Trip Report **COMPLETED**2016 Trip Down DW Memory Lane to Survive C-19 Lockdown

Happy Spring everyone! As I sit here spending yet another day of many at home as we shelter in place, I am missing Disney, as I know we all are. It makes me sad that it is closed and not able to bring joy to everyone on a daily basis. Though I don’t get to go to Disney as often as I would like to, I like knowing it is still there and just a quick You Tuber’s video away for me to live vicariously. So I thought as a way for me to get through this Disney void and combat my Disney blues, I would do a retro trip report if you will…reliving some Disney World memories I had in the late Spring (Memorial Day Weekend) of 2016. If you would like to join me on my journey down memory lane, hop on. I’m hoping it will give us all those Disney feels!

Before I jump in, let me tell you a little about myself and the situation behind this particular trip:

I am a teacher by day and a Disney Enthusiast by night…not strictly true…my Disney enthusiasm seeps into my WHOLE DAY…it is basically 24/7, but I try to keep it in check when I’m on the clock, but let’s just say when it is Hat Day at school, I break out my Mickey Ears and figure they fall in the category of “hat”! I unfortunately live in the northern Midwest so don’t get to Florida as often as I would like, so to fill that void, I enjoy getting my Disney fix by following all the fun trip reports here when I am missing Disney, which feels like every waking minute!

I unfortunately have only been to Disney World a handful of times (1991, 1998, 2016, 2017, 2019) This is my second trip report I’ve ever done, but had a blast doing my first trip report last summer after a quick weekend get away with my Disney Loving sister that you can find that fun trip and report HERE!

This trip was a bit different because my husband is not quite a Disney Lover….yet! Believe me…I am totally working on this and am determined to convert him! This trip back in 2016 was his first time ever at Disney World. We love to travel and went to all kinds of other places, but Disney wasn’t on the radar and he wasn’t interest. So I went all the way from 1998 (which was right before I met my husband) to 2016…18 LONG YEARS WITHOUT DISNEY WORLD, PEOPLE!!!!! I know…it was purgatory, but I survived. So why could I not talk him into it, you ask? Well, standing in long lines…he has a low tolerance. Standing in lines in the heat…even lower tolerance. He was also concerned about the “theme park food” because we had been to Universal before and he was not impressed with the food there at all. And the mother of all excuses I heard a lot….”Disney World is for kids.” Ughhh…

So at this point in my little story you are probably wondering how did I managed to finally get my reluctant husband there? Serendipity to the rescue! Long story short, Hubby got involved as a soccer coach on a local team and they decided to play at the Memorial Day Tournament down at Disney World to give that experience to the kids. So reluctant hubby would be forced to have mandatory fun at Disney World and I could not believe my luck in this turning of the tides! I knew this was my ONE chance to prove that DW was travel worthy, and to hatch my plan of DW becoming a more frequent part of our lives! The pressure was on and I had to be strategic…this was Operation Turn My Husband Into a Disney Lover. The stakes were high…future possible trips to DW were riding on the success of this trip! So let’s get started and you can find out if it was Mission Accomplished or not!

Who: Little Ol’ Me and my non-Disney loving, husband, who I will lovingly refer to as Mr. B., and also, a whole team of 15 and 16 year kids and their families! Yes, in the whole group, we were the only ones who didn’t have a kid on the team! LOL I do have a kid but she is all grown and flown, and was never into soccer. My husband is a life long soccer player (he is from England) and coached for the love of the game and to give back to our community, so there we were, just hanging out with all our friends and their kids for the love of soccer at DW.

What: A week in DW split between park days and soccer tournament days.
When: May 25-May 31, 2016
How: A 3 hour smooth, non-eventful plane ride, which is exactly how I like it. Way better than the 18 hour driving trip…one way!
Where: Stayed at All Star Sports, and over the course of the week, visited a few other resorts (All Star Music, All Star Movies, and Wilderness Lodge), Disney Springs, lots of bus trips off property to various soccer fields in the area for the soccer tournament, and did three park days with park hopper and squeezed all 4 parks into those 3 days.

Phew! So with all that said, lets do this! Pull up your time machine of choice…Doc’s Delorean, Dr. Who’s Tardis, or my personal favorite…the mystical stones from Outlander…and let’s travel a few years back in time, shall we?

Day 1: Wednesday, May 25, 2016 Arrival

I can’t believe this trip was almost 4 years ago! (feels like just yesterday to me)! Ahhhhhh…2016…no apocalypse and you were allowed to leave your house…Good Times!

I am not a huge fan of flying, but I will suck it up because it gets me there the fastest. Even though from where I live the flight is only around 2 hours, it is still a long day of travel getting up in the dark to get to the airport, suffer the security lines, hurry up and wait some more to board, etc. So I tried to rest a bit on the Magical Express, but it is one of those things where you are tired and excited all at the same time so there would be no sleep. I pepped up a bit when we arrived as it had been over a since finding out we would be going and it was finally here! YAY!!!! I was getting giddy and Mr. B. was like, “Oh boy, here we go” in a tone more like having to go get your wisdom teeth extracted. LOL! As previously mentioned, I had been to DW twice before this point, but both times I stayed off property, so this would be my first time staying on property so I was super excited about that, even if it was a less fancy value resort!

