It's going to be an "Incredible Summer" About This Page:

[Cam22]

What an incredibly early start to the day! I've made a note that I might want to take my natural Dramamine the day we do Slinky Dog since Lenny felt a bit of nausea. Love the photos of Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey and Abby hugging. So sweet! Abby's celebration is working all kinds of magic. Cool to meet a fellow PassPorter in line and then get in a couple of rides together. Fantasmic is at the bottom of my list for nighttime shows, so we only see it once every four or five trips.

[Grammy Grumpy]

All caught up on your adventures. Your photos are great and what memories you captured with the videos!

[purplegal]

That’s quite a long day, I don’t think I have ever been let into a park that early. I love the video of Abby with the advice lady.

[patclairesmom]

What a great day at DHS! I like that you saw all the shows. We hardly ever see any of them. I have to give it to you after getting up so early that you stayed in the park all day. I love the picture of Mickey with his face against Abbey, it's so precious!

[cattailmarsh]

What a super long day...I cant get over how well Abby is doing with everything - the crowds & the long days. Huge changes from when I first began reading your TRs.

I love how you tour, utilizing the shows as a way to cool off. I do that with restaurants too, as we do the table service meals.

The ride photos are great but I absolutely loved the one with Sorcerer Mickey & Abby with their backs to the camera. The kiss from Minnie is another great shot.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Colexis Mom]

Great updates! Sorry your day at MK was a bit rough, but glad you had a great, albeit long, day at the Studios!

[lindawdw]

Wow, that was a long day at the park but you certainly accomplished a lot! Sorry you had a 30 minute wait at Slinky Dog even with getting there so early. It was nice that the people behind you helped later in the week with getting Lenny on the boat. It sounds like Abbey really enjoyed all her shows at DHS.

[Pris]

It sounds like you had a great day and Abby really enjoyed her interactions with the characters. I am always amazed at the long days y'all put in while in the parks. I'm worn out just thinking about it.

[MayraLR]

Great day at DHS! You guys did a lot today. Fantasmic is my least favorite nighttime show. Last time I watched it was 2014. I wish they would update it or something. Bot no, Disney decided to mess with Illuminations instead.

[Disney4us2]

It was so nice meeting you, Abby, and Lenny. I enjoyed hanging out st Toy Story Land. Slinky is one of my new favorites. Looking forward to your reports.

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by SuperDave

Great day at Studios with some good attractions, meals, character experiences and an overall good time! Sorry, you weren't let in to Studios early!

Thanks Dave, it was an overall good day. We weren't let in as early as others had been but we were still let in early so it was okay.

Originally Posted by Cam22

What an incredibly early start to the day! I've made a note that I might want to take my natural Dramamine the day we do Slinky Dog since Lenny felt a bit of nausea. Love the photos of Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey and Abby hugging. So sweet! Abby's celebration is working all kinds of magic. Cool to meet a fellow PassPorter in line and then get in a couple of rides together. Fantasmic is at the bottom of my list for nighttime shows, so we only see it once every four or five trips.

Then first time we rode it and he felt nauseous, I was thinking maybe it was just too early in the morning. The other times we rode it though, he still felt it so that may be a good plan for you. It was sweet her interaction with him - and with everyone else. I'm sure her pin had a lot to do with it. It was cool to meet Marci. Fantasmic is at the bottom of my list too but Abby wanted to see it again this year so we did it for her.

Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy

All caught up on your adventures. Your photos are great and what memories you captured with the videos!

Thanks. I'm glad you're caught up. Now that I have a camera that does video literally at the touch of a button, it's almost easier to take video rather than photos.

Originally Posted by purplegal

That’s quite a long day, I don’t think I have ever been let into a park that early. I love the video of Abby with the advice lady.

It was quite a long day - and I have to say I am in shock that we didn't have any meltdowns from anyone. We too liked her interaction with that lady. It was funny.

Originally Posted by patclairesmom

What a great day at DHS! I like that you saw all the shows. We hardly ever see any of them. I have to give it to you after getting up so early that you stayed in the park all day. I love the picture of Mickey with his face against Abbey, it's so precious!

It was a great day. I know a lot of people skip the shows but for us, we enjoy them. We enjoy the show itself, we enjoy being able to sit down for a bit (well Abby and I - Lenny is on the scooter all day) and in the summer, it's nice to get out of the heat for a bit. Like I said above, I'm surprised we were there so long but it was a good day.

