No one needs to know we are going to Disney again, right? - Update 11/20! [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

DisneyDreamerMN

06-29-2011, 10:43 PM

Hello and Welcome to my first ever trip report! :banana:

I have been a trip reporter reader for about a year now and have been tempted to write about my last two trips but have always chickened out. So here I go by taking the plunge and hoping for a few readers.

Introductions:

Going on this trip is of course is me! My name is Jamie.
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Joining me is my wonderful husband of five years, Kyle.
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Staying home would be our cuddly cat Moto.
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This trip wasn't actually planned...not really at all. It started with my husband putting an idea in my head. He does that a lot. He can be pretty sneaky. :rolleyes1 He had mentioned during the first week of May that he wanted to go somewhere for Memorial Day, but didn't want to just take a short trip up north. He jokingly said Disney World and I laughed. We had gone on a trip with his parents to DW last October and had vowed that we needed to try other things and not come back for a couple years....but the seed was planted. I started to really consider it. What if we went 3 days? What about 4? We could do a value resort rather than a moderate. But in the end he wanted to make it a great trip and I couldn't blame him. By the 2nd week in May we had booked a flight and a 6 night stay at Wilderness Lodge!

This would be our very first time at a deluxe hotel. I was beyond excited! We kind of get stuck in ruts which is why we have stayed at POR 3 times.... But not this time. We were set for Sunday, May 29th - Saturday, June 4th in a "courtyard" view room.

So let's get this trip started!

My brother had come over Saturday night as he was going to house/cat sit for us while we were gone. I had made a plan to go to bed by 9 PM as our flight was 7 AM (way to early if you ask me), but I really wanted to hangout with my brother! We managed to get ourselves into bed by 10, but like most others I could not sleep. I tossed and turned and considered just getting up and hanging out with my night owl of a brother. I managed to fall asleep around 12:30 AM and catch a few Z's before my 3 AM alarm But I wasn't sad for too long because I remembered where we were going!

We left our house at 4:00 and were arriving at my work where we would keep the car for the week at 4:30. The taxi came a few minutes later and we reached the airport by 5 AM. The Delta counter was empty, but they directed us a self check-in kiosk. Security was a complete walk through with no delays. Since we had about an hour and a half before boarding we decided to get some McDonalds breakfast and eat it as slowly as possible. After breakfast we walked to our gate and found a couple of seats by the window.

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Do I look tired?

We chatted with a family that was sitting across from us as we waited to board. They were meeting other family in Orlando and would be staying in a condo and going to DW for a couple of days. The mom of the group said she hoped to run into us at the parks, but we never did see her.

We took our seats after we boarded the plane. Kyle had the middle seat and I had the window seat. The plane was a little different than others we had taken before. For one we had leg room! My husband is 6'2 and I am 5'11 so our knees are usually right up against the seat infront of us, but not this time

Every seat had its own monitor!
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This was a game that was free to play. It was a trivia game that let you play against other passengers...very cool. The monitor also had free TV with about 10 channels. It made the 3 hour flight go by really fast.

Lastly, the person who was supposed to sit in the aisle seat did not show up so Kyle was able to move in the aisle seat and we were both very comfy.

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We landed at just about 11 AM and hustled to DME. I wanted to take a photo but there was no line at all. I didn't even get to (hooray!) stand in line to wait for our bus as they told us we made it just in time to catch one that was just about to leave. We hopped on the bus and walked all the way to the back as it was full. We sat right in front of the bathroom on the bus, so no picture of the entrance sign :sad1:

Wilderness Lodge was the first stop! As soon as we pulled up I was in awe.
Kyle had held onto our carry on so we did not have to wait for the driver to unload it. We went inside to check in and stood in line for maybe 10 minutes. The CM took Kyle's cell phone number and said they would text when the room was ready.

We gave our carry on to the vallet outside and decided to head back toward the pool to check it out.

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The pool was packed and most of the lounge chairs were taken. We weren't dressed for the pool anyway. Leaving the house at 4 AM isn't exactly shorts weather in Minnesota even though it was late May. We walked over to the pool bar where Kyle ordered a beer and I ordered a Pina Colava and took a seat at an empty table next to the bar.

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We enjoyed our drinks and the hot, but beautiful Florida weather. We started to get hungry for lunch and since we hadn't received a text yet decided to head to Downtown Disney.

Up next - our long/short trip to Downtown Disney

OhMari

06-29-2011, 10:56 PM

We really did have a lousy Spring, Looking forward to reading your TR.

Disneyfreak616

06-29-2011, 10:57 PM

Great start so far! WL is gorgeous! :cloud9:

Lifelong_Dreamer

06-29-2011, 11:14 PM

Joining in! Love Wilderness Lodge, it is my favourite resort. :love:

Nermel9

06-30-2011, 10:03 AM

I'm here! Great start, the pictures look good! Isn't my WL sooo beautiful?? :) Can't wait to read more!

DisneyDreamerMN

06-30-2011, 06:00 PM

We really did have a lousy Spring, Looking forward to reading your TR.

:welcome:
It was definitely had a long winter! Glad summer is finally here.

Great start so far! WL is gorgeous! :cloud9:

:welcome: I loved it, it is my new favorite resort!

Joining in! Love Wilderness Lodge, it is my favourite resort. :love:

:welcome: :thumbsup2

I'm here! Great start, the pictures look good! Isn't my WL sooo beautiful?? :) Can't wait to read more!

Yay you found it! Your Wilderness Lodge? :rotfl:

BookTrout

06-30-2011, 06:28 PM

Hi Jamie and congrats on finally posting a trip report; you're doing great! I am subbing and can't wait to read more.
Sharon

lbuzz52

07-01-2011, 12:06 AM

Hi! Glad to hear your flight was comfy and uneventful!

DisneyDreamerMN

07-04-2011, 03:29 PM

Hi Jamie and congrats on finally posting a trip report; you're doing great! I am subbing and can't wait to read more.
Sharon

:welcome: and thanks Sharon!

Hi! Glad to hear your flight was comfy and uneventful!

:cheer2: I always hope that the 3rd seat person doesn't show up. Before boarding Delta kept annoucing that they had seats in first class available for an additional $100. I saw about 6 people go to the counter and purchase the upgrade so I am sure that's where our seat mate went.

MelMel11

07-04-2011, 03:39 PM

Can't wait to hear more.. Count me in!!

TanzUnited99

07-04-2011, 04:52 PM

I'm joining in! Great start and the pics of WL look gorgeous :thumbsup2

punkin1763

07-04-2011, 05:34 PM

I'm in!

DisneyDreamerMN

07-04-2011, 05:35 PM

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Me and Johnny Depp in Las Vegas

I realized that I never listed our favorites! I am sorry about that!

Favorite Character - Pooh
Favortie Princess - Ariel
Favorite WDW attraction - Big Thunder Mountaitn Railroad
Favorite WDW Treat - Dole Whip Float
Favorite WDW Resort - Wilderness Lodge
Farvorite WDW Park - Magic Kingdom

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Kyle on the airport "monorail"

Favorite Character - Eeyore
Favortie Princess - Aurora (only cause he likes to say the name)
Favorite WDW attraction - Splash Mountain
Favorite WDW Treat - Mickey Ice Cream Bar
Favorite WDW Resort - Wilderness Lodge
Farvorite WDW Park - Epcot

We were not always Disney World fanatics. Shame on us, right?! I had gone to Disney World as a senior in high school for choir. Our choir was invited to some sort of a music days event and so we sang at Epcot one afternoon. I really enjoyed the parks but since we were there for a short time and performing, my love did not develop ;)

Kyle had never gone to Disney World growing up, so his first trip was with me when he was 30. He wanted to go on a trip for his 30th birthday and suprisingly to me, he decided on WDW. We went for 5 days and stayed at POR and had a great time. Such a great time that shortly after we returned we were already talking about another trip - so we booked one for 7 months later LOL. And so began our love of WDW.

I left off with us deciding to head to DTD to kill some time while we waited for our room to be ready. On our way to the bus stop I decided to take a picture that I have seen many others do before.

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When we got to the bus stop there were only a handful of people waiting for buses. We only had to wait a few minutes for the DTD bus to arrive and then we "were on our way"...but not really, we had to make a pit stop at the Grand Floridian. We had not visited the Grand Floridian yet, but commented that we should stop here sometime this week. There were maybe 25-30 people sitting at the Grand Floridian stop and you could tell a few were not happy that our bus was going to DTD. One woman had stepped onto the bus and was complaining to the driver that they had seen several buses for Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom but none for Epcot and they wanted to know when one would be coming. She got off the bus and sat back down on a bench. The bus driver picked up her radio receiver and called it in. I didn't hear a reply but the driver than got off the bus and spoke to the woman and got back on, not sure what she was able to tell the group waiting. We were now on our way to DTD.

I believe we got off at the Pleasure Island stop and decided to head to Raglan Road for lunch. We had eaten here before on our first trip a couple of years ago and had come back for one reason and one reason only....the ribs appetizer called Heaven on Earth.

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We were quickly seated at a table near the bar. I really do like this restaurant. I just love all the wood work and the rich color. I kept trying to take a picture of the beautiful bar, but it was also the route to the bathroom so every time I had a chance, someone would be walking to or from the bathroom. I took a couple of shots without the flash on but it was just way to dark in there. Because there were two bartenders working, I was just a little too embarrassed to take a flash shot when I did have a clear shot.

I ordered a Killan's Red and Kyle ordered a Harps.

Again, really dark in there
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I think the bread was a soda bread. It was good but really heavy so I only ate one piece. It was served with oil for dipping and I think the waiter added a little reduced Guiness to it.

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I apologize in advance, I am hit or miss with food photos, so I did not take a picture of our lunch.

We split the Heaven on Earth ribs which are just the best thing I have ever eaten on Disney property. They are tender pieces of ribs with a sticky sweet Guiness glaze on them. We also split the fish and chips. The fish was good, but I was expecting a couple of pieces, but it was actualy just one long filet.

While we were eating lunch we received a text at 12:56 that our room was ready! :yay: The text said our room number was 4037. Having never stayed at WL, I didn't know if that was a good location or a bad location. We finished up eating and decided rather than shopping we would just head back to the resort as we were both exhausted. We did want to make one stop at Earl of Sandwhich to grab a couple of sandwhiches for dinner later, but once we got to the entrance I noticed the huge line, so we changed our minds.

On the way back to the bus stop I snapped a few pictures of the new (new to me) Lego statutes.

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My favorite one. I love Toy Story.

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We had a little argument of where the bus stop actually was and I hate to admit it, but Kyle was right. We didn't wait long for the bus to come. The bus was empty and only 2 others got on with us. We stopped at another DTD stop, but I can't remember which one. A family of 4 got on and our bus driver was getting off of his shift and another coming on so we had a bit of a wait. The bus driver that was leaving was telling us that he was going to Miami for the week to visit his daughter. The father of the family made a joke that he could drive us all to Miami now. Then the driver made a joke about the NBA finals and LeBron James, but the family of 4 didn't get it. I explained that Miami was in the finals and then they said they only followed college sports. I don't follow basketball either, but I think most know the name LeBron James. After our new driver had boarded and was ready to go, we were on our way to Typhon Lagoon! Wait, what, I thought we were going to Wilderness Lodge? This was the only bummer part of not being at our old stand by Port Orleans Riverside. I missed taking the boat that only stopped at French Quarter for a few minutes on the way there and back. During our long ride to Wilderness Lodge I noticed that we received a second text at 1:55 stating that our room was ready and we were in room 2120. What? I thought we were in 4037?

Up next - What room are we in?

Nermel9

07-04-2011, 06:31 PM

Great update!!! Mmm Raglan Road seems like a restaurant I would love, but I have yet to go there! I'm hoping to squeeze it in somewhere in October! :rotfl:

I love the new Lego statues!

