Trip Report UPDATED WITH PHOTOS! A Baby, A Birthday, A Broken Phone, and I Kissed Minnie and She Kissed Me Back!

Hello everyone! We just got back from our trip last night and had a wonderful time! As the title states, i broke my phone on the trip So I dont have too many photos to share, and am working on getting them, and some from my wife and sister.

Cast:
Steve (me,dad)
Megan (mom)
Jade (my sister)
Landon (son)
Declan (son)
Kinley (Daughter, 1st trip!)

We stayed in Caribbean Beach and had a great time! Weather was very hot for this time of year, in the 90s the whole week and no rain! Im probably gonna start off a little slow until i get my new phone and pictures together.

Tuesday May 5
We departed our home around 11am and headed to Ohare airport. We had a 2pm flight out with Frontier Airlines. Now if you read my pre trip report, i was a little apprehensive to fly with them considering all the negative reviews. However, it was the cheapest airline for all of us to fly, so we went with it. I was very satisfied with their service. Somehow, even though i paid for economy fare, i eneded up being upgraded to their classic plus fare, and got free checked bags and free carry ons as well! Score as that saved us over $200 if we would have had to pay for that all. We werent even planning on having carry ons because of the cost, but since it was free we went with it! Our initial flight in was delayed a good 20 minutes, no biggie.

Family Selfie (minus my wife who hates photos lol)

We arrived in Orlando around 5pm and quickly found DME. waited about 15 minutes before we were on the bus and headed home!

 

[stevehousse]

Thursday May 7:

This was our early day! EMHs at Magic Kingdom! And let me tell you, it was a struggle to get everyone up and out the door! LOL My family are not morning people whatsoever, so we always have a hard time doing it. I have always wanted to see the MK welcome show, and never had. Needless to say, we didnt make it lol. We got to the park at 815, just missing it!

We headed straight for Tommorowland to kill some time before our BOG breakfast ADR which was for 9am. We strolled down Main Street taking pictures and who do I see with a very short line? Mary Poppins. Now it is a running joke in our family, that every trip I try to meet Mary, and always end up failing. Big Thumbs Down!!! As i entered the line i got the dreaded, "Mary's line is closed but she will be back out in about an hour!" Ugghh. Foiled again...

We stopped to take some pictures of the castle and went straight to Buzz Lightyear! we walked on, and i was finally able to redeem myself from the embarrassment that was my score during TSMM! Next, we went to Space Mountain which was a 5 minute wait. Me and Landon went first, and then we grabbed a baby swap for Megan and Jade. This was Landon's first ride on it since he was tall enough this year, and boy did he love it! It was his new favorite for the trip. I think we went on 3 more times during the trip! It was now the girls turn to ride, so i grabbed the kids and we went and met Buzz Lightyear himself. My boys love Toy Story!

The girls met us over at Buzz just as we were finishing up, again, really was no line for him at the time. We strolled over to Be Our Guest restaurant. We had eaten lunch here back in 2013 and really liked it, and when they announced they were taking official ADRs for lunch, i was all on it! yes, that morning and afternoon was a huge debacle, as others on this site can surely tell you the trouble it was to secure that lunch spot. I think it was literally 2-3 weeks later that they had announced they would be testing Breakfast, and it would be when we were there!!!! I was too excited, and i was able to easily grab an ADR without any trouble like i went through with the lunch issue.

We checked in (we had pre-ordered before we arrived), and waited in the line to pay before grabbing our seats. The place was packed and there was no where for our family of 6 to sit. We really wanted to try to eat in the West Wing, but it wasnt happening. I found a dirty table that was big enough for us in the Gallery, and grabbed a CM to clean it for us. We soon sat down, grabbed our drinks and silverware, and 5 minutes later we had our food. Im salty because i had a great photo of our spread all laid out, and the food deliverer even helped us get everything in the photo and organized...EDIT photo is back!!!

We shared all the entrees we got; The cronut was absolutely delicious! A little sweeter than i usually like (im more of a potato chip guy than a sweets guy) but it was really good. The open faced sandwich was really good as well, however it would have been better if it was a little hotter. We also got the egg whites and multi grain croissants which were great as well. Im such a sucker for croissants! The boys got french toast sticks, and we all shared their bacon

We finished up and headed out the door to our first FP of the day, the new Seven Dwarves Mine Train. Megan actually didnt care to ride, so the rest of us went on. This was Declans first roller coaster ride ever and i was so glad he liked it! It is a cute ride, but wish there was a least one more "scene" in the ride. The rest of the trip he kept singing the Hei Ho song! We all got off and headed right over to Mermaid, as it was a walk on. Mermaid is Megans favorite Disney film, so we rode it and then met Ariel over in her grotto, which was about a 15 minute wait.

