March 2022
Alan: 53 (turns 53 on trip!)
Lisa 52
Owen:22
Kacie: 20
Also known as the covid trip. We last went in Oct 2019 five months before covid hit and we haven’t gone anywhere since!
We did plan a big trip for November 2021 for all of us plus Olivia, Tim and Kevin but it got cancelled. When we planned it, we were all dumb enough to think covid was ending and things were getting better and so in early summer of 2021 (things were improving with covid) I started planning but we knew it was a big MAYBE/HOPFULLY!
However, once school started things got bad again and I kept putting off cancelling but I had 30 days prior to cancel and so that was around mid Oct. and during the first two weeks in Oct eight people in Shelbyville passed away from covid and I just couldn’t handle the stress of it. I was worried about myself of course with all my health issues but also Kevin because he was unvaccinated and then add to that I was worried Olivia would get it and she’s pregnant so that would not be good.
Someone had to make the decision and cancel it and after those horrible two weeks I did.
Turns out that after a really bad time period with covid we then have an improvement period. And around mid November and Thanksgiving which is when we would have gone things improved somewhat. But it was too late.
And now with Olivia having another baby I thought when will we ever be able to go again? And I decided to just randomly book this trip thinking that again it will get cancelled! spoiler alert……….it didn’t! But when I booked it, I was about 98% sure the trip wouldn’t happen!
This trip would be Me, Alan, Owen and Owens girlfriend Kacie! That was very brave of me. I’m not a big fan of traveling with other people that aren’t my immediate family but since she was included in the cancelled November trip it seemed like I should include her in this one. But I didn’t just include her I planned the whole dang thing around her schedule! HAHA! when looking at when we could go, I literally had no idea because of covid.
Also, we’ve only gone in November and January on all our other trips. But I knew that last spring covid improved so I thought maybe spring break would work! Well in order for Kacie to go she had to have time off from school so I checked the Lake Land calendar and picked her week off for spring break. It did worry me that it was so early in the spring (I don’t consider the 1st week of March spring!!) but Olivia was due to have baby Todd in April so the timing of early March worked ok with that.
Then in January covid got awful again and even Kacie got it which secretly I was a little happy about cause then I don’t have to worry about her getting it right before or during the trip. I even thought that maybe I WANT to catch it and get it over!! I got yelled at for thinking that though! I waited out the bad numbers and people on my Disney site were cancelling like crazy and I didn’t I just kept thinking after a BAD spell it gets better so I crossed my fingers and waited it out and it worked!
So that is how the dates were picked and since I was so certain the trip would never happen, I didn’t bother worrying and stressing over the dates too much and I didn’t tell Owen or Kacie for a long time! Eventually, Alan thought I needed to tell Kacie because what if she had other plans at Spring Break time. But I didn’t want to become known as the crazy covid lady who books and cancels trips for a hobby!
Instead of telling Kacie I just told Owen and I said pay attention and make sure she has no other plans at that time! And I said I’m not telling her till February 1st and swore him to secrecy and because he also didn’t want to be embarrassed if I cancelled yet again, he didn’t tell her about it at all!
The plan is for Alan and I to go down on Wed, Thur, Fri by ourselves and the “kids” will fly down and join us Saturday morning till Wednesday and we will all fly home together on Wednesday. Then while discussing flights and times with Owen I said would you prefer the 6am flight on Saturday morning and come home Wed. or the 6pm flight Saturday night and stay till Thursday. It worked out to the same number of days in the parks (4 days) and his response was why don’t we take the early flight Saturday and stay till Thursday anyway! Well, I didn’t think he’d want to miss that many vacation days from work so early in the year etc but he was fine with it and READY to travel and READY for DISNEY!
So, Dates are March 2nd-10th for Alan and Lisa and March 5th-10th for the kids. Five Park days for the kids and eight for us. I made a ton of dining reservations and we planned to try some new places and of course some regulars. Due to covid and worker shortages there were still a lot of restaurants not reopened yet and some that had opened but weren’t back to usual. Example: Crystal Palace has no breakfast at all and their lunch and dinner have no characters. Cape May reopened days before our trip but took away the crab legs! And also, in the last couple of weeks before our trip they started to reopen some of the buffets! UHHH NO THANKS!
Also, when planning this I weighed the pros and cons and went over all the covid rules that Disney was enforcing. Masks required inside everywhere! In restaurants, stores, shows etc. well ONE week before we left, they DROPPED THAT RULE! I was beyond mad! Masks were luckily still required and enforced on transportation but I wanted everyone around me masked in the shows and in the lines for rides that are inside etc. plus I wouldn’t have to worry about forcing Owen and Kacie to wear masks if Disney was doing it for me! I was SO MAD! And also, we wouldn’t be the only weirdos with masks because everyone would have them on! But not now! ARRGHHH!!! And just ONE WEEK BEFORE OUR TRIP!! I wasn’t the only one mad people on the Disney boards were not happy because they too had planned trips based on the enforced rules.
I ordered us some fancy KN95 masks that all the celebrities wear and I actually loved them. They don’t suck into your mouth when you talk with them on and they didn’t move up to my eyes like the others do. Even Alan preferred them over the blue medical masks which we also brought at ton of!
So, on super bowl Sunday my team LOST and I was not happy! But Kacie showed up with maybe 20-30 minutes left in the game and watched the depressing end with us and after it I decided that since we were two days away from February 1st we may as well tell her about the trip. I definably knew Owen hadn’t spilled the beans because she could not have faked her enthusiasm that much. Haha.
I asked her if she had any plans for spring break and she said no with a sad tone and I said Well we do would you like to come with us? She LIT UP! and I think that was even before I said where we were going but I’m not positive.
I blurted out a lot of information and some of it she had no idea what I was talking about because as much as she loves Disney movies she’s only been once at age 5 and only to Magic Kingdom.
But Owen and I talked to her for probably about an hour and showed her some YouTube videos of the hotel and told her the dates and talked about the parks and rides etc. then I went down the hallway and grabbled the matching Mickey shirts I had bought them around Xmas but didn’t give them because I didn’t want her to know that early. She just couldn’t believe it.
It did help my spirits after that awful Super Bowl game ending!
Alan and I left home at 4:40pm drove to Effingham and I ran into Kohls and returned two Disney shirts and some shorts I had bought for Owen. I kept two for him but he didn’t need as many as I had and I didn’t want them to show up on my bill since we don’t shop much anymore.
Then on to Terre Haute around 6:00-6:30 and stopped for food at Chick Fil A, we just ate in the car because we didn’t want to go inside and risk catching anything BEFORE the trip. We’ve been on high alert trying to avoid covid even more in the weeks and days leading up to the trip.
We made it one more exit and Alan insisted we stop there for Hot Wheels at Walmart and Meijer where he found nothing as usual.
We arrived at the Springhill Suites in Plainfield Ind at 8:40 Indiana time.
The room was really nice and big but it was HOT we had to cool it down and also, we noticed we were the only ones in the lobby with masks on. This would be a theme for us to pay attention to or maybe mostly me because I am NOT used to traveling or even leaving Shelbyville much for two years now!
Alan was changing in the room and he was dressed in his “work” clothes which was just a red polo and jeans but when he went to get changed, he was wearing his red polo, red undies and red socks which he joked that he did for me to make doing laundry easier. LOL he thought it was hilarious and yet he was also totally serious!
