Trip Report COMPLETED 30th Birthday at the Poly with autistic brothers in tow

Hello everyone again! I'm finally ready to start our trip report for June 20th-June 30th. My pre trip report can be found here.

Just a quick recap my name is Davita and this will be my DH's and my fourth trip to the World. DH is an orchestra teacher who did a mostly Disney concert and we Disney Bounded as Donald and Daisy Duck.

This will be my brother's and my mother's second trip to Disney World but only the first time with us. So this is technically their first trip they do Disney World properly. My brothers are twins who are 22 and on the spectrum. Nathan is much more severe than Matthew, with bipolar disorder and OCD.


Nathan hasn't been on a plane since he was a little boy, pre 9/11, so we were worried about how he'd handle TSA. He doesn't like taking his shoes off in public, or people going though his backpack so you can understand our hesitation.

In preparation about a week before the trip we went over to their house to stage a fake TSA screening. At first, Nathan seemed super happy talking about the trip but once we asked him to take off his shoes and put his backpack through the "x-ray machine" he became very quiet and, I think, nervous. Matthew handled it very well, but spoiler alert, he didn't do so well on the actual day.

Fast forward a week and we met them at the airport bright and early at 5 am for our 7:15 flight. After we checked our bags, all 10 of them, oy, we went up to security. Luckily for us because we are rapid rewards members we automatically qualified for Pre-TSA, so all the work we did with practicing taking our shoes off was for naught. We decided early that I would take Nathan through and DH would help Matthew and my mom. Nathan did great! He seemed slightly agitated about his backpack having to go through the machine, out of his sight. After we went through the metal detectors, we turned around and no DH or family behind us. Apparently, Matthew didn't empty his pockets and they were trying to stuff things in backpacks because Pre-TSA didn't have readily available bins to put stuff in. Then right before Matthew went through he threw the rest of his stuff in the X-ray machine. When he got to the other side with us, we had to wait a while for a TSA agent to get everything out of the machine.

After that trauma was over we sat and had breakfast.

Matthew is on the left and Nathan is on the right. If you can't tell, Nathan's favorite character is Goofy.

We then preboarded the plane and took some selfies.

Something that we didn't know until this trip is that Southwest's policy on pre-boarding based on disability, is that one person per disabled individual can preboard with them. So DH couldn't preboard with us but Matthew saved him a seat.

We flew to Houston first, where we were supposed to just stay on the plane to Orlando but were unexpectedly forced to changed planes. I was worried Nathan wouldn't do so well with that but he was fine with running to the next gate for Orlando. Everything was fine on our flight to Orlando. Then it was time to put on our Magic Bands!!

After picking up the mountains of bags, we went to board the Magical Express.

That's my mom right there, btw. More selfies!

I still hate the new video very much. Nathan and Matthew couldn't have cared less about it and I think Matthew started playing his video games. But we got really lucky and the Polynesian was the very first stop! yay! We arrived, got our leis and checked in to our room which was in Aotearoa. Not the building I chose on online check in, but I was actually really happy with it. We did get our other requests for adjoining rooms and a balcony.

And our view had the monorail going by! That never got old.

Next, presents for everyone! Captain Cook's lunch and Downtown Disney

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

DH and I have been to Tusker House for dinner before, but it wasn't a character meal then for dinner. It wasn't crowded at all inside. It was around 7 pm and it was dead.

Our server was really funny and engaging. He mentioned that the bakery in Africa was closing so they bring the leftover cookies over to the buffet for free. He recommended we pick up some cookies because they go fast. My mother decided that meant to just load up two plates of desserts that were overflowing, before we got any food. Not just the cookies, but every single other dessert on the buffet. Oy.

Now on to the characters, Goofy met us first

After we met Goofy we had time to get our food. It was all really good, it's like Boma-lite. It has enough for picky eaters like the twins, but enough variety for DH and I to enjoy.

Next came Mickey

Mickey's so cute.