That's so strange that you got 2 texts from WL with 2 different room numbers! I would have checked out both locations first, and then decided which room I wanted! I wish I could remember our room number from when we were there...it was 4 something, because we were on the 4th floor, but that's all I can remember! It was a FAR walk from the lobby too! But we had such a nice, peaceful woods view room, I'm kind of nervous about having a courtyard view this time, I hope it's not too noisy! :eek:

Can't wait to see where you ended up! :yay:

TanzUnited99

07-05-2011, 04:35 PM

Love the photo of you with Johnny Depp! :thumbsup2

Starting your trip with a meal at Raglan Road sounds great! That is weird about getting two room numbers - can't wait to find out which room you end up in.

Lol at losing an argument! Don't you just hate when you end up being wrong?! :laughing:

aggiebride

07-05-2011, 06:16 PM

Great start Jamie! I'm so glad u decided to start your first TR. I have been reading TRs since goodness knows when & still haven't had luck writing one

BetsyRNBSN

07-05-2011, 06:28 PM

Loving your trip report so far... :surfweb: trying to talk my DH into going on an adults only trip. You wouldn't think it would be hard since we don't have kids, but my nieces and nephew go with me on all my disney trips, this will be the first one totally solo for me in September...
Looking forward to more!:thumbsup2

Disneybuckeye

07-05-2011, 07:24 PM

Yeah! Page 2! I am enjoying your report and glad you decided to write one. We own at VWL, so I love reading about people who stay at the WL. Hope your room issue is resolved quickly!

heaven2dc

07-05-2011, 08:58 PM

Am so glad you got to stay at a deluxe this trip! and can't wait to hear all about your room - hope you had a fabulous view!

DisneyDreamerMN

07-06-2011, 07:16 PM

Can't wait to hear more.. Count me in!!
:welcome: Thanks for joining in!

I'm joining in! Great start and the pics of WL look gorgeous :thumbsup2
:welcome: Just love WL

I'm in!
:welcome:

Great update!!! Mmm Raglan Road seems like a restaurant I would love, but I have yet to go there! I'm hoping to squeeze it in somewhere in October! :rotfl:

I love the new Lego statues!

That's so strange that you got 2 texts from WL with 2 different room numbers! I would have checked out both locations first, and then decided which room I wanted! I wish I could remember our room number from when we were there...it was 4 something, because we were on the 4th floor, but that's all I can remember! It was a FAR walk from the lobby too! But we had such a nice, peaceful woods view room, I'm kind of nervous about having a courtyard view this time, I hope it's not too noisy! :eek:

Can't wait to see where you ended up! :yay:
I hope you can check it out, its a very nice restaurant.
I was so confused on the room and I was worried that the second room wouldn't be as nice as the first room number they sent. I think a woods view would be nice. Hoping to stay again soon!

Love the photo of you with Johnny Depp! :thumbsup2

Starting your trip with a meal at Raglan Road sounds great! That is weird about getting two room numbers - can't wait to find out which room you end up in.

Lol at losing an argument! Don't you just hate when you end up being wrong?! :laughing:

:welcome: He read the update and was like "seeing your wife say you were right all over the internet, priceless!"

Great start Jamie! I'm so glad u decided to start your first TR. I have been reading TRs since goodness knows when & still haven't had luck writing one
Thanks! If you end up writing one, let me know, I would love to read it.

Loving your trip report so far... :surfweb: trying to talk my DH into going on an adults only trip. You wouldn't think it would be hard since we don't have kids, but my nieces and nephew go with me on all my disney trips, this will be the first one totally solo for me in September...
Looking forward to more!:thumbsup2

Thank you! We don't have kids yet either, but I would love to take my nephew. He is 6 and hasn't been away from mom and dad overnight yet, so in a couple of years we will take him. Hope you can talk your husband into it!

Yeah! Page 2! I am enjoying your report and glad you decided to write one. We own at VWL, so I love reading about people who stay at the WL. Hope your room issue is resolved quickly!

:welcome: I know I was so happy to see page 2! I would love to be DVC someday...but I also want to move to Florida, we will see what happens first!

Am so glad you got to stay at a deluxe this trip! and can't wait to hear all about your room - hope you had a fabulous view!

:yay: I don't think I could go back to a moderate or value now...but I suppose I will have to see what my wallet thinks. I heard POP is nice so I would like to stay there sometime.

rpbear

07-06-2011, 07:48 PM

DisneyDreamerMN

07-07-2011, 08:36 PM

I love the name of your trip report. That's what I think every summer when people ask me where I am going on vacation. I answer Florida and then they laugh and ask "Disney"? I can't help it I am addicted.

Lucy

Thanks Lucy! I know exactly what you mean. We only told a few people that we were even going because I get teased by almost everyone for going so much. :lmao:

DisneyDreamerMN

07-07-2011, 10:24 PM

So I left off with just noticing a second text that said our room was ready...again :confused3 and instead of 4037 it was 2120. Now while trying to enjoy our bus ride but really just anticipating our room assignment on the nearly empty bus, the family of four were getting a little annoying. The father grabbed the daughters flip flops from her feet and threw them down the length of the bus. The daughter jumped up and ran to get them (while the bus was in motion). I could tell the mother was a little annoyed/embarrassed and told him to knock it off but she also just kind of chuckled as he did it again....Some people's kids - er, I mean some people's parents :rotfl:

When we pulled up to what would be our home away from home for the next 6 nights were hurried off the bus and grabbed our carry on bag that we had checked with vallet and walked into the beautiful lobby. I didn't know whether to stand in the check-in line or the concierge desk. Both lines had about 2 people waiting. We ended up waiting in the check-in line. The CM that had checked us in earlier was still there but she also had a trainee with her, so it was taking a little bit of time. When it was our turn I explained that we received two text messages with two room numbers and showed both CMs the phone. They both thought it was strange. She advised that they do not send the text messages from the hotel but that it is done else where. They both apologized and we both said that it was OK. I chimed in that I will take which ever room is better, which made the trainee chuckle. ;) The CM advised that we would be in room 4037. She thought maybe the person assigned to room 2120 had the same area code, she checked but that was not the case. It will forever remain a Disney mystery as to why we got that second text.

On the way up to our room I took a picture of this.
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I am not sure why I didn't take photos of the rest of the lobby at this time, but I did later.

We were told to head towards Roaring Forks and to take the elevator that is just passed the dinning area up to the 4th floor. Since we were near Roaring Forks, I thought that we should invest in resort mugs. When we stayed at POR we rarely refilled the mugs because we were never near the dinning hall. I told Kyle that I would meet him up in the room after I got the mugs. I entered Roaring Forks which was a little busy and looked for the mugs but didn't see them. At POR they were right by the grill, but I couldn't find them here. I walked up to where you pay and asked a CM where they were. She pointed behind her indicating that they were behind the counter. :rolleyes1 LOL, whoops, so didn't see them there. I told her I wanted two. She was kind of funny because she motioned me to come closer and to lean in. She was whispering that they were open until midnight and that I can refill with the fountain drinks as much as I wanted. She also whispered the total and the fact that there was a sink next to the fountain drinks. I guess she just liked to whisper.

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I found our room pretty easily.

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Self portratit :)
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view from deck
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I just love this and want it in my home!
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I really thought the headboard was great.
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Overall, I loved this room! It was hot the whole week so I was glad that the AC worked so great.

Since we had been up since 3 AM and I pretty much no sleep that night, we decided to nap and then head to Magic Kingdom later since it was open for EMH until 2 AM. Kyle made fun of me 3 times this trip for my DIS abbreviations :rotfl2: First was for when I said EMH, next was for when I said CM, and 3rd was when I said ADR.

Before drifting off to sleep, I watched a little Stacy Must Do and then changed the channel to the local news station. The Casey Anthony trial was on and I have to admit I got very hooked that week. In fact, every day that we napped, I mostly watched the trial while Kyle slept.

Up next - Magic Kingdom EMH/please, anything but Pecos Bill

Lifelong_Dreamer

07-07-2011, 10:34 PM

Great view!

ZFamily5

07-07-2011, 10:37 PM

Joining in! I'd love to stay at the Wilderness Lodge! It's gorgeous! :love:

TheThomsLuvDisney

07-07-2011, 11:52 PM

Subbing in and loving your TR! :goodvibes Hurry and add more pics and details!

Nermel9

07-08-2011, 05:06 AM

Wow your room is in such a great location! :thumbsup2 And the room is so beautiful! And that view is perfect! Can you tell I love the WL? :rotfl:

Did you find the courtyard view to be too noisy? I'm so worried about that for October! I want to put in a room request, but other than a 4th or 5th floor room, I don't know what to ask for! :)

Can't wait to hear about MK!

DisneyDreamerMN

07-08-2011, 10:32 PM

Great view!

It was a great view. I just wish we would have enjoyed the deck more.

Joining in! I'd love to stay at the Wilderness Lodge! It's gorgeous! :love:

:welcome: We loved it as well!

Subbing in and loving your TR! :goodvibes Hurry and add more pics and details!

:welcome: I plan on procrastinating on house work tomorrow by doing another update :rotfl:

Wow your room is in such a great location! :thumbsup2 And the room is so beautiful! And that view is perfect! Can you tell I love the WL? :rotfl:

Did you find the courtyard view to be too noisy? I'm so worried about that for October! I want to put in a room request, but other than a 4th or 5th floor room, I don't know what to ask for! :)

Can't wait to hear about MK!

I think I am picking up a slight love that you have for WL :rotfl:It was noisy, but more on that later. We actually didn't put in any requests. We booked the trip on Expedia and the courtyard view was included.

Nermel9

07-09-2011, 07:28 AM

I think I am picking up a slight love that you have for WL It was noisy, but more on that later. We actually didn't put in any requests. We booked the trip on Expedia and the courtyard view was included.

Oh no, that's what I'm worried about! :eek: Did it seem like any of the courtyard sections were quieter than others? I really wanted a woods view, but they were all booked, woods view is so quiet and peaceful! Was it noisy bc of the pool? (If you don't want to get ahead of yourself in your TR talking about the noise, PM me! :laughing:) Ugh, I'm stressing out now!!! :scared1:

Angies1274

07-09-2011, 08:03 AM

Joining in!:goodvibes I love the title of your report. On our last trip, we didn't tell very many people because we didn't want to hear..."You're going back to Disney again?":rolleyes1 Anyway, loving your report so far! I'm hoping to stay at the WL one day.:cloud9: What a great view from your room!!!:thumbsup2

TanzUnited99

07-09-2011, 11:14 AM

DisneyDreamerMN

07-10-2011, 02:35 PM

Side note: I just had a mini breakdown. I just spent an hour and a half writing this update and was 5 minutes away from publishing it when I lost it all. Arg! :mad:(Side note over)

So after watching the Casey Anthony case for awhile, I fell asleep. I ended up sleeping a little longer than I wanted to. I guess I was really tired. Kyle can sleep all day if you let him. On weekends if we have no plans he has no problem sleeping until 2 PM. We woke up about 7 PM and decided to unpack. I always unpack because I hate having to dig through the suitcase trying to find something. I even unpack for very short trips. We freshened up and decided to head to the boat. Kyle loved taking the boat to DTD when we stayed at POR so he was all about taking the boat to the Magic Kingdom.

I just love the path to the dock, it is so pretty. I would have taken pictures but there always seemed to be people right behind us. When we reached the dock there were tons of people waiting for boats on both the MK side and the Resort side. A small boat was docked on the resort side but it would take a few more to get all the people standing in line on their way. We jumped in the MK line and within a few minutes several people had lined up behind us. A father and his two sons were in front of us. The father said they took the boat yesterday with no wait, but tonight they had already been waiting awhile. I snapped some pictures of the view from the dock.

