“You’re My Favorites: Now Go Away!” Feb/Mar 2019 First Family Trip (Complete 8/19)

Here's the business card
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Amazing! I love it.
 
Wow you got a lot done your first day! I love that your girls don't seem hesitant to ride anything! Just full of excitement and joy!

I also love the money break down!
 
Sounds like a great time at CRT!

I can imagine it gets annoying being stopped by so many people about the girls being triplets!

I think you made the right call waiting to do HEA another day. And at least you were able to squeeze in the parade on this day to free up some time on another day!

SOunds like a great first day, you got so much done!
 
I am so enjoying your trip report!

It looks like you folks had a great travel day and first park day!

I will have to look into Walmart delivery...did not know that they were in the game there! Good to know!

Loved your comfy princess dresses!

I can't wait to read more!

lynn
 


All of the characters were great. The girls told Snow White how much they love the dwarfs, asked Jasmine where Carpet was, and talked to Aurora about Phillip. Ariel in particular was quite fun when she asked the girls why they had their dinglehoppers at the table. They tried to explain to her how forks worked but she maintained her polite confusion, which they found hilarious.
Sounds like awesome character interactions!

At this point, I decided, rather than battle to get out of this mess, we’d just move our Festival of Fantasy viewing to this day and clear things up later in the week.
Yeah, that makes sense! I always say if you can move things up earlier in the schedule it works out best!

It started lightly raining as we were unloading, so we headed into the Enchanted Tiki Room to enjoy the show and stay dry. Hubby had hyped it quite a bit (the girls were walking around the house singing, “In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room,” in the lead up to the trip) and this was a bit of a letdown. They liked the first song, but when the tempo slowed down, they started to get bored. I was surprised, as they’re usually suckers for animatronics, but I think they were expecting the whole thing to be super high energy the way Hubby had been singing. They didn’t dislike it, but I’d say they were underwhelmed.
Too bad they didn't love it!

With this being our first time as a family in MK, and an early exit to boot, I was happy to have accomplished 9 rides, 6 shows, 4 character meets, 1 parade, 1 pixie-dusting, and 1 lunch in the castle.
Seriously! :worship:
 
There was a 15-minute wait to meet Cinderella, but she was having a nice long chat with each family once they got to her.
I don't mind waiting when you know you are going to get more than just hello smile goodbye.

Too cute!

Unfortunately, the preschoolers refused to take my word for it
I mean, what do you know, you are just there mom!!! We moms know nothing!

being seated and putting in their orders. It was clear to me that they had the character flow such that we would all get situated and then the ladies would start coming through. Unfortunately, the preschoolers refused to take my word for it. They were very worried that our section didn’t meet princesses and my assurances were insufficient. It got to the point that the solo diner at the next table over was laughing at us and I had to flag down one of the servers to confirm that our table would, in fact, be on the meet and greet rotation.
I get great delight about hearing these kinds of conversations, as it lets me know that my children are not the only crazy children!

Ariel in particular was quite fun when she asked the girls why they had their dinglehoppers at the table.
Ariel is the best for this!

d the experience. I am a sucker for 3D gags; despite knowing logically that there is nothing in front of me, I still squeal and duck when an instrument appears to be flying at my head. The girls had fun reaching out to try to grab everything and Hubby was mostly enjoying watching me act like a little kid.
What makes Disney great, when the adults feel like kids! I heard a rumor of them upgrading this, which I would LOVE! It needs some tech updates.

At this point, I decided, rather than battle to get out of this mess, we’d just move our Festival of Fantasy viewing to this day and clear things up later in the week
Good time to be flexible.

The timestamp on my photos shows the first floats in front of Liberty Tree Tavern at 2:53pm, meaning it had to have started moving at more like 2:45pm.
That is strange!

My intention was to try the citrus swirl, but that machine was down. Instead, we got an orange dole whip twist in a cone and a float for everyone to share. I manned the float while Hubby manned the cone and the girls jumped back and forth eating from both.
Why wasn't the CM telling people about that?!?!

just see us walking with a small cluster of kids.
the fact that you describe them as a cluster of kids... oye. I know you are used to it...

