Trip Report *COMPLETED* Seriously...How is our Luggage Still Not HERE?! An August Trip Report

Hi everyone!

We have been back to reality for a little over a week now and while I still have yet to download all the photos we took during our recent trip to the World, I wanted to get started on detailing what was really an amazing trip.

Now, I must preface this report by saying that while the title of the report does play into our trip, which I will explain throughout, the trip really played out practically perfect in almost every way.

Ok, here we go...Our trip took place between August 3 through the 13th. Here is the cast from our last trip to Disneyland last August during the 60th Anniversary.

From left to right on your screen: Kelly, Lennon, Ella and me (Matt).

Originally we had booked the trip from the 4-13th in a studio at the Polynesian Villas. Upon booking, maybe a month or two later, we decided to add another day onto the trip and booked our first night at All Star Movies resort before moving the the Poly for the remainder of the trip the day after arriving.

I had detailed the our plan in this pre-trip report should you want to see the itinerary we had set out months in advance of the actual trip.

So let's jump in!

August 3 - Travel Day

After months of build up and anticipation the day had finally arrived. We live way up north in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada so making the trek down to Orlando is not always the easiest and definitely not the quickest so whenever we come the WDW we always make sure to stay long enough to really justify the long travel day.

Kelly and I were up around 4 am (MDT) to get ready, pack the vehicle and get the kids up and on the road by 530 to head out to the airport which is about a 45 minute drive from our house. Thankfully the kids were more than happy to get up early knowing they were heading to Disney World and after eating a small snack in the car we arrived well in advance of our 830 am flight from Edmonton to Houston.

Here we are killing some time in the airport waiting to board our first leg.

After small breakfast and some time spent calling the grand parents to say goodbye we were boarding our flight to head down to Houston. We ended up flying United as the options to get to Orlando from Edmonton are pretty limited. United has never been our air carrier of choice but in the spirit of giving credit where it is due this was the first time we took a trip using United that absolutely nothing went wrong and the service was great.

Lennon seemed pretty happy up in the air even if she was up early. We had no doubt that Ella was going to be very well behaved throughout the entire trip but Lenny is a major wildcard. Her mood changes at the drop of a hat so we didn't know what to expect from her while we were gone. Thankfully we were off to a good start!

After close to a four hour flight we touched down in Houston. We departed the plane to find out we would be getting right back on the same plane to head over to Orlando so that made things much easier plus it made for losing our luggage almost impossible. After about an hour layover and a really, really bad airport sandwich we jumped back on the plane for the second leg of the trip. After a four hour flight to get to Houston, the two hour jaunt to Orlando seemed like a breeze. The flight was pretty smooth and soon enough we were descending into MCO!

We touched down around 6 pm Orlando time and made our way to the airport monorail over tot he main terminal to jump on the Magical Express. We have never taken the Magical Express from the airport to the hotel and I must say it was a very nice treat bypassing the luggage carousel and heading straight to our bus.

After a short 10 minute wait we jumped on our bus and were on our way to All Star Movies!

We ended up sitting behind a young family from the DC area that was heading to Movies to celebrate their daughter's 6th birthday. Ella and the young girl started talking through the chairs and asking each other all sorts of questions during the drive. She was happy to have made a new friend!

After stops at Coronado Springs, All Start Sports and Music we arrived at All Star Movies around 730. We checked in and picked up or Magic Bands before making our way to our room int he Toy Story section. We were in a room on the first floor right outside the courtyard with all the big Toy Story characters. It was actually pretty cool to see these types of displays throughout the grounds. Fun hotel though based on the size of the rooms I am glad we only spent the night before moving into larger accommodations.

After a quick look at the room and some pics in the courtyard we made our way to the food court to grab some dinner. I didn't take any pics of this meal, it wasn't overly exciting, but Kelly enjoyed the homemade macaroni, I had the hot Italian sandwich and the girls, who ate dinner on the bus ride to the hotel shared an ice cream and a bag of cotton candy. They seemed happy with that night cap!

After finishing our meal we decided to walk around the grounds of the hotel and check out some of the other themed areas before killing a little time at the children's playground near the main pool for a little before heading back to our room to pass out.

Our luggage arrived shortly after we returned to the room and after a quick shower we hit the bed to finally get some sleep. No major plans the next day other than switching hotels and we were happy that we didn't have to set an alarm on the first night.

So that was day one, Our very exciting travel day that was thankfully uneventful and really quite smooth. I will have to really get on downloading our pictures to keep this going but will be adding more as the week progresses. Thanks in advance for following along and we look forward to sharing our trip with you!

 

[MinnieM123]

You went on Summit Plummet? I'd be terrified to go down that crazy thing, but give you accolades for your bravery!! (Actually, Tikes Peak is more to my liking, but I think a little too old to be allowed in that area! )

 

[Matt and Kelly]

You went on Summit Plummet? I'd be terrified to go down that crazy thing, but give you accolades for your bravery!! (Actually, Tikes Peak is more to my liking, but I think a little too old to be allowed in that area! )

I think Kelly is likely in the same boat as you. She would never even consider going on Summit Plummet but I loved it! We have a similar water slide, not quite as tall though, here in Edmonton at the water park in West Edmonton Mall which I have been on a number of times so I was somewhat prepared! It was a blast!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

And since it was the girls Birthday party the other day, Kelly really wanted me to show off their cakes...

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Well this is embarrassing…I have to admit I completely got my days mixed up and, while I had it in my mind that we went down to the Boardwalk to spend the evening, I was totally wrong about what we did! We did spend time at the Boardwalk but not for another 24 hours. Instead we made our way back to EPCOT (again) to spend our evening at what really felt like our favourite park during the trip.

Thanks in part to all the time spent in the water, we ended up changing Ella’s insulin pod while we were back at the hotel taking a break. Her pods change every three days but in this case I can’t recall if she was set to expire that day anyways, but the water certainly wore off the adhesive so it needed to be changed no matter what. I mention this quick story as it comes in to play later on in our evening.

Getting back to the fun, the girls ate their dinner in the hotel room before we ended up walking over to the TTC and jumping on the ECPOT monorail to hit up the park. It must have been closer to about 6 pm at this point having arrived back at the resort in the late afternoon and relaxing for a bit before forging on. Kelly and I did not eat and planned to grab something as we toured through the World Showcase before jumping on some rides.

We only had a few FP+ booked for Nemo and Soarin’ but planned to get a return time for Frozen and do a few more things before calling it a night. We arrived and made our way to the World Showcase to peruse the countries and figure out something to eat. We started in Mexico and worked our way towards Canada (Go Canada!). We really didn’t spend a ton of time roaming WS throughout the trip other than showing up for reservations so it was kinda nice to quietly walk through and check things out.

So many killer food options but for whatever reason when I would find something I wanted I wouldn’t stop to grab it as I didn’t want to miss out on something I might want at the next country ahead of us. My gut told me to stop in Germany and grab a giant pretzel and a beer but my head didn’t listen. Alas this was a terrible decision and I ended up stopping in the American pavilion and simply grabbing a Mickey Pretzel and a beer, the name of which I cannot recall but it wasn’t too bad…for an American brew! I know, I know…horrible food choice with all that is available but I just couldn’t pull the trigger on something as we walked around.

Kelly’s wasn’t much better though so I don’t feel too badly. We slowly made our way through the remaining countries, checking things out, looking at food kiosks and browsing some of the stores. It was a beautiful night to be strolling the showcase. Even the kids didn’t seem to mind that we weren’t really doing all that much at this point. We ended up stopping for a quick bathroom break in England and that led to a few fun pictures with the old school phone booths before continuing on.

Getting back to Kelly, just as I was finishing my last bite of pretzel and last sip of beer, we made our way around to Canada where Kelly ended up stopping at a refreshment kiosk to pick up a giant donut and a raspberry iced tea. Some dinner we ended up having!

Of course the girls wanted some of the donut so we stopped near the stage in Canada to split it up and eat it. At this point we tested Ella’s blood and it was a pretty high reading. I understand the readings of blood glucose levels are different in both Canada and the US so this number may not mean much but she test at a 17. Normal level for her is between 4-10 so 17 is quite high. We didn’t think too much of it as it tends to go higher when we have recently changed her pump but typically regulates soon after. Her pump supplied her with a pretty heavy dose of insulin to cover her high level and the food she was about to eat. After that we thought nothing of it, ate the donut and made our way over toward Nemo for our FP+.

