I’m there with your wife. Giving up those baby curls is too hard. We just had to cut DS6’s hair at his schools direction and I’m still annoyed (there’s no hair code until 4th grade so they made me hack his hair off for little reason IMHO).
Love the thumbs up on the Tony’s parade package. I’d been considering dropping it. Not now.
That family photo with one boy trying to hide and one boy trying to wiggle away is priceless!
How did your boys do with Baatu and Indiana Jones? I currently have a whole morning allocated to exploring Baatu (and building droids) but am wondering if there’s enough to see to keep them entertained. And I worried that Indy wouldn’t hold their attention.
I agree with you about the Little Mermaid, if they were going to chop that much of the story they should have just made it a few songs and not tried to have any sort of through-line.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I was less tempted by MNSSHP (because Halloween in August is just too early for me and the crowds didn’t sound fun) but I was really tempted by the MK After Hours event that was running our first night at CBR and by AK After Hours that was on our AK day. The decision to skip those was definitely the right one, but they’re among the experiences I’d want to consider if we go back with slightly older, later-to-bed kids.
I also agree with you on Buzz Lightyear. The Toy Story Mania shooting ride is so much better and more fun with you being able to identify which shots are yours.
Your photos are beautiful! And I’m glad that over all it was such a great trip (at least I’m assuming it doesn’t go downhill after day 6 – looking forward to reading the rest.) I hope you have an amazing solo trip in January.
Ok, finally back on this report. Since its now been a month, and I’ve already moved on to obsessively planning (and re-planning) my January trip, I’m just going to dump what I’ve got here and call it “done”. I’m only sharing basic outlines of the last 3 days, but I’d be happy to elaborate on something specific if anyone is interested or has any questions.
DAY 7 (FRI NOV 1): EMPTY EPCOT
Sleep night before: 7h41m (6h10m total sleep deficit)
Steps: 21,314 (168,984 total)
Miles: 10.5 (83.9 total)
Weather: 69-80°F, 60-90% humidity
Crowd Level: 3 (predicted) 2 (actual)
7:23AM Walk to Epcot (GM and GP skipped breakfast), through security at 7:48
8:05AM Ate breakfast at Garden Grill, met Chip and Dale, Pluto, and Farmer Mickey. Allergen Menu: chef brought out separate, “safe” skillet for DS3
8:55AM Rode Soarin’ twice (Me and DS4, then DW and DS4). Amazing ride. Maybe my favorite.
9:35AM Met up GM and GP then Rode Living with the Land
10:15AM Used FP+ to ride Mission:Space (Green) and boys played in the astronaut training facility after
11:03AM Used FP+ to ride Frozen Ever After
11:20AM Met Anna and Elsa. no wait at all. We were the only ones there!
~11:30AM Ate small lunch at Kringla Bakeri. Allergen Menu: boys just got yogurt parfaits so I was not worried about allergies, but I checked anyways; had to ask cashier to see allergen book (list of ingredients for each item)
12:09PM Met Mulan in the China Pavilion
12:23PM Rode Gran Fiesta Tour
1:12PM Rode Spaceship Earth, went to Guest Relationship nextdoor to add GM and GP to the DAS
~1:30PM Walked back to BW (GM and GP took boat), long break, DW and boys went to pool
4:45PM Ate dinner at Big River Grille, sat outside. Allergen Menu: none, talked with chef
~6:00PM Prep for tomorrow, crash
DAY 8 (SAT NOV 2): 10K AND GRAND FINALE
Sleep night before: 4h55m (9h15m total sleep deficit)
Steps: 37,242 (206,226 total)
Miles: 21.3 (105.2 total)
Weather: 68-86°F, 55-90% humidity
Crowd Level: 7 (predicted) 3 (actual)
3:00AM Wake up, sneak out of room, change into running gear in the BW lobby restroom, bus to 10k start, arrived at 3:40, photo with Goofy at 3:44 and Mickey/Minnie at 4:04, got coffee, potty break, then hung out in corral until race started at 5:30, see full race report here. Some good advice: if you want character pictures before the race, try to get on the first bus there. When I arrived, there were only about 30-40 people in line, but within 10-15 minutes there were hordes (see photos 2 and 4 below).
7:05AM Race bus to Contemporary (stopped at Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge first), walked over to MK
8:15AM Met the family in the hub at 8:15 (family boarded bus at BW at #### and arrived at the hub at 7:57)
8:24AM Rode Jungle Cruise (already transformed into Jingle Cruise!) The first morning of Jingle Cruise.
8:38AM Rode Magic Carpets (while I changed)
8:57AM Rode POTC, had FP+ but wait was 10 minutes so modified to Haunted Mansion
9:32AM Visited Tiki Room, Swiss Family Tree House, I got Dole Whip, GM and GP went to get breakfast at Westward HO!
10:08AM Rode Big Thunder Mountain, others watched Country Bear Jamboree and went to get DAS return time for Haunted Mansion
10:31AM Used FP+ to ride IASW
10:57AM Used DAS to ride Haunted Mansion, got DAS return time for PPF.
