Can We Take The Skyliner To The Boat? An Aug/Sep 2022 TR (Complete)

Day 9: Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT

While we weren’t as slow to get up this morning, everyone was still too tired to attempt a rope drop. However, since our goal for the day was to meet at ton of characters, the early morning wasn’t necessary. We timed our departure to make it to Snow White’s first set which started at 9:30am just off of Main St.

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We then headed to Liberty Square, where only two families were waiting to meet the stepsisters.

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These ladies are always a hoot. After finding out the girls weren’t telepathic, they said, “You should work on that.”

Next on the agenda was Aladdin and Jasmine but, when we got there, it was just the main man. Since we still had an Epcot day to finish up our characters, we went ahead to meet with just Al.

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The September lack-of-crowds was in full effect, because all three of those meets together took under 30 minutes. We were hungry, so we got Nutella and strawberry waffles from Sleepy Hollow before boarding the Liberty Belle for a leisurely tour while we applied sunscreen. When the girls are tired or grumpy, this particular chore becomes unbearable for everyone, but we managed to get it done without anyone completely losing their sh!t on anyone else… barely.

We continued our trek into Frontierland and stopped for some quick pics with no wait.

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Folks, I don’t particularly remember if this CM had an Earning my Ears, but let’s all give them the benefit of the doubt and say they were new. :rotfl: The out of focus shot, the closed eyes, the magic shot completely cutting off the adults’ heads: needless to say none of these made the Christmas card. Although, the magic shot ended up being one of the girls’ favorites for the silliness factor. I am a firm believer in stopping for every photographer that has a short wait because you never know who is going to get a great picture and who is going to be a dud.

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We enjoyed both of Frontierland’s mountains before continuing our character extravaganza.

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The girls have never seen Elena’s show, but they were clearly having a good old chat anyway. I think that’s her “Wait, are you triplets?” reaction. Those kids will never know the reality of being in a room full of new people and having no idea what to say. “I’m a triplet,” is the ultimate conversation starter! If I’m being honest, “I’m a mom of triplets,” has just about the same effect, which is quite useful at mixed social gatherings. 😂

We were heading out of the park for lunch but I remembered that Hubby had wanted to stop for the special zoom shot they were doing (are still doing??) in the hub.

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This was noon at MK, so you can get a real sense for how light the crowds were that day. Also, I don’t know how many people knew about this shot because no one was waiting, nor did I see anyone come up after us. Picture complete, we hopped a monorail for lunch at the Grand Floridian Café.

Why don’t more Disney restaurants offer breakfast all day, or at least breakfast for lunch?? We were all so excited to see those options on the menu as we enjoy a good, sit-down breakfast but not at the expense of missing the shorter ride lines. While we ate, we confirmed the game plan for the rest of the day. I had thought that, if we were going to try for a four park hop, today would be the day. Alas, no one else wanted to try to fit a trip over to AK into the agenda. Instead, we hopped a monorail to Epcot, primarily to pick up a Guardians virtual queue.

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I asked if the girls wanted to ride Mission: Space, but they only wanted to visit the post-ride play area. We hung out there for 20 minutes, with the adults resting our feet and the kids playing the outdated video games.

At 3:00pm, we had a decision to make because the Star Wars characters were only meeting in HS until 5:00pm. If we wanted to get over there to meet Chewy and BB-8, we needed to get moving. We promised we’d come back to the play area later and headed out the International Gateway to skyliner to the studios.

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We headed straight to Launch Bay to find twenty-minute waits posted for both characters. The girls remembered that they had stickers to hand out, so they killed a good amount of time in line that way. We were done at 4:40pm and the afternoon thunderstorms were in full force. Luckily, the DAS we picked up was for Runaway Railway, so we didn’t have far to go. The rain was letting up, so we had a quick dinner at Backlot Express before watching Muppets 3D and using another DAS at Midway Mania. We picked up our next DAS for Slinky Dog, but that left us some time to kill. Tower of Terror was posting a 25-minute wait but, given how low crowds had been, I was hoping for a walk on. The girls agreed to walk over and check it out.

