Hanging up my running shoes

[Bree]

I love Illuminations!

 

[ZellyB]

Disneyworld Summer Trip 2018
Day 5 - July 18
Part 1
​

Magic Kingdom Day!!!



It was another early morning for us as we wanted to get there for rope drop again to hit Seven Dwarves without a FP+. So, it was an early drive to the TTC and then a lovely boat ride to the entrance! I think this was around 7:45 or so for a 9:00 AM opening.
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All went well and we were on the fun little coaster within 5 minutes or so, although we did have a brief stoppage on the ride before finishing up. This coaster is adorable!



Little Mermaid was calling, so Paige and I settled into our clamshell to see Paige's NOT favorite, Ursula!



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We have a favorite story about Paige when she was 4 becoming so terrified during the Little Mermaid show at Hollywood Studios and screaming, "I gotta get out of here!" when Ursula appeared that I had to leave the show with her.
We rode Peter Pan's Flight next with a FP, and we were on and off so quickly I didn't even take any pictures. Although this might be me and Sophie in the line?
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I'd bought my hat the previous day at Epcot and I LOVE it! The front says, "If you can read this..." and the back says, "Thank the Phoenicians".

Next was some It's a Small World action and then on to our late breakfast at Crystal Palace. We just love breakfast here and 10:30 is a great time to go. It's not crowded so the characters come by quickly and it's just much more quiet and relaxed.

Sophie with her spirit animal Tigger



and Paige with hers.



After a great breakfast we hit up Chris' favorite ride!



Always fun to pick up some hitchhiking ghosts!

We had some time before our next FP+, and were hoping to meet Mickey, but his line was pretty long, so we opted for some Pixie Dust instead. And assumed the pose of most people waiting in a line.



I was working that app for FP like a mad woman!

I like this picture better than the posed one because of the way Paige and I are standing alike as are Sophie and Chris.



I had a FP+ at this time for Splash, but it ended up closed temporarily and we got an anytime FP, so we opted for a ride on Pirates as I recall.



This may have been from a later ride, but it cracks me up as clearly Chris and Sophie had not clued in me and Paige on the finger guns pose!
By now, it was around 1 PM I think and the heat and crowds were rising, so we headed back to the hotel for a rest. It was an EMH night and we had big plans to stay late!





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[ZellyB]

Shut the front door you had never seen Illuminations before this?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

That's my favorite nighttime show! And soon enough it will be going away...

I know, right? It always seemed like we were just too tired on our Epcot days to stay and watch, so I'm so happy we finally did especially since it's going away.

I love Illuminations!

We loved it too!

 

[ZellyB]

Disneyworld Summer Trip 2018
Day 5 - July 18
Part 2
​

We had a good rest in our nice air conditioned room. By the way, no problems with keeping the temp down at Shades of Green. Those air conditioners make the rooms cold like a meat locker! It was great.

I think we were headed back by around 5 PM or so and I'd gotten a FP for Jungle Cruise.



We had a great skipper who even had a couple of jokes I hadn't heard before. The girls loved her.

I'd gotten a FP next for Winnie the Pooh, but then got a notice it was down so we got an anytime pass and opted to use it on Splash! YAY! Made up for missing out on it earlier. That's a good trade right, Pooh for Splash?



So, my one rant of the trip. As we were walking through the FP line, a man with his two daughters just slipped right under the rope from standby into the FP lane. I was pretty shocked at how he just did it. I know I should have said something but didn't want to make a big scene, but I fumed about it the whole time. What ever happened to the second scan in the FP lane to prevent this? the only ride our entire trip I think we scanned twice for was Flight of Passage. Anyway, onward...

We rode Buzz on a FP as well at some point

Goofy Girls




and then opted to grab a quick bite at Casey's before the fireworks. YIKES!! It was insane. It was probably still an hour before the fireworks and Casey's was mobbed. We did mobile ordering though and at least got our food faster than some poor souls but it still took probably 30-45 minutes. We miraculously scored a stand up table maybe 15 minutes before the show and decided to stay put for the fireworks while we ate. There was honestly no way to move anywhere at that point. We couldn't really see the castle projections but we would be at MK one other night and figured we'd get better viewing that night. It was still lovely!





It was an EMH night through 1 AM, so once we got through the crush of people exiting the park, we headed for Pooh.



and no trip to MK is complete without some People Mover action



At some point I know we rode Haunted Mansion, Pirates and Little Mermaid again as well and then the girls wanted to conclude the night with Space Mountain. Chris opted out as this ride doesn't suit him very well. It was about a 20 minute wait even this late, but eventually we had our ride.



By this time it was probably 12:30 and we'd all had about enough, so we took a nice slow walk down Mainstreet and out to the car. Goodnight, Beautiful Castle. We'll see you again.


