My 20th Trip to the "People Trap Set by a Mouse"!!! - UPDATE 12/8

ashleymrush

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 25, 2013
Hi everyone! I'm very excited to get my second trip report started! This trip has been a long time coming and while I am sad that it is over, I am so happy to get to share it with anyone that joins along on this journey!

I've had my pictures ready to go for a few days now and have been stewing about what to name this trip report until I saw this meme

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And then I knew exactly what to name it! As you can tell from the title this was my 20th trip to the world's best "people trap." (Seriously, if someone could just permanently trap me in here and never let me out, I'd be ok with it.)


Table of Contents
Entry 1 - So Much Pre-Trip Pixie Dust!
Entry 2 - The Big Adventure FINALLY Begins!

Entry 3 Part 1 - Will Jackson be tall enough for Soarin'?!
Entry 3 Part 2 - Will Jackson be tall enough for Soarin'?!
Entry 4 - A "what are the odds" kind of surprise!
Entry 5 - Time for a Special Expedition
Entry 6 - Oops...shouldn't have done that!
Entry 7 - That time that Daisy cheated on Donald...TWICE!
Entry 8 - That time we finally got our Bloody Mary's!
Entry 9 - We have a VERY important flight to catch!!
Entry 10 - Let's FINALLY see what this Rivers of Light thing is all about!
Entry 11 - A Very Merry Birthday for Brody!
Entry 12 - A Very Merry Birthday continues
Entry 13 - Did someone say Star Wars?!
Entry 14 - A Perfect End to a Birthday
Entry 15 - Keys to the Kingdom Tour!
Entry 16 - Let's See a Parade!


Before we get into the details of what is the best vacation of my life (I think I say that every time but they just keep getting better) let me do some introductions. For this trip we have a large crew, 7 of us total. To give respect to my elders, and to make me feel younger, I will introduce everyone from oldest to youngest.

We will first start off with my amazingly sweet stepdad, John. John and my mom have been married since I was in middle school so he's been a big part of my life. Here is John and a little info about him (hint, he's the older gentlemen, not the ridiculously cute little boy ;)):

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John is a young 63 and even though the heat and walking can be a bit brutal at times for him, he will power through any Disney trip without a single complaint. He has been to Disney World approximately 12 times. His favorite Disney movie is Alice in Wonderland and his favorite character is the Mad Hatter. He enjoys air conditioning and a good beer or two or three. :laughing:

Next up is the source of my Disney obsession, my mom, Lisa to most, grandma to my boys. My love for all things Disney stems directly from her. Without further or due, here she is, the best mom in the world (sorry to all you other moms reading this...I'm sure you're great too.)
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My mom is 53 years young (I hope she doesn't mind me sharing that...doesn't she look great)! She has now been to Disney 24 times and will hit her 25th this October when she takes my grandmother...without me :sad:. Her favorite Disney movie is Cinderella and her favorite character is Pluto as seen above!

Next up is the love of my life, don't worry I won't refer to him as that throughout the trip report, you can simply know of my DH as Lucas. He's been a little slow to come around to the Disney obsession but I'm confident that he's finally hooked! We've been married for 10 years this October! (No Disney anniversary trip, he won't go for it, but we are going to New Orleans!)

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Lucas is 37 years OLD (it's always nice to call him old...makes me feel better). This was his 5th trip to WDW and with each trip he falls more and more in love. My master plan is working!!! :rolleyes1 Because I suppose it falls under the realm of Disney now, his favorite Disney movies are the Star Wars movies and his favorite character is Chewbacca. (Spoiler alert - they meet later and it is AMAZING!)

Next up is yours truly...that's me...Ashley! Or Ashleymrush here on the boards. My screen name is so originall Lol! So here I am in my most basic form:

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I am 33 years old and have been a Disney fan my whole life. I went for the first time when I was 4 and I only remember being scared to death of Tigger but I must not have been too scared because I keep coming back. As you can tell by my TR title, this is my 20th trip. It was supposed to be my 19th but I'll explain later how it became the 20th. :) I am a high school history and government teacher of 11 years now. My favorite Disney movie is The Little Mermaid and my favorite character is the main man (or mouse) himself, Mickey! My classroom is decked out in all things Mickey. My students buy me little Mickey's to put in my room. Last I counted I had over 25 and it's growing every year. This year I had the students in the National Art Honors Society paint a giant mural of Mickey saluting the American flag in my classroom and I am in LOVE with it! (Don't tell Disney...I don't want to get sued...it'll be our little secret). That's enough about me, let's finish up these intros.