Then Daisy

And finally, DH's bestie

Donald was signing Matthew's autograph book when he spotted Matthew's Chip and Dale hat. He started pointing at all of us like whose hat is this? I'm not gonna lie, DH and I both pointed at Matthew immediately. Every one for themselves.

The restaurant was so dead we saw all the characters 3 times. I highly recommend coming at this time in the evening if you can. And if it's raining at Animal Kingdom, even better.

We told Goofy that he was Nathan's favorite and then he jumped him.

It was very funny.

Then Daisy came by again and the waiter said to her that DH loved Donald. She came up DH and gave him the biggest hug

The waiter spotted her and said that he was going to tell Donald she was loving on DH. Daisy started acting scared and shaking her head like she was asking us not to tell Donald. DH and I told her we wouldn't tell and she left grateful to us.

Donald came by again and DH took more pictures with him

And as he was leaving the waiter came by again and said did you guys tell Donald that Daisy was kissing this guy? Donald stopped walking and turned around slowly and pointed at DH

I love DH's guilt.

We were all laughing hysterically.

When dinner was over, it started pouring again. So we just donned our ponchos and umbrellas and left. I think AK was really close to closing anyway. Nathan was happy we had an early night tonight. Soggy bus ride home and off to bed.

Next, it's finally MAGIC KINGDOM DAY! My favorite!

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

Love your report.
I also always spend a ridiculous amount of time in MouseGears.

Thanks for reading! I think I like MouseGears more than World of Disney at this point.

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

June 24th, MAGIC KINGDOM DAY!!

Magic Kingdom is my absolute favorite Disney park. Disneyland comes an extremely close second. It's Cinderella castle, I love it so much.

We woke up early because I wanted to see the morning show. We walked to the monorail and it wasn't open yet, so we turned around and walked back to the docks to ride the boat. I love the boat ride to Magic Kingdom, but when you just want to get there it can be really tedious. Boat rides are better after a day at the parks IMHO.

At the docks...

Beautiful views

And we got there minutes too late to see the morning show!! I was so sad.

But I cheered up when I saw this beauty

If I can remember I believe we walked straight to Space Mountain, but it was down. So then we walked to Fantasyland and rode Winnie the Pooh. DH and I have been on the one at Disneyland and its pretty much the same thing. We enjoyed it, but I would have loved to see the bigger version of Mr. Toad that it replaced. Sadness.

I think we had a Fastpass for Peter Pan so we rode that. Nathan likes it a lot and laughs during all the flying. I love it too, can't wait to ride the updated version at Disneyland this November.

We have a bunch of pictures of it's a small world so I believe we rode that next

DH and I see these girls and always say keep shakin' ladies! They're our favorites in this ride.

We walked back to Tomorrowland and rode Space Mountain.

This is Nathan's favorite ride at Disneyland. I could hear him laughing during this ride and he said he liked it. I love it, the drops are so much fun.

I think at this point we rode Seven Dwarfs. Matthew has become a thrill junkie so we warned him it's not that intense.

Matthew's verdict: eh. I can see that but I still love it even though it is not an intense ride at all. I always get chills when hi-ho starts on the lift.

I believe at this point we stopped for some pictures

I think it's amazing the Photopass photographer got Nathan to do the thumbs up. Disney magic!

Someone spotted his duck relatives

We went back to Tomorrowland to introduce the group to the greatest Disney attraction ever....

The Peoplemover!!!

Ok maybe it's not the greatest ever, but everyone loves this and now my brothers and my mom are included in that. Nothing is ever as relaxing as riding around on the Peoplemover. Someday I want to ask if we can stay in the car for another spin around.

Next, we meet Stitch! Lunch and Splash Mountain.

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

After the Peoplemover we went to use the bathrooms by Space Mountain. Matthew and I were standing there waiting for everyone, and Stitch starts walking out with his handler. I told Matthew! Let's follow them everyone else will find us, so we grabbed our stuff and ran after him. I guess DH saw us because they call caught up and we were the second group in line. Yay!!