I was worried about staying at the All Star Sports because I had heard it wasn’t great being a budget resort and all. This was part of the team package and where the whole team was staying so knew I had to make the most of it and would just be happy to be at DW. I am pleased to say those worries quickly disappeared and we ended up enjoying our stay here. I was actually surprised when I walked in. The lobby was sparkling clean, and looked like the Fourth of July exploded in there! Very patriotic looking! We checked in and they asked us if it was our first time. I let them know it was Mr. B.’s first time and they made a big deal out of it and promptly made him a pin to wear to let everyone know. Mr. B. got a big kick out of it so Disney World got their 1st SCORE!!!!! YES!!!!

We then checked out our room. Our room was waaaayyy in the back of the resort so took several minutes to walk there, but I know that is the case in a lot of the resorts since they are so big and wasn’t a huge deal. We took some photos of the sports theme along the way.

We finally made it to our room. Clean and comfy and suited our needs for this trip. We would only be there to sleep and wash so didn’t need anything fancy. This was before they started all the refurbishments for all the All-Stars so classic room photo right there for posterity sake.

We then decided to walk around the resort and found our way to the All Star Music and All Star Movies and looked around there, too. We made our way back to our resort and found the bus stop before going inside to get a bite to eat at the food court and look around the gift shop.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: My 2020 self is VERY ashamed to admit that my 2016 self went to Disney World without a single pair of Mickey Ears NOR a Disney themed t-shirt (except a team shirt we would wear on our last day). I just wasn’t prepared. I figured I would buy a pair there, but for some reason, as you will see as the TR goes on, I tried on a ton of Mickey Ears, to the point that I would say this is where my love of Mickey Ears started, but for some reason I didn’t buy a single pair! I know, right? What was that all about? Too cheap? Didn’t think I’d be back? Thought women my age shouldn’t wear them? Figured they would just clutter up my house? ALL DUMB REASONS, 2016 SELF!!!! My personal growth and transformation from 2016 to 2020 now includes this motto and public service announcement: Get. The. Ears.

Anyway…here I am with classic Minnie ears that I tried on in the gift shop that I didn’t buy (kicking myself). But hey, at least I have the photo! LOL!

We pretty much spent the rest of the evening hanging out at the resort, watching Stacey on TV, and running into other people from the team that were arriving. It was really bizarre and fun all at the same time to be at Disney World and run into people from your town and previous students of mine who were on the soccer team all the time. It was a pretty cool experience and so glad we got to be a part of it. We ordered a pizza from the food court that night and Mr. B. was pleasantly surprised that it “wasn’t too bad.” LOL! So far it was a good little beginning.

Stay tuned...Animal Kingdom up next!

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[JosieBee]

Day 2: Thursday, May 26: Animal Kingdom

We (and when I say “we” I really mean it was all me) decided that since the tournament didn’t start until Saturday that we would go a few days early to squeeze some park days in. So our first park was Animal Kingdom. We got there right before they opened and got to see the parrots being fed and then fly above us as the park opens. They are so beautiful!

Then we rope dropped and went straight to Kilimanjaro Safari because (there was no Flight of Passage yet, lol!) I didn’t have a Fastpass and was being as strategic as possible so Mr. B. wouldn’t get cranky about lines and just think everything worked out that perfectly not realizing I had been doing my planning and homework FOR A YEAR! So off we went and since these were the days before Pandora was open, everyone else was going that way, too. It all worked out and we only waited maybe about 15-20 minutes, which is within the tolerable limits for Mr. B. We headed off into the savanna and all the animals were there on cue to greet Mr. B. and he WAS LOVING IT! Disney scores again!!! YES!!!

We enjoyed our little excursion and when it was over, Mr. B. was amazed that all those animals were just “roaming around out there.” LOL! I think he honestly forgot he was in Florida and thought he really travelled to Africa. That Disney magic was doing it’s magic on him. I certainly didn’t burst his bubble to remind him we were basically in a very well done zoo. Africa it is!

Then it was time to go check out the Tree of Life. This is such a work of art and I am amazed every time I see it. Mr. B. tried to count how many animals on it but lost count. He found it to be pretty impressive, too, and then it was selfie time in front of the tree! Being how this was our first trip there we did not realize how awesome the PhotoPass would be so didn’t get it. I will never make that mistake again! So for the remainder of the TR, you are mostly stuck with selfies of us, so my apologies! And if you read my TR about my Sister’s Weekend Trip, then you know I’m now all about those Magic Shots, but this was back when I didn’t even know they existed! Tragic!

