A Whole New World, A Whole New Life! -- A Jan-Feb-Mar 2015 TR -- *COMPLETED* 9/29

[DisneyFreak98]

Great update at Typhoon Lagoon. How exciting that you are getting a new house and a new rv. Going to Disney at Halloween is so much fun!
-Lindsey

Awesome! I'm already looking forward to your fall trip report, too!

Wow! A lot going on in your family!! Congrats on the new home and RV!! And another upcoming trip!! We will be at WDW in October too and can't wait for MNSSHP!! So exciting!

Another trip...super exciting!!!

This is all great news! I enjoy your real life updates as much as I enjoy your Disney trip.

Hi guys! Thank you all so much for the kind words and congratulations you've been giving. I have some more news, but unfortunately it's not so good this time. The RV guy out in Seattle fell through, so we are currently back to square one in the RV department. There is still a chance that we'll be taking a trip this fall, but it's only about a 30% chance right now. It's sad, but even if we can't go back this year I'm sure another trip won't be too far off.
In other news, we now officially have our own house! It's just a bit of a fixer upper (Frozen pun intended), so we haven't been able to move in yet. We've been able to get quite a bit of work done ourselves though, and we plan on moving in this Thursday! There's still a lot of work to be done, but we're just excited to have a place of our own now.
Thank you all so much for reading along and sticking with me, and I'll be sure to keep you posted on any other big news!​

 

[DisneyFreak98]

I'm late to the party, but catching up!
I empathize with your big RV and dually. We have the same issues whether it's with the RV or the horse trailer with living quarters although in my part of the country there are more wide open spaces.
I'm reading through it all now but wanted to comment and join in.

So glad you're reading along!

 

[RDawn]

Still following your trip report & appreciate your real life updates too. Thanks!

 

[jandlinz]

What a fun day at MK! I love how cute your parents are, kids at heart! Your mom in Eyeore's house is precious. I love how fun your family is. I'm so excited for your new home. I'm sure it'll be nice to have a permanent home. So sorry to hear about the RV. Maybe that just means there's something better out there for your family. Hoping that 30% chance of Disney turns into 100% for you.
-Lindsey

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Maybe you guys can find another RV that's closer to home, so you can pick it up more easily.

Great news about moving into the house this week!

 

[DisneyFreak98]

I love the way your visits to the parks always sound so...relaxed!! I suppose again it is because you got to go so many times there was no pressure and you could just enjoy whatever you got done and not hurry around. I'm with your mom on Eeyore - he is the best...I have to check out that spot where you took the pic next time!

Yes, we definitely had a more relaxed attitude on this trip because we knew that we didn't have to rush to get everything done. On all the other trips we've taken, we never had much down time, and we tried to pack as much as possible into every day. Being able to take our time to get things done was a very nice change!

Still following your trip report & appreciate your real life updates too. Thanks!

Thank you so much for reading!

What a fun day at MK! I love how cute your parents are, kids at heart! Your mom in Eeyore's house is precious. I love how fun your family is. I'm so excited for your new home. I'm sure it'll be nice to have a permanent home. So sorry to hear about the RV. Maybe that just means there's something better out there for your family. Hoping that 30% chance of Disney turns into 100% for you.
-Lindsey

You're so sweet, thank you so much! We're still hoping that a trip this year will work out, mainly because we still have our AP's, but with how quickly things seem to change for us you never know!

Maybe you guys can find another RV that's closer to home, so you can pick it up more easily.

Great news about moving into the house this week!

Yes, definitely! The trip to Seattle would have been a great big ordeal, so maybe it was for the best that it didn't work out! Getting an RV is still always on Dad's mind, so I'm sure it won't be too long before he finds another one.

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Today was our family day at Animal Kingdom! The park opened at 8:00 for early magic hours, so we were all up to be at the bus stop around 7:00. After getting ready and getting all of our gear together, we were out the door right around 7:00. After waiting for the internal bus, we ended up getting to the outpost bus stop about 7:15. the sunrise this morning was beautiful!

