Trip Report Paul, Christina, and Lorelai take Eggs to Disney!

tehSAC · Nov 20, 2017

On Monday October 16th our journey began just west of Indianapolis Indiana. My wife is a nurse and had to work Saturday and Sunday evening before our trip. The first idea was to leave Monday afternoon and drive all night, but I decided that might be too much for us. Mainly because we would be attending the Halloween Party the evening of the 17th. Friday night we changed plans and decided to leave after my wife's Sunday overnight shift with the intention of stopping somewhere a couple hours north of the Florida state line. We had We have made this trek as a family numerous times, mainly driving straight through, but this time we were going to give ourselves a bit of a break.

Her shift ran long, so she did not get home from work until around Eight:15 that morning. We ended up leaving around Eight:45 in the morning hoping to reach either Tifton or Valdosta Georgia by Eight or 9 that evening. The first part of the trip went smooth, right until lunch time. We stopped in Nashville and it ended up being a 2 hour lunch. UGH After that it was around three pm and I just didn't see my goal being achieved. I cruised out of Nashville heading on I-24 south towards Chattanooga, everyone was asleep, and I was listening to a podcast. I came to the conclusion around Manchester, to just keep going, and get into Orlando early Tuesday morning.

When the group awoke just south of Chattanooga, I told my wife of my plan, and called our hotel while stuck in traffic. The rates had gone down since we first booked and another night would be free of charge because of the price difference. That works for me!  I ended up driving the entire distance and arrived at our resort at three:05 AM. We checked in, received our room keys, and proceeded to pass out in our beds. Hoping to have a nice rest before heading to the Halloween Party that evening.

We fall asleep around 4 AM that morning. I am awoken by an excited 2 yr old around 8:30 am that morning. Wonderful, 4 and a half hours of sleep…… To give mom a little more rest I load up the girls into the van and take a little drive around Disney Property. However I’m reminded as we hit the lobby that they are serving breakfast, so who wouldn’t want to make their own mickey waffle after 4 hours of sleep. Here we would hit our first queue of the week. The queue of morons who don’t know how to make a waffle. That was a direct quote from my notes. Can you tell how happy I was? LOL Anyway we make our waffles, and sit down together, and the 2 year old decided so pour her milk on her waffle. Oh boy this is going to be an interesting week…..

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Right before the waffle was introduced to a milk bath.

The breakfast at the Spring Hill Suites is your typical continental breakfast. The only addition is the make your own Mickey Waffle area. We enjoyed our meal, and then loaded up into the Van. We took off and traveled though the West Gate towards the Coronado Springs Resort. We ended up traveling around the Boardwalk and Beach Club, then back towards the Animal Kingdom Lodge. My brother in law was in town with his family and they were staying at the AKL. We visited for a few minutes, and even placed a hand painted rock for someone to find. A little backstory on that. My oldest wanted to paint some rocks to hide and see if people would take said rock and re-hide it. I created a Instagram page (@hidden_gems_rocks) for her in hope that people would find the rocks and we could track where they go. It’s something that kids do around here, so we gave it a go. However we did not hide any in the parks.

So after we left the AKL we headed over to Target for a few things, and then back to the room. When we arrived it was 11:00 am and mom had just woke up. The girls and I decided to go down to the pool, to kill a little more time before heading over to the MK. I actually sat in the hot tub for a bit, while the girls swam in the pool with a couple new friends. After a hour and a half we decided to get dressed and head out for some lunch. We debated going over to Disney Springs and eating at the Rainforest Café, but CiCi’s pizza ended up being the choice. We do not have CiCi’s near us, so when Lorelai knows there is one around that is where she wants to go. I am not a buffet person, but it’s cheap and not usually busy. After lunch it was around 2:30, and we thought about killing some time at Disney Springs. Though knowing we needed to park, catch a tram, and cross the lagoon to get to the MK, I made the executive decision to just go to the MK. We arrived around 2:45 and was parked in Zurg 109, which is pretty close to the TTC. The girls got dressed in their costumes, and we headed to the TTC. Lorelai was dressed as Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony, and Ella was dressed as Peppa Pig. I know I’m a bad dad not dressing them as Disney characters, but I let them choose their own thing. It was spitting rain, and in the back of my head I was hoping it would stop so I could see the Headless Horseman. We hopped on the ferry, and sat on top. The girls were all smiles all the way across the lagoon.

