Trip Report Our "Can we go again" Disney World Vacation 1/26-2/1 2019

Hello all! I love reading everyone's trip reports and now that we are back from our trip I am going to ease the pain of being back with a trip report! This was our two kiddos first trip (and hopefully not last) to Disney World. The last time my husband and I went was in September of 2012 for our honeymoon.
Cast:
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Me - I am 31 years old and have been to Disney probably 7 times (don't remember 3 of them b/c I was so little) and love love love it! I have been dying to take my kids since I knew we were pregnant so this was exactly what I have been waiting for.
Husband - Aaron - 32 years old and has only been to Disney with me and as an adult. First trip in 2009. He loves the details of the parks.
Son - Joseph - 4.5 years old. He loves superheroes and rollercoasters
Daughter - Sadie - 2.5 years old. She loves princesses and the dumbo type rides. She wishes she was big enough to go on all the rides like bubby but she doesn't throw a fit about it.

Where and When: Pop Century building 8 (90's I believe) from 1/26-1/31 and B Resort for the night of 1/31 (more about that later)

YES! it was cold but at least it was warmer than what it was back at home. We had our ups and downs on this trip and I hope you are ready for it all!!!!
 

Cetta

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tuesday - January 29
we were at the bus stop by 8:04am for 9am opening. Joseph was a little disappointed that we couldn't fit on the "Ralph broke the internet bus" (that's what they call it in our house...not breaks...broke lol)
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Today was our non-stop, no official nap, or rest day! We walked into Hollywood Studios about 8:30 and didn't leave Epcot until closing at 11pm. It was also the best weather we had our whole trip and we were able to wear t-shirts for part of the day. We started the day with sign up for Jedi Academy for Joseph. We decided to do the first show of the day (which meant we needed to be at the Jedi spot at 9:10) to get it out of the way since our fastpasses didn't start until 11am. We signed up and then the boys went to ride Star Tours, while Sadie and I got in line to meet Olaf. Well Olaf was running late and since we needed to be there at 9:10, we left the line at 9:05 with it not even open yet.
Here is Sadie waiting in line with her Maggie
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While in line for Jedi Academy a couple Storm Troopers came to visit. They spoke to Joseph, Aaron, & Sadie because they were all wearing Star Wars stuff. Joseph wore his Han Solo costume (Kylo Ren costume was in the backpack for later) and they talked to Aaron & Sadie about their allegiance to the dark side.
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Joseph stood with the other kids for Jedi training while we watched. His face was making me a little worried he would freak out. I really didn't want him to miss this opportunity because it is something I knew he would love and talk about forever. We are all Star Wars fans in our house. I mean Joseph's second word was Boba Fett and he knew the names of Star Wars characters before he knew his shapes and colors. He has always been a fan and I believe he always will be.
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all my worrying was for nothing because he was all about it once he got on stage (fitting because when he grows up he wants to be a real Spider-Man actor in the movies) so I guess his first taste of the stage was for a win! Now we have the memory maker package and boy oh boy did they take a lot of pictures of Joseph. There are over 30 pictures of him from the Jedi Academy but I will only post a couple.
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He was able to fight Kylo Ren and was super pumped afterwards.
 

Cetta

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After Jedi Joe's battle with Kylo Ren he wanted to switch to the dark side and change into his Kylo Ren costume.
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Then I pulled out the $10 bubble wands I purchased at Target and hid in our luggage as a surprise for the kids...but mom fail, I didn't realize the bubble wands needed a screw driver to open the battery packs and I didn't put the batteries in because they are activated with a button and I didn't want them going off in the luggage or backpacks. I figured this is Disney World and someone must have a screwdriver. There just happened to be a bubble wand stand not too far from us so I asked her and she by the grace of Disney had one. She helped us and I am forever grateful to that lady!
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At this point I believe Aaron and JOseph's fastpass for Star Tours was ready. So they rode for a second time while Sadie and I did something I can't remember. Then we took some pictures on the speeder bikes.
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We decided to keep the Star Wars theme going by going to watch the Star Wars show while we ate some popcorn. My husband took pictures and videos but I didn't.
We were ready to eat so we headed to backlot express. I wish I had remembered to mobile order because I feel like I waited a good minute for our food. There were people who ordered before me who were still waiting and I felt really bad for them. When I brought the food out to Aaron & the kids, Joseph had had an accident so Aaron took him to the bathroom while Sadie and I ate. YAY for extra clothes in the backpack lol. After we ate we headed to Muppets and got into the room before the show to realize we were too close to the time the Indiana Jones show we wanted to see was. So we left and headed there with just enough time. We were in maybe the 5th row and Joseph was in awe the whole time and was pretty disappointed it wasn't longer. I hope they never get rid of that stunt spectacular. Joseph has seen all the Indiana Jones films and pretends to be him sometimes so we all enjoyed it. The kids love the Incredibles so we headed to that new dance party area. We got there just a couple minutes before Mr. Incredible showed up so we did a magic shot with Jack Jack and then danced a little. Joseph loved looking for the Jack Jack hints and I was a little upset it wasn't 100% up and running yet.
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Our Incredibles time was up, so we headed to Toy Story Land. We go in line for Buzz because we had some time to waste before our Slinky Dog Fastpass.
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Cetta

