UPDATED 7/14/19: The Slowpokes' Guide to WDW aka the kids 1st trip! - A Sept 2018 report

[dbb727]

Joining in!

I feel like you are a super Mom!

I also had the same sentiments about the HEA dessert party. I stressed about getting there early enough to get a good spot but also felt like I spent just as much time waiting as I would have for free lol definitely fun to experience though!

Thanks for stopping by.... I really loved reading your Wilderness Lodge anniversary trip report btw, so its nice to see you on my TR!

 

[jwoodbury]

Just chiming in to let you know that I am enjoying your TR!

 

[mcjaco]

We were at MK the same day. Good lord, was it hot. We spent most of the afternoon on TSI, hoping the shade and some breeze would help. Nope!!!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I inquired about where I should check-in for our ADR, and low and behold it was at THIS interior podium, where there was no line because I think we were one of the last ones.

Good to know that there are 2 podiums. We have the After Dessert party booked in a couple weeks. I can't wait.

so I just decided to eat enough for both of us! Haha.

I like your plan.

Here is my first of 3 or 4 plates. I did take a little to-go container of chocolate covered strawberries and macarons that I happily enjoyed the next day so that made me feel better about the whole thing.

Ohh, how did you get a to-go container?

So, if you happened to be the retired couple, DVC members, on the back rail, with wife in an ECV at the HEA Garden party on Sept 17, then Hello! I really enjoyed our conversation J

Too funny. I would kind of be the same way.

Great pic!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

DD has more self control then I do as she’ll just eat half a cookie or half a piece of cake and declare that she is done. (Who does that?)

My 5 year olds do this, too. I guess that's the *healthy* way to enjoy sweets, but they sure didn't learn it from me. I'd have been right there with you on the 4th plate

Really, though, you do the party for the seating, not the snacks, like you said. It sounds like you were able to enjoy the show much more from the reserved area.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I do wish they still had it where you could meet some of the other fairies. The last time we were at WDW in 2012, the fairies met over in Adventureland and you got to meet two (Tink + a rotating friend, we met Rosetta). My niece and now my daughter are both huge fans of the fairy movies/books so it’d be nice if they had a bigger presence in the parks. While I’m wishing for things, I desperately want a Moana attraction or M&G too!

You need to come to Disneyland! There is a full pixie hallow with a winding pathway and other fairies meet!

Also, the garden party had recently added the “after party” a month of so earlier, and it was a concern for a lot of people, myself included, that the “after party” guests would have better view selection and take up all the good spots in the garden first. This is kind of a silly concern, as any place in the garden still gives you room to move around if you feel like your view gets blocked, you can just shift to another spot, which is not an option when crammed in the Hub. In the end, there was plenty of room in the garden, but having not done a party before and having the potential for a larger crowd than past reviews created a little anxiety to get out to the garden as quickly as possible, and I do think that’s partially why so many people had arrived so promptly.

That was the same with my mom last week! I knew it wouldn't get that bad and we weren't trying to get the front of the section, but once she heard about the after fireworks option she was worried about crowds and wanted to eat and get to the area! But she loved the show and liked having elbow room to enjoy it!

 

[dbb727]

You need to come to Disneyland! There is a full pixie hallow with a winding pathway and other fairies meet!

I didn’t know they have Pixie Hollow! And Moana too right? Most of my family lives in AZ and therefore visits DL so I do need to talk DH into a trip to the west coast next time!

 

[Lesley Wake]

I didn’t know they have Pixie Hollow! And Moana too right? Most of my family lives in AZ and therefore visits DL so I do need to talk DH into a trip to the west coast next time!

Yup, a true Pixie Hallow (at nighttime they even have a little pond with lights and magic). And Moana is even a roaming character, so she doesn't have a set meeting location, instead she just shows up in Adventureland!

