Pictures for Day 8, Part 1:
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I love the way you tell your story–it’s such an entertaining read!
Ha! When you figure this one out (how to suggest things that need to happen and actually make them happen), let me know.
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These are great pictures! Except the hat.
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Lol, thank you, and fair enough!
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So true!
I’m glad you’re enjoying the report!
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DAY 8, PART 2:
The next few hours were kind of a hodgepodge. Josh and I did some more shopping. The rest of the gang did Philharmagic (it experienced a brief weather delay, which annoyed my mom), Astro Orbiter, and People Mover. Josh and I decided to do Astro Orbiter, too (I actually really like Astro Orbiter!), but it shut down due to weather as we were walking up. In the chaos of the next few stormy minutes, we all decided to jump into a long line for an indoor attraction. Not for Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, as I suggested - but for Space Mountain! We had a Lightning Lane already lined up for it for later, but DN6 said he wanted to ride, so we decided to strike while the iron was hot!
The line was long, but DN6 really liked it. It is definitely bumpy for me, but it is a sentimental favorite and I really dig the whole queue, and the Tomorrowland vibe in general. My mom didn’t ride due to concerns it would bother her neck. It was interesting riding with my parents’ necks and backs as a preoccupation, especially on this day, which ended up being very roller coaster-heavy.
After Space, we split up for a snack break. BIL, Josh, the nephews and I hit Auntie Gravity’s for ice cream sundaes and shakes. Megan and the rest went to Cheshire Cafe for cat tails, but only found cat paws. Megan liked hers. DN8 decided to hold out for a brownie, which she eventually found at Main Street Bakery (during the afternoon Starbucks run!). Then everyone figured out something to do before we met back up with Mike and my dad at 5. I can’t say for sure what all those things were, because I had a Liner meet at the treehouse to get to!
One of the silver linings of 2020 was the intense bonding on Lines chat over random, non-Disney things. During movie nights, Friends trivia contests, and countless other conversations, it became a running joke among @hol74976, @Jennyhirsch, and me (none of whom had ever met in person) that we would meet up at the Swiss Family Treehouse to celebrate when Disney World reopened. Those two did meet in summer 2021, but my trip missed both of theirs by mere hours. It looked like @hol74976 and I were on course to just miss each other again in 2022, but when her plans changed to get her to WDW earlier, we knew a treehouse meeting had to happen! It was delightful getting to chat with her and finally meet after all these years!
This day was so long, its report has three parts. Part 3 coming soon!
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Awesome liner meet!
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I love this so much!
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Yay for a liner meet! Philharmagic had a weather delay?? That would annoy me too!
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DAY 8 PART 3:
Magic Kingdom can be overstimulating. While (as planner), I was able to sort of curate and strategize our other three park days, Magic Kingdom day ended up being about trying to do all the things. It was not relaxing, but at least with Genie Plus and an ILL, it was also not all that physically demanding.
That being said, as a many-time visitor to Magic Kingdom, my favorite parts of this park day were actually the times we spent on Main Street. From waiting for rope drop, to the nice, long interlude in the hub that we spent after my meet with @hol74976. Heck, I’ll even count the parade since we were so close to Main Street! My dad and Mike were en route back to Magic Kingdom, and the rest of us waited for them while enjoying some time in the hub. I loved it. It was so relaxed, and the weather was nice again. Eventually, we got a "where are you?’ text from my dad, and it turned out they had gotten past us somehow and were waiting at Peter Pan, which was our next Lightning Lane. We headed over the meet them but must have lost some stragglers along the way. I doubled back, speed walking under the castle and then on the right side, past Merida. I didn’t find anyone, but it was exhilarating! Planning is hard, and I’ll take “me time” when I can get it. When I made it back to Peter Pan, our group had been reunited. It was time to use some stacked Lightning Lanes!
My Genie Note: I was not a FPP super user, but as an offsite guest, I am not sure I would have been able to get Splash (morning), Space, and Peter Pan at 30 days (plus Haunted Mansion (morning), IASW (morning), BTMRR, and Tomorrowland Speedway on the day of). And I know I couldn’t have gotten 7DMT. It costs more now, but I thought it was nice to have the option for a trip like this.
In rapid succession, we rode Peter Pan, Seven Dwarves, and Space Mountain back-to-back, all using LL/ILL. It was only my second time riding 7D! It was really cute and fun. Peter Pan is a classic, and DN6 enjoyed showing off his Space Mountain skills a second time to the rest of our group. When that ride ended, we checked the wait at Buzz, but it was fairly long, so we went to my only other must-do for the trip, Carousel of Progress. From the time I dreamed this trip up, I pictured my dad watching this show with his kids and grandkids. I knew he’d love everything about it, and he did (so did my mom!). I think there were a few tears shed in in the Carousel that night (and not only by me)! COP was a good reminder for me that the trip had been a success, even though it was easy to get bogged down in the minutia while it was happening.