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After meeting Buzz we split up, Aaron went to walk around with Sadie while Joseph and I went on Slinky Dog...He was so pumped for this ride. After seeing the commercials and his love for Toy Story he was ready!
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We were in the front row and Joseph loved it so much!
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He really wanted to go again but I was not about to wait over an hour for another ride. He was bummed so we went over to a photopass cast member and I had them take a picture of his sad face...
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She told him that she would do a magic shot if he smiled and that's how we got this...
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So I told him I would take him to get the Frozone Slush he had been talking about since before our trip when I told him about it. I told him that he could get it but when we met up with Sissy he had to share with her.
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I called Aaron and he said he was by Muppets waiting in line to meet Chip and Dale and he was surprised we were done already. We hurried over there and made it just in time to meet them!
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Cetta

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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After Chip & Dale we decided to head to Epcot, on the way out we stopped and grab the only Mickey Bar we had all trip and we shared it.
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Right as we were about the leave we noticed Donald and Daisy meeting by the exit so we hoped in Donald's line first...
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Than Daisy!
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As we were leaving we noticed the March of the First Order were coming so we watched that then headed to the boat dock. The kids were loving the ducks while my husband and I chatted with another Cincinnati Reds fan in line.
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Not sure what time we finally got to Epcot but my husband was hungry so our first stop was Mexico to have dinner. Sadie has a tendency to cry if someone tells her no (I think she got it from me because I remember doing that when I was little), so I told her to stop playing with her food and she started to cry so Aaron took her for a little walk o she wouldn't bother the other people eating. While they were gone a big flew in and grabbed a bite of someone's food at another table. It freaked joseph out and he just couldn't relax. He just kept yelling every time a bird came anywhere close to the eating area. The cast members were nice and replaced that persons food but Joseph just couldn't relax. Finally Aaron & Sadie returned and we continued eating. Some lady came and put her food down at a table right by the edge of the eating area and the seagull came and just sat at her table and started eating. Joseph noticed and told me, the lady was walking towards us with her back to her table so I told her about it and she said "oh sh**" and ran back to her table. The cast member was almost crying she was laughing so hard when she noticed what was going on. It was entertaining but I felt bad because that must constantly happen.
When we were done eating we went into the Mexico pavilion and rode the Gran Fiesta Tour. Then Aaron wanted to stop for a smoke (he uses his vape pen because he has been trying to quit cigarettes for probably 5 years but just can't fully quit) so the kids and I stood in another Donald line to meet him for the second time today!
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After that we met back up and headed to Nemo and Friends area because we knew the kids would like that the most. On our way we stopped and met Ralph and Vanellope but Sadie had fallen asleep.
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Cetta

