Trip Report Epcot is Glowing

Hello Everyone. We made it back from our 10 day trip a few days ago. I had a lot of fun working on my last trip report, so I wanted to do one for this trip too. The big change from last time??? We took both kids along for their first trip to Disney.

Leading up to our trip, I had a lot of conversations with people I work with about our vacation plans. I guess I was just so excited that I was steering conversations that way. What I learned is that a lot of people see visiting Disney World with kids as an obligation. When I would tell them where we were going, I'd get, "Oh, you're going there..." It got to the point where I'd be able to finish their story before they did. They spent (insert high amount) of money to go there, it was hot and the kids only wanted to go to the pool, and they ended up not remembering the trip. They knew that Disney was something they should do with their family, but did not enjoy their trip while they were there. Maybe it had something to do with the fact I talked to a lot of dads.

I'm glad to say our trip was nothing like this. Sara, myself, and the kids had a great time, and Luke, our 4 year old, is constantly talking about what he enjoyed and what characters we met. As any parent can tell you, traveling with young children certainly has it's challenges (and that might be a nice way to say it). But it also has some truly great moments as children are able to fully immerse themselves in the magic. I'm very happy to say we had a good number of those moments.

The trip started at 3:15am on Friday.

We had done most of the packing the night before. The kids slept in comfortable clothes, so we were able to get them up and place them in their car seats with the goal being to have them go back to sleep. They did fall asleep, but Luke woke up again before the sunrise.

Yes, this was a drive to WDW, first time we had done that. We did have a DVD player in the minivan, and I can't put into words how helpful this was. Ok, I could, but I doubt you'd want to read it. We threw on a Jake and the Neverland Pirates DVD, and made it south of Richmond for breakfast at McDonalds. They liked the play area.

After breakfast, we continued our trek through the Carolinas, and ended our day in Brunswick, GA.

A few driving photos:

Sara taking a turn

Luke watching something on DVD

and Makayla taking it all in

We stayed at a Hampton Inn for the night, and had dinner at a Toucan Ale House. It was right by the hotel and made for an easy dinner. We don't have them in Pennsylvania, but it reminded me of an Applebee's.

Luke enjoying his meal.

Sara and Makayla

Time for a selfie (or groupie) Not sure what the cool kids are calling it these days. Obviously forgot to wipe Luke's mouth first.

Makayla didn't eat a lot for dinner (which is completely unlike her), and we noticed that she had a bit of a fever. We hoped it was just due to a long day in the car and gave her some children's Tylenol. It was time for some sleep and then we'd finish the drive to WDW the next day.

 

[MinnieM123]

Love the pictures from Chef Mickey's!! I especially liked the picture of Pluto with Kiwi--so cute!! Thought it was a riot that Luke hid under the table, from half of the characters who stopped by. That kid is too funny! I'm really enjoying his antics throughout your trip.

By the way, how did you and Sara enjoy the food; or were you both too distracted with everything going on, that you didn't really notice?

 

[Lyear]

Love the pictures from Chef Mickey's!! I especially liked the picture of Pluto with Kiwi--so cute!! Thought it was a riot that Luke hid under the table, from half of the characters who stopped by. That kid is too funny! I'm really enjoying his antics throughout your trip.

By the way, how did you and Sara enjoy the food; or were you both too distracted with everything going on, that you didn't really notice?

Yes, Luke is quite the character. He would get his mind made up about who he wanted to see, and there was no deviating from it. Plenty more antics to come We both liked the food at Chef Mickey's. It was good food, not the best of our trip, but definitely not lacking. Sara says she liked the tofu stir fry. Leave it to the vegetarians...

 

[Lyear]

By this point we were becoming pro's at getting through bag check. Sara would take Luke and her one bag with her, and I would go on the other side of the table with the stroller and our other 4 bags. Yes really...4. I would have the bags in order so that when the guard would hand them back to me, they would be in order for putting them away in the stroller. Once inside MK, we made our way towards Fantasyland. It was about 11:45, and we had fastpasses to meet Cinderella and Rapunzel. We parked the stroller and made our way to the entrance, with about 10 minutes to spare.

Meeting Rapunzel was sort of a no brainer for this trip. Luke has probably seen her movie more than 20 times, and Sara is a big fan of Cinderella. We had never done the fastpass M&G's before, but with children we can now justify waiting in line to meet all the characters we want to meet . One of the perks of having kids.

As we were waiting in line, Luke was suddenly shy. He told us he didn't want to meet Rapunzel. Leading up to the trip, he had been nervous because he thought she would tie us up in her hair, like she did with Flynn in the movie. We had assured him that wouldn't be the case, and his fears were assuaged. But now he was half shy, and also a bit apprehensive about meeting a girl. I guess we're hitting that age . We pushed on, figuring he would want to talk to her once he met her.

She was the first one we came to, and he was still shy.




