Trip Report I want to stay here forever.

Those words came straight from Nemo's mouth and into my heart. Let's just say that my children have more than bought in to the magic and wonder that is Walt Disney World, and we are proud parents. I'm doing exactly what everyone joked that I'd do when I had kids, and that is taking them to Disney World "every year", and proving to them that I am, in fact, true to my word.

Who: Me, Husband J, Nemo (4yo, almost 5, son), and Boo (2yo, almost 3, daughter)

What: Our 3rd trip in 365 days (May to May counts!)

When: April 29th - May 6th

Where: Pop Century Resort, because if we didn't have Skyliner, hearts would be broken.

Why: Our last big off-season hurrah before we become of school age, Flower & Garden Festival, Tron, the Walt Disney World Railroad, and because my kids ask me every single day when we're going back to Disney.

As always, I am writing this trip report to preserve my memories of this whirlwind of a week. There is nothing like going back through all my pictures and videos and remembering how each moment made me feel. Sometimes, writing something down unlocks a new memory that I would've otherwise forgot. I gave myself 48 hours to settle and am so eager to dive in because I'm still holding on to every bit of magic I can possibly grasp. If you can't tell, I am very emotional about this trip for so many reasons and you bet I'm going to let it all out in my writing. So with that forewarning, I hope that you enjoy a few more tales of the Adventures of Nemo and Boo.

We had a 6am flight. That's just how we do things around here. And the kids are all for it! Nemo asked me before bedtime, "Are we going to Disney after sleep?" You bet, bud. When I woke him up at 3:45am, I said, "Disney" and he smiled in his sleep. When our plane was taxing, Nemo looked out the window and said, “Look! That guy has a lightsaber!” Big Star Wars fan on our hands here. Both Nemo and Boo gave me several glowing smiles on the plane whenever they were pleased with something: the view, the iPad, or the orange juice. Boo fell asleep on the Sunshine Flyer wearing her conductor hat and holding her Frozen book. We arrived at Pop Century around 10am and it immediately hit me: Pop was our home. It used to just be the cheapest place for us to stay, but it has become so much more than that now. I wanted to bottle up that lobby smell, but instead, settled for huffing it very deeply... Our room was unsurprisingly not ready, but I went to Guest Services anyways to make sure we could get a room on the Ground Floor and get the crib/bed rails and all the jazz, and was surprised when the Cast Member assigned me a room right then and there. A Preferred Room in the 60's Building, no less. I'm not one to complain about walking, but our room last time was at the very edge of the 90's and it was prohibitively far. Like, so far that we packed our swimsuits to change into after park days because we didn't want to hike back to our room to change. We skipped outside and told the kids, "Welcome home!"
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Room 4146. Could not have been better. It was in the hallway adjacent to the Skyliner, so when we walked under the giant Playdoh can (became a thing we had to do every time), we were hit by the gentle breeze from Hourglass Lake. Furthermore, there was no noise from the pools, yet they were just a hop, skip, and a jump away. We were thrilled.
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The kids sat at the table and watched some Mickey cartoons while we unpacked a little, but eventually ended up jumping into the "pillow pit."
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And the walk to the Skyliner station? 45 seconds, tops.
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All four of us were giddy with excitement over our first Skyliner ride of the trip. Walking into the station, hearing the "doon, doon" sound, watching them run into the cabin, hearing them go "woahhh" as we took off...
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It was all very familiar, and yet I have been craving these little things so much.
 