Then we had a couple of Fastpasses to take care of, Dinosaur and Kali River Rapids. When we got off of Dinosaur, we ran into Donald Duck! I love meeting the characters and get into it, but this was Mr. B.’s very first character meet and greet and he didn’t know what to do but Donald got right in there and noticed his 1st Timer pin and broke the ice. Then he invited us over to see his dinosaur and take some photos. Now folks, this is what happens when you don’t get the Photopass. You get all these amazing photos in your account but they have watermarks on them. You can download them for $15 each but I had so many I couldn’t decide and also, because $15 is steep and I was being cheap back in ‘16 (much like the Mickey Ears situation). Now, 3 years later I have all these watermarked photos and wish I had gotten the Photopass or had at least bought some prints instead of being a tightwad. So my personal growth and transformation from 2016 to 2019 now not only includes this motto and public service announcement: Get. The. Ears., but also Get. The. Photopass.

It was actually a beautiful day…it was in the 80s but not overly humid. That didn’t stop us from wanting to go on a water ride so off we went to Kali River Rapids. I took a quick picture of us when we got on the ride. Not sure why I did, but now it is evidence that you can get wet on this ride. Notice how I was having a very cute hair day:

And then not so cute. I was the only one on the whole raft that got soaked, of course.

After that good time, we took my dripping self back over to Africa for a show and some lunch.

I love this view!





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[JosieBee]

Day 2 at Animal Kingdom continued...

We saw Festival of the Lion King, which got two thumbs up from Mr. B. which is a big deal because he doesn’t usually like musical theater stuff, but enjoyed that show! WOW! Disney is scoring big, today! Then we headed to Tusker House for some African food and to meet Mickey and his friends. I picked this restaurant not only because I wanted to try it but I wanted Mr. B. to see that DW food isn’t just standard theme park-burgers-and-fries-food, and he loves trying new foods so I thought he would get a kick out of this (strategic move!). And I was right! We both loved the theming, and all the different foods to try, as well as the characters!

We (I) had a fun conversation with Goofy about how we love to watch his How-To videos, where we have learned how to play football and ski. He then started showing us how to swing a golf club, too! LOL! Donald and Daisy came around, and we enjoyed visiting with them, and then MICKEY!!!!! Look how cute he is in his Safari outfit! I just love me some Mickey!

Then it was Mr. B.s turn with Mickey! They were striking a pose and Mr. B. is starting to get the hang out of this character thing! AND HE IS SMILING AND LAUGHING…and in my mind I am thinking this is all going very well….

Until the bill came! I quickly (and strategically) grabbed that horrible thing and took care of it and simultaneously used the distraction method of, “Hey, let’s go see some tigers and gorillas!” It totally worked so off we went! Dodged that bullet!

While we headed over to the animal treks, Africa was really bursting with activities. We watched these guys do soccer ball tricks. Mr. B. could do all those himself, so wasn’t overly impressed, but still enjoyed watching them for a bit. I am lucky I am coordinated enough to actually kick the ball and not totally miss it and just kick the air so I was naturally impressed.

Then we saw this guy passing through and he was playing a bunch of African instruments. Now, I have many talents in life, but just like trying to kick a ball, playing an instrument is not one of them. So to see him not only play all these different instruments at the same time but also on stilts, put the whole woman-do-it –all-but-in-high-heels thing to the test.

We walked off our big lunch over at the Maharajah Jungle Trek and I definitely felt just like this tiger right about now. I only had 3 day park days during this trip so wasn’t about to waste one precious minute on a nap so I trucked on, tired or not!

I really can’t decide which part I love more at Animal Kingdom, Asia or Africa. They are both so well themed. Mr. B. even commented on the level of artistic detail of it all! Go, Disney, Go! Keep impressing that man!

While we were in Asia, we had another Fastpass to catch which was Expedition Everest! This was both our first time on this ride (it wasn’t even build yet the last time I was here) and we both loved it. I’m a rollercoaster lover and this one is so well done from the theming and story telling, to the thrilling ride, itself! As a matter of fact, it did such a great job on theming that it had the unexpected effect of now my husband wanting to go to Tibet and do the whole base camp thing…*record scratch* Whoa whoa whoa, Disney!You are knocking it out of the park with Mr. B. and all, but the mission is to get him to want to come back, not give him ideas that channel money AWAY from you and make me have to climb mountains. At this point, I’m having second thoughts about taking Mr. B. to Epcot….I mean if that made him want to go to Tibet, what is World Showcase going to do?!?!?!?

To get my husband off the topic of Tibet, we walked around to see more animals. Gorillas were a good distraction! LOL!

We kept just wandering around enjoying the animals and nature of the park and came across Baloo and King Louie. Baloo was giving Mr. B. a high five which was a VERY HIGH high five but Mr. B. was a good sport about it and we had some good laughs about it.

