Trip Report The I'm Ditching the Spreadsheets....an Unrecognizable Trip!

We arrived home around 10pm last night from our Disney vacation. The planning for this trip started in March, but by September it was not even close to the original. So how did it all turn out? Did I make the correct decisions? Was this trip as hectic as the last one? Should I have cancelled so many dining reservations? Did we miss too much because upon arrival I decided to rip up the spread sheets..the same ones that I so painstakingly obsessed over?! I'm thinking about all of this as I am attempting to organize my 609,504,302 photos.

There were a few hiccups, including my Etsy order not arriving in time, sprinting to the Magical Express just as the doors closed, leaving our Elf on the Shelf in the room after check out, getting stuck on a ride, a missing boat captain, broken ornaments, and a horrible 3 hour lunch. All in all it was an amazing trip. I do not regret the decision to change from the original plans, or the second, or the 3rd, or even the plans I had when we were on the plane heading to Orlando. I decided to throw out most of them and take a (semi) wing it approach.

 

[21stamps]

Animal Kingdom Continued..

Finally leave Planet Watch.
I ask T what he wants to do before our Dinosaur FP.
He wants to continue hanging out in Africa.
We watch a few more shows, eat some snacks and drinks. I refuel with another coffee.

Then we say goodbye to this wonderful area, and make our way to Dinosaur. The sun is starting to set.

Fast Pass line- 30 minute wait.

We were not ready for the camera.lol

 

[21stamps]

Now we make our way to the Kilimanjaro Safari FP replacement.

T is very excited about this!!! He was not tall enough to ride last year.

We both loved this ride!

Afterwards we had some fun with the photo booth. My darling cute son decided to put me in a headlock grip. I retaliated with tickling.

Then we decide to go meet Donal Duck.

The Street Carnivale is about to start soon, and my phone is only 12%. We make a quick stop to switch out the Fuel Rod. But, the machine is Out of Order!!! Ugh. Second time in a park with a dead phone. I should probably lay off the videos and the battery would last longer.lol.
I turn my phone on airplane mode and wifi off to at least get some photos of the Tree Awakenings later.

That Discovery Island Carnivale was AWESOME!
We danced and laughed and danced some more. What a great addition to the park!!

 

[21stamps]

Time for the Highly Anticipated Tree of Life Awakenings!

It was GORGEOUS!!!
The way they incorporated a few hit Disney movies was so well done. The entire thing was just splendid. We both thoroughly enjoyed it.
AK was nowhere near our most enjoyable day last year, but this year was fantastic! Probably had a lot to do with the weather in November vs September as well. This day was actually the coolest temps during our trip, which made it even better.

Used up almost my last bit of battery taking a video of the tree..

Now a Photo Pass pic..

Goodbye Animal Kingdom!!! We had an amazing time with you today!!!!


The plan was to Uber over to Disney Springs and watch the drone show, and see all of the new additions.
Kiddo wanted to go back to the hotel instead. He actually didn't know about the drones, I didn't want to tell him unless I knew for sure we had time. I don't know if his decision would have been different if he knew, but we hadn't had much time around WL, so I liked his idea better.
I agreed to skipping Disney Springs and we took a Disney Bus for the first time of the trip.

The Bus Driver passed our stop which was pretty funny. Everyone was calling to him. I guess they aren't allowed to back up, he ended up going all the way around the loop again to come back to our pick up zone.lol

Last photo and battery died.lol

 

[21stamps]

We arrived at WL and ran up to the room to plug in my dead phone. I was able to switch an ADR for Whispering Canyon tomorrow for breakfast, to a dinner tonight.

We freshen up, sit on the balcony for a bit discussing our day. Then head down to dinner.

This was both mine and kiddo's first time eating at Whispering Canyon.

TOO MUCH FOOD!!!
But it was GREAT!

Our waitress was wonderful. Here she tells Tristan to "Catch his milkshake!"

Blurry photo..but pictures below is us in all of our ketsup glory.
One poor guy had to deliver all of this to us by himself. When it was our turn we had to bring it to the other room in the restaurant.
A different server yelled "We need more kids to help this family!"
T's face was bright RED. He tried to load them up in his shirt, and promptly dropped 4 bottles.lol
We delivered it all after a couple of trips though!

We barely put a dent in the skillet. No room for dessert, then exited the restaurant. We will definitely be back!!

Side note- 4 table service credits used at this point. 2 QS credits used. 0 snack credits used.

 

[amjt660]

Animal Kinvgdom Continued..

Finally leave Planet Watch.
I ask T what he wants to do before our Dinosaur FP.
He wants to continue hanging out in Africa.
We watch a few more shows, eat some snacks and drinks. I refuel with another coffee.