It wasn't long before our bus came, and we made it to AK about 25 minutes before opening.

We met Scott and his family there, and it wasn't long before Nathan showed up too. Lindsey and Amy were still on their way, and they didn't end up making it for rope drop. Our plan was to head straight over to Everest, so when the gates opened that's exactly what we did!

Because it was 8:00 EMH, there was hardly anyone there and we were able to walk right on to Everest. Scott, Sarah, and Dad stayed out with James and Maddie while Sam, Travis, Mom, Nathan, Ginger, and I rode. When we got off, Lindsey and Amy still had not arrived, so we just went on again because the line was still a walk on. This time we got to ride in the very front, which was tons of fun!

After we got off, we saw that both Lindsey and Amy had arrived! Adam wanted to ride Everest, and Mom went with him so he wouldn't have to ride alone. The rest of us waited outside for them and discussed what our plan was. We decided that once Mom and Adam got off the ride, we would head over to the safari. So, when they got off that's exactly what we did! On the way there we stopped so the kids could play on the drums in Africa.

Once we made it to the safari and got in line, we only had to wait about 15 minutes. The ride attendant seemed a little shocked when we told her there were 18 people in our party, and we took up like half the safari jeep, which we thought was super funny. We had an awesome safari, with good views of rhinos, hippos, giraffes, and more!

We had a great ride, and the kids really loved it. It was about 9:15 when we got off, so the park was now officially open. We decided to walk the Pangani Forest trail before we left the area. We got to see a lot of the animals including the reptiles, birds, hippos, and the gorillas!

Once we got off the trail, we headed out of Africa. We had FastPasses for the 11:00 Nemo show, so we had a little under an hour to kill. Scott and Sarah split up from us with plans to meet back up before Nemo, but the rest of us stuck together. We decided to take Jack and Max to meet Baloo and King Louie! We made our way over there, and we only had to wait about 10-15 minutes to see them. Jack and Max weren't scared at all, and they really loved giving them hugs!

After we said goodbye, we decided to stop and have a snack. There are some tables set up by the bathroom there, so we stopped to sit there.

Scott and Sarah met back up with us there, and after everyone had eaten something and gone to the bathroom, we decided that now would be the perfect time to get a family picture! They have a photo pass spot right there at the backside of the Tree of Life, so we went over there. The photographer was very gracious and patient with our large group, and I think the photo came out great!

After that we started to make our way over to the theater. We got there about 15-20 minutes before showtime. Already that day a handful of people had complemented us on our shirts, but the cast members at Nemo were totally in love with them! They thought they were the greatest things. The show started at 11:00, and it was super awesome. The kids really like Finding Nemo, so they really enjoyed it. The show ended about 11:45, and we decided now would be a good time to split up for lunch. Amy and Jack brought sandwiches and so did we, so we found some benches where we could sit and eat. Everyone else ate at Restaurantasaurus, I believe. After lunch, we met back up with everyone and headed into Dinoland!

Some people went to take the kids to the playground while the rest of us got in line for Primeval Whirl. The wait was about 20 minutes, which wasn't bad. I went with Mom and Ginger and we had a lot of fun screaming through the ride! After that we went with Nathan and Ginger on Dinosaur. We had a FastPass, so the wait was only 5-10 minutes.

After that we met back up with everyone else to head over to Asia to catch the 1:45 Flights of Wonder show. We got there a little late and ended up sitting in the back bleachers, but that spot didn't end up being too bad. It was a little far, but you could see the birds better when they flew over the audience and stuff.

