There's Always Too Much Sauce - A July 2022 TR *Updated 3/23

[MeghanEmily]

Alicia! Hi! I showed up more than a little late to the party, but I've so enjoyed bingeing this report and catching up on your two trips! (And seeing your most recent runDisney trip pictures on social media, of course!) I wasn't going to multi-quote at first, so there are things I left out from early on, but then decided to start quoting partway through.

I always love your reports and your writing so much! They're always so readable and relatable, and you've got a great entertaining funny way of sharing these memories.

Every time you describe a travel incident where someone gets sick in your TRs—I can remember two over the years, but there have probably been more—I simultaneously shudder and am impressed about how you handle it. As a fellow emetophobe, I would have been majorly freaking out internally when Landon met his fate with the MCO trash can!

Have you ever had a moment on a Disney trip where you’ve gone, “This. This is the memory that’s going to stick out to me from this trip.”?

If so, what was it?



For me, I knew it was going to be this.

Sitting in Epcot, eating a snack, watching my babies goof around, I said to myself, “I’m going to remember this. I’m going to think back to this trip and the first thing that’s going to come to mind is this. Evie and Landon standing in front of me, kids being kids, while Alex and I look on.”

I remember writing about one of these moments in one of my TRs. It was a simple one, but sitting and waiting in the stands after Fantasmic for the theatre to clear out one evening, nowhere to rush to and totally relaxed, a fine mist in the air, and watching two little girls chasing bubbles around and playing together. I know I'd think of more if I thought about it for a bit, some trips had bigger things and some were more about little moments, but this one stands out from that trip.

The safari is Evie’s favorite attraction at Walt Disney World.

If you were to ask her what she wants to do most every Disney trip, without hesitation, she will say the safari.

Evie and I have this in common.

Evie was completely starstruck. When we talk about kids and them getting swept away in the Disney magic, this was the perfect example. I’ve never seen Evie so happy in the parks before. Her smile was ear to ear, and you could tell from her expression she couldn’t believe this was happening.

If Alex and I randomly getting an “It’s a Boy” vinylmation a month before we found out we were having Landon is our magical Disney moment, and if Landon pulling the sword out of the stone is his, then meeting Rey is definitely, one hundred percent Evie’s.


This will forever be: THE TRIP WHERE EVIE MET REY.

This is so amazing!! She must have been completely in awe. <3 This was me, I think, on the trip when we happened to unexpectedly meet Paige O'Hara and got her to sign a print.

As we were packing up and getting ready to head out, I decided to make the kids pose for one last photo.

One of my favorite shots from the trip!

Such a wonderful photo! They look like they're straight out of a Disney Parks brochure/commercial.

Evie swore she didn’t fall asleep on the way home that night. She was awake the entire time.

On this trip, I solifidied my suspicion that Wilderness Lodge is my favorite WDW resort.

I think it's probably mine, as well. It's so special. This is a gorgeous photo.

Mountains were explored:

Love this picture of your fam! Even though Landon got a little bit Mike Wazowski'd

One day I’m going to try some of the treats. I think the jelly beans and chocolate frogs are the only desserts I’ve tasted. Carly absolutely loves the Fizzing Whizbys and buys a box to bring home every trip.

I'm a fan of the peppermint toads, but haven't tried many of them.

But that was about the only amazing thing about the restaurant.

Maybe we were all too tired to be openminded. Maybe with the heat we were more critical. Maybe we were too big a group to get a great dining experience.


Or maybe Mythos is just lackluster.

We've had a couple of decent meals there, and one or two less so, but I feel like the food quality doesn't really live up to expectations.

Upon getting into the other park, most of my group had a confession to make.

We had reached our limit.

It was too hot, too busy, too much of everything. Our ability to have fun was spent.

A lot of people were ready to go home.

Well, this caused a bit of drama within the group. Some were happy to go, some were upset we only spent half a day in the parks.

It was a whole thing.

Nothing to dwell on, everyone’s gotten over it, but it was definitely a good reminder that traveling with 9 people is hard. I would not recommend doing it in the summer when tensions rise quickly.

Totally fair. Good for you for asking for what you need. But yeah, I can imagine how drama may have occurred with a group this size when something doesn't go according to how people are expecting. Any time that size group travels together, especially in the heat, I feel like some upset is possible. It happened by mid-day the one time we park-toured with Nathan's whole family as well (party of 7.) People got hurt feelings/got miffed with each other pretty easily by the time the heat and fatigue had set in,

When I get hungry in Animal Kingdom, there’s one place I always head to for a bite to eat.

Satu’li Canteen.

Same! Well, that, and Nomad Lounge. And we like some of the table service. Really, we're good with most of the food at AK. But I especially love Satu'li Canteen.

I think Alex and I would be willing to try Whispering Canyon Café again if we were in a large group and wanted to partake in the antics. Since it was only us two at the table, our server didn’t do anything, but we were able to see a big group next to us have a lot of fun.

