Post-Trip Report: Kim’s Party of Five WDW/Vero Beach Split Stay (June 2024)

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VIRGINIA: Welcome to Where I Long To Be, a Magical Trip Report Podcast.

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VIRGINIA: My name is Virginia and I am your host.

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VIRGINIA: We are in the countdown to the end of season two.

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VIRGINIA: For some rest and in order to accommodate our family trip to London, I'll be taking a break from the podcast for the week of August 26th and September 2nd.

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VIRGINIA: This week, I wanted to share another podcast review that I recently received.

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VIRGINIA: This one is from Eliz Disney and is titled Disney Blues Remedy.

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VIRGINIA: It reads, Virginia's podcast, Where I Long To Be, is such a fun remedy for the Disney Blues.

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VIRGINIA: When you're missing WDW, take a listen and enjoy.

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VIRGINIA: Thank you so much for that lovely review.

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VIRGINIA: It means a lot to me that you took the time to share your thoughts, and I hope you will continue to enjoy the show.

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VIRGINIA: If you would like to leave your own review, please head over to Apple Podcasts, and you might hear yours read on the show.

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VIRGINIA: You could also give the show a rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify podcasts, basically anywhere you're listening, and it would be much appreciated.

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VIRGINIA: Okay, time to get into today's episode.

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VIRGINIA: Kim, aka DizDreamingKim on Instagram, is back to give us the rundown on her June trip.

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VIRGINIA: For anyone who didn't listen to the pre-trip episode before this one, Kim has a family of five consisting of herself, husband Eric and three sons, Alex, who is 14, Ryan, who is 12, and Caleb, who is 10.

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VIRGINIA: One thing to know going into this episode is that Ryan qualified for Disability Access Service at both Disney and Universal.

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VIRGINIA: So you'll get to hear how those experiences compare, as well as their experience using a stroller as a wheelchair.

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VIRGINIA: Their trip spanned across Bay Lake Tower, over to Vero Beach and back to Disney's Boardwalk Resorts with a day in there dedicated to Universal Studios.

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VIRGINIA: So there's something for everyone.

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VIRGINIA: You can check out the pictures from Kim's trip by heading over to the podcast Instagram page.

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VIRGINIA: That should have you all caught up.

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VIRGINIA: And now, here's Kim.

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VIRGINIA: Diz Dreaming Kim, you're back.

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VIRGINIA: Have you been dreaming of Disney since returning from this epic adventure?

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KIM: Virginia, of course, I've been thinking about Disney every single day.

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KIM: We had a great time and I can't wait to tell you all about it.

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VIRGINIA: This was, when I say epic, it was an epic trip.

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VIRGINIA: So you were traveling Saturday, June the 8th and returning home on Saturday, June 22nd.

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VIRGINIA: You had three different resort stays.

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VIRGINIA: You were taking Disney by storm.

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VIRGINIA: Hopefully, you didn't have very many storms while you were there.

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VIRGINIA: But let's just dig right in because this is a nice big long trip.

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VIRGINIA: For listeners who did not get to listen to the pre-trip, as a reminder, Kim and her family are members of DVC.

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VIRGINIA: At one point in time, they lived in Orlando, so they're familiar with the area, our previous annual pass holders when they were there.

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VIRGINIA: And so this is very much a returning home kind of trip for you.

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VIRGINIA: I know we all feel like when we go to Disney, we've come home, but for you, it's like literally you're going home for your vacation.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: So let's dig in.

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VIRGINIA: So Saturday, June the 8th, you were beginning a 16-hour drive from San Antonio to Orlando, of course, making a stop that night.

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VIRGINIA: So my first question is, you were not sure whether you would be stopping in New Orleans or Mobile based on how you were feeling during the drive.

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VIRGINIA: So what was the answer?

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KIM: So we did make it to Mobile.

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KIM: We got off to a great start.

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KIM: There were no time delays.

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KIM: I managed to simplify my packing to where I didn't have to pull an all-nighter, and we were able to leave almost exactly when I wanted to leave, which was 10, 15 in the morning.

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VIRGINIA: Any tips for simplifying your packing?

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VIRGINIA: because I know I struggle with that.

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KIM: I guess my tips come from just previous experience.

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KIM: When I don't plan my packing well, I tend to overpack because I am just like, oh, well, maybe I need 10 pairs of shorts in case there's a problem.

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KIM: So we tend to take too much when I don't plan.

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KIM: I also learned from previous trips, and this is also related to my kids growing up as well.

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KIM: We don't need to take as much snacks.

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KIM: They are a lot less picky about their eating and they can eat park food.

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KIM: Even though it is expensive, I'd rather just pay than try to pack 10 suitcases full of food.

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KIM: And so we were able to pack less, and with being DVC now, all of our rooms have the laundry, and we can wash our clothes.

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KIM: Instead of taking 10 pairs of shorts, we can get away with taking 4 and just washing them because it's in our room.

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KIM: I can toss in the wash in the morning, go to the park, and then come back and toss it in the dryer.

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KIM: And the laundry, we don't have to think about or waste time doing laundry because it's doing it while we're in the park.

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VIRGINIA: Right.

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VIRGINIA: So I don't think I ever even asked you this during your pre-trip, but as a DVC member, you obviously have access to different size rooms, and I don't think I ever even asked you what size rooms at each of the three resorts you have.

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VIRGINIA: So what were they?

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KIM: At all three, we had a two-bedroom villa.

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VIRGINIA: Oh, that is so nice.

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VIRGINIA: I stayed in a two-bedroom for the first time in February, and I was just like, if I could have this every time, wouldn't it be amazing?

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KIM: That's almost the best part of the trip.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: Well, speaking of resorts, the very first resort you were staying in on the evening of Sunday, June the 9th, was Bay Lake Tower.

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VIRGINIA: So what did you think about your Bay Lake Tower room, and what was that first day like?

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VIRGINIA: So you were arriving in the evening, you didn't have much time this first day.

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KIM: We were hoping to arrive around 6, and we ended up arriving around 6.30.

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KIM: There was a little bit of a delay because our GPS kept taking us to the bus entrance to the resort.

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KIM: And of course, and so we're driving around trying to figure out how to get in.

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KIM: And then once we got there, of course, there had to be unloading of luggage.

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KIM: And we utilize Bell Services every time just because it's so much luggage.

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KIM: We are traveling with, you know, when they count up all the pieces of luggage, it's always like 15 to 18 pieces.

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KIM: So we always use them.

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KIM: And by the time we actually got into our room, it was probably closer to 730.

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KIM: The room was amazing.

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KIM: It was on the 14th floor of the tower, which is almost the top.

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KIM: I think the top is 16 floors.

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KIM: And so the view was amazing.

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KIM: It was the lakeside view.

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KIM: And for the two-bedroom villas, I think the only options are lakeside or theme park view.

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KIM: And of course, theme park is more expensive.

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KIM: So we went with lakeside and the view was great.

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KIM: You could see the pool down below as well.

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KIM: And then we stuck with our plan, which was to have dinner at the Contemporary, which is right next door at Contempo Cafe.

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KIM: There is a skybridge on the...

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KIM: It's the fifth floor of the Bay Lake Tower, but the fourth floor of the Contemporary, so it can get confusing sometimes.

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KIM: But there is a skybridge that you can walk in between.

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KIM: This is kind of where our plans started changing because we were supposed to meet up with friends after dinner, but because we got in kind of late and then one of the friends couldn't make it, we ended up changing plans several times throughout the night.

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VIRGINIA: Okay, and this was Beccy, who is a Hufflepuff in Disney, and Kerry from Kerry's Glitter and the She-Gun, right?

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KIM: So Kerry couldn't make it, and so what we decided was that I would meet Beccy in front of the Magic Kingdom after dinner, or not after dinner, but after I put the kids to bed.

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KIM: She had scrapped whatever her plans were, and she was going to go watch Happily Ever After in Magic Kingdom, but then the kids were still bouncing all over, and I did not put them to bed.

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KIM: And so we ended up having Beccy just come to our room, and then that way she could meet the whole family.

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VIRGINIA: So funny story, I saw Beccy that same day, because that was Sunday, June the 9th, and that is the day that Alex and I were leaving that evening to come back to New York City, but during the day we were doing our four-part challenge together.

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VIRGINIA: And so briefly during our Epcot time, we met up with Beccy and a couple other people and did Living With The Land together.

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VIRGINIA: So I saw her briefly for that, we hugged, we said goodbye, and then later she saw you.

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KIM: So yes.

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KIM: And she, so that was cool.

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KIM: She got to meet the family, and then she got to check out the view from the room.

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KIM: And then she had to go back right before the buses stopped running.

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KIM: She had to go back to her hotel.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: Well, Monday, June the 10th, you were leaving the Disney bubble to head over for a Universal Day.

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VIRGINIA: You were still in Bay Lake Tower.

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VIRGINIA: You were still staying there, but you were heading over for some Universal Time, and you had a park to park ticket with Express Pass included.

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VIRGINIA: So how was this day?

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KIM: It was a good day.

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KIM: I enjoyed it.

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KIM: I had not been to Universal Orlando in quite a long time.

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KIM: So I was looking forward to seeing what was new and also seeing what I had not seen in a long time because I probably had forgotten everything about it.

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KIM: So we started off with Islands of Adventure, and things got off to a little bit later start than I had planned because we had applied for my son Ryan for their disability pass, and we did that from home.

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VIRGINIA: Ryan is your middle child, correct?

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VIRGINIA: Okay.

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VIRGINIA: So just real quick before you get into that, we have Alex who's 14, Ryan who at the time we last spoke was almost 12.

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KIM: He is 12 now.

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VIRGINIA: He is probably 12 by now.

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VIRGINIA: Caleb who's 10.

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KIM: We had applied for their disability pass from home and it was accepted very easily.

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KIM: However, the way that Universal does it is that once you get into the park, you still have to go to guest services and pick up a physical paper pass.

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KIM: It's not digital like the one at Disney is.

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KIM: So we stood in line at guest services for what felt like an hour.

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KIM: Last time I did this process, it took no more than five or 10 minutes.

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KIM: But this time, we were in line for almost an hour.

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KIM: It was really hot because the line extends outside the building.

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KIM: The only person inside the building is the person who's being serviced at that time.

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KIM: So the whole line is outside the building.

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KIM: Once we got in and it was our turn, everything went really well.

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KIM: The team member was really nice.

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KIM: I also at that moment asked her about getting our stroller tagged as a wheelchair and their system is a little bit different instead of an actual tag for your stroller.

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KIM: It's more like a another paper pass.

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KIM: It's the size of a business card and you just show it at the entrance of every queue and then they let you in.

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VIRGINIA: That seems very inefficient and like it would be very easy to lose.

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KIM: I was afraid of losing it.

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KIM: Yes.

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KIM: So I kept it in my fanny pack to make sure that I didn't lose it because one time back when Disney was using paper passes, I did lose the disability pass while I was trying to put it in my pants pocket.

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KIM: Once all that was taken care of though, everything went really smoothly with the pass.

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KIM: There's no confusion or questions about it.

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KIM: And our first thing that we wanted to make sure we did was the Soos landing, all the Dr.

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KIM: Soos themed rides because Ryan is a big Dr.

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KIM: Soos fan and also I had been checking the weather forecast and not surprisingly, it was predicted to rain in the afternoon.

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KIM: So I wanted to make sure that I could get those rides out of the way.

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KIM: And conveniently, it's also one of the areas towards the front of the park.

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KIM: So you kind of naturally come upon it anyway.

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KIM: So we did all of those rides.

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KIM: It was great.

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KIM: However, by the time we got to Hogsmeade, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it was much later than I had planned because of the wait at guest services.

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KIM: And so our 11 o'clock was when I was wanting to eat lunch.

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KIM: It was now 12 o'clock.

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KIM: And my husband had chosen to eat lunch at the Three Broomsticks.

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KIM: And I knew that because we were arriving a little bit late, there was going to be a wait.

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KIM: What I did not know was that we'd be waiting for over an hour.

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KIM: And that there were two queues.

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KIM: because when I looked at that queue going into the Three Broomsticks, I thought, okay, about 30 minutes, this is fine.

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KIM: It turns out, when you get into the building, there's a second queue, and it was another 30 minutes inside the building.

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VIRGINIA: Oh, my goodness.

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KIM: We're running a lot further behind schedule now.

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KIM: However, lunch was great.

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KIM: It was just so nice to sit down in an air-conditioned building.

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KIM: That was probably worth it alone just to be able to sit down.

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VIRGINIA: Can you refresh my memory?

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VIRGINIA: Do they have mobile order for the three things to...

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KIM: Technically, yes, but you're not allowed to place the mobile order until you're sitting at a table, which kind of defeats the point of a mobile order.

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KIM: But that is what they said.

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KIM: They were like, save time, place your mobile order while you're standing in line.

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KIM: So we did that and then found out, oh, you can't actually submit the mobile order until you're sitting at a table.

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KIM: Okay.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: I know I've eaten there before.

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VIRGINIA: I just don't remember any of this because it has been a little bit of time.

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VIRGINIA: Yes.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: Well, the good news is that as someone who's used to ExpressPass, it makes your park time so much easier.

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VIRGINIA: So in spite of the long line you had to deal with at the guest services and the line for the three broomsticks, I'm hoping what you're going to tell me for the rest of the day is that the ExpressPass really made your day much easier.

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VIRGINIA: So how did it go?

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KIM: With the ExpressPass, there was pretty much no waiting for anything.

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KIM: I guess not a lot of people use it.

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KIM: We were able to ride almost everything that we had intended to.

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VIRGINIA: Okay.

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VIRGINIA: Good.