At some point he walked down to check the pool temperature because Olivia and Tim are bringing Kevin over Friday night to stay here and swim and then go to the Children’s Museum. You can never trust if pool water will be warm enough so he checked it and said it was fine.
We flipped channels on the TV but eventually gave up on that and went to bed. I wish Pop Century had a room this big for us to stay in!
I woke up at 4ish and had to pee but had no idea what time it was because hotels don’t put clocks in the rooms anymore. I HATE that! So, I had to get out of bed and go find my phone on the desk to check the time on my way to the bathroom. Then back to sleep for a bit.
Our alarm was set for 6:30 but we woke up at 6:12 and so I went ahead and got in the shower so I could be good and awake for the 7:00 am Lightening Lane (old fast pass) drop time! When covid hit Disney closed the parks for a few months and then when they reopened, they didn’t have fast pass anymore because the crowds were so low. Eventually the crowds picked up and still no fast pass and people were waiting awful amounts of time to ride rides.
In Oct 2021 which was the Disney 50th anniversary they released a new thing to replace fast pass called Genie+ and lightening lanes. (LL abbreviated from now on!)
For when I read this many years from now and they have changed or done away with it I will slightly explain it. Everyone has a Genie app on their phone and you can buy/book Lightening Lanes it costs $15.00 per day to have this feature. You can book as many regular LL’s as you have time for each day but they run out and the more popular the ride is the faster it will run out of LL’s. These are the REGULAR LL’s. Also, you can only book one every two hours or after you’ve used your last one.
Then there is an additional thing called Individual Lightening Lanes. ($ILL) Those cost you PER RIDE and each ride varies for how much it will cost depending on the day of the week you are riding it and just the popularity of it. (Though these are the most popular ones in the parks). But for example, Rise of resistance was $14-15 per person per ride and Seven dwarfs was $7-8.
There are only two indiv. LL’s in each park and at the time of our trip they were:
MK: Space Mountain and 7 dwarfs
Epcot: Remy and Frozen
HS: Rise of resistance and Mickey Minnie Runaway Railway
AK: Everest and Flight of Passage
*** Everest was closed all spring though for refurbishment. And right before we left due to upcoming spring break crowds Disney lowered it to only one ride in each park making Frozen, Mickeys runaway railway and space mountain regular LL’s instead of paid ones. This worked out cheaper but I wanted to be able to pay for mickeys railway because that guaranteed us a ride on it without taking up one of our regular LL's.
Anyway, let’s just say that this new LL thing is a confusing mess!
I was up and showered by 7:00 so that the SECOND it clicked over to 7:00 I could start booking our 1st LL for later today. Well, I got it but then I lost it before I got to the payment part. I was trying to book Rise at HS and it gave me the time etc but by the time the payment screen showed up it disappeared! Ugh I was SO mad and almost in tears because this was a test run for being able to book this ride on Saturday for all of us once the kids arrive.
Alan was trying on his phone and the same thing happened to him. He of course doesn’t act that worried but I’m suicidal! And now it’s saying sold out BEFORE it’s even 7:01! Ugh!
So, he went to take his shower and I just sat and fumed and hit refresh a million times and I got it two more times but both times my phone froze and I had to shut it down and turn it back on! This was infuriating.
I told Alan what happened so while I went to curl my hair he kept refreshing and at around 7:20 ish he got it and it went through! I was glad we got it but pissed it was him and not me because I have read and studied this for months and HE’S the one that gets it. I forgot to say also that when he showered and I was doing all that refreshing I also booked Tower for our regular LL at 4-5pm.
Our Rise was for 5:30-6:30.
Ok with that drama over!! and a sign of things to come for our vacation mornings! We went down for breakfast and ate because no one else was there and it wasn’t much of anything anyway. We did split a Belgian waffle though.
Then we took the shuttle at 8:05 to the airport and it was just us on it. I had thought of doing uber instead to avoid a full shuttle of people but just us and the driver.
We checked our luggage; I used the bathroom and then to security with my pacemaker for the first time! The guy was nice and said NEVER go through the older style walk through ones only the newer ones where you put your hands over your head.
We went down and found the gate but sat at an empty gate to avoid people and be able to remove our masks for a little bit because it was warm in there and I needed to cool down before wearing that mask on the flight. We took some selfies and then Alan bought a Starbucks and I got a People magazine for $7 which wasn’t even a good one!
We boarded on time and there was a cute Yorkie dog in the row across from us that laid on the lady’s lap for the flight. There was also a “2 year old” on some ones lap in front of us but I REALLY have my doubts that kid looked 3-4! And the lady with the kid was one of the last to board the plane and couldn’t find a seat but the flight attendant found her a seat in a row where some poor people had THOUGHT they lucked out and got the row to themselves with an empty seat between them! NOT!! HAHA the flight attendant offered the people in that row a free alcoholic drink for having to sit with the extra-large lap child.
Alan and I also thought we were going to get our row to ourselves but then we heard the dreaded words FULLY BOOKED FLIGHT and we were smart enough to make space in the end seat for someone to sit and it was a tiny 80 something year old lady she was so sweet chatting us up. She was flying down to stay with a friend and had to cancel her last trip plans due to catching covid! Everyone was required to wear masks on all flights still at this time I can’t remember if I’d mentioned that.
I was sweating up a mask covered storm and sitting squashed into that window seat and all of a sudden, I looked at Alan and said I NEED my pills! But he had put them in the carry-on bag that he stuck in the overhead bin. Ugh we had to make the little old lady move so we could get them. This poor lady tried to stand up with her seat belt still strapped around her and it pulled her back down into her seat it was VERY hard not to laugh. Except I was bordering on a panic attack! And Alan was being shy and moving way too slowly.
I felt better once the plane actually took off because it helps move the cooler air around. And I couldn’t even take my pill yet once he got it because I didn’t have a drink to swallow it with! Good grief I just got lucky that the cooler air helped me chill out a bit. But on the way home I will take my pill before boarding and just assume that YES, I will need it. I was trying not to waste them.
We landed 30 full minutes early! Thank God because we were uncomfortable. Being fat and flying sucks.
In all my airplane drama I forgot we also bought in air WIFI for $8 so we could book our next LL at 11am! We got Mickey Minnie Runaway Railway (MMRR)
Our Tiffany Town car driver texted us to meet him outside but I thought they were supposed to meet us at baggage claim for assistance and I saw other drivers there waiting with signs. I want my sign! Haha!
It turns out that since we were a half hour early, he just wasn’t there yet. We got our luggage and waited outside 5-10 minutes and he pulled up and said you’re really early and then we loaded up. He was nice and we chatted briefly because if felt awkward to ride in silence.
We had also booked the grocery store stop but it says on their website it is only a 20 minute stop and if you go over there will be a fee. They only stop at a certain Publix store and before we arrived, I had a list of stuff to get and I tore it in half and gave Alan the half that had beverages and sent him off and I went for the breakfast items. Alan had to get distilled water, bottled water, drinks for the kids, Kacie had requested a V-8 energy drink for mornings (I had asked what do you want to have for food or drink and don’t be shy just tell me!)
We also got some Starbucks drinks for Alan and some coke for me in the room for morning caffeine. Their bakery area was very tiny and they didn’t have a lot and it seemed like what they did have expired in just 2-3 days which was when the kids were arriving. We also got pop tarts and bananas.