Nathan and my mom sat this meet out. I ran up to Stitch first and gave him a hug. Then he made me take off my backpack, my Minnie ears and my sunglasses for the picture.

Stitch flipped around DH's hat

Matthew with the autograph book ready

After Stitch signed it, he dropped it on the ground. Matthew was very amused by that
Then this loveliness happened

Hilarious!

I think we started walking towards food at this point and we stopped at Columbia Harbor House. DH and I have eaten there before but I didn't think what I tried was very good. I had the chicken nuggets I think. This time I decided to get the tuna sandwich. It was so good on such a hot day and I was nice and full but not bursting. The boys got the nuggets, my mom a salad, and DH the lobster roll which is his favorite. We heard a rumor it was taken off the menu after this, is this true?? DH will be devastated!

Then it was time for our Splash Mountain Fastpasses. This is my favorite ride at MK, I think my favorite ride at a Disney Park ever! I love the combination of story with the thrill. So awesome. I said I wanted to ride the front seat with Nathan.

I don't know why Nathan's closing his eyes, we finally got him to open them when we ride at Disneyland. Oh well.

We started walking back out since Nathan was tired, but we stopped first at Harmony Barber Shop. DH has been waiting to get his haircut there again, and Nathan wanted to also. Matthew said no.

I asked them to do pixie dust on Nathan and DH's hairdresser asked him if he wanted it also, and he said no. I interjected and said no he wants it. Look he's smiling and being a good sport about it.

DH freshly shorn and happy.

I think we took the boat back again this time and I found my Stitch plush being silly with DH's hat

Next, Crystal Palace dinner and MSEP.

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

We had a nice nap and started our way back to the Magic Kingdom for dinner at the Crystal Palace. DH and I have eaten there before and liked it a lot. I'm not a big Winnie the Pooh fan but the character interaction was great.

The sky was looking ominous.

We checked in and it was thundering with scary lightning. Unfortunately it made everyone try to stay under the porch and there just wasn't enough room. I didn't want to stand in front of the restaurant because of the lightning was really intense. Finally they called our name and we went inside.

It took a while for the characters to come around to see us. When we sat down Tigger and Eeyore looked like they had just finished our area. The food was good but it wasn't as good as Akershus or Tusker House.

Then the characters came

Eeyore took absolutely forever!!! We were waiting I want to say 20 minutes after we finished eating for him to come by. As you can see here, Matthew already filled his autograph book and after this he bought his second one.

That storm was still going outside when we left but it never rained.

I think we went shopping at the Emporium just killing some time before we could go to the Fastpass plus area for MSEP. I bought the Hakuna Matata Alex and Ani bracelet and I love it! It's so pretty!

Next, MSEP!!

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

We went to Town Square to check in for MSEP. The reason I used a Fastpass for this is because Nathan doesn't do well standing with a bunch of people for parades, and he wouldn't be able to stay in the parks long enough to see the second, less crowded show. Fastpass worked really well here, we got a curbside spot and he was able to sit down and no strangers were crowding him.

We checked in and DH and I needed some alone time so we wandered around the park, taking some Photopass pictures. If you are traveling with extended family, always take some time to be alone in the parks. It definitely helps the stress level.

Time for the show!

DH took video of this so there's no pictures from it. MSEP is one of the things from my childhood trips to Disneyland that I remember so clearly. I was in complete awe of the whole thing so watching it makes me emo and happy. I love it. Several of the characters could see my button and wished me happy birthday.

When it was over my Mom and brothers headed back to the Polynesian and DH and I got more alone time. We walked over to Adventureland and rode Jungle Cruise for fun. I love the Jungle Cruise here with the extra temple scene and in the dark always makes it better. Our skipper was very funny. Then we rode a new ride, the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. And we took a selfie

It's hot...but not nearly as hot as it had been this trip.