At this point I didn’t want to give Mr. B. theme park fatigue this early in the game so I figured we would go back to the resort for some R&R for the rest of the night, and then he surprised me with this little convo that went something like this:

Me: Let’s go back to the resort since we have another big park day tomorrow. We can rest and take it easy.
Mr. B.: We have that park hopper thingy, right?
Me: Uh….yes..??
Mr. B. : Want to go check out another park?
Me: Um..YEAH!!!!

Wow! I didn’t expect that! He would never admit it because it would ruin his street cred that he was actually liking Disney, but I’m good at reading the signs and that was a big one that he was having a great time!

So stay tuned, and you can find out if Epcot continued to help turn him into a Disney Lover or not!







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[PSM]

Great report so far! I love the mix of text and photos. Definitely the kind of report I like to be reading during this shut down. Can't wait for more!

 

[JosieBee]

Great report so far! I love the mix of text and photos. Definitely the kind of report I like to be reading during this shut down. Can't wait for more!

Glad you are enjoying it so far! Anything to help pass the time on this shut down and make it a bit more tolerable!

 

[JosieBee]

Day 2 at Animal Kingdom AND Epcot continued...

Hello again! When I las left you, I was telling you how my non-Disney loving, reluctant-to-go-to-Disney-World husband surprised me with having so much fun that instead of calling it a day and returning to the resort, he wanted to go to Epcot! He didn't have to tell me twice, so off we went with just enough time left in the evening to get over there, walk around a bit, and find a spot to wait for Illuminations. Another piece of evidence that this is from days past, there is a PLASTIC STRAW! Oh, how time have changed in a few short years! LOL

Such a pretty view as the sun sets and the lights come on around the World. Oh, and then Mr. B. also discovered WDW turkey legs while we were waiting. Those won him over and he is now a big fan! He still talks about that turkey leg, and when I get him back there, that will be the first thing on his agenda, no doubt.

More selfies while we waited. Mr. B. thinks it is funny to make faces when I try to take a photo of us. So one photo turns into 10.



Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

See what I have to live with.

Then Illuminations finally started, it was beautiful, and for some reason this is the only photo I took. It just looks like something exploded on the water. LOL Oh well, I must have been living in the moment instead of taking pictures, and that is all right, too! Glad we got to see the show now that it has been retired.

So there you have it, our first day in the books. I’d say my first park day with reluctant, non-Disney-Loving Mr. B., was a huge success! It was still early in the game, so I couldn’t afford to get a big head over it just yet…anything could happen so I had to continue my game plan as we carried on through the next several days.

Day 3: Epcot and Hollywood Studios

Ahhh, another glorious morning at Disney World! Oh, Spaceship Earth…what a geometric marvel of triangles you are.

Today I had planned on going to Epcot, but since Mr. B. surprised me with an unplanned visit the night before, we got more Epcot in our trip than originally planned! Fine by me because I can never get enough of Epcot.

We arrived at Epcot right at park opening to rope drop for Test Track and get the most of our time there since we would only be doing half a day there. I was eager to continue my mission of turning Mr. B. into a Disney World Fan and had a big day planned to make that happen. We were also lucky that the Flower and Garden Festival was going through Memorial Day weekend so we got to see all the gorgeous topiaries and displays throughout our day there…big bonus!

Once we got in the Test Track line (along with everyone else at the park it seems like) it took about 30 minutes. But we were indoors in the air conditioning and Mr. B. got to play around making his perfect car so all was well. He was very focused on getting it just right!

He did it and is looking mighty pleased with himself.

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[JosieBee]

We enjoyed Test Track and then it was back out amongst the topiaries. These really put my gardening skills (I can basically pluck a weed and that is all) to shame.

We then went into the Seas pavilion and rode on the Nemo ride and saw Crush. Nemo ride was cute, but Talking with Crush is always a good time.

Then we decided to go on Spaceship Earth. I had never been inside that either, so another first for both of us. I always enjoy the older classic rides and appreciate the animatronics and educational message. Mr. B. wasn’t too sure what he thought about that one.

Then as soon as we got off the ride, Mr. B.’s phone rang and here is the whole crazy story: Mr. B. had recently graduated with his teaching degree after deciding to do a mid-life change of career and had been subbing while trying to get a teaching position. Well, that phone call was a principal offering him an interview for a permanent teaching position. So there we were, trying to find a quite place in Epcot so Mr. B. could set up an interview and the only interview time would be on Memorial Day of all times, which just so happened to be the day we were scheduled to be at Magic Kingdom!!!!!! WHAT?!?!?!?! My panic totally set in. Anxiety levels rose to new heights. I needed a Mickey-shaped Xanax, stat!!! Were we going to have to leave and fly back home just for an interview? I was getting ready to put my foot down and say absolutely not, when I overhead Mr. B. start talking about doing a conference video thing to interview. Okay, phew. Deep breaths, stay calm and carry on. This could still be totally doable with modern technology, but I still wasn’t happy it was going to be on our day we were scheduled to be at Magic Kingdom, especially since we would be flying home the next day and could do it later that week…but nooooooo…that was the only possible day the principal could do. I pretty much turned into Grumpy in that moment.