He seemed to be keenly aware there were photographers around. Rapunzel told him what a cute prince he was, and assured him that she would never tie him up in her hair . Kiwi meanwhile decided it was naptime, and was busy looking for a comfortable spot on my shoulder.





Next up was Cinderella. Cinderella noticed Kiwi trying to fall asleep and asked if she had stayed at the ball past midnight. She then saw that she didn't have shoes on, and was concerned that she had lost her slipper. Cinderella was a very nice interaction. Luke remained reserved.



Kiwi was a bit upset about being woken up.


After meeting the princesses, we had a fastpass for Peter Pan. We left the stroller where it was and walked over. Makayla had now given up on the idea of sleeping and wanted to walk.

After about 10 minutes, we boarded. Luke was excited.

This ride was a real favorite. He enjoyed seeing Captain Hook, but was disappointed that Jake wasn't in the ride. Time to update Peter Pan Disney .

Our final ride that morning was the carousel. Carousels are always a Luke favorite, and Makayla was even able to ride a horse too. She wasn't thrilled at first, but ended up liking it.

We ended up doing the carousel twice since it was a short wait. Then it was out to the bus stop. An All Star Movies bus was waiting as we walked over, so we decided to hop on and then walk back to Music.

It's a long bus ride holding a 1 year old.

And some quick pics at Movies.

The Mighty Ducks, a movie that has stood the test of time .

After getting only slightly lost at the Movies resort, we were back at Music and ready for our nap.

 

[Lyear]

After waking up from our short nap, we were ready to begin our night, which would include our most unique experience of our trip. First though, it was back to MK. On the way in, Luke decided he wanted a popcorn. He takes after Sara with his love of popcorn. I can't stand the stuff. Sara ended up taking a pic of him in mid chew as we walked. This one's ready for GQ.

Twilight at the Magic Kingdom (and no, not those sketchy novels ).

We started with our final fastpass of the night, Winnie the Pooh. Luke knows who the Pooh characters are, but has never really been a fan. But at least he enjoyed this ride, especially the bouncing with Tigger.

Sara tried to capture a pic of Makayla and me.

Once we were finished in the hundred acre wood, we decided to give the tea cups a spin. I had to promise Luke I wouldn't spin them too fast. Here we are getting ready.

The teacup ride was the only one on this trip where it really stood out to me how short it was. It seemed like we had spun for about 30 seconds when it was over.

Our plan for dinner was Columbia Harbour House, but when we walked over there, we were told by a CM it had closed early to prepare for the Christmas party. We decided since we were close, we'd go back to Pecos Bill's. I'm pretty sure we got the exact same meal as we did the day before. We figured Disney does not give guests extra points for originality .

As she waited for me to arrive with the food, Sara was able to capture the rapidly changing moods of Makayla.
Happy.

Sad

Taken probably 5 seconds apart. That's our wannabe teenager.

Dinner was once again very good. Upon exiting, we were found guilty of not possessing a Christmas party wristband and quickly ushered to the exit through Adventureland. It was ok though, our plans didn't include Magic Kingdom tonight. We had a whole different plan.

 

[Lyear]

In our lead up to this trip, Sara had found, on Pinterest of all places, a special fireworks cruise called the Pirates and Pals Cruise. At first glance the price was enough to scare me away. About $70.00 for adults, about $40.00 for kids (I can't remember the exact amounts). That seemed like too much to pay for a fireworks cruise. Upon closer inspection, there was a lot more to it than just fireworks, and since Luke is really into pirates, we decided to go for it. Tonight was our night for the cruise.

Upon exiting MK, we made a left and walked over to the Contempory Resort, the check-in location for our cruise. After a brief search, we found the check-in location.

We were given a brief overview of the night at check-in, and they informed us of the most important rule of the night - "There are no bathrooms on the boat." This would not be the first time we heard this rule. They also gave us pirate bandanas to wear. We were among the early arrivals, so we had time to kill. They had a small coloring station set up for the kids.

They also had a small scavenger hunt with questions about things you see on the 4th floor of the contemporary, like what is the name of the gift shop, etc. Luke walked along with me while we got the answers to the questions, then we turned in our answers. Since we had gotten them correct (Go me!!!), Luke was able to pick out a piece of treasure from the treasure chest. He decided on plastic bead necklaces for him and Makayla.

We still had a bit of time to kill, and lots of open space, so Luke spent a good bit of time running around.

Again, very hard to get a clear pic of him.

Kiwi also used this time to explore.

After a bit, we took a quick potty break, because as we had heard, there were no bathrooms on the boat. Then suddenly Pirates of the Caribbean music started playing through the speakers, and out of a door comes our guide for the night, Captain Patch. Whenever Patch would say something we agreed with, we'd all yell out - Aye Patch. Ah funny word play!

Captain Patch once again reminded us that there were no bathrooms on the boats, and then invited us in to a separate room for a dessert bar. They had chips, pretzels, cookies, cake, and frozen ice cream bars. We quickly got through the line and sat down to eat our dessert.