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They are ready to go!

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Ella seeing the castle in the distance for the first time.

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Headed over on the boat, on a dreary evening.

So we arrived at the gate around

:15, I knew it was early, but people were already lining up for the party. More on that in my next post.

tehSAC · Nov 20, 2017

So it’s 3:45 PM on Tuesday afternoon, 12 hours prior to this I’m just passing out in my bed after driving 19 hours straight. We are standing in a line full of people dressed up and ready for the MNSSHP. I’m surprisingly not tired, I think it’s the excitement of visiting the Magic Kingdom for the first time during the fall season. Maybe it’s my first ever MNSSHP. I don’t know, but I do know I’m excited. The plan is to head in, and head straight into the Chapeau to purchase Ella’s first set of ears.

10 minutes before 4, we are moving and heading through the turn styles. We receive a wristband, and we are off.

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We walked into the Chapeau and allowed Ella to choose her ears. She chooses a pair of classic ears first, then sees a pair that has Minnie on them, and that was her final choice. Lorelai grabs a pair of Oswald ears, and my wife chooses a headband with ears. They all have their name stitched in the back. While waiting on the stitching to be finished, Ella sees pins, and we let her choose a lanyard so she can trade pins like her sister.

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After spending a few bucks, LOL, we head towards the area where they give us our first candy bag, and hit up our first Photo Pass photographer. As we are waiting in line, I check the time and when our first fastpass is. I have set up a meeting with the princesses, just to get them out of the way. Knowing the wait can be quite large, I wanted to knock that off the list as soon as possible.

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tehSAC · Nov 20, 2017

So where I left off we were on the path behind main street, heading towards the hub. We have received our candy bags and first bit of candy. Our plan is to hit up our first fastpass in fantasy land. We have a date with a couple princesses. There was a show going on in front of the castle, so we headed towards the Mad Tea Party, round the corner, and then head towards Fairytale Hall. There wasn’t a single person in line for fastpasses, so we parked the stroller, and headed in.

First up would be Tiana. Ella doesn’t know much about Tiana, as she hasn’t sat down to watch the movie from start to finish. I was curious how she would do with her, but there was no issues. Lorelai talked to her in the line and had her all excited. Ella had this routine she would do throughout the trip. Something she does with family, so it was funny to see her do it with “strangers”. Anyway, she likes to High Five, Fist Bump, and then give Rock Fingers. Tiana did every bit of it, and laughed as she signed the girls autograph books. Ella was all smiles!

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We then hopped into the line with Rapunzel and Ella wouldn’t stop staring and pointing at her. Lorelai and Ella enjoy the Disney channel show, and of course the movie Tangled, so she knew exactly who she was. Seeing that was awesome, and Lorelai was excited to meet her again. Rapunzel was the highlight of our last trip when Lorelai was 4.

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Rapunzel however did not do the Rock Fingers and Ella seemed annoyed. She showed them to her again, and gave up. They had their photos taken and we were headed out, we were only in there a total of 10 minutes. Looking at my phone, it was 4:15 PM, still had under three hours till the Halloween party started, and I was feeling good about getting items “knocked” off our list. Our next fastpass wasn’t for a half an hour, so we headed over to Prince Charming’s Regal Carrousel. This would be Ella’s first official attraction in Disney World.