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VIRGINIA: Good, good news.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: So at the end of your Universal time, what would you say was your family's favorite activity from that day?

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KIM: For three of us, that would be my husband, Eric, my oldest son, Alex, and my middle son, Ryan.

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KIM: They rode the VelociCoaster, and they would say that that was their favorite ride.

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KIM: Me and my youngest son, we took a look at it and said, no way.

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KIM: So we did not ride that.

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VIRGINIA: So what was your favorite?

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KIM: My favorite was probably all the rides in the Dr.

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KIM: Seuss area.

00:18:09.197 --> 00:18:12.357
KIM: I am a wimp when it comes to rides.

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KIM: And so that was my favorite.

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KIM: I'm not sure what Caleb's favorite would be.

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KIM: He might say Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure.

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KIM: Oh yeah.

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KIM: That was actually a huge surprise for us because we, I tried to remain spoiler free for everything.

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KIM: And of course, my kids, they don't go online and read stuff.

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KIM: So it was a surprise for all of us.

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KIM: I won't spoil it for anyone here, but I may not have written it if I had known what was going to happen.

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VIRGINIA: It's not that bad.

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VIRGINIA: I'm the same though.

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VIRGINIA: I did not do any spoilers before I wrote that for the first time.

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VIRGINIA: And so the moment that I know you're referring to, I was just like, whoa, oh.

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VIRGINIA: But it's a good one.

00:19:07.637 --> 00:19:12.037
VIRGINIA: And Velocicoaster, I loved that ride.

00:19:12.037 --> 00:19:27.057
VIRGINIA: And I'm somebody who grew up, I did not start writing big roller coasters until my 30s, because I was a wimp and like my son, Alex, he would be afraid to ride something.

00:19:27.057 --> 00:19:33.197
VIRGINIA: And once I started writing things, I said, I always say, Alex, who's the biggest chicken you know?

00:19:33.197 --> 00:19:34.237
VIRGINIA: And he says, you.

00:19:34.237 --> 00:19:35.937
VIRGINIA: And I'm like, I know, and I love it.

00:19:35.937 --> 00:19:37.617
VIRGINIA: So I know you're going to love it too.

00:19:37.617 --> 00:19:41.917
VIRGINIA: So Velocicoaster was a huge surprise for me that I loved it as much as I did.

00:19:41.917 --> 00:19:43.737
VIRGINIA: But it's, it's amazing.

00:19:43.737 --> 00:19:46.017
VIRGINIA: It's, it's not for the faint of heart.

00:19:46.017 --> 00:19:49.097
VIRGINIA: It does go very high and very fast.

00:19:49.097 --> 00:19:50.917
VIRGINIA: And in the middle of the ride goes even faster.

00:19:53.517 --> 00:19:55.157
VIRGINIA: So, all right.

00:19:55.157 --> 00:19:58.537
VIRGINIA: Well, let's get back over to Disney.

00:19:58.537 --> 00:20:02.897
VIRGINIA: Tuesday, June the 11th was your very first Magic Kingdom Day.

00:20:02.897 --> 00:20:15.757
VIRGINIA: And you told me how you really wanted to pack your Magic Kingdom Day sort of to be in alignment with your Bay Lake Tower time because of how easy it is to commute back and forth.

00:20:15.757 --> 00:20:17.857
VIRGINIA: So how was your very first Magic Kingdom Day?

00:20:17.897 --> 00:20:31.377
KIM: It was great in terms of the convenience of Bay Lake Tower and how we were able to walk there so fast and also take an afternoon break.

00:20:31.377 --> 00:20:44.137
KIM: This was the day, though, where all of my plans were rearranged because it was a heavy storm day.

00:20:44.137 --> 00:20:52.497
KIM: Not just your little afternoon shower, but it rained hard for a good chunk of the day.

00:20:53.537 --> 00:21:01.617
KIM: The consequence being that they closed down all of the outdoor rides because there was lightning and thunder in the area.

00:21:02.557 --> 00:21:10.937
VIRGINIA: You had originally told me that you had planned to focus on Adventureland and Frontierland before heading to your Columbia Harbor House lunch.

00:21:10.937 --> 00:21:15.177
VIRGINIA: So how did the first half of the day change with that weather?

00:21:15.277 --> 00:21:21.497
KIM: So the first half still got off to plan because it had not started raining yet.

00:21:21.497 --> 00:21:37.457
KIM: However, by the time we got to about the 11 o'clock, 1130 hour, my husband loves Tom Sawyer Island and we haven't been there in forever.

00:21:37.457 --> 00:21:40.697
KIM: So I was like, okay, let's try to get this out of the way before it starts raining.

00:21:41.597 --> 00:21:47.857
KIM: And we got to Tom Sawyer's Island and it immediately started raining.

00:21:47.877 --> 00:21:51.717
KIM: And we were like, no problem, it'll pass.

00:21:51.717 --> 00:21:56.017
KIM: We'll just hide under this loft thing.

00:21:56.017 --> 00:22:03.857
KIM: However, then cast members started coming out and sweeping the island, saying, no, everybody has to leave the island, it's flooding.

00:22:04.457 --> 00:22:12.637
KIM: And so we had to walk through this flooded area.

00:22:12.637 --> 00:22:18.037
KIM: So all of our, you know, our shoes and everything is totally wet.

00:22:18.037 --> 00:22:23.317
KIM: And we had to leave the island right after we got on the island.

00:22:23.317 --> 00:22:33.457
KIM: And then, so we said, okay, the only indoor ride in that area, Pirates of the Caribbean, was down at that moment.

00:22:33.797 --> 00:22:35.877
KIM: So conveniently.

00:22:35.877 --> 00:22:39.737
KIM: So we were like, okay, we'll just go eat lunch.

00:22:39.737 --> 00:22:44.777
KIM: And so we did our mobile order for Columbia Harbor House.

00:22:44.777 --> 00:22:46.817
KIM: And that went well.

00:22:46.817 --> 00:22:49.177
KIM: There was no problem finding a table.

00:22:49.177 --> 00:22:51.737
KIM: I thought there might be because of the rain.

00:22:51.737 --> 00:22:56.077
KIM: But that second floor is really a well kept secret.

00:22:56.077 --> 00:23:00.737
KIM: And there was no problems getting a table.

00:23:00.737 --> 00:23:02.277
KIM: We had a nice lunch.

00:23:02.777 --> 00:23:06.717
KIM: And by the time we finished eating though, it was still raining.

00:23:06.717 --> 00:23:17.857
KIM: And so we dashed over and to a haunted mansion, which is nearby and still raining when we got out.

00:23:17.857 --> 00:23:21.477
KIM: So we dashed into Hall of Presidents.

00:23:21.477 --> 00:23:30.497
KIM: And let me say we had umbrellas and ponchos, and we're still soaking wet because it was just raining so hard.

00:23:31.037 --> 00:23:33.197
KIM: So we did Hall of Presidents.

00:23:33.197 --> 00:23:47.017
KIM: And at that point, you know, with the rides all still being down and the umbrellas and ponchos not really helping, we decided that would be a good time to take our afternoon break and head back to the room.

00:23:47.017 --> 00:23:47.697
VIRGINIA: Mm-hmm.

00:23:47.697 --> 00:23:48.497
VIRGINIA: Good call.

00:23:48.497 --> 00:23:49.577
VIRGINIA: Good call.

00:23:49.577 --> 00:23:54.057
VIRGINIA: And then with your shoes being soaked because of the Tom Sawyer Island flooding.

00:23:54.057 --> 00:23:56.877
KIM: They would have gotten soaked anyway.

00:23:56.877 --> 00:23:58.637
VIRGINIA: Yeah, it sounds like it.

00:23:58.777 --> 00:23:59.617
VIRGINIA: And you know what?

00:23:59.937 --> 00:24:04.577
VIRGINIA: There's nothing worse than walking around with wet shoes, in my opinion.

00:24:04.577 --> 00:24:06.937
VIRGINIA: It is just miserable.

00:24:06.937 --> 00:24:12.177
VIRGINIA: So before we move forward with your day, I have a follow-up question that I had forgotten to ask you.

00:24:12.177 --> 00:24:20.257
VIRGINIA: When we spoke before, you had done the interview in the new way for the DAS pass for Ryan.

00:24:20.257 --> 00:24:22.497
VIRGINIA: And he was qualified for that.

00:24:22.497 --> 00:24:31.777
VIRGINIA: So you had that set up and you had indicated to me that they, at the time, did not give you any options to pre-book any DAS selections.

00:24:31.777 --> 00:24:35.277
VIRGINIA: Did that remain true or did you later get to pre-book anything?

00:24:35.277 --> 00:24:39.077
KIM: No, I did not get to pre-book anything, which is fine.

00:24:39.077 --> 00:24:44.997
KIM: So with the DAS process, everything is taken care of before you arrive to Disney.

00:24:44.997 --> 00:24:49.617
KIM: And so I didn't have to wait in line for any physical passes.

00:24:49.617 --> 00:24:58.497
KIM: It actually appears on your phone in your My Disney Experience app as soon as you scan in.

00:24:58.497 --> 00:25:15.237
KIM: I did go to one of the guest information services, the Blue Umbrella, the kiosks, to obtain a wheelchair stroller pass, which is an actual sticker that they put on your stroller handle.

00:25:15.237 --> 00:25:21.697
KIM: That was destroyed after the rainstorm, and I had to go get another one.

00:25:21.697 --> 00:25:23.997
KIM: Both processes were quick, luckily.

00:25:24.297 --> 00:25:26.077
VIRGINIA: Okay, all right, good.

00:25:26.077 --> 00:25:30.897
VIRGINIA: And you also had said that you probably would be getting Genie Plus most days.

00:25:30.897 --> 00:25:32.297
VIRGINIA: So did you have it this first day?

00:25:32.297 --> 00:25:52.537
KIM: No, I deliberately planned not to get Genie Plus this day because I knew about us taking the afternoon break, and also there were enough non-Genie attractions kind of interspersed in that area, like, you know, Tom Sawyer's Island and the Swiss Family Treehouse, that I thought we could make it without.

00:25:52.537 --> 00:25:56.517
VIRGINIA: All right, so let's hop back over to your afternoon break.

00:25:56.517 --> 00:25:57.537
VIRGINIA: Did you get some pool time in?

00:25:57.537 --> 00:26:00.157
KIM: No, because it was still storming.

00:26:00.157 --> 00:26:03.857
KIM: We introduced my kids to something called the Jacuzzi.

00:26:03.857 --> 00:26:04.937
VIRGINIA: Oh, okay.

00:26:04.937 --> 00:26:05.977
KIM: They loved it.

00:26:05.997 --> 00:26:08.677
KIM: It was just as good as the pool.

00:26:08.677 --> 00:26:09.497
VIRGINIA: Sounds good.

00:26:09.497 --> 00:26:19.977
VIRGINIA: And with your shoes being as wet as they were, did you need to change shoes for the rest of your day, or did you use your dryer to dry your shoes off?

00:26:19.977 --> 00:26:27.737
KIM: So for me and my husband, we had packed multiple pairs of shoes, but my kids actually don't own a lot of shoes.

00:26:27.737 --> 00:26:34.697
KIM: And so I spent their Jacuzzi time using the hairdryer to dry their shoes.

00:26:34.697 --> 00:26:35.677
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:26:35.677 --> 00:26:50.477
VIRGINIA: Yeah, I will have the same issue with Alex sometimes because if you're not a parent and you're listening to this episode, when your kids are younger, their feet are growing at such a rate that it makes no sense to have a ton of shoes.

00:26:50.477 --> 00:26:59.457
VIRGINIA: So for Alex, generally, he has his main pair of sneakers and then if he plays a sport, he has the shoes that go with the sport.

00:26:59.457 --> 00:27:05.677
VIRGINIA: And then if we have a nice event that comes up, I buy the shoes for that event right before it happens.

00:27:06.137 --> 00:27:10.517
VIRGINIA: We're not sitting around with a bunch of different options for him for shoes.

00:27:10.517 --> 00:27:12.437
VIRGINIA: So I totally get it.

00:27:12.437 --> 00:27:14.337
VIRGINIA: Ugh, what a nightmare.

00:27:14.337 --> 00:27:14.917
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:27:14.917 --> 00:27:17.737
VIRGINIA: Well, what time did you end up going back over to the park?

00:27:17.737 --> 00:27:20.697
VIRGINIA: because I know you did have dinner plans at Ohana.

00:27:20.697 --> 00:27:22.477
VIRGINIA: So I'm wondering about the timing.

00:27:22.477 --> 00:27:26.057
KIM: So we had five o'clock reservations at Ohana.

00:27:26.057 --> 00:27:29.297
KIM: That was a great meal, actually.

00:27:29.297 --> 00:27:36.817
KIM: The kids got to ride the monorail and the meal is probably one of our favorites.

00:27:36.817 --> 00:27:40.397
VIRGINIA: Did you go straight there from your afternoon break over to your dinner?

00:27:40.397 --> 00:27:46.697
KIM: Yeah, we went to dinner first and then we took the monorail back over to Magic Kingdom.

00:27:46.697 --> 00:27:49.297
VIRGINIA: And this was your very first time eating at Ohana, right?

00:27:49.497 --> 00:27:50.117
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:27:50.117 --> 00:27:50.617
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:27:50.617 --> 00:27:51.817
VIRGINIA: And the whole family loved it.

00:27:51.817 --> 00:27:53.037
VIRGINIA: So that's amazing.

00:27:53.037 --> 00:27:54.317
KIM: Okay.

00:27:54.317 --> 00:27:54.837
VIRGINIA: That's a win.

