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]

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!

Thanks for reading along! My husband got the socks at the Vans store when they came out with the Disney collection. It will be interesting if we were in the same park at the same time.

I am patiently waiting for an update.

Thank you so much for your patience. We are now over halfway through the report. Yay!

 

[worldfanatic]

Love that close-up boat-view of the H2O parade!

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

I'm so sorry guys! I just completely abandoned this report. Life has been nuts but now I'm ready to continue!

June 26, MY BIRTHDAY! Otherwise known as the most important day of the year. And since it was my 30th birthday I had big plans. First though I just told DH I didn't want to be the one to run to Captain Cook's for breakfast today. When I woke up I had Tonga Toast waiting for me! He does love me.

For those who don't know the Tonga Toast at Captain Cook's doesn't come with the strawberry compote that Kona Cafe has. Still super good though.

Oh and I forgot to mention DH and my mom decorated my room with Frozen birthday banners and hanging things. I loved it! He bought suction cups for the windows so there was no damage to the room.

Then I got to open my present!

And I didn't take a close up picture of it, d'oh! It was a super pretty bracelet, with 5 Minnie Mouse rice krispie treats (one for everyone) and sparkling cider. He told me after he didn't get real alcohol because of my brothers, boo.

After this it was time to go to my favorite park, Magic Kingdom!! We had had issues with the monorail being down in the morning so we just elected to take the boat to MK.

Us taking selfies on the dock

And on the boat...

It was super hot already, can you tell???

The first time we went to MK this trip we completely missed the welcome show. Something which upset me a great deal. So when we arrived this time it was barely starting and DH and I tried to get a good position. And....we lost my mom and brothers. I told them I wanted to try to rope drop Peter Pan so we were hoping that they'd head that way since they weren't answering their phones. Grr

Since we were in the middle of the open area there was such a huge crowd trying to get into the park so we decided to wait and take some Photopass pictures while the crowd dispersed.

Next we started walking up main street and saw another photopass photographer and I wanted a picture in front of the castle for my birthday.

Yay! DH agreed to a kissing picture.

Next, morning rides and Be Our Guest lunch.

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

Next after we were done wasting time we found my mom and brothers waiting by Peter Pan. And the wait was already 40 minutes long. As much as I love Peter Pan I decided no to that.

I remember asking Nathan if he wanted to ride Haunted Mansion or Dumbo next and he said DUMBO. So we walked that way and there was no wait.

DH and I continued our Disney tradition of Dumbo selfies

I remember here a very nice CM complemented my Frozen dress and where did I get it. (Hot Topic)

DH and I in the pink Dumbo of course, and Matthew behind us. My mom claimed her Dumbo didn't work so Nathan and her couldn't go high...ok...

Next it looks like we rode Space Mountain since we had a Fastpass. And...I can't find the pictures. It was very fun as usual. We rode Peoplemover after this since it's now a family favorite of everyones.

While on the Peoplemover we spotted Buzz Lightyear. Nathan and Matthew were tiny when Toy Story came out and are both big fans. We sort of had to talk Matthew into meeting him, I think he was shy but once we told him he could sign his book he was down.

Matthew wanted to meet him first and had a great interaction

My mom said she didn't want to be in the picture, and Nathan couldn't be bothered to put his drink down. lol.

Looks like after this we used our Seven Dwarfs Fastpass

Matthew wasn't as disappointed this time since he wasn't expecting a super fast ride. My mom said the back is way too rough. DH and I enjoyed it.

Next it was lunch time and I had a reservation for Be Our Guest. I had preordered all our food just like I had done in November. But unlike November, which was super easy, we practically walked in to the restaurant, we had to wait a bit. I think the hold up was that I had preordered all the food on my Disney Experience account but to pay we had to use two separate dining plans. But it was just a few extra minutes for them to straighten that out.

Also because we required a slightly larger table for five people we couldn't find a table anywhere except the music box room. Which was fine, since now DH and I have eaten in all 3 rooms, but I wanted my brothers and mom to see the other rooms.

DH and I were boring and got the same things we got in November. A tuna salad for him and a roast beef sandwich for me. Matthew also got the same sandwich and I didn't tell him it had horseradish in it because he never tries anything new until he finished the entire sandwich. He seemed annoyed with me but then he said he liked the sandwich anyway.

