Lol @timwarp you may not want to be in the car with us… My 15 month old has never been on a trip this long and DD9 is prone to getting car sick… Hoping for an uneventful drive down. T minus 8.5 hrs!!!
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Well we are on our way!!! We pulled out of the driveway at 430 am! Wish us luck!
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@lizard428 My DD9 used to get car sick all the time. We could not travel more than 30 mins down the road and she would get sick. In researching my this trip for Disney, I found out about SeaBands. They are a lifesaver. My daughter will put them on when she starts to feel sick and within a min of putting them on she is fine again. You can purchase them at Wal-mart, Target, CVS, Walgreens, etc.
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Thanks for the tip!!! Will have to look into those next time!
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Day 1: Thursday July 13th… The LONG drive home…
We got up this morning around 4 am. I quickly got dressed in my new Disney lularoe outfit (perfectly comfy for a long drive) and packed up the car. We carefully got the girls out of bed, into the car, and by about 430 am we were on the road!!! The drive was overall not too bad. We stopped a total of 4 times. We really only would have needed 3 stops except DD1 had an unforseen diaper incident (
) that resulted in an extra stop. Honestly though, looking at how long our drive was… 4 stops was pretty darn good if you ask me. We hit a bit of traffic around Virginia, Charlotte, and then in Jacksonville which added an extra 30-45 min or so on to the trip. So our total drive including stops ended up being about 15 1/2 hrs. Considering we had a 1 year old in the car and this was her first real road trip, I’m pretty happy with how it went.
I would include more details but I’m pretty tired and the day was a bit of a blur at this point lol. We pulled into BLT around 815 pm. Even the baby could tell something exciting was happening! We unloaded the car outside check in and I waited for bell services to come get our bags. DH took the girls to park the car. Bell services came after a few minutes and took our bags to the room. I informed them we had a grocery order that had arrived around 6 pm so he said he would bring that after he dropped off our bags. We went to the check in desk since it was our first time in BLT and I wanted to be sure we were heading the right direction. Our CM was very nice but a bit slow talking… Not what I really wanted… I had to make it to MK and DH was only going to agree to go it we could get there by 9. Just as I was about to stop him during his lengthy dissertation about the monorail and where everything was located at Contemporary he was finally done and we were off to our room.
Our room is 7104. Unfortunately not the room we requested using TP fax but DH was happy to get a 1st floor room. And honestly it is very quiet and a nice short walk to the front desk and exit which will he convenient in the mornings when we are trying to get out.
After we got the groceries in the fridge, just as I thought DH (Adam) would say “ok time for bed” I was starting to unload toiletries and he said “well if we are going to take care of our passes we better get there now”. YES!!! come on let’s go!!! We walked along the path to MK, went quickly through the security check point and about 10 min later arrived at the MK entrance. There were two CMs working so we had to wait a few minutes. And just as we walked up, realized it was 9 pm and HEA was starting. So we basked in the magic of the surrounding music and listened to the fireworks shooting off from near by. Before we knew it, it was our turn. The CM we got was very efficient and we had our AP cards and bands officially activated within about 10 minutes!!! Mission accomplished!!!
We walked back to BLT and took a few glances at the fireworks going on during the walk, of course obstructed by trees and the monorail but it was still magical nonetheless! I must say my youngest Isabella (DD1) amazed us all that she was not the least bit scared by the loud booms and bangs from the fireworks. So that was a huge shock!!!
Back in the room, I unpacked the necessities for the morning. Isabella and Allison (DD9) had a quick snack. And then Isabella proceeded to work on getting into everything around the room… She is quite mischievous this little one. By about 10:15, we finally got the girls calmed down. Isabella took her bottle and climbed into the king bed with me to get to sleep (don’t judge… She hasn’t been sleeping well since she got sick with strep a few weeks ago so I’m just letting it go til after vacation at this point) and Allison snuggled into the pull out twin bed/chair. Adam is claiming the pull out double couch/bed for the week at least for now unless Isabella decides to sleep in the pack n play.
I’m pretty tired and hope to make it to the park by 9 tomorrow so I’m off to bed!!!
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Glad you arrived safely and managed to get your magic bands activated. Have an awesome trip. Will follow along.