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As you can see both girls were all smiles. Mom and I were enjoying their joy as we took a ride around on the carousel.

tehSAC · Nov 20, 2017

So we finished up with the carousel, and decided to take a ride on the happiest cruise that ever sailed. It is Lorelai and my wife’s favorite ride in the Magic Kingdom, so off we went. On that short stroll I received a text from my brother in law, who was also in the park that evening for the party. My nephew wanted to see us, and I told him we would try and catch up soon, that we were about to get on the ride. Anyway, It was practically a walk on, and we were sat in the front of the boat. Ella loved every second, continuously pointing out things that she enjoyed. I pointed out the cactus with the guitar, as he is my favorite, and she seemed to enjoy it as well. As we were coming around to the of the ride Lorelai noticed her name on the screen with her mothers. At the moment I couldn’t understand how it worked, but the girls were very surprised. Later I remembered the magic bands I had purchased back in may for the girls. I tied one band to my wife’s name, and the other to Lorelai’s. I purchased them because I knew the girls would feel left out not having them. In hindsight, they barely wore them, and they stayed in my wifes purse 90% of the time. They have worn them more at home than they did in the park. LOL

Anyway as we were disembarking the cruise I heard “Uncle Paul!” and looked up. Our seats were going to be taken over by my brother in law’s family. So we saw them a bit sooner than expected. That would be the only time we would see them this evening. Looking at my phone, I realized it was 4:40 at this time, so we made our way to our next fastpass. Meeting Cinderella and Elena. This was another walk in and at the head of the line type of deal. I’m good with that!

First up would be Cinderella , and Ella knew the drill by then. She grabbed her book and held it tight as they walked up to meet her. Cindy didn’t understand Ella’s way of greeting and they had a pretty fun conversation about it. Lorelai was the translator and Cinderella said she would take this new greeting home to share with the kingdom.

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Next up was Elena. Now I must admit I am not too fond of meeting face characters. I don’t know what it is, but I always feel odd around them. Social anxiety, not knowing what to say, or just feeling like leaving it for the kids to enjoy. I don’t know. Honestly I’m not a grumpy gus, just not comfortable with it. However Elena was awesome! She was a very pretty girl, who was the friendliest cast member we met the entire trip. She was so kind to the girls and to my wife and I. Started to change my perspective on “face” characters for sure. Until I got a punch in the arm from the wife when I said she was “cute”. Lol.

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After meeting up with the princess, we asked Lorelai was she wanted to do next. We pulled up the map on the Disney app, and saw the wait for the Mad Tea Party was at 5 minutes. She pointed the way, and we were off. As we walked up, there was no line at all, and it was time to chalk up another “walk on” in our Disney trip. We all fit into one cup and enjoyed a good spin. Ella wasn’t too sure of this one, and really had no desire to do it again. So that would be it for the rest of the trip.

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It was just after 5 when we walked off that attraction, so we made a plan and headed towards Storybook Circus. Dumbo was our next attraction, and again it was a walk on! However walking through, the girls saw the play area, and asked if we could come back after the ride. I had no problem with that, as long as it was allowed. Why wouldn’t it be right?

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Ella loved every second of this attraction. Christina said she was all smiles and excitement from start to end. When we were exiting the line, Ella asked to ride again and wanted to go with daddy. I was good with that, but first we had a play area to explore!

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In 2012, the last time we visited the parks, the construction was on going for this part of the attraction. I had seen images, but never been inside. The idea to add this to the queue was genius, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the girls explore. As a grown up child, I wanted to explore too, but I refrained from giving in to my inner child. After about 20 minutes or so, we would head out for another round on Dumbo. This time Ella rode with me, and I loved every second. I was bummed with the ride was finished, wishing inside that it would go around for a few more revolutions. Not because I enjoyed the ride, I enjoyed the joy Ella was having.

Afterword’s we would hit up the shop across from the attraction. A few purchases were made here. Lorelai made her first purchase of the trip, another hat, a goofy hat! Oh and a jack skellington cake pop! My wife would end up purchasing a little mermaid bubble blower ( a hit of the trip ) and slushie. Ella bought a small stuffed pluto, which now never leaves her side.

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Okay well I need to get back to work. Hopefully you all have enjoyed the report so far. There is plenty more to come. We haven’t even got to the Halloween party at this point.

Have a magical day!

12in12 · Nov 20, 2017

I am enjoying your report, especially the happy faces in your pictures.

tehSAC · Nov 20, 2017

Hopefully you keep following along. There is plenty more smiling faces to come.

tehSAC · Nov 21, 2017

Disclaimer: It’s starting to get dark, so I did not pull out my camera much the rest of the evening. There will be some photo’s, but not many.