I wanted to see here if we could try to get in line for Gaston but everyone told me that they didn't want to try. I'm very sad about this but I made DH swear next trip we were going to meet him. I do understand though, I can't imagine waiting in that line with Nathan in the heat. It would have been bad.

Next it was time for Splash Mountain Fastpasses, so we walked across the park.

I always want to sit in the front, and this time Matthew wanted to join me

So I don't know what happened here, if the weight distribution was just so, but I have never gotten so drenched on Splash. It felt really good of course, but I could wring out my dress it was so wet. Matthew also loved it.

We walked around the park because my mom wanted to buy me something on my birthday so we went to the shop next to the castle. When I walked in the lady offered to sprinkle me with fairy dust for my birthday. I loved that! After I picked out my Elsa figurine we walked outside and I spotted another Photopass photographer. My mom wanted my brothers in the picture but they both said no. No problem, DH will take a picture with me

Next, FoF, meeting talking Mickey for my birthday!!

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

After this the twins and my mom were done and left. I have no idea what DH and I did after this, looking at the photos we did Mickey's Philharmagic, one of our favorites

I don't know what we did after this but I know we got some frozen lemonade and a drink and found a spot for Festival of Fantasy. I know we waited quite some time, maybe 45 minutes? I know we thought we were super smart by sitting on the porch at Country Bear Jamboree, but right before the parade kicked off they made us stand and we were standing directly in the sun for that.

And apparently DH didn't take any pictures of it?! I can't find any! Oh well, I remember Captain Hook made fun of my dress by gesturing like he had a dress on then throwing his hand in disgust towards me. Hilarious! And I think Minnie pointed at me like she loved my ears. It was awesome.

Next I had heard that talking Mickey in town square would sing you happy birthday so I insisted on us doing that. There was no wait since we managed to beat the parade back to Main Street, we practically walked in to meet him.

So talking Mickey was awesome but he didn't sing me happy birthday. I'm not sure how the technology works but Mickey seemed to have started his spiel when the handler said it was my birthday. Instead Mickey played a magic trick with us and it was super cute. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone but we laughed really hard for that one.

After the interaction Mickey did wish me a happy birthday. so it was worth it.

I really have no idea if we left the park here or if we lingered, but I think we left back to the hotel. Did we take a nap today?? I have no idea. lol.

We had dinner at Ohana to get to at 7, and I had to change my outfit.

DH got me a Lapu Lapu! My first one ever and definitely won't be my last. Those are sooo good. Happy Birthday to me!

Another picture of this deliciousness

Next, Ohana feast and best birthday cake ever!

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

We got a really awesome window table at Ohana, it was amazing, I was so happy!

I picked Ohana as my birthday dinner because I loved it last time we ate there, and because I knew it would have lots of great options for the boys and my mom to eat. Nathan loved all the chicken, wings, salad and bread. Matthew loved the wings and skewered meat and my mom loved the shrimp, salad and veggies. Everyone left absolutely stuffed!

Now for dessert. I knew DH had wanted to order me a cake and I knew he was up to something so I wasn't totally surprised but I had no idea how beautiful my cake would be.

Complete with hidden Mickey!

It was a white cake with strawberry filling and was the best cake of my life! I was so sad they made me cut it! DH and my mom refused to cut it. Sadness

Then DH said I had to eat the white chocolate Ariel, and it was made me very sad, but she was very delicious.

We paid the bill and took one last picture outside

Next, Wishes boat cruise!!

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

After we ate we walked down to the dock because we had booked a Wishes fireworks cruise! DH had called and booked this some months before and had paid extra for some Happy Birthday decor.

Yolanda was our skipper and she was great. She took us to Bay Lake first and she had extensive knowledge of Disney history. We went to Ft. Wilderness and then saw the remnants of River Country, then we saw the Electrical Water Pageant at Wilderness Lodge and then we came back and found a spot for Wishes.

I really don't think I could watch Wishes anywhere else! The music was playing on the boat, there was a nice cool breeze coming off the water and it was just perfect! Turning 30 isn't so bad when its like this.

After Wishes she took us around Seven Seas Lagoon and showed us the Grand Floridian before dropping us off at home.

I wanted some more picture before going back to our room.

I had originally intended to go back to MK for the night but my feet were starting to hurt. It felt like I was going to get some blisters but I wasn't sure. So we just decided to go to bed.

Next, Epcot day!

