Trip Report *COMPLETE* I always thought I’d be Simba… turns out I’m Zazu

We’re back! Well, we’ve been back since Saturday, but trying to settle back into normal life has taken some time. But, before the holidays fully kick off, I wanted to get started on the TR!

First an intro (I did did a PTR but plans changed quite a bit)-

There’s C (8), me, my wife K, and L (3). This was C’s 4th trip, and L’s 2nd.

When: December 3 - 10
Where: AoA Lion King suite

We were also joined by my in-laws for the 3rd-8th.

This trip was different in a lot of ways. Our last trip was August 2020, with hardly any entertainment, extremely limited hours and dining, masks everywhere and of course no crowds. That was also L’s first trip. Yes, we took a one year old to WDW during a pandemic. Can’t wait for him to be a teenager and give us an eye roll for that one!

So in a lot of ways, this was L’s first real trip - with characters, waits, fireworks, and having his own thoughts/desires. Which was awesome. What wasn’t awesome was that he and his sister realized the fun in getting on each other’s nerves right before this trip. But, they also had some incredibly sweet moments between the two of them.

This was also our first trip with no Magical Express (which I hated even more than I expected), and with Genie +. But, we didn’t use Genie + because we also got DAS for the first time. I’ll put more detail on that in a separate post because it’s not all peachy and maybe could trigger some I suppose.

Anywho, so it was different. Bad? No, the opposite. I think that what hit us the most was realizing that as we return more to WDW and as our kids grow, the way we vacation changes a bit. We did a lot of new activities, and that was by far my favorite part of this trip.

 

[Spash007]

A few more pics from Small World.

L was more intrigued I think than anything.

Once we got off we headed to HM.

Being from an iPhone, I was pretty happy with this shot!

Then it was a moment I was looking forward to, yet dreading, heading over to Splash Mountain.

I had pre-set a DAS for myself, K, C and my FIL, but my FIL sat it out saying he was ok to not ride it ever again.

Craziness.

I understand the need for the re-do, and the more art I see of Tiana’s the more excited I get. But, Splash was my first big kid ride, and the sheer number of animatronics and music show so much of what I love about Disney rides. I’m hoping the new ride will have as many animatronics and not just rely on screens (which seems to be the case hopefully).

This ride I mostly just enjoyed, so limited the picture taking.

But I’ve always loved this bird house for some reason.

We did see Festival of Fantasy pass by as we rode and discussed meeting L and my in laws in the hub to catch it. We had a pre-made DAS for Big Thunder, but decided to skip it since my FIL wasn’t going to ride it anyway. We had another day in MK just us, so we figured to put it off.

Coming up: Pushing through the crowds and can we beat the parade to the hub?

 

[Swissmiss]

I love the joy in your faces in the splash photo.

 

[Spash007]

We knew it was crazy, and I personally had a low expectation, but we decided to try to meet up in the hub. The parade already passed by Frontierland at this point, so essentially we were trying to race it.

To get in front of it, we went to cut through by Country Bears.

I didn’t realize just how narrow this area got because of the planter/strollers. I somehow got separated from K and C (I walk like a New Yorker. Don’t tell K, but there is a difference between NJers living near NY, and true NYers)

I made it through the crowd and I waited by the magic carpets for them to swim through the crowd.

Then we sped walk. As it started to get hot. And the dole whips were right there.

Mental note made - come back for one. No man left behind!

Somehow with our speed walking, we made it to the hub as Peter Pan was going by. And we even got a spot on the curb.

But now where was L?? To K’s annoyance, no one was picking up their phone. Some tense words may have been said, before she ventured off, leaving me with C so she could watch.

Around now, I got a text from K that she was with her parents and L behind me. Apparently they sat on the little wall there.

C learned that if she drew a heart in the air whenever a character looked her, she was pretty much guaranteed a wave or a blown kiss. Hey, whatever works kid.

L loved the parade, especially because this was the first time he saw Mickey this trip. He also got strangely excited for Goofy, who he never showed an affinity for before, but stayed obsessed through the trip.

