Trip Report Meet the Floridians

Hello humans!

Most of you know me by now, but for those of you who haven't followed my past TR's (particularly my most recent), I'll do some brief introductions. Feel free to check out my past reports (in my signature) if you'd like!

Who: I'm Brittany! I'm 25 and completely Disney obsessed. My better half is Dylan, also 25 and not quite as Disney obsessed. Prior to meeting me, he had never been to WDW! It was obviously top priority to remedy that.

This is our baby, Tink. She also loves Disney.

We got engaged in Magic Kingdom in June.. my dream come true! Though our wedding won't take place in Disney, it will be Disney themed.

While we were enjoying our time in the World, I accepted a 1st grade teaching position in Osceola County, Florida. Fast forward a month, and we packed up a U-Haul to relocate from Pennsylvania to the Sunshine State!

We currently live 20 minutes from Disney property, and one of our first purchases should come as no surprise. This report will be a collection of our adventures as annual passholders, and I'll update it with a Table of Contents as we go. Now, without further ado...

To all who come to this happy place, welcome!

 

[fractal]

@blgauger

Can you tell me how you are posting your photos in this report? Are you using a photo sharing site?

My work browser is blocking almost everyone's photos (including mine), but I do see yours and a few others'.

thanks,

 

[Songbird76]

Thanks for following along!



Such an awesome snack/meal!





I don't think that watching to make sure your kids don't get kidnapped or smashed by a bus makes you overprotective. I think it makes you a human being in charge of the well being of younger human beings, whether they're you're own kids or not!

The citrus swirl was delish! The perfect afternoon snack.



I feel bad for the poor babies. I hope the behavior we witnessed isn't the norm.

That little girl, on the other hand, was hilarious. I pulled back ahead of her a little later and smiled at her as I did.. she gave me a sly smile in return.



Now that I noticed it, I can't believe that it took me this long! Lol. How many other details have I missed over the years?? Fall looks great on MK.



Thank you! More to come this weekend.

How sad for those kids. I guess there are just some parents who have a really hands-off approach to "parenting". (Not really parenting if you don't actually DO anything, in my opinion.) I was helping with track and field day at my kids' school once, and I was paired with a hands-off mom. We were supposed to lead one of the groups around to the different events. I kept counting heads and having to run off after a little girl who was new in school and her dad was helping at the shot put area, so she kept running to him and I'd have to go get her. She dug her fingers into the netting and wouldn't let go and the dad is trying to pull her off of it, and I finally get her back with our group and I asked where some other kid was because he wasn't with the group and the mom says "How should I know? I'm not spending my whole day counting heads." I was appalled...that's kind of what we're here for!! And that's why they put you in twos..so one can stay with the group and the other can take kids to the bathroom, or run after a runaway. These are 4-8 year olds....you can't really let them run around without supervision when there are shot put balls being thrown, and kids trying to run around a track, etc...That's probably why her kid is a little jerk.

 

[blreinsel]

I've loved reading your past trip reports but I'm really enjoying seeing you going to Disney in the blink of an eye. That is so cool!! I see that you're from Clarion(I live in Pittsburgh--not too far). To think that you live as close to Disney World as I do to Kennywood is crazy! I go to Kennywood once a year but I go to Disney about 4-5 times a year. ("Hey Kennywood you're doing something wrong here" ) Congratulations on your engagement(loved your photos) & your new job!! I'll be down there a few more times this year & I'll be keeping an eye out for you. It would be nice to run into another PA girl there!!

Ha! I enjoy a day at Kennywood every so often, but it's definitely not Disney!

Thank you! I frequent the parks on the weekends so it's totally possible that we'll run into each other. I'm hoping to get to the point that I leave school early enough to pop over during the week, but I'm not sure how soon that'll be happening.

Wow! Awesome photos @sheriffwoody of such a lovely couple. They are an adorable couple.

Thank you! She's amazing!

I could just eat a citrus swirl right now, I could also do with living round the corner from Disney too but I guess im not getting either anytime soon hahaha.

Lol! I'll admit that I certainly have it made.

Your bag lasted a week???? Ours does not last through Germany

Lol! I paced myself.. but it was a real struggle.

Good thing Disney's right there so you can unwind after the beginning of the school year stress. I wish we had that!! Our first week was rough, particularly for DS. It would be so nice to just hop over to Disney. We had to settle for Wunderland Kalkar. Not bad, but it's no Disney!!

You can say that again! We popped over to Disney Springs last night and just that helped me to de-stress a bit. A full day of Disney tomorrow will finish the job.

@blgauger

Can you tell me how you are posting your photos in this report? Are you using a photo sharing site?

