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.

 

[Swissmiss]

A bit of warning - this is going to get word heavy and have a bit of complaining before getting to fireworks.

So, over an hour before fireworks started we headed to the hub by the Fantasyland bridge. We could see the hub was crowded and let out a collective groan. Then a CM on the bridge caught our ear - “Fireworks are at 8:15 tonight. Many people are already lining up. If you want to watch them, I recommend getting a spot NOW”

Look, I get it. Get people prepared. But, causing a panic made that crowd worse. How many people would have went on one more ride had they not thought they HAD to line up. But, given the fact that a lot of people would continue to crowd in, we begrudgingly found a spot over next to the statue.

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Since we hadn’t eaten yet, K and her parents went to grab dinner while I waited with the kids. My in laws wanted more spring rolls, and myself and kids wanted some waffles. We laid down a poncho to keep space for the 3 of them, and the kids laid on the ground watching something.

Here’s where it really went awry, and for the first time, I 100% blame the CMs. Around 7:15 they started yelling for people to move up and fill all available space. Including saying that if you see the ground, that means you’re not close enough, and telling people to get up off the ground.

People, following directions for once, all started pushing forward. I had to have the kids get up, but refused to move. Perhaps TMI, but this was the first time since starting to take anxiety meds that I was on the verge of a panic attack. If I move, will K find us? Will we have enough space? The What Ifs started creeping in and taking over. And being pushed from every direction did not help. For the first time in Disney, I wanted to just leave. But, jokes on me - I couldn’t get the stroller through the crowd even if I wanted to. So we stayed put and I refused to move. I tried texting K telling her what was happening, and was going to tell her to just forget the waffles, but they were already on their way back.

Luckily, and likely because we didn’t move, they found us fairly quickly. We had enough room but barely. It was to the point where once you stood, you couldn’t really shift your legs so it became extremely uncomfortable. And next to impossible to eat. By the time the show started, why in laws, who are not disabled in any means, we’re in a lot of pain from just standing there for over 30 minutes without being able to move.

Here’s the thing - Disney offers a DAS for a lot of reasons. Yet, for fireworks they don’t just not support it, but actively engage in behaviors that make it worse.

Anyway…. The fireworks eventually started and took some of the edge off (granted it’s no HEA)

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Being so crowded, we also had to hold both L and C, so picture opportunities were very limited.

The show was…. Fine. I liked the projections and fireworks, but unlike HEA, the theme did nothing emotionally, the music renditions were mediocre, and there wasn’t the same connections between scenes as HEA. Could I also have been just in a bad mood? Probably.

After the fireworks, the park was going to be open for 2.5 hours longer. I’d parents were originally planning on staying, but after standing for long, they were in too much pain and decided to bail. We warned them that they may as well stay since the lines would be long, and sure enough it took them over an hour to get a bus.

Meanwhile, we waited a bit before making our way back to Fantasyland so we wouldn’t be swimming upstream against the crowds. When we did start to go, every single bridge from the hub was not moving. We couldn’t tell if it was just there were too many people, or if they were actually closed. But unlike earlier when CMs were every where telling people to line up, there was not a single CM in the hub. It was like we were in the Hunger Games or something. Very strange and frustrating.

Finally we just stopped in the middle of the hub, figuring we would see which entry point moved first. Sure enough, the castle opened up and we headed up that way.

I just honestly had a bad taste in my mouth at this point. I made a comment to K that it seemed like we had the B team of CMs this night, and they were just not concerned with the guest experience.

While standing in the crowd, I grabbed a DAS for Seven Dwarfs, so we headed there first.

Coming up: Can we save the night?

How awful for you. My teen suffers from extreme anxiety so I know how tough it can be to try to hold it together. I hope the rest of the night helped make up for the bad experience earlier.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Fireworks at MK are stressful. On our pre-Covid trips we encountered near fights (two fathers after the fireworks, and two mothers before the fireworks) each time.

Watching something so beautiful shouldn’t be this difficult.

Hope the rest of your trip made up for this.

 

[Spash007]

So sorry about your experience. I totally understand that “I just don’t want to be here” feeling. Hopefully the rest of the night goes better!

It was very weird to be feeling that so strongly in Disney!

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I too, had that happen once. I had left my family to go get a soda and came back to not being able to even squeeze between the people to get to them!

On another note, these photos are AMAZING!!!