At this point we were feeling a bit peckish, and being near the Adventureland bridge, figured we’d grab some egg rolls. There was a short line, but the cart was was closed. As it was right before 12:30, we figured it was about to open and luckily we were right.

We got a few of each kind - the cheeseburger ones and the special 50th pastrami. The kids were not fans, but the adults agreed both were delicious.

As it neared 1, we made our way over to Pirates for our DAS. Apparently earlier when I stated all of our ride pictures showed up, I made a mistake. This one doesn’t appear in our account, but no real loss there.

As we exited the ride, we wanted to meet Jack Sparrow, but even though the app said he should be meeting, no one was there. So we went to the next best thing - Dole Whips!

The kids were STARVING so we let them each get one of the blueberry concoctions (L is obsessed with the thought of blueberry ice cream for some reason ), I got the tropical serenade (coconut with a cake pop), and K stuck with the original.

I only got a picture of my own, as if I tried to take a picture of the others I would have either faced a mass mutiny or a melting mess.

The dole whip itself was delicious. The cake pop was ok. Honestly, Starbucks does it better.

While eating our dole whips, a small line was forming for Jack Sparrow, so we quickly joined. It was about a 10 minute wait, but if let us finish our dole whips. Or rather, K and I finished. The kids’ were a combination of melting, getting on their shoes and making them “full”. By the time we met Jack, all dole whips were either finished or thrown away.

Jack was as quirky as expected, and matched Jack Sparrows mannerisms perfectly. My only beef was why have this meet in the sun, when there is a stage right next to it that could work perfectly in the shade?

When we wrapped up, guess who was hungry again?

Yep, the kids who just weren’t 5 minutes earlier. We were going to be heading to Main Street any way, so I went to place a mobile order at Casey’s but couldn’t get into the app. No matter what I tried - logging out, turning off WiFi it still would not work. I got this weird “we cannot find your account” message, which generally alarmed me but I remembered seeing a blue tent and went over for help.

Their first question - “do you have Verizon?”. Apparently Adventureland was a known dead spot. They had to turn off my WiFi, then I had to click the link to find my account and it worked. The CM also noted that they submitted a ticket to IT, but hadn’t been told of a resolution yet. As much as I appreciate knowing that, at the same time, I don’t really want to know those kinds of issues that sound a lot like my regular work day.

Literally why I’m writing this right now is a data migration shut down our main system for the time being lol.

With that fixed, I met up with everyone by Casey’s and ordered the kids some corn dog nuggets and fries. When I was collecting my food I heard a sound. No, not a funny squeaky sound

But what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature parade, with a mouse and some of his friends.

The timing worked out perfectly. The 50th cavalcade came by, and the kids were able to eat at the curb while watching it go by.

Someone was excited, but clearly getting tired after an already full day-

Seeing this picture reminded me that L was obsessed with the park maps. I wanted to get one of each park, but he pretty much played with all of them. And since he wanted them, of course C did too. Trying to get them to share them was one of my Zazu moments

 

[fractal]

Love the picture with Grumpy! Looks like a great dinner experience at WL.

That is a pretty good "phone" pic of the hitchhiking ghosts. but the ones with all the smiles are better!

 

[Spash007]

After this we had one more item on our list before heading out of MK - meeting Mickey!

The wait wasn’t bad at this point, I think about 10-15 minutes.

Someone was more awake and alert at the prospect of a Mickey hug!

When it was our turn he was ready for a hug and ran right up to him!

Unfortunately this was a photopass box. Not the worst one we had, but let’s just say there were more pictures of my backside then of the kids smiling. And it didn’t start going until we’ll after L went for the hug, so I’m glad we got that.

This was the best one we got, and honestly the only one where the kids were seemingly still.

This one was ok

Most though were like this (but even more unflattering)

Once this was done it was around 2:30, and we started making our way out of the park. This was a party day, and while we enjoyed the MVMCP we had attended in the past, we did not feel like it was worth the over $600 it would have been for us to attend this time.

Because we don’t learn to NOT push ourselves to the limit the first day, we hopped over to HS. The bus took a bit of time to get there, but more so we were dragging a bit and took our time. L fell asleep in the stroller, and C started nodding off on the bus. By the time we got them both in the stroller at HS this was our status.