The show ended around 2:15, and once i was over we started making our way out of the park. We were leaving a little earlier than usual because today was not just family AK day, it was also Super Bowl Sunday! Being from New England, we're obviously Patriots fans, so this was a very big deal! Everyone was going back to their own resorts for a while, and Amy and Jack came back with us. Nathan. Ginger, and Adam would be coming to Fort Wilderness later to watch with us. We headed out of the park and a bus came fairly quickly. By the time we made it back to FW and caught a bus back to the RV, it was about 3:00. After everyone changed and we unpacked our park bags, we decided to go for a walk to kill some time before the game. We walked around a couple different loops and went into the Meadow store to look around for a bit. We got back to the RV around 4:00 and we spent the rest of the night just hanging out, watching the pre-game stuff, then watching the actual game. Nathan and Ginger got there around 4:30-5:00, and Adam got there around 5:30-6:00. We ordered pizza for dinner and had an awesome night! We are really intense football fans, and there were some points when spirits were extremely low, but in the end the outcome was happy! I think we probably broke the campground's noise curfew rule, and we also probably shook the RV more than we should have. But, you know, it's fine. Adam did end up having to leave early though, because Lindsey called at one point saying that both Jack and Max were throwing up in the hotel room. That was really bad news, so Adam took off to catch a couple of buses to get back to Pop Century. Once the game was over, Nathan and Ginger also headed back to Pop and Amy and Jack headed back home. It was really late by the time we got to bed, and we had plans of going back to Magic Kingdom the next day!​

 

[jandlinz]

What a fun day at AK. I love the Everest picture of you and your family coming down the hill in the front. It looks like such a fun time. So sad to hear the kids got sick. That is one of my fears while on vacation. I hope they are ok for your MK day.
Can't wait to hear a realize update on the new house and possible vacation/rv situation.
-Lindsey

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Did someone deliver the pizza to your campsite, or did you have to go get it?

Yes, great family photo with the Tree of Life in the background.

 

[DisneyFreak98]

What a fun day at AK. I love the Everest picture of you and your family coming down the hill in the front. It looks like such a fun time. So sad to hear the kids got sick. That is one of my fears while on vacation. I hope they are ok for your MK day.
Can't wait to hear a realize update on the new house and possible vacation/rv situation.
-Lindsey

Thank you so much! It was a total bummer that the kids got sick, but they were mostly okay after that night. Another real life update will be coming soon!

Did someone deliver the pizza to your campsite, or did you have to go get it?

Yes, great family photo with the Tree of Life in the background.

Thank you!
You can get the pizza delivered to you, but it costs extra. We just walked to get it because the restaurant wasn't too far from our site.

 

[DisneyFreak98]

As promised, I am here to update you on what's been going on in the real world!
Things with our new house are going swell, and we're finally starting to settle. We still don't have any furniture, but that will be fixed this Tuesday! We've got a lot of the repairs done and have painted a few of the rooms. The house will definitely be an ongoing project for quite some time, but it's totally livable as it is right now (once we get some furniture).
As for the RV, we still haven't found one, and we're thinking it will be a couple of years before we purchase one.
And last but not least - Disney! I have very exciting news that our 30% chance of a trip this fall has turned into a 100% chance! We're staying 9 nights 8 days at the Art of Animation resort in a Cars suite. As you probably know we have spent some time at AoA but we've never stayed there, so we're very excited! We fly out September 28 and get back October 7. Nathan and Ginger will also be there, but for a shorter period of time, and we will also be spending some time with Amy and Jack. We bought tickets for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, and are already thinking about costumes for that. We've never been to Disney in the fall time, so we're very excited to see the different decorations and such. We'll also be there during the Food and Wine Festival!
Hopefully I can get this report done before our trip so that it will be a little easier to write about. You shouldn't expect to see another update until next week though, as I will be away at a summer camp until Friday.
Thank you all again for your kind words and support! It means so much to me!​

 

[DaisyDuck001]

What color are you painting your room in the new house? Glad to read that it's all shaping up nicely.

I am so happy and excited for you that you guys are doing a fall trip, staying in a Cars suite, and going to MNSSHP! Wow, that's all great news!!! I will be very interested to read that trip report also. I've thought about maybe staying in a Cars suite someday. MNSSHP is one of the most fun things to do at WDW! You can meet some characters who appear only for the parties, and also some of the usual characters will be in different costumes.

You have really cool parents!

