Trip Report Completed - Shaky the Elevator, and other Disney World Tales

Disney World...

Big...Wide...and very, very cold!

Ok, so that last part might not be 100% true, but for the first couple days of our recent December trip, it certainly felt true. Here is visual evidence. Pay no attention to the sunshine, it was a very cold day.

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Welcome to our latest Disney Trip report. We visited WDW from Saturday, December 9th through the 16th. It was COLD!!:cold: VERY COLD!!! :cold::cold::cold:. Yes we were wearing coats in Animal Kingdom (all except for my wife Sara, but that is a different story).

Our trip began on Thursday, December 7th. That afternoon Sara and I loaded up our car (with way too many things) while our daughter Makayla, who is three, took her nap. Once our son Luke, six years old, came home from school, we all jumped in the van and were on our way from our Pennsylvania home.

We quickly learned that Luke is the perfect age for asking "Are we there yet?" over and over and over. Not 30 minutes into our trip the questions started raining from the back seat. -"Are we at our hotel yet?" -"No, we're not even out of Pennsylvania yet." -"How much longer?" -"About six hours, enjoy your movie" (the kids were watching "Mickey and the Roadster Racers," a favorite of Luke's. 15 minutes pass... -"Are we there yet?" And on and on.

About two hours into our trip we made a stop at a Moe's Southwest Grill for dinner, the continued on our way. We stayed the night at a Hampton Inn south of Richmond, VA. The kids had actually fallen asleep for the last hour or so before we arrived at the hotel, but they had no problem falling back asleep once we were settled in the room. Sara and I also had no problem getting to sleep. It had been a long day.

The next morning the kids woke up and watched some cartoons while Sara and I got ready. Here they are looking super enthused...

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After a quick breakfast, we were on the road. This was Friday, December 8th. Areas around Atlanta, GA will likely remember this day as the day they got several inches of snow. A cold front was pushing through, which would bring arctic air all the way down to Florida. Brrrr. Thankfully, no snow for us as we were traveling on I-95 this day, just a heavy dose of rain.

We made several cold, wet stops along the way. Lunch was at a Pizza Hut in South Carolina, and at the Georgia Welcome Center we got to meet Forrest Gump.
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Makayla posed for a picture, Luke refused. In the year since our past trip to Disney, Makayla has gotten slightly more comfortable with characters. She still doesn't like them, but she doesn't necessary go running and screaming away from them anymore. Her character interactions this trip would be very hit or miss depending on what mood she happened to be in.

They did both enjoy the trolley car at the visitor center however.

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Once we were south of Jacksonville the rain finally relented, and the temperature rose from about 40 to 70 degrees in the two hours between Jacksonville and Orlando, at least according to our car's gauge. We had made it in front of the approaching cold front, but a quick glance at the forecast let us know that the warm weather wouldn't last. When we arrived at our hotel, we felt the warmest temperature we would feel that week. But with the warm weather was a steady north wind that we knew was bringing the cold air.

We stayed at another Hampton Inn in Orlando for the night. Luke and Makayla had loved the suite we stayed at the year before so much that I decided to splurge and get another one for the night. This one didn't come with a separate room, just a very large room. Can't complain though. It was very nice.
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The next morning we were headed to Epcot!!!
 

buseegal

Active Member
We continued our tomorrowland morning by heading towards the Speedway. Luke was once again matched up with me. He tried his hand at steering on this ride, resulting in just a few bumps along the way. :)

When we had finished with the Speedway, it was already time for our next fastpass at Goofy's Barnstormer. Sara and Luke had gone on Goofy's ride last year, but it was a first time for Makayla and me. One of my last "firsts" at Disney World.

Makayla has a history with roller coasters, and most of it is tragic. Luke began really getting into roller coasters about 2 years ago on a trip to a central Pennsylvania theme park staple - Hersheypark. We were there with his cousin who is two years older than him, and convinced him to go on a small coaster there called the Trailblazer. Ever since then, he has really liked the smaller roller coasters. He is still too scared to try one that goes upside down :confused:.