My work browser is blocking almost everyone's photos (including mine), but I do see yours and a few others'.

thanks,

How dare you read trip reports while at work... that's definitely something that others here (myself included) do strictly from the comfort of our homes. I've never been a good liar...

I upload all of my pictures directly to this site!

How sad for those kids. I guess there are just some parents who have a really hands-off approach to "parenting". (Not really parenting if you don't actually DO anything, in my opinion.) I was helping with track and field day at my kids' school once, and I was paired with a hands-off mom. We were supposed to lead one of the groups around to the different events. I kept counting heads and having to run off after a little girl who was new in school and her dad was helping at the shot put area, so she kept running to him and I'd have to go get her. She dug her fingers into the netting and wouldn't let go and the dad is trying to pull her off of it, and I finally get her back with our group and I asked where some other kid was because he wasn't with the group and the mom says "How should I know? I'm not spending my whole day counting heads." I was appalled...that's kind of what we're here for!! And that's why they put you in twos..so one can stay with the group and the other can take kids to the bathroom, or run after a runaway. These are 4-8 year olds....you can't really let them run around without supervision when there are shot put balls being thrown, and kids trying to run around a track, etc...That's probably why her kid is a little jerk.

Sheesh.. not sure that I would volunteer for a school event if that's the attitude that I had about it! Lol. But it is sad.. I see a lot of things as a teacher that break my heart. It really makes you want to take them home and give them the love that they need and deserve. I can't imagine being a hands-off mom.. I treat my students as my own so I can only imagine how I'll be when I really do have my own. Heck, Tink is treated like royalty so I guess that's also a pretty good indicator of how my babies will be raised.

 

[Songbird76]

Ha! I enjoy a day at Kennywood every so often, but it's definitely not Disney!

Thank you! I frequent the parks on the weekends so it's totally possible that we'll run into each other. I'm hoping to get to the point that I leave school early enough to pop over during the week, but I'm not sure how soon that'll be happening.



Thank you! She's amazing!



Lol! I'll admit that I certainly have it made.



Lol! I paced myself.. but it was a real struggle.



You can say that again! We popped over to Disney Springs last night and just that helped me to de-stress a bit. A full day of Disney tomorrow will finish the job.



How dare you read trip reports while at work... that's definitely something that others here (myself included) do strictly from the comfort of our homes. I've never been a good liar...

I upload all of my pictures directly to this site!



Sheesh.. not sure that I would volunteer for a school event if that's the attitude that I had about it! Lol. But it is sad.. I see a lot of things as a teacher that break my heart. It really makes you want to take them home and give them the love that they need and deserve. I can't imagine being a hands-off mom.. I treat my students as my own so I can only imagine how I'll be when I really do have my own. Heck, Tink is treated like royalty so I guess that's also a pretty good indicator of how my babies will be raised.

Whaaa? You mean Tink isn't really a real princess???
I know...I taught (VERY briefly) music and some of the things you see are just so sad...I had a kid who used to come to my classroom every day after school and ask if he could help me with anything so he didn't have to go home. Broke my heart...he was such a sweetheart. Now I have my own kids and some of the things I see just make me angry. Why even have kids if THAT is how you are going to be? The biggest thing I see now is the telephones. The kid comes out of school and wants to tell you about their day and your nose is buried in your phone and you can't even glance up long enough to say hi. (This coming from the girl who didn't get a smart phone until about 2 years ago, and I still hardly use the thing.) I just want to go hug those kids and ask what the best part of their day was so they can tell SOMEONE.

 

[blreinsel]

Whaaa? You mean Tink isn't really a real princess???
I know...I taught (VERY briefly) music and some of the things you see are just so sad...I had a kid who used to come to my classroom every day after school and ask if he could help me with anything so he didn't have to go home. Broke my heart...he was such a sweetheart. Now I have my own kids and some of the things I see just make me angry. Why even have kids if THAT is how you are going to be? The biggest thing I see now is the telephones. The kid comes out of school and wants to tell you about their day and your nose is buried in your phone and you can't even glance up long enough to say hi. (This coming from the girl who didn't get a smart phone until about 2 years ago, and I still hardly use the thing.) I just want to go hug those kids and ask what the best part of their day was so they can tell SOMEONE.

I agree 100% with everything in this post! It's sad, and eventually you start to see the kids care less and less about school because school isn't valued at home. If parents don't care to hear about what went on, how do we expect the kids to remain excited about it? I could go on and on...

 

[Zipadeelady]

Did you make it to the parks this weekend? MDE wait times seemed pretty high.

 

[blreinsel]

Did you make it to the parks this weekend? MDE wait times seemed pretty high.

Ugh- yes and it was MISERABLE! As miserable as Disney can be, I mean. It was ridiculously packed, especially today. I'm looking forward to the crowd drop off that's supposed to happen starting this week. Although, Irma is really messing with my ability to enjoy that.