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I could just sit on this dock all night and watch the beautiful sky, but I won’t, because I really want to go to MK!
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Another boat had come and gone on the resort side, but none for the MK side. I was worried that even when a boat would come that it would be small and we would still be waiting. We debated about hopping out of line and going to the bus stop, but we had already invested so much time waiting in this line. I am glad we stayed because within a few minutes a large boat had arrived. As the line moved closer and closer to the boat I was worried that the captain would cut the line right at us, but he didn’t. The boat was filled to the max and I think everyone that was waiting was able to get on.

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When we reached the dock at MK I went to stand in line for my least favorite thing, bag check. I always seem to get into the slowest line possible. I am sure it was only a minute or two but it always seems like forever.

As we walked into MK I could tell the Electrical Lights Parade was about to start. We both decided that we didn’t need to see it as neither of us cared for it when we saw it in October. There is just something about that music that freaks me out. Anyone else feel the same? We decided to book it to Adventureland so that we wouldn’t get stuck. For the first time I didn’t get a picture of the castle!

We bobbed and weaved our way through the crowds and made it to Adventureland. Pirates of the Caribbean had a posted wait time of 20 minutes so we got in line. It was really hot in there, probably because people were standing so close together. It ended up being more like 30 minutes by the time we were loaded into the boat. I asked the CM if we could sit in the front row and you could tell he was not happy with my request. He told us to wait to the side and made us wait for two more boats. On the previous trip we were randomly seated in the front row and it was great so I wanted to ride in the front again. The group of people that were in front of us had asked for the last row and it didn’t get any hassle, not sure why he didn’t like my request. :confused3 The ride was great as usual and I was glad I had asked for the front row.

After our “cruise” we decided to get something to eat. I really didn’t want to eat at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn. I really like the burgers there, but we always seem to eat there when at MK. Guess where we ate? Pecos Bill. :rotfl2: I just always get a brain freeze when trying to pick a place to eat so we always go there. If anyone has any suggestions for a quick service restaurant at MK, let me know.

Kyle ordered the bacon cheeseburger and I got the kids hamburger meal as I wasn’t all that hungry.

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After our late dinner we decided to go to my favorite ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! The time posted was 10 minutes but after we had walked up the walk way we could see that there was no way it was 10 minutes. It took 40 minutes, but I was OK with it as it was my favorite ride and the first time riding it this trip. While waiting we could hear but not see that Wishes was going on, bummer! We were assigned the second row on our train. I was a little worried as we had been in the first row before and the ride didn’t seem as thrilling. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the second row. It was fast and fun. Of course it could just be that I was excited to be on my ride again.

Up next was It’s a Small World. We hadn’t ridden this ride on our last two trips so we decided why not. Surprisingly there was actually a wait!

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We were behind a group of teenage girls who kept throwing coins into the water, like the whole wait. They weren’t just throwing them in the water, they were also throwing them against the walls so that it would bounce into the water. They would also stop to take pictures several times as the rest of the line was moving. I kept my fingers crossed that we wouldn’t be seated with them and luckily we were not. I tried to take photos inside the ride but they always came out super blurry. But I am sure all of us know what the ride looks like anyway. ;)

After ISM we decided to ride Mad Tea Party. Neither of us had ridden it before so we were excited to try something new.

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I have a Flip Video camera so Kyle decided to take video of our ride, but I will not be posting it on here. The video was super close up, so pretty much just our faces and the fact that we were spinning. This will be a cherished family memory. :laughing: It was a fun ride!

After all the spinning we decided to take a ride on the PeopleMover. I just love riding this at night, so relaxing and great to see all the lights. I really wish there was an option to stay on for another ride since it is never very busy anyway. After the PeopleMover we walked over to the Haunted Mansion, but the line was long and we were pretty tired of standing in long lines that night. We decided to head out. Kyle’s feet were starting to bug him anyway. MK was open until 2, but there was no way we were going to make it.

We stopped at a food cart and bought a couple of waters and a bag of cotton candy for me. I just love cotton candy. We started to walk toward the buses and I became really nervous. The lines were huge. The line for POR was way out of the bus area and I started to have flash backs to waiting for over an hour last October. The bus stop for WL was at the end of the line and since they had some kind of construction thing up I couldn’t see the stop. To my surprise there was only one other couple waiting! A couple of minutes later a bus driver getting ready to start her shift had joined us. She was very friendly and recommended that we check out Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review. She said whenever she had family come to town she always brought them there. Maybe next time we will check it out. The bus came within about 10 minutes and we were on our way “home”.

I stopped to take some photos in the lobby before heading up to the room.

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We were in the room and getting ready for bed by 12:30.

Up next: 2 new rides for us at AK

Belle83

07-10-2011, 03:27 PM

Lifelong_Dreamer

07-10-2011, 03:36 PM

Sounds like a full and fun evening!

NYDIS

07-10-2011, 04:03 PM

Just joined in...I think your trip report is great, looking forward to more. We loved our stay at WL a few years ago and your pictures brought back some great memories!

wuzzy6

07-10-2011, 04:08 PM

Checking in - can't wait to read more! :goodvibes

TanzUnited99

07-10-2011, 05:25 PM

Love the pictures of the view from the dock! :thumbsup2 I can imagine it would be hard to tear yourself away from the beautiful spot!

Oh no on the POTC CM not liking your request - what's wrong with asking to sit at the front? :confused3

Sounds like you had a great start to your trip!

amazingact21

07-10-2011, 09:12 PM

Just discovered your TR and am joining in! Sounds like you two had a nice night at MK, despite the grumpy PoTC CM. I've ridden BTMRR in the second row before and have to agree with you, it's a lot of fun! :thumbsup2

DisneyDreamerMN

07-11-2011, 07:46 PM

Great pics of your room and the view!

That's strange about the two room numbers allocated still being a mystery! :confused3

Can't wait to get one of those pink refillable mugs!

Laughed out loud at your following comment - hilarious! :rotfl:

He read the update and was like "seeing your wife say you were right all over the internet, priceless!"

I love the pink mug! I wish they would change them every year so I had an excuse to buy one everytime :) Shhh don't say that you laughed at my husbands comment, we don't want him to get a big head. :rotfl:

DisneyDreamerMN

07-11-2011, 07:58 PM

I'm joining in! We were there the week before you, and also got very hooked on the Casey Anthony trial during our trip. We are considering staying at WL our next trip, and I'm afraid to tell people we are going again so soon, lol.

So strange that in the happiest place in the world we watched such a depressing thing in our down time.
LOL other people just don't get our love for Disney and the need to go back again and again!

Sounds like a full and fun evening!

It was! But it felt like we should have done more!

Just joined in...I think your trip report is great, looking forward to more. We loved our stay at WL a few years ago and your pictures brought back some great memories!

:welcome: Thanks for posting and reading! I can't wait to go back.

Checking in - can't wait to read more! :goodvibes

:welcome: Thanks so much!

Love the pictures of the view from the dock! :thumbsup2 I can imagine it would be hard to tear yourself away from the beautiful spot!

Oh no on the POTC CM not liking your request - what's wrong with asking to sit at the front? :confused3

Sounds like you had a great start to your trip!

It was a great first day, but aren't they all? :thumbsup2 I loved that dock. Wishes I had taken the time to just enjoy the view.
I guess maybe I will just be super sweet next time and say "If it isn't too much trouble, could we get the front row? We don't mind waiting." :worship:

Just discovered your TR and am joining in! Sounds like you two had a nice night at MK, despite the grumpy PoTC CM. I've ridden BTMRR in the second row before and have to agree with you, it's a lot of fun! :thumbsup2

:welcome: I could ride BTMRR all day! I wonder if there is a Guiness World Record for riding it X number of times. I would like to beat it if they let me.

DisneyDreamerMN

07-17-2011, 09:35 PM

The alarm went off at 7:00 AM. We had an 8:00 AM ressie at Whispering Canyon Café. It was nice to know that I could take my time that morning getting ready as we only had to go downstairs to reach our destination.

I am very much so an early bird. I try to leave later than one should so that I arrive right on time…but it never works, I am always early. So alas, we were early. We decided to go into Wilderness Lodge Mercantile to look around. I debated on getting a raccoon skin hat, but decided against it. Had it been winter time in Minnesota, I might have had myself a hat. I really wanted to find something for my 6 year old nephew, but I couldn’t think of what. He is a Phineas & Ferb fan but I never really see much of their merchandise. I decided to keep looking throughout the week. He has never been to WDW, so we hope to take him in a few years when he is old enough to be away from mom and dad for awhile. The only thing we ended up purchasing from the store was a gallon of water. Does anyone else think that the water in Florida tastes horrible? Kyle decided to run it up to the room and I took a seat in the beautiful lobby.

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I thought the restaurant would have been busy, but there were maybe only 6 tables with people in them. I don’t remember what our server’s name was, but she was very nice and totally into character. She was a short blonde lady with a southern accent. At first I thought her accent was fake and part of her character, but then I heard her talk with the table next to us about being from the same area and they all had accents. I will try to get better at writing down names and taking more food pictures for my future reports!

I ordered an apple juice and Kyle ordered an orange juice. With my urging we decided to order the “all-you-care-to enjoy Canyon Skillet”. This included scrambled eggs, roasted red potatoes, bacon, sausage, waffles, biscuits and sausage gravy. They bring out one skillet and you just dish it on your plate. I had a little of everything except for the country gravy, not a fan of that. When we had finished almost everything, our waitress asked if we wanted more of anything. I said I would like more bacon and biscuits. Maybe 15 minutes had past and we had finished everything from our first skillet. Our stomachs had caught up to our eyes as we were now full. Our waitress stopped by and realized we did not get our refill of food. She ran back and brought out another full skillet! There was no way we could eat all that and I felt bad for wasting it. I enjoyed a couple of pieces of bacon and a biscuit and was good to go. We paid our bill and headed for the bus stop to catch a bus to Animal Kingdom.

The bus trip must have been uneventful as I had no notes about it. We had only visited animal kingdom on our first trip together. I know a lot of people love this park, but to us it is just so big and it always feels so hot there. The animals are wonderful, but we have a wonderful zoo in Minnesota that we live 10 minutes from. Kyle said that maybe it was time to revisit it, so I obliged. We decided to head to Camp Minnie Mickey because we wanted to get our picture taken with Mickey.

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So we walked all the way there in the hot sun to come across long lines for all the characters. We noticed that there weren’t any adults in line that weren’t with children. We suddenly were overwhelmed with shyness and decided that we didn’t want to stand in line for a picture after all.

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We decided to head over to It’s Tough to be a Bug! It is sure a long maze to get to that attraction! I wanted to take photos as we walked through the queue but it was continuously moving and I didn’t want to make anyone behind us mad. This was the first time we were seeing the attraction so I was excited for it.

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I had heard about the wasps in the show so when we sat down in the chairs I looked to see where the holes were. When I heard the buzzing I made it appoint to not lean my back against the back rest. I have never been stung in real life so I didn’t want to get stung at AK. :goodvibes I thought the show was very cute and would definitely see it again.

We were on a new ride kick so we decided to check out Kali River Rapids. It was certainly hot enough and I came prepared with a plastic baggy to stick the stuff in my purse in. We hopped in line and walked a little ways until we met the line of people. Kyle was wearing sneakers and socks so he wanted to take his socks off. So here we are in line and Kyle’s taking off his shoes, then the line starts to move. So Kyle tries to hop along the line with one shoe on and the other off. :rotfl:I tell the couple behind us to go ahead but they just kind of smile and laugh about it and say it is OK and that they will wait. So off Kyle’s socks go and into the baggy in my purse.

The line seemed to take forever and it was just so darn hot in that line. Anytime I would get near a fan the line would move. I was praying I would get soaked! It seemed we were in the boathouse area forever because I heard/saw that Kali Rapids Expeditions video over and over again. I was ready to leave the line screaming because I couldn’t take it anymore, but I stuck it out. :headache: I did get soaked and so did Kyle. My purse was also wet even though we stuck it in the storage thing, oh well. Anyone else wish this ride was longer? If the line wasn’t so long I would have gone again.