Shortly after entering the room, Patch announced that some special guests wanted to come check on the new Pirate recruits. With that, Captain Hook and Smee entered. A line quickly formed for them. Luke was a little scared to go because he was afraid Captain Hook would steal his newly acquired treasure. We assured him that Smee would keep the captain in line, and he agreed to meet them. He quickly warmed up to them when it was our turn.


After meeting Captain Hook and Smee, we took Luke for a final bathroom break. Just as we were entering the room again, Patch had called everyone together to explain the rest of the night. First thing he mentioned - there are no bathrooms on the boat. He stressed that this was a very important rule. He then introduced his associate captain, also named Patch. They divided the group in two, with Hook and Smee each being the leader of a boat. We were placed into Hook's boat. After a final bathroom call, we were lead out to our vessels for the evening. Captain Hook gave us a final farewell as we boarded.

 

[Lyear]

We boarded the boat and sat in our assigned row. Captain Patch said farewell to Captain Hook, then decided that we should all act like Tick Tock Croc to scare him. Of course we all joined in.

As we pulled away, Patch walked around and introduced each family on the trip, with questions for everyone. It was the standard, where are you from, questions, but he at least made it interesting. Patch then decided we needed training on how to speak like pirates, so we all sang along to "Talk Like a Pirate," from Jake and the Never land Pirates. Luke of course was thrilled. We then went around and were looking for people with birthdays and anniversaries. We sang happy birthday to all of us with birthdays, then he sang a rendition of "Kiss the Girl" while the anniversaries got up and danced. Following this, Patch told us a few jokes, none of which I can recall right now, and then led us in another song, this time "Under the Sea."

After this it was time for the fireworks. Since it was the Christmas party tonight, we were going to be watching the Christmas version of Wishes. I decided to record it, since how often are we going to do this, right??? A few notes about the video first. #1 - I'm not a good videographer. #2 - I refused to watch the show through my little 1.5 inch screen, so I'd be watching the show, then glancing at the camcorder to make sure it was aimed at the right part. So if you see a portion where I begin filming a rail on the ship or something like that, that's what happened. #3 - there is a girl that hops up into my sight line about halfway through, prompting a reposition on my part, and #4 - yes I know there is a vertical bar in the middle of the screen. I had to film from where they sat me . So with all that as lead in, here is my recording of Holiday Wishes.


Following the show, the entire boat, and those boats around use, cheered loudly. Then it was time to start our return journey. Captain Patch led us in his version of "Whale of a Tale," from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, then began a game of trivia. Trivia was reserved for the kiddos on board, which prevented Sara and I from shouting out the answers. Patch had prizes for correct answers. Luke really wanted a prize. Unfortunately, he didn't know most of the trivia.

The first few questions were from "Pirates of the Caribbean," a movie he has never watched. Next up was "Little Mermaid," which he has watched, but not enough to know any trivia from it. Then, the final movie was "Peter Pan." He has seen this one a few times, so we had high hopes. The first question was "Where does Peter Pan live?" Sara grabbed Luke's hand and held it high into the sky, and Patch called on him right away. Unfortunately, he froze. He had the classic deer in the headlights look and couldn't come up with the answer.

Patch went to someone else, and Luke was completely distraught. He was pretty much inconsolable as tears streamed down his face. Patch quickly announced that he'd have prizes for everyone as they left the ship, so we told him he'd still get a prize, which helped to cheer him up somewhat.

Our final approach to the Contemporary led us past the electrical water pageant.

When we came to the dock, Peter Pan was waiting for us, and announced he'd be available for photos a small ways up the pier.

As we left, Luke was able to get his prize, a pirate sword and eye patch. This instantly made his night. Patch gave Makayla a small rubber ducky in pirate garb. Then it was off to meet Peter Pan. Peter was a great interaction. He was talking to Luke about scaring Captain Hook, and about the tick tock croc as part of the electrical water pageant.


A good photo of his prize for the night.




After leaving Peter Pan, we went into the Contemporary Resort for a potty break, then walked back to MK to catch a bus. Luke was giving the bushes along the path a free trim with his new pirate sword. Yes, he really liked it.

I can't give the Pirates cruise enough of a thumbs up here. It was a superb evening. The songs, jokes, etc were great, and it was a great view for Wishes. It is a bit pricey, but well worth it in my opinion. Certainly one of the most memorable nights of our trip, a night we will remember for years to come.

 

[MinnieM123]

Never heard of the Pirates and Pals Cruise before, but, I think it's a fun idea for families with young children. As you mentioned, it was one of the most memorable nights of your trip, so the extra money was well spent. Your video captured the spectacular fireworks show, and what a great viewing point you all had from the boat. Found the trivia section amusing. (Thank goodness they had a prize for Luke at the end, which cheered him up!) Lastly, you got an extra treat in passing by the electrical water pageant! Do you know how much I love that cheesy light display?! Been a big fan of that for more years than I can even recall!