 

[dbb727]

Day 3: EPCOT

ADR @7:30am Bon Voyage Breakfast @ Trattoria al Forno
FP 9:15-10:15 Seas with Nemo & Friends
FP 10:25-11:25 Journey into Imagination with Figment
FP 11:35-12:35 Frozen Ever After
ADR @ 12:30 Akershus​

Our second park day started even earlier than the day before since we had a breakfast ADR at 7:30, eek! We didn’t have much trouble getting ready and out of the room but I had some anxiety about transportation, and rightfully so. A pre-park opening breakfast at another resort presents a little bit of difficulty, especially with two kiddos who need carseats so we can’t just call an uber/lyft/taxi. So we were planning on using the Minnie Van service this morning, but even that caused me some anxiety since you can’t pre-book it and I was nervous it would be busy and difficult to grab one so early. And I was right.

We were waiting in front of Poly using the Lyft app and it would just search and search then finally time out after 5 minutes when there were no available vans to assign us! After this happened a few times and it was getting closer and closer to 7am, we had to decide on a plan B or C. Plan B was to take the bus to DHS and then walk over to the boardwalk, but at this point unless we jumped on a bus in the next minute or two, we would probably be late (and sweaty) for our ADR. Plan C was booking TWO uber XL cars(since they each have one carseat), and just sucking it up that we would be overpaying. So, DH started looking on uber.


(this is a Minnie Van pic from my recent solo trip, but you get the idea)

Meanwhile, we are standing out front of the Poly, and I am watching a Minnie Van pull up and unload passengers…..yet it still won’t show any available vehicles in the area. So I just went right up to the driver once the passengers left, and played dumb, asking her if she could help me with the app. She explained that once she closed out her last ride, it would show her as “available” but it would probably automatically assign her elsewhere. Not sure exactly what algorithm it uses but she said it often sends her to another destination even if there are rides closer by. Luckily, she was able to over-ride it, find our request and BOOM, we had a ride!

We ended up using the MinnieVan one other time and had the same issues, where we basically had to harass a driver that was already at the property to find our request because the Lyft app wasn’t assigning us to anyone. It may have just been busy time of the day when we were booking, but just be prepared to have a backup plan.


I can’t say enough great things about this service. Yes, it is more costly than free transportation and I wouldn’t take it every instance, but the price balances out when you need more than one carseat and need to get somewhere at off hour or in short timeframe. The convenience and ease was really nice. The drivers are really professional, friendly CMs plus they can install those carseats accurately and quickly which is super impressive.

We were dropped off at The Beach Club and had just a short walk to….Trattoria al Forno! We were heading to the Bon Voyage breakfast featuring Rapunzel, Flynn Ryder, Ariel & Prince Eric. I thought it would be a fun way to incorporate some male characters into our M&Gs, plus The Little Mermaid and Tangled are big favorites in our home. These were my favorite outfits of the trip as our whole family participated in a Tangled theme!


My shirt isn't pictured here but it said "Best Day Ever" on a purple tank.


We made it on time for our ADR, and I was so happy until at check-in the hostess says “We have to let you know, unfortunately Rapunzel won’t be making it to breakfast today.” Wha???!! But we are wearing coordinating Tangled-inspired outfits!! Doesn’t she know we came just to meet her?

Seriously though, I was pretty bummed because we had purposely skipped Rapunzel the day before at MK since I knew we would be meeting her today. I know they explicitly state that they don’t guarantee character appearance but it is still a bummer. I was still pumped for the food and other characters, so I put on a brave face to tell DD about the lost princess and we headed into breakfast. The hostess did mention that a replacement princess, Elena, would be making her way to Tratorria, but they were unsure of her arrival time….


Aside from the last minute character change, I can’t say enough great things about this meal! It includes a “frying pan” of pastries, fruit, and your choice of entree(if we had been on the dining plan, then I could have had a mimosa included too). By Disney pricing standards, I think it is fairly reasonable at $34 adult, $20 child and they insisted that I order an entire meal for DS which was free since he was under 3 (I was expecting for both kids to just split one order) so it was a “good” value overall. I really prefer a sit down meal over a buffet, especially with young children. It gives me a lot more time to sit and enjoy my meal and the characters, since I’m not having to get up 3 times to make everyone a plate.