, with the adults behind: an adult was not required to be in each row. The girls spent the ride trying to get us lined up just right to get spit on by a camel and were nearly successful.
this I don't understand... That ride barely has harnesses... I am sure they loved getting to ride all together, though.

as they’re usually suckers for animatronics, but I think they were expecting the whole thing to be super high energy the way Hubby had been singing. They didn’t dislike it, but I’d say they were underwhelmed.
Bummer. But sometimes overhypped things just don't stand a chance.

We would not have enjoyed our two adult beverages at CRT had we been paying for them ourselves, so that’s definitely advantage DDP. At Sleepy Hollow, I would have gone with the Nutella waffle with fruit if paying out of pocket, which I would say is advantage OOP. Not that the Mickey waffle was bad, but chocolate hazelnut spread = yum! Finally, we would have stuck with just water at dinner if the drinks hadn’t been included with our credit. I’d say that is a slight DDP advantage: we enjoyed our soda and chocolate milk, but would have been fine without
This is the problem, I feel like it is really hard to have a true comparision. But I always love to see a good review of the two.
 
This is one of those moments where I feel like perspective really matters. I had never expected to get my room that early and I had already specifically packed one carry on with everything we would need for swimming. My plan had always been to change by the pools and hang out until our rooms were ready, so the only real inconvenience to us was the extra trip up to a room that turned out to be unavailable. I could have chosen to be annoyed about the mix-up: it was certainly disappointing to think we would get to change in the room only to have to do the awkward public bathroom clothing change. However, when my husband and I turned the corner, we were both just excited to have the money on the account towards our charges for the trip. You want to give me $100 because we brought out bags up prematurely? Sold!
I completely agree that it's all about perspective. A good attitude makes all the difference.

When we first booked this trip, I had assumed that we wouldn’t be doing the dining plan, as I’d heard so many people say it was too much money for too much food. However, it was also true that we were in the small category of travelers (outnumbered by children under 10 and going to a lot of character meals) where the plan would be most likely to be cost effective.
We did the DXDP on our first trip with two six year olds and an eight year old and it was a LOT of food. The next trip we did DDP and it worked out well. Once they were "Disney adults" we chose to pay OOP for dining and have done so every trip since. It's all what works at different stages of your family life.

The girls were hamming it up the whole way up Main St, waiving to everyone below and having a blast. When we unloaded in front of the castle, I wanted to make sure we got family photos while we were still relatively put together. As I had read on the boards, the lines for photographers closer to the entrance were several families deep but those nearer to the hub had no one waiting. We hopped in line and quickly got our obligatory castle photos.
Love this picture!

When we got to her spot, there was quite a line and I tried to usher the girls away since we obviously hadn’t waited our turn like those families. The Godmother was having none of my polite refusal and insisted that the girls pose for pictures and invited Hubby and me in for a family shot as well.
The Fairy Godmother is a great meet!

Overall, we had a nice first park day of the trip. The rain only got heavier as the evening wore on, so leaving early was the right call for us. The morning stomach upset didn’t turn into anything more, which I think in and of itself was a win. In looking at my plan for the day, we had missed Merida, the carousel, the river boat, the Hall of Presidents, Move It! Shake It!, and HEA. I started shifting things around to make sure we got back to Merida, the parade, and the fireworks. The others were only listed as filler to begin with, so I’d keep them in the back of my head as options on our next park days, but I wasn’t concerned about getting to them. Plus, we had unexpectedly accomplished Festival of Fantasy, Astro, Buzz and Pirates, which left me with a big chunk of time and a FP to reschedule on one of our other MK days. With this being our first time as a family in MK, and an early exit to boot, I was happy to have accomplished 9 rides, 6 shows, 4 character meets, 1 parade, 1 pixie-dusting, and 1 lunch in the castle.
Such an awesome first day!!
 


