Trip Report COMPLETED! Live! Our We've Been Married for 20 Years and Now are With the Band TR! 12/13/19-12/18/19

Hi Everyone!!

We leave on Friday for our trip and I wanted to do a somewhat live report. I am hoping that I can at least give you all some highlights of our day each evening, then a more focused report when we get home.

Let's get most of the general stuff out of the way:

When: December 13-18
Where: All Star Music
Who: Hubby, Rich
Myself, Heather
DD, 16, Savannah
Bestie, Megan
Bestie's Bestie, Trish

This is me, not the best picture but check out the adorable ears I made for our trip. Love them!!

A little on how this trip came to be. My daughter's band/choir is singing/marching in Disney and we just could not dream of not being there to see it! Savannah is part of the choir whom will be singing during the Candlelight Procession on December 14th with Narrator Gary Sinise. (Do you think I would get kicked out if I jumped up and yelled "Lieutenant Dan! You've got magic legs!"???) The band will be marching on Main Street to open the parade on Monday also.

Hubby and I were originally going with the school but kind of got kicked out. Honestly, I am so much more excited to be going ourselves! I did do a "pre-trip" report that explains all the hooplah on how this trip came to be if you would like to check it out. Also, I have my entire itinerary posted there so you can see if my plans changed at all or if I followed them to a T!

Pre-Trip - "We were suppose to be with the band but now are by ourselves" Pre-Trip Report

Hello everyone!✌ Welcome to my "pre" trip report. Let me introduce myself first.... My name is Heather. I live in a very small town in Pennsylvania about an hour outside of Philly. I am a married, 42 yr old mother of 2 girls! 15 & 20! (I almost made it through the teen years) My husband and I...

forums.wdwmagic.com

For those of you that have read my pre-trip and followed me on over here, welcome and thanks for following along!

Unless I have something MAJOR to tell you, I may not post again until Friday morning when we are getting off to our home away from home!

See ya then!!!​

 

[heatherhy01]

12/15/19 cont’d

I haven’t really mentioned much about the hotel and I really didn’t wander around until tonite. We are in the Rock Inn section.

This section is nice but it is pretty far from the restaurant and front desk. This is the first time that we had not stayed preferred and I never gave it any kind of thought at how big these resorts actually are! Hubby did mention that he would pay the extra next time.

I really liked the Broadway section. It was really cool!

This is the country fair and I loved the boots! I love the country!

We made a few purchases so far too! We got mugs for our daughter’s boyfriend and hubby

Continued in the next post

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

So much fun - thanks for sharing your adventures!

 

[heatherhy01]

12/15/19 cont’d

Hubby got this cool Mandalorian pin

I got myself a new pair of ears which I can see is quickly becoming an obsession! These are the 2020 ears

I have never had a Pandora bracelet but have ALWAYS wanted one. Hubby decided that this would be my Christmas gift and I got to choose what I wanted. I knew exactly which charm I wanted before we even got to the store

I am a little obsessed with anything Walt & Mickey.

Well, I am all caught up! Hubby is currently snoring and I am watching Christmas Vacation on TV. Getting ready to settle in, we have a very early day tomorrow. Have a great night everyone and I will post more tomorrow!

 

[heatherhy01]

Good morning!!

it is about 6:30 and hubby is not happy because I made him get up early today. We are headed to Animal Kingdom for early magic hours at 8 and hoping to get on FOP this morning! Wish us luck!

I am not sure how much we will get to today. My knee is bothering me and I think I have a cold Scratchy throat and stuffy nose. I am going to try to muddle through. The knee is what I worry about!

Catch up later!

 

[Darstarr]

Good morning!!

it is about 6:30 and hubby is not happy because I made him get up early today. We are headed to Animal Kingdom for early magic hours at 8 and hoping to get on FOP this morning! Wish us luck!
View attachment 434122
I am not sure how much we will get to today. My knee is bothering me and I think I have a cold Scratchy throat and stuffy nose. I am going to try to muddle through. The knee is what I worry about!

Catch up later!

Good luck! Have fun!
For the cold...a strong drink. Seriously!!! And make sure you eat.

 

[heatherhy01]

Good luck! Have fun!
For the cold...a strong drink. Seriously!!! And make sure you eat.

Thanks! Funny you should say eat! When I went to look at the app before we left, I realized that I made a ressie for Be Our Guest this morning, sooo, guess where we are? Heading to MK instead!

 

[heatherhy01]

12/16/19 Cont’d

BOG was really nice! I can see why it would be a hot ticket ressie for any meal, especially breakfast or lunch since it is only a quick service credit and the food magically gets brought to you. The atmosphere is amazing! I made hubby sit in the ‘dark room’ as he calls it. He was complaining that it was so dark, he couldn’t see what he was eating. I thoroughly enjoyed it though! I got the Peach Bellini and the poached egg, bacon, tomato and cheese on a croissant. Sorry, I cannot remember the name!