00:27:54.837 --> 00:27:59.557
KIM: We arrived at Magic Kingdom around 6.40, 6.45.

00:28:00.517 --> 00:28:16.637
KIM: And then we still stuck with our original or not our original plan but the original area of Adventureland and Frontierland because we still had not gotten to ride a lot of those rides because of the rain.

00:28:16.637 --> 00:28:19.637
KIM: By this time, the rain had finally stopped.

00:28:19.637 --> 00:28:24.977
KIM: And so we got Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Pirates was back up.

00:28:24.977 --> 00:28:25.777
KIM: So we did that.

00:28:26.357 --> 00:28:33.217
KIM: And then we did the very, we decided to venture into the very edge of Fantasyland Road.

00:28:33.217 --> 00:28:35.057
KIM: It's a small world.

00:28:35.057 --> 00:28:40.997
KIM: And then by that time, it was 8.45 and we had to go find a spot for fireworks.

00:28:40.997 --> 00:28:41.517
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:28:41.517 --> 00:28:43.717
VIRGINIA: That was the last thing you did that day, right?

00:28:43.717 --> 00:28:47.277
KIM: Actually, after fireworks, we were feeling pretty good.

00:28:47.277 --> 00:28:49.037
KIM: So I mean, it's the first day.

00:28:49.037 --> 00:28:52.397
KIM: We didn't expend a whole lot of energy that day.

00:28:52.397 --> 00:29:01.697
KIM: And so we squeezed in one last ride after fireworks, which was Space Mountain, because there was no weight for that.

00:29:01.697 --> 00:29:09.757
KIM: I think everybody gave up after the rain and went home or back to their hotel, because the crowds were super low that night.

00:29:09.757 --> 00:29:15.637
KIM: There was so much room in front of the castle for Happily Ever After.

00:29:15.637 --> 00:29:20.117
KIM: I've never seen it that dispersed before.

00:29:20.117 --> 00:29:20.457
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:29:20.457 --> 00:29:22.937
VIRGINIA: Sometimes that rain can work in your favor in that way.

00:29:24.437 --> 00:29:24.757
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:29:24.757 --> 00:29:30.677
VIRGINIA: Wednesday, June the 12th and Thursday, June the 13th were also both Magic Kingdom Days.

00:29:30.677 --> 00:29:34.717
VIRGINIA: We have a lot more days to go, so I want to make sure that we get everything in.

00:29:34.717 --> 00:29:43.617
VIRGINIA: Wednesday, you mentioned that you had plans for dinner at California Grill, which is a tradition for you every trip.

00:29:43.617 --> 00:29:48.417
VIRGINIA: You also had a DVC preview of Tiana's Bayou Adventure this day.

00:29:48.417 --> 00:29:49.677
VIRGINIA: What were the highlights for Wednesday?

00:29:49.677 --> 00:29:51.677
KIM: Those are literally the highlights for Wednesday.

00:29:53.257 --> 00:29:57.897
KIM: because we were so paranoid from the rain that had happened the previous day.

00:29:57.897 --> 00:30:00.117
KIM: I was checking the forecast.

00:30:00.117 --> 00:30:02.177
KIM: I was like, okay, I see the clouds.

00:30:02.177 --> 00:30:06.137
KIM: It looks like it's going to possibly rain in the morning.

00:30:07.197 --> 00:30:10.677
KIM: We decided, okay, scrap the plans.

00:30:10.677 --> 00:30:22.017
KIM: We're just going to stay in the hotel in the morning, maybe jump in the pool, and then we have to go to the park in the afternoon because that's when our Tiana's reservation was for.

00:30:22.757 --> 00:30:31.617
KIM: So our day basically was going to center around making that Tiana's reservation, and if it got delayed or whatever, we would be prepared for that.

00:30:31.617 --> 00:30:32.377
VIRGINIA: How did that go?

00:30:32.377 --> 00:30:37.457
VIRGINIA: because I know they've had some issues and some people's previews got canceled because of technical difficulty.

00:30:37.457 --> 00:30:38.497
VIRGINIA: So did you make it on the ride?

00:30:38.497 --> 00:30:43.717
KIM: Miraculously, it went off exactly on time as scheduled.

00:30:43.717 --> 00:30:45.317
KIM: We got in line at two o'clock.

00:30:46.137 --> 00:30:48.737
KIM: We got on the ride fairly shortly after that.

00:30:48.737 --> 00:30:52.577
KIM: The line was scary long, but it moved fast.

00:30:52.577 --> 00:30:55.337
KIM: And then we rode a few rides after that.

00:30:55.337 --> 00:31:00.617
KIM: We were super hot and went back to the hotel and got ready for our dinner.

00:31:00.617 --> 00:31:01.057
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:31:01.057 --> 00:31:10.437
VIRGINIA: And you had scheduled that dinner during how many hours after so that's always a good idea when you're going to eat at California Grill because that is such a great view.

00:31:10.437 --> 00:31:14.857
VIRGINIA: And did you end up watching it from inside California Grill or did you go outside?

00:31:14.897 --> 00:31:17.137
KIM: I went outside on the balcony.

00:31:18.377 --> 00:31:24.357
KIM: Turns out that you can actually see the Epcot fireworks from California Grill as well.

00:31:24.377 --> 00:31:31.597
KIM: And so there were a bunch of people outside, but on the other side of the restaurant looking at those.

00:31:31.597 --> 00:31:35.737
KIM: And then I did not do that because I was still eating.

00:31:35.737 --> 00:31:38.637
KIM: But I think my husband went out for that.

00:31:38.637 --> 00:31:44.357
KIM: And then we kind of switched to the other side of the restaurant for happily ever after.

00:31:44.777 --> 00:31:45.237
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:31:45.237 --> 00:31:54.797
VIRGINIA: And Thursday, June the 13th, before doing your Magic Kingdom Time, this was a checkout day for you because that evening you were heading over to Vero Beach.

00:31:54.797 --> 00:32:00.077
VIRGINIA: So what time did you get out of your room and head over to the park?

00:32:00.077 --> 00:32:04.137
KIM: We checked out around 11 o'clock.

00:32:04.137 --> 00:32:06.817
KIM: We had to call Bell Services to help us.

00:32:06.817 --> 00:32:10.357
KIM: And they said it was no big deal if we were a few minutes late.

00:32:10.357 --> 00:32:12.977
KIM: So I think it was technically closer to 1130.

00:32:13.597 --> 00:32:14.797
KIM: When we left.

00:32:14.797 --> 00:32:20.117
KIM: So at this time, this was not exactly planned out.

00:32:20.117 --> 00:32:27.337
KIM: But my friend Katie, 2 plus 3 Travelers, she was there.

00:32:27.337 --> 00:32:30.057
KIM: I think she arrived that day.

00:32:30.077 --> 00:32:37.417
KIM: And she said, oh, we just made reservations at 1900 Park Fair.

00:32:37.417 --> 00:32:40.277
KIM: I said, oh, we're about to head to the Magic Kingdom.

00:32:40.517 --> 00:32:43.677
KIM: So let's just take the monorail over.

00:32:43.677 --> 00:32:44.697
KIM: And I met her.

00:32:44.697 --> 00:32:49.317
KIM: We talked for a few minutes, did the hug and the picture.

00:32:49.317 --> 00:32:53.917
KIM: And then they went to their reservation and we went to the park.

00:32:53.917 --> 00:32:54.377
VIRGINIA: Perfect.

00:32:54.377 --> 00:32:55.937
VIRGINIA: Have you ever met in person before?

00:32:55.937 --> 00:32:59.117
KIM: No, I've not met anybody in person before this trip.

00:32:59.117 --> 00:32:59.517
VIRGINIA: Oh, wow.

00:32:59.517 --> 00:33:00.017
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:33:00.917 --> 00:33:09.077
VIRGINIA: Well, that's the amazing thing about the Disney community is that you can have literal friends out there that you chat with all the time.

00:33:09.697 --> 00:33:13.997
VIRGINIA: And then one day you magically get to meet each other in Disney.

00:33:13.997 --> 00:33:17.157
VIRGINIA: So I'm glad that worked out for you.

00:33:17.157 --> 00:33:19.697
VIRGINIA: What was your Magic Kingdom Titan like this day?

00:33:19.697 --> 00:33:20.797
VIRGINIA: Did you have a particular focus?

00:33:20.797 --> 00:33:23.717
KIM: We were focused on Tomorrowland.

00:33:23.717 --> 00:33:31.877
KIM: So we had lunch at Cosmic Rays and then we did pretty much all the rides in Tomorrowland.

00:33:31.877 --> 00:33:38.237
KIM: I had tried several times the previous day to get the virtual queue for Tron and not gotten it.

00:33:38.457 --> 00:33:42.597
KIM: So I said, fine, I'm paying the individual Lightning Lane.

00:33:42.597 --> 00:33:44.057
KIM: Did that.

00:33:44.057 --> 00:33:51.817
KIM: It was so worth it to just pay and not have to worry about when your virtual queue might get called.

00:33:51.817 --> 00:33:52.837
KIM: Loved that.

00:33:52.837 --> 00:33:57.677
VIRGINIA: And that was the first time for the entire family because it had been a while since you'd been back.

00:33:57.677 --> 00:33:59.397
VIRGINIA: So all five of you loved it?

00:33:59.397 --> 00:33:59.557
KIM: Yes.

00:33:59.977 --> 00:34:01.097
VIRGINIA: Okay, good.

00:34:01.097 --> 00:34:01.977
VIRGINIA: Good, good, good.

00:34:01.977 --> 00:34:11.397
KIM: We left the park about four o'clock because we hadn't really shopped at the, shopped anywhere.

00:34:11.397 --> 00:34:19.197
KIM: And we were going to go back to the Contemporary before our dinner reservation, which was also at the Contemporary.

00:34:19.197 --> 00:34:22.797
KIM: We had a five o'clock reservation at Steakhouse 71.

00:34:22.817 --> 00:34:25.737
KIM: And so we just did some shopping around.

00:34:25.737 --> 00:34:29.537
KIM: We checked out the arcade and our dinner was good.

00:34:30.897 --> 00:34:34.997
KIM: And then at seven o'clock, we left for Vero Beach.

00:34:34.997 --> 00:34:35.717
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:34:35.717 --> 00:34:37.437
VIRGINIA: How long is that drive?

00:34:37.437 --> 00:34:38.517
VIRGINIA: Was it, did you say it was two hours?

00:34:38.517 --> 00:34:39.417
KIM: It was about two hours.

00:34:39.437 --> 00:34:41.837
KIM: It took us an hour 45.

00:34:41.837 --> 00:34:42.457
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:34:42.457 --> 00:34:44.917
VIRGINIA: Way to put the pedal to the metal.

00:34:46.657 --> 00:34:47.557
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:34:47.557 --> 00:34:55.257
VIRGINIA: So Friday, June the 14th, Saturday, June the 15th, you were enjoying your Vero Beach time.

00:34:55.257 --> 00:34:57.317
VIRGINIA: This was going to be relaxing.

00:34:57.537 --> 00:35:02.177
VIRGINIA: There's obviously resort activities, but it's not like a Disney Park Day.

00:35:02.177 --> 00:35:13.057
VIRGINIA: So I think we can combine these two days and just tell us how the meals were and what resort activities you would recommend to somebody else who might be checking out.

00:35:13.057 --> 00:35:19.357
KIM: So they have two main restaurants at that resort.

00:35:19.357 --> 00:35:22.637
KIM: They have confusing names because they're both called Wind and Waves.

00:35:23.397 --> 00:35:27.497
KIM: One is called Wind and Waves Grill and that's more of the sit-down restaurant.

00:35:27.497 --> 00:35:32.137
KIM: And then they have Wind and Waves Market, which is more of a quick service style.

00:35:32.137 --> 00:35:34.117
KIM: You just grab your stuff and go.

00:35:34.137 --> 00:35:42.557
KIM: And so I had reservations for Wind and Waves Grill for both days, breakfast and dinner.

00:35:42.557 --> 00:35:53.837
KIM: We had a normal style breakfast and had to try what they're famous for, which is their Key Lime Mickey Waffles, which is a Mickey Waffle.

00:35:53.837 --> 00:35:59.897
KIM: It's stuffed in the middle with a Key Lime curd and then drizzled with a raspberry sauce.

00:35:59.897 --> 00:36:04.537
KIM: They were very good, very sweet, by the way.

00:36:04.537 --> 00:36:15.757
KIM: And then the other breakfast we had was their Character Breakfast, which is more standard food, not a buffet, but just standard breakfast food.

00:36:15.777 --> 00:36:19.837
KIM: And they have two characters and they, it was fun.

00:36:20.017 --> 00:36:21.577
VIRGINIA: Which characters do you see?

00:36:21.577 --> 00:36:23.897
KIM: I believe it was Pluto and Goofy.

00:36:23.897 --> 00:36:24.357
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:36:24.357 --> 00:36:25.777
VIRGINIA: Are they wearing beach attire?

00:36:25.777 --> 00:36:26.177
KIM: Yes.

00:36:27.157 --> 00:36:29.297
KIM: Okay.

00:36:29.297 --> 00:36:30.017
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:36:30.017 --> 00:36:31.917
VIRGINIA: And what about those resort activities?

00:36:31.917 --> 00:36:41.857
KIM: If we ever go back, I would stay for more days because we were not able to get nearly as many things done as I was hoping to.

00:36:41.857 --> 00:36:43.957
KIM: But one day we did go to the beach.

00:36:43.957 --> 00:36:50.757
KIM: The beach is really pretty, but the waves were super strong.

00:36:50.757 --> 00:36:57.017
KIM: And it was not a great experience for the family.

