We survived Spring Break at WDW! (trip report)



These are the only pics from DS that I have that don’t have my family in them…the beer flight is from Polite Pig.

7 Likes

The trips are different now, but still a lot of fun and definitely a special time! I was surprised that DS21 and GF spent as much time with us as they did. He thanked me several times for inviting her too. It made me smile even on the inside when the boys got excited about something, like Toy Story land for DS21, who has loved TS since he was about 2. Ds18 is a huge SW fan, and he loved SWL so much, even taking silly pics with his dad (both boys dislike having their pic taken).

6 Likes

One little thing I forgot to add. On the night we arrived, the kids went for a walk around the resort after dinner. When they came back, they were excited to show me a pic they had taken–of a bus from their school, lol. They go to a smaller college in Ohio, and they thought it was fun to see one of their buses parked at Windsor Hills :). I saw a post a day or two later on Instagram that one the tennis team had won a tournament in Kissimmee, so that was probably it.

2 Likes

Life is getting stressful and not so fun around here. We have an ill family member and decisions that have to be made there (not currently life threatening), and both kids have tough decisions to make about next year school and living wise.

I’m really glad for this little escape back to our wonderful vacation just a couple of weeks ago for just a little while.

Still Thursday, March 10
Animal Kingdom

We were at AK by 3:00 and spent a few minutes looking around the Oasis and taking pics in front of the tree. We also had pics taken at a cute little photo set up at the entrance, it was like a giant photo frame. It started raining as soon as our pic was finished, and the CMs left as another family was walking up, so I took a couple pics for them. GF took a pic of the 4 of us in front of the tree (raining, no photopass people out), and DS21 said, “You want a pic with our rain jackets on?” Um, well it is raining, so…

We tapped in for the safari at 3:25, and it was a good safari! I think we saw all of the animals; three cheetahs were out, we saw the male lion and two females, plenty of giraffes were out…it was just fun.

Uploading: 20220310_154228.jpg…
Uploading: 20220310_154614.jpg…
Uploading: 20220310_155549.jpg…

Next up, Flight of Passage! Finally! GF hadn’t been to WDW since Pandora opened, so all of it was new to her. We tapped in at 4:20 and it was another great flight on a banshee with very little wait. No motion sickness for me this time, score!

We made our way to Na’vi, stopping for a couple of pics on the way. When we got there, the wait time was posted at 85 minutes, which is way too long for that ride, but was also 10 minutes longer than the posted wait for FoP! Crazy. After the pretty ride through the bioluminescent whatever, I realized that we had missed the last show of Celebration of FoLK. I love FoLK and wanted to see this one, even if it is shortened, but there is always next time. I watched it on YouTube later.

We had dinner at Satu’li and then split up and just sort of wandered around AK. DH & I may have accidentally ditched the kids when they went in a store. We looked for the otters in the Otter Grotto at one point, but we didn’t see any. DH and I found a photographer near Everest who looked bored and had pics taken. They were running cars on Everest, so we watched for a few minutes and then went into the deserted gift shop; DS18 had an EE shirt that he loved but he outgrew it and I was hoping they still sell it; they don’t. AK is so pretty at night! I love it when the lights come on, it just looks totally different than in the daytime.

We eventually met up with the kids in Pandora and just enjoyed it after dark. It is so pretty! DS18 had seen the cars running on Everest and said he would be mad if they opened it back up tomorrow. I told him the opening date had been pushed back to May, but if it did open before we left, we would add park hoppers and come over and ride it. Our short day at AK was done, I think we stopped in a couple of shops on the way out, and we left AK at 7:55 and were back at the condo at 8:03. The kids played a couple of games they had brought, and we just hung out and had an early night. We only have 2 park days left!

Genie+ worked really, really well for us on this day. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time at AK, but we enjoyed the time we were there, we were able to do everything we wanted (well, except for C of FoLK), and we didn’t have to wait for anything!

5 Likes

Uploading: 20220310_154614.jpg…
Uploading: 20220310_155549.jpg…

For some reason, I can’t get pics to upload this morning. I’ll try again later.

5 Likes

4 Likes

3 Likes

4 Likes

5 Likes

5 Likes

Friday, March 11
Magic Kingdom

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood! The sky was blue (not bright, but still blue), we were all rested up, and we were going to the Magic Kingdom today!

DH booked an LL for Splash at 10:30-11:30 while I was getting ready. We left WH at 7:40 and were off the ferry and at the tapstiles at 8:15. I wanted to re-create a pic from our kids’ 2nd trip in 2005, so we stopped at a photopass CM to take care of that. Our CM was Edwin, and he was so great! He took several different shots for us, the one I asked for of the boys, a couple family pics, some of DH and I, some of DS21 and GF, and then he had GF stand in a certain spot and hold her arm out with us grouped a bit behind her and off to the side; it is so cute, it looks like she was taking a selfie with us! If you see Edwin on Main Street, definitely take time to wait in his line! We made our way up Main Street, not in a hurry, just taking it all in and taking a few more pics. We were stopped on the bridge towards Liberty Square to wait for rope drop, only a few groups back from the rope. My phone was sticking out of the side of my bag, and GF noticed that it was ringing and told me; MIL was calling to let us know that grandma (MIL’s mom, 96 years old) had called her upset and thinking she was having a stroke, so MIL was going to check on her and she would update us. She called DH after she had seen grandma and found out what was going on, and it ended up being a panic attack, thank goodness.