Originally Posted by cattailmarsh

What a super long day...I cant get over how well Abby is doing with everything - the crowds & the long days. Huge changes from when I first began reading your TRs.

I love how you tour, utilizing the shows as a way to cool off. I do that with restaurants too, as we do the table service meals.

The ride photos are great but I absolutely loved the one with Sorcerer Mickey & Abby with their backs to the camera. The kiss from Minnie is another great shot.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Yes, she has grown so much over the years. It helps that she's comfortable there too. Granted, anything could happen even at Disney but since I feel it's less likely to happen, I don't need her glued to my side. As long as she has her phone or we know exactly where we should meet if we separate, it's all good. Plus it teaches her she can do things on her own.

That photos is one of my favorites. When Mickey saw her graduation button, he took her over to the window and was telling her "to reach for the stars."

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great updates! Sorry your day at MK was a bit rough, but glad you had a great, albeit long, day at the Studios!

Thanks Marnie, The MK was rough but we did have a great day at the Studios. It was definitely a "Disney" day.

Originally Posted by lindawdw

Wow, that was a long day at the park but you certainly accomplished a lot! Sorry you had a 30 minute wait at Slinky Dog even with getting there so early. It was nice that the people behind you helped later in the week with getting Lenny on the boat. It sounds like Abbey really enjoyed all her shows at DHS.

It was a long day and we did everything we wanted to. Abby really does enjoy all the shows - at all the parks really. The wait for Slinky was more than I expected that early in the morning but it was much less than what it could have been. Yes, it was nice that someone "got a clue" and made sure that Lenny was able to get on the ferry later in the week.

Originally Posted by Pris

It sounds like you had a great day and Abby really enjoyed her interactions with the characters. I am always amazed at the long days y'all put in while in the parks. I'm worn out just thinking about it.

Only after the fact do I seem to get worn out from our days. When we're there, it must get my adrenaline going or something because I can go, go, go. When I'm home, it's like "how did I do that." Especially this year for this day. We were in the park close to 16 hours.

Originally Posted by MayraLR

Great day at DHS! You guys did a lot today. Fantasmic is my least favorite nighttime show. Last time I watched it was 2014. I wish they would update it or something. Bot no, Disney decided to mess with Illuminations instead.

We did have a great day. I'm not thrilled with Fantasmic either. I went only because Abby wanted to see it. I'm sorry that you like Illuminations and it's going though. We don't see that show ourselves and won't miss it (we're out of the park before it starts).

Originally Posted by Disney4us2

It was so nice meeting you, Abby, and Lenny. I enjoyed hanging out st Toy Story Land. Slinky is one of my new favorites. Looking forward to your reports.

It was nice meeting you too Marci. Slinky is definitely a lot of fun to ride. Keep an eye out - I plan on posting this one fairly quickly.

[CinderAbby]

Despite the long day and the late bedtime of the day before, Wednesday was another early day. I was up at 5:30, Abby at 5:45, and Lenny at 6. As we were getting ready for the day, my phone beeped. It was Marci. She was going to be at Epcot and she wanted to meet up with us again. Today was the day I had planned to meet with Ginger (GingerJ on the boards) but I thought it could work. I texted Marci back saying I would text her later from the park and then I continued to get ready. We left the hotel at 7, went to Epcot, got the scooter together and then had to wait at security. They didn't let anyone through until 7:40.

We were let into the park a few minutes later, got a wheelchair, stopped at the bathrooms, then headed to Norway. I told Lenny to go ahead as here he needs to park the scooter and go inside on the wheelchair. I had only one request from him - if we weren't seated near the buffet don't make a big deal about it and he agreed. For some reason at the buffets with wheelchair accessibility noted on our ADR's we get seated almost as far away from the buffet as one can get. If that's not bad enough, it also means that we have to navigate through the very narrow maze of cramped together tables with a wheelchair. It just makes absolutely no sense to me. Wheelchair accessibility to me means needing extra space to maneuver, not as little space as they can squeeze us into.

We were seated pretty much as far away as one could get from the buffet as I stated above and once we were settled and drinks ordered, Abby and I headed up to the buffet. As I usually do, I got a plate for me and a plate for Lenny. Would anyone like to take a guess as to what Lenny was doing when I got back to the table? If you guessed complaining to the server about where we were seated, you would be 100% correct. The server has nothing to do with the seating but whatever. I asked him not to complain but he did anyway and for what purpose I don't know. We weren't moved to another table and it just ticked me off. On one hand, I do get what he is saying - he doesn't want me to wait on him, he'd like to be able to get his own food from the buffet but the restaurant is preventing that as he can't walk that far. On the other hand, it just makes breakfast go quicker if I go up for him and I try to get him the stuff I know he'll eat. He still gets breakfast so to me, it's really not the huge deal he makes it out to be. Lack of sleep and lack of coffee in his system doesn't ever help the situation either.

