh shoot, I charged you for both"


.....


silently just stares at me.

okay... can you fix it?

she huffs and puffs and says she needs someone higher up to fix it.

okay.... so do that?

25 minutes later I finally have the correct bill. 25 MINUTES LATER. ahhhhhhh. I was so tired and hungry that I teared up at the end. The nice CM who finally figured it out gave me sundae as an apology. It did help ease the pain a bit I must admit.

After I brought Ian his lunch I headed straight for the pool with my book (Kindle)

Ian was texting me that Nora was fighting the good fight on going down for her nap... uh oh..

 

[annienevells]

Nora eventually snuck a nap in, and before long we were getting ready to return to MK.

She had an Uncrustable for dinner. Ian had a treat, and I was pounding some water, still full from my earlier sundae.

We made it back to MK with no issues. We had about an hour and a half until HEA. We knew better than to try and sneak in a ride and decided to find somewhere to stake out a spot.

Photo first... and you know how that goes with toddlers. My face LOL

A little better but GOSH so serious Nora Bea.

That's better

I sat on the ground next to Nora's stroller and we played some pretend (she was pretending I was a baby and was bottle feeding me with her water bottle haha)

Ian went and grabbed us a snack

Before long it was time for HEA!

Again.. one of my all time favorite parts of this trip... or any trip for that matter. Our first time watching fireworks at Disney with our baby

She had a couple moments of tucking her face into Ian's shoulder but mostly LOVED it, especially the music and projections.

Ian and I both cried a couple happy tears

We lingered for a couple moments once it was over because it meant our trip really was ending. But what a perfect way to go out!

Quick selfie of mom and dad

 

[Swissmiss]

Wait, what, it’s over?

 

[annienevells]

Wait, what, it’s over?

half a day left to report on

 

[Swissmiss]

half a day left to report on

That’s still better than no days left to report on

 

[annienevells]

I couldn't fit these two pictures in my post to end our MK day -

Sunglasses are necessary at 9 PM apparently.

Ian and I kept saying how NUTS it was that we only explored about half the park on this day. We usually do longer trips for this reason!

Our journey back to Pop was actually pretty quick. Nora wanted a treat before bed and who am I to say no on vacation?!

Look at her delirious happy smile

She went to sleep QUICKLY. I packed up most of our stuff before heading to bed myself

 

[annienevells]

Travel home day

Our flight was at 4 PM which gave us the time to sleep in and take it slow. Our only plans included our new end of trip tradition - Chef Mickey's. After our success at Crystal Palace, we were hopeful that the momentum would continue.

Nora watched some Mickey and had some breakfast while I did her hair.

We got all of our MANY belongings to bell services before taking the bus to MK. We wanted a nice monorail ride and a visit to our real (wishful thinking) home - the Poly.

We meandered around the Poly, just enjoying the vibe and smells. Nora spotted hula Minnie and showed Minnie that she TOO had a Minnie LOL

I literally requested DVC rental while we were walking around in the off chance we could do that and cancel our AoA booking for December but no dice

We eventually had to tear ourselves away as our next step was the GF to check out the easter eggs!

This was Ian's fave.

And Nora's!

And mine!

 

[annienevells]

More eggs!

After we checked out all the displays, we headed back to the monorail to Chef Mickey's.

Nora was excited for another glimpse of the castle...

THERE IS IT MAMA

We made it to Chef Mickeys and checked in about 10 minutes early for our 11 AM reservation. We walked around to spot another egg.

10 minutes came and went. and another 20. Nora was getting restless. We had timed things so perfectly until our reservation was running behind...

Time for an exciting spin on the escalator.

It allowed us to find more eggs though!

Finally, 30 minutes later we got the text. Let's go!!

 

[annienevells]

I wasted no time filling up a plate to share with Nora.

Those beignets were SO STINKING GOOD. I'm day dreaming about them right now.

(y'all.. I would consider myself a smart person. I'm well educated.. yadda yadda. When I tell you it took me like FIVE TRIES to spell beignet correctly... oh my god. kick to the confidence. My brain just COULD NOT recall the spelling. I had to google "benyay spelled correctly" hahahahahhaha. Painful to admit )

Anywayyyyyy

First up was Mickey!

Nora enjoyed showing off Minnie to him again.

The dance break came up after that. Nora was loving dancing around in her chair.

I convinced her to go up with the other kids, but she needed me to tag along. I was pretty proud she went for it though!!

After another round at the buffet, Pluto came by.

Nora liked touching his whiskers with a big smile on her face.

And... the very best. One of my favorite moments. Minnie!

Nora was SO happy when she came to the table. Look at the cheesing smile. I cannot.

We wrapped up with Donald!

I seriously left this meal feeling so happy. Nora loved it and couldn't stop talking about it. Plus the food was the best buffet food we had all week. Wins across the board.

We also had the best (for Nora) photopass interaction of the trip. The CM was so good with Nora which resulted in some sweet photos. Too bad it's just with the giant plate LOL

 

[annienevells]

After our amazing brunch it was time to head back to Pop and go to the airport

Quick monorail spotting first!

And we used up the last of our snack credits - a soft serve ice cream. Hit the spot! The dining plan was well worth it for us on this trip with all of the character meals for sure.

Okay another confession time. We booked a Spirit flight for our return trip because it was the cheapest option (and this trip wasn't even planned, as you know). We flew Delta on the way down and checked two suitcases. On Delta, your bags must not exceed 50 pounds. Nailed it at around 45 pounds each. We knew the checked bags would be more expensive on Spirit but we have a toddler, gotta do what you gotta do.

Until you realize that the weight max on Spirit is 40 pounds. So both bags are overweight and nowhere to redistribute. So.. for a one way flight our two bags cost us over $250 so painful and shameful and truly NOTHING we could do. We were already running late and just had to hand over our credit card and vow to never fly Spirit EVER AGAIN.

Security took FOREVERRRRR so we basically boarded as soon as we got to our gate.

Nora's flight experience was about the same as the way down - 30ish minutes playing and snacking, hour or more of sleeping, and about an hour of scream crying.

We did survive and made it home EVENTUALLY. Painful end to a trip we already did not want to leave!!

I didn't want this TR to end because I'm sad it's over! BUT 222 days to go until our December trip!!

Thank you all for reading I'm CONSIDERING a live TR for December, stay tuned!

 

[Swissmiss]

Too bad it's just with the giant plate LOL

Chef Mickey’s for breakfast on our last day has been a tradition and we have pictures of my DD, myself and her Godparents from every trip since she was 3.5 and in a few weeks we will get a new one in front of that plate now that she is nearly 19 and towers over me. In the beginning there was the Chef Mickey statue and we would “measure“ her growth by it.