The last thing I did before leaving Disney was kick a baby. A trip report!

[ThemeParkCommando 81]

Hubby and I got a great rate on a Ft. Wilderness Cabin through the Disney+ September Discount.   We went from Sep 20 to Sep 23^rd, exactly one week before Hurricane Ian.  We decided this short trip would be to honor Josh from EasyWDW with our Ten Dragon’s shirt at Nine Dragons, and to take his parents on an all expenses paid trip, because we knew we’d never get them to Disney any other way.  We really wanted some Disney memories with them.

Check in around 4pm on Sep. 20^th.   We were in Cabin 2320, backing up to the canal, nice and quiet area.  I did the fax request for a 100 loop cabin, and I did early check in, but did not get a text before we arrived.  Stopping at the check in area, the CM did acknowledge and apologize for not getting us the 100 loop, but they put us exactly where I requested if 100 loop was not available, so we were really happy.   I picked up the golf cart, and we rolled to the cabin.

We gave the in laws the bedroom, and hubby and I took the sleeper sofa.  He and I are both fluffy people, and that sleeper sofa was a decent sleep.  It was very firm, not really much in the way of a mattress, but I did not wake up sore, with sleeping appendages or with anything poking into me, so I consider that thing one of the best sleeper sofa’s I have ever encountered.

First reservation that evening was Whispering Canyon Café.   The shenanigans are back!  The table next to us asked for ketchup, and we watched armful after armful of ketchup bottles going to that table.  The kids were loving it.  Hubby and I were gifted with a ½ gallon jar of sweet tea  after stating we were from the great state of Texas, with 2 GIANT straws.   The food was delicious, if too bountiful.  4 senior citizens just can’t do justice to ‘all you can eat’ family platters.   At least they let us take the leftovers back to the cabin.  We had snacks for the rest of the trip.   We walked around Wilderness Lodge after,  watching the geyser and checking out the cabins on the water.  Love that resort.

Back at the cabin, we rested a bit, then headed out to see fireworks and the Electrical Water Pageant.  No fireworks for us, we didn’t check the schedule and it was a MNSSHP night.   We had lounge chairs on Clementine beach, though, and a lot of folks to talk to.   It was a nice night, and the water pageant was a spectacle that the in laws had never heard of.   They enjoyed it, and the music. 

Our first full day at the parks was EPCOT, and we planned a full Rope Drop to Close day.  The in laws are 79 and 76, and in decent health, so we just planned a lot of sitting breaks in our day.   We drove to the park, and went straight to Soarin.  We were on the 2^nd ride of the day, top row center.  A great first ride, the in laws were amazed and overjoyed with the trip.   Down and onto Living with the Land.   Mother in Law is a gardener, she was videoing the entire ride.  Hubby and I had 9:15 Cosmic Rewind ILL, with Virtal Queue later in the day for all 4 of us.   We bypassed Seas to get to Spaceship Earth before the ILL window.  About a 5 minute wait for SE.   We also had memory maker, so we stopped for photos twice before the ride.   Out of SE, we wandered to Club Cool.  Hubby could not wait to give Beverly to his folks.  It was hilarious as usual.   We enjoyed a taste of the better flavors too, then we parked the in laws outside in the breezeway while we took our Cosmic ride.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Great start, thanks for posting!!!!

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Always fun to show WDW to new people. 

[ThemeParkCommando 81]

Cosmic Rewind is awesome!  Hubby suffers from motion sickness, so he had taken his Dramamine about an hour before, and had not eaten breakfast.    This was good, as he was pretty affected by the twists and turns and sideway motions.  He declared it ‘re-doable’, but not with anything on his stomach.  Unfortunately, we didn’t think his dad could handle the ride, as he has back problems, so we released the Virtual Queue rides.

Coming back, we noticed the Jammitors setting up just outside the breezeway area.  I left hubby holding a spot, and grabbed the in laws to come see.   Father in law loves playing the drums, he really got into the set.  We bypassed Mission: Space and Test Track was down, so we started the walk to Remy ( 11:00am LL)  On the way, we got the Passionfruit Cheesecake from Hawaii booth ( yummy!),  Got some beer cheese soup from Canada, searched for the family name in England ( no joy, the name exists, but no coat of arms was findable). 

We got pictures in France, and thoroughly enjoyed Remy’s ride.   Both in laws duly impressed by the trackless cars, and how smooth the cars and animation segued together.   Afterwards,  we enjoyed the Parmentier de Boeuf Braisé au Cabernet from the Food and Wine booth, as well as the big strawberry Macaron, and the Chocolate Mousse from Les Halles Boulangerie.  I finally got to try the Grand Marnier Orange slush, and it was everything I hoped for.  I want MORE.  Gonna learn how to do that at home, I think.