This year, we decided that we would see what Makayla thought of roller coasters. Her first experience came at another small Central PA theme park, Dutch Wonderland. We took her on this small, purple kiddie coaster. I still remember how enthusiastic she was as she got on the ride, but by the end she was in tears. It was too fast for her. A few months later, we were at Hersheypark again, and tried the Trailblazer with her, but it had the same result.

But the Barnstormer, it's such a small coaster. Surely, I thought, Makayla can handle this. She was excited as we walked into line, and sat down on the ride. But as soon as we started going up the hill, she knew what was coming, and the tears started flowing. :cry: Before we had made it up the hill she was a mess. I held her as tight as I could. The good thing is that the ride really only takes 15 seconds. Soon enough we were back in the station, with Makayla repeating -"I don't LIKE that ride."

By this time our lunch reservation at Tony's was coming up in about 45 minutes. We decided to take a ride on the train, since the Fantasyland station was so close. If Luke would have had his way he would have done the Casey Jr splash area, but thankfully the water feature was turned off. I'm assuming this was because of the cold weather.

We boarded in Fantasyland. Our plan was to take the train the whole way around and then one more leg to Main Street. It was a good plan. Unfortunately, the kids didn't think the train was that much fun. Once we made our first stop at Main Street, the novelty had worn off, and Luke went on one of his gripes about it being "boring." Makayla followed his lead, and suddenly we had two crabby children with us. But not much we could do as we trekked towards Frontierland. Luke did enjoy seeing Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain while we were there, but then once again complained about how boring the train ride was. After much grumbling, we finally exited the train in Main Street, and were on our way to Tony's.
Trailblazer has been the first coaster for a number of my grandkids and I work in the big food stand in the shadow of the purple coaster at Dutch. I am one of the older ladies you could see in dining room or if you remember back when Dutch had the Asian window in that stand I worked that window. I think I may have talked with you in that my first granddaughter is also Makayla
 

Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Trailblazer has been the first coaster for a number of my grandkids and I work in the big food stand in the shadow of the purple coaster at Dutch. I am one of the older ladies you could see in dining room or if you remember back when Dutch had the Asian window in that stand I worked that window. I think I may have talked with you in that my first granddaughter is also Makayla

Are you talking about the food court? I know we go there a bunch, but I don't remember an Asian window. This past year was our first year with season passes to Dutch wonderland.
 

Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Once we had finished at Tony's, we had our Festival of Fantasy parade tickets in hand.


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With the parade now starting at 2pm, we decided to stay in the flagpole area. We ducked into the Chapeau and picked out our mickey ears for the year. Makayla went with a pink princess set, and Luke wanted BB8. Luke does not like Star Wars, he thinks everything about it is too scary. I've tried showing him some of the movies, but the only scene he says he likes is the pod race from Episode I. However, he has taken to BB8. He has a stuffed BB8 at home that stays in his bed. So for him it was sort of an obvious pick. Here they are later in the day as we prepped for the parade.

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We had Makayla's ears engraved (because of the material of Luke's engraving was not an option). While we waited, Luke was super excited that we got to play tag. He enjoyed running around the area between the chapeau and Tony's, and I enjoyed moving a bit after a very large lunch. We made sure to call a time out whenever cast members walked through, which was just about every 2 minutes. Finally our hats were ready. We decided to make our way to the flagpole area to see the parade.

Our View
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At this point it was obvious Makayla had not had a nap, and probably should have had one. She didn't want to sit and wait for the parade, and really didn't like anything about anything at this point.


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It was at this point that we met a cast member named Rick. Rick was one of the cast members charged with making sure Main Street was clear, and only allowing people to cross at designated areas. He saw Makayla whimpering and stooped down to see what was the matter. Makayla didn't quite know what to do at this point. Rick sat down and informed Makayla that he wasn't going to get up until she smiled. This was met by a pouty face, but Rick kept at it. He and Makayla had a little stare down, and finally Makayla turned and buried her face into Sara. Sure enough, she was trying to hide a smile. Rick had won. I asked if she wanted to get a picture with him, but she did not. Luke was willing to, unfortunately the location had him staring directly into the sun.


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Rick did a great job of making this 5 minute window magical by taking a minute to care. I sent a compliment to wdwtoday, and later in the week they sent me this back. I'm glad they were able to find him and let him know how much we appreciated a few minutes of his time. And his face is great!