Next up is my little brother, Dawson.

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He's the one in the front next to John. He's almost 16 years old and will be a junior in high school this year. This means I could be his teacher! This was his 10th trip to Disney. He loves it as much as the rest of us. His favorite Disney movie is Up and his favorite character is Dug. It's cute because he is still a Boy Scout (going for his Eagle soon) so Up seems to be the most appropriate movie for him.

Now it's time to give the intros to the my boys! First up is my first born, Brody.

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Brody turned 8 on this trip and is entering the 2nd grade this year! This is his 2nd trip to WDW and he's already got the bug. I'm definitely creating two little Disney monsters. Brody is an incredibly sweet, shy and sensitive boy but when he's at Disney he comes out of his shell a bit and it makes me so happy. His favorite Disney movie (this week) is Moana and his favorite character is Baymax. We do lots of fist bumps in our house!

Last but not least, is my youngest son, Jackson (remember...the cute one from the picture above) Here he is cheesin' as usual.

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Jackson will be 5 in July so we can basically say he's there already. This is also his 2nd trip. Last time we went he was almost 2 (hints the name of my first TR) and even though everyone said that he'd never remember that trip, it was amazing how much he did remember. To those people though, I always say those memories were for me, not for him. Jackson is the opposite of Brody. He's energetic, crazy, and loves attention. He'll likely be my trouble maker. :duck:His favorite Disney movie is also Moana and his favorite character is Goofy.

So, I know that was a long-winded introduction but now you know the whole troop! I hope you are as excited as I am to follow along on our magical adventures. I'll try to get the first official post up this weekend or Monday at the latest.

Please join and enjoy. popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::
 
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Yay! I'm here! Love the intros! AJ just recently watched Moana and it's his third favorite movie (behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Lego Batman) and we've watched it non-stop since!

Can't wait to read all about the trip!
 
I love introductions! Love reading all about each family member and their love for Disney :jumping1: ! Can't wait to read all about your trip!
 


Joining in! I have the same TOT shirt as your stepdad:jumping1:, every time I wear it around town I get lots of comments. I live 45 minutes away from NOLA, I hope ya'll enjoy the city!:jester:
 
Following along! Your kids are adorable and I love traveling with grands too!
 


Yay! I'm here! Love the intros! AJ just recently watched Moana and it's his third favorite movie (behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Lego Batman) and we've watched it non-stop since!

:welcome: So excited that you were the first to join in! AJ has good taste in movies. My boys love both of those as well. The Lego Batman movie is a big hit in our house right now...anything Lego is a big hit actually!

I love introductions! Love reading all about each family member and their love for Disney :jumping1: ! Can't wait to read all about your trip!

:welcome: Happy you are hear to join along on our journey! Glad you enjoyed the introductions, I figured it's always fun to have a little bit of extra Disney info about people. It's funny how the personality of people can often be seen in their choices of movies and favorite characters. You'll get to see those personalities more as we go along. :)

Joining! Can't wait to hear all about it!

:welcome: I'm so glad you are hear. I'm enjoying your TR so much, I hope you enjoy mine as well.
Joining in! I have the same TOT shirt as your stepdad:jumping1:, every time I wear it around town I get lots of comments. I live 45 minutes away from NOLA, I hope ya'll enjoy the city!:jester:

:welcome: My stepdad has had that shirt for a long time. I think it is one of his favorites! There's another shirt that will come up later in the TR that my husband got A LOT of attention with. Stay tuned! That's awesome that you live so close to NOLA! I can't wait for our anniversary. Being from Panama City Beach, FL originally, I grew up in a Saints household. I am a HUGE lifelong fan but my DH hates football...go figure. They have an away game the week we are down there so I told him that since I'm not dragging him to a game he at least has to appease me take me to a local sports bar during the game so that I can watch the game with fellow fans instead of a bunch of Carolina Panthers fans like I usually have to deal with in NC.

