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]

I love Naked and Afraid and your trip report

Thank you!!

bathing suit caper!

more good reviews for the Skyliner. Maybe next time I'll ride it.

Don't get me started about how some people dress for dinner.

there are worse things than a peace sign.

Enjoying the report!

So my review of the Skyliner isn’t all positive. Just wait lol

And yes, could be worse than the peace sign! Apparently some kids in her grade already do that!

Your photographs are beautiful. Thank you for posting them. In your photos from HS I didn’t know the ornaments by Dinosaur Gertie lit up!

You were lucky to get into Karamel Kutche. We were in Epcot in early Nov. on a Thursday and Monday night and the line was out the door and down the road! Oh well, someday.

Lastly headphones for the win! They saved us at many an event.

Thank you! And yes, there was no line at all, I was really surprised!

 

[Spash007]

December 6 - Rest Day/Disney Springs

Is there really a rest day at Disney? We had planned on going mini golfing this day, but based on how much we crammed in the last two days, decided a much more low key day would be better.

We made our way over the my in laws room first thing in order to lend them our “Thera-gun”. For anyone who hasn’t used one, it’s essentially a portable massage machine. There’s some very expensive ones, but the one we got is a non-name brand off of Amazon and still does great. Seriously, this thing is awesome for sore muscles, legs, cramps etc!

The kids quickly got bored, so we walked around the Little Mermaid section and explored.

I think L thought this was real treasure, and C was caught up in the magic. Times like this it was interesting to watch her be caught between being a big kid, and just losing herself as a kid.

They wanted to “dance” like the fish

How siblings go from being so loving to arguing is one of life’s greatest mysteries.

We were going to meet everyone at the Skyliner so we took some time heading that way, making some stops along the way.

Of course we had to stop by the playground

 

[Spash007]

We were hoping to snag a reservation at Toppolino’s this morning, but alas, luck wasn’t in our cards. But, we decided we still wanted to check out the Riviera and heard great things about Primo Piatti so we figured we would hop over.

At 8:50 this was the line for the Skyliner - backed all the way into Pop Century (and a few buildings in)

But, it was constantly moving and only took 10 minutes to board. Not bad

We were getting off at the Riviera 25 minutes after getting in line for the Skyliner.



We first explored the grounds outside a bit. They really are very pretty to look at.

Even if I don’t understand how Peter Pan and Tangled have anything to do with the Riviera but I digress.

When we went inside we went right for breakfast, which was surprisingly not crowded.

I had the Croque Madame which was delicious, but extremely filling

I believe this was Ks and was the French Toast Bread Pudding with a side of sausage. It was a bit more like a muffin, but she said it worked. She also got some sort of fancy coffee that was very good.

The kids each got Mickey Waffles which they enjoyed. I believe they got their own, and actually ate all of their own. Finally a win!

After breakfast we wandered around the resort a bit more.

I’ve heard that the lobby is extremely small, but didn’t feel that way. It felt like a good size, but the layout was a bit weird with having to take what felt like back stairs to get outside.

I also really enjoyed the artwork around the hotel.

My in laws really liked it here, and are actually planning a short trip just the two of them here in the near future.

After our touring, we went back to the Skyliner to head back to AoA.

Our plan was to go to the pool for the rest of the morning and early afternoon, before heading to Disney Springs for dinner.

Coming up: Making lemonade out of lemons

 

[Spash007]

So after getting back to AoA, and of course really driving the fact that it’s the largest pool on property, what should find us by the pool but this -

The pool was closed for emergency filter maintenance, and they didn’t know when it would re-open. So instead we figured we would head back over to Little Mermaid and use the pool there.

Honestly, I don’t think the kids cared too much. There wasn’t a slide missing that would have been at the other pool, and the pool was a bit crowded, but wasn’t too bad.

And they enjoyed the props around the pool.

We stayed for about an hour, but the sun was getting very strong, and we knew we wanted to check out the Cars pool too. We didn’t know when we would get over there to explore, and L being a big Cars fan, this was perfect timing.


On the way we made a friend.

We kind of just rolled with it this afternoon, and let the kids take as much time enjoying the scenery as they wanted.

This whole resort is so well themed, but this was probably my favorite area.

 

[Spash007]

More from the Cars area:

L’s favorite is Mater.

We only spent about 30 minutes in the pool, but the sun started getting strong, and we wanted to make sure we had some time to relax in the room before heading to Disney Springs.

On the way, I grabbed a Santa Colada - I expected a bit more of a holiday flavor, but it was literally just a pina colada with a Strawberry on top to look like Santa.

We decided to go to Disney Springs separate from K’s parents as they had earlier dinner reservations. Around 4 we made our way to the lobby.