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Rick then went about his job, and we waited just a bit more for the parade. Luke had gotten tired of wearing his hat already, so yes, I donned the BB8 hat.
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Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Soon enough, we heard the loudspeaker going, and the parade was marching down Main Street.
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Makayla became very excited.
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We saw Belle and the Beast pass by and waved, and then came the moment that Makayla still remembers fondly to this day. Near the rear of the first float was Anna and Elsa. Anna was looking to our side and saw Makayla wearing Elsa's dress. She reached over and got Elsa's attention and pointed Makayla out to her. Elsa then waved at Makayla and did some sort of let it snow hand motion. And Makayla was just in love! The whole rest of the week we heard -"Elsa saw my dress." -"Elsa saw the picture on my dress." -"Elsa saw my dress and waved at me." This was clearly the most magical moment for Makayla. She might not always remember it, but I'm sure Sara and I will.

Sara was the photographer during the parade, and here are a few of her pictures.

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Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
And a few more...

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Overall, the parade was a big hit for us. Luke and Makayla never grew tired of waving at the characters as they came by. To be honest, I didn't either. It was a great opportunity to see so many characters and get swept up in the magic.
 

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Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Once the parade had finished, we waited for the 2nd parade to come through, the mob of people heading toward the exit. We figured it was best to stay where we were rather than trying to fight through that crowd. After about 15 minutes, we felt the coast was clear. We decided to head towards new Fantasyland and try Ariel's ride. As we checked the app, it was showing as a 25 minute wait. But by the time we got back there, it had already grown to a post-parade 45 minute wait. We decided we would check back later, and went to Philharmagic instead. Makayla really liked it, except for the Sorcerer Mickey part where she got sprayed with water. Luke was a little freaked out by things coming out of the screen at him, and actually refused to wear 3D glasses for shows for the rest of the trip.

We next found ourselves in the Rapunzel restroom area. Makayla had informed us she had to go, and we took a brief opportunity to sit down and relax for a bit.

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Tangled has been a lasting hit in our house, and while we were there they played the song from the movie where Flynn and Rapunzel start a spontaneous dance party. Luke and I got up and tried to start dancing, but spontaneous dance parties are much harder to start in real life than in the movies. No one around gave even the slightest interest to joining in. I guess if you can't start a random group dance in Disney World, your chances of starting one anywhere else are slim.:(

But now, it was the time Luke had been waiting for all day. Seven Dwarves mine train fastpass time. What transpired was the weirdest child swap experience we have had at WDW.

We got to the line, and had to wait briefly outside in a line before we got to the touchpoint. At that point we let the CM know Makayla would be riding and needed a child swap pass. He informed us that since she was tall enough to ride, but choosing not to, we would have to go into the queue and the next cast member could help us. We thought that was odd, and Makayla was very on edge thinking we were taking her on yet another roller coaster.

About 10 minutes later we get to the next cm, who told us the cm just before you board could assist. We wait another 5 minutes to get to that cm. When we told her what we were looking for, we were told we needed to go back to the entrance and get a child swap there. :mad::mad:.

We weren't too happy at this point, and adding to it was that Makayla was fully freaking out at this point since we were very close to the ride. It was actually the woman standing in line behind us that jumped to our aid, telling the CM how we had told everyone to this point what we were looking for and they had all directed us to her. I actually felt bad for the cm. She motioned to another cm who was able to give her a paper rider switch pass. We thanked her, and at that point Luke and Sara proceeded on the ride, and Makayla and I headed towards the carousel.

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The line for the carousel was about 3 rides deep on this very crowded Monday, and before we had gotten very far in it Sara and Luke came up to us. We decided to have Sara swap out and go on the ride with Makayla, and I would ride Seven Dwarves with Luke. While I was in line, I was able to get us a 4th fastpass for Dumbo.

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Luke loved it, and especially loved being able to tell me what to look out for. He made sure that I saw the witch at the cottage at the end of the ride. As we exited, Luke declared Seven Dwarves Mine Train to be his favorite ride in the universe.

