Trip Report We're Not Stopping... Just Keep Hopping! A September 2015 Trip Report

And so... we are back. How is it that the wait for Disney is so long and exciting and then in a blink of an eye, it’s over?

I am so glad we were able to take this trip. It was a difficult year and we really needed some magic and fantasy to “reboot” our lives. We were in Disney from September 11th - 21st and stayed at French Quarters.

For those of you who do not know us...

Me - Mary / Mom (The Disney Fanatic)

Ross / Dad / Grumpy (Although he had an identity crisis this trip and thought he was Cinderella.)

Julia / Sissy - My now teenage Mouseketeer

Hope / “The Hopester” My 6 year old princess - diagnosed with Severe Autism and Sensory Integration Disorder.

If you want to check out our past adventures:

September 2013 Trip
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/completed-this-is-autism-when-you-add-a-little-pixie-dust.873100/

September 2014 Trip
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/honey-i-blew-up-the-magic-band-completed.892800/

Even though we are all in Post Disney Depression, at least I can re-live the memories!

Ready or not... Here we go!

 

[MinnieM123]

So many wonderful pictures thoughout your entire TR, and I'd also like to give a thumbs up to your great Figment, tie-dye t-shirt! I want one, too!!

 

[Disneyfreak Jen]

Yay for the 6am JetBlue flight out of Newark, that's my go-to flight also Now I'm going back to page 2 to continue reading!!

 

[Figment Forever]

Thnx for the warning. I was thinking about a princess breakfast but seeing I have boys now it's now a big no go. BTW you had on a super great shirt!

It's fun to have the princesses especially if you don't want to stand in line for them.. but yeah, if not for Hope, I would pass on this one. I got the shirt a couple of years back in Imagination - it's one of my favorites! Thanks!

 

[Figment Forever]

So many wonderful pictures thoughout your entire TR, and I'd also like to give a thumbs up to your great Figment, tie-dye t-shirt! I want one, too!!

Thanks - I do as best as I can with my I-Phone. It's one of my favorite shirts - got it in Imagination a couple of years back. I'm hoping one day they will sell a sweatshirt with Figment!

 

[Figment Forever]

Yay for the 6am JetBlue flight out of Newark, that's my go-to flight also Now I'm going back to page 2 to continue reading!!

Thanks for reading! I love early flights!! Julia says she loves to watch the sun come up as we fly.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I totally agree about Akershus breakfast. I remember adding it one trip because people rave, but I think people use the word "amazing" a bit too freely for certain dining experiences (this being one of them). I am a bit jealous though. It's been ages since I've been able to get either of mine in princess gear.

 

[Figment Forever]

I totally agree about Akershus breakfast. I remember adding it one trip because people rave, but I think people use the word "amazing" a bit too freely for certain dining experiences (this being one of them). I am a bit jealous though. It's been ages since I've been able to get either of mine in princess gear.

I cried the year that Julia told me she no longer wanted to wear her pixie wings. We may give dinner a try at Akershus. I know we will go back because of Hope - so hopefully that will be better.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I cried the year that Julia told me she no longer wanted to wear her pixie wings. We may give dinner a try at Akershus. I know we will go back because of Hope - so hopefully that will be better.

We've enjoyed lunch and dinner there much better. It's been a few years, but we found there to be more options on the cold bar (which I'm not even sure still exists since I know they took it away for a bit).

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 5: Epcot Continued...

It was a gorgeous day in Epcot!

After breakfast we ventured over to Future World. Of course we stopped for a picture.

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 5 - Epcot - Continued...

After breakfast we ventured over to Future World. We had Fast Passes for MS and then went to find Nemo and use our Fast Passes for Crush.

Then we journeyed into Imagination with Figment.

Julia and I both bought Figment t-shirts. Julia picked out a comic book and I got a new coffee mug. I had it all sent back to our hotel. We had our last Fast Passes for TT so we headed that way. I rode with Julia first and got a rider switch for Ross. Of course, Julia was not satisfied with designing her car in English…

I don't know why we don't have a picture of me & Julia riding.

We wanted to head back into World Showcase for autographs. I know Hope wanted Duffy & Jasmine. Julia wanted to see Mulan & Alice. I saw their posted times and thought we had a shot to get them all since they were spaced apart pretty well. So off we went...

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 5: EPCOT - Continued...

We saw Duffy…

We will all miss Duffy especially Hope. She reads the bedtime story all the time. She even found the Resort video on YouTube and watches it at home.

It was then time to travel to China.

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 5: EPCOT - Continued...

We got in line for Mulan a few minutes before she was scheduled to start. It was so hot Ross grabbed a lemonade and strawberry slushy. It really hit the spot!

It was nice to have these benches. The hot sun was intense!

Mulan was awesome.

Apparently, Julia had on a pin from her movie - the dragon I think. The name starts with a "K". Well, Mulan got so excited to see that! She was so funny making such a fuss and calling Julia a warrior.

Hope loved her too!

After Mulan, I knew we would miss Alice so we booked it to Morocco to see Jasmine. Her time was just starting and the CM told us her line was filled already! Oh well, guess we will have to try again another day!

 

[Figment Forever]

We returned to Japan where Julia did some shopping… She bought a few Pokemon books. She has found a love for Pokemon! I think she got a new pair of chopsticks and some candy. Then we went outside and she got an ice…

After that, we decided to continue our walk around World Showcase and then head back into Future World.

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 5: EPCOT Continued...

We stopped for a few pictures...

Oops! Sorry Hope - I didn't realize I blocked you out of that picture!

We stopped to get a cold drink at Club Cool. Ross doesn't like it here - we are not soda drinkers. But I love the different flavors here. Julia thought about getting an Ice Drink - but settled on the soda samples for today.