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We rode Nemo and Friends then headed to do Turtle Talk with Crush. I knew the kids would love it and Joseph was chosen to ask crush a question. He asked he if he ate fish and I was so happy for him!
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After Turtle Talk we had our first and only big cry fest by one of the kids. We got back to the stroller and the kids asked for their bubblewands that they had been playing with constantly all day, well Sadie's was there but Joseph's was not. He immediately started crying. I felt terrible and I could tell he wasn't just doing it to be a brat, he truly wanted his bubblewand back. I told him we will go get a new one and he could pick out any of the ones they had, but he told me he wanted his Mickey Roadster one that I gave him. He told me it was special because I got it just for him and no one else had one. We looked around a little and traced our steps back but it was no where to be seen. He cried and cried. Aaron and Sadie headed to find a spot for our last show of Illuminations while Joseph and I went to get a new bubblewand. I explained what happened with Joseph's but and that he wanted one that made noise and light up, so I asked her which ones did that, but she didn't know. So I looked at each of the packages and talked to Joseph about each one did. I thought for sure he would pick Buzz but he just wanted Mickey. I think it was the closest to the one we previously had. We joined the others for the fireworks. The kids played with their bubblewands but we kept getting this nasty look from some older man standing near us. I wasn't about to tell my kids to stop because um, it's Disney and you have to expect bubbles sometimes plus what we just went through! But as soon as the fireworks started Joseph said he had to go potty…mom fail #2 for the day...didn't ask him before we found a spot. I think it was because we were too worried about the bubblewand. Oh well, Sadie and I watched the fireworks and as soon as they were done we headed to the Frozen ride. Pretty sure that was the longest line we waited in...40 minutes. I think Joseph loved it...
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Of course he asked "can we go again?" as soon as we were off but I explained to him that the line was really long and the park was going to close soon.
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A little disappointed we didn't get to walk the rest of world showcase but I guess that is what happens when you have a bubblewand problem and only spend a half a day at Epcot.
On our way out Aaron and Joseph went to lost and found to see if anyone had turned in the bubblewand, unfortunately no one had but the cast member gave them a replacement card, they said we could take it to any place that sold a bubblewand and get a replacement...wish I knew that earlier or I wouldn't have spent the money on a new one. We decided to spread the Disney Magic and the following night we gave the card to a parent of a boy who had a birthday button on. Sadie really wanted her picture with the big ball but wouldn't stand still long enough for me to take a picture so this is what I got...
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Aaron and Joseph with his replacement bubblewand!
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Cetta

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
after attempting to take photos in front of SSE we headed to the bus stop. The kids were pretty tired and crashed as soon as we got back to our room. It was a long day but probably the best day of our vacation.
Wednesday - January 30
This will be our last park day and our plans were AK in the morning and MK at night. I think this ended up being the roughest day for me emotionally and I will get into that later.
We walked into AK about 9:30 which wasn't too bad considering it was a 9am opening and we were up really late the night before. We had a FP for the safari starting at 9:25 so we headed that first. I only took one picture:
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mostly because I just wanted to enjoy it. Joseph was so thrilled to see the crocodiles.
Now there is where our day went to south...we were getting our stroller and I got a text from Southwest that our flight the next day was cancelled. I told Aaron and he started freaking out..."I should have stayed home" "I bet our pipes are frozen and the house is going to be destroyed" and so on. The temps back home were really low but we left the water running on our kitchen faucet to prevent the pipes from freezing. He just wasn't having it and was a big old grouch about it. I called Southwest and got on the next available flight which was Friday at 10:50 am so we had to find another room for Thursday night. I decided to go to the guest relations desk at AK, well they told me they don't do hotel stays and I needed to call the wdwstay number. So we found a bench and did just that. The cast member I spoke to said that there was no availability at any value or moderates and the only thing would cost $471 for the night!!! That was about 25% of the spending money I had brought, so now Aaron was really freaking out. I told him that I would get it all taken care of like I always do. Our FP time for Dinosaur was starting now so I said lets just head to dinoland and try to enjoy ourselves a little. We went to the entrance of Dinosaur and we got the riderswitch put on our magicbands so I could ride later with Joseph. They boys got in line and Sadie and I went to ride the triceratops spin ride. The wait was like 5 minutes and then it was "can we go again?" so we got back in line for ride number two!
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Then I got a call from Aaron saying that they were about to board the Dinosaur car and they were told it was broken down. So he got a fastpass to return later. I told him to meet us at triceratops spin so we couldall ride together. While in line for ride number three I did mobile order for Restaurantosaurus.
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I love this mobile order thing! I wish I could do this for everywhere we eat all the time forever! It was so nice not having to wait in line ever! After we ate we headed to Festival of the Lion King but both kids fell asleep during the show but us adults enjoyed it. Then we walked through Avatar to head back to Dinosaur because Joseph was not going to leave until he rode it!
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on the way we stopped so Aaron and Joseph could have their picture with Launchpad McQuack who Aaron said was a favorite of his as a child. So he was pretty happy about that.
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While the boys rode Dinosaur I called Pop to see if they could help me with the room problem. Pretty they told me that they could only see availability at Pop and they had nothing for Thursday night so call the wdwstay number. I called again because hey it couldn't hurt. I talked to a really nice cast member who tried really hard to help me. He used to live in the same town that we live in now so it was nice to talk to someone that had that connection to because I felt so lost and hopeless being so far from home with no where to stay the next night. He couldn't find anything either that was within our price range. He told me to keep an eye on the website because their room inventory can change at any minute. I got off the phone with him and just cried....I just couldn't believe that no one could help us! I mean sure if I wanted to spend $471 I could have a place to stay but wow that was out of my budget! The boys came back from their ride on dinosaur and we decided to leave AK. I cried the whole walk to the bus stop. Uh I can't believe I was crying at Disney World! On the way back to Pop I look for an affordable hotel outside Disney property. I ended up calling B Resort and they were about $150 (with resort fee) for the night so I called them. Joseph became friends with another little boy his age and they talked and really had a good time. I cannot express how grateful I am for that interaction he had while I was on the phone with B Resort. It was just so nice to have him occupied while I was on the phone. We got to our room and every one just kind of rested while I started packing since we had to switch hotels the next day. I don't think anyone actually slept but they were off their feet for a while. Then we headed to the dining hall to enjoy dinner before heading to MK. Aaron loved loved loved the turkey sandwich from Pop and I had the kids Salmon meal while the kids shared a side of waffle fries and munched on our plates as well.
 