Day 2: Friday July 14th (part 1)… First day in the parks!!!
Knowing my family and how important sleep is (especially to Adam and the girls) I planned our first fast pass for 925-1025 am because also knowing my girls, there was no way either of them would sleep much past 730 and would be ready and rearing to go in the morning. I set my alarm to wake by 730 am but I was up by 530 am myself. I laid in bed trying to contain my excitement and not wake anyone else up. By around 630, I had to have Adam come lay with the baby so I could use the bathroom (I was worried she will roll out of bed) and he said (knowing me well) “so why don’t you just get up and get your shower, I’m sure the girls won’t sleep my longer” (he really does know me well). Eeek of course… Let’s get this day started!!! So I got myself ready while the girls still slept a bit longer. By 7, Allison had woken up. She was happy to see Tinkerbell had come to our room this trip and left she and Isabella a little something (a Minnie tsum tsum keychain for her and Elena snack container for her sister)… I will continue that little fun tradition until they both are too old to stop “believing” in the magic of the characters… Allison still doesn’t realize they are people in costume. I got Allison a bagel so she could have breakfast while I finished getting ready. Shortly Isabella woke up. She ate some french toast sticks and I packed our bag for the park. I had a hard time getting Isabella to settle down long enough to get her dressed and ready (she has taken to really enjoying running around the island in the kitchen area of our room) and then we all got sunscreen on and we were out the door by 815 am.
The walk to MK from BLT is just so convenient, I cannot say it enough. And the new security procedure makes the walk even nicer. There is one metal detector along the walk and very few people around that early in the morning. We were at the tapstiles by 820. The crowds at security for nonresort guests were building already and there were many people waiting around on main Street when we entered. We went straight to Tinkerbell with only a 5 min wait and were out of there by 835 am. Allison loved every minute of it. Isabella had fun in line but was not so sure about meeting Tink. We took a family photo and one with Allison herself and then went back out to Main Street with the rest of the crowds. We stopped for a family photo in front of the castle with a photo pass photographer. Isabella was ready to move so we didn’t take too many pics. Then we headed to Dumbo as EMH was wrapping up. Both girls enjoyed it. Isabella actually cried when we had to get off🤣. Allison wanted to ride “something fast” so Adam took her to ride Barnstormer while I took Isabella back on Dumbo. By the time we were done with those, we still had some time before our first FP time so we went to ride UTS. By the time we were off, we walked to Frontierland and made it there by 925 just as our FP window opened up for BTMRR. Allison and I got in line and gladly got a RS pass to use for another day. FP line went very quickly and then we met Adam and Isabella resting by Splash near the LP play area. We took a short bathroom break there. Isabella played a short time and then went back in the stroller to have a snack. I walked to Pecos Bill to get us all some water (we already went through our bottle that morning). The CM there was awesome and gave me 3 large cups of ice water instead of the usual small ones they give for free. I walked back to the family and we all took a rest in the shade. Allison wanted to try out the pressed penny machine so I was happy I had the 51 cents to give her. Isabella was getting a little antsy so I walked with her in the stroller to the near by gift shop so she could cool off until our FPs for Splash were up. We walked around there for about 10 min and then it was time for Adam and Allison to ride. We all went to the FP line so we could get a RS for later. They went on while I stayed out with Isabella.
She wanted to play a bit more so she ran around at the play area. Unfortunately, there were some pretty unruly kids there this morning. After about 15 min we had to leave after I watched a child hit Isabella in the face with his cast he had on his arm. Sadly it was on purpose, no apology, nothing said by the parents… Isabella was thankfully not hurt, just some hard tears for several minutes. I gave her some TLC, then I got her back in the stroller and we walked around Frontierland waiting for them to finish the ride. I snapped a few pics while we walked and she enjoyed people watching. I thought I would have to take her around more and then my phone was ringing, it was Adam looking for us… They were already off the ride! Wow that was fast!
It was 10:55 am… We were already getting hungry. Allison requested to eat at PVH so we walked leisurely there and were sitting down with our food by 11:05 am. It always does pay to save time to get to meals on the early or late side to avoid the lunch rush closer to noon. Adam and I both enjoyed the caprese flatbread while the girls both ate Mac and cheese. We took our time eating to enjoy the AC and recharge a bit. Our next FP also wasn’t til 11:55 for 7DMT so we also didn’t want huge full tummies right before getting on that ride. After finishing lunch we took a bathroom break and reapplied sunscreen. Then we headed over to 7DMT.
