Memorial Day thru first week of June TRIP REPORT!

Background: our last Disney trip was March 2019. Covid canceled our May 2020 trip (then November 2020 trip, then March 2021 trip…) and in January when things just didn’t look good for March with none of us vaccinated and kids probably having to quarantine/miss school, I booked late May/first of June. We ended up going at the perfect time for us! DH and I were fully vaccinated, it wasn’t too hot yet, we only had one day that rain affected our plans, and masks were relaxed outside which we hoped for, but still required inside, which made me feel better with our 4 unvaccinated kiddos.

Overall we had a pretty successful trip! Of course some disappointments and frustrations (mostly by me, not the kids!) and I think that’s a combination of me studying for the past year how to have a good trip during a pandemic then getting there and it feeling like nothing I studied was on the test AND telling myself this whole time to have lower expectations because things weren’t how they were before but despite that, it’s like my expectations were too high anyway. Because it’s Disney and we pay so much money to go and I had spent so much energy trying to get it “perfect”. Once I got myself to change my attitude to focus on the positive, what we WERE getting to do (not what we weren’t) characters we WERE seeing (not the ones we didn’t) I realized how awesome our trip was going and that the kids were excited to be there; they didn’t even know what they might be missing. So I thought I’d do a post trip report, break it down day by day, then throw in my final thoughts. Not a lot of pics, sorry, DH is funny about it, but I’ll try to provide helpful info for anyone going and humor anyone who just likes to read trip reports!

Cast: me, DH, DD12, DS10, DS7 turned 8 while we were there, DD6

Beach Club Villas 2 bedroom villa

7 day tickets, no parkhopper

Epcot, MK, HS, MK, AK, HS, Epcot

We decided not to do parkhopper for a few reasons. 1. The added cost 2. Not being able to hop until after 2:00 and I didn’t want to worry about feeling we SHOULD hop but what if we had a late boarding group or just didn’t want to go to another park 3. We wanted to really enjoy each park we were at each day, stop and smell the roses, etc. However, being at Beach Club, there were like 4 nights we would’ve walked to Epcot for dinner so we probably would’ve utilized it. And I am going to remember to try and end with MK next time!

View of the Boardwalk

Day 1 – Epcot

We visited some family about an hour from Disney for a few days which was fun and relaxing then the night before we were leaving to come home, we showed the kids their magic bands to surprise them – it was awesome! They were so pumped. We’ve never surprised them before; I normally like them helping me with the planning and doing a countdown, but with Covid I just didn’t want to have to burst their bubble if we didn’t feel comfortable going. So the next morning we drove the hour or so and got to Beach Club Villas by 9:30. We parked, dropped our stuff off at the front desk, and headed to Epcot, getting to the international gateway entrance around 10:00…with a bunch of other people…I definitely had thought we wouldn’t be joined by so many (not sure why, I guess I thought because of capped attendance or that no one else would know to go so early, silly me!). Anyway we didn’t get let in til 10:25ish and I swear I had read the parks were opening earlier than that but I shook it off and as soon as we got through security we raced to Test Track, per the kids request. Line was moving, sign said 30 min wait, and it would have been except halfway through the line the dreaded announcement came that the ride was down and they didn’t know when it’d be back up. UGH first ride of the trip, seriously?? I should’ve known, it’s Test Track, but kids really wanted to start with it. The delay ended up being less than 15 minutes but of course seemed longer. After that we went to Soarin’ and waited about 30, then walked on Living with the Land which surprisingly ended up being one of DS8’s favorite rides! Then we went to Mission Space, Nemo, and Spaceship Earth with no waits which was really nice. Everyone was getting hungry so we ventured to World Showcase. I was so happy to try Flower and Garden festival booths! We never have before. We stopped at the Honey Bee-stro and I grabbed all the food. DH and I loved the cheesecake and cornbread and the kids ate the flatbread. Next we grabbed the chicken skewer with peanut sauce and wontons from the Lotus House – sooo good – then the risotto balls and cannoli from the booth in Italy – all good.