We all jumped into our clamshells and into the big blue world. I’m sure most little ones are the same when they visit EPCOT, Nemo is a can’t miss for them no matter how “Small World”-like the song towards the end becomes after riding multiple times!

After Nemo Kelly and the kids decided to do Turtle Talk while I ran over to Norway to grab a return time for Frozen. On my way back I decided to quickly stop at Club Cool for another date with the Beverly. I worked up to it by enjoying the good flavours first and finished my quick pit stop with another swig of the Beverly. Actually, this time didn’t seem as bad as the first taste. Still a horrible after taste but maybe the more you drink the better it gets?

I met up with the crew outside the Seas and we made our way over to Soarin’. Before we entered the Land we checked Ella again and her blood had risen to 22. At this point we knew something was wrong but we corrected her with more insulin hoping that maybe it was just the donut as opposed to a pod that wasn’t inserted correctly.

Next to Frozen, I think Soarin’ became the kids’ favourite ride. Ella was a fan coming into the trip but Lennon really took to it as well after her first ride and finding out it wasn’t as scary as she thought. No matter how many times we rode, they still jumped at all the “surprises” that pop up throughout the ride. Always made me laugh!

Once Soarin’ was done we could head back to Norway for Frozen but before we made our trip over we checked Ella once more just to see. At this point she was simply reading “HIGH” meaning she was over 29. Now we knew her pod wasn’t working and we didn’t have a spare packed. All were back at the hotel. We decided to skip Frozen and head home but against our better judgement Ella convinced us to just do Frozen and then head home. We really shouldn’t have given in but we did and hustled over to the ride. Thankful for us the FP wait was about 5 minutes so we were on the ride pretty quickly.

Not the most enjoyable ride for Kelly and I knowing we really need to get back home but the kids loved it and we noticed a surprise picture in our PhotoPass collection when we eventually got home.

When the ride was over we really moved fast towards the exit and over to the monorail. We had just missed the monorail as we exited the park so we had to wait another 10 minutes before the next one arrived which had us a little worried. It seemed like forever to get home, even though it really wasn’t too bad, but finally we were almost running down the exit ramp and down the through the walkway back to the Poly and up to our room.

We quickly changed her pod, gave her a huge dose of insulin and hoped that this one inserted itself better than the last. The girls climbed into bed and went to sleep while Kelly and I stayed up a little browsing Twitter and Facebook on our phones to make sure we could check Ella again after an hour. When we did the first check and found her levels were dropping quickly we were pretty relieved to know this pod was working as it should. Thankfully this was our only scare with her diabetes the entire trip as she surprisingly maintained pretty steady levels the rest of the way.

Hectic ending to a hectic day!

 

[Figment Forever]

Well this is embarrassing…I have to admit I completely got my days mixed up and, while I had it in my mind that we went down to the Boardwalk to spend the evening, I was totally wrong about what we did! We did spend time at the Boardwalk but not for another 24 hours. Instead we made our way back to EPCOT (again) to spend our evening at what really felt like our favourite park during the trip.

Thanks in part to all the time spent in the water, we ended up changing Ella’s insulin pod while we were back at the hotel taking a break. Her pods change every three days but in this case I can’t recall if she was set to expire that day anyways, but the water certainly wore off the adhesive so it needed to be changed no matter what. I mention this quick story as it comes in to play later on in our evening.

Getting back to the fun, the girls ate their dinner in the hotel room before we ended up walking over to the TTC and jumping on the ECPOT monorail to hit up the park. It must have been closer to about 6 pm at this point having arrived back at the resort in the late afternoon and relaxing for a bit before forging on. Kelly and I did not eat and planned to grab something as we toured through the World Showcase before jumping on some rides.

We only had a few FP+ booked for Nemo and Soarin’ but planned to get a return time for Frozen and do a few more things before calling it a night. We arrived and made our way to the World Showcase to peruse the countries and figure out something to eat. We started in Mexico and worked our way towards Canada (Go Canada!). We really didn’t spend a ton of time roaming WS throughout the trip other than showing up for reservations so it was kinda nice to quietly walk through and check things out.

So many killer food options but for whatever reason when I would find something I wanted I wouldn’t stop to grab it as I didn’t want to miss out on something I might want at the next country ahead of us. My gut told me to stop in Germany and grab a giant pretzel and a beer but my head didn’t listen. Alas this was a terrible decision and I ended up stopping in the American pavilion and simply grabbing a Mickey Pretzel and a beer, the name of which I cannot recall but it wasn’t too bad…for an American brew! I know, I know…horrible food choice with all that is available but I just couldn’t pull the trigger on something as we walked around.

Kelly’s wasn’t much better though so I don’t feel too badly. We slowly made our way through the remaining countries, checking things out, looking at food kiosks and browsing some of the stores. It was a beautiful night to be strolling the showcase. Even the kids didn’t seem to mind that we weren’t really doing all that much at this point. We ended up stopping for a quick bathroom break in England and that led to a few fun pictures with the old school phone booths before continuing on.

Getting back to Kelly, just as I was finishing my last bite of pretzel and last sip of beer, we made our way around to Canada where Kelly ended up stopping at a refreshment kiosk to pick up a giant donut and a raspberry iced tea. Some dinner we ended up having!

Of course the girls wanted some of the donut so we stopped near the stage in Canada to split it up and eat it. At this point we tested Ella’s blood and it was a pretty high reading. I understand the readings of blood glucose levels are different in both Canada and the US so this number may not mean much but she test at a 17. Normal level for her is between 4-10 so 17 is quite high. We didn’t think too much of it as it tends to go higher when we have recently changed her pump but typically regulates soon after. Her pump supplied her with a pretty heavy dose of insulin to cover her high level and the food she was about to eat. After that we thought nothing of it, ate the donut and made our way over toward Nemo for our FP+.

We all jumped into our clamshells and into the big blue world. I’m sure most little ones are the same when they visit EPCOT, Nemo is a can’t miss for them no matter how “Small World”-like the song towards the end becomes after riding multiple times!

After Nemo Kelly and the kids decided to do Turtle Talk while I ran over to Norway to grab a return time for Frozen. On my way back I decided to quickly stop at Club Cool for another date with the Beverly. I worked up to it by enjoying the good flavours first and finished my quick pit stop with another swig of the Beverly. Actually, this time didn’t seem as bad as the first taste. Still a horrible after taste but maybe the more you drink the better it gets?

I met up with the crew outside the Seas and we made our way over to Soarin’. Before we entered the Land we checked Ella again and her blood had risen to 22. At this point we knew something was wrong but we corrected her with more insulin hoping that maybe it was just the donut as opposed to a pod that wasn’t inserted correctly.

Next to Frozen, I think Soarin’ became the kids’ favourite ride. Ella was a fan coming into the trip but Lennon really took to it as well after her first ride and finding out it wasn’t as scary as she thought. No matter how many times we rode, they still jumped at all the “surprises” that pop up throughout the ride. Always made me laugh!

Once Soarin’ was done we could head back to Norway for Frozen but before we made our trip over we checked Ella once more just to see. At this point she was simply reading “HIGH” meaning she was over 29. Now we knew her pod wasn’t working and we didn’t have a spare packed. All were back at the hotel. We decided to skip Frozen and head home but against our better judgement Ella convinced us to just do Frozen and then head home. We really shouldn’t have given in but we did and hustled over to the ride. Thankful for us the FP wait was about 5 minutes so we were on the ride pretty quickly.

Not the most enjoyable ride for Kelly and I knowing we really need to get back home but the kids loved it and we noticed a surprise picture in our PhotoPass collection when we eventually got home.

When the ride was over we really moved fast towards the exit and over to the monorail. We had just missed the monorail as we exited the park so we had to wait another 10 minutes before the next one arrived which had us a little worried. It seemed like forever to get home, even though it really wasn’t too bad, but finally we were almost running down the exit ramp and down the through the walkway back to the Poly and up to our room.

We quickly changed her pod, gave her a huge dose of insulin and hoped that this one inserted itself better than the last. The girls climbed into bed and went to sleep while Kelly and I stayed up a little browsing Twitter and Facebook on our phones to make sure we could check Ella again after an hour. When we did the first check and found her levels were dropping quickly we were pretty relieved to know this pod was working as it should. Thankfully this was our only scare with her diabetes the entire trip as she surprisingly maintained pretty steady levels the rest of the way.

Hectic ending to a hectic day!

Oh my - how scary that must have been! So glad everything worked out okay!

 

[PacNWTigger]

I'm glad everything worked out with the new pod for little miss Ella! I look forward to the rest of your adventure!