The characters were all fun and had great banter. The men came out first. Flynn Ryder noticed DH shirt right away, commenting that he didn’t know the Snuggly Duckling sold merchandise. When I tried teasng him about Rapunzel’s no show, saying maybe my daughter could take her place, Flynn got very serious and offended stating that Rapunzel would be very upset with him. Hahaha.

This is one of my fav family pics of the whole trip.



Before Ariel arrived, we had to be sure to have our dinglehopper ears on!


Once they announced Ariel’s arrival, a parade quickly starting with the kids dancing around the restaurant follow-the-leader style and DD was right up front! When Ariel came over to our table, DD was sooo excited, I love her expression in these photos because it is just pure joy.



After meeting Ariel, we were about done with our food but Elena still hadn’t arrived yet. We had met her the day before with Cinderella in MK, so I reminded DD of this and she agreed it would be okay to leave without seeing her.


Side note: As we were paying, I politely informed our server how disappointed we were to have missed Rapunzel and asked if there were any compensation being offered, specifically I was hoping they could offer a FP+ to meet her at MK since we would be back there the next day. As I expected, the server apologized but said the restaurants don’t have any access to FP. This could really improve guest experience, since they had some advanced warning of the change in character, I think Disney/restaurant manger could have been ahead of the curve here by offering a FP+ opportunity to families right at check-in. Of course, not everyone would be able to fit that into their plans, but it would show the effort to make things right. I knew I could go to guest services at Epcot to complain, but that wasn’t how I wanted to start my day, so instead I sent a quick email and moved on. Disney actually did respond fairly quickly, although a few hours too late the next day, more on this later….


So it was a little around 8:40, we paid and were heading out to walk to IG at Epcot. DD and I decided to stop at the ladies room first which is on the opposite side of the restaurant, while DH and DS went ahead outside. Our bathroom break turned out to be a great idea as we had a little bit of pixie dust as we exited the bathroom and saw Elena getting into position for her photo op! Even though we had decided to leave without seeing her, it felt special that we happen to be in just the right place for her arrival. I asked the photographer if it was alright for DD to say Hello, and of course they welcomed her and took a quick pic! This really made DD’s morning as she was beaming afterwards from our private M&G.

 

[dbb727]

Continued...

We met up with the boys and enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the boardwalk up to international gateway.



This is a beautiful path especially in the morning when no one else was around. I really love finding tranquil moments like this in the morning when it is cool and peaceful outside. AK is another favorite of mine for this because it has so much shade and winding walkways.



Security at IG was a breeze, we were literally the only ones there at 8:55am. I thought we were having a great start to the day, but in retrospect, we were probably slightly behind the rope drop crowd. We walked through UK and Canada, I was so tempted to stop for some pics but we had an important destination so we continued on to Future World to get in line for…..






Actually only DD and I were getting in line. Soarin' was a top priority for me as we didn’t get to ride back in 2013 due to long lines. So I wanted to cross it off first today since I was saving the Tier 1 FP+ for Frozen. Unfortunately, the wait for Soarin' was already longer than expected, showing 30min. Maybe we should have arrived closer to 8:40 at the gate?? I think it was just some bad timing honestly because once we got up front I realized only one theater was open, and I think after we exited the wait times were lower and they had probably opened the other theaters. Even though I knew it would take up a lot of our morning, DH encouraged us to just go ahead since I had told him it was one of my top goals.


Originally, I had planned to do rider swap at Soarin, but DH was feeling very cautious of his back and since we had never been on this ride before, we weren’t sure how the take-off and landing would be. (Spoiler: it is remarkably smooth and he definitely could have ridden but he said he was fine going without). The plan was that while the girls were in line for Soarin, the boys would go on Living with the Land which surprisingly is a fav for DH from our family trip in 2013.




Our wait was definitely a full 30min if not more, so after the boys were done with Living with the Land, they headed over to The Seas where our next FP+ was. DH didn’t really know the plan, so he and DS went ahead on Nemo since it was a walk-on, then they were STILL waiting for us so they went to Turtle Talk.