Then we say goodbye to this wonderful area, and make our way to Dinosaur. The sun is starting to set.
View attachment 190845 View attachment 190846 View attachment 190847 View attachment 190848 View attachment 190849

Fast Pass line- 30 minute wait.

View attachment 190850

We were not ready for the camera.lol
View attachment 190851

Actually you are looking exactly where they expect you to look
The Dino Justus jumped out at you on the right side of the car

Max

 

[21stamps]

Actually you are looking exactly where they expect you to look
The Dino Justus jumped out at you on the right side of the car

Max

Yes..but we typically try to pose.lol. Missed it this time ha ha.
At least I didn't end up with Dab Photo number 898,452

 

[21stamps]

Leave dinner, T plays at the Lincoln Log table for what felt like an eternity

Now we're off to explore the Lodge, we admired some of it this morning, but can fully relax and appreciate all of the details now.

Sorry that my kid's head is in all of the "scenery" photos. Again, I apparently fail at trip report photos.lol.

Photo blast incoming-

Splendid Details Everywhere!!!

This is the Closed Off wing.
Notice the Fireplace Spot.
We obviously couldn't get to that one..but did find another later

And of course....

 

[21stamps]

We run back to the room to put on sweats,
Then decide to walk around outside.

T spots a Game Room. I try to avoid them like the plague..
I made a deal with him, if he wanted to play games, he had to put some of his own money towards a game card, I would put in some as well.
Needless to say he bulked at this initially..
Finally decided he was only willing to part with $10. I put in $10 as well, and he got a $20 game card. (I should start doing this at Dave and Buster's! It would definitely control the bleeding there )

He wanted to play air hockey first. He won 2. I won 1.

He played a few more games and then we went to find a hidden fireplace nook.

What better way to end the day than sitting by fireplace?!
It's now after 11:30 and T is starting to fade..

We go back to the room and get ready for bed.

12/2 was a MUCH better day than 12/1!!!!

Oh, on the T's Disney Gift Card subject. His only purchase today was the game room.
I bought him a small musical instrument at AK.. (bribe deal for dancing in the show).
He ALMOST bought a snake, but decided against it when we talked about his remaining money. Amazing how kids no longer "NEED" a specific (or so many) items when the money is coming out of their own pocket.lol

This Gift Card is fantastic!!


Tomorrow's Plans: Resort Day! Mini Golf, Bikes, Pool time, and Chef Mickey.

 

[Zipadeelady]

What a perfect day? Love it. Your such a good mom. Letting him go at his pace and do what he wants even though you want something else. That's hard...especially at Disney!

 

[21stamps]

What a perfect day? Love it. Your such a good mom. Letting him go at his pace and do what he wants even though you want something else. That's hard...especially at Disney!

Thank you. It's not really that I'm such a good mom.. it's honestly that I learned from my mistakes the year before. I came SO CLOSE to repeating them this year. I had our days completely scheduled out. But, when I missed the Welcome to Disney sign and heard and saw the disappointment in my son's eyes and voice.. I knew that I had to rethink my strategy. To say that this trip was different than planned is an understatement. There's more changes to one tomorrow..and the day after., lol

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

T looks so tiny in those chairs.
We love Whispering Canyon. We had breakfast for the first time there on our last trip. The food was good, but the CM serving us was not very into the atmosphere. Kind of was a dull meal in comparison to the raucus dinners. we purchased Lincoln Logs after our first visit there years ago since my son loved playing with them so much.

 

[21stamps]

T looks so tiny in those chairs.
We love Whispering Canyon. We had breakfast for the first time there on our last trip. The food was good, but the CM serving us was not very into the atmosphere. Kind of was a dull meal in comparison to the raucus dinners. we purchased Lincoln Logs after our first visit there years ago since my son loved playing with them so much.

Oh no! That stinks.
I had heard that breakfast and dinner were the 2 best meals there. Originally chose breakfast because the menu looked better. I ate a lot more salad than anything off the skillet.lol.
I had wanted to try breakfast next time, do you think we should stick with dinner?
We love Lincoln Logs too!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

The breakfast tasted good, I think we just got a CM in a bad mood. It was kind of a bummer since we expected a certain atmosphere, but no big deal. The kids didn't seem to care.

 

[Sillysidewalker]

I am so impressed with your roll with the punches attitude. Our trip I ran us ragged trying to fit in EVERYTHING. I was worried we would miss something and miss out on the magical years. Seeing your photos the thing I missed out on was their spontaneity and simple enjoyment of the moment. I am going to attemp this on our next trip. You are a great mom!