Thank you! They are mostly from K in all honesty

Max

How awful for you. My teen suffers from extreme anxiety so I know how tough it can be to try to hold it together. I hope the rest of the night helped make up for the bad experience earlier.

The worst part I find, and something that people without it don’t really understand, is that it doesn’t just go away when you’re out of the stressful experience. Even if things get better, you still stay “off” for some time. But, also good for you to get your daughter care early on!

Fireworks at MK are stressful. On our pre-Covid trips we encountered near fights (two fathers after the fireworks, and two mothers before the fireworks) each time.

Watching something so beautiful shouldn’t be this difficult.

Hope the rest of your trip made up for this.

Thank you everyone! It did, mostly, as I’ll start to explain!

 

[Spash007]

As we made our way to Seven Dwarfs, the Lightning Lame/DAS line wrapped around outside. But it was moving quick so we jumped on. It was down earlier, so I think a lot of people were cashing in on them post fireworks. I actually felt really bad for the standby line because they were pretty much taking the LL line consistently.

I sat with L on this one. The only other roller coaster he was on so far here was Barnstormer, which he enjoyed but wasn’t wowed by.

A great photo from yours truly:

He LOVED this. I can’t find the picture from it, but in it he had the biggest smile on his face. He even tried to pick up his hands for part of it. That alone really brightened my spirits.

After this we went over to Mad Tea Party, which had practically no wait. We just had to wait for the current people to get off.

A little back story - on our earliest trips, K did not want to ride the tea cups. She didn’t like spinning. Then, the summer after L was born, we went to Wildwood, NJ and on the boardwalk had to take turns on rides. I rode a bunch with C, and then it was K’s turn. And C really wanted to do the tea cups there. So K obliged. She started spinning it fast, to only realize too late that those tea cups spin twice if not three times faster than the ones at WDW. While it was a bit too fast, they had a blast. And ever since then, K is the Queen of the tea cups.

So, we all got on, and I held on to the kids and let K do her thing.

Which was just as silly and fun as always.

At this point, C really wanted to go on Space Mountain again, but we wanted to do one more ride all of us. Since L loves Buzz, we headed there.

We waited about 15 minutes, but L loved seeing Buzz once again.

Once we got off, we headed to Space. K took L to the bathroom while I first went on with C.

It was practically a walk on at this time (around 10), and as soon as we got off, K took C back on. Meanwhile, L and I got some ice cream, including one for C.

By the time they got off, it was about 10:30, and after letting the kids finish their ice cream (and taking L to the bathroom since half the ice cream was on his face, and shirt and shorts) we figured we would head out of the park. We were thinking of taking one more ride on the PeopleMover, but wanted to try to avoid the crowds leaving when the park closed at 11.

It started setting in on us at this point just how tired we were, and we slowly made our way to the exit

On a side note - Tomorrowland will forever be one of my favorite lands at night. I think of it as the OG of lands that hold a completely different mood at night time.

 

[Spash007]

By the time we reached Main Street, both kids were asleep in the stroller. This was one of the times I was glad we took the double stroller (although I still insist it will be the last trip with it)

Main Street at night is always pretty, but at Christmas

Those crowds we were hoping to avoid? They’re coming!

They were all ahead of us too. By this time it was just about 11, so shame on us in thinking we would high tail it out.

So, with the kids asleep, and a likely long bus line ahead of us, we may as well take our time and enjoy the decor.

Probably unpopular opinion - the MK tree might be my least favorite from the parks.

These guys though are my obsession

Mickey even came out to say Good night!

I was thinking of stopping at Guest Relations and bring up the fireworks issue, but was not honestly in the mood to wait. I ended up emailing them, and still haven’t received a reply.

We didn’t get back to the room until close to midnight, so it was a quick change and get into bed.

Tomorrow - Hollywood Studios!

 

[amjt660]

Sounds like a great time was had by all after the fireworks!!


Max

 

[joshsprincess921]

I was way behind, but all caught up now and loving it.
My eyes may have watered a bit when reading about your evening at Disney Springs with your daughter and the snow.
I love those special moments. My little one is about to be 10 and I'm definitely noticing a shift.

 

[MickeyCB]

Probably unpopular opinion - the MK tree might be my least favorite from the parks.

I don't mind the tree so much, but don't like the way it blocks the view of the castle when your back is to the train station. And I agree, I love the toy soldiers!!

 

[Spash007]

Sounds like a great time was had by all after the fireworks!!