Meanwhile, back at Soarin, DD and I really enjoyed our ride! It was so relaxing and she was at such a cute age because she fully believed each scene change, ex. when a whale would crash into the ocean splashing water or the Saharan sand would blow towards the audience, she would duck everytime, it was too cute. We held hands though the ride and enjoyed the special mommy-daughter time.


Sidenote: Be wary of having too big of a bag, because I had a slight panic moment trying to get my huge backpack squished into the baggage area under the seat, and then almost couldn’t get it out afterwards. Anyone else have this struggle?


We headed over to The Seas to meet the boys, and I was slightly frustrated that they were still in Turtle Talk with Crush, I just wished they had done those rides in reverse order since TT takes so long and I wanted to go on Nemo as a family (no biggie I just made the boys ride it again). DD and I took some time to explore the aquarium while we waited.


DH thought TT was really fun, even thought DS was too young to understand, I think it’s better for young elementary age. We headed back outside to use our FP+ to ride Nemo together. It was still only a 10min wait but DH said the best part was the FP queue is significantly shorter walk than standby. The other fun part here is the animatronic birds outsid yelling "mine mine", DS thought they were hilarious and he just liked standing there to watch.


After leaving The Seas, it was already 10:30 and we were behind in our touring plan. We had a FP+ for Journey Into Imagination (have never ridden this), but I also wanted to get some F&W stops so we headed over to the F&W festival center in the Odyssey building. At least I had gotten this elusive monorail shot by the Imagination Pavilion earlier that morning so all was not lost.

Seriously though, I'm pretty proud of this snapshot.


So the Odyssey building is clear across the other side of Future World, I don’t think I realized how far back it is set so it was a further hike then I was expecting. Honestly, all of Epcot is sooo much more spread out than I remembered, maybe the added weight of a double stroller, the humidity and the slow walking of DH’s back pain made it more noticeable.


Odyssey dome in the background here


I tried the “Fromosa – Frozen mimosa featuring White Claw Lime Hard Seltzer” (one of my favs) from Shimmering Sips Mimosa Bar while DH tried one of the Craft Drafts, I have no idea which one probably an IPA.






Both were enjoyable and refreshing since we were already sweaty by now, nothing overly impressive though. We wandered around a bit and enjoyed the A/C, took a bathroom break and the kids had a snack, goldfish I think.


It was already past 11am now, wow that morning flew! The touring plan called for a stop in the UK, but since we were on the east side, we decided to just proceed straight to Norway instead. Before leaving the F&W center, I changed DD into her second outfit of the day….

Up next: M&G, FEA and lots more princesses...​

 

[Lesley Wake]

We made it on time for our ADR, and I was so happy until at check-in the hostess says “We have to let you know, unfortunately Rapunzel won’t be making it to breakfast today.” Wha???!! But we are wearing coordinating Tangled-inspired outfits!! Doesn’t she know we came just to meet her?

Seriously though, I was pretty bummed because we had purposely skipped Rapunzel the day before at MK since I knew we would be meeting her today. I know they explicitly state that they don’t guarantee character appearance but it is still a bummer. I was still pumped for the food and other characters, so I put on a brave face to tell DD about the lost princess and we headed into breakfast. The hostess did mention that a replacement princess, Elena, would be making her way to Tratorria, but they were unsure of her arrival time….

Wow that really sucks!

Side note: As we were paying, I politely informed our server how disappointed we were to have missed Rapunzel and asked if there were any compensation being offered, specifically I was hoping they could offer a FP+ to meet her at MK since we would be back there the next day. As I expected, the server apologized but said the restaurants don’t have any access to FP. This could really improve guest experience, since they had some advanced warning of the change in character, I think Disney/restaurant manger could have been ahead of the curve here by offering a FP+ opportunity to families right at check-in. Of course, not everyone would be able to fit that into their plans, but it would show the effort to make things right. I knew I could go to guest services at Epcot to complain, but that wasn’t how I wanted to start my day, so instead I sent a quick email and moved on. Disney actually did respond fairly quickly, although a few hours too late the next day, more on this later….