Cetta

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After dinner at Pop we went straight to the bus to head to EMH at Magic Kingdom. We arrived around 7:30 before the fireworks started. The security guy that night was the most thorough out of all of the ones we went through. Made me wonder why he was so on top of things and the others didn't seem to care as much. I mean this guy looked in every cup holder and compartment on our stroller, in every bag pocket, and just wow! no one else did that! I told him that I really appreciated his thoroughness because it makes me feel safe. Since we already saw the fireworks we decided to hit up some rides we missed on our previous MK day. So we went straight to Adventureland because we wanted to ride Jungle Cruise...ready for another mom fail...well we parked the stroller and we saw that no one was on the Magic Carpets so I said lets ride that because we can see the start of the fireworks from up high and then ride Jungle Cruise. Well that was all cool but um I forgot that Jungle Cruise doesn't do EMH so we got to the entrance of Jungle Cruise the cast member said it was closed. it was 8:03...oops! So we didn't get to ride Jungle Cruise this trip. We went on Pirates.
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Joseph and Aaron headed to Big Thunder Mountain while Sadie and I rode Pirates again so we could see the kitty scene. After we went on again, we walked around the gift shop looking for anything that might have had the kitties on them but came out with nothing. We headed over to BTMRR to wait for the boys to get off. They wanted to go on again, so we waited. When they got off we parked the stroller near the Tangled bathrooms and went on small world. My husband had never actually been on it which means I haven't been on it since I was a teenager. I forgot how long it was. about half way through, Joseph said "this is weird, where are all the grown ups?" hahaha Sadie liked looking for all the animals. After Small World we split up again, Joseph and I went in line for SDMT while Aaron and Sadie rode the carousel.
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Next they met Elena and Cinderella. Aaron said Elena was the best princess interaction from the whole trip. She greeted Sadie like they were old friends. She asked Sadie who her favorite animal was and she said pig. He said it was just really cute and she seemed to really care about what Sadie had to say.
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After meeting the princesses, they went in the gift shop and Sadie picked out a Moana figure set.
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Joseph had an absolute blast on SDMT, I was very uncomfortable in the seats. Like really uncomfortable....enough to where it kind of ruined the fun of the ride.
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Cetta

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We met up, grabbed our stroller and headed through the castle because the park was closing. It was our last park day and we hadn't gotten a picture with the castle yet so we got in line for it.
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Joseph wanted to pick out a toy because Sadie got the Moana set but the stores were closed. We waved goodbye to Magic Kingdom and made our way to the bus stop.
Thursday, January 31
Today was supposed to be our go home day but since our flight was cancelled it was our switch hotels and hang out at Disney Springs. We took a minnie-van to the B Resort around 11:15am. I loved this service and the fact that they have two car seats for my kiddos. We checked in and I was pretty surprised that our room was ready. We dropped off all our stuff and the kids LOVED the balcony even though it just overlooked the parking lot and highway.
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Another mom fail....we headed down around noon to get to our 1pm ADR at T-Rex. I know we could have walked to DS but my feet were killing me so I wanted to take the bus. We stood at the bus stop for almost 30 minutes before I realized that the buses for DS don't start until 6pm...oops! since it was so close to our ADR, I called another Minnie-van.
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Afterwards we hung around DS and did some shopping.
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Cetta