We spent $70! I about died but Alans Starbucks drinks were $15. And everything there was high especially the sodas.
We came out of Publix and the driver was shocked we bought that much stuff so quickly! It had taken about 20 minutes and he didn’t act like there was any need to hurry. I told him I had a list and we split up!
On our way to Pop now and it’s 1:00 so time to book our next LL and we got Toy Story Mania for 7:55-8:55pm. (I set a timer on my phone for every two hours to book)
Arrived at Pop and unloaded and the guy is being paid to do it but Alan can’t just let them do it he must get in the way and help him.
Everything got piled up on the sidewalk which was our two large pieces of luggage our CPAPs and a lot of grocery sacks and drinks. A guy came out and loaded it up on a cart and I went in to check and see if our room was ready. It took forever but she said no room yet but she went over all my info and Owens reservation info and they had us down for connecting rooms and I assured her we didn’t need to be connecting just same building/area.
By now Alan shows up and has stored all our luggage but it had some stuff we needed like our magic bands, sunglasses, and the park bag I had prepacked with sun lotion and stuff in it. We had to go back out and get our cart of stuff back out and I found the sunglasses and magic bands but couldn’t get to the location of the park bag so we just lived without it for today. The guy who had to bring our cart of stuff back out to us was a jerk but it was all loaded on there still and couldn’t have been that far out of the way we had JUST left it there. Also, they hadn’t even put our cold stuff in the fridge yet which was worrisome. Alan reminded him and he just said yes with an attitude. Hmmmmm
Now we have 40 minutes to wait for the scooter to arrive. I had to pick a set meeting time and didn’t want to miss it and our plane was a half hour early so we are ahead of schedule. This is our first time having to meet the scooter at a set time. I’m not a fan.
We went and wondered around the gift shop then got some ice waters and sat in the air-conditioned food court and cooled off. ITS HOT! It says 82 but feels like 92. Turns out this is our coolest day of the trip each day gets warmer but it always feels like it’s 10 degrees hotter than it says it is. So later when it is 92 it feels like 102! Seriously.
The scooter arrived and the guy was very nice and this scooter is from a different company then I usually use and I like it. It comes with a fan (which doesn’t really do much) and a cell phone holder which was a game changer! And also has two cup holders which are nice too.
We are now off to the sky liner for the 1st time ever and are excited/nervous (me) to try it out.
Alan drove the scooter on but only because I was nervous about the sky liner really. The takeoff and landing are a bit scary. I got used to it though after a few rides. There was a nice breeze up there except when it stops which it did several times. I think the stopping is for when it comes into Riviera maybe. Because at the main station at CBR you only stop if you’re in a scooter and they are pulled out of the main line so that the main line never stops. But at Riviera everything stops for a few minutes IF a scooter has to get off or on there. If no scooter you just hop on or off while it’s still moving. Basically, I’m not for sure why it stops briefly sometimes but luckily it wasn’t ever for long. And sometimes not at all. but the sky liner is also a game changer!
Even though we are going to HS today we got off at Epcot and walked over to Big River Brewery at the Boardwalk to eat lunch there. I had made a 3pm reservation on open table while waiting on the plane this morning and we managed to arrive at 2:45 so it shockingly worked out perfect timing wise and I had just guessed that time out of the blue.
They have mostly outside seating and so it never occurred to me to tell Alan to get an outside table while I was parking the scooter but I went and parked it and came back and we were led inside to a table that was basically inside the mangers office it was so awkward! I was NOT happy about being inside because the only reason people eat here is to eat out on the BOARDWALK. But I could tell Alan thought I was crazy. However, as our meal continued on and the employees were in and out and in and out of the mangers office area and they had to squeeze by our table and it was very annoying he said yeah, I should have gotten an outside table! Duh! He also mentioned that the table was his fault because he was asked if inside was ok and he said he was being nice and said sure. Funny cause I felt he’s been mean to everyone all day so far.
The food was good though. Upon my request we split the beef nachos and a grilled chicken sandwich that he chose.
Then we took the bus to Hollywood Studios. Well beach/yacht club then swan/dolphin THEN HS! Hardly anyone in a mask.
I told Alan to go on ahead to Tower because it was 4pm and the start time of his LL. I was going to go to the bathroom and then look in some shops but instead I just people watched in the shade away from crowds so I could have my mask off because I was so hot. I wore the mask indoors but even though the shops have AC it was hot with the mask in there.
Alan found me sitting outside in the shade and we had an hour to kill before our next LL and he said we should have gotten you a LL for tower too so I could use it and I said oh crap! WE DID! So, he took my band and went to ride it again.
I decided to mask up and go in the shops this time and they were very busy I took pics of some cute stuff for Kevin and saw these tank tops that said “pew pew” and had Star Wards characters on them and they reminded me of Kev……. Pew pew was something he said a lot at that time. After a quick look around, I went back outside and found my shade again. I remember when the shops at the parks were only busy at park closing time. They are busy all day long now.
Met up with Alan and we went over to a bench area not far from the Frozen show and within view of the giant light up sign with ride wait times. We didn’t know it at the time but this turned out to be “our” bench which we would refer to quite a few times during the trip when we’d say “I’ll meet you at our bench”
We had two LL’s for 5:30 both of us for MMRR and just him for Rise. And then boom at almost 5:30 both of our phones went off and alerted us that BOTH of these rides were down!! OHHHHHH MYYYY GODDD!! All that drama this morning trying to get that 7am $LL for Rise so he could try it and see if I can handle it for later this week with the kids. And then MMRR we paid the $8 extra to book on airplane WIFI! ARGH!!
We went over to the blue umbrella people who assist with genie drama and they said if either or both comes back up, we can still ride them any time tonight. So, we went and got drinks. I got a lemon slush and Alan got a cherry coke. ($10) We got about ¾ the way through our drinks and are sitting on our bench relaxing and also being pissed that our rides are down and all of a sudden, I see the giant ride times sign says MMRR 90 minutes! Which means ITS OPEN! We hurried over before the crowd of other LL people showed up and had to dump our drinks which sucked and got in line with an awful family behind us. Luckily, they were not on our ride vehicle! It was a cute ride I think Kevin will like it.
By the time we got off Rise was back up so Alan took off to go ride it.
I wheeled around, used the bathroom and almost went to the Frozen show but didn’t I decided to save it for a hot time of day since it’s evening now the sun is down and its soooooo nice out!
Alan got done at 7:00 and we went back to ride our Aliens LL that we had gotten this afternoon at 3:00 during our meal. When we got done, we decided that we are too tired to wait around till 8pm to ride TSM so we just left the park to head back to Pop. I drove onto the sky liner this time and had no issues so I did it myself the rest of the trip. MUCH easier than the bus! We didn’t stop at all on the way back to Pop so it was a faster ride.
We had gotten our room ready text earlier and it was 70’s big wheel building room 208. I had requested a 1st floor room but this was 2nd floor. It was pretty far from the sky liner but was close to the bus and lobby and close to the 90’s pool which isn’t really a good thing because it meant we were all the way down at the farthest end of the 70’s building. We used the stairs at the end when we went to the 90’s pool during our stay.
We entered the room and our stuff had already been brought up but it was all sitting there including the milk and juice sitting there on the table warm NOT in the fridge!
