Trip Report It started with a toot and "Welcome to Hawaii"!!!! - Complete

Day 1 - Arrival Day

We woke up bright and early...in fact it was still dark outside. We rolled out of bed and scurried around to get out the door by 6:30am.

We made a quick pit stop at Wawa for some donuts (breakfast of champion).

This is my lil prince Evan and my daughter Hayley as we headed out of our neighborhood. I'm not quite sure what was shocking (Evan) and slightly funny (Hayley)?????

Btw, that brown piece of fuzz and fur that Evan has is his pillow pet, otherwise known as "P-pet". He goes everywhere with us and is probably the most well traveled pillow pet around!

Again, I think we all woke up too early and everyone was slightly confused. Lil Evan looks like he thinks he is Muhammad Ali and Hayley is trying to look awake and pose. That's Manny to the left.

We arrived at the little local airport that just recently started having commercial flights. It only has one airline that flies out so it wasn't bad in the way of crowds, etc.

As we are getting the luggage out of the car, I grab my daughters suitcase by the attached handle and it flies off and the bag goes flying to the ground. No problemo....we still have the telescoping handle and nothing is going to stop us or get in the way of going on this trip.

**Here is the first explanation of our TR titl e**
As we are standing in line waiting to check our bags, the guy in front of us just lets it rip!!!!! Really loud and long!!! I turn around and take one look at my husband whose eyes are popping out of his head. Hubs turns around and literally walks out of the airport!

Meanwhile, Mr. Tooter just stood there and didn't even flinch...as if it never even happened and so did Mrs. Tooter!

We finally got through check-in and security and here is us waiting to be called to board!

Isn't my lil prince and P-pet adorable?

Here is our plane and saver of our sanity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, it was pouring outside that morning and because the airport is so small...you literally walk outside up to the plane. Again, nothing was stopping us or getting in the way of this vacation. Onward we go!!!!!

Frontier is known for their animals on the tales of their planes....we got this guy!

I wasn't sure how Evan would do on the plane and I came prepared with his Innotab, plenty of fruit snacks and a sticker book. Hayley on the other hand was slowly talking herself into a frenzy of nervousness. This was her first time flying too.

Here is the fam........

I still don't know what is up with these "shocked" looks on his face!

He is such a clown!

The day was so dreary and this was the view out of my plane window:

Out of picture space...gotta make a new post.....

 

[Cesar R M]

The community is called Lindfields Reserve and I think it has a total of 16 homes in it. Some are owner occupied and some are used as rentals. It was super quiet and we rarely saw other people while there. I think twice in the whole week I saw someone walking a dog. The pool was outstanding. This kids loved it and couldn't wait to get back to it. Only down side was it is screened in so when bad weather comes it's off limits. You'll hear about that too! Thanks for following along!

Seems like a great place to stay and enjoy calmly without the insane rush you see on most hotels.!
specially the quietness you mentioned!
that pool extra was indeed awesome!

(also, awesome report so far.. I find it interesting that your older son as no trouble taking photos with characters... most 16-22 usually act "too cool" for disney. But then, some of us had the Disney dreams since kids!)

 

[TinkandCrew]

Great report so far. Hayley sounds like my sister. She's in line, waiting, waiting - and then...chicken door.

Yep, that was her all week! Too funny!

 

[TinkandCrew]

Great report and awesome pictures. Listening to your story reminds me that most families have one person that is just like Hayely,my oldest is the same way. Each person has there own way of enjoying WDW some enjoy rides and some just enjoy character meets and scenery. All that matters is that the family gets to spend loving and quality time together at Disney World and it sounds like that is happening. Will be watching for more of the report.

Yes, we did enjoy our trip and it was long overdue for all of us! It always goes by too quicly though!

Seems like a great place to stay and enjoy calmly without the insane rush you see on most hotels.!
specially the quietness you mentioned!
that pool extra was indeed awesome!

(also, awesome report so far.. I find it interesting that your older son as no trouble taking photos with characters... most 16-22 usually act "too cool" for disney. But then, some of us had the Disney dreams since kids!)