The rope dropped and we started towards BTMRR; we were held at the second rope briefly and then…was there a third rope today? We were in a huge crowd on the bridge across from Splash, and the crowd wasn’t moving at all. We stood there and waited, and finally we could hear CMs on the Splash side yelling (to be heard) that Splash and all of Adventureland were down. I started trying to mentally calculate how much it would cost to add park hoppers because it wasn’t looking like a great day at the MK anymore. They CMs were trying to direct people to form a line, but no one was moving, and there really wasn’t anywhere to go. I’m glad I didn’t have little kids, I’m sure it would have been scary for them and parents worried about losing them. DH checked the app, and Space Mountain, TTA, and Haunted Mansion were all down as well. A CM brought out the sign for the end of the BTM line, and it said 65 minutes, and she (along with several other CMs) kept telling people to form a line. I have no idea how they arrived at that wait time, seeing how we were still stuck in an unmoving crowd, but I felt sorry for them. People were being rude to them, and they was just trying to do her job, and it wasn’t their fault. I don’t know how long we stood there, probably not as long as it seemed. Way up ahead I could see people walking through the queue of BTM, so I knew the line was moving somewhere, but we were just stuck in a crush of people. After several more minutes of not moving, we decided to bail. It was frustrating, but it wasn’t anyone’s fault, and there was nothing to be done about it. Pirates was back up and posted at 15 minutes on the app and we decided to go over there. It was nice to be out of the crowd, for sure!

The line for Pirates was way out in the queues in front, but it was moving constantly in single file–no crowd! We didn’t stop walking until just before the loading area. As we were leaving Pirates, I checked the app and BTM was now posted at 50, but Splash, Space Mountain and the People Mover were all still down, and Haunted Mansion was down as well. I told my family it was up to them to decide what to do for the rest of the day, I was done being in charge except for booking the LLs. Time to pass the buck!

DH decided that we would go to BTM and everyone else agreed, so we got in line. A long line, but it was moving. The line was all the way into the extended queue on the left-hand side of the entrance and even out back towards the bridge, but it was moving and the bottleneck was gone. The family in front of us said they waited in line for HM for quite awhile, and then it went down and they were sent away. I read on the Lines app that there had been a loud “boom” over by MK somewhere during the storms the night before, which certainly explains all of the ride closures, but didn’t really help the disappointment. I didn’t remember a bad storm the night before, but we were in the condo; it amazes me how the weather can be so different across the Disney property at the same time. We have experienced that before.

I asked DH what he thought about buying an ILL$ for Slinky that evening (we had originally planned to pay for the $ LL only once per ride), and he asked if I meant Mine Train…duh, of course I did! He said go for it as I was clicking to confirm the one I had already snagged, and then it disappeared. Grr! At 10:30 we received a notification that Splash had been changed to an anytime LL and we could go ahead and book something else. I asked the kids, DS21 wanted….Buzz! Big surprise there, but I was able to book it for 11:35 and the big kid was happy. I didn’t realize booking it would restart our 2-hour window, but it did. It wasn’t a big deal at all, we were able to book earlier than we would have been, but I somehow thought we would get an extra. Wishful thinking! Right after that, we started hearing announcements overhead that there were boarding delays. Awesome! I had to laugh, what else can you do? Other than get out of the line and there was no way I was doing that a second time that day on my favorite ride! Besides, half the rides in the park were closed. At 10:45, I was able to snag a 10:20-11:00 ILL$ for 7DMT, and I happily announced to my family that we would get to ride Slinky that night! Trev said, “Do you mean Mine Train? 'Cause you keep saying Slinky and that is at Studios. Are you okay Mom?” Yes, brat, I mean Mine Train, and I will continue to mean Mine Train any other time I say Slinky today! :woman_facepalming: :joy: The announcements about boarding delays continued, but they didn’t close the ride thank goodness, because I probably would have cried, and we finally got to the loading area at 11:29. I took several pictures of the ride as we were waiting; I love BTM! We had waited an hour and a half for BTM, but we were on, we were going to have a blast, and the day was going to get better




!

4 Likes

Sounds like a frustrating start to the day.

It was, but we regrouped (ok, I did, everyone else was just going with it), and it was still a great day!

4 Likes

I’m glad Grandma was ok. I think I’d have been crying if I was you! Sounds like a very frustrating day.

3 Likes

Just catching up on your report now. The water in the road is insane!!