Unfortunately we were too full to try more booths at this point and it was HOT so we headed back to Beach Club since we’d just received our room ready text. I had requested a first room floor close to the Beach Club lobby and transportation and our room location was perfect – 124. Quick walk to the Beach Club lobby (Marketplace was right there) and to the buses and didn’t have to deal with elevators. We were also at the end of the hall which is good with our loud kids haha! I did miss going out on a balcony with my coffee or wine (depending on time of day) but first floor was super convenient! And we did still have a stroller in case DD6 needed it (spoiler alert she did, and sometimes so did DS8! In their defense we are fast walkers and I’d rather push a stroller then walk slow with them dragging behind) Not having to get the stroller on the elevator and wait if a family was already on one made things smoother for us.

We had a dinner reservation at Hacienda de San Angel so we walked back to Epcot with plenty of time to get to Mexico. DD12 already had a pin necklace and wanted to add to it and DS10 and DS8 wanted their own so we stopped to get those and the kids used their Disney gift cards on day 1, ha! It was a great purchase because they were all excited to pin trade the rest of the trip and we “only” lost one, my DD12’s Olaf pin. She was so bummed. She took such good care of them too, always checking!

Dinner was really good– DH and I got the Parrillada del Mar to share and a margarita for him, a Sangria for me and the kids all ordered from the kid menu which is nice even though we have two Disney “adults”. We usually do the dining plan but it was nice to order what we want and let the older kids order off the kid menu without worrying about the dining plan rules. However, paying it off ahead of time and not seeing the total cost of meals is worth doing the meal plan again in the future if they offer it! YIKES - food, drinks, snacks, were so expensive. So we hadn’t eaten at an indoor restaurant since before Covid and I thought it’d be weird but it wasn’t – it was wonderful. And the tables still seemed spread enough apart it didn’t feel crowded. The older two kids wanted to go back to the hotel but the younger two were begging to go on the Three Caballeros so I stayed with them and we waited like 20 min just to get in the pavilion then the walk was only a 5 min wait. The line had been long for Frozen all day and then it went down so we decided to get to that our other Epcot day and headed back to the resort. Great first day! And 26,700 steps!

Epcot is soooo pretty this time of year:

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Day 2 – Magic Kingdom

Nothing feels truly Disney like seeing that castle so I was excited to get to Magic Kingdom. We caught a bus around 6:45, were at MK by 7:00 and behind one family at the entrance! When they let us in around 7:15, we ran to 7DMT and waited until almost 7:30 before they started the ride. I noticed no other rides around (like Pooh, the carousel) seemed to be letting people even stand in line. I should have remembered that for MK day 2, sigh, I’ll get to that later! Anyway 7DMT is such a fun ride but way too quick. DD6 went on it when she was 4 and did great, but for some reason this time it scared her! So that began her fear of rides for the day. We split up and DH took DD12, DD10, and DS8 on Space Mt, Buzz Lightyear, and Big Thunder Mt while DD6 and I did Peter Pan (scared her) then Pooh (the dark part scared her) then Little Mermaid (finally didn’t scare her!). We met up with the others at Splash Mt and waited about 30 minutes for that (DD6 was ok except for the dark part) then headed to Sleepy Hollow (never been!) where I had mobile ordered waffles for the kids and much needed coffee for the adults! It was good – I ate half of DD6’s waffle :slight_smile:
29%20AM

Anyway we walked on Haunted Mansion, had a 25 min wait for It’s a Small World then we went on Barnstormer and Dumbo (about 10-15 min waits each) . I checked out the shops with the older kids while DH stayed on Main St with DD6 and DS8 and they caught a Winnie the Pooh and friends calvacade! I was so glad they saw it. Those two love characters and I knew I was going to miss not having character meet and greets this trip. I just really wanted to see the other calvacades too and was bummed that we never saw a princess one or Incredibles or Toy Story at HS. But oh well, focusing on the positive! We’d had quite a successful morning at MK.


Pretty empty MK:

We left around noon and mobile ordered from Pizza Window on the Boardwalk. Great pizza at a great price. The kids were stoked to go to Stormalong Bay! I’d been hearing about this pool for years. I know I’ll get booed for this buuuuuut…I didn’t love it. Hear me out – if my kids were all 12 and older I’d probably have liked it more. It is SO spread out! Having to still keep an eye on 3 of them was impossible as they wanted to go on the water slide or float in the lazy river and you have to cross bridges and there’s different water depths, ahhh, I just wanted to have a pina colava and relax! Hey, it’s my vacation too! Anyway we stayed at Boardwalk Villas last time and I really liked that I could see all of them from our table. They all know how to swim but still need supervised, you know?