00:36:57.017 --> 00:37:01.197
KIM: My littlest one, he's pretty small for his age.

00:37:01.197 --> 00:37:07.097
KIM: And he got knocked down within the first five minutes of being there.

00:37:07.097 --> 00:37:10.477
KIM: And he was like, I'm not going back in.

00:37:10.477 --> 00:37:21.097
KIM: And then while trying to convince him to go back in, I got knocked over and I was holding my husband's phone at the time.

00:37:21.097 --> 00:37:25.217
KIM: His phone is the waterproof one.

00:37:25.217 --> 00:37:29.057
KIM: So, but I did lose it.

00:37:29.057 --> 00:37:30.437
VIRGINIA: Oh, wait, you lost it completely?

00:37:30.437 --> 00:37:31.917
KIM: Yes.

00:37:31.937 --> 00:37:40.797
KIM: I completely like it fell out of my hand, which I feel like an idiot for thinking that I could take it into the water.

00:37:40.797 --> 00:37:43.857
KIM: But I've done this so many times before at Texas Beach.

00:37:44.417 --> 00:37:50.897
KIM: And never even come close to losing my grip or getting knocked over.

00:37:50.897 --> 00:37:56.577
KIM: So that was just not a smart idea, but not what I was expecting either.

00:37:56.577 --> 00:38:00.077
VIRGINIA: We all are so dependent on our phones these days.

00:38:00.077 --> 00:38:08.697
VIRGINIA: So did this mean that there had to be some phone business that needed to be taken care of in the middle of your vacation?

00:38:08.697 --> 00:38:16.137
KIM: So it kind of worked out for Caleb anyway, because then he didn't have to be at the beach any longer.

00:38:16.137 --> 00:38:23.917
KIM: But my husband, he did leave the beach to go to the AT&T store to get a new phone.

00:38:23.917 --> 00:38:31.317
KIM: It wasn't horrible because he was almost due for an upgrade and his phone had charging problems.

00:38:31.317 --> 00:38:34.157
KIM: It was not in great shape.

00:38:34.157 --> 00:38:41.817
KIM: But still, nobody wants to leave the beach and go to the AT&T store while on vacation.

00:38:41.817 --> 00:38:49.317
KIM: So that took a few hours of his afternoon and then the transfer all the data.

00:38:49.317 --> 00:38:58.737
KIM: But we didn't let it ruin our time and we still managed to have a good day after he came back.

00:38:58.737 --> 00:39:03.857
VIRGINIA: I'm glad you kept your spirits positive in spite of that.

00:39:04.377 --> 00:39:05.257
KIM: I love the resort.

00:39:05.357 --> 00:39:10.337
KIM: I'd love to go back, but I'm not sure if we would do the beach again.

00:39:10.337 --> 00:39:13.657
KIM: I don't know if Caleb would allow us to do the beach again.

00:39:13.657 --> 00:39:18.097
KIM: Anyway, but we enjoyed the pool the next day.

00:39:18.097 --> 00:39:19.437
KIM: Pool is great.

00:39:19.437 --> 00:39:22.137
KIM: It's just like your standard pool activities.

00:39:22.137 --> 00:39:26.137
KIM: They have the water slide, DJ, things like that.

00:39:26.137 --> 00:39:34.057
KIM: And then the resort activities we made it to were, we did the Mickey tie-dye t-shirts, which took about an hour.

00:39:34.057 --> 00:39:37.477
KIM: And it was actually a lot more involved than I thought it would be.

00:39:37.477 --> 00:39:48.617
KIM: I did some tie-dye in college, but apparently I didn't do it right because this had a lot more steps, like you had to soak it and baking soda.

00:39:48.617 --> 00:39:54.237
KIM: And there are so many steps and the colors came out so much more vibrant though.

00:39:54.237 --> 00:39:55.697
KIM: So I guess it was worth it.

00:39:55.697 --> 00:39:57.457
KIM: And we had a lot of fun.

00:39:58.077 --> 00:40:05.717
KIM: And I think the best part actually was, so my son Ryan, he's not able to do this activity on his own.

00:40:05.717 --> 00:40:12.117
KIM: So we were all trying to do his shirt for him at the same time as doing our own shirt.

00:40:12.117 --> 00:40:19.717
KIM: And so there was a cast member, his name is Kevin, and he came over and started helping us.

00:40:19.717 --> 00:40:31.497
KIM: He was the nicest, most patient, like he picked up right away on the ways that he should be speaking, and he knew exactly how to help us.

00:40:31.497 --> 00:40:45.057
KIM: So when we came back to the crafting hall in the afternoon, we were going to do canvas painting for me, and the kids, they wanted to make a Disney pillow.

00:40:45.057 --> 00:40:50.277
KIM: Kevin was there as well, and he helped the kids with their pillows.

00:40:50.877 --> 00:40:54.757
KIM: So that was an extra surprise bonus.

00:40:54.757 --> 00:41:01.197
KIM: We had such a good time with him, but I actually cried when we said goodbye.

00:41:02.577 --> 00:41:19.957
VIRGINIA: I'll be honest, I'm like tearing up a little bit too, just because I think Disney cast members are the best, and you know, they're all usually very good, but some stand out, you know, so much more than others, because you can just tell how much they really care.

00:41:20.897 --> 00:41:43.077
KIM: So yeah, like all the cast members were super nice, but you just know when you have a child who doesn't speak and is not able to understand a lot of things that you're doing, and you have somebody who is able to make that connection with them, it's just a special thing that you'll never forget.

00:41:43.077 --> 00:41:43.837
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:41:43.837 --> 00:41:55.937
VIRGINIA: Well, shout out to Kevin and to all the other cast members out there who just, you know, are able to make every family's trip magical.

00:41:55.937 --> 00:41:59.457
VIRGINIA: And it's just so heartwarming to hear.

00:41:59.457 --> 00:42:03.397
KIM: So you are able to send.

00:42:03.397 --> 00:42:07.177
VIRGINIA: Hold on listeners while Kim and I get ourselves together.

00:42:07.177 --> 00:42:13.417
KIM: I was just saying, you are able to send cast compliments through the app to Vero Beach cast members as well.

00:42:13.417 --> 00:42:16.097
VIRGINIA: That's very good news.

00:42:16.097 --> 00:42:16.717
VIRGINIA: And we're back.

00:42:17.077 --> 00:42:22.737
VIRGINIA: We have gotten ourselves together and we're ready to continue talking.

00:42:22.737 --> 00:42:26.097
VIRGINIA: Sometimes it gets emotional here on Where I Long To Be.

00:42:27.277 --> 00:42:27.997
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:42:27.997 --> 00:42:33.897
VIRGINIA: So you were heading back over to Disney on Sunday, June the 16th.

00:42:33.897 --> 00:42:38.257
VIRGINIA: And for this portion of the trip, you were going to be staying at the Boardwalk.

00:42:38.257 --> 00:42:41.937
VIRGINIA: So you had hoped to arrive around noon.

00:42:41.937 --> 00:42:45.497
VIRGINIA: What time did you actually end up arriving back on Disney?

00:42:45.537 --> 00:42:49.977
KIM: Miraculously, we were able to arrive around noon.

00:42:49.977 --> 00:42:56.617
KIM: I was unsure because I had to wake up a lot earlier than I had planned.

00:42:56.617 --> 00:43:04.497
KIM: My kids, last minute, they decided, hey, we want to go see the sea turtles in the morning.

00:43:04.497 --> 00:43:12.097
KIM: And so we had to wake up, seven o'clock was the earliest that I was okay with.

00:43:13.237 --> 00:43:27.617
KIM: So it was not early enough to actually see any sea turtles live on the beach, but we did find an animal expert who showed us sea turtle tracks and nests.

00:43:27.617 --> 00:43:31.037
VIRGINIA: I know Vero Beach is known for their sea turtles.

00:43:31.037 --> 00:43:38.397
VIRGINIA: I know I've looked it up before, but is it always this time of year when the baby turtles are making their way into the ocean?

00:43:38.677 --> 00:43:41.277
KIM: Sea turtle season starts around June.

00:43:41.677 --> 00:43:50.617
KIM: So this is the time where they're nesting and then it'll be closer to end of July, I think, when they actually hatch.

00:43:51.697 --> 00:43:56.797
KIM: So we're only able to see the moms if they were to come up during the night.

00:43:57.177 --> 00:44:06.517
KIM: And so I hope they enjoyed that because it was a little early and it was kind of hot.

00:44:06.517 --> 00:44:10.097
KIM: It was 7 o'clock, still kind of hot.

00:44:10.097 --> 00:44:12.877
KIM: So back to Epcot.

00:44:12.877 --> 00:44:19.777
KIM: Our plans were to go to Epcot because we were pulling into the boardwalk and that would be convenient.

00:44:21.397 --> 00:44:27.517
KIM: We had to do a little Tetris because we had to.

00:44:27.517 --> 00:44:29.257
KIM: So I checked into the boardwalk online.

00:44:29.257 --> 00:44:32.517
KIM: Of course, our room's not ready yet because it's only 12 o'clock.

00:44:32.517 --> 00:44:32.957
VIRGINIA: Right.

00:44:32.957 --> 00:44:37.817
KIM: And we had our, so our stroller was a medical rental.

00:44:37.817 --> 00:44:52.097
KIM: However, what we did not think about in advance was that we would have to carry our full van of luggage and this medical stroller to Vero Beach and it wasn't going to fit.

00:44:52.097 --> 00:45:07.017
KIM: So Bell Services, they actually informed us that they could keep the stroller for us as in part of their long-term storage, which is a service they have for people like going on a cruise or something.

00:45:07.017 --> 00:45:10.857
KIM: You can just leave your stuff and then pick it up when you come back.

00:45:11.697 --> 00:45:13.957
KIM: So we go, perfect.

00:45:13.957 --> 00:45:19.577
KIM: And so, but our stroller was still stuck at Bay Lake Tower.

00:45:19.577 --> 00:45:41.757
KIM: So what we and because we couldn't carry the stroller and our luggage at the same time, we had to drop off our luggage at Boardwalk with Bell Services, then drive to Bay Lake Tower, pick up our stroller and then drive back to, I think we ended up parking, just parking at Epcot instead of Boardwalk.

00:45:41.757 --> 00:45:48.637
KIM: By the time we actually got into Epcot and we're eating lunch, it was around 1.30.

00:45:48.637 --> 00:45:49.177
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:45:49.177 --> 00:45:55.217
VIRGINIA: And you had planned to eat at Connections Cafe for, I think the first time.

00:45:55.217 --> 00:45:55.757
KIM: Yes.

00:45:55.757 --> 00:45:56.337
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:45:56.337 --> 00:45:58.037
VIRGINIA: So how did that go?

00:45:58.037 --> 00:46:00.237
VIRGINIA: Did you, I assume you mobile order?

00:46:00.237 --> 00:46:06.297
KIM: We did mobile order, but because I guess a lot of people were eating at the same time, it took a long time to get our order.

00:46:07.017 --> 00:46:11.577
KIM: I think we waited for almost 25, 30 minutes.

00:46:11.577 --> 00:46:12.017
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:46:12.017 --> 00:46:15.497
VIRGINIA: That was the same for me the previous week with Alex.

00:46:15.497 --> 00:46:17.097
VIRGINIA: So, yeah.

00:46:17.097 --> 00:46:27.037
KIM: So our priority for this day was to do test track because of the last day it was open before refurbishment.

00:46:27.817 --> 00:46:35.257
KIM: And we had also, I had given up on the virtual queue thing with my Tron experience.

00:46:35.257 --> 00:46:42.477
KIM: I had planned to buy the individual light and lane for Guardians of the Galaxy, Cosmic Rewind.

00:46:42.477 --> 00:46:46.317
KIM: I tried to do the virtual queue anyway, just like, haha, let's see what happens.

00:46:46.317 --> 00:46:48.757
KIM: And I had gotten like boarding group five.

00:46:51.657 --> 00:46:54.317
KIM: We're still in Vero Beach at the time.

00:46:54.317 --> 00:46:57.977
KIM: So I was like, okay, well, I can't make it for that.

00:46:57.977 --> 00:46:59.877
VIRGINIA: They're usually good about that though.

00:46:59.877 --> 00:47:00.837
VIRGINIA: Did you try to use it?

00:47:00.837 --> 00:47:02.817
KIM: No, I just want the individual lane.

00:47:02.817 --> 00:47:06.857
KIM: because we were going to arrive way, way late.

00:47:06.857 --> 00:47:21.817
VIRGINIA: For future reference with Cosmic Rewind specifically, I'm not talking about Tron, but Cosmic Rewind specifically, I have never been turned away when I've shown up with a virtual queue much later than I was scheduled for.

00:47:21.817 --> 00:47:31.757
VIRGINIA: If that ever happens to you again, you get the virtual queue, it doesn't matter what time, as long as it's after your time, you just walk up and you say, oh, we were at Vero Beach, can we still do it?

00:47:32.417 --> 00:47:33.957
VIRGINIA: I've never had them say no.

00:47:33.957 --> 00:47:35.757
KIM: Good to know.

00:47:35.757 --> 00:47:37.777
VIRGINIA: But you bought the individual lightning lane?

00:47:37.777 --> 00:47:40.097
VIRGINIA: I did, yes.

00:47:40.097 --> 00:47:46.917
VIRGINIA: We had talked a little bit on your pre-trip report about how sometimes you get a little motion sickness.

00:47:48.317 --> 00:47:51.977
VIRGINIA: How did you do on Guardians if you ended up riding it?

00:47:51.977 --> 00:47:56.417
VIRGINIA: Did you take anything beforehand to help with that or how did it really go?

