We all play that game!! 
I don’t how you all eat so much!! I’m jealous!
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We go into “vacation eating” mode. After our first meal, we’re pretty much never hungry throughout the trip as we’re constantly eating. The only thing that outright stops me is when I’m actually too full to eat another bite.
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I printed out all of mine as I did them. I keep them in a three ring binder. It’s my “scrap book” / journal.
I do like reading it sometimes!
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I paste mine into a Google Document so that I can read it when I’m out. For example, if I’m having a rough day at work, I read through it during my lunch for instant comfort.
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@LTinNC82 : check this out! So cute.
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I have them all. 
Seriously cute ish is my kryptonite. Someone probably needs to take my adult money away from me.
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Ha! Maybe I’ve seen them in your TRs–they reminded me of you for some reason.
DD9 would lose her mind–I’ve got to let her go in that store.
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We should totally go shopping together! I would love to have someone else as into it as I am.
I can just picture the little cats personalities too. “I got you these carrots" “look at my cute little koala butt" “HHIIIIIIII FRIIIIIIIIENDDDDD!”
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My daughter is addicted to these. 
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There are worse things to be addicted to.
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That would be so fun!
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Day 8: Blizzard Beach and Disney Springs
Despite the long previous day, we somehow made it to BB a few minutes before opening at 10am. This time, we lined up for rope drop first before getting a locker so that we’d be in the front of the pack that searches for shaded seats. And we were rewarded with a huge shaded area with plenty of seats for our family and friends! BB has these wonderful huts which I initially thought were cabanas for rent. Nope, they’re free for the taking! We found a spot right next to the Funnel Cake stand that wasn’t too far from the Ski Lift, restrooms, or lockers. WIN!
I did Teamboat Springs with my kids before settling in for more snack, pool, repeat.
White Cap Flatbread from Lottawatta Lodge (Chicken Breast, Bacon, White Sauce, Mozzarella, Red Onion and Tomato)
Black Cherry Lemonade from the Polar Pub (Three Olives Cherry Vodka, Minute Maid® Premium Lemonade, Lime Juice and Grenadine topped with Sprite®)
Funnel cake. Nuff said.
S’mores Churro from I.C. Expeditions (Churro Pieces topped with Graham Cracker Crumbs, Marshmallow Whipped Cream, Chocolate Sauce, and Toasted Mini Marshmallows)
Frozen Lemon with Strawberry Syrup from Joffrey’s (non-alcoholic)
I got excited when I saw that the Joffrey’s also sold a drink with frozen lemonade, iced tea, and vodka. I was hoping for the same delicious drink we got from Let’s Go Slurpin’ at Typhoon Lagoon. Sadly, it was not as good. It wasn’t even frozen.
After some lounging in the lazy river and one more ride on the family raft ride, we made the call to start getting ready to leave before the inevitable afternoon lightning. Yep,the skies opened up while our kids were getting changed in the locker rooms. By the time they got out, the rain had lightened up and we were slightly ahead of the exiting crowd to Lyft back to the hotel.
After a quick shower, we hurried into DS to hopefully get into Homecomin’ without a reservation. SUCCESS!
Moonshine Mash (Watermelon-infused moonshine, fresh watermelon, lime juice and simple syrup)
and Passionfruit Margarita
@darkmite2 You’d love the Passionfruit Margarita. It was sweet and STRONG.
Bacon wrapped shrimp appetizer on a bed of dressed arugula
Fried Chicken & Doughnuts (Two pieces of Chef Art Smith’s famous fried chicken served with EVERGLAZED’s hand-crafted glazed donuts)
Art’s Famous Fried Chicken (“Buttermilk-brined for 24 hours then perfectly fried and served with creamy mashed potatoes, a cheddar drop biscuit and love”). I think DD16 swiped the biscuit before I could take a picture.
Fried Catfish with hushpuppies and broccoli & bacon salad
I LOVED that broccoli & bacon salad. I could eat a bucket of it.
Hummingbird Cake (Chef Art’s southern specialty combining pineapple-banana cake with luxurious cream cheese frosting. Served with vanilla bean ice cream)
This cake was amazing. DD16 doesn’t usually like cake but even she was devouring it.