I'm not sure what else we did before heading back to the Poly but we stopped at the front desk because our two new Magic Bands were linked to My Disney Experience, but couldn't open our room doors. Fastpasses and getting into the parks worked though. That took a couple minutes to fix.

I saw this giant map of the Poly and got a bright idea for a picture

That's our building!

We got ready for bed and passed out!

Next, Universal Studios Day!! And we finally see the Hoop De Doo Revue!

 

[smk]

Loving it!

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

June 25th. Universal Studios.

Woke up bright and early today to be at Universal in time for rope drop. I did my usual walk to Captain Cook's to get breakfast and saw this beautiful Polynesian sunrise.

I seriously never wanted to leave this place

We walked to the valet booth and hailed a cab. We had a van this time and it was a really quick ride. I think it was about $60 each way with tip. I know a charter bus for the five of us would have been a similar amount of money.

It's so strange leaving the Disney bubble and seeing Orlando. Before we knew it, we had arrived

We went straight to guest services to get Nathan's disability pass there. It's almost exactly like Disney World's system where you get a return time if the line is over 30 minutes long. But we had to use a paper again, boo.

Unfortunately we arrived way too early. This was a first for us this trip. We got the boys some snacks and sat and waited for rope drop for day guests. We could see the resort guests being let in early.

Our first stop was Diagon Alley. Gringotts posted wait said 10 minutes so me being stupid thought, oh we'll just jump in stand by real quick. Nope, I think the wait was around 30 minutes which is Nathan's limit on waiting in lines. Luckily, there's a lot of different rooms and things to see so I think he was ok.

Last year when DH and I came, we did single rider so seeing the actual queue made the attraction make a lot more sense. I'm glad we waited.

We wandered around Diagon Alley for a little bit then came out to ride the Hogwarts Express.
But first we had to visit with the Knight's bus driver

We didn't know that the shrunken head is interactive, he asked Matthew if he liked Quidditch, and asked DH if he was a Gryffindor. I think Matthew was a little nervous, he didn't hear the shrunken head talking to him. oops.

On to the Hogwarts Express.

I was the only person in my whole family to wear a Harry Potter shirt. I was ashamed of them all.

Next, inside the Hogwarts Express, and lunch!

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

I love the Hogwarts Express, such a fun ride. Matthew is a huge Harry Potter fan and was so happy

We crossed over into IOA and had to stop for this picture

At this point, Hogsmeade was insane! People everywhere. Dragon Challenge had a 10 minute wait so we asked my mom to take Nathan to get a return time for Forbidden Journey and Matthew, DH, and I would ride Dragon Challenge. At this point we gave my mom all our bags.

As we were walking up to the entrance, DH was going first. There was a team member outside announcing that you couldn't have anything in your pockets. At that point, DH was putting his camera inside his pocket and the team member spotted him. The team member started screaming hey at DH repeatedly. I think it was me who finally got DH's attention. The team member said "At least someone in your group was paying attention." So then we all had to turn back to the locker area.

We put everything in the locker and started walking through that massive queue. Matthew told me after we were pretty far into the line that he had his wallet in his pocket still. I just told him to not worry about it and if they ask him if he has anything in his pockets, just say no. About halfway through the queue we came upon the metal detectors. When Matthew walked through his wallet had a chain connected to his pants so that alarmed. They told us we had to walk back and put that also in a locker. It was a completely frustrating experience. There was a shortcut back to the lockers so you didn't have to walk the entire queue again, but still. I waited for DH and Matthew at that point. When they got back, DH told me that they wand you before you get back in after the shortcut.

We finally got to ride and it was fun, but after that headache none of us were that into it. We met up with my mom and Nathan who were also frustrated that they couldn't find a shaded, cool area to sit and wait for us. Since with the locker drama it took longer than 10 minutes.