We left and walked over to ride Pooh and visit the hundred acre woods. The below photos are all we got, the ride broke down as we were next to get on and we were asked to exit.

We wandered through the shops on Main St, exited and caught a bus for AK.

Our first FP was for 11:30 Dinosaur. I adore this ride!

We wandered through some shops, purchases some drinks and Mickey pretzels and sat to relax for a bit. Our next FP wasn’t until 12:35 for Everest! I had never been and am not a huge fan of roller coasters but hubby is so I sucked it up for him. Honestly, it was not that bad and I will definitely be doing it again!

cont’d in next post

 

[heatherhy01]

12/16/19 Cont’d

(After looking over my photos, I just noticed the man in the top right!!! Not very Disney like Mister)
We had one more FP but not until 2:40, so we decided to standby the safari. You can’t come to AK and not ride the safari! Wait time is 70 minutes but we are moving along quickly as I type this. On the way over, we got our first ice cream of the trip!

I will check in later! Hope you are all having a magical day!

 

[heatherhy01]

12/16/19 Cont’d
The wait for KS moved fairly quickly. It felt like we were on in no time.

After the safari, our last FP was for FOP and my oh my! It was uh-mazing!

The ride was fantastic but the world itself looks superb. We plan on getting back there today to see it after dark.
After FOP, we had to hoof it because we had a 4:20 ressie for Tepan at Epcot. We were literally super fast walking to get there and made it right at 4:20. This may have been my favorite meal so far!

Cont’d in next post

 

[heatherhy01]

12/16/19 Cont’d

After dinner, we met Savannah at MK to see Happily Ever After. We found a spot in front of the castle and just hung out. I was super thirsty at this point due to the cold and a dry throat, I mobile ordered from the Lunching Pad...and waited....and waited....and waited. I finally went to the regular window and apparently the iPad was down and they didn’t realize they even had an order. I was super nice about it because these things happen and they were super busy! I have to say that this was the first time that I experienced any issue with mobile ordering and actually prefer it!

This show brought tears to my eyes! I loved it that much! Afterwards, we grabbed a spin on COP, this is another favorite of mine and hubbies. I am not sure if Savannah was a fan?She was tired and ready to go back!

We stopped and got Savannah some food in Tomorrowland and called it a night!

We needed sleep because we opened and closed the park! That was not my intention but we did it. On the way back, hubby kept complaining about a rash on his legs...he got the Disney Rash!!

 

[heatherhy01]

12/17/19 Our last full day

I am solo today!! Hubby and Savannah have had enough and needed some rest. They are relaxing by the pool while I am exploring MK alone! We will meet up in AK at 3:00 for our late lunch ressie at Yak & Yeti. Wish me luck!

 

[heatherhy01]

12/17/19 Cont’d

I walked over to sports to get Savannah at 8:15 am, brought her back and was on my way! I stopped into the quick service restaurant to grab a cupcake and a powerade. I got the hot cocoa cupcake and I need to tell you, it was divine!

I hopped on the bus to MK and I was quickly on my way. I have always dreamed of doing Disney solo and I was ecstatic to finally get my chance. My first stop was to get a quick pic of the train. This was the perfect opportunity since it was not running. I then grabbed my first FP for Peter Pan’s Flight. I completely understand now why this is such a popular ride. I have not been on in so many years. It is adorable and interactive.

Up next was another favorite of mine. Small World, I couldn’t believe that I waited until my last day to ride this when usually, it is the first ride of the trip!

I was able to get a FP for Pooh, I was crossing my fingers. This would be my third time trying to get on and each time it broke down.

It was a successful ride! I don’t understand why this ride is not more popular, it is really cute!
Continued on next post

 

[heatherhy01]

12/17/19 Cont’d

My next FP was for The Little Mermaid. This one was cute too if your your an Ariel fan!

I was getting a bit hungry and it was around 11:15, time for lunch! I stopped at Columbia Harbour House and got a tuna sandwich with house made chips. It was delicious! This is my favorite QS in MK!

My next FP was for Pirates. I had never gotten wet on this ride before but today was a different story! My whole butt was soaked!

This was around the time that I was playing with the app trying to figure out what I could ride next. I was able to snag a 7 dwarves FP for 12:I5, and I was super excited! But first, I had some country bears to visit!

My maiden name is Harper, so I always have to get a pic of my mill
After the mine train, I had time for one more ride before meeting hubby and Savannah at AK. Can you guess which one:
Continued in next post

 

[heatherhy01]

12/17/19 continued

The people mover! This is the most relaxing ride in all of the world!