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[SarahDisney]

I love your MK day! That mid-day break was smart - stops you form dying of exhaustion at EMH (I say this from experience).
And I'm with you on the second FP touchpoint. I get that it adds a little time and requires more staffing. But ... it makes it a lot harder for people to cheat and step into the FP (although I'm sure some people still did it and just convinced CMs at the second touchpoint to let them through). Oh, Disney.

 

[TheHamm]

I love the trip report! I have wondered how old my twins will be when they no longer want to go to the park with us (yes, I worry and they are just 5), so your trip report gives me hope! It looks like they will not be completely embarrassed to hang out with us for a few more years!

 

[rteetz]

What a great MK day! To your question about the 2nd FP touch points they turn them off have the time so CMs don't have to work them. I have heard of people cutting the line several times. I have yet to see it myself though. People are always looking for ways to cheat.

 

[TCB in FLA]

Really enjoying your TR! And your new hat!

 

[ZellyB]

I love your MK day! That mid-day break was smart - stops you form dying of exhaustion at EMH (I say this from experience).
And I'm with you on the second FP touchpoint. I get that it adds a little time and requires more staffing. But ... it makes it a lot harder for people to cheat and step into the FP (although I'm sure some people still did it and just convinced CMs at the second touchpoint to let them through). Oh, Disney.

The mid-day break was a life-saver on more than one day! And, yes, I get it with the second touchpoint and I do think most people are actually honest, but man, that guy ticked me off!

I love the trip report! I have wondered how old my twins will be when they no longer want to go to the park with us (yes, I worry and they are just 5), so your trip report gives me hope! It looks like they will not be completely embarrassed to hang out with us for a few more years!

The girls were much better than I expected. I mean we were basically together 24/7 for 10 days and while everybody had their moments, we got along great and never once did the girls ask to go out on their own and leave us. It was wonderful.

What a great MK day! To your question about the 2nd FP touch points they turn them off have the time so CMs don't have to work them. I have heard of people cutting the line several times. I have yet to see it myself though. People are always looking for ways to cheat.

I figured it was to speed up the lines and reduce staffing, but it sure does irritate me to see people take advantage.

Really enjoying your TR! And your new hat!

Thank you on both counts!

 

[ZellyB]

Disneyworld Summer Trip 2018
Day 6-7 - July 19-20
​

I had planned for a couple of down days given the intense park schedule we'd been following. On the 19th Chris and I got up and did a 5 mile run. Our intent was to do more running on this trip, but it was just too busy and tiring to manage it. At least we got in lots of time on our feet in the parks though!

Chris and I had a lovely massage that morning at the Shades of Green spa. It was nice! Then a late breakfast at the buffet here and then the nightmare that was trying to register for the marathon weekend. UGH!! Two hours of trying but we did eventually succeed! We drove into Orlando for lunch and then out to Disney Springs to look for some shoes for Sophie. Hers were giving her some blisters. Luckily we found some quickly and easily (which shocked me!) and then Paige and I wandered into a purse and jewelry store and both found something we wanted. Paige and Sophie both had birthday money to spend, so Paige found this pretty watch. It's got a Mickey head for the 12 mark but other than not, not overtly Disney. Rose Gold and very pretty.



They had to remove some links from the watch to fit her wrist, so while we were waiting, I found this ring for myself. See the Mickey Head?



I don't remember what we did for the rest of the evening, but I think we just picked up some fast food somewhere and went to bed fairly early.

July 20th we decided to spend some time at the Boardwalk. It was a rainy day, so we ate a late breakfast and then took the bus from Shades of Green over to Hollywood Studios and then walked to the Boardwalk.




We explored some at the Boardwalk hotel - Pretty!! and then the girls wanted to rent one of those tandem trolley bikes. This ended up being lots of fun!





Paige kept playing "Bicycle Race" by Queen on her phone while we were pedaling around.

Once we finished with that, we were getting hungry so decided to hit ESPN grill for lunch.



This ended up being a good lunch! I had wedge salad and chili and Chris got a burger. I don't remember what the girls got, but they liked theirs as well.





I tried this local Orlando brewery beer. It was light and refreshing. I liked it.



It was a really nice and relaxing lunch. We shopped some again afterwards and the girls got matching sweatshirts and we decided to have some fun in a photo booth. 4 people don't fit very well, I can tell you.



It was mid-afternoon by now, so we headed back toward DHS to catch the bus and relax at the hotel again. Bye, Boardwalk. Can't wait to spend more time here again in January!


The original plan was to swim, but it was raining, so we just hung out while the girls modeled their new sweatshirts.



Later that day we decided to use our park hopper plus tickets to hit another miniature golf course. This time the Winter Summerland Course.



This was another cute one and we enjoyed ourselves a lot!









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Once we finished up we picked up some fast food again and headed back to the hotel.