Alan went down to the lobby to tell them and they said they have a runner who would pick up a replacement for us and bring it up to us which they did about an hour later.
Alan also brought a cheese pizza back with him from the food court and we ate then unpacked.
While unpacking we found out our phone charger is broken! This is NOT good news! It wasn’t a regular charger it was one of those charging pads you just lay your phone on which I’m not a fan of but Alan packed two of them and no regular chargers. Well both our phones are dead so he put one on the charger and then when I get up to pee in the middle of the night I have to go over and switch the phones so the other one gets charged. Alan isn’t happy but he packed them and it broke in the luggage somehow. Oh, and my scooter has a phone charger built in but it won’t help us since we don’t have a regular charger.
Its’ 10pm now and I’m writing this and he’s watching NCIS! SERIOUSLY!!
Alarm was set for 6:50am to make LL’s. But I was awake before that because it was noisy. I slept from 10ish till 4:20 without getting up to pee which is good for me but bad for the phone getting charged. It’s also surprising because I drank a root beer before bed!
We tried for Remy at 7am and it was gone just as fast as Rise was yesterday! Again, I was super pissed because apparently this is what it’s going to be like every single day!
I booked Tower for 12-1 and then kept refreshing for Remy and sometimes I would get it but then before I could get to the pay screen my phone would freeze up and I’d lose it. This happened over and over and over and over and after about an hour Alan got one for 8-9pm which was not a time frame I wanted because we have Ohana’s tonight and then we were going into MK tonight. Not now though because he booked it and we paid so that plan went out the window. I wanted to cry and almost did but I sucked it up. This new LL system is really ruining things.
We got showered and dressed and went to the sky liner at 8 something and the line for it was HUGE! There was a separate one for scooters that was much shorter but then I realized that it moved much slower so I think time wise it equaled out with the long line. We were in that line till 9am and I really don’t know what time we got in it but we wasted way too much time in the room dealing with the LL’s!
Oh, and I had taken my morning meds when we got up so by now, we are in line and it has kicked in and I have to PEE! We went to Epcot and I had to stop and use the bathroom before security and park entrance.
I had commented that Soarin was only a 15-20 min wait as we were getting off the sky liner but by the time, we entered the park it went to 45 and then 60 minutes. We didn’t know what to do we had blown the rope drop time frame and are now entering at 9:30-9:45am which is so stupid. So, we went to the butterfly house! haha and you’re thinking the what? YEAH, so was Alan! For Flower and Garden Festival they have this butterfly house/garden area and you enter and walk through this outdoor screened in thing with tons of butterfly’s and supposedly they will land on you. But wait, it’s not open yet! HAHA they don’t open it till 10:00 and it's 9:50 so we waited 10 minutes to rope drop the butterfly house it doesn’t get any more lame then that.
Again, I am trying not to meltdown and cry and force myself to go with the flow! I always read about these “older” couple who come and don’t race from ride to ride they stop and smell the roses and they saunter around the parks but this was boring and I felt embarrassed that I didn’t know what we were doing. No real plan! yuck!
Also, when it did open and we entered not one freaking butterfly landed on either of us. Lol
After that we went to the camera shop at the front of the park which meant fighting through the construction zone because Alan was sure they would have a phone charger. They did not.
Then over to the big gift shop that used to be called Mouse Gears but for some reason was totally redone and now called Connections. Why?
Apparently gift shops are empty in the mornings when people are riding rides so we had the place to ourselves! I think yesterday the shops were packed at HS because it was afternoon and all the rides had long lines. And by the way this place didn’t have phone chargers either. I do find this a little weird you have to do everything on your phone at Disney but they don’t sell phone chargers anywhere.
They did have a table runner I really liked but it was $50 and a purse I also really liked but it was $40. I might be back for the purse though!
Then we walked toward World showcase and I had another bathroom break. We grabbed the menu for the booths to look at and waited. It was only 10:30 and they don’t open the booths till 11:00. This is so stupid and annoying they should open by 10:30 there are so many people wondering around waiting and also people get up stupid EARLY at Disney and they are hungry early.
Finally, it’s 11 and the booths open. Alan got the ham and cheese pretzel; I took a nibble and I don’t like it. Then in Japan we got the frushi which we’d been wanting to try. Mostly me because I’ve seen it for a long time and never been here when they had it. Oh yeah! I forgot to mention this is the Epoct Flower and Garden Festival! We’ve never been to this festival before we’ve done the Food and Wine many times and the Festival of the Arts which is in January once or twice but it’s a smaller festival.
We liked the fushi it’s just fruit made to look like your eating sushi. Unfortunately, it’s only at this festival. We then got a Kakigori snow cone next and they are so good.
We didn’t eat any other booths because I really wanted the fish and chips in the UK and we had mobile ordered it. This was our 1st time mobile ordering and we didn’t know what we were going. It said to pick it up between 11:15-11:50 but I didn’t think that sounded right because everything I’ve read about mobile ordering is you order it and then you click on “I’m here” when you arrive and you pick up your order when YOU say you want it.
We sat on the brick wall in Japan eating our snow cones and I was having the BEST time! I was in the shade, there was a breeze and I had a cold treat and I was listening to whatever music someone was playing somewhere and people watching. THIS is what all those “older” couples do when they come to Epcot and I felt like I was fitting in. haha. However, we had to get moving to pick up our food order and because we have a LL for test track coming up too. I have to say THIS is stupid. Totally took my special moment and ruined it with hurry up we’ve got to go!
I let Alan drive the scooter because I was in such a chipper mood and wanted to walk a little. A LITTLE………. he took off and left me and rode it from Japan to the UK! Ummmm that’s past a lot of countries and up over a HILL then back down the hill and when I get to the bottom of the hill and arrive in the UK I can’t find him anywhere. The quick service place is there and the bar to order drinks so there’s a lot of people around and I don’t see him. I’m not happy because I had to stop and catch my breath at the top of that hill. Well, turns out he has gone on to the window to pick up our food order and found out that since we are past our time of 11:50 we have to reorder! He did that and then found me and also found out I wasn’t happy he LEFT ME. I mean yes, the scooter can haul ass but I don’t leave him behind like that.
We looked around for a table to use for eating and didn’t see one but found a bench in an area back behind the UK. He left me there, with the scooter and went to wait for the food. I got off the scooter and sat on the bench because I was trying to save the bench for us to eat at. I took some selfies because my snow cone made me look like I was wearing lipstick and because my hair was looked really good! HAHA!!
I bought some fancy expensive “hold your curl” stuff from Sondra for $15 and it actually works!
Next thing I know some guy comes along and sat down beside me on the bench and I mean BESIDE ME. Well, that made me mad, for one thing I was saving it for Alan and also…………covid and my mask was off because it was HOT and we were back in an area by ourselves. So, I got up and found a standing table for us to eat at.
I was waiting impatiently because we have a LL for Test Track and by the time, we got our fish it was 12:40 and it was FLAMING HOT! But our LL was only till 12:50 and we are clear back in the UK. I’m not loving the flexibility of my day again. Alan ate all of his and I ate fries and then nibbled on my fish before deciding to take it along for the ride over to Test Track and eat it there once it’s cooled. We had split the meal so we each only had one piece of fish.
Luckily you have a 15 minute grace period with the LL and we made it to the ride. We waited what felt like too long to ride but I think it was just because of an awfully loud girl who was talking to her boyfriend loud enough that everyone in the room knew her thoughts and plans!
