Trip Report In the blink of an eye

So this trip as some of you already know happened and ended in the blink of an eye. I'm a planner, I love planning our vacations but when we decided to go with such short notice it was so exciting and unbelievable it almost made it one of the best trips. Everything was spontaneous with instant decisions. No time to plan where to eat or what to do other than the parks that were picked. I don't normally talk money but it cost us $1,500 for 3 nights at a value, 2 parks without the hopper for 3 people. That included the $180 roundtrip airfare for all 3. We had some rewards points to use for our food and only ended up going a little over so there was very little out of pocket for meals. To me this was worth it and not too expensive

We decided to go on September 14th , booked on September 15th, and our arrival day was September 25th! Along with me will be my husband Joe and my oldest Emily.

September 25th.

We actually had a later flight and were able to go at a slower pace than we are used to. First we had to drop our off baby girl Gilah.

We arrived at Metro airport and it was pretty quiet and calm. Although when I went through the scanner apparently they thought I had something in the groin area. I had to be frisked and was offered a private room. I declined. The female TSA agent kept making it sound like it was going to be very uncomfortable and kept repeating herself, I’m sure to make sure I understood but it was fine. They realized I wasn’t a threat to the nation and let me go.

We had lunch at the Jolly Pumpkin. Joe got the carnivore pizza while Emily and I split the fried chicken sandwich. It was very good. I missed the photo opportunity to show you so you'll have to take my word.

Little bags for little people, who am I kidding there was no room for souvenirs, should’ve listened to @Darstarr. We did contemplate paying for a checked or carry-on bag and putting all our stuff into one suitcase but decided not too. It was a challenge to get clothes and toiletries into that small bag, plus an extra pair of shoes!

Flight was smooth and there was no excitement on the airplane like you're always hearing about on the news. We walked right to ME since we didn't have to mess with any baggage and was actually surprised, not sure why, when I saw the long line for ME

 

[Songbird76]

Her color is called Blue. More of a silvery-dark gray. She is very spoiled.

As she should be!!

Have you ever seen the movie The Ugly Dachshund? That's the only Great Dane I had ever seen.

 

[Zipadeelady]

As she should be!!

Have you ever seen the movie The Ugly Dachshund? That's the only Great Dane I had ever seen.

No I haven't. My only previous knowledge of Great Dane's are from the comic strip Marmaduke.

 

[wdisney9000]

Those darn riff' raff! I mean...11 a.m' ers

 

[meggo819]

No I haven't. My only previous knowledge of Great Dane's are from the comic strip Marmaduke.

It’s on Disney+! Cute movie esp for a dog-lover

 

[Zipadeelady]

By now it's close to 2:30. One thing I didn't pack in my little bag was pain reliever. We were close by so we stopped at first aid to grab a couple of Tylenol.

As I'm waiting I see this picture and I'm thinking of @fractal and that he could do a much better job. We should all rally and petition to get Fractal a job as an official Disney photographer.

Flavors of Fire was around the corner and I had to have the Corned Beef Corner Route. So good. I had this in 2019 and I'm pretty sure it had a different name but it looked and tasted the same. Delicious!

Around the maze of walls we go, it's time for Spaceship Earth.

A photo must these days.

Boots always get all the love so I thought I'd post a picture of her co-worker

I get to live up in the trees in my future.

 

[Zipadeelady]

By now we are tired and need a break, so what do we do? We go to The Seas to see Nemo.

It's been years since we actually walked around the aquarium. I must say I was very disappointed. They just put the manatees down for a nap so we missed seeing them and honestly either we missed a few rooms or there really isn't anything in the aquarium anymore.

By now it's close to 4pm and we want a break. Back at the room Emily does what most 20 year olds do and watched videos on her phone. Joe and I chose to go down to the pool and swim for ½ hour. Very refreshing, cooler than I expect but felt so nice. When returning Joe jumped in the shower and I promptly fell asleep. I woke up 45 minutes later. Emily had fallen asleep too and joe admittingly wasn’t going to waste the quiet downtime so didn’t bother to wake us up.

 

[Zipadeelady]

At 6:45 we get to All Star Music bus stop as an Epcot bus is pulling away. We waited and waited and waited.

