Trip Report Tired, hot & grumpy- A tale of 2 princesses- COMPLETED!!

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 12, 2016

So Nick & Sage go sit inside ABC Commissary, and me, my parents and Aria head to the Great Movie Ride. The wait is a little longer than I expected, maybe 25 minutes but at least most of it is inside. Aria is squirming around throughout the whole queue and most of the ride. Right at the very end during the movie clip part, she finally falls asleep.
So after we're done, we transfer her to the stroller and go meet up with Nick & Sage. Nick says Sage has been better and hopefully the break in the AC has mellowed her out. So we head back over to the Disney Jr section. My parents agree to stay with sleeping Aria while we take Sage to meet the characters. They say they will be looking through the stores in that section.
So first up, Jake! As we're waiting in line, that storm trooper parade thing goes by for like 3rd time already that day. Its SO loud. I remember thinking, I hope Aria's not nearby! Sofia was taking a break right as the storm troopers were going by. Weird combo picture!

Sage meets Jake!

Sage decides Doc is next so we go to get in line. That's when I remember that we brought along Sage's Doc vest & jacket for her to wear when she meets Doc. And its in the stroller with my parents. Nick and Sage go get in line and I start walking around that area & through the stores looking for my parents. I can't find them so I call my mom. No answer. I call my dad. No answer. I text them both. I keep calling. I know the parks are loud and its hard to hear cell phones sometimes so I just keep calling over and over. Finally my mom picks up and says, hold on I'm in store. Then puts the phone down and I can hear her carrying on a conservation with the check out person. Seriously? I wait a minute or two then hang up and call back. When she picks back up I have to quickly yell, don't put me down! And explain the situation. Apparently they were in a store way towards the front of the park so my dad starts walking back with the stroller. I find him, grab the bag with the Doc clothes and run back to to Sage and Nick. The whole process took about 15 minutes and Sage was next in line by the time I caught up with them. But, we made it.

Last up, Sofia

I love the little set up for these characters. So cute! When we are in line for Sofia, I see a couple with a little baby. They ask Sofia to sit and spread out her dress and then they sit the baby in the middle of the dress. O. M. G. its the cutest thing I've ever seen! I tell Nick we need to do that with Aria later. Sadly we never had to the chance.

So we meet up with my parents and Aria is either just waking up, or wakes up soon after that. Next up was our FP for the Frozen sing a long. The show is at 2:30 and our FP says to get there between 2 and 2:15. It is just 2 but we are all so hot, we decide to just go in and sit and relax.

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 12, 2016

Aria actually does a good job waiting before the show starts. She just sits and has a snack. But juuuust as things get started, she loses it. So Nick leaves with her

We saw this show last time and I was not overly impressed with it. I thought having sing a long in the title meant the characters would actually be singing. Sure the two villagers are funny and its cute seeing clips from the movie, its just not what I was expecting. Sage loves it though. She's singing along to every song and by the Let It Go finale she was jumping out her seat, trying to catch the snow, all with the biggest smile on her face. So its all good

DimpledDevil18 · Oct 12, 2016

Aww... Love your trip report so far! I give you credit because both your daughters are at rough ages to do Disney with, but you guys seemed to have survived it pretty well!

On an unrelated note is it just me or does Princess Sofia look kind of creepy in person? lol

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 13, 2016

DimpledDevil18 said:
Aww... Love your trip report so far! I give you credit because both your daughters are at rough ages to do Disney with, but you guys seemed to have survived it pretty well!

On an unrelated note is it just me or does Princess Sofia look kind of creepy in person? lol

Aw thank you! We were surprised by how challenging it actually was with the two of them. I do day trips with them a lot to different zoos & museums and they are both usually pretty good. Aria actually did really well during the day (for the most part). She was happy and interested in the characters, she dozed off when she needed to. It was Sage that gave us the most trouble during the day which we were not expecting. On our last trip she was so excited every day so we're really not sure what the exact problem was this time around. I really think a lot of it had to do with the heat though.

And yes, the Disney Jr characters are a little funny looking. I think because they are kids on their shows but giants in real life

Sage has never questioned it though. She did ask something this time around about why certain characters don't talk. I forget our exact answer but we mentioned something about Mickey and his Disney magic and how he tries to make things extra special for each kid. So I threw something in there about how he uses his magic to make the tiny characters bigger so kids can hug them more easily. I honestly don't remember our exact answer about why they don't talk though

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 13, 2016

After the Frozen sing a long, Sage wanted to go meet Olaf. Once again, very cute set up and thankfully, a short line this time!

So not only had Sage been extra grumpy and sassy this day, Aria had been extra cranky and clingy. She only wanted me to hold her all day; she wouldn't even go to my mom who she is normally very attached to. After meeting Olaf, we tried putting her back into the stroller to decide what to do next and she just wasn't having it. She was crying and clinging on to me. She had also felt very warm all day, which I thought initially was just from the heat, but as the day went on, I could tell she definitely had a mild fever. She was just not feeling good and done for the day. We did have one FP left, for Tower of Terror. The initial plan was for my parents to take the kids back and Nick and I were going to stay and do ToT, RnRC, and then Star Tours. There were a few things left we were hoping to do as a family, Muppet Vision, the Ariel show, a few more characters, but we could tell this was the end of the day for the kids. I asked my mom if she wanted us to go back with them and help get the kids settled and surprisingly, she said yes. I thought for sure she would tell us to stay but since Aria was so clingy to me, and clearly not feeling good, I think she was a little worried.
So we all head back to All Star Sports. We get back to the room and find this note from Mouse Keeping:

Sage thinks this is absolutely hysterical and has the best time finding all her hidden stuffed animals

So cute. This is the Disney magic we know and love!

