I wasn’t going to do a TR this trip. In fact, we’re currently on day six of our trip. But, I’m pulling an audible and starting one late. Here we go!
This trip is me and my kids (DD12, DS11, DD9, and DD7). DH flew in on Friday to snag the older two for a few days at Universal. He flies home tomorrow.
We’re staying at the Riviera which I love. We love being on the SL and love the vibe here.
Here’s how our trip itinerary looked when we arrived:
8/1 - Flight lands around 2, check in, activate APs, Topolino’s Terrace dinner, B&C for late night milkshakes
8/2 - Boma, AK, O’hana, MK
8/3 - Garden Grill, EP, Via Napoli
8/4 - H&V for Fantasmic seating, HS, Woody’s Round Up
8/5 - Tusker House, AK, Tiffins
8/6 - HS, 50s PT, MK
8/7 - EP, Space 220
8/8 - Head home
We left home and it was hovering around 105-106 all week with a heat index in the 110s-115s. Arrived here to lower real temps but heat indexes just as miserable. We’ve joked all week that we’re being roasted in an oven for some banquet feast!
Woke up Tuesday morning and finished packing up and headed out to the airport. Normally I let the kids all pack their own suitcases but tried minimizing luggage this time and squashed us all into two for the week! Yay.
Flight was on time and fairly smooth. We had to navigate around some weather coming into Orlando and landed 20 or so minutes late. When we landed we had a few unexpected surprises.
The first was that VP Kamala Harris was at the airport and we were told to put away our cell phones and refrain from taking pictures until we were deplaned and inside the terminal. We encounter stopped traffic leaving the airport - presumably due to her motorcade or something navigating to her plane. That was a fun surprise.
The second was not so fun. When we were in DL last month someone stole my debit card info. My bank called me when they noticed a fraudulent charge to Best Buy and promptly cancelled my card and sent a replacement. Apparently the replacement was stolen and someone in our hometown was bleeding our account. 10 different ATM transactions over the course of an hour. $2k in total taken from us. DH left work as soon as I alerted him and got it straightened out. What a cluster.
After that stress we had smooth sailing to the RR. We had decided to rent a car this trip. Really does make it nice getting around. We arrived at 3:30 and got our room ready text at 3:35. Perfection.
Spent about an hour unpacking and getting all the millions of charging cords organized. It really is incredible how many we have for a trip now. All the devices. Lol
Kids said they didn’t want to go into the parks today so we just packed what we needed for our visit to GS. But of course once we got over there, we saw that GotG had ILL availability and DD12 begged to go in just for a ride. Lol. DD9 and DD7 were pretty unsure if they’d want to ride it. I told them it was fine, I’d just book them their ILLs with the idea of them checking out the line/pre show/vehicles and if they decided to ride that’d be a bonus.
It was so hella hot walking over. And as we didn’t come prepared to be in the parks of course DD7’s crocs rubbed blisters. So I carried her most of the way to First Aid to grab some bandaids and moleskin. And we melted without fans or water.
We praised the A/C as we walked into Guardians. DD7 was firmly a no on riding the whole time. DD9 went back and forth the whole wait but decided at the last minute not to ride. DD12 cried. She was so disappointed she didn’t ride. I told her I understood but that I wasn’t going to force her to ride and hoped she’d feel more ready when we went back.
We got Everybody Wants to Rule the World and had to hustle it back for dinner. I had planned to shower but had zero time for anything other than to swap out my sweaty clothes for clean ones and we speed walked to Topolino’s.
I am glad you decided to do a report! And thankful to know we are not the only ones who travel with fans lol. It’s a Southern thing, but when you’ve slept with a fan running your whole life it has to be done!
Do you think the fan collars help? I’m debating getting one for DD21. I don’t love the heat, but csn dral with it. She melts and wears down so fast, even at night. The sun is gone then, but it’s still 85°F - 90°F!
I never slept with one until I married DH. But after 15 years with it, yes. It is for sure necessary at this point in my life!
We had previously just packed one or two of the table side fans we used at home or relied on the hotel to have a box fan but it usually ended up not working out well.
I just bought these tiny ones about a month ago. 5 fit into a single packing cube. Much better for space!
Yes they for sure do! My kids actually prefer the two small handheld fans over the neck ones but I think they all work great. They really do make a big difference.
DW got one for our recent trip (same heat index into the 110-115 area) and I’m not sure if it actually cooled or if it just gave a sense of cooling. I used a XL mission cooling towel wrapped around my neck and draped over my chest and feel it did an ok job cooking me off, when I kept it wet and “snapped”. If you don’t mind having a wet neck and chest area, I recommend it. Maybe pair it with some damp boob socks
DH left work as soon as I alerted him and got it straightened out. What a cluster.
)