 

[Lyear]

Never heard of the Pirates and Pals Cruise before, but, I think it's a fun idea for families with young children. As you mentioned, it was one of the most memorable nights of your trip, so the extra money was well spent. Your video captured the spectacular fireworks show, and what a great viewing point you all had from the boat. Found the trivia section amusing. (Thank goodness they had a prize for Luke at the end, which cheered him up!) Lastly, you got an extra treat in passing by the electrical water pageant! Do you know how much I love that cheesy light display?! Been a big fan of that for more years than I can even recall!

Yes the Pirates and Pals cruise was new to me too. Have to give credit to Sara for finding it. I had only seen the water pageant in photos before, it was neat to see it live. I was surprised by how big the displays were up close.

 

[Lyear]

The next day was a Saturday, our 8th day at WDW. 3 days left to go. I was definitely starting to feel the sadness of checkout day approaching, especially since today would mark our last visit to Epcot. But I was comforted by the fact that we were staying 2 days longer than we had ever stayed in the world before. On our former trips this would have been our checkout day.

But not this year!!!

The day started with a drive to Polynesian Village resort. The initial plan was to take a bus, then monorail to the Poly, but due to convenience we decided to just drive. Approaching the MK sign.

And then the Poly.

We found a spot to park then made our way inside and up to the 2nd floor. We of course had to stop to look at the water on the way

We had breakfast reservations today at Kona Cafe. Definitely one I was looking forward to. I had seen and heard such good reports of the Tonga Toast, and today was going to be my day to try it. Once we checked in, it was about a 15 minute wait. I took some photos of the lobby while Luke watched some Mickey cartoons.

Shortly before we were paged, we again saw our friends from York, PA. This was the 2nd time we had seen them unexpectedly. They were waiting for their breakfast at Ohana. Both had long waits this morning.

We were eventually paged and seated. Kiwi spent some time playing with a slinky, while Luke requested Angry Birds.

And of course, I have to take a photo of Sara

We ordered Luke and Makayla the kids pancake platter to share, while Sara and I both got the Tonga Toast. I knew going in what I was going to order, but I feel I must say that they had a lot of variety. So many good choices on their menu.

Once we ordered, it was a relatively short wait until the food arrived. Luke and Makayla's plate (complete with a Mickey design)

and of course, the Tonga Toast.

While Luke and Makayla devoured their fruit and pancakes, Sara and I critiqued the Tonga Toast . I think I was a victim of unrealistic expectations. The food was very, very good, but it did fall slightly short of what I was expecting. Sara enjoyed it. I think her favorite part was trying the different syrups. Luke quickly caught on to that game too . In the end, all our food was devoured.

Overall thoughts...primarily, the resort and restaurant just seemed busy. The lobby was full of people and the restaurant was full as well, leading to a long wait. It was a kind of hustle and bustle energy that made it difficult to relax. Once we were seated, it did seem to get a little better, and the food was delicious, while not quite meeting my lofty (and probably unrealistic) expectations. The serving staff were ok, but not the best we had on our trip. I would probably visit Kona again, but it's not a must do on my list.

Due to the delay in getting seated at the restaurant, it was about 10:30 before we left the Poly, and made the quick trip to Epcot. We were running slightly behind, which would lead to a difficult time later that morning.

 

[Lyear]

The drive from the Poly to Epcot is very quick, and since it was still fairly early, we got a good parking space. As we entered the park, Luke of course wanted to do the Epcot Ride (SSE), but since we had fastpasses for Soarin' that were nearly expired, we had to pass by. We quickly made our way to the Land pavilion, and found a spot to park our stroller.

Sara and I had intentionally packed Luke some thick soled shoes for Soarin'. After being denied entrance on our first night, we made sure he was wearing them today. Sure enough the CM pulled Luke over to the height measurement, and again called another cm over. This time, though, he passed. They decided he was tall enough to soar. Luke had a huge smile on his face as Sara and he made their way through the entrance.

Kiwi and I decided to use this time to ride Living with the Land, which had about a 10 minute wait We lucked into a front row seat. Kiwi is usually very squirmy, but Living with the Land held her attention. She liked going through the rainforest especially. Then the different plants in the greenhouse kept her gaze as well. It wasn't until the very end that she started trying to move around, and by then it was time to exit.

After exiting we waited about 5 minutes in the Soarin' area before Sara and Luke showed up. I was excited to hear what he thought. He was very exited to tell me about flying, but he did not like the fireworks at the end. He didn't like how they were big, noisy, and rocked your seat. He decided he didn't want to do Soarin' again, which meant there would be no Soarin' for me this trip . Technically, I could have used our rider swap and gone solo, but I figured there were better ways to spend our time.

