Spring break last min trip!

Somewhere beginning of March I decided I wanted to take DS on a mom son trip. We are doing a big family trip on august but I was feeling like we needed to get away and benefit from just us time :heart:

Booked the trip just two weeks out, got a couple dining reservations and a room discount. Normally I wouldn’t even imagine booking a trip this last minute, I need time to plan every day and visualize how it will all work out .

We booked Quest with the Best to get us from MCO to POFQ. Friendly people, confirmed a couple times, was there when we landed, was a private mini-van, with zero worries and zero stress. Thanks to liners for recommending.

Our room is lovely, corner room with partial water view. I requested building 3 to be closer to the lobby, but very happy with where we ended up in building 1.

Within 10mins of checking in we hopped the boat to Disney springs for a quick bite and window shopping.
His quest is for the perfect souvenir (which would not be found this day).

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Hollywood studios: part 1!

After our 2:30am wake up the day before, this was tough to wake up. DS was a champ up at 6:15 and I gave him the option to sleep longer, but he was ready to go!

Bus left at 7:12 and we were in line by 7:30. Solidly back of the pack, not the middle but not very back. For the bag check, when I go on my own or now with DS, I don’t get stopped for a bag check.

Tapped in by 7:50, people were nuts and running towards galaxy’s edge. We walked through the souvenir shop to stay off the main path. Walked right on to MMRR.

Then it was time to start our Star Wars journey. As expected, during early entry no line for Star Tours. We love this ride, maybe because it’s still newish for us both. Sat in front row and of course he got chosen as the spy.

Got caught in the gift shop trap. He was eyeing the lightsaber with those poppy dog eyes, he just wanted to build it (similar to how outside the LEGO shop you just build stuff). So I asked the price, was ok with it, and let him build.

When done he tried to give it back to that lady, and oh my goodness the look on his face when I told him it was his to keep. :heart:

On to our first LL which was MFSR. We flew through the line and as we were just two people we served as fillers, to be engineers. He was disappointed as last time he also didn’t get to he a pilot. A CM started chatting with us and saw his birthday badge (a month later celebration!). He took us aside to await another line, and we got to be pilots in our own little ship, that was awesome and huge pixie dust for us.

Rise had been down during EE and at that time came back up. Again with the people running as we’re trying to go the opposite direction. Did manage to get some nice photo shots on our way to TSL.

At this point my Genie strategy is tap and ride. Rode aliens, then close return time for Toy Story mania.

Attempted to meet woody and Jessie, but the line was huge in the hot sun, we bailed. I actually got a LL for SDD for 1pm, but DS very firmly told me no, once last summer was enough :upside_down_face:

Booked the meet for Olaf instead.


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How fun is this?? Love your pics!

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By this time it was 10:45 and time to check in for prime time. DS actively tried to get in trouble with his elbows and light saber. He declared it the best
restaurant ever.

After we tried to make up for lost character time since woody/Jessie were a bust. We met Olaf, Mickey/Minnie, then by accident fell upon Star wars launch bay.



Stumbled upon launch bay and he was so excited to meet darth Vader. First we did BB8 which was so cute, then waited 25 mins for Darth, posted wait was 40.

This was all he talked about for the next hour. Repeating everything Darth Vader told him. It is an amazing meet and greet.

Rounded out the day by meeting Buzz and of course visiting potato land.

Didn’t do any shows or the bigger rides and that was ok. Didn’t even feel like a spring break crowd kind of day, was nice to meet characters and explore galaxy’s edge more!

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Wow. This? Is a stellar, epic day right here!
:heart:

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He is so adorable! Looks like y’all are having a fabulous time together.

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Had a sleepy moment this morning and couldn’t find the page to buy Genie+. I’m ok now :blush:

DS is becoming more aware of the cost of things. He knows about genie and we pay a cost to skip the lines. I didn’t realize he thought this meant that we pay for every single lightning lane we enter. Poor kid was feeling this guilt until he couldn’t hold it in. He was so relieved when I told him it’s one price and covers the full day, so we try to get as many as he can (didn’t complicate things with the “fancy rides”).

Magic kingdom today!

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Well this is adorable :heart_eyes:. I’m so glad you stumbled upon Launch Bay. I also love his Kylo light saber! My son built one too and I was glad it was relatively inexpensive.