Allison chose me to ride with her. We made use of RS again (we will have accumulated 3 RS passes now to use another day in MK!) And then Allison and I rode. I know lots of people don’t see the hype, but 7DMT is always a fave for our family. While we waited, I got on MDE app and tried to make some extra FPs. Using modify, I was able to score WTP for us when we got off 7D.
We walked over after getting off and headed to WTP. Sadly Isabella didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped… I had forgotten how scary some of that ride would appear to a little one… So that will be a one and done for her at least. While in line, I was able to get FPs for all of us to ride IASW. So we headed there next. Now this was more Isabella’s speed. She really enjoyed it and was bouncing to the music through the entire ride. We will definitely have to ride it again at least for her! After tapping in, I scored FPs for PP for about 15 min later. Since Isabella had not enjoyed the dark of WTP, Adam decided to take her back to the resort while Allison and I stayed a little longer.
So I went to ride PP with Allison. By the time we came out, it was down pouring. I had kept two ponchos for us, but we waited under cover a few minutes. After tapping in at PP, I was able to get FPs for HM. And modified a few times and got a time of 110 pm (only 20 min later) so we waited and the rain slowed down. By 1, we walked through the light drizzle and then waited til 105 and tapped in to use our FPs. After that, we called it a day and decided to head back to rest. Allison loves the monorail so we rode back to CR and walked home to BLT.
When we got back, Isabella was running around the room playing with Adam. I couldn’t believe it because when we left her she was exhausted. But usually she doesn’t want to sleep when Daddy is around. So it wasn’t much different today either. We got her calmed down and I took her into the bedroom while Adam and Allison stayed in the living room to watch TV. Isabella fell asleep with her bottle (and is still sleeping as I type lol). I went out to check on Allison and saw to my surprise she had dozed off as well! I just finished freshening up for dinner. I just hope the girls both wake up soon! They are always in better moods when they wake up on their own. We have dinner ADRs at Chef Mickey’s tonight at 5:05 so I hope they don’t sleep too much longer. We will see how Isabella does with the characters at this meal. Hopefully better than it went with Tink!
Until later…
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Have fun at Chef Mickey’s!!
15 1/2 hrs. Great job. BLT is great resort. Glad you made it with no problems, have a great time.
I am so enjoying your trip report. We’ll have a little one about your daughter’s age when we take a family trip in January. I hope you have a good night’s rest tonight so you’ll be all charged up for tomorrow.
Day 2: Friday July 14th (part 2)…
Writing this laying in bed Saturday morning while everyone still sleeps. I am like a kid on Christmas morning in Disney and just can’t sleep much past 6 am… I have been laying here for about an hour so I figured I would try to write about yesterday evening.
Both girls took a nice long nap yesterday. My phone rang around 415 yesterday afternoon and abruptly woke up Isabella. Poor thing was so startled (it was a no answer… Still don’t know who was calling) she woke up crying. But Allison ran in and she calmed down (Isabella loves her big sister). It ended up being a good thing she woke up though because we had to get ready for dinner.
We walked over to CR using the walkway around 440 pm (our ADR was at 505) so that we could have some time to take our picture at the entrance. As we walked closer, we saw a crowd gathering. I thought it was just the line forming but noticed everyone was looking up. To my surprise, the characters were all along various floors looking down on Chef Mickey’s waving to all the guests. We have eaten here 3 times in the past and never saw this before so it must be new since our last trip in 2015. Isabella loved waving “hi” to all the characters up above, especially Minnie who kept blowing her kisses.
They finally started checking guests in around 450. We went to take our family photo (I still need to check photo pass to see how it turned out) and then sat down with our buzzer to wait for our table. Isabella enjoyed bouncing around the couches at the waiting area… I think she could have played there all night lol.
