So here we are again… Another amazing trip is over.
My original title for the is report was:
The Best-Laid Plans Of The Mouse & Men… because so many of our carefully thought out schedules & plans were completely turned upside down by Irma and other “forces” along the way.
However, Ross and Julia who do not share my love for Robert Burns or John Steinbeck vetoed that and came up with their own title. Before I begin our tale, I want to express and offer our thoughts and prayers to all who suffered in Hurricane Irma as well as Harvey & Maria. There are times when I joke about the fact that we were in Florida during the hurricane, but in no way do I not realize the devastation that was caused to so many.
That being said... Let the Trip Report begin! Who’s in?
Sorry guys, life has just been crazy here and I can't find a minute to sit down and write. I promise I'm going to try to get going again this weekend. Thanks to all of you who have checked in with me!
I'm glad that you were able to make a showing of the American Adventure. It is such a great show! I think it's a hidden gem in the World Showcase. I always leave wishing they sold a cd of the songs, but no such luck.
I woke up at 6:00am and I have to admit, part of me was still digesting the realization of hurricane Irma. Our “girls only” part of the trip was so definitely unforgettable and I was looking forward to sharing it more with Ross when he arrived.
Our original plans had us going to the parks on Monday and then resting Tuesday so we would be fresh and rested for this morning, but since Irma changed our plans, we would be starting today bright & early after a late EMH night.
Ross’s flight was at 7:00 so I was hoping I would get a text or call to let me know all was well. Orlando Airport reopened this morning, after being shut down since Saturday afternoon. But no – I didn’t receive a phone call or text. So I hoped for the best figuring no news is good news.
The girls woke up and we all got ready to go.
Julia said her foot felt a little better but was still bothering her. I told her we would get a wheelchair for her if she thought it would help, but she didn’t want to do that – at least not yet.
We had another early ADR this morning that we were all looking forward to. We hopped a bus for MK – without any bus drama and YES – I did remember the autograph book today!
Soon we were back at MK – again - a very quiet morning. I wondered how many more days we would experience like this secretly hoping it was the result of a slow time of year and not the most devastating hurricane in recorded history.
The photopass photographers were out in full force.
Since yesterday we dined at Cinderella’s castle, today we would visit Belle’s castle for breakfast. I had to stop to ask a CM which way we needed to go since the park wasn’t opening until 9:00 and our ADR was for 8:30.
We checked in, got our rose and walked into the castle.
Since we pre-ordered, we didn’t have to wait any extra and soon we were looking for a table. Hope, who usually doesn’t like this restaurant, seemed to have warmed up to it and wanted to sit in the West Wing. Unfortunately, there were no available tables. We ended up in the large ballroom and in no time our food arrived.
Hope got French Toast, Julia got that doughnut thing, and I got eggs and bacon. We also got a regular and GF pastry plate.
The food was really good – so much better than CRT!
After we ate, we walked around and looked at the rose which I can never get a good picture of.
We really enjoyed our breakfast at Beast's Castle. Ross was sad he wasn't there because he really wanted to try it for breakfast, but I couldn't work it into our schedule. I know next year, I have to make sure we all get there!
After breakfast, we walked out into a beautiful MK – still quiet. I walked over to get our stroller and as I was pulling it toward me Julia yelled, “Mom, that’s not ours!” Indeed it was not ours – it was an identical stroller – but not ours. I was so embarrassed! I quickly parked it and found our stroller just a few down.
I was a bit worried about Ross so I texted my sister who confirmed she dropped him at the airport. So I figured he was on his way.
The first thing we wanted to do was visit Ariel before her line got too long. The wait was 5 minutes – not too shabby!
Then Julia wanted to walk to the front of the park to get her SOTMK cards for the day. So we headed that way.
On the way, we saw that Merida was about ready to meet & greet so we decided to wait the 10 minutes.