I texted Sara, who said they had gone on the carousel once, and were in line to do it again. I decided to go off script and get a snack at an area we hadn't visited before...
 

buseegal

Active Member
Are you talking about the food court? I know we go there a bunch, but I don't remember an Asian window. This past year was our first year with season passes to Dutch wonderland.
yes the food court is where I work. Asian window goes back further than you
 

Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
On these boards I had seen many people raving about the Lefou's brew and the cinnamon buns at Gaston's tavern, and after exiting 7 dwarves mine train, Luke and I decided to take a walk to get some. We texted Sara and she was still in line, but said she would meet us there.

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The line was pretty long, starting just inside the door, but soon enough we had ordered to Brews and 2 cinnamon buns for all of us. We made our way outside, initially finding some space near the fountain. Makayla was amazed by the cinnamon buns.

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Yes, that cinnamon bun is about as big as her head. She enjoyed the fountain as well.
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After a bit, Sara became concerned that water from the fountain was getting onto our food, so we found a table.
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Sara snapped a picture of Gaston as he greeted guests. Interestingly, every single person in line to meet him was female.

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I thought the cinnamon buns and Lefou's brew were both very good, and hope to get back here soon. Once we had finished, we used our fastpasses for Dumbo, and I was able to secure another fastpass for the teacups, which were next.

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Makayla liked the teacups, Luke said he hated them. Guess it was another boring ride for him :bored:

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We then headed back to tomorrowland.
 

Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our plan was to go on the Carousel of Progress, but first Luke wanted to check out the Incredibles dance party.

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Luke went crazy dancing, while I held Makayla and danced for a little bit. This became Luke's favorite thing of the night. We tried to get him away to do different things, but he just wanted to dance. We ended up staying about 10 minutes before heading over to COP. I was surprised how much our kids liked COP. Makayla really loved the dog that was in each scene, and was sure to look for him each time we changed. Luke was more interested in the special effects and how everything worked. Once we had finished, we went...back to the dance party. :p:p:p

Yes, even more fun times dancing with the incredibles. Luke let us know this was his favorite thing ever. We let both kids go another 15-20 minutes. Makayla would only dance if I was with her, so no break for me. Sara was able to find a nice bench though ;).

Finally, after a good bit of drama, we were able to pull Luke away from the dance party. Who knew a dance party in the middle of world class attractions would be such a hit. But we were approaching the time to stake out a spot for fireworks, and we still had to eat dinner.

We had planned to eat dinner that night at Pecos Bills, so we made our way around the park and towards Frontierland. To our surprise, it wasn't super crowded. the lines were only about 3-4 people deep. Luke offered to be my helper while Sara and Makayla found a table. Sara and I each had a veggie burrito wrap, and Luke and Makayla got mac and cheese.

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We were still slightly full from lunch, and our snack at Gaston's, but we were able to make a large dent in dinner. We like Pecos Bill's and are usually able to make it there for at least one meal on a trip.

Once we finished, we made our way through adventureland towards the hub of the park. We found what we thought was a good spot for fireworks just outside of adventureland.

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There weren't a ton of spaces left, so we thought this would be good. Luke asked if he could get out his bubble wand.

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And we could tell Makayla was ready for sleep.

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And one random picture of Crystal Palace

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Luke decided about 2 minutes before the scheduled start time that he had to go potty :facepalm::facepalm::facepalm: So he and I ran back towards adventure land to find a bathroom. We managed to make it back just as the fireworks were starting.

So the one thing we didn't realize was with the new fireworks show, Happily Ever After, they do a ton of projections onto the castle. And that tree that was in front of us...blocked just about all of it for us. Oh well, something to remember for next time. We still had fun seeing the fireworks and hearing the songs. Makayla found a cozy spot on my shoulder and was just about asleep several times, but popped her head up when she heard Elsa singing "Let it Go" and Moana singing "How Far I'll Go," two of her favorites :inlove:.

Once the fireworks had finished, the park was still open for another 30 minutes or so. Most people were heading out, but we still had a bit more fun planned.
 

Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Makayla had almost been asleep during the fireworks, which was honestly quite impressive with how loud it was. But once we made our way back towards fantasyland, she rallied. We headed to our final fastpass of the night, It's a Small World. There was no wait, so we actually rode it two times. Both of our kids really liked it, and on our first time, using our fastpass, the screen at the end actually said goodbye to us by name. A little creepy, but much more cool.