So I don't blame front of the line team members, it's not their fault. But this is insane. Disney doesn't care, if you lose your stuff on a ride that's your fault. Having to go through a metal detector is not a very good experience before you ride a ride. It alters your excitement.

Since everything was taking longer than we thought it would it was already lunch time. The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade was packed and Nathan needed some decompressing time so we walked over to Jurassic Park.

We ate at Thunder Falls Terrace which is pretty far into Jurassic Park. It has basic theme park food, hamburgers, salads and wraps, with some barbecue items like ribs and chicken.

Saw this sign in line, I thought it was hilarious.

This place is indoors with a nice view of the splash zone area of the Jurassic Park ride. It wasn't very crowded at all. I would recommend this if you need some quiet away from people. This was right when lunch started though, I don't know if it gets busier later.

When we were walking out I saw this sign. I love dinosaurs

It was time to go back for our Forbidden Journey ride.

This time we made sure we gave everything to my mom in our bags. There are no metal detectors on this ride, though.

I'm a huge fan of Harry Potter but this ride is not my favorite. I have motion sickness issues even when I take Dramamine before on this ride. Plus, I think it's super scary. Giant spiders, dragons and dementors attack you. When we got off the ride Nathan was walking really funny. He isn't able to tell you he feels sick or dizzy but we suspected he was. We bought Dramamine for him and Matthew at the gift shop at the end of the ride.

Then we walked back to Jurassic Park to ride the water ride. We got a return time first and wandered the area to kill time. Nathan loved this ride. He especially liked getting soaked at the end. We shopped a little at the gift shop then went back to Harry Potter so the boys could try Butterbeer.

they both loved it. Nathan drank his and my moms glass.

We decided to ride the Hogwarts Express back to Universal to get Butterbeer ice cream.

We ended up eating in front of the toilets because there was no shaded area to sit anywhere in Diagon Alley. The ice cream was still really good.

At this point, Matthew wanted to buy a school uniform. He had been saving his money for months and he bought the Gryffindor robe, sweater, tie and socks. I think he spent $290? He was very happy.

I had to stop and take this picture on the way out of the area

Let me in! I'm part of the Order of the Phoenix!!

Next, we leave Universal and the Hoop de doo Revue.

 

[12in12]

June 24th, MAGIC KINGDOM DAY!!

Magic Kingdom is my absolute favorite Disney park. Disneyland comes an extremely close second. It's Cinderella castle, I love it so much.

We woke up early because I wanted to see the morning show. We walked to the monorail and it wasn't open yet, so we turned around and walked back to the docks to ride the boat. I love the boat ride to Magic Kingdom, but when you just want to get there it can be really tedious. Boat rides are better after a day at the parks IMHO.

At the docks...
View attachment 102458
Beautiful views
View attachment 102457
And we got there minutes too late to see the morning show!! I was so sad.

But I cheered up when I saw this beauty
View attachment 102456
If I can remember I believe we walked straight to Space Mountain, but it was down. So then we walked to Fantasyland and rode Winnie the Pooh. DH and I have been on the one at Disneyland and its pretty much the same thing. We enjoyed it, but I would have loved to see the bigger version of Mr. Toad that it replaced. Sadness.

I think we had a Fastpass for Peter Pan so we rode that. Nathan likes it a lot and laughs during all the flying. I love it too, can't wait to ride the updated version at Disneyland this November.

We have a bunch of pictures of it's a small world so I believe we rode that next
View attachment 102455
DH and I see these girls and always say keep shakin' ladies! They're our favorites in this ride.

We walked back to Tomorrowland and rode Space Mountain.
View attachment 102449
This is Nathan's favorite ride at Disneyland. I could hear him laughing during this ride and he said he liked it. I love it, the drops are so much fun.

I think at this point we rode Seven Dwarfs. Matthew has become a thrill junkie so we warned him it's not that intense.
View attachment 102450
Matthew's verdict: eh. I can see that but I still love it even though it is not an intense ride at all. I always get chills when hi-ho starts on the lift.