We'd heard you could see the MK fireworks from the top level of the garage, so around 9 we got some soft serve ice cream and headed up. Of course you can't hear the music or see the castle, but the fireworks were still pretty spectacular.

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It was a great way to finish a fun day. Then it was off to bed because we had another early start planned for our favorite park, Animal Kingdom!!




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[ZellyB]

Disneyworld Summer Trip 2018
Day 8 - July 21
​

Animal Kingdom!!!!


We got up early and headed for the park to hit the Early Extra Magic Hours. I don't remember now exactly when we arrived but it was a bit later than I had planned, so there was a decent number of people already lined up at the tapstiles. We headed in and walked in a pretty orderly fashion to Flight of Passage. The line was already way backed up, but the CM working it said the wait would probably be about 30 minutes and that was pretty accurate.


I had hoped by getting there early that we'd get to walk through the full standby line and finally see the big Avatar in the tank, but unfortunately they still bypassed that part. As I expected, the girls LOVED it. They were "shook" as the kids like to say.

We headed next to the Na'vi River Journey. The wait said 30 minutes, but I think we were on a boat in about 10 minutes. This was very pretty and relaxing and of course the animatronic at the end is incredible, but as many others have said, not something I'd wait a long time to ride.



We headed off for Safari next and were on a truck in about 10 minutes or so. This was a pretty good one and I was especially happy to see 3 lions out! We never seem to have much luck with them.





We had a FP next for Expedition Everest.





I was playing with FP times and I think after this was able to move up our FP for Dinosaur next, but saw this guy out meeting folks and opted to see him first.



We had some fun interactions with him before heading to the ride. This time we all decided to use our finger guns! We're so weird.




We had skipped breakfast with a plan for an early lunch, so we headed back to Pandora to give Satu'li Canteen a try. This was a general thumbs up from the crew. Pretty tasty food for QS at Disney. And, the restaurant itself was pretty cool looking.









Once we finished our lunch, it was time to hit Flight of Passage again with our FP. The girls loved it just as much the second time and as we were leaving, Sophie decided she wanted a Banshee with her birthday money. We decided to wait a bit to buy it so she didn't have to carry it around though and then went to see the best show in all of Disney, Festival of the Lion King! We were in the giraffe section.





I think I scored another FP for EE and then Dinosaur that we did after this. It was getting really hot, but also kind of late in the day, so we weren't sure we really had time to go back to the hotel before our dinner reservation, so we opted to go get Sophie's banshee and just go sit in our car for awhile with the AC running to cool off. LOL.

Meet Griswald.



After an hour or so of cooling off in the car and recharging phones, we headed back in for our Rivers of Light Dining package at Tusker House! We had a nice dinner and enjoyed meeting some friends!


I don't recall exactly what we did between dinner and the show, but I know we watched It's a Bug's Life at some point and rode EE and Dinosaur yet again.

We settled into our RoL seats and enjoyed the beautiful sunset and the show.



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After the show, we headed over to Pandora to see how it looked at night. So pretty! We debated getting in a long line for FoP again, but we were all just too tired and we had one final big day ahead of us, so we said goodbye to Animal Kingdom and went back to the hotel to crash!!




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[ZellyB]

Disneyworld Summer Trip 2018
Day 9 - July 22
THE EPIC GRAND FINALE
PART 1
​

So, something I've always wanted to do but never attempted was a 4-park day. A day where we visited each of the 4 theme parks. I told Chris my plan to do this a couple of months back and I'm pretty sure he thought I was crazy and later confessed he thought it would be miserable, but he knows my crazy has no bounds and that resistance is futile, so he went along. The girls were game and so we were up at the crack of dawn to head off to the Morning EMH at Disney Hollywood Studios. We managed to get ourselves there and lined up by around 6:15 AM again and ready to head for Toy Story Land when they opened it up at 6:30.

We followed the crowd over to Slinky Dog Dash and I don't think it was even the posted 5 minute wait.



Tons of fun and off we were in a flash to hit up TSMM.



We ended up going through the whole ride with our screens not working, so we had to tell them at the end. They off-loaded us and sent us back through a couple of rides later. This time it worked perfectly.

We decided to visit Woody and Jess since there was no line when we got done.



We skipped Alien Swirling Saucers and headed for Rock n Rollercoaster. The girls rode that one alone and then we headed for Tower of Terror.


My first time ever on an otherwise empty elevator!



It was actually a bit creepier alone.

Circled around for a second ride. Yeah, I have no idea what Sophie and I are doing here.
https://flic.kr/p/29xdDL5





Before getting our first park photo of the day!



It was around 8:00 AM by this time and we were off to hit our second rope drop of the day!

Next up Park 2!!

 

[PCFriar80]

Nice job on the empty elevator! This happened to us too, just the 2 of us in 2011!
The picture is a keeper!

