Disney 2018--Summary

Here are some quick links to my trip report from Disney. Since it's been 2 months since our trip and I have fallen behind, I just did my report in bullet point form, with pics of each day at the end of the post. Sorry it's not fancier.

Monday--Travel Day

Tuesday--Magic Kingdom

Wednesday--Epcot

Thursday--Hollywood Studios

Friday--Animal Kingdom

Saturday--Magic Kingdom

Sunday--Disney Springs

The number one thing that we did right on this trip and my biggest advice for going in the summer is to make table service reservations for lunch. This gave us a much needed break from the heat and made life so much easier for Eric and me. We would have been miserable trying to find a table big enough for our large family at a quick service restaurant at mid-day, ordering food, carrying trays, getting condiments, etc. I shudder at the thought of doing that with hungry, hot kids. When did it on our January trip, quick service was fine for lunch but in the heat, this decision was the best one we made.

Overall, our trip to Disney was so much fun. While having a baby at Disney and going in the late August heat isn't easy, it was our third trip so we didn't feel the need to see and do everything. On top of that, the kids weren't as interested in meeting most characters other than the ones we saw at meals, so we didn't have to waste time doing that. So, all of that combined in some ways made the trip a bit easier.

So what's next?! We have a big family trip coming up in January. Not telling where just yet because I don't want anyone to spoil it for the kids. It's a Christmas surprise, and I cannot wait. Just a hint: it will involve lots of pics of me in a lounge chair enjoying pina coladas and iced coffees. :)

Disney 2018--Sunday (Disney Springs)

• Sunday was our last day of vacation and oh so sad. Our flight wasn't until 9pm, and we originally thought we'd go back to one of the parks, but instead decided to take it easy and head to Disney Springs.
• Wow, Disney Springs has changed a lot since we were there 2.5 years ago. I couldn't believe it. So many new stores and restaurants. Unfortunately, it was blazing hot, so we just did a few of them. The first stop, of course, was the lego store, the big kids' favorite.
• The kids had fun doing that, although Deke had a major tantrum because I couldn't build his race car exactly the way he wanted since I'm not a mindreader. Fun times. After hanging out there a bit, we went to a few of the Disney stores, and bought some souvenirs that we didn't need but couldn't resist. 
• The cutest thing was that Fletch desperately wanted the Snow Monster from Frozen stuffed animal. He was sheepish about it at first because it was from "a princess movie" but quickly got over it when I said he could get it. He's in love with that toy, and I love that he got it. He may be 8 but he's still got so much of that little kid in him, and I hope it never goes away.
• At lunch time, we ate at Wolfgang Puck's, which was delicious, and then went to the pin trading and Star Wars stores and bought a few more unnecessary but fun items.
• It was about 1pm then and it was super hot with zero shade, so we went back to the bus. It was a LONG walk to the bus--another death march where we were practically dragging the kids, but we made it.
• At the hotel, we had about 3 hours to kill (and we'd checked out of our room already and put our luggage in storage), so Eric and the big kids played in the arcade, while I sat with Jasper as he napped in the stroller. Piper and Deke also did a animation class in the lobby, which also resulted in a major fit from Deke, since he couldn't draw quite like all the big kids and adults taking the class. Ugh. It was good that we were heading home because Deke was falling apart.
• Eventually, it was time to board the Magic (or Tragic since it's so sad to elave) Express to the airport. Getting to the airport and on the plane was relatively uneventful. We got home around 11pm, and all crashed into bed, with amazing family memories dancing in our heads.

Disney 2018--Saturday (Magic Kingdom)