I believe at this point we stopped for some pictures
View attachment 102452
I think it's amazing the Photopass photographer got Nathan to do the thumbs up. Disney magic!
View attachment 102451
Someone spotted his duck relatives
View attachment 102453
We went back to Tomorrowland to introduce the group to the greatest Disney attraction ever....
View attachment 102454 The Peoplemover!!!

Ok maybe it's not the greatest ever, but everyone loves this and now my brothers and my mom are included in that. Nothing is ever as relaxing as riding around on the Peoplemover. Someday I want to ask if we can stay in the car for another spin around.

Next, we meet Stitch! Lunch and Splash Mountain.

On my last trip I rode the peoplemover 6 times without exiting. It was marvellous, so relaxing and when it's not busy the CM's don't mind.

 

[Figgy1]

Love your report.
I also always spend a ridiculous amount of time in MouseGears.

^^^^^^ This and thnx for the lovely pics

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks for the updates! Great pictures! Looking forward for the rest. Still considering Hoop de doo for our next October trip

 

[Figgy1]

Loving this TR How did you make out with the GAC over at UNI?

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

On my last trip I rode the peoplemover 6 times without exiting. It was marvellous, so relaxing and when it's not busy the CM's don't mind.

That's awesome! I'm going to add that to my to-do list next trip

Loving it!

Thanks so much for reading!

Thanks for the updates! Great pictures! Looking forward for the rest. Still considering Hoop de doo for our next October trip

It's really a great show, we should have done it much sooner. It's a must-do

Loving this TR How did you make out with the GAC over at UNI?

It went really well when we used it. Forbidden Journey and Jurassic Park they gave us return times about 20 minutes sooner than I thought they were supposed to so I'm not complaining.

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

So sorry everybody for not finishing the Universal day but I was writing that post and I was on call at work so of course I got called in. Then right now I sat down to write and I got called in again!! Ugh, I need to not work on this while being on call. It's bad luck! Hopefully I'll be home later and can work on it.

 

[disneypearl]

I am enjoying your trip report! We were at WDW the same time as you and will be interesting to see if we were ever at the same park on the same day. I love your husbands Donald Duck socks he wore at Animal Kingdom. They are awesome!

 

[Figgy1]

So sorry everybody for not finishing the Universal day but I was writing that post and I was on call at work so of course I got called in. Then right now I sat down to write and I got called in again!! Ugh, I need to not work on this while being on call. It's bad luck! Hopefully I'll be home later and can work on it.

Sympathy like. No worries.

 

[12in12]

I am patiently waiting for an update.

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

yay! I'm off finally and I can finish this Universal day!

After we left the Diagon Alley area, we started walking to the front of the park. DH and Nathan were both completely done with the day. I was sad we couldn't ride Transformers or the Mummy but there's always next time. This was the second time that we went to Universal and I still haven't been on those rides.

On our way out I saw Lucy meeting. I am a huge I Love Lucy fan and ran straight to her

We then stopped at the Universal Store so my mom could finish shopping. DH also wanted to finish his teacher wand collection. He currently has Prof McGonagall, Prof Dumbledore, and Prof Snape. This trip he wanted Prof Lupin, but of course, his wand was backordered. Dang it. DH consoled himself by buying a Marauders Map.

So then we left....bye Universal, one day we'll do all the rides...

Walked back to the cab pick up area and hailed a van home.

I loved seeing this view mostly unobstructed. (The windshield tinting makes it look blue...)

We finally made it back to our hotel. By this time it was 3-ish. We had reservations at Hoop de doo for 6:15 pm. When we picked up our tickets the night before at the hotel, we were told to give ourselves at least an hour and a half if you are using Disney transportation. But me, being an idiot, thought that sounded way too long to get across Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake (can you see where this is going?)