Max

Yep! I love night times at the parks, because it really is so much less stressful and cooler!

I was way behind, but all caught up now and loving it.
My eyes may have watered a bit when reading about your evening at Disney Springs with your daughter and the snow.
I love those special moments. My little one is about to be 10 and I'm definitely noticing a shift.

I know that special moments will change, and we’ll have new ones (like going on the bigger rides), but it’s still nice to have those moments that remind us of the earlier times!

I don't mind the tree so much, but don't like the way it blocks the view of the castle when your back is to the train station. And I agree, I love the toy soldiers!!

Yes, that is especially one of my big reasons. Also, I find the base of the tree to not be to scale which just bothers me some reason lol

 

[Spash007]

It’s been quite a while! But I will finish this!

December 8
This was my in laws last day, and we planned to start at Hollywood Studios and see where the day took us. They were struggling a bit this morning after standing so long the night before, so they decided to meet us at the park.

We arrived at the Skyliner around 7:30 for an 8 am EMH opening, and a 8:30 regular opening.

All smiles!

Side story - we now play "Skyliner" in the car. We pretend to make the sound, welcome the kids aboard, and then all H-E double hockey sticks breaks lose.

Also side story - that Buzz was L's souvenir this trip. And 5 months later, I have no idea where it is!

Which brings me to as we are crossing over the parking lot of DHS and it just stops. We were set to get there by 7:50 am, but were stuck in the air for over 30 minutes. It would move an inch, and then stop again. And every time it would make the noise announcing the stop, and then announcing the re-start. And those announcements are LOUD. And we didn't even have coffee yet!

We ended up getting off the Skyliner right around 8:30, and were a tad frustrated that we missed all of EMH. We probably should have gone to guest services, as my in laws later heard people saying they got a free Lightning Lane, but when we looked at the wait times, they were still very low. Like MMRR was a 15 minute wait low.

Where is every body??

So we headed straight there! The kids both love it, and C and K get into a competition in line to find as many hidden mickeys as possible.

The icing on the cake was that it was a complete walk on!

After this, we headed over to meet Mickey and Minnie, since we never did this meet and greet before. The wait wasn't terrible, 10 minutes if I remember, and we figured it would just get worse.

K's parents got here around this time, and our time for Rise had just been called. The plan was for G to take L to Muppets while K, C my FIL and myself went on Rise. Of course, as luck would have it, as we were walking over to Rise, it was down. So we called my MIL, but she wasn't answering and we figured she was already in the Muppets show.

So we walked over there, I got a coffee near by and some muffins for C and L, and just rested a bit.

When L and my MIL came out, we had a big moment of "what now?" We had talked to a CM because our anytime pass hadn't appeared at first, and they said it should be up soon. The other rides on our list before my in laws left were ToT and Rockn Rollercoaster, but we didn't want to keep crossing the park, so we just waited a bit.

It's funny, in my mind, this fountain is still in the middle of the Streets of America. It was great going to DHS in the 90s as a kid!

Apparently C and L weren't the only ones who wanted to play in the fountain this morning!

 

[Spash007]

Our patience paid off after around 20 minutes (which also allowed for restroom breaks), as Rise was back up! My MIL took L to see the Mickey short, and then to find some popcorn, while the 4 of us headed to Rise. This was going to be my father in laws first time, and he was very excited.

I was surprised this came out so well!

Like most, my father in law was blown away by this scene. We paused a bit too long and got yelled at by the First Order.

Unfortunately, Kylo was in B mode and I really really miss the canons moving as they fire. But, counting my fath in law didn't know any better, he absolutely loved it!

We caught up with L and my MIL, and enjoyed some of the popcorn they got while we made our way across the park. On the way, we took some of our favorite pictures of the trip -

I had a pre-made DAS for Tower of Terror that fell on this time (also why we didn't want to cross the park earlier), and I booked another for RnRC. It was these two rides that I really realized the benefit of it, as I remembered waiting in those lines on past trips and the millions of "what ifs" that would cross my mind.

My MIL was going to take L to the Beauty and the Beast show, but one wasn't starting for awhile, so they just found a place in the shade to sit for awhile.

I feel like in the past, the CMs on ToT were the cream of the crop. This trip (and on our adults only trip), they were some of the worst. In the pre-show, the CM was actually talking loudly to a guest, who apparently used to work there about a date that she had gone on. And then by the elevators, two CMs were talking to the same guest, and complaining about standing on their feet for so long. This, and some other interactions, made me almost call this report "The B Team".