So with our heads spinning from that little unexpected doozy, why not go spin them some more and go do Mission Space? I was super nervous. We went on the not-so-tame side. I just kept taking deep breaths and made it through. To be honest, it wasn’t the spinning so much that got me but the claustrophobic feeling I had in there. When it was finished, I only felt a little bit woozy and it wore off in a few minutes once we got back outside. Mr. B. however, LOVED it! Of all the rides, I can’t believe that was his ride! It was one of his favorites of the whole trip and he said he felt like he was really an astronaut and went to space. Alrighty then. Whatever floats your boat, Mr. B. As long as Disney is winning you over, you can love that one the best.

We walked around some more and made our way over to Italy where we had lunch reservations at Via Napoli.

We assumed this would be more “not too bad” theme park pizza but thank my lucky stars it was REALLY good pizza, and once again helped debunk Mr. B.’s fear of bad food at theme parks.

Super yummy and we enjoyed our Italian server. We had the joy of going to Italy a few years before this so was talking to the server about it and had a great conversation with him about some of the places we got to see. Then he brought us some Tirimisu…one of my favorite things in the whole wide world!

It helped chase the grumps away! Now when Mr. B. gets hold of the camera, he likes to keep it real. There is no posing with my cutest smile with the tiramisu…oh no. He waits until I shovel it in. LOL!

At this point in our trip, I think I was just happy to sit down for awhile. We had walked something like 38,000 steps the day before and my feet were not happy with me! The good news about that is that means I didn't feel a bit guilty about that pizza or tiramisu!

That's all for now, folks! Stay tuned to see how the rest of our time at Epcot went and until then, see ya real soon!
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[JosieBee]

Day 3: Epcot and Hollywood Studios Continued

We loved our time in the Italy Pavilion. It definitely brought back memories of our trip to Italy a few years before. Above is our picture in Piazza San Marco by the Doge’s Palace in Venice which is what is basically the model behind us in the selfie photo below in the Italian Pavilion. It was almost like being there again. Not quite the same, but almost.

Then we explored the pavilion some more, walked down to the water to take more photos.

I went to take yet another photo of us and instead of funny faces, I got this:

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore! Awww…and yeah, you better give me some love after that phone call earlier today that about gave me a heart attack!!!!!

Then we looked around Germany and I was starting to relax again and Mr. B. gets ANOTHER call concerning the interview!!!! My patience is being tested but being the supportive, loving, amazing wife I am, I took a deep breath and let him go deal with it. So with that German music blaring, he once again was trying to find a quiet spot to deal with the phone call. This time the call was about downloading and trying out the app for the conference call. I’m wondering if modern technology is a good thing or bad right about now. So while I was waiting for him to deal with all that, I was wandering around taking photos.

Since we were in Germany, Snow White topiary was there. This was my favorite display! I am a big Snow White fan so that is basically why. Also, because we had a good laugh because later I asked Mr. B. when we were looking at the photos why Kermit the Frog was under her skirt and he was like, “uh…that is her shoe?” ! So it is. It’s not easy being green, I guess. Looked like Kermy peeking out to me.

Finally, the stress inducing phone call was over and we could get back to our vacation. Off to Morocco!

Seriously, these need to become an everyday fashion accessory. Bad hair day? Slap this sparkly beaded bad boy on your head and call it done. Morrocan women are apparent geniuses and we need to catch up with them.

What is happening? Who knew DW would have this affect on my Mr. B.? I thought it was just Italy but I guess it is the whole World Showcase! Or, maybe he is just trying to calm me down from the second phone call.

What is happening? Who knew DW would have this affect on my Mr. B.? I thought it was just Italy but I guess it is the whole World Showcase! Maybe it was my stunning purple beaded hair. Or, maybe he is just trying to calm me down from the second phone call.



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[JosieBee]

Off to France. Mr. B. is doing his best Lumiere impression. He totally nailed it if you ask me!

Then he got excited. Remember...he is English and a piece of his homeland was waiting for him…entering the UK Pavilion.

Tastes of home tantalizing him. He didn’t buy much because he explained if we would want to buy a Snickers for $10 in another country. Fair enough. Let’s just say that Santa makes sure those English treats make their way into his stocking each year.

More topiaries and displays!

Cute little window display of the Royal Court.

And Peter Pan, up there!

So someday when I hit the lottery (because my teacher salary isn’t going to quite cut it) and get to build my dream house, Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival has given me Disney inspired topiary ideas to line my long stately driveway with.

And who needs hanging flower baskets when you could have these:

Maybe I could just cover my whole lawn in flowers!

We were going to use our park hopper today to hop over to Hollywood Studios so had one last stop to go do Soaring. While walking over there, we enjoyed all those beautiful flowers! Again, last time I was at Epcot, Soaring didn’t exist yet so this was the first time for both of us. We had to wait in line for about 40 minutes which is getting at the cusp of Mr. B.’s patience level, but it was air conditioned and he was having a good time and didn’t seem to mind it. We both loved the ride and he even said it was worth the wait. Phew!