Real happy to have that double stroller now!

The only problem was that both kids had used their own fingerprints that morning. I had L’s magic band in my pocket so we could just set that up with ours. But C was wearing hers. As we were trying to carefully remove it, she startled awake and was able to scan herself in before laying back down.

Since L was still asleep, C was dragging and the adults were quite tired, we decided to stop into Starbucks and get some coffee and enjoy the a/c a bit. I made a DAS for MMRR, but it was about a 40 minute wait so we had time to kill. We sat along the half wall in the courtyard, enjoyed our coffees and let the kids rest, when Santa appeared!

Pluto did not make a lot of sense, until we saw the new Mickey Christmas short that came out this year.

One of my worries of this trip was forgetting to look for cavalcades, but we had good luck just stumbling on them.

Once this was done, we still had about 20 minutes to go, and L was still asleep. K’s parents didn’t mind resting a bit, so C, K and I went over to see if we could meet Chewy who was showing a 15 minute wait.

On the way, Chip and Dale were playing a guessing game with some presents.

I’m glad these kinds of things did stay around post-COVID.

This was our first time in Launch Bay, and I was not expecting how confusing it was! Maybe we were just tired, but figuring out where to go took us a bit. By the time we got to Chewy, his wait was up to 25 minutes. We stood in line for a bit, but after a few minutes of no movement, decided to bail so we could get on MMRR. L was now awake so it all worked out!

 

[Spash007]

Love the picture with Grumpy! Looks like a great dinner experience at WL.

That is a pretty good "phone" pic of the hitchhiking ghosts. but the ones with all the smiles are better!

Thanks!

I see why you enjoy taking pictures in the parks. A few days when I took an afternoon break to walk, I really enjoyed trying out different angles/sight lines. I couldn’t experiment too much with just my phone, but I could see getting more into it in the future!

 

[Spash007]

The four of us went on MMRR back in 2020, so this was our first time seeing the pre-show and it really did add a lot!

Meanwhile, this was K’s parents first time in it. Her mom does not do roller coasters or fast rides, and doesn’t handle spinning well. The whole time in line she kept asking “there are no drops right? It doesn’t go that fast right?” We kept saying no, because there aren’t really any drops, just the sensation.

Let’s just say this ride was VERY entertaining. We were sitting in the front row and K’s parents were behind us. She pretty much yelled the whole time, I believe threatening K quite a few times, while we tried to hold our laughter. In the end she did enjoy it, but it was definitely not what she expected.

We had been watching the Buzz meet times pretty closely as that was a must for L. It seemed like it would work out, so we head to TSL and saw a short line forming so we jumped in.

Buzz soon appeared and we were super excited!

But L wasn’t. He got a good hug in, and then was either so tired or overwhelmed he kind of just stood there awkwardly.

Luckily C went up with him, after at first saying she didn’t want to (I swear she acts more like a teenager sometimes!). He does really look up to her, and I think he just followed her lead.

Since we were there, and Toy Story Mania was only a 20 minute wait, we hoped in line while I made a DAS for Millennium Falcon (45 minute posted I believe). I rode with C, who insisted she won because her accuracy was higher.

K rode with L, and although she was also helping him, she still somehow got best in vehicle.

When we got off we then headed over to Galaxy’s Edge. I’m pretty sure I was pushing the stroller as there are not that many pictures and I love Galaxy’s Edge at night.

Yes, I remember - K wanted to walk with her dad since it was his first time there and she wanted to see his reaction. His overall thoughts - “this is really cool.” He’s not obsessed with Star Wars, but is a fan.

Next up - if K’s mom was screaming during MMRR how will she handle Millennium Falcon? And will the 3 year old fare better?

 

[amjt660]

And will the 3 year old fare better?

(not sure what the actual answer is but I could not resist using this GIF again!!)