 

[blreinsel]

Saturday, September 2

Before I dive into this post, let me just include my cute little cupcake that I got at DS on Thursday night. We took Dylan's mom for a quick trip for something to do after I got home from work. It was pretty busy, but it was a nice evening so it was all good.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program! Dylan's mom was in town for the weekend, so we decided to take advantage of the AP promotion going on right now (bring a friend for something like $79). It was park hopper pass, so Dylan wanted to take her to all 4 parks. We didn't tell her what we were doing until Saturday morning.. Dylan walked out with the Mickey ears he got at his CM orientation and in his best gameshow voice said, "You're going to Disney!"

Our first stop was Epcot.. we arrived probably about 10 minutes after park opening. We went to the ticket counter to quickly get her ticket and before long we were heading inside. The only drawback of utilizing the promotion is that we couldn't buy the ticket until the day, therefore preventing us from booking FP+'s. Doing all 4 parks also limited us as far as how much we were able to accomplish, but it was what Dylan wanted so I went along with it.

Our first stop was Soarin' and it was posted at 20 minutes, however we waited less than that before being led into Concourse C. I'm glad that we got in line when we did because when we exited, the wait was up to 60 minutes.

Next, we more or less walked on to Living With the Land. We were lucky enough to get the front row, however our speaker was broken. We still enjoyed our ride!

I was proud of myself for spotting a hidden Mickey!

I enjoyed seeing all of the signs for dishes at the F&W booths made with ingredients from the greenhouses.

Happy 35th, Epcot!

When we exited, we had some important business to attend to. This one wasn't planned for more than 5 minutes. Meg (@Doc Disney) happened to see that I was in Epcot on my Snapchat story and texted me to say that they were making their way to the Land. It worked out perfectly. We only had a minute to chat before heading off to our next destinations. I was so happy to get to see these lovely ladies again!

We wanted to get lunch from one of the F&W booths, so we were off to World Showcase!

I grabbed a passport on our way to mark off everything that we try over the next few months. We started in Canada and that side of the WS was PACKED! It started to clear out as we made it into the middle countries.

 

[Gurt]

I love the guy in the background in the picture of you, Meg and Mary he is having a good day your cupcake looks lovely too.

 

[Zipadeelady]

@blgauger I've been thinking about you today. I hope you have been able to get prepared for the upcoming storm. Stay safe.

 

[blreinsel]

I love the guy in the background in the picture of you, Meg and Mary he is having a good day your cupcake looks lovely too.

I know! He managed a top-notch photo bomb if you ask me. The cupcake was good, but not as good as I expected it to be. Just makes me more willing to try something different next time.

@blgauger I've been thinking about you today. I hope you have been able to get prepared for the upcoming storm. Stay safe.

Thank you! I went and gathered some supplies today.. stores are all sold out of water but Dylan happened to pick up a huge case on Friday so it worked out in our favor. We're planning to head to my brother's in TN either Friday or Saturday just to be safe. Irma isn't somebody I'm willing to mess around with.

 

[krisri18]

Sunday, August 20 cont.

We shared a Mickey ice cream sandwich and spent some time people watching. We then walked toward our next FP+, lingering for a few minutes before our window opened.
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A man and his daughter approached us and asked if we had FP+'s, before presenting a paper FP+ for a party of 5. He asked if we wanted to join them, as it was just the two of them riding. The magic of Disney. We thanked him and hopped in line! We chatted while we waited, mostly discussing the heat (and how we tolerate it living here ).

We were obviously not prepared for the picture this time around.
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We immediately reentered the line, this time scanning our bands to use our FP+. Not gonna complain about back to back discos with the Yeti.
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We had a FP+ for Primeval Whirl after this, so we walked back to Dinoland to use that. Apparently I didn't take any pictures, but we had a fun ride.

We debated about what we wanted to do next, and I knew what Dylan was thinking without him even saying it. Next stop, Pandora.
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The wait for FOP was posted at 100 minutes, but we only waited a little over an hour. Honestly, grabbing a drink to enjoy through the line makes it go pretty quickly. With the craziness that comes with the beginning of the school year combined with Dylan's work schedule, we haven't had a ton of time to just "be together." This was a welcomed opportunity to do just that.

We were sent to the third floor to board our banshees. Somebody was being a little dramatic about the walk.
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As always, FOP blew us away and made the wait completely worth it. We're curious to see how the low crowd months impact wait times... that should start taking effect by next week.