 

[Nan P]

I've been reading along since the beginning of your TR and don't often make comments to the boards (well, every once in a while). Just had to chime in and tell you that you will Love MNSSHP. We have been going almost every year and only go on a few rides at the party because there's so much else to do. Stage shows are fun and the villains are outrageous. People watching with all the crazy costumes is a laugh out loud experience. Fireworks and decorations in the park are spectacular. Although everyone says to catch the second parade (less crowded), we try to watch them both (same parade .... who cares). Last year a CM told us to tell the CM handing out candy that we "absolutely LOVE candy" and see what happens. Well we did, and got an extra handful in our bags. Needless to say we did that at every trick or treat station and it worked every time. It was so much fun. Hope you find a great costume and enjoy MNSSHP.

 

[KathyM2]

Firstly...great update on the trip...how amazing that you got matching shirts and a great pic of your whole family - I'm sure that's something you will all treasure for a long time. I'm sure these days it's hard to make that happen - get everyone together. I'm sure it was a lot of fun touring AK with the family and also watching the game together at the Fort. Sorry the kids got sick - I'm hoping it was just that night and didn't affect the rest of their trip too much..

Glad you are settling in to the house - and how exciting that you are definitely going back to WDW in the fall. I'm sure you are super excited. I bet your mom is excited too about staying in a hotel and not having to cook lol..I can't help looking at it from the mom's perspective lol. I'm excited for MNSSHP too as we will be going in October as well.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Hey Shannon, I'll be at WDW July 11-21 without internet access, so I won't be able to read or comment on your trip report during that time, but I'll look forward to seeing more of your updates after I get back.

 

[DisneyFreak98]

This morning we were up around 7:30 to be at Magic Kingdom for 9:00 opening. We got all ready and after walking to the docks and waiting for our boat, we made it to MK around 8:30. Everyone else ended up being there on this day, too, but we didn't really have plans to do much together. We did meet up with Nathan and Ginger at the gate though, and when the park opened we all headed straight for the Mine Train. We made it there in record time by cutting through Tomorrowland, and we were on and off the ride by 9:15.

Once we got off, Lindsey called to say that the kids were feeling better and they were on their way! They were almost there, and they were going to head to Tomorrowland first. We decided to meet up with them, so we made our way over there to wait. While we were waiting, we ran into a security guard who was from the New England area. He commented on our jerseys, and we talked about football for a bit. He was super nice, and he actually gave Mom a "ticket" because she was the only one not wearing any Patriots gear. It was really cute.
After we talked to the nice security guard, we only had to wait a few minutes before Lindsey and Adam arrived. Everyone was feeling better now, but you could tell they were very worn out.
Since we were in Tomorrowland, we decided to go on Buzz first. The wait was only 5-10 minutes, and we had a lot of fun!

After we rode, Jack and Max wanted to take a picture with Zurg.

After we rode Buzz once, Mom and Adam took Jack to Stitch's Great Escape while the rest of us rode again. We got off a few minutes before they were done, but it wasn't long before they came out. Jack liked the show okay, but it wasn't his favorite thing. The next thing we did was the Peoplemover, which was a nice ride as always. After that we headed over to do the Teacups. That wait was only about 10 minutes, and we had a lot of fun spinning around! When we got off we noticed that Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were out greeting, and their line was super short. I'm really the only one who cares about seeing characters, but Sam was nice enough to meet them with me. They were a lot of fun, and very silly.

After that we headed over into Fantasyland to watch Mickey's Philharmagic. We only had to wait about 10 minutes until the next show. Philharmagic was one of Jack's favorite things in Disney when he came a couple years ago, and it remains a favorite still. He lovingly refers to it as "the crazy Donald Duck show".
After the show let out, everyone split up again. I saw that the line for Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizella was fairly short, so everyone agreed to let me wait! It was only about 10 minutes until our turn came, and Sam and Travis decided to come up with me. I am so glad they did, because it ended up being one of the funniest meet and greets ever! Anastasia and Drizella decided that Sam and Travis would make wonderful husbands, then they started fighting over who would get who. Once they decided that Drizella would have Sam and Anastasia would get Travis, they started arguing over who's guy was better. In the end it was decided that Sam would make more money but Travis would build more palaces, and Lady Tremaine would adopt me as her new daughter.