They really could do this pretty easily too! I know the front desk has an easy ability to give you an extra FP, so they could have had someone with a tablet ready at the hostess stand!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Sidenote: Be wary of having too big of a bag, because I had a slight panic moment trying to get my huge backpack squished into the baggage area under the seat, and then almost couldn’t get it out afterwards. Anyone else have this struggle?

I definitely have that struggle. But for Soarin, you can also put your bags at the front or sides or against a column and then it stays out of the ride's way!

Seriously though, I'm pretty proud of this snapshot.

Awesome shot!

 

[dbb727]

Wow that really sucks!
They really could do this pretty easily too! I know the front desk has an easy ability to give you an extra FP, so they could have had someone with a tablet ready at the hostess stand!

Yeah it was a bummer and I definitely think they could have been more proactive but we just rolled with it.

I definitely have that struggle. But for Soarin, you can also put your bags at the front or sides or against a column and then it stays out of the ride's way!

Good to know. It was my first time riding and I was focused on getting DD strapped in and then felt so rushed trying to shove the bag so I didn't even look around for alternatives, but if it didn't fit (and it was close) I would have stopped a CM and asked them to place it somewhere safe.

Awesome shot!

Thanks!

 

[Cloe Colton]

That really is a shame that Rapunzel wasn't at breakfast! It looks like you all still had a good time though so thats good!

I know that feeling all too well of knowing you could go and complain but just not wanting to feel that way for the rest of the day!

 

[kclark9830]

I'm enjoying your TR! We were there with 2 small kids in Sept, too, and your TR is making me feel so much better . Things never quite go as planned with little ones! But we still had a blast, and it sounds like you did too!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

My shirt isn't pictured here but it said "Best Day Ever" on a purple tank.

My husband has the same shirt. I love the Frying Pans, Who Knew? Shirt!!!

Seriously though, I was pretty bummed because we had purposely skipped Rapunzel the day before at MK since I knew we would be meeting her today. I know they explicitly state that they don’t guarantee character appearance but it is still a bummer. I was still pumped for the food and other characters, so I put on a brave face to tell DD about the lost princess and we headed into breakfast. The hostess did mention that a replacement princess, Elena, would be making her way to Tratorria, but they were unsure of her arrival time….

That is a bummer. Sounds like it might have been last minute... Raps must have been sick or something.

I love these kinds of pictures! Pure Joy!

ello, and of course they welcomed her and took a quick pic! This really made DD’s morning as she was beaming afterwards from our private M&G.

Awsome!

audience, she would duck everytime, it was too cute. We held hands though the ride and enjoyed the special mommy-daughter time.

That is so nice and totally worth the wait.

Sidenote: Be wary of having too big of a bag, because I had a slight panic moment trying to get my huge backpack squished into the baggage area under the seat, and then almost couldn’t get it out afterwards. Anyone else have this struggle?

There are taped off squares, that you can put larger bags. Cause, there is def times that it won't fit!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

“We have to let you know, unfortunately Rapunzel won’t be making it to breakfast today.” Wha???!! But we are wearing coordinating Tangled-inspired outfits!! Doesn’t she know we came just to meet her?

Bummer! I get it, life happens and they can't have an unlimited supply of Rapunzels on call, but it stinks when it happens during your time there.

Aside from the last minute character change, I can’t say enough great things about this meal! It includes a “frying pan” of pastries, fruit, and your choice of entree(if we had been on the dining plan, then I could have had a mimosa included too).

Agreed! This was one of our favorite meals of the trip. And, we were on the DDP, so we did get to enjoy an adult beverage as well

Maybe we should have arrived closer to 8:40 at the gate?? I

Our IG RD crowd started moving before 8:50, we merged with the front crowd and were in line for Soarin' at 8:59. So, yup, you just missed it.