Right at 5 pm, the characters started to gather by the entrance. We Happened to be sitting by the wall and both girls got some extra attention from Minnie and Pluto who were standing right by where we were waiting. I quickly realized this was a preview for the meal how she would be with the characters… Isabella was excited to see them and waved “hi” over and over again… As long as they were across the room. Once they got within 3 feet of her, she got scared and then wanted nothing to do with them. But once they got about 5 feet away, it was all smiles and waving again.
Our buzzer went off promptly at 505 and we were taken to our table. We were seated in the front area right next to the window. It was perfect because we had a nice view of the CR pool and were able to see when each character was coming by. I took Allison to the buffet quickly to get food for myself and the girls. We saw Goofy coming so we got our food and headed back to the table in plenty of time.
I have to admit, I don’t know why everyone gives Chef Mickey’s such bad reviews. I know the food isn’t amazing, but we have always found something to enjoy. I actually think the salmon and mashed potatoes are quite tasty. And the character interaction has always been wonderful for us. Last night was no different.
Allison enjoyed collecting all the signatures and getting hugs from the Fab 5. Isabella waved while they were at the next table, and then got scared when they approached her. She actually cried the most when Mickey tried to tell her hi😫. We didn’t push the interaction though. She sat on my lap after the tears happened with Mickey. She crouched in the corner and played peek-a-boo with Minnie. I wish I could have gotten better pictures of that, it was actually pretty cute.
By the time we finished our dinner, all the characters had come by and it was time for dessert. Surprisingly Isabella does not share the sweet tooth the rest of us have. She sat and banged on the table with her spoon while we enjoyed Mickey Oreos, cakes, and various tarts. All yummy if you ask me!! While we finished dessert, a CM came by our table to ensure all the characters had made it to us. Then shortly after, our waitress was by with our check. We finished dessert and then paid the bill (10% off thanks to our AP discount).
After dinner, Allison requested to take a ride around the monorail loop. So we headed through the security check point and loaded on. We stood til we got to TTC and then grabbed the seats of a family getting off there and rode the rest of the way with a window seat for the girls. Isabella enjoyed her first monorail ride. Allison was in heaven as well. I always tell her I think the monorail is her favorite ride in all of Disney… She just giggles when I say that… I honestly think that’s the truth.
After we made it back to CR, we unloaded and walked back to our room. We brought some toys from home for Isabella, so we got those out to try and keep her in as much of our home routine as possible for the evening. Around 730 the girls had snacks and rested in the living room while we watched Disney Jr shows. A typical evening for our family even when home lol.
By 830 ish, Isabella was starting to get fussy, which is usually a sign it is bedtime. I headed into the bedroom with her (milk bottle in tow) and got her to sleep. I heard Adam and Allison turn the TV off about 30 min later so I’m pretty sure they were asleep by 9. I dozed off shortly after.
All in all, I would say we had a pretty magical first day!!! I am ready to go to HS today!!! So I’m going to get Adam up do I can start getting ready. I like to get myself ready while the girls are still sleeping because it saves me time. No hair dryer for me today though… Wasn’t worth it with the heat. I will be sporting my wet hair slicked back in a bun today. We plan to swim for a bit after HS as well and maybe order pizza. We had planned to go to church this evening, but Adam was worried about the drive (without traffic it looks like about 20-25 min) and we would have to be in the car by 4 at the latest to make it. Both girls were still asleep yesterday, barely up by 415 and both chomping at the bit to eat. So we will say some extra prayers tonight for missing mass.
Can’t wait to see what today brings!!! Until later…
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Sounds like a wonderful time at Chef Mickey’s! Have fun at HS today.
We always find it hard to get to Mass while on vacation. We usually don’t have a car at WDW, which makes it even harder.
Day 3: Saturday July 15th: Hollywood Studios
So everyone was up and ready to go as desired and we were out the door walking to the bus stop by 8 am (yay another win!) It seemed extra hot today for some reason… Yes I know, July in Disney is hot but for some reason it felt more so than yesterday… But I digress… We arrived to a crowded bus stop. Although luckily tons of benches so we had a place to sit down. Most of the stop was one group accompanying a scooter. We only waited about 10 min for the bus to arrive but it seemed like forever since Isabella was a bit antsy this morning. We had to wait for the scooter to board along with the 20 people in the group. Really I’m not exaggerating, the bus was pretty much full by the time we got on. Luckily we were at the front of the rest of the pack so I was able to sit with Isabella on my lap and Allison in her own seat. Adam stood with several other dads in the aisle. Finally we were on our way. I was expecting a stop at another resort since sometimes they share, but thankfully on we went to HS! Something we learned on the rides to and from HS today… Isabella does not like the bus ride. Not sure what it was. She did fine being held on the monorail. But she hated being confined with us holding her on the bus. I thought maybe it was because I had her on the way there. But Adam held her the way back and she was still awful. Lesson learned… We will likely be driving to AK after the experience with her on the buses today.
