« Look mommy, Tinkerbell is not sick anymore! » - A February 2020 trip report - UPDATED 04/17

[Isabelle12345]

We are back from an amazing first WDW family trip! Follow us while we look back on a trip full of new adventures, awesome meals, lots and lots of character meets, magic and some pixie dust, and large crowds... although we didn’t let that prevent us from having fun!



You can find our PTR entitled « Falling into the rabbit hole - A first family trip » here:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...it-hole-a-first-family-trip-feb-2020.3766180/
Before we begin, a quick summary of the basics:

The characters:

Me, 34 year old mom of two amazing kids, Disney lover since childhood and recently converted Disney addict!
Favorite park: MK, followed closely by Epcot
Favorite ride: Soarin
Favorite characters: Minnie Mouse and Rapunzel


DH, 35 year old dad, has been to WDW once as a child but is developing a growing love for Disney (for which I live him even more!)
Favorite park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite ride: Frozen
Favorite character: Grumpy


DS5, 5 year old boy, lover of all things Disney but especially the Toy Story franchise. He is a sweet boy and a great big brother, so he happily followed along with all the princess M&G (even tough he preferred meeting « the boys »!)
Favorite park: animal kingdom
Favorite ride: Frozen and Soarin, and the Safari

Favorite character: Peter Pan

DD2, 2 1/2 years old - soon to be 3 -, she is our sparkly, happy girl, she is excited about everything but mostly about meeting characters!
Favorite park: MK
Favorite ride: the parade (yes, I know it’s not a « ride »)
Favorite character: Minnie Mouse and Tinkerbell

We were joined by two other family members for the first part of the trip:
GM or grandma, my mother, who was as excited as I was to experience WDW with us!
GP or grandpa, my dad, who was initially coming along with my mom but who enjoyed it a lot more than he thought!

When: February 22-28, 2020
Where: split stay; Pop Century 22-25, Boardwalk Villas Studio 25-28


Why: we wanted to get a trip while DD2 is still free, and while our kids are young enough to believe in the Disney Magic! And we definitely got our money’s worth of magic!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Saturday February 22, 2020
Arrival day

This trip to Disney was our Christmas present for the kids. We let them know ahead of time that we were going, so we could prepare them on what to expect and have time to watch many Disney movies to make them excited about the characters. However, we did not let them know the exact date we were leaving (to avoid the week-before excitement and the « are we leaving today » questions).

So on Friday Feb 21st, when we picked them up from school / daycare, we surprised them with their Minnie and Mickey plushes tucked in their car seats and Minnie Ears... we were leaving for Walt Disney World!!! To say they were excited would be an understatement!!

We had opted to sleep at the airport hotel the day before leaving since we flew at 7:15 from Montreal, which is a two-hour driver from home. Our flight was uneventful, we left early and had a pleasant flight.

We arrived at MCO (25 min ahead of time!) @ 10:25, were on the Airport Monorail/tram @ 10:45, on the Magical express @ 11:00, and on the road@ 11:10! We were impressed!

Unfortunately we were the third of four stops on the magical express... First stop was Riviera, then CBR, then Pop followed by AOA. However, the stops were really quick and since these resorts are very close by, we were at the resort @ 11:50!

We had gotten a Room ready Text for my parents when we landed, and we got one for our room while we were waiting for the front desk! our rooms were right next to each other, in the 50’s section, lake view, top floor, exactly what I had requested with Touring Plans!



We had to stop at the front desk to get our magic bands (Since we are from Canada, they don’t ship them there), we dropped our bags to our rooms and went down to food court to get some food (the kids were hangry at that point so it was much needed!)
We shared a Chicken Parm and a burger within the four of us, and an Giant oatmeal cookie. it was good but nothing outstanding, but it was just what we needed at the time!

Our grocery delivery with Garden Grocer had arrived around 10:30, so we went to the bell desk to pick that up. It was amazingly simple and quick!

Then, we went on to explore the resort for a little while and went back to the room for a much needed nap!