So I left off with us shopping within Big Top Souvenirs. It was close to 7PM at this time, and we head towards our first candy stop at Pete’s Silly Sideshow. After our first haul of candy, we make the decision to ride the Little Mermaid ride. This would be a first for all of us, as it was under construction in 2012. Again this would be another walk on. Lorelai and my wife rode in one clamshell, as I rode with Ella. During our journey, we had two stoppages, one in the under the sea scene, and the other just outside the beginning of kiss the girl scene. Ella was a bit ancy as she didn’t understand what was going on, but she seemed to enjoy the ride. We planned on returning, but would never make it back to this part of the park the rest of our trip.

Next was a quick bathroom break, outside of Gaston’s Tavern. I mention this as this was the point Lorelai would see the Mine Train in person for the first time. A bit of a backstory, she likes watching Disney bloggers on youtube, and has watched this ride a few hundred times online. She was excited to see it, and was constantly asking me to check the app for the wait time. However at this point, she would watch the train come out of the main drop a few times and come to the conclusion she did not want to ride it. Like her mother and I, she isn’t into roller coasters or rides with large drops. So we would never attempt to ride this attraction. Upon arriving home, the first thing Lorelai would say was “I really wish we rode the Mine Train dad”. Haha.

We would make a couple stops for candy, and debated waiting in line to meet Jack and Sally, but decided against that seeing the wait. So we would head towards Haunted Mansion, however Lorelai wasn’t feeling it. She did not care for it the last time we visited, so she was very hesitant. I assured her that is was fun, and to just sit back and enjoy it. Once again this would be a walk on, the only wait was the stretching room. Lorelai rode with mom, and Ella rode with me. This is one of my favorite attractions, so I was pretty excited to experience it again, and see what Ella thought of it. No crying, but she did snuggle in tight with me. Afterwards she would say it was “creepy”, but wanted to go again. Lorelai was all smiles afterwards and said “that’s nothing”.

We were all getting hungry, so we pulled up the app and decided Nacho’s sounded good. So Pecos Bills it was! My wife and I shared an order of nachos, and Lorelai and Ella enjoyed some chips with queso. During our little snack we decided to slow down a bit and chose to watch the parade from just outside the restaurant. A decision I would regret later on, but more on that later. We took our time eating, and then found a spot just between the bridges that take you to Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. We had 15 minutes before the parade began.

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Ella waiting on food in Pecos Bills

Another disclaimer: My night photos really suck, but I took them anyway. LOL

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We all really enjoyed the parade. We all enjoyed the Headless Horseman and the music. We had a great spot for viewing and the girls both had some interaction with a few characters. However, in hindsight, we should have waited to see the second parade in a different spot. After the final float, everyone and their mother would make their way to the hub for the fireworks show. This was my biggest mistake of the whole trip! Seriously, that was awful and makes me anxious thinking about it right now. Rookie mistake, I know. However we would make it to the hub, and have a great spot for the fireworks.

tehSAC · Nov 21, 2017

For the rest of the night, the photos I took were with my phone. So the quality isn’t the best. So where I last left off, we had just waded through a sea of people, and made it to the hub. We found a spot next to the Walt and Mickey statue, and parked the stroller. Typically as I would come to a stop with the stroller, Ella would jump out and be ready to go. Not this time, this kid was out cold. I figured we would let her nap, and the fireworks would wake her up. So while waiting, I took off towards Tomorrowland looking for a couple bottles of water. I would hop into Auntie Gravity’s as there was no line, and grabbed a couple bottles of water for us.

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When I got back to the hub, the show was beginning. To my surprise, Ella slept through the entire fireworks show. I was certain she would wake up, but I guess her batteries were empty. So empty she would sleep until we started to board the ferry. After the fireworks, Lorelai wanted to stick around for the Hocus Pocus show. However she had a hard time seeing the stage from where we were, so her and I took off and moved towards the castle. There wasn’t many people sticking around for the show, so I had a good feeling we would find a good vantage point. There were plenty of people sitting on the ground waiting for the show to start, and we politely made our way forward till she had a good view.