 

[dclfan]

I have been loving your trip report so far. Can't wait to read about the rest of your adventure. Your girls are so cute.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Oh my - how scary that must have been! So glad everything worked out okay!

It was a little scary for sure. We were kicking ourselves for not packing an extra pod with us, which we normally do. The pump she is on is really cool and has been a huge help to her but every now and then a little hiccup arises that keeps us on our toes. It was nice to get it corrected even though we should have been more diligent in getting back and skipping Frozen!

I'm glad everything worked out with the new pod for little miss Ella! I look forward to the rest of your adventure!

Thanks for reading about our great vacation! We had a similar incident on our last trip to WDW with Ella, when she wasn't on the pump yet, but this time battling a chronic low that was far more scary than what we dealt with this time. At least we were able to correct everything in both cases and get on with having fun!

I have been loving your trip report so far. Can't wait to read about the rest of your adventure. Your girls are so cute.

Thanks so much! Honoured to have you reading along and appreciate the kind words.

 

[Scoppin]

Well this is embarrassing…I have to admit I completely got my days mixed up and, while I had it in my mind that we went down to the Boardwalk to spend the evening, I was totally wrong about what we did! We did spend time at the Boardwalk but not for another 24 hours. Instead we made our way back to EPCOT (again) to spend our evening at what really felt like our favourite park during the trip.

Thanks in part to all the time spent in the water, we ended up changing Ella’s insulin pod while we were back at the hotel taking a break. Her pods change every three days but in this case I can’t recall if she was set to expire that day anyways, but the water certainly wore off the adhesive so it needed to be changed no matter what. I mention this quick story as it comes in to play later on in our evening.

Getting back to the fun, the girls ate their dinner in the hotel room before we ended up walking over to the TTC and jumping on the ECPOT monorail to hit up the park. It must have been closer to about 6 pm at this point having arrived back at the resort in the late afternoon and relaxing for a bit before forging on. Kelly and I did not eat and planned to grab something as we toured through the World Showcase before jumping on some rides.

We only had a few FP+ booked for Nemo and Soarin’ but planned to get a return time for Frozen and do a few more things before calling it a night. We arrived and made our way to the World Showcase to peruse the countries and figure out something to eat. We started in Mexico and worked our way towards Canada (Go Canada!). We really didn’t spend a ton of time roaming WS throughout the trip other than showing up for reservations so it was kinda nice to quietly walk through and check things out.

So many killer food options but for whatever reason when I would find something I wanted I wouldn’t stop to grab it as I didn’t want to miss out on something I might want at the next country ahead of us. My gut told me to stop in Germany and grab a giant pretzel and a beer but my head didn’t listen. Alas this was a terrible decision and I ended up stopping in the American pavilion and simply grabbing a Mickey Pretzel and a beer, the name of which I cannot recall but it wasn’t too bad…for an American brew! I know, I know…horrible food choice with all that is available but I just couldn’t pull the trigger on something as we walked around.

Kelly’s wasn’t much better though so I don’t feel too badly. We slowly made our way through the remaining countries, checking things out, looking at food kiosks and browsing some of the stores. It was a beautiful night to be strolling the showcase. Even the kids didn’t seem to mind that we weren’t really doing all that much at this point. We ended up stopping for a quick bathroom break in England and that led to a few fun pictures with the old school phone booths before continuing on.

Getting back to Kelly, just as I was finishing my last bite of pretzel and last sip of beer, we made our way around to Canada where Kelly ended up stopping at a refreshment kiosk to pick up a giant donut and a raspberry iced tea. Some dinner we ended up having!

Of course the girls wanted some of the donut so we stopped near the stage in Canada to split it up and eat it. At this point we tested Ella’s blood and it was a pretty high reading. I understand the readings of blood glucose levels are different in both Canada and the US so this number may not mean much but she test at a 17. Normal level for her is between 4-10 so 17 is quite high. We didn’t think too much of it as it tends to go higher when we have recently changed her pump but typically regulates soon after. Her pump supplied her with a pretty heavy dose of insulin to cover her high level and the food she was about to eat. After that we thought nothing of it, ate the donut and made our way over toward Nemo for our FP+.

We all jumped into our clamshells and into the big blue world. I’m sure most little ones are the same when they visit EPCOT, Nemo is a can’t miss for them no matter how “Small World”-like the song towards the end becomes after riding multiple times!

After Nemo Kelly and the kids decided to do Turtle Talk while I ran over to Norway to grab a return time for Frozen. On my way back I decided to quickly stop at Club Cool for another date with the Beverly. I worked up to it by enjoying the good flavours first and finished my quick pit stop with another swig of the Beverly. Actually, this time didn’t seem as bad as the first taste. Still a horrible after taste but maybe the more you drink the better it gets?

I met up with the crew outside the Seas and we made our way over to Soarin’. Before we entered the Land we checked Ella again and her blood had risen to 22. At this point we knew something was wrong but we corrected her with more insulin hoping that maybe it was just the donut as opposed to a pod that wasn’t inserted correctly.

Next to Frozen, I think Soarin’ became the kids’ favourite ride. Ella was a fan coming into the trip but Lennon really took to it as well after her first ride and finding out it wasn’t as scary as she thought. No matter how many times we rode, they still jumped at all the “surprises” that pop up throughout the ride. Always made me laugh!

Once Soarin’ was done we could head back to Norway for Frozen but before we made our trip over we checked Ella once more just to see. At this point she was simply reading “HIGH” meaning she was over 29. Now we knew her pod wasn’t working and we didn’t have a spare packed. All were back at the hotel. We decided to skip Frozen and head home but against our better judgement Ella convinced us to just do Frozen and then head home. We really shouldn’t have given in but we did and hustled over to the ride. Thankful for us the FP wait was about 5 minutes so we were on the ride pretty quickly.

Not the most enjoyable ride for Kelly and I knowing we really need to get back home but the kids loved it and we noticed a surprise picture in our PhotoPass collection when we eventually got home.

When the ride was over we really moved fast towards the exit and over to the monorail. We had just missed the monorail as we exited the park so we had to wait another 10 minutes before the next one arrived which had us a little worried. It seemed like forever to get home, even though it really wasn’t too bad, but finally we were almost running down the exit ramp and down the through the walkway back to the Poly and up to our room.

We quickly changed her pod, gave her a huge dose of insulin and hoped that this one inserted itself better than the last. The girls climbed into bed and went to sleep while Kelly and I stayed up a little browsing Twitter and Facebook on our phones to make sure we could check Ella again after an hour. When we did the first check and found her levels were dropping quickly we were pretty relieved to know this pod was working as it should. Thankfully this was our only scare with her diabetes the entire trip as she surprisingly maintained pretty steady levels the rest of the way.

Hectic ending to a hectic day!

That is for sure the worse feeling for a parent when the children are not feeling well and you go through all the steps trying to figure out exactly what is wrong. I am glad all was eventually back to normal and Ella was feeling better.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

That is for sure the worse feeling for a parent when the children are not feeling well and you go through all the steps trying to figure out exactly what is wrong. I am glad all was eventually back to normal and Ella was feeling better.

Definitely a tough situation. Oddly enough, if not for us knowing her elevated levels, Ella was acting pretty normal with no signs of wanting to slow down. I can't imagine what she was actually feeling inside, can't believe it's a good feeling to have that high of a blood glucose level for an extended period of time, but she didn't seem to act oddly or anything. Thankful we corrected it nonetheless but could have been much worse if we didn't check the levels as much as we did.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Another long break in between posts but I am finally back at it. Happy belated Thanksgiving to any Canadians that may be reading along!

August 10 – Hollywood Studios/The Boardwalk (for real this time)

Now that things had settled down from the issues we had the previous night with Ella’s glucose levels we were able to get a pretty decent sleep before getting up for our final visit to Hollywood Studios for morning fun and lunch plans at the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theatre.

We were in no rush to get to the park for the opening and decided to get up a little later than we normally would. Kelly and the girls had breakfast in the room and I made my morning coffee run but decided to grab something extra while I was at Capt’n Cooks. I am a huge fan of Tonga Toast and couldn’t resist starting my day with a fresh order. Even without the Strawberry compote it was still a darn tasty breakfast and a cheaper alternative than ordering at Kona. Went back to the room and enjoyed my breakfast on the balcony. Delicious!

After we finished eating we finally made our way down to the bus stop to make the trek over to DHS. We had our FP+’s lined up and we ready to take on the day. Because we had accomplished some of the rides we had booked for FP+, we ended up skipping the Great Movie Ride when we arrived at the park and decided to head over to Rockin’ Roller Coaster. Kelly had yet to ride this so far on the trip s she jumped in the single rider line and I waited with the kids.