The house and pool were AMAZING. If I could own a house like that to live in all year it would be my dream. Not too big, not too small, a bathroom in each bedroom. It was just so sunny, bright and refreshing. Our little drive around the corner to our solitude was heavenly.

I wasn't sure how Manny would do with the characters, but he walked right up there for each one. Wait until you see the pics of him with the princesses. His face is priceless! This was his last big trip with us before he goes off to college so I think he made sure he enjoyed it!

 

[Cesar R M]

I wasn't sure how Manny would do with the characters, but he walked right up there for each one. Wait until you see the pics of him with the princesses. His face is priceless! This was his last big trip with us before he goes off to college so I think he made sure he enjoyed it!

Cant wait for the next updates!

 

[SarahBella82]

Enjoying your report. You seem to be capturing your family members' personalities!

 

[TinkandCrew]

Enjoying your report. You seem to be capturing your family members' personalities!

Thank you...we definitely can be a cast of characters!

 

[TinkandCrew]

It was time to head on to Africa. The drums got everyone's attention:

At first, Evan wasn't so sure he wanted to try it, but that didn't last long.

Then, everyone joined in!

Cute huh??????

Heading out of Africa, we passed these guys:

This movie was popular when my oldest was born and it always brings back memories.

We moved on to Germany and I wish we spent time there. Because it was drizzling, we kind of kept moving along hoping to fit as much in as possible, but this caused us to miss out on certain things.

I'm a long, slow browser when it comes to shops and things...it drives my husband crazy! So I tried to avoid stalling the whole group with my hours long sessions of window shopping.

Welcome to Germany!!!!!

This Sneezy pic is one of my favorites. I don't think I did a bad job since I was walking and snapping pics all at the same time (and avoiding the gathered folks that were around these topiaries)!

On our way through, we happened upon this guy:

He is walking along, minding his business and then a group of three teenagers come along to chase him! He really still didn't care and kept walking along at a more sped up slow pace!

Moving right along.................


Woody, there's a snake in your boots!

Woody was adorable. He had his pull string on his back and everything. The amount of detail that goes into these is really amazing!

The whole time we were in Disney, I pointed out landscaping to my husband and instructed him to do it at our house. Guess what I got? "The look"!

I love this one of the kids!

We head on over to Japan and I can't believe I did not indulge in any Sushi!

Evan continued to have his "Snow White" affect on the animals. First he had the duck friend in the UK that he shared his fries with. Now another friend:

This little fella shared some funnel cake with us, got his fill and then meandered on his way somewhere else.

As we made our pit stop in Japan for of all things, funnel cake (hmmm?), I walked across and stood on a bench to snap this shot:

Who knew trash cans at Disney World were such fun????????????? Only my goofball!

So, we are waiting for the trio to finish their funnel cakes and the Japanese outdoor kitchen was right next to us. Evan proceeded to play peek-a-boo with the worker through the little side window:

They both had fun playing with each other! Evan would run all the way back towards those steps and then run all the way back up to the window. This continued for some time and when I told him it was time for us to go he said, "Awww man!". His new friend waved by to him and we moved on.

 

[TinkandCrew]

What is this a picture of?

Is it weird that I love all of the lizards in Florida? When we first got to the rental, lizards scattered everywhere! Big ones, small ones, they were all over the place. I didn't see any the rest of the stay though. They must know the rental periods! hahahaha

Bonjour France!

As soon as we enter France, we see Belle. Her line was significant so we kept moving:

So, this is one of my favorite stories. We come upon this Cinderella/Prince Charming topiary. Cinderella is one of Evan's favorites. He was excited about all of the topiaries, but this one in particular stopped him in his tracks. He walks up to it and says, "Hi Cinderelly! Hi!!!! Cinderelly, can you talk? Cindereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelly, can you talk????????" Alrighty then, I'll have some of what he is having!???!!!

This made me laugh. Here is a pic of the conversation in action:

We pried him off of the fence and kept moving.