It was so funny, and we were laughing about it all day.
After that, we headed through the rest of Fantasyland over to the Rapunzel's tower area. They have some really nice picnic tables across from the bathrooms that are perfect for eating a packed lunch at. So, we found a spot over there where we sat and ate. It's so pretty over there, and I especially love it because Tangled is one of my favorite movies.

Once we were done eating, we met back up with Nathan and Ginger to head over to Main Street to try and catch Scoop for his afternoon trading time. We got over there pretty early, Mom and I went to go meet Tinkerbell while everyone else went into the Emporium. The line for Tinkerbell only took about 20 minutes, and it was an okay meet and greet. Tink really didn't say much, but it still wasn't a bad experience or anything.

Once we got out, Mom decided to go back to the RV to get everyone's sweatshirts. It was already getting chilly out, and it would only get colder as the day went on. So, she headed over to the boat dock. The rest of us stayed and caught the tail end of the Main Street trolley show. This was kind of the beginning of an obsession for me. We only saw a little bit, but that was enough to get me hooked on trolley for the rest of my life. From then on I had to see it every opportunity I could. I probably have over 500 pictures just of the trolley show, no kidding.

They had perfect timing, because just as the show ended, it started POURING rain. We all ran for cover at the train station to wait it out.

We ended up being holed up in the station for about 30 minutes before the rain finally subsided. It wasn't the most fun situation, but it kind of worked out because Mom got back right round the time the rain was stopping, which was about 1:00.
Once the sky finally cleared up we headed back out along with everyone else who had taken cover. Main Street was so crowded that we gave up on the idea of seeing Scoop that day and just headed back into the park.
We decided to head into Adventureland! We did the Tiki Room first, and we had to wait about 10-15 minutes for the next show to start. It was nice to be inside where it was warm and dry. After that we did Pirates, which had about a 25-30 minute wait. The sky had really cleared up at this point, but the air was still pretty chilly, so it was nice to be able to wait inside.
It was around 2:30 by the time we got off, and we were planning on watching the parade at 3:00. We figured we might as well go find a spot now, so we went over to Frontierland to find a place. We found a nice spot right near the shooting arcade.
We sat down and had some snacks while we waited, and before long the music started sounding! I can't help but squeal every time that music comes on, and I don't think I will ever get tired of watching that parade.

Once the parade ended, we kind of followed the crowd over to Tomorrowland. We had Space Mountain FastPasses from 4:00-5:00 so we wanted to be over in that area. We still had a little time before our passes were good, so we did the Speedway first. That had about a 20 minute wait, and was super fun as always.

By the time we all got off that, it was time for our FP's! It only took us like 10 minutes to get through the line, which is why I love FP so much. We had a great ride!

(Please enjoy Travis' face in this photo, along with the face of the guy behind him.)
Once we got off, we decided to just ride the Peoplemover again. That's always a great thing to do when you're not sure exactly what you want to do because there's hardly ever a line.
After our tour through Tomorrowland we decided to ride Buzz since the wait was only about 15-20 minutes. I got a score of 603,800 which I was very proud of.
By the time we got off Buzz it was a little after 5:00. We talked about where we wanted to eat dinner, and in the end we decided on the Harbor House. So, we headed over there! Travis and Sam aren't big fans of the food there, so they went over to Pinocchio's to get something. It wasn't too crowded, so we were able to order and get our food fairly quickly. I got the broccoli peppercorn salad, Mom got the pot pie, and Dad got the fish.