Your lunch at CRT looks like it was so much fun! I am not sure if that is something we'll ever do with my boys who are only minimally interested in princesses, except for Ariel - all the boys in my house loooove Ariel :D

The parade was beautiful and we got to see Maleficent back in action.

Ah, I'm so jealous! She came back up like a week after our trip. I'm glad you got to see her.

There was a CM coming through the line whose only job was to let people know that this was the location for citrus swirl, not pineapple dole whip, and I saw several people bail out of line once they heard her. How do you just get into a food line without knowing what they sell?

I wonder how many angry people at the front of the line order dole whips there were that this felt necessary?

fewer random people came up to me out of the blue to ask if they were triplets.

I bet you got a ton of attention! You just don't see a lot of triplets. I had random people at Disney ask if our boys were twins on both trips so far, which makes zero sense because DS1 is a foot taller than DS2. Maybe it's the matching shirts I did? :confused3

(the girls were walking around the house singing, “In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room,” in the lead up to the trip

Wayne Brady has a fun cover of The Tiki Room that my kids love and make me play in the car all the time. (
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They proceeded to jump at every loud noise and generally be on alert for anything else being pretend-shot at them. There were no tears, but they were adamite that they didn’t want to ride again.

My younger one did not enjoy Pirates at all either!
 
OMG. The memories the blocks on that CD just brought up! Doodlebops! The Wiggles! Imagination Movers! My 15 year old is going to flip when she sees this one added to our apple music line up!
 
Joining in!

Sounds like you had a great first day at Magic Kingdom! Crazy how long Merida's line was that day.
 
Dining Plan Explanation and Day 1

When we first booked this trip, I had assumed that we wouldn’t be doing the dining plan, as I’d heard so many people say it was too much money for too much food. However, it was also true that we were in the small category of travelers (outnumbered by children under 10 and going to a lot of character meals) where the plan would be most likely to be cost effective.

I decided to scour menus online and build a moderate splurge budget to see just how close we’d be to the plan cost. For us, a moderate splurge would essentially mean splurging on the kids and skimping on the adults. We’d do character meals for them, let them get snacks, but be more restrictive with ourselves. For instance, I guessed that we’d allow ourselves one caffeinated beverage a day but otherwise be drinking water. The moderate splurge didn’t include any alcoholic beverages, either, because I knew we wouldn’t spend that kind of money on ourselves when push came to shove. When I added it all up, the moderate splurge was within $200 of the DDP cost with 3 fewer TS credits being used. I discussed it with hubby and we agreed that $200 was the extra seated meals and the ability to go ahead and order whatever snacks or drinks we adults wanted without worrying about the bottom line.

Coming into this trip, then, there were essentially three numbers I was tracking: a) what we paid on the DDP plus tips, b) what we hypothetically would have paid on the meals we actually purchased had we not had the dining plan, and c) what we would have spent had we stuck to our moderate splurge plan. I expected that we would get significantly more value from the dining plan than the cost we paid (a safe bet based on our TS costs alone), but I wanted to see just how well we did. On the flip side, while I knew buying the DDP would be more than the moderate splurge, I wanted to look at how much more money Disney got out of us by offering the plan and how much more benefit we got out of them by taking advantage of it.

For each day, I’ll breakdown what we ate, what the menu cost would have been, and what we most likely would have order on our moderate splurge budget, tracking the ways that the DDP shifted our eating habits, for better or worse. With all of that explanation out of the way, here’s how we did on day 1:

DDP Cost for Trip: $2,114.91

Day 1 Actual Spending
Refillable mugs: $101.60
3 QS Hurricane Hanna: $65.28
3 S Ample Hills: $19.23
DDP Day 1 Value: $186.11

