Prost Gonzales: Disney Trio

Alright! Let's get these Disney's photos posted.

After dropping Heidi off at college, we whisked away to a trio Disney trip. I've said this before, we did ask Heidi if she wanted us to plan a trip so she could come or if we should do it after we drop her off. She decided to not come, to maximize her time before heading to college and didn't want to be crunched on time to prep for college either.

Heading to Florida in August is always a little crazy. It is very very hot - I think at heat of the day, the heat index was around 110-115 degrees, plus we knew it would be rainy. Pro of going in August: the crowds are pretty darn low. We literally were able to do everything we wanted to do, sometimes more, and it wasn't the crowds or wait time that kept us from doing anything - more weather.

When it is that hot, you do have to take breaks often, shade is your best friend, and if you can get some AC, even better. You are constantly wet - either from sweat or because of rain. Also, the rain did cause rides to go down and some nighttime fireworks were cancelled - that being said, we don't NEED to do the fireworks anymore and none of that was on our must dos list. I know there are some people that would NOT like going in August, but we actually enjoy it.

We also know how to make it the best trip as possible. Wearing the right, lightweight clothes, cooling towels, UV umbrellas for our own shade, lots and lots of water, cold snacks etc. We had a blast - even in the sweaty hot rainy weather. We truly did. It's fun to say "whatever" and let your hair do whatever, and just run around and have fun. Now this means we get sweaty photos - but we're okay with that. :)

Our first day - Saturday - we flew out EARLY - like we arrived in Orlando by 8:30 am and from the aiport, to the hotel and to the parks - we were in the parks by 9:15! And we didn't rush - it just worked out that way. We could tell right away the crowds were down, just on traffic alone.

At Hollywood Studios - we prioritized outdoor rides to plan for afternoon rain showers and literally got to ride every ride multiple times with and without Lightening Lanes. The longest we waited on any day was 25 minutes - that is including major popular rides. Most of the time, we waited maybe 5 to 10 minutes or basically - walk-ons. Lucy even rode Star Tours by herself mutliple times as it was always a complete walk-on - but my queasy-ness could not take back-to-back rides.

The photos are from all three of our phones - so they aren't quite in order - but you get the picture.

It is always fun to know where the cameras are on rides...

The muppets coaster ended up being a little too much for Lucy - same with Tower of Terror but I do love the new overlay of muppets. Maybe more could have been added for DURING the ride - but overall, enjoyed it. Chris and I rode them and Lucy got herself ice cream and shopped - everyone was happy.

The picture below was waiting for the boat at 9:05am after landing and deboarding at 8:30 - that has never happened!

These "adult" lemonades from Toy Story are the most refreshing drink in the heat.

Lucy also got back into pin trading too!

We did end up getting a late dinner at our hotel in their soda shop. They actually have great burgers, milkshakes etc and we all ate well. We actually ate it another time too!

Lucy, smartly finding shade while we grabbed a beverage.

It did rain... a lot, but it did bring the temp down too.

Day 1 was a good day - yes it was long, but we took our time, didn't rush and went with the flow.

Day 2- Sunday we did a Magic Kingdom Day and Disney Springs Day. Here's a tip - if it is during the fall or winter and Magic Kingdom is having one of their special event parties, like Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Night - these are the best days to go to Magic Kingdom - as long as you are okay not to see any nighttime parades. We even missed Rope Drop to sleep in a little bit. Rope Drop meaning: getting there right at park opening to be the first on the rides. We still managed to do every single ride we wanted, some multiple times all before noon. We also got real lucky and was dodging the rain storm - meaning we were the last group to ride a ride prior to the ride being shut down for the weather. It kept happening and Lucy felt like the luckiest person.

The main Magic Kingdom must do on our list was their new interactive pirate bar. It was SO fun. You only get 45 minutes in there and I do wish you could spend a little more time, but I understand they are trying to get as many people in as possible. Basically every 5 or so minutes - something happens - could be the bartenders doing pranks, could be an animatonic parrot talking etc. It was seriously awesome. I swear there are hidden animontics everywhere in there. The drinks were delicious too!

Plus...we have a Chris. You give him a theme and he will commit. Short version - Chris ordered his drink, a margarita and the waiter said we don't have that...well, on the menu its Maaaarrrrgita, like a pirate. Chris without skipping a beat, goes into his best pirate impression to order it - so much the other bartenders got involved and it was very entertaining. Chris proceeded to have fun with them the whole time and even at the end, he was secretly given a gold coin that only special patrons receive. Really crazy.

Late afternoon, we had done everything we could at Magic Kingdom and then some and decided it was shopping time. Lucy and I shopped for a little bit at Disney Springs while Chris relaxed at a nearby bar - until we all met up to finish shopping together and snacking around Disney Springs.

As a little something special - we decided not to try to take the Disney transportaiton to Disney Springs but booked what we call a mini-mini van aka a Lyft, but they are driven by Cast Members. Its a ride-share with a Disney touch. It was a much more enjoyable method of travel for sure!

Here is Chris showing off his special prize.

Our favorite food are these cheesburger egg rolls at Magic Kingdom. They are only sold at this little cart and run out. Right when we got there in the morning, they were selling them and we made a joke to the cast member that we were going to try to get more later. The problem with just being a cart, it shuts down for weather too - Lucy is obsessed with these egg rolls and we tried to get more several times with no luck.

I saw another big storm coming in and I said - let's try one more time. Lucy ended up being the LAST person served for egg rolls AND she took the last cheeseburger ones for the day. We were beyond lucky and thrilled. Even that same cast member was impressed with Lucy's luck and determination.

On our Magic Kingdom day - it STORMED early afternoon. Luckily we had finished the outdoor rides we wanted to do, but I have never been in a storm with so much striking lightening. Everyone had to take cover and lightening was physically striking down everywhere. Now, Disney does have lightening rods built into a lot of things - so they were getting struck, but it was scary. Our hair was standing up and the worst was when the structure in the below picture was struck. It was SO close, and so loud you felt it in your chest. It didn't last too long and we escaped to the an indoor ride after a bit, but I never want to be that close to lightening again! It was so bad - I didn't even want to video it for safety reasons.