We had 7:10 reservations at Skippers Canteen so we headed back to MK around 6:00 to get a ride in before dinner. We hopped in line for Pirates of the Caribbean which wait was 30 min. Of course after waiting almost 30 min, we got the “ride is temporarily down” announcement. We gave it a few minutes but it was getting closer to our reservation time and I knew the ride was 8-10 min long and we still had at least another 10 min before we’d board so we bailed. Kids handled it well (I was not happy! I hate wasting time). But dinner made up for it- delicious. Kids weren’t as into it but DH and I loved our meals. I got the Curried Vegetable Crew Stew and he got the special that was something spicy haha. DD12 tried the Siu Pork and actually liked it. I was glad she was venturing away from cheeseburgers or chicken nuggets. She’s a great eater at home, whatever I make she eats, but at restaurants it’s only those two items. We grabbed some Mickey Ice Cream bars and took some pictures of the castle as it was getting dark. Back to the resort to get myself ready for trying for a boarding group the next morning! 26,000 steps again

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Day 3 – HS

I’m so glad I did my research and practiced for RotR, because thanks to this board, I got boarding group 12! I had time.gov on my laptop, phone with no open apps except Disney, had already gone to the first Join page and at 6:59:59 refreshed it and hit join, join. I.was.so.pumped. The kids didn’t even know about the ride because I didn’t want to put that much more pressure on myself! Soooo they didn’t really know all I went through to get it. I felt like the only place and people that would truly understand my excitement would’ve been on this forum! Haha. DH knew about it though and he gave me encouragement and a “way to go!” so all good. We started walking to HS around 7:30 which is perfect from BCV. We got there with the line not too long and by 8:15 we were heading to Slinky Dog Dash. We would’ve been easily one of the first ones on but as we started for the line, CMs were saying it was down and they didn’t know when it’d be going. AHHH, PIVOT! So we headed to Star Wars Land and got over our disappointment pretty fast as we’d never been there and the land is awesome and we walked on MFSR. DH and DS10 were pilots, DD12 and DS8 were gunners, and I was happily in the backrow with DD6 to not do much because I get motion sick and planned to possibly have my eyes closed part of the ride. It was so cool, we all loved it, and I didn’t get motion sick. Win! We walked through and admired Galaxy’s Edge (kids and I just became Star Wars fans in the last 2 years and have just recently watched all the movies). We saw that Slinky was back up but it was over an hour wait. Our boarding group got called anyway so we just decided to go on that since it was another new experience and we did TSL last trip.

RotR, I won’t put spoilers, man it is as good as everyone says. DH and the kids were beyond impressed. We decided to wait for MMRR, again cuz it was a new ride for us, and waited a good 40-45 min – mostly in the sun. Oh well. It was great! DD12, DS8 and DH went to Tower of Terror while DS10, DD6 and I went to Aliens. We waited about 25 and they waited 35 and then we met at Woody’s Lunch box for lunch I had mobile ordered. It was decent quick service food but what was nice is that you couldn’t even go to the tables until you checked in and your food was ready so I liked that it wasn’t crowded and we got a table to eat at. We went to the 12:30 Frozen Singalong which we had never seen. It was so good – like I had heard, the Historians were hilarious. The whole family enjoyed it.

We decided to take a hotel break before our Sci Fi dinner that evening. The kids really wanted to try the Skyliner and since we weren’t in a rush, I was fine with it. Um, well, my fear of heights kicked in times 100. I hated, I mean HATED the skyliner. I didn’t expect to feel that way! I was trying so hard not to let the kids see it was bothering me so much. But I couldn’t stop breathing fast; it feels like you’re going to fall out of the sky. I am fine on high coasters or in tall buildings but something about this felt like being on a plane and I hate flying. Then when it stopped for a few minutes, I panicked. How did people stay on that when it first opened, weren’t they stuck for hours?! I can’t think about it. All I know is I’m bummed because I had considered staying at resorts on the skyliner route and now I don’t think I could use it as our main mode of transportation. On a good note, the kids loved it. Haha. Well, we got back to the hotel and rested before walking back to HS around 4:00. We rode Slinky (35 min wait) then checked in for Sci Fi, our first time eating there. Loved the atmosphere, food was good, kids especially loved their milkshakes and thought the shows were funny. After dinner we walked on Toy Story Mania twice (despite a posted 40 min wait which I questioned when I saw like no line!) then left with the rest of the crowds around park closing, 8:00. The line for the Skyliner was suuuuuper long. I was glad we were walking. Not just because of the line but because the Skyliner scared the bejeebers out of me.