The lady who sat in our row with us was a single rider and she said there was zero wait for it. She was nice and chatty.
After the ride Alan went to a booth for shrimp something but I didn’t want anything else. After that we left the park because while we had waited in line for Test Track we switched our Soarin LL from 3pm to 7pm so we could do it this evening instead.
In case you’re counting we attempted to rope drop Epoct today and managed to ride ONE ride with a LL and hit up a total of 3 booths plus some UK food. We also did it all while feeling rushed. We left the park at 1:30-2:00 and got back to the room at 2:30. We went down to the 90’s pool where we stayed for 15 minutes! Yep, FIFTEEN MINUTES!
How pointless but we got in and got all wet and then Alan was done he said he just wanted to cool off and now wants to go relax in the room. I went back too because I could use a nap but if I had known that’s all the longer, we were staying I defiantly would have skipped the pool.
Back at the room I went to the bathroom and changed out of my suit and just threw on my jammies since they were hanging in there. When I opened the bathroom door to come out a Disney CM was standing in our room! They were doing the security check and Alan had let them in.
She also had to check the bathroom so she got to see my bra hanging in there! Thank God it was a woman as I stand there in my jammies with no bra on!
We napped from 3:15 till 4:30 or that was when our alarm was set for but Alan’s phone rang and woke us up at 4:20. This happens all the time on vacations and pisses me off! Turn your phone to silence while we nap.
I haven’t mentioned it yet but I LOVED my bed and the pillows (I had a ton of them) and the sheets! I rolled around in the bed while Alan was up and I said if I die burying me right here in this bed. Then I thought hmmmmm no I’d probably want a bed at the Poly. LOL but he got the pull-down bed this trip and while there is no difference in comfort (same exact mattress) I don’t like the sides on it up toward the head of the bed. I wake up and think where am I and what is this!
We got dressed and called for an uber at 5 for Ohanas and arrived there at 5:20 ten whole minutes early. That never happens for us at Ohanas we are always late.
We were seated quickly and got a window table and I was SO HAPPY about that! it was straight over the pool and looking across to the Castle.
There were some screaming kids in there but at least they weren’t with us! Haha. Our waitress was ok and I wouldn’t have thought anything of it but the waitress at the other tables near was amazing and we both noticed it. Towards the end of the meal our waitress disappeared and we waited a very long time for dessert! We finally got the bill and paid.
During dinner I had suggested that instead of going back to Pop to get my scooter and taking the sky liner over to Epcot maybe we could just Uber to Epcot and I could do without the scooter this evening. Alan liked that idea and so that’s what we did.
We felt cool and hip and young as we were dropped off at the uber area at the front of Epcot. We were headed to Soarin to use out LL. But before we even made it there, I had to stop and sit on a bench and rest, and I should have just sent him on to Soarin alone because THAT is a walk! But after several rest stops, we got there and rode it. But the walking from the entrance of the building to the actual ride is a killer.
Then some more rest stops along the way and we made it all the way to France to ride Remy. People were lining up for the fireworks show on the bridge and we stopped just to rest and were told we had to keep moving till off the bridge.
Got to the ride and in the line, we had a horrible family behind us, they had adult children but the one guy was just standing SO CLOSE to Alan and breathing down the back of his neck! The mom had a bad cough and was passing out cough drops to the whole family.
Later Alan said he thought the guy was special needs and I said I don’t care the rest of his family wasn’t and they should have told him to back up because it was bad! Even without covid that guy breathing down Alans neck was uncomfortable and weird.
Also, it didn’t help that the ride went down and we had about a 20-minute wait in a hot sweaty hallway with those people. We finally got to ride and it’s a cute fun family ride. Wish these new rides were around when Owen was little.
By the time we got off it was 8:55 and we had to make to over to the skyliner before the fireworks. There won’t be a line until the fireworks are over but they do turn off lights and make it dark for walking at 9 and also Alan is just in panic mode because he hears the word fireworks and freaks out!
We got on just as the fireworks started and remember we had no scooter so once we got back to Pop we had to go get it down at the pool area because the original plan was to uber back here after dinner and get it. We got to the room at 9:30 and I wrote notes till 10:15. I’ve been typing some notes into my phone like the times of things to fill into my notes later in the evenings, its very helpful.
** Owen went over to Olivia’s house this evening and texted me about Oscar and about some trip stuff he seems fine at home without me and is excited about the trip.
Alans birthday in Disney! He’s living my dream! Haha.
In honor of Alans bday we are rope dropping MK! Haha! it’s probably his least favorite park but this is how it worked out plus we are going to HS later this evening.
The alarm was for 6:30, showered and tried for Rise and it was gone right at 7:00 but we went ahead and booked Tower and then Alan kept trying for Rise and eventually got it.
What happens is the people who get it and then are in the middle of paying and it doesn’t go through those get thrown back into the “pool” about ten minutes after seven and become available again so sometimes if you fail right at 7 on the dot you can get it about ten minutes after. But you never know. We got it for BOTH of us today because he says he thinks I can handle it……………
We went down to the bus stop and were on the MK bus at 7:45, got to the park at 8:10 and it opens to resort guests at 8:30. We took a quick castle selfie or two and we saw the Cinderella carriage out in front of the castle! Someone had been doing wedding photos this morning! Then after a quick bathroom trip by the Plaza we went to the rope drop area for Tomrrowland and well, we waited. The CM’s check everyone’s bands to make sure they are resort guests and allowed in at 8:30 as you enter this area. Then it opened and we powered straight to Buzz! Haha at least it’s better then rope dropping the butterfly house! That was awful.
We walked on and rode then went over through Fantasyland to the rope drop area for Frontierland which is basically in front of the Tangled bathrooms in the Peter Pan and Small World area.
There was a large crowd here and the rope drop here is at 9am which is when the whole park opens for everyone. And once we started moving the group of people who had been waiting in the Liberty Square area merged in with us. Or we merged in with them maybe. Once we got to the Big Thunder bridge area, we took bridge over and that’s where the line was at. We literally stopped there on the bridge and it was the line for the ride! WOW so many people and some trying to get to Splash but you couldn’t move around or figure out where you were supposed to be it was very much a mess. When we got closer, I got out of line and parked my scooter and then joined Alan and we slow walked our way through it ALL! Every switch back that they have which is about a million! The wait time sign said 25 then switched to 35. Alan was NOT HAPPY.
But according to my notes we arrived at BTMR at 9:07 and were on the ride at 9:27 and I spent way too much time recording ride times so they are accurate.
After the ride I had to PEE, then over to get in line for Splash. The sign said 45 minutes and again I can tell Alan is not happy but I ignored him and we got in line. It was however HOTTTTTTT in line and it’s still only 9:30-10am! We are going to melt today! (it gets hotter each day during this trip)
We did have some decent shade while in line and I made friends with the lady in line who helped us figure out how to do the mobile order correctly. We got to the log and shockingly we both fit in one log! Haha I really didn’t think we would, Alan seemed like I was crazy of course we would and I thought no way! I was happy about that. I had also timed this wait time and it was only 30 minutes. Plus, we learned mobile ordering while we waited.