Beside the heart attack phone call, it was a perfect morning and afternoon at Epcot. It was time to head over to Hollywood Studios so stay tuned!



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[JosieBee]

Day 3: Epcot and Hollywood Studios Continued

After a fun filled morning and afternoon at Epcot, it was time to head over to Hollywood Studios! Between waiting for the bus and travel time, an hour later we arrived at Hollywood Studios.

We go in and were looking at the map they gave us when all of a sudden…my husband, who was the little boy in the 1970s and 80s who had all the Star Wars toys and is a huge Star Wars fan, heard a sound on the wind that he immediately recognized…Storm Troopers! I may have kept a little surprise secret that Hollywood Studios had some Star Wars stuff in it. It worked…he instantly turned into an overgrown man-child and we had to rush toward the sound. It was of course when they marched in Phasma and Mr. B. was in his element! Another huge score!

So watched the show and Mr. B. was grinning ear to ear. Then the hunger hit…no worries, I had reservations at 50s Prime Time Café.

Mr. B. had a Grandma’s Chicken Pot Pie, and I had the Mom’s Old Fashioned Pot Roast and chased them down with a Chocolate Milk Shake. It was soooooo good. This is one of my favorite meals in all of Disney World. Highly recommended. And we ate it all up and didn’t even get scolded! Mr. B.’s face is saying it all right now…happy as a clam he is.

After dinner I sprung my most strategically kept secret and very nonchalantly said when I was sure he was finished so he didn’t choke to death:

Me: Want to go meet Chewbacca?
Him: What?????!!!!!
Me: Chewbacca.
Him: Chewbacca is here?
Me: Duh!
Him: Chewbacca from Star Wars?
Me: Is there another Chewy I don’t know about?
Him: (Beelines out the door)

So off we went to meet Chewy! Even I was impressed with this character interaction. I did not expect it to look and sound exactly like Chewbacca! This was one of my favorite character interactions of all time! Mr. B. was SO surprised!

Chewy wanted to know if Mr. B. had any hair under that hat and continued to demonstrate how much hair he still had which was hysterical.

After we said our goodbyes to Chewbacca, we headed over to see the Fantasmic show. Got there early to pick a seat and I was okay sitting there and waiting and giving my feet a rest! My feet were screaming at this point! Mr. B.’s feet…just fine and they are magical because they never hurt.

This is my favorite part of the show because dragons make any show better.

We enjoyed the show. Mr. B. didn’t love it as much as Festival of the Lion King, but he still gave it a thumbs up. I’ll take it!

I had one more my trick up my sleeve to sway Mr. B. towards eternal Disney World love. I purposely picked this night to go to Hollywood Studios because they were doing their Star Wars fireworks!

Once again, Mr. B. was enjoying the telling of the Star Wars story with its music and fireworks. I think that is when they explode the Death Star.

Even though I am not a fan of kids on shoulders for these things, how cute is it that the little boy is holding his light saber…Mr. B. was jealous. That will be a trick to put in my back pocket for the next trip with him now that Galaxy Edge is open…can’t wait for that!!!!

Day 2 ended with a true bang and was another big success! Mr. B. was truly enjoying himself which is seriously improving my future chances of getting to come back to Disney World! The next couple of days would be filled with soccer games for the tournament, and a trip to Disney Springs, but we were scheduled to go to Magic Kingdom on Memorial Day the following Monday! I was super excited! Mr. B. was not. He was pretty sure that though he enjoyed the time in the other parks, Magic Kingdom was probably going to by too childish for him. Was he right? Did I come out triumphant? Stay tuned!​

 

[JosieBee]

Day 4: Evening at Disney Springs

After a whole day of traveling to different locations around Orlando to play various soccer games in the tournaments and battling 100 degree heat, we went back to the resort to shower and rest, and then headed over to enjoy the evening at Disney Springs. I had not made any dinner reservations because I wasn’t sure if we would be able to go there or not due to the tournament, so we tried Earl of Sandwich. I had the turkey dinner one….it was like Thanksgiving on a roll and was delicious!

Then we just wanted around enjoying the sights and sounds, did some browsing in stores and just hung out. It was very relaxing.

My mom always told me to not try on hats in stores…you know, "because you will get lice!" I saw this golden beauty and all care flew out the window and found its way on my head before I could remember that warning….luckily I did NOT get lice! LOL! I was lucky…because as I said, I am a teacher and I know for a fact that mother’s words of warning can be very true! As you already know…I did not buy the ears. And now I’m bummed because May the Fourth is coming and those would be perfect! Buy. The. Ears...Try. Not. To. Get. Lice.

Mr. B. found a Yoda hat! He also did NOT get lice! Probably my favorite photo of him from the trip! LOL!

Snow White Ears!!!!!!!! I should have bought them! My future 2017 self did buy a pair of Snow White Ears so I do have a pair now so all is right in the world again.