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Once we had finished, I was ready to catch a bus back to the hotel, but Sara really wanted to get a photopass pic with Rapunzel's lantern.

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By that point the park was closed, and the cm's were asking people to leave. Sara took a few photos on the way out. Because you can never have enough pictures of the castle and main street (I say with a smirk while Sara elbow's me in the ribs).

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Makayla was very excited that we got to walk through the castle, and that there was a picture of a horse inside of it. And that was it for the kids. They both fell asleep on the bus ride back to the hotel. We managed to wake them up long enough to seat them in our stroller, and then they fell right asleep when we had made it back to the hotel. So that was it, one long, full day in MK. Tiring for sure, but packed with great moments and memories. The next morning, the plan was to go back to MK as well.
 

Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our fourth day at Disney World, Tuesday, December 12th, began slightly differently than we had done so far. Rather than heading immediately off to a park, the plan was go get breakfast. Sara and I were trying to come up with ways to be creative in using our quick service dining plan meals, so we came up with the idea of heading to the Polynesian for Tonga Toast at Captain Cook's.

We started with a bus ride to MK, then a monorail ride over to the Polynesian.

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Once we arrived at the Poly, it took only a little bit of searching to locate Captain Cook's in the back corner of the main building.

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Sara and I knew we wanted Tonga Toast. Luke went with French Toast, and Makayla wanted pancakes.

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I appreciated the service here, because once the food was ready the cm's would bring it to your table for you. Everyone enjoyed their breakfast. Luke and Makayla will devour almost any breakfast food. Sara and I both had a bit of trouble trying to eat the Tonga Toast with a plastic knife and fork. But the taste was delicious. Great start to the day.
 

Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Once we had finished, Sara wanted to get a few photos around the Poly. On this day, Makayla was dressed as Moana, which was also her Halloween costume, so being at the Poly was a perfect fit.

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And a few random pics outside
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Already tired. I'm not sure what this little patch of green was. It reminded me of a putting green.
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Once we had finished, it was a quick monorail ride back to see this sight. Yes, we have at least 10 of these photos already at home, but Sara had to stop and take another one. ;) The sky was very blue!

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Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Once we got inside, we were welcomed by a very crowded Main Street. Nothing unusual for this time of day I'm sure.

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We found a quiet spot in the small alley as we purchased the green card to buy balloons. Makayla made sure to model for the occasion. The girl is all about showing off the belly.

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Luke wanted a blue balloon, and Makayla wanted an Anna and Elsa balloon, with "silly Olaf."

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Today we started in Adventureland, and our first stop was a fastpass for Jungle Cruise

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Makayla was a little scared when we went through the temple area because of how dark it got, but she was a trooper. She enjoyed seeing all the animals. Once we were back on the ground, we headed over to the Treehouse, one of Luke's personal favorites. Luke once again gave a great tour to Makayla, letting her know what each room was and what the family would do in that room.
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Sara took this photo while we were in the treehouse, the sky turned out amazing.
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And a picture looking back at the tree house. the balloons make it very easy to find our stroller.
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Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Makayla saw the flying carpets ride and really wanted to do it, so we all got in line and took a turn on the carpets. It was then time for our Splash Mountain fastpass. Luke had been excited about Splash Mountain, talking about it several times before our trip as something he was looking forward to. Now that the time had come, he started to hedge. -"I don't want to do Splash Mountain today, maybe tomorrow." Sara and I explained to him that our fastpasses were good now (honestly, because of the cooler weather the line was only about 10 minutes long, but still...). We also explained how he had gone on many water flume rides before and loved them all. After a little bit of talking, he decided he was up for it. And wouldn't you know, he loved it!!!

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While Luke and Sara were enjoying Splash Mountain, I decided to walk Makayla over to her favorite ride, the "Horsey ride." What most people call the carousel. It was a bit of a hike, but she was very excited. She insisted that I ride close to her, and the only spot open was directly behind her, so the photos are from behind.
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Once we had finished, we walked back to Splash Mountain, where Sara and Luke were waiting for us. Luke was jumping up and down with excitement as I approached because he was so excited to try Splash Mountain again. He was my personal guide, telling me what hills I could expect to get wet on, and when Brer Fox and Brer Bear were going to catch Brer Rabbit :D:D:D.