We continued on to Main Street and picked up Julia’s SOTMK cards. She wanted to play a little so I said okay. Off we went to Fantasy Land since that was her first area. I have to say it took us a while to figure this game out. She has played “Magiquest” before and loved it – so she was so excited about SOTMK.
As we were walking, we came across Alice with just a couple of people waiting, so we stopped.
Julia found her first couple of missions and was really enjoying the game.
As she was completing a mission near the castle, we saw the Fairy Godmother – again with basically no line so we waited to see her. Just as I was handing her the autograph books, my phone went off. I had my ringer on just in case Ross was trying to reach me. I saw it was my mom calling so I declined the call and apologized to the Fairy Godmother. I told her it was grandma calling to check in on us. She asked me where grandma lived and I told her NY. She was so funny – she continued to talk about my mom saying how Fairy Godmothers and grammas have a special connection and that I should be sure to give my mom her regards when I called her back. She was really awesome!
I should mention that at about 10:00, Ross called and said he was on ME heading to the resort.
Julia was done with SOTMK for now so we walked over to Monsters Laugh Floor and then rode Buzz.
Once again, Hope was not too thrilled to ride Buzz. As we exited, Buzz himself was meeting guests – and you guessed it – not a long line, so we hopped on. He liked my T-shirt!
At around 11:30, we decided it was time for some ice-cream just as we were figuring out where we wanted to get it from, Ross called to say he was in the park! We met in front of the Plaza and after we said our hellos, we got a cool treat. We took our ice-cream to the Tomorrowland Terrace and sat there to eat and catch up.
By the way, it took Julia about 2 minutes to rat me out about the autograph book.
Ross asked what we had done that morning and apparently was not happy that we spent so much time meeting characters instead of going on rides. He thought we should have taken advantage of the low crowds. Seriously? I told him we did what we wanted and we really enjoyed our morning.
When we finished our ice-cream, we walked to the front of the park so Ross could be added onto Hope’s DAS pass. Then it was time for our FPs to start!
After that, we had a FP for HM so we started to head over there.
I had to get a hold of Ross out of earshot of Hope and explain to him that she was very different this year in the way she would ask - aka demand to go on a ride or see a show. She has never really done this before so I had to tell him that we were not about to constantly do what she wanted even if it meant a semi-meltdown. It was just too important for her to understand that she can’t always get her way – not even in WDW. Ross tends to give in to her all the time – especially if he thinks it will prevent a meltdown. Whereas I will take the meltdown because I don’t ever want her to think that she can get her way all the time.
On our way to HM, the Muppets show was on, but we are not fans so we walked on by. As we were walking, A CM named Ashley stopped us and asked us how we were enjoying our day. We said we were having a great time. Then she asked if we were planning to see HEA tonight. I said yes and told her we had watched it from Poly the other night. She told us that she had availability in a VIP viewing area and asked us if we would like to go. We all just looked at each other and obviously said YES PLEASE! She told us to arrive about a half hour before the show to the garden area by the Plaza Ice Cream Shop and tell the CM that Ashley sent us. In all honesty, it sounded too easy but what did we have to lose?
We continued to HM...
...and then we headed over to the Country Bears. It was a very light crowd for the bears.
Ross was hungry and he wanted to go to Pecos Bills. Since it was just about 2PM, and the girls and I were not hungry, I told him I would stand outside with the kids so they could watch the parade while he got his food.
Ross got on line and the girls and I walked outside and watched as the parade started. But in just a few minutes, a very frantic Ross appeared saying that his band didn’t work. He was so flustered and upset– I knew our time of peace in WDW was definitely done. I walked with him, trying to calm him down. We went up to the counter and they pulled his order back up. I tapped my MB and it worked fine. The CM made a joke about how smart I was not letting him charge. Ross did not find him too humorous.
He settled down with his food and I went to watch the rest of the parade with Julia & Hope. Once the parade was over, we joined Ross as he was finishing up eating.
I promise I'm going to try to get going again this weekend. Thanks to all of you who have checked in with me!