Moderate Splurge Adjustments
We would not have gotten the resort mugs without the plan. While it was a nice bonus to be able to run down and grab coffee each morning, we could have used the pot in our room, too. The kids don’t drink soda, so they got the occasional lemonade or Powerade refill, but that wouldn’t have been missed had we not had the mugs in the first place. I’d say the DDP offered us a slight advantage for convenience relative to the moderate splurge. As to the meal, I think that, without the plan, we would have made a Beaches and Cream reservation, split a couple of apps and entrees, and gotten the Kitchen Sink. Had we done that reservation, there would have been no adult beverages and no Ample Hills. The DDP netted us tastier, more unique ice cream than what you get at B&C, but in a much less fun presentation. We also would have been beholden to an ADR, rather than just eating once we chose to leave the pool and get cleaned up. I’d give the slight advantage to the moderate splurge here, because the Kitchen Sink is a worthy experience unto itself.

Moderate Splurge Day One Estimated Cost (Tax and Tip): $114.28

You and I think a lot alike about DDP. When we decided whether or not to get it, I looked at what I thought we would be spending for meals and compared it to how much adding the DDP would be. We are 2 adults and we definitely plan on ordering alcohol with dinner. When I did the math, we might lose $100 on DDP but my BF agreed that not worrying about what we are spending is well worth that $100.
 
Apparently, we were quite a sight, because several folks around us were smiling at the girls and commenting on how well they were sharing. That turned to the inevitable, “Are they triplets? Are they identical?” spiel that we get pretty much everywhere we go. When they were babies, the stroller with three car seats might as well have been a flashing neon sign saying, “Infant Triplets: Come Tell This Woman She Has Her Hands Full!” Now that they’re older, it’s gotten a little better because people who aren’t looking closely just see us walking with a small cluster of kids. Once someone takes more than a passing glance, though, it’s pretty obvious because all three are identical. The trick to avoiding the questions is to keep moving and don’t make eye contact, but that’s not really an option when you’re stopping to eat. I was interested to see how much attention we’d get on this trip because people already have plenty to look at in Disney without staring at my kids. We still got the question from nearly everyone we directly interacted with (characters, servers, cashiers, etc) but fewer random people came up to me out of the blue to ask if they were triplets.

I have twins and I feel like there should be a parents of multiples signal to acknowledge each other in public without stopping and doubling down on the "OMG there are twins/triplets/etc over there!"
 
At least strangers are commenting on all of them. Alot of people will comment on how beautiful Gwen's Hair is but no one really says anything about Morgan. And over the years I can see how it effects them both. I can image how constant commenting can be annoying.
 
I love that your girls don't seem hesitant to ride anything! Just full of excitement and joy!

They're usually pretty game to try something at least once, but it's because they trust me to keep them off the really scary stuff. If I tried to push them harder, I'm sure they'd push back.

Sounds like a great time at CRT!

I can imagine it gets annoying being stopped by so many people about the girls being triplets!

I think you made the right call waiting to do HEA another day. And at least you were able to squeeze in the parade on this day to free up some time on another day!

SOunds like a great first day, you got so much done!

It was a wonderful first day. The rainy evening was unfortunate, but I was glad that we had booked a long enough trip to fill in HEA later. It would have been miserable waiting for the show in the increasingly cold rain.

I am so enjoying your trip report!

It looks like you folks had a great travel day and first park day!

I will have to look into Walmart delivery...did not know that they were in the game there! Good to know!

Loved your comfy princess dresses!

I can't wait to read more!

lynn

Glad you're enjoying! The Walmart delivery was honestly better than I expected, but my expectations weren't very high. When you make the budget choice, you have to expect budget results.

Too bad they didn't love it!

It was just way oversold, I think. They were ready for a full on birdsong extravaganza.

I mean, what do you know, you are just there mom!!! We moms know nothing!

I get great delight about hearing these kinds of conversations, as it lets me know that my children are not the only crazy children!

Yup, my kids are definitely a little nutty. They just were not willing to take my word for it that the princesses would come. At least, later in the trip, when they said they thought the characters didn't come to their section, I'd say, "Remember in the castle. They came," and they relented without outside intervention.

