I like to take notes on what worked and what didn't, so each vacation can improve and avoid pitfalls from the past.
First off, my pre-vacation prep work was wonderful. We left to a mowed and trimmed lawn, and a clean house. That was a win for when we came home. Granted, the lawn now needs to be mowed, but it's not a jungle out there!
Driving down in two days was also a good idea. We stayed in Mesquite. It was fairly cheap (Virgin River) and the breakfast buffet was affordable.
The house we stayed at, in my opinion, was optimal. It had 3 master bedrooms, two other bedrooms with bunk beds, plus two large sectional couches. We had a total of 4 bathrooms, a pool and hot tub and a barbecue. We easily parked all 3 vehicles in the driveway. You could see the parking structures from the house, so the walk to the park entrance was well under a mile. We used the pool and hot tub a lot, and the bbq twice.
When we arrived and unpacked, we walked over to Downtown Disney. Traven was being an absolute BEAST. Turns out he was just really nervous about having to ride on rides he didn't want to. Once I made a deal with him that, if he was good, he could pass on any rides, he was GREAT! We ate at BlackTap. The burgers and shakes were so yummy, but I had hoped the portions would be slightly bigger for the price. Probably won't go back there.
MaxPass was definitely a necessity. The lines weren't long at all, but being able to bypass the lines for the more popular rides was a win. Another perk of MaxPass is PhotoPass is included, so you get some fun photos from different rides. My favorite is from The Incredicoaster! For months, T said he was going to face his fears and do it. We got there, and the first look he had it, he tapped out. But that night, he amped himself up again. With his heart racing, he rode that bad boy and LOVED it! From then on, he begged to ride it!
The Halloween party was a must do. The parade was short, and the special World of Color show was just plain weird. I did not care for it. But we got a ton of candy, and walked onto the rides.
I won't eat at the Blue Bayou again. They were the pirates, and I was the innocent victim being robbed and looted.
The Halloween Screams show plus fireworks was a highlight for me. Fun/gross story from that night now follows. I think maybe Lauren was tired, as they started saving a bench for the fireworks around 2 pm. I'd say by 4, they had been joined by Kaylee and were saving 3 benches! When the rest of us trickled in, Lauren, Jeremy, Lucy and Max left to ride Winnie the Pooh. When they returned, they asked to leave the kids with us while they picked up food. Max was buckled into his stroller, in front of his Grandma. She looked at him and said he didn't look good, and was going to hurl. She unbuckled him, aimed him away from us and POW! To her credit, she used some wipes to clean up the best she could. However, it's a rough, brick surface, so obviously some bio hazard remained. Well, as the time for the show approached, the game that we call Human Tetris began. Before we knew it, a couple had wormed their way right in front of us and immediately sat down. And guess where his hand landed? Yeah, I told you this was gross. We then had a great time texting back and forth about where his contaminated hands went. The lady's hair, shoulders and arms. His own mouth and straw. Does this make us bad people? I don't know, but it was HILARIOUS!
Smuggler's Run was great, but did not meet my expectations. However, the entire land is simply incredible. We saw storm troopers, Kylo Ren and even some First Order governor floating around. There were also some heroes, such as Rey and Chewy. You really feel like you have stepped into another world, with the buildings and star ships that can be seen. I tried blue milk and green milk. Bought some thermal detonators.
Driving back in one day is a no-go in the future. The only thing that made it bearable was I could listen to the Chargers game and then the Rams game, until around the Utah border. On the way down, I streamed the BYU game for my father-in-law. They got whooped, which made me happy!
3 days in a row is also a no-go. We were just too tired by Saturday, plus the Saturday crowds were just plain HUGE. If I did this again, I might do 3 day park hoppers, but also do 2 days of the party! Drive down on Saturday and Sunday. Full park day on Monday. Party on Tuesday. Rest on Wednesday. Party on Thursday, full day on Friday and then journey back. Yeah, I think that's what I'd do.
Sally and Eric Sr. didn't go with us on Saturday. She spent the day reading and doing laundry. 11 loads! How awesome is that? We arrived with clean clothes instead of dirty, stinky ones. YES!
The grandsons seemed to have a lot of fun. Mason was so observant, just trying to take everything in. Outside of just being on an adventure, I'd say his favorites were Jesse's Carousel - seemed to love the blue bunny the most. He also loved the boat rides - Jungle Cruise, the sailing Ship Columbia, Nemo - he loved them all. He didn't seem to get scared by anything either. Parker was his usual friendly self. Just smiling and flirting. He also seemed to love just looking around and being there with all the sights and sounds.
It was tiring. I totaled over 110,000 steps over our 5 park days, for an average of over 22,000 per day. That's a lot of steps and a lot of miles.
On a personal note, I now have 3 rides on my list of things I will not do. All 3 hurt me in various forms. So for me, Space Mountain, The Matterhorn and Monsters Inc. are all a no-go.
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