 

[amjt660]

Hi
With a Cars fan in the family I would suggest a trip to Anaheim

Carsland is like walking into the movie!!


Max

 

[Spash007]

Hi
With a Cars fan in the family I would suggest a trip to Anaheim

Carsland is like walking into the movie!!


Max

Yes, definitely in the future! We just want to wait until he’s a bit older since a cross country flight right now with him will be… challenging. That’s the way a parent should talk about their kid right?

 

[MickeyCB]

challenging. That’s the way a parent should talk about their kid right?

Oh just wait till he's a teenager. Unless he's a mutant polite and nice teenager, challenging will be the nicest descriptor you will use.

 

[Spash007]

Oh just wait till he's a teenager. Unless he's a mutant polite and nice teenager, challenging will be the nicest descriptor you will use.

Our eldest is a teenager in 5 years, and already shows some tendencies!

So I’m thinking the sweet spot will be flying out in 3 years so

 

[Sillysidewalker]

Hi
With a Cars fan in the family I would suggest a trip to Anaheim

Carsland is like walking into the movie!!


Max

I second this!!!

 

[Spash007]

I apologize for being MIA. I will get this done but I have a few good excuses - one, work has been insane. My new boss quit after 4 weeks, leaving me and the other manager to try to pick up the slack, when all of a sudden a major re-org was announced. And then all of a sudden I got a call from my new boss saying I was to be acting senior manager effective immediately. Still trying to wrap my head around that one.

The other reason is more fun - K and I are taking an adults only trip for a belated 10th anniversary trip, and we leave in a week! We originally had 2 nights planned at GF, and then a cruise on the Wish, but after realizing we just weren’t excited about the cruise, we are instead taking a 5 night WDW trip. The kids are NOT happy with us, but we are so looking forward to enjoying the adult side of Disney, like:
-Sitting next to each other on rides
-Eating at plenty of good restaurants
-Eating more
-Not having to use rider swap
-Not having to push a stroller!
-Not having to carry a stroller on the bus!! Or Skyliner!!
-Taking mid day breaks
-Limited whining on lines
-Not packing snacks for the park
-Focusing on taking pictures in the parks with an actual camera (rather than using my phone while I’m pushing a stroller with one hand)

I love my kids, I really do. But, doing Disney in a completely different way is going to be a lot of fun.

I will keep trying to update this report before we leave, but I make no promises. My goal was to have it done before hand, but that’s clearly not happening now!

 

[Swissmiss]

Enjoy your kid-free trip. Was just chatting yesterday at coffee with some friends how we loved our kids but when they were younger how it was nice to get away from them from time to time (all our kids our now young adults)

 

[RememberWhen]

-Limited whining on lines

Way to keep it real!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Congratulations on being named acting senior manager! And also on your upcoming trip! I think one of Disney‘s positives is that there are so many ways to fill your days. Enjoy!

 

[Spash007]

Enjoy your kid-free trip. Was just chatting yesterday at coffee with some friends how we loved our kids but when they were younger how it was nice to get away from them from time to time (all our kids our now young adults)

Thank you! We’ve done a rare weekend away, but this will be the longest we’ll be gone. It’ll be good to recharge though!

Way to keep it real!

So I almost put no whining. And then I’m good conscience couldn’t because I realize that I probably still will about something lol

Congratulations on being named acting senior manager! And also on your upcoming trip! I think one of Disney‘s positives is that there are so many ways to fill your days. Enjoy!

Thank you all around! It’ll be fun to do the things that we can’t really drag the kids too. My daughter is saying she wants to come, but when we tell her we’re not having character meals, or really going on a lot of the rides she likes, she stares at us like we’re aliens

 

[Spash007]

I have a new goal - to at least finish up Day 4 of our last trip.

So, Disney Springs.

One of our goals this trip was to get a coveted Gideon’s cookie, so we headed straight there to put our name on the list. There was about a 90 minute wait, which would put our call back right in the middle of our dinner. The CM told us to just answer the text if that was the case, and they’d hold our spot.

With our names on the list to the hottest cookie in town, we ventured towards what I think of as the original Downtown Disney for a bit of shopping stopping for some pictures on the way.

We stopped in World of Disney, the Lego store, and the Christmas store. I had wanted to stop in the Made by Disney or whatever the tech store is called, but didn’t have a chance (and honestly my wallet probably thanks me).

C still has a special spot for Kylo.

We had told the kids they could get 2 souvenirs. For C we gave a price limit, and L a size limit. Of course L wanted all of the biggest Buzz toys, but we were able to pull him towards a smaller toy as well as the stuffed 50th Mickey which he fell in love with. C wanted a necklace, and then fairly suddenly really wanted a Lego set. We’ve been reading Harry Potter together each night, so she really really wanted one of the Hungarian Horntail, which was well above her price point. I told her we could get it if it also counted as a Christmas gift, but not to be upset on Christmas morning then when L got an extra gift or two. She agreed, and somehow by some miracle actually remembered this on Christmas.