00:47:56.437 --> 00:48:06.517
KIM: I decided not to take anything because I had done surprisingly well at Universal with some of their rides and not getting sick and so I was like, I'll try it.

00:48:06.517 --> 00:48:14.957
KIM: I did not get sick, although it was a little bit borderline, if it had just been a little bit more maybe.

00:48:14.957 --> 00:48:16.517
KIM: But I wouldn't have been that sick.

00:48:16.637 --> 00:48:20.337
KIM: It would just be like for a couple of minutes and then it would be over.

00:48:22.037 --> 00:48:23.037
KIM: We loved it.

00:48:23.037 --> 00:48:23.957
KIM: It was great.

00:48:23.957 --> 00:48:34.557
KIM: I was also spoiler free and so I was just, I was like, what is happening here?

00:48:36.997 --> 00:48:40.197
KIM: I still don't even know what exactly was happening.

00:48:40.197 --> 00:48:43.197
KIM: Probably have to go back and watch some YouTube videos or something.

00:48:45.077 --> 00:48:46.697
KIM: But it was great.

00:48:46.697 --> 00:48:48.117
VIRGINIA: Do you remember what song you got?

00:48:48.117 --> 00:48:48.777
KIM: Yes.

00:48:48.777 --> 00:48:50.157
KIM: We got September.

00:48:50.157 --> 00:48:50.937
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:48:50.937 --> 00:48:53.217
VIRGINIA: There are some people who have a really hard time getting September.

00:48:54.377 --> 00:48:57.117
VIRGINIA: Probably some jealous friends out there right now.

00:48:57.117 --> 00:48:58.277
KIM: Yes.

00:48:58.277 --> 00:48:59.717
KIM: Love that song.

00:48:59.717 --> 00:49:05.197
VIRGINIA: I have in my notes that there were some other things that you had never done before at UpCut.

00:49:05.197 --> 00:49:14.757
VIRGINIA: Did you get to do the Moana experience or see the Walt statue or even go in Communicore Hall because I know that opened while you were there?

00:49:14.757 --> 00:49:16.277
KIM: Yes.

00:49:16.277 --> 00:49:18.237
KIM: All of the above.

00:49:18.237 --> 00:49:31.057
KIM: For Communicore Hall, I didn't go in the actual main hall portion, but we did do the new Meet Mickey and Friends that they have there, which is on the side.

00:49:32.217 --> 00:49:42.297
KIM: It's a great area, short queue, and you get to meet, I think it's Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy?

00:49:43.877 --> 00:49:47.657
KIM: There's three characters that you get to meet there.

00:49:49.557 --> 00:49:57.117
KIM: Journey of Water, that was also something I wanted to do that day because I dressed up as Tofiti.

00:49:57.117 --> 00:50:02.857
KIM: So, it definitely would have been appropriate for that.

00:50:02.857 --> 00:50:17.397
KIM: And then the Walt statue, we also did encounter on our way, I believe to, we crisscrossed that front area so many times, but I think we encountered it on the way to go eat lunch.

00:50:17.397 --> 00:50:21.317
KIM: It is very hot in the afternoon there.

00:50:21.897 --> 00:50:31.137
KIM: Like, you could barely sit down on that, I think it's concrete or stone bench.

00:50:32.037 --> 00:50:32.737
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:50:32.737 --> 00:50:33.417
KIM: Yep.

00:50:33.417 --> 00:50:34.157
VIRGINIA: I imagine so.

00:50:34.157 --> 00:50:36.557
VIRGINIA: It's sort of like sitting down on a griddle.

00:50:40.177 --> 00:50:41.437
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:50:41.437 --> 00:50:47.617
VIRGINIA: Well, you also had dinner plans for Garden Grill, which was going to be a first time thing for you.

00:50:47.617 --> 00:50:49.117
VIRGINIA: So, did you make it over there?

00:50:49.117 --> 00:50:51.237
VIRGINIA: And if so, how did you feel about it?

00:50:51.277 --> 00:50:52.597
KIM: It was great.

00:50:52.597 --> 00:51:04.457
KIM: The restaurant itself, it rotates and I've heard some people can get a little bit dizzy or sick with that, but it did not affect me.

00:51:04.457 --> 00:51:12.337
KIM: The food was good and this is probably our favorite character interaction meal.

00:51:12.337 --> 00:51:14.557
KIM: The characters were super-duper-

00:51:14.557 --> 00:51:19.457
KIM: It was a little awkward because of the way that the tables are.

00:51:20.277 --> 00:51:23.777
KIM: It's like a semi-circle booth, kind of.

00:51:23.777 --> 00:51:24.237
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:51:24.237 --> 00:51:28.017
VIRGINIA: If you have people sitting in the middle that want to get out and get a picture, it is a little awkward.

00:51:28.017 --> 00:51:34.917
KIM: Every single time, all five of us had to get up, and then we would block the whole path.

00:51:34.917 --> 00:51:43.697
KIM: But the great part is once you got that initial picture, the characters still go around at least three or four more times that we saw them.

00:51:44.497 --> 00:51:51.937
KIM: Then after that, you could just, or we stayed in our seats and we would just like wave and they would just stare.

00:51:52.137 --> 00:51:53.537
VIRGINIA: Talk to them from the table.

00:51:53.537 --> 00:51:54.777
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:51:54.777 --> 00:52:01.117
VIRGINIA: You also had big plans to maybe, it was a big maybe, but see Luminous for the first time.

00:52:01.117 --> 00:52:01.857
KIM: Yes.

00:52:01.857 --> 00:52:03.817
VIRGINIA: So did you make it to Luminous?

00:52:05.277 --> 00:52:12.357
KIM: I think we were planning to try to see it from the former future world side.

00:52:13.917 --> 00:52:15.177
KIM: Of the lake.

00:52:16.377 --> 00:52:24.097
KIM: So as I was walking there, I saw this area that was roped off, and there was a cast member standing there.

00:52:24.097 --> 00:52:28.797
KIM: I go, do you have wheelchair seating for Luminous?

00:52:28.797 --> 00:52:30.277
KIM: She said yes.

00:52:31.417 --> 00:52:33.897
KIM: There was like nobody there, it was completely empty.

00:52:34.577 --> 00:52:39.577
KIM: And I was like, oh, well, can we get in because I have a wheelchair?

00:52:39.577 --> 00:52:46.737
KIM: And she's like, yes, but we only allow three people.

00:52:46.757 --> 00:52:52.337
KIM: And we're like, oh, well, we have five, so I guess we can't do it.

00:52:52.337 --> 00:53:00.317
KIM: So we kind of park outside of that area because there were still, it wasn't super crowded yet.

00:53:00.317 --> 00:53:02.417
KIM: It was around 830.

00:53:03.657 --> 00:53:06.557
KIM: And so we're like, oh, we'll just stand here.

00:53:06.557 --> 00:53:14.957
KIM: And then my husband and I got to talking and he was like, now why don't you guys go in and I'll just stay here.

00:53:14.957 --> 00:53:15.537
KIM: It's no big deal.

00:53:15.537 --> 00:53:18.097
KIM: It's not like we talk during the fireworks.

00:53:18.117 --> 00:53:20.677
KIM: I was like, well, all right, fine.

00:53:21.897 --> 00:53:31.977
KIM: So I wheeled Ryan and the other kids that came with me and a cast member, she came over to me and she was like, what happened to your husband?

00:53:32.217 --> 00:53:38.457
KIM: And I said, oh, well, he decided to just stay outside so we could come in.

00:53:38.457 --> 00:53:42.517
KIM: And she's like, oh, no, don't do that.

00:53:42.517 --> 00:53:45.857
KIM: And so she went and let him in to join us.

00:53:45.857 --> 00:53:46.817
KIM: So that was-

00:53:46.817 --> 00:53:48.277
VIRGINIA: Good.

00:53:48.277 --> 00:53:58.337
VIRGINIA: I mean, I can understand if it was like multiple families together trying to come in as a group, but one family of five, come on.

00:53:58.337 --> 00:53:59.917
VIRGINIA: So I'm glad that worked out.

00:54:00.097 --> 00:54:02.337
KIM: And it was great, great viewing.

00:54:02.337 --> 00:54:05.817
KIM: I'm sure it would have been great viewing from outside the area too.

00:54:05.817 --> 00:54:06.237
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:54:06.437 --> 00:54:14.537
VIRGINIA: I find that there are more locations that you can view Luminous compared to.

00:54:14.537 --> 00:54:25.057
VIRGINIA: Harmonious with the barges, it made it more difficult to have like an equal viewing spot, but it's easier to see, I think, with Luminous.

00:54:25.057 --> 00:54:25.417
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:54:25.417 --> 00:54:36.877
VIRGINIA: So Monday, June the 17th was an Animal Kingdom Day for you, and I wrote down in my notes that you were hoping to do Flight of Passage because you had never done it before.

00:54:36.877 --> 00:54:48.917
VIRGINIA: You were also hoping to get on dinosaur before it gets changed, and that you've had some bad luck with getting into Lion King in the past few trips, so you were hoping for that too.

00:54:48.917 --> 00:54:50.577
VIRGINIA: So how did the day play out?

00:54:50.577 --> 00:54:53.757
KIM: This is where the fatigue started to set in.

00:54:55.057 --> 00:55:12.237
KIM: We had a late night the night before because after we got out of Luminous, which is not too late, we still had to check in officially with our luggage at Boardwalk, and Bell Service had to bring up our luggage.

00:55:12.237 --> 00:55:14.717
VIRGINIA: I totally forgot that you hadn't done that yet.

00:55:15.757 --> 00:55:23.057
VIRGINIA: Let me get a technical question out of the way, because earlier, did you say that you parked at Epcot instead of Boardwalk?

00:55:23.057 --> 00:55:24.357
KIM: Yes, we parked at Epcot.

00:55:24.357 --> 00:55:29.457
VIRGINIA: So you had to exit the front of Epcot, and then drive around.

00:55:29.457 --> 00:55:30.157
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:55:30.157 --> 00:55:30.697
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:55:30.697 --> 00:55:33.257
VIRGINIA: I was thinking that as you said it, and then I didn't address it again.

00:55:33.257 --> 00:55:34.077
VIRGINIA: So all right.

00:55:34.077 --> 00:55:34.737
KIM: Yes.

00:55:34.737 --> 00:55:35.637
VIRGINIA: Thank you for clarifying.

00:55:35.637 --> 00:55:41.397
KIM: So yeah, we had to drive, and it took a while for our luggage to get in.

00:55:41.397 --> 00:55:44.037
KIM: Once I told them we were there.

00:55:44.037 --> 00:55:46.897
KIM: So we did go to bed kind of late.

00:55:46.897 --> 00:55:53.437
KIM: So by the time we actually made it into Animal Kingdom, it was about 11 o'clock.

00:55:54.077 --> 00:56:01.117
KIM: And I had purchased Genie Plus this day just to make sure we could get everything done.

00:56:01.117 --> 00:56:04.977
KIM: But not enough people were using it.

00:56:04.977 --> 00:56:07.897
KIM: because as I set my alarm for 7 a.m.

00:56:07.897 --> 00:56:14.397
KIM: to book something, I couldn't book anything because the times for everything were too early.

00:56:14.397 --> 00:56:17.737
KIM: Like if I wanted to book the Safari, it was like the Safari in 10 minutes.

00:56:17.857 --> 00:56:27.517
KIM: And I was like, and I like, I keep checking throughout the morning and like, I couldn't book anything because it was just too, everything was too soon.

00:56:27.517 --> 00:56:35.317
VIRGINIA: When that has happened to me and this, by the time this episode airs, this will be a moot point for people because the system no longer exists.

00:56:35.317 --> 00:56:37.937
VIRGINIA: But what I used to do was go ahead and book it anyway.

00:56:37.937 --> 00:56:41.377
VIRGINIA: And then I would just spend the day modifying to get it to where I needed it to be.

00:56:41.377 --> 00:56:44.297
VIRGINIA: That way I like locked in the one thing I wanted to do or whatever.

00:56:44.897 --> 00:56:49.437
VIRGINIA: But yeah, Jeannie Plus, for anybody who's listening, it's a thing of the past.

00:56:49.437 --> 00:56:53.817
VIRGINIA: Don't get too excited if it was exciting for you.

00:56:53.817 --> 00:56:55.417
KIM: All right.

00:56:55.417 --> 00:56:57.577
VIRGINIA: So what you said, you got there at 11.

00:56:57.577 --> 00:57:02.877
VIRGINIA: I know you were planning on having lunch at Flame Tree, which is at the front of the park.

00:57:02.877 --> 00:57:06.277
VIRGINIA: So did you immediately go to lunch or what did you do?

00:57:09.797 --> 00:57:10.077
VIRGINIA: No.

00:57:10.077 --> 00:57:23.837
KIM: Based on what Genie Plus was showing me and what the wait times were around the park, I made a change of plans and we headed towards dinosaur first.

00:57:23.837 --> 00:57:28.677
KIM: It didn't have too long of a wait and we did that area.

00:57:30.337 --> 00:57:37.457
KIM: And then we did go to go eat at Flame Tree.

00:57:37.457 --> 00:57:39.217
KIM: That went well.

00:57:39.217 --> 00:57:52.057
KIM: I think the only thing that issue that we ran into was, so we went to sit down in one of those backside areas that's kind of hidden.

00:57:52.057 --> 00:57:57.597
KIM: And there was another party there and it was like a party of 20 or something.

00:57:58.337 --> 00:58:05.717
KIM: And they had taken all the chairs from all the tables in that area.

00:58:05.717 --> 00:58:06.637
KIM: There weren't a lot of tables.

00:58:06.637 --> 00:58:08.837
KIM: There were maybe like five tables.