So I decided we should leave at 5. DH said we should leave at 4:30. We left at five and my plan was to take the monorail to Magic Kingdom and then take the boat to Ft. Wilderness. We got on the monorail at the Poly with no problems but it was raining already. By the time we got to the Grand Floridian it was pouring with thunder and lightning. They opened the monorail doors and we sat there at the station. And sat. And sat. I started to panic since we were told we had to be at Pioneer Hall by 5:45 to check in.

We decided to change plans since the rain wasn't letting up anytime soon and got off the monorail and ran downstairs to the valet stand and hailed a cab. We decided on the cab because the storm was so bad, I knew that even if we got to Magic Kingdom the boats to Ft. Wilderness wouldn't be operating. It took about 5 minutes for the cab to get there. We started on our way to Ft. Wilderness and the traffic on Seven Seas Drive was stopped. Bumper-to-bumper traffic. DH had this look on his face. He was dying to tell me I told you so, but was waiting for the opportune moment.

We finally cleared that traffic and the cab driver told us he had to drop us off at the main bus stop at we would have to take a bus from there to Pioneer Hall. He was very nice and got as close as he could to the actual bus stop so we weren't out in the rain too much. We ran in the pouring rain to the bus stop. The bus stop was packed. I've never been to Ft. Wilderness so I didn't know how the buses operated. I saw a bus pull up so I went to the driver and asked if it was going to Pioneer Hall. He answered very curtly "yes" We all got on with a bunch of very wet tourists and departed.

We met some really nice people also trying to get to Pioneer Hall so that was fun. Felt like a group effort. When we got there it was still raining pretty heavily so they didn't have the cool picture taking photopass with the Hoop de doo sign going. I was sad about that. We had to wait for the show going on inside to finish so we could be let in so we all huddled under porches. We were under Trail's End's porch. It looked like a nice restaurant. Hope to try it next time.

Forgot to mention that we changed into our new Polynesian Village shirts.

We were let in, and directed to our table. We were on the dining plan so for the first two shows you can only get Category 2 or 3 with your credits. I thought we were going to be up in the balcony but we were actually on the floor on the far right side under the balconies a little bit. It worked out for Nathan since there was nobody around us.

The Hoop de doo was soo much fun. I'm upset we waited so long to do it.

The show was well paced and hilarious, and it left you with plenty of time to eat comfortably. At the beginning of the show the performers go around the room and ask tables what state they are from and they have a little rhyme for each state. We got picked and none of us can remember the exact rhyme about Texas but it had something to do with keeping our boots off the table.

DH's and Nathan's favorite part was the washboard

Nathan had really good rhythm. We had no idea he liked the washboard.

The food was excellent. All you care to eat ribs, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, beans, cornbread, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Also included with your ticket is all you care to drink soft drinks, beer, wine and sangria. We left completely stuffed. Nathan is a picky eater and he really loved everything but the ribs.

After the show was over, the rain had stopped. We walked to the boat dock, and the dock was completely full of people. Apparently the monorail line had been struck by lightning so it wasn't up yet and there was a backlog of people trying to get everywhere and the boat system was overwhelmed. I want to say we waited a good half an hour to get on a boat back to Magic Kingdom

It was completely dark by the time we got back to the hotel.

Next, my last drink of my 20s :-(

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

Wanted to post some pretty pictures DH took on our boat ride home. I forgot to mention when we got to Magic Kingdom we had to take the boat back to the Polynesian because the monorail was still down. At least the water was calm

Front row view of Electrical Water Pageant!

After we got back to our rooms, DH and I decided to check out Trader Sam's. The wait was about an hour so we went to the Terrace. I wanted to try the Spikey Pineapple drink which is a Dole Whip blended with rum and it's only available on the terrace.

OMG it was so good. It's not strong at all and very smooth. I love rum drinks and this was excellent. We also watched Wishes from the terrace. A perfect send off to my 20s.

Next, the most important day of the year, MY BIRTHDAY!!