Now this next part is going to be a bit of venting on my end. I apologize if I offend anyone with this little hiccup in our trip. I try to be very conscious of people around me, whether I am in the store, at a festival, or in this case The Magic Kingdom. Upon finding our spot I turned around and asked the people behind me and around them if we were in their way. If that was the case I told them I would kneel or allow their children in front of me. They were sitting on the ground waiting for the show. First I wanted to make sure that they were not planning on sitting for the performance, and secondly make sure I was not in their way. I’m going to be the last person to knowingly block someone’s view. Now at 5-10, I’m not going to be blocking many people, but I would feel awful if I knew I did. Everyone around us was polite, and was appreciative that I asked, except for one mother, the one that was sitting down. She smugly said “yea I guess it’s okay, it’s not like we haven’t been sitting here all evening for this show.” I smiled and said “okay, well I can move, and your kids can join my daughter.” She said “no, you and your daughter pushed your way up there, go ahead and enjoy your accomplishment.” I apologized if she felt that was my intention, and told her we would move, as I saw an opportunity to move a bit forward and to the right of where we were standing. We ended up moving maybe 10 feet, but still very close to this family. As the show began, I started to hear a female shout. “SIT DOWN FOR THE KIDS!” It was so loud everyone was looking in their direction. It was the woman we were standing in front of before we moved. I just told Lo to enjoy the show, and not to worry about them. The first 5 minutes of the show were drown out by her and

other women chanting “SIT DOWN FOR THE KIDS – DISNEY IS FOR THE KIDS – SIT DOWN FOR THE KIDS!” Eventually it would stop, as I believe a CM would say something to them, but midway through the show it started again, but worse. This time it was “THE ADULTS IN FRONT OF US ARE LOSERS – THEY HATE KIDS!” That lasted another 2-

minutes tops, before Lo turned around with tears in her eyes, saying “Dad, they are upsetting me, lets just go. I can’t enjoy the show if they keep yelling.” I tried to convince her to move to another spot, but she was over it.

Okay, let’s get back on the positive side of things. This night isn’t over yet! We found my wife and Ella, and Ella was still passed out. It was around 11:00 PM at this time, and Lo found her second wind. She wanted to head towards Tomorrowland to do a couple attractions. Mom and Ella found a bench outside of the Laugh Floor and told us to go have fun. Buzz was a walk on, so we hit that up first. It was a nice “spin” through the galaxy. I tried to max out my score, but only scored 689200. Lo was bummed because I beat her, and I told her “don’t you know that on this ride, whatever the older person’s score is gets transferred to the younger rider?” That made her smile. On the way out of Buzz, we headed towards the People Mover. We were surprised with a treat going through Space Mountain, as the lights were on. Sorry no photos.

Next up was a new one for Lorelai, Astro Orbiter. Now Lo isn’t a fan of heights, so I wasn’t sure how this one would work out. I was hopeful she would enjoy it. Upon exiting the Elevator, it was starting to rain. When we started she was all smiles, by the end, she was over it and in tears. She didn’t realize it was so high, and was afraid because the rockets tip inwards. At that point she was over it. We headed back down, and she said she was tired and ready to head out. I said, okay as it was 11:30 by then, and I knew the last parade was probably over. However, as we walked past buzz to find Mom and Ella, Lorelai looks at me and smiles. She says “Hey lets ride again, so I can give you my lousy score.” LOL So of course we jump on a trip through the galaxy again.

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After that, we grab Mom and Ella and make our way towards the hub. Ella is still napping, and Lorelai sees a balloon vendor, and asks for her wallet. She takes off, and comes back with two balloons. One for her and one for her sister. She is just the sweetest, and Ella was so excited when we got on the ferry and saw what her sister bought her. Before we left Mom and Ella to ride Buzz and such we made the decision to skip our Character Breakfast with Rapunzel, Flynn, Ariel and Prince Eric. We just did not feel like we could make it, and Lorelai was good with it.