We make it around to the UK and see Mary Poppins instantly WITH NO LINE!!! I holler to the kids to run and get in line behind the two folks that were there with her. This is too good to be true! Well, it was! The kind assistant proceeds to dash our hopes and dreams with one statement, "Sorry folks, she is getting ready to take her break, these folks are the last in line." Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

There's my boo boo standing there. So close yet so far!

I recalled via another TR, that we should be able to find Pooh and friends tucked away in here somewhere. I asked around and tracked down their meet & greet spot. We had about a 20 minute wait until they came back from break so we opted to sit out the wait and be the first in line to see them.

Some much needed rest from all of the walking:

Our patience paid off....look who's coming!

I was pretty excited to see Pooh, but in all honesty.....he was pretty drab in the personality department. Tigger was really interactive, but Pooh not so much.

Since it was still drizzling at this point, there was a rumor that a princess might show up in here too, but it never happened.

We decided to wrap up our world tour if you can call it that. More like a world drive by!

On our way out of the countries we had to make a pit stop at the Monsters University playground!

At this point, Evan was having so much fun he couldn't care less where we were. Because it had just finished drizzling, a playground supervisor wasn't letting any of the kids on the monkey bars. Some of these kids got scary being told they couldn't use them. It was entertainment just watching that whole senario!

At this point we had our fill and Evan was starting to get a little grumpy. I had told him all about Figment working up to this trip, so I told him we had one more stop to make.

There was absolutely no wait for poor Figment. We literally walked in and hopped right on. Leaving the ride, Evan had a great time with the interactive stuff at the end.

On our way through the gift shop, Evan and Hayley made the infamous purchase of THE EARS!

This was Hayley with her ears before she realized she had them on backwards! Poor Hayley!

 

[TinkandCrew]

Time to head out of the park!

My feet were so jealous of Evan at this point:

Everyone has to get a pic of the monorail:

And finally, the last picture I took on our Epcot day. The sweaty, tired look says it all:

Next up.......Hollywood Studios!

 

[mrdrift]

Great ending to Epcot. That's the looks my kids give me when it's time to leave. Will be watching for Hollywood Studious report.

 

[disneypearl]

I'm enjoying your report. The picture of Evan trying to talk to Cinderella is adorable. Hayley is a trooper to try Soarin' even though she was nervous about it. That ride makes me a little nervous too until I'm out of the clouds, then it is enjoyable. Hope she tries it again sometime.
Looking forward to hearing of your adventures in Hollywood Studios!

 

[TinkandCrew]

I'm enjoying your report. The picture of Evan trying to talk to Cinderella is adorable. Hayley is a trooper to try Soarin' even though she was nervous about it. That ride makes me a little nervous too until I'm out of the clouds, then it is enjoyable. Hope she tries it again sometime.
Looking forward to hearing of your adventures in Hollywood Studios!

I was surprised at the number of younger children on Soarin that would lean forward in their seats to look down, etc. It made me nervous watching them do that. The Evan/Cinderella one sided conversation was hilarious. I wish I would have recorded it.

Thanks for following! I hope to have Hollywood Studios up sometime today!

 

[TinkandCrew]

Great ending to Epcot. That's the looks my kids give me when it's time to leave. Will be watching for Hollywood Studious report.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TinkandCrew]

Day 3 - Hollywood Studios

We woke up and quickly turned on the news to catch the weather while we were getting ready. We knew they were talking about rain on this day, but wanted to see when and how much!

Well, it was another 60% chance of rain and they said it would hang around. Yuck! I tried to be optimistic and hope for a day like Epcot turned out being. That was also a 60% chance, but ended up being light drizzles. I'll take it!

I'm telling you, having a bathroom in every bedroom gave us the miracle every morning of everyone being ready on time. Gotta love it!

We hopped in our luxureous minivan and we're on our way!

A little side story: So, ever since the first day we got in, we passed by all of the outrageously decorated gift shops on 192 and one in particular got Evan's attention. It was a ginormous mermaid! He would say, "Wook mommy...a mermaid!" Every time we passed her, "Wook! Wook!" It got to be a running joke in the car and we would all say, "There she is again, Evan's lady!"