We were hungry and losing daylight - we were almost at the end of our park day. For simplicity’s sake, we ate at Cosmic Rays, and we didn’t Mobile Order. Dinner wasn’t outstanding, but it got the job done. We had agreed the night before that we were going to try to leave before/during fireworks. We all had long travel days the next day and just couldn’t afford to get stuck in traffic leaving. We were holding LL for BTMRR at 8. By my calculations, we had time to ride that and one more thing. I let my sister’s kids pick, and “the cars you can drive” was the winner. So I picked up one more LL for TSW.
This day happened to be my wedding anniversary. Mike and I decided to celebrate it by not riding Speedway and just sitting on a bench together instead. I did also buy him a nice card! He has been a very good sport for 19 years about this being the week my family likes to vacation together!
After Speedway, we made the hike to Frontierland as it was getting dark. We walked quickly, but there was time to soak up some atmosphere and background music coming and going from Big Thunder. Our last LL, and last ride, of the trip was none other than the wildest ride in the wilderness! I could see my mom clutching her neck from a few rows back, but she and everyone else enjoyed it.
We had one more objective, and it was an important one: make it to the monorail before fireworks. Once we saw that the bypasses behind Main Street were open, we knew we were home free. We exited the park and reached the top of the monorail ramp just as the Enchantment music started.
It had been an epic 7 days at Disney (following 2 at Universal). It was hard to believe that the dream trip I had been planning for an entire pandemic was coming to a close!
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This is an awesome pic! Glad all the planning paid off. Thanks for sharing your trip.
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Thank you!
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DAY 9: 'OHANA BREAKFAST AND DEPARTURE
Packing up and heading home is hard (especially when you’re driving - blerg!), so I like to squeeze in one more Disney meal before hitting the road. Sadly, my sister’s family had to start their drive early to be home for an evening activity. We wished DN11 a happy birthday on his was out the door! It was a great week of quality time with them. We finished up at the rental house and went to breakfast at 'Ohana at the Polynesian. It was the first visit to either place for all of us. I liked the architecture. It managed to be both retro and tropical at the same time. Not just Hawaii, but “Brady Bunch goes to Hawaii.” Very cool.
We were 6 instead of 11 for breakfast, but it was no trouble changing our group size at the podium, and we were seated immediately (yay!). Being that everyone gets the skillet and there are no characters, it was a very quick meal. They seemed very attentive to dietary restrictions, bringing veggie sausages to Megan and a few dishes made without milk to my mom, who is lactose intolerant. The coconut pineapple bread was as good as promised.
Mike is a longtime fan of Disney breakfasts and especially skillets, but I think we were all spoiled by Boma and agreed afterwards that we like breakfast buffets even better than skillets now! Luckily, Disney has options for our evolving tastes.
After breakfast, we took a quick look around the resort. My parents had a late flight, so I explained to them how to take the monorail around the resort loop to resort hop. We changed into comfy clothes for the road and looked in both gift shops. At Boutiki, Josh found the 20,000 Leagues shirt he had seen at Disney Springs. He had been regretting not getting it, so this was fortuitous. He also saw some Mickey sleep shorts we had not seen anywhere else. It was a departure day souvenir miracle, and I was very happy for him.
We said goodbye to my parents. I feel so fortunate that they were able to take this trip with us. I knew it was not a given that this vacation would happen, but we did it. I really appreciated them flipping the usual beach trip to a Disney World vacation. Even if they don’t become Disney addicts, it will always be something we are glad to have done together.
And as for us, we don’t have a countdown right now, but with a 20th anniversary, a 50th birthday, and a high school graduation all on the horizon, there of plenty of reasons to think Mickey might see us real soon.
Wrap up post to come! Thanks for reading.
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What a great trip! I’m sad your report is nearly over.
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SUPERLATIVES AND OTHER THOUGHTS:
Best foods:
Salad - Vegan Salad at Uni Royal Pacific Resort
Breakfast - Boma. All of it.
Lunch - Caprese Flatbread at Pinocchio’s Village House
Dinner - Via Napoli pizza
Snack - Butter beer (frozen)
Best Rides:
GOTG: 4 votes, ROTR: 2 votes, FOP: 1 vote, Mission Space: 1 vote, MFSR: 1 vote, Space Mountain: 1 vote, Everest: 1 vote
Best Show:
Lots of love for the almost-complete FotLK and Finding Nemo. I’m going back to Poseidon’s Fury someday (even if I go alone)
MVPs:
Genie Plus and ILL
That dude taking our picture at ToT
Moments:
Whole family happily riding SDD together
Explaining rides to DN6
The kids getting three rides on GOTG
My mom seeing Galaxy’s Edge for the first time
DN8 wearing my dad’s Mickey ear Panama hat
DN10 in the wave pool
Trying to pilot the MF with my sister and beat her at TSMM
My dad on FOP and at COP
Dinner at Rainforest with Mike, Amy, and BIL
The ones that got away*:
Hagrid’s
Oga’s
Hollywood and Vine (for the second year in a row!)
*These just mean we need to come back soon.
Thanks for stopping by!
Robin aka Tumble
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Aww, thanks! Me, too. 
I’m flattered my trip report hero reads my reports!
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