Your shirts were awesome!

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Day 2 MK day! I think we know the focal point of the day:

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Now might be the time to admit we didn’t know this! He just choose his favourite colour. People said “there goes Kyle” and we both looked like “oh where??”. Didn’t realize until the CM by BB8 told us :grinning: so we had to explain to BB8 that he was friendly and on his side. Adorable.

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Amazing trip. DS11 always picks a new stuffed animal friend every trip to WDW. He and I are planning a 1:1 in January, so thanks for sharing. This is so precious. Enjoy the trip!!

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So today was pretty big with letting DS lead the way. Up again at 6:15. Tapped in at 7:50, rope dropped buzz. In the first room somehow he hit something that got him 100,000 points! Sheesh I didn’t stand a chance.

Then he totally surprised me and wanted to ride Astro orbiter. I couldn’t even get him close last time. He loved it and gave me a pretty rough ride.

Now my original “plan” was to knock out Carousel, tea cups, Dumbo and little mermaid. Nope, my little guy is too big for that apparently. Instead we headed for barnstormer. We rode it, asked to ride again and we did. Still no one in line so rode again! Each time he got braver raising his arms, and we ended up riding 4 times without getting off. :smiling_face: This was awesome.

Early entry now over, time for first LL for Peter Pan, then 7DMT. We got to be in the front of the train :grinning:

It started to rain as we got off, so headed for haunted mansion which had just re-opened from being down.

He said in passing earlier that he hopes we can go on pirates, so after Peter Pan I booked the LL. Pirates line moved a lot slower and I was getting nervous about the breakfast reservation. He had fun spotting jack sparrow throughout the ride.

Sped walked to crystal palace, and started to feel the crush of people walking the opposite direction.

Checked in, waited 10mins, then told to wait for the close by characters before eating.

They brought him out a birthday cupcake and card and he was so thrilled.

Full and happy, we headed off to enchanted tales. I had explained to him what this was like but he was nervous, I told him he could be a little part and still experience the full thing.

A room full of adorable children, a room full of huge roars, and he got picked! And oh yes, I got picked too.

Highlight of my day I think, almost cried when he danced with Belle, I could see that he was nervous but overcame it. Magic band status: still on

Next up; big thunder LL. He said he loved it more than 7D! Love that I’m slowly getting him into coasters. Magic band status; still on

Then time for his first time on Jungle cruise. The skipper’s mic wasn’t very loud but luckily we were right beside him. DS was very serious during the ride as he analyzed everything, but later he said he loved it.

When we got out he saw the tree house so we explored It. Magic band status: still on.

It was hot and he wanted to go back to the resort to swim. I convinced him to hold out until 3 so we could see the parade as he’s never seen it.

We grabbed a popsicle and looked for shade. Had a nice 10min break and we were going to LL small world. We decided last minute to skip it and take the train around the park instead. If only we had done small world, then we would have noticed the magic band was gone when tapping in, and could have retraced our steps back to the tree house. But we didn’t notice.

Enjoyed the train and found a good spot for the parade in front of liberty tree, not crowded at all and had a bit of shade.

Loved the parade, but somehow the princesses didn’t each get their own float? Is this a new permanent change? Missed Belles beautiful float.

Ariel literally blew a kiss at him :smiling_face:

Parade was worth it for his first time. Headed down Main Street through the shops, as we passed the display of magic bands, that’s when he realized his was gone. I couldn’t believe it, I had been checking constantly the day before but today didn’t even notice!

We retraced our steps back to the parade, I didn’t realize until later looking at photos that it was likely lost near the tree house.

I know in the grand scheme of things it’s small, but he was so happy with that band I got him last summer. We reported it lost at city hall and got a regular card instead. I wish I could transfer my band to him. For one day left just not worth buying a new one that I won’t know how to use.

Back to the resort, really enjoying POFQ pool. Water is so nice and warm and shallow enough in most areas.

Dinner, pina colava for me, and a fun run through the rain back to the room.

I don’t know how people have energy to do all day, or to even head back after a break. I. Am. Finished :smiling_face:

One day left of the whirl wind trip with animal kingdom tomorrow!