After what seemed like forever, we were finally pulling up to HS. I thought I remembered them getting the scooter off first, but we were let off before them… Maybe it was the screaming 1 year old accompanying us… Oh well… We were on our way. I walked quickly up ahead with our bags to go through the bag check. Then I got randomly picked to go through the metal detectors. I met Adam and the girls a few minutes later. We went off to the right to go through the shorter tapstiles to Annual Passholders (a nice perk this am). Allison and I ran up ahead to get to as close to the front so we could make a mad dash to RnR.
Thanks to liner advice I went to the right and we were about 15 people back next to the Trolley Stop. I was so excited to ride… It had been since 2014 since I rode. The last time we rode it, Allison was only 6 and came off pretty scared. But she had told me a month ago she wanted to try it again. Well this morning I don’t know if it was the heat, the crowd, the long bus ride, the waiting… But after about 10 min of waiting to be let in, I knew on Allison’s face the look of pure terror. So I asked her if she wanted to ride, and she said she was scared. So I told her she didn’t have to. She started crying because she knew I wanted to ride and felt bad. But I told her we could change plans and gave her the option to meet Olaf or Buzz & Woody first. So she chose Olaf and we got out of the crowd to find Adam & Isabella.
I have to admit, I am still pretty bummed I didn’t get to ride. I guess I could have done single rider line at some point in the day. But I didn’t want Allison to be scared. So I let it go… And I will just have to wait til January to ride. It’s only 6 months…
So we changed plans (not easy for me to do… But I told myself I would be more flexible on this trip) and went to meet Olaf. We were second in line. Isabella actually gave Olaf a high five (progress!!!) And we took a family photo. I will have to add pics later when I’m on my actual computer. At least that was successful!
Then we headed to meet Buzz & Woody. We had about a 20 minute wait since a giant tour group had flooded the meet just before we got there (ugh!). But still wasn’t horrible and both girls enjoyed playing with the props in the line (which is indoors and AC so also a plus). Isabella waved hi from a distance buy otherwise wanted nothing much to do with either character up close. She still cooperated for a family shot though so that was nice.
We were out of there by 928 am. Our first FP wasn’t u til 10 am so we had some time to kill. I checked character locater and realized the Disney Jr characters all started meeting by 930. So we headed over to get in line for Sofia first. We were 3rd in line. She came out right at 930 and were taking pics within a min or two. Isabella was adorable with Sofia. She had goldfish crackers she was snacking on and insisted on giving one to Sofia. Sofia gave it back to Isabella who kept handing it back to Sofia lol. It really was cute! Sofia finally handed the snack off to her handler and Allison took a picture with her. Isabella still didn’t want to pose for a photo but she blew her kisses.
We went on down the line and went into the line for Jake. He came out right at 935 as planned and we were first to meet him. Allison took her pic and Isabella waved hi from afar.
Next it was on to Doc. I said “oh my favorite character” as we got in line (I’m a family physician). Well Doc must have heard me and she opened up the dividers and motioned for us to come in first!!! She took lots of pics with us and a “doctor pic” with just me😁. We said our goodbyes and then went to sit on a shaded bench for a quick snack and water break while waiting for our FP time to come up. 6 characters in 35 min! Not a bad start after all!
There was a sweet photo pass photographer roaming around and she came up and gave the girls stickers to match as many autographs as she could. Then she took a magic shot for Allison. After that it was time to ride TSM! Isabella rode with Adam, and Allison rode with me. Adam said there were parts Isabella was giggling at and others she was a bit scared. So not terrible at least.
