They Came With Ma & Pa to Escape Mardi Gras! A February 2020 TR * 7/1 Aulani TR Started & Link Posted

Great updates! You made the most of your time in MK. Such cute pictures of your DD with Alice and the princesses. Glad both kids ended up loving BTMRR. It's fun reading people's TR's and getting a Disney fix but it sure makes me miss it! Can't wait for life to return to normal and once again be in the parks. We have reservations for Sept right after Labor Day - we'll see......
 
Sounds like the rest of your morning and afternoon were great! Ya'll got a lot done! And I'm glad both kids loved BTMRR!

I love seeing DD so happy in all the pics, you can tell she was loving her time at MK!
 
BTMRR is a family favorite for us. So happy the kids both enjoyed it. Lots of great character interaction. Your pictures from the Tikki Room are so good. Mine always look horrible. I'm not good with low lighting. Looking forward to you Epcot time. I spent a little time at the festival in January and wished I had more time.
 
What cuties! I wish we lived close enough to drive but the flights from the midwest are only $80 a lot of the year so it's not so bad
 


Sorry for the delays in posting & keeping up with reading and commenting on others' TRs.

I'm in the same boat lol

Sure enough, BOTH kids thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Yay! Mom knows best!

Pirates still wasn’t up by the time we finished singing with the Tiki birds, so we asked the kids what they wanted to use the Multiple Experience FP on, and they both voted to use it to ride Big Thunder again.

They really loved it! Smart kids!
 
Great updates! You made the most of your time in MK. Such cute pictures of your DD with Alice and the princesses. Glad both kids ended up loving BTMRR. It's fun reading people's TR's and getting a Disney fix but it sure makes me miss it! Can't wait for life to return to normal and once again be in the parks. We have reservations for Sept right after Labor Day - we'll see......

DD really had a lot of fun meeting the characters, which I was so happy about! Sometimes DS got inon the action and sometimes he didn't, but it was fun having at least one of them who was SO into the characters!!

I do know what you mean, because it had been so long before this trip since the last time we had been there, and I was really really missing it. It fills the void a little bit, but nothing can replace getting to be there, for sure! Hopefully your trip works out well. I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous about our cruise in January because the cruise industry has been hit so hard by this pandemic in particular.


Sounds like the rest of your morning and afternoon were great! Ya'll got a lot done! And I'm glad both kids loved BTMRR!

I love seeing DD so happy in all the pics, you can tell she was loving her time at MK!

I was continually surprised by how much we were able to get done because the crowds were just as heavy as I had suspected it would be!

I was a bit worried about starting off with MK and the rest of the parks not living up to the Disney hype for DD, but I'm really glad that didn't end up being the case. She's for sure a Disney kid!!

BTMRR is a family favorite for us. So happy the kids both enjoyed it. Lots of great character interaction. Your pictures from the Tikki Room are so good. Mine always look horrible. I'm not good with low lighting. Looking forward to you Epcot time. I spent a little time at the festival in January and wished I had more time.

I had been waiting and waiting for the day to try it with DS, but he was always so nervous about that one for some reason! Despite all of the thrills he took on in Universal, Big Thunder was his weak spot. I was so glad we finally got him on it, and that he loved it along with DD!

We were happy we had a couple days that overlapped with Festival of the Arts, but yes, we we also wished it had been available for our entire trip! We really enjoyed it. I'm glad we got to try it out for the first time though, at least.

What cuties! I wish we lived close enough to drive but the flights from the midwest are only $80 a lot of the year so it's not so bad

Not bad at all! Sometimes we are lucky enough to get cheap direct flights, but Mardi Gras week is a very popular time for Louisiana residents to visit Disney so it's usually a very expensive time to fly! We are definitely lucky that driving is always an option too.

I'm in the same boat lol

Ugh, I have gotten so far behind on so many things!! Podcasts, books, DIS, TV...

Yay! Mom knows best!

I was so relieved I was right!!

They really loved it! Smart kids!

Yes, they are definitely Disney kids!! I was very glad they both enjoyed it so much. It became a big hit for this trip.
 