None of us had really eaten lunch since we had a big breakfast that morning so we all went down to dinner together. I had laid out all the girls PJs and bed time stuff that morning (thinking Nick and I would be staying at DHS) so I just refreshed my mom with the routine and then Nick and I got ready to head out. Sage had been asking all week to check out the playground so my parents said they would take them over there. Aria seemed fine when were leaving.
When we were leaving DHS before, I changed our ToT FP to a later time. We were hoping to do the 3 big rides there at DHS, then, depending on how we were feeling, maybe hop over to MK. Thunder Mountain was closed but we thought maybe we could ride Space again and also Splash Mountain. Sage did Splash with us last time and while she loved the indoor stuff and didn't mind the mini drops, she really didn't like the big drop. So even though we had a FP for it the following day, we knew there was a good chance she wasn't going to ride. So we thought if we could do it ourselves that night, our parents wouldn't have to wait around for us the next day.

So we get back over to DHS and head for one of my all time favorite rides, Tower of Terror. I love everything about this ride. The themeing and attention to detail is some of the best in all of Disney. Several years ago, I got really into the Twilight Zone and there was one trip Nick and I took together before we had the girls that we rode numerous times so I could find all the different hidden props. I still really love that show and will watch it often

Anyways, we get to ToT and the wait is short, I think it says 10 minutes. I check the app the wait time for RnRC is 40 minutes. So we use our ToT FP anyway because that is our 3rd of the day so then I can try to get a 4th for RnRC. Thankfully, there are some available for RnRC within 15 or 20 minutes. So we ride ToT once using our FP, and then again using the stand by while we wait for our RnRC FP to start.

Then over to Rock N Roller Coaster! After we scan our bands, I check the app and I'm able to get another FP for just a few minutes later. I don't know why the stand by line is so long and why more people aren't getting fast passes. Unless they have one for Fantasmic or something later at MK (which is open til 1am). Oh well, worked out good for us!

So we ride twice in a row, and I think we may have done ToT one more time, then we go over to Star Tours. Nick is a Star Wars fan, me not so much. We rode this once many years ago before they re did it but didn't ride this new version on our last trip with Sage. It is very well done and we both really enjoy it however, it surprisingly made up both a little nauseous. So one time was good for us!

From there, I tell Nick I would really like to check out the construction going on over near the Streets of America. Even though its dark, I'm curious to see what it all looks like. We also never made it near Muppet Vision so I thought we could walk through there and see the progress on the new restaurant. However, when we get towards the Chinese Theater, the Star Wars Fireworks are starting. So we decide its best to head out now ahead of the crowd, and not be stuck in the back of the park when the fireworks are ending. So a bit of a bummer that we missed a good chunk of DHS.
We decide to go on over to MK. I had read in a few different places that it can be cool to do outdoor rides like Splash Mountain while the fireworks are going on. I knew Wishes was happening that night so I was hoping we could get the timing right and be on Splash at that time.
So we get to MK and the Electrical Parade is in mid route. So getting to the back of the park is pretty much impossible. At the front near the flag pole, there are CMs helping people cross through the parade in between floats. So we get to the hub and we foolishly go to the left towards Adventureland. Big mistake. We get stuck at the opening in Frontierland where the floats exit. We can see Splash Mountain, but we can't get to it. So we end up standing in the crowd, watching most of the parade. We couldn't see the fireworks but based on the time, we knew they had started.

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 14, 2016

So we finally make it over to Splash and thankfully there is no real wait. We are able to catch a bit of the fireworks going through the outdoor parts.

I think this would be a cool thing if you just happened to be riding and were able see the fireworks but trying to plan it is difficult. So probably not something we'd try to do again.

After Splash we walked over to Space Mountain but the wait was 60 minutes. So we skipped it. MK was open til 1 or 2am and it was packed! We did get a snack in Auntie Gravity's (I got a float with vanilla soft serve and coke- so good!) and then just decided to head out.
As we were leaving at 10ish, we were shocked by the number of families with small kids just entering at that time. Me and the girls are very much early to rise, early to bed type people so its weird to me when other kids are the exact of opposite of that

Another thing that was crazy- the amount of families in the food court eating dinner at 10:30! It was packed! Breakfast and lunch were always super busy too but surprisingly, from 5-6pm, it was always so quiet! So a tip to other families like us, thats a great time to eat!

So we get back at 10:30ish and I ask my mom how the girls were. She said they were fine but that since going to bed at 7, Aria had woken up crying 3 times. Oh boy. It's going to be a rough night.

So Nick and I get ready for bed and sneak in. I feel like I barely fall asleep and Aria is awake crying. I ended up staying up with her from about 1:30 til almost 4am. We walked around outside for a lot of that time. It was still very busy with people coming back up til about 3. Then, silence. From 3-3:30 we didn't see another person. Only a raccoon digging through the trash and this cute little bunny.

At about 3:30 I decide to change her diaper and give her a bottle, hoping that will help her fall back to sleep. I go into the sink area, close the curtain and turn the light on. I lay her down on the floor near the sink, change her, and just as I am picking her up, a freakin cockroach runs out of the bathroom and then back in. I quickly wake up Nick and he goes in the bathroom and takes care of it. Needless to say we are completely freaked out and not happy.

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 14, 2016

Aria finally gets back to sleep and obviously in my mind, I know I will have to rearrange our plans for the next day. I'm starting to worry that she may have an ear infection.
Disney Day 6
The next morning I google what to do when someone is sick in Disney and one of the easiest and quickest options seems to be to stop in a first aid location. DHS is the closest park to us, and the first aid station is right by the entrance, so we decide to go there. When everyone wakes up the next morning we come up with our game plan for the day. We are supposed to have our 3rd and final day in MK, finishing up Adventureland, Frontierland, and Liberty Square. On our last trip, we had a MK day where we started in Adventureland. We were the only people in that area at park opening. Sage rode the Magic Carpets like 2 or 3 times in a row without getting off, we were the only ones in our boat for the Jungle Cruise, we were the only ones in our boat for Pirates. It was such a cool experience and we were looking forward to doing it again. But, not this time, plans would have to be changed! I pushed all our FPs back til after lunch. My mom said she would go with me and Aria. Nick asked Sage what she wanted to do and she said she wanted to go down to breakfast to get Mickey waffles, and then go back to DHS to meet some characters we missed the day before.
So we all get ready and at about 8:30 I head out with my mom. We take the bus to DHS, go through security and bag check and all that and go over to first aid. I explain that Aria has been waking up crying in the middle of the night, she's had a slight temp, a runny nose and that her 2 top teeth just popped through. I'm worried she might have an ear infection so I ask if her ears can be checked. The woman says that even though she is an RN, they don't have any tools or instruments at first aid. She said all they really do is give out bandaids. She says if we really want to get her ears checked we will have to go to an urgent care. Ugh. So, we turn around and leave DHS. I call Nick and tell him we are heading back, I'm going to put Aria down for a nap, and that I just want to see how she is during the day. If she's cranky and miserable like the day before, then we can talk about urgent care. I really don't want to go through that hassle though,without a rental car, when there's a chance its all just related to her teething. Getting back to Sports is very time consuming. Apparently, after buses drop off first thing in the morning, they don't automatically head back to where the came from. So we had to wait quite a while til we found a bus going back to Sports.