It is now 10 am and we have done both of those big rides so we went to Pirates which said 35-minute wait but it was 25 when I timed it. I hate that we are waiting in all these lines but we are booking our LL’s at HS for later today so we don’t have a choice. I really didn’t mind this wait because it was inside with AC and mostly a very slowwww shuffle of a wait. We also booked our next LL for MFSR while in line and we mobile ordered our lunch then too so we made good use of our time.
When we got off the ride, I used the bathroom and Alan went over to Pecos Bills which is right next door to pick up our food. We got a great table behind the restaurant that faces Pirates and it was outside and we had the whole patio to ourselves since we ate an early lunch and I don’t think people know about this seating area. Also, it was totally shaded and not hot in the shade.
I ordered the beef nachos and water and Alan got the Chicken and pork fajitas. He had told me he was ordering the 3 tacos but apparently changed his mind. While we ate lunch, we noticed Owen had made a bday post to him on facebook and he got several bday texts from people. After we finished lunch, we went to Aladdin and it said 35 minutes and we got in line but it was only a 20-minute wait.
Then a bathroom break and while he was in there I went and ordered us an ice cream sundae to share from the Main Street bakery. Well, there were NO tables at all so we had to go around a corner and squat on the curb in a teeny tiny piece of shade to eat it. When we were done, we walked through the shops and out to the bus. We got on the bus at 1:08 and were at Pop at 1:26. Not that I’m counting! LOL
Owen had texted me while we were riding the bus that he had checked in for his boarding pass on his lunch hour today. And also, while waiting for the bus I booked TSM for this evening.
We had a really good morning at MK even though we waited in lines the only one that was rough was Aladin because it was in the direct sun. We also didn’t do much walking around the park except for Buzz everything we did was in the same area.
We laid down in the room and Alan napped but I couldn’t fall asleep so I checked meal reservations and then at 3pm I checked for our next LL and tried to get RnR but there was nothing. I spent about 15 minutes refreshing and still nothing and my battery was getting low on my phone.
We left the room at 3:45 and went to the lobby area to see if they sell cases of water bottles here because we bought one case at the store but we are drinking it like crazy and I’m worried it won’t last us long once the kids arrive. They only have cases of mini water bottles and they are $7 a case but it’s better than $3-4 per bottle in the parks.
Alan stopped by the front desk and got a birthday button. He should have thought of that yesterday so he could have worn it all day long.
Then we took the sky liner over to Caribbean Beach hotel for our dinner. Tonight, we are trying a brand-new place, it’s new to us but also new to Disney.
We got off the sky liner and walked over to the main area at CB to check in at Sebastians Bistro. It doesn’t open till 4:30 so we had about a ten-minute wait. Its so pretty here so we took a bunch of pictures of the scenery and selfies too.
We were the first ones seated and the place only filled up about ¾ of the tables but yet when I tried for a reservation it kept saying it was full.
The food is brought out to you family style. We got a VERY British waiter with such a thick accent, he was yummy.
I ordered a virgin drink with an umbrella and it was adorable and also yummy. The food here is served family style at the table and we got a basket of rolls, a salad which was very fancy looking and had edible flowers in it. Then the platter of meats was sliced steak, pulled pork and some type of flavored chicken. We didn’t care much for the chicken because it was thighs and we don’t like dark meat. They also had a platter of side dishes which were rice, broccoli and something else that I couldn’t pronounce or spell or eat! HA! it didn’t look good and I didn’t even bother with it. For dessert they brought the coconut bread pudding which was VERY similar to Ohanas, it was very good.
I wish they had a different side dish like a scalloped potato or something that seemed like it would go good with the meats. The other issue with the meal was that nothing was HOT. It was all just room temp or a little warm. I think the problem was that we were the 1st reservation time of the day since the place opened at 4:30. So, I think since they know what you’re eating (no ordering from a menu) it’s all plated up in the back on the platters and waiting to be brought out to the tables after you get your drinks. Maybe a dinner time of just an hour later when they didn’t have time to pre-plate the food would have been better. But we had early dinner so we could hit the parks.
Oh, I forgot we also added on the appetizer of coconut shrimp too. It’s an additional $7 (not per person) so it was a good price and they were very good. I loved the restaurant it was gorgeous and we had a window table with a water and sky liner view and the waiter was good and British! Haha So I didn’t hate it but the food should have been hotter. Alan said the same thing we liked it and wanted to love it and for the price we might try it again sometime to see if we have better luck.
We were pleased with ourselves for trying something new and different because we tend to stick with the same places all the time. And we defiantly left full.
After dinner Alan said he thinks it will be just as quick to walk to the Riviera sky liner station instead of to the Caribbean beach station. I did think they looked to be the same difference and if he’s wrong, I’m on the scooter so why do I care!
We got there (at 5:42) and had to choose Epoct or HS and we are headed to HS and it is at this moment that Alan realizes in order to go to HS the sky liner has to go from there back to the Caribbean Beach station for us to get off and onto the HS line. HAAAAAAAAAAAA this was hilarious so we are now riding back to where we had gotten off at earlier and all his time he spent thinking and convincing me that this was the right way to go wasted and incorrect. We weren’t in a big hurry and had a good laugh about it though. This sky liner takes some figuring out apparently.
Once we took the long way to HS and finally arrived around 6pm I had a weird coughing spell from the time we got off the sky liner till we got to security I had to wait a couple minutes for it to stop before going into the park. It was like I had swallowed a bug or chocked on something because it wasn’t illness (THANK GOD) and it went away within about 5-6 minutes and never returned. But these days everyone with a cough gets “the look”.
Alan took my band and went to ride Tower twice and I used the bathroom then found “my spot” to sit in the shade out of the way with my mask off for a few minutes and then went to the 6:30 Frozen show by myself. It was hilarious, the best actors in that one! Alan got done right when my show was over so we went back to MFSR which he assures me I can handle……………….. Cue impending doom!
Ok I watch Star Wars; he doesn’t so I get some of this stuff but it’s not a roller coaster it’s not that the physical part of the ride is hard for me but it’s that it’s inside a small “fighter jet” and they close the doors and only 4 people sit in there. Each person has a job, a pilot, an engineer, a fighter and ? I can’t remember the other. But for whatever reason we got put in our own fighter jet just the two of us and I believe I was the pilot. HA!! “I BELIEVE”!! All I could do was look down at the steering thing and the buttons and try not to look up at how small this space was and dark and closed in and how there’s no air in here, I can’t breathe, can you breathe? Are these chest pains? Am I going to pass out? LET ME OUT!!! and then I realize that being the pilot and not really doing my job is making this ride way jerkier and jolting then it has to be so I TRYYYYY to look up and attempt to drive a little but it’s not like there was any training for this!
And Alan is saying a combination of things like bossing me around on how to drive and asking if I’m ok!! Ummm NO I’M NOT OK!!! I was so pissed he thought this was something I could handle he knows me I have to be medicated for a plane ride and for certain medical tests but he thought this I would enjoy! Jeez. I wasn’t happy. Or feeling well, I was light headed and dizzy. When it was over, I walked out of there and all the way to the exit and didn’t speak to him I was trying too hard to focus because of the light headed and dizziness!
It took me a bit to feel ok but guess what? It’s time for us to ride Rise which he also rode the other day and said I could handle. Well, he assured me there are no small tight enclosed places like the other ride and I can handle this one for sure. I’m shocked I agreed to ride it but maybe it’s because it was a $LL and I’d already paid for it.