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belledream

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We got off at Caribbean and listened to the swaying of the palm trees, the hum of the Skyliner above us, and rumbled over the bridge in our stroller. There were clouds in the sky. I had been watching the weather all week as it on and off called for storms on today and tomorrow. I was more worried about rain messing with our plans today as opposed to tomorrow in the parks. Luckily for us, there were no storms to be found in our little safe haven and it was a cloudy, breezy, 80-some degree day.
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We came to Caribbean because as much as J wanted to order a POP'ing Pimento Burger from Everything POP, I made the executive decision that we were going to eat something different today. We went to Centertown Market where J consoled himself by getting the Hot Cuban Sandwich. I got the Fried Yucca Bowl because which I got last May and remembered it to be pretty good. I gobbled down the first half easily, but found myself wanting a variety of flavor or texture or something by the second half. Still ate it though. I got the kids a Ham and Cheese Sandwich because I learned that they WILL eat sandwiches easily, just deconstructed. My motto is whatever it takes.
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We sat by the window looking out at the lighthouse and ate with that First Day at Disney bliss. We had immediately assimilated, but it still doesn't feel quite real, you know? After lunch, we stopped by Caribbean Cay playground and I tried to sit on a bench and relax, but had to go rescue Boo from her climbing escapades every 30 seconds. Then it was time for sand play. They plopped right down with some food court cups and cutlery and had at it. Well, Nemo did. Boo did everything she could to play in the sand without touching it. She tried 1) squatting on a towel 2) lying on the adirondack chair and reaching down and 3) lying on the hammock and reaching down, with the assist from J to make sure she didn't topple over.
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I actually got to lie on a hammock for about 15 minutes and felt so relaxed, swaying back and forth and watching my party root around in the sand. There were a few, gentle drops of rain that actually felt really good on my face. When we had our fill, we packed up and walked over to Riviera. They "played" (aka threw) the bocce balls and I made them leave and go "play" with Connect 4 and Chess instead. We went inside and ended up peeking instead Le Petit Cafe where I saw this painting that I just adored. I could hear the music and see the geese just waddling away, just like in the movie.
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We went around the lobby looking at all the other pieces of artwork and ended up at the one of the Disney Cruise ship (that is a popular topic in our household right now) and the Vacation Club lady standing nearby noticed what we were doing and pulled out a scavenger hunt map (with stickers!) for us to complete and bring back for a prize. Ooooh. It was actually perfect for us. We set off and wandered the halls, spotting paintings and ferociously applying stickers. Our last stop was outside by the fountains where we spent enough time lingering that we actually found a Hidden Mickey in the lanterns.
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Also, Nemo's map blew into the water despite my warning of not to leave it on the ledge of the fountain, but we assured him we would get him another one. We went back to the DVC booth and received our prize of a Riviera postcard and print! The kids were like... oh. I was like, OH YEAH! We thanked the lady and went down to dinner at Primo Piatto because I have been dying for my Tuna Nicoise Salad. I was expecting the tuna to be a little more raw, but I still gobbled it up with indecency. J got his Croque Monsieur with Herb and Romano Fries, NOT regular fries, as he vehemently reminded me as I ordered. I got the kids the Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza that they clearly got to before I could take a picture. We all loved it last time and everyone except Boo liked it this time. She complained it was "too spicy" and I kept telling her it was fine, but then I realized the sausage was actually spicy. Sorry baby. I shoved green beans and tomatoes from my salad into their mouths.
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It was barely 4pm, but as is normal for our arrival day, we Skylinered home and did bathtime. I learned last time that I did not pack enough bath toys so I came better prepared this time with Easter egg bath toys with a small Cinderella and a seal figurine hidden inside. It was the best I could do on short notice and hey, it worked. They closed the shower door and splashed and screamed and gave Cinderella and Seal baths. They jumped from bed to bed and got whatever last energy they could possibly have out, and we were lights out by 5:30pm. Boo had taken a small nap during travel today, but Nemo had been up since the wee hours of the morning. Nope, early bedtime for us so we can wake up early for our first day at the kingdom of magic tomorrow.
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Took a while for them to settle because they were so excited, but eventually, the room was quiet and J and I relaxed for a few hours and I kept the window open so I could watch the colors change. It was good to be home.
 
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rshell68

Well-Known Member
YAY!! Boo and Nemo are back! LOVE your reports! Takes me back to when we took our kids when they were younger. We did 3 trips in one year as well.
 

belledream

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm First - sign me up!

Great start!
Thank you! So glad you are here :)

Oh I am always ready for more adventures of Nemo and Boo.

Excited The Cw GIF
Yay! They had many things to do and lots to say about it. :D

Following along too.
Welcome aboard!

following and I absolutely love the skyliner as well as the "doon doon"
Found my people. 😍

Following! I am amazed your children fell asleep at that time. I was never that lucky. Go you!
4am call time will do it for them! In all seriousness, they traveled so well. They made it easy - proud of them.

Following!
Glad to have you :)

YAY!! Boo and Nemo are back! LOVE your reports! Takes me back to when we took our kids when they were younger. We did 3 trips in one year as well.
Woohoo, thank you! Guess we can't NOT take advantage of such a fun time in their lives. ;)

I'm here too!!! You are making me soooo excited for my Pop Century stay in 19 days!
Oh my goodness, have the BEST time! Such a happy place. I really grew to appreciate it even more this time.