Nick took these pictures on his morning with Sage:

I put Aria down for a nap, then my mom and I go down to get some breakfast. But first, I decide to stop at the front desk. I really want to talk to a manager about all the problems we have been having with All Star Sports. I am not normally one to make a fuss about things but when it comes to money, I don't mess around. If I am unhappy with something I spent my hard earned money on, I'm not afraid to tell someone.
So as we are approaching the front desk, a man with an ipad comes up to us and asks what he can help with. I ask to speak to a manager and he says he is one. I tell him we are having some problems I would like to discuss. I start with finding the cockroach this morning and the guy literally doesn't bat an eyelash. Just says, oh, sorry about that. I then go through the rest of my list- slow package delivery (his response, well we are a hotel not a package delivery service), I tell him there are many mornings we find the drink station completely empty. There's no reason coffee should be gone at 8am. And when we tell someone, they stand around talking to each other while we stand there with our empty mugs, waiting. His response, well that's a busy time. I tell him we are in connecting rooms and there is a broken piece of metal in between the two doors. I stubbed my toe on it, it was cut up and bleeding, and Aria cut her foot on it crawling by. We ended up covering the metal piece with bandaids. He said maintenance would be there that day to fix it. No one ever came, for the rest of our trip. We also noticed that a lot of the walkways were covered with mulch, sticks and debris after Monday's big storm. It's now Thursday and the walkways are still a mess. I also mention the horrible sewer odor by the pool. He doesn't seem to care much about those things.
We go over to a computer so he can pull up our accounts. He says, I see you're going to MK today, how about some extra FPs? I say no, that we don't have much left to do there, we already have the FPs we need and its hard to plan things with our girls, especially since one is sick. He says, well how about FPs for another day? I say no thanks. He says well..... I guess I can give you a $50 credit. Big stinkin deal. Half of a night. I guess it's better than nothing but its still kind of insulting. He clearly doesn't care about any of our concerns. It's almost like he's used to it. Strike three for All Star Sports. We will never stay there again. Customer service is so important to me. I understand things can go wrong. It's how you fix the problems that matter more to me.
I know the workers probably move around a lot so its probably all coincidence but we didn't experience any of this at Pop. Every thing was so incredibly neat and clean. Every CM we saw from the maintenance workers, to the CMs in the food court, would look at Sage and say Good Morning princess! Or have a magical day princess! We loved our stay at Pop Century so much I can't even describe it. It was the true 'living in the Disney Magic' feeling. Sports was the exact opposite. It was like being at any hotel chain in America. We were not happy

Anyways, rant over. I will finish with our day a little later

Ciara · Oct 14, 2016

DisneyDreamer08 said:
So as we are approaching the front desk, a man with an ipad comes up to us and asks what he can help with. I ask to speak to a manager and he says he is one. I tell him we are having some problems I would like to discuss. I start with finding the cockroach this morning and the guy literally doesn't bat an eyelash. Just says, oh, sorry about that. I then go through the rest of my list- slow package delivery (his response, well we are a hotel not a package delivery service), I tell him there are many mornings we find the drink station completely empty. There's no reason coffee should be gone at 8am. And when we tell someone, they stand around talking to each other while we stand there with our empty mugs, waiting. His response, well that's a busy time. I tell him we are in connecting rooms and there is a broken piece of metal in between the two doors. I stubbed my toe on it, it was cut up and bleeding, and Aria cut her foot on it crawling by. We ended up covering the metal piece with bandaids. He said maintenance would be there that day to fix it. No one ever came, for the rest of our trip. We also noticed that a lot of the walkways were covered with mulch, sticks and debris after Monday's big storm. It's now Thursday and the walkways are still a mess. I also mention the horrible sewer odor by the pool. He doesn't seem to care much about those things.
We go over to a computer so he can pull up our accounts. He says, I see you're going to MK today, how about some extra FPs? I say no, that we don't have much left to do there, we already have the FPs we need and its hard to plan things with our girls, especially since one is sick. He says, well how about FPs for another day? I say no thanks. He says well..... I guess I can give you a $50 credit. Big stinkin deal. Half of a night. I guess it's better than nothing but its still kind of insulting. He clearly doesn't care about any of our concerns. It's almost like he's used to it. Strike three for All Star Sports. We will never stay there again. Customer service is so important to me. I understand things can go wrong. It's how you fix the problems that matter more to me.
I know the workers probably move around a lot so its probably all coincidence but we didn't experience any of this at Pop. Every thing was so incredibly neat and clean. Every CM we saw from the maintenance workers, to the CMs in the food court, would look at Sage and say Good Morning princess! Or have a magical day princess! We loved our stay at Pop Century so much I can't even describe it. It was the true 'living in the Disney Magic' feeling. Sports was the exact opposite. It was like being at any hotel chain in America. We were not happy
Anyways, rant over. I will finish with our day a little later

Sorry to hear about your not so great talk with the manager. You would think he would care a bit more about making things right when there have been multiple problems, especially the metal cutting your foot! Like uhhh.... lawsuit waiting to happen :jawdrop:

I have never stayed at any of the allstars so i cant give my opinion on those... But i agree about POP. It is really a great value resort! I have stayed there multiple times, years and years apart and its always just as fresh, clean and well maintained as the last time i was there. Last time we even saw them painting, doing maintenance, ect. Never affecting us or our enjoyment of course, just so nice to actually see work being put into something. I also find the customer service there to be better than some of the moderates we have stayed! LOVE POP :inlove:

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 15, 2016

So Aria wakes up from her nap and we all get ready to head out to MK. Our first FP is actually originally our last for the day, Haunted Mansion, it was our other 2 I pushed back to a later time. As we are entering MK, Nick says, look- no crane! So we decide we definitely need to get a family picture. We go part way down Main St and find a photopass with no line. Just as she's setting everything up, it starts pouring. Of course. Kind of fitting for how this vacation is going. The pictures still came out cute, as did the one she took with my camera, I just wish there was a nice blue sky in the background.