We were thirsty and wanted to dry off so we stopped at a food cart to get something to drink. I got a coke and Kyle got a beer. We found a table and sat down to people watch. Kyle wanted to go on Expedition Everest and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. I am really scared of heights, not sure if I mentioned that before. :scared:The first climb on Expedition Everest looks a little high for me. I didn’t want to hold Kyle back so I said let’s walk over there and see how long the wait is. The wait was about an hour and since it was so hot Kyle didn’t want to wait. What a relief. I mentioned the single rider line and he said he’d try that. I looked for a place to watch and within 5 minutes I saw him on the coaster. Wow, that single rider line is awesome. I couldn’t believe he was already on.

Waiting for Kyle
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There he is! (3rd from the back on the left)
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When he was done he came over to me and said “You would have hated it.” LOL, OK, wow. He said it was good but took a lot out of you. He said the drops were so sudden and big. He felt a little like this :sick: By the way, the next day he said that we should go on it. :rotfl2: He suddenly forgot how thrilling he found it the day before.

We decided to head back to the resort to take a nap and to relax. We were headed to Epcot that night so we wanted to be rested for it.

These were waiting for us when we got back. Sadly, these were the only ones we got all week :confused:
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I turned on the Casey Anthony trial and Kyle dozed. I really loved the resort and our view, but it was noisy in the afternoon. Every day they had a pool party. I can’t remember exactly what they called it, but it involved loud music. This was the only down side to the courtyard view.

Up next - Epcot!

amazingact21

07-17-2011, 11:22 PM

OThopeful35

07-18-2011, 12:06 AM

I am enjoying your TR, sounds like you guys had so much fun. I cannot wait for our trip in 8 days!!

TanzUnited99

07-18-2011, 05:22 AM

Yay on being able to just walk downstairs for breakfast at WCC - am glad you guys enjoyed it! :thumbsup2 Oh no on the water being horrible :sad2:

ITTBAB is going to be closed when we go so I enjoyed reading your review of the attraction. Love the EE photos - I will also be a solo rider so was glad to read that you get on pretty fast.

Grumpy's Wife

07-18-2011, 07:26 AM

I'm a little late to the party but I'm here for the rest. Wilderness Lodge is beautiful. Looking forward to my favorite park, EPCOT.

Dugette

07-18-2011, 11:02 PM

Hello, fellow Minnesotan! Just ran across your TR and really enjoying it! I know the feeling of people wondering why two adults are going back to WDW again (we did a "year of Disney" in 2010). You must have had one of Delta's nicest planes, by the way...ours were never that cool!

I noticed you mentioned that it would be nice to ride the Peoplemover more than once in a row. To my knowledge, unless something has changed, you can! We did this several times...as you're coming to the end, just ask the CM if you can stay on another lap. They've always said yes, no problem!

KAA1972

07-20-2011, 12:21 AM

Subscribing in.... So excited to read the rest of your thread!

ShesAPirate

07-22-2011, 01:33 AM

Love it so far. Looking forward to reading more :thumbsup2

DisneyDreamerMN

07-22-2011, 08:23 AM

I live in NW FL, and I promise you the water here tastes fine. However, I used to live near Cape Canaveral, and I will admit, the water wasn't always the greatest tasting. It must be a central FL thing. :confused3 DF and I always bring our own water when we go to WDW for the same reason.
I'm sorry you weren't able to meet Mickey. I hope you got another oppurtunity later! :thumbsup2
I laughed when I read about Kyle's adventure with the socks. :rotfl: It never fails that a standstill line will begin moving right when you're trying to do something.
And Kyle didn't look as if he was enjoying EE that much from your picture. It is definitely an intense ride.
Glad you enjoyed It's Tough to Be a Bug, though! Can't wait to hear how Epcot went.

I am glad to hear the water isn't bad all over FL. :thumbsup2 You would think of all the places that the water in DW would taste like magic.
He was like really shaken up about EE, but he does want to go on it again. Usually I am the big wuss and he is the adventerous one, but this trip he kind of suprised me.

I am enjoying your TR, sounds like you guys had so much fun. I cannot wait for our trip in 8 days!!

Thanks! It is almost time for your trip, how exciting! I'd like to hear how you like POFQ as compared to POR. Let me know.

Yay on being able to just walk downstairs for breakfast at WCC - am glad you guys enjoyed it! :thumbsup2 Oh no on the water being horrible :sad2:

ITTBAB is going to be closed when we go so I enjoyed reading your review of the attraction. Love the EE photos - I will also be a solo rider so was glad to read that you get on pretty fast.

Breakfast was great! But then again, it is also my favorite type of food besides Mexican, so we really can't go wrong there ;)

That is too bad that ITTBAB will be closed! Bummer.

I was really suprised that the single rider line was pretty much walk on. With how long the stand-by line was, I was really suprised more people weren't just doing single rider.

I'm a little late to the party but I'm here for the rest. Wilderness Lodge is beautiful. Looking forward to my favorite park, EPCOT.

:welcome: You are not later at all, thanks for reading! I also love Epcot, it only loses to MK by half a point ;)

Hello, fellow Minnesotan! Just ran across your TR and really enjoying it! I know the feeling of people wondering why two adults are going back to WDW again (we did a "year of Disney" in 2010). You must have had one of Delta's nicest planes, by the way...ours were never that cool!

I noticed you mentioned that it would be nice to ride the Peoplemover more than once in a row. To my knowledge, unless something has changed, you can! We did this several times...as you're coming to the end, just ask the CM if you can stay on another lap. They've always said yes, no problem!

:welcome: I just first need to say, I am so glad it is cooler out today! I was dying these last few days. I have read a couple of your TR, glad you came to mine :thumbsup2

I wish all Delta planes were that nice. I wish there was a way to know when you are booking because I can be flexable with flight times for a plane that nice!

Thanks for the advice on the Peoplemover, I really had no idea you could do that.

Subscribing in.... So excited to read the rest of your thread!

:welcome: Thanks for reading and commenting! I have a wedding in Northern Minnesota this weekend but hope to still do an update on Sunday.

Love it so far. Looking forward to reading more :thumbsup2

Thanks so much!

DisneyDreamerMN

07-25-2011, 07:56 PM

I promised an update yesterday, but I was exhausted! I don’t do well with long car rides, so after being in a car for about 5 hours, I was ready to crash. The wedding was great! I don’t see my family much so any time I get to see cousins, it is a great time. :dancer:

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My brothers, me and Kyle at the reception.

After our nap we decided to head over to Epcot! I really love Epcot. :) Before our first trip together people told us that we wouldn’t like and should just avoid it, but I am glad that we didn’t listen to their advice. I just love being able to walk around World Showcase and checking out the shops. I usually don’t buy anything, but it is always fun to look.

We took the bus from Wilderness Lodge and arrived at Epcot in not much time at all. Our first stop was Spaceship Earth. We usually save this ride for on our way out, but there wasn’t much of a line so we decided to hop on.

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The last time we rode Spaceship Earth, I told Kyle that he had to smile when our picture was taken. He usually makes a horrible silly face and alas, nice photo momento is gone. So when it was our turn to smile, I stuck my tongue out. He sure gave me a hard time when we had the photo e-mailed to ourselves. Picture from previous trip below.

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So this time I was good and we both smiled. When we started to decend and our journey to the future began, Kyle’s face was missing, sad. There was just a cartoon woman’s face where his should have been. Oh well.

We decided to head over to Club Cool. Test Track’s wait time was too long and we knew that we would be back later during the week. We both avoided the Beverly. During our previous trip in October, I tricked Kyle into trying it and I laughed when he put on a sour puss face. He made me also take a sip after I had my fun. Yeah, that stuff is not so good.

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After our delicious free pop (yes we call it pop in Minnesota, unless you are my brother who likes to be different) we decided to walk over to World Showcase. :love: I love the boat, but it just seems to takes longer to wait for it to come and to arrive at the destination then it would be for me to walk my lazy butt there. :rotfl:

We were hungry but no ADR was scheduled for tonight. I think on our next trip I am making an ADR for all meals. I get so frustrated when we can’t make up our minds on where to go. This usually results in mini arguments in public (I blame the heat and low blood sugar). Quickly state my disappointment in not having a plan and then smile big as if I am having a lovely time.

I really wanted to try La Hacienda de San Angel, but no in or outdoor seating was available. Why didn’t I make an ADR, why? :mad: We kept walking and ended up at the Liberty Inn. We hadn’t eaten here before and it was definitely a plus that they had indoor seating. We both order the chicken breast nuggets and they were just OK. But then again, I have never had a super awesome chicken nugget before either.

After dinner we decided to head toward Germany. I wanted to checkout Karamell Kuche. There were a few people in line and a couple of people looking at items for sale. I didn’t know what to get but felt rushed to respond to the CM behind the counter. I decided on a caramel apple. I was still full from dinner and just wanted to eat it back at the room later so I stuck it in my bag. Kyle doesn’t like caramel (can you believe it?!) so he didn’t get anything.

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We decided to walk around awhile with nothing really planned.

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Kyle pointed out that it was very hot and wondered how my apple was doing. I pulled it out of my bag and sure enough the caramel had already started to drip off the apple. So sad. I decided to take a picture of the apple before all the caramel had come off of it.

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The sun was getting to be too much and Kyle’s feet were bugging him so we decided to head back to Wilderness Lodge. That night we watched the Electrical Water Pageant from our deck. Well, I guess I should say that we watched part of it. Most of it was hidden by trees but we did see some of it and heard the music.

I enjoyed my apple that I had stuck in the fridge. Despite the dripping caramel it was still very delicious.

Up next – Day 3, Magic Kingdom/Tony's

TanzUnited99

07-26-2011, 11:51 AM

amazingact21

07-26-2011, 12:33 PM

DisneyDreamerMN

07-28-2011, 07:54 PM

I'm glad you all enjoyed the wedding.

I can't wait to explore Epcot - it looks like such a great park! :thumbsup2

Oh no on Kyle's face being missing from the SE photo, esp when you kept a straight face! :rotfl:

I love your pics and can't wait to try Karamelle Kuche! :cloud9: I'm glad your caramel apple was still tasty with most of the caramel having melted.

You'll love Epcot. If ride times are long you can just walk around World Showcase.

I think I need to study the menu next time before going to Karamelle Kuche! Really pick out some good stuff.

DisneyDreamerMN

07-28-2011, 07:58 PM

I know what you mean about the boat. DF loves to ride it, but by the time it arrives at the dock, I always think to myself, "We could've been on the other side by now.":rotfl:
ADRs can be such a lifesaver. DF and I are the exact same way when it comes to picking meals. We're both indecisive and end up arguing with each other over something that silly.

Sorry that your caramel apple started to melt in the heat! But it's good to see that it was still delicious. Not to mention, I bet it was nice to be able to enjoy it in the cool air conditioning and the comfort of Wilderness Lodge! :thumbsup2

I don't think you can go wrong with caramel and an apple whether they are stuck to eachother or not. :lmao:

Maybe even if we don't make both lunch and dinner ADRs next time, we will have a plan on where to go and maybe even a back up plan if there is a long wait.

DisneyDreamerMN

07-31-2011, 12:27 PM

This morning we were headed to the Magic Kingdom. We decided to give the boat another go. As you can see it was a warm humid morning.

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The boat didn’t take long at all to come this morning and we made it to MK before the opening show.

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When the show was over we hustled it over to Peter Pan’s Flight. We had only ridden this once before so we thought it deserved another try. Usually during the day this ride is so busy so we always skip It, but since it was EMH we got in the nonexistent line.

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This picture was taken after our ride; this line was not here when we got on.

Next we headed over to Philharmagic. I love love love Philharmagic. I wish there were more attractions like this one.