Why wasn't the CM telling people about that?!?!

Right? If you're going to go through the hassle of letting us know about the Pineapple dole whip, you could give the full info that the citrus swirl was down, too.

Bummer. But sometimes overhypped things just don't stand a chance.

Yeah, that was the problem. If they had come in with a blank slate, they would have appreciated it more.

Such an awesome first day!!

It really was.

Ah, I'm so jealous! She came back up like a week after our trip. I'm glad you got to see her.

Yeah, I was quite excited when I saw the announcement that she'd be back.

I wonder how many angry people at the front of the line order dole whips there were that this felt necessary?

I was wondering that myself. Allocating a whole staff person to that must mean that they get a lot of disappointed people otherwise.

I bet you got a ton of attention! You just don't see a lot of triplets. I had random people at Disney ask if our boys were twins on both trips so far, which makes zero sense because DS1 is a foot taller than DS2. Maybe it's the matching shirts I did? :confused3

People don't think. They see something, make a snap judgment, and then words come spilling out of their mouths before they take a moment to consider them. "Gee matched shirts, those two boys must be twins despite the obvious size difference."

People look at my three kids all the time and say, "Are they twins?" or "Are those three twins?" Seriously, folks, take a moment to remember the word "triplets" at least before you start talking :-)

Joining in!

Sounds like you had a great first day at Magic Kingdom! Crazy how long Merida's line was that day.

Welcome aboard. It was a really nice day despite Merida's crazy line.

You and I think a lot alike about DDP. When we decided whether or not to get it, I looked at what I thought we would be spending for meals and compared it to how much adding the DDP would be. We are 2 adults and we definitely plan on ordering alcohol with dinner. When I did the math, we might lose $100 on DDP but my BF agreed that not worrying about what we are spending is well worth that $100.

We really appreciated having the DDP this trip because it allowed both the kids and adults to splurge. They got more character meals than they otherwise would have, we got booze. Win-win.

I have twins and I feel like there should be a parents of multiples signal to acknowledge each other in public without stopping and doubling down on the "OMG there are twins/triplets/etc over there!"

Shh, this board has lots of singleton parents. Don't tell them about the secret handshake!!! :rotfl:

At least strangers are commenting on all of them. Alot of people will comment on how beautiful Gwen's Hair is but no one really says anything about Morgan. And over the years I can see how it effects them both. I can image how constant commenting can be annoying.

When I was pregnant, we didn't know that all three girls would be identical. There was a significant chance that only two would and one would be fraternal. I spent a lot of my pregnancy worrying about the frat being left out, not getting the attention, etc. Silly me!

It's got to be hard handling the unbalanced attention between Gwen and Morgan. At least I don't have to deal with that aspect.
 
Park Day Two: Epcot (TP Crowd Level Predicted 4 and Actual 3)

The girls and I were all wide awake much too early. One of the perks of staying at Crescent Lake is supposed to be that you can sleep in a bit and still make an Epcot rope drop, but we weren’t taking particular advantage of that. Once again, I put on Dis Jr to keep the kids calm, let hubby rest a little more, and headed down for our coffee refills.

This was to be our Future World day in Epcot, ending with dinner in Mexico and an early park exit to get our kids to bed around their normal bedtime. The forecast was 80 degrees with afternoon rain, so we decided to wear shorts and shove the rain coats into the stroller storage. Having flown Southwest, we had plenty of room in our checked luggage and brought not only disposable ponchos but also our real rain coats. Since we wouldn’t have to fold up the stroller for our walk to Epcot, we decided to bring the bulkier but more comfortable rain coats over the compact-but-awkward ponchos.

We had a breakfast of bagels and English muffins in our room, then headed out. I wanted a latte but didn’t want to waste early morning touring time in the Starbucks line, so I grabbed one at Boardwalk Bakery. I was expecting something a bit bigger, but it was a traditional, small latte about the size of a tall coffee at Starbucks. Since I knew we’d have plenty of snack credits this trip, I wasn’t too upset about this being a poor use of one. Mostly, I was disappointed because I had wanted much more latte than that! While I was getting my drink, the kids were playing in the photobooth again.