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My timestamps say it was a nine-minute wait to the preshow. So, not a total walk on but certainly not what was posted, either. The girls were in no mood to test themselves with a challenge ride, so they took the chicken exit and while Hubby and I dropped in. Apparently the CMs at the exit were having a blast playing around with their flashlights while they were unloading cars, so the girls had fun getting that little peak behind the curtain.

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Another photopass photographer with no line! I do love that picture, but goodness are we sweaty messes. :rotfl2:

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We were off of Slinky Dog and 7:35pm and ready to go back to Epcot to use our Guardians VQ. We were all dragging, though, so it took us until 8:19pm to get out of HS, on the skyliner, back into EP, and to the ride. Then, of course, there was some sort of back up after the preshow, as the line to board was backed all the way up to the first hallway where the preshow lets out. Not all of the kids wanted to ride, so B joined us while A & C waited at the chicken exit.

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The girls obviously wanted to get in one more thing before the park closed: the Mission: Space play area. Truly, they ran for it from Guardians to Mission: Space so that they could have the last few minutes of park operation crawling through the little tubes a la McDonald’s Playplace. The CMs cleared us out just a few minutes after 9:00pm. Apparently, the ride had gone down before park close so their procedure to close down that building ended up ahead of schedule.

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We enjoyed the second half of Harmonious before making our way to the IG where the girls again insisted that we take the Friendship Boats instead of walking the five minutes back to the hotel.
 
triplets?” reaction. Those kids will never know the reality of being in a room full of new people and having no idea what to say. “I’m a triplet,” is the ultimate conversation starter! If I’m being honest, “I’m a mom of triplets,” has just about the same effect, which is quite useful at mixed social gatherings.
I can see how that would be a great topic starter!

Love the vatiations of scared!

Glad to see you back! Are you going to do a California trip report? I want to hear how it went?
 
:rotfl: :rotfl::rotfl:

Pretty great day you had there! How funny is it that the girls wanted the play area so much. You gotta laugh 😆

They really are goofs sometimes. I can never quite nail down what they're going to love and what's going to be a miss.

Glad to see you back! Are you going to do a California trip report? I want to hear how it went?

We had a blast but I don't think I'm doing a TR. Maybe just an update on my PTR with the remaining vacations from this year. As much as I've had fun doing them, I think TRs are just a little too much work for me these days.
 


Day 10: Epcot and Magic Kingdom

For our final park day, we were starting with a few characters that we had missed. Because I’m me, the girls were in dresses that coordinated with the princesses we were meeting. But, A’s Aurora dress was just too itchy. There was one spot of trim that was just aggravating her skin and she insisted she couldn’t wear it. After much debate, she decided to bring the dress with her for just the Aurora picture but wear her Ariel the rest of the day. Sure, kid, I love having to carry around extra clothes and facilitate a change!

In all the silliness, A also forgot her magic band, so we were swiping her in on a card for the morning. (Always keep a set of backup media in your bag, it’s so much faster than having to stop by guest services to get a new card if you lose a MB!)


There were a few families already in line for Aurora’s first set, so I had time to quickly go get A changed before our meet.

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From there, we were about five minutes early for Jasmine’s 9:30am meet and we were the first family in line. We were perfectly lined up to meet her and still be at the beginning of the Arendelle line, which opened at 10am. Except, ten minutes went by and no Jasmine. I asked the CM what was up and she said Jasmine was waiting for Carpet to bring her but she’d be there soon. Fifteen minutes pass, twenty, twenty-five. The kids went and did an extended shoot with a photopass photographer and still no sign of her.

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At 10:00am, I once again asked the CM and she still gave me the, “She’s coming,” without any real details. Meanwhile, the Frozen sisters had official started greeting, so our chance at getting that line on a short wait was shot. Finally, at 10:10, Jasmine showed up for her 9:30am meeting time.

