Day 6 - January 25th - Thursday
We decided to give
Genie+ another try on this day we we could stack some
DAS with G+ returns. We also hoped to get some on-ride photos. Spoiler alert - once again, wasn't worth the money we paid. I'd like to say we learned our lesson but I'm sure we'll end up buying G+ on at least a day or two of our
Disneyland trip this summer.
Did our usual morning routine of to-go Roaring Fork breakfast in our room. Then at about 10:00 we took the boat to MK. We decided to see what our son thinks of Barnstormer first. It had a 20 minute wait. Some background - in 2022, we thought our son might like Big Thunder at Disneyland since it doesn't really have any big drops or anything. Well....we were so very wrong! He was terrified the entire time and kept slinking down in his seat and almost under the safety bar (he's a skinny kid.) We had to hold onto him for dear life! It was awful. But we thought we'd give Barnstormer a try since it's not too crazy and it's super short. And well...it was iffy. He sat with my husband and I sat in front so I could periodically look back at him. He definitely looked terrified and unsure for the ride. But when it was done he smiled and I asked if he liked it, he said yes. (Though his comprehension and ability to properly answer questions isn't super reliable.) I feel like if we were to ride it a second time, he might have liked it since he would know what to expect. So I think we'll try to get on Gadget's this summer and see what he thinks of that.
At 11:15 our DAS return for Haunted Mansion was up! Hooray! It had been closed on our other visits this trip so we were happy to finally make it on. I love this ride. Our son does pretty well on it...except with the people screaming in the stretching room.
Next was one last spin on the Magic Carpets with a DAS return. Then we went to Pirates with G+. Remember how I was hoping to get some on-ride photos this day? Well...we got one...of some other people's boat. I'm sure there's a way to find ours but I didn't care enough to figure it out. After this we did Pooh with DAS. Then it was time for lunch.
We made the mistake of letting our son choose. I took screenshots of the salmon from CHH and pizza from Village Haus and asked him...assuming he'd pick the salmon again. Nope. He picked pizza. Ugh. First I found a stand selling grapes so I grabbed some for our son while my husband grabbed some popcorn too. (Back-up since we didn't think he'd like the pizza.) VH was so freaking crowded. We grabbed the only table we could find and it had almost no shade so we were just sitting in the blazing sun. Our mobile order took forever. And, as predicted, our son wasn't a fan of the pizza. He had one bite and decided it was awful. Very disappointing lunch.
Right after that we went on Peter Pan with a DAS return. Then went over and rode Buzz with G+ return. Next was Tomorrowland Speedway with DAS. I got some really good pictures of him laughing on this one! Then it was time for one last ride on the People Mover...my favorite!
It was about 3:30 so we took the boat back to the hotel. We relaxed and did some packing. At 5:15 we got on the bus to Epcot.
I convinced my husband to walk through the Moana water area. He didn't want to get wet but I told him he didn't have to so he said okay. And I'm glad he did because he ended up liking it. Our son loves water so he really seemed to enjoy this area a lot!
We went over and rode Remy next. I'm 99% sure we used a G+ return for this. I didn't write it down but since we'd only been in the park for about 35-40 minutes, that seems likely.
It was about 7:00 so we decided we better eat some dinner. My husband really wanted fish and chips but my son and I aren't fans. So he decided he'd walk over to get that and then power walk over to the America pavilion with it. I thought this sounded like a pain in the butt but it's what he wanted to do. My son and I both had the kids hamburger meal. I thought the burger tasted like a cartoon hamburger. I can't explain it.
We went over to ride Frozen next. Once again, hoping to get a good on-ride photo since it's the only day we've ridden Frozen with G+. But, of course, our son is completely blocked by the people in front of him.
It was around 8:00 or so and we had planned to make our last ride Spaceship Earth. Well...we regretted this choice since now SE was broken down and they weren't sure when it would be back up. Our son just kept repeating "spaceship earth is closed." And even now, weeks later, when he looks at pictures he repeats that. Such a bummer to end the visit on a slightly sour note.
We went to the bus stop and didn't have too long of a wait. Once on the bus, there was the announcement saying it was someone's birthday. Everyone was looking around to figure out who. Turns out...it was the bus driver. So we all sang happy birthday to her! Very fun moment.
We got to the hotel at about 9:00. There were some issues with buses at Fort Wilderness so it was kind of a long journey "home." We stopped by our room for our refillable mugs and then went to get hot chocolate to enjoy back in the room.
All in all, a pretty good last day in the parks!
Day 7 - January 26th - Friday
I doubt anyone is interested in our travel home day but I took notes so I'm just going to post about it anyway. We woke up at 6:45. Had breakfast in the room. Finished packing and getting ready. I really enjoyed this room! I obviously never stayed here before the refurbishment but I think they did a good job.
We checked out and headed outside to wait for our Mears bus at about 9:25. The bus arrived at 9:40. We had been concerned that it would be a van and not a bus so we were happy to see it was an actual bus and we didn't need to fuss with the inflatable car seat booster for our son. The bus had to stop at Poly and Contemporary first and it was off to the airport.
We were able to get our bags checked outside, which was nice. I was happy to not have to haul them all over the place. We went to the TSA precheck line and it only took us 5 minutes to get through. The estimated wait time for the regular lines was around 30 minutes or so.
We decided to eat an early lunch so we got Mcdonalds around 11:00. I also found yogurt and grapes for our son, which was good because he didn't want his burger. There was a family with gunky coughs right next to us while we were eating. Eww. Gunky coughs was definitely a theme of this trip. (And seriously...what's with adults not covering their GD mouths?!)
We got to our gate and relaxed for a bit before boarding at 12:35. Some lady in the pre-board line in front of us was trying to bring 2 large carry-ons and was arguing with the gate agent. She finally gave in and gated checked one of them. At first I thought maybe she was a first time flyer but later in the flight I heard her talking and sounds like she flies a lot. So she was just trying to skirt the rules because I guess sometimes they let her. I know it seems hypocritical of me to comment on this since we also skirt the rules a bit by having all 3 of us board early instead of just 2 (with pre-boarding, only 1 parent is supposed to board but we like to stay together for our son's sake.) However, all of us boarding together effects no one else. We don't use ANY overhead bin space and we're just taking up our own row of 3 seats. This time we made sure to ask the gate agent ahead of time and she said it was perfectly fine.
We ended up taking off a bit late. Our son was starting to get antsy with the long wait. But once we started going he was actually super excited during take-off. The flight home just seemed to drag for me. Probably because I was super bothered with the un-masked people gunky coughing right behind me the entire flight. They were clearly an entire family of sick people. I just wanted to get home and out of this flying germ box! (Did I mention I'm immunocompromised so when I get sick I get REALLY sick? Thankfully...our masks did their jobs and we didn't catch anything on this entire vacation. Woohoo!)
We landed around 3:30 local time. Bags took a while but we finally got them and got out of there! We went straight to our car and headed home.
All in all, it was a really great trip! And obviously I came home and immediately found a BRV contract to put an offer on! The plan is to head back in January 2026!
And here are some pics from my husband's phone from various days of our trip.