11:45AM At lunch at Casey’s Corner (mobile order). Mac and cheese on a hot dog, mmmmmm. Allergen Menu: available in the mobile order app
12:48PM Bus to BW, long break, packing
~3:30PM Bus to MK, arrived at 4:06
4:37PM Dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table, met Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine, and Ariel, finished at 6:17. Allergen Menu: printed version provided at table
6:41PM Used FP+ to ride SDMT
~7:00PM Used DAS to ride PPF
~7:30PM Bus to BW, prep for tomorrow, crash
DAY 9 (SUN NOV 3): HALF MARATHON AND DEPARTURE
Sleep night before: 4h45m (12h30m total sleep deficit)
Steps: 40,882 (247,108 total)
Miles: 25.9 (131.1 total)
Weather: 67-80°F, 50-70% humidity (NOT HUMID!)
2:45AM Wake up, sneak out of room, change into running gear in the BW lobby restroom, bus to half marathon start, arrived at 3:15, photo with Mickey/Minnie at 3:44 (after 20min wait), got coffee, potty break, then hung out in corral until race started at 5:30, finished race at 8:15, see full race report here
8:33AM Met with St Jude Heroes team at their tent
8:49AM Through security at Epcot, waiting for Rope Drop
~9:00AM Everyone else ate breakfast at Cape May Café, met Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Daisy. Allergen Menu: printed version provided at table. They had 2 ADRs at 8:45 (one for DW and kids, and another for GM and GP), and they had to wait a bit for a table together.
9:07AM Rode Soarin’ with no wait
9:17AM Picked up Passholder Food & Wine magnet and coasters outside Mouse Gears
9:36AM Grabbed breakfast at Les Halles and ate on way back to BW, showered, finished packing
10:55AM Everyone downstairs for airline check-in and waiting for Magical Express
11:48AM Left “the Bubble”
12:25PM Arrived at MCO, ate lunch at McDonald’s
2:15PM Boarded plane and wheels up at 2:54
(EST->CST)
4:41PM Wheels down, baggage claim at 5:05
5:45PM Drive home 
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS
Table service meals ranked:
Quick service meals ranked:
Rides I missed but wanted to do:
)Favorite rides:
Notable rides I don’t care to repeat in January (or maybe ever, lol!)
And there you have it @davej - the reason I thought it was an important detail, even though some nights I actually slept pretty well. The last two nights I got less than 5 hours each, those really did me in!
Awesome photos!
Them’s fighting words! PPF is a classic!
LOL! We rode it twice. I think that is enough for me. I’m sure we will ride it on the next family trip, but I have no desire to ride it solo in January.
Can you share more details about your signed ornament? Where is it from? Did the characters have trouble managing it? Did you just use a sharpie?
What a great trip!! I loved that you included all of your TP adjustments (did I already make this comment??).
You guys got some really fantastic on-ride photos!! I especially loved the ones of your boys on SDD!! You can tell it’s their fave!!!
What’d you think about the overly race experience? I have a friend who would love to do a Disney race (I’m considering joining her and running in 2021) and wants to “do it big” and run the full if she decides to travel all the way to Orlando to do it.
I bought 4 or 5 ornaments from ShopDisney that I thought would work, but wanted to see them in person. I returned the others except this one. I thought I could return to the local Disney store, but couldn’t because they were “park” merchandise. So I had to ship them back. I was able to convince them over the phone to give me a pre-paid shipping label though, so no cost to me.
We used a retractable sharpie, and it worked well. The only issue the characters had were if their signature was long, the curvature of the ornament became a problem. They would get to the end of their signature and get messed up. Also, I handed it to the first character to sign, and she was obviously a little nervous holding it. So I held it for all the others.
The ornament is beautiful, especially with the little light turned on. But it is difficult to read the autographs.
Now, I’m trying to figure out how to best preserve the autographs. The black is already fading a bit. I’m going to buy some cheap glass ornaments and test out a few different spray-on coatings to see if they will work. I plan to store the ornament in a box except during the Christmas season when it will be on display.
I should have listed the autographs we got. Here they are off the top of my head:
Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Daisy
Cinderella, Snow White, Jasmine, Ariel, Aurora
Anna, Elsa
Mulan
Chip and Dale
Tinker Bell
ShopDisney.com (no longer available):
Fantasyland Castle Light-Up Ornament
#400020791528
$24.99
Found on Ebay:
I absolutely loved the races! The only down side was waking up at 2:45 (and limiting my activity and food/drink choices the night before). The events were a blast from the time I arrived at the start area to the time I left the finish area. There were constant distractions and entertainment on the course, so it never got boring, which is really saying something for a long race, like a half or full marathon. I’ve done about 10 races now, and the Disney events totally blew away all the others. If you just think you might want to try a RunDisney event, I strongly encourage you to do it!
This would be the tricky part!!! Being at Disney but having to behave and not eat all the things and be on my own timeline. I guess it’s only for the day before though. You’re back next month for a race too right? Are you running the Dopey challenge?
Yes, and I’m going to run myself ragged during the day too. I’m only hoping to complete each race, not try for a time goal. So I’m going to be a little loose on my dietary (mostly drinking) restrictions. For example, I’m doing the Star Wars Dessert Party the night before the 5k. I am probably going to regret it in the morning, but I’m planning on having an adult beverage at that party. DW is joining me the night of the marathon and we are leaving on a 4-night cruise the next day, so I can justify the physical torture I’m inflicting on myself beforehand. The first activity I’ve booked for the cruise is a couples massage. Well geez, that was a long answer to a simple question…
thank you for sharing your trip and, even more so your story, with us! best of luck planning your january trip!