Upon learning that Kiwi and I had gone on a boat ride, Luke decided he wanted to do that. So once again, I found myself on Living with the Land. Luke's favorite part was the fish...and bananas. Oh, and the fact that we were on a boat. He wanted to go again, we had lots more we wanted to do today, and the wait was now about 20 minutes.

After leaving the Land pavilion, we made our way to the other side of future world, to Ellen's energy adventure. Sara insists we do this ride once per trip. She enjoys the nice, long seated ride as a way to escape the mid-day heat, and has made this a tradition of ours. Of course, keeping two kids occupied during the opening part of the show proved challenging.

The plotline of the show, of course, went right over Luke's head. As we entered the vehicles, we saw this sign.

Luke decided that this meant we had to sit down and hold hands during the ride. There were to be no parties where you put your arms outside the car. Gotta love him, he's not too far off . Luke was slightly scared of the dinosaurs on this ride, but we made it through unscathed.

So it was at this point that being late to enter the park really put us into a crunch time. We had so much of Epcot we hadn't seen yet, but only had about 40 minutes before we absolutely needed to leave to go back for naps. 2pm seems to be the point of no return when it comes to Luke and Makayla sleeping. If we get them laid down before two, they'll go to sleep. After 2, they lay awake and refuse to close their eyes. It's like their second wind comes at 2:00. We thought about skipping a nap today, but decided that we had been pushing them so hard the last few days. Since we had a late night planned, a nap was definitely needed.

We wanted to stop by innovations to do the Chase credit card photo, but first decided to swing by the Mission Space playground, which had been closed our first night. Luke loved it.

And Makayla even got into the fun.

Luke quickly made some friends and they began chasing each other around the tunnels. We could hear him giggling inside the tunnels from the floor. After about 10 minutes, we broke the news to him that we had to go take our picture. This sparked the most severe temper tantrum we experienced in the world .

Luke was pulling on us as we walked away from the playground to the point where I had to pick him up and carry him out as he screamed. One person outside asked us if the ride had scared him. "No, just upset to be leaving the playground". He continued screaming and kicking all the way to the stroller, and then again when he was seated in the stroller. Sara and I decided it was no use to try to get the Chase photo while Luke was so worked up, so we headed for the exit. Luke continued his screaming about how he wanted to play all the way through the exit and out to the car. And of course, some CM at the exit picked this time to ask if we'd complete a survey . Sorry Mr. CM, normally I love to help you out, but I've got a bit of a crisis on my hands.

So that's the way our morning, and our Epcot experience for this trip, ended. We had seen many kids screaming at WDW before, and today was our turn. Honestly, in my heart, I felt really sad for him and how this morning went down. We definitely fell into the trap of trying to check things off our list this morning. The danger of that, of course, is that when something you truly enjoy comes along, you have trouble slowing down and simply enjoying it. Looking back, I wish we would have decided to ditch the Chase photo up front and allowed him time to fully experience the playground, because I think that would have led to a better memory. I tried to figure out a way to come back to Epcot again on this trip to give Luke more time there, but we simply couldn't work it into our schedule.

Once out to the car, Luke did calm down, and he began talking about the fireworks on Soarin'. We got back to the hotel and found our beds for a nap. Our plan for that night was to check out MK for wishes, but of course, plans often go awry .

 

[MinnieM123]

Tonga Toast!

Found the Soarin height restrictions interesting, in that I've seen parents with little kids buckle them in the seats with (what appears to be) an extra safety loop. Not sure what height would have to do with that, but I guess they have their safety rules for a reason. Anyway, glad that Luke (and you) got to experience the ride.

You and Sara do a great job with the two children, continually adjusting attraction expectations, based on the children's likes and moods. (And who would have thought that the Mission Space playground would be a major highlight at WDW for Luke? )

 

[Lyear]

Tonga Toast!

Found the Soarin height restrictions interesting, in that I've seen parents with little kids buckle them in the seats with (what appears to be) an extra safety loop. Not sure what height would have to do with that, but I guess they have their safety rules for a reason. Anyway, glad that Luke (and you) got to experience the ride.

You and Sara do a great job with the two children, continually adjusting attraction expectations, based on the children's likes and moods. (And who would have thought that the Mission Space playground would be a major highlight at WDW for Luke? )

Thanks for the compliment. The minimum height to go on Soarin' is 40 inches. Then, they need to use that extra loop to buckle in until they a different height, but I'm not sure what that height is. If I remember right, it's marked by a line on the seat. If you're below that line, you need to use the extra loop.

 

[Lyear]

Our plans for tonight involved meeting our friends in MK for dinner. Since we got down for a nap late, we all slept in a little late too, which meant we were behind from the beginning. We decided to drive to MK since Kiwi was becoming more and more difficult to handle on the bus. We had never been to the MK parking lot before, and unfortunately it was pretty full. We ended up parking in a very back lot, but I can't remember the character name. The line for the tram was very full, so we decided to walk. It was a good 10-15 minutes of walking before we saw the entrance to the TTC.