Loving the report

Max

 

[Spash007]

Having 6 people meant that we had our own pod on Millennium Falcon, which definitely added to the fun. There was no need to try to be quiet or worry about other guests, which was definitely for the best. K and her dad were the pilots, me and L were the gunners, and my MIL and C were the engineers.

A couple of notes - while 3 year olds can go on, we learned the hard way he could not reach the buttons. Also, telling him we were going a plane night not have been the best idea….

Our takeaways -
K and my FIL were rough drivers
Her dad loved pressing the light speed button
L was…. Well… see the picture

My MIL is behind him holding on for dear life.
The amount of back seat driving in this cab was hilarious
Since L couldn’t shoot, only targets on the left side got taken out

Honestly, it was probably the most fun I had on a ride. While my MIL was a bit shaken, she was even laughing by the end. L exclaimed that he did NOT like that ride, which he reminded us for the next few days. It even spread into the next morning when his desire for rides went down a bit (but he did get over it). So @amjt660 you are correct!

Looking back, it is probably on us and L shouldn’t have gone it. The fact that he was sitting on his own I think was the biggest issue. But still, it was a really fun ride, and I’m glad we were able to do it all together.

At this point it was nearing time for dinner, so we left Galaxy’s Edge.

Not the best pictures, but I love Galaxy’s Edge at night.

I checked in virtually for our dinner at Sci Fi while we used the restrooms nearby.

The wait here was pretty rough. I checked in early, and we weren’t called until 25 minutes after our reservation time. We were hoping to grab Fantasmic this night, but this seemed to make it unlikely.

Also, while we were waiting, the kids wanted to sit in the car outside. Which would have been fun if there were obnoxious people just climbing all over it while waving their bubble wand around. I understand kids are rough, but when the mom is also sitting in the middle of the car while other families are clearly waiting it’s just a bit rude.

I hadn’t eaten inside Sci Fi since the 90s, but it was exactly as I remembered. I got the Bacon BBQ Burger (I can’t resist a bacon jam and it was delicious!), and the kids each got cheeseburgers. The other adults I don’t remember, but I believe it was all burgers. Overall, a great meal and the movies kept us all entertained.

We got our right around park close at 8 pm, so no Fantasmic for us this night. Which was honestly ok as we were beat. On the way out of the park I slowed down a bit and spent time taking pictures

Again, not great, but the MMRR sign’s reflection looks like a UFO. @fractal what would have caused that?

I just love this area at night at Christmas

 

[Spash007]

A few more pictures -

We made our way to the Skyliner for the first time this trip. I was a bit worried about the transfer at CBR, but that wasn’t bad at all. The double stroller made it a bit more difficult since I had to fold it, and then the easiest thing to do was to carry it through the CBR station, but it wasn’t all that bad and we never had more than 5-10 minutes in the CBR station.

We were not prepared however for how quickly the car stops when arriving a station. It really looks like you are about to crash!

Anyway, we were back in our room by 9 and the kids were quickly in bed asleep. A little after 9 our phones buzzed saying there was movement by our front door. We just got a ring system before the trip, but we were a bit alarmed until we saw

At least we knew it worked!

K and I fastly fell asleep too. It was a long but great day, and I was planning on being up early the next day.

Our steps this day we’re 21,654

 

[amjt660]

L exclaimed that he did NOT like that ride, which he reminded us for the next few days. It even spread into the next morning when his desire for rides went down a bit (but he did get over it). So @amjt660 you are correct!

Wish that I had been wrong.....

Your experience at Sci Fi was better than my last time (and only time).

Max

 

[annienevells]

All caught up and excited for the next update!!

 

[Spash007]

Day 3 - Epcot

I started this morning fairly early, as I felt the pressure to get a Guardians BG on my shoulders. I was up at 6:30, quietly got dressed in our bathroom and snuck out without waking the kids by 6:50. For times like this the two room suite was great.

I walked down to the lake front and kept reloading and my labor paid off!

It did put us at a return time after we were hoping to get back for a rest, but we would make it work. After getting that and feeling pretty good, I passed groups of people all stopped on their phones booking their Genie+ and wondering if it was better to book a later Jungle Cruise or an earlier Small World. I had brought our refillable cups with me and stopped to grab me and K some coffee to get our morning going.