So off we go to Haunted Mansion- a family fav!

From there, we head over to Adventureland. It rains on and off this whole day (thankfully never too hard) and we notice Splash is running empty logs so apparently, they were closed at various times due to the weather

Our next FP is for the Magic Carpets but when we get over there, we are told they are closed due to the weather (it had been thundering & lightening a bit) but we can use our FP at any time throughout the rest of the day.
So we decide to head to the Tiki Room! Sage is protesting this one a bit (she's never done it before) but she ends up loving it! Aria is squirming a lot while we're waiting but once it starts, she settles down and is actually good the whole show! So woo hoo! Tiki Room for the win!

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 15, 2016

After we exit Tiki Room, we see Magic Carpets is up and running so we use our FP there and then ride a few more times using the short standby line

Next up, Pirates and then our 3rd FP, Jungle Cruise. Everything goes very smoothly with both of these rides. Both girls are having pretty good days. They're both happy and well behaved. Aria loved finding all the different animals on Pirates and would make a woof woof sound whenever we saw a dog

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 17, 2016

After Adventureland, we made our way towards Frontierland. Sage had made it clear that morning she did not want to do Splash Mountain with Nick and I so sadly, our only ride was the one the previous night. BTMRR was closed, so that only left Country Bears. It had been YEARS since I had seen this show. I want to say the last time I saw it was 2007. I knew my mom would like it though. Nick decided to push Aria around in the stroller to see if she would fall asleep. Sage put up a bit of a stink saying the show sounded boring (she had never seen it) but I convinced her to see it with us. She actually ended up really liking it! She has all those Disney Sing A Long DVDs and there's one or two with the bears (she says they are especially in the camping one) so she had fun pointing out the bears she recognized.

After the show we were walking past that candy store and of course, Sage wanted to go in. Since she was being so well behaved that day, I let her pick out some candy.
Aria did not end up falling asleep. We were all getting hungry so decided to head over to Columbia Harbor House for dinner. Nick and I do not like seafood but my parents love it. I always read great things about this place so I knew my parents would really like it. I had looked at the menu ahead of time so I knew there were usually one or two non seafood items.
My dad got the lobster roll, my mom got fish & chips and Nick and I both got the chicken pot pie with broccoli. We all got frozen drinks and the cobbler for dessert. Sage was munching on her candy and refusing to get dinner but again, since she was having a good day, we let it slide. I have to say, this was one of my favorite meals of our trip!! I would definitely go here again, even though I don't eat seafood. Everything was excellent! I'm bummed I don't have any pictures. We loved it here!

At dinner we were talking about what to do next. We had done pretty much everything on my MK list. Then I remembered the train. My mom really wanted to do that. Then Sage mentions she really wants to ride the monorail. We rode the monorail on our last trip because we were checking out some Christmas decorations at the different MK resorts and she was like, fascinated by it. So Nick says he will take Sage on the monorail, and me, my parents and Aria decide to take a round trip train ride.

I want to say it was about 5 by this point and it was a party night. So as we are sitting on the train, waiting to get going, we really enjoyed watching everyone coming in in their costumes.
The train was nice but man did it take forever. At each station the train would wait a good 10 minutes for people to load and unload. Aria was fine while the train was actually moving but while it was just sitting there she would squirm all around and get all fussy.

So after our round trip tour, we start walking towards the bus and Nick texts me that they are done and also walking towards the buses. I guess they got off in the Grand Floridian (Sage remembered that's where the big gingerbread house was) just to look around. So we met up and made our way back!

So I put Aria to bed around 7 as usual. I then give Sage a tub to get her all squeaky clean for her BBB appointment the next morning. After being asleep for only about 45 minutes, Aria wakes up screaming. And it seems no matter what we do, we can't console her. Even walking around with her outside, she just screams and screams.

I decide to call the front desk to see what our urgent care options are. She connects me with a facility that will actually send a doctor to your hotel room. I briefly talk with them and am told that their first available appointment isn't until 8am the next morning. We are thinking at this point, we really need to get Aria seen that night, just in case she does have an ear infection.
So I call the front desk again and they connect me with a facility called Centra Care. They are an urgent care that offers a van service that will pick you up and drop you off, supposedly free of charge. So we decide to bring Aria in.
My parents stay with Sage and get her to bed. Nick and I head out front with Aria.
I am really nervous about this van picking us up but I have to say, the woman driving is very nice and very friendly. The van is very professional looking and has the company information on the outside. It is spotless inside. They have a car seat for Aria and even though it is forward facing, its is installed correctly so that's a relief. It has a cover on it so I would like to think they wash it in between patients. The cover is very clean as well.
The actual location is about 20 minutes away and looks like a typical urgent care. There are other people in the waiting room ahead us but we are taken in within maybe 15 minutes. They take Aria's temp, check her ears & throat and do a strep test. Everything looks good & the strep test comes back negative. They agree with our original thought that she is just really bothered by her teething. We had been giving her tylenol each night but they give us some motrin instead since it typically lasts a little longer. The whole ordeal takes about 3 hours, door to door. We are back to Sports by about 11:30. We still have not gotten the bill for this appointment so we are dreading that. If we were home and she was waking up night after night screaming, bringing her to her pedi to have her ears checked would be a given. So obviously I'm glad we went. It was just another one of those moments where we were like, of course this is happening right now.