Joining! Great start!

:welcome: Thanks so much for joining! I hope you enjoy the TR!

Following along! Your kids are adorable and I love traveling with grands too!

:welcome: I think my kids are pretty adorable too but I'm a little partial. :) This was the first vacation that my boys had ever had with my mom and stepdad. We vacation with other grandparents regularly but my mom and stepdad live the closest (about an hour away) so they see us frequently and we just hadn't planned a long vacation. This was a long time coming and everyone was so excited about it!

Your sons are adorable. I will be following along as well.

:welcome: Thanks for joining! There will be A LOT more adorable pics to come...at least I think they are adorable! ;)

Joining in

:welcome: So glad to have you join in! Hope you enjoy reading about all of our adventures!
 
Entry 1 - So Much Pre-Trip Pixie Dust!

So let's get this party officially started...kinda. There won't be a lot of pictures for this post and it's a bit wordy and long but there are really good stories so stick with me. Trust me...there will be TONS of pictures later!!!

The year was 2016, the month was June, and after having discussions with my mom and Lucas we finally decided on booking a week long Disney trip for June 2017! Woohoo! Before this trip was booked, Lucas had only stayed at a value resort and at my great-uncle's who worked at the Grand Floridian for 20 years. He was completely satisfied with staying at a value again but I was ready for an upgrade having stayed at a moderate a couple times before. My mom, stepdad, and brother are CBR nuts and were definitely going to be staying there. We wanted all of us to be at the same resort so that helped in convincing my DH to jump on the moderate bandwagon.

With the resort settled on we booked our trip for June 17-24 of 2017 and my mom and company did the same. We were very excited to stay at Caribbean Beach and I kept assuring my husband that he'd be so pleased with a quieter resort. Last time we stayed at All-Star Sports and while it was decent, it was crazy at all times. He used to say that he hated the feeling of needing a vacation from his vacation so I was hoping that a more relaxing resort would take that component away. So that was that, we were booked and anxiously awaiting the next year to go by.

Our 180 day mark came around Christmas time so my mom and I arranged our dining plans. We were doing a quick service dining package so there weren't very many ADRs to make. My kids are WAY TOO PICKY for me to pay for a regular dining plan at this point. We decided to have one group meal and that it would be a breakfast/lunch combo at Tusker House in AK. We upgraded to a ROL package once they were available. My DH and I were treated to one night out without kids and decided to book an ADR at California Grill. I got the ADR for the PERFECT time to watch Wishes, which was a dream of mine. Clearly with Wishes ending, that didn't end up happening and after it's retirement was announced we switched to an ADR at Paddlefish...more on that later. My mom, stepdad and brother made an ADR at Liberty Tree for one evening but later cancelled it because it just wasn't necessary.

So....you might be thinking...where's this PIXIE DUST you mentioned in the entry title?!?! Well let me tell you about the most amazing gift Disney has ever given us!!! As many of you may know, CBR, where we were planning to stay, is undergoing extensive refurbishment right now. When this was announced we were quite upset, especially my mom who had been telling us how wonderful the resort was. If it was just room refurbs we would've dealt with it but the dining changes that were happening at the resort were a concern...remember I said my kids are SUPER PICKY! So while I was at work one day, my mom calls Disney and talks to a lady about what we can do. For most people at this time they only thing they were getting was a gift card from Disney to apologize for the inconveniences. My mom somehow talked to the right person at the right time though. After literally crying on the phone to the lady about how her Disney trip with her grandkids was changing the fairy godmother of a Disney employee offered my mom a FREE upgrade to a two-bedroom villa at Old Key West!!!! Seriously....FREE UPGRADE!!! My mom was on the phone and had to make a decision right then and there so she decided to take it. She called me at work and was very worried that I'd be upset about the changes since she didn't talk it over with us first but I could not be more excited! We went from staying in a value last time to a deluxe villa this time! YES PLEASE!!!

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(I did not take this picture, copyrights go to Disney here)

All of that happened in February (I think) so again we were just in the midst of a waiting game. Then my DH gave me even more pixie dust as he said we could book an offsite hotel for the end of our trip and stay one more night! Woohoo! I continued to plan the trip and got all of our FPs done at the 60 day mark. I was sure to get the coveted FOP FP!