 

[DaisyDuck66]

Hello,

Following along! My DH is also a growing disney lover, or shall I say "slow-growing". I cant wait to hear how your trip went.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Joining in. I can't wait to hear about it.

So on Friday Feb 21st, when we picked them up from school / daycare, we surprised them with their Minnie and Mickey plushes tucked in their car seats and Minnie Ears... we were leaving for Walt Disney World!!! To say they were excited would be an understatement!!

What a nice surprise, that's a heck of a way to start your weekend!

our rooms were right next to each other, in the 50’s section, lake view, top floor, exactly what I had requested with Touring Plans!

Getting your room request is a lovely way to start a vacation, isn't it? It begins things in the right foot.

 

[DLo]

Hopping over from your PTR. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Joining in!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Joining in. I can't wait to hear about it.



What a nice surprise, that's a heck of a way to start your weekend!



Getting your room request is a lovely way to start a vacation, isn't it? It begins things in the right foot.

Thanks for joining!
It was indeed an amazing way to start the trip! And spoiler alert... we also got our room request at Boardwalk!!!

Hopping over from your PTR. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures

Welcome!

Joining in!

Welcome!

Hello,

Following along! My DH is also a growing disney lover, or shall I say "slow-growing". I cant wait to hear how your trip went.

Welcome! We had an amazing trip! ... and now, my husband is a even bigger Disney fan than before!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Saturday February 22nd, 2020
Dinner at Snow White’s!

We woke the kids up (or to be honest, I woke the kids and DH up!) around 3PM, and we got ready for dinner. We told them we were going to have dinner at Snow White’s! They were over-the-top excited, although DD2 was a little afraid about meeting the Evil Queen... but she put on a Snow White dress and Minnie ears and forgot about it quickly!

We called a Minnie Van to get to Wilderness Lodge, since our ADR was at 4:10. I was worried about availability, so I ordered one at 3:20, and the car was in front of Pop Century just before 3:40. The Minnie van driver was very nice, she installed the two car seats really quickly and soon we were on our way to Artist Point! We arrived around 4:00, went through the Wilderness Lodge lobby (stunning!) and checked in for our dinner 4:10 ADR.



We were let in right away. The hostess directed us at a table right beside the Evil Queen photo set up. Oh oh... we have a problem... For the past weeks, DD2 had been talking about the fact that she didn’t want to meet any bad guys when we were in Disney world. So when she heard we were going to Snow White’s, she specifically said she DID NOT want to meet the Evil Queen... so we knew that location wasn’t going to happen! We asked to switch tables and the hostess understood perfectly and transferred us to a different table where the queen could only be seen if we wanted to... it was perfect!



The food was amazing! The appetizers were good especially the mushroom bisque... I could have eaten a full bowl! The chicken terrine was better than I expected, and the jam and pickles gave it a little kick. The shrimp cocktail was good with a nice flavor profile, and the kids appetizers were also perfect for them (my daughter finished the honey butter with a spoon!) The presentation was stunning!

The main courses were delicious! GM had the salmon which was probably the strongest entree of all we got; the cook was perfect and it was seasoned perfectly.

DH and GP got the pork shank which was also delicious (just a tiny bit too salty),

and I got the gnocchi dish (stroll trough nature) which was also good but a little too much Parmesan cheese to my taste!
The kids barely ate anything due to their excitement... but the grilled chicken was quite good, and the waitress brought Mac and cheese for my daughter for free, which was a nice touch since she was free!

The desserts were surprisingly good too. Everyone’s favorite was the Miner’s treasure, but all the other ones were delicious! and the caramel popcorn was a nice surprise! Unfortunately we were so full that we couldn’t eat all of the desserts, but it was a great way to end the dinner!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Saturday February 22nd, 2020
Dinner at Snow White’s!

The character interaction was amazing. All the characters came to our table in the first 45 minutes, service was really quick so we had time to enjoy our appetizers before the first character (Snow White herself) showed up.


