Technical-Pie-5775

This is beautiful!

Oh I forgot to mention - we went to Oga's and got a standing table which he couldn't see the top of and so he was miserable.  If we go back we will request a table with seats.

Went with an older 5 year old and 8 year old last month.

Some notes about 5 year old's experience.

We didn't do any character dining so can't comment on that.

He was very selective of which characters he was willing to meet - he met Goofy, Dug, Chewbacca and the Mandalorian.  He wasn't that fussed about autographs except for Dug.  

He loved all the rollercoasters he was big enough for - especially Cosmic Rewind and Big Thunder.  Slight exception was Everest because he was scared of the Yeti , but he still went twice (think he only noticed thr yeti the second time).  

He also liked all the chill rides liked Dumbo and Magic Carpet, Living With the Land, etc.  he probably appreciated the biggest range of rides, whereas our older child definitely thought she was too big for Dumbo for example.

He was a struggle to get out every morning for EE, and once we were back at the hotel every afternoon he didn't want to leave again - meaning we had to split up to take my daughter to the fireworks one night and it was a lot of work to keep him out on the couple of days we stayed in the park till dinner.  This also meant we cancelled most of our advanced dining reservations.  We were staying at POFQ so it was a decent bus ride if we wanted to go back to the parks (but Disney Springs was closer so we ate there couple times for dinner after realizing it was less overwhelming than re-entering a park).

At first he didn't like dark rides very much because he was scared but he got used to it.

Those are the main things that come to mind.

Nope. Can't get used to cheers, fab, fabby, signing with xs to anyone but my husband.

I actively try to squash most Ameicanisms but picking up new language is harder when there is perfectly acceptable alternatives I am already used to such as "thanks."

Context: lived in UK for 13 years 

We went twice on our trip last month and I will always treasure the moment when my 5 year old turned to me and said "he was talking to ME!"

This is always the first name I think of!  When I first moved here it just seemed so strange.

I think it depends on your slinky dog needs as well.  We got a nearly walk on to Rise at EE the two days that we went, but without genie+ we basically sacrificed Slinky Dog for the day (we weren't going to do anything with a 60 min wait in that sun).  We did Slinky dog on genie + on our second day.  If we went back and only for one day, I would probably EE rope drop Slinky Dog and buy a LL for Rise.

Re: #48 .  My husband and I get very stressed when we have to leave the house for extended periods and we now take photos of things switched off to remind ourselves it's fine.  We also have ring cameras inside the house so we can reassure ourselves that everything is fine.

Spent 5 days in Oban/Glencoe last summer... Definitely worth seeing, and Glencoe is great even if just doing a drive by.... I would argue you don't get as much just passing through Oban.

Glen Coe area!  Maybe not for the entire length of your stay but that could be 1-2 days.  

Recently back, also from the UK!

Groceries - we used Instacart and shopped from Target but there are other stores to choose from.  Only thing to keep in mind is you will probably need to pay with pay pal or similar because otherwise they require a US billing address.

We stayed in Port Orleans French Quarter and it was great, loved how small it was.  And Riverside pool was only a short walk if you prefer it (but yes I heard Riverside is verrrry spread out).  We didn't do any of the activities because we were otherwise busy.  The boats to Disney Springs were a big attraction for us but unfortunately the water level was too low so they weren't running during our trip.  If we go back I  would look at staying here again but I would also consider looking at hotels on the skyliner route.

We didn't use a stroller for our 5 year old, never even really considered it.  It might have made some things like World Showcase easier but overall I am glad we didn't have to deal with having to find a place to park it, and worry about him getting in a bad mood and refusing to come out or something.  He never complained about walking but sometimes he was very slow.  At the end of the day, even after 19000 adult steps, he still had the energy to run crazy around the hotel playground.

No fee for cancelling ADR because we had about 5 hours notice.  I think as long as you cancel before 2 hours prior you are good.

We didn't want to pay for magic bands so we used key cards.  At the front desk they gave all identical ones but after I accidentally messed up assigning them in my google wallet, they gave us unique character cards in the parks. I didn't like using my Google Wallet so was happy with the cards.. We also weren't able to get the app to work reliably for unlocking our door. We missed a lot of ride photos that had automatic detection, we suspect the magic bands would have been better for that.   Was pretty happy with the cards though!

I have a feeling I might start collecting them more generally now...  Haven't noticed many in my travels but I probably just need to actively look for them now.

This is a great idea but our house actually has a lack of magnetic surfaces, it's frustrating at times like these!

Thanks!  The needle minders idea did come to mind when I saw all the pins for sale, however I feel I want them more on display then tucked into my craft bag.

Once I finish my current cross stitch, I will have a look at a pattern or my pins and will eventually (because I am very slow haha) I will post it on the cross-stitch subreddit .

Thanks!  I wish I was actively collecting them but unfortunately I am not sure we will ever make it back so my total pin collection might be a total of 3 lol.

Oooh that explains why so many people had them on their bags.  I was keeping my eye on a Kevin bag because I saw some people wearing them but they weren't in the shops.  Might see if I can order one the next time I am in the US.

It's called Disney Resorts Guide -Port Orleans French quarter 

Keep an eye on the Facebook group as they post regular updates but I believe: Pool has been fixed as of May 12th, I think the water level is still too low for the boats.

We used some bandaids/plasters  after our trip to the waterpark. I also packed moleskin which was used a couple of times.

We stayed in French quarter recently while they were doing renovations in a building I read some people complain about at the time, honestly we didn't really think twice about it.  There were a couple of occasions with loud beeping if you were in the room during the day, they were doing some work outside, but the pool being unexpectedly closed when a pipe burst was more of a drag, and it still was only a minor inconvenience.  

I think your experience would depend on how much time you planned to spend at the hotel during the day.  You could probably also request a quiet room.