 

[Figgy1]

After we ate we walked down to the dock because we had booked a Wishes fireworks cruise! DH had called and booked this some months before and had paid extra for some Happy Birthday decor.

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Yolanda was our skipper and she was great. She took us to Bay Lake first and she had extensive knowledge of Disney history. We went to Ft. Wilderness and then saw the remnants of River Country, then we saw the Electrical Water Pageant at Wilderness Lodge and then we came back and found a spot for Wishes.
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I really don't think I could watch Wishes anywhere else! The music was playing on the boat, there was a nice cool breeze coming off the water and it was just perfect! Turning 30 isn't so bad when its like this.

After Wishes she took us around Seven Seas Lagoon and showed us the Grand Floridian before dropping us off at home.

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I wanted some more picture before going back to our room.

I had originally intended to go back to MK for the night but my feet were starting to hurt. It felt like I was going to get some blisters but I wasn't sure. So we just decided to go to bed.

Next, Epcot day!

I'm glad you're finding time to finish this up! THNX

 

[sheriffwoody]

Awesome updates! That sounds like a perfect 30th birthday I hope you enjoyed every minute of it!

 

[bee]

Glad you're back with the TR! That cake looks AMAZING! I've never really thought I would want a custom cake at WDW but this might change my mind.

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

June 27th Epcot day 2!!

We woke up kinda late after the big day the day before. We were exhausted! We had Fastpasses for Test Track that ended at 1010 so we were rushing to get there in time.

I think this time Matthew said he didn't want to walk to the TTC to get on the Epcot monorail. Instead we went all the way around the resort loop and transferred. My feet were still hurting, and I felt like I was getting hot spots so it didn't bother me. I was putting moleskin and bandaids on those spots but they didn't help

First lets take a picture!

I see Spaceship Earth!

We hustled to Test Track from here and we were so late we were within the 15 minute grace period for our Fastpass so we barely made it .

I think this is our car. It's purple, so it's probably mine. Isn't it beautiful??

After Test Track and everything it was already 11 and Nathan was starving. I think I mentioned the problems we were having with him eating breakfast, and today was another day like that and he was ready to eat. DH wanted School Bread so we walked to Norway to get eat Kringla.

Smorgasbord! I got the salmon sandwich and school bread and DH got the roast beef and school bread. I think Nathan got the Olaf thing. I don't remember what it was but he ate it and said it was good. lol. Kringla was a big hit for my brothers.

After we ate DH had to meet his bestie in Mexico so we walked down there and got in line.

Reunited!!

As you can tell, Donald did not appreciate Matthew's Chip and Dale attire. Matthew thought it was hilarious.

Next we visit Mickey and Minnie and walk around World Showcase

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

June 27th, continued...

We then had Fastpasses for Character Spot, so we walked over there. I love the Fastpass line here because you can't see the regular line, but you can hear them. Scary!

First we met Mickey

Then Goofy! Who gives the best hugs, btw

Then, my favorite of the fab 5, Minnie!

I think here Minnie spotted my birthday button. We decide to celebrate.

She was such a cute Minnie, and when she signed Matthew's autograph book she looked at the front to see his name, so she signed For Matthew, Love Minnie. Adorable! Nathan was done with the character pictures at this point. lol

When we walked out Matthew spotted the Chip and Dale meet so we jumped in the line. It really is an awful space for a character meet, the line is directly in the sun. But we did it for Matthew!

Matthew had I think the best meet and greet this trip. Chip and Dale went nuts for him! Pun intended.
They danced and did a group hug

We talked Nathan into a picture, lol.

Matthew was SO happy.

Next we tour World Showcase

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

From there we started in Mexico and visited Donald and friends.

DH bought a glass with Donald on it that said Mexico, it's really cute

There are my favorite animatronics for this ride!

We sadly left the air conditioning of Mexico and walked up. We had already seen Norway thru Germany the previous Epcot day so we went straight to Italy

DH was super jealous of my balloon picture so he was so happy he could do it. I think the Olaf picture is hilarious with the twins and my mom wearing their cooling scarfs. Lol.

We stopped at the American Adventure to get Nathan a treat I knew he'd love, The American Dream

And I was right! It was his favorite.

The sky started looking dark and ominous and Matthew and DH had signed up to do Agent P's adventure in Japan. So my mom, Nathan and I started shopping in Japan while they did that. I didn't want to get rained on.