• If I had to pick, this was my favorite day of vacation. We just did so much and had so much fun. 
• We rope dropped Magic Kingdom, and thought for sure there were going to be huge crowds for rides. As it turns out, all the people ahead of us were going to 7 Dwarfs, so we were the first people over to Dumbo. We literally walked on and had the ride to ourselves. Deke and I rode it twice in a row, and it was so fun.
• When Deke and I were on our second Dumbo ride, Eric took Piper to Barnstormer, where she is old enough to go on alone. She rode that, and then I came and took Jasper, and Eric, Deke, and Piper rode Barnstormer twice. Then Deke got off since he'd had enough so he played with Fletch at Casey's spray area, while Piper and Eric rode Barnstormer five more times in a row. They didn't even have to get off. It was just that empty in that part of the park. We had so much fun! 
• It was about 10am when we finished at that side of the park, so we headed out and made stops at the Tea Cups, Buzz Lightyear, and Monsters, Inc. I love all those rides. Deke especially loved the tea cups, and was so mad that we couldn't ride again, but we had to get to our FP for Peter Pan.
• I know people are divided on Peter Pan, but I love it even though it still has the very politcally incorrect Native American part. Will they ever change that?! It's a little unbelievable.
• Anyway, after Peter Pan, we walked onto Small World, which is a family favorite. Eric just loves it, and I love hearing the kids talk about all the different displays. And, seeing our families' names at the end on the display is really cool.
• Once we got off there, it was time for our morning snack, so Mickey Bars at 10am! Yum! 
• The Mickey Bars refueled us, and we made the trek to Pirates of the Caribbean. I totally forgot that there is small, dark, wet drop in this ride. It totally freaked me out. I'm not made for thrill rides. Other than that though, totally fun. 
• After Pirates, Deke and Fletch wanted to play in the pirate store, so I stayed with them and fed Jasper, while Eric and Piper rode 7 Dwarfs with our FP. They loved it, and I loved that now roller coasters are their thing together. It's a great memory for them both.
• We played for about 30 minutes, and then it was time for our lunch reservation at Tony's. The food here was really good (but so much food--we couldn't even eat dessert because it was so much food!), and it was nice and cool and relatively calm, which was much needed. 
• During lunch, I was able to score FP for Jungle Cruise, so we went there right after lunch, and did that, and then the kids played in the tiny sprinkler area near Jungle Cruise for a while.
• Thankfully, that cooled them down because then it was time for the parade, and we had FP tickets for it that came with our lunch at Tony's. The only problem was that the viewing area was in the sunniest part of Main Street, and it was the hottest moment of the week. The kids were melting, and Eric and I were trying to play like it wasn't that bad--but it was. It was pretty miserable.
• The parade was fun but we were all really too hot to enjoy it. We couldn't even sit down because even though a few layers of towels and fabric, the ground burned your backside. Next time, we'd either skip the parade or make a point to find more shaded seats.
• We desperately needed to cool down after the parade, so we hung out in the store that has the photopass photos so I could get our Jedi Academy pictures. Air conditioning never felt so good.
• The kids at that point were begging to go back to the hotel and get out of the heat, so rather than push things (to be honest, the parade had already been pushing things), we did go back. We rested for a bit in the room and then had dinner.
• After dinner, I took the big kids night swimming. This was probably their favorite part of the whole week. They swam from 6-10pm, and just had a great time. And, the movie on the pool screen was Lion King, so what could be better!? It was a great time and memory.
• It was late when we got back to the room, and we all fell asleep fast. Another great day.

Disney 2018--Friday (Animal Kingdom)

• Friday was Animal Kingdom Day. We woke up early and did our usual thing of breakfast in the room and then getting to the park by rope drop.
• As we walked in, we knew that we'd never get to Flights of Passage faster than all of the other people who were running, so we meandered around a bit at the front to look at the Tree of Life and some of the animal areas near the entry.
• We slowly made our way over to Pandora, which was super cool (especially the water spray area because it was so hot out) and the area to play on the drums.
• Around 9:30am, we did our Fast Pass for Navi River Journey, which was so cool, although I am glad we had a FP and didn't wait a long time because it really freaked out the kids.
• Once we left there, Jasper was getting hungry so Eric fed him while the big kids looked around. We eventually bought stuffed Banshees, which I think were the coolest souvenirs we got. They're just so fun. The kids also had fun dressing in the various Avatar accessories.
• After exploring Pandora, we headed out to do to our Fast Pass for the safari. Along the way, we stopped to meet Timon. I thought Deke would be over the moon to see him since he's such a huge Lion King fan, but he was pretty meh on it. Oh well.
• We still had time to kill before our safari FP so I enjoyed a Dole Whip while everyone else had a huge ice cream sandwich. Seriously huge--like the size of a dinner plate. So yummy and great use of a snack credit.
• Finally, it was time for our safari FP, and we all really loved it. Jasper loved it so much that he had a huge, near blowout poop on the ride. Thankfully, by your fourth kid, you're used to random crazy diaper changes, so we changed him on Eric's lap in the back of the safari vehicle, and no one was the wiser. #ninjaparents
• The safari ended at the perfect time because it was time for our Tusker House reservation. The food here was so good, and the characters were fun. I'm still dreaming about the bread pudding and POG (pineapple-orange-guava) juice that was bottomless. Oh take me back!
• Immediately after Tusker House, it was time for our FP for Lion King. This was perfect timing because it was starting to rain and as we went into the building, it started to pour.
• The Lion King show was another thing that I thought Deke would just go crazy over, and he did at some parts, and seeing him watch his favorite movie on stage was awesome. I was bummed at the end though because they no longer keep the floats out on in the stage area at the end to take pictures--that was one of the best parts. 
• When we came out of Lion King, it was about 2pm and it was still pouring out, so we broke out the ponchos and decided our day at Animal Kingdom was done. I would have liked to go over to Dinoland and see the Nemo show, but not enough to do it in the rain and thunder. That's the beauty of going to Disney more than once--you don't have to do every single thing every time.
• We made our way back to the hotel, bought some things in the gift shop, and then the rain stopped so I took the big kids swimming.
• Around 6pm, the kids got out of the pool, and we all ate in the food court. 
• Now is a good time to mention that in addition to still dreaming about the POG juice, I'm also still thinking everyday about the s'mores pies that I enjoyed daily as a dessert on the dining plan. Oh my goodness--so good. 
• By the time we were done with dinner, the kids were pooped and it was raining again, so we just headed back to the hotel for TV and bed time.
• While we had fun, Animal Kingdom still remains our least favorite park. It's hot, it's hard to find your way, and we're not really interested in going to the zoo part since we have such a great zoo here in DC. I think now that we've done the Lion King stuff for Deke, we'd skip it next time (and yes, there will be a next time because hello--Star Wars Land!).

