Yummmmmm
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Was it middle daughter that was being so particular? Lovely earrings she chose! And you canât go wrong with Chip and Dale. 
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Yes, the middle one. DD10 got a pair of earrings when we were here and she was 8 and then she got her ears pierced for her 9th birthday. DD8 decided to follow suit.
I have the cutest photo to DD6 on her 3rd birthday holding 4 Mickey Mouse plush characters that sheâd chosen for a gift. Today she said, âI have everyone except Chip and Dale and Pete!â And she found what to spend her gift card money on. 
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I want that puzzle!
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I canât get over how big the girls are!! And how bummed I am that I missed you guys by just a few days. (We fly in on Monday, get in super late)
Itâs a weird time at WDW. You have to get back when things are normal. Maybe in two more years??
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Itâs my souvenir! Another friend got one on their trip to WDW early this year and I have been jealousâŚso glad I got one for myself!
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I knowâŚand weâre entering birthday season soon. So crazy!
It is definitely weird at WDW. I have lots of thoughts that I will type up later. As far as another trip, I really donât know. Iâd love to come back at least one more time but DH is a lot on the, âIâve done my due diligence to take my kids to Disney and now we can move onâ side of things. If we do come back it probably wonât be for closer to like 5 yearsâŚlong enough for all the things theyâre currently working on to be completely finished, long enough that DD6 will be old enough to actually remember, long enough for DH to not feel like we were just there. Iâd love to come back with kids old enough to go get their own snack, or old enough to stay up really late. And Iâd love to come back post-pandemic in a normal Disney, as this time was fun but definitely not as great as our last trip.
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Good morning! We let everyone sleep in this morning (DD10 is still asleep, actually, or at least dozing) since we have zero plans except to swim and watch Star Wars and catch lizards. Once again, Iâm really glad we have a couple of days to relax and pack and swim and such before heading back to ânormalâ life.
Hereâs the recap from yesterday:
We left WBC at maybe 7:55 and arrived at the TTC at 8:07. Iâm not sure what time they opened up, but it was 8:15 or so. We werenât parked until 8:35. Got in line for the ferry at 8:45 and werenât into the park until 9:25. Once again, getting into the park if you are driving is extremely frustrating and takes forever. I remember on our last trip it would take us exactly an hour to get from leaving our place over near the outlets to being inside of the park. Yesterday it took us 1.5 hours and we are pretty much in the bubble, location-wise. If you are going in this Covid-era and are driving just be prepared.
We had a list of 3 âmust-doâsâ: SM, HM, and 7DMT, the three things we didnât do on Monday. So we did them first, even though maybe we should have waited in order to save time in line. In line for SM at 9:32, on the ride at 9:51, in line for HM at 10:12 and on the ride at 10:35, and then, bless it, 7DMT. Posted wait was 55 minutes. We got in line at 10:48 and werenât on until 12:11. Thatâs an hour and 23 minutes, for anyone not good at math. For the love. But it was done and we could do whatever we wanted.
We went back to Tomorrowland to see about SM or Buzz. We had a 1:20 reservation at The Plaza so didnât want to wander too far. We could tell from looking at the line that SM would not be longer than we had waited this morning, even though it was posted 55 minute wait, so we hopped in line. We caught a cleaning cycle but were still on after 30 minutes. The girls looked around in the shop a little and then we headed to The Plaza. The villains cavalcade went by as we were heading that way so we ran over to watch, then checked in and were seated right at 1:20. Everyone (except me, boo) ordered a milkshake and they were all delighted with them. DD6 had to stand up in order to drink hers, though, as the cup and straw were too tall for her to reach while sitting down. 
While in The Plaza the princess cavalcade came by so I took the girls outside to watch it pass by.
From the Carpets on Monday:
We were out by 1:50 and decided to go ride the monorail. DD6 had wanted to ride it so badly and was so sad we didnât ride it on Monday that I promised her weâd ride today. We didnât ride it this morning (although maybe we should have) because the monorail line looked insane. So, anyways, we took the resort loop and got off at the Grand Floridian because the bigger girls remembered shopping there last time. DD6 found those Chip and Dale plushies and DD8 bought some earrings. DD10 decided that sheâs spent enough money (she bought a keychain and a baby Yoda that sits on your shoulder) and didnât want to spend any more. I found that puzzle!
We got back on the monorail and were back in the park at 3:00. We headed to BTMRR, hitting up Swiss Family Treehouse on the way since there was literally nobody on it. We got in line for BTMRR at 3:20 and were on the ride at 3:54. While in line the Boo to You cavalcade came by so I popped out of line with the girls to go watch it and then popped back in a few minutes later. This was the only one we hadnât seen, and actually DH and DD8 had seen it the other day when I took DD10 and DD6 to the bathrooms.
After BTMRR we got in line for Splash again. The line was shorter than it had been the other day, when we waited an hour with a cleaning cycle. We figured that even if we caught a cleaning cycle it would be shorter, and we were right, we waited 45 minutes (I think we did catch a cleaning cycle 
).
Off of Splash right at 5:00 and headed to BTMRR again, on at 5:30 and back in line again at 5:37. I was hoping weâd have time to run to PP but no diceâŚwe got off right at 6:00, so headed out of the park. We took the resort monorail loop to the TTCâŚ6 minutes waiting. That is my big time-saving hack, to know that the resort loop also goes to the TTC. DH wanted to take the ferry because he thought itâd be faster, but when we only waited 6 minutes he spoke what we call âlovinâ wordsâ around here: âYou were right.â
From yesterday:
From yesterdayâŚsee how wet!!!