We tried to FaceTime with my mom back home in Edmonton while we waited but the wifi connection kept dropping out so we didn’t get to chat for that long. The wait for Kelly didn’t take all that long anyway and our second FP+ for Toy Story was just opening up. Kelly didn’t get the photopass picture and likely for good reason as I have no doubt it would have been an embarrassing photo of her screaming her head off! Oh well!

We made the leisurely walk to Toy Story but before we scanned our bands and walk into the queue the girls wanted to split a frozen lemonade so we parked the stroller in some shade and enjoyed the tasty treat. It was smoking hot already so I figured it was a great time for a cold beer to cool down. Decent morning I’d say, Tonga Toast and a beer well before 11! Much like the frozen lemonade, that beer didn’t stand a chance in the heat and we rolled through the queue after our quick break.

Another decent score for me and I was more than satisfied to extend my undefeated, undisputed run as the family Toy Story champ for another trip.

From here we had a FP+ for Tower of Terror but the girls were refusing to ride again. Even though they claimed they really enjoyed their first ride days before, there was no way I was convincing them to ride again. I wasn’t going to miss out on one final ride so I made my way back to ToT and Kelly to the kids to watch the Frozen singalong again.

Not a huge wait for me to get up to the loading area on ToT and before I knew it I was waiting for our elevator to arrive. As we waited, there was a dad and his two daughters lined up beside me. The older girl was super excited to ride but her sister was not! She may have been about 7 or 8 and was definitely ready to bail even with her sister and her dad telling her how much fun the ride is. Without trying to pry too much I told her that my daughters loved the ride and they were only 5 and 3. That calmed her down and she seemed a little more at east while we waited.

The ride was great as usual and even the girl who was very worried about riding left smiling and laughing! I did grab the photopass picture but will have to add it to the report later. We just lost the ability to download them from the Disney website and I don’t have them saved on this particular computer.

The blazing sun continued to shine down as I walked back towards the Frozen theatre to meet up with Kelly and the girls. I ended up grabbing a seat at a picnic table and hanging out for about 10 minutes before the show ended. The girls came out signing at the top of their lungs and clearly had a blast with the snow once again but Kelly said the performers were different from the first show we saw earlier in the week and weren’t quite as good as the first historians we saw. She didn’t seem too concerned about it or anything, just like the first folks better.

Since we missed out on meeting Olaf the last time we were in the park we decided this was a great time to do so as our lunch reservation was approaching but we still had some time to kill. Thankfully the queue was shaded as the 15 or so minutes we waited to get into the building could have been very hot and sweaty!

Lennon loves to imitate Olaf with her goofy version of a male voice booming “I’m Olaf. I like warm hugs!” so she was all fired up to see him and we ended up getting some really great pictures. They were very happy to give Olaf a bunch of warm hugs while they had their chance to meet him. Too bad he wasn’t as cold as snow but at least they had the AC cranked in the building!

After Olaf it was over to Sci-Fi to check in for our reservation. The entrance was packed as most people were trying to cool down from the heat. Nice of the restaurant to have a big water cooler out for people to enjoy while they waited for their table. We ended up waiting around for about 20 minutes before our name was called and we were led to our car.

This was our first visit to Sci-Fi and it was very cool to see the set-up of the dining theatre. Our car was close to the back and nearest the wall so we had a great view of the rest of the theatre. Really cool setting.

The girls ended up in the front seat and Kelly and I hopped in behind them. They loved that they weren’t sitting with mom and dad and we enjoyed being somewhat kid free! HAHA!

We placed our order and watched the various movies that were played on the theatre screens while we waited. Kelly ordered the grilled chicken BLT sandwich, Lennon and Ella split popcorn chicken and macaroni and I ordered the honey-chipotle chicken wings and the spinach and artichoke dip. The food took a very long time to arrive but was definitely worth the wait.

My wings and dip were fantastic! Good call by me not ordering a full meal. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal and the girls were clearly stuffed as they didn’t even eat the sundae that came with their meals. Kelly and I were more than happy to polish those off for them!

We settled our bill and made our way out of the restaurant to head back to the hotel for a little break. Upon our exit Chip and Dale were out greeting people just outside the restaurant so we stepped in line so the kids could get pictures and autographs. I feel for those folks in the suits on days like this but even with the crazy heat Chip and Dale were beyond playful with everyone in line, our kids included!

Finally we were ready to head back to the hotel and take a short break. I falsely mentioned this a day earlier but this time we truly were undecided on what to do with our evening. The debate between mini golf and an evening on the Boardwalk was the talk of the bus ride back and it was decided that we would head to the Boardwalk to try something new and enjoy a pretty low key, relaxing (so I thought) evening.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

So mini golf was a no go, which was probably a good idea since I am not sure the girls would have enjoyed it all that much but I was really excited about the chance to ride the bike around the Boardwalk. I can recall seeing those bikes around that area the first time we visited the Boardwalk years ago when staying at the Swan over Christmas in 2009. I’ve always wanted to try them out and both Kelly and I were pretty fired up to do something new.

We had a decent break back at the resort and decided to make our way to the Boardwalk around 430 or 500 pm. We figured it was likely easiest to get there by taking the ferry over to MK then jumping on a bus to a Boardwalk resort.

We didn’t have any plans for dinner or anything at this point so the plan was just to grab something on the BW when everyone got hungry. The girls filled up on some snacks while they were playing with their princesses in our room so there was no real rush to sit down and eat anything. Selfishly I was lobbying for the Big River Grille (love that place) but apparently there is no kids menu there so that likely wasn’t going to work.

At any rate, we decided to go stroller-less for the evening since we weren’t rolling through any parks which was a very welcome break for me! We made the short walk over to the Ferryboat and hoped on to head over the MK bus stop. It was a beautiful late afternoon and was thankfully much cooler than the rest of the day had been to that point.

We decided to leave our camera back at the hotel as well so any pictures we took were all done with our iPhones.

Another quick, beautiful ride over to MK and we made our way over to the bus stop to find a bus to get us to BW.

Ended up running to get on the Beach Club bus just before it pulled out of the station and we were on our way. It was SOOOO nice not to have to fold up that stroller for the bus ride though I almost felt outta place not knowing what to do with myself! Made for a pleasant ride to the Beach Club to say the least.

We arrived and strolled slowly through the lobby looking around for a little before heading out to find the bikes. The smell of the lobby is definitely one of the strong recollections I’ll continue to have from the trip. So much so that we bite the bullet, paid the exchange and the crazy shipping to Canada and ordered the Beach Club candle from Anthology Candles (just arrived last night along with the Main Street Bakery candle) just so we could always enjoy that scent.

We finally made our way out of the Beach Club and walked around the BW to the bike stand to rent our bike to rip around for the next little bit. A few other families had the same idea as us which made for a bit of a friendly competition once we all had our bikes to see who was going to make the most laps around the BW in the allotted half hour.

The kids were pretty happy to have their seats in front of the handle while mom and dad did all the work.

Actually, it turned out dad did almost all the work! Seemed like the bike we selected was almost solely propelled by my side of the bike which made for a very unexpected and quite challenging workout, especially when we reached the hills that had to be climbed.

Even though I was sweating as bad I had all trip, the ride was totally awesome. We made our way around the BW three full times, stopping at a couple spots along the way to look at a resort pool or something along the beach. I was really happy we decided to spend our evening doing something a little different and everyone really seemed to enjoy it. Something I would definitely do again even if my legs were burning and I was pretty wobbly for a while afterwards!

Once the bike ride was over the kids started getting hungry so we decided to grab something quick and easy from the To-Go Cart near the waterfront. The kids ordered a hot dog and Kelly ordered a corn dog (her favourite snack foods) while I wasn’t overly hungry so I didn’t grab anything. Took quite a long time for the food to come out but finally it did and we grabbed a table overlooking the water to enjoy our simple meal. Definitely not the best food we enjoyed during the trip but it was quick, easy and pretty cheap so couldn’t go wrong.

After dinner we continued to walk around the BW, stopping in at the Boardwalk Bakery for dessert. Idea was to share a cupcake but of course one wouldn’t do. Both Ella and Lennon wanted to select a cupcake and of course they won out. We picked up two different cupcakes and again found ourselves overlooking the water to enjoy the treat.