Aria did wake up one other time that night but thankfully I was able to get her back to sleep pretty quickly. Still, with the super late night, she was up by 6am!

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 17, 2016

Disney Day 7
Our 2nd Epcot Day!
We had two things we definitely wanted to do in Future World- Test Track and meet Joy & Sadness. The plan was to go meet Joy & Sadness first, then we had a FP for Test Track- I think it was at 9:30 or 9:45. Then Sage's BBB appointment was at 11:20, then we were planning on heading back to the World Showcase to finish up there and hopefully meet some princesses while Sage was looking all fancy.

So even though Nick and I are exhausted from the night before, we head out by 8am. First stop, Joy and Sadness! This area is amazing! We really love this movie and we are so excited to meet them for the first time!

Sadness is the best. She sees my parents standing off to the side and slowly walks over to them, then reaches out to my mom and gives her a big hug
I mention to Nick that since our previous attempts at a family photo haven't been great, we should try again. So he hands the camera off and jumps in and of course, Aria isn't looking.

From there we head over to Test Track. The standby line says 30 minutes and we still have about 10 or 15 til the start of our FP so we go into a near by building to wait. I think its Innoventions? I'm honestly not sure. I know there was a color themed exhibit inside. Aria is just happy she can scootch around. We hang out for a few minutes, then my mom stays with Aria and my dad, Nick, Sage and myself head to Test Track. Sage has never been on this before and we're impressed she's actually going so willingly.
So when we go to scan our FP, the CM says, stand by is short- only 10 minutes! Why don't you use stand by and change your FP to something else? Seriously? The sign still says 30 minutes. If we would have know it was only 10, we would have gotten in line 15 minutes ago instead of wasting time somewhere else. So annoying. We say thats ok, we're leaving after this anyway, and use our FPs. The whole process of getting to the actual ride is so time consuming. I really wanted to leave Epcot by about 10/10:15 and at 10:05, we weren't even on the ride yet. It took a good 25 minutes just to get through the queue and car design part. I mean, the ride itself is entertaining, but so not worth all that.
I have no pictures which is weird for me!
Sage likes it & my dad likes it, so thats good. We head out and meet up with my mom. We tell them we need to book it out of there to get to Disney Springs. They decide to stay and head over to the World Showcase to use up some snack credits at the Food and Wine Festival. I'm so glad they decide to do this. Nick and I have felt bad all week that the trip hasn't been as magical as we hoped. So we are happy they stay to enjoy some grown up time, and some delicious food

So on our previous Epcot day, we tested the International Gateway route and found it to be extremely time consuming. So this time, we tested the bus route. I had looked on a map and found 3 resorts that were in between Epcot and Disney Springs. I figured we'd just take the first one that came. So thankfully as we are approaching the bus stop, a Caribbean Beach bus pulls up. We think, great! What luck! Especially since it is already much later than we were hoping.
So as we are getting on, the driver asks us which part of the resort we are going to. I tell her we are just trying to get to Disney Springs. So, a bit of a side story, I am fascinated by all the different resorts and themes. When I'm bored, I'll sometimes just go online and look at pictures and dream about staying at all the different resorts. One thing that I am always turned off by though is the size of the moderate resorts. The internal bus system gives me anxiety just thinking thinking about it. Taking a bus to the food court, or taking a bus to fill up your coffee in the morning- no thanks!
So anyways, we are dropped off at Caribbean Beach and the driver tells us a DS bus is coming in less than 5 minutes. Again, we think great! What luck! So the bus comes, we get on, and then..... we stop. Over and over and over. I think that bus made like 6 stops all around the resort. Holy cow I do not have the patience for that. I can't imagine doing that every morning. When you're in a hurry to get a park and it takes 20 minutes just to leave the resort. Nope. Not for me. So I know there are people that swear by moderates but after this, we will never stay at one.
So we finally leave the resort and the bus we are on stops at Typhoon Lagoon before going to Disney Springs. We get to DS at 11:15. Sage's appointment is at 11:20. We look at a map and BBB is as far away from the bus stop as possible so we take off as quick as we can. Aria had fallen asleep on the bus so sadly, Nick has to sit outside with her in the stroller while Sage and I go in. We check in and sit in the waiting area. I'm surprised we actually wait a few minutes before they call Sage so it makes me think they give you a time that is actually a few minutes before your appointment to accommodate in case you are running late. Like maybe our 'real' appointment time wasn't until 11:30. In any case it all works out. And it is smooth sailing for the rest of the appointment!
Sage ends up wearing a Snow White dress instead of her Ariel dress. That is a little disappointing. Ariel is her favorite and about a year or two ago, before we even had our trip booked, my mother in law saw a beautiful, authentic Disney Store Ariel dress at a consignment store in size 6 and bought it for Sage. It was too big at the time and we had no idea when our next trip was. So when our trip finally came, and we decided to do BBB, we were like, perfect! You have that beautiful green Ariel dress and it fits perfectly! So the fact that she didn't end up wearing it made me sad. The Snow White dress is cute but it was one she wore on our last trip. Oh well, maybe Aria will wear the Ariel dress some day!

When we are checking in, the CM says Aw! Is Snow White your favorite princess? And Sage says no, Ariel is, but that dress was too itchy. That's Sage!

So since we brought our own dress, we just ordered the smallest package- hair, make up and nails, for 60 bucks. Its not often I will say this about Disney but for the money, it was TOTALLY worth it! What an amazing experience this was. They are so organized and they really have each appointment down to an exact science. First, we are brought into the changing area so Sage can put her dress on. The CM tells us to pay attention to the magic mirror, and then leaves the room and closes the door.

Sage gets changed and then we are then brought over to hallway lined with benches and flags with symbols for each princess. Sage sits under Snow White's flag

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 17, 2016

A few minutes later, they call Sage and we go into the transformation room. The fairy godmother in training that takes care of Sage is amazing. So friendly and so good with Sage. You can tell they are well practiced in dealing with squirmy little kids.