I dont know what it is, but Ariel is the only princess my boys actually really liked and will take pictures with. Having 2 boys, we actually have never met any princesses until this trip since we finally have a little pirncess of our own. (I did get Declan to take photos with Anna and Elsa later in the trip though!) They had fun meeting her as we have never done that meet in her grotto yet. Declan was amazed by her fin!

We made our way to Dumbo, and then hit up the Barnstormer. Our next FP was coming up, so we backtracked through Fantasyland and went over to Peter Pans Flight! Since the hour window had just opened up, the line was kinda long to get in, so we said we would wait and go on Small World first, since again, it was a walk on!

sidebar: this is why I love early May. Yes, there are people there, more so this year than in years past, but the lines are still extremely short, and with FPs, it only helps as we know what to use them on and not to use them on! Not to mention the weather is always beautiful!

Small World was great, as i loved watching my boys singing along during our trip around the world. Kinley really seemed to like it too, just really looking over everything! We went back across the walkway to do Peter Pan, and now the line was nothing. We got right into line and were onboard 2 minutes later. Once we were off, we decided to hit up Haunted Mansion before we left for the afternoon to go back to the resort, as it was getting really hot out now. Mansion is Megans favorite ride, and one of mine as well. We all enjoyed the tour, and started heading out, but not before checking out the new mansion gift shop. Which was really cool, but way too small!!! We made it back to the front gates and waited a good 10 minutes for a bus to arrive to take us home for the afternoon swim/nap time.

 

[englanddg]

Thursday May 7:

This was our early day! EMHs at Magic Kingdom! And let me tell you, it was a struggle to get everyone up and out the door! LOL My family are not morning people whatsoever, so we always have a hard time doing it. I have always wanted to see the MK welcome show, and never had. Needless to say, we didnt make it lol. We got to the park at 815, just missing it! We headed straight for Tommorowland to kill some time before our BOG breakfast ADR which was for 9am. We strolled down Main Street taking pictures and who do I see with a very short line? Mary Poppins. Now it is a running joke in our family, that every trip I try to meet Mary, and always end up failing. Big Thumbs Down!!! As i entered the line i got the dreaded, "Mary's line is closed but she will be back out in about an hour!" Ugghh. Foiled again...

We stopped to take some pictures of the castle and went straight to Buzz Lightyear! we walked on, and i was finally able to redeem myself from the embarrassment that was my score during TSMM! Next, we went to Space Mountain which was a 5 minute wait. Me and Landon went first, and then we grabbed a baby swap for Megan and Jade. This was Landon's first ride on it since he was tall enough this year, and boy did he love it! It was his new favorite for the trip. I think we went on 3 more times during the trip! It was now the girls turn to ride, so i grabbed the kids and we went and met Buzz Lightyear himself. My boys love Toy Story!

The girls met us over at Buzz just as we were finishing up, again, really was no line for him at the time. We strolled over to Be Our Guest restaurant. We had eaten lunch here back in 2013 and really liked it, and when they announced they were taking official ADRs for lunch, i was all on it! yes, that morning and afternoon was a huge debacle, as others on this site can surely tell you the trouble it was to secure that lunch spot. I think it was literally 2-3 weeks later that they had announced they would be testing Breakfast, and it would be when we were there!!!! I was too excited, and i was able to easily grab an ADR without any trouble like i went through with the lunch issue.

We checked in (we had pre-ordered before we arrived), and waited in the line to pay before grabbing our seats. The place was packed and there was no where for our family of 6 to sit. We really wanted to try to eat in the West Wing, but it wasnt happening. I found a dirty table that was big enough for us in the Gallery, and grabbed a CM to clean it for us. We soon sat down, grabbed our drinks and silverware, and 5 minutes later we had our food. Im salty because i had a great photo of our spread all laid out, and the food deliverer even helped us get everything in the photo and organized...LOL

We shared all the entrees we got; The cronut was absolutely delicious! A little sweeter than i usually like (im more of a potato chip guy than a sweets guy) but it was really good. The open faced sandwich was really good as well, however it would have been better if it was a little hotter. We also got the egg whites and multi grain croissants which were great as well. Im such a sucker for croissants! The boys got french toast sticks, and we all shared their bacon

We finished up and headed out the door to our first FP of the day, the new Seven Dwarves Mine Train. Megan actually didnt care to ride, so the rest of us went on. This was Declans first roller coaster ride ever and i was so glad he liked it! It is a cute ride, but wish there was a least one more "scene" in the ride. The rest of the trip he kept singing the Hei Ho song! We all got off and headed right over to Mermaid, as it was a walk on. Mermaid is Megans favorite Disney film, so we rode it and then met Ariel over in her grotto, which was about a 15 minute wait.