When I got back to the room, the kids were starting to move and eat a light breakfast in the room. I grabbed a granola bar myself and consistently reminded C that we were leaving the room in 10 minutes, 5 minutes etc. We are just at that age where mornings take forever.

But, we still got to the Skyliner at 7:45 like we planned, and were on board in 3 minutes. Going on it in the daytime, L was really excited by all the amazing sights.

Like the sand under us.

Or the trees.

He did get interested in Spaceship Earth at least? Or the big ball as he called it.

Early Entry was at 8:30, and we got to International Gateway at 8:06 to a massive security line. I’m guessing that they didn’t start letting people in until 8, because it did move pretty fast.

Our first stop was to rope drop Ratatouille and as we were passing through security we watched the hoards of people make their way towards France.

You can’t tell in the previous picture, but it was a bit foggy this morning.

It would have made for some great pictures on the lagoon if it wasn’t for the tacos (which were a lot worse than I had even imagined, and found myself looking a lot more at the pavilions I was walking past than out in the lagoon like I used to do)

Once in, we headed over and enjoyed the short lived sights of no people.

One thing we did see a lot more of this trip was garbage being emptied and cleaning carts (like in the above picture). Even in MK, I swore we never saw them before (or we just never noticed).

In all honesty, the Ratatouille area wasn’t that bad, pretty much everyone was off to the side in the extended queue.

They must have just recently opened the line because it was moving pretty quick.

We hopped in line a bit before 8:30, and by 8:45 we were towards the loading dock.

L got a kick out of the glasses.

I was not expecting to like this ride at all. I can hardly wear 3D glasses (I think because of my astigmatism), but it didn’t bother me at all. We actually all had a lot of fun on this ride - my in laws said it might have been their favorite of the trip.

L thought said he did not like it because of the fire over head. Which I get, but I think he also was just a bit touchy after we put him on the Falcon the night before.

 

[Spash007]

Wish that I had been wrong.....

Your experience at Sci Fi was better than my last time (and only time).

Max

The food wasn’t the best burger I ever had, but it was satisfying and I think the shows distracting the kids so we didn’t have to added to the enjoyment.

 

[Spash007]

When we got off Rat, Frozen was already showing a 45 minute wait so we booked a DAS. As we were walking out, I did start feeling a bit queasy and had to slow down a bit as we made our way over to a place long on my list.

No, not ice cream for breakfast (I’m fun on vacation but not that fun, and I think they’re closed anyway).

Whenever we pass here it always reminds me of a time I was much younger and starting to take French in school. A French mom and daughter spilled some soda at a table while we were eating ice cream, and my dad offered them a napkin. The mom said “Merci” and I blanked on how to say you’re welcome. I tried to remember it for the rest of the day until I got back to our hotel that night and it finally dawned on me.

Anyway, flash forward 20+ years. We’re heading to Les Halles of course!

As we did the day before, my FIL and I got into line while the kids went with K and her mom to find a table (and look around the shop). This line was SLOW. Even though we entered into the main queue, we were still waiting for over 20 minutes. And the interesting part - we had multiple French speaking groups around us. I guess that means it’s legitimate for French cuisine? Or will French folks only stick to what they know?

Tempting, but we didn’t get one.

I believe I got the ham and cheese croissant with bechemel.

K had the Quiche Florentine and I got each of the kids a Chocolate Chip Croissant (remembering how L devoured breakfast the day before). K also had a latte, and I got the kids an OJ to share (it was $6.25 for a bottle of OJ!). Myself and K both loved ours. The cross isn’t was the perfect balance of flaky and crispy, and can you go wrong when there’s a lump of melted cheese on top?

The kids though weren’t impressed. Combined, they didn’t even eat 1!

Kids’ appetites - 2 Dad - 0

The adults finished C’s and L wanted to take his to go, and he finally did eat most of it. As we left I also started feeling a bit better, but I was getting worried if I felt this way after Rat, how would I feel after Guardians? Luckily I had Dramamine on me to take before we rode.

We made our way to Norway by way of England.