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When DS was picked for that, I definitely cried. We have a photo of him looking up at her as they are dancing and it is most definitely the look of a man who is in love :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: I’m so happy to hear your DS got picked too and how special it was!!!

Uh oh. I feel like there is a point in this retelling where the status will change… :frowning:

Best Park!

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It sounds like he is being so brave! Despite the most magic band, it still seems like an excellent day :slight_smile:

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Day 3: back of the pack for EE, which I much prefer over getting stuck in the middle when we try for earlier. In front of the tree by 7:40, early enough for me!


Rode Dinosaur two times at RD. He loves it but always ducks and closes his eyes!

Took a spin on triceratops, then headed over to FOP. A little girl was crying when she got in the room with the seats, and lost her mind when the restraints were put in. Each have their parenting style and in the end the girl loved it, but I kind of couldn’t believe the CM just left the room letting the kid screaming in the chair. I was thinking either way for her to calm down, or let her out.

Anyway, ride was amazing as always. My kid stops in every single gift shop and has to touch and inspect the price for everything. We spent a while there.

Then caught birds in flight just in time, that was fun! I have never been in the right place at the right time for this.

He signed up for wilderness explorers and he was so enchanted by it.

Part two to come later :grinning:

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We then saw Minnie and Mickey, had a LL booked and it was still quite a wait. Then I found out why…this is the best character interaction we’ve ever had.

He proudly showed them his one badge in his book and they both showed full enthusiasm and looked at the book. He then showed his Easter Mickey. While Mickey signed the book Minnie took him aside to dance with him, then Mickey started to join in the dance.

Didn’t feel rushed or pressured, it was really nice.



Got two more badges, then hopped in line for kali rapids and got a little wet. Used LL to get in line again, and got just soaked!

Then the jungle trek for a couple more badges. This book is now more precious to him than the autographs. Back around the park to Everest and Dinoland to get more badges. Got an LL for dinosaur and the CMs remembered him. He told them he’d try to keep his eyes open this time. well, he tried!

I think he got 12 badges in total. We were going to try FOTLK or nemo but as he’s seen both, he was way too excited to earn more badges. He took it all seriously and will be telling 8 friends at home what he learned about bats. Watch out class.

We were spent by 1pm so back to the hotel for a rest.

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Wilderness Explorers, IMO, is the single best free extra that WDW offers, particularly for the little set. It is such an engaging experience and my kids at least latched on to playing the game, so to speak, and were energized by the opportunity.

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What a lovely trip! Your DS is darling and your itinerary reminds me of our interests when mine were around his age.

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Day 3 continued: when he got too tired for any more WE badges we headed back to the hotel for about an hour. Just enough for a short rest, then headed for magic kingdom.

He had seen the pirates adventure the day before and wanted to try. They ran out of English maps so we used a Spanish map and Google translate. :upside_down_face: This was so cool! He shot off a cannon which startled the people around us. Two boats in a display cabinet came to life and started battling! He loved it, “next time” he wants to do all the maps.

At animal kingdom after our last LL I stacked for magic kingdom. I got jungle cruise for 3pm, thunder for 2:40, pirates for 3pm. It was perfect, after the treasure hunt we got on these three right in a row. Big Thunder is his new favourite ride.

Could have stayed longer but navigating the walkways is stressful and we were ready to go.

Checked city hall one last time for his missing magic band, no luck.

Back to hotel for food and a swim, and packing.

Now at the airport. :confused:

Final thoughts:

Crowds in the walkways were no joke, it was shoulder to shoulder! But lines were totally manageable with the right plan for the priorities.
Rope dropping each park even during spring break was worth it, we got a lot of empty park shots and he had the freedom to be able to run and skip ahead every morning and was still in my sight.

I was nervous about booking such a last minute trip, went in thinking that rides for LL would be gone super early and that walkways would be crowded in all parks all day. But we got two really great dining reservations, got a decent amount of LLs, and only found the walkways crowded starting early afternoon and beyond. Was able to enjoy the pool every afternoon.

Fantastic trip! Just what we needed! :grinning:

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It definitely makes you take your time to explore a little longer, and the CMs are so great! Next time we’ll have to sign up right at the entrance so we can get badges in each land. It’s hard to realize how great this is for little ones when you just want to rush around the park getting through the big stuff.

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