I dont know what it is, but Ariel is the only princess my boys actually really liked and will take pictures with. Having 2 boys, we actually have never met any princesses until this trip since we finally have a little pirncess of our own. (I did get Declan to take photos with Anna and Elsa later in the trip though!) They had fun meeting her as we have never done that meet in her grotto yet. Declan was amazed by her fin!

We made our way to Dumbo, and then hit up the Barnstormer. Our next FP was coming up, so we backtracked through Fantasyland and went over to Peter Pans Flight! Since the hour window had just opened up, the line was kinda long to get in, so we said we would wait and go on Small World first, since again, it was a walk on!

sidebar: this is why I love early May. Yes, there are people there, more so this year than in years past, but the lines are still extremely short, and with FPs, it only helps as we know what to use them on and not to use them on! Not to mention the weather is always beautiful!

Small World was great, as i loved watching my boys singing along during our trip around the world. Kinley really seemed to like it too, just really looking over everything! We went back across the walkway to do Peter Pan, and now the line was nothing. We got right into line and were onboard 2 minutes later. Once we were off, we decided to hit up Haunted Mansion before we left for the afternoon to go back to the resort, as it was getting really hot out now. Mansion is Megans favorite ride, and one of mine as well. We all enjoyed the tour, and started heading out, but not before checking out the new mansion gift shop. Which was really cool, but way too small!!! We made it back to the front gates and waited a good 10 minutes for a bus to arrive to take us home for the afternoon swim/nap time.

I agree, Cronuts are overrated. <grin>

I like savoury over sweet.

That said, many people do not.

Sounds like you all had a great day! Can't wait to read more!

 

[stevehousse]

Sorry about your photos!

Enjoying your recaps though! Love that you gave a shoutout to the CMs who you wouldn't necessarily think make magical moments on your vacation, yet those are the ones you remember. I swear the nicest people work at Disney.

so glad your reading along as i always enjoy your reports! And yes, it always is the people you wouldnt think have anything to do with your trip that you remember most! I have been in the restaurant industry for over 10 years now, so i am always apt to compliment rather than complain, unless i think it really absolutely warrants a complaint.

I agree, Cronuts are overrated. <grin>

I like savoury over sweet.

That said, many people do not.

Sounds like you all had a great day! Can't wait to read more!

I cant get enough of Cronuts! The first time i tried one was at our local farmers market, and i fell in love! The BOG one was beyond delicious (and huge) and so was the one we had at Epcot the next day!

 

[englanddg]

I cant get enough of Cronuts! The first time i tried one was at our local farmers market, and i fell in love! The BOG one was beyond delicious (and huge) and so was the one we had at Epcot the next day!

I guess I'm just not so much a fan...though, I haven't had Disney's version. From the ranting you (and others) have had, I think it's a must do next trip! Can't wait to read along, and glad you all finally had a good day!

 

[stevehousse]

I guess I'm just not so much a fan...though, I haven't had Disney's version. From the ranting you (and others) have had, I think it's a must do next trip! Can't wait to read along, and glad you all finally had a good day!

i would suggest the one from Epcot then. It is sugar coated, but the one at BOG is over the top, covered in chocolate sauce, caramel, and bananas foster sauce and bananas! its good but really sweet. They are both good, but you would probably be better with the first one. Its at the refreshment port right before you enter the world showcase.

 

[englanddg]

i would suggest the one from Epcot then. It is sugar coated, but the one at BOG is over the top, covered in chocolate sauce, caramel, and bananas foster sauce and bananas! its good but really sweet. They are both good, but you would probably be better with the first one. Its at the refreshment port right before you enter the world showcase.

Noted! Is the one from HS good with a coffee?

 

[FlaggNL]

Great report, off course we miss the photo's but the texts are great to follow! Thanks for the share!

 

[mrdrift]

Great day at Hollywood Studious even with scooter mom issue. The a wonderful day so far at Magic Kingdom. I would say this is so far a really great trip. Following along.

 

[disneypearl]

Early May sounds like a great time to go! I'll be there the end of June so it'll be busy but that's alright.

We almost always seem to miss the welcome show by about 15 minutes too. It's a shame because we've seen it only a couple times and always try.

