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Trip Report The Redemption Tour

Good morning, everyone! It’s time for me to share another trip report 🥳

I was in Disney from 11/16-11/23 and had the best time!

A quick little refresher, my name is Jillian, I am married and have two girls, Sage is almost 15 and Aria is 10. My husband has tolerated many family Disney trips throughout the years but after our last family trip in March 2023, he decided he didn’t need to go anymore 👎🏼

Disney is my one true love so this was not an option for me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to take my kids alone, they have much different interests and just don’t get along that well. So I decided to take them separately.

Sage and I went last August. Overall the trip was good but Sage did not handle the heat & humidity well at all. She was overall very grouchy and whiny. We did attend the Halloween party while we were there and some of you may remember it was an absolute disaster. It down poured, thundered & lightning the entire night. So much was closed and cancelled and we were so disappointed. That was Sage’s first party experience and only my second.

My plan for 2025 was to take Aria in November so we could do the Christmas party. Unfortunately about a week before we were set to leave, we had to make a drastic decision. Aria has been having some very extreme behavior and mental health struggles lately. She’s been to many doctors, she’s been tested, she has a diagnosis but despite all our efforts, things have just been really really difficult. I did apply for DAS for her but was denied. So at the last minute, we just decided it was not a good time for her and I to travel alone together. I promised her I would take her at some point in the future when our situation had improved. My husband suggested I go alone (which I would have loved) but I ultimately decided to take Sage with me. First of all, I knew it would be easier on my husband to not be a personal Uber driver to two kids on his own. But also, I truly felt like Sage deserved another trip. She has grown up and matured quite a bit in the last year, she has a small part time job and she’s doing really well in school. I wanted her to know her actions were seen and being rewarded. And I also wanted Aria to realize that special things are a privilege and not a right.

So long story short, it was time for mom and Sage- The Redemption Tour 😎

Here’s a picture of us from our last trip in August 2024 ⬇️

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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Then it was time for Rose and Crown!
First, the food. The food was good. No complaints. But, fairly typical pub food. Nothing super unique but solid.
For apps, Sage got the scotch egg and I got the salad. The salad was excellent. Neither of us cared for the scotch egg but we were glad we tried it.
For entrees, Sage got the fish and chips and I got the shepherd’s pie. Both were very good.
For dessert, Sage got the gelato and fresh fruit and I got the sticky toffee pudding. Again, both good, no complaints.
And yes, I got the specialty kids drink 😂 I really wanted the cup and glow cube!
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our view for the show was fine, as you can see from the pictures I did have a pole in my way. Sage’s view was much better from her side of the table. I honestly didn’t mind though, I know we booked last minute and I was just happy to be there.
Overall, I am so so glad we got to do this experience. If I had to pick between the Spice Road Table dining package and this one, I would hands down pick Spice Road Table. Mainly because I just love the food there so much. But overall, a perfect ending to the night.
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 3- 11/18

This was our full Magic Kingdom day! And by full, I mean 8:30-6pm. We had great success last August going to MK on a Halloween party day so we were hoping that was also true on Christmas party day 🤞🏼

Loved our Coco bus 😍
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Our first stop during early entry was Mine Train. We were able to go right to the queue and they actually opened the ride at about 8:15!
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We then went over to Winnie the Pooh.
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Right after we go into the line, I noticed that the couple in front of me looked… familiar. After thinking for a minute or two, I realized that it was the one and only @Tuvalu

I was 95% sure it was her and her husband. I almost tapped her on the shoulder to say hello but, there was a small part of me that thought, what if it’s not them and I completely embarrass myself? So I didn’t say anything 😩

We ended up in the same honey pot and I took a short video during the ride. I happen to get them in the video so I messaged her a screen grab to ask if it was them and yup, it was. So sorry I didn’t say hi to you guys!
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We were able to do one last ride standby before our first lightning lane- Small World
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And then our first LL of the day- Peter Pan
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After tapping in, I knew the two most important rides I wanted to book next were Jingle Cruise and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. At 9:30am, both were gone for the day ☹️

I refreshed maybe 4 or 5 times and got Tiana to pop up. I quickly booked it for later on in the afternoon.

We had some time until our next LL so as I was contemplating what to do, Sage says, how about beignets? And yeah, that sounded perfect 😍
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And coffee of course.
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Walking towards our next LL, Tiana and Naveen were greeting in the closed off entry to the Liberty Belle Riverboat. I was so excited to meet both of them together but the plain white wall was not the best background 🤷🏻‍♀️
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And then time for LL 2- Haunted Mansion!
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After Haunted Mansion, I refreshed so many times for Jingle Cruise and could not get it to pop up. But, the wait for standby was only 35 minutes. So we decided just to wait for it.

By the time we walked over there, it said 40 minutes but we were committed at that point so we stuck it out. Plus our next LL was for Pirates so it made sense to not backtrack.

So yup 40 minute wait 🫠 But we loved the Christmas overlay!
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Next was Pirates and then Magic Carpets.
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I think then we went to get lunch at Cosmic Rays. Sage is obsessed with their mac & cheese and unfortunately I feel like we eat there every trip 😂

We then had LLs for Under the Sea and Dumbo. We also rode Barnstormer because it was a walk on.

