As my mom says this is because they trust mom and dad will love them no matter what so are more willing to show them their dark side without fear they’ll push them away. It’s cuz they trust you and means you’re doing parenting right. 
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Yup…and it also why our kids are angels at school and totally melt down once they get home! 
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i say that every time i see someone struggling with their kid…“don’t worry about it, the rest of us are just grateful it isn’t our turn right now”. those of us with the 10+ crowd were just saying yesterday how grateful we are for this stage!
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Funny, we teachers always hear “But they never behave like that at home!” when challenging behavior is discussed. 
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@JordanRunner…
Looks like those grey clouds are going to clear up…
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Hello all, I really intended to do a detailed, narrative-style trip report, but at this point I can say it’s not happening. When we got back I was so exhausted (and frustrated that the kids behaved so poorly), that I didn’t want to think about the trip for a while.
There are some really amazing trip reports that covered the same timeframe with significant overlap to what I would be sharing. See @Jeff_AZ’s May the Force Be With Us and @amvanhoose_701479’s To Trip Report or Not to Trip Report? @mathhound’s Epic 25th report touched on the use of DAS pretty well, so I’ll just say that we used it as well for our DS4 (if anyone wants more info on DAS feel free to ask). I think there have been other reports as well, but these stood out most to me.
With that in mind, and the fact that I’m too busy to spend much time “narrating” our trip, I’m just going to post my trip “notes” and share some photos. I’ll try to get through all 8 days sometime in the next week or so. Let me know if you want something explained or expanded.
Here’s the overall plan we had:
And here is the detailed plans I printed and carried in my pocket:
Looking back at this, we actually followed more than 90% of the plan (although some was done out of order), so I guess I got an “A”!
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I’m ok w/o a long narrative… I’ll risk blasphemy… I like the pictures and short captions
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DAY 1: SATURDAY MAY 29th
Arrived, checked into Art of Animation (Nemo suite), short trip to Magic Kingdom.
Notes: attractions/meals in left column with notes: RS=rider swap DAS=Disability Access Service (#) running count; specific times are from photo timestamps; A is DS6, C is DS4, L is DD2 (I’m J and DW is R)
| Sat May 29 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (6ish) | Got up around 6, morning routine, finished packing, loaded up car, left the house around 7:15ish | |
| 7:52 | Parked at DAL in Garage C, very full, parked on level 4 (last covered level) which had only a few spots left (Memorial Day weekend, DUH!), got through security (TSA Pre-check) pretty quickly, walked to terminal | |
| 8:29 | Sitting at gate 16, C cath | |
| 9:48 | Boarded SWA #3847 on Boeing 737-700, family boarding, gate-checked umbrella stroller, no car seats this trip!!!, J sat w/ L and R w/ AC, left gate around 10:05 | |
| 10:20 | Wheels up (scheduled 10:15)! Kids mostly did sticker books and watched Disney+ on our phones | |
| 1:20 | Landed at MCO (scheduled 1:38) and arrived at gate 127 at 1:31 | |
| 1:47 | Inside terminal, C cath, walked to the terminal train | |
| 2:01 | On the terminal train, then to baggage claim, where Willy from Quicksilver Tours was waiting for us, got bags and loaded van | |
| 2:21 | Quicksilver wheels rolling | |
| 2:45 | In the bubble! | |
| 3:01 | Check-in at Art of Animation (AoA), asked for different room (assigned 2nd floor but wanted ground floor), request granted, and got room closests to the main building and laundry, very convenient but also very loud at night (ask me about this and I can comment) | |
| 3:20 | At room (Nemo suite), Magic Band (MB) and phone won’t unlock, explored Cars area for 15ish minutes while waiting for room key cards and updated MB, unpacking and checking out our room | |
| LoF MO +Refillable Mug | 4:02 | Getting snacks at Landscape of Flavors (LoF) - fries and mac/cheese since kids were eating crackers and granola bars for snacks all day, got the Star Wars “premium” refillable mug (my main souvenir for the trip) |
| 4:13 | Snacking in room while getting ready to go to Magic Kingdom, C cath, J got stroller at bell services, loaded up and walked to bus stop | |
| 4:35 | At the bus stop, got on at 4:49 | |