After Matthew and Paul caught up Matthew spotted the Legend of Zelda area of the store. In the glass cabinet they had a set of Zelda books that was over $100, and weighed 50 pounds. Matthew had to have it and bought it but when the CM asked him if he wanted to ship it back to the resort he said no. He didn't trust it. Oy. So he walked those books all the way back to the front of the park....it was torture watching him, and the Friendship Boats weren't operating due to the storm. So we just quickly walked back to the front of the park.

DH and I stopped for this picture super quickly

We did stop in Club Cool for a while to recharge and let Matthew rest his arms before going to the monorail

One last photopass stop!

Our ride is here!!

When we got back to the TTC, the resort loop was down and there weren't any buses to the Poly. Which would normally be fine but we had someone lugging 50 pounds worth of books. DH and I ended up helping him for a while to get back to the room. When we asked him if it was worth carrying those books through Epcot he said yes. lol.

Next, dinner at 1900 Park Fare

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

June 27th, continued.

We had dinner reservations at 1900 Park Fare and I think we left an hour before our reservation time. We were traumatized after the fiasco it was getting to the Hoop de doo.

A quick monorail ride later and we were there super early. However we had time to browse all the shopping on the second story of the Grand Flo. We first stopped in Basin

OMG Basin, I'm sorry it took me so long to discover you, but now that I have I love you! lol. We had so much fun in that store browsing all the soaps. We ended up buying 3 bars.

Then we went to the big store, I think it's call M. Mercantile? We bought a bunch of random stuff and Nathan spotted a Goofy he could put on his backpack. He loves him

We made our way downstairs to check in and I had to have my Princess moment on the grand staircase

We checked in and took our picture

And decided to wait in the lobby

Matthew had been looking forward to meeting the stepsisters and stepmother. Last year when we came the stepmother was so creepy, it was awesome and we had a perfect Prince Charming. I was hoping we'd see him again, <3

Alas, not my Prince Charming, and not a very good one either, unfortunately.

I think Cinderella was next

She was a much better Cinderella than last years.

Next came the Stepmother. She was ok, but not scary at all. She was more silly, I guess not to scare the children? Very disappointing.

Then came Drizella. I told her Matthew was single and she asked him do you have a castle? And when he said no, she laughed. It was funny, Matthew laughed as well.

And Anastasia,

I really recommend 1900 Park Fare for some good character interaction and a really good buffet. Much better than Chef Mickey's or Crystal Palace. Yummy food.

After dinner we went back to the resort. At this point my hotspots turned into full blown blisters that were killing me, so we stayed in and went to bed early. Tomorrow is animal kingdom day!

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

June 28th! Animal Kingdom day!

I think this was the worst day for me, feet wise. Those 2 blisters were enormous and both on my right foot. There was no way I could walk without searing pain in my feet. It felt like I had rocks inside my foot when I walked. I'm prone to blisters and I was doing so well this trip, I thought I was home free. :-(

We took a nice long bus ride to Animal Kingdom, and it was stuffed after we stopped at the Grand Floridian.

The first thing we did was go to Kilimanjaro Safaris for our first Fastpass. This walk was excruciating for me, I was in so much pain. Nathan was the only person willing to walk with me and not go ahead.

One thing I did not like this ride is how they loaded us in the safari vehicle. They put all 5 of us in one row. Now we aren't the smallest people and it was the most uncomfortable safari ride ever. I couldn't sit back comfortably, I had to lean forward the entire ride. Is this the new normal? I've never seen this before. I'm not sure how DH took pictures like that, but I found one I liked a lot.

After our very uncomfortable safari ride we walked to Everest for our next Fastpass. Well, everyone else walked, I hobbled.

Whee

Yay! Nathan looks sincerely happy this time!

After our wonderful ride, we walked to Finding Nemo the Musical. This photopass stop was on the way,

Nathan was not into pictures today.

We got into Nemo pretty early and we all enjoyed sitting in the air conditioned darkness of that wonderful theater.

It was my mom's and brother's first time seeing the show and they loved it.

We had a really good seat, we got pelted with bubbles. Yay!

After this it was lunch time and since Flame Tree was still closed we decided to try Restaurantosaurus. OMG this place was PACKED. DH went to go find a table and he couldn't find anything inside, we had to sit outside on the patio. The wait for the food and trying to get to the condiment bar was awful. By far our worst meal in any of the parks. The food wasn't horrible but it wasn't great either. We were full, so I guess that's good.