The kids got really excited about the parades and singing! The characters took time to interact, sign autographs, and interact with kids and adults. They also obliged to multiple pictures, we never felt rushed!

Grumpy was perfectly grumpy, Dopey was totally sweet, and the evil queen was ... perfectly evil! DD2 obviously refused to meet her, but when we were summoned to go, DS5 was really excited to do so! The Queen was perfectly wicked and quick to respond, but I also noticed that she softened a little when she noticed that DS5 was a little intimidated. It was amazing!







On a side note, we were able to share our Dining plan credits with my parents (I was a little worried considering the changes in policy since January, but it was a non issue!). And it was a GREAT usage of DDP credits!

We left the restaurant about 1h15 after we checked in. Everything was flawless (food, service, characters, decor...), it was the perfect dinner to start the vacation! And I was happy we picked up such an early time, since the kids remained calm and happy through dinner despite the early wake up and the excitement!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

We asked to switch tables and the hostess understood perfectly and transferred us to a different table where the queen could only be seen if we wanted to... it was perfect!

Yeah, I can see that being a fairly regular problem for them. She is quite intimidating.

It sounds like a lovely meal and a great way to start the trip.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Glad the meal went well and they were able to accommodate moving your table!

 

[dwonderz]

Joining in! Sounds like a fun trip so far - Artists Point looks delicious!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Hi everyone!
Real life update ... I have been absent from the Dis lately. With all the craziness going on in our lives, I just haven’t had the energy to sit down in front of the computer and put down our trip in writing...
I have, however, enjoyed reading other people’s trip reports, and looking at photos from previous trips, it brings a breath of fresh air to the situation...
I am a health care worker and DH is a police officer, so while almost everything is closed (school, all non essential businesses, ...) we still have to go to work. It is really hard to manage both schedules while making sure one of us can stay home with the kids... we are trying to avoid asking the grandparents for help since they are at risk if they contract the virus.
Good thing is, the kids are adjusting quite well. DD2 is so happy to spend time with her big brother, and so is he! We are going outside for walks, drawing/painting, and we have been playing board games like never before (especially Disney Monopoly!) so they don’t seem to realize everything else is falling down, for them it’s just one big party! It’s a good thing they can continue being their happy selves, it helps us get trough the days more easily!
So I will be updating later, once I get the Disney vibe back...
I hope everyone is staying safe and trying to get the best out of this terrible situation... stay strong!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Hope you're all staying safe and healthy!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Happy Easter everyone!
I hope everyone is safe and healthy. I know it will be weird celebrating the holiday without the extended family, but we have prepared a few surprises to make it special for the kids!
I finally had a little time on my hands. So here’s a quick update, hoping to get another in soon!

Saturday February 22nd, 2020
Skyliner!

To get back to the resort, we decided to take a bus to HS and then the skyliner to Pop. I was surprised to see that Wilderness Lodge shared buses with Bay Lake Tower, but we were still in HS in less than 15 min. We arrived at sunset and the view was spectacular!



The kids were particularly excited about the Skyliner cabins. They were pointing and screaming the names of the movies or characters as they passed by, jumping with excitement! The Skyliner ride was really fun, and it was beautiful to see the sunset over the Tower of Terror from the air! We had a nice quick ride to CBR, transferred without issues to the Pop/AOA line, and were on the bridge in 10-15 min.



We decided to explore AOA a bit, before going to bed. The kids enjoyed playing in the Nemo playground, then we strolled around the Cars section and made it back to the room for an early night... because tomorrow was going to be an early wake up!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Sunday February 23, 2020
Magic Kingdom!!!

Today was our first park day!! It was also Princess Half Marathon Day and we were going to MK, so we knew there would be road closures and it would take us much longer to get there. We woke up around 6:15 (actually I was up since 5:30 because I was overly excited about today!!!), had a quick breakfast in the room and headed to the bus stop right at 7:00. There was a bus waiting, we were within the first people to get in, and we left about 5 min later with a bus full of people. It took about 30 min to get to TTC, from there we went through security and were on the Express monorail at 7:40 and lined up in front of MK at 7:50! They were able to activate our Canadian tickets before park opening.