This ride has a lot of pre show stuff that takes awhile its VERY themed! And one part of it is that you are “kidnapped” and put into a room that’s made to be like a scene in the movie where the walls are closing in on you. SERIOUSLY I looked at Alan and he saw my anger! It was hot in there and we were in there longer than we should have been because something was wrong with the ride, he kept saying that when he rode it was only a minute and we were in there 5-10 minutes maybe which felt like double that!
Finally, onto the ride vehicle and I liked it and handled it fine. I knew some of the spoilers to expect so that helped me. He’s lucky or I would have had to kill him on his birthday!
After all that drama we still had a TSM LL so we hurried over and rode that and then headed out of the park right as the light projections started. It is their excuse of a nighttime show at HS since Fantasmic isn’t back yet from covid.
No wait at the sky liner and got back to Pop at 9:15, into jammies and writing notes.
Owen and Kacie are at the hotel in Indy. They went over after school/work and shared a 2-bedroom suite with Olivia, Tim and Kevin. It’s their last family adventure with Kevin before the baby comes in April, they are taking him to the children’s museum and swimming at the hotel. Owen and Kacie arrived at 8-9pm and had to go to bed early because their flight leaves at 5:50am so getting up at 3 something.
As for us today was a good day! Fun morning at MK even with no LL and waiting in lines and then dinner at the new place and evening at HS.
Excited/nervous for the kids arriving tomorrow.
I rarely travel with anyone other then the four members of our family and I’ve defiantly never traveled with someone I’ve known for the amount of time I’ve known Kacie. Yes, I really like her but that’s based on seeing her a little here and there this is 5 days of a lot of togetherness. Also, a little concerned if Owen will behave differently since his girlfriend is here.
Owen texted at 5:03am and said “sitting at gate”.
That sounded very relaxed and stress free but I later found out they had a terrible time getting to the airport. The hotel (Springhill Suites in Indy) had told us several times on the phone that their shuttle starts running at 4am. Then when Olivia checked in to the hotel for the night she asked about the shuttle and said they have two people who need on the 4am shuttle and was told ok.
Meanwhile, they went down for the shuttle and there wasn’t one, they waited and it never came and they eventually had to take an uber at the last minute because they may have missed their flight if they’d waited longer. At some point he texted with Olivia and she found out about this and she was very pissed because she had made sure to check that it would be there at 4am! She knew I was worried about it. I had also made sure Owen had uber already on his phone in case he needed it at the last minute. So, when Olivia went to check out of the hotel, she spoke to them and they claimed that she had put down for needing a shuttle yesterday and she said I wasn’t even here/checked into the hotel yesterday morning to take a shuttle. She asked to speak to the manager (her father in her) and they said she’s not there so she got her business card. After the trip I got an email for the hotel to review my stay and I left them a review saying the place was nice but that I had called REPEATEDLY and asked about shuttle and been told 4am and upon check in been told 4am but no shuttle at all. The manager of something not sure if it was that hotel or what emailed me and apologized and said I would be receiving some bonus Marriott points for the error. And I did.
Owen chose to leave out any of the drama in his text to me and just said “sitting at the gate” that’s Owen for you. LOL
Luckily, they made it on time but Kacie said it was nerve wracking.
Our alarm went off at 6:45 and we booked Rise $LL (alan got it) for 5-6pm for all four of us and we also got Tower for 12-1pm. Then Alan went back to sleep for 40 min and I tried but couldn’t. So, I laid on my phone and tried to book Big River for us at the Boardwalk but couldn’t find anything. Finally, Owen texted that they had landed at 7:46, they were early. He texted again when they were on the bus to the hotel at 8:20. We showered and got ready to meet them and they arrived at 9:30. We let them use our hotel room to change into Florida clothing and they met us down at the lobby area to get their magic bands I had ordered them. We got Kacie’s with no issues but they didn’t have Owens they said they don’t think the order went threw so we had to go buy one in the gift shop for $20 (the ones I’d ordered were $10 each).
Then came the hard part we had to sync it up to ours so while Alan ran back to the room because he’d forgotten his phone, we went in the gift shop for help from a CM. The lady at the register asked for permission to touch my phone to do the syncing and I said go right ahead and she tapped on some stuff and had it all set before Alan got back. Thank God I didn’t have to figure it out.
Now out to the sky liner for their 1st ride and to HS. There was no line or wait at this time of the morning.
Once we entered, they went back to Star Tours to start Kacie on the beginning Star Wars ride. And it had a 20 minute wait and then they went back to ride MFSR in the single rider line which I’m sure Kacie was very unsure of being new to this park and all of these rides.
When they were done, they said they were hungry because they hadn’t eaten since the airport very early this morning. We mobile ordered lunch at the backlot express and ate at an outside table because it is SO NICE out in the SHADE! We also got a view of the Pixar parade while we were there. I had watched it earlier while they were riding and I taped it for Kevin and Woody blew me a kiss. Awwww. Also, while they were riding this morning, I got us a TSM LL for 12:15 which is the same time as their Tower LL. So after eating we went to Toy Story Land and used the bathroom and then waited 5-10 min for our time to start and you can go in 5 min before your time so as soon as it began we went to ride and got off at 12:30 so they left to go ride Tower and to try and do single rider for Rock N roller coaster.
I went to Walts one mans dream and they were showing a preview for a stupid new movie (Seeing Red) so I watched that and then to the bathroom for a bit! Lol
After that I reapplied my sun lotion and went and got a frozen coke and sat over near the exit of the Frozen show where they have tables in the shade. A stupid squirrel got under my scooter and a CM warned me he was under there so I didn’t take off and run over him.
They all showed up and got drinks too. Owen got a beer (because its his 1st time in a park being 21) Alan got a regular Coke and Kacie got something but I can’t remember what. We sat and took a break even though I’ve been on a break for a while. haha.
Kacie like Tower and they did get to do single rider for RnR but it was a longer wait then usual. She didn’t seem to mind though because we had been skipping lines for all the other stuff.
We don’t have any more LL’s for a bit so we went to go see the Frozen show at 2:30 and after that we hustled over to the Indiana Jones show and barely made it in before it was full and standing room only. (3:15 show)
After that we split up for a bit and they went shopping and she got earrings and Alan and I went to the backlot express because I had wanted a funnel cake and he wasn’t hungry for a snack so I thought ok I’ll go here and try the Wookie Cookie because it would be a snack for one person. NOPE! This thing was huge! And guess what? he ate some, it wasn’t very good it was two dry oatmeal cookies with crème in the middle like a giant Little Debbie. It was $6.99, not that good and I don’t know why everyone raves about them. Bummer. We threw about 1/3 of it away and I told him if I’d known he was going to eat some we could have just gotten a funnel cake.
After our snack we just sat in the shade on our phones for a half an hour and then met them over at Rise at 5:00 to use our $LL’s and they loved it!
Next, we went over to Baseline Taphouse at 5:30 and got 2 beer flights, a lemonade for Kacie and one pretzel for us all to share.
Once we were done, they were getting tired and hitting a wall since they had been up since about 3am! We had one LL left to use at 6:00 and it was for MMRR and once we were done, we left the park at 6:40 and took the sky liner back to the hotel. No wait again at this time of day.
When we got back to the hotel we went to the front desk because their text that said their room was ready said to please go to front desk. No one was sure why it said that but they were in #209 our connecting room.