Day 2 Continued: Sunday February 23rd

After a nice relaxing monorail ride, we were entering Epcot! The extent of the construction going on around the park was crazy to see!! I had read lots about how everything was torn up leading up to our trip, but it was still a shock to see it myself, especially from above on the monorail since it takes you around and through the park.


Pluto was meeting near the entrance at I got the kids to begrudgingly agree to go take a photo. Look how mad they were for me convincing them to do so.


DS even requested one of just him and his favorite Disney pup.


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Then we went over to The Seas to use our Nemo FP that I had picked up earlier in the day while at MK.


We had another day planned at Epcot the next day, and a dining reservation coming up, so we started making our way towards World Showcase so that we could check out some art booths before our ADR. The kids loved the wall of butterfly wings to pose with along the way.


I don’t remember if this was before or after the butterfly walls, but along the way to World Showcase, they had one of those photo spots with a famous painting that you could pose in, with a Photopass photographer so we stopped for that.


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We got some paint & brushes to paint a few squares of the large color by number mural.


Just before you get to WS, there were chalk drawings off to the side of the walkway. This was what DH and I had enjoyed a lot back when they had Festival of the Masters at Downtown Disney, so we were happy to see they included this at Epcot, even if on a smaller scale.


Continued in Next Post...
 


Day 2 Continued: Sunday February 23rd

This Rapunzel one was AMAZING! You could lay on it and pretend you were climbing her hair!! There were too many people to do it ourselves, so DH did his best to just sneak a photo but it certainly doesn’t do it justice.


There were tons of booths featuring different artists around the WS, but we focused mostly on the Disney artists as we started making our way over to the Italy pavilion.


We spotted Pascal hanging around Karamell-Kuche.


Finally, we made it to Italy, and our dinner location, Via Napoli!


DD felt very fancy drinking her water out of a coffee cup.


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DH ordered a large Margherita pizza for him and the kids to share, and I got my usual Quattro Formaggi.


We didn’t finish everything, so we took our leftovers to bring back to the room. The kids had gotten side tracked by the trains in Germany, and we only prized them away for dinner by promising we could go back to see them after we ate. So that was of course our next stop.


World Showcase was just lovely as the sun was setting.


The kids helped George Washington cross the Delaware.


By the time we had made a circle of WS only stopping for the booths, not really exploring the pavilions, we were ready to head back.


We got the bus back to Copper Creek, and were back in our room very quickly. We had an early wake-up for the next morning, so we got to bed as early as we could!

UP NEXT: Garden Grill
 
We attended the first Festival of the Arts in 2017 and really enjoyed it. It's fun to see the things they've added each year.

It's so strange to look through these photos that were just taken a few months ago and how different the world is now. I can't wait for Disney to reopen, but I'm not sure when I'll be ready to go back. I wonder if masks and social distancing will be the new normal at Disney or in a year or so, things will be back the way they were. I'm sorry if I sound like a downer, but all of the unknown makes me sad.

Your husband is an amazing photographer and thank you so much for sharing these beautiful photos from my favorite park!
 
I love all the special touches they add for the Festival of the Arts.

The chalk art is amazing especially that one of Rapunzel!
 
Sounds like a great time at Epcot! Glad you got to enjoy Festival of the Arts and eat at one of your fave restaurants!
 
We attended the first Festival of the Arts in 2017 and really enjoyed it. It's fun to see the things they've added each year.

It's so strange to look through these photos that were just taken a few months ago and how different the world is now. I can't wait for Disney to reopen, but I'm not sure when I'll be ready to go back. I wonder if masks and social distancing will be the new normal at Disney or in a year or so, things will be back the way they were. I'm sorry if I sound like a downer, but all of the unknown makes me sad.

Your husband is an amazing photographer and thank you so much for sharing these beautiful photos from my favorite park!

DH and I have had conversations about this a lot. It's crazy to think how different everything was just a couple of weeks after we got to enjoy the parks! I feel so bad for everyone having to struggle with trips being rescheduled, canceled, or not what they imagined with all the changes that will be in place when they do reopen. I totally understand what you mean, it's hard to see a place you love so much so radically different! I just typed up another day of our trip where we did TONS of character meets, and thinking about the parks without characters is so sad to me! We truly feel blessed to have been able to go when we did before all of the world changed as we know it.