Sage is given an adorable pink canvas bag filled with the make up used on her, the comb, her nail polish and some face gems (she didn't want one on her face that day). She also gets to keep the little tiara and the Mickey hair clip so again, well worth the $60! They have a little room with Cinderella's coach set up across the hallway where a photopass photographer takes some pictures. I take some on my camera as well.

We then go into the store next door where Nick is waiting with sleeping Aria

Oh yes, see Sage's shoes? The perfect shade of green to match her Ariel dress! Once she decided to be Snow White it was either that or sneakers!

So we are all starving for lunch now and since Earl of Sandwich is right across the way we head there. Sage had mentioned during her appointment she was hungry and her fairy godmother said she loved Earl of Sandwich. So we go in and it is PACKED. The line is crazy long. We see an empty table so we head over to claim it. As we are walking through I glance at the board. I see a special turkey & apple sandwich and quickly look through the sides. I tell Nick and I will sit at the table with Aria and he and Sage can wait in line. I tell him I'll have the turkey apple sandwich. I didn't get a good look at the side & dessert options so I tell him to text me with the choices. I didn't see the kids menu but I did see they had mac and cheese listed on sides so I tell Sage and she's so excited. Nick looks at the crazy line and says, maybe we should go somewhere else. But a man at the next table promises us its worth the wait. So Nick and Sage get in line, I get Aria settled and start feeding her.
Sage comes back to the table a few minutes later crying because there is no mac & cheese on the kids menu. So I text Nick and tell him to get mac & cheese as my side for Sage. Long story short, apparently only some sides can be used as a side credit for the sandwiches- pasta salad, potato salad, and chips or something like that. Even though mac and cheese is listed under sides, its a separate side, not an add on side. So Nick has to buy the mac & cheese outright which he is not happy about. Also, for some reason, we don't get dessert with this meal on the meal plan. Not that we need it but talk about a bad deal. So a note to people on the dining plan- Earl of Sandwich is NOT a good use of a credit!
So we finally get our food and its fine but not worth the wait and hassle.
We go outside and I take a few pictures to send to my parents and tell them we are on our way back

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 17, 2016

When we get to the bus stop, we ask a bus driver the best way to get back to Epcot. He says to take a bus to the Boardwalk and walk through the International Gateway. A bus comes quickly, and we ride over there. The bus stop is a bit of a trek down to the boardwalk area where we have to go to get to Epcot (of course). We stop for a bathroom break and I take another few pictures of my adorable princess

The Boardwalk is at the top of my 'places I dream about staying' list. Maybe someday. We love walking through the boardwalk area. Even if it is 90+ degrees and we are all exhausted.
We finally make it over to my parents and Sage tells them all about BBB.
Then we take out a map and tell Sage all her princess options. We decide to start in the UK with Mary Poppins. Her line is about 15 minutes long, in the direct sun, so I wait and everyone else goes in the near by store. Sage enjoys coloring a little Duffy picture. I text everyone when its just about our turn.

We then head over to the Alice line. Again, about 15 minutes in the direct sun. So everyone scatters inside again and I wait. When we get to the front my mom doesn't hear my text at first. So Sage goes to meet Alice and she makes a big deal of princess Sage. They curtsy to each other and then Alice teaches her the proper way to curtsy. As we are saying good bye my mom comes over with Aria. Even though I tell my mom, its ok, Alice motions for them to come over and takes more pictures. So that was very nice of her!

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 17, 2016

After the UK, we are walking through France and notice lines for both Belle and Aurora. They are both so long. We ask Sage if she wants to wait and she says no, thats ok, we already met them. I know part of it is that she's just so hot. I know I keep complaining about the heat but it really was a huge problem for us. Maybe we are in the minority but it really affected us all way more than we thought it would.
So next was Morocco. Sage really wants to meet Jasmine, since we haven't met her yet this trip. I am anxious to meet her too and check out her new outfit

We walk all around and don't see her line any where. So Nick pulls over in the shade with the stroller and I head into one of the stores in the back to ask. So apparently, she meets inside towards the back which is fabulous. Not so fabulous, she's on break and won't be back for an hour and a half! Ugh! So sad.
So we start walking towards Germany to meet Snow White. Sage asks if after Snow White, we can go back to the hotel. She says she's tired and too hot. So we agree even though I know we will be missing Mulan and Jasmine. When we get to Germany, Snow White isn't out and I start to panic but thankfully, her next meeting time is in 10 minutes. Phew! The girls look adorable dressed as Snow White, meeting Snow White. I'm also wearing a Snow White shirt and not to point out the obvious, but man is my face red and sweaty! Ha!

As we are walking back towards the buses, my parents decide to stay. I think my mom wanted to shop more. I mention Living with the Land, and the Imagination ride, which I think they will enjoy. They don't end up doing them though. I think they just poke through the shops and stuff.
As we are walking through Future World, there is spray area where kids are just going nuts so I tell Sage to go ahead and cool off. I dip Aria a little too. Sage of course gets soaked, so we change back into her shorts & t shirt before heading out. I think we got back around 5ish and as fun as this day was, we spent more time traveling than actually doing fun things. We left at 8am, got back around 5, and all we really did was meet Joy and Sadness, ride Test Track, do BBB and meet 3 characters. I hope they do eventually make a permanent bus that goes directly to Disney Springs. That would have saved us so much time and energy!