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So that ends our night at the Magic Kingdom, and our first ever Halloween Party. By the end of the day I have recorded 18,718 steps or 7.5 miles. My feet are tired, and I am ready for bed. The 20 min drive back to the hotel was quiet. We parked the van and headed up to the room.

12in12 · Nov 21, 2017

I am sorry those women ruined the Hocus Pocus show for your daughter. People can be jerks even at Disney

Pixieish · Nov 21, 2017

OMG...that was so obnoxious and uncalled for by those women. You aren't supposed to sit during the show for Pete's sake.

tehSAC · Nov 21, 2017

RedNoseMickey said:
I am sorry those women ruined the Hocus Pocus show for your daughter. People can be jerks even at Disney

Yea, it was a bummer, but I tried to avoid it the best we could.

CherylM said:
OMG...that was so obnoxious and uncalled for by those women. You aren't supposed to sit during the show for Pete's sake.

I was baffled that they thought everyone should be sitting.

tehSAC · Nov 27, 2017

So, It’s been a bit, probably should continue with this report. Hopefully you are still following along. I know I’m not Shakespeare here, so don’t shoot me for my awful story telling. Lol

I left off with us passing out after a long evening at the Halloween party. As I said we skipped our breakfast in the morning, and slept in till close to 10:30 that morning. I was good with that, as we all needed a bit of rest. A little backstory on my wife. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer back in February of this year. She has always had thyroid problems, which led her to want to sleep more than others, but things had got out of hand. The tumor was so large that they had to remove her entire thyroid in April of this year. Since then trying to get her levels in check have been a chore, and a direct result making her even sleepier than before. So we would leave mom to sleep, and the girls and I would head to the pool for a little swim, and hot tub for dad to ease his feet. It was a bit windy so there was a bit of a chill coming out of the pool. Temps were in the high 70’s low 80’s with little humidity.

Mom would head down around noon, and found us drying off and hungry. We decided to try the restaurant that spanned the two properties, and to our surprise it was great. We would end up eating here a couple more times during our trip. The food was good, and it was very convenient. After lunch we headed up to the room, and got ready to head over to the Animal Kingdom for the afternoon and evening. Lorelai was excited to see Pandora, and to hopefully adopt a banshee. She had been saving up just for one since she saw a youtube video about them. She loves to watch The Tim Tracker on youtube, and when they showed them on their channel she had to have one. Anyway, we packed up, and headed out. I had made some fastpasses for my wife’s favorite attraction, Kilimanjaro Safaris, for in the evening, but other than that nothing else. I had a fastpass for Rivers of Light, but canceled it before we left home. Something told me that Ella wouldn’t sit for that show.

So we arrived and parked in the Peacock Section of the lot right near the tram stop. We hopped on the first tram and we were headed towards a day of fun!

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On the ride over my Brother in Law sent me a text asking what we were doing. He knew that we were planning a day at Animal Kingdom and wanted to know if we wanted to get a family picture. I told him that we would meet him on the other side of the bridge in front of the tree. It took us a few minutes as the girls wanted to explore the Oasis, but we eventually made it. We took some family photos of all of us, and the cousins all took a photo for the grandparents.

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My brother in law and his family were headed back to their resort and he handed Lorelai some cash. He told her it was for a stand for her Banshee, and that it was a necessity in his opinion. Lorelai thanked him and we were on our way to Pandora. A short walk later, we were with the Nav’i. I was blow away with the theming and music. Lo loved all the “pods” and the floating mountains. Since we did not have fastpasses for any of the attractions in Pandora, we just explored and enjoyed the land. At this time both attractions wait times were over two hours, so we were content with exploring.