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I wanted to head over to Frontierland next to ride my favorite Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but Frontierland and Adventureland were not open yet. For some reason I never paid attention to what was open and not open during EMH. It wouldn’t be much longer until the park would be open and a few people had already lined up against the rope so we decided to do the same. There was one CM standing at the middle of the rope and she repeated over and over again that this side wasn’t open yet. I felt kind of bad for her because I swear she must have said it 50 to 60 times. She also mentioned she was nervous that she would get run over once the rope dropped.

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There was another CM that was there that was talking to other guests. This CM also explained that they would lower the rope and walk it over to the right and then everyone could proceed through. The funny thing is, this CM was chatting a lot with one particular family about the differences between DL and WDW for about a good 5 minutes. He excused himself to go unhook the rope from the left side and proceed to walk it over to the right. The family he was chatting with didn’t want to wait and they jumped over the rope. The CM gave the father the worst look and the father kind of just shrugged his shoulders and kept going.

We decided to first visit the Haunted Mansion. There was only one family infront of us so we were let in right away. The family in front of us consisted of 4 women and two children. The thing I found most odd was they never stayed together so there was constantly someone asking to get by us so they could catch up to the group.

Up next, a new ride and a wonderful ADR.

TanzUnited99

07-31-2011, 07:11 PM

teacher1717

07-31-2011, 07:42 PM

SOunds like you're having a great time so far. I have always wanted to stay at the wilderness lodge. Maybe one day...

Carlyluvsdisney

07-31-2011, 10:11 PM

I'm enjoying your trip report. I moved to SW Florida a little over a year ago and the water here is terrible. I wouldn't let my dog drink it! The Wilderness Lodge looks beautiful. I'm hoping to stay there in Dec. for a weekend and go to MNSSHP..looking forward to the rest of your TR!

Nermel9

08-01-2011, 05:07 AM

I love the opening ceremony at MK! I'm kind of sad that I probably won't see the "Let the Memories begin" decorations outside of MK, I'm assuming when I go, it will all be replaced by Halloween stuff. I'm sure I'll get over it, though! :rotfl:

I love Peter Pan's Flight, but the line is always so long, I can't believe it's still so popular!

I think it's really strange that some lands in MK aren't open for EMH! I'm not sure if I've ever been to am EMH at MK, so I didn't even know that! :eek:

OMG I love Philharmagic! :lovestruc One of my favorites!

ChiCat

08-01-2011, 10:35 AM

:scared1:We were planning on taking empty water bottles to the park to fill up, is that not a good idea?

I'm with you on the ADR's I've made them for every day because I know by the end of the day if I'm tired, hungry, and God forbid hot too I will be in the worst mood ever.

WL is the one place I've just loved from the minute I saw the pictures. If I ever got a PIN code for a deluxe resort I would be all over that one. It just looks so neat!

amazingact21

08-02-2011, 09:28 AM

DisneyDreamerMN

08-08-2011, 09:34 PM

Great pics of the MK opening ceremony - am hoping to get to watch it but not being a morning person we shall see if it happens.

Also can't wait to try Philharmagic. Looking forward to seeing where the wonderful ADR took place!

I think you need to try to make opening at least once. We try to make it once a trip which I think is plenty.

SOunds like you're having a great time so far. I have always wanted to stay at the wilderness lodge. Maybe one day...

I hope you do get to stay one day!

I'm enjoying your trip report. I moved to SW Florida a little over a year ago and the water here is terrible. I wouldn't let my dog drink it! The Wilderness Lodge looks beautiful. I'm hoping to stay there in Dec. for a weekend and go to MNSSHP..looking forward to the rest of your TR!

:rotfl: I hope to be a resident one day but may have to invest in a Brita Water Filter thing. Glad you are enjoying the TR! I would love to go to MNSSHP some day!

I love the opening ceremony at MK! I'm kind of sad that I probably won't see the "Let the Memories begin" decorations outside of MK, I'm assuming when I go, it will all be replaced by Halloween stuff. I'm sure I'll get over it, though! :rotfl:

I love Peter Pan's Flight, but the line is always so long, I can't believe it's still so popular!

I think it's really strange that some lands in MK aren't open for EMH! I'm not sure if I've ever been to am EMH at MK, so I didn't even know that! :eek:

OMG I love Philharmagic! :lovestruc One of my favorites!

The Halloween decorations are great though, I am sure you will get over it ;)

Peter Pan's Flight is cute, but not standing in line for an hour cute. :laughing:

I wish all the lands were open for EMH. Would be great to ride BTMR over and over again.

:scared1:We were planning on taking empty water bottles to the park to fill up, is that not a good idea?

I'm with you on the ADR's I've made them for every day because I know by the end of the day if I'm tired, hungry, and God forbid hot too I will be in the worst mood ever.

WL is the one place I've just loved from the minute I saw the pictures. If I ever got a PIN code for a deluxe resort I would be all over that one. It just looks so neat!

I could just be really picky, but I really don't like the water at WDW. We always just buy water bottles. I saw try it, but know that there is always water for sale.

Crossing my fingers for you for a pin code!

DisneyDreamerMN

08-08-2011, 09:37 PM

I love Philharmagic, as well! It's such a well-done show, and I agree that there should be more like it.
Did you enjoy Peter Pan's Flight the second time around? I've never been on it before, so I'm curious to see what other people think.
I can't believe that family almost trmapled that poor CM. I would've wanted to tell them, "The rides aren't going anywhere.":rotfl:
can't wait to hear where your ADR was!

I like Peter Pan's Flight. It is very cute, but I would fast pass it or go during EMH. To me it is not worth standing in line for a long period of time.

I think some people lose all manors when they get excited...but I would still never be rude at Disney World!

DisneyDreamerMN

08-08-2011, 09:51 PM

Now that Frontierland was open we headed over to my favorite ride ever….Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

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Below is a link to a video of our ride. Please excuse the kid in front of us with the Justin Bieber haircut that keeps shaking his hair and his friend who keeps wooing throughout the ride.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxgbZLXgYrI)

After our ride we headed over to Splash Mountain. I am not going to lie, I was so scared. Neither of us had ridden it before and Kyle was looking forward to it. I was nervous about the big drop since I am not a fan of heights. Kyle said we could skip it, but I really wanted to try it. So we got in line and waited, and waited…The suspense was killing me! I had so many chances to back out but I kept moving forward. We chatted with a nice English couple in front of us. The wife was also nervous and you could tell her husband was a little annoyed. He said “What’s the point of coming to Disney Land if you aren’t going to want to ride anything?” Yes, he said Disney Land. :eek:

We reached the loading area and were split apart from our new friends. Bummer, would have been nice to ride with another scaredy cat like me. They put us in the front row loading position. I quickly told the CM that I was a first time rider and preferred not to sit in the front row. They quickly moved us into the back row of the next log. We were seated with a group of four high school girls who screamed at every little drop our turn because they thought it was funny…I did not. When we reached the big drop, it was a little scary, but so much fun! I loved it! Below is the less than flattering proof that I did indeed ride Splash Mountain!

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I really need to have Kyle practice smiling on rides, he tends to look a little grim in these photos. :rotfl:

After enjoying my second favorite ride at WDW we decided to take another go at “the wildest ride in the wilderness”. We needed to try to dry off after all.

Our lunch ADR was at 11:30 and it was almostr 11 so we headed over to Tony’s Town Square. We had never eaten here before and I was looking forward to it. We had made a point to watch Lady and the Tramp a week or so before this trip to get in the mood.

On our way we saw a little of this.

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After the parade we saw this.
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We walked up to the CM standing at the podium just outside the restaurant who asked what time our reservation was. We told him it was at 11:30. He advised it was too early to check and told us to come back in 10 minutes. So we took a seat at a bench and people watched.

I had a problem with using my camera this trip. I would have it on zoom mode to take a picture but would forget to take it out of zoom. I would then take a self portrait. The result is the photo below.

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Take two.

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It was now pretty close to 11:30 so we headed inside. We checked in and took a seat. After a couple of minutes of waiting the Daper Dans walked in! They sang Bella Notte which is in the movie Lady and the Tramp. They were so good! I really wanted to take a picture, but they were like 10 feet in front of me and I felt weird digging in my purse to get my camera. I opted to just enjoy their beautiful voices.

We were called a few minutes after their performance and were sat in one of those half booth half table things. Our server’s name was Becky and she was very friendly and nice. After taking our drink order I attempted to take a photo of the menu when Becky saw me. She said “Allow me, I have done this a time or two.”

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I got a little confused when we started to order our lunch. Becky said that bread was not served with the entrée so she suggested getting the toasted cheese and garlic bread, so we did.

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Very good by the way.

I ordered the spaghetti and meatballs and Kyle ordered the baked ziti.

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As you can see, we got bread with our meal, hence my confusion on what Becky said. Oh well. It was all very good and the more bread the merrier.

After lunch I wanted to go back on Splash. Can you believe it? Me who was scared wanted to go back for more. Well when reached Splash Mountain, it was closed. Sad. So I went on the next best thing, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

After our ride we decided to head back to Wilderness Lodge for rest so we hoped on the boat and off we went.

amazingact21

08-09-2011, 08:15 AM

TanzUnited99

08-09-2011, 12:20 PM

Lol at being scared on Splash! I'm glad you enjoyed the ride and oh no on it being shut when you wanted to ride again.

Love the parade pics and your experience at Tony's sounds awesome! :thumbsup2 How cool to have Dapper Dans singing 10 feet in front of you!

TinkerbellLuvr7

08-10-2011, 03:45 AM

I'm here! Sooo sorry for being late but I love your updates so far! I bet they assigned you a woods and realized u booked courtyard based on the room numbers u posed. One ended in an odd and the other an even. I'm pretty sure we got gobs of bread at dinner at Tonys. They must not do that at lunch which is odd!!!! Glad you liked wcc!!! Let me know if you ever need ADR help, I'm your go-to girl for that!

DisneyDreamerMN

08-16-2011, 10:32 PM

I was just as scared to go on Splash this past May, however, I agree with you..it's so much fun! Too bad it was closed and you couldn't go again. But an extra ride on BTMRR is always a plus! :thumbsup2

BTMRR will always have my heart :love:

Lol at being scared on Splash! I'm glad you enjoyed the ride and oh no on it being shut when you wanted to ride again.

Love the parade pics and your experience at Tony's sounds awesome! :thumbsup2 How cool to have Dapper Dans singing 10 feet in front of you!

The Dapper Dans were awesome as was Splash! When we make it back I want to spend a lot of time on Main Street checking out all the characters.

I'm here! Sooo sorry for being late but I love your updates so far! I bet they assigned you a woods and realized u booked courtyard based on the room numbers u posed. One ended in an odd and the other an even. I'm pretty sure we got gobs of bread at dinner at Tonys. They must not do that at lunch which is odd!!!! Glad you liked wcc!!! Let me know if you ever need ADR help, I'm your go-to girl for that!

So glad you are here! :welcome:
We did get bread at Tony's for lunch which was weird because she told us we wouldn't. Luckily I am fan of bread :thumbsup2

DisneyDreamerMN

10-02-2011, 04:58 PM

I am sorry for my loooong absence. I just got very busy on the weekends and am still pretty packed until after Thanksgiving, but I am determined to finish the trip report in a timely manner going forward. Why you may ask? Because we are going back on November 12th! We are staying at our very first value resort, POP! We also got free dining. I will start a pre-trip report once I finish this report up.

We decided to spend our evening in Epcot. Before heading there we grabbed a quick bite from Roaring Forks. If you remember last time we tried to eat at Epcot, it didn’t work out to well for us. We both had a flatbread pizza. I had the cheeseburger flatbread and Kyle had pepperoni . Both were very good.

We arrived at Epcot in no time. We never had too much trouble with the buses at WL. I really love that about that resort. When we stayed at POR we had nothing but trouble. We decided to check out the wait time for Test Track, but it was too long for me so we opted for Mission Space. Green Team. I want to try the Orange side, but Kyle isn’t a fan of the spinning so we always do green.