We were held at the turnstiles until 8:15 (while waiting, we saw people running inside MK, and spectators were let in then escorted out of the park before they let us in, so I guess that’s the reason why they waited until 8:15... to avoid having people without tickets inside the park while guests were entering.)

Main Street was empty! It was a gorgeous morning so we took many Photopass pictures. We then went to Starbucks to get coffees (we were 3rd in line! How amazing is that!!) and grabbed a spot in front of the castle to watch Let the Magic Begin.





To anyone on the fence about going to MK on a race day, I say DO IT! Yes, we had to leave earlier and it took longer to get to the park, but once we were there it was a ghost town for the first two hours! We felt like we had our own Early Morning Magic for the first few hours: we were able to accomplish everything that was on my ideal morning plan and even more, even though TP rated it as a Crowd Level 10!
(to be continued...)

 

[Isabelle12345]

Sunday February 23, 2020
Magic Kingdom!!!

Our Fastpasses for the day were the following:
Meet Ariel 9:10-10:10
ETwB 10:10-11:10
Peter Pan 11:10-12:10


I was hoping to do Buzz, Dumbo and the Ariel ride before our first FP; other priorities for the morning were meeting Gaston and It’s a small world.
Our actual morning went much better than anticipated!

We watched Let the magic begin from 8:55-9:00, and loved it! I know lots of people liked the previous opening show better, but this one is pretty amazing to me! I watched it on YouTube recently with the kids, and it made me tear up... I love watching my kids wave at the characters and shout with joy: « Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo! »



After the show, we walked on Buzz Space Ranger Spin and saved the Galaxy from Emperor Zurg! It was my parent’s first ride in Disney World since they had been there with me and my sisters as kids, they were really excited! DD2 was still a little hesitant and stayed in my arms the whole time, but she quickly warmed up to the rides! DS5 rode with my mom, and told her: « you will see grandma, it’s not scary, well it’s little scary but it’s fun, and don’t worry, I will show you what you need to do to beat Zurg! »

After Buzz, we power walked to Fantasyland and parked the stroller near Seven Dwarves Mine Train. We saw that Winnie the Pooh only had a 5 min posted wait so we decided to do that one first, and it was actually a walk on! (it’s a nice ride but I wouldn’t wait more than 15 min for it!)



Then, we walked to an empty StoryBook Circus straight to Dumbo, and we waited only one cycle to get on! the kids were delighted to take a ride on the flying elephant!



Then, we walked on Under the Sea, and moved on to the grotto right beside to meet Ariel with our FP, around 9:40. The posted wait time was 15 min, but I think we could have walked straight in even without a fastpass (Ariel was waiting alone in her seashell when we got in!). We had a great meet, and my daughter who was dressed as Ariel was over the moon!



Up next, we really wanted to meet Gaston, and I had read that the line could get long, so we decided to get there before his first 10:00 meet and were the first family in line! We changed the kids into their Gaston and Belle suits and while we were waiting, DH went to pick up a LeFou’s brew and a cinnamon roll at Gaston’s tavern. We met Gaston at 10:00 sharp, at that point about 5 families were behind us.



It was a good meet, but I have to admit I was expecting him to be more enthusiastic about DS5’s Gaston costume. By the way, if any of you have sons who get a little jealous of the attention that their sisters get when they are dressed up as princesses, dressing as Gaston is a great option for boys! (And quite easy!) All the other characters (and many cast members) that we met afterwards were making comments about his costume (showing off their muscles and arm wrestling with him, asking him how many dozen eggs he had that morning, and telling him that they were happy he and Belle were finally getting along!) so it seemed strange that Gaston was not overly impressed to have a small version of himself!