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We eventually made our way to Windtraders and stopped to take a look at the Banshees. Lorelai made a decision to adopt a Purple and Yellow Banshee, and also purchased the stand. She did all of it on her own and I just stood near to give her a hand if she needed anything. As we turned around to leave, Ella was picking out her own, and was going to use some of her cash she had brought. So now we were stuck with two large boxes and two stands in two large bags. We had only been in the park 45 minutes, and there was no way I was about to carry them throughout the park. The decision was made to take them back to the car, and meet back up with them at Creature Comforts/Starbucks. As I was exiting the park I saw “baggage claim” and tried to see if they would hold them for us. However I was informed that it had to come directly from the shop for this service to be used. Oh well, to the tram I go! I dropped the banshees off at the car and was back to the gates within 20 minutes. As I was walking back through the turnstiles, my wife sent me a text. It said, “the girls are in a parade, the cast member told us it ended near Flame Tree BBQ”. I replied that I knew where that was and I would be waiting for them. Making a b-line to Flame Tree, I arrived early and found a spot to wait. A few minutes would pass before I would hear music and see the parade coming through. The girls were at the back with my wife pushing Ella in the stroller. They looked like they were having fun, dancing with the cast members, and waving their streamers.

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They looked hot, so after the music ended, I grabbed some water from Flame Tree to fill up our bottles and we took a break in the shade. After a while we decided to pay a visit to Mickey and Minnie. This would be our longest wait all week, at a whopping 25 minutes. We passed the time chatting about what we wanted to see, what we had seen, and looking for hidden mickeys. Now I’m biased of course, as they are my children, but be forewarned for a curtness overload of photos. Ella hammed it up for the cameras, and the girls loved every second of this Meet and Greet. Probably one of the highlights of the trip for me. Mickey and Minnie were so good with them. I would have waited over an hour for this interaction again. Without further adieu…..

ella 12 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

IMG_5083 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

IMG_5071 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

IMG_5093 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

Well, with that cuteness overload, I will have to end today's trip report entry. Stay tuned, we have more of the Animal Kingdom to come!

Rista1313 · Nov 28, 2017

I'm in!

tehSAC · Dec 4, 2017

So after having a great interaction with Mickey and Minnie, we tried to figure out what was next on the agenda. To be honest all we wanted to do was enjoy the park, and maybe ride the safari ride once. It was around 4 PM at this time, and the wait for Kilimanjaro Safaris was at 10 minutes on the app. So we headed that way, but not in any hurry. We enjoyed the theming and views of The Tree of Life heading towards Africa. Upon arriving we found where to park the stroller, and headed down the queue, and immediately onto the ride. I’ve been on this attraction a handful of times, and this time was one of the best. The girls loved it because the animals were out and about and very active.

IMG_5096 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

IMG_5097 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

IMG_5101 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

IMG_5103 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

IMG_5110 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

We had a slow down because of a few ostriches and zebras crossing the path.

After that we headed into Ziwani Traders to shop around a bit. We were searching for a frame to go with our photo taken in front of the tree. After that I noticed that Flights of Wonder’s wait time was the lowest it had been all day. We decided to head that way and maybe enjoy a flight on a banshee. We took our time heading towards Pandora, and took the back entrance near The Festival of the Lion King. Upon arriving the fastpass and standby times were the same, 70 minutes. We decided against it, and wondered through Pandora some more. A bathroom break, a quick snack of Cheesburger Pods from Satu’li Canteen.

AK by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

After that we would head out to try and find some ice cream for the girls. They ended up having a mickey bar each while people watching outside of Discovery Island Trails.

tehSAC · Dec 19, 2017

I need to get back to this report. Life has been so busy lately, that I have neglected this report. I apologize.

Dave B · Dec 19, 2017

great report so far

tehSAC · Dec 29, 2017

So lets see, where did I leave off? Oh yes, we were people watching outside of Discovery Island Trails. After Ice Cream we took a walk over to see some flamingo’s and enjoy a quiet little spot off the main drag. The girls enjoyed watching the birds while mom and I just relaxed. We spent a good 15 minutes here while Lorelai read the literature posted around the exibit. Ella decided it was a good spot to dance.

AK2 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

After awhile, we took off towards Dinoland USA. Lorelai saw Primeval Whirl, and convinced mom to ride with her. Ella and I took a spin together on Triceratops Spin. When we walked off the ride, there was Lorelai and Mom, and Lo had herself a concerned look on her face. The first thing she said was, “I did not enjoy that one bit Dad”, with one long pause afterwords. She then stated “I think I’m done for the night”. Lo, sweetie I would feel the same way.