| 5:10 | Arrived at Magic Kingdom (MK), activated my annual pass (AP) and C’s disability access service (DAS) at guest services | |
| Main Street | 5:13 | Walking down Main Street, R and I both remarked at how empty the park seemed |
| Cinderella Castle | 5:21 | Walking through Cinderella Castle, got DAS return time for it’s a small world (iasw), headed to Haunted Mansion (HM) which had a short wait (<10 min) |
| HM | 5:34 | Arrived at HM and riding at 5:37 (finished 5:44); HM stopped for at least a minute, with L and I looking down a creepy hallway with a floating candlestick, next to a moving suit of armor, L got pretty scared and started saying “go home, go home” over and over, this is what she said on most rides hereafter… |
| iasw DAS | 5:50 | Back at iasw and on at 5:55, J ran to get DAS return for 7 Dwarfs Mine Train (7DMT) while others went to Pinocchio Village Haus |
| Pinocchio Village Haus MO | 6:26 | Eating pizza @ Pinocchio’s (3 kid’s meals and one flatbread, but even that was too much food); then walked to 7DMT |
| 7DMT DAS | 6:58 | On 7DMT, L’s first rollercoaster (she was exactly 38"), she acted very scared and didn’t seem to like it but afterwards was asking to go again, “again, again”, this happened on many rides (“go home” on the ride, but “again” after the ride, LOL!) |
| 7:06 | Walking back through Cinderella Castle | |
| 7:18 | Eating Mickey Bars in the hub, enjoying being there looking at the castle | |
| 7:47 | On bus back to AoA, C BM, getting ready for bed, went to bell services to get groceries | |
| Refilled mug (2) | 8:38 | Kids in bed, unpacking groceries, J got açai-blueberry-pomegranate vitamin water + blue powerade concoction at LoF |
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In case anyone is curious about the countdown calendar, I made it on my computer and printed on 11x17 paper. The stickers I found online - someone had made a Disney Bingo game, and I used their images because the characters were all a consistent style. If anyone cares, I can try to find those again.
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Your wife is so youthful looking that in the first few photos I mentally lumped her in as one of your kids. Then I was like - I don’t think he has 4. Oh! That’s his wife!
Be sure and tell her
The kids are ADORABLE! I know they had you pulling out your hair but everyone looks so happy in these pics. I suppose why wouldn’t they be, with all those Mickey bars!
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That didn’t start until lunch on Day 2. We were waiting outside H&V, and DS4 pushed DD2 really hard (he has a thing about pushing, pinching, pulling hair, etc.). She fell down and scraped her knee really bad. Like blood coming down her leg. At that exact moment our name was called. We were the first ones in for lunch, and we were walking in with a screaming bloody child while yelling at the other about what he had done. The server tried to go through his spiel but it was just pure chaos. Then after the first round of character greetings, the kids all decided that it would be fun to run around too, and we couldn’t talk any sense into them. To be fair, we had only been inside a restaurant with them once since the pandemic started, and that was a few weeks before the trip.
Thank god I had a long island iced tea…
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Sounds like lunch at WDW!
Hugs, man.
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How old is L? I wonder if she’ll remember the spooky hallway long term. My first memory of Disneyland is on PoC and hiding my face in my dad’s neck when I was about 4. I was so scared! But it’s a precious memory now. I can remember him chuckling a little at how scared I was all the time holding me close. Good memory this Father’s Day weekend! And in a month (less!) I’ll get to see him again for the first time since 2019!
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Yes, apparently when she would ride with mom she would sometimes say “daddy, daddy” but when she rode with me she would just say “go home, go home”.
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I am hoping 20 years from now you can repeat that story at an extended family gathering and you will smile. Hugs
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Sounds like a Tuesday to me! (Which is my sarcastic way of saying I’m sorry you had some rough spots but they are definitely not unique (in the real world or in the bubble) to the extent that provides you any solace.)
Now about those guardrails for the bed….did you bring those with you or did the hotel provide them? The beds are always so high and I’m always terrified the littles will fall out and so I just pile pillows up super high….