I was thankful that I didn’t eat dinner as I pretty much played clean up and ate most of one of the cupcakes and a little of the other. Girls eyes were bigger than their stomachs, a problem I’m not sure I have yet to encounter, sadly. They were both darn tasty though!

After our dessert we made our way over to the Boardwalk resort and walked through the pool area just to check it out. I’ve always wanted to stay there so it was cool to check things out a little. Scouting out future hotels to stay at is always fun…I think Beach Club is likely top of the list but Boardwalk is a very close second.

From there we decided to head back to the Poly in time to catch the fireworks from the beach. It was after 900pm at this point so we had to hustle to get there. WE waited for an MK bus at the Boardwalk where we ended up meeting a father and his daughter heading to MK for the 2 am EMH. We spoke with them the whole way to MK and he was telling us how we needed to check out AK at night, something we wanted to do the next night so that had us excited to see it for ourselves. We arrived back at MK, said our goodbyes to our new friends and made our way back on the Ferryboat to the Poly.

We made it to the beach just in time to watch the fireworks with about 100 other people who enjoyed the show. Great viewing from the beach though we did kinda dropped the ball by not viewing them in the park at all during the trip. Was nice to make the five minute walk back to the room once it was done as opposed to fighting the sea of people to exit the park.

The fireworks were a great way to cap off another great day. It was back to the room for a quick night cap before turning in for some sleep. Only two park days left and we had a full slate of things we wanted to accomplish before heading back home.

On tap was our final visit to both EPCOT and AK…

 

[Matt and Kelly]

August 11 – EPCOT / Animal Kingdom

Another relatively early wake-up call had both Kelly and I getting ready to make our last visits to both EPCOT and Animal Kingdom along with a highly anticipated lunch at Via Napoli. I continued my tradition of grabbing coffee while Kelly finished getting ready before waking up the kids to eat breakfast before heading to the parks.

I was getting sad walking along the lagoon knowing that I wouldn’t be making this walk and seeing the castle in the distance as the trip was coming to an end. Only one more park day after today. Like all vacations, time sped by far too quickly.

I returned to help get the kids up and moving and instead of a sit down breakfast they were happy to take pop tarts with them to get us to the park a little quicker. We had a few FP+’s booked for the day including Soarin’ to kick off the morning.

We made the walk over to TTC and boarded the monorail towards EPCOT. A few minutes later we were strolling through security and heading into the park. It was another gorgeous day and the temperature was climbing quickly in the early morning. We walked past SSE and made our way towards the Land.

Predictably we made a quick detour towards Nemo before heading to Soarin’ for our FP+. The kids couldn’t get enough of Nemo and friends so why not get it out of the way early! Plus it put Lenny in a good mood right off the bat which is never a bad thing! She can flip the switch in the blink of an eye so wise of us to keep her in the right frame of mind!

After our ride and a couple quick final Nemo photos we made the short walk over to the Land for our Soarin’ FP+.

Outside of Toy Story and Frozen, this was probably the girls’ favourite ride from the trip. As we moved throughout the queue and were sent towards a loading area, Ella was hoping we would be seated in the very top row to get the best view. I told her we’d have to wait and see where we end up until she decided to take things into her own hands.

As we were being told which row to go into Ella stopped and asked the Cast Member if we were being seated in the top row. She told her sorry but we would be in the middle row. Ella thanked her as we were walking by and the CM then came up to Ella and told her that if she really wanted the top row that we could wait in the auditorium after our ride and she would let us ride again on the top row in the middle section. Ella was so pumped up and we were very thankful that the CM would allow us to do that.

Our first ride was from the left section in the middle row and was just as fun as all the other trips around the World had been but Ella was super excited for her top row experience. The ride came to a close and, true to her word, the CM found us and escorted us to the middle section for another ride on the top row. It was a small gesture that really meant the world to Ella and we all enjoyed another ride on Soarin’. The new seats gave me a great vantage point to snap a few cool pics!

When the ride ended Ella ran over to the CM, gave her a big hug and thanked her. It was a pretty heartwarming sight.

Now that we had ridden Soarin’ twice I told Kelly I would run over to Frozen to get a return time for one final boat ride to Arendelle and I would meet back up with them. Kelly and the girls decided to ride Living with the Land while I made the walk to Norway. It was so nice at this point with barely a cloud in the sky. I enjoyed the walk, retrieved our return time and slowly made my way back to meet up with the rest of the family. On my way I stopped to get a few photos of the World Showcase and another of SSE I thought would look pretty cool.

I got back to the Land just as the girls finished up on Living with the Land. They seemed to enjoy it and ended up seeing a dog somewhere throughout their ride which of course was the best part of the ride. I think they were missing our Basset Hound, Marty, back at home and the dog made them think of him a little.

We had plenty of time for a few other things before we had to return to Frozen and before our lunch reservation so the next stop we made was to take a journey with Figment through our imagination. I’m certain I have only been on this ride once in the past but how could you ever forget that goofy IMAGINATION tune they repeat over and over throughout the ride?! It had the kids singing along and I think almost made them want to ride again but once was more than enough for both Kelly and I.

From there we decided to take a stroll through one side of the WS to head to Italy for our lunch. Ella had been dying to meet Alice in Wonderland so we were hopeful she might be out in England as we made our way by. It was another Eskimo game day so I had my hat on again hoping things would go better for the squad against the Montreal Alouettes this time around as opposed to the loss against the REDBLACKS earlier in the trip. Of course felt obligated to take a selfie as I waited for the girls to take a quick bathroom break not only to show off my Esks hat, but my killer Bushwood Caddy Day Champion shirt (Noonan!).

After the quick pause we did run into Alice meeting folks across the way from the Rose and Crown so the girls ran to get in line and chat with her before we found our way to via Napoli. Ella was so excited to finally meet her and was as talkative as she’d been all trip with a character. Must have been feeling good from the Soarin’ CM exchange and had all sorts of confidence to talk to people. Was fun to watch as they goofed around and asked her all sorts of silly questions.

After we said our goodbyes to Alice we continued down towards Italy. It was scorching out at this point so it was a perfect time to take a break from the sun and head indoors for some grub. Kelly was very much looking forward to this reservation and I was excited to have some authentic pizza so we checked in and waited for our table. Our return time for Frozen had already passed but since you could return at any time after for disability access it gave us enough time to really enjoy the break without having to rush.

We were called to our table shortly after checking in and escorted through the packed restaurant to a table on the back wall for our meal. It was a bustling restaurant with tons of great sights and smells. The pizza ovens looked super cool, even from where we were sitting and I was very much looking forward to getting a taste. We had a great waiter, whose name escapes me…that’s what I get for delaying the process with this report, looking after our table and was quick to get us some cool beverages to helps us beat the heat.

After a few short minutes of looking at the menu we placed our order and started talking about our best memories of the trip to that point. Not overly too long later our food arrived and it was time to eat. Ella had the kids pizza, Lennon the kids spaghetti, Kelly ordered the Paccheri alla Crema con Pollo and I have the Piccante Pizza.

All of it was delicious. Kelly really enjoyed her pasta and my pizza was awesome. Even Lennon and Ella pretty much cleared their plates. This was one of the highest ranking meals of our trip and a restaurant we will definitely dine at again on future WDW trips. Highly recommended for anyone who has yet to experience it.

With our bellies full we set off down the rest of WS to head over to Frozen one last time before saying goodbye to EPCOT. Along the way we stopped over in China to see if we could meet Mulan, a character the girls have never met before. She was greeting folks and we were once again thankful it was in a beautiful air-conditioned building. She had a relatively substantial line up but we were happy to wait and once again the girls were happy to interact with another Princess!

The Chinese pavilion is gorgeous. I’ve never walked through it before but I am glad we did. The garden is beautiful and peaceful and makes for a great place to snap photos.

Finally we had made our way to Frozen for our final ride. As had been the case all trip, the wait in the FP queue is pretty quick. Maybe 10 minutes in line and we were on our boat ready to say goodbye to Elsa, Anna, Olaf and the gang.

I know the ride has its faults and was clearly rushed to capitalize on the popularity of the film but I was a big fan and I think the rest of the group was as well. Not being a Maelstrom fan in the past, this was a much better use of the space in my mind and while I know not everyone shares my point of view I say well done Disney on making this happen. Hopefully they can fill in some of the spaces that are lacking and make it even better but it was totally enjoyable for us.