Then to the food court they got a pizza to take to their room to eat. Alan and I had planned to go to the Poly for fast food and fireworks on the beach but he was tired and said it was too late. So, we got the pot roast and turkey dinners and sat outside of Pop to eat. A few minutes later here came the kids with their pizza in their hands they had gone to their room and the door wouldn’t open and so they had to come back to the lobby to get it fixed but first they just sat down at our table and ate their pizza because it was getting cold.
Afterwards they got the bands figured out (they weren’t coded which is why they were told via text to go to the lobby before going to the room but yet apparently no one knew that in the lobby the first time. good grief.
They took a quick look in the lobby and then we all went to our rooms at 8pm. Oh and we gave them their groceries for their room and drinks.
Then we got on jammies and I finished my notes for today and texted with Olivia, they are still in Indy. Its 8:50 and we are going to bed at 9:00!!
We left the room at 7am for MK today it opens for early morning hours at 8:30. I wondered if we needed to leave quite that early but with some of the bus stories, I’ve heard lately better safe then sorry.
Our bus arrived at MK at 7:35 and we were at the Tomorrowland rope area at 8:00. Maybe 7:57 actually! Haha! which meant we had to stand and wait in the blazing sun for 30 minutes (so yes allowing an hour and a half was overkill) The kids were a little bit ahead of us in the crowd and had no idea what time rope drop actually started and probably weren’t happy when Owen texted and asked and I replied.
Luckily it wasn’t that hot out yet but the sun was very BRIGHT!
Once it opened they went straight to Space Mountain and we went to Buzz. At 8:45 we had rode Buzz twice and then I went to the bathroom and we were in the rope drop line for BTMR over in front of Peter Pan.
Owen texted they were off Space (wonder if they could have ridden it twice maybe but who knows) and they were in the rope drop crowd over in the hub.
They wanted to know if they should come meet up with us but I told them our crowds will merge together once it opens up. Finally at 9 we started moving and met up with them on our way over and we noticed it was less of a cluster today then it was when we were here Friday morning.
We rode BTMR twice because after they get the initial crowd through the wait doesn’t look as bad and its much more organized going the second time. it said 30 minutes but it was only 8 min.
Then I had to take a pee break at the Splash bathrooms and we had a LL for 10am and we got in line and rode it. Alan and I got soaked! The kids didn’t but we were in the front row and basically took all the water from them. And I do mean SOAKED so much for curling my hair or for castle pictures today! AWFUL, later when I saw what my hair looked like I yelled at Kacie for not telling me it was THAT BAD!
We checked the wait times and went to HM but as soon as we got there the wait time jumped from 30 min to 60! We had just grabbed a LL for now at Pirates but instead we switched our Pirates LL for HM and we went to go wait in line at Pirates. The line for it is inside, shaded and a little bit of AC. But much cooler then the line for HM.
After riding Pirates, we got two funnel cakes and Kacie and I tried to get a table and especially a table in the shade. We failed with the shade part but at least we got a table. As soon as we were settled in and eating a shaded table opened up but people were grabbing them QUICK! I told Kacie she has to be FAST! Lol
While we were eating a Princess parade went by so we saw some of that from our seats. Then we went over to HM to use our 11:40 LL.
Unfortunately, we ended ups still waiting about 15 min in line even with the LL. We chatted with a couple complaining about the crowds and genie/LL and also having to be on your phones all the time.
Next, we went and watched Philarmagic and the stopped in the hat shop so Kacie could get some Mickey ears. She picked the 100th anniversary ones they were cute but $30!
After that Alan and I were leaving the park, they stayed to shop a bit more and then they were leaving soon too. At 1:00 we got on a bus back to Pop and Alan wanted a fountain soda and then to room to change for the pool.
We got in the pool at 1:45 and out at 2:15! It felt good but jeez once again way too quick!! When we got out, I booked us Peter Pan for tonight.
We have Jungle Cruise booked for 7:20 Peter Pan for 9:45 and BTMR at 7:20 (us only) and Space Mountain for the kids at 8:20. The park is open until 11 tonight.
We took the bus back to the MK and then the monorail over to Poly for dinner at Ohanas! Dinner was good but no window table tonight darn it. Kacie liked it and was pleased with how many different things she tried. She said her parents would be shocked! It was really expensive for 4 people though! wow!
We got the monorail to MK at 6:35 and went in to meet Mickey first with about a ten-minute wait. This was still during some covid restrictions so the characters were behind a rope and you could just talk to them and then pose in front of them.
Then we tried to go castle pics but it was so crowded on main street and in the hub and Alan was cooperating. (not sure what that means) We had to go use our LL for Peter Pan but the crowds were VERY thick because the fireworks were starting soon. I had to ditch the scooter and walk to get there and then walked back over to the Jungle Cruise to ride it and after that we split up and they went to Main Street for fireworks and then to Space Mtn. and we rode Aladdin since it was a walk on and then made our way to Frontierland and watched some fireworks from out in front of Pecos Bills area but Alan will not just stand still and watch fireworks. So, we went and then to BTMR and almost got on in time to see the fireworks finale but missed it! bummer!
When we were in line, we talked to a family that rode Splash twice today but it broke down both times and one of the times was just now. They were walked off of it this last time.
After our ride on Big Thunder we had a LL for Buzz that I had gotten after dinner and so we went over and rode it but it stopped during our ride and we were stuck on it for about 15-20 LONG minutes!! OMG it was in the 1st room and listening to it for that long and also Alan trying to get points was so annoying!
The kids showed up for it because I had gotten them a LL too and they got in line while we were stuck on it but I think their ride was fine and they didn’t wait long.
By the time they got off we were buying a souvenir toy for Kevin.
They were then headed to the Speedway and then to use the $LL for 7 dwarfs that I had bought just for the earlier today. Alan and I rode the TTA with a 5-10 min wait and then out to the bus at 9:45. There was a very long bus line and we got to the room at 10:30. Since the park was open until 11 and thought we wouldn’t have a long bus wait by leaving at 9:45.
The kids left after their last two rides and were back between 10:30-11:00.
Animal Kingdom/Epcot Day
Up at 6:30 because a text alert for a dining reservation woke me up. (yak and yeti which we didn’t even want anymore)
Alarm was for 6:50 anyway. I booked Flight of Passage for 10:10-11:10 and the safari for 9:15-10:15. Everest is down for refurbishment this Spring so we can’t ride or book it.
And then I booked a Remy $LL for tonight 5:10-6:10. When I first tried it was out but I refreshed and got it. I was excited I was able to get my LL’s for morning at one park and evening at the other for good times.
I told the kids last night that we would meet at 9:00am but then exted this morning and said 8:45 because I didn’t want a bus delay to mess with our safari times.
Alan and I left the room at 8am to use our reward card to take off some of our room bill we had $80 from Olivia for our birthdays and $311 and $146 from our Disney Visa cards.
Well, we got to the lobby and my new capris were falling down on me already and pissing me off so I said no way can I go to the park wearing these! So, I took off back to the room to change quickly and passed the kids on their way down to the bus area. After a quick switch I was back to the bus at 8:45 so we weren’t even running late.
We got to Animal Kingdom and took pics out front and this ended up being the only pic we got of just me Alan and Owen together the whole trip. I really wanted on at MK but it never happened due to rope dropping and then later being soaking wet from Splash