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 17, 2016

Disney Day 8
Our final day! We had a partial park day planned, and then were flying home that night. Our flight was at 6:20pm. On our last trip, we flew home first thing Sunday morning. We didn't end up loving that. We didn't like that we paid for a night in hotel, but then did nothing the next day but pack up and leave. We also didn't like that we went right from traveling one day, to back to work the next day. So new strategy this time. We got to spend a few hours in a park, have lunch, fly home right around bed time, then we had all day Sunday to unpack, grocery shop, re adjust etc. We really liked this strategy and will definitely stick with it next time!
We had purposely left this day open, planning wise, so that if there was anything we missed earlier in the week we could go back and do it this day. Or if there was something the girls wanted to do again. We talked about it the night before and Sage decided she really wanted to go back to MK. I told her I was choosing one FP- meeting Tinkerbell. We had never met Tinkerbell and I thought it would make for some cute photos. I let Sage choose the other 2 FPs and she chose the Barnstormer and Haunted Mansion.
So that morning, we all go down to breakfast together and then go back to the room to pack up. I am the designated packer in the family so Nick tries his best to entertain the girls and keep them out of my way. One thing I didn't mention, we had rented a full size crib from A Baby's Best Friend for Aria. I highly recommend this company! They have everything you could possible need for babies & kids- strollers, cribs, car seats, highchairs, rocking chairs, microwaves, even toys. Aria has always been an iffy sleeper (she didn't start sleeping through the night til almost 9 months old) and had never slept in a pack and play so I really didn't want to risk trying it in Disney. On the day we arrived, I texted them with our room number and they dropped the crib off right at our door. Same thing the day we checked out. The night before they texted me asking for a time to come get the crib. I put it out that morning and they came right to the door to get it. Super convenient and friendly and their prices were the cheapest of every place I checked out!
So anyways, once we are all packed up, we drop our bags off and then we head out to MK! This was Saturday Oct 1st- Magic Kingdom's 45th Anniversary!

So of course, Aria falls asleep on the bus. This kid. So my parents hang with her while we take Sage to meet Tinkerbell. And yes, she slept in her BBB hair

So as you enter the Tinkerbell room, they have this adorable little set up where they use Disney magic to shrink you down to fairy size. But when you leave- nothing! Just back to the real world with no Disney magic to get you back to human size. So strange!
As we are walking towards the Barnstormer we happen to catch Nick and Judy in the little dance parade. We are huge Zootopia fans so I'm so glad we caught a peek of them! Sage was asking all week to meet them.

Figment Forever · Oct 17, 2016

DisneyDreamer08 said:
After Adventureland, we made our way towards Frontierland. Sage had made it clear that morning she did not want to do Splash Mountain with Nick and I so sadly, our only ride was the one the previous night. BTMRR was closed, so that only left Country Bears. It had been YEARS since I had seen this show. I want to say the last time I saw it was 2007. I knew my mom would like it though. Nick decided to push Aria around in the stroller to see if she would fall asleep. Sage put up a bit of a stink saying the show sounded boring (she had never seen it) but I convinced her to see it with us. She actually ended up really liking it! She has all those Disney Sing A Long DVDs and there's one or two with the bears (she says they are especially in the camping one) so she had fun pointing out the bears she recognized.
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After the show we were walking past that candy store and of course, Sage wanted to go in. Since she was being so well behaved that day, I let her pick out some candy.
Aria did not end up falling asleep. We were all getting hungry so decided to head over to Columbia Harbor House for dinner. Nick and I do not like seafood but my parents love it. I always read great things about this place so I knew my parents would really like it. I had looked at the menu ahead of time so I knew there were usually one or two non seafood items.
My dad got the lobster roll, my mom got fish & chips and Nick and I both got the chicken pot pie with broccoli. We all got frozen drinks and the cobbler for dessert. Sage was munching on her candy and refusing to get dinner but again, since she was having a good day, we let it slide. I have to say, this was one of my favorite meals of our trip!! I would definitely go here again, even though I don't eat seafood. Everything was excellent! I'm bummed I don't have any pictures. We loved it here!

At dinner we were talking about what to do next. We had done pretty much everything on my MK list. Then I remembered the train. My mom really wanted to do that. Then Sage mentions she really wants to ride the monorail. We rode the monorail on our last trip because we were checking out some Christmas decorations at the different MK resorts and she was like, fascinated by it. So Nick says he will take Sage on the monorail, and me, my parents and Aria decide to take a round trip train ride.

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I want to say it was about 5 by this point and it was a party night. So as we are sitting on the train, waiting to get going, we really enjoyed watching everyone coming in in their costumes.
The train was nice but man did it take forever. At each station the train would wait a good 10 minutes for people to load and unload. Aria was fine while the train was actually moving but while it was just sitting there she would squirm all around and get all fussy.

So after our round trip tour, we start walking towards the bus and Nick texts me that they are done and also walking towards the buses. I guess they got off in the Grand Floridian (Sage remembered that's where the big gingerbread house was) just to look around. So we met up and made our way back!

So I put Aria to bed around 7 as usual. I then give Sage a tub to get her all squeaky clean for her BBB appointment the next morning. After being asleep for only about 45 minutes, Aria wakes up screaming. And it seems no matter what we do, we can't console her. Even walking around with her outside, she just screams and screams.

I decide to call the front desk to see what our urgent care options are. She connects me with a facility that will actually send a doctor to your hotel room. I briefly talk with them and am told that their first available appointment isn't until 8am the next morning. We are thinking at this point, we really need to get Aria seen that night, just in case she does have an ear infection.
So I call the front desk again and they connect me with a facility called Centra Care. They are an urgent care that offers a van service that will pick you up and drop you off, supposedly free of charge. So we decide to bring Aria in.
My parents stay with Sage and get her to bed. Nick and I head out front with Aria.
I am really nervous about this van picking us up but I have to say, the woman driving is very nice and very friendly. The van is very professional looking and has the company information on the outside. It is spotless inside. They have a car seat for Aria and even though it is forward facing, its is installed correctly so that's a relief. It has a cover on it so I would like to think they wash it in between patients. The cover is very clean as well.
The actual location is about 20 minutes away and looks like a typical urgent care. There are other people in the waiting room ahead us but we are taken in within maybe 15 minutes. They take Aria's temp, check her ears & throat and do a strep test. Everything looks good & the strep test comes back negative. They agree with our original thought that she is just really bothered by her teething. We had been giving her tylenol each night but they give us some motrin instead since it typically lasts a little longer. The whole ordeal takes about 3 hours, door to door. We are back to Sports by about 11:30. We still have not gotten the bill for this appointment so we are dreading that. If we were home and she was waking up night after night screaming, bringing her to her pedi to have her ears checked would be a given. So obviously I'm glad we went. It was just another one of those moments where we were like, of course this is happening right now.