I don't remember what Nathan and Ginger got, but I know everyone enjoyed their food.
Sam and Travis came over once they were done, and from there we headed over to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder. We waited about 30 minutes, and we had a really fun ride! When we got off, Lindsey and Adam were waiting for us because we all had the same 6:30-7:30 Splash Mountain FastPass. It was really cold outside at this point, so it ended up only being me, Travis, Lindsey, and Adam that rode; everyone else waited in the gift shop. We still had a great time, though, and thankfully we didn't get too wet!

Once we got off and met back up with everyone, we decided to head over to Fantasyland to do some of things we hadn't done yet that day. We ended up riding Small World and Winnie the Pooh, both of which had around 15-20 minute waits. After we got off Pooh, Lindsey and Adam decided to take their tired kids back to the hotel and call it a night. We said good bye to them, then we decided to head into Tomorrowland. We seemed to just be traipsing all over the place today, but we were really having a great time.
We went on Buzz first, which had like a 15 minute wait. After that we did Space Mountain, which only had a 20 minute wait, probably due to the fact that it was Electrical Parade time. That is one of my favorite rides, so I was so happy to ride it twice that day.

Once we got off, we decided to go do the Laugh Floor. We waited about 15 minutes for the next show, and it was super funny! The monsters told some really great jokes.
Once the show let out, we decided to go over and get in line for the Mine Train since Wishes was starting soon. We figured that the line would be fairly short, and we were right. We only had to wait about 25 minutes, and we actually ended up having perfect timing because we got to see Wishes while riding! I was kind of freaking out the whole time, and it was one of the most magical experiences of my life.

Once we got off and finished watching the fireworks, we decided to call it a night. We followed the masses out to the park exit, and we headed to the boat dock while Nathan and Ginger headed to the buses. A boat came within 15 minutes, and we made it back home to the RV safe and sound. Today ended up being a really great day - even though it rained we had a ton of fun and got a lot done. We ended up getting to bed around 10:30 with plans of going to Hollywood Studios the next day!​

 

[DisneyFreak98]

What color are you painting your room in the new house? Glad to read that it's all shaping up nicely.

I am so happy and excited for you that you guys are doing a fall trip, staying in a Cars suite, and going to MNSSHP! Wow, that's all great news!!! I will be very interested to read that trip report also. I've thought about maybe staying in a Cars suite someday. MNSSHP is one of the most fun things to do at WDW! You can meet some characters who appear only for the parties, and also some of the usual characters will be in different costumes.

You have really cool parents!

I'm painting my room purple!

Thank you for sharing in our excitement! Hopefully I can get this trip report done so that I can write about our next trip, too. We are definitely most excited about MNSSHP. I think I'm the only one who's excited about meeting the different characters, though; everyone else is just excited to get candy!

My parents are absolutely amazing.

I've been reading along since the beginning of your TR and don't often make comments to the boards (well, every once in a while). Just had to chime in and tell you that you will Love MNSSHP. We have been going almost every year and only go on a few rides at the party because there's so much else to do. Stage shows are fun and the villains are outrageous. People watching with all the crazy costumes is a laugh out loud experience. Fireworks and decorations in the park are spectacular. Although everyone says to catch the second parade (less crowded), we try to watch them both (same parade .... who cares). Last year a CM told us to tell the CM handing out candy that we "absolutely LOVE candy" and see what happens. Well we did, and got an extra handful in our bags. Needless to say we did that at every trick or treat station and it worked every time. It was so much fun. Hope you find a great costume and enjoy MNSSHP.

Thank you so much! I'm even more excited now, if that's even possible. I can't wait to see all the different characters, shows, and fireworks. I'll probably be the only one doing that while the rest of my family is getting candy.

Firstly...great update on the trip...how amazing that you got matching shirts and a great pic of your whole family - I'm sure that's something you will all treasure for a long time. I'm sure these days it's hard to make that happen - get everyone together. I'm sure it was a lot of fun touring AK with the family and also watching the game together at the Fort. Sorry the kids got sick - I'm hoping it was just that night and didn't affect the rest of their trip too much..

Glad you are settling in to the house - and how exciting that you are definitely going back to WDW in the fall. I'm sure you are super excited. I bet your mom is excited too about staying in a hotel and not having to cook lol..I can't help looking at it from the mom's perspective lol. I'm excited for MNSSHP too as we will be going in October as well.

