Day 4 started with Breakfast in the room (take out from the Contempo Cafe), then a bus ride over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  The trip must be catching up with Caleb because he was asleep before we ever got there.  We had a little fun with it taking some photos outside the park…

but by the time we got through the gates he was awake so we stopped and took a few more family photos and Olaf even snuck into one of the photos with the boys.

We meet up with the Greers and off to Toy Story Midway Mania, which is one of the best “non thrill” rides in the park with the combination of 3D and how it is used on the ride!

Star Tours was next for everyone but Caleb and Jennifer, so we walked them over to Disney Junior Live where the girls saw Sofia the First­ and wanted to go meet her. Avery opted not to, so we hung out and found some swords and “hair” to try on while waiting.

Jennifer and Caleb went to the Disney Junior Live show and we were off to Star Tours and Caden let me know then that he wanted to buy a Darth Maul lightsaber, so I told him we would find one later in the day.

The Greers had lunch at Hollywood & Vine while Caden and me rode Tower of Terror while Jennifer and Caleb hung out and got a snack.

Both boys were pretty tired at this point, so we decided to go back to the room and rest, and return later in the evening to eat at the Sci-Fi Dine-In and then possible stay for Fantasmic (firework/stage show), but most importantly find the Darth Maul lightsaber for Caden, after having no luck finding it on the way out of the park, although we did find a Star Wars hat with Mickey Ears which made a fun photo.

We stopped by the Contempo Cafe and picked up lunch to go and ate it in the room. Jennifer and I split our favorite Hot Turkey sandwich  (Turkey, Brie, Arugula, Green Apple Slices, Apple Butter, and Honey Mustard on Challah Bread with House-made Chips).

After naps, we headed back to Hollywood Studios and plan to meet up with Steven Neumann, a former co-worker from Donnie Bell Design, but now he works at Walt Disney World.

But first off… the search for the Darth Maul lightsaber… no luck at the first location, but surely the Star Wars store at the end of Star Tours would have it? They didn’t, BUT they had a “Build your Lightsaber” station and the cost was very reasonable, compared to what one costs in the store (having priced them on Amazon recently for Caden’s upcoming birthday).  The line wasn’t too long, either, win! win!

Jennifer and Caleb headed to Muppets 3D while we were on this mission, and while we were in line, I get a text from Steven saying he is in the park. I text him back letting him know that we are building a lightsaber.  Within a couple of minutes I look up and Steven is there, he had just gotten off of Star Tours.

Thanks to Steven for taking some of the photos while he was building the lightsaber!

Caden had a great time building the lightsaber and he has enjoyed playing and taking it apart and rebuilding it many times since we’ve returned home.

We met up with Jennifer and Caleb and visited for a few more minutes with Steve and his wife Marcela (but I failed in taking a photo with them, maybe next trip).  They walked us over to the Sci-Fi Dine-In and we said our “see ya laters.”

Meanwhile, the Greers pushed through the afternoon with no naps, and managed to score FastPass seating for Fantasmic.  We enjoyed eating at Sci-Fi Dine-In, the food was ok, but it was a very fun environment to eat in.

Fantasmic was as good as I remembered and the kids I think really enjoyed it.

Tomorrow, Day 5 – Animal Kingdom and Chef Mickey!

We started the morning with a Supercalifragilistic breakfast at 1900 Park Fare…

located in the Grand Floridian as you might have guested, Mary Poppins was there…

along with Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter…

Tigger and Winnie the Pooh.

There is also Big Bertha, a turn-of-the-century, fancifully designed organ from France that we heard play right  before we left.

We really like this breakfast, Jennifer’s favorite is strawberry soup, the boys love the mini mickey waffles, I enjoyed lobster eggs Benedict. I even spotted brownies on the buffet. After breakfast, we rode the monorail back to the Contemporary and mom left for the airport, headed to Nashville (to visit her other grandchild) and we headed to Epcot where we meet up with the Greers and headed to Test Track, then Mission Space!

While Trey, Avery, Carley, Caden and myself were riding Test Track, Jennifer, Caleb, Stephanie and Lily went to ride Maelstorm in Norway (we got a rider swaps so Stephanie and the girls and Caden and Jennifer could ride later in the day).

The Greers had a lunch reservation at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (more princess stuff) so Caden and I rode Maelstorm, then caught up with Jennifer and Caleb for a quick service lunch at Kringla Bakeri og Cafe.  This quick service restaurant is one of my new favorites.  Normally at a quick service restaurant, the meal comes an entree and dessert but many times we substitute one of the desserts for a side item not included with the entree.  The sides are included as part of the meal and are very generous. I was told… “In Norway, everyone gets pastries!”  (sorry, no photos of the pastries, but they were good!)