Disney 2018--Thursday (Hollywood Studios)

• On Thursday, we woke up and got ready really early in an attempt to rope drop Hollywood Studios. We would have made it there right on time, but the wait for the bus was about 25 minutes and then because of the construction at HS, the walk from the bus stop to the park was VERY long. But, we still arrived around 7:30am.
• We ran directly to sign up for Jedi training. As it turns out, it wasn't necessary to rush there because there were still tons of spots open for every time slot throughout the day. 
• After signing up, we headed to Toy Story Land. We walked right onto Toy Story Mania and Alien Saucers, which we actually had a FP for later in the day. TSM was awesome as usual, but Alien Saucers was underwhelming. We didn't have a FP for Slinky Dog Dash, and the wait was already an hour, so that was a no go.
• We walked around Toy Story Land for a bit, took pictures with the Green Army Men, and then headed over to the Star Wars stuff.
• We got inside the launch bay, and it said the wait to meet Chewbacca (my favorite!) was only 10 minutes, which was not accurate at all--we probably waited closer to 45 minutes. But, totally worth it to see the big guy again.
• When we left there, the wait to see Kylo Ren was short so we did that, and it was a great character interaction. I got one of my favorite pictures of the trip of Deke and Kylo. So cool.
• We then stood in line for BB8, which fascinated Jasper.
• By the time we had done all that, our time for our Fast Pass for Star Tours was almost over,so we booked it over there. I love this ride--so much fun. Eric and I riderswapped on there, so we could both do it.
• After that, it was around 10:45am, and we were tired and hungry, so we had Mickey bars (yes, ice cream in the morning--it's vacation and Mickey Bars--I couldn't resist) and cold drinks. When we finished eating, it was time to head to Jedi Training. 
• The kids had fun at Jedi Training, but it was so hot. Eric and I were melting, and we weren't even wearing the Jedi robes. The kids just looked miserably hot. And, at one point, Deke got scared up on stage and broke into tears, and it was just the saddest thing ever. But, he toughed it out and ended up really enjoying it. Thankfully, they gave out bottles of water to everyone right after because it was clear the kids were overheated.
• We left Jedi Training and headed to the Star Wars store so the boys could build light saber and Piper could get sticks like Rey. We really didn't need more light sabers in our life but YOLO after all.
• By then it was around 12pm or so and we just had a small amount of time to kill before our lunch reservation so we did the Muppet 3-D show. It's still cute but it would be great if they updated it. I swear that movie is like 20 years old.
• We then walked back around the park for lunch at Hollywood and Vine. Good food and cute character interaction with Mickey and friends.
• As we were leaving that, we were able to catch the big Star Wars/Storm Trooper parade, which was so so awesome! We all loved it.
• After that, we weren't really sure what to do next, and the kids were withering. We ended up just going to meet Starlord and Baby Groot, which was awesome.
• Once we were finished there, we knew it was time to go. We stopped in a few shops and then made the long trek back to the bus.
• Back at the hotel, we just did our usual dinner and relaxing. Another fun day in the books.