One last bit of pixie dust came before the trip happened when my husband surprised me with a quick weekend trip to WDW at the beginning of May. Remember that earlier I said it was a dream to watch Wishes from the California Grill. Well, when it was announced that Wishes was ending I was DEVASTATED! I mean uncontrollable crying to a very embarrassing level. So my DH said we could go just to go to Disney Springs one evening and MK for one day and then fly back. I was in fireworks heaven! It was also nice to have a little alone time together before heading out on our big trip. Here are a couple pics from that trip, just so this post isn't completely picture-less.

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Sorry, no pics of the actual fireworks, I was too focused on taking them in one last time. :sad:

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Luckily I wasn't the only person crying. It was less than a week until they ended so there were many of us in a state of streaming tears.

In between the quick trip and leaving for our big trip, our Magic Bands came in! :dogdance: I immediately put our skins on them and everyone was very happy with the end result of how they looked. We got TONS of comments on them while we were on vacation. Brody's could glow in the dark which was pretty cool on all the dark rides. Here they are:

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From left to right is mine, Brody's, Jackson's and Lucas'.

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Again from left to right is my mom's, my brother's and my stepdad's.

Now that we had everything set it was time to get on the road. On the next entry I'll get the actual vacation started with a VERY early drive and an afternoon at EPCOT!
 
:wave: Joining in, you're off to a good start so far, Looking forward to reading all about your trip.

I, too was very sad to hear they were ending Wishes :sad: Glad you got to see it one last time. I didn't even get to see it properly on my last 2 trips, in 2011 we saw it from outside the gates at MK by the bus stop and in 2014 we saw it from our table at Ohana, which was nice but it's not the same.
 
Glad your husband treated you for a quick trip to see Wishes! I usually tear up at any of the fireworks at any Disney park because I'm just so happy to be there with my family <3

Will be curious to see how you like Old Key West Resort. We are staying at Yacht Club in October (we originally booked Art of Animation for 8 of us in 2 separate suites, then changed to Saratoga Springs Resort and was thinking of Old Key West but my son said it looked like a resort where old people stay :rotfl2:. Of course kids in their 20's generally think people over 50 are old so not sure what he really meant. I know Old Key West needs a refurbishment even tho they did not too long ago I believe but after seeing pics of Yacht Club for not much more, we were convinced to book there).

Hope you enjoyed your visit - can't wait to read all about it!
 
:wave: Joining in, you're off to a good start so far, Looking forward to reading all about your trip.

I, too was very sad to hear they were ending Wishes :sad: Glad you got to see it one last time. I didn't even get to see it properly on my last 2 trips, in 2011 we saw it from outside the gates at MK by the bus stop and in 2014 we saw it from our table at Ohana, which was nice but it's not the same.

:welcome: Thanks for joining in! I am so very thankful that I was able to see Wishes one last time. I'm so sorry that you missed watching Wishes in a true sense on your last trips. I know that if it ever happens it'll be YEARS from now but I'm hoping that they bring it back for a limited time one day so maybe you could see it then. (It'll just give me another excuse to go...not that I ever need an excuse.)

Looks like a fun trip, lookimg forward to reading more. :)

:welcome: So happy to have you join! There's lots a good stuff coming up!

Glad your husband treated you for a quick trip to see Wishes! I usually tear up at any of the fireworks at any Disney park because I'm just so happy to be there with my family <3

Will be curious to see how you like Old Key West Resort. We are staying at Yacht Club in October (we originally booked Art of Animation for 8 of us in 2 separate suites, then changed to Saratoga Springs Resort and was thinking of Old Key West but my son said it looked like a resort where old people stay :rotfl2:. Of course kids in their 20's generally think people over 50 are old so not sure what he really meant. I know Old Key West needs a refurbishment even tho they did not too long ago I believe but after seeing pics of Yacht Club for not much more, we were convinced to book there).

Hope you enjoyed your visit - can't wait to read all about it!