After lunch, we were waiting on the Greers to finish up, so we took some photos around Norway and made friends with strangers also waiting around…

Caleb had a conversation with someone else which is what he is doing in the picture to the right. We don’t know what he was explaining, but it looked like it was important, ha!

After the Greers were done, we headed back over to Test Track and Mission Space to let the girls ride with the kids while Trey and I kept Lily and Caleb. It was good opportunity to check out the cars in the show room and let Caleb and Lily have some good time together. It seems they couldn’t decide who was going to drive.

After the girls (and Caden) were finished with Mission Space and Test Track, we stopped for a brief cool off at the Coke Station, where the kids walk through mist.

Then caught the end of the JAMMitors (trash can drummer’s show). We had seen this show 10 years ago with Trey and Stephanie and Trey remembered the guy in the green hat. He talked to him afterwards and he said he had been with the group since it started, so it was indeed him.

We have a Disney Visa card which allows you to get one free 5×7 (each day) you are in Epcot. So we headed over to Innovations took a few photos with Mickey and Pluto. While we only get one 5×7, they take a lot of photos, so with the PhotoPass (now called MemoryMaker) we get them all.

After we were done with our “photo shoot” we all hopped onto the monorail and headed back to Bay Lake Tower for some down time. The Greers joined us which was a lot of fun. The kids watched “classic” Disney cartoons and the “adults” got a chance to visit… We headed back to Epcot later that evening to ride Space Ship Earth, we ate supper in Morocco at the Tangierine Cafe (we like to try different food when we are on vacation. It was good, but I don’t know if I would eat there again).

After supper it was less than 20 minutes until illuminations (the firework show) started so we started looking for a place to watch them. We quickly found a great spot without a lot of people, so we quickly claimed it.  It was between Morocco (18) on the map below and France.

After the fireworks we headed to the resorts, Day 4, Hollywood Studios!

As I mentioned previously, my mom, aka Gigi, joined us for a few days on this trip.  We only went to one of the parks with her, so of course it had to be Magic Kingdom.  We ate breakfast in the room (Quick Service from the Contempo Café) and were at Magic Kingdom bright and early.

We quickly headed to Space Mountain (Caden and me), while Jennifer and Caleb went to
Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid.

We met up with them and rode The Barnstormer (Goofy Roller coaster, Caleb’s second year to ride it, he still loved it, wanting more once the ride stopped).  We also rode dumbo, then headed to Buzz Lightyear, after which we found Buzz and took some photos with him, while the Greers were at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique getting “princesses up.”

Stephanie told me that after the girls were done at Bibbidi Bobbidi, they caught the end of a parade. Everyone in the parade who saw them waving at them, bowed to the girls (which they loved! Disney magic at its best!)

After right the Carousel of Progress, we caught up with “the princesses” and their parents just in time to ride Peter Pan. Caden and Avery rode this right by themselves with no adults in the “boat.” Jennifer looked at me and said, “I am not ready for this!”  I replied, “For him riding without an adult or riding with a girl.” She answered, “BOTH!”  They “enjoyed” each other’s company the entire trip. It was a lot of fun to see.

After Peter Pan, we tried to figured out a place to eat near by for lunch.  Stephanie pulled out her planner Grace had put together to see what she suggested, which was Columbia Harbour House which has very unique eats for a quick service.  It was good and I would eat there again. We always split quick service meals (we all order off the adult menu for everyone, which lets us stretch our food credits)

Nap time for us, so we headed back to the room until early evening.  When we returned to Magic Kingdom, we headed to Liberty Tree Tavern for supper. We really like the dinner here, it i served family style and is very good. We arrived just in time, the bottom fell out of the sky and it rained and rained and rained.  Most of it had stopped by the time we were done with supper, so we headed to Space Mountain to let Jennifer and Caden ride, while mom, Caleb and me rode the Transit Authority PeopleMover, then we called it a day.

Day 3 is Epcot… after breakfast with Mary Poppins and friends!

We had a few firsts this trip:

• First time to travel with another family (the Greers). The Trey and Stephanie went with Jennifer and me 10 years ago in 2004, before any of us had kids. Between us, there are five now (not counting Trey and myself).  They have 3 girls, Avery, 8, Carley 6, and Lily 4.  Caleb is 4 and Caden was almost 7 on this trip
• My mom meet us. Not the first time, she met us for her 65th birthday 5 years ago and got to experience a few days of Caden’s first trip (he was 20 months, I’ll keep you from doing the math. He was along for the ride, Jen and I were having withdrawals)
• This trip was the longest trip we had stayed with kids, 5 nights was the most before this trip, which was 7 nights.
• First trip using MagicBands and FastPass+.  I quickly decided i liked the MagicBands, especially with my hands full, all I had to do was hold my wrist up to the door. It beats digging for a card. Caden and Caleb loved that they could open the door themselves.  I’m not a huge fan of FastPass+.  I like not having to run around to get my FastPasses, but don’t like being locked to that much of a schedule.