After meeting with Gaston, we sat down to finish our snack and apply some sunscreen. Small world was showing a 15 min wait but the Lines App estimated it to 10 min so we walked over there. We actually waited less than 5 min and after a beautiful relaxing boat ride (which DD2 and GM enjoyed very much!), we were off by 10:25.



We were thinking of hitting our next fastpass but I looked at the wait times on the App and Pete’s Silly Sideshow was showing a 5 min wait, so we decided to go over there. We were the 3rd family in line for Minnie and Daisy, and then second in line for Goofy and Donald! The meets were awesome, they took lots of time with the kids and we got amazing Photopass pictures! DD2 was so excited, she was glowing with joy! DS5 was very proud that all the characters recognized that he was dressed as Gaston and really enjoyed the meets!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Saturday February 23, 2020
Magic Kingdom!!!

After this very productive meet and greet session (and all those attractions within the course of less than two hours of park opening!), we walked over to Enchanted tales with Belle where we had a FP from 10:10-11:10. We tapped in at 11:00 and had a nice showing. DS5 was too shy to get a role, so I decided to pick one of the plates to go with DD2 in my arms, and when it was time to do the little parade GM came over with DS5 who was now willing to take part! (I guess he was worried that he would have to speak and wasn’t comfortable enough in English to participate; when he saw that we only had to walk around he was happy to join us!)
I am glad he did because we were able to get a nice picture with Belle and he was very excited about his bookmark! (And he was very proud that he was part of the show!)



We got out of ETwB at 11:20 and went over for our 3rd FP for Peter Pan’s flight. We tapped in at 11:23 and were off the ride at 11:30. It was a favorite for DD2, who wanted to go back right in, but we were not willing to wait 90 min! (The crowds had picked up by then).

We went over to Be Our Guest for our 11:45 ADR and walked right in, just a few minutes before our reservation time. The line for people who did not preorder was backed up way past the entrance, so GM and GP could appreciate why I made them choose their meal 3 weeks in advance! We still had to wait 5 min to get to the cashier, another 5 min for him to organize bills with the dining plan (he had to do 3 different bills for snack credits, child meals and adult meals) and then another 10-15 min for our food to arrive. By then, the kids were getting restless and we decided to go straight to the resort afterwards. (I had booked a 12:30 Jungle Cruise FP when we got off Peter Pan but decided to cancel it.)


Our food was very good; I got the Tuna Niçoise salad which had a nice portion of Tuna with a perfect cook, DH had the turkey sandwich which was quite tasteful, GM had the chicken salad which came with a nice sized chicken breast, and we split a grilled cheese meal between the kids which they enjoyed. GP had the bean cassoulet, which was apparently very garlicky but still good. We shared two cupcakes between the 6 of us and by then, the kids were more than ready to go.



We got to the bus stop quickly (DD2 fell asleep in the stroller before we even made it to the castle) and we waited less than 5 minutes for the next one to arrive, and were in the room for a well deserved break by 1:30!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Sunday February 23, 2020
Magic Kingdom!!!

After a short nap, we went down to the pool for a little swim. It was very relaxing and just what everyone needed. The parks were getting busy when we left, and looking at the wait times on the app it was incredibly busy so we were happy to enjoy our time at the resort.

I had tried moving our FP for Jungle Cruise around 5:00 but I wasn’t able to get one despite more than 20 min of refreshing (which is a lot more than I would usually look for). I asked my daughter what she would like to do when we get back, and she said she really wanted to meet Tinkerbell! So after a few minutes, I got us a FP for the Tinkerbell meet and greet 5:00-6:00.

We got back to our room, changed in warmer clothes (we were planning to stay until fireworks tonight) and took a bus around 16:45. We didn’t wait long and, unlike our first ride in the morning, we were in the parks in no time. We got in line to meet Tink and despite being in the FP line, we did not move for 10 min. Someone on the speakers announced there was an issue and the wait time would be increased by at least 30 min. (I think we heard that someone threw up in the meeting area...)