Count me in. Looking forward to reading more!
Thanks for being here! All installments will be written at night after the kids go to sleep. 😂
 

belledream

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Boo woke up at 6am. I could see her little silhouette standing up in the dark in her Pack n Play, and she said, “Ma. Cuddle.” I happily obliged and she snuggled in my neck and hummed Let It Go as I drifted in and out of sleep for a few more minutes. Of course, I did not sleep that well last night because I dreamed that T-Mobile screwed me over today with it's shoddy service. Nemo was awake before 7am too and ate breakfast in bed while Mom and Dad got our Genie+ Booking Command Center ready. Hopefully this is not going to be the norm for them growing up. Anyways, I am happy to report that T-Mobile did not defeat us today. We got Boarding Group 52 for Tron and a 9:30am Peter Pan Lightning Lane. Given what we were working with, we'll take it! We were so excited for our first park day, and per Nemo's request, we were going to spend it at the Magic Kingdom.
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It rained last night, and the weather app said the storms would stop around 8am this morning, so we took our chances and left the room with just an stroller cover and two umbrellas for protection. Magic Kingdom opened at 9am, so we were aiming to be there by 8:30am for Early Entry, but in all our excitement, we just burst out of the door and were on a pretty empty bus by 7:30, and standing outside the park at 7:45. We watched the monorail go by and the kids yelled "MONORAIL!" in unison. They were particularly interested in the color of the monorails this time around. Nemo, who is obsessed with the color green, saw Monorail Green and freaked out. Boo, who likes pink, said she wanted to see Monorail Pink and Nemo goes, "There's no Monorail Pink, but there's a Monorail Coral!" I don't even know how he knew that. We were happily surprised to be let in to the park after waiting around for just 5 minutes or so.
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So much adrenaline pumping through my veins. The music filled my ears. I didn't know where to look first. We didn't meant to arrive this early but we were not complaining!
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30 minutes to just wander Main Street and look at the Emporium window displays and visit the Main Street Firehouse? Yes please!
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We had a lot of hopes for today. One of them was to ride a Main Street vehicle which we really had never seen before since they apparently only run during the first hour of the day and we're always on rides by then. But this seemed like the perfect time so I checked with a friendly CM standing along Main Street and he said they would be out soon. I was crossing my fingers as we meandered up Main Street to visit the fountains. The kids just like to walk along the edge here and it makes for great photo opps. It was also here that Nemo became very interested the concept of how Disney hides speakers the preserve the illusion. He was on the hunt for them and got very excited when he found one. I love how curious he has gotten.
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Then I got excited because I saw this:
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We hurried to the castle where the other party got off and we got on, and soon we were heading back down Main Street. I saw the CM who had answered my question early and he gave a courtesy wave, then I saw his eyes widen as he recognized me, and gave an even bigger wave and smile. It was sweet. Our driver offered to take us on the grand circle tour and go back to castle, which was appreciated because in our haste, we abandoned our stroller there.
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Woohoo, bucket list item achieved! And it was just about time for us to go enjoy some Early Entry fun. We took the path up the side of Cinderella's Castle to make a wish at the fountain, and then walk straight into an empty Fantasyland.
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We are the people that use Early Entry for Prince Charming's Carousel. Makes enough sense to me cause 1) they want to do it 2) I can't LL it and 3) I'm not waiting in a long line for it. Oh at 4) an empty carousel means they can pick the exact horses they want. They mean business. We skipped through an empty Small World line and Nemo sang "it's a small world after all" while hugging J's leg. Someone was happy!
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We had a little more time before our Peter Pan LL and didn't want to stray too far (a common tactic this trip), so we spent some time enjoying the empty Tangled area. They reached for the lanterns, followed Maximus' hoofprints (and found out he took a bite out of an apple), and gazed up at Rapunzel's Tower. I gave them snacks and while they were eating here, I realized that I never really looked at this view from this angle before. It was really pretty and I enjoyed the sounds of the music and waterfall.
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We soared on Peter Pan and they enjoyed it so much that it makes the $22 Genie+ and all the effort that comes with it worth it.
 