We got out of TSM by 1015 am and our next FP wasn’t til 11. I checked TP and saw there was a 1030 show of Frozen Sing Along so we went to the theater. Allison loved it as expected (we had seen it our last trip). I thought Isabella would like it. But as the show went on she was not happy. I think it was the lights that flash and glare during Let it Go and she also really wanted milk instead of water. So I took her out and it was the perfect time for a diaper change for her. I stopped to get us some lemonade, which she liked much more than the water I was trying to force her to drink. By then, Adam was texting they were out of the show. It was about 1115 so it was time for our next FP (Tower of Terror).
Adam went to sit in the outdoor seating right outside the BATB theater at Rosie’s and Allison and I went to use our FPs. I still don’t understand how Allison is willing to ride ToT and NOT RnR… But oh well… Can’t get mad for her being scared …
We got off and joined Adam and Isabella. Everyone was hungry so we just decided to get food from Rosie’s. We all ate cheeseburgers and fries. Allison got a specialty cupcake that was Cars themed. She couldn’t finish it all so I had the last few bites. It was actually quite tasty… Strawberry cream cheese I think was the flavor. By the time we finished eating it was time to head back to BLT.
I think we will find more to do once Toy Story Land opens up. Allison used to spend lots of time in the HISTK playground so she was missing that today.
Both girls love the pool so it was the perfect day to spend swimming. After another long and fussy bus ride (yep we’ll be driving to AK) we rushed back and got changed to get ready to swim. Both girls enjoyed their time. Isabella loved the splash area and sitting in the zero entry shallow end. And Allison loved the slide! I was pleasantly surprised at how much room there was to move around. When we have stayed at GF and CR in the past, the pool areas always seemed like wall to wall people. Maybe it was just a fluke. But it was nice to not feel like you are on top of the people next to you in the water. After about an hour, Isabella was getting exhausted so I took her back early. Allison stayed a little longer with Adam. I got Isabella down for a nap (she is still dozing) and then Adam & Allison came back about 30 min or so later and are relaxing watching TV. Allison is also enjoying her new light up fidget spinner😆
I think we will be ordering our pizza soon for dinner. We still all have to shower from our pool time. Definitely need to call it an early night tonight as we have 8 am ADRs for CRT! I will update on how the pizza was if we decide to order!!
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Scooters are always on first, off last. It’s hard to manoeuvre them with lots of people in the way.
Hope you enjoyed HS, it’s our favourite park.
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I apologize I haven’t updated yesterday or the first installment of today. We have been busy! And this morning I slept in a little more after being up late for HEA. I will update when I can, hopefully later tonight!
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Day 4: Sunday July 16th: Magic Kingdom…
more to come later just saving a place:)
Day 5: Monday July 17th: Magic Kingdom and Epcot…
more to come later… saving a place
Day 6: Tuesday Juy 18th: Animal Kingdom
more to come later… saving space
Day 7: Wednesday July 19th: Epcot
Today was our “rope drop” Epcot day. You will read later (once I go back and update above) that we were able to score a same day fast pass for Soarin’ when we went to Epcot Monday afternoon/evening so we decided to arrive slightly later before rope drop than we normally would. Although we ended up having less of a “commute” than expected so we still arrived with time to spare.
We woke up this morning, quickly got ready and were out the door by 7:55 am. I have found that the travel time to Epcot is so variable so I wanted to give us an hour of “travel time” to catch the resort monorail to TTC and to switch to the Epcot line. We got to the monorail station at Contemporary by 8 am. We got through security quickly and went up the elevator (since we had a stroller). A monorail was just departing and I thought “thank goodness we left early”. But I was surprised we only waited maybe 5-10 minutes for the next one (so hard to tell when you are excited and hurrying to get to the parks). We boarded and were on our way to Epcot. We arrived quickly to TTC. We rushed off and over to the next monorail. I was shocked to see the Epcot monorail approaching as we made our way up the ramp. So we could not have timed it more perfectly (pure luck really:) ). We boarded and started the final part of our trip to Epcot. I always loved the ride through the park before you approach the station to get off. Isabella, not so much, she was ready and rearing to go!!! She kept rocking herself back and forth in a “let’s go” motion as she has done many days during the trip when she is sick of waiting in a motionless stroller. We finally made it to the station and we were off. I walked quickly ahead since I had our bags while Adam and Allison went through the “guests without bag” part of security. I met them after the metal detectors and we were at the tapstiles.