After our flight, we decided that it was time to head home for the evening. We followed this family from the time we reached the Tree of Life until we got to our cars. The parents walked AT LEAST this far away from the kids the entire time, sometimes putting even more distance between them. The only reason we knew they were together was because the little girl ran up to them a few times, only to then run back to walk with her brother. Not once did the parents even glance back to make sure they were still behind them. There were times that the boy was walking several families behind us completely alone. To make matters worse, this behavior continued into the parking lot. There were buses rushing by, cars, taxis, etc. Not even a glance in their general direction. They even crossed the street without ensuring the kids were safe. I've never seen anything like it, and honestly describing it in writing doesn't even begin to accurately depict just how insane the situation was in real life. Dylan wanted to say something to them, but I wouldn't let him. We just tried to stay close to the kids so we (complete strangers) could make sure they got back to their car safely.

Looking at this picture, you really can't tell who their parents are. I'll give you a hint.. mom is carrying a Disney merchandise bag. The kids weren't walking slowly either.. just at a normal pace.
View attachment 225470

My heart aches for these kids. I sincerely hope they get more attention on a regular basis than what we saw them getting on this day.

Anyway, we made it back to our cars just as the rain started falling... perfect timing to make our way home.

We were in Animal Kingdom a couple weeks ago and were waiting for our Safari fastpass window to open. Waited under the overhang for the fastpass entrance to avoid the rain for at least 15 minutes, and spent almost the entire time watching a 3 year old girl wandering around Africa with no parents to be seen anywhere. I refused to go through the turnstiles until someone claimed the child, honestly felt like we were the only people noticing. Mentioned it to a cast member who finally walked over and took the little girl off to the side to try to find her parents. Well, her dad came strolling out of the Safari entrance looking completely unconcerned, just walked over, picked her up and said "Thanks". She was alone for 10 minutes!! How did it take him that long to notice?! I was horrified.

 

[Gurt]

I have just seen the news about Irma I had no idea it was expecting to reach Florida later this week, stay safe @blgauger

 

[Songbird76]

I agree 100% with everything in this post! It's sad, and eventually you start to see the kids care less and less about school because school isn't valued at home. If parents don't care to hear about what went on, how do we expect the kids to remain excited about it? I could go on and on...

It really is sad. When my kids first started school, I would ask them every day what they did, what was their favorite part, what did they learn...I almost always got a "I don't remember". Now they tell me all about it. They both LOVE learning and DD doesn't like vacations. (Strange girl, I know) DS doesn't really like school because he gets bullied every day, but he does love the actual learning part...just not recess, lunch, etc. But I can't imagine just not even asking them about their day!! Well...now I don't usually have to ask, they automatically give me a rundown before I get the chance. DS is a talker.

 

[Songbird76]

I know! He managed a top-notch photo bomb if you ask me. The cupcake was good, but not as good as I expected it to be. Just makes me more willing to try something different next time.



Thank you! I went and gathered some supplies today.. stores are all sold out of water but Dylan happened to pick up a huge case on Friday so it worked out in our favor. We're planning to head to my brother's in TN either Friday or Saturday just to be safe. Irma isn't somebody I'm willing to mess around with.

I was thinking of you, too, along with a friend of mine who we stayed with the first time we went to Disney as a family....I hope everyone is safe. I imagine they cancel school if the weather is that bad...I heard they are evacuating starting tomorrow. Is there any way you can get out earlier than the weekend to beat the rush? I'm betting that there are a LOT of people planning to evacuate this weekend...I don't want you to get stuck!!

 

[Songbird76]

We were in Animal Kingdom a couple weeks ago and were waiting for our Safari fastpass window to open. Waited under the overhang for the fastpass entrance to avoid the rain for at least 15 minutes, and spent almost the entire time watching a 3 year old girl wandering around Africa with no parents to be seen anywhere. I refused to go through the turnstiles until someone claimed the child, honestly felt like we were the only people noticing. Mentioned it to a cast member who finally walked over and took the little girl off to the side to try to find her parents. Well, her dad came strolling out of the Safari entrance looking completely unconcerned, just walked over, picked her up and said "Thanks". She was alone for 10 minutes!! How did it take him that long to notice?! I was horrified.

I always stay close by if I see a kid who looks unattended until I see a parent, just in case. I am also one to watch in grocery stores and I'm ready to dive if I see a kid trying to climb out of the cart and the parents aren't noticing. Call me a helicopter parent, but I'd rather be the one to catch the kid than have to call an ambulance when the kid cracks their head open.

 

[ScarletBegonias]

I jumped ahead so I could comment! I followed you on Instagram.. I'm bburg

 

[gdisneyfans]

As if we didn't already know how insanely awesome and talented @sheriffwoody is, here's some more proof for you!

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Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous

 

[LisaBelle]

Be safe! Keep us posted on how you guys are doing!

 

[Longers]

Be safe! Keep us posted on how you guys are doing!

I was thinking the same thing this morning! This thing isn't good!
Hopefully we'll get some updates to know all is well.

Hope all is good with you.