Following Homecomin’, I went to Gideon’s to buy a few edible souvenirs to bring home.
Pistacho toffee cookie
Banana bread chocolate chip cookie
We also bought a bag of Bites- chocolate covered quarter pieces of Gideon’s cookies. For this bag, it was pistacho toffee cookies. They’re even better if you pop them into the fridge so that the chocolate has a bit of a hard shell texture.
We also did the rounds at World of Disney before heading back to the hotel to pack as much as possible before our “last” day. Stay tuned for why “last” is in quotes.
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Adding this to my list for next week. Sounds delicious!
Congrats! You officially went to Epcot!
Also adding to my list! I love pineapple upside down cake.
Sometimes you just gotta 2nd dinner.
Ok this sounds amazing too.
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Ooohhh. I hope that means you got to stay another day!
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Yes and no. 
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Hmmm… intriguing.
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Nice! I don’t need to get fall down drunk, but when I pay $15+ for a cocktail I want to geel it! 
There’s a Blood Orange Margarita at Volcano Bay that I love!
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Day 9: Animal Kingdom and limbo
Our last morning at the Hilton was a frenzy of packing up the last of the toiletries after everybody was up and dressed. Poor DH was beside himself the previous night, figuring out how to fit in all the souvenirs we had bought. (When we initially packed for our trip, we were so proud that we fit everything in 3 suitcases. We forgot to leave extra space for the inevitable shopping.) We wound up having to use one of our water park bags to fit everything.
After we left our luggage with Bell Services, we took a Lyft to AK and arrived around 9am (when Early Entry was 7:30am). I had purchased LLs for AK precisely because I knew we wouldn’t be able to rope drop. Also because I wanted our last park day to have minimal waits to make the most of our time in AK and to spare poor DH’s feet as much as possible.
Because I already had LLs for my kids’ favorites locked in, they were excited to actually explore the animal trails! I think this was the first time ever that we didn’t hurry through the Oasis in our rush to rope drop Pandora.
While DH and DD16 rode EE twice, DS13 and I tackled the Maharajah Jungle Trek.
“Baby” Bakso isn’t a baby anymore!
On our way to meet back up with DH and DD16, we had some refreshments.
Pink Lotus (Monin Wild Strawberry, Lychee and Minute Maid® Premium Lemonade) from Thirsty River Bar
The four of us then walked to Africa (sad that Caravan Road and their shaved ice wasn’t yet open). I stopped by Zuri’s Sweets Shop to have the following delicious snack.
Banana S’more (banana flavored s’more with a white chocolate coating)
After a great Safari ride, I was happy to grant my kids’ request to walk through Gorilla Falls.
We even recreated a photo from their first Disney trip 11 years ago at the same exhibit!
They’re just a tad bigger.
We then headed towards Flame Tree BBQ for an early lunch. On the way, at DD16’s request, we tried to look for some otters but no luck. They were hiding from the heat. We didn’t blame them as we, too, wanted to hide from the heat. But the kids love the ribs from Flame Tree. So off to the outdoor restaurant we went.
St. Louis Rib Dinner x2 and French Fries with Pulled Pork and Cheese
Bubbling Pink Lagoon (Minute Maid® Premium Strawberry Lemonade, Sprite®, and Kiwi flavor)
Key Lime Pie dipped in Dark Chocolate with Graham Cracker Crumble
After lunch, we went to pay our respects to the soon-to-be departed DinoLand. DS13 LOVES dinosaurs so he is less than happy about DinoLand’s upcoming conversion to the Tropical Americas. I also wanted to try my remaining DinoLand bucket list treats and to finally explore the fun theming at Restaurantosaurus before it goes away for good.
Buffalo Chicken Chips (House-made Chips served with Buffalo Chicken and Blue Cheese Dressing topped with Tomato and Celery Relish)
DH got a “ghetto Old-Fashioned” (the bartender’s description) from the Restaurantosaurus Lounge. It was described as such because he didn’t have the traditional ingredients to make a typical Old-Fashioned so he made do with what he had. While DH and DD16 relaxed in the AC of Restaurantosaurus, DS13 and I rode Dinosaur twice and said our final goodbyes to the Carnotaurus and Dr. Seeker. DS13 also took one last long look at the cool dinosaur mural at the exit of the Dinosaur ride. We then drowned our sorrows in ice cream.