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After our moderately amusing Mission Space adventure we decided to stroll to World Showcase, stopping for a photo-op of course.

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We made it over to Canada to watch Illuminations. We grabbed a couple of beers from a cart.

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My camera isn’t the best for capturing fireworks, so here are the ones that kind of came out.

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We decided to walk around Canada a bit and check out O Canada! We entered the waiting area and were told it would be a few minutes. We ended waiting with a ton of other people for about 15 minutes. My feet were tired and I just wanted to sit. I didn’t know O Canada! didn’t have any seats, bummer! It was a pretty good show. Martin Short was pretty funny in it.

We decided head back to the resort and rest. The next day we planned on spending the morning checking out other resorts we had not gone to before.

TanzUnited99

10-02-2011, 05:25 PM

ShesAPirate

10-02-2011, 05:44 PM

Woohoo for having another trip coming up so soon! I loved POP when I stayed there. I think you'll have a blast! :cool1:

DisneyDreamerMN

10-02-2011, 05:49 PM

The next day we decided to take the boat to the Contemporary Resort.

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I have always wanted to stay at the Contemporary because I thought it always looked so cool from the outside. I still thought it looked cool, but not as much as I pictured it. It felt kind of cold. Oh well, still a nice resort.

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We wanted to eat here.

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Sadly, no ADR, so we were unable to get in. So we ate here instead.

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We both just ordered the Bounty Platter and sat and watched the birds near the ceiling. Anyone else noticed the birds up there?
After our breakfast we decided to hop on the monorail.

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Our next stop was the Polly. I thought this was cute!

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Look what I spotted.
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Enjoying a cup of coffee.

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After our coffee we hopped back on the monorail. It was starting to rain. When the train came it was down pouring, I am glad I wasn’t walking around the park at that time. Our next stop was the Grand Floridian.

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I think this resort is just beautiful! However, it feels a little too fancy for me. I think I will stick with WL. We took the monorail to MK and then hopped on the boat back to WL. Before heading to the room we walked around WL.

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We then went back to the room for a little Casey Anthony trial and rest.

stitches of laughter

10-02-2011, 06:04 PM

love! the title. my mom and i would ALWAYS get asked "why are you going AGAIN?!" our answer: because it's our laughin place.

i'm staying at POP for the second time this november. you will like it :goodvibes

amazingact21

10-03-2011, 03:40 PM

Yay for another trip in the works! I bet November will be nice, because the weather will be cool and all the Christmas decorations will have started popping up.

Resort hopping is so much fun, and I agree with you, the Contemporary does look a little cold.

lbuzz52

10-03-2011, 05:21 PM

sounds like a great afternoon for a little resort hopping!

DisneyDreamerMN

10-04-2011, 06:03 PM

:woohoo: on having another trip planned!!! Pop is soo much fun - we have just got back from a stay here and loved it!!

I LOVED Epcot and Illuminations - seeing your pics is making me wish I was still there.

Oh no on going to watch O Canada whilst being tired. It sure is a shame it doesn't have seats but like you said it's a pretty good show.

I am glad you love POP! I am looking forward to it. :cool1:

love! the title. my mom and i would ALWAYS get asked "why are you going AGAIN?!" our answer: because it's our laughin place.

i'm staying at POP for the second time this november. you will like it :goodvibes

:rotfl: Regarding always getting asked about going to Disney again. It's my vacation (and money) I can do what I want with it right?

When are you going in November?

Yay for another trip in the works! I bet November will be nice, because the weather will be cool and all the Christmas decorations will have started popping up.

Resort hopping is so much fun, and I agree with you, the Contemporary does look a little cold.

I am hoping with nice cool evenings in November. May was really hot....

sounds like a great afternoon for a little resort hopping!

It was nice not to have a real agenda. Plus taking the monorail every where was cool. Only at Disney can you use so many modes of transportaion in one trip.

DisneyDreamerMN

10-08-2011, 05:50 PM

After a little rest we got ready to head to the Magic Kingdom.

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I believe we took the boat over, but I am not exactly sure. Again, I need to take better notes on my next trip.

Our first stop was the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade. I have always wanted to try this and since there were only a couple of other people playing I jumped at the chance.

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OK, so that was something new, not something great, but something new. One more new thing we accomplished on this trip. :thumbsup2

Up next was POTC. The wait wasn’t too long and it was an enjoyable trip as always.

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We decided to go another boat cruise, the Jungle Cruise!

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The posted wait time was 20 minutes which really isn’t long at all. But let me tell you, this was a complete lie. My assumption is as soon as we got in line the time must have jumped to 45 minutes. It was hot, it was miserable. People who were alongside us the whole time were eating turkey legs and it just looked gross. I have nothing against the turkey legs. In fact I have considered purchasing one a time or two. But it was hot and they were greasy and I was afraid the family would accidently touch me while we waited in line. They didn’t of course and I believe the father of the family collected the eaten turkey legs and disposed them before they loaded their boat.

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Us hot and sad for our long wait.

When we were able to finally board, I was of course relived, but I barely remember the cruise because I had had enough of the heat.

We started to head toward The Plaza Restaurant for our dinner ADR. We checked in and were told it wouldn’t be a long wait. Kyle ran to the restroom and I got bored and took a couple of photos while I waited.

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Kyle was back and we were called a few minutes later to be seated.

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I ordered the Cheese Steak Sandwich with french fries.

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Kyle ordered the Plaza Club Sandwich.

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We both ordered shakes. Mine strawberry and Kyle’s appears to be Oreo, but I don’t see it listed on the menu. :confused3

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This was our first time eating at this restaurant and I really enjoyed it! I would definitely go back.

After our nice dinner at The Plaza we decided to head over to Space Mountain! I had only ridden this attraction once when I was at WDW for a High School trip, so I didn’t remember much about it. We got in line and ended up leaving the attraction when we were pretty close to loading. Kyle got a little worried about the seating and didn’t feel comfortable. I am not a big coaster person anyway so I didn’t mind leaving. Ah, perhaps next trip.

We decided to take a relaxing after dinner ride on the People Mover. A little blurry, but we spotted these guys from up above.

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We decided to go in for a closer look after our enjoyable ride.

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We were pooped and decided to call it a night.

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After getting back to Wilderness Lodge we relaxed in the room for a little while and finished the evening getting a drink at Territory Lounge. :woohoo:

Up next, my first ever really bad trip to Hollywood Studios.

TinkerbellLuvr7

10-09-2011, 01:28 PM

The plaza looks soooo good! I'm going to have to try that soon. You can typically get an ADR for there!!! Can't believe you are coming back so soon! Any decisions on resort yet?

DisneyDreamerMN

10-17-2011, 01:58 PM

The plaza looks soooo good! I'm going to have to try that soon. You can typically get an ADR for there!!! Can't believe you are coming back so soon! Any decisions on resort yet?

I can't believe we are coming back so soon either :cool1: We can be very spur of the moment type people. But honestly, this will be the last trip for awhile. We have some house stuff we need to get done next summer so we will be saving money for that. The earliest we will be back is Dec 2012 if not March 2013. That trip will be off site at a condo. We have been thinking about moving to Florida for a couple of years now so that trip will be a central Florida trip to get to know the area and see if it is for us. I am very much looking forward to it.

DisneyDreamerMN

10-17-2011, 03:34 PM

I thought about doing a pre-trip report but since I am less than a month away I thought I would just add it to this trip report!

What: It is a “I need to use a week’s vacation before the end of the year so I don’t lose it” trip. Well that’s what Kyle told me and I said, How about Disney? Which he replied,” I knew you would say that.” Well I realized they had free dining so I my first goal was to look at those dates and make sure we both could get those dates off.

When: Sunday, November 13 through Friday, November 18. We are flying Delta and out flight leaves at 7:05 am and arrives around 11 am Florida time. I originally wanted to leave on Saturday but none of the flights I found had two seats together so we decided on Sunday. Good thing actually because I was able to get free dining for the 5 days and had we gone Saturday, that day would have been out of pocket.

Where: POP! We have stayed at Port Orleans Riverside a couple of time and at Wilderness Lodge this past trip. Kyle wanted to do a deluxe again, but it was just too much money. I wanted to stay at POR French Quarter, but I wasn’t able to find any openings so we went with POP! I am hoping I love it. I kind almost want to call Disney and see if anything for French Quarter has opened up…. If anyone has stayed at both, let me know what you think.
I have some ADRs figured out and will post the day by day plans shortly.

Now on to the trip report!

This morning we were headed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Star Tours had just recently reopened so I figured this would be the first stop for everyone. This is where I made that horrible mistake. We decided to grab fast passes for Star Tours and then run over to Toy Story Mania. We got our fast pass quickly and ran over to Toy Story Mania and came upon this. :eek:

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k593/Jamie19992006/DSCN0432.jpg

The stand by line was huge and the fast pass line was huge. I was not prepared for the crowd. We had ridden this attraction several times on our last couple of trips, but never experienced crowds like this. We decided that neither of us wanted the hassle and sadly walked away. TSM is my favorite ride at Hollywood studio and I was bummed we wouldn’t be enjoying it on this trip. :sad2:

As you can see the Streets of America was empty as everyone was at TSM!

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We decided to go on the Great Movie Ride. We ended up getting the Cowboy scene. This isn’t one of my favorite attractions, but it is always enjoyable.

We then headed over to Muppet Vision 3D.

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It was our fast pass time for Star Tours!

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I loved it! So much better than how it was before. When our travels had come to an end we hoped right back in line and were on in less than 5 minutes. I really can’t believe how empty the line was for this attraction especially since it just had reopened.

We were a little hungry at this point so we decided to give this place a try.

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We both got the same thing. I am sorry to say but this had to be the blandest hot dog I have ever had. Neither of us finished our meal and ended up throwing it away.

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We headed over to the Magic of Disney Animation. This was a little confusing as they had two lines going. One was for the tour and the other was for if you just wanted to get in line to take pictures with characters and do the drawing class. We were in the tour line by accident for a little while and then hopped over to the other line and walked right in. I wanted to take the drawing class but we missed getting in by about 5 minutes. They already had enough people for the next class and they have those roped off in front of the doors. So it would be an hour before we could get it. I really didn’t want to stand in line for an hour so we both made the decision to leave.
I was pretty DHS’d out by this point. We decided to head over to Epcot for a little bit before returning to our hotel. We decided to take the boat from Hollywood Studios to Epcot. This was very enjoyable, but not the quickest form of transportation. It did give us the opportunity to see some of the hotels we hadn’t seen in person, even if it was just from the boat.

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We were hungry for lunch as we had thrown our other lunch away. We decided to take a chance by stopping at Rose and Crown to see if they had any tables available. They did! We were seated outside which was fine even if it was a little hot.

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I decided on two items from the appetizer portion of the menu for my meal. I ordered Pan Roasted Mussels with tomatoes, herbs, and Bass Ale reduction and the Potato and Leek Soup.

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Both were great but the soup was the best! I have been dreaming about this soup since this day. We have a lunch ADR here for next month and even though an appetizer is not part of the dinning plan we are on I might have to spend out of pocket and get this soup.

Kyle ordered a burger that had a fried egg on top. I can’t find it on their menu now but I think it also had those fried onion strings as well.

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We wanted to hit a couple of attractions we have not done in the past. First up was Journey into Imagination.

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It was different. It seemed short. I am glad we tried it, but probably won’t be back.

Next was Captain EO. I was actually looking forward to seeing this as I love everything 80s.

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I thought the video about the behind the scenes stuff was a little long, but cool to watch. I wish they would have showed that in the theater. Overall it was cool to see, but I miss Honey I Shrunk the Audience! I am hoping they bring it back. :confused3

We took the bus back to Wilderness Lodge and rested for our night at the Magic Kingdom.