Once here, we jumped on the express monorail and then made our way inside MK. I'm having trouble coming up with new ways to say MK was crowded. I was waiting for some cast members to bring out the packing tape, because the place was fully packed. The Magic Kingdom cup was filled to the brim. I've never experienced crowds like this at WDW. We've always gone in the fall to avoid the crowds. So finding crowd levels of 9/10 was an unwelcome surprise. A little known fact about me - I don't do well in crowds .

It was a challenge to make our way down Main Street. We ended up falling in line behind a motorized wheelchair who was using his horn to clear the way, then slowly made our way to the path to Liberty Square. Our plan was to meet at Columbia Harbour House. When we arrived, they were waiting for us...so was everyone else. The crowd levels we had seen on Main Street were the same levels inside the restaurant.

We were about 10 families deep in the line to place our order. Sara took the kids to find a table upstairs while I placed our order. After what I would say was a half hour, we had placed our order and picked up our food. I got to the table and realized I didn't have dessert on my tray . Our friends had the same problem. So Josh, the other dad, and myself, went back downstairs, went to the corner of the pick up area, and flagged down a cast member. Thankfully it was no issue getting dessert.

Then we sat down to eat.

That is a picture of our friends, Josh and Courtney, and their daughter Kaitlyn. Sara has known them longer than she's known me. They go to our church. The months leading up to our trips were filled with us sharing planning ideas and stories. We were about 5 days ahead of them in reserving dining and fastpasses, so we were able to give them the low-down on what to expect .

It was nice to have a seat and relax a bit. The food was good, and not the normal theme park fare. I got the Lighthouse sandwich, which was a broccoli slaw and tomato sandwich. Sara got a kids mac and cheese, which is what Luke and Makayla had as well.

Unfortunately, this night will forever be remembered as the night Makayla spewed over half the table. Yuck! Thankfully it was our half. It came completely unexpectedly as she had given no sign of being sick. She was eating fine. Suddenly she started coughing, and then bam. Josh was kind enough to help me carry her diaper bag to the bathroom so I could change her. Sara worked on cleaning up the table. Then, just as I got back to the table, she went again. This time thankfully it was a much smaller scale.

We decided that it'd be best to take her back to the hotel and let her sleep. I offered to take her, since I wasn't exactly loving the crowd level. So Sara and I divided up our things and I was on my way to the exit. I decided to take the ferry since the monorail line was long.

Poor Makayla

I was able to take some pictures from the ferry. The Contemporary

Grand Floridian

And the castle

We left the ferry and made our way back to the car. Just as we arrived, I started feeling raindrops. By the time we made it to the hotel, it was pouring. We raced inside, and I laid Makayla down. Poor Makayla, she had an ear infection to start the trip, now a stomach ache. I hoped that she would feel better. I watched some TV before falling asleep myself.

In the rush to get inside and out of the rain, I had left some non-important items in the car. One of these was my backpack, which contained our ponchos. I didn't connect the dots at the time, but I would soon hear the tale of Sara and Luke's wet and rainy night in the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Lyear]

While Makayla and I headed back to our resort for some sleep, Luke and Sara had their own adventure. Once we went our separate ways, they, as well as our friends, staked out a good spot for the nighttime parade near the Liberty Square spoke into the hub. It was a good hour and a half before the parade, but spaces were already at a premium. Right around the time I would have been reaching our car and it started raining, it also began raining in MK. It was a hard rain. The kind of rain that would have been great for ponchos, if only they weren't stuffed into my backpack in the back of the car. Everyone was running for cover, and Sara and Luke ended up on the porch of Crystal Palace. Everyone was huddled together.

The group noticed there was a photopass photographer nearby, so they got in line for some under-awning shots near Crystal Palace. Luke had decided that he didn't mind being wet, as long as he could wear his ear muffs .




They ended up watching wishes from Crystal Palace. Sara enjoyed it, as she always does. She loves this show. She said Luke was more interested in seeing the characters from Winnie the Pooh than he was in watching the fireworks.

After the show, Luke announced he needed to use the potty. At least he told us this time . It was still raining, so they made their way through the emporium towards the main entrance bathrooms. Once they reached the end of the store, the exit was blocked from people seeking shelter from the rain. Sara picked Luke up and yelled, "kid needs to go potty," as she weaved in and out of people on her way to the bathroom. Unfortunately, Luke had peed just before they made it. Not his fault this time . Luckily they had a change of clothes. Sara took a photo of a very wet Luke.

With clean clothes on, the group made a dash across main street, and up the other side. They stopped to get some ice cream at the ice cream parlor. While they were eating, Josh had checked in with his parents, who were also with their group on the trip and had decided to leave when it started to rain. They informed him that the wait for the buses was over an hour long. Everyone had decided to leave MK at the same time. Sara, Luke and the others decided to continue their trek under the awnings toward tomorrowland. They found a photopass photographer along the way.





