Disney World 2025 Planning Part 13

May 6, 2025
H minus 12 Days
Newark airport is a mess. One runway is under maintenance and there is a lack of controllers. The Stupid O’clock, early flight helps with a lot of issues like that, but it’s really hard to keep hope alive. 

(Foreshadowing- The change to the slightly less Stupid O’clock early flight still helped SO MUCH!)
 
Rosa and I scouted Disney Plus for a movie last night but ended up watching the awesome three part Secrets of the Octopus documentary on National Geographic we saw advertised in Disneyland.

(Foreshadowing- The Secrets of the Elephants one we watched way after returning was awesome as well.)
 
Anabelle broke up Ralph Breaks the Internet throughout the day to make it to the end. It’s not that it’s bad, and the Princess part is cool. However, it suffers from a common sequel issue, where the character has to lose a bunch of development to tell a new story. Or in her words, “Ralph is such a jerk.”
 
Gluten free side updates for the ABC Commissary Quick Service in MGM-
ADDED! Pork Adobo, (Non GF) Soy and Vinegar-braised Pork served with Steamed White Rice, Pickled Onions, and a Sesame-Cucumber Salad
Gluten/Wheat Allergy-Friendly Buffalo Fries, Gluten/Wheat Allergy-Friendly Black Beans, Gluten/Wheat Allergy-Friendly Steak Fries, Gluten/Wheat Allergy-Friendly Mexican Rice
(Foreshadowing- Hey! An entrée none of us would eat at a place we’re unlikely to go. Glad I let everyone know about this.)
 
Anabelle completed her viewing of every official theatrical Disney Animated movie (but one), by saying:
“Shoutout to Strange World for reintroduction of “What’s the haps” into my common vocabulary.”
 
 
May 7, 2025
H minus 11  Days
Stress filled checks every morning: 

if our flight still exists, 

what that flight did today, 

and the weather. 

Fun. 

(Foreshadowing- So much fun to come.)
 
Anabelle was stunned to find Mary Poppins is over two hours and twenty minutes. It never feels that long. I always think of it as part of the animated cannon, since much of it is animated. She went to bed, and decided her top five Pixar films will be the next adventure.
 
 
May 8, 2025
H minus 10 Days
Adding weather predictions to the bottom of the back side of The Grid will not be repeated. Besides increasing stress, they can be remarkably different day to day, meaning I’m not just adding the new ones, but rewriting all of the ones I already put in. Live and learn.
 
Universal’s been blowing their horn about the “FastPass for every ride” thing you get if you stay in their hotel. But guests report- even using that, the waits are 35-40 minutes. The Disney one is more complicated, but Lightning Lanes remain short waits.
 
I am free of the cast!!! I will be trying the fancy over shoe boot out but sticking with the standard one for extra protection before we go.
 
Anabelle- 🗣️🥳✨TEN DAYS UNTIL WE GO TO DISNEYYYYY✨🥳🗣️
Me- Huzzah!
Rosa- 🥳🥳🥳
(Foreshadowing- My countdown goes to zero, hence the discrepancy. Or maybe I screwed up. It is far too late to check them all now.)
(More Foreshadowing- I forgot I wrote this and must have fixed it along the journey. Making both of these meaningless.)

Me [Personal Log]- This should feel a lot more exciting and much less stressful. There are far too many unknowns in the way. We all need this trip so badly.
 
Four Disney World restaurants change menus. Luckily, they are all in Disney Springs. This is part of the reason I never copy those.
 
Me- Mami and I watched a documentary about the EPCOT updates. The new Luminous fireworks show has actual Disney Music in it this time. At a minimum, “When She Loved Me,” “Remember Me” and “You’ll Be In My Heart.”
Anabelle- Okay. Fun. I still don’t really care but that’s cool.
Me- We should see the new one at least once. It looks pretty.
Anabelle- Okay.
(Foreshadowing- We did not. But Anabelle did have a new Disney Event to check off her lists when it was cancelled!)
 
 

May 9, 2025
H minus 9 Days
They cancelled our Stupid O’clock in the morning flight that’s been taking off every day without issue and usually ahead of schedule. They put us on one with a connection. Rosa moved us to a slightly later non-stop one. Need to update Mears and Limo now.
Done! 

(Foreshadowing- there was FAR more panic than that little paragraph indicates. The updates were made with help from Abuelita as Rosa was online chatting with United during her Mass and checking in with me while I was exercising in physical therapy, and working with the therapist to learn the over shoe boot, soon to be known as The Robocop, only fit over my hiking boot.) 

Many thanx are due to Dan at Carroll Physical Therapy for getting my ankle functional enough to survive this trip.
 
Anabelle had time to watch Mary Poppins last night. A great one. I had Dumbo songs stuck in my head since she watched it, so Rosa and I put that one on. Mostly, Anabelle and I commented to each other about the films as much as watching them. (We have different levels of opinion about my favorite, Uncle Albert.) Some peak moments:
My assessment that - if you ignore the intoxication of an infant- Timothy is one of the best Disney parents.
Anabelle remembering being little and enjoying the fun man with an English accent (Bert.) then adding “It’s so bad.”
 
We drove down to Villanova, moved a bunch of big stuff out of Anabelle’s room into storage and hung around in the hotel together. We all agreed moving the first night’s meal later made sense, which was easy because the Crystal Palace is ENORMOUS. Together we watched Anabelle’s favorite Tinker Bell film, The Pirate Fairy. She highlighted her favorite pirate saying again, “Swoggle me eyes.” She also said one of the most Anabelle phrases in history. “I need to write this on my list so I can cross it off.”
(Foreshadowing-  This is the first of a few of those.)

(More Foreshadowing- Unsurprisingly, Rosa and I have both also said this at one time or another.)
 
 
May 10, 2025
H Minus 8 Days
Anabelle finished the new Pixie Hollow book with the back story of Queen Clarion and Mr. Pricklepants. (Every Timothy Dalton role is automatically called this in our home.)
We’d get texts like, “FARIES ARE DROPPING DEAD, WELCOME BACK PIXIE HOLLOW BOOKS WE MISSED YOU!” Followed by, “OK, Update, she’s not dead. She’s just in an eternal sleep. BUT another one got a chunk of her leg bit out, so I’ll take it.”
Eventually- “I finished
It was so good 😩😩😩😩😩
I need to watch Secret of the Wings expeditiously 🗣️🗣️🗣️
to heal
because obviously this did not have a happy ending 😀
It’s just because this is about Clarion and Mr. Pricklepants but they obviously don’t get back together until Secret of the Wings so…
Tough.”
 
Meanwhile, in the hotel, I suggested to Rosa following yesterday’s Captain Hook origin tale with Peter Pan. She said no. Then we were going to watch another Animal show on Disney Plus, but she fell asleep mid-sentence. So, I joined her. Later we found the Midsommer Murders CHANNEL, and that naturally stayed on.
Anabelle started watching Gnomeo and Juliet while packing.
When she joined us in the hotel for the night, she finished that while I washed up and we all watched Secret of the Wings so she could give it her full attention.
 
Naturally, as we were falling asleep, there was much trivia. There was also much cheering from Anabelle when she realized there was only a week to go after midnight.

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