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This side of the booth never worked right for us. When it displayed on the screen, the photos were in a strip with the background of our choosing but, in my MDE account, it’s just the plain photo. I believe these were supposed to have a princess theme.

Entering Epcot through the international gateway was as delightfully easy as everyone says it is. We were one of perhaps 20 families when they opened security at 8:30 and found ourselves lined up to head into the park at 8:37. We started walking at about 8:50am with a group who was moving briskly but with plenty of room to avoid shoving. Only one other family pealed off to heard to Soarin’, and they clearly knew what they were doing. I had reviewed the maps, so I knew we would be taking a smaller walkway that would be more direct than going through the main WS entrance, but I only had a mental picture of it. These folks clearly knew what they were doing, which made me all the more confident as we sped walked toward the Land pavilion.

We merged with the front-of-the-park rope drop crowd at about 8:55 and encountered the awesome stroller catchers. The CMs were very quickly grabbing strollers, passing them off to be parked, and telling the guests where to look for their strollers after the ride. This is so much better than trying to park your stroller while watching people walk by you into the line!

We were walking into the Soarin’ at 8:59 and I’d say we were in the middle of the RD pack. There were plenty of front-of-the-park rope droppers in line ahead of us, but they were also streaming in behind. I believe we had been in line for approximately 5 minutes when the kids started whining about the looooong line. This day was their third early wake up in a row, and the prior night had been the first night they were also in bed late, so this development was unpleasant but unsurprising. When we got to the loading area, I didn’t bother asking for B1 in case it would have pushed as back another ride cycle with the grumps. Instead, we were strapped in for our flight at 9:15 am in section A3.

Having never ridden this before, in either iteration, I have to say that I absolutely loved it! The curved Eiffel Tower gets a lot of flack on these boards and it just didn’t bother me all that much. Yes, it was warped, but it just felt like a fish eye lens effect. I get it, I’m sure it would have been even better from the center without the minor obstruction of feet in my view, but it was still really cool for us. The kids didn’t love it, as they found some of the perceived low flying to be too scary, but there were no tears: they just said they didn’t want to go again.

As we were exiting the ride, the girls were insisting that they were hungry despite having had a perfectly fine breakfast not an hour earlier. I wanted to object, because I really didn’t want to burn first-hour park time eating, but I figured the whining would subside if they ate. We let them pick a breakfast from Sunshine Seasons: B and C wanted the cinnamon roll, A wanted a cupcake. After the morning vomit debacle of the day before, I wasn’t rolling the dice on icing this early, so cinnamon roll it was. A started to grump that she doesn’t like cinnamon rolls (she does), she wouldn’t eat any (she did), and that she was still going to be hungry. So much for food solving the whining problem.

After our treat, we walked onto Living with the Land at 9:36 am. The girls really enjoyed this ride, particularly the different fruits and veggies they recognized in the green house. We then went up to the Sea pavilion, where I had planned to do Turtle Talk first before doubling back to ride. However, when we went in, they were just shutting the doors to a performance, thus continuing our bad luck streak from the day prior. Out we went, back around to do ride in with Nemo and friends. We walked straight onto our clamshells at 10:03 and swam along with our fishy friends. When we got off, we headed back to find Turtle Talk had a much fuller waiting area but they were still letting people in for the next show. We ended up seated at 10:15, so I’m pretty sure this would have been the same show we were waiting for earlier, had we stayed in that area the whole time.

A was still being a grump and was telling me she didn’t want to see a show. I was trying to explain how the show worked, because I knew she’d get a kick out of it, but I wasn’t having any luck. They couldn’t wrap their heads around the fact that, while it wasn’t real people, the animation on the screen would be able to interact with the audience. I tried to give an example and say that maybe Crush would see the three of them as ask them if they were triplets. Once I finally got across that there was potential for audience participation, they were sold.