We had 1:30 reservations at Nine Dragons, so started around World Showcase towards China.  We wandered slowly, but did not go into any of the shops, just enjoyed the scenery.   Got pictures in Japan,  stopped in at the American pavilion to listen to a piano player / singer.  We sang songs from Mary Poppins.   There was a gentleman from England in the audience, who could say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious backwards.   He could also spell it, and spell it backwards.   A man of talent!

After a nice cooldown, we wandered on, stopping at the trains to take pictures and marvel at the cute scenes.   We got to Nine Dragons a bit early, but they seated us right away.  The hot and sour soup was spectacularly good this day.  Best I’ve ever had, we ordered another bowl each.   Hubby had the Spicy Honey Chicken, I had Kung Pao Chicken,  Father in Law had Kung pow Chicken and Shrimp and Mother in law had Spicy Mala Happy Family.   We all really enjoyed the food.  I just never have understood why this restaurant gets no love.   I took a bit of time to remember Josh from Easy WDW.   I was wearing my Ten Dragon’s shirt in his honor, and our waiter noticed the name, so I had to give him a short synopsis of Josh becoming the Tenth Dragon.  He thought the story was lovely.   The only problem I had with the shirt, is that it was soo hot, all my pictures show me in a splotchy shirt because of sweat issues.  Oh well, not really much to complain about.

[ThemeParkCommando 81]

I'm going to finish up the report today. 😃  It was a short trip. 

Refreshed and restored, we went on through the world showcase, through Norway.  Frozen was at 60 minute wait at 2:30, with no LL’s available. And so we went on into Mexico.  We rode the Three Caballero’s ride, only a 5 minute wait.   We came out of Mexico pavilion and picked up churros to share.

I grabbed an LL for Imagination, and we went to the ride. Pooh was interacting on the lawn outside of the Imagination pavilion, so we went and got pictures.  The LL saved us maybe 5 minutes in line.   All of the CM’s were happy about Figment coming back to meet and greets soon.  We got to hear about it quite a bit, and we were happy.   After, we did the Pixar Movie Shorts, then on into the Chase Visa Character meet and greet, where we got to take pictures with Goofy and Mickey in their 50^th finery.

We went on down to the Seas pavilion afterwards, and talked a lot about the length of the queue for the Nemo ride, and how I’ve seen it completely full in the summer, and never want to see that again, lol.   We enjoyed the aquarium area, but didn’t stay for Turtle Talk with Crush.   Afterwards, we went to ride the monorail, as we had no other plans to take it for transportation on this trip, and we wanted the inlaws to experience it.   So down to the TTC and back again.   Father in law at this point was finally grasping just how big WDW really is. 

Back at EPCOT, we had 6:30 reservations at the Rose and Crown.   They are still on a limited menu, but we did have a waiter from Scotland, and he was a lot of fun to speak with.   I had the cheese, fruit and meats board, hubby had Fish and Chips and the inlaws split a Shepherds Pie.   We had both the Sticky toffee pudding and the Strawberry Trifle for dessert.   The Trifle was better.

Afterwards, we were all wiped out by the day, so went to find a good spot for Harmonius.  We got a great spot on a planter shelf near the entrance to World Showcase.   A rainshower came through, so we wrapped up in our poncho’s and waited it out.  Harmonious started on time, and it was  lovely.  Since the in-laws had no other show to compare it to, they were blown away.   It was the biggest fireworks show they had ever seen.  They were sooo happy to be there for it.   

We made it back to the car, and then to the cabin, and collapsed.   MK Rope Drop was coming early!

So, for our MK day, we took our golf cart to the Marina, and jumped on boat transport to MK.  Had to wait for just one boat.    We walked through the tunnel into MK at about 8:10, but we are doing the old folks tour, so had no real reason to be at the front of the crowd.   We bought the in laws souvenir hats.  Father in Law got a Partners silhouette hat, and Mother in law got a Cinderella’s castle hat.   Hubby was decked out with his Nautilus hat, and I was wearing full Figment regalia ( T-shirt and ears).   We started our day with Carousel of Progress.   It was a hit!  Next on the list was WedWay people mover.   We broke down inside space mountain, so had a nice break in the AC.    Tron Coaster was a beehive, looks like they were doing walkways and other concrete pours.    The coaster was not running tests. 

We did Teacups, Barnstormer,  Dumbo and Ariel’s ride all with no wait.  We bypassed 7 dwarfs and Pooh,  and went in to wait to see Cinderella.   Mother in Laws favorite Princess.   We waited about 40 minutes out of a 60 minute posted wait.   Got to meet Elena and Cinderella and took some lovely pictures.  Next, we did It’s a Small World, and then jumped on the carousel (My must do ride), and then had a light lunch at Pinocchio’s.   We had a LL for Jungle Cruise at 1:00pm, so wandered over and went to see the backside of water.   Our cruise director had the ability to remember that elephants never forget… and told us this fact over and over and over again, as she promptly forgot she had done so already.  It was a little annoying at first, but became absolutely hysterical by the end of the trip, as all of us were trying to figure out ways to hide the elephants from her.   Never realized just how many elephants there are on the jungle cruise, lol.

