Hello! I spent last week in The World with my husband, DS5, DS3 and my parents. The trip was a gift to my parents from us. They drive me nuts so there was a little bit of “what have I done!?” but overall it was smooth and everyone survived.
Originally we were staying in LM room at AoA but I switched to POP to take advantage of a holiday offer. This caused some issues because Magical Express had us down as double the guests and my parents luggage got delivered to AoA by mistake. I requested the 60s or 70 but ended up with adjoining rooms in the 50’s section in the very last building. Was still a better walk then our Little mermaid room last year and we had a view of the lake. We swam in the pool (it was a chilly day and the pool was almost bathtub warm- so nice) and went to dinner at TRex in Disney Springs.
We started with Epcot on Monday as my kids and parents had never been. We did PPO at Askershus. The food was limited but tasty and then walked right on to Frozen. My boys hated the drop. We met Baymax before our fpp for Nemo. Ds3 was scared and refused to go even though he had been watching videos on YouTube and loves Nemo. He played in Bruce’s playground instead and we all watched the crush show. I had booked a fastpass for the Land for my dad expecting it to be a snooze but everyone loved it! It was my boys favorite ride of the day! They wanted to ride again but standby was long and there were no additonal fpp for the day (who would have thought?) World showcase was done in less than 2 hours because my boys were complaining they were hot and bored. Picking pearls in Japan was a highlight. The The boys each picked one and my mom and I got charms to wear them. The woman running it was great, banging her drum and teaching us to count in Japanese. A perfect souvenir! Next up was test track FP. There was no way ds3 was getting on so he sat it out with my mom. Ds5 loved it. We spent along time after looking at the chevy cars, taking pics and playing the little driving game. The boys didnt want to leave! It was almost 3 so we took the bus back to Pop. My husband I were coming back later by ourselves to enjoy food and wine.
Girl, it only gets worse! I had to sneak pics of my teen DS and half of them he caught me in the act so I have lovely pics of the palm of his hand at WDW! I’ll try the candy bribe next time 
Beautiful family and sounds like a great trip!
My DS16 agrees to one picture/day. And I better make it a good one b/c there are no second chances! LOL Good times.
@Acullum85 thanks for sharing your trip!
Thanks! By the end the boys were yelling no pictures anytime we stopped moving.
Food and Wine was really fun. Dh and I rode soaring before making our way to world showcase. It was my first time riding and it was amazing! I wish my dad had went on it earlier. The first stop we made after was the Hawaii kiosk. The spam hash was the best thing i tried all night! I got a drink in Mexico that was tasty and a really good value. Hanson was having an eat to the beat concert so we ate lobster rolls while listening to them. My husband made fun of me for knowing their music. We made it to France before we gave up and just couldn’t eat anymore. The festival was a great use of dining plan snack credits, I will definitely go back again. We had planed to stay and watch illuminations but all the food and drinks had us feeling super tired and a little queezy. We called it a night joking about how old and boring we have gotten.
8am on Tuesday we walked in to MK. I decided to get the DAS for my Dh5 (adhd and spd). The stimulation and lack of his normal routine was pushing him over the edge and I didn’t want to risk the day. I will admit i was a little embarrassed to even ask for it. The women at the counter was super nice though. We had chosen MK this day because TP called it as a crowd level 1 and they were right. We didn’t even need our fast passes in the morning. I lost my magic band and had to go to guest services in liberty square. This through my plan off and I completely forgot about our 7DMT fastpass. We had lunch at BOG. I had loved dinner there on our last trip but I don’t love the new menu enough to use 2 dining credits. We used our fpp for Space Ranger Spin. DS3 has been afraid of everything and didn’t want to go on. He refused Dumbo and Carousel as well. I knew he liked Buzz last year so I carried him on crying and soon as the ride started he was fine. Last stop was Monsters Inc Laugh floor. They used DS5’s joke which made him thrilled. On the bus ride back he told me that was his favorite thing all day,
We arrived at MK around 6 for MNSSHP. It was absolutley packed. We got dinner at Columbia Harbor House. I had the lobster roll which as good but a little under filled. I used the DAS to get a return time for 7DMT and while we waited we went on Tomorrowland speedway, dumbo and and the barnstormer for the third times. The candy lines were sooo long. We waited about 20 miutes for POC while last year it was a walk on. DS3 fell asleep before the parade even started. I was starting to think this party would be a waste of money. After the parade the lines really seemed to quiet down and the walkways opened uo(in frontier/adventureland anyway).I really started to get in to the halloween spirit, It helped me get more We watched the fireworks on the bridge to tomorrowland. Of course DS3 woke up at the end of the fireworks just as DS5 fell asleep. We let him do a little trick or treating but by then my parents looked absolutely exhausted so we decided to leave.