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I don’t know what was up with Jasmine in August of 2022. We weren’t even supposed to have met her here, but she wasn’t with Aladdin when she was supposed to be earlier in the week. Then, with her being that late, I feel like the CM should have just told me at 9:30 that she would be significantly delayed. I get it, you can’t give an exact time, but there was no reason to spend 40 minutes saying “Any time now,” when you clearly knew she wasn’t right around the corner.

We headed to Norway to see how bad the wait would be for Elsa and Anna, but stopped for another round of pictures.

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They can’t all be winners! :rotfl2: In Norway at 10:37am, the line for the sisters said 20 minutes, but the CM at the front said it was really 45. She suggested we come back right at noon and the wait would be much lower. Trusting her, and not being up for back-to-back 45 minute waits, we went to use our DAS at Frozen Ever After instead.

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From there, it was a DAS at Test Track…

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and our Virtual Queue for Guardians. At that point, the kids were all insistent that the ride messed with them too much and they didn’t want to ride, so it was just Hubby and me.

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As promised, we returned to the Mission: Space play area for the kids, but they decided not to hang because it was too busy. Everyone was getting hungry, so Hubby and the kids ordered lunch at Connections Eatery and I brought over what would end up being my only Food and Wine item, despite our extended trip including tons of time in Epcot. Ooops!

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These were from the booth by Test Track, so close enough that I didn’t have to hike halfway across the park to get them and get back to Connections. They were delicious and I’m glad I went, if for no other reason than to check off one of the many Food and Wine options from my list.

Stomachs full, it was time to see if the CM was right about Anna and Elsa’s line dying down at lunch. When we arrived, it was posted at 10 minutes but we walked right in. Hooray!

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I was not a fan of the photoboxes on this trip and my opinion didn’t improve in 2023, either. Given how much Disney is charging for Memory Maker, they should have real photographers there taking pictures that make sense, instead of the weird snap every few seconds. Especially considering how Disney is supposed to cater to families: it’s hard enough to get kids to all look the right way and smile but, when you do make it happen, the photographer needs to be able to grab that picture at the right moment.

We left the greet to find out why everyone says to avoid Epcot on weekends during Food and Wine. I think the World Showcase crowds had somehow doubled in the ten minutes we were in the building. The difference was especially jarring given that, so far, we’d been enjoying those late August/Early September super low crowds, but our luck had run out. The kids needed one more boat ride through Mexico, so we squeezed our way into the pavilion and took a ride.

It was time to chill out with some air conditioning, so we headed to the America pavilion for Voices of Liberty.

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The show was lovely, but emerging back out into the Florida heat with the bonkers crowds was less than ideal. I had downloaded the Florida Blue Medicare Lounge Guest Pass, so we headed to the free lounge that was operating out of Restaurant Marrakesh. They were giving out cooling towels, had some complimentary water and iced coffee, but the highlight was the watercolor artist. The girls watched her paint for quite a while and we were each allowed to pick a postcard to take home.

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It was time to get out of the crowds and into the pool. We used a final DAS on Remy, stopped for one more photo, and then caught the boat back to Boardwalk.

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Hubby took the girls straight down to the pool while I got some last day packing done. At 5pm everyone was getting puckish, so we got a couple of Mickey Pretzels and headed up for showers. At 6:15, the rain seemed to be letting up as we headed for the bus stop and we even got to see a rainbow.

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Unfortunately, by the time we made it to Magic Kingdom, the rain was back in earnest, so we made our way to the Hall of Presidents to wait it out. The girls hadn’t seen the Hall of Presidents or Carousel of Progress yet but, considering everyone was dragging after such a long visit, this evening seemed like the perfect time to hit some classic, low-key attractions.


After our history lesson, we were hungry so Pecos Bill was calling. The rain finally stopped and Big Thunder reopened, so I was able to get a DAS while we were having dinner. After the wildest ride in the wilderness, we tried to get to Carousel of Progress before heading to Main Street for a fireworks viewing spot. We just missed a show, though, and I know waiting for the next one would mean missing the fireworks. Instead, we went back out to Main St to find a spot. We waited about twenty minutes but, at 9pm, instead of a fireworks show, we got an announcement that Enchantment was delayed. After discussing with the kids, they didn’t’ want to commit our last couple of Disney hours to waiting for fireworks that they had already seen earlier in the week when we had no idea how long the wait would be. Instead, we had some high-priority attractions that we absolutely had to do before we left.