 

[21stamps]

I am so impressed with your roll with the punches attitude. Our trip I ran us ragged trying to fit in EVERYTHING. I was worried we would miss something and miss out on the magical years. Seeing your photos the thing I missed out on was their spontaneity and simple enjoyment of the moment. I am going to attemp this on our next trip. You are a great mom!

You just exactly described our 2015 trip!!!!lol

No joke..kiddo had a meltdown day 3..luckily in the room. He absolutely refused to go to our next dining reservation. I told him that we didn't have time to just sit in the room. He started crying, then exclaimed that he wanted to go home. I tried to comfort and coax him but it wasn't working. He fell asleep crying into the pillow, middle of the day.
I went in the restroom and cried my eyes out, full on meltdown. I called my mother and asked her "if I was like that during my young childhood visits, I didn't EVER remember crying at Disney World. How/why could my child be crying at the happiest place on earth????"
She said that they didn't run me ragged, and that we didn't adhere to a strict schedule. She then advised me to slow down and actually listen to him. "But I don't want him to miss anything! I have 5 years of no visits to make up for!" (I planned so many WDW trips prior to age 5 and always cancelled due to being afraid of handling the parks alone with a small child, so I felt guilty for not going until he was 5). Seriously, I was full meltdown mode.
She replied "He doesn't know what he is missing. You are making things more important than they really are. He doesn't need to do everything, he just needs to have fun. Slow down. Stop running and just enjoy."

How are our own Mother's always so much more sensible than us? Where did they get their handbook?
I knew she was right. I did slow things down after that. Not to the 2016 level, but a heck of a lot more than our first 3 days.(still not enough though). We were so exhausted after our trip that we skipped our Legoland day-- he agreed to it. A lego fanatic! He said he would just rather go to the beach. If that doesn't say how worn out I caused my child to be, then I don't know what else does.lol


So when I say that I "learned my lesson", I'm not joking.

**apologies if I've already posted this story previously in the thread. I can't remember.lol

 

[Frogglet]

She said that they didn't run me ragged, and that we didn't adhere to a strict schedule. She then advised me to slow down and actually listen to him. "But I don't want him to miss anything! I have 5 years of no visits to make up for!" (I planned so many WDW trips prior to age 5 and always cancelled due to being afraid of handling the parks alone with a small child, so I felt guilty for not going until he was 5). Seriously, I was full meltdown mode.

Thank you for this, this is my fear for our trip in April and I hope I can remember this and keep things fun. I have really enjoyed your trip report thanks for sharing.

 

[21stamps]

Thank you for this, this is my fear for our trip in April and I hope I can remember this and keep things fun. I have really enjoyed your trip report thanks for sharing.

In fairness to people like you and I though, back in my childhood days Fastpasses and crazy ADRs didn't exist. Things were a lot different then. I do agree with her words to me-Disney is part to blame, but we as parents are mostly to blame. The obsessive planning is self inflicted stress.

Some people can obsessively plan, enjoy the planning, and pull off a flawless trip. I am not one of those people!

If I ever finish this stupid report.. At the end of it, I plan on listing everything that I canceled, and what "must do" items (on the spreadsheets) we ended up skipping.
It's a long list.lol.

@Frogglet i thought that I had asked a question but it isn't showing here. Will the April trip be your first time at WDW?

 

[21stamps]

I can't sleep..took too much medicine and been in bed too long today. I'm going to try to tackle more of this now.. kinda hoping that I fall asleep mid post though

12/3 (second last day)

Slept in til 8:15am today! I actually woke up before T. I couldn't believe it.
I made coffee and sat on the balcony for a few minutes before waking him.

After we get ready we decide to eat at Roaring Foark for the first time. We both ordered the Bananas Foster Mickey Waffles.
They were quite good!

Afterwards we stopped at Territory Lounge so I could get my latte fix.
Then we sat outside, enjoyed the view, and had a chat about our upcoming day. T was excited for the bike ride!

Took a walk around the grounds..
I completely understand why people love this resort.
I'm chastising myself for never even considering it! The grounds and lobby are just so incredibly beautiful. We found something interesting in every direction that we looked!

 

[Frogglet]

@Frogglet i thought that I had asked a question but it isn't showing here. Will the April trip be your first time at WDW?

It'll be the first time with kids 2 & 7 and it has been almost 20 years since hubby and I were there. Our 2 year old is a very go with the flow kinda gal but our 7 year old like a lot of structure so this will be a stretch for her but we have been talking a lot and watching a lot of youtube to prepare.

 

[21stamps]

..more outside photos.

I've already warned you all several times about my excessive pics in this report. This day will be the most obnoxious of all..
I never did get a photo of the Geyser in all of it's glory though

We are in love with this place!!!