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Day 4 – MK

We decided not to get there as early and sleep in a little. Everyone agreed 7DMT was a one and done this trip so there wasn’t much we needed to get a head start on. Well even with sleeping in, we were at the bus stop by 7:00 and got to MK by 7:20. We headed straight to Pirates of Caribbean, not open yet. Jungle Cruise, not open. Went towards Splash and Big Thunder, not open. Tried the Carousel per DD6’s request, technical difficulties. It’s a Small World, technical difficulties. I was getting super annoyed. All of them wouldn’t let us even wait in a line. Why let us in early to just walk around the park?! Well after posting/asking on this forum I learned it’s not all the rides open at early rope drop and I should have remembered that on our last MK day I had noticed only 7DMT opened that early. Sigh. Oh well. Being positive, DH says “Let’s just enjoy this almost empty park!” and we got some pics by Splash Mt with no one in the background. By then Pirates had opened so we walked on that then DH and oldest three went on Big Thunder while DD6 and I used the bathroom and waited by Jungle Cruise. We waited about 20 min for Jungle Cruise. Our captain was hilarious. DH and older three went back to Big Thunder again while DD6 and I went to the carousel. All our crisscrossing this early got me lots of steps before 9am lol. We all met at Under the Sea/Little Mermaid and walked on that before waiting for cinnamon buns at Gastons longer than we had waited for any rides so far! They are so freaking good though. We went to Main St for some shopping and caught a Goofy calvacade.

Then DH, DD12, and DS8 decided to go on Space Mt while DS10, DD6, and I went on People Mover and Buzz. Next we all went to Mickey’s Philarmagic show and decided we wanted to do Splash Mt one more time because we weren’t going to come back to MK for the evening. We saw a Mickey and Minnie calvacade on our way to Frontierland which was really fun and then waited, ugh, 55 min for Splash. But we had a family in front of us in line who were fun to talk to and their kid played with our kids so it went by fast. I love this ride – it was my favorite as a teenager on a spring break trip to Disney with my best friend. I remember waiting in back to back to back hour long lines to go on it-we had so much fun. So present day, I took video and pics to remember it how it was for me at 17. I am glad it’s getting redone and can’t wait to see how they retheme it to Princess and the Frog. I love Tiana – I love cooking and baking, like her I feel like food brings people together and makes them happy!! I made beignets for the first time this past year and they weren’t bad! Anyway I had promised DD6 we’d do Magic Carpets before leaving so we headed out that way. I feel like Adventureland and Frontierland are so much easier to navigate than weaving through the Haunted Mansion, Small World, Peter Pan area. We all said bye to MK (which felt weird with 3 park days left!) but it was the way I scheduled our reservations so we weren’t at MK on the weekend. Didn’t matter because the weekend was busy at HS and Epcot too lol. I should’ve known with the Flower and Garden festival, but oh well. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in our room then grabbed Trattoria al Forno to go. SOOOO GOOOOD, wish we could’ve gone in the restaurant but I couldn’t get a reservation. The younger two kids loved the nighttime Disney stories on the tv and they crashed on their sleeper sofa watching them. Another 24,000+ step day!