The show was super cute! I was impressed with how well Crush did with engaging with the audience and answering questions about sea turtles on the fly. Of course, when the Q&A opened, all three of mine shot their hands straight up. A got picked, and she was in her glory. Stood up tall and clearly asked into the microphone, “Did you know we’re triplets?” Ah, my oh-so-literal children: my silly example question was not intended to be a script for you to follow! To his credit, Crush did a great job of turning that back into an actual question about sea turtles, talking about how many eggs are laid at a time.

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As we were collecting the girls at the end of the show, everyone once again insisted that they were hungry. I had planned for us to stay and check out the aquarium for a while, but that wasn’t going to happen if all they wanted to do was eat. Plus, after my disappointing latte, I wasn’t going to turn down Starbucks. We grabbed the strollers, went over to Fountainview and said that A could pick a treat, since she was outvoted earlier. She wanted the lollipops, except they weren’t lollipops. I explained to A that they were cake pops, and that they didn’t like them because they had too much icing. The other two wanted an oreo cupcake and a chocolate dipped Rice Krispie treat. I asked if we could get those two treats for sharing and everyone agreed.

At least, I thought everyone agreed; as soon as we checked out and moved to the side to wait for our drinks, A once again started grumping that she didn’t get her choice (the choice that didn’t actually exist because they weren’t lollipops, but that fact didn’t matter to her 5-year-old logic). Normally, I shut that kind of behavior down outright: the girls know they aren’t allowed to speak to me in a certain manner and that they won’t get what they want when they do. If it keeps up, consequences are doled out. On the other hand, I was trying to be understanding of how the excitement, crowds, and lost sleep were impacting everyone and, honestly, I didn’t want to be enforcing time outs in Disney. I sent Hubby and the other two to try to find a table and A helped me get my drink and napkins while I talked her into at least trying the treats her sisters had picked.

Unfortunately, there were no tables to be had, so we started walking to our next FP and figured we’d just pull the strollers into a shady spot to eat.

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At 11:03, we were doling out bits of treat for the girls when we got the notification that Spaceship Earth was down and we had anytime FPs instead. This left us with a weird amount of time before our lunch reservation at Garden Grill. Our FPs for the other side of Future World were for after lunch, and we didn’t want to be crisscrossing the park too much. Instead, we decided to let the girls start working on the gift cards that were burning holes in their pockets. Between their birthday and Christmas, they had $100 to spend each, so shopping was going to have to be done at some point on the trip.

I was happy to see the World Showcase passports available, as that purchase would save me a stop later in the day. The girls wanted everything, really, but decided that they were going to browse the ears. Normally, I’d have talked them out of these, as I knew they’d wear them for all of 5 seconds, but they had a lot of money to spend and ears are something they can keep and bring back to wear when they’re older. Many, many pairs were considered but, after much back and forth, final purchases were made.

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I was surprised they all got the same. A and B had both found ears with their favorite colors (pink and purple, respectively) but when C pulled the ears with the extra multicolored tulle, they changed their tune. After our brief photo shoot, headed back over to the Land pavilion and arrived right in time for our 11:55 ADR.
 
Loving your brood and brew shirt (where’s it from?!)
Great trip report- as a mom of twins with a 10 month younger brother, I feel your “are they triplets” pain/pleasure. :)
 
Your trip report is great-glad to see your're having a fun time. Where did you get the dresses you all wore on your first day? They look so cute and comfy!
 
I'm still an update behind, but I wanted to make sure I got my first reply in before the DIS shuts down for the night...

CRT seemed to be the perfect MK restaurant for your girls. I remember it being the ADR you were really trying to snag back around the 180 day window, and it looks like you were right to try for it.
It can be hard getting kids to focus on picking food and drinks when all they want to do is look around and take in the details! I had to laugh that a Cast Member had to reassure them that the princesses would be coming to their table; they needed verification!