Honestly, all of Epcot is sooo much more spread out than I remembered, maybe the added weight of a double stroller, the humidity and the slow walking of DH’s back pain made it more noticeable.

Epcot really is spread out. Getting from pavilion to pavilion was quite a hike every time with our double and single strollers.

 

[dbb727]

Phew, sorry I've been MIA, I've realized that its been over month since I updated this TR. I can't wait to finish it up, especially since I've gone on my solo trip last month and I'd really like to do a TR with all those amazing photos but want to finish one, before i start the next! That trip was definitely a complete opposite of this report - a fast paced, park-hopping, E-ticket ride, no stroller, crazy crowded, food booth grazing, solo experience that I can't wait to share all the details. But first let's finish the last two days back in Sept 2018 with my family:

Day 3: EPCOT, Part 2
Sept 18, 2018
​

Thus far we had done 2 pavilions in FW, a stop at the F&W festival center and now we’re headed into WS. DH and I were not fans of MS or TT on our last visit, and I didn't know if the kids would be interested in SE so off to WS we went. Our next destination was the Royal Summerhaus to meet the Frozen sisters. I had changed DD into an Anna inspired dress since Anna has been a favorite for a few years. In fact, I think she was Anna for Halloween two years in a row.

We were hoping the line wouldn’t be long since there is no FP+ option. The wait time was listed as 20min, so I asked the CM if that seemed accurate and she winked that she thought it’d be pretty quick. Well sure enough we walked through the Summerhaus, right into the character area and only one family was ahead of us. You think this would make me pleased, but instead I got all flustered trying to whip out autograph books, sharpies, cameras, and fix the kiddos hair. I swear the character M&Gs kinda stressed me out.



Luckily DH was with us to take over video and photography duties. And thank goodness because something was up with the PP at this location. Anna didn’t even have a photographer, which worked out fine as DH got some good shots. And then the PP assigned to Elsa was a hot mess, couldn’t seem to get her camera working right and we waited a little bit for her to figure it out. The characters sorta even broke their act a bit trying to help her and jokingly make suggestions. And the lighting in all of those ended up being weird and dim. Oh well.


I had to lighten this up because it was really dark and off colored.

Thank goodness we had two parents, since DS was pretty timid still with characters so I held him the whole time, and it would have been hard to manage and take pics if I was by myself since the PP was a miss here.


It was time for our FP+ for Frozen Ever After so we took the short walk over there. Out of all the boat rides we did during this trip, this was probably the worst for DH’s back. It was noticeably bumpy, I think due to being pulled on the track, and I knew about the backwards drop so honestly I was distracted the whole time trying to figure out where the drop was so I could warn him. No need to worry, since it was very obvious when the boat switched to the other track as that was a particularly rough (and nosiy) setup. I’m sure on a normal day we wouldn’t notice the inner workings, but I could tell it was hurting him. So if we could do it over, DH should have attempted Soarin but not this.


You can see that I was again oblivious to seating selections and didn’t realize until the end of our trip that our kids were always hidden in the ride photos(we are in the back row). So if it’s important to you to get a good ride photo, be sure to ask for front row if you have short people (kids or adults).

Anyhow, this was my first time on Frozen, not sure that I ever rode Maelstrom, and honestly I was let down and don’t think I’ll make plans for it again. I’ll probably give it one more chance since I was clearly distracted most of the ride, but won’t wait more than 20minutes or waste a FP+. I just found it boring and had higher expectations given the high wait times and broad appeal.


After Frozen, we had a bit of time before our 12:30pm ADR so I coerced my family into visiting at least one nearby country to do Kidcot. I would have really loved to see the miniature trains in Germany or check out the Spain F&W booth, but our group was getting hot and cranky so I knew realistically my options were either of the two countries bordering Norway: Mexico or China. Since I didn’t want to have to get the kids in and out of the stroller, the obvious choice was CHINA!