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I pile up pillows as well, but down the middle of the bed to keep the kids from rolling / crossing the boundary into each other at night! DD4 loves to creep closer and closer to the other side of the bed (I know from experience) and DD7 hates it.
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Disney provided them, even installed them for us. It was great.
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My DS4 is extremely sensory-seeking (hence the pushing, pinching, pulling hair, punching…) and it doesn’t stop when he’s sleeping. Every night, he would be “noodling” his arms under me in his sleep. Quite the shock that first night!
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DAY 2: SUNDAY MAY 30th
The Main Hollywood Studios Day
Notes: attractions/meals in left column with notes: RS=rider swap DAS=Disability Access Service (#) running count; specific times are from photo timestamps; A is DS6, C is DS4, L is DD2 (I’m J and DW is R)
| Sun May 30 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Refilled mug (3) | (630ish) | Got up around 630, morning routine, tried to get boarding group (BG) for Rise of the Resistance (RotR) at 7:00 but ran into tech glitch, terrible mood, J got coffee at LoF, loaded up strollers, left the room around 7:35ish |
| 7:43 | In line for Skyliner, on board at 7:51 | |
| 8:11 | Through security and at taps at Hollywood Studios (HS), inside park at 8:21 walking towards RnRC, L points at the Mickey at the top of the Crossroads statue and starts squealing “Mickey, Mickey”, boogied over to Sunset Blvd | |
| RnRC (2) RS | 8:32 | On RnRC, A rode twice with J then R using Rider Switch (RS), J got DAS return for ToT during 2nd ride |
| Tower of Terror DAS | 8:52 | Walking in queue for ToT, walked past a ton of people (we used DAS), on ride at 8:58, while waiting R got a DAS return for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (MMRR) |
| Racing Academy | 9:18 | Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, C cath |
| MMRR DAS | 9:41 | Entering queue for MMRR, passed a ton of people (we used DAS), on ride at 9:49 |
| Frozen Sing-a-long | 10:09 | Waiting to enter theater for Frozen Sing-a-long, entered at 10:16, show started at 10:35ish |
| 10:57 | Elsa! | |
| Hollywood & Vine | 11:21 | Waiting for table at Hollywood & Vine (H&V), C pushed L down and she scraped her knee really bad (bloody!), all week she kept talking about her “boo boo hurting”, seated at 11:30, Mickey 11:49, Minnie 11:52, Pluto 12:03, Goofy 12:05, Mickey 12:42, TiW saved us $39 |
| Refilled mug (4) | (1ish) | Got DAS return for SDD, tried for ROTR BG again at 1 but got error that we already had one (BG 63, boarding in 15 minutes YAY!), Skyliner back to hotel for naps, C BM, J got powerade drink, rest, CANCELED Oga’s @4:30 
|
| 3:52 | Back at HS, saw Donald/Daisy on balcony at Crossroads, walked to Slinky Dog Dash (SDD) | |
| SDD DAS | 4:12 | Riding SDD using DAS |
| 4:19 | Entering queue for Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM), except J who went to get DAS return for Millenium Falcon Smuggler’s Run (MFSR), got a Coke in the infamous grenade-shaped bottle (kept as souvenir) | |
| TSMM | 4:40 | Riding TSMM, walked to Batuu, C cath |
| MFSR DAS | 5:01 | Entered MFSR waiting room, and flying at 5:07, but L chickened out so R+L waited outside the cockpit |
| Droid Depot | 5:40 | Entered Droid Depot after waiting in line for 20ish minutes, picking parts at 5:45 and building droids at 5:50 (droids were AC’s main souvenirs), walked over to Sci Fi afterwards |
| Sci Fi | 6:32 | Seated at Sci Fi after waiting for 20ish minutes |
| 7:47 | R+boys enter queue for ROTR using DAS, J+L walk towards Skyliner | |
| ROTR | 7:49 | ROTR preshow, J+L get Mickey balloon and get cute pictures at the Crossroads Mickey statue |
| 7:56 | Entered docking bay with Stormtroopers and TIE, J+L on Skyliner | |
| 8:03 | ROTR escape sequence | |
| Refilled mug (5) | (9ish) | C cath, kids all in bed, J got powerade drink |
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