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Yup, Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor is a must-do for our crew and the girls were so excited that their joke got picked and they got up on the screen!! (It helped that maybe 20 other people were in the theater with us, :rotfl:.)

It was raining again when we got out, and the adults had bailed on their very wet ponchos back on Main Street, so we walked with purpose across Tomorrowland to a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.

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From the time we had finished Big Thunder, we were watching for a Mine Train DAS, but the ride was down. We pulled Space in the meantime, but kept checking periodically hoping to head through the mines one more time.

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After our flight through the galaxy, it was 10:20, so we had 40 minutes of park operation left. Mine Train was still down, but we headed to Fantasyland for another favorite, crossing our fingers that the coaster might come back up. Small World was as lovely as ever but, alas, the dwarfs were still not moving. Instead, the girls opted to finish the night enjoying a blustery day, and the trip, in the Hundred Acres woods.

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We stopped for one more round of photopass photos on the way out, because of course we did. Then, the girls took full advantage of us getting seats on the bus ride back to the resort.

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Day 11: Travel Day

We had to be up painfully early for our ride back to the airport, as Sunshine Flyer was picking folks up a solid three hours before their flights. Now that the girls can ride without booster seats, I think we’re a rideshare-to-the-airport family: the shared ride services just pick up so early!

Our flight and drive home were uneventful, I managed to get nearly all of the unpacking done that first day, and then I crashed HARD at 8pm and went to bed when the kids did.

Our big trip back to the World was all kinds of magical, wild fun. If there was any question whether Disney was our family’s happy place, this visit made it clear that we are all in on the House of Mouse.

Thank you all for following along on our journey!!
 
And, we discussed roller coaster intensity for the rides they hadn’t done yet. In the comfort and safety of their home, they all agreed they would try any ride once. They way that played out as park exhaustion set in, well, I guess you’ll have to wait and see…
I am VERY late but I am here and so excited to be reading your trip report! I'm having similar conversations with my daughters now, showing them ride videos and negotiating what they will and will not try on our next trip. I'm just hoping they stick to the rides they say they will go on!
We were lucky enough to rent points for this trip, so our room cost was under $250 a night, well below what CBR and POR 5th sleepers were going for at the same time. Points rental: pay a stranger on the internet thousands of dollars but get an awesome deal!!
That is an amazing deal! It's less than we'll be paying for AoA on our next trip. Did you go through a major site for that deal? I'd like to look into that for a future trip.
I kept detailed notes with exactly how long things took and how much we spent. So, if time stamps and food budgets sound like fun to you, I’d love you have you join along as I relive our incredible vacation!
I love detailed notes with both time stamps and budgets - I find these types of reports the most helpful for planning our own trips!
The first time the lights flashed and a Kitchen Sink was presented, they looked at me like I had three heads and asked, “Are we getting that?”

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The looks on their faces in these pictures is priceless!!
Where did you find those backpacks? They are adorable and I love the idea of letting my girls be responsible for some of their own things on our next trip. It will be our first trip in which I am not going to carry a diaper bag!
… to a game of Tic Tac Toe with paper plates and painter’s tape. Our family loves the little extras like this that make Disney special, but I thought it was too darn hot to stop.
I agree it's these extras, things you can't plan for, that make Disney so special.
The girls were a little spooked once they remembered that they had to go through the Stretching Room, but I reminded them that this ride was only silly-scary and they’d been fine in 2019.
I'm trying this tactic as I negotiate with my 7-year-old to ride Haunted Mansion - I keep telling her it's silly ghosts, not scary ones!
You can see B trying to hold up her bag to thank Tink for the new keychain from that morning.
That is so sweet!!
As they complained, I maintained my usual script when tackling difficulties: all good things in life are scary at first; being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared, it means you work through the fear and do it anyway; you’ll never find out if you love something if you don’t try; you are always more proud of yourself when you face it than when you give up.
I'm taking notes...
Unpopular opinion: Finding Nemo is the best stage show running in Disney World right now.
I might agree with you. Lion King is amazing but Finding Nemo is truly like going to a Broadway show at AK.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your trip!
 