Now for the actual meal - it was good. We grabbed some stuff off the cold buffet and then the hot stuff was delivered to the table. I don't think what we get is worth the $180 price tag the meal comes with but we wanted the meal so I was willing to pay it. Right before we left the restaurant, The "Princess Procession" took place and Abby wanted to join it again even though she had been in it earlier. I forget who she walked with the first time but this time she walked in Aurora's section and Aurora held her hand. Abby was all smiles when it was over so you know she enjoyed it. We were out of the restaurant about 9:10 and we went right to Frozen Ever After that only had a 10 minute wait posted. It was about that to get on the ride and once off the ride, we went to see Anna and Elsa. It was still early and I expected a short wait but it was posted at 30 minutes. It actually wasn't that long but it wasn't the five minute wait we experienced in the past. I have no idea what was said but I know Abby enjoyed her conversations with the sisters.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/rSa1buifcQSwwFog8

Nothing else was open in World Showcase so we made our way back to Future World and the first stop was Test Track. We got a return time and since the single rider line was only at 15 minutes, Abby wanted to ride it. While in line, I texted Marci that we would be heading to see Joy and Sadness next if she wanted to meet us there. Abby and I were placed in the same car at Test Track and after our car was put through its paces, we joined Lenny who stayed outside waiting for us. Together we then went to Innoventions. Marci was waiting for us outside and then we all went inside to get in line. We talked while in line and soon Ginger was texting me as we had planned before our trip started to meet this day. She texted me while I was at breakfast too but this was a text telling me she was on the tram. It didn't take long before she joined us too so my little family of three soon turned into a group of five. We talked through the line and as much as I tried to include Lenny, it didn't seem to work out well. By the time we got out of there, we didn't have time to see Baymax but Abby was okay with it as long as we would come back later in the day. I told her we would.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NFhR9BkArE6YbmuZ7

Our next destination was the Land for our Soarin' Fastpass. We had just a little bit of time first so Ginger wanted to get something to eat. I sent the four of them ahead and said I would meet them downstairs as I was going to run and get Lenny an iced coffee from Starbucks. I had a gift card I wanted to use up. As I made my way back to the Land, my phone rang and it was Lenny. Everyone had left him behind and he had no clue where any of them were, including Abby. He knew she had followed Ginger and Marci but none of them made sure he was keeping up or even let him know where exactly they were going. When I made it into the pavilion, I went downstairs and found Lenny since he told me where he was but it took me a minute to find everyone else. When I found Abby, we had a little talk about not telling her dad where she was going or making sure she knew where he was and then we all went to the table with Marci and Ginger, who seemed to be hitting it off quite well.

I don't remember what they ate but Abby got a Mickey shaped cheesecake and I got chocolate mousse. Lenny didn't feel like anything. Abby said hers was good and the mousse part of mine was good but it was supposed to have an Oreo crust. What the mousse sat on top of was actually finely ground Oreos. Whether you want to call it powder or dust, that's up to you, but it was by no means what I would call a "crust". To me a crust is something formed and solid - and that was neither. It didn't really matter though as I don't like Oreos. Abby was more than willing to eat it for me and she was disappointed when I told her it was going right into the trash, she was not going to eat it.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ULCSqziEyc8ez8N49

[CinderAbby]

After all the food was eaten and the table cleared, we went to Soarin'. Everyone except Marci had a FastPass for it and when I asked the cast member if she could join us, we were told okay. At the end of the Fastpass line, we were told to go to Concourse C - a first for the three of us. In my opinion it just seemed better than the other two. It was awkward for a minute or two once we got inside though as Lenny, who could barely walk this trip especially without his canes, tried to sit in the first seat closest to the scooter. Marci also wanted that seat but she did eventually move to the fourth seat over so Lenny could have the first one.