 

[ZellyB]

Disneyworld Summer Trip 2018
Day 9 - July 22​

THE EPIC GRAND FINALE​

PART 2
​

A quick walk back out to the car and a hasty drive over to Epcot! We got there about 8:30 or so and started our walk in. One of us (Paige) was being cranky about her Minnie ears.



We were lined up under Spaceship Earth and ready for the park to open! Still happy!!



We made quick work of Test Track and then headed for Soarin and had a pretty short wait for that one as well. By the time we were done with that, we all despeartely needed a break, so we headed for Starbucks for some coffee and a pastry. Once done there, we wanted to go see the Main Mouse since we hadn't managed that yet, but when we walked over the Standby line was already 50 minutes. BOO! So, we argued for a short time about what to do and finally decided this was really our best chance so reluctantly headed for the line. The CM working the line said, "Would you like to use our FP line?" I was like, "Really?" and she said yes! So, in we went. Pixie Dust!!! As we waited in line, we heard the CM say a big tour group had just hit the standby line in mass and it was really messing things up, so I'm sure that's why she sent us through FP. Either way, SCORE!!! And in a few minutes we were in seeing the crew!







Minnie was awesome! And a huge flirt!!



We went for a little ride with Nemo and then it was time for some lunch in Germany!!



And what's a trip to Germany without a "little" beer?



We ate pretty quickly and headed back toward the front of the park.

A fond farewell to World Showcase



And it was buh bye to park number 2!



Next up - Park 3!!!

 

[ZellyB]

Disneyworld Summer Trip 2018
Day 9 - July 22
THE EPIC GRAND FINALE
PART 3
​

Into the car we went and off to Animal Kingdom!!



By the time we arrived, it was around 1:30 or 2:00 I think and my LORD, it was insanely hot. We were starting to run on fumes, so I have nearly no pictures from this park.

I'd lined up our FP+ for this park since, of course, we had to ride Flight of Passage one last time.

Thankfully, we all got a match. PHEW!



Still amazing! I was having success moving up our FP times by refreshing constantly, so once done with this, we headed straight for Everest. Chris opted not to ride again. And, then I'd managed to move up our last FP for Dinosaur so we walked straight over there while guzzling some water and debating our strategy for our ride photo. Here was the winning choice - can you tell what we are doing?

Spoiler: In case you can't figure it out since we screwed up!

YMCA. Except we should have done it the opposite (as Chris tried to tell me). Oh well. We still thought it was funny

By now, it was as hot as the surface of the SUN!!! So, we beat it out of there and decided a short break was in order back at the hotel to cool off and refresh. It was probably 3 PM about now, so just had to stop to finish off a picture and three parks down, 1 to go!!



Next up - Park 4!!!!

 

[ZellyB]

Disneyworld Summer Trip 2018
Day 9 - July 22
THE EPIC GRAND FINALE
PART 4

​

We rested briefly at the hotel before making our way to our final park which had to be, Magic Kingdom. The magic was wearing thin by now.



The sky was looking a bit ominous as we made our way down Main Street and to our final dinner reservation with a special Princess.



This was the first time I've ever eaten in Cindy's castle. It was pretty cool I must say!






The food was even pretty good!





And, of course, these lovey hostesses.









While we were eating, the rain moved in, so by the time we left, we opted to pull out the ponchos. As we were walking past the castle, though, the rain was stopping and there was a rainbow behind the castle!!



Picture perfect!



We decided to hit up Haunted Mansion with an FP I scored and then our last ride of the trip on Pirates. We were so sad.



Our plan was to stay to watch the fireworks with a good spot, but there was a massive storm moving in and to be honest, we were exhausted. So, it was goodnight to park number 4 on our epic journey.



And a slow stroll down Main Street as the lights came on to bid us adieu.



Thanks for all the Magic, Disney. It was a trip for the ages and thanks to all for indulging my not so "mini" trip report!!

 

[ZellyB]

Nice job on the empty elevator! This happened to us too, just the 2 of us in 2011!
The picture is a keeper!

It was so cool! WE loved it.

 

[SarahDisney]

Apparently there's something in the water in July ... we did the four park thing on our last day too. It's crazy exhausting but also crazy fun. You guys did a great job hitting some highlights in each park, and it sounds like a really great trip overall!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Ahh!!! Your 4 park day was amazing! I have loved following along with your trip, but you post so frequently (which I love!) I'm having a hard time keeping up with my comments! So just know, you have a lovely family and your trip in incredible.

 

[rteetz]

Love these final updates!

I have never been mini golfing at WDW. I really need to try that sometime.

Pandora is one of my favorite things to rope drop. Not just to get onto FoP but it looks awesome in the morning. Griswald looks great! I never ended up naming mine...

Your Dinosaur pictures are fantastic! And that solo ToT elevator shot is a keeper too!

I also have never done 4 parks in one day. Maybe in November I will finally do it.