Well on this morning on our way to HS, we caught the red light right in front of her and I had to immortalize her:

The majority of the car agreed that she wasn't really attractive up close. She even has a big 'ol gem in her belly button! Sheesh! How long did it take the seven dwarfs to mine that hunker?

Just when we were getting close to the park, a song came on the radio and Evan started doing this goofy dance to it. Here he is in all his dancing glory:

We are going here today...wooohooooo:

I'm telling you, no matter how many times we drove by the ToT sign, it got my attention. The people look real, don't they?

We pull up and a tram was already collecting passengers so we jumped out and scurried to get on. It was already almost full. Yikes! See the ominous clouds????????

I could tell that this park day was going to be more crowded than our day at Epcot.

The entrance was more crowded, but we picked the shortest line and got in it. For some reason, my husband's park pass wanted to malfunction, so then we had to wait for one of the CM's with a tablet to "reset" it. Weird!

Park pass was quickly repaired and we were off to the races....literally! Now, prior to this trip, I hadn't been to WDW in over 20 years! Thanks to the many wonderful TR's that I read on here, I knew all about the Toy Story Mania stampede.

We had a FP+ for it, for later in the afternoon (after 3:30pm), but I told my husband we may as well see if we can get on with a short wait in the morning.

And they're off:

Holy moly! People are doing their best at either full paced running (the younger crowd) or a very fast paced walk. Strollers are tripping people and everyone is trying to bypass everyone else! This is brutal!

We are almost at the attraction when I overhear an elderly couple (complete with canes and all), stopping to ask a CM where the Toy Story ride is. Meanwhile, people are blowing past them on every side. Poor things!

We made it!!!!

We get in line and it is already a 30 minute wait. We'll take it because we have a minor wait for our ToT FP+. It worked out perfectly!

So, Manny and Hayley rode together behind us, and hubs, Evan and I rode on the other side. Here is our score:

Evan and I teamed up to play and look.........we beat Daddy! hahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha! He swore we cheated and refused to accept defeat.

 

[stevehousse]

My kids love the mermaid store! We usually stop there and get shirts...they have a ton of Disney Stuff there...

 

[TinkandCrew]

continued..........

When we exited the Toy Story ride, we saw Buzz & Woody across the way taking pics. The line looked short, but the CM said it was like a 45 minute wait so we had to leave. We'll be back friends!

At this point it was time for our ToT FP+. Here we come!

Now, here in lies the big debate. Should Evan ride ToT? I'm on the "Absolutely not!" side of the debate. My husband said he met the height requirement and would be fine. I didn't want Evan to ride and get scared and then have him be leary of the rest of the attractions, ya know?

We all know what Hayley's choice was! She said, "I'll wait for you right over here!" Okay, Hayley...be right back and watch our bags close!"'

See in the pic above how much darker it was getting?

The wait for ToT was already really long! Here we are zapping our cards for our FP+'s:

This attraction is really very beautiful on the outside:

The inside is a different story....they need to fire the maid service! hehehehe

I took this pic of Manny and told him he is supposed to look freightened!

So, we go in (including my Evan) and we start winding our way through the FP+ line. We came to a "dead" stop (get it? get it?). After a few minutes I'm thinking something is wrong. Then the dreaded announcement came, "Technical difficulties folks, blah blah blah, we aren't sure how long this will take blah blah". Sigh! Why???????????????

After patiently waiting, we got the green light. I was nervous more than normal because I was worried about my baby riding. I'm also thinking, "Why would Disney have such a little height restriction for this ride?" Maybe it's not so bad after all.

We get in and we put our seatbelts on. There is literally no turning back now. What was I thinking? Why am I riding this and why did I let my husband say my lil guy could ride? Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!

The ride commenced and I ended up being more nervous and tense than Evan! I'm praying for it to be over! I'm rambling nervously to him knowing it was going to drop, "Whoa, doesn't that make your belly feel funny?" "Weeeee this is fun, isn't it?" Yeah right!