Up next, Wishes Desert Party!

hjd0411

10-17-2011, 06:58 PM

Joining the party a little late, but I am enjoying your report very much! I love your room at WL - shame about the noise during the day though.
Lucky you to be able to go again next month - I dream of being able to do that!!! It's a bit too far for me...!!! :rotfl:
Looking forward to hearing more - thanks for sharing your vacation! :flower3:

TheThomsLuvDisney

10-17-2011, 08:12 PM

Great update!

We have stayed at both POR and POP, they are both great! We really spend no time in the room so prior to buying into DVC, we would always just look for the best deal. It seems you really just pay for the lobby, the more you pay, the nicer the lobby:laughing:!!!! I did really enjoy POP's food/restaurant area (great for the kids).

Wow, it seems you had crazy crowds during this trip! We just got back from a Halloween trip to Disneyland and we also experienced CRAZY lines.:scared1:

DisneyDreamerMN

10-18-2011, 08:17 PM

:welcome:Joining the party a little late, but I am enjoying your report very much! I love your room at WL - shame about the noise during the day though.
Lucky you to be able to go again next month - I dream of being able to do that!!! It's a bit too far for me...!!! :rotfl:
Looking forward to hearing more - thanks for sharing your vacation! :flower3:

:welcome: I loved the room, super cute. I am very excited to go again! Yes you are far, but you are in Australia! How awesome. I am stuck in Minnesota all year where winter seems to last for 6 months and when summer does come it is hot and humid. :rotfl:

DisneyDreamerMN

10-18-2011, 08:19 PM

DisneyDreamerMN

10-18-2011, 08:28 PM

Happy Tuesday Dis Friends! I thought I would share some photos regarding the November trip.

A few weeks ago I went shopping at TJ Maxx and found these two Precious Moments. I don't usually collect these but I could not resist.

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Last week I ordered this shirt for kyle from Old Navy.

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Today these shirts came for me from the Disney Store. They were 2 for $28 and I got free shipping.

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Lastly, here is the Mickey mail I received over the past week. ME, Welcome booklet & luggage tags, and our Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party tickets!

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k593/Jamie19992006/DSCN0619.jpg

Nermel9

10-19-2011, 06:59 PM

Grumpy's Wife

10-20-2011, 06:17 AM

Don't you just love getting mail from Mickey? It makes the trip seem so real and close when the snail mail arrives.

I love the Precious Moments you got a TJ Maxx. I think a quick trip to my store is in order. I get a new figurine every trip.

DisneyDreamerMN

10-22-2011, 06:07 PM

Great updates, don't know how I missed them! :eek:

Ugh, you guys look miserable waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise! I don't do well with the heat, either!

Isn't the whole TSM thing totally out of hand? I wish everyone would just get over it. When can it become just a normal, popular ride? I mean, it's a lot of fun, but there's no way I'm waiting an hour or more for it. I wish the Disney guidebooks would stop telling people to run over there first thing.

Ugh, your lunch at DHS looks terrible. I don't blame you for going to Epcot to eat somewhere good! :thumbsup2

Hey! Welcome back! I was very disapointed with Jungle Cruise that day. If I knew it was going to be such a long wait in that heat I would have been on one of my favorite rides instead.

TSM is so out of hand, makes me sad that it still such a big deal. Hoping next year when new things open in MK it will die down.

Don't you just love getting mail from Mickey? It makes the trip seem so real and close when the snail mail arrives.

I love the Precious Moments you got a TJ Maxx. I think a quick trip to my store is in order. I get a new figurine every trip.

I love getting mail in general (except for bills) but especially anything Disney!
HAHA, Love that I encouraged shopping for you. I need to go back and see if they have anymore. They are way more affordable at TJ Maxx than anything I have found at a Disney store and online.

DisneyDreamerMN

10-22-2011, 07:08 PM

After our daily nap/TV time we decided to get a small dinner from Roaring Forks before heading over to the Magic Kingdom. We were going to the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party tonight! :cool1: I have heard so many wonderful things about the dessert party that I was completely shocked and overjoyed when I was able to get a reservation. I think I was trying for a period of two weeks straight when one slot opened up. Since we knew that our actual “dinner” would consist of desserts we decided to each order the kids burger. After our light meal we decided to head to the bus stop.

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The bus stop for MK was pretty empty. It consisted of us and two parents and their son. We waited about 10-15 minutes for the bus and then we were on our way. We had some time before we needed to check in so we just walked around to pass the time.

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Yummy! Someday I will buy one of each color and enjoy them at home to remind me of the parks.

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Rice Krispie bars are my favorite all time treat. During my college days, in my dorm cafeteria it was the running joke with all my friends that rice krispie treats were the only dessert I would ever get. I can’t remember how much these were, but I think I may purchase one this November.

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So we started to head to the Tomorrowland Terrace and I could see people lining up. Well, when I see a line, I feel like I need to join it, even though we were there about 30 minutes earlier than we should have been.

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We waited and waited, but I didn’t complain, I was too excited to complain! In line a little ways in front of us was the family from the bus stop! We ended up talking to them while watching the fireworks. They were from Kentucky and would be driving back the next day. I kind of wished we lived close enough to drive. I think it would allow me to sneak in more Disney time rather than getting to the airport so early. Oh well, what can you do.
After waiting awhile a CM came around and checked our name off a list and gave us these pretty cool wrist bands. OK, they weren’t really cool, but they meant I get to go in soon!

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We waited another 15 minutes and then were lead in one family at a time. Our table was right next to the desserts, which was good and bad. Good because I had close access, but bad, because this meant multiple trip temptations. This is where I become a bad Disser. Because we were so close to the food, I felt weird taking photos of it because people were always in line getting stuff, but I did get one photo plus one picture of our plates.

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We both got raspberry lemonade which was delicious and thirst quenching after standing in line for so long. The crème brulee in the little white coffee mug was delicious! I know love crème brulee. The little round cup with the white goodness on top was a mini cheesecake which was excellent. Kyle doesn’t even like cheesecake, but he ended up eating two of those!
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View from our table.

When the show was about to begin everyone got up from their table and walked over to the railing. This is where I learned my camera is very bad with night time photos, but here they are anyway.

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My favorite!

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It was beautiful and I was teary eyed.

There was a little chaos exiting the park so we ducked into a couple of more stores. Sorry, no pictures. Coolest thing I saw was a glass blower. I had no idea that was even happening in MK. I am stopping by again. If I weren’t so afraid of breakage in the suit case I would love to buy a piece from that store.

We easily got on a bus and were soon back to WL for a great nights rest.

Nermel9

10-22-2011, 08:23 PM

Dugette

10-22-2011, 08:29 PM

Just got caught up. Great updates. This TR sure makes me want to stay at Wilderness Lodge! That's awesome that you are going in November. Our trip in November last year was the best weather of any we took! And the Christmas Party is a lot of fun! Oh, and Pop is great for sleeping!

hjd0411

10-22-2011, 08:32 PM

Great update! Did you think the dessert party was worth the money? I am contemplating doing it next year - if they have it on, of course..!!:confused3
I love desserts, and I would love the view of the fireworks!

Thanks! :flower3:

TinkerbellLuvr7

10-23-2011, 07:22 AM

Great update!!!! Do you recall how much the Dessert Party was? I'm looking to possibly booking it in Dec but can't seem to find a price on it!

I love all of your buys..You know I collect those Precious Moments!!! I think I have around 10-15..crazy right?!

3 weeks till your trip!!!! Wooooo!!!

DisneyDreamerMN

10-23-2011, 05:47 PM

Great update! I loved the Dessert party when we did it last year, and my favorite thing was the creme brulee in the little cups! :thumbsup2 Isn't that castle show amazing?? I saw it for the first time on this recent trip and I really, really loved it!

I love the castle show, it was so great! I love the dessert party, wasn't able to get a ressie this time around.

Just got caught up. Great updates. This TR sure makes me want to stay at Wilderness Lodge! That's awesome that you are going in November. Our trip in November last year was the best weather of any we took! And the Christmas Party is a lot of fun! Oh, and Pop is great for sleeping!

Hi MN Friend! I am glad you said the weather was good that time of year! One year we went at the end of November/first week of December and it was cold at night! Hoping mid November is just right :thumbsup2 Hoping POP is great!

Great update! Did you think the dessert party was worth the money? I am contemplating doing it next year - if they have it on, of course..!!:confused3
I love desserts, and I would love the view of the fireworks!

Thanks! :flower3:

The dessert party is so worth the money. Just the view alone and not having to worry about people standing in front of you. I wish the would post a schedule for the dessert party, I hate not knowing if it is even being offered when we are there or not.

Great update!!!! Do you recall how much the Dessert Party was? I'm looking to possibly booking it in Dec but can't seem to find a price on it!

I love all of your buys..You know I collect those Precious Moments!!! I think I have around 10-15..crazy right?!

3 weeks till your trip!!!! Wooooo!!!

Thanks! I just checked my bank statement and the price for two of us was $46.84. I think it was worth it. The dessert was great, we had our own table and a great view of the castle. I felt special with my green wrist band and "private" show.

DisneyDreamerMN

10-23-2011, 09:17 PM

Sunday Nov. 13th
Our flight leaves this morning at 7:10 AM CST and we will get to Orlando at about 11:30 EST. We live about 35 minutes from the airport so we will probably leave my car at my work which is about 15 minutes from the airport and take a cab over. Once we arrive in Orlando we will board the ME to
http://www.diszine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Pop-Century-Resort.jpg
I requested a perfered room.

If our room is ready we will unpack and relax a bit, if it isn't we will head straight to
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We have an ADR at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater at 2:50. Hoping to ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster for the first time before our meal and maybe snag a fast past to Toy Story Mania if there are any left.

After lunch we will head back to POP and look around the resort and then maybe eat dinner there. We will head back to Hollywood Studios as they have EMH until 11pm! I also think the Osborne Family Lights will be going on so we will check that out for the first time!

This first day is indeed a day of firsts. This will be the first time we will visit a park on the day we arrive, the first time eating at Sci-Fi, first time riding Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and first time seeing the Osborne Family Lights.

DisneyDreamerMN

10-29-2011, 08:38 PM

Two weeks!

Monday Nov. 14

We will start our morning at Magic Kingdom. I will have to make a stop at the Main Street Bakery for something great for breakfast. The rides to hit will be Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pooh, Haunted Mansion and Mickey's PhilharMagic to name a few. I am open to suggestions for lunch. I was thinking of the Columbia Harbour House since we have never eaten there.

We will then journey back to POP and take our daily nap :goodvibes and return to the Magic Kingdom that night for extra magic hours until 11 PM! We have an ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern for 8:30. I am hoping to get in earlier, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Up next, finishing of the May/ June trip report in 1-2 updates.

TinkerbellLuvr7

10-29-2011, 08:53 PM

Nermel9

10-30-2011, 09:15 AM

You are going to LOVE the Osborne Lights, they are so much fun! :banana: And wait until you see the castle, all lit up...amazing!!! :lovestruc

TheThomsLuvDisney

10-31-2011, 09:12 PM

You have a very good point about how much time is actually spent in the room. I think I am going to stick with POP! I want to go to Disneyland some day. Were you there for a whole week or just a few days?

:woohoo: Woo-Hoo on your POP choice!!!

We spent 4 days at Disneyland, it's usually MORE than enough time but the dates we were there (Columbus Day weekend and someone else told us it was Canadian Thanksgiving), it was soooo crowded that there were some things on our list that we never accomplished.:scared1: Who knew that Columbus Day weekend is one of the top dates to avoid Disneyland!!!!!

DisneyDreamerMN

11-02-2011, 07:09 PM

Great plans so far!!!!! Maybe I can meet you at DHS on the day you arrive and see the lights!! I plan on going as much as possible now that I'm living here!!!