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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We walked back to our hotel around 6pm, it was a nice walk and made me wish that I didn't screw up earlier because it would have been a nice walk to DS. The kids and I grabbed some ice cream while Aaron took an Uber to the gas station. When Aaron got back we decided to give in to the kids requests all week and go swimming.
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we all got our swim stuff on and walked down the hall with people giving us crazy looks. It was cold out...probably in the 50's and it was like 7 or 8 at night. We got to the pool and there was a dad with his two kids in the pool and no one else around. We probably played in the pool for like 15-20 minutes. It was cold but the kids wanted to jump a couple time. We ran back to the room with more crazy looks from people in the hallway. We got back to the room, I completed our packing and hung our swim stuff to dry. It was our last night. We went to bed, our shuttle would be picking us up at 7:20am. Everything went smoothly at the airport and on the plane.
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When we got home there was snow everywhere. The roads back home were just fine until we got off our exit and it looked like there hadn't been a plow by at all but we got home just fine. Sad our vacation was over but the kids were very happy to see our cat Bella. Joseph can't wait to go back and ride the Jurassic Park ride and Sadie wants to see the kitties on the Pirate ride again. I think we will try to go again next January or February, we are thinking of staying two nights at Universal and the rest of the week at Disney, but we will see if we do it that soon or not. Overall, it was a good trip. I wish my husband wasn't so worried about the house and truck back home. Also next time, I am bringing the ipad just for the plane ride and then it is being packed in the suitcase and not used in our hotel rooms. The kids just wanted to play games and watch stuff on the ipad while we were in our room....I wanted them to be watching Stacey!
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Was your flight canceled because of the snow? Uggh! What a horrible feeling that must have been.
Thank you for sharing your trip with us!
AND...
I agree that your kids being sooo freakin’ adorable!!!!
 

Cetta

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Your kiddos are adorable! So glad you all had a great time!
Thank you very much! It was nice to share the good and the bad.
Agreed! Your kids are sooo cute!
Thanks...we sure think they are cute!
Was your flight canceled because of the snow? Uggh! What a horrible feeling that must have been.
Thank you for sharing your trip with us!
AND...
I agree that your kids being sooo freakin’ adorable!!!!
yes, the flight was cancelled in anticipation of snow coming the following day...our original flight home was 9pm Thursday night and I got the cancellation notification around 11am on Wednesday. Pretty advanced cancellation. Also thanks for reading along, it was soothing to write about it. I cried on and off the threes days after we came back home because I was in denial that it was all over. Writing this trip report stopped the tears and brought smiles.
 

PacNWTigger

Well-Known Member
I know you were saying you had "mom fails" in your TR, and I honestly couldn't see any. You handled things with grace and patience in some extreme circumstances with your flight cancellation. You got things taken care of, and I bet your super cute kids didn't notice a thing being amiss due to your diligence in making sure they were having a good time. :joyfull:
 

DisSplash

Well-Known Member
I know you were saying you had "mom fails" in your TR, and I honestly couldn't see any. You handled things with grace and patience in some extreme circumstances with your flight cancellation. You got things taken care of, and I bet your super cute kids didn't notice a thing being amiss due to your diligence in making sure they were having a good time. :joyfull:

I totally agree with all of this! Your kids clearly had the best time!! And I’ll bet they are still talking about it. 😊
I am still learning new things about Disney every time I go, and while I never get everything exactly right, my kids generally have no clue, and I just make plenty of mental notes for the next time! 😉

I really enjoyed your report, as it brought me back to my family’s first trip when my kids were about the same age as yours. Sadie and Joseph are absolutely precious, and I ❤️‘D the pics of Sadie anxiously waiting for the next character to arrive ... I have so many similar photos! 😄
 

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member
Thanks for sharing! Your looks more than adorable. Love the Star Wars pics.... first not a happy face and afterwards a big smile :)
 

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