Once they hit tomorrowland, Luke really wanted to go on Buzz Lightyear, so they went 2 times. Luke got so happy every time he would see Zurg being held by the crane on this ride.





They checked out the people mover, but it had closed for the night. They discussed getting on another ride, but since it was 11:30, and there were announcements that the parade was still being postponed, they decided to call it a night. Luckily there was a bus waiting for them as they exited. They came back to the hotel room, where Kiwi and I were asleep, changed clothes, and fell asleep. Their crazy, wet, fun night was behind them.

 

[Lyear]

Our final full day had arrived . Today was Sunday and we had a very full, park-hopper kind of day planned. The first challenge...get Luke out of bed. Yes, it had been a late night for him, and he was oblivious to the world around him as we were getting ready. We finally got him to open his eyes by turning on some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but then we couldn't peel him away from the TV. Yup, it was going to be one of those days. We of course couldn't blame him, it was one of those days.

Makayla meanwhile seemed back to her old self. She was anxiously looking for any type of food she could get. She was downing graham crackers, cheerios, baby puffs...you name it she would eat it. She was definitely feeling better than the night before.

We finally rolled out of the room around 8:30. Since we were traveling between parks today, we were going to drive. We loaded into the van and made our way to the first destination...

Once inside the park, we made a left and on over to the Muppets. A little bit of time looking at the fountain. It was jaw-droppingly good.

Luke only knows the muppets from their super old Christmas show which also featured the Sesame Street characters. If you know which one I'm talking about, give yourself a pat on the back. Sara grew up watching it every year, and we now have the DVD.

We thought Luke would like this since it's good old slapstick comedy, and that seems to be his thing. We were wrong, at least in the beginning. The loud sounds (never noticed them before) were scaring him. At one point I thought we might have to walk out, but we gave him his ear muffs and he settled in. He ended up enjoying the final band piece, and afterwards said the show was "silly, silly, silly." Quite the turn, and we're glad he liked it.

Once outside, we did a quick bathroom/diaper change run, and took a snowman photo.

Lightning and Mater were next on Luke's to-do list. As we got to them, there was only one other family that was just ending their photos. Score!!! Luke noticed that Lightning had a few chips in his paint, and I said he'd have to go to Ramone's for a new paint job. Luke thought that was just the most awesome thing, and kept asking about when Lightning was going to get a new paint job the rest of the morning.





We then did the Honey I shrunk the kids playground, this time with clear expectations set about how we could only stay a few minutes . It went much better.

Unfortunately, most of the slides were closed since they were wet from the night before. We still had a great time.

 

[MinnieM123]

Really enjoyed the pictures of the kids in this most recent set of photos. I had to chuckle at how little Luke appeared next to the big snowman. By the way, Makayla's blue dress is very pretty; did she pick that out, or did Sara decide on it for your last day of vacation? (Oh, speaking of fashion and all, perhaps Luke might just set a new trend with his "earmuffs" from the previous day's festivities in the rain?! )

 

[Lyear]

When we left the playground, we started doing some repeats of HS attractions we had already experienced and liked. First was Disney Jr Live on Stage. We once again made it in just before the show started, and it took a little bit of time to find a space to sit. Luke was a little upset to find it was the same story, but he still liked it again. Acting like the Tick Tock Croc was still his favorite part.

He also decided to steal my hat!

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

And hooray, we all get gold doubloons. Sara was exited to take this shot.

Next was TSMM. Another Luke favorite. When we finished, he really wanted to go again, but no way we could wait in that 90 minute line.

Our plan for lunch was to eat at Rosie's, near Tower of Terror. We knew this was closed for a refurb during the beginning part of our trip, but it was originally scheduled to be open today. Unfortunately, the refurb must have taken a bit longer than expected because it was still closed when we arrived. We decided to trek back across the park to do pizza planet. Pizza planet was good as always, but wow, was it busy. The line to order food was out the door. Luke waited with me to keep me company, and after about a half hour we had ordered our food and arrived at the table. Sara took some Kiwi photos while they waited.

Now you see me...

Now you don't...

After we finished, Luke once again enjoyed the "free" games downstairs. The long wait for food had put us slightly behind our schedule, so we decided to just make our way to the exit. Luke really wanted his picture taken by the Tatooine Traders wall, even though he has no idea what Star Wars is...yet!

Sara took some photos of the HS Christmas tree, while Luke and Makayla spent some time watching the ducks in the lake. Luke was totally enamored with this one duck that was diving under the water. I think he would have stayed there all afternoon watching it if we let him.

We then made the walk to our car...

When we made it back to our hotel, we took some pictures of the awesome job that mousekeeping had done. They did a phenomenal job all week.

They even lined up Kiwi's animals. Too bad she was too tired to notice.