00:58:08.837 --> 00:58:11.857
KIM: They took all the chairs and put them at their table.

00:58:11.857 --> 00:58:18.497
KIM: And so I had to go look for more chairs, which was not easy.

00:58:18.497 --> 00:58:24.217
KIM: Luckily, there was a cast member who was able to help me.

00:58:24.217 --> 00:58:25.697
KIM: I think his name was also Kevin.

00:58:26.517 --> 00:58:34.577
KIM: And he totally helped me find chairs, because otherwise that would have been very difficult.

00:58:34.577 --> 00:58:38.077
KIM: The chairs in that area are super heavy.

00:58:38.077 --> 00:58:39.477
KIM: I could barely lift one.

00:58:39.477 --> 00:58:42.337
KIM: I would have been made of metal and they're very big.

00:58:42.337 --> 00:58:47.357
KIM: So that would have taken me a very long time to accomplish myself.

00:58:47.357 --> 00:58:51.117
KIM: So we had a good lunch and then we headed towards Asia.

00:58:52.037 --> 00:58:58.477
KIM: I think by this time I had acquired my, I had started stacking my Genie Pluses.

00:58:58.837 --> 00:59:06.977
KIM: So we headed toward Asia, road, Expedition Everest, and then we were able to finally make it to Pandora.

00:59:06.977 --> 00:59:07.737
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:59:07.737 --> 00:59:10.237
VIRGINIA: So how was Flight of Passage?

00:59:10.237 --> 00:59:11.217
KIM: I loved it.

00:59:11.237 --> 00:59:12.217
KIM: I thought it was good.

00:59:12.217 --> 00:59:23.597
KIM: I did not get sick at all, which I had heard that that's a common enough thing to happen, but I was fine.

00:59:23.597 --> 00:59:27.217
KIM: It was so peaceful and beautiful.

00:59:27.217 --> 00:59:38.217
KIM: Nothing like what I had expected because I did also remain spoiler free for this ride and nothing at all how I had expected it to be.

00:59:38.217 --> 00:59:38.477
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:59:38.477 --> 00:59:39.937
VIRGINIA: You have a lot of self-control, Kim.

00:59:41.717 --> 00:59:58.517
VIRGINIA: But so many things you were like, I was spoiler free on, and I have only recently gotten that kind of self-control for myself, and it was because I had spoiled myself on Rise of the Resistance and have regretted it ever since.

00:59:58.517 --> 01:00:00.017
VIRGINIA: I am not doing that anymore.

01:00:00.017 --> 01:00:03.197
KIM: I do watch the nighttime shows.

01:00:03.197 --> 01:00:08.177
KIM: I will watch those in advance, but the rides I can hold off on.

01:00:08.597 --> 01:00:09.137
KIM: Okay.

01:00:09.137 --> 01:00:09.737
VIRGINIA: Good for you.

01:00:09.737 --> 01:00:11.117
VIRGINIA: Good for you.

01:00:11.117 --> 01:00:12.577
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:00:12.577 --> 01:00:20.597
VIRGINIA: So for dinner, you were planning to head over to Disney Springs this night and try Enzo's Hideaway, and that was for the first time.

01:00:20.597 --> 01:00:23.137
VIRGINIA: And I think you had said that that was Eric's choice.

01:00:23.137 --> 01:00:24.597
VIRGINIA: He really wanted to try that.

01:00:24.597 --> 01:00:29.157
VIRGINIA: So was Eric disappointed or was it a hit?

01:00:29.157 --> 01:00:31.417
KIM: No, we actually loved it.

01:00:33.457 --> 01:00:40.097
KIM: He just wanted to kind of mix things up because he was like, well, we haven't really had Italian this whole trip.

01:00:40.097 --> 01:00:43.757
KIM: So that's kind of why he picked it.

01:00:43.757 --> 01:00:46.257
KIM: But like the decor, the atmosphere was great.

01:00:46.257 --> 01:00:54.177
KIM: I was worried it might not be for kids, but they did great with kids.

01:00:56.017 --> 01:00:59.837
KIM: That may have been the best service we had this whole trip.

01:00:59.957 --> 01:01:07.077
KIM: The waiter was, he showed up like, he was like the kind of waiter that shows up every five minutes to refill your water.

01:01:09.417 --> 01:01:10.777
KIM: So yeah, it was a great meal.

01:01:10.777 --> 01:01:14.037
KIM: We got through super quick.

01:01:14.237 --> 01:01:28.357
KIM: Then afterwards, we met up with Daina, 999 Happy Humps here, and her daughter, Arielle, simply meant to be at Disney.

01:01:30.857 --> 01:01:35.917
KIM: We had a Joffre's, which I don't think I had had the whole trip.

01:01:35.917 --> 01:01:39.777
VIRGINIA: Was it one of the special ones that they have based on whatever season it is?

01:01:39.777 --> 01:01:48.117
KIM: So I took their recommendation and I had the, it was like the roundup Toy Story roundup something or other.

01:01:48.477 --> 01:01:51.477
KIM: It was just decorated fancy.

01:01:52.917 --> 01:01:56.977
KIM: So I don't think it was seasonal, but just something you can't get at home.

01:01:57.997 --> 01:02:03.137
KIM: And so we hung out there for a little while, maybe about 30 minutes.

01:02:03.957 --> 01:02:07.857
KIM: And then the drone show was going on.

01:02:08.397 --> 01:02:11.557
KIM: The magic, was it Dreams That Soar?

01:02:11.557 --> 01:02:13.537
VIRGINIA: Dreams That Soar.

01:02:13.837 --> 01:02:20.417
KIM: So we did not find a spot or park to watch it.

01:02:20.417 --> 01:02:23.497
KIM: We just caught little bits and pieces as we were walking out.

01:02:23.997 --> 01:02:30.917
KIM: because Daina gave us this tip that once the show is over, parking is going to become a nightmare.

01:02:30.917 --> 01:02:35.457
KIM: So we were like, okay, let's get out of here before that happens.

01:02:35.457 --> 01:02:39.257
KIM: So we did leave during the show.

01:02:39.257 --> 01:02:39.917
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:02:39.917 --> 01:02:41.137
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:02:41.137 --> 01:02:49.037
VIRGINIA: And so now we're going to move into Tuesday, June the 18th, which was a Hollywood Studios day for you.

01:02:49.897 --> 01:02:54.097
VIRGINIA: And you had mentioned how much your family loves Hollywood Studios.

01:02:54.097 --> 01:02:59.697
VIRGINIA: So you were planning to spend the whole day there and just really soak in the vibes.

01:02:59.697 --> 01:03:04.117
VIRGINIA: You said that the whole family is Star Wars fans, Toy Story fans.

01:03:04.117 --> 01:03:07.217
VIRGINIA: So this is like your park.

01:03:07.217 --> 01:03:09.917
VIRGINIA: So what did you do in Hollywood Studios?

01:03:09.917 --> 01:03:12.917
KIM: Again, we got there a little later than planned.

01:03:12.917 --> 01:03:21.397
KIM: I think it was close to 12 o'clock by the time we actually were walking in, partly because we couldn't figure out how to get there.

01:03:23.577 --> 01:03:34.817
KIM: So from the boardwalk, there is a walking path, but you couldn't, like when you're looking at it on the map, you had to cross like these rocks to get on there.

01:03:34.817 --> 01:03:38.337
KIM: And we're like, well, that can't be the right way.

01:03:38.337 --> 01:03:41.837
KIM: So we went, we ended up walking all around the resort.

01:03:41.837 --> 01:03:43.477
KIM: We went through the pool.

01:03:43.477 --> 01:03:47.317
KIM: Finally, I just asked someone and we were way off the course.

01:03:48.577 --> 01:03:55.557
VIRGINIA: Yeah, you've got to walk as far down as you can into the DVC side of Boardwalk.

01:03:55.577 --> 01:04:02.677
KIM: Yes, apparently, if we had just made a turn, a different turn at the beginning, it would have been right there.

01:04:02.677 --> 01:04:03.517
KIM: Oh, okay.

01:04:03.517 --> 01:04:07.437
KIM: So that was my fault, I guess.

01:04:07.437 --> 01:04:26.537
KIM: And I guess what I will remember the most about this day is, as soon as we entered the park, there's like this, I don't know what it is, like a store, it's like a little store, almost like a kiosk, it just sells random stuff.

01:04:26.537 --> 01:04:28.997
VIRGINIA: It's the round one in the center.

01:04:28.997 --> 01:04:34.497
VIRGINIA: Yeah, I'm never clear on exactly what the purpose of that little store is, like what are they selling?

01:04:34.497 --> 01:04:35.837
VIRGINIA: It is a bunch of random stuff.

01:04:36.297 --> 01:04:37.397
VIRGINIA: You're right.

01:04:37.397 --> 01:04:52.797
KIM: While I think we were parked there and I was trying to book a disability return time, Caleb saw something at that store and it's a Mickey Mouse.

01:04:52.797 --> 01:04:55.937
KIM: It almost looks like a fan, but it doesn't actually blow air.

01:04:55.937 --> 01:04:58.757
KIM: It's a spinny light-up toy.

01:04:58.757 --> 01:05:12.157
KIM: We had that exact same toy a few years ago, that I had gotten from a Disney store pop-up in Target and I had given it to Ryan for Christmas that year, and it was like $5 at Target.

01:05:12.157 --> 01:05:17.777
KIM: They were selling it for $22, but Ryan loved that toy.

01:05:17.777 --> 01:05:26.397
KIM: He unfortunately dropped it in the Pacific Ocean and it broke after getting wet.

01:05:26.397 --> 01:05:29.117
KIM: So we're like, okay, we have to get it.

01:05:29.917 --> 01:05:32.857
KIM: He spent the rest of the day, like I don't even know if he cared.

01:05:32.857 --> 01:05:38.137
KIM: We were at Hollywood Studios, he spent the rest of the day just looking at this light up toy.

01:05:39.217 --> 01:05:40.837
VIRGINIA: That's cool.

01:05:40.837 --> 01:05:43.957
KIM: So I guess that was like the highlight of our morning.

01:05:45.337 --> 01:05:52.417
KIM: because we did get there kind of late, we didn't really do much before heading for lunch.

01:05:53.957 --> 01:05:57.957
KIM: We did, we got ronto wraps for the first time.

01:05:57.957 --> 01:06:02.717
KIM: For the kids, they can get it without the sauce and the vegetables.

01:06:02.717 --> 01:06:11.037
KIM: It was actually, it was good, but like we're also really hot and it was like not the best thing to eat when you're really hot.

01:06:12.877 --> 01:06:14.737
KIM: But it was fine.

01:06:14.737 --> 01:06:20.597
KIM: We went, we kind of did the Star Wars area first.

01:06:21.437 --> 01:06:24.737
KIM: Then we had a reservation for Ogas Cantina.

01:06:24.737 --> 01:06:25.037
VIRGINIA: Yes.

01:06:25.097 --> 01:06:33.717
VIRGINIA: I know you were a little concerned about the fact that there'd be no chairs potentially if you didn't get a booth and how the kids would handle that.

01:06:34.417 --> 01:06:36.697
KIM: It actually went really great.

01:06:38.217 --> 01:06:46.017
KIM: When you check in, you can select a button that says that you have a wheelchair.

01:06:47.817 --> 01:06:56.197
KIM: So they put us at one of, it's like a standing area, but it's in the very back corner.

01:06:56.197 --> 01:06:58.377
KIM: It's almost like you have your own private bar.

01:06:58.377 --> 01:06:59.857
KIM: It's not at the main bar.

01:06:59.857 --> 01:07:02.517
KIM: It's not like one of those standing tables.

01:07:02.517 --> 01:07:06.037
KIM: It's like a ledge that's against the wall.

01:07:06.817 --> 01:07:10.497
KIM: It's literally like your own private bar.

01:07:10.497 --> 01:07:15.117
KIM: There was another one of those ledges next to that.

01:07:15.557 --> 01:07:18.677
KIM: And there was another family there who...

01:07:18.677 --> 01:07:21.717
KIM: And we're not like social people.

01:07:21.717 --> 01:07:23.237
KIM: We don't...

01:07:23.237 --> 01:07:29.677
KIM: Like we never like would go out to bars or parties or clubs or anything like that.

01:07:29.677 --> 01:07:36.037
KIM: But we really got along with these people and they were super friendly.

01:07:36.037 --> 01:07:39.237
KIM: They had had, I think, a lot to drink.

01:07:42.237 --> 01:07:43.357
VIRGINIA: Hence their friendliness.

01:07:44.797 --> 01:07:49.237
VIRGINIA: I mean, they're probably friendly people to begin with, but let's give them the benefit of the job.

01:07:49.917 --> 01:07:52.877
KIM: But yeah, we had great conversation with them.

01:07:52.877 --> 01:07:55.037
KIM: We had a great time.

01:07:55.037 --> 01:07:57.517
KIM: We all got something to drink.

01:07:57.537 --> 01:08:05.397
KIM: And I got one of the non-alcoholic options just because it was in the middle of the day.

01:08:05.397 --> 01:08:10.137
KIM: And also for health reasons, I tend to not drink very much.

01:08:11.877 --> 01:08:13.517
KIM: And I mean, it was great.

01:08:13.517 --> 01:08:18.437
KIM: I think Ryan drank water and so everybody was fine.

01:08:18.437 --> 01:08:26.137
KIM: There were no problems with like crowdedness or noise or anything.

01:08:26.137 --> 01:08:27.377
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:08:27.377 --> 01:08:31.777
VIRGINIA: So I know that you also had a dinner reservation over at the Brown Derby.