Then we walked over to meet Nathan's former favorite Disney princess before Belle swooped in and stole his heart.
We were early so someone decided to sit and rest

Then it was time!! Nathan was so nervous and shy with her. He wouldn't even turn on his own, DH had to help him get into position.

Hilarious!

That was a very cute meet and greet. Nathan seemed to really love her, but we'd ask him who was his favorite now and he'd still say Belle. Oh dear

Next, we say bye this trip to AK and DH decides that he wants to collect all the Starbucks mugs now...

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

June 28th, continued.

DH decided after that that he wanted to collect all the Starbucks mugs. So we walked (I hobbled) across Discovery Island to get to the Starbucks. Nathan loves Starbucks so he started walking happily towards it.

I think we stopped at a kiosk and I put this on him on the way, he thought it was hilarious.

Yay! Coffee!!
I had to take this picture, it wasn't easy. It's in a very busy area of AK and nobody was stopping just so we could take the picture quickly, jerks.

We walked back after our caffeine and when we got to the bus stop DH wanted to go to Hollywood Studios to get the mug from there. My mom and brothers took the bus back to the Polynesian and we took a bus to DHS. We had to wait 2 full bus loads of people before we could finally get on, I have no idea why everyone was going to DHS from AK.

When we arrived DH said he would run in to get the mug and I could wait for him at the Polynesian bus stop so I didn't have to walk in. At first I was against it, but by the time I hobbled across the huge expanse that is the bus stops at DHS (of course Poly was as far away as possible from the stop we got dropped off at) and sat and waited, he was back in I want to say 5 minutes. Mug in hand and he was very happy. We made some friends at the Poly bus stop and recommended the Lapu Lapu to them (you're welcome, new friends!) then we went home
Oh I took this picture at this bus stop

After our afternoon break, we had reservations at Boma that night. I wanted to take a bus to AK so that it would be closer but none were coming so we just took the first bus that came which was to DHS. At DHS we transferred to Animal Kingdom Lodge which has a bus stop right in the middle of the expanse. No fair. I think I really wanna stay at AKL soon.

We got to Boma and checked in and of course it was crazy packed. And we have no pictures of the dinner! Dang it. It was fun and Matthew and Nathan loved all the options. It was a good pick for everyone

Someone took a picture of their dessert plate. Zebra domes became a family favorite

After dinner we went out to the savannah but it was dark already and none of the pictures came out. It was really fun though there were hardly any people out there. Then we shopped at the AKL gift shop which I think is one of the better resort gift shops, lots of unique merchandise. We bought some pins I think. Oh and the pins this trip? Insane! Wait until I show you guys how many we bought, we officially have a problem.

We took a bus to Magic Kingdom and transferred to the boat back to the Poly. And I think I totally crashed out this day. My feet hurt so much I was wondering how I was going to make it the next couple.

Oh and we woke up to this the next day. WHY?!!!

Next day, our last Magic Kingdom day. Sobs!

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

June 29th, our last full day.

This trip was very long, but it seemed to be flying by, and I wasn't ready to go home at all.

When we were walking towards the monorail in the morning Matthew spotted Ohana and was sad we weren't eating there again. We told him to hug the sign and we'd take a picture

He's silly

Our ride!

According to my notes, we rode Peter Pan because we had a Fastpass, but I have no memory of that at all! I do remember we stopped for these pictures

I don't remember if this was before or after, but I talked about Talking Mickey so much everyone wanted to meet him. We actually had to wait like 20 minutes this time for him, so I wouldn't go in the morning if possible.

Lol, Nathan is funny

This time Mickey spotted Matthew and my ears, and he said we were his cousins! It was a cute spiel but I liked the magic trick much better.

After this it started to rain and I had the idea that the boys would love Enchanted Tales with Belle so we walked that way. DH and I are evil and we decided we'd love to volunteer Matthew for a part. We didn't warn him because we are awful but when they asked for a suit of armor DH and I both pointed at Matthew, and he was picked! He seemed nervous but I told him it wasn't hard or scary, he would just stand and guard Belle. He seemed to relax a little when I told him that. We didn't volunteer Nathan because that would be disaster! lol.