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 5: EPCOT - Continued...

Julia wanted to ride Spaceship Earth so we headed that way. There was no line at all. After we saw our futures, we played a few of the games and then went to go get our Disney Visa picture taken.

We walked over to a very sad looking Innovations.

While Hope seemed sad that Piggy Bank was closed and all boarded up, she didn’t have any meltdowns. I could be wrong, but it seemed like the whole Piggy Bank Adventure was still all together - but just coved up by the walls. Either way, it was sad.

The Disney Visa line was very short - so that was a good thing. I asked the CM if there were any plans for Innovations and she said there must be because the Disney Visa Photo was scheduled to move to the Imagination building. I couldn’t figure out where in Imagination there was room for a character meet & greet but it sounded interesting. (Of course, I don’t think was true since it hasn’t happened.)

We were surprised to see that there were 3 characters instead of the usual 2. We saw Mickey, Minnie & Goofy!

At this point it was getting close to our dinner ADRs for Garden Grill but Julia wanted to go on Ellen’s Energy Adventure. There’s not much in WDW I don’t like - but this is one that makes that list. Ross was happy to go because he can always nap on it. lol

While Ross & Julia traveled back to the prehistoric times, Hope & I went to The Seas with Nemo & Friends. After the ride, we walked around and looked at all the fish & sea life. Then we started to make our way to The Land Pavilion to meet Ross & Julia for dinner.

 

[MinnieM123]

I asked the CM if there were any plans for Innovations and she said there must be because the Disney Visa Photo was scheduled to move to the Imagination building. I couldn’t figure out where in Imagination there was room for a character meet & greet but it sounded interesting. (Of course, I don’t think was true since it hasn’t happened.)

Well, if there is any truth to the M&G move, upstairs at Imagination is vacant and has been for quite some time. Possibly that was where the CM was referring to.

 

[Figment Forever]

Well, if there is any truth to the M&G move, upstairs at Imagination is vacant and has been for quite some time. Possibly that was where the CM was referring to.

Oh - I never even thought about the upstairs. That would be interesting. I guess only time will tell...

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 5: EPCOT - Continued

The Garden Grill is one of our favorites.

The characters, food and service have always been spot on. Tonight was no different. Our ADRs were for 5:15 and Hope and I got there a few minutes after that. Ross & Julia texted to say were on their way from Ellen. I was given a pager and within a few minutes, it went off. As I was being seated, Julia & Ross arrived. No chef came out for me, but instead, like at Norway, I was given a menu.

But UNLIKE Norway, the waitress explained everything and said she would bring out differ plates of food for me.

So we ate…

and ate…

Did I mention we ate?

Dessert for Ross & Julia…

For me…

And for Hope…

We were stuffed!

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 5: EPCOT - Continued...

The characters were just as good as the food! For some, reason, the characters here seem so much more relaxed than at some of the other restaurants. They stopped by several times and even sat down to eat with us one time! Like usual, I got “yelled” at by Dale because I always confuse them and called him Chip. lol

After dinner, we rode Soarin and then headed out of the land. Living with The Land was still closed.

We went back to ride Spaceship Earth and then walked around a little. We decided to watch Illuminations. For some reason, it’s not any of our favorites. I think Hope wanted to see it more than the rest of us. She loves fireworks these days. The only problem was - she was getting tired!

Julia decided she wanted another ice from Japan so Ross said he would take her while Hope & I walked over and found a spot to watch the fireworks. We asked to go in the disability area. It’s awesome to be able to stand in this area because I don’t have to worry about Hope having to stand or have to go on Ross’ shoulders. Illuminations was about to start so there wasn’t much room left when we got there, but I found a great spot against the back railing. The CM was so sweet, she walked over to us and asked if we wanted to move up to the front so we could have a better view, but I said no. I had a feeling that Hope wasn’t going to make it through the whole show and as long as she could see fireworks up in the sky, she would be happy. I was happy standing in the back where it wasn't so crowded. But the CM went up and asked a family if they could make room for Hope’s stroller. They were a really big group - they even had beach towels on the ground that they were sitting on! It was hysterical - they all turned around and looked at me and gave me a dirty look! The poor CM came over and said they wouldn’t move. I felt so bad for her - I really didn’t care - I loved the spot where I was standing. I told her not to worry and thanked her.

Ross and Julia found us a few minutes after Illuminations started. Turns out, the ice stand was closed so Julia didn’t get her treat. But we promised that we would get some beignets when we got back to FQ.

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 5: EPCOT Continued...

Illuminations was nice - like I said, not our favorite. As I expected, Hope was out cold. We were all tired.

We made our way out of EPCOT and to the bus stop.

The line for the bus wasn’t too terrible.

But look at the line for Riverside!

WOW what a difference. We went to the front of the line and then stepped aside so that we didn’t have to stand. The next bus was only a few minutes away and soon we were back home.

We stopped into our room to get our mugs. Mousekeeping left Hope’s shoes on the bed again…???

Then Julia exclaimed, “That’s the weirdest towel animal I’ve ever seen.”

It actually wasn’t a towel animal, it was a pillow case. However, it was funny how we all sort of gazed at it for a bit wondering if it was some kind of “decoration”. But we all came to the conclusion that housekeeping just dropped it there. lol

We headed to the food court and like promised, Julia got beignets and I got an order of GF beignets. They were YUMMY! They did taste better than the regular ones!

I don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden, Julia dropped her beignets, and powder sugar went everywhere! There was like a cloud that exploded over our table!

It definitely signaled the end of our day! Hard to believe we were at the halfway point of our vacation!

Up Next: In Search Of River Country & Hope Runs Away