Day 5: Dinner at Wilderness Resort

After another long day of soccer tournament games, we returned back to the resort to rest and get ready for our dinner at Fort Wilderness Resort. The year before we vacationed at Yellowstone so Mr. B. got a big kick out of the geyser.

Staying at Fort Wilderness someday is on my Disney bucket list! It is beautiful and had me at rustic log cabin feel because I am a wildernessy type of girl (mostly meaning I like to look at the wilderness from the comfort of my front porch).

We were having dinner at the Whispering Canyon Café and let them know we were here and sat down to wait until our table was ready. So we enjoyed the hug log cabin and someday when I get my own log cabin, it will need a gigantic fireplace like this one, of course!

We looked for some hidden Mickeys (Mr. B. discovered that he loves that game) and enjoyed the ambiance.

Time to eat! And oh boy, did we eat! And eat, and eat some more. Love this place! Food was delicious and we rolled out of there. Good thing I have been getting my steps in!

Wow…no dieters allowed.

After dinner we took the boat across the lake and got to see the electric lights they do on the lake so that was fun. Then we headed back to the resort for a good night's sleep. We had an early morning waiting for us and breakfast at Crystal Palace!

Next up...our last and final day at the Magic Kingdom!



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[SandiSmiles]

I'm really enjoying your fun trip report! Also, you have some great photos. Looking forward to reading about your day at Magic Kingdom! Hope Mr. B enjoys it!

 

[JosieBee]

I'm really enjoying your fun trip report! Also, you have some great photos. Looking forward to reading about your day at Magic Kingdom! Hope Mr. B enjoys it!

Thanks for joining me on my walk down memory lane! Glad you are enjoying it!

 

[JosieBee]

Day 6(Last Day--Booooo!): Magic Kingdom!

Yay! Magic Kingdom Day is finally here! I am so excited! The whole soccer team is going today to have breakfast together before everyone goes about their business for the rest of the day. So up and at ‘em nice and early so we can get to our early breakfast reservations.

Just what I need to get me going in the morning...a big fat Coke! I love Coke so had to shamelessly ham it up in front of the giant cup.

We finally arrive early for the breakfast reservations and start invading Magic Kingdom with all our very yellow team shirts. Mr. B. insisted on a photo of my in front of the castle and I am always happy to oblige with a castle photo.

Here they all are! The reason I got to finally go to Disney World after my 18 year dry spell. They finished 2nd in their soccer division and considering they had to play two games in the heat compared to just the one game their finalist team played, they did amazing well and we were all so proud!

Time for breakfast at the Crystal Palace!

Breakfast was delicious but unfortunately rushed. It was taking a long time for the characters to come around and even though we were there for about an hour, only met Pooh Bear. We couldn't wait any longer for the other characters because the park was opening and we had to get in line for Mine Train.

We match Pooh Bear!

We dashed over to Mine Train and only stood in line for about 30 minutes which made Mr. B. happy. Remember when he thought it would be a kiddie ride?…nope, he loved it. I would show you the picture but since I was too cheap to buy Photopass, it has a big Disney watermark letter "y" right over his huge laughing smile, but you will just have to take my word for it!

Time to introduce Mr. B. to the Dole Whip. It was getting hot so this hit the spot! He loves pineapple so this scored MEGA points towards my mission of turning him into a Disney World lover.

To cool ourselves even more, Splash Mountain came to the rescue! Mr. B. enjoyed how this was a longer ride and was surprised. He thought you would go up and then just drop down. More Disney magic filling that next trip bucket!

Yep, Photopass didn’t cover his face that time…he is enjoying this “kiddie” rides!

All that riding and wandering around made us hungry again so lucky for us, we had reservations over at Beast’s Castle. Mr. B. really appreciated all the detailing. He has a critical eye but couldn’t find anything amiss.

So far my dream house has Disney character topiaries, the Fort Wilderness Lodge huge stone fireplace, and now it needs cherubs painted on the ceiling. I live in the north so the snow falling outside shouldn’t be a problem.





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[JosieBee]

We ordered the Croque Monsieur. It was good and we gobbled it up. Nothing fancy but did what a warm sandwich is supposed to do…fill me up and get me through the rest of the day.

Mr. B. making his best Beast face.

This is when I had to say “Au revoir” to my beast because remember that fateful day at Epcot when we got “THE phonecall?”…Well, it was time for him to go do that interview so I would lose my bestie for the next few hours. I decided to stay in the park because no point in me being in the hotel room distracting him during an important interview so off he went and I wandered around solo style for a few hours.

After walking with Mr. B. to the front of the park, the Dapper Dans came out to sing for me. Thanks, Dapper Dans, I really need that. So what is a lonesome girl to do all or a few hours in Magic Kingdom? Check out all the Main Street stores, of course! Uh oh….more ears to try on and NOT buy for some reason.

Me doing my best Angelina Jolie as Maleficent villianous face. I better keep my day job.