 

[stevehousse]

We arrived back at our resort and my sister and I went to fill everyones mugs while they got ready for the pool. In the few minutes we were gone, the baby had fallen asleep. I stayed at the room with the baby while everyone else went to the village pool to hang out.

Sidebar; I also completely forgot to mention that all my kids got pins. Declan got a birthday pin since his birthday is coming up shortly, and absolutely loved that everyone would say happy birthday to him! He even made it a point to make sure people saw that he had a pin on! it was really cute!

Anyways, about 30 minutes goes by and the baby was awake. very short nap...i decided to take her out in the stroller and walk around our village a little before we headed over to the pool to hang out with everyone else. we sat under an umbrella, i didnt really want to go swimming. It was nice to relax. We all then headed across the walk to the beach to play in the sand and hammocks.

it was getting time to go back to the park, so we all got ready to leave again. We were hungry and wanted to eat dinner at Caseys Corner when we got to the park. We had fps for Big Thunder and Splash, and i was able to move them back an hour to accommodate our hungry bellies. By the time we walked up to Casey's, to our surprise, Declan had fallen asleep!

we let him sleep while we ate. I got a chili cheese dog! Megan got the bbq pork dog (which is to die for), Landon had a hot dog and ketchup and my sister had a cheese dog. We got 2 brownies and 2 bags of cotton candy for our dessert and we all had fries! we love eating there, and always make sure we get to at least once per trip. We grabbed a table outside and stuffed our bellies full! So good. Of course as we were finishing eating, Declan decided to wake up! He ended up eating left over fries and cotton candy for dinner! I know, parent of the year award right here! LOL

We made our way through Adventureland and right onto Pirates, which was a walk on. We then headed back to Frontierland. We took turns riding Big Thunder Mountain, which is a favorite of Landons. Declan was too scared to ride it, so Landon got to ride twice. Next was Splash, but it was only my sister and myself as Landon hates the ride, and Declan chickened out again Splash is my favorite! Next time boys im forcing you both on!

 

[stevehousse]

We left Frontierland and headed back through Fantasyland and the boys wanted Small World again. No wait again!

We did Little Mermaid again, and Dumbo. The wait for the Barnstormer was 10 minutes so me,Landon, Declan, and my sister Jade went to ride as Megan stayed with the baby who had fallen asleep.

Declan again loved this roller coaster! He was doing great for trying 3 roller coasters in one day! With the baby asleep and space mountain with a 15 minute wait, we decided to go no again. Taking turns with the baby swap we got. When it was my turn to have Declan and Kinley, we went over to the Dance party to hang out with the Incredible characters! and OMG! Mr Incredible's dance moves were beyond...let say...michael jackson esque...Yes he did the crotch grab! several times...

We then rode the Speedway an we had a short 2 minute wait! I really cant stress enough the no lines here! Amazing! I let Declan drive and he was all over the place! LOL We literally laughed the entire "race" as we kept getting bumped from side to side on the track. By this time the kids were tired and ready to go home. We watched the Castle show near the outskirts of the Tomorrowland Terrace near the new "back exit" and slowly left after the show. We waited for our bus, and got back to our resort.

Once we were back, the boys were pooped and off to bed early. We watched tv, and all slowly fell asleep. We had a geat day today! Tomorrow would be my favorite park, Epcot!

 

[stevehousse]

Friday May 8

We slept in the next morning and didnt arrive to Epcot until 1030. We had a fp for Spaceship Earth from 10-11am, so we made sure we rode it as soon as we got in! The ride had a good 1/2 hour wait, but we got on in 2 minutes with our fp!

Now i will say for sure that Epcot is my favorite park! yes, i know it is horribly outdated, and i feel bad that my kids wont ever get to experience the Epcot Center i was able to grow up with. I remember as a kid being in such awe of the place, it was truly magical back in the 80s and early 90s. My favorite memory as a kid was riding getting to see the characters in their show at the Odyssey Restaurant! Those costumes have always been my favorite! And Imagination in its true form was the best ride in the park! I also loved world of motion and body wars.

Now my kids love Epcot, but i wish they could have experienced what i did back then. Both the boys love spaceship earth! It always has to be the first ride at Epcot. I rode with the baby, Declan and Megan rode together, and Landon and Jade rode. I tried to get the baby in the photo but it didnt work out too good. I think i got her arm or torso in the photo so it looked awkward.

We then set our eyes on Meeting Pluto, and from there headed over to The Living Seas!

 

[stevehousse]

Finally some photos! Not much but it's a start! These are a few from DHS

 

[stevehousse]

Landon, Jade and me on Space Mountain! So glad he loved it!