It was closing on mid-afternoon at this point and while we wanted to head out and get a little rest at the hotel Lennon got all fired up about riding SSE one more time for some reason, she didn’t seem to like the ride the first time and was clearly getting a little overheated but we decided to jump in the short line, only a 10 minute wait and take the ride one last time. Lennon rode with Kelly this time, which sounded like it went horribly, especially for the person who wanted to ride in the first place! Ella and I made our goofiest face when prompted to take our picture at the beginning and laughed at how badly they turned out when they were revealed later in the ride. Lennon refused to make her face visible for the camera so her body was headless for their look into the future!

After we finished Len settled down and it was finally time to leave EPCOT for the last time and head back to the Poly for a rest before our first nighttime experience at Animal Kingdom!

 

[Scoppin]

August 11 – EPCOT / Animal Kingdom

Another relatively early wake-up call had both Kelly and I getting ready to make our last visits to both EPCOT and Animal Kingdom along with a highly anticipated lunch at Via Napoli. I continued my tradition of grabbing coffee while Kelly finished getting ready before waking up the kids to eat breakfast before heading to the parks.

I was getting sad walking along the lagoon knowing that I wouldn’t be making this walk and seeing the castle in the distance as the trip was coming to an end. Only one more park day after today. Like all vacations, time sped by far too quickly.

I returned to help get the kids up and moving and instead of a sit down breakfast they were happy to take pop tarts with them to get us to the park a little quicker. We had a few FP+’s booked for the day including Soarin’ to kick off the morning.

We made the walk over to TTC and boarded the monorail towards EPCOT. A few minutes later we were strolling through security and heading into the park. It was another gorgeous day and the temperature was climbing quickly in the early morning. We walked past SSE and made our way towards the Land.

Predictably we made a quick detour towards Nemo before heading to Soarin’ for our FP+. The kids couldn’t get enough of Nemo and friends so why not get it out of the way early! Plus it put Lenny in a good mood right off the bat which is never a bad thing! She can flip the switch in the blink of an eye so wise of us to keep her in the right frame of mind!

After our ride and a couple quick final Nemo photos we made the short walk over to the Land for our Soarin’ FP+.

Outside of Toy Story and Frozen, this was probably the girls’ favourite ride from the trip. As we moved throughout the queue and were sent towards a loading area, Ella was hoping we would be seated in the very top row to get the best view. I told her we’d have to wait and see where we end up until she decided to take things into her own hands.

As we were being told which row to go into Ella stopped and asked the Cast Member if we were being seated in the top row. She told her sorry but we would be in the middle row. Ella thanked her as we were walking by and the CM then came up to Ella and told her that if she really wanted the top row that we could wait in the auditorium after our ride and she would let us ride again on the top row in the middle section. Ella was so pumped up and we were very thankful that the CM would allow us to do that.

Our first ride was from the left section in the middle row and was just as fun as all the other trips around the World had been but Ella was super excited for her top row experience. The ride came to a close and, true to her word, the CM found us and escorted us to the middle section for another ride on the top row. It was a small gesture that really meant the world to Ella and we all enjoyed another ride on Soarin’. The new seats gave me a great vantage point to snap a few cool pics!

When the ride ended Ella ran over to the CM, gave her a big hug and thanked her. It was a pretty heartwarming sight.

Now that we had ridden Soarin’ twice I told Kelly I would run over to Frozen to get a return time for one final boat ride to Arendelle and I would meet back up with them. Kelly and the girls decided to ride Living with the Land while I made the walk to Norway. It was so nice at this point with barely a cloud in the sky. I enjoyed the walk, retrieved our return time and slowly made my way back to meet up with the rest of the family. On my way I stopped to get a few photos of the World Showcase and another of SSE I thought would look pretty cool.

I got back to the Land just as the girls finished up on Living with the Land. They seemed to enjoy it and ended up seeing a dog somewhere throughout their ride which of course was the best part of the ride. I think they were missing our Basset Hound, Marty, back at home and the dog made them think of him a little.

We had plenty of time for a few other things before we had to return to Frozen and before our lunch reservation so the next stop we made was to take a journey with Figment through our imagination. I’m certain I have only been on this ride once in the past but how could you ever forget that goofy IMAGINATION tune they repeat over and over throughout the ride?! It had the kids singing along and I think almost made them want to ride again but once was more than enough for both Kelly and I.

From there we decided to take a stroll through one side of the WS to head to Italy for our lunch. Ella had been dying to meet Alice in Wonderland so we were hopeful she might be out in England as we made our way by. It was another Eskimo game day so I had my hat on again hoping things would go better for the squad against the Montreal Alouettes this time around as opposed to the loss against the REDBLACKS earlier in the trip. Of course felt obligated to take a selfie as I waited for the girls to take a quick bathroom break not only to show off my Esks hat, but my killer Bushwood Caddy Day Champion shirt (Noonan!).

After the quick pause we did run into Alice meeting folks across the way from the Rose and Crown so the girls ran to get in line and chat with her before we found our way to via Napoli. Ella was so excited to finally meet her and was as talkative as she’d been all trip with a character. Must have been feeling good from the Soarin’ CM exchange and had all sorts of confidence to talk to people. Was fun to watch as they goofed around and asked her all sorts of silly questions.

After we said our goodbyes to Alice we continued down towards Italy. It was scorching out at this point so it was a perfect time to take a break from the sun and head indoors for some grub. Kelly was very much looking forward to this reservation and I was excited to have some authentic pizza so we checked in and waited for our table. Our return time for Frozen had already passed but since you could return at any time after for disability access it gave us enough time to really enjoy the break without having to rush.

We were called to our table shortly after checking in and escorted through the packed restaurant to a table on the back wall for our meal. It was a bustling restaurant with tons of great sights and smells. The pizza ovens looked super cool, even from where we were sitting and I was very much looking forward to getting a taste. We had a great waiter, whose name escapes me…that’s what I get for delaying the process with this report, looking after our table and was quick to get us some cool beverages to helps us beat the heat.

After a few short minutes of looking at the menu we placed our order and started talking about our best memories of the trip to that point. Not overly too long later our food arrived and it was time to eat. Ella had the kids pizza, Lennon the kids spaghetti, Kelly ordered the Paccheri alla Crema con Pollo and I have the Piccante Pizza.

All of it was delicious. Kelly really enjoyed her pasta and my pizza was awesome. Even Lennon and Ella pretty much cleared their plates. This was one of the highest ranking meals of our trip and a restaurant we will definitely dine at again on future WDW trips. Highly recommended for anyone who has yet to experience it.

With our bellies full we set off down the rest of WS to head over to Frozen one last time before saying goodbye to EPCOT. Along the way we stopped over in China to see if we could meet Mulan, a character the girls have never met before. She was greeting folks and we were once again thankful it was in a beautiful air-conditioned building. She had a relatively substantial line up but we were happy to wait and once again the girls were happy to interact with another Princess!

The Chinese pavilion is gorgeous. I’ve never walked through it before but I am glad we did. The garden is beautiful and peaceful and makes for a great place to snap photos.

Finally we had made our way to Frozen for our final ride. As had been the case all trip, the wait in the FP queue is pretty quick. Maybe 10 minutes in line and we were on our boat ready to say goodbye to Elsa, Anna, Olaf and the gang.

I know the ride has its faults and was clearly rushed to capitalize on the popularity of the film but I was a big fan and I think the rest of the group was as well. Not being a Maelstrom fan in the past, this was a much better use of the space in my mind and while I know not everyone shares my point of view I say well done Disney on making this happen. Hopefully they can fill in some of the spaces that are lacking and make it even better but it was totally enjoyable for us.

It was closing on mid-afternoon at this point and while we wanted to head out and get a little rest at the hotel Lennon got all fired up about riding SSE one more time for some reason, she didn’t seem to like the ride the first time and was clearly getting a little overheated but we decided to jump in the short line, only a 10 minute wait and take the ride one last time. Lennon rode with Kelly this time, which sounded like it went horribly, especially for the person who wanted to ride in the first place! Ella and I made our goofiest face when prompted to take our picture at the beginning and laughed at how badly they turned out when they were revealed later in the ride. Lennon refused to make her face visible for the camera so her body was headless for their look into the future!

After we finished Len settled down and it was finally time to leave EPCOT for the last time and head back to the Poly for a rest before our first nighttime experience at Animal Kingdom!

It was really nice of the CM to make Ella's wish to ride top row middle section come true. Even better she gave the CM a nice hug. I am sure it melted the CM.

Appears they were able to do a few things they hadn't done before, Alice and Mulan.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

It was really nice of the CM to make Ella's wish to ride top row middle section come true. Even better she gave the CM a nice hug. I am sure it melted the CM.

Appears they were able to do a few things they hadn't done before, Alice and Mulan.