We all slept really good that afternoon, it would be our last nap in WDW. Our plan that night was dinner in AK, followed by a return visit to HS for one last look at the Osborne Lights.

 

[Lyear]

Really enjoyed the pictures of the kids in this most recent set of photos. I had to chuckle at how little Luke appeared next to the big snowman. By the way, Makayla's blue dress is very pretty; did she pick that out, or did Sara decide on it for your last day of vacation? (Oh, speaking of fashion and all, perhaps Luke might just set a new trend with his "earmuffs" from the previous day's festivities in the rain?! )

Thanks Minnie. Have to give Sara credit for the Ariel dress. It was not planned that she wore it the final full day, just worked out that way. And yes, perhaps Luke is on to something with the earmuffs in the rain. Thanks for following along.

 

[MinnieM123]

Thanks Minnie. Have to give Sara credit for the Ariel dress. It was not planned that she wore it the final full day, just worked out that way. And yes, perhaps Luke is on to something with the earmuffs in the rain. Thanks for following along.

Thank you (and Sara) for sharing your family's vacation. It was a wonderful (and often amusing) TR. Too bad your vacation had to come to an end, as I thoroughly enjoyed following along with the daily activities in your family's schedule, and the antics of the children to go along with it. (P.S.: I hope Luke returned your hat back to you!)

 

[Lyear]

Following our nap, our evening began with a trip to Animal Kingdom. We drove again, this time to make for an easy hop to HS later.

A photo of Pandora, the "floating" rock was placed while we were in WDW. On a similar note, we were also in WDW when the Epcot Wand was removed about 8 years ago. Seeing the rock go up reminded me of that.

We decided to take advantage of the tram services.

Once inside the park, we really didn't have time to do any rides before our dinner reservations at Tusker House, so we decided to do some exploring. We walked down just about every path we came across. I was in a bit of a silly mood, and the crowd level was light since it was so late, so we did our "crazy stroller" ride, where I run and veer the stroller away from obstacles at the last minute. We did this while exploring the trails. Luke and Makayla loved it. Sara acted like she wasn't part of our group .

As we were walking towards Africa, Luke saw a Donald Duck hat that he NEEDED to have. After seeing him in it, we couldn't say no. Sure, have another souvenir kid. We did say no to the dinosaur though.

When we checked in at Tusker House, we were a bit early. Luke and Sara went to check on some last minute souvenirs, while Makayla and I enjoyed the live band playing in Africa.

After a bit, I got a text that our table was ready, before Sara and Luke returned. So I was in the unenviable position of explaining to the hostess that we weren't quite ready for our table. The first hostess seemed a bit perturbed, but the other host standing at the booth said it was no problem and to just let them know when we were all there.

When Sara and Luke arrived, we were led to our table by the "nice" host, who we found out was from YORK, PENNSYLVANIA. He was doing the Disney college semester. Oh how I wish I could have done that while in college.

Tusker house hits an authentic African feel with the wall art and tables/chairs. It's a buffet style meal with both American selections, like mac and cheese, and more African selections, like...well, I can't remember the names of the dishes. It was all very good though. Sara and I both made a few trips to the buffet.

Seating area

And the buffet. This one felt more "authentically" African to me than the seating area.

And by the way, there's also Character Meet and Greets!!! That was the big draw for us.

Daisy was the first to arrive at our table. She was the one Clubhouse member we hadn't met yet. Luke didn't want to meet Daisy, so he once again hid under the table. Kiwi was intrigued

Next came Mickey. Kiwi was a fan, Luke not so much.

Donald was next.

Donald was so excited to see Luke's hat that he did a little dance. Luke loved the chance to see Donald one more time.

And finally, there was Goofy.

Goofy acted like he was going to take the Donald hat. We explained to him that Luke also had a Goofy hat back at the hotel, and he was ok after that.

After seeing Goofy, I went to the buffet to get some dessert. While I was there, they started playing some music over the speakers. When I returned to the dining room, they were having a character parade. Apparently Luke really wanted to be in the parade, but wasn't willing to walk up to it himself. Sara couldn't take him because Kiwi was in the high chair, so he was bummed that he had missed it. He was so excited about the parade that we decided we would wait until the next one. We checked with a character helper, who said they do it every 40 minutes. That really was longer than we wanted to wait. But since it was our last night, we decided, why not??? So we watched the characters circling the room, and Luke played a little Angry Birds. 40 minutes can seem like a really long time when you're looking forward to something.

We got to see each of the characters come around again. This time Luke was feeling a little more social. A little...

At least he wasn't under the table .

Finally, the moment came. We heard the "Jambo" music starting, and Luke and I rushed to where the characters were gathering. Luke ended up being a lucky child selected to play an instrument.

Following Goofy

The parade, and getting an instrument, made his night.

After this, we did a quick potty stop, then headed for the exit. Animal Kingdom was closed for the night, but we had plans to see the Osborne Lights one more time.