My go at a picture trip report

Loving the pictures! Your photo trip report does not disappoint!

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I made them. I am a member of a group on Facebook called Cricuting World of Disney. It’s in there. I just love the Mickey sketch.

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Yesterday I was sick as a dog in bed so we all missed the EMM TSL, which makes me very sad.

But I did get a res at 1900 Park faire and the boys got to do FoP in the afternoon. I got two fpp for FoP so we’ll all do it together tomorrow. When they all got home, they could barely describe the ride to me in real words. It was all “buzzz” and “grrrr” and “crcrcrcr”. It was so cute. They kept saying they wanted to “combine” with the dragons again :).

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I was also super proud of DH (not the Disney person in our family) for taking the boys to the parks even though I couldn’t go. They all had a great time - maybe an even better time without me telling them to hurry up over my shoulder. :confused:

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so sorry you were sick :disappointed_relieved:

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Sorry you were sick. Hoping you’re feeling better soon and back out there enjoying everything!!

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Star Wars guided tour yesterday. It was great. I loved not being in charge and being able to follow someone around. I loved having no lines to meet everyone. It was just the right speed and just what I needed to get back into the parks.

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Today we did Flight of Passage, Expedition Everest, and Primevil Whirl (the boys’ favorite ).

Flight of Passage was the best thing I’ve ever done. It was really amazing. Kind of mind boggling.

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I love your report and glad to see you are feeling better! I also really enjoy that your boys are adventurous and love all the more exciting rides at Disney, my kids were the same way which made touring so much easier (no rider swaps, no one having to wait while others rode things). We always just rode everything together, and it was great! They look so happy!

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So glad you’re better! Glad you had fun!

Final thoughts:

We rented a stroller for our almost 7 year old twins and only used it 2 days. They didn’t need it and it was so crowded that it was hard to navigate with the stroller. They did great the last 4 days.

After a couple of days, instead of me carrying around a huge backpack with my nice camera and a bunch of stuff, I just carried around a lightweight drawstring backpack. It was glorious. So quick through bag check and so much lighter than the big backpack. I considered carrying my big camera around my neck with just one lens, but decided against it. I don’t regret that decision.

Our view from Bay Lake Tower was amazing and it was a standard room: Room 7320. It was the room I requested. It was close to the elevators (none of the rooms are super far away from them) and we could watch the monorail go past. We could see the fireworks every evening. I watched the super blood moon set over magic kingdom one morning. It was just beautiful.

The fireworks are every night (thanks, capt obvious). They were at 8pm when we were there and only once a night. Our kids are early risers and early to go to bed, so it wasn’t ideal, but they were able to go to sleep almost immediately after the fireworks (not taking the stroller really helped with this). If there had been two sets of fireworks per night, that would have been much more of a nuisance. If your kids, or you, are early to bed, then this could be a real downside because they are loud.

I had scheduled the magic kingdom dessert party and the Star Wars tour includes special viewing of the Star Wars fireworks. We ended up canceling the MK dessert party and didn’t go back for the Star Wars fireworks because it was too late. I’m glad we ended up doing both things. We watched the fireworks one evening on the walkway between BLT and CR and both boys said that they thought the fireworks were too loud. They eventually got used to them (they did ask to go inside, but we said no), but I’m glad I didn’t waste the money on the dessert party when they probably wouldn’t have had a good time. It’s worth testing out fireworks with your kids before you invest in a dessert party IMO.

BoG was completely NOT worth it, in my opinion. The food was so-so and it was way overpriced for what it was.

California Grill was completely worth it. Our food was delicious. There were plenty of vegetarian entrees to choose from. The drinks were fantastic. We would do this again in a heartbeat. We got there right at sunset and my husband gasped when we got off the elevators. It was just beautiful.

EMM fantasyland is a great value for the money. We got to ride 7DMT 5 or 6 times, Winnie the pooh, mad tea party, and Under the Sea before the park opened. We were able to get to Buzz as the line opened, then did astro orbiter and space mountain before breakfast. The breakfast wasn’t good at all, but I would still do the experience again because of how easy it was to do all the rides. We would have never been able to ride 7DMT that many times at any other time. When my kids get older, I’d be willing to try DAH.

The Star Wars Tour was great. Really well-paced and very enjoyable for DH50 and DS6s. I really liked hearing all the behind the scenes stuff, and we got to meet all the Star Wars characters with no wait. We didn’t make it back for the Star Wars fireworks because they started at 8:30 and we just weren’t willing to fight the crowds afterward. I bet if we were staying at a resort within walking distance, we would have gone back for the fireworks.

DH and DSs really liked the 1900 Park Fare breakfast and Satuli’i Canteen. I didn’t love Sunshine Seasons, but they did have a vegetarian option.

Pandora is amazing and I wish I could have spent more time there. Flight of Passage was the best ride I’ve ever been on. DH and DSs said the same thing.

Modifying fast passes did not work for us. I think because it was so crowded, but whenever I checked, there was literally nothing left…or it was late that evening. Our crowd levels ended up being 7, 8, or 9 each day, so maybe that was the reason. I’d love to be able to experience modifying fast passes on a lower CL day.

I think we’re going to take a bit of a break from WDW for a few years. Even though further away from it I get I have more positive memories, I was so ready to come home at the end of the trip. I am sure it has everything to do with the fact that I was sick, the crowds were crazy, and it was cold (all sympathy goes out to our friends in the north and midwest…I know you’re dealing with actual crazy cold right now). Bell services losing our luggage and a couple of disposable items being missing also didn’t help. I just left with a bad taste in my mouth. I understand that the weather, my illness, and the crowds are not Disney’s fault! But, it did feel like we spent a whole bunch of money on a trip and I just didn’t have that magical feeling at the end like I did after our first trip as a family. Who knows, maybe after a few trips elsewhere (Grand Canyon, I’m looking at you next), we’ll change our minds.

I want to thank everyone here for all the help, advice, kind words, and encouragement from everyone on this site. Thank you! You make trips so much more manageable by providing a sounding board to bounce off ideas. This forum is invaluable and it’s insane that I only paid $15 for 2 years of membership. It’s an amazing deal.

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awesome pics :heart_eyes:

I also forgot to say that we took a Minnie van from BLT to AK on our last day. There was something up with the buses and long waits and it was our last day, so we went for it. it was AHHH MAAZING. It was expensive! $40 to get to AK from BLT. I’m glad we didn’t do it on our first day because I can imagine us taking it every time because it was so convenient and easy, even with two kids in booster seats.

The app now tells you when buses are coming to your hotel (I assume this is for all hotels and not just deluxes, but I’m not sure) and that is super fantastic. We knew when we needed to leave the hotel room and make it to the bus stop. That’s a great new feature.

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After every Disney trip, I pledge that we will take a break for a few years and do something else and yet without fail, six months or so post trip, I start getting the Disney fever and want to plan a new trip. I think its the planning that is the attraction, as much as the actual trip itself.

Good luck with your resolve to take a break - I hope you are more disciplined than me :grin:

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I love the Mickey sketch shirts too! Was there a lot of weeding?