It was a pretty great moment, something she still talks about near three months later. I'm glad she hugged the CM too as we really did appreciate the gesture and wanted to make sure she knew that.

Mulan was a new experience but we've seen Alice in the past. She was super excited to see her though as she is her favourtie. Ella's dressing up as Alice for Halloween tonight. Should be fun!

 

[Scoppin]

It was a pretty great moment, something she still talks about near three months later. I'm glad she hugged the CM too as we really did appreciate the gesture and wanted to make sure she knew that.

Mulan was a new experience but we've seen Alice in the past. She was super excited to see her though as she is her favourtie. Ella's dressing up as Alice for Halloween tonight. Should be fun!

You have to love random acts of kindness, mind you they are there to enhance your experience. Some just do it better than others.

I love it when kids show their appreciation without having to be told. Tends to warm the heart as well, and not just for the person receiving the appreciation.

Bundle up. Do you still have snow? We don't any longer, but it will be cool enough here tonight if it wanted to.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

You have to love random acts of kindness, mind you they are there to enhance your experience. Some just do it better than others.

I love it when kids show their appreciation without having to be told. Tends to warm the heart as well, and not just for the person receiving the appreciation.

Bundle up. Do you still have snow? We don't any longer, but it will be cool enough here tonight if it wanted to.

That was the best part from my standpoint. The fact we didn't have to tell her to thank the CM but she had the wherewithal to do it on her own.

Thankfully no snow at the moment but cool, gloomy, foggy day. Perfect for the occasion.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

While we were sad to be saying goodbye to EPCOT for another trip, I was very much looking forward to getting my first taste of Animal Kingdom at night. With the new Jungle Book nighttime show and the Tree of Life lighting up, along with the chance to ride the safari as the sun sets, I couldn’t wait to experience the park in a whole new light…So to speak.

We spent a few hours relaxing at the hotel, including a quick dip in the hot tub and pool, when we returned from EPCOT. Lennon and Ella played princesses for a little bit while Kelly and I freshened up and got things ready for our evening at Animal Kingdom. Certainly we were in no rush to get to the park so we took our time getting out the door to walk over to the bus stop.

We finally got our act together, got the girls a light dinner in the room as they weren’t overly too hungry and made the walk from our longhouse to the bus stop. A handful of other Poly guests were waiting for a bus and the numbers dwindled as the different destinations arrived. We boarded the AK bus after a short 10 minute wait, made a quick stop at the Floridian to pick up a few other guests and were off to the park. It was after 5 at this point, likely closer to 6 so the sun was definitely starting to set as we arrived.

The park entrance/security line didn’t seem overly busy so we hoped that would mean short waits for the few rides we wanted to get on before the Jungle Book water show later that evening.

We made our way through security and the entrance and decided to make our way down toward the Tree of Life for a photopass photo before heading over to the Safari to ride at dusk. Busy lines of people waiting to get their pictures taken but we were happy to wait. When it was our turn the kids, well Lennon specifically, didn’t seem to be in the mood to listen to the photog but eventually we finally got her to cooperate. I’ll have to come back and add the picture later as I failed to download it to my photobucket and I don’t have access to it on this computer now that the photopass expiration date has passed.

Here it is...finally got around to uploading everything.

After our picture we set off towards Kilimanjaro to see if the safari animals were as active in the early evening as they were in the morning during our first ride. Absolutely no wait other than the queue itself so we were able to make the walk and load right on to the truck for our tour. We ended up in the second row this time and we were off and running.

Sadly I didn’t take any pictures this time as I had Lennon sitting pretty close to me throughout the ride but I did regret not having my phone handy as the animals were indeed very active throughout the trek which I was pretty surprised by. Tons of great sightlines of almost every animal on the reserve with the exception of the elephants. They were the only ones that were playing shy which was too bad but it was unreal how close we were to some of the others throughout the ride.

With the setting sun and playful animals it made for another memorable trip around the reserve. Really cool experience to see the safari at this time of the day. Great way to close out one of the best rides in all of WDW in my opinion.

After we finished up on the ride and found our stroller, we decided to head towards Expedition Everest so Kelly and I could get in one more ride. I thought we might have convinced Ella to take a chance and ride but no dice. She wasn’t going to budge! Maybe next trip. Or maybe I shouldn’t have told them I had to fight off the yeti from stealing my hat on the first ride I took a few days earlier. Either way, she needs to suck it up!

Kelly decided jump into the single rider line first so me and the girls moved over towards the big drop to watch the coaster speed down the hill and hear people scream.

At this point it was becoming quite congested around Everest as the FP line for Jungle Book was already starting to fill in. Lots of people trying to squeeze through which made navigating the stroller a little tougher. Kelly was on and off pretty quickly so it was then my turn. I made my way to the single rider line and Kelly took the kids to find a washroom and grab a snack.

The line moved quick and I was placed around the middle of the train along with another single rider. I always love riding any ride in the dark. Just seems to add a little more to the experience. While it wasn’t pitch dark or anything it was far darker than it was even on the safari which made the ride that much cooler. Likely just in my mind but it seemed a little wilder and a tad faster, especially when you hit the backwards portion of the ride. I was sad Ella didn’t end up taking the ride as she’d been so brave all trip but this was one we just couldn’t convince her to try. All the more reason to go back soon to try and get her to do it next time.

When the ride was over it was tough finding the girls with all the people now hovering around for the Jungle Book show. I finally ran into them near one of the ice cream stands to find the kids enjoying a root beer float. Not a bad snack I’d say! Even better that they both didn’t finish so dad was tasked at cleaning up the leftovers. No problem at all in my books! Kelly also told me the three of them took a photopass photo while they waited which ended up being my favourite picture from the trip. Again, I’ll have to update this post when I upload those pics to photobucket. It’s too good not to share and made me realize what a lucky guy I am to have a family like this. (This is a cropped version but you get the picture)...

and the full PhotoPass version...

We’d finally decided it was time for Kelly and I to grab something to eat. Being the huge fan of pulled pork that she is, Flame Tree Barbecue was the stop of choice. We both ended up ordering the pulled pork sandwich with baked beans to enjoy.

The quick meal was delicious and made even better by the cool view we had of the Jungle Book theatre stands filling up across the water. We figured if we wanted to find a decent seat we should probably head over there once we finished our food. While we ate the girls ripped around the empty seating area at Flame Tree. It would appear the floats gave them a boost of energy even though they didn’t finish the whole thing.

Kelly and I devoured our food and it was time to make our way to the show. Lots of people were still filling in with about 15 minutes to spare and we ended up getting pretty good spots about half way up towards the left side of the theatre. We settled into our row and I ran out into Dinoland to grab some popcorn for us to snack on during the show. I weaved my way back through the sea of people trying to get in at the last minute to fill in the remaining space in the stands just before the show began. I sat down and a couple moments’ later things got underway.

I really enjoyed the new adaptation of the Jungle Book movie and was looking forward to the show but I have to admit when everything was over I was pretty disappointed. Now, don’t get me wrong, the music and the dancing was great, but the water effects left something to be desired. Maybe I was expecting something a little more like the World of Colour in DCA and what was displayed during the show was nothing even close to that level of production value. The projections on the streams of water were weak at best, at most times you couldn’t make out the scene from the movie if it weren’t for the music accompanying it. Not Disney’s best effort or at least their best execution. Show could have been much better if they could have had the water effects on the level of the music and dancing that went with the show.

We flooded out of the theatre and Kelly and I both had the same reaction…pretty disappointing show but it was cool to at least experience it once. Somehow we ended up finding our stroller and very carefully made our way through the throng of people towards Dinoland to ride the TriceraTops Spin once more before making our way home.

Anything that is similar to Dumbo is a massive hit in Lennon’s book so we took one last spin before making our way towards the Tree of Life to see it light up before heading to the exit.

While the Jungle Book show wasn’t what we expected, the Tree of Life fully lived up to what we were hoping to see. Tons of folks watching along and man was it cool. Great lighting, great effects. Awesome was to highlight one of the signature pieces in WDW. Sadly the pics I took don’t live up to what the show really provided but it was really cool.

We watched for about 5 minutes or so and decided to call it a day. Not an overly busy visit to AK but one that was very cool at night. I can’t wait for Avatar Land to open up and provide even more to this park.