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belledream

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Of course, we planned to make so much more of our Genie+, and next up was Pooh. It is their absolute favorite story, character and TV show. It was mine too. :D One thing I did not want to LL though was Enchanted Tales with Belle since the times are always so far out. We walked towards New Fantasyland and I took them to see Mine Train. I actually think they didn't even know this ride existed because they are too short to see over the boulders. They were very interested in watching the carts rumble by, but Nemo said he did not want to ride it. I also think Boo may be able to ride it... she is close to 38 inches. But maybe we'll wait another year. Then we lined up at Enchanted Tales right before 10am and of course, from far away, Nemo spotted the water wheel in the distance. However, we never got any closer because we were eventually told that they were experiencing technical difficulties and we wouldn't be able to visit the cottage right now. We'd have to come back another time. I quickly booked a LL for Princess Fairytale Hall to Meet Tiana and a Visiting Princess, which from my research, would be Rapunzel, so we were excited for both of those. Boo is definitely at the start of her princess phase. Always wearing those princess nightgowns, walking around in heels too big for her, and reads lots and lots of princess books. And I LOVE IT. She darted into Princess Fairytale Hall and ran ahead of the rest of us. She's still a shy one, but as we all know, Disney does things to us. Boo gasped, "It's Rapunzel!" Rapunzel was so bubbly and inviting and kneeled down to talk to them, and they both took after her and kneeled down as well. It was so funny looking. Nemo had the important job of handling the autograph book.
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Princess Tiana's face when my son jumped in the air and landed on his butt right in front of her. Oh, and also tripped his sister in the process. Boo smiled when Tiana talked to her and Nemo ended up just crawling on the floor out of the frame. I guess he was done with it.
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Once back outside, they requested Tea Cups. But first, a very special friend gave us a wave! (No, I don't know what those people are waiting in line for kids, Tea Cup time!)
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Boo wanted to spin, Nemo did not. After that battle, we were ready for lunch. Can you believe we've never eaten at Cosmic Ray's? We wanted to try something new and the location worked for us, so here we were.
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J got the Triple-B Burger (he saw "Coca-Cola Cherry-Barbecue Sauce" on the description), I got the Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich, and the kids each had their own Mac and Cheese. My family does not respect my need to take food pictures, so I only got one of mine.
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We were in Tomorrowland mode now. We walked into (Mickey's) Star Traders solely to see the Blue Ride come through.
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Somewhere along the way, Nemo adopted a yellowing leaf and insisted on carrying it with him wherever we went. We had a really enjoyable ride on the Blue Ride. The kids were equally excited about seeing racecars and lightcycles. Mom and Dad were keeping an eye on that Tron Boarding Group too. We went through the dark in Space Mountain and I asked Nemo if he wanted to go on since he's 44 inches now and he said no. Maybe another time...
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Boo rested on me for most of the ride. She is such a cuddler, I love it. She did not fall asleep, but remained in the stroller while Nemo spent a lot of quality time with Buzz on stage.
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It was almost noon and the first Festival of Fantasy Parade was about to begin. We knew our Tron BG would be called soon, but decided it was worth it to catch the parade now since we didn't know where we'd be or what we'd be doing later on this afternoon. And the bonus to that decision was that we got to watch from the hub! (We usually just watch in Frontierland). There was something really magical about seeing the floats come around the circle and having the castle in the background. We sang and danced and waved and were all smiles. And when the last float with Mickey came along, I actually started tearing up. I don't know why! I just saw his familiar face and felt so happy and comforted and like, we are here. (I told this to my brother later and he told me to get a grip).
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It was time for Tron. We weren't quite sure how we were going to handle it. How long would the wait be? We heard things like 30 minutes to an hour. It's unlike us to split up or make the kids wait while we do things on our own. We just decided to do it. Upon entering The Grid, I was impressed by the music. It just made you feel really cool. The kids looked up in wonder as lightcycles zoomed over their heads. We decided J should do the long wait since he can entertain himself better than I can. We set up Rider Swap and I took the kids to do Tomorrowland Speedway since they were chirping about it ever since the Blue Ride. As you may know, I do not like this ride as I hate driving and the smell of the gas and it's always hot, etc. etc. I was actually dreading a bit, but ended up really enjoying myself. First of all, it was partly cloudy and a cooler day. Second of all, I loved seeing my kids reactions since we were driving together in one car. Boo was the driver, Nemo was the passenger, and I had my foot on the gas the whole time. Boo purposely drove crazily and Nemo would react and we were all laughing together. When we got off, I got a text from J saying he was done with the ride. He had only waited 20 minutes! We hurried into the stroller and I struggled to push these heavy kids up that incline to Tron. Confession: I never push the stroller, always J. I'm a weakling. I actually struggled to pull the handlebars toward me to lock me in the lightcycle. I felt judged by my fellow rider.
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Tron was awesome. I was really immersed in the whole thing from start to finish. It’s been a while since I’ve done a new ride for myself and this one was worth it. I sat front row and had no idea what to expect and was thrilled at every detail and turn. All in all, it took us less than an hour which was way better than I expected. And the kids were so good waiting. I came out to Nemo still playing with his leaf, shouting, "Mommy, I saw you on Tron!" Who knew a leaf would provide so much entertainment.
 

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