Aw, thank you so very much! He loves taking photos in Disney, and I love sharing them! I'm so glad you enjoy them!

I love all the special touches they add for the Festival of the Arts.

The chalk art is amazing especially that one of Rapunzel!

It was really cool to get to experience yet another festival at Epcot! And we loved getting to see all of the interesting Disney art. I think the only one we haven't gotten to experience yet is Festival of the Holidays. Maybe one day!

Of course I LOVED the Rapunzel one!!! It was so incredibly done! It's hard to believe it's all chalk.

Sounds like a great time at Epcot! Glad you got to enjoy Festival of the Arts and eat at one of your fave restaurants!

It was a great night to be there! Experiencing the festival was really cool, and of course Via Napoli is always a highlight for me!
 
Day 3: Monday February 24th

To kick off Lundi Gras, we had a brand new to us character meal planned! That meant we had an early wake up time, so that we could enjoy breakfast with the characters before park opening. We were up at 7, and quickly got dressed and out the door. We were headed for Epcot! This morning, we decided to drive ourselves because we didn’t want to have to allow a bunch of extra time for a bus.


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We arrived at Epcot at 7:30 am, and security wasn’t even open, so we had to wait a little while at the bag check tables before they opened. There was an entrance designated for people with early breakfast reservations and tours, so we got into the park right away, but then had to wait again at another rope for them to get the all clear to let us in. Eventually they let us in a few minutes before 8 am so that we could head over to The Land pavilion for our Garden Grill breakfast.


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Our ADR was for 8:10 am, but we were seated right at 8.


DS thought it was pretty cool that we were overlooking Living With the Land.


Our server Ellyn came right over to get our drink order, and she asked if we were going to be trying to head for Soarin’ right after breakfast. We let her know we were, since it’s one of DS’s favorites and we wanted DD to get to try it, but we had used our Tier 1 FP on Frozen Ever After instead. She brought us our check early in the meal so that it was all taken care of and we weren’t waiting on the bill after eating so we could head to the ride.

She brought us our drinks, and a bowl of mixed fruit with Chip’s Sticky Bun Bake.


We had heard about this sticky bun on several podcasts & TRs, and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT!!! It was so incredibly delicious!!

Our table put us right at the beginning of the character rotation, so they started coming around quickly. First up we saw Dale!


After pictures with Dale, our main family style platter was delivered! It includes scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage links, Mickey waffles with a warm chocolate hazelnut drizzle, and potato barrels.


We had just started to dig in to all of the hot & delicious food when Chip showed up for some chipmunk kisses & photos.


DH took advantage of the fact that no one else really wanted to eat the bacon.


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The kids were very excited when Pluto stopped by our table to visit.


Our final visitor was Farmer Mickey! How cute is he in his overalls?!


Ellyn came by while the kids were meeting Mickey to see if we wanted a family photo.


Before we finished up, Ellyn came by with a card signed by all of the characters for each kid! It was so sweet, and the kids were so excited. I should have taken a photo of it, but I think we were kind of ready to head down to Soarin’ so we didn’t get one.

Overall, we were all very impressed with this breakfast! The food was very good, the character interaction was great, and we loved the location inside the Land. The kids were so cute when they realized we were rotating around! The movement was so slow we didn’t feel it, and I had kind of forgotten about it too until we realized we weren’t by the rainforest scene anymore. We would definitely do this one again!

We headed downstairs to Soarin’ at 8:40 am, and we were the very first ones in line before it opened.


I think it opened around 8:45 or 8:50, because we had ridden and were exiting the ride by 9 am when the park was fully open! DD was a little nervous, but she ended up LOVING the ride! Some of the transitions between the scenes scared her a little but she overall enjoyed it.


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DS had hold of our other camera, so he took a couple (blurry) shots of us too. He took a LOT of photos this trip, so I’ll include some throughout the TR.



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As we were exiting, I happened to glance over to the people pouring into the entrance, and spotted one of DS’s best friends from school who we knew was going to be in WDW that week also. I was able to yell her name and get the family’s attention for a quick wave, but they were following the flow of people into the standby line, so that was a very quick interaction, but DS was happy to see her.