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Day 5- Animal Kingdom

I was so ready for this day. And really excited for it. AK had always been a morning park for us and then we’d park hop because the kids were too little for the rides or it would be a day we’d arranged dinner plans somewhere else, etc, etc. I just wanted to take it all in! We’d never done conservation station, walked trails, ridden FoP (well DH and DS10 did last trip) eaten anywhere except Tusker House for brunch (which we LOVE but I was kind of glad it wasn’t an option so we could try other stuff) hadn’t gone on the Safari since our 2017 trip, and so I had a plan. It was rope drop Pandora, then go on Everest, Kali River, Dinosaur, Safari, lunch at Flametree BBQ, all the animal trails, conservation station to do the animation experience (my kids LOVE to draw) and then maybe hit Everest or Dinosaur again before our 5:00 dinner at Sanaa. Well when I mentioned we needed to be at the bus stop at 6:30 to get there and run with the masses to FoP, DH said, do we really want to do that? I said we might wait almost an hour for FoP if we don’t and he said, we waited that for Splash, let’s just have a more relaxing morning. That there’s no way the kids will last from 6:00am-7pm which is what it would be after our dinner. Good point. So there went my plan! We ended up at AK by 8:15 (8am opening) walked on Everest, then Dinosaur, then Kali River Rapids THREE TIMES, then breakfast at Yak & Yeti. DH and I shared an egg sandwich and the kids loved the pancake wrapped sausage and tater tots. We walked the Majaharah trek then went on Safaris with a 20 min wait. It was about 11:45 at this point and I’d been watching FoP stay steady at a 45-55 min wait. We decided to go for it. The line moved consistently and we ended up waiting just about 45 min! Not bad. But Pandora was crowded and Navi River was about a 30 min wait and kids didn’t want to do it. DH and I wanted to save our appetites for dinner (so there went trying Flametree BBQ again! I swear I’ve had this on my list for 3 visits now) so we just got the kids some chicken nuggets from Harambe Market then went to get a train for Rafikis. After a castmember told us about 15 min, another one comes around to announce they were down to one train and it’d be more like 30 min. Yikes. I got stubborn because I was so sure they’d love the Animation Experience so we waited…and then when we got there the line to come back was crazy long. There was apparently only one train running. Well, we did the Animation Experience and it was really awesome but the whole time I was so worried about the train back and making sure we’d have time to take the bus to AKL for dinner so the experience was a bit tainted. And DD12 had asked all day to ride Everest again. I wanted to have time for that. Well, by the time we waited for the train back a torrential downpour had started. Of course the ponchos were in the stroller which was parked by Harambe Market! DH ran to get them while we waited under some cover. It was now 3:45ish. Our dinner at Sanaa was at 5:00. I kept thinking the sky would clear up and we could get on Everest. It did not clear up. It rained harder and harder and then thunder and lightning came. Everyone was heading out of the park. I was bummed but what can you do? We got on a bus to AKL (Kidani) soaking wet. DH was the worst because of running to get the stroller. He was so uncomfortable he bought a shirt at the gift shop just to not be wet and cold at dinner! I got him to buy one I liked so that he could give it to me…it’s big on me but a perfect PJ top! It was about 4:40 but I checked in early to Sanaa and they got us in a little early. That food is amazing. Our server was great too – honestly we had a great experience at every restaurant, great service, friendly cast members. We had never been to AKL and I know we only saw Kidani but wow, I think I’d love to stay there one day. The animal viewing was so peaceful and the resort just seemed relaxing – even DH said he could see staying there if you want a little less hustle/bustle.

We took a bus back to AK then a bus to Beach Club. So AK day wasn’t as I planned. We got a lot done but I still felt it was rushed when my whole goal was to be relaxed! Guess we make a point to give it 2 days next trip, right? Oh and Flight of Passage met my expectations. It did make me a little motion sick at times, but if I closed my eyes or turned to the side, I was fine. DD6 had gotten braver throughout the week and she loved it. In fact, she even liked Dinosaur – we pretended DH was scared to go on it and that she had to sit by him and keep him brave. She said to him, ”Daddy if you get scared, just pretend the dinosaurs are butterflies” :smile: Back to the hotel and the kids crashed. But not before asking me to try and get a boarding group again for RotR the next day!
DD6 drawing on the left, DD12 on the right:24%20AM
DS10 on the left, DS8 on the right: 54%20PM

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Those are fantastic…you have some budding artists in your family

Well done! :clap:
Were you the only one trying or did you have help?

