But Did You Die? A December 2019 TR *COMPLETE 12/13*

ashw100

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
'Cause when we're together
I'll forever feel at home
And when we're together
We'll be safe and warm
Doesn't matter where we are
If you're there with me



Hello and welcome to another one of my TRs. My family and I traveled to Walt Disney World from December 7-15th to do all the Christmassy things, and Galaxy’s Edge for the first time. It was a trip full of firsts, included first trip with my whole family. As with any trip there were some amazing parts, and so not so perfect moments. As we always do, we made the best of all situations and had a fabulous time. I am so excited to share all of the highs, and yes even some of the lows.



So parents supervise your children and children supervise your parents, you are cleared for take off. I present to you, But did you die, a December 2019 Walt Disney World trip report.

But Did You Die Get Over It GIF
 
Wow good timing I think I am first ! Can’t wait to read another one of your TR .
 




I followed over from the childless trip report. Cannot wait to hear your holiday adventures.
 
Hi! I can't wait to hear about your adventures! We just got home- major Disney Depression has hit!
 
Wow good timing I think I am first ! Can’t wait to read another one of your TR .
Congrats on being first!! Thanks for joining.

Following!
Welcome to the madness!

I’m excited to follow along!
Thanks for following along.

Following! Can’t wait to hear all about it !
:wave2: Thanks, can't wait to share it.

Following!
Welcome!

I followed over from the childless trip report. Cannot wait to hear your holiday adventures.
Great to have you here for this one too!
 
Introductions

Before we get started on this TR, I wanted to introduce our cast for this trip.

Ashley


I am the wrangler of children, Disney trip planner extraordinaire, Disneyoholic, and narrator of this here trip report. I have loved Disney all my life. I was lucky enough to live in California until I was 8 and visited Disneyland a few times. My family took our one and only Disney World trip in 2001. Once I entered high school I became too cool for Disney and didn’t really pick up the obsession again until my second baby was born and I decided we had to go to WDW. Planning that trip, I of course got bitten with the bug, and I have been obsessed ever since. Even turning my hobby into a career.



Joe


Joe, hence forth known as DH, was not a Disney nut at any point in his life, until now that is. He is however, a Marvel and Star Wars geek. I will never forget the moment on our first trip when we were walking through the hub, and he turns to me and says, “I get why you love this so much”. He has slowly become just as obsessed with me, I have even caught him researching:scared1:. It’s always funny when he comes across something and needs to tell me about. I think he forgets what I do sometimes:confused3.



Connor


C is our oldest child. If any of kids will be obsessed for life, it’s this one. C is 9, an avid reader, and spectacular artist. He took his first trip at almost 4, and he was a thrill junkie, even conquering tower of terror. Now he is much more reserved, and opts out of many of the thrills, but he loves the classics. He fancies himself a mini Disney historian who loves learning about Walt and the parks. He desperately wants to do a tour like Backstage Magic, for now though he spends his time hunting hidden mickeys in the park.

James


J is 6 years old, and just warming up to Disney. He is also a great artist, but also my sporty kid, loving everything from soccer to basketball and everything in between. He of course enjoys Disney shows and movies, but the parks hasn't really been his thing until recently. He is starting to like thrill rides and went from refusal to ride to loving them, he even discovered a new favorite this trip.

Nicholas


N is 4 years old and as the baby of the family, he can be your typical youngest child. He is my little sidekick and can't wait to go back to WDW. He keeps talking about wanting to go on the thrill rides, even though he hated them on our last trip :confused3. He was finally big enough to ride the 44” rides, which was very exciting.

The rest of my family joined us for part of the vacation as well. I won’t focus too much on them, but will include them here, that way if I do mention them, you know who I am talking about.

Mom and Dad


They really aren't Disney people at all, but they know how much we love and love experiencing it with our kids. They have joined us on many trips in the past, and we love having them with us. They currently live is Bellevue, WA, so we need every chance we have to spend time with them.

David (brother), Aleaha (SIL), and Mikayla


I am slowly turning them into Disney people :rotfl2:I booked and planned their first anniversary trip in 2017. They were already talking about taking Mikayla back when she’s older.
 
Hello there- following along!

Your family is absolutely precious and I'm very curious to read on and see if anyone actually almost died.
 
If Orlando Is Not Your Final Destination, It Is Now

The week leading up to the trip was absolute madness. I was at the school volunteering, and trying to prep for Christmas (when we came back there was only 10 days until Christmas), and trying to pack. The night before the trip, the boy’s school had a parent’s night out. For only $5 a kid for a kid-free three hours, we jumped at the chance.





