• Stay on Disney property but not at DVC.
  • All I will say here is that we did stay at Pop Century this visit. Review to be posted soon…
• The Dinosaur Ride – Second Try
  • Both N and I had found it so odd that we would have missed this ride on all of our previous trips. And in fact we did not. We just forgot this ride. Not that it isn’t fun, because it really is, but both N and I rode this years ago and have never been back. So we both really enjoyed this ride even though it technically wasn’t a first. But either way, we can check it off of the list.
• Ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train  – Second Try
  • Success!! So I got Fastpasses for this ride as it usually has a long (but super fun) line. Since A was with us, we had intended to take turns. However, thunderstorms were threatening the entire day we were in the Magic Kingdom. We luckily had beautiful weather for most of the day despite the awful weather reports and menacing clouds. But when our Fastpass time came, N looked at the clouds and said that I should go while I could in case they closed the ride if it did start to pour. So I went, and had a blast! Right after I got off, it started pouring so they closed the line and N and I headed out of the park.
• Animal Kingdom with A
  • We did indeed make it to the Animal Kingdom on the first day of our trip. Sadly, it was only for a short time so we were not able to enjoy the park as much as wanted. We had gotten no sleep the night before due to a cranky A and a super early flight. We also had headed to Epcot for a quick stop at the Garden Festival Center, which is only open on weekends.
• Disney World trip in May – I have been to Disney in August before. So this was not my first time in the Florida heat but it has been over ten years. We are used to a nice mid 70s temperature and it was more mid 90s. It was also a hard transition as at home it is still so cold, we all had a hard time adjusting and endured things like heat rash. It was still a super fun trip, but it did remind us why we like to go in January.
  • Birthday pins for N and A.
    • We did get the pins with a “1 Ear” on A’s.
  • Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival
    • I have to say that we did not take proper advantage of the Festival. We went on Sunday and got to see the beautiful flower beds, floating gardens and topiaries. We also went for a bit on Wednesday. But that was it, we were not able to fill out the Festival passport.
  • Trip around the world
    • This was not accomplished and will be added to the list for January. I was very sad about this but our Epcot Day was a day that A really needed some baby focused play so instead of a trip around the world we had some fun in the pool and hung out at Animal Kingdom Lodge for a while. A was definitely happier with that!
  • Have a Citrus Swirl – I have a few things to say about this
    • We did indeed get to have citrus swirl at Sunshine Tree Terrace and are happy that we could try it.
    • I must say that for those who have allergy concerns or like us are Kosher eaters, the allergy book provided by the cast members at these booths is not always enough. For those who don’t know, any booth in Disney has a binder filled with company logos and ingredient lists for their food items so that guests can look and be sure that they are not eating something they shouldn’t. The cast member who was helping us was very confused about what we were looking for as we were searching for the Kosher symbol and not the ingredients. For one of the items (the vanilla) the symbol was on the logo but for the other (the orange) it was not. The cast member got us the box even though he claimed it was exactly the same as the information in the binder. However, when we were able to look at the box, we found the symbol in seconds, it was not on the side with the ingredients. As often happens, it was on a different part of the box. We were very happy that he got the box for us. After seeing the symbol, we were able to get a citrus swirl.
    • I understand the question of which is better between Dole Whip and Citrus Swirl is strong and by some heavily debated. Both are very distinctive and beloved Disney treats. But for both N and I it was a very clear and easy win. Citrus swirl tasted like a creamsicle. The vanilla is a typical vanilla and the orange is super tart, together they make the creamsicle flavor. But both N and I found the orange to be a bit too bitter for our tastes. After splitting a citrus swirl, we went and got two pineapple floats. For us, hands down the pineapple has the win.

Overall, we did really well with our list of firsts for this trip and only have one that we will need to defer until January. We will add it to our list and look forward to crossing it off then. As always in Disney, there are many more first to be enjoyed!!