I always cry at fireworks too! I'll cry when we watch HEA but I'll explain those details later in the TR. :)

More on OKW will definitely come. It is a lovely resort. I'd love to stay at YC one day. I've heard so many wonderful things about it.

Can't wait to read more! Love the band skins.

:welcome: We loved the skins for the bands too. I was a little weary that they wouldn't hold up but they did great. Brody's (the one the could glow in the dark) was the only one that really had an issue. The pattern started to wear off a bit by the time we were leaving but I think it was because the glow material was different. More is coming up soon!
 
Entry 2 - The Big Adventure FINALLY Begins

When I last left you, we were building up to the actual trip but the time has actually come for us to get on the road!! We set our alarms for 4:45 in the morning with the goal of getting on the road before 6:00 am. I had been feverishly packing. We had lots of drinks and snacks. Since we were in a villa with a full kitchen and fridge and since we were driving, we had the luxury of bringing as much stuff as we wanted. My mom, John, and Dawson got to fly first class down to MCO (lucky them!) so we were also bringing all of their drinks. I wish I had taken a picture of all we brought and packed. It was definitely too much but at least we had plenty. The night before we left we pulled my husband's Tahoe into the garage and packed it all up with the exception of the essentials for the next morning. We got the DVD players hooked up for the kids with their first movie request ready to go. Now I just needed to try to sleep. I woke up the next morning was able to finally look at this date on our chalkboard calendar!

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Before we knew it we were on the road the next morning. We were able to get up on time and get on the road at a decent time as well.

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The drive from Concord/Charlotte, NC to WDW is about 8 hours. The GPS said we would arrive at 2:00 and my goal was to make it before 3:00 after any stops. The boys were ready for the trip too!

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This boy cannot help but ham it up for almost every picture he's in!

Because I originally hail from Panama City Beach, FL and my dad still lives there, we make frequent 9 hour drives to FL. (In fact, we're doing it again in 10 days.) The boys have been doing these drives for their whole lives so they are excellent on long car rides. Thank God for travel DVD players! As a result of their car training, we can go for hours without stopping. Which is good because I am not an "enjoy the journey" type of person. I want to get to the destination ASAP.

So on our 8 hour drive, guess how many times we stopped...ONE!!! ONE stop! We stopped for gas and lunch around the FL/GA line. The gas station was next door to a Chic-fil-A so I took the boys over there to potty and get food to go while Lucas was filling the Tahoe. By the time I had the food he was in the restaurant parking lot waiting on us. I took over driving and we distributed lunch and were back on the road in a record 15 minutes!! On top of that my husband was able to knock 15 minutes off our ETA due to excellent traffic.

After eating lunch I told the boys the same thing I tell them every trip - "If you take a nap, we'll take a short cut." Like usual, it worked like a charm.

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They would continue to sleep until we arrived in the Orlando area. We were still on track for an 8 hour drive until...Saturday afternoon traffic hit! You know, that time that everyone else is arriving! It added about 45 minutes of drive time but once we passed Universal it was smooth sailing. Before we knew it we were pulling in to Old Key West!

Disclaimer...I was AWFUL at taking pictures of the resort for most of the vacation. I don't know why...I told myself not to forget but it's so easy to get caught up in the fun and forget to take photos. I will give credit to any photos that I steal. These photos came from TripAdvisor. It really is a beautiful resort and I hate I didn't take more photos.

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My mom, John and Dawson had arrived via Magical Express about an hour before us. They explored the resort a bit and went to the pool bar to get a drink. Once we arrived, they met us in the parking lot. Unfortunately, check-in isn't until 4:00 and since it was 2:30, they didn't have our room ready yet. So they turned in their carry-on luggage to the front, we pulled the stroller and other park necessities out of the Tahoe and then set out for the bus stop to make our way to EPCOT!

Up next...will Jackson meet the height requirement for Soarin'?!?! Stay tuned!!
 
Great start to your trip! Lucky you are within the 8 hour drive. Great that your little guys are such good travelers.
 
Awww, the boys look like our two youngest sleeping in the car.. Tho with a 15 hour drive we have to leave around 2/3 am ro make it by afternoon.

We have not had any luck getting into our rooms at WDW before 3pm.. But at least there is lots to do while waiting. :)
 

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