We finally got back in Epcot at 7:43. We are hungry once again. Joe's request is the Donut box for the Crispy Chicken on a Sriracha glazed donut and Emily wants Mac & eats and gets the Truffle Macaroni and Cheese and the Cowboy Macaroni and Cheese. Sorry no photos this time. We split it all and it is all very tasty. I would recommend all three dishes. While they finished eating, I strolled around close by and just soaked in the disneyness. Joe made fun of my word which I made sure to use throughout both of our days.

My request for the rest of the night was one more ride on Soarin so before heading into the World Showcase we made our way over to the land.

Speaking of the land. I’ve passed the entrance walls dozens of times but this time I stopped and admired them. They are beautiful, there are so many different kinds of stone and materials used in the design. After having Joe and Emily sigh at me for stopping yet again to absorb more disneyness. Joe realized I’m right yet again and also admired the wall. I have proof.

 

[Zipadeelady]

As we entered the showcase we were on a mission to find a friends daughter that works at Epcot. She was to be in one of the twin gift shops at the beginning of the showcase. She wasn't in the one on the left.

We saw many of the 50th golden statues and came across Emily’s favorite, Coco. I do hope they leave them up around the parks. They really are stunning to look at.

We headed to the left as I remembered the taco from the Mexican booth from 2019. I got in line for my taco while joe and Emily hunted down her desired drink, the Aulani Sunrise at the Hawaii booth. My taco, such a let down and disappointment. Joe put his hand in the pic for a size reference. It was so small, about the size of your palm. At least it would taste good right. No. I swear it tasted like tomato paste and chewy meat. Not good.

You know what will cheer me up…. A Kung fu Master.
This is what the picture should look like after you drink it not before.

I made them stop yet again so I could just soak in that…. Yes disneyness. Joe doesn’t look as happy as I do does he.

To cheer him up I suggest walking around China.

 

[Zipadeelady]

We must make Joe happy. Off to America we go to get two Wild mushroom and truffle tarts at Rotunda Bistro. These were delicious.

I was hoping to go back into the Ratatouille area to get pictures to send to my other daughter but there were CM’s guarding the area and this was a far as I got.

Only 10 minutes to close and firework time so what did we do? We headed for the exit. My other daughter and I are the only ones that like the nighttime shows. Since she wasn’t with me and the interim show at Epcot really doesn’t interest me just headed out. At 9:59 we walked out of the park as two crazy ladies with strollers were running to the entry gate. I don’t know if they were let in and I don’t know if they realized that they had a very long maze of walls to run through before they would be able to see the show.

I took 23,487 steps but my smart watch was telling me I didn't get my exercise in for the day.

We fall promptly asleep with our heads full of all the days Disneyness. Well, not joe. I just broke it to him that Animal kingdom opens at 8am but now that Disney offered resort quests an extra ½ hour they now open at 7:30 which means I want to leave by 7am.

 

[erstwo]

View attachment 591325

I took 23,487 steps but my smart watch was telling me I didn't get my exercise in for the day.

Mine does the same thing to me! I was reading another trip report on here - where they posted their watch readings every day - and they'd have like - 4 hours of exercise and 1200 calories burned per day?
When I'm at Disney, mine always reads 'you waked 256 miles and burned 98 calories today' LOL!

Loving the trip report - last minute trips are the best. My daughter once INSISTED we go to WDW for President's Day weekend on the Wednesday before President's Day. Yikes. So we booked the whole thing two days before we left. In the end it was so worth it!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Mine does the same thing to me! I was reading another trip report on here - where they posted their watch readings every day - and they'd have like - 4 hours of exercise and 1200 calories burned per day?
When I'm at Disney, mine always reads 'you waked 256 miles and burned 98 calories today' LOL!

Loving the trip report - last minute trips are the best. My daughter once INSISTED we go to WDW for President's Day weekend on the Wednesday before President's Day. Yikes. So we booked the whole thing two days before we left. In the end it was so worth it!

I think I'm going to have more last minute trips in my future. I do need a nice week long trip with a few relaxing days mixed in and those I'll need to plan more but yeah, loved the last minute.

Thanks for following along.

 

[fractal]

By now it's close to 2:30. One thing I didn't pack in my little bag was pain reliever. We were close by so we stopped at first aid to grab a couple of Tylenol.