Out of Jungle Cruise, we grabbed our obligatory Dole Whip pineapple floats, and started out of the park. 

Next up, a 4pm show of the Hoop de Doo Revue!

Hoop de Doo was great, as always.   This was our first time back since the pandemic, and not much has changed, except for the actor play 6-bits.   Chicken and Ribs and all the fixin’s are still delicious.  Our waiter kept our tea and lemonade topped up, as we were dehydrated from the park.  The in laws had a blast, and we gave them the washboard to play at the end, since we’d done it before. Mother in law got so enthusiastic with it, I thought she was going to punch it out of its frame.  So many bad jokes.  So much rip roaring fun.

After the show, we drove back to the cabin and took an hour nap, then went back to the Marina for a trip back for fireworks.   We were all pretty tired by this time, but no one was complaining.  We found father in law a spot to sit, as his back was really hurting at this point.  He was on the steps by the Uptown Jewelers, and we were in the street holding a spot.   The crowd was not near us when we chose the spot, but by the time the show started, it was shoulder to shoulder.   The had the projections running on main street as well as the castle this night, so there was  a LOT to look at.   Mother in law kept turning circles trying to take it all in.  It was crowded, but quite magical.  The music and ambiance is just unique, and worth the crowd.   We all enjoyed every minute of the show.  Afterwards, we ducked back to the steps where Father in law had waited before the show, and we sat there while the crowd thinned out.   We moved up to the gardens near the castle, and waited there for a bit until the photographers came back out. 

We got in line behind a newly engaged couple, and the photographer did some really awesome poses for that young couple.  Very unique shots with the partners statue and with the castle.   She showed them to us before we started our photos, because we were so very impressed by her abilities.  We got some great shots from her, as well.

I snagged an LL for Pirates, and we wandered over that way, playing with the magic bands and golden statue interactions on the way.   That is a neat feature of the new magic band+ system.   Those bands also vibrate and put on a light show during the fireworks, but to me that was more annoying than fun.

We rode Pirates, then grabbed an LL for immediate return to Haunted Mansion.  LL wasn’t necessary here, as we went all the way to the join spot with no line on either side.  Coming out of  HM, we walked past the Tangled restrooms and HOLY SMOKES, the lantern photo artist was there!!!!   I herded our tired crew into line, told the in laws that this is still one of the rarer photo shoots to get at MK, and perked everyone up for one last photo.        That kept us happy and talkative all the way back to the boat dock.  We enjoyed the final ride to the Fort, and collapsed into bed one last night at WDW.

 

The next morning, we were up and packing early.   Hubby and I took the golf cart over to the Meadows trading post to grab a Ft. Wilderness pin, and souvenir mugs for us.  I was standing near the checkout, but not in line yet, looking at merch.   There was a woman checking out, and I heard her talking as to a small child.   I went to take a step forward, heard my hubby yell ‘WATCH OUT’, and my foot hooked a crawling baby.  My brain went from nothing to 90, as I realized I was going down, it’s a baby under me, DON’T SQUISH IT!!!!   I reached out with my hands, dropped my pin and mug, hopped the baby with the other foot and thank goodness the shelf I reached for was a heavy, wooden thing that could take my weight.   I saw the foot that hooked the baby roll him onto his back like a little turtle.   I wrenched my right knee slightly, but the adrenaline rush was enough to keep the pain away.

The poor baby, I turned and went down to him, put my hand under the back of his head as his dad swooped in and picked him up.   The mom, the dad, the closest CM and I were all clucking like biddy hens, offering apologies all around and making sure the baby was ok.   He was only a little startled, cried for about 3 seconds then just looked at us all wide eyed.  No harm, no foul.   Scary end to the vacation, though.   My knee only hurt for a couple of days.

Thanks for reading!!

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Very nice report and enjoyed following along but must admit I was wondering with your title???? Babies are quick to recover, and I am sure you and all the folks around where more afraid than the baby.

[ThemeParkCommando 81]

3 hours ago, dblr....Rennie said:

Very nice report and enjoyed following along but must admit I was wondering with your title???? Babies are quick to recover, and I am sure you and all the folks around where more afraid than the baby.

yeah, the title was just too good to not use. Proper clickbait.   The baby was absolutely the first to recover.  The poor mom didn't realize just how fast her baby could crawl.  I got a smile from the little guy before we left.  

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

Glad you had a good time and that the in-laws enjoyed the trip as well.  Thanks for posting..

[Ivy 36]

I enjoyed your trip report!  Sounds like you made great memories with your family. Thanks for sharing.

[Tony 27]

Thanks for sharing, loved following along 😀

[Robin 48]

Loved this sounds like a great time!