And started finding Olafs by accident, but noted locations for later.

I also was super happy for an unexpected eyesore - a giant crane! The tacos and walls weren’t enough, so the triple play really appealed to my 80s kid Epcot loving self.

Once my sarcasm wore off, we tried for some possible Christmas card pictures by the tree.

Eh they’re ok, but not the best. I also don’t know why all of the photographers had us lean in and squeeze the kids. Not one of us looks good in any of those pictures.

The crowds around WS weren’t terrible yet, but wait times were going up.

 

[RememberWhen]

My 5yo doesn’t like the fire in Rat either. She’s also not a fan of mmrr, so I think maybe she finds this ride style disorienting?

 

[Spash007]

My 5yo doesn’t like the fire in Rat either. She’s also not a fan of mmrr, so I think maybe she finds this ride style disorienting?

That would make sense! What we find as fun since it’s unexpected, could be scary since it’s unexpected

 

[Spash007]

I don’t want to say that me posting about the tacos caused their removal, but I it is an interesting coincidence! So glad to see the news that they are being removed!

 

[fractal]

When we got off Rat, Frozen was already showing a 45 minute wait so we booked a DAS. As we were walking out, I did start feeling a bit queasy and had to slow down a bit as we made our way over to a place long on my list.
View attachment 691044
No, not ice cream for breakfast (I’m fun on vacation but not that fun, and I think they’re closed anyway).

Whenever we pass here it always reminds me of a time I was much younger and starting to take French in school. A French mom and daughter spilled some soda at a table while we were eating ice cream, and my dad offered them a napkin. The mom said “Merci” and I blanked on how to say you’re welcome. I tried to remember it for the rest of the day until I got back to our hotel that night and it finally dawned on me.

Anyway, flash forward 20+ years. We’re heading to Les Halles of course!

View attachment 691047

As we did the day before, my FIL and I got into line while the kids went with K and her mom to find a table (and look around the shop). This line was SLOW. Even though we entered into the main queue, we were still waiting for over 20 minutes. And the interesting part - we had multiple French speaking groups around us. I guess that means it’s legitimate for French cuisine? Or will French folks only stick to what they know?

View attachment 691045

Tempting, but we didn’t get one.

I believe I got the ham and cheese croissant with bechemel.

View attachment 691046

K had the Quiche Florentine and I got each of the kids a Chocolate Chip Croissant (remembering how L devoured breakfast the day before). K also had a latte, and I got the kids an OJ to share (it was $6.25 for a bottle of OJ!). Myself and K both loved ours. The cross isn’t was the perfect balance of flaky and crispy, and can you go wrong when there’s a lump of melted cheese on top?

The kids though weren’t impressed. Combined, they didn’t even eat 1!

Kids’ appetites - 2 Dad - 0

The adults finished C’s and L wanted to take his to go, and he finally did eat most of it. As we left I also started feeling a bit better, but I was getting worried if I felt this way after Rat, how would I feel after Guardians? Luckily I had Dramamine on me to take before we rode.

We made our way to Norway by way of England.

View attachment 691048

And started finding Olafs by accident, but noted locations for later.

View attachment 691050

I also was super happy for an unexpected eyesore - a giant crane! The tacos and walls weren’t enough, so the triple play really appealed to my 80s kid Epcot loving self.

View attachment 691051

Once my sarcasm wore off, we tried for some possible Christmas card pictures by the tree.
View attachment 691055

View attachment 691056

Eh they’re ok, but not the best. I also don’t know why all of the photographers had us lean in and squeeze the kids. Not one of us looks good in any of those pictures.

The crowds around WS weren’t terrible yet, but wait times were going up.

View attachment 691049

So how do you say "you're welcome" in French?

I also liked Ratatouille more than I anticipated. L not liking it because of the fire just means he has a great imagination.

 

[Spash007]

So how do you say "you're welcome" in French?

I also liked Ratatouille more than I anticipated. L not liking it because of the fire just means he has a great imagination.

I believe it’s du rien, but it’s been 10+ years so I could be making that up!

We are also definitely at that age with his imagination taking off!