We had a bit of downtime and enjoyed the trees in this area with K’s parents who just finished their meal at Homecoming.

Soon enough it was time to head over to Raglan Road for dinner - a new restaurant for us!

It was an absolutely gorgeous night.

I love Irish food (and beer). Back in the day when K and I were just dating, we had a small Irish restaurant near us that became our go to date night spot.

Right as we were walking in to the restaurant I got the text that our time for cookies came, so I texted back and got a response saying it was ok.

We ended up being sat in the back room, so we couldn’t really see the stage very well. I didn’t really mind, because it was pretty quiet, and I think the kids benefitted from that. There was a step dancer on the stage every once in a while, but whenever she came on, C and K just got up to get a better view.

Another side story - the first week that C was “remote” in 2020 was the week of St. Patrick’s Day. She was in Kindergarten at the time so the school honestly had no idea what to do with kids her age, so any learning fell on us. We ended up taking the week to focus on Irish history/culture, including taking virtual Irish Step Dancing lessons. Ever since then, she’s been really interested in it, and loved seeing it in person.

On to the food - I had the Shephards Pie, and K had the Reuben. Both kids got the fish and chips (they oddly love fish so we pushed it as much as possible to avoid a lot of Mac n cheese). Of course they didn’t realize chips would be fries, so there was a bit of a shock when the plates came out, but they didn’t mind the fries either!

Me and K also both got beer flights - the four provinces for me, and the signature for K.

Overall, I really enjoyed everything about this meal. The food, the drinks and the ambience were top notch. K did say that the Reuben wasn’t the best she had, but it was “good”.

As soon as we settled the check, we headed across the way to Gideons.

 

[Swissmiss]

The photo with the hot air balloon in the sky is really fantastic!

 

[Spash007]

The photo with the hot air balloon in the sky is really fantastic!

Thank you! I never thought of Disney Springs as being pretty until this night

 

[Spash007]

When we headed to Gideons, there was a fairly long line but it was moving quick. It also was now after 7 pm so Disney Springs was starting to come to life with live music outside some of the nearby bars.

I would like to preface the next section by saying I am a cookie junkie. They have always been my weakness. I buy a pack of Oreos and finish it in 2-3 days. The cabinet above the stove is where I put my stash because like Joey, I do not share food.

This was my version of heaven. The smell inside was amazing and I knew it would be hard to pick. They especially had some special monthly cookies that looked really good. We also were picking some up for K’s parents, so going up to the counter I had my mental list ready.

And then I added pretty much one extra of every kind. I spent $68 on cookies. Sixty. Eight. Dollars.

I almost titled this trip report with that. I could picture Kevin’s dad yelling at the end of Home Alone 2 about room service. I was a bit embarrassed, my wallet felt light, but as soon as we got outside and I took a bite of the double chocolate cookie, I knew I made the right choice. We planned on bringing some home with us, but spoiler - we ate them all over the next few days. And spoiler - me and K are going to Disney Springs twice on our upcoming trip and will be stopping here each time.

Cookies in hand, we decided to walk around Disney Springs and find some of the trees while enjoying the cookies. This time we made our way towards the AMC theater.

Star Wars

Moana

I believe this one was Guardians

 

[Spash007]

Heading back towards the bus stop

Disney + tree

I liked the simplicity, but did not like the topper

Frozen tree

Seriously, I get what they were going for, but how creepy is this??

Shortly after we saw the giant nutcracker walking around!

It was a fun little interaction and I appreciated them doing something like this to make Disney Springs more than just a nicely decorated shopping center.

We were about to make the turn to head towards the buses when the music changed slightly. And while I didn’t hear about this ahead of time, K told us to all stop and wait a minute because she thought she knew what was about to happen.

And sure enough, it started to snow! Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

The kids loved this. Pretty much everyone all around us was so caught up in the moment, you couldn’t help but feel the magic.

But I especially was looking at C. Each trip is different, and as she gets older, some of the magic starts to slowly fade. Characters aren’t a big deal as much any more, and she really doesn’t like Princesses anymore. She is far from that young girl who got so excited to meet Minnie on her first trip, or literally ran with me to see Merida on her horse. But in this moment, she got caught up in it too. And this moment showed why we keep going back, even after all the nickel and dining and decisions I don’t always agree with. Our next trip she will likely be a Disney adult (how???) but we’ll still get some special moments together when she experiences a new kind of magic.

And yes Disney, if you’re reading this, I will take a cut