I think we feel the same way. It can be fun when you get to enjoy the antics, but even when we've had an animated server, it feels a little silly when you're just a party of two. I feel like it would feel less awkward and more fun with a bigger group. And we've always had decent food there, but nothing to enthusiastically write home about.

Once my mom got her diagnosis, we changed our plans to have Alex’s mom come and stay with the kids while we were gone. But then Alex’s mom was diagnosed with cancer. (In a six day span we got those pieces of news. It was a HARD WEEK.)

My goodness, what an ordeal for your family to go through! I'm glad to know that they both had good recoveries, but can imagine how incredibly difficult it must have been for you all.

FOP was a one and done for my mom. She said it made her motion sick, but she was glad she experienced it.

“I did it. But never again.”

Your mom and I have this in common. I will NEVER do it again, but I'm glad I can at least know what I'm missing now.

Because I was solo, I took a lot of group photos for people. My lack of being able to be on my phone left me free to look around and observe everything, so lots of people took that as an opening. I just hope they all turned out all right.

Very kind of you! A kind solo runner did the same for us when we ran the 5K with my mom, and it's so nice to have a picture of the three of us together now to look back on.

Monsters Inc. is my favorite Pixar film

Me too! I think Finding Nemo is probably an objectively better Pixar film, but I love Monster's Inc more.

I celebrated with my mom, called Alex and the kids, who were so supportive of me. Landon couldn’t wait to tell me, “We watched you, Mom!” (There’s a runner tracking page.) “We saw you were going fast!”

This is so sweet! They must have been proud of you

Meanwhile, my mom did laundry.

Such an exciting task.

But as she said: “I love you, daughter, but I’m not spending three more nights in this room with all these workout clothes hanging around.”

I walked up when they were finishing their set with “Dare You To Move.”

The ghost of my fourteen year old self was cheering

Oh gosh, this song takes me back!!!

We all have the people in our lives who look at us like we’re crazy for being Disney fans. They JUST. DON’T. GET. IT.

And that’s all right.

Because us DISers do.

We see the worth.

We understand the value.

And we’ll keep taking as many trips as we can.

Because we never know what is coming for us in the future.

You could be like me and go to Disney with your mom and have an amazing time, and then five months later learn she’s sick.

One afternoon when I was sitting with my mom after her surgery, we were talking about our morning in Galaxy’s Edge, laughing at something mundane that occurred.

A completely crappy time, and we used Disney to relieve the stress.

The Disney trips are worth it.

You can’t change my mind.

Chills.

Thank you so much for sharing this trip with us! Another great TR--really, two!--in the books!

 

[amazingact21]

Absolutely loved this TR! Happy for you and your Mom that you could take this trip before her health issue came around. We never know what tomorrow will bring so it's important to make those memories when we can. You perfectly summed up why Disney is a place to do that. Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for reading and following along! I appreciate having gotten that time with my mom, and have learned to cherish all the memories I make on these Disney trips.

We went in 2018. The kids were 10 (only a few weeks before she turned 11) and 12.

Landon and Evie are close-ish to that age now. (11 and 8) and I'm wondering if in the next 2-3 years a cruise would be a good age for them. Not old enough to be swamped with activities at home, but old enough to have independence on the ship.

 

[amazingact21]

Alicia! Hi! I showed up more than a little late to the party, but I've so enjoyed bingeing this report and catching up on your two trips! (And seeing your most recent runDisney trip pictures on social media, of course!)

It's great to see you here! I hope you are doing well. I absolutely love seeing pictures of your pup on socials. I show them to Alex occasionally and say, "Look, we should totally get a Golden."

They're always so readable and relatable, and you've got a great entertaining funny way of sharing these memories.

Thank you for the kind words.
I try, like everything in life, to not take anything too seriously and find the humor in even the most frustrating of situations.

sitting and waiting in the stands after Fantasmic for the theatre to clear out one evening, nowhere to rush to and totally relaxed, a fine mist in the air, and watching two little girls chasing bubbles around and playing together. I know I'd think of more if I thought about it for a bit, some trips had bigger things and some were more about little moments, but this one stands out from that trip.

Aw, what a beautiful memory to have. You just never know what's going to stick with you for years after a trip. You think it's going to be the big moments you plan and prepare for, and then something like watching strangers chase bubbles while you're fully aware you're relaxing inside a Disney theme park pops up and catches you off guard.

Such a wonderful photo! They look like they're straight out of a Disney Parks brochure/commercial.

I'm so grateful I took that photo. Especially now, years later, when they both have currently lost their screen time for the day because they were pushing and pinching each other.

I'm a fan of the peppermint toads,

Those sound like my next treat to try!

