I am only up to page 6 of your report! Slowly but surely, right?!? no?
Welcome! It's a little long...lol
My daughter loves Via Napoli as well!
Alex was talking about Via Napoli pizza as recently as this weekend! It definitely made a lasting impression.
Those are the BEST moments in Disney. I have a memory on our first trip of my girls dancing in front of rapunzels' bathrooms to the music. They thought they were really in Rapunzel's town. Just the best!
They really are the best! While we, of course, love the attractions at WDW, the bulk of our favorite moments seem to come from times like this.
Oh no, I'm sorry you had to cancel your Disney World trip, but a trip to Disneyland should be awesome. How did the Disneyland trip come about? Did you already rent points for Disney World? How does that work when you cancel?
It sounds like you have a bigger trip planned for 2019 so at least you have that to look forward to. 2019 is the year I want to go for two weeks. I can't wait!
Thanks! Yes, we did already rent points for WDW. Thankfully I've got a good owner that I've rented through before who is willing to do cancellations provided the points can be rented to someone else.
Disneyland came about almost immediately after we decided to cancel WDW. My MIL, sewer of all of our costumes, moved out near Anaheim last year and really wants us to visit. Pretty much as soon as we were free she contacted saying come out west instead. We worked out the details, decided to road trip it, and just like that we'd swapped coasts. Kind of a whirlwind! I know nothing of planning a DL trip so I've gotten myself an unofficial guide and am attempting to switch mindsets.
We're hoping to be able to do the big trip in 2018, but 2019 at the latest! Going for 2 weeks is just the best and completely spoiled us.
Made it to page 9! Love the report!
You're quick!
Glad you're enjoying it!
You had an excellent pool to be spending so much pool time at!
OMG yes, the kids were almost impossible to drag away.
Cora's face is awesome. She looks like "Get me out of here!" When we were in HS, you could still meet Darth Vader and we have this lovely photo to remember the meet with.
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You will notice my youngest hiding behind DH in complete terror! It is a weird meet with them staying in complete character...
I just cracked up at that picture - love it! Ren certainly does stay in character. It's a little disconcerting, but it fits. Don't know that it's something I need to experience again though lol
Ha, so was my DH when we were there...
Sounds like they would get along
Those are AMAZING!!!!
Seriously one of the best character photos ever! Love it!
Thank you! We so love meeting her.
So, I am so afraid to ride this ride? How bad is it?
Green is completely fine. The only way I could see having a problem with it is if you were claustrophobic, which I'm not. The movement is pretty minor and if you can do something like Star Tours this should not be a problem at all.
Orange is another story. Spoiler alert for later in the TR, but we ended up going on orange at another point. I did not enjoy it. I don't really struggle with motion sickness and didn't really experience that here, which is what I've seen a lot of folks complain about. However, I really did not enjoy the sensation of the pressure during spinning and the ride left me with a headache that lasted for a while. The rest of my family loved it, so take that for what it's worth. It wasn't so bad that I refuse to try it again, but no more than once per trip and if I can get out of it, I will.
Cora's face looks exactly like what my oldest would have looked like. Like the world has ended.
She can be so dramatic! I mean, I get crying when the trip is over (as I am prone to that myself...), but we still had a week to go! BCV was pretty awesome though, so it was kind of hard to leave.
I really enjoyed your trip report! It gave me a nice Disney fix! I also enjoyed seeing your kids and their costumes. My kids have grown up going to Disney. Our trips look different with 20 and 17 year old kiddos, but it is still special.
Thank you! I think about how our trips will change as the kids grow a lot. I'm trying to treasure this time while they're young right now, but I'm also looking forward to getting to share the experience with them in new ways as they get older. Do your kids still get excited about the trips? I really hope that because we've made these traditions from the time they were 2 and 4 years old that they will stick and still be meaningful once my kids start reaching the "too cool for school" age.
Our first day in the parks will be your last day, June 22. We will be starting the day with our Magic Morning in DL at 7am which shouldn't be too difficult as we'll still be mostly on central time. Then we'll hop to DCA later in the morning and probably hop back and forth later as well. Got to love the proximity of the parks there!! I will keep an eye out for you and your family.
I think only one day with your MIL will be perfect. You can go at her pace and make sure to do whatever she wants since you'll have 3 other days to make sure your to-do list gets done.
Yes, we should definitely keep an eye out for each other! I think we'll be doing our MM on 6/20 and starting 6/22 in DCA, but we'll be hopping back and forth as well. And I agree with how to approach the day with my MIL. I think it will end up being really fun. I don't feel a ton of pressure to get everything done because I'm ok with missing some of the stuff that's exactly the same as WDW and with 4 days I think we'll have time to hit all of our must-do's at least once with time for meandering/taking in the atmosphere left over. Are you planning on trying to see the Frozen show? I'm debating that one.
Also thanks for the well-wishes for our business. It does feel like spring already here too, although it's going to get cold again tomorrow. Boo. I'm jealous of your CA trip! I haven't been to DL in 13 years. Desperate to get back at some point! We may end up having to skip going to WDW next year with me finishing my Ph.D. and hunting for jobs, so I was determined to get back this year. 
Thank you for posting all of this and I do hope the recovery from your injury is complete!!!
The upside is we will be going to Disneyland instead so we still get a Disney fix, and are planning to try for another long one to WDW next summer to make up for this year.
My kids are also a bit older so they're not really into Frozen as much anymore. I bet your kids would like it! I really want to see Mickey and the Magical Map though b/c we missed that one last time, so they're going to have to suck it up this time! 