01:08:31.777 --> 01:08:35.717
VIRGINIA: So it sounds like there was a lot of eating this Hollywood Studios day.

01:08:35.717 --> 01:08:39.577
VIRGINIA: So did you do anything before you headed over to your dinner reservation later?

01:08:39.717 --> 01:08:39.917
KIM: Yes.

01:08:39.917 --> 01:08:45.797
KIM: Right after we got out of Ogus Cantina, we went to Toy Story Land.

01:08:45.797 --> 01:08:51.737
KIM: I had stacked up a bunch of Genie Pluses and Return Times there.

01:08:51.737 --> 01:09:03.957
KIM: So while we're this whole day at Hollywood Studios, it seemed like every other person we walked by was carrying a Toy Story popcorn bucket.

01:09:05.917 --> 01:09:09.757
KIM: The pizza truck with the aliens.

01:09:11.117 --> 01:09:21.297
KIM: So we looked all over Toy Story Land for this popcorn bucket, like nothing, didn't see anything, finally found it.

01:09:21.297 --> 01:09:26.537
KIM: There was tons of them in the front of the park, like in front of the Chinese theater.

01:09:26.537 --> 01:09:31.317
KIM: There was so many popcorn stands and they had all the popcorn buckets.

01:09:32.217 --> 01:09:34.117
KIM: So that was one thing that we did.

01:09:34.117 --> 01:09:42.937
KIM: And then on this particular day, we had also dressed up in Toy Story outfits.

01:09:42.937 --> 01:09:49.757
KIM: And so I was like, we have to get our picture taken in Toy Story Land with our Toy Story shirts.

01:09:49.757 --> 01:09:52.577
KIM: But there's only one photographer there.

01:09:52.577 --> 01:09:55.797
KIM: And she was not very nice to us.

01:09:55.797 --> 01:10:00.917
KIM: In fact, like, Caleb was literally like rubbing his eyes.

01:10:01.477 --> 01:10:06.197
KIM: And I told her, can we just pause for a second?

01:10:06.197 --> 01:10:08.877
KIM: You know, he's having a problem with his eyes.

01:10:08.877 --> 01:10:14.137
KIM: And she was like, no, and just took the picture of him, you know, like that.

01:10:14.157 --> 01:10:20.097
KIM: And so that was like a little bit surprising and disappointing.

01:10:21.217 --> 01:10:23.357
KIM: And then there was no other photographers there.

01:10:23.357 --> 01:10:36.997
KIM: So while we were waiting for some other stuff, I was like, I don't have my, you know, professional camera with me, but I'm just going to take the pictures myself with my phone.

01:10:36.997 --> 01:10:42.237
KIM: And I'll just like make everyone pose and we'll do our own photo shoot.

01:10:42.237 --> 01:10:43.697
KIM: So we did that.

01:10:43.697 --> 01:10:47.157
KIM: And then I told everyone, okay, we have to see a show.

01:10:47.157 --> 01:10:50.257
KIM: So they picked the Indiana Jones stunt show.

01:10:50.257 --> 01:10:54.097
KIM: And that's something my kids have never seen before.

01:10:55.157 --> 01:11:02.697
KIM: So that was, it was just fun to do something different or something that we don't do every time.

01:11:02.697 --> 01:11:08.697
KIM: And then we were able to make it to our dinner reservation at Hollywood Brown Derby.

01:11:08.697 --> 01:11:10.337
KIM: That was good.

01:11:10.337 --> 01:11:13.637
KIM: We always go there as a tradition.

01:11:13.637 --> 01:11:17.117
KIM: And so it was exactly how we remembered it.

01:11:17.117 --> 01:11:22.357
KIM: And then we finished the night kind of in the front of the park.

01:11:22.597 --> 01:11:26.017
KIM: We did Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.

01:11:26.017 --> 01:11:30.037
KIM: We met Mickey and Minnie.

01:11:30.037 --> 01:11:39.017
KIM: And then we saw the Wonderful World of Animation show, which is the show that they project on the Chinese theater.

01:11:39.017 --> 01:11:43.657
KIM: It has some minimal pyrotechnics and fireworks, but mostly projection.

01:11:43.657 --> 01:11:47.157
KIM: And apparently nobody stays and watches the show.

01:11:47.157 --> 01:11:51.497
VIRGINIA: I think they used to, but yeah, like that used to be a bigger thing.

01:11:52.077 --> 01:11:55.637
VIRGINIA: I don't know, I've noticed that it's very sparsely attended.

01:11:55.637 --> 01:12:00.477
KIM: because like they let everybody stay seated on the ground, which, you know, they never do for fireworks.

01:12:01.897 --> 01:12:03.637
KIM: So that was fun.

01:12:04.497 --> 01:12:07.037
KIM: And then we did head out after that.

01:12:07.037 --> 01:12:07.377
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:12:07.377 --> 01:12:13.957
VIRGINIA: The following day, Wednesday, June the 19th, was a rest day for you.

01:12:13.957 --> 01:12:19.177
VIRGINIA: And so you had a very first time ever character breakfast at Cape May scheduled.

01:12:20.317 --> 01:12:23.237
VIRGINIA: I know that you had been trying to get a Topolino's, but couldn't get one.

01:12:23.237 --> 01:12:24.697
VIRGINIA: So did you stick with kidney?

01:12:24.697 --> 01:12:27.277
KIM: I still was not able to get one at Topolino's.

01:12:27.277 --> 01:12:29.337
KIM: So we did do that.

01:12:29.337 --> 01:12:30.397
KIM: It was fun.

01:12:30.397 --> 01:12:36.977
KIM: It was, you know, it is a buffet, so you can eat a lot.

01:12:40.117 --> 01:12:41.997
VIRGINIA: All you care to enjoy.

01:12:41.997 --> 01:12:57.997
KIM: So my son Ryan, one thing about him, he loves to eat, but he is not good at regulating himself, and he's not really a big breakfast person, usually.

01:12:57.997 --> 01:13:09.257
KIM: Like usually, I'm like stuffing him before school, just trying to get him to eat a couple of mini pancakes.

01:13:09.257 --> 01:13:12.117
KIM: Like that's all I can get in him before school.

01:13:12.117 --> 01:13:21.137
KIM: So I didn't think he had eaten a lot, but I guess it was too much for him because he, at the end of our meal, he did throw up.

01:13:21.837 --> 01:13:22.757
VIRGINIA: Oh my goodness.

01:13:22.757 --> 01:13:24.197
VIRGINIA: Oh gosh.

01:13:24.197 --> 01:13:29.277
VIRGINIA: Did the fact that he wasn't feeling well after that meal continue to affect him for the rest of the day?

01:13:29.277 --> 01:13:31.977
KIM: I don't think he was sick.

01:13:32.997 --> 01:13:35.977
KIM: because he was fine afterwards.

01:13:36.377 --> 01:13:37.957
KIM: He scarfed down his dinner.

01:13:37.957 --> 01:13:39.997
VIRGINIA: He just literally ate too much.

01:13:39.997 --> 01:13:41.377
KIM: We took his temperature.

01:13:41.377 --> 01:13:47.737
KIM: We monitored every symptom we could think of, and there seemed to be nothing wrong with him.

01:13:52.157 --> 01:14:03.337
KIM: But the manager of the restaurant, she came out and had this whole coordinated team effort to clean it up.

01:14:04.077 --> 01:14:05.897
KIM: She was like, don't worry about it.

01:14:05.897 --> 01:14:08.057
KIM: It happens every single day.

01:14:08.477 --> 01:14:10.477
KIM: I don't know if that's true or not.

01:14:10.477 --> 01:14:13.637
KIM: She was just trying to make us feel better.

01:14:13.637 --> 01:14:15.197
KIM: But she was like, don't worry.

01:14:15.197 --> 01:14:16.597
KIM: It happens all the time.

01:14:17.277 --> 01:14:22.417
KIM: I mean, the way they acted, it did look like it must have happened a lot because they knew exactly.

01:14:22.557 --> 01:14:23.297
VIRGINIA: They were ready.

01:14:23.297 --> 01:14:24.517
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:14:24.517 --> 01:14:30.817
VIRGINIA: I mean, first thing in my head was, if it happens all the time, I don't know if I want to go to Cape May and eat.

01:14:30.817 --> 01:14:39.337
VIRGINIA: But at the same time, I'm like, I bet it does happen all the time at every single restaurant there because people get excited.

01:14:39.337 --> 01:14:42.137
VIRGINIA: They eat more than they normally would eat.

01:14:42.137 --> 01:14:46.177
VIRGINIA: In most situations, you're eating more than you would normally eat while you're on a vacation.

01:14:46.417 --> 01:14:50.717
VIRGINIA: So yeah, I'm going to not hold that against Cape May Cafe.

01:14:50.717 --> 01:14:53.497
VIRGINIA: I don't think it's specific to them.

01:14:53.497 --> 01:15:01.617
KIM: So as this was going on though, I was coordinating with Kerry, Kerry's Glitter Initiative.

01:15:01.617 --> 01:15:05.797
KIM: She was actually going to come and try to meet us there.

01:15:06.757 --> 01:15:13.477
KIM: It actually, the timing worked out perfectly, like with the delays from the cleanup.

01:15:13.477 --> 01:15:17.877
KIM: By the time that we got out of there is when she showed up.

01:15:17.877 --> 01:15:19.017
KIM: So perfect.

01:15:19.017 --> 01:15:23.237
KIM: We got to talk to her for about 30 minutes, I think.

01:15:23.237 --> 01:15:30.017
KIM: And then she left and we moved back to our hotel.

01:15:30.017 --> 01:15:34.417
KIM: We decided that we were going to try to use the pool.

01:15:36.017 --> 01:15:38.137
KIM: because that was kind of our only chance.

01:15:38.137 --> 01:15:40.497
KIM: And that is what we did.

01:15:41.577 --> 01:15:45.557
KIM: Although it was like super overcast.

01:15:45.557 --> 01:15:49.857
KIM: I was afraid it was going to start raining, which it did.

01:15:49.857 --> 01:15:55.797
KIM: But because there was no thunder, no lightning, they didn't close down the pool.

01:15:55.797 --> 01:16:01.557
KIM: However, for me and Eric, it was kind of an uncomfortable experience.

01:16:01.557 --> 01:16:03.797
KIM: It was just so cold without the sun.

01:16:04.957 --> 01:16:07.557
KIM: And then we're being pelted by the rain.

01:16:07.557 --> 01:16:15.357
KIM: We were not thrilled, but the kids didn't seem to notice, and they had a great time.

01:16:15.357 --> 01:16:16.757
VIRGINIA: Kids never do.

01:16:16.757 --> 01:16:18.937
VIRGINIA: They never do.

01:16:18.937 --> 01:16:29.077
VIRGINIA: Now, when we started talking about this particular day, I referred to it as a rest day, but you actually had tickets to an after hours event at Hollywood Studios that night.

01:16:29.077 --> 01:16:32.737
VIRGINIA: And we're running short on time, so I don't want to get too far into it.

01:16:32.877 --> 01:16:53.597
VIRGINIA: But what I do want to know is, based on the other time that you had in Hollywood Studios on this trip and accessing Genie Plus, accessing the Disability Access Service, and getting to do a lot of things, did you feel like at the end of the day, the after hours tickets were worth it in your particular case?

01:16:53.597 --> 01:17:01.937
KIM: So I feel like the after hours tickets are definitely worth it in terms of crowd size and wait time and all that.

01:17:02.537 --> 01:17:10.557
KIM: We still feel like we didn't have enough time to do all the unique things that they had to offer.

01:17:10.557 --> 01:17:13.877
KIM: Like, I know they have a bunch of unique characters come out.

01:17:13.877 --> 01:17:18.037
KIM: We only got to meet one and that's just due to like timing.

01:17:18.037 --> 01:17:23.897
KIM: It's not anybody, it's not any fault of theirs.

01:17:23.897 --> 01:17:29.317
KIM: And then they have, you know, unlimited popcorn and ice cream and drinks.

01:17:29.697 --> 01:17:36.757
KIM: And we only got one round of those because we just ran out of time.

01:17:36.757 --> 01:17:40.977
KIM: We did get to ride a few things that we didn't get to ride the day before.

01:17:40.977 --> 01:17:47.337
KIM: And we saw Fantasmic, which none of us had ever seen before.

01:17:47.337 --> 01:17:59.757
KIM: And my youngest son, Caleb, and my husband, Eric, they have announced that Fantasmic is now their favorite night time show.

01:17:59.757 --> 01:18:00.717
VIRGINIA: It is a good one.

01:18:00.717 --> 01:18:01.397
VIRGINIA: It's a good one.

01:18:01.397 --> 01:18:03.237
KIM: So that was a good experience.

01:18:04.097 --> 01:18:07.177
KIM: I felt like the time just went by so fast.

01:18:07.537 --> 01:18:11.217
KIM: We stayed basically until the very end.

01:18:11.217 --> 01:18:17.237
KIM: And my shoe broke probably around 1230, midnight.

01:18:18.317 --> 01:18:26.997
KIM: And so, I was like walking around.

01:18:26.997 --> 01:18:33.197
KIM: I don't know what was, I just ended up taking off all my shoes and going barefoot and nobody stopped me.

01:18:33.197 --> 01:18:36.577
KIM: So that's what happened.

01:18:36.577 --> 01:18:40.297
VIRGINIA: Worst case scenario, you have to come home with a new pair of Disney Crocs.

01:18:40.297 --> 01:18:44.137
KIM: I would have bought them if I had found a shop that was open.

01:18:47.257 --> 01:18:47.657
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:18:47.657 --> 01:18:52.217
VIRGINIA: So we're moving into your very last Park Day, Thursday, June the 20th.

