Tuesday, February 4th Disney Springs/Travel Day
This was the day we were leaving. We actually slept in a little on this day(8 am). We took all our luggage and checked it at the front desk since we weren’t heading to the airport until 2:45 but checkout was at 11. Then we went to the food court and all of us ate another round of Mickey Waffles for breakfast.
Mom wasn’t feeling the best so she decided to stay at the resort while James, Grant, and I went back to Disney Springs to pass some time before heading to the airport.
At Disney springs, we visited the Harley Davidson store and Grant had fun sitting on the Harley they had set up for pictures.
We also explored the HUGE world of Disney store. Then went back to the photo pass station for one last set of Disney Pictures with our memory maker.
Next we went back to Goofy’s candy shop to finish up spending our snack credits. Grant wanted an olaf sugar cookie and James and I shared a Mickey Mouse chocolate chip cookie. Grant had to check out the fun house mirror again and I grabbed some Mickey Rice Krispies and trail mix to take home.
Grant begged to go back to the Toy Story Toy Store so we went back there and he picked out a pirate Mickey stuffed animal to take home. This boy loves pirates!
Grant had one more ride on the train where he got to be the conductor and one more trip to the LEGO store then it was time for lunch. We ate at the polite pig. It was so good! James and I shared the butcher board which had a ton of different bbq meats, coleslaw and waffles fries. Grant had chicken strips and fries.
After this we walked to the entrance and grant played with the water feature for a few minutes while I ran in to the Vera Bradley outlet to look around. Unfortunately then it was time to head back to the resort to catch the magical express to the airport.
Grant fell asleep again on the bus ride and slept in the booth of the food court Once we got back to the resort. James wanted one more brownie sundae while we waited so that was our last snack credit of the 40 we had for the week. It was soooo much food. Next trip we will definitely downgrade our dining package.
When Grant woke up, James took him to the arcade to play games for a few minutes while mom and I went to pick up our luggage and wait on the bus.
We boarded the bus to the airport around 2:45 and headed out of Disney. Sad time. We were all ready to go home but so sad to be leaving the happiest place on earth. We got about halfway to the airport and our bus experienced engine failure. We had to stop in the middle of the interstate and wait about 15 minutes for a new bus to come get us. I think this was the universe telling us we weren’t supposed to leave yet lol! We unloaded the broke down bus and onto the new bus right in the middle of the interstate. This was a little nerve wracking for me but James carried grant with a death grip and I carried our backpacks and all was just fine.
Security was crazy at the Orlando airport. So many people were in this line. But it went much more smoothly this time with James knowing a little more what to expect. We made it to our gate, found our seat and dropped our luggage with Mom staying to watch it and then headed to the food court to get Grant some chicken nuggets in hopes he would sleep on the plane with a full belly. This didn’t quite work out the way I had planned. He was awake for the whole ride but he really did a good job for being just 4 years old. He’s a pro at flying now! We again had cheerleaders on our flight but I guess they were exhausted this time because they were very quiet. I watched an inflight movie on the Southwest app, Grant watched fuller house(his favorite show) on the downloaded Netflix app and James tried to rest but was too anxious with the storm we were flying in. Pretty sure he would have benefited from a drink!! Lol
We landed around 7:30 and found our way through the airport to where Ryan was waiting for us with my car. We finally made it home around 10:00. Coming back to the cold dreary weather after being in 80 degree absolutely beautiful weather was hard.
This was the absolute best trip ever!!! After years of saving, months of planning, days of counting down we finally made it happen! We walked over 40 miles while we were there and while I was tired at night, every day was so worth every single step taken! It was so much fun!! Everyone always says Disney is magical and it truly is! There were so many amazing moments and memories made. I am so sad it’s over but so so glad it happened. I have wanted to take Grant to Disney even since before he was born. My first trip was at 28 years old. And I felt just as giddy as a kid then. This trip was much the same except even better through the eyes of my own child. Months and months of planning really paid off. I already am planning the next trip and how to pay for it! This will definitely not be a once in a lifetime trip for us. Trips equal memories and I will do anything to make more memories with my family.
We didn’t focus on big rides for this trip as I truly wanted it to be about Grant and what he was in to. 4 proved to be the perfect age to take him on his first trip. If you are waiting till they will remember it..don’t. Just go! I know we will be talking about this for years! It’s so fun watching Disney movies with him now because he relates it back to Disney World. “Momma we saw that!”
Toy story land was our main focus and With the exception of not riding slinky dog dash I feel we nailed it. Originally grant was dead set on not riding slinky dog but once he saw it he begged to get on it. The line for it was always so long and we never were able to get a fast pass for it. None of us care about Star Wars so this was an easy pass for us that gained us some valuable time not waiting in these busy lines.
Must dos next trip:
downsize dining plan.
Consider a moderate resort(maybe port Orleans riverside)
Consider a sky liner resort.
Schedule a rest day
Bigger autograph board/book
After hours extra events
More time in Epcot-
get James and Grant on Soarin
visit the countries more
ride mission space
ride test track (it was closed this trip)
eat at the garden grill
Animal Kingdom
winged encounters
Navi River Journey
Flight of passage***
Rafikis planet watch
Up! A great bird adventure
Kali River Rapids
Expedition Everest
the boneyard
Finding Nemo the musical
Primeval Whirl
Dinosaur
Hollywood Studios
Slinky Dog Dash
Rockin Rollercoaster
Funnel cake from epic eats
sci fi dine
muppet vision 3-d (closed this trip)
mama Mel rose
desert party for fantasmic
Magic Kingdom
Splash Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain
Haunted Mansion
Peter pans flight
barnstormer
meet Merida
Mickey and minnies runaway railroad *not finished yet
Many adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Seven dwarfs mine train
parades
Disney Springs:Another silhouette T-Rex
Chef MickeysExplore resorts
Do again:
Frozen ever after
Festival of the Lion King
Rivers of Life Show
Frozen sing along
Toy story land
Be our Guest Dinner
Pack everybody’s outfits in ziplocks with the packing cubes
Wrap stroller handle for identification ease (this was a lifesaver more than once)
Mobile ordering!!!!
Cagle Family Adventures 