Dino-Bite Snacks’ Strawberry Crumble Baked Sugar Cookie with Strawberry Ice Cream dipped in Strawberry Crumble
Following the above behemoth of an ice cream sandwich (and a Vanilla cone for DS13), we headed to Pandora for our last LL- on what else but FOP. Our first room had a technical problem so we were recycled back to the line but didn’t have to wait much to be placed in another room. We had fun looking over the latest Pandora merchandise on our way out but controlled ourselves from buying more souvenirs. NO MORE ROOM.
I actually had scored a NRJ LL but it was for quite close to when we were scheduled to leave for the hotel/airport. I had to suppress my urge to squeeze in every last LL as my family preferred to more leisurely stroll around. Plus, we didn’t want to chance getting stuck on the last ride due to some kind of technical issue. HA! Silly me, thinking the technical issue was going to occur there.
During our stroll out of AK, we shared 2 Night Blossoms (Layers of Apple and Desert Pear Limeade topped with Boba Balls)
We wound up making great time with the Lyfts to the hotel (to pick up our luggage) and the airport. Security lines were also minimal. We found seats together by our gate and were fueled up with Burger King about 2 1/2 hours before scheduled boarding (7:25pm)
Cue the dramatic music.
Around 7pm, a gate change notification pinged. No problem. We moved and found new seats together thankfully. But shortly after, a new text rolled in stating that our flight was delayed by 97 minutes as the flight attendants scheduled to work on our flight was on a delayed incoming flight. We groaned but such a delay was pretty common on our return flights home. Usually due to weather though. Our plane was actually sitting right there at our gate, sitting pretty, waiting for us to board.
Then at 9:30pm, I got a delightful text that our flight was now delayed by another 688 minutes.
My brain short circuited at that point. 688 minutes???!!!
Apparently, the plane carrying the flight attendants we were waiting for had been redirected to Jacksonville. By the time they could get to us, our flight would not arrive till past our home airport’s closing time. So our flight had been rescheduled to the following morning.
I literally just stared dumbfounded at my phone for 5 solid minutes as chaos erupted all around us at the gate as everyone tried to figure stuff out. Because it was a staffing issue, Delta automatically emailed us vouchers for hotels, meals, and transportation to and from the airport. We got to select from a choice of 5 hotels. I blindly picked one in my dumbfounded stupor.
In the end, even though the overnight delay was a horrible situation to be in, Delta did a great job in promptly providing vouchers that were easy to use. I had to speak to a Delta agent to remedy a complication in my family’s unique circumstances. The agent was super patient and courteous (which I really appreciated as I wasn’t functioning at my brightest at that point). We also lucked out with the hotel we chose: the Residence Inn by Marriott Orlando at SeaWorld. The staff there were friendly and knowledgable. We stayed in 2 adjoining suites that included a living room and separate bedroom in each. The hotel even provided free complimentary hot breakfast that we didn’t need to use our meal vouchers for. Granted, we only had 10 frantic minutes to wolf down our breakfast before our scheduled meeting with our taxi driver but it was still a good perk. We used our meal vouchers to purchase a butt load of snacks. We even had some leftover to buy some tasty Short Rib sandwiches from Pot Belly at our home airport as we waited for our ride home.
So we sort of got an extra day but not really. Still, the situation came out in the best way we could hope for. As I later joked to my family, we started our big Disney family trips in 2014 with a bang (the airline canceled our morning flight last minute) and also ended our era of big Disney family trips with another bang. I’m forever grateful for all the wonderful Disney vacations that I’ve been fortunate enough to take with my family. It’ll probably be a while before the next big Disney/Universal family trip but I have all these trip reports and pictures to look back through.
Thanks for reading!
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100% agree! I, too, don’t want/need to be fall down drunk but I want to taste the alcohol that I paid for! I’ll have to try that Blood Orange Margarita next time I head to VB.
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Thank you for this detailed report! I wrote down several drinks and food items to try next trip! Sorry about the flight home but sounds like Delta did ok solving it.
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