01:18:52.217 --> 01:18:56.877
VIRGINIA: You were going to be heading into Epcot since you were staying at Boardwalk.

01:18:56.877 --> 01:19:08.577
VIRGINIA: And you said that you wanted to get there when you got there because of having the late night the night before and also that you were really wanting to focus on World Showcase for this day.

01:19:08.577 --> 01:19:09.277
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:19:09.277 --> 01:19:16.737
VIRGINIA: You also had some good dining planned because you had a Sheeky Sight reservation for lunch and a beer garden reservation for dinner.

01:19:16.737 --> 01:19:18.997
VIRGINIA: So sounds like a great day to me.

01:19:18.997 --> 01:19:20.357
KIM: It was.

01:19:20.357 --> 01:19:35.957
KIM: So we ended up actually rushing around in the morning trying to make our lunch reservation because we I think when I actually woke up, it was 1030 and our lunch reservation was for 1230.

01:19:35.957 --> 01:19:41.777
KIM: So I had to rush everybody around to get them ready to go.

01:19:42.577 --> 01:19:56.037
KIM: And by the time we actually were walking into Epcot, which is super close to the boardwalk, if you just walk along the boardwalk, it was 12 o'clock.

01:19:56.037 --> 01:19:57.957
KIM: I was like, okay, we made it.

01:19:57.957 --> 01:20:03.137
KIM: And the Japan Pavilion is not too far away from the international gateway.

01:20:03.137 --> 01:20:12.677
KIM: I was like, so we took that time to explore Morocco, which is probably the least, the pavilion that I'm least familiar with.

01:20:12.677 --> 01:20:16.857
KIM: So that was almost like a brand new experience.

01:20:16.857 --> 01:20:19.637
KIM: And then we made it to our lunch reservation at 1230.

01:20:19.637 --> 01:20:21.217
KIM: Shikisai is so good.

01:20:21.217 --> 01:20:25.517
KIM: All the food we had was incredible.

01:20:27.377 --> 01:20:28.917
KIM: I highly recommend it.

01:20:28.917 --> 01:20:34.937
KIM: And you get this great view of the World Showcase and the water.

01:20:34.937 --> 01:20:40.837
KIM: At this point is when Caleb kind of discovers the Kidcot stations.

01:20:40.857 --> 01:20:45.637
KIM: And I think we had collected from them before, but not seriously.

01:20:45.637 --> 01:20:49.237
KIM: Like he was on a mission now to visit every single one.

01:20:49.237 --> 01:20:53.237
KIM: But we didn't have time for that because it was already afternoon.

01:20:54.357 --> 01:21:06.017
KIM: So we managed to go to France and do Remy's Ratatouille adventure, which this ride when I last wrote it made me extremely sick.

01:21:06.017 --> 01:21:09.497
KIM: Maybe one of the sickest that a ride has ever made me.

01:21:09.497 --> 01:21:13.817
VIRGINIA: Yeah, I hear that frequently from people who have motion sickness issues.

01:21:13.817 --> 01:21:20.297
VIRGINIA: Like of all the ones that we've talked about throughout the course of this trip, that's the one where people are like, yeah, I can't do that.

01:21:20.297 --> 01:21:21.037
KIM: I thought so too.

01:21:21.577 --> 01:21:24.237
KIM: But I wrote it this time and I was fine.

01:21:24.617 --> 01:21:25.897
KIM: So I don't really know.

01:21:26.197 --> 01:21:26.617
KIM: I don't know.

01:21:26.977 --> 01:21:32.277
KIM: I don't know what's changing, but that was great.

01:21:32.277 --> 01:21:41.477
KIM: By this time it was three o'clock and because of our late start in the morning, we had not like packed and fully prepared for the day.

01:21:41.477 --> 01:21:46.897
KIM: So we had to go back to the room so I could finish that.

01:21:46.897 --> 01:21:51.817
KIM: They had a little bit of a break and then we had to return for our dinner reservations.

01:21:51.817 --> 01:21:55.197
KIM: They were for 630 at Beer Garden.

01:21:55.197 --> 01:22:03.477
KIM: So this time when we went in the International Gateway, we went the other way, so like UK, Canada, and then Mexico.

01:22:06.717 --> 01:22:07.997
KIM: Beer Garden was great.

01:22:07.997 --> 01:22:09.297
KIM: The kids loved it.

01:22:09.297 --> 01:22:15.397
KIM: Nobody ate too much and really enjoyed the show.

01:22:15.397 --> 01:22:25.197
KIM: But by that time is running out and so we managed to collect a couple more Kid Cot cards.

01:22:25.197 --> 01:22:31.437
KIM: Oh, Caleb, he got the Epcot passport thing that you can get stamped at each country.

01:22:31.437 --> 01:22:36.217
KIM: So he was doing that and that was kind of like the focus for the rest of our day.

01:22:36.217 --> 01:22:39.357
KIM: It was just to see how many more stamps we could get.

01:22:39.357 --> 01:22:51.717
KIM: We did squeeze in the two rides on that side of the World Showcase at Mexico, a Grand Fiesta and Frozen Ever After.

01:22:51.717 --> 01:23:13.677
KIM: Then one thing we did right before the park closed was, as we were leaving Frozen Ever After, it takes you through that gift shop and we have this photo of Alex when he was like two, and he was wearing Viking helmet and I think one of those foam swords.

01:23:13.677 --> 01:23:24.197
KIM: So every single time we've walked through that shop, we've gotten a picture of him and now he's like trying to squeeze on his Viking helmet and it's like way too small for his head.

01:23:24.337 --> 01:23:30.217
KIM: And so we got that traditional picture of him.

01:23:30.217 --> 01:23:33.757
KIM: And then I think the park was closed.

01:23:34.677 --> 01:23:38.717
KIM: The gift shop actually closed while we were still in it.

01:23:38.717 --> 01:23:42.097
KIM: So that was the end of our experience.

01:23:42.897 --> 01:23:43.457
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:23:43.457 --> 01:23:57.857
VIRGINIA: And the next day, Friday, June 21st was your checkout day and you were planning to drive all the way to Mobile and then arriving back home on Saturday, June 22nd, hoping to get home by like 9 or 10.

01:23:57.857 --> 01:24:00.957
VIRGINIA: So what time did you actually pull into your house?

01:24:00.957 --> 01:24:02.937
KIM: We did make good time.

01:24:02.937 --> 01:24:05.817
KIM: There were no serious highway delays.

01:24:07.137 --> 01:24:07.717
KIM: No.

01:24:07.717 --> 01:24:14.517
KIM: And I discovered now that the kids are older, it doesn't take us as long to go to the bathroom or stop and eat.

01:24:14.517 --> 01:24:16.917
KIM: And so we made really good time.

01:24:16.917 --> 01:24:21.597
KIM: I think it was around 10 o'clock when we got home.

01:24:21.597 --> 01:24:27.077
KIM: By this time though, we had started to actually become sick.

01:24:27.077 --> 01:24:37.497
KIM: Like Ryan, he had developed on that very last Epcot day, I noticed towards the end of the day, he had started coughing some.

01:24:37.497 --> 01:24:44.257
KIM: And then like the whole drive back, like just nonstop coughing without a break.

01:24:44.257 --> 01:24:46.697
KIM: And then I developed a fever.

01:24:46.757 --> 01:24:51.517
KIM: Caleb developed, he developed a rash.

01:24:51.517 --> 01:24:58.397
KIM: So we on Monday, well, our first stop was the doctor's office.

01:24:58.397 --> 01:25:01.017
VIRGINIA: Did you all end up having COVID?

01:25:01.617 --> 01:25:06.817
KIM: They did not test us for that.

01:25:08.037 --> 01:25:14.797
KIM: I think, so right before our trip, Alex had been sick with pneumonia.

01:25:16.157 --> 01:25:22.477
KIM: And based on that, the doctor that we saw is not our normal doctor.

01:25:22.477 --> 01:25:24.677
KIM: She decided to treat Ryan for pneumonia.

01:25:24.677 --> 01:25:29.917
KIM: And I was like, that was two weeks, two or three weeks ago that he had that brother had had it.

01:25:29.917 --> 01:25:35.657
KIM: But she's like, yeah, pneumonia can linger for weeks and weeks before it starts to show up.

01:25:35.657 --> 01:25:38.177
KIM: So he got those antibiotics.

01:25:38.177 --> 01:25:44.457
KIM: But whatever he had was not contagious because none of us ever developed the coughing.

01:25:44.457 --> 01:25:50.657
KIM: And she told me to take him to all the therapies and nobody at therapy ever got sick.

01:25:50.657 --> 01:25:53.097
KIM: So I don't know what he had.

01:25:54.317 --> 01:26:00.697
KIM: And then my fever went away after like a day or two.

01:26:00.697 --> 01:26:04.157
VIRGINIA: So maybe you were just exhausted.

01:26:04.157 --> 01:26:04.737
KIM: Maybe.

01:26:05.057 --> 01:26:06.257
KIM: I definitely did.

01:26:06.257 --> 01:26:10.437
KIM: It took me weeks to feel like a normal person again.

01:26:10.437 --> 01:26:16.317
VIRGINIA: Well, I mean, you had a nice long trip, but you also like you packed a lot into the trip.

01:26:16.317 --> 01:26:19.617
VIRGINIA: So lots and lots that you got done.

01:26:20.297 --> 01:26:23.217
VIRGINIA: You did have that Vero Beach time, which is a little bit more relaxing.

01:26:23.217 --> 01:26:42.797
VIRGINIA: But I don't know, maybe if you were going to plan it again in the future, would you maybe flip the order that you did things and save your Vero Beach rest time for the end so that you could kind of like get used to life before you rejoined your normal everyday schedule?

01:26:42.797 --> 01:26:43.957
KIM: Yes, I think so.

01:26:44.717 --> 01:26:56.177
KIM: I think I would have maybe spent a couple of days less at the parks, and maybe a few more days at Vero Beach.

01:26:56.177 --> 01:27:07.937
KIM: But it's just so hard to judge when you're driving and investing so much time into the drive, that you want to stay as long as possible.

01:27:07.937 --> 01:27:11.717
KIM: But I did feel like this was a little bit too much.

01:27:13.317 --> 01:27:21.257
KIM: We actually have started looking into the logistics of maybe flying for next summer's trip.

01:27:22.837 --> 01:27:30.997
KIM: I don't think we're going to do Disney, but we're going to try some sort of short domestic flight.

01:27:32.537 --> 01:27:36.517
KIM: Hopefully, that will open the doors for other possibilities.

01:27:36.517 --> 01:27:38.357
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:27:38.357 --> 01:27:48.817
VIRGINIA: So if you're not going to do Disney, as DVC members, do you think that you're a family who will use your DVC every other year, or what is the plan for that?

01:27:48.817 --> 01:27:52.537
VIRGINIA: Would you go and use your DVC and just not go into the parks?

01:27:52.557 --> 01:27:54.937
KIM: I am not 100% sure.

01:27:54.937 --> 01:28:20.497
KIM: I know that my husband and my oldest son, Alex, they are, or my husband is the one who really wants this, they are going to take a trip of their own, hopefully next fall, to do Halloween Horror Nights, because honestly, they are the only two that would like that.

01:28:21.337 --> 01:28:30.037
KIM: So I've been telling my husband for years, like at some point, y'all should do this.

01:28:30.037 --> 01:28:37.317
KIM: So finally, he's actually, I think, seriously planning to do it next fall.

01:28:37.317 --> 01:28:40.297
KIM: So they probably will use points there.

01:28:40.297 --> 01:28:46.277
KIM: The original plan, yes, was to use points every other year by borrowing and banking.

01:28:46.277 --> 01:28:51.737
KIM: But I don't know, I'm wanting to take a trip of my own as well.

01:28:54.977 --> 01:29:06.237
KIM: Then we're also saving up because I think we're seriously thinking about doing Alani in a few years, so we're saving up for that as well.

01:29:06.237 --> 01:29:06.757
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:29:06.757 --> 01:29:07.877
VIRGINIA: We'll talk about relaxing.

01:29:07.877 --> 01:29:14.797
VIRGINIA: Everybody that I hear that goes to Alani just says it's amazing and just such a relaxing trip.

01:29:14.797 --> 01:29:23.177
VIRGINIA: So that would be so cool to get to try out and a great way to utilize some of your DVC points.

01:29:23.177 --> 01:29:25.437
VIRGINIA: But we are out of time today.

01:29:25.437 --> 01:29:29.157
VIRGINIA: Kim, thank you so much for all of the detail.

01:29:29.337 --> 01:29:32.797
VIRGINIA: You took great notes and it was a lot of fun talking to you.

01:29:32.797 --> 01:29:35.537
VIRGINIA: Hopefully, one day we'll get to run into each other.

01:29:35.537 --> 01:29:36.377
VIRGINIA: Yes, of course.

01:29:36.377 --> 01:29:39.337
KIM: Thank you so much for having me.

01:29:39.337 --> 01:29:44.217
VIRGINIA: Thank you so much to Kim for taking such good notes and sharing your experience with us.

01:29:44.217 --> 01:29:51.697
VIRGINIA: If you are interested in being a guest on the show, I am currently looking for people who will be taking trips in early 2025.

01:29:51.697 --> 01:29:56.837
VIRGINIA: The link is in the show notes and the earlier you submit, the better chance you have of being selected.

01:29:57.737 --> 01:29:58.097
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:29:58.097 --> 01:29:59.617
VIRGINIA: That's all for today.

01:29:59.617 --> 01:30:03.717
VIRGINIA: Thank you all so much for listening and keep daydreaming about where you long to be.