Thank you so much! It's definitely not as easy as it used to be to get the whole family together, so this whole trip was really special. The kids didn't get sick again after that night, but they were just feeling generally tired and a little crummy for the rest of the trip. Thankfully it was near the end of their trip though, and overall they still had an amazing time!

Yes, we are so excited to be going back! Mom is definitely happy that she won't have to worry about food this time around! That will make it more of a true vcation for her for sure.

Hey Shannon, I'll be at WDW July 11-21 without internet access, so I won't be able to read or comment on your trip report during that time, but I'll look forward to seeing more of your updates after I get back.

Thanks for letting me know! Have an amazing time on your trip!!

 

[KathyM2]

Lindsey called to say that the kids were feeling better and they were on their way!

So glad the kids were feeling better. Sucks to get sick on vacay.

we did the Speedway first.

I love that ride...one of my faves.

we had a ton of fun and got a lot done.

You sure did get a lot done!! Seemed like a long but fun day! That trolley show looks great...I can understand your love of it!

 

[wiscbugs]

Seeing the Columbia Farbor House pot pie makes me hungry...I love those!

Also, you guys look much better in your sweatshirt than those....ummmm....beautiful jerseys

 

[DisneyFreak98]

We were up today to be at Hollywood Studios for 9:00 opening! We got all of our stuff ready and we were out the door by 8:00. After the 2 bus rides, we arrived at Hollywood a little after 8:30. Nathan and Ginger met us there a few minutes later, and we would be meeting Lindsey and Adam later that day. Scott and Sarah were at Epcot that day, and Amy and Jack had stayed home.
When the gates opened just before 9:00, we raced over to Toy Story like always. The Sorcerer's Hat removal was well on it's way at this point.

I think we got there in record time, because we were through the line and off the ride by 9:15. We had a great ride, and I even broke my high score! I reached my goal of breaking 200,000 (209,200) and I was ecstatic.
Once we got off we decided to get right back in line. This time the wait was about 30-40 minutes, which is still an awesome wait time for that ride.
I must have been on a good streak this day, because I beat my top score again on our second time around! I came away with a new high score of 226,000 and I was thrilled. Everyone else did really well, too, but I don't keep track of everyone's scores.
Once we got off for the second time, we headed out of Pixar Place and went over to ride Star Tours! The line only took about 10 minutes, and we had a good ride combination.
When we got off, Lindsey called to tell us they were there. We both had FastPasses for Disney Jr. so we headed over to meet them and see it with them! Nathan and Ginger opted not to go, so they went to do something else while we headed over to meet up with Lindsey. We met up with them at the Animation Courtyard area and got in line for the show. It was about 10 minutes until they let us in, then another 10 minutes before the show started. The last time I had seen the Disney Jr. show was when it was still Playhouse Disney. I do miss Bear in the Big Blue House, Stanley, and Rolie Polie Olie, but the new version is still cute. I suppose if the show still featured those characters that none of the kids would know who they were. And that makes me feel old.
Jack and Max's favorite show is Jake and the Neverland Pirates, so that part was their favorite.

They really liked the whole show, and we were glad that we got to watch it with them.
The show ended at 11:00, and we decided that we would go ride the Great Movie Ride next. The wait was about 20 minutes; not bad at all. After the ride, we split up. Everyone else went to go see the Muppet show with Lindsey and Adam while Dad stayed with me to meet some characters. We met Goofy first, which only took about 20 minutes. Goofy is probably my favorite character out of the Fab Five, so I always love meeting him.

The next one we met was Daisy, which also took about 20 minutes. She was adorable!

Last but not least was Max Goof, which took bout 15 minutes. Max was one f my favorite character experiences! He was absolutely charming. When he saw that I was next to meet him, he started acting all shy and fixing his hair. He acted like he had a crush on me, and it was so fun!