Aria did wake up one other time that night but thankfully I was able to get her back to sleep pretty quickly. Still, with the super late night, she was up by 6am!

Really enjoying your TR! I'm so glad Aria did not have an ear infection! We had an experience with Centra Care a few years back. My daughter Julia had gotten very sick( very high fever - 105) so we had the "Disney" doctor come to our room and he suggested we either take her to the emergency room or the Centra Care. We chose Centra Care because we knew she would receive treatment much quicker than the emergency room. The shuttle was very fast and everyone involved were top notch. The only down side was the price. We had to pay up front with a credit card as they said they did not take any insurance. The bill was $500 and an additional $200 for a prescription of Amoxicillin which was sent to our hotel room a few hours after we returned back. That was a few years back so hopefully they took your insurance. I would still do it again because Julia was seen and treated immediately.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your TR!

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 17, 2016

Figment Forever said:
Really enjoying your TR! I'm so glad Aria did not have an ear infection! We had an experience with Centra Care a few years back. My daughter Julia had gotten very sick( very high fever - 105) so we had the "Disney" doctor come to our room and he suggested we either take her to the emergency room or the Centra Care. We chose Centra Care because we knew she would receive treatment much quicker than the emergency room. The shuttle was very fast and everyone involved were top notch. The only down side was the price. We had to pay up front with a credit card as they said they did not take any insurance. The bill was $500 and an additional $200 for a prescription of Amoxicillin which was sent to our hotel room a few hours after we returned back. That was a few years back so hopefully they took your insurance. I would still do it again because Julia was seen and treated immediately.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your TR!

Oh my gosh that's terrible! Things have definitely changed because we did not pay anything upfront. As far as I know, they took our insurance. I'm hoping we get that bill soon. And I'm hoping its billed as a normal urgent care visit.

Thanks for following along

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 17, 2016

So after Tink we made our way towards the Barnstormer, using a few snack credits on the way for some frozen drinks

Nick and Sage went together first then I told Sage she could wear my moms band so her and I could go together. She was all upset about changing bands though so she just rode the one time. Typical Sage being disagreeable.
Another thing Sage really wanted to do was play in the Dumbo play area since it was closed the first morning we were there. My parents decide to go back to Main St. My mom had bought something for my nephew and accidentally got the wrong size so she wanted to go exchange it.
By now its probably close to noon and boy oh boy, is the MK packed. I think of combination of it being Saturday, being the 45th anniversary and the start of a super busy time. The wait time for Dumbo was about 45 minutes and when I asked about just going in to play, not ride, I was told we had to wait in line until we got to the play area. Bummer.
So we waited maybe 15-20 minutes. Just to play. Nick followed Sage, I stayed with Aria in the little kid section.

We were told we could only play til our pager went off, then we would either have to get back in line or leave. Sage wanted to leave.
It was just about time for our Haunted Mansion FP so off we went in that direction. We couldn't believe how long the line was after being a near walk on the other day. So glad we had a FP! Kind of funny, Aria was so super still for this ride. Just looking all around. Not squirming at all. Literally the first ride that's happened on all week. So it only took 8 days but she finally learned how to be still on a ride

Around this time my parents texted me to ask if we were planning on eating in the park or back at the hotel. The line at Columbia Harbor House was ridonkluous, like out the door and a mile long. So I told them we should probably eat back at the hotel. I assumed every where else would be the same.
We had time for one more thing. I forget what Sage asked for but I feel like it was something we all would have liked to do again, like Pirates. I checked the app though and everything was like a 45+ minute wait. Mountains and Mine Train were close to 2 hours. The only thing we could find less than 20 minutes was the carousel (Small World was down for some reason). So she agreed to that.

Pretty castle shot! And castle selfie

We then head back towards Main St. stopping in the candy store to use up some snack credits on delicious treats to take home.
On the way, we caught the end of the castle stage show. We were able to pull up on the side, pretty close.

DisneyDreamer08 · Oct 17, 2016

Back at Sports, we do something we've been meaning to do all week- take Sage's picture on the big S and Aria's on the big A

We then head into the food court, get lunch, and use up our remaining credits on snacks to take home.

The magical express was right on time and we get to the airport without any issues. We did have a few hiccups at the airport. First, we get into the security line and when we get to the front, we're told we have to go through the wheelchair line with the double stroller. Which is of course, three times as long. So we're waiting, and my parents come over to us and say they are told they have pre board or pre security tickets. I honestly can't remember what they're called (we have no idea what it even means but are assuming it has something to do with Sports printing our boarding passes) so we get out of line, and go alllll the way over to the separate line for that. When we get to the front, it turns out only my parents have that different ticket. Not us. So we go allllll the way back over to the wheelchair line.
When we finally go through security, we are pulled aside because I have a few baby bottles filled with water in my carry on. You are allowed more than 3 ounces of a liquid for baby bottles, they just have to test the liquid. So apparently, the man who did the testing didn't put the covers back on tightly. Later when we board, I put my bag in the over head bin. As we are taking off, suddenly water starts dripping down on Nick and I. We assume its from the bottles but there is nothing we can do as the seatbelt light is on. He asks if there is anything that could get ruined in the bag. I think no, its just diapers, a spare outfit for Aria, some snacks, then I think OH NO- Sage's autograph book!! We immediately go into panic mode but have to wait several minutes til the fasten seatbelt light goes off. So I finally get up to check and everything inside the bag is soaked. Like I can wring out Aria's outfit. But, by some Disney miracle, Sage's autograph book is completely dry! I can't even believe it. Thank you Mickey! I don't even want to know what that meltdown would have been like if her book was ruined. Honestly I would have cried too. The book was completely filled, front to back, with autographs from both trips. Lots of great memories.
The rest of the flight is fine- both girls fall asleep.
I'll try to finish up in a bit with my final thoughts

Trip Report Tired, hot & grumpy- A tale of 2 princesses- COMPLETED!!

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