Matthew took his part very seriously but loved it! DH seemed jealous, I think he's going to want to volunteer next time. Seeing this little show with nobody you know in the show, and now seeing it with Matthew in it, it's definitely better with someone you know in it. I highly recommend volunteering some unsuspecting family member.

Next, it's pouring, lunch drama and we go to a DVC open house!

 

[Figgy1]

I'm so sorry to hear about the blisters.

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

It was still raining when we finished with Belle so we donned our ponchos and walked to the Haunted Mansion. It was raining really badly by the time we got there but the queue was mostly covered. Had a great time on the ride, Matthew said how much he liked the hitchhiking ghosts with the more interactive portraits better than Disneyland.

I think the clouds suit the Haunted Mansion very much.

Next we had a Fastpass to meet Anna and Elsa so we walked back to Fantasyland. The boys had never met them, and I think Matthew was super excited to get their autographs.

Anna said Matthew reminded her of Kristoff. He liked that very much.

Next was Elsa.

Elsa first invited us to her ball that evening to which I asked if there would be chocolate there. She said yes Then I asked for a picture alone with her and she posed us like this, it was awesome!

I forgot to mention that today my blisters were still gigantic, but I was able to walk better and I wasn't in so much pain. I would take the discomfort I felt this day over the Animal Kingdom day any time.

After this is when it was time to eat, Nathan was starving and getting grumpy. We went to Cosmic Ray's because it was close and we knew they'd have something Nathan liked. Because of the rain when we walked in, it was chaos, people everywhere. DH took off to find a table while we waited in line. A couple minutes later, DH called me and said he couldn't find a table anywhere, people were standing around waiting to grab an open table and there were people sitting on the railings eating. We knew Nathan couldn't eat like that, he needs to be sitting down so we elected to leave and go to Pecos Bill's instead.

We put our ponchos on and started walking. I was following DH and I could see Matthew was behind me keeping up. When we got to Pecos Bill's DH told me his order and ran to find a table and I turned around and...only Matthew was behind me. I asked him where's mom and Nathan?! And he said I don't know, I was following you. O_O

I ran outside to see if I could see them and it was just a sea of people in clear ponchos. I grabbed my phone and I didn't have any missed calls, so I called her. She answered me and I said where are you? That's when she decided to lose it at me. She was yelling about how Nathan was so angry we left that other place and he kicked a trash can and we just left her and didn't even turn around. I cut her off at this point and said where are you now I will go get you, and she said no we left! we are at the monorail station and are going back to the hotel to eat. So that was the end of that conversation.

Matthew seemed upset with the drama and I told him, it's fine, we are going to eat and have a good time. After eating we decided Matthew needed to see Country Bear Jamboree.

I think he liked it a lot. We then went to the Tiki Room and the CM complemented him on his Disneyland shirt. That cheered him up.

Pirates of the Caribbean is one of Matthew's favorite rides and it was closed during this time. I don't think he believed us so we took him to see that it was closed. We went into the pirates shop and bought him a shirt for being a good sport about everything. At this point we had to head back because DH and I had a DVC open house to get to a the Poly!

Next, do we buy DVC?? And dinner at Chef Mickeys

 

[SeaweedCupcake]

Sooo, we bought DVC!

It was incredibly expensive and I'm still not sure if buying it now was the best move for us. We love the Poly and we are going to both Disneyland and Disney World once a year each so we bought enough points that that was possible. It did take quite a long time and we had to run back to the room to get ready for dinner at Chef Mickey's

It was an insane meal at Chef Mickey's. Donald and Goofy were nuts, they were fighting and taking DH's hat and it was just hilarious. They even stopped a CM and stole the ice cream he was carrying. Chaos!

We did meet Mickey too, we said his food was delicious was he cooking all day, and he gestured that he was. Very cute.

After dinner we took the monorail and dropped off the family and went back to Magic Kingdom for the evening. I wanted to meet mermaid Ariel so that was the first place we went

She was great! I always tell Ariel she is my favorite princess.

We rode Ariel's Undersea Journey or whatever it's called after this. I can never keep them straight between the two different names at Disneyland and here.

Then we did Space Mountain because it was a short wait.

And we stopped for a Photopass picture

I'm not sure what else we did, we just wandered and enjoyed being there at MK. As much fun as it was seeing my brothers experience everything for the first time, I needed some alone time with DH to just enjoy.

Next, last day! :-(