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Unfortunately I wasn't as awesome as the people behind me. Rock On!!!

While Luke and I were on Splash Mountain, Sara took Makayla over to the Tiki Room.

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She hadn't experienced this since she was just over one year old. She said she liked hearing the birds sing, but that the thunder and rain scared her.


Luke and I found a slightly used area near the Splash Mountain exit to play a quick game of tag while we waited for Sara and Makayla to join us again, and then it was off to Big Thunder Mountain for our third fastpass.

Luke and Sara rode first, and while we waited Makayla and I found a photopass photographer nearby.

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Once they had finished, Luke and I took our turn. While I was waiting, I snagged us fastpasses for the evening, at Soarin. Sara tried to take our picture, you can sort of see my bald head.

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Luke really liked BTMRR, and for a moment afterwards said that this was his favorite ride at WDW. He quickly walked back on that statement however and declared that Seven Dwarves Mine Train was still his favorite.

We then found that same photopass photographer for Wild West pictures with the whole family.

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Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It was now 2pm, and the reason I'm so sure about this is that we were stopped by the parade as we attempted to go from Frontierland to Adventure land. So we got to see the 2nd half of the parade again. Once clear, we made our way back into adventureland and over to Aloha Isle for our Dole whip. Tables were at a premium, and we managed to snag one just as it was opening. I then got into line while Sara waited with Luke and Makayla. Aloha Isle had added a new menu item this year, a pineapple upside down cake with pineapple soft serve on top. I had to try it. I ordered one for myself, and 2 floats for the rest of the family. Once I arrived with our snacks, Sara mentioned that she saw other people with the upside down cake and was hoping I would get it. Win for me!!! :D:D

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The Dole whips were enjoyed by all. The cake one that I had gotten, I thought, was especially good. As we were exiting, someone was quickly there to claim our table, as we trekked towards the park exit. We grabbed a popcorn for the kids on the way out, and by the time we made it to the bus stop it was nearly three. As I had planned this day out in my head, I figured we would be leaving MK around 1:30pm to allow the kids to nap, but we were very off schedule today. It had been a good day with lots of fun had, but with the late start back to our room, we would pay for it later that night. Fittingly, the wait at MK for a bus was the longest of our trip. I wasn't keeping exact time, but I would estimate about 20 minutes. We were about the fifth family in line when we arrived, and by the time the bus came and filled up, it had maxed out and they had to turn people away to wait for the next bus.

Once we got back to the hotel, we went we all went straight to bed for a quick nap, with plans to head to Epcot for extra magic hours that night.
 

Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Now back to the trip report :)

The late start to our break following our Magic Kingdom morning led to a late start to our evening. The alarm went off at 6pm, but no one was very interested in getting up. The plan was to do Epcot extra magic hours, and we had a lot that we wanted to do. But it wasn't a good sign that by the time we walked out of our room it was already dark. We made our way to the bus stop, and were soon on our way to Epcot.

Once we made it through bag check, we began our walk towards Sunshine Seasons for dinner. It was our first time eating here, and the food court atmosphere was welcoming as we worked to figure out what we wanted. Luke eventually decided on a grilled cheese with tomato soup, one of his favorites from home. It was done up much fancier than we make it, but he still enjoyed it.

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Makayla got the mac and cheese with green beans.

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Sara went with a Vegan Korma. I'm not quite good enough to explain exactly what that is, but it came with rice and she said it was really good.

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I went with a vegetable flatbread and potato salad

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I was very impressed with the quality of the food from Sunshine Seasons, and the cm's at the food station were very helpful with explaining what sides you could get with each meal. This was especially appreciated for the kids meals, where the sides you ordered were in a separate refrigerated section. Definitely believe we'll be coming back here again.

Once we had finished, it was time for our fastpasses on Soarin. Luke had been on this before, but was a little hesitant this time because he remembered some of the transition scenes being sudden and a little scary. Especially the one were the bird flies across the screen. I promised that I would warn him before the bird came. This time I got to go first with Luke, and Sara took Makayla on Living with the land. Luke said it was fun, but he did spend a lot of time covering his eyes in anticipation of the bird.