It took me a hot minute (literally we were getting sweaty and miserable) to figure out where the Kidcot spot was. (Pro tip: it’s inside the House of Good Fortune store). Thankfully, it was in air conditioning. Unfortunately, I was more into it then my kids, they were just too hot, hungry and tired at this point. China was a great stop since the CM wrote the kids names in Mandarin and we were excited to receive the new (at the time it was new) ziplock suitcase baggie. It was also a great stop as I found a practical souvenir, a collapsible fan, that proved useful for the rest of the trip.


At some point I changed DD in outfit #3 in an outdoor alcove, #noshame, and we were headed back to Norway for our ADR.
I spotted a random PP on the way and even though DD was being moody and hangry, we stopped for a pic. I’m so glad we did bc this is one of my favs, even though DD looks miserable, I think it makes the photo even better and I’ll be sure to rub it in her face when she is older (Remember that time I forced you to have fun at WDW?).



Our lunch ADR was to meet loads of princesses at...Akershus!
Once again we had great luck, no long wait to be seated, and thank goodness because the check-in queue is set up outside, with only one umbrella for the hostess CM. I didn’t think too much of it at that moment, but when we exited, there was at least 5 or 6 families in line waiting outside in the sun; if that had been us, we probably would have just forfeited our ADR because DD was already acting miserably and it was DS’s naptime and I could tell we were on the verge of meltdowns.


Thankfully though we went straight in and although I was nervous about moods at the beginning of the meal, once again the A/C did the trick and once everyone started eating that improved moods quickly. Phew! DD was of course super excited to meet Aurora! She even ended up being the front of the line with Aurora’s group for the princess parade so that made her day.


So when I first booked Akershus(180days out), I was under the impression Jasmine was one of the characters. I think I must have watched some old videos doing research and got the character line up incorrectly stuck in my head. I realized at some point that Jasmine would likely not be there, which was a bummer but Aurora was also must see as you can tell by DD’s outfit, so I decided to keep the ADR. Our characters for this meal were Belle (greeter at entrance with PP), Ariel, Cinderella, Aurora, and Snow White. So we had some repeats (3rd time meeting Ariel if you are keeping count) but no one minded.



DS was his typical self, he became so involved in eating and did not care about any princesses, although they thought he was adorable!



The food was delicious and plentiful since we got to choose a separate (free) meal again for DS. Despite it being 90+ degrees and 100% humidity, DH and I both got the meatballs and they were delicious, although definitely a heavier item and I couldn’t finish it all. The trio of desserts were also yummy, I think I liked the chocolate one the best although it was rich.


Next: Who wants to ride The Seas with Nemo a 3rd time???

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

lly like to do a TR with all those amazing photos but want to finish one, before i start the next! That trip was definitely a complete opposite of this report - a fast paced, park-hopping, E-ticket ride, no stroller, crazy crowded, food booth grazing, solo experience that I can't wait to share all the details. But first let's finish the last two days back in Sept 2018 with my famil

CAn't wait to hear all about it!

You think this would make me pleased, but instead I got all flustered trying to whip out autograph books, sharpies, cameras, and fix the kiddos hair. I swear the character M&Gs kinda stressed me out.

They really can be. Especially when you think you hav more time than you do.

Anyhow, this was my first time on Frozen, not sure that I ever rode Maelstrom, and honestly I was let down and don’t think I’ll make plans for it again. I’ll probably give it one more chance since I was clearly distracted most of the ride, but won’t wait more than 20minutes or waste a FP+. I just found it boring and had higher expectations given the high wait times and broad appeal

Def give it another try. I mean by no means is it the most amazing ride, but it's a fun ride. We don't get to it every trip, but it is still fun.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Your solo trip sounds awesome. I can't wait to read that one, too.

You think this would make me pleased, but instead I got all flustered trying to whip out autograph books, sharpies, cameras, and fix the kiddos hair.

I totally get this!! We had one character line where we got walked straight in and I was totally unprepared: autograph book not out, sharpie color not selected (we had a multipack and the kids picked for each character), kid hair not brushed.

I think 1-2 families ahead is the perfect wait to get in, get situated, and then have your meet.