I enjoyed the ride as I usually do, then as a group, we went and rode Living with the Land. Abby, Marci and Ginger rode in the seat while Lenny and I sat behind them in the wheelchair accessible area. At one point in time, I didn't like this ride but I guess it's grown on me - no pun intended. I like riding it and seeing what they have growing. After we got off the boat, Ginger said she wanted to go do some other things before coming back for our Nemo Fastpass. Marci stayed with us as we rode Imagination and then went to the Pixar short film festival. As any of you who know me, or who have only followed along for this trip report, it shouldn't be surprising to know that I fell asleep in the pre-show area of the Pixar shorts. Early mornings plus long days equals a tired Darlene. I didn't plan on doing it, it just happened. I did stay awake for the shorts though. I just don't get the advertisement of being in 3D. I don't remember wearing the glasses nor do I remember anything actually being in 3D.

When we got out of the theater, I received a text from Ginger. She said she was going to head home instead of meeting us again. I was bummed as I didn't get to talk to her as much as I wanted but we had plans to meet again the next day. Marci also said she had to get going so we said our goodbyes and she told me if things worked out, she would text me again the next week. As she left, we headed to Nemo to use our Fastpass. It may be a short ride and maybe not much of a storyline but we still like the ride. From there we headed to Turtle Talk with Crush. As much as I know Abby was hoping to be picked for a question - yes even at 18 she sat on the floor - she wasn't but the show was still good. It's always different and entertaining.

At this point in time, because we hadn't seen him yet, we went back to see Baymax. I couldn't believe how long his line was. Normally it's really short but not today. It took us about 30 minutes to get through it but Abby loves him so much it's worth the wait. By now it was nearing somewhere near 4:30 and Abby wanted to use our return time for Test Track. We were actually able to ride it without the threat of rain, which considering the time, was kind of unusual if you ask me. Lenny rode with us this time and after we got off the ride, we took our time through the post show area and then decided it was time to head to World Showcase. Our first stop was Mexico. Abby had seen online the "Mirror of the Dead" and wanted to try this out. There were two of them and both were in use but Abby was fine with waiting. We weren't in any rush to get anywhere.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7aaq6HuXWLeVyA2i6

[CinderAbby]

Abby finally had her turn at the mirror and then Lenny and I took turns. Abby was then ready to ride the boat ride. When we were done, we decided to go to the American Pavilion for the Guardians of the Galaxy show that was new this summer. We got to the American Gardens Pavilion at 6:30 - 15 minutes before the start of the show - and there were tons of open seats. By 6:45 though it was really full. I have to be honest - it was corny but I liked it. It was fun and entertaining. When the show was over, Abby had a big smile on her face and wanted to go back to China. When we got there, we saw a large sign saying the entertainment had been moved inside. That was good to know as Abby wanted to see the Jeweled Dragon Acrobats. It wasn't quite time for the show so we passed the time by going into Reflections of China. When we went outside to go back to the front door of the pavilion, I noticed very dark, threatening clouds. They didn't worry me though as we were going back inside and would be there for a little while.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wFQcUK2RYsUTg4Hx6

The acrobat show seemed pretty short to me but we enjoyed it. Especially since we were sitting down in the AC. When that was over, we left the pavilion a second time but now in addition to the dark clouds, it was extremely windy out. We did stop long enough to prep for a downpour - getting the scooter console and backpack covered with plastic bags, having an umbrella handy for Abby and the raincoat for me. By the time we got to Spaceship Earth, we felt only a few raindrops but that was it. Abby wanted to actually go in and ride it despite it being late - typically we're out of the park by 8:30 not getting in line for rides. Spaceship Earth is one of those rides I think that we ride only because it's there. I don't love it, I don't hate it, but if I didn't ride it I wouldn't miss it. We rode it, I might have napped, I'm not really sure now, and when we left, the ground was very wet. It wasn't raining so that was good. A lot of people were leaving the park too so I don't know if Illuminations was canceled, or delayed, or if they were just people leaving the park because they didn't want to see it. On the off chance that it was still going to happen at 9, we did hurry along to get out of the park as Abby still doesn't like this show. To be more specific, she doesn't like the fire effects in the show.

When we got back to the hotel, Abby and I headed to the food court as we were all hungry for dinner. We sent Lenny up to the room to wait for us as we didn't feel up to the noise and confusion of the food court. I forgot to take pictures but I'm sure everyone can imagine what a pile of spaghetti with one huge meatball looks like (both Lenny and I had this). It also came with a side Caesar salad and a breadstick. Abby got the nuggets and fries. I didn't like the salad so I gave it to her. After we cleaned everything up and plugged in phones and devices, we got ready for bed. By 11, or shortly thereafter, we were all in bed for the night