AK7 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

We would take one last spin on Triceratops Spin as a family, and then head towards the Boneyard to allow the girls to blow off some remaining steam. We spent a half hour or so here, and decided we wanted to visit pandora one last time. Man was that cool! However it was so dark in spots I couldn’t see in front of my face. I was so enamored with it all, I could have spent all night there.

ak9 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

ak8 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

We would end up taking off after this, and head back to the room. Before leaving I made a bet with Lorelai and Mom. That Ella and I could make it back to the car before the tram dropped them off. One stipulation, I could not run. So Ella and I took off towards our parking spot in the Peacock section of the lot. Ella and I won the bet by a long shot. We sat in the back of the van and watched what we could see of the fireworks from Hollywood Studios.

When we got back to the room, the girls wanted to swim and grab a bite to eat. While they were swimming, Mom and I ordered a pizza from the restaurant attached to the pool and watched the girls swim. The pizza was excellent from here, and it wouldn’t be the last time we had from here. Oh and they had to have ice cream again. Hey its vacation, right?

hotel1 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

BANSHEE by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

The day ended with me recording 16,007 steps or 6.5 Miles.

In the morning would be our last day in the parks. One last day at the Magic Kingdom. I promise the next update won’t take as long.

LisaBelle · Dec 29, 2017

I am enjoying your report. Your girls are adorable! So sweet of Lorelai to purchase a balloon for Ella. Loved the pictures of all the meet and greets, especially Mickey and Minnie!

tehSAC · Jan 4, 2018

So here we go, the last park day. Please note, that most of the photo’s shared on this last day are from my phone or my wife’s. We just didn’t pull out the camera much and when I did, the photos were no better than our phones.

We woke around 6 am and headed down to the lobby to have breakfast at the resort. After filling our bellies with the typical hotel breakfast garb, we headed to the car, and made our way to the Magic Kingdom. We parked in the third row from the tunnel to the TTC, and decided this morning we were going to take the Monorail. We arrived at the gates at 8:30 AM and headed towards Main Street. We decided to celebrate Ella’s birthday this day even if her birthday was just over a month away. We grabbed a button, hit the bathroom, and headed to the hub.

ELLA-PIN by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

MK3 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

MK4 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

We found a photographer and got in line for a family photo before rope drop.

MK6 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

After watching the opening show, we headed towards Adventureland because we did not step foot in this land earlier in the week. As we rounded the corner from the treehouse, Ella saw Aladdin’s Magic Carpets, and we headed directly to it. We walked right on and took a quick little spin. Lorelai was not a fan of the carpet tilting front and back just like Triceratops Spin, but overall they both enjoyed it.

MK5 by PaulSAC1854, on Flickr

When exiting the ride, I made the decision to head down the steps to the Jungle Cruise. Again this was another walk on. Ella and Lorelai enjoyed the ride until we reached the temple. Neither one of them really enjoyed the darkness or fake snakes.

After our little cruise, we headed towards Pirates. Now this is my favorite attraction, I mean I would ride it over and over all day. Brings back a ton of memories, and well I love the smell of the water. However it was taking a bit of convincing for Lorelai to ride. She isn’t a fan of dark places and when we first took her she did not want to ride at all. She was starting to get anxious, so we found a quiet spot to sit and chat. Tortuga Tavern was a perfect spot, and we talked a bit. After a few minutes, and a bathroom break, we were headed that way. We ended up waiting around 20 minutes to get on our boat, and we were placed in the front seat. As most if not all of you know, that area before the drop is pitch black. All you can hear is water rushing, and I felt Lorelai grab my hand tightly as we made it to the drop. At the bottom of the drop we got a good splash and then there was the Wicked Wench and Captain Barbossa. After that Lorelai was pointing and asking what was going on or pointing out parts that she enjoyed. At the end she said she enjoyed it, but did not want to ride again. Ella in her cute little voice said “daddy it was creepy” LOL

Trip Report Paul, Christina, and Lorelai take Eggs to Disney!

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