My solo time had come to a close, I had so much fun and felt like I accomplished a lot on my own. It was nice to just be and explore not caring what anyone wanted to do. I will definitely have to do this again!

It was time to meet the fam at AK. We had a ressie for Yak & Yeti at 3:00 for a late lunch. I had never been there before but we all really enjoyed it! I got the garlic noodles, they were good but REALLY garlicy! Savannah and I shared the fried wontons for dessert, these were really good too! I felt that they had a sophisticated taste.

We were able to get a FP for the safari after dinner. It was the only thing Savannah wanted to do.

We walked around for a bit and shopped. I wanted to get back to Pandora to see it after dark but was so exhausted and my cold really ramped up today. I was so stuffy that I could barely breathe so we called it a night. We still had to pack and our ME was set for 3:05 am So we wondered out of the park but not before I bought another set of ears!

I am currently on the plane and it is 6:08 am on Wednesday morning as I type this. I feel like crap and just want my dogs and my bed!! I will update with my final thoughts later. Have a great day!

 

[Darstarr]

12/17/19 continued

View attachment 434661
The people mover! This is the most relaxing ride in all of the world!

My solo time had come to a close, I had so much fun and felt like I accomplished a lot on my own. It was nice to just be and explore not caring what anyone wanted to do. I will definitely have to do this again!
View attachment 434662
It was time to meet the fam at AK. We had a ressie for Yak & Yeti at 3:00 for a late lunch. I had never been there before but we all really enjoyed it! I got the garlic noodles, they were good but REALLY garlicy! Savannah and I shared the fried wontons for dessert, these were really good too! I felt that they had a sophisticated taste.
View attachment 434663View attachment 434664View attachment 434665
We were able to get a FP for the safari after dinner. It was the only thing Savannah wanted to do.
View attachment 434666View attachment 434667View attachment 434668
We walked around for a bit and shopped. I wanted to get back to Pandora to see it after dark but was so exhausted and my cold really ramped up today. I was so stuffy that I could barely breathe so we called it a night. We still had to pack and our ME was set for 3:05 am So we wondered out of the park but not before I bought another set of ears!
View attachment 434669
I am currently on the plane and it is 6:08 am on Wednesday morning as I type this. I feel like crap and just want my dogs and my bed!! I will update with my final thoughts later. Have a great day!

Get home safe!!! And feel better!!!

 

[heatherhy01]

Final Thoughts:

I had so much fun this trip! I loved the fact that hubby and I would just wonder and not feel rushed to get to everything. The only thing missing was our oldest daughter. Soooo......We did a bounce back and booked for next year for the four of us! December 19-23, 2020. This will be a graduation celebration for the girls. Alex graduates college with her Bachelors and Savannah will be graduating high school.

The weather was wonderful. We came from PA where the temp had been in the 30's and loved being able to bask in the Florida weather in the 80's. We did have rain the first and last day of our trip but every day in between was wonderful!

I love the All Stars and think they are wonderful for families, but, next time I would definitely pay the extra for a preferred room! The resort is just so spread out that it could easily take you 8 minutes to get from your room to the bus stop! Hence the reason why we booked for POP next year in a pool view room, not right next to all the action but just enough closer to where it will be more comfortable. I also like the idea of the skyliner and not just the busses. The bus is great but at the end of the night, it is very tiring having to stand and load on with everyone else whom is exhausted. It will be nice to have another option to get around.

For the most part, we came across some really nice CM's that were very friendly. I did notice more of them having private convo's and on their phone while walking through the park. There were a few times that I did notice garbage cans full or dirty areas that I was kind of surprised about. None of these things bothered us enough to ruin our vacation but I understand why some say that it is not as magical as it use to be. That I do understand just from my experience. It was not as pristine as I remembered it. The parks were crowded but not unbearable. I have seen them worse before.

That's all folks! Thanks for tagging along
Heather

 

[SandiSmiles]

Just wanted to say I really enjoyed your trip report! How wonderful for your daughter to be in the candlelight processional and for you to be able to see her perform! And I really liked your safari pics, especially the close up of the giraffe!

 

[heatherhy01]

Just wanted to say I really enjoyed your trip report! How wonderful for your daughter to be in the candlelight processional and for you to be able to see her perform! And I really liked your safari pics, especially the close up of the giraffe!

Thank you! I really wanted to do a "live" report because those are my favorites to read! The giraffes were so close and we got to see the babies too!

 

[SharonD]

Enjoyed your report! You really made the most of your slo outing. HaHa ... edit ... Your “solo” outing was anything but slo ...

 

[heatherhy01]

Enjoyed your report! You really made the most of your slo outing.

Thanks! I loved it and cannot wait to do it again!