Any time that size group travels together, especially in the heat, I feel like some upset is possible. It happened by mid-day the one time we park-toured with Nathan's whole family as well (party of 7.) People got hurt feelings/got miffed with each other pretty easily by the time the heat and fatigue had set in,

I really, really wish school breaks weren't in the middle of summer. Because I would nothing more than to avoid another large traveling group again, but with so many nieces and nephews in school, I don't think it can happen.

Well, that, and Nomad Lounge.

Nomad Lounge has been on my Must-Try list for years! One day.

I think Finding Nemo is probably an objectively better Pixar film, but I love Monster's Inc more.

Glad you also share in the Monsters Inc. love.
We're going to DL this summer, and I think the kids are sick of hearing me talk about how excited I am to go on the Monsters Inc. dark ride there.

Thank you so much for sharing this trip with us! Another great TR--really, two!--in the books!

Thank you so much for reading! I know there was a lot!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I absolutely love seeing pictures of your pup on socials. I show them to Alex occasionally and say, "Look, we should totally get a Golden."

As someone who has wanted a golden as long as I can remember, who did research beforehand, found a reputable ethical breeder, and thought I knew what to expect.....I don't recommend it!

To be fair, Stella has just been a super difficult dog, and I think it was just a luck-of-the-draw thing. Loads of people I know with goldens have much easier dogs than Stella, even people with puppies from the same litter/breeder. Puppyhood/adolescence seems to have its challenges even with the best goldens, but Stella was (and is) a doozy. We tried to do everything right, put her in obedience classes, did lots of research and training, etc., but some things have still been hard. She has resource guarding tendencies where she'll get nasty if we try to take something from her that she's attached to, (which we've worked on loads, and it's gotten much better, but she's still not totally 100% trustworthy. I probably wouldn't ever leave her with kids unsupervised.) She has skin and GI-type allergies. We and our vet suspect she has PICA (facepalm) and she'll take or leave her kibble but will compulsively eat all kinds of non-food items. She's anxious, and generally pretty high-energy. The list goes on! She's still young though, and we're getting better at managing her the longer we do this, so I have hope that it'll keep getting easier. And she's pretty in pictures!

I'm so grateful I took that photo. Especially now, years later, when they both have currently lost their screen time for the day because they were pushing and pinching each other.

Hah! Siblings, amirite?

Nomad Lounge has been on my Must-Try list for years! One day.

It's so great! I hope you get there someday and enjoy it as much as we do.

 

[amazingact21]

She has skin and GI-type allergies. We and our vet suspect she has PICA (facepalm) and she'll take or leave her kibble but will compulsively eat all kinds of non-food items. She's anxious, and generally pretty high-energy. The list goes on! She's still young though, and we're getting better at managing her the longer we do this, so I have hope that it'll keep getting easier. And she's pretty in pictures!

Oh my gosh!! I never in a million years would have imagined a Golden having the behavior like Stella. That's crazy!
I grew up with a Golden, and she was the calmest, most laid back dog I've ever known. I hold all dogs up to her standard. My MIL has a Golden, as well, and one of my friends in middle school bred Goldens, and they've always been so relaxed and easygoing.

Do you ever look at her and go, "Of course, I would get the exception to the rule."

In all fairness, my nextdoor neighbor has a Husky, and she's the most non-Husky you can imagine. I've never, in the 9 months I've known her, heard her make a peep. Not even when someone rang the doorbell. She just walked to the door, slowly. She never jumps or has a tantrum. When we first commented on her mellow disposition, the dad was like, "Wouldn't you know it, we got the one Husky in the litter who doesn't like going outside, doesn't want to run around, just wants to lay down and watch the world go by."

Seems like Stella is the same.

I hope as she gets older she calms a little for your sake.
And stops going after human food.

 

[amazingact21]

Hey friends, I wanted to hop on here and share the link to my latest TR:

We Only Had to Wait in Line Twice - An April 2024 TR


Not going to lie, it's a little strange starting a new thread. I've had this one going for 2 years now! But all good things must come to an end, and with them new beginnings are forged. I'd love it if you followed me over and continued our fun discussions, this time with a report that actually occurred in the current year.

 

[MeghanEmily]

My MIL has a Golden, as well, and one of my friends in middle school bred Goldens, and they've always been so relaxed and easygoing.

Right!? This is what I expected!! A little high-energy and naughty as a puppy/teen, but otherwise a standard easygoing affectionate family dog! Ugh.

Do you ever look at her and go, "Of course, I would get the exception to the rule."

Yes. Yes, I do. Sometimes daily.

I hope as she gets older she calms a little for your sake.

Thank you! My sanity may depend on it.

And stops going after human food.

Oh at this point I'd take it if it were just human food. Last night it was the little circular rubber foot off the bottom or something-or-other. I have no idea where she found it, but it was seconds from being swallowed when I noticed and intervened. A few days before that, it was an entire pinecone.

Heading over to your new TR! Yay!