As we went through, there was a crowd quickly building under Spaceship Earth (where they now keep the ropes). I checked my phone to see what time it is (surely it had to be only about 10 minutes til the park opened) and I was shocked that it was only 8:35 am! I don’t think we have ever made it to Epcot that quickly before! So we had some time to kill before the park opened. Isabella was getting stir crazy so Adam pushed her around in the shade while Allison and I kept our spot sitting along the wall in front of the fountain. About 10 minutes before the park was ready to open, we heard a group of drummers start playing (which was nice to help pass the time). At about 8:55 the stampede began to the headliners (you could see various parts of the heard moving towards Test Track, Soarin’, and World Showcase (which I’m sure was the group running to get on FEA). We walked leisurely to Innoventions West and got in line for Joy & Sadness. We were about the 4th family back so we didn’t have to wait too long. They were a great meet and greet for those who like characters! Great interactions. Sadness is hilarious… I accidentally bumped her head as I was trying to herd Isabella in for a picture and she bowed her head down as if she was going to cry. She knelt down and refused to get off the floor until we were done with our photo. Totally stayed in character the whole time!
After we took some pictures and got autographs we went to the nearby Baymax meet and greet. The line was building for him, but it went quickly. I was glad we did these characters in that order though because the Joy & Sadness line had gotten much longer as we came out of there, so this was definitely the best way to meet them with the least amount of waiting. Baymax does not sign autographs, but gave lots of hugs and took pictures. Isabella liked to wave “hi” from afar, but was not interested in getting closer than about 8 feet to him. So I jumped into the picture with Allison and she gave some hugs and we moved on to our next step in our touring plan.
I had originally had Garden Grill lunch ADRs planned for this day but we decided to cancel them the night before. The reservations were not until close to noon and we had learned that Isabella is not a happy camper if she does not eat an early lunch and early dinner. So it worked better for us to do a quick service meal on our own schedule. We are coming back in Jan 2018 (and that will not be our last trip) so we will get around to it sometime if we want. Based on this meal, I originally had Test Track fast passes scheduled for the afternoon. Based on weather forecasts, we were a bit concerned about rain coming. So with cancelling lunch, I played around on MDE with our other fast passes and using the modify trick, I was able to get 9:25 am fast passes for Test Track!!!
So by the time we were done with our meet and greets, we headed over to Test Track to use our fast passes. I rode first with Allison. Adam took Isabella to walk around to look at the fountains and such. We got a rider swap pass and when I came off the ride, Adam took Allison on again. That is the one ride he really does enjoy so he was happy to take her on it for her second ride.
Once we finished up with Test Track, Allison made a quick stop at the pressed penny machine and then we headed to the Imagination Pavillion to check out the new DVC lounge. We checked in, I went back to park the stroller and the others headed up. I quickly joined them upstairs to meet them at the coke freestyle stations. I have to say, I really wish they had these lounges in all the parks! It was a really nice place to rest, get a quick (free!) drink, and recharge. The girls enjoyed resting on the cushioned seats by the TV playing Mickey cartoons while Adam and I helped ourselves to a few refills. There were some others up there who were munching on chips and doritos… there weren’t any snacks out while we were there. But apparently they come around “sporadically” to give out snacks to those who are there. We stayed maybe 15 minutes or so (enough time to get a short rest and drink break in) and then headed to use our next fast pass for Living with the Land.
We headed over to the Land Pavillion and I was shocked at the wait for LWTL (30 minutes posted wait time) so I was happy we had FPs for this. We all enjoyed the nice ride (Isabella loves all the boat type rides) but by the time we came off, we were all ready for a bite to eat!
Another perk of eating early (other than keeping the baby happy!) is beating the lunch rush. We went to Sunshine Seasons which is one of my favorite quick service places. The girls had mac n cheese (which I thinkn they could both eat for every meal), Adam had the Power Salad and a banana, and I had the Sesame Crusted Tuna with Asian vegetable noodle Salad (yummy!!) with the chocolate mousse cake (another yum!).