After I said good bye to my new "boyfriend", we went over to the Muppet area to meet back up with everyone. On our way there we saw Mulch, Sweat, and Shears performing on the Streets of America. They're a funky little band that plays shows throughout the day, and they're really good!
Once we got over there we had to wait about 5-10 minutes before the show they were in let out. Once they came out, we thought it would be fun to take the kids over to see Lightning McQueen and Mater! There was hardly anyone in their line, so it only took about 10 minutes before it was our turn. Cars is one of Jack's favorite movies, so he was very excited!

Now, what happened next will require a little backstory.
When we came to Disney a couple of years ago with Jack, he met the Cars characters then too. When he went up to see the cars, the song "Life is a Highway" was playing over the speakers and Jack was dancing along and having a great time. That is one of the few things he actually remembers from the trip, so he was very excited to go back and do it again. What we didn't realize was that he wanted it to be exactly like last time. So when we all went up there to get a picture, he got upset because he wanted to go by himself. We said that was okay, and we let him go up to get a picture by himself. So, he went up there all excited, but then he realized that "Life is a Highway" was not playing. I think he must have still been tired from being sick, because at this point he kind of melted down. Lindsey took him away to go talk to him while Max, Travis, and I got a picture.

By the time we were done and came out, Jack had calmed down. We decided now was the perfect time for lunch, so we headed in the direction of Star Tours to find a spot to sit. We picked a nice stone bench-like thing where we sat and ate our packed lunch.

We decided to ride Star Tours while we were over there, so after lunch we hopped in line. Lindsey stayed out with Max and Emma while the rest of us went. The wait took about 20-25 minutes, and we had a good sequence. Jack really likes that ride, so he had a lot of fun.
Once we got off, Lindsey and Adam decided to take the kids back to the hotel for a nap. So, we said goodbye and they headed out.
We had about 20 minutes to kill until our 2:00-3:00 FastPasses for Tower of Terror, so we started slowly making our way over to Sunset Boulevard. Once we got over there, we had to figure out who was going to stay out and who was riding. Travis and I stayed out, as well as Nathan. Nathan would usually ride, but he was feeling a little under the weather and wasn't up for ToT. We all just hung out around the shops on Sunset while Mom, Dad, Sam, and Ginger rode.

They came off about 15 minutes later, and they had a great ride! The next thing we did was Rock n Roller Coaster. We didn't have FP's for that, so we just did the single rider line. Mom, Sam, Travis, and Ginger rode while the rest of us stayed out. They were all out around 25-30 minutes later, and we were ready to move on! The next thing we did was walk through One Man's Dream. It's really fun to go in there and look at all the old stuff, read about Disney history, and see all the other cool stuff they have!

We didn't stay to watch the movie today, so we just walked through. By the time we got out, our 3:00-4:00 FastPasses for Toy Story were ready! We scanned our magic bands and hopped in the line, which took about 15 minutes. We had another great ride, but no more high scores were broken.
Once we got off, we weren't sure what else to do. We had ridden every ride in the park, and we had seen all the shows we wanted to for the day. We decided that we would get something from the Writer's Stop and then head home. We all headed over to the little bakery together. The Writer's Stop is home of the amazing carrot cake cookies, so obviously we had to get some of those. Nathan and Ginger got one and we got a couple to share. We started making our way out of the park as we ate. We split up at the bus stops as we headed back to the Fort and Nathan headed back to Pop. It wasn't too long before a bus came, and we were on our way home. By the time we got back to the Fort, waited for a yellow bus to take us back to loop 1400, and walked back to the RV, it was around 4:30. Once we got back we unpacked our bags and Mom made dinner. We ate inside because it was pretty cold out, but it was still nice. After dinner we pretty much just hing out. Travis and I went down to the pool to go swimming a little later. Night swims became one of our favorite things because no one was ever at the pool! We had a lot of fun. We spent the rest of the night just hanging out and relaxing. We tried to get to bed a little early because we were going back to the Magic Kingdom the next day for Scott and Nathan's final day.​