We said our goodbyes and made our way to the bus stop to head back to the Poly. Was after 9 at this point and definitely time to get the kids down to bed. Took the bus a little while to finally arrive but the trip back to the hotel seemed pretty quick. We got back to our room, did some quick prep for our last park day at Magic Kingdom the next day and got the kids down to bed. Thankfully for me everyone went to sleep really quickly and I was able to turn on the TV and catch the fourth quarter in the Eskimo game which was being shown on ESPN 2. I was very fortunate that everyone was soundly asleep as I yelled “YES!” at a late game pick-six that sealed the game in the Eskimos favour and capped off another really good day!

Final park day awaited us and I needed to get some sleep!

 

[Scoppin]

While we were sad to be saying goodbye to EPCOT for another trip, I was very much looking forward to getting my first taste of Animal Kingdom at night. With the new Jungle Book nighttime show and the Tree of Life lighting up, along with the chance to ride the safari as the sun sets, I couldn’t wait to experience the park in a whole new light…So to speak.

We spent a few hours relaxing at the hotel, including a quick dip in the hot tub and pool, when we returned from EPCOT. Lennon and Ella played princesses for a little bit while Kelly and I freshened up and got things ready for our evening at Animal Kingdom. Certainly we were in no rush to get to the park so we took our time getting out the door to walk over to the bus stop.

We finally got our act together, got the girls a light dinner in the room as they weren’t overly too hungry and made the walk from our longhouse to the bus stop. A handful of other Poly guests were waiting for a bus and the numbers dwindled as the different destinations arrived. We boarded the AK bus after a short 10 minute wait, made a quick stop at the Floridian to pick up a few other guests and were off to the park. It was after 5 at this point, likely closer to 6 so the sun was definitely starting to set as we arrived.

The park entrance/security line didn’t seem overly busy so we hoped that would mean short waits for the few rides we wanted to get on before the Jungle Book water show later that evening.

We made our way through security and the entrance and decided to make our way down toward the Tree of Life for a photopass photo before heading over to the Safari to ride at dusk. Busy lines of people waiting to get their pictures taken but we were happy to wait. When it was our turn the kids, well Lennon specifically, didn’t seem to be in the mood to listen to the photog but eventually we finally got her to cooperate. I’ll have to come back and add the picture later as I failed to download it to my photobucket and I don’t have access to it on this computer now that the photopass expiration date has passed.

After our picture we set off towards Kilimanjaro to see if the safari animals were as active in the early evening as they were in the morning during our first ride. Absolutely no wait other than the queue itself so we were able to make the walk and load right on to the truck for our tour. We ended up in the second row this time and we were off and running.

Sadly I didn’t take any pictures this time as I had Lennon sitting pretty close to me throughout the ride but I did regret not having my phone handy as the animals were indeed very active throughout the trek which I was pretty surprised by. Tons of great sightlines of almost every animal on the reserve with the exception of the elephants. They were the only ones that were playing shy which was too bad but it was unreal how close we were to some of the others throughout the ride.

With the setting sun and playful animals it made for another memorable trip around the reserve. Really cool experience to see the safari at this time of the day. Great way to close out one of the best rides in all of WDW in my opinion.

After we finished up on the ride and found our stroller, we decided to head towards Expedition Everest so Kelly and I could get in one more ride. I thought we might have convinced Ella to take a chance and ride but no dice. She wasn’t going to budge! Maybe next trip. Or maybe I shouldn’t have told them I had to fight off the yeti from stealing my hat on the first ride I took a few days earlier. Either way, she needs to suck it up!

Kelly decided jump into the single rider line first so me and the girls moved over towards the big drop to watch the coaster speed down the hill and hear people scream.

At this point it was becoming quite congested around Everest as the FP line for Jungle Book was already starting to fill in. Lots of people trying to squeeze through which made navigating the stroller a little tougher. Kelly was on and off pretty quickly so it was then my turn. I made my way to the single rider line and Kelly took the kids to find a washroom and grab a snack.

The line moved quick and I was placed around the middle of the train along with another single rider. I always love riding any ride in the dark. Just seems to add a little more to the experience. While it wasn’t pitch dark or anything it was far darker than it was even on the safari which made the ride that much cooler. Likely just in my mind but it seemed a little wilder and a tad faster, especially when you hit the backwards portion of the ride. I was sad Ella didn’t end up taking the ride as she’d been so brave all trip but this was one we just couldn’t convince her to try. All the more reason to go back soon to try and get her to do it next time.

When the ride was over it was tough finding the girls with all the people now hovering around for the Jungle Book show. I finally ran into them near one of the ice cream stands to find the kids enjoying a root beer float. Not a bad snack I’d say! Even better that they both didn’t finish so dad was tasked at cleaning up the leftovers. No problem at all in my books! Kelly also told me the three of them took a photopass photo while they waited which ended up being my favourite picture from the trip. Again, I’ll have to update this post when I upload those pics to photobucket. It’s too good not to share and made me realize what a lucky guy I am to have a family like this.

We’d finally decided it was time for Kelly and I to grab something to eat. Being the huge fan of pulled pork that she is, Flame Tree Barbecue was the stop of choice. We both ended up ordering the pulled pork sandwich with baked beans to enjoy.

The quick meal was delicious and made even better by the cool view we had of the Jungle Book theatre stands filling up across the water. We figured if we wanted to find a decent seat we should probably head over there once we finished our food. While we ate the girls ripped around the empty seating area at Flame Tree. It would appear the floats gave them a boost of energy even though they didn’t finish the whole thing.

Kelly and I devoured our food and it was time to make our way to the show. Lots of people were still filling in with about 15 minutes to spare and we ended up getting pretty good spots about half way up towards the left side of the theatre. We settled into our row and I ran out into Dinoland to grab some popcorn for us to snack on during the show. I weaved my way back through the sea of people trying to get in at the last minute to fill in the remaining space in the stands just before the show began. I sat down and a couple moments’ later things got underway.

I really enjoyed the new adaptation of the Jungle Book movie and was looking forward to the show but I have to admit when everything was over I was pretty disappointed. Now, don’t get me wrong, the music and the dancing was great, but the water effects left something to be desired. Maybe I was expecting something a little more like the World of Colour in DCA and what was displayed during the show was nothing even close to that level of production value. The projections on the streams of water were weak at best, at most times you couldn’t make out the scene from the movie if it weren’t for the music accompanying it. Not Disney’s best effort or at least their best execution. Show could have been much better if they could have had the water effects on the level of the music and dancing that went with the show.

We flooded out of the theatre and Kelly and I both had the same reaction…pretty disappointing show but it was cool to at least experience it once. Somehow we ended up finding our stroller and very carefully made our way through the throng of people towards Dinoland to ride the TriceraTops Spin once more before making our way home.

Anything that is similar to Dumbo is a massive hit in Lennon’s book so we took one last spin before making our way towards the Tree of Life to see it light up before heading to the exit.

While the Jungle Book show wasn’t what we expected, the Tree of Life fully lived up to what we were hoping to see. Tons of folks watching along and man was it cool. Great lighting, great effects. Awesome was to highlight one of the signature pieces in WDW. Sadly the pics I took don’t live up to what the show really provided but it was really cool.

We watched for about 5 minutes or so and decided to call it a day. Not an overly busy visit to AK but one that was very cool at night. I can’t wait for Avatar Land to open up and provide even more to this park.

We said our goodbyes and made our way to the bus stop to head back to the Poly. Was after 9 at this point and definitely time to get the kids down to bed. Took the bus a little while to finally arrive but the trip back to the hotel seemed pretty quick. We got back to our room, did some quick prep for our last park day at Magic Kingdom the next day and got the kids down to bed. Thankfully for me everyone went to sleep really quickly and I was able to turn on the TV and catch the fourth quarter in the Eskimo game which was being shown on ESPN 2. I was very fortunate that everyone was soundly asleep as I yelled “YES!” at a late game pick-six that sealed the game in the Eskimos favour and capped off another really good day!

Final park day awaited us and I needed to get some sleep!

Sounds like you had a very good night at AK. We weren't able to do the night safari as the kids wanted to head back to the hotel on our AK day. So, I had to do some fancy last minute changes to our agenda.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Sounds like you had a very good night at AK. We weren't able to do the night safari as the kids wanted to head back to the hotel on our AK day. So, I had to do some fancy last minute changes to our agenda.

It was definitely cool. There wasn't a whole lot for us to do at AK with Dinosaur being down, which is a ride the kids would have went on, and the fact that Ella didn't want to go on Everest (Len is too small still) but the park at night was a neat twist. Hopefully with the nighttime sked and the addition of Avatar AK will get better and better.

Too bad you guys couldn't check it out at night but I'm sure you had a blast anyways!