Did you go through a major site for that deal? I'd like to look into that for a future trip.

I used the boards here, actually. I've rented twice using the Dis message boards and great experiences both times.

The Boardwalk standard view is the lowest point 5 person room in property, so we were really lucky one was available for our dates.

Where did you find those backpacks?

Amazon! This is the link I used but there are several with the same basic designs https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P8SF321

There's a F B Amazon deal group I follow that often has them with a solid digital coupon, so I waited for that and then I bought one with the coupon, my mom bought one, and my GF bought one, lol.

They aren't huge, but helped get hats and ponchos out of the main bag so that it wasn't comically overstuffed.
 
Steakhouse 71 lunch was delicious! The girls all got the kid’s filet and were practically licking their plates clean. Hubby and I split a salad and the burger, which were also delicious. I know the dinner menu is pretty pricey, but we found the lunch to be excellent and reasonably priced by Disney standards. It was one of our favorite meals of the trip and we’d definitely do it again if we were having lunch on the monorail loop or on the way out of MK.
I’m finally caught up! We loved our Steakhouse 71 lunch. It’s much better food than you find at QS in the park.
Don’t get me wrong, Mirabel deserves a great spot and I’m glad Disney is getting on that faster than they did with Moana. But, I’d hate for it to come at the expense of meeting Merida. With the triplet connection, she has always been a stellar meet for our family and I don't want to see her go.
I agree! It’s so fun you all have the triplet connection to her. Merida has been a fun meet for us in the past, I’m sad to hear she’s going.
Finally, at 7:45pm, it was our turn to meet the Hundred Acre gang, without Eeyore.
What a bummer! It’s great you all were able to fit a few things in while one person waited in the line.
I know people have mixed feelings about this ride overlay, but we all loved it. I was shocked how much more intense it felt not seeing anything and we were all laughing at our reactions as we got off.
Space Mountain in the dark is my favorite! I agree it’s more intense which makes it so fun.
After the family photo, I said, “OK, now just Alice with Alice” and the Mad Hatter threw a little fit. “Oh, I guess we’re not needed then?!?” and dragged the other two over to the side with him. It was delightful.
The Mad Hatter is a riot!
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I love that they made this one line for two shots and we only had a five minute wait.
These are great pictures!

This sounds like such a fun trip. I love all the details and have taken some notes to help with planning our next trip. Thank you for sharing!
 
I loved reading your planning report so I made my way over here. You’re so organized and your reports are so detailed. How do you keep track of everything in the moment?
What are those devices your kids use? My kids love audiobooks but I don’t love sharing my phone with them. Plus Audible is getting expensive since they got into the babysitter club books and go through 3 books a month.

I’m so sorry about your diagnosis. I hope you are doing well.

The Disney wigs are terrible. They look Party City. Disney do better.
 
I loved reading your planning report so I made my way over here.

Welcome!

How do you keep track of everything in the moment?

Timestamp pictures and random notes in my Keep. Plus, right after I get back, I take time to flush out the keep notes with details while I still remember, add in time stamps from my photos, and go make any requests for missing ride photos. If I took a picture going into a ride with a photo but don't have the ride photo, then I've got a good timeframe for the Photopass people to look for my missing shot.

What are those devices your kids use?

VTech Kidizoom cameras. You can load MP3 onto them so I rip audiobooks from the library and then dump them over.

I’m so sorry about your diagnosis. I hope you are doing well.

I'm fine. Only thing left that I'm working on is my hair but that's going to be a while yet...
 
Really enjoyed reading your trip report and all the pics of your three lovely daughters! Looks like it was an awesome trip. Makes me a little sad my only child is now 24; but she still enjoys a good WDW trip. Wishing you many more fun-filled trips and a speedy and complete recovery, my friend!
 

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