Day 6 – HS

I followed the same strategy to get a boarding group but when I refreshed, it paused longer and I got boarding group 66. I only panicked for a hot second! We had a reservation at Ale & Compass at 1:00 and predicted return time was of course around 1:00. I talked to a cast member at the RotR entrance and she assured me we could ride it when we came back (and I’m sure I’d read that on here but was so worried to mess up our chance to ride!) We decided differently anyway. Backing up, we left BCV at 7:30 again and were in about the same line as our other day. Crowds seemed the same. Opened at 8:15. It felt like rope drop at HS was better than MK or Epcot. We walked on Slinky, walked on MFSR, then back to Toy Story Mania for a 10 min wait. Contemplated waiting 40 min for MMRR or RnRC but the kids just wanted something to eat and it was getting hot. We grabbed iced coffees and donuts then went to the Mickey short theatre. It was cute. Then DH took the three older kids to Star Tours while DD6 and I saw the Muppets 3D show, which was a first for us. She cracked up and kept reaching her arms out to grab things – it was really cute! Another “freeze this moment” moment. She loved it and kept talking about it when we met up with the others. We had an Oga’s reservation at 11:35. Very fun atmosphere and the drinks were delicious. Kids got the Jabba juice, DH got the Outer Rim and I got the Bespin Fizz.

Kept sizzling as I drank it :slight_smile: We shared the meat and cheese platter which was surprisingly good. Then we got called to our boarding group so I did the modify trick for our 1:00 Ale & Compass reservation so we could just stay at HS and do the RotR. I felt a little guilty but then I remembered how much money we were giving Disney and waved the guilt away! This time we waited like 45 min in the queue for RotR. But indoors and cool temps. Awesome again. DH, DS10, DS8, and DD6 walked back to the resort to get in some pool time while DD12 and I shopped a little and got Mickey pretzels. DD12 got a Cinderella pin to add to her necklace (she has like 5 of the princesses). I think it’s cute she’s out of the “princess” phase but still wants to collect them as pins. In fact she said her Cinderella one was her favorite. We walked back and met the rest of the family at the pool. Then we decided to just hang out at the resort for the evening. I actually wanted to go back to HS and ride ToT, RnRC, since we didn’t get to that, and MMRR again but everyone was so tired and there were storms in the area. We walked over to Big River Grille and got seated with only a 10 min wait. We ate outside and were entertained by people trying to win the carnival games! It was actually really fun and relaxing. We got ice cream for the kids, I took a cheesecake home from the restaurant, and called it a day. The next day was DS’s 8th bday!
Oh I forgot, we got to see Chewy and Rey!

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No kidding! I haven’t done the experience yet as my oldest is only five, but her DD6’s rendering has made me want to add this to the list for next time for sure!!

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Wow!! That is NICE!!! Like you, I have ambitious AK rope drop plans that may well be thrown away in the last minute (I’m starting to call it “HOPE drop). But it’s ok! Like you said, focus is on the positives.

I’m enjoying your trip report. Will finish later, but for now, thank you :two_hearts:

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Your trip was during the same time as ours! We were in a 2BR at BCV during the same week, but hit mostly different parks than you.

And this little bit seems familiar:

We had the exact same problem, except it was Tom Sawyer Island. I will never leave my poncho in the stroller again!

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Day 7 – departure day and DS8 bday – Epcot

We had 8:45 reservations at Topolino’s Terrace. When I booked we were only able to get 4 of us at 8:45 and 2 of us at 8:50. I was sure they’d try to get us together since it was DS’s bday but still wanted to get there early. I faced my fear and went on the Skyliner again. Still made me anxious. Riviera Resort is pretty cool. A little sterile inside but views are spectacular. We checked in early after walking around the resort a little. The cast member said he’d try but couldn’t guarantee our tables would be together. Got me all nervous just to 5 min later bring us to a perfect round table that sat all 6 of us! DS8 and DD6 were ecstatic to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy. I loved watching them clap and wave and blow kisses. I don’t know if next time we go they’ll still be so into the characters so I again tried to freeze the moment in my mind. DS8 was all smiles, telling everyone it was his bday. He had on his bday pin so when Mickey noticed it, he pointed at it and clapped and jumped up and down and DS8 just giggled with excitement. Oh and the food was AMAZING. Totally worth the price, and worth the panic inducing Skyliner ride there and back. Haha. We got to International Gateway around 10 and got in the line for Epcot. It was already HOT and we were in the sun. Kids were cranky. Well DS8 was enjoying all the “happy birthdays!” so he wasn’t cranky but the others, you could just tell it was time for our vacation to end! Without a full rest day, I think 7 days is definitely our limit. So I said let’s just enjoy our last park day and ride what we want and then it’s time to go home. They held us back until 10:30. We walked on Frozen then DS8 really wanted to do Test Track again but it was over a 60 min wait by the time we got there. I feel like the headliners are soooo far apart at Epcot it’s impossible to do more than one at rope drop because of time to walk there. We went to Soarin’ (30 min) then Living with the Land (5 min) then waited 15 min for Figment. We saw Joy as we got in the Figment line and I got a great pic of her and the kids with no one in the background! We love Inside Out. Our last trip my favorite meet and greet was with Joy and Sadness and I’m soooo happy we did that one. I’m also happy we did so many character meals and meet and greets on our 2019 trip because who would’ve ever guessed they’d be unavailable our following trip?! So everyone was hot and it was just time to call it a day. I really wanted a Flower and Garden festival souvenir so I was pretty happy to find a Minnie mug on the way out that said the year and Epcot Flower and Garden festival on it. Yay! Also grabbed a 2021 ornament and magnet.