I would post our picture, but I value my life and K would not let me live another day if I shared it. She says she hates it, but then goes on it every time. So who knows!

When we got off, it was time for our RnRC ride but we first checked with my mother in law if she was ok with L. They were thinking of watching the next BatB show, but said they were happy on their bench, so off we went.

This was going to be C's first upside down roller coaster, and the whole time leading up to this trip, she was claiming my father in law as her riding partner. For most of the line, her confidence was high.

@amjt660 does the girl behind count as a photo bomb?

As we started getting closer, and we saw the take off, C started getting a bit nervous and asked a lot of questions. Like, how many loops are there? 1 I said. Oops. In my defense I have not ridden it in 15 years! But I think K was more nervous than C was and making sure she would be ok.

The verdict?

She loved it!

 

[Spash007]

Following this, K started feeling not too great. It was likely the back to back free fall and going upside down, so she went to the restroom with her mom, and I took the kids to get a treat I had seen earlier online.

A peppermint milkshake with a chocolate donut on top. The donut wasn't anything too special, but was at least light and moist, and the milkshake was very refreshing. Or at least the 2 sips I got of it were.

We decided to head over to Lightning McQueen's next, since Liam is a big car fan (somewhat Cars, but more so automobiles, trucks, etc). It was a bit after 12 at this point, and my in laws' Sunshine Flyer was coming at 2:30 to get them. We figured we would watch this, go on MMRR one more time, and have plenty of time.

We didn't count on having to wait 30 minutes for the show to start. Looking back, we should have bailed and just gone back the 4 of us.

The courtyard does offer some great views of ToT!

When we got out, it was just about 1 pm, and my in laws were getting antsy. If we went on MMRR, they were afraid it would be cutting it too close, so we all just left together.

They retrieved their luggage from the front, and we all went to the food court for lunch. What we ate is beyond me. I believe the kids had cheeseburgers, I believe I had the chicken parm pasta, and K might have done chicken fingers or a salad. Sin i t doesn't stand out, I'll say the meal was decent, but nothing spectacular.

C in particular was really sad to say goodbye, to the point where she said she wanted to go with them. I think part of it has to do with the fact that they, like most grandparents, let her get away with more than we do. But she also is extremely close with them (we live 5 minutes from each other, so it's not like they wouldn't see each other soon).

After some tearful goodbyes, we headed back to our room to rest a bit. I believe this day L did actually fall asleep for an hour or so.

This night we originally had open in our plans, but since L still didn't ride Slinky Dog, and we didn't see Fantasmic our first night, we decided it was back to Hollywood Studios it would be!

 

[fractal]

The CMs at ToT can add so much to the experience. Sorry you got the B team.

 

[amjt660]

@amjt660 does the girl behind count as a photo bomb?

Max

 

[Spash007]

December 8 Cont

While L was napping, I took C down to the arcade. There were a lot of games, but they were pretty much all shooter type games, and after one round she got bored. So instead we went to air hockey and played a few rounds before heading back to the room to get ready.

We got to the Skyliner around 5, and had a much smoother ride than this morning.

As we were in the sky, we were able to watch the sunset.

The picture doesn’t do it justice because of the decal, but it was a beautiful ride.

We got to the park around 5:20 and wanted to make sure we got into the 7:30 Fantasmic show.

A Frozen sing a long was about to start, so we hightailed it over there.

But first said hello to these guys -

Some of the jokes are getting a bit stale, but it’s nice to have some of the new ones. I think as C gets older, she’s also starting to get a different appreciation for it.

Even though she still loves the snow at the end.

After the show, we headed to Toy Story Land.

I really love this land at night

Coming up: L's first ride on Slinky Dog!

 

[Spash007]

Earlier we had booked a DAS for Slinky, and the timing worked out perfectly. L had really enjoyed 7 Dwarves, so we figured this was going to be a hit. Were we right?

I would say so! (And I do enjoy it too). He had his hands up for a lot of it, and for weeks afterwards talked about riding the dog ride with the tail. I'm pretty sure this became his new favorite quickly!

We got off a bit before 7 and were worried we were cutting it close to Fantasmic, so we quickly walked to Sunset Blvd. We slowed a bit to watch the projections, but the crowds all heading to the theater kept us moving.