After lunch, we had fast passes for Nemo & Friends so we rode that (again, surprisingly another fast pass I was happy to have with a standby wait time of 25 minutes). Allison wanted to ride with Isabella so they rode with Adam and I found myself alone in my own clamshell LOL. It was fine though because I was able to check out MDE and scored same day fast passes for Spaceship Earth while we were getting off the ride. Since we had a little time to spare, the girls ran around the nemo “play area” and we took some pictures. I always like to get a picture with Allison in Bruce the shark, but the wait was so long and Isabella would just not wait. We literally had to drag her screaming out of there because she wanted to keep pressing buttons on this one play thing inside the shark area. We took a quick picture by the display of fish outside The Seas entrance (I had to be sure I got a pic given the girls’ outfits for the day… I will have to share later). We then got our stroller and headed to Spaceship Earth.
In the past, we would have done Turtle Talk with Crush, but I know Isabella would not have sat for that. Allison really wanted to get back to the pool as well, so she wasn’t terribly disappointed we missed it this trip. It also helps we have another trip coming up so quickly so it isn’t so bad when you have to skip over things knowing another trip is coming in just a little over 6 months.
Allison and I rode Spaceship Earth using our fast passes… Adam kept Isabella again since she was getting a bit tired and we were both afraid she would not do well in the darkness of the ride (we learned that on Pooh) so she rested in the stroller with her bottle. After a quick thanks to the Phoenicians, Allison and I joined Adam and Isabella close to the exit. And we made it up the long ramp (does anyone else feel like the walk up that darn ramp to the monorail just seems so steep and long on the way out?!) to the monorail.
Our prior Epcot evening, it took us an hour and 15 minutes to get “home” so I was a bit concerned about the predicted rain coming and that Allison might miss time in the pool (she was worried as well) so I was happy there was a monorail waiting when we got to the top (thanks to “traffic ahead” there was a monorail stopped so we were lucky to get on). We made it back to TTC and then as we switched monorails, again, more pixie dust got a monorail quickly once again! Allison was thrilled and hoped the rain would hold off a bit. This trip took us about 25 minutes I think “first monorail door to last stop” so we were back to our room in no time!
Allison quickly got changed into her bathing suit and Adam took her to the pool. It takes a little longer to get Isabella ready with diaper change, bathing suit change, sunscreen application… you get the picture. So we joined them about 10-15 min later. Isabella enjoyed the spash area while Allison took countless trips down the waterslide. Isabella got tired (and fussy… that was us with the screaming baby this afteroon if you were at the BLT pool) very quickly so I took her back to take a nap. I don’t even know for sure what time it was… I think about 2:30 when I got her back. She was out within about 5 minutes or so… and still sleeping! Adam and Allison stayed til about 3:30. They just got showers and are resting now in the living room as I type:)
We have pre-RD breakfast ADRs at BOG in the morning so we plan to have a quick dinner at Contempo Cafe after Isabella wakes up and then relax around the resort for the rest of the night. I will update later on our dinner and hopefully add the days above. I apologize for getting out of order, but the past three days have been quite the whirlwind! And Isabella has gotten tired early and I have ended up dozing off with her LOL! So I haven’t had a chance to update. I tend to get more details when I update the day of or shortly after so I wanted to at least get today in while everything was still fresh in my mind.
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A quick note regarding day 3 which I forgot to mention above… we did end up ordering pizza for dinner on Saturday night.
After multiple responses regarding Flippers I was excited to order as the pizza looked awesome! After calling two different locations, I found out they don’t deliver to BLT (at least this is what both places I called told me)
So then we called the conceirge to find out who was able to deliver. They told us Papa John’s (and a few other places) so we called there. The first one I called didn’t come here, but they were able to give us the number to the location that did. Thankfully that was correct information, so we ordered two pizzas and breadsticks. The delivery person that came was super sweet, she gave us a call when she was 5 minutes away. So I was able to meet her right at the front door of the resort. She brought us paper plates (even though we didn’t need them it was nice) as well as parmesan cheese and various other packets of toppings. If you don’t mind Papa John’s, I would highly recommend using them if you are looking for a quick easy place to deliver. It only took about 30 minutes to come. And it saved us a little money too since we were able to get a lunch out of this the following day as well.
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