2 Likes

I’m sorry for the delay in updating if anyone is still reading, life has gotten in the way.

Still Friday, March 11
MK

We tapped in for Buzz at 11:50 and immediately booked Peter Pan for 5:30 (I think I made the decision without asking them this time) and ordered our lunch from Casey’s. I am terrible at Buzz, but I got 138,300 this time, and that is probably my highest score ever! I was so proud, I took a pic of my score.

We walked to Casey’s to pick up our lunch, and the tables were all full, which was no surprise since it was a little after noon, so I went to find a spot on the hub grass while DH and DS18 went for the food. There was a photopass CM near us who was taking some kind of magic shot, and that was fun to watch. Our food was amazing! Okay, maybe I was just hungry, and maybe it was corn dog nuggets and fries from Casey’s, but there was just something special about our little picnic in front of the castle! While we were eating, a Mickey and Minnie cavalcade came though, close enough that we could see but not right in front of us, and then the castle show started! GF and I turned to watch, the guys……well, they didn’t care. DS18 took the time to stretch out on the grass and rest his eyes.

Splash was still showing as down, so we went to take a ride on the People Mover. While we were on the PM, DH noticed that Splash was back up, so we went over there. DS21 didn’t want to ride, so he and GF decided to go use their recovery G+ on something else while we did Splash. I took a bunch of pictures on Splash because this was the last ride for us before they change it. They didn’t have the water at the end of the drop turned on, so we didn’t really get splashed, but it was still a fun ride. At 1:56, I booked an LL for Space Mtn at 8:35-9:35 (only for 3 people, DS21 and I don’t ride), we met up with DS21 and GF who had tried to use their recovery G+ at Jungle Cruise, but it wasn’t good for that ride, so they just hung out until we met up, I think. We left MK at 2:15, and I think we used the monorail this time since it would be our last opportunity.

Back at the condo, I reminded the kids (mostly the boys, lol) that we needed to finish up any leftovers (lasagna, fruit, salad, etc) today and tomorrow so we didn’t have to throw them out; and they brought an odd assortment of food to the coffee table to eat. They all piled on the big couch in the family room, hooked the Switch up to the tv and played Mario Kart for a while, then at least a couple of them fell asleep. I caught up on my trip notes and read a bit, but I didn’t lie down because I would have been out for the rest of the night! At 3:58 I booked an LL for Haunted Mansion from 7:35-8:35, and I reluctantly woke the sleeping kids up around 4:30 because we had rides waiting for us!

By this time, I knew that my glasses case would set off the security detector every single time, so I had been taking out whatever glasses/sunglasses were in it and putting them on top of my head and walking through the detector with the case open and in front of me; I felt ridiculous, but it kept me from being sent to the tables! This time when I did that at TTC, the CM standing there started laughing and said, “Hey, that one has it figured out!” :joy: I think we used the monorail to get over to MK again, but I have no idea what time we got there.

We tapped in for Peter Pan at 5:38; I love that ride! That is one of my favorite Disney movies. Other than our LLs and fireworks, we had no plans for the evening. Someone suggested we get in line for Winnie the Pooh next since we hadn’t done that yet, so we did. We only waited about 20 minutes, but there was a family in front of us with little ones, and the little girl kept pointing her bubble wand thing at the ground and squirting bubbles out, then stomping on them. It was so funny! She kept us entertained. We split up for dinner, 3 of us decided just to have snacks and DS21 and GF went off in search of food; I think they used their recovery LL for Buzz too. We decided to find a spot for the fireworks around 7:30 and walked up to what we thought would be a good spot on Main Street about 2 steps off the sidewalk between Casey’s and the hub. I texted DS21 to tell him where we were and they found us. Enchantment was fine, but I mostly watched the fireworks because trying to watch the projections too is just distracting for me. It was fine, but I don’t need to see it again. The spot was great for taking pics, though!

We made our way through the crush of people over to Haunted Mansion; once again, I was so glad my kids are grown and I didn’t have to worry about them getting separated in the crowd. After HM, we all went over to Space Mountain; 3 tapped in to ride, and DS21 and I just hung out. We went to the Buzz gift shop again to look for something, and then we went to the shop at the exit of Space where he found a pin to buy GF for her birthday. They came out just as I was shoving the pin in my purse so she wouldn’t know he bought anything (after he paid, of course). We went to BTM for one last wild ride through the wilderness. The wait was posted at 25 but the line seemed to go quickly. After that, we used our ILL$ for 7DMT and slowly made our way out of the park. I don’t think we even looked in the shops. We took a few pics outside the entrance in front of the train station and then went back to the van; we took the ferry, and I’m pretty sure we even used the tram this time. We were all tired, Disney tired, and a little sad that we only had one day left, but also happy because it had turned out to be a good day!.

8 Likes

A few MK pics…




9 Likes

I love that pic of the castle from the top of Splash! The Imagineers really framed that perfectly. :heart_eyes:

5 Likes