DD2 was devastated. She was the one who picked the Tinkerbell Meet and Greet and she had her Tinkerbell dress on. We told her Tinkerbell was sick and she had to go rest, and maybe we would be able to see her another day. She quickly got over it but she was very disappointed.

Since it was getting closer to dinner time, I went back to the front of the FP line, spoke to the nice CM who told me it would be at least another 30 minute wait. I wasn’t willing to wait that long, and he was kind enough to give us a free anytime FP we were amazed to realize that it was good for anything, including SDMT!!

We mobile ordered dinner at Columbia Harbour House, where we had the lobster roll, salmon and shrimp skewers. Everything was very good for a quick service, and it was just warm enough to eat outside in the extended seating area!

While walking to CHH I was able to get a FP for magic carpets 6:20-7:20. Since we finished dinner early, we were just a little before the FP window. I was so afraid it would use the anytime FP if we got in a minute early, so we decided to climb Swiss Robinson Family treehouse. It was wonderful with the sunset! And very relaxing, away from the huge crowds that had built since the afternoon.


We tapped in to magic carpets 6:25 and had a nice flying carpet ride!


Then, we had decided to ride SDMT (with our anytime FP) before going to grab a spot for the fireworks. We walked over to SDMT, and I guess we should have known seeing the crowds, but... the FP line was crazy! It was backed up till BoG check in...

Since we were starting to cut it short if we wanted a nice view of the fireworks, we decided to skip it and go visit some princesses instead, as we were right beside Princess Hall!
Since DD2 was dressed as Tink (remember she was the one we were supposed to meet with that FP?), we convinced her that it looked like Tiana’s dress (which it really did!) so we hopped into Tiana and Rapunzel’s M&G line with the anytime FP.


It was an awesome meet, probably one of the best of the trip! Tiana was the sweetest, she really took the time with the kids and told the kids here favorite color was green (which is my son’s favorite color so he was really excited)... DD2 was star struck!


DS5 has started a thing in his autograph book where he drew the face of the character next to his signature, so Rapunzel started talking to him about how much she loved to draw, just like him!


It was magical, my mom and I got teary eyes watching those wonderful interactions! I mean... this is exactly why you come to Disney with young kids, right?

 

[Isabelle12345]

Sunday February 23, 2020
Magic Kingdom!!!

After this sweet meet and greet, we found a spot in the hub for HEA. I really wanted my parents to see the projections as it was their first time watching the show, so we grabbed a spot about 45 minutes before the fireworks. My dad and I went to buy popcorn and lollipops for the kids. There were no lollipops aside from the huge ones in the store; the castmember told me I could go to the Confectionary but there was no way I was facing this crown to go there... Obviously, as soon as DS opened his, it broke in half and most of it went to the floor! Talk about bad timing... just a few minutes before the fireworks started and no time to go back to the store.. thankfully we were able to have him realize that the remaining lollipop was more than he would eat anyways, so he calmed down and was able to enjoy the wait before the fireworks started.

Once again, it was an amazing show! Everyone in our group loved it! I have to say the music, the projections and the fireworks give me goosebumps... ok... and I cry every time! At the end, when Tinkerbell flied above us, DD2 shouted:
« Look mommy, Tinkerbell is not sick anymore! »
She was genuinely happy that Tink was feeling better, and clapped her hands with joy! It was just the sweetest thing!

After the fireworks, we moved through through the mass of humanity to get to Tomorrowland. We rode the Peoplemover with no wait. It was very relaxing and a great way to let the crowds disperse. I was able to get a FP for Buzz just before the fireworks, and since it was a family favorite, we decided to end the night with the first ride of the day! We waited less than 5 minutes and tried to save the galaxy... but we don’t know if we were just tired of if the guns were not as precise as in the morning, but our scores were terrible... oh well!

We walked slowly to the bus stop, enjoying the atmosphere, then we waited for 2 buses to load with ECVs, and finally arrived at Pop around 9:30. We crashed in our beds, exhausted but happy, and slept like babies after this amazing first park day!