We came home and watched the latest episode of the Mandalorian, before turning in early for the night. Joe made sure to post his traditional pre-trip photo though.


We went to sleep with visions of Disney dancing in our heads.

We had to be up super early, I think I was up by 4:30 to get myself ready. I ran over to Starbucks and the ATM while Joe woke the boys up. We were out of the house by 5:30 for our trip to the airport.



The drive was quiet at that time of day, and we made it to the airport with no issue. Always remember to take a picture of where you park.


We always pick the cheapest garage, which means many moving walkways to the terminal. Which inevitably means me yelling at the boys to not run ahead of us.




I had to snap a picture of my shirt, which I am glad I did, I don’t think it was seen at another point this day.


It’s hard to read, but it says chaos coordinator.

We were flying Southwest, so we had lot of bags to check. Isn’t N a good helper?



After we dropped the bags, we had to take the first of MANY Christmas tree pictures.


We got through security relatively easily, and since we had breakfast on the car ride over, we just relaxed while we waited to board.




N was fascinated by the planes. You may notice he is wearing headphones, they aren’t hooked into anything :rotfl2: .


C wanted to watch some planes too.


We waited for a while, but the boys were well behaved, thanks to the activities I had brought for them.


Still not plugged into anything:confused3


I chatted with a woman across from me. She was from Grand Rapids, so we had a nice time chatting. I used to live about an hour north of Grand Rapids. She was going down for a wedding, but was super excited about Galaxy’s Edge. I tried to prepare her for the RotR madness, but I don’t think I got through to her. She thought she could just walk up day of and buy her ticket and do the Star Wars things:sad2:.

When it was time to board we were so ready. We had early bird, which put us in A26-30. The Southwest guy even mentioned to N that he was lucky that his parents sprung for Early Bird instead of being stuck in the mess that is family boarding. I did family boarding once, and will never do it again.

I sat with N and C, N got the window seat.



Joe and J sat together across the aisle.


C brushing up on his safety materials.


We had a really funny flight crew, that made a ton of great puns and jokes during their safety spiel. My favorites being, “If you’re traveling with small children…why?” and “If Orlando is not your destination, it is now”. It was like a Southwest Jungle Cruise, very fun.

Once we were in the air, I started watching Noelle, the Disney+ Christmas film. I also ordered a mimosa, thanks to Joe’s free drink coupons. I think Joe also ordered a mimosa.



C, being the hot cocoa fiend he is, got one for his in-flight beverage.


The boys were very well behaved the whole flight, thank goodness for ipads.


Approaching Orlando.


We landed 20 minutes early, and I couldn’t wait to get going. After the requited potty breaks, we were seeing the MCO peoplemover all decked out for Galaxy’s Edge.



The boys got a seat on the peoplemover.


The newly redone Disney Store at the airport was also decked out for Galaxy’s Edge. I was sad to see the old Mickey and park icons gone though.


When we finally got down the Magical Express level, it was insane. The line just to scan in was all the way backed up to the rental car counters. We used the time to take a family magic band picture.


This was the best we could do.

It took about ten minutes to get through the first line, N was the first to scan his band this trip.



We were then directed into another long line. The line for the Yacht Club was full, so we actually had to go into an overflow queue. By this point the boys were very antsy and it was not a fun wait.


In the end we waited in the second line 40 minutes, I don’t know if this is good or bad, but it felt long.

At least we got an actual Magical Express bus this time.







On the ride over I got a text that our room was ready. I didn’t get anything that I had requested, which is a little defeating, but I wanted to see the room before I made a judgment. After 30 minutes on the bus, we were finally seeing the famous sign.


Well, kind of seeing the sign.


I got my first glimpse of operating gondolas, which was very exciting.

 
Last edited:
The night before the trip, the boy’s school had a parent’s night out. For only $5 a kid for a kid-free three hours, we jumped at the chance.

That's a good deal!

It’s hard to read, but it says chaos coordinator.

:rotfl: I love that!

N was fascinated by the planes. You may notice he is wearing headphones, they aren’t hooked into anything :rotfl2: .

:rotfl::rotfl:It's a fashion statement.

She thought she could just walk up day of and buy her ticket and do the Star Wars things:sad2:.

Oh dear :scared::scared:

My favorites being, “If you’re traveling with small children…why?” and “If Orlando is not your destination, it is now”. It was like a Southwest Jungle Cruise, very fun.

:rotfl::rotfl:

Once we were in the air, I started watching Noelle, the Disney+ Christmas film.

I loved that movie!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top