So what was the verdict - MNSSHP worth it for DS3 and DS5? I’m thinking about taking DS3 and DS4 next year.
It was not worth it for DS3. He had dinner, rode the tomorrowland speedway and did 3 or 4 trick or treating stops, the rest of the night he was asleep. I think he had a good time but that was too much money for what he got. DS5 loved it and also last year when he was 4. But to be honest I think he would have had just as much fun being at MK at night on a regular day, I wish my husband and I had just taken him and left ds3 and the grandparents at Pop… I don’t think we will do another halloween party.
Wed we went to Crystal palace so my mom could have breakfast with her favorite character Pooh. We rode 7dmt Speedway and Dumbo again (what a suprise) beforee taking the train over to Frontierland for our Splash Mountain FPP. DS3 was even scared to get on the train. I don’t know why he is afraid of everything lately. He was fine once we were on. Splash Mountain was much larger then i remember. DS5 said he didn’t like it. Not because he was scared but because he got splashed. It’s hard for me to figure out what he will and will not like. This was halloween and even though it was a party day it felt a lot more crwoded then the day before.
That night we had an adr at Whispering Canyon. I wanted to call a minnie van to save time but there were none available. I waited and waited and nothing popped up. We ended up being late but were still seated right away. The adults all got the platter. It was very good. Most of the specialty drinks has whiskey which I’m not a fan of. We got none of the shenanigans. The table next to us was having fun being put in “jail”. Ds5 did enjoy the hobby horse race around the room. We got the milkshakes as desert to go. Afterwords we took the bus to Disney Springs. We waited for ever and then the bus made a stop at Contemporary. Ds3 has an “accident” on my lap on the way there, he had a change of clothes but i did not. While I liked the food I don’t think it was worth it to travel there with young kids. Maybe i would take the bus over if we were allready at MK. Wilderness Lodge is beautiful though and hopefully I can stay there one day.
Thursday was Animal Kingdom day. We love this park! We can take it easy and just enjoy the atmosphere. We arrived around 8:35 to a backed up Pandora. When they finally let us in the small group headed to Na’vi River laughed and one man yelled “see you later suckers” as we left the FOP group behind. We walked right on. We then wandered the Discovery Island trails before our Safari FPP. This took longer than planned due to a giraffic jam. We saw the 11am FOTLK with no fpp which was actually a better experience than last year with fpp. We had a short wait for a table at Tusker house (11:40 adr). DS3 who was afraid of everything loved seeing Mickey. I feel bad because this was the only place we met him on the trip. Everyone loved the food. Even my mom who is extremely picky found things that she liked. Funnily enough my boys were better behaved then my parents who got in to a squable over a cookie, moving it back and forth to each others plate.
Next up was the Gorilla trail. We got an amazing view! The staff is so helpful and answers all of my sons strange questions. By this time it was insanely hot. We always have the hardest time with the heat at AK. I’m not sure why because it seems shady. Back at Pandora me, my dad and DH rode FOP with FPP. Last year my son and I had a fpp and still waited forever. When we got in to the pre-show he freaked out saying he didnt want to be a blue person" so I had to get off. I was so disappointed. This time with fpp we walked right on. What an incredible ride! My dad said it was the most amazing thing he has ever seen. That being said i still would not wait more than 45 minutes to ride again.
We were all getting cranky in the heat so we went back to the hotel. The wait for the bus was really long and hot.
My DH and i planned to go back at night for a date night but my dad ended up tagging along (which was fine with us). We took a lyft about 6pm. We rode Dinosaur. it was disappointing and we probably wont ride again unless my kids want to. We spent a while at Pandora exploring the glowing landscape. We had dinner at Satu’li Canteen. The guys got the rice bowl, I got a season spicy shrimp with noodles and we got the burger buns to share. I give this place 2 thumbs up. Great food and atmosphere!