Evan's reaction:

Calm and relaxed. The first drop, he just held on a little tighter. No big deal. When we got off I said, "What did you think of that?" He said in a regular tone, "That was scary." Huh? That's it? No trembling? No scarred for life? Don't get me wrong, I was glad, but how brave can this kid be? Crisis averted, but I still felt like a terrible mom!

I tried to snap a pic of our ride, but they would all come out blurry. I tried like three times. This is all I got!

Here we are, all in the front and it appears Evan is smiling:

On our way out, an elderly CM stopped him to ask who was scared the most and guess what he said? Mommy was!!!!! Little !

After ToT, the older fellas wanted to catch Rockin Roller Coaster. We collected Hayley and head over to only find it is a 60 minute wait. Not doing it. We will come back later!

Somehow, we ended up making our way over to Star Tours:

My poor Hayley was going into her Hayley Frenzy asking me what kind of ride it was over and over and over.

Mr. Brave:

She stuck it out, she's going to ride!

This was our third attraction of the day. We weren't doing bad on time, it would have been better had we not had the malfunction at ToT.

 

[TinkandCrew]

continued.........

Next up, Muppets 3D. I think this is a super cute attraction. To be honest, I initially wasn't thrilled with the thought of it, but I knew the kids would like it and isn't that what it's all about anyway? I'm glad we did it, because everyone loved it.

As we exited, it began to rain. I got his pic in though:

Evan was kind enough to tell me, "Dis not real snow Mommy." So, I hate my picture being taken, but I am a snowman collector so I couldn't pass this up.

At this point, the downpour came......and I mean came!

Trash bags...err I mean Ponchos are fun, see?

Manny was not having any parts of the poncho wearing. Teenagers!

We ran and ducked into Disney Junior Live.

My hubs didn't last long sitting on the floor. I could barely stand it myself, but I stuck it out. Of course, the snowman collector had to take this picture at least:

Everything went fine, until a parent was kind enough to let their child come all the way up front from the back to steal my boo's gold dubloons. Who does this? My lil guy just watched it happen and didn't say anything. Since he had a couple in his hand I just let it go.

We exited DJL and the downpour was heavy and non-stop. We hung out in a fake storefront for a while, but even with the ponchos, we were getting soaked.

We went over by Honey I Shrunk the Kids and ate some hot dogs and decided to call it quits. We figured we would come back if it slowed down later.

Well....that never happened! We went home and dried off. Later, we ventured to Carabbas for dinner:

Seafood Pasta!

And...my daughter's grilled chicken kids meal:

We ended our HS night like this:

I was sad about the things we missed because of the rain, but I'm on vacation with my family...how can I possibly complain?

 

[mrdrift]

That's the spirit to have with regards to rain. You are at Disney with your family is all that matters. Maybe later in the trip you can go back to see the stuff you missed. Great report buy the way. Were about is that mermaid store just for future reference? Keep up the great report.

 

[TinkandCrew]

My kids love the mermaid store! We usually stop there and get shirts...they have a ton of Disney Stuff there...

Well, when you go on your upcoming trip, be sure to tell her that her boyfriend Evan says "hello"!

That's the spirit to have with regards to rain. You are at Disney with your family is all that matters. Maybe later in the trip you can go back to see the stuff you missed. Great report buy the way. Were about is that mermaid store just for future reference? Keep up the great report.

Thank you! I'm trying to do a one TR "chunk" per day if possible. Mermaid store is on 192 somewhere. I'm horrible and am not quite sure of her exact spot. But she has to be close to the parks because we would come up to her not long after leaving Disney. Leaving Disney, we would bear right to go onto 192 and she is not far up on your right. @stevehousse knows who she is...maybe he can give us a better sense of direction?

 

[stevehousse]

It's about 3 stop lights down from the Disney exit on 192 if u exit to the right...

We have rented several houses in that area! It's a great location for staying off property...we usually stay in one of the neighborhoods behind that animal jungle golf course if anyone knows where that is? It's about 2 lights further down from the mermaid store...

But since we r flying this year and not driving, we will not get to see her