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Other notes:

Beach Club Villas: beautiful, clean resort, we had zero issues with housekeeping, front desk, bell services, etc. We had a garden view which was fine, quiet, peaceful. I think if there were fireworks I’d have preferred a higher floor but for this trip, first floor was great. The kids LOVED Stormalong Bay, especially the water slide which they went down probably 100 times. I might prefer Boardwalk Villas only for the closer convenience to bakery/restaurants because we went to them a lot and I’d prefer the smaller pool area to ease my paranoid mama mind.

Transportation: We never had an issue getting a bus. I liked them not being crowded but it was kind of frustrating to see a half full one pull away. Since we left, it sounds like they are filling them up again. Despite my freaking out, we had a good experience with the Skyliner – no waiting, it is smooth and spacious, provides excellent views, and great way to keep more buses off the roads. Since we’re a family of 6 I am not sure if they’d fill in with more people but I’d hate someone to have to watch me freak out!

Covid stuff: We felt really comfortable with the restrictions still in place; basically masking indoors and on the rides. Outside queues were rough since it was hot but I still felt better since we have 4 unvaccinated kids and no one was staying apart in line (us included, it’s so natural to just move up to the people in front of you!). I loved not having to mask outdoors other than queues though – drinking coffee while walking around or taking a sip of water whenever is a luxury I would’ve missed. Plus we got so many good maskless pictures!

Wait times: Sometimes Disney wait times were right, more often TP app wait times were more accurate. A lot of times, somewhere in the middle. Sometimes I had to predict on my own based on where the end of the line was. But overall waits were ok. We got to see some queues we always missed with FP. FP did make your day more scheduled but like I’ve seen others post recently, you have to kind of schedule anyway to take advantage of best times in the park. And with APRs you already have to be in that park that day.

We had a great time and now that I’m home and reflecting, I realize the pixie dust moments I had been hoping for were there, they just weren’t in the things I expected. DS8 and DD6 dancing to calvacades; the kids saying they don’t mind waiting for rides, that they were just happy to be at Disney; enjoying things we’ve never done before like both Star Wars rides, MMRR, Frozen show, Flight of passage (for 4 of us); good weather most days; the way DD6 said hi to almost every cast member she passed, told them she liked their mask, and maybe made their day by being friendly and sweet; the kids’ joy over pin collecting; DH thanking me for my hard work planning; no one getting sick or hurt; none of our favorite rides shut down; friendly cast members and so much more. And as I write this I realize, holy cow we did A LOT! When you’re there it just feels like there’s so much more to do. I’m thankful for this forum, I don’t post a lot but I’ve learned tons and appreciate everyone who contributes. It’s my first trip report - thanks to all who took the time to read it!

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DH tried too from the Boardwalk bakery area!

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Thank you! They do NOT get it from me haha

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Thank you! Are two people not supposed to be physically close when attempting a BG? Wondering if there is a specific reason why he tried from the BW bakery…

Love this!

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No this doesn’t matter, unless one location has spotty wifi or cell signal and you just want to diversify.

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Oh he and DS10 walked over there a couple mornings to get coffee and muffins so that’s why he tried from there. I told them the Beach Club marketplace had coffee and muffins but they apparently liked the morning stroll!

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I should add that DD6 got pretty frustrated at first and a CM brought over crayons and a coloring page for her. She calmed down and about 5 minutes later said she wanted to try again. So it wasn’t all smooth but ended well!

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