View attachment 591235

As I'm waiting I see this picture and I'm thinking of @fractal and that he could do a much better job. We should all rally and petition to get Fractal a job as an official Disney photographer.

View attachment 591234

Flavors of Fire was around the corner and I had to have the Corned Beef Corner Route. So good. I had this in 2019 and I'm pretty sure it had a different name but it looked and tasted the same. Delicious!

View attachment 591237



View attachment 591236

Around the maze of walls we go, it's time for Spaceship Earth.

View attachment 591238

View attachment 591239

A photo must these days.

View attachment 591242

Boots always get all the love so I thought I'd post a picture of her co-worker

View attachment 591240

I get to live up in the trees in my future.

View attachment 591241

Ready to step into my new position as Disney photographer once the petition succeeds! I plan to celebrate that with a few Kung-foo masters. Lol on "boots co-worker"!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Monday, September 27th.

We are showered and heading down to pick up our mobile ordered breakfast. Joe looks for a table. Silly man, it’s already after 7am. We are eating at the bus stop. I forgot to take pic of our breakfast but we learned our lesson. Joe got a cherry Danish he thought was delicious, Emily went with an Uncrustable and I had my first ever yogurt parfait. Which I thought was very good. We were much happier with our choice today and ate while people watching and waiting for our bus to arrive.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom and I told my family about the rift raft that like to do a little word play with the Animal Kingdom sign. They did get a little chuckle but we moved on without continuing the tradition of @wdisney9000.

I’m just going to blow some minds and confess right now...... we never left Ak for a break. We did it. We made AK a full day park and stayed for 11 straight hours. I know some don’t have any fun at AK or think there isn’t enough to do but we found plenty to do and enough to keep us busy, plus it’s even down a ride and two shows!!

Let me show you how it’s done.

First we followed the crowd and headed to Pandora to make Flight of Passage our first ride of the day.

Is this tree real?

I was outvoted. I think it is. You can see it close up in the outside que for Flight of Passage. I realize most aren't in this area but it looks so real to me. I still think it is. Don’t ruin it for me if you know the answer.

Flight of passage was at 30 minutes already and we did wait that long but we were ok with that. I’ve never been through the que. We’ve always previously just rode with fastpasses. I loved this ride. Yes, I’m the one clapping and whoo hooing afterwards.

Next we went on the lovely yet super short Navi river ride. It was a walk on. The music gives me goosebumps every single time.

 

[Zipadeelady]

We decided next to go on a safari and soaked up some Disneyness by walking leisurely.

Our guide on the safari was so good. I wish I got her name. I’ll put in a compliment and give the time and date but I wish I could've done more.

This guy is hiding behind a bush.

Enjoy the pictures you’ve seen many times before.

 

[Zipadeelady]

And, enjoy just a few more.

We actually did get to see these two bulls sparing.

Next was Everest. Joe and Emily rode together and I was by myself. I am always a horrible mother and made my kids get in first because that is the side that drops off while the left side has the stairs for “protection” while going up the hill. Are you following me? Anyways, I get in my car and go to the right seat and lower my bar before I realize what I’ve done.

DO YOU SEE THAT DROP!

 

[Darstarr]

I could do 12 hours in AK!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I could do 12 hours in AK!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Since I survived I decide it’s time for a Disney must. The mickey bar and a much needed water. It's 10am. I feel like junk food is ok before noon on Christmas Morning, Easter Morning, and at Disney.

Joe not to be left out wants his beer in the picture. Because only at Disney is beer also acceptable to drink before noon.

Emily will not be left out with her giant sized lemonade.

4 rides and a snack in 2 ½ hours, maybe we are moving slow. We walked to the Tiger Jungle Trek, I said it wrong I know. Very relaxing and not too busy.

See those legs, those are Joes. Emily and I are stuck. The giant bird wouldn’t stop walking back and forth and Emily was to freaked out to walk past it and I stayed back to protect her in case it walked in her direction.

Bubbles! I love the bubble wands. If your child has one and is releasing the bubbles I will try to catch them, I’m not going to lie.

 

[Tuvalu]

We made AK a full day park and stayed for 11 straight hours. I know some don’t have any fun at AK or think there isn’t enough to do but we found plenty to do and enough to keep us busy, plus it’s even down a ride and two shows!!

 

[Zipadeelady]