Got back to the resort and ate leftovers for dinner, got everyone rinsed off and watched some Star Wars before bed. DD10 cried that our Disney days are over because it was so fun and she doesnât want it to be over. DLP may be in our future once we get back to RussiaâŚI had priced tickets for ahem, October, back in February when we thought weâd be needing to exit the country in October. I think a 4-day package with hotel and 3-day tickets and a meal plan was like $1,500. Maybe just 2-day tickets. I donât remember. But anyways, itâs much cheaper and closer and hey, Iâve never been to Paris. So maybe we can surprise them and go to Paris and DLP, too, someday in a couple of years.
Thoughts on Disney during a pandemic to follow later today.
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Great pictures! Enjoy your relaxing day.
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Cute pics!
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Weâre at the pool after a super lazy morning. Minecraft and Mickey Mouse and Star Wars galore. DH did bring the girls to the pool a bit this morning but other than that it has been all about screen time, ha.
So, here are my thoughts on this Disney-during-Covid business. Itâs alright. I mean, we had a good time but we are budget Disney-goers. We will have spent less than our stimulus check on 2 weeks here, if you donât count our annual timeshare taxes and maintenance. We had a week that was about to expire so Iâm glad to have used it instead of losing it. The amount we spent is less than most people would spend on a one week Disney vacation. So for us the loss of the things that are missing does not seem as pronounced. But I do think that for most people it will for sure be a lesser experience, especially when taking into account the fact that it is still full price.
I donât think TPs are working as they should. Having a shorter park day makes you feel like you have to do open-close if you donât come regularly. The fact that they are opening early makes it a bit of a mess for RD. Regular Liner knowledge doesnât help as much these days. A cleaning cycle can hit the best prepared Liner at the worst time, and thereâs no way to prepare except to know there wonât be one in the first 2 hours. Being âin the knowâ doesnât help a whole lot these days, which is frustrating.
If this is supposed to be a first trip I would wait. If you come regularly (like every month up to every 1-2 years) I think youâll still have fun. If you only come every 5 years then I would wait. If you have a 2-year old who is free now but wonât be in a year I would still wait. There is still a ton of magic to be had. There is a ton of fun to be had. If the price of a Disney vacation is not really a factor for you then come on. But if it is a splurge, if your kids hate masks, if you hate standing in line and love the shows and characters, you should wait.
That being said, I am super glad we came. Our circumstances are unique, much more like those who live in the UK. As disappointed as I know @sanstitre_has_left_the_building is that his trip was canceled, it really would not be the same experience that he is used to getting for his money. Knowing that it could have been another 4-5 years instead of 1.5 years before we could come again makes me glad we went now when our girls are 6, 8, 10. If we had not gone they may have been 10, 12, and 14 before weâd go again just due to our living overseas and only coming to the States every 3ish years.
Also, a note on masking and social distancing and all that. Maybe I shouldnât be so honest butâŚI didnât focus on it because I donât really care. I am pretty much in the âweâre all going to get it eventuallyâ camp, so Iâm just not very concerned about if others are doing what they âshould.â Iâm about 90% sure weâve already had Covid in January after visiting Spain/Portugal for 17 days so donât think we can get it or give it to anyone. But I wore my mask appropriately almost all of the time (I folded it down below my nose on a couple of rides where we were in our own vehicle) and made my kids do the same because I agreed to that when we decided to go. I let everyone eat or drink in line if we were not moving and made them put their mask up between bites. I was one of thousands of people doing this. So if things like that bother you, or if you are genuinely afraid of getting Covid, or if people getting too close to you these days freaks you out, you should stay home in order to save yourself a lot of stress. I think Disney is doing everything they can to keep people safe so your qualms wonât be with them, but with other people. And youâll have a lot of issues with other people.
I think that we will be back one more time, when everything is open and the girls are big enough to completely remember the trip. After weâve done some other things, like Universal and Egypt and a family cruise.
So there you go. I hope this helps anyone on the fence to make a decision and helps bring some joy to those who have decided to wait.
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Iâve almost completely avoided trip reports since the reopening, with a few exceptions. I donât like all the photos with masks on and I particularly dislike all the commentary and finger-pointing about rule compliance. I wanted to read yours for a few reasons and Iâm super glad I did. Iâm so glad you had a fun and relaxing time. Give DH a few years and he will likely come around.
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Last day! We have done laundry and packed a little and eaten up weird leftovers (egg burritos with salsa for lunch? Iâve had worse!). DH watched football a good bit of the day. I took the girls swimming for most of the afternoon.
They caught some more lizards.
We played another round of mini golf.
I talked DH into a cupcake order from Boardwalk Bakery.
We took a sunset Skyliner ride and got an unwrapped one for the return!
Girls had their last Mickey bars.
And we are packing up to head back to NC tomorrow. Itâs been a good trip. Hereâs to hoping I can convince DH to come back again in 4-5 years.
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What a great last night!
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Great pool action shots!
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You might be surprised how much they remember from this trip. My parents took me on my first BIG trip to Disney when I was 7 and my second BIG trip to Disney when I was 13. When I look back, my memories of that trip when I was 7 are what usually come to mind first. Of course I donât remember everything but there are certain moments from that trip that are so vivid and clear - I love looking back on them (and Iâm 44 now 
).
Thanks so much for taking us all along on your trip! I loved your vacationing approach. I bet your girls will carry these memories with them for a long, long time. Well done, Mom and safe travels home.
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I hope you are right. I have been to Disney a lot (mostly as a child) and the only trip I really remember (until the very recent ones) is from when I was 20. Then again, I honestly donât remember much from my childhood, so maybe most people remember more than I do.
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Great pics! Iâve enjoyed following your trip. My kids were almost 6 and almost 8 on their first trips (2 different trips) and neither of them remember much. DS16 doesnât remember much from his trip at almost 12 either.
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