Continued in next post...
 
Day 3 Continued: Monday February 24th

We headed over to Living With the Land next since we were already there. The kids had a blast trying to spot where the restaurant was, and where we had passed while eating.


After that, we headed over to the Imagination Pavilion to ride Journey Into Imagination with Figment.


After the ride, we enjoyed some time in ImageWorks.


There were 2 meet & greets in there, Wreck It Ralph & Vanellope, and also Joy. We really wanted to meet Ralph and Vanellope, but their wait was kind of long. Joy didn’t have as long of a wait, so we hopped in line for her. DS wasn’t interested, so he spent the time while DH, DD and I waited to meet Joy designing his own Figment.


Joy really liked DD’s bow!


I thought Joy’s background was very cute, so I like that the Photopass photographer got one with it all included, and also a close up.


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UP NEXT: Frozen Fever
 
On our 2017 trip, my family split up and the boys went to Garden Grill and the girls went to Akershus. We did this so our grandson didn't have to sit through another meal with the princesses with his sister and cousin. Looking at the menus, I really wanted to try Garden Grill, but I went along with the program.

How nice of the CM to get your bill quickly. That's one of my pet peeves at restaurants, wasting time waiting for the bill.

Glad your DD enjoyed Soarin'. That's still my favorite ride in WDW, but I haven't ridden Rise of the Resistance yet.

Oh my gosh, your daughter took so many adorable photos this trip! How did choose which one to frame?
 
What a fun morning! The food at GG looks really good. It seemed pretty quick considering you ate and had character meets in 45 min. Nice your waitress offered to settle the bill while you were still eating. Such cute pictures with Joy!
 
This morning, we decided to drive ourselves because we didn’t want to have to allow a bunch of extra time for a bus.

It's always nice to have that options when you drive.

We arrived at Epcot at 7:30 am, and security wasn’t even open, so we had to wait a little while at the bag check tables before they opened.

Talk about the early bird. I don't think we have ever beat security.

Our server Ellyn came right over to get our drink order, and she asked if we were going to be trying to head for Soarin’ right after breakfast. We let her know we were, since it’s one of DS’s favorites and we wanted DD to get to try it, but we had used our Tier 1 FP on Frozen Ever After instead. She brought us our check early in the meal so that it was all taken care of and we weren’t waiting on the bill after eating so we could head to the ride.

This is really great. So nice that she asked.

Overall, we were all very impressed with this breakfast! The food was very good, the character interaction was great, and we loved the location inside the Land. The kids were so cute when they realized we were rotating around! The movement was so slow we didn’t feel it, and I had kind of forgotten about it too until we realized we weren’t by the rainforest scene anymore. We would definitely do this one again!

Breakfast does look really good. The character interaction is great too. I've never done breakfast here but we have done dinner.

DS had hold of our other camera, so he took a couple (blurry) shots of us too. He took a LOT of photos this trip, so I’ll include some throughout the TR.

It's great that he's getting started young with working on his photo skills.

As we were exiting, I happened to glance over to the people pouring into the entrance, and spotted one of DS’s best friends from school who we knew was going to be in WDW that week also.

You can't go to Disney at Mardi Gras and not run into at least one person you know.

thought Joy’s background was very cute, so I like that the Photopass photographer got one with it all included, and also a close up.

Very cute pictures.
 
I'm glad you guys enjoyed Garden Grill, it was one of my faves!

So cool being first in line for Soarin! And even better being off the ride before the park even officially opened!

Cute pics with Joy!!
 
Glad the Garden Grill breakfast was a success! The cinnamon roll looks like it'd be worth the ADR. :rotfl:
I can't believe your DD was tall enough for BTMRR and Soarin'. These DISkids are growing up so fast! But I'm glad she enjoyed both and was willing to give them a try, that's awesome!

Mmmm, dinner at Via Napoli. I think we can both agree we could use a Quattro Formaggio pizza from there right about now. We sure have earned it with this virtual learning madness!
 
One day I will try breakfast at Garden Grill! I have heard such good things about it.

Thanks for the update!
 

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