I think the Dole Whip stand and Citrus Swirl stand swapped a few years ago so maybe those guests in line didn't know about the changes. Or they were just oblivious and saw a snack line and decided to hop in it!


I can't even imagine how many times you must get stopped and asked about having triplets. I'm friends with someone who has twin daughters and she has shared with me how exasperating it can be at times, constantly being asked if they're twins. I'm sure it twice as bad for you having triplets.
When we took Landon to Disney at 9 months, everyone and their brother stopped us to comment on his glasses. Back when he was an infant, glasses on a baby weren't as common so lots of people wanted to stop and ask us about them. We didn't mind telling them about his eye condition, but after a hundred times it did get tiresome. We just want to get to Small World, folks!

Good call skipping HEA with all the rain in the forecast. I bet everyone was starting to feel the full day in the parks. Your girls toured the MK like champs that first day, I have to say. That's a lot of attractions and shows they were willing to wait for and experience.
 
We had a breakfast of bagels and English muffins in our room, then headed out. I wanted a latte but didn’t want to waste early morning touring time in the Starbucks line, so I grabbed one at Boardwalk Bakery. I was expecting something a bit bigger, but it was a traditional, small latte about the size of a tall coffee at Starbucks. Since I knew we’d have plenty of snack credits this trip, I wasn’t too upset about this being a poor use of one. Mostly, I was disappointed because I had wanted much more latte than that! While I was getting my drink, the kids were playing in the photobooth again.
Love the pictures! They are having fun hamming it up!

Entering Epcot through the international gateway was as delightfully easy as everyone says it is. We were one of perhaps 20 families when they opened security at 8:30 and found ourselves lined up to head into the park at 8:37. We started walking at about 8:50am with a group who was moving briskly but with plenty of room to avoid shoving. Only one other family pealed off to heard to Soarin’, and they clearly knew what they were doing. I had reviewed the maps, so I knew we would be taking a smaller walkway that would be more direct than going through the main WS entrance, but I only had a mental picture of it. These folks clearly knew what they were doing, which made me all the more confident as we sped walked toward the Land pavilion.
Nothing better than the ease of the International Gateway entrance. I am dreading the impact of the Skyliner stop. I have loved being spoiled with an easy entrance.

Out we went, back around to do ride in with Nemo and friends. We walked straight onto our clamshells at 10:03 and swam along with our fishy friends. When we got off, we headed back to find Turtle Talk had a much fuller waiting area but they were still letting people in for the next show. We ended up seated at 10:15, so I’m pretty sure this would have been the same show we were waiting for earlier, had we stayed in that area the whole time.
That workded out so well! I love the very literal interpretation A had of your suggestion, lol!

At 11:03, we were doling out bits of treat for the girls when we got the notification that Spaceship Earth was down and we had anytime FPs instead. This left us with a weird amount of time before our lunch reservation at Garden Grill. Our FPs for the other side of Future World were for after lunch, and we didn’t want to be crisscrossing the park too much. Instead, we decided to let the girls start working on the gift cards that were burning holes in their pockets. Between their birthday and Christmas, they had $100 to spend each, so shopping was going to have to be done at some point on the trip.
$100 is pretty exciting for 5 year olds! My boys were obsessed with collecting Disney stuffies when they were younger, to the point where we had to have a separate chair at the table for their stuffies when we went for dinner!

When we took Landon to Disney at 9 months, everyone and their brother stopped us to comment on his glasses. Back when he was an infant, glasses on a baby weren't as common so lots of people wanted to stop and ask us about them. We didn't mind telling them about his eye condition, but after a hundred times it did get tiresome. We just want to get to Small World, folks!
I feel your pain! My oldest son has Coats Disease (a rare retinal disease) and has worn glasses since he was two. I would get people coming up and asking what happened to his eye ALL THE TIME...... I felt as though I should have a made a brochure to hand out!
 
Great update! The kids are doing great...that sounds like really minimal fussing for kids at WDW! And they are sooooo ADORABLE (so are you and hubby! :) )
 

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