How cute is this painted fence? I’m thinking it must be where Ariel and Eric meet during the party.
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We then walked towards Philharmagic because I saw online they were doing a soft reopening that day and thankfully, the rumors were true! I LOVE this show!
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Next up was Country Bears. I very much love the changes here and the audience was super into it as well 👏🏼
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We then went over to Tiana’s. We did not pack ponchos this time and thankfully, we were in the back row and did not get too wet. Love the ride, hate getting wet 👎🏼 As you can see by the picture 😂

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Then we did Tiki Room and Hall of Presidents.
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I really wanted to meet Ariel in her Grotto but the wait had been surprisingly long all day. It was 20 minutes at that time so I knew it was now or never. Sage didn’t want to meet Ariel (rude) so she got a cat tail from Cheshire Cafe and just chilled with her snack.
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4- 11/19

This was our Animal Kingdom day! I gave Sage the option of sleeping in because we were also planning on going to the new night parade in MK that night but she still wanted to rope drop. I had lightning lanes booked for Safari, Navi, Dinosaur and Flight of Passage. She wanted to rope drop FoP so we could do it more than once.
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I’ve been on FoP a few times but I’ve never gone through the regular queue. I was very excited to finally see Hank in the Tank 😂
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We then stopped for some pics. This was my first time ever purchasing Memory Maker, in case you couldn’t tell 😁
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Navi was still a short wait so Sage wanted to ride then. I asked if I could change our LL to something else and she was like no, let’s just ride twice!
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It was then time for our Safari!
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After tapping in, I booked a LL for Festival of the Lion King. I feel like we are always way in the back so I figured a LL would get us a better seat. And I was right, we were in the 2nd row!
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This is random but I just thought of it. We saw a VIP group enter right before us. We saw SO MANY VIP groups all week. It was so bizarre. I’d say at least 5 or 6 per day.

It was then time for our Navi and FoP LLs so back to Pandora we went!
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Lunch time!
Coffee: excellent
Cheeseburger Pods: excellent
Slaw: excellent (minus the spicy boba)
Chips: stale 👎🏼
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After lunch, Sage wanted to go back to Africa for Gorilla Falls. At this point, it was like 12:30 and we had only been in 2 lands so far 🫠 I told her we needed to be much more efficient with our time for the rest of the day.
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We then saw the new Zootopia show and honestly, I loved it! I hated Its Tough to be a Bug but this show is so cute and so fun.
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Sage really wanted to do a super zoom in AK so off we went!
Screen grab from the video-
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And a few others
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The super zoom location is right across from the bird show. Sage really wanted to see it but I didn’t mind skipping it. Since Sage didn’t want to ride Everest with me, she went to the bird show and I went to find the yeti. Found him twice actually, once with a LL and once single rider!
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Then it was time for snackies. Dole whips!
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Then off to what’s left of Dinoland 😩
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So now it’s almost 4 o’clock, we have two hours of park time left. I only have one thing on my list- the Nemo show. But Sage of course has a much longer list.
We start by walking over towards Discovery Island to hopefully see the Merry Menagerie. We find them, they are so cute and so fun. But Sage says, there are more animals than this, we will have to check again later 🤦🏻‍♀️
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Then we walk all the way to Asia to walk the Jungle Trek.
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Then alll the way back to Discovery Island where thankfully, the rest of the animals were mingling.
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DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ok now it’s about 5:15 so 45 minutes of park time technically left. BUT I had a lightning lane for Tron at 6:15. I told Sage earlier in the day that I wanted to be done with Tron by about 7 so we could find a good spot for the parade and just sit and chill and not be rushing. So even though I was ready to head out, of course, she was not.

She really wanted to do Flight of Passage one more time. I was good, I like that ride but didn’t need to be jostled around anymore.

She wanted me to walk over with her to make sure she was allowed to ride alone. I knew she would be but she needed it confirmed by a cast member 😂

We stopped to take some pics. Obsessed with this wall 😍
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So she goes to ride FoP and I tell her I’m going to order us food at Flame Tree BBQ and for her to meet me there when she’s done.

No food pics but I got the smokehouse chicken salad and it was great!

So Sage gets off the ride basically right at 6, runs over to me to quickly eat and then we book it out to the buses.

Had to stop for a quick pic in front of the AK tree.

2014 vs 2025
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We get to the bus stop and a Magic Kingdom bus is there but the line is so long, I knew we wouldn’t get on. This was one of the few nights there was not a party so I was fully expecting MK to be packed.

We ended up waiting 40 minutes for another bus 🫠

We weren’t pulling into MK until about 7:30. I walked as fast as I could to Tron and tapped in at about 7:45 and thankfully, the light still turned green. Sage didn’t want to ride so she took a spin on the People Mover.
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So now it’s pretty much exactly 8, we decided to walk over to the Liberty Square/ Frontierland area hoping we could still find a spot for the parade. Walking, walking, walking and finally, a tiny spot! We squeeze in thinking we just made it. And then there’s an announcement, the parade is delayed due to unforeseen circumstances 😂
 

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