We left on Friday, May 23  around 4:45 am, ate breakfast in Vicksburg, and lunch at the Florida welcome center (we started this last year, we pack lunch and eat there. It is more relaxing than being crammed in a restaurant  at lunch time).  We of course took a few fun photos.

We stayed at Ocala, for the night and arrived at Bay Lake Tower before 11 am, being “Welcome Home” by name. When we stopped to check in Jennifer’s door was open for her and we heard “Good Morning Mrs. Breeding, your room is not ready yet, but I show someone is currently cleaning it, so it shouldn’t be too long.”

Last year were decided that the day we get to Disney World, we would just explorer around the resort, go swimming and not go to the parks.  It worked out well last year, so we did the same this year.  We took the monorail to Magic Kingdom (not going in), then took a boat to Fort Wilderness Campground (not realizing there is a boat that goes there from the Contemporary, which is right next to Bay Lake Tower, our Resort.

We were attending the Hoop Dee Doo Review later that night at Fort Wilderness Campground so we found where it was going to be, picked up our refillable mugs at the Quick Service location (the mugs work at all of the resorts, not just your home resort), then road a boat back to Magic Kingdom, then walked back to Bay Lake Tower by way of the Contemporary where we stopped and tried on some Mickey Ears.

We met up with mom mid afternoon, swam, rested, then had a good time at the Hoop Dee Doo, where we had a table right next to the stage.  The guy in the show that was the comic relief kept hitting on mom. It was fun.

We met up with the Greers at our room and watched the fireworks from there before crashing for the night.  Day 2… Magic Kingdom!

In May, we had a great family trip with my mom meeting us for a few days.  Our really good friends (that have 3 girls), the Greers were with us for the entire trip.

We love to talk Disney and always have friends asking us questions, so here are a few of our favorite tips from this trip.

• Electric Parade at Magic Kingdom: we found a good spot close to Liberty Square by the Heritage House (which is right across from the Christmas store).  We probably showed up less than 30 minutes before the parade found a great spot.
• Tangled: one of the “new” areas in the recent expansion of Fantasyland pays tribute to Corona (the kingdom in Tangled).  It is located between the Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan (where there use to be a huge stroller parking.  It isn’t a large area, but worth the visit at night to see the lanterns.  You also can see Rapunzel’s tower.
• Norway in Epcot: Kringla Bakeriog Kafe has an UNBELIEVABLE quick service meal. We ate there twice. Normally with a quick service meals you get a entree and dessert or side, but not both. In Norway, you get both because “everyone gets pastries in Norway!” I was told, by a Norwegian !
• Snack Credits:  We had way too many snack credits left this trip, so we stopped at Downtown Disney the day we were leaving and went to the Goofy store which has a lot of homemade style sweet treats (homemade peanut butter cups, for example)
• Cinderella’s Royal Table: This dinning experience is a table service and requires two credits per person.  We wanted to try it before the boys were too old for it and I’m glad we did. It is located in the Castle at Magic Kingdom that doesn’t open normally until 9 am.  We purposely scheduled our reservation at 8:30 am, which allows us to walk down main street at Magic Kingdom before “everyone” else is in the park.  It was fun. The food was really good as well.
  
• Downtime: We plan for downtime everyday, with younger kids it is a good plan. It lets us stay out later and miss some of the really hot times during the day. We either rested in the room or went to the pool. There were two days we didn’t come back to the room for downtime.
• The day we went to Animal Kingdom, we planned to leave the park mid afternoon because of a dinner reservation at Chef Mickey (followed by an early bed time, well that was the plan, although we may have stayed up a little later than planned to watch the fireworks from the room :)Our second day at Epcot, we decided to take a boat from Epcot to Beach Club Resort and shared a kitchen sink at Beaches & Cream (quick service side). It turned out to be some good down time and we stayed until Epcot closed.

• Split the parks up: This tips was from our Disney Planner friend Grace. She suggested while at Magic Kingdom and Epcot, (since we had 2 days at each park) to focus on one side one day and the other side the next day). It kept us from running all over the parks.
• Text When Room is Ready:  So the concept is if your room isn’t ready when you check in, you sign up for a text, which we did, it sends you a confirmation asking you to accept future texts, we did, and you receive a text when your room is ready… we did NOT.  So if you sign up for this service, you may check back once an hour to see if your room is ready.

Bonus Photo of the Greers:

Disclaimer: I usually am updating/writing with two little ones distracting me, so forgive typos misspellings, etc 🙂