 

[stevehousse]

We met with Pluto at Epcot. As you can see Declan had bought this adorable Jack Skellington plush that was by his side the entire vacation. Nightmare before Xmas is one of his favorites! The kid has great movie choices...

We headed over to the Living Seas and took a spin on Nemo. We love this pavilion and exploring. We immediately went upstairs to explore. I love the tunnel up there that gets you right into the tank basically and we watched the Dolphins and fish swimming around. We then took a look at the manatees before heading downstairs to look at more fish.

Kinley was getting hungry and the boys wanted to do Turtle Talk with Crush. I decided to take her outside to give her a bottle while the rest of the group did Crush. I found a nice bench right outside the exit in the shade and relaxed while we waited. She ate and fell asleep and the others soon met back up with us.

Next we had a FP for Figment. I know what you all are thinking....really?

Journey into Imagination with Figment was my absolute favorite ride as a child. I was lucky in That I got to experience the original attraction in all its glory back in the day, and use to love meeting Figment she. He was a meet n greet character. Declan loves the heck out of this ride even if it's no where near as good as the original. He loves figment!

Apparently Kanye, Kim, and North were at the Imagination Pavilion as well! LOL

We rode through the lab, played some games afterwards, and Declan go his Figment plush that he had been wanting since before we even left for vacation. All he wanted was a figment plush and a figment ear hat (which I found later in the day that they unfortunately don't make anymore, more on that later). We exited the gift shop and went to play in the fountains. It was hot out again!

We took a few minutes to sit and relax. We grabbed a blue slush and a snack pack consisting of fruit and string cheese that the boys nibbled on. We slowly started to make our way to World Showcase, and stopped at the Monsters Inc playground. While the kids played, I ran around the corner to grab my Cronut I had been waiting for all morning!!!!!

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks for sharing some pictures! They are great!!

 

[pajammies]

How many of the kiddos are school age? I believe we are in the same district, KUSD - we took our daughter out for a week in 1st grade and it was no big deal - she's going into 4th and when she's in 5th we plan to go back. I'm wondering how KUSD is with that.

Sorry your phone broke but looking forward to your pics!

So far we have had no problem taking our kids out of school for vacations. We've gone several times. We have one child in 3rd and one is a sophomore. I'm sure it depends on the school, teachers and principal too, but so far we've been lucky. We are in KUSD also.

 

[stevehousse]

So far we have had no problem taking our kids out of school for vacations. We've gone several times. We have one child in 3rd and one is a sophomore. I'm sure it depends on the school, teachers and principal too, but so far we've been lucky. We are in KUSD also.

Welcome to the club! Im suprised by the amount of people from Wisconsin here! thanks for reading.

 

[bethymouse]

Beautiful family.

 

[stevehousse]

Epcot continued...

I had grabbed my Cronut and me and Declan shared it as no one else wanted any?!? what? weirdos, but hey, more for me! We slowly strolled through the World Showcase, as it was very hot out again today! First stop in England was for Fish and Chips!!! So ridiculously good! We also strolled through the tea garden across thr walkway and the shops in that area.

We then stopped in France and i grabbed some kind of duck confit and an adult popsicle! yes adult popsicle!!! The duck was excellent, and the popsicle was just ok.

We them got fruishi to try! It was really good. The rice and the fruit and sauce all complimented each other very well and was a refreshing little snack.

We continued along, stopping in various shops and whatnot. We stopped in America for funnel cake and mickey bars. Again, it was so hot out and was starting to become unbearable. We stopped inside Germany and strolled the air conditioned shops and grabbed some treats from Karmel Kuche.

We then headed into China and grabbed some eggrolls. We finally hit up Norway and shopped a bit and had a cig break while my sister shopped Frozen stuff for her little sister.

We met back up and grabbed a margarita for me and megan to share (the rainbow one), and my sister got tacos from the stand. We got inside the pavilion and kind of hung out in the corner finishing our snack and got onto the Donald Boat Ride.

We had about anhour to kill before our dinner adr at Garden Grill, so we grabbed the kids more treats, this time they got popsicles. We were near the baby center so Megan, Jade, and Kinley went inside to change her diaper and i stayed with the boys. An extremely friendly woman, who was a custodial CM came up and started talking to us. She was so friendly, interacting with my kids and whatnot, it was so pleasant!

We then headed over to the Fountain and went to Club Cool. Wow these newer flavors are awful! LOL Beverly of course takes the cake, which tastes like your drinking cough syrup! The only one i really liked was the pineapple fanta. We then headed to the other side of the fountain and shopped inside Mouse Gears and we got a very nice magical moment there! Stay tuned!