Once we had finished, Sara used our rider swap to ride Soarin, taking Luke with her. Makayla and I meanwhile headed towards France. The plan was to hit the bakery for some snacks before illuminations, then meet up with Sara and Luke over there. Illuminations that night began at 9:30, and it was about 9:10 as we started towards France. "You can do it," I kept repeating in my head, but knowing that the timing was very unlikely to work out. Makayla and I did our best to hurry, but Epcot was in full EMH crowded mode, and everyone was heading towards WS for the show. By the time we made it to France, it was about 9:25, and the torches were glowing around the Lagoon.

We still had 5 minutes, I figured, enough time to get some snacks and get out for the show. We might not get the best seats, but I figured we'd still be ok. I parked the stroller and walked towards the French bakery and was shocked :eek:. The line for the bakery was nearly out the door. Not what I expected to find at 5 minutes til Illuminations. The timing certainly wasn't going to work out for us.

We stood in line, and I have to say that Makayla did very well during this time. We ordered our snacks, a bunch of cookies, eclairs, napoleons, etc. The plan was to have them in our room for later this week. Since the meal plan now came with 2 snacks a day, we were having trouble trying to plan out exactly how to use them all :).

As we were almost done, I hear a small voice beside me saying -"I want that." I look down, and Makayla was pointing. She had spotted a small chocolate mousse dessert and had her heart set on it. The cm helping us was happy to add that to our order for Makayla. We made it through checkout and then rushed outside. Sure enough, Illuminations was already going.

Rather than try to fight for a spot by the waterfront, we decided to watch from near the fountain in France. I quickly texted Sara to let her know our location, and she replied that she was on the bridge between UK and France. Soon enough, she had joined us. Luke and Makayla shared the Mousse together like a brother and sister who love each other (very, very rare for them ;))

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While we enjoyed yet another Disney nighttime show from behind a tree ;)

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We were able to catch about half of the show, then saw the special Holiday ending. I believe it's called "Peace on Earth," but remember it for having a ton of white fireworks that all go off at the same time.

When we were finished, we learned that Luke and Makayla and really, really, really enjoyed their mousse.

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Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We waited in France just a bit following illuminations to let some crowds clear.

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We decided to being our EMH evening in Mexico. Luke and Makayla were very excited to do the "Donald boat ride" again. We ended up doing it two times since there was a very small line. If it were up to Luke we would have done it more, but we had other rides we wanted to go on.

Next was Imagination, followed by some time in the Imageworks lab.



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Finally, it was time for Nemo again.
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When our ride had finished, it was officially 11:30, and the park was closed. Luke was very disappointed when we explained we couldn't spend time checking out the aquarium again. I was too, to be honest. I remember our time last year when the acquarium was nearly empty running up and down checking out stingrays and sharks, and how much fun we all had. But it wasn't to be this year.

If there was a theme for this day, it was Chasing Time. For whatever reason, we seemed to be behind and were never able to catch up. We still had a great day, just would have loved to find another half hour somewhere.

On the way out, we had fun with the light up walkways.

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Then, it was out the exit, and over to the bus stop. Once we got on the bus, Makayla fell asleep almost instantly. It was another late night getting back to the hotel. The next day was Wednesday, our middle day of the trip, and our planned slow down and relax day. As we got the kids to bed, I was certainly looking forward to it as I went to sleep myself.
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
A couple of great days in Magic Kingdom! Who would have thought Incredibles dance party would have been such a hit!

CM Rick is the man! Interaction like that is why I love WDW.

Makayla loving Splash is awesome, and that photo of her on the Carousel is priceless.

I like Luke going back and forth re: BTMM and 7DMT!

FLY EAGLES FLY!
 

Lyear

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
A couple of great days in Magic Kingdom! Who would have thought Incredibles dance party would have been such a hit!

CM Rick is the man! Interaction like that is why I love WDW.

Makayla loving Splash is awesome, and that photo of her on the Carousel is priceless.

I like Luke going back and forth re: BTMM and 7DMT!

FLY EAGLES FLY!

Agreed 100% on CM Rick, making something mundane like waiting for a parade magical. Oh, and E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!!!
 

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