Belle ears! I can’t confirm or deny that I may have bombarded my husband with not only these, but many other ears that I may have taken selfies with to let him know what loads of fun he was missing while he was traveling back to the resort.

And did I buy any of these adorable ears?….you know the answer. What have we learned today so you don’t become like stingy 2016 me? That’s right…Buy. The. Ears.

It was getting extremely hot so I wandered over to Gaston’s Tavern to try Le Feu’s Brew. There was some sort of problem with my Magicband and the scanner. I offered to pay with my credit card and the kind Castmember said, nope, the band should have worked, just take it on the house! Woo hoo! Thanks, Gaston! I will very much enjoy my refreshing and FREE drink as I relax and take a load off and do some people watching.

Did I like it? Why, yes I did...I liked it all the way to the bottom of the cup! Another new favorite treat I will have to get every time I visit. I will have to tell Mr. B. that it was gross and he didn’t miss anything, though. #WifeSecrets.

It was time for the parade so I made my way back to the hub and I must say, I feel that the front of the castle gets all the love, but baby’s got back! Look at it in all its glory back there! Beautiful!

If Mr. B. was here, I probably wouldn’t have gotten to see the parade because standing in the hot sun watching floats go by isn’t his idea of fun, but I’m glad I got to check it out.

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[JosieBee]

I will need to practice this pose the next time I’m pool or beachside.

Remember when I said everything is better with dragons? I rest my case. Mr. B. may not enjoy parades, but he would have loved seeing that!

By this time, I had heard from Mr. B. that he was finished and on his way back so after the parade I hung around the hub taking the perfect photo that would become my new phone wallpaper.

Finally, Mr. B. was back and we were able to go do Space Mountain and Space Ranger Spin. When Mr. B. plays shooting games, he doesn’t mess around…serious business!

After a few rides we decided to make our way back to Main Street to get a bite to eat and stake out a spot for the Electric Light Parade (that was still going at this time). We grabbed a hot dog at Casey’s Corner and found a spot to sit and enjoy some down time. When we were in line for Space Ranger Spin, I kept feeling like flies were biting my legs, but I would look and nothing was there. So as we were sitting there eating our food I realized my legs were stinging and lo and behold, I had welts all over them.

Mr. B. was very alarmed by this and insisted we go over to First Aid. The lady there said this was actually pretty common, especially in women and was not bug bites, but had to do with the heat and the capillaries in the legs. Great….lucky me! She gave me some ointment and I went on my merry, yet painful way.

The sky was looking ominous, but super cool looking photo I got!

We were hoping it would blow over but the good news is it didn’t pour like we feared, but bad news is we still got some rain and they cancelled the Electrical Light Parade. Boo hoo!!!!

So Mr. B. wanted to look around the shops and so did everyone else since it was raining so we squeezed ourselves in and had fun looking around. Lots of people started to leave because they thought the fireworks would be cancelled. I wasn’t ready to leave or throw in the towel. This was my last night in Disney World and I wanted to relish in every moment even if they were rainy!

So we wandered around and just enjoyed the sights, and sounds, and smells, and just enjoyed being together. Then the rain stopped! The fireworks would be shown after all! Due to the fact that most people left, we had an amazing spot, too! Back in 2016, this was still the Wishes show and was the first time I saw it and by the end, I was an emotional mess. Oh, and here is a little special tidbit for you…during Wishes I made a wish. I wished that my husband would get the job he had to leave earlier for that horribly timed interview.

One last selfie together before we have to leave. Bye, Magic Kingdom…until next time!

So, fellow Disney Lovers, if you made it this far with me, thank you for tagging along! You may be wondering what the final verdict was with my Mission Turn My Husband Into A Disney Lover. Well…he had a GREAT time and definitely wants to go back! Yaaaaayyy! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! There is a little catch, though…as long as he gets to go to other places, too, and not just Disney each time, and I am cool with that. So now my new mission is called, How To Make Enough Disposable Travel Money To Go To Disney AND Other Places. I’m still working on it. I have gone twice since this trip with my sister, but I have a big birthday coming up and plan on going at the end of next year with Mr. B. (hopefully everything is back to normal and this pandemic is behind us by then) and I am already getting him ready for that future mandatory fun. I have begun all the preliminary work for that new game plan! This time around I won’t have the obstacles of convincing him that the food is good (he loved all the food) and that it is for kids (he had fun on every ride). Crowds and waiting times…well, that is where I have to keep being strategic! Between you and me…I think he is secretly excited to go again!

I will end with this…remember the little wish I made during Wishes? Two days later he got the job and is still teaching at that school today! Thanks, for the magic and wish granted, Disney World!

Take care, everyone! Thanks for sharing my trip down memory lane with me! It really helped during these crazy times. Keep that Disney magic alive in your hearts and hopefully it will be up an running again soon bringing much joy back into the world.

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[k8einwdw]

Thank you for sharing your trip, I loved following along!