So, this was one of our crazier trips, but definitely memorable. We still had annual passes at this point, and when realized that July 4 fell on a Thursday, we came up with the crazy idea to celebrate at Disney. We left our house Wednesday night at 5pm, and drove straight through the night.
We arrived on Disney property at 8:04 the next morning, and we went straight to Hollywood Studios. The park actually opened at 9:00, so we were able to rope drop Slinky Dog Dash.
9:00
After getting our rider swap pass, Patrick and LittleCJC stood in line while LittleCGC and I decided to visit with Woody and Bo Peep, characters #1 and #2.
LittleCGC and I decided to get back in line since it was growing, while Dad and LittleCJC rode Slinky Dog Dash, attraction #1.
When they got off the ride, they joined us in line so that LittleCJC could also meet Woody and Bo Peep. If I'm not mistaken, this was the first time we met Bo.
I also got this picture while waiting.
LittleCJC and I then used our rider swap passes for Slinky Dog Dash, attraction #2.
While we were on the ride, Patrick and LittleCGC decided to get us some breakfast from Woody's Lunchbox.
Always delicious.
10:00
When we finished the poptart (and changed a diaper) LittleCJC and I had to get our picture with the new Forky.
We then met Jessie, character #3.
At this point, we were ready to use our first fastpass. So we left Toy Story Land and made our way to Star Tours, attraction #3.
11:00
By the time we all rode this attraction, we were ready to use our next fastpass back in Toy Story Land at Toy Story Mania, attracion #5.
Our next fastpass was the Disney Jr. Live, so we decided to make our way over there where we were able to visit with some new Disney Jr. characters. First up, Fancy Nancy, character #4.
I think LittleCGC liked Fancy Nancy's dress. Next up, we visited Vamperina, character #5. LittleCGC was pretty excited.
12:00
With little time to spare, we made it into Disney Jr. Live, attraction #6, using our last planned fastpass. LittleCGC loved this.
While in this area, we decided to visit BB8, character #6.
We also took advantage of our Visa meet and greet opportunity where we met Kylo Ren, character #7
LittleCJC was still too short for Rock n' Roller Coaster and she didn't want to ride Tower of Terror, so with only one ride left here, we made our way back to Toy Story Land yet again.
1:00
After a little wait in line, we were able to ride Alien Swirling Saucers, attraction #7.
Before leaving the park, we ate some more food from Woody's Lunchbox and found our friend who works here so that we could say hi. After visiting, we did leave and we decided to stop by the character warehouse before checking into our hotel. Since we made this trip on short notice and with intentions of keeping it as cheap as possible, we stayed off property at the Red Lion. It was pretty much what we expected for the price. While Patrick checked-in, the girls and I stayed in the car.
Once we were moved into the room and naps were finished we made our way to Magic Kingdom for the fourth of July fireworks. By the time we parked and made it through security it was 6:30.
7:00
Before we arrived at the park, we were able to get a fastpass for Pirates of the Caribbean, attraction #9. It was already really crowded up by the castle as we entered, so Patrick decided to stay there with the stroller while I took the girls on the ride.
After the ride, we went back to the castle and joined Patrick where we waited for the fireworks.
Only 1.5 hours to go. Thankfully, they had a DJ there which entertained LittleCJC.
I also have to include this one, because it's so cute when we were caught taping her.
Here's one more, that shows how much more crowded it became as we got closer to fireworks time. If you're volume is up, you'll also see that Disney knows what demographic it was catering.
The fireworks started at 9:15 and they definitely were the best fourth of July fireworks I've ever seen. I actually have an 11 minute video of them that LittleCJC filmed. So of course, we can barely see any of the fireworks, but it is still adorable hearing all her commentary with her new friends. Many people decided to leave after the fireworks, but the park was actually open until 12. In fact, when we entered the park earlier, we were handed a paper that showed special $2 snacks and shopping deals at select locations from 9-12 encouraging people to hang around instead of everyone trying to leave at the same time.
10:00
It was obviously crowded after the fireworks and unfortunately, we were going against the flow of traffic because we decided there was no point following the crowd and waiting forever to get on a ferry or monorail. So, instead we made our way around the castle and walked on to Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid, attraction #10.
We opted to only ride once and then made our way back to the castle for a picture.
11:00
Even though LittleCGC is asleep, I love this photo.
Patrick and I were exhausted by the time we made it back to the room since we didn't sleep the night before, but it was a great day. We actually had an interesting night as the hotel woke us up at 2:00, first with some phone calls and then even a security guard at the door. I understand that they were swamped and I think overbooked, so they were trying to find empty rooms, but they weren't very friendly considering they were waking us up in the middle of the night. And they didn't even have their act together, because they continued to call the room even after Patrick left with the security guard to the lobby. I'm just thankful that both girls slept through this craziness. If we were staying any longer (or if there was availability on property) we probably would have checked out. As it was, we were exhausted enough that we fell back to sleep and weren't bothered the next two nights. I can say we have not been back here and this was the last time we've booked a cheap hotel. I guess you're thoughts on those really do change with kids.
As I've said, we had a very memorable 4th of July!
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