Hey all! We decided a month ago to do another Thanksgiving week trip. Our daughters had a school function on Tuesday morning so we couldn’t head out until after. But we arrived at Pop Century about 11:30am and room request worked splendidly. Got 3438 which was a 50s building with a great view of the lake and Skyliner. Had requested 60s but virtually the same room. So, thank you Touring Plans and Disney! Loved the proximity to the Classic Hall and Skyliner station. Picture is terrible because my camera lenses were sticky from untold candy fingers.
First day up was EPCOT. I went to Classic Hall first thing to get some MagicBand+‘s. I like it. I don’t necessarily think it is used as much as it could be. But I am glad we got them. And charging was fast as I had to run an update first thing and you had to do it at 60% charge or more. We were running tight on time but it charged within 45 minutes and lasted the entire day through EPCOT. We had snagged a Topolinos literally on the way down to WDW to start the day off nicely. My girls loved getting to hug the characters again. It was sorely missed.
We had a VQ and ILL for Guardians that were overlapping and our 7 year old got 4 rides in with Rider Swap! And that is in a row! Her time is short though because our DD3 is growing fast and hit her first 7DMT and SDD on the trip which I will write about later. DD7 got 4 of the 6 songs (they converted to the Christmas Rock song after Thanksgiving).
She got Conga, Disco Inferno and together we got Run So Far and September. I absolutely love that ride. I grinned and laughed the entire time. Bravo Disney for making an awesome ride and just unbridled fun.
On the day, we got in LwtL, Soarin’, Test Track, Remy and a FEA along with Guardians which was a great day in our books. We had an Akershus dinner which was fun. Food was not bad at all. It seemed like it was better than before. Nice to have it back open. And thanks to BG1, we got a FEA with the drop during dinner maybe at 6:47pm? I can’t remember. BG1 was an incredible resource on the trip. Highly recommend as I know so do many others.
Finished up with Harmonious which is a favorite. Also got some Via Napoli for late night snack for the room from the pizza window. I did leave my wallet just before showtime in Mitsukoshi. Had to run back and they had already locked it up with a manager. Whoops! My wife was like, “No worries, we have our Magic Bands and I have credit cards”. So she handled it better than I did. But all was good. Grabbed Skyliner after which went quicker than I would have thought (we opted for a Beach Club Lyft last Harmonious) and back to room to rest up for Day 2.
We camp out pretty close to Japan. You could actually get the balcony above the shop Mitsokoshi and have a great view. But we like the railing. We didn’t really set up shop until late but my DD7 got a good view and the walkway is sloped so it is kind of built in stadium viewing.
We made a CP rez and I am not sure I have ever been in there. If I have, it was when I was little. It was great for breakfast and even though my girls aren’t necessarily Pooh fans, they had a blast.
DD7 and I hit up HM while the girls did Tea Cups and got some Storybook Treats. We then went to ride 7DMT. Unbeknownst to us, our DD3 was slightly tall enough to ride it! So she had a blast!
And in a touch of pixie dust, the CMs out front got cracked up with her and let us all ride again. That was pretty awesome. We had actually walked back to the stroller to make plans and they came and chased us down to let us know that they were doing. And she rode the first row of course like her big sister always does. We grabbed a turkey leg and a pickle over at Liberty Square Market and caught the parade. We then made another split for our LL for SM and the girls went to Dumbo and Barnstormer. Well, SM shut down. So we rode the PM to bide time.
Still not back up and running afterward so we took an anytime experience and rode PotC, met the girls back for a quick Tiki Room as they got off Aladdin and then we moseyed back down Main St where we said goodbye to the characters. We had a CG inner planned and we needed to get to the CR to change.
You guys are super kind. My DD7 is definitely a Daddy’s girl and I am unapologetic about it too! I’m a blessed man for sure. Glad my fam loves WDW and we enjoy all we can fit in. Of course today we are all dragging!
I know, right? That was crazy good luck. I kind of wish I could have been there for the Christmas song but then we would have missed all of that. So no complaints!
Ok, so Day 3 was an HS day. We decided to do some pool time in the morning and then head over to HS. We had snagged a RothR ILL and a SDD LL for the early afternoon. We arrived about 1:00pm and hit the ground running.
Went straight to SDD where DD3 was going to get her first ride! The CM measuring at the front was little rude as I guess she thought we were helping DD3 hit the eight requirement but she already had done it herself and also hit it at 7DMT. Maybe it was a bad day for the CM. But she made height of course with no issue. Side note: a little girl behind us made height and her head didn’t even hit the upper board and she was wearing plastic heels! So you never know.
DD7 made our way around to Star Tours for a ride and then we all met up at Frozen Sing-a-Long. So glad we did this again as it was Christmas themed. I won’t ruin it for anyone but lots of surprises in there. We then hit up MMRR and then got ready to shop a little and then have a H&V dinner. I hadn’t been in there since a character breakfast pre-COVID and it was lots of fun. The food was ok too.
DD7 and headed for RnR for a last ride before Fantasmic and my wife and the 3 year old got in line for Fantasmic. It was running late because of some issue with the dragon so it was delayed by 30 minutes. Killer good show. I just realized that I didn’t take any pics during it. I was too mesmerized and chowing down on popcorn and nachos. Very good remake of Fantasmic though. We then called it a night and headed back to Pop with some late night pizza in the room.
I love the girls plaid Christmas skirts with the red sneakers! And your DW with the matching t-shirt! Her outfit game is on point as usual! What a fun day.