Having not been in the theater in 15 or so years, I forgot just how long of a hike it is to get back there. But, me and a fellow double stroller pushing dad bonded as we weaves in and out, up and down side by side. It started as I thought he was about to cut me off by being on the inside of a turn, but then he surprisingly let me go. It’s funny what you bond over.

Anyway, for getting to the theater pretty close to showtime, we got decent seats in the second to last section, about halfway up. Soon after sitting, Mickey began leading us through his journey of his imagination.

It’s funny - growing up, I went to Disney much more than K did. So this was a first time for her, and she was a bit skeptical going in. She absolutely loved it! So did L, who starts waving his hands like Mickey as soon as he hears the music (which is a regular play now in the house). C got a bit emotional at one point - I think it was when all the Villains “died” and she felt bad for them. Big heart on that kid, but sometimes I worry about the placement.

Anyway, the show ended around 8, and the park was open until 8:30. Almost everyone was leaving, and we didn’t want to wait in a line for the Skyliner, so why not hit up a favorite once more?

 

[Spash007]

I believe we almost went to Slinky, but either the line was long or we didn’t want to walk that far. So instead we headed back to the Chinese Theater to close out our day how we started.

As soon as we made the right down Hollywood Blvd, it was empty! And it allowed the kids to explore the handprints which they’ve never done before.

Once in the queue, it was practically a walk.

Not bad for an iPhone:

Exiting the ride, the park was now closed, which meant it was perfect picture taking time. As K slowly pushed the kids to the entrance, I zig zagged to get pictures

I’ve always loved this statue - it seems like a relic of the original MGM.

Being done with my photography for the night, we were able to get right on the Skyliner where we had to wake the kids up.

Shortly after, we got back to our hotel, and although the kids had been snacking all evening, they never had a proper dinner. We asked if they wanted something, but they were both pooped and quickly fell asleep.

Me on the other hand was hungry, and placed a mobile order before the food court closed. I took a nice scenic walk along the lake, and enjoyed some of the trivia.

My dinner, which tasted better than it looked in a take out box, was a very good meatloaf. I believe K also had a Greek chicken salad.

But, I was reminded that I should not eat something so heavy this late at night and had quite the restless night of sleep. I got the rest I could though, because I knew I had to be up early for our last chance for a Guardians BG!

 

[fractal]

Nice photos! - love the one of the kids in the Skyliner.

 

[Spash007]

Nice photos! - love the one of the kids in the Skyliner.

Thanks @fractal!!

 

[Spash007]

December 9th

This was our last full day, and our plan was to start in Epcot, and hop to AK to visit Dinoland and Conservation Station. But, on our first Epcot day we never got up close to Spaceship Earth at night, so we wanted to hop back after AK closed. Would we make it? Let's find out!

My day started early - around 6:40 so that I could go outside to grab a BG. I know I probably could have stayed in the room, but a) I have Rise PTSD b) I really liked my quiet mornings outside and c) I liked grabbing coffees.

Success!

With BG in hand, I texted the picture to K, and went to fill our cups with coffees. When I didn't receive a text back, I figured that must mean that K, and therefore the kids, must still be asleep. We weren't in a huge rush to make rope drop this morning, so I decided to go for a peaceful walk around the lake. I have to admit, Hourglass Lake became one of my favorite places in WDW this week.

It was so peaceful, with a slight breeze and the sun was still finishing rising. It was just what I needed before a busy day. I was able to plan out our day, and possibly most importantly, think about all of the great times we already had.

I always wondered what would drive @riverside to get extra steps in first thing in the morning, but I completely get it now!

Around 7:40 I finished my walk and headed back to the room.

Hey buddy

Back in the room, sure enough, everyone was still fast asleep. The last few days was clearly starting to take a toll on every one. After gently rousing them and eating a light breakfast as we all got ready, we left the room around 8:30. We clearly would not make EMH (which started at 8:30), but that was ok. Our main goal this day was to explore the countries some more and find the rest of the Olafs, meet some characters, ride Guardians and maybe get on the Land.

The Skyliner trip was uneventful, and we got the Epcot just after 9. While waiting in security, our BG got called, so we headed straight there.

Without my in-laws. we were going to have to rider swap, so K took C on the first time.

She was very excited to get on it again, and luckily the line was also much shorter this time.

While they rode, I took L to another one of his favorite's - Spaceship Earth. It's funny, he loves the thril of the roller coasters, but also really enjoys some of the classics. Me too kid, me too.