Columbia HH is a great choice! They have changed their menu a bit but it's still really great and has a bunch of new options which I love! Pecos Bills is my 2nd favorite!!!

That would be very awesome to meet you for the lights at DHS on that Sunday! It would be my first Dis meet :cool1:

You are going to LOVE the Osborne Lights, they are so much fun! :banana: And wait until you see the castle, all lit up...amazing!!! :lovestruc

I am so excited!!! I will have to make myself stay awake and cranky free. I am pretty sure I will have to be awake at 3:30 that morning. :confused:

:woohoo: Woo-Hoo on your POP choice!!!

We spent 4 days at Disneyland, it's usually MORE than enough time but the dates we were there (Columbus Day weekend and someone else told us it was Canadian Thanksgiving), it was soooo crowded that there were some things on our list that we never accomplished.:scared1: Who knew that Columbus Day weekend is one of the top dates to avoid Disneyland!!!!!

I would love to go to Disneyland. I have been trying to think of what else to do in CA to make it a weeks vacation. I figured 2 days at a Disneyland resort would be good and then maybe 3 or 4 night somewhere at a beachy hotel, just don't know CA too well to know where to go. I will check all international calanders before booking a trip to DL. :rotfl:

DisneyDreamerMN

11-03-2011, 11:31 PM

We started this morning at Epcot. Kyle ran to get fast passes for Soarin and I walked around Mouse Gears. I just love these scares!

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k593/Jamie19992006/DSCN0486.jpg

I was very tempted to buy this one…but didn’t.
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When Kyle found me he was relieved to see that I didn’t spend any money. We decided to head over to Test Track. We hopped in the standby line and realized we were at a stand-still. After waiting 10 minutes we moved maybe 5 feet. Behind us were a group of 12 year old boys who kept jumping on and off the railings. One was eating a baggie of Cherrios and spilling it on the ground. After another 5 minutes and maybe 10 more feet, the boys left the line mentioning something about jumping in the single rider line. About a minute later an announcement was made that something was down. The funny thing was, it wasn’t a very professional announcement. The CM said something like “As you can tell, you aren’t moving.” Very strange. We left through those exit doors that are near the entrance and tried to figure out what next. We ended up going to check out the Sum of all Thrills and quickly realized we would not be doing that. We decided to do that Waste Management thing.

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Our team name was The Dominators! It was the best I could come up with, I felt pressured to come up with something quick.

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As you can see, our team name fit!

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It was fun, but I probably wouldn’t do it again unless we had other people with us.

We had a lunch ADR at Coral Reef, but still had sometime to kill. We purchased a couple of snacks and waited.

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There was a squirrel hanging around the bench that Kyle kept pretending to talk to. The squirrel seriously tried to come at me from the back of the bench and I blamed Kyle for provoking him.

A short while later we decided to head in and check in. The restaurant had just opened and the waiting room was full. We waited patiently but the older couple next to me sure didn’t. They were mad that they were seated immediately. The wife made the husband go to the front desk to see why they weren’t being seated. The host advised they just opened and everyone would be seated shortly. She continued to complain as other people who had checked in after her were seated before they were.

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After only waiting maybe 10 minutes we were seated (before the older couple). We didn’t get a table in front of the tank. I was disappointed, but didn’t want to bug anyone to get a better table. As soon as we sat down, the couple from the lobby were seated near us, but guess what? The wife complained and they were moved to a table against the tank. Oh well.
My pictures turned out horrible, but here goes.

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We ordered a couple of cokes and the Appetizer for two - Crab cakes with tropical fruit salad and Tequila Aioli. Crispy fried shrimp with jicama slaw and spiced remoulade and a taste of our creamy Lobster Soup.

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k593/Jamie19992006/DSCN0504.jpg

Very good! Wish it was more soup though.
For my entrée I ordered Seared Rainbow Trout - With warm salad of white beans, Arugula, tomatoes,Crispy bacon, aged Balsamic vinegar and brown butter.

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Yummy! Is all I can say.

Kyle ordered salmon, but the description on the menu doesn’t match what he got. He said it was just OK.

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I would go back, but Kyle wasn’t impressed.

It was our fast pass time for Soarin so we headed that way. Even though we had fast passes, we still waited 20 minutes. I cannot lie, I chickened out again. Kyle enjoyed his ride though. One of these days I will ride it. I just really hate heights and the fact that my feet will be dangling, no thanks. At least not at this time.

We headed back to WL for a little bit of rest because we were heading to MK that night.

TheThomsLuvDisney

11-04-2011, 10:39 PM

I would love to go to Disneyland. I have been trying to think of what else to do in CA to make it a weeks vacation. I figured 2 days at a Disneyland resort would be good and then maybe 3 or 4 night somewhere at a beachy hotel, just don't know CA too well to know where to go. I will check all international calanders before booking a trip to DL. :rotfl:[/QUOTE]

Too funny!!! :rotfl2:

If possible, 3 days at the parks would be perfect! San Diego has beautiful beaches and fun activities as well (zoo & shamoo)!

DisneyDreamerMN

11-06-2011, 02:32 PM

I would love to go to Disneyland. I have been trying to think of what else to do in CA to make it a weeks vacation. I figured 2 days at a Disneyland resort would be good and then maybe 3 or 4 night somewhere at a beachy hotel, just don't know CA too well to know where to go. I will check all international calanders before booking a trip to DL. :rotfl:

Too funny!!! :rotfl2:

If possible, 3 days at the parks would be perfect! San Diego has beautiful beaches and fun activities as well (zoo & shamoo)! [/QUOTE]

I will have to keep San Diego in mind! But, who knows when this trip will happen. Accoding to my husband, this upcoming trip will be the last for quite awhile. :scared1:

DisneyDreamerMN

11-06-2011, 02:49 PM

Happy Sunday Disers!

This time next week I will be in the "World"! We will be finishing up a late lunch at Sci-Fi.

Now on to day 3 plans.

Tuesday, 11/15

We will start the morning at Epcot. Kyle will be running to get a fast pass for Soarin' I am sure...I will probably chicken out again :rotfl: I will be heading to Test Track since we missed out on it on the last trip. We will then probably go on Mission Space and then head over to Club Cool! We have a 12:05 ADR at Rose and Crown. After lunch we will head out of the park and make a stop at Spaceship Earth. We'll head back to the resort to relax and get ready for the Christmas Party! We will head over there about 4ish, hoping to get in early. This will be our first Christmas Party, so I am not sure what to expect.

Up next - Last installment of the May/June Trip Report

Nermel9

11-06-2011, 03:02 PM

TheThomsLuvDisney

11-07-2011, 07:46 PM

I look forward to pics and details of the Christmas Party!

When does WDW start celebrating Christmas? I would love to make a trip down to see it all.

DisneyDreamerMN

11-10-2011, 06:55 PM

I look forward to pics and details of the Christmas Party!

When does WDW start celebrating Christmas? I would love to make a trip down to see it all.

I think decorations start right after Halloween, but I don't think the Christmas Party starts until maybe the second week in November.

Nermel9

11-10-2011, 06:56 PM

I think decorations start right after Halloween, but I don't think the Christmas Party starts until maybe the second week in November.

I think the first MVMCP was this past Tuesday! Ahhh, I miss going in November!!!

DisneyDreamerMN

11-10-2011, 07:10 PM

Only one more day of work before the trip! Hoping for a speedy Friday! So while I was at a doctors appointment on Tuesday, Kyle was at Target and picked up these.

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Adorable, right? The first one is a salt and pepper shaker and the second is a bowl. I couldn't believe he bought them. He couldn't either...someone's becoming an even more of a Disney fan.

Day 4 plans!

Wednesday Nov. 16

This day will be devoted to Epcot. I really want to spend a lot of time in World Showcase. I plan to visit each country and drag Kyle through all the stores. I am going to wing lunch....which can be bad, but I can't decide where to go. We have a 5:50 ADR at Les Chefs de France. So excited for this! Wishing Remy would be there at that time, but oh well. Epcot closes at 9 so maybe we will actually go to bed early this night :lmao:

DisneyDreamerMN

11-10-2011, 07:12 PM

Great update! I always think about trying Coral Reef but I always read horrible reviews, so I've stayed away! It's so pretty inside!

Yay for being in Disney next week! You HAVE to go on Soarin!!! There is nothing scary about it, there's no chance of falling out, you are strapped in! :)

I will try my best to go on Soarin. I really think it is the feet dangling free thing...I promise to try. I think you should give Coral Reef a try. The food was not bad, but I would suggest an aquarium view.

DisneyDreamerMN

11-10-2011, 08:29 PM

Pre warning, this update has few pictures, but I promise on the next TR I will have more timely updates, lots of details and lots of pictures.

We were headed back to the Magic Kingdom for our final night at the park. I was sad, but happy to be at my favorite place. We took the boat over one last time. I didn’t bring my purse with because I really just wanted to get in the park right away. We headed straight for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

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Me excited, even though there was a line.

It was awesome as always.

We then headed over to Splash Mountain. There was a line and it was not moving.

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We eventually got through the line and had an impromptu photo shoot.

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We jumped on the People Mover and headed for Main Street. We stopped in the bakery for this.

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So delish! There was a couple next to us who stared at me while I took the picture. I then saw the guy take a picture of their snack. Another Diser perhaps?

We decided to head back to Wilderness Lodge to start packing. We took the bus back and were back in no time. After we finished packing we were in bed by 11 pm.

The next morning we woke up and grabbed breakfast from Roaring Forks. After breakfast we headed outside and found a table to relax at before our ME pick up time. Kyle was sad.

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This little guy came over to join us.

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I put the camera away as we decided to head to the ME pick up. Just as we were getting up a black snack came from some of the landscaping and onto the cement slab about 15 feet away. I wish I would have taken a picture of it, but I didn’t want to stick around to figure out whether it was poisonous or not. First time I have ever seen a snake on Disney property, eek!
We headed to the ME pick up spot and I decided to take a couple of more shots of the property.

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Seriously 3 ME buses came before our pick up bus did. I can’t believe there were so many drop offs. We were now about 15 minutes behind schedule. We ended up getting to the airport with about an hour and a half to spare. There was a family across the aisle from us who were talking about being late. I heard the husband say they had 45 minutes before their flight was said to leave. Talk about cutting it close! The flight was uneventful which was great. When we got home we took my brother out to dinner and called it a night.

Up next - Day 5 plans and TR link!

TheThomsLuvDisney

11-10-2011, 11:37 PM

I absolutely hate leaving Disney, it is soooo depressing! That treat looks very yummy, was it a cinnamon roll? :lovestruc I LOVE Cinnamon Rolls!

I love the pictures of the resort, we stayed at WL in 2005 (holy cromolies, where does the time go)!

I'm so excited for your upcoming trip, I forgot, where are you staying?

Do you actually have to work tomorrow (Veteran's Day)? Well, it will probably help the day go by that much faster.

sue_88

11-11-2011, 09:00 AM

Sounds like we will be enjoying Disney at the same time! I leave tomorrow morning. I should be packing instead of hanging out on the Dis. But I needed to see me some trip report pics!
Have a great trip!

TinkerbellLuvr7

11-11-2011, 07:07 PM

I know I sent you a FB message but I hope you have a great trip and that we can meet up on Sunday!!! I'm still feeling kinda yucky and was hoping to be better tomorrow to at least check out the AK parade and/or DHS lights but it's looking pretty grim at this point..maybe Sunday!!

Safe travels and happy packing!

Nermel9

11-11-2011, 07:20 PM

I love all the new Target Disney stuff, I have to stop there tomorrow! :rolleyes1

Can you believe I've never been to Main Street Bakery? I mean, I've been in there, but I haven't eaten there, the line is always crazy and Brandon never wants to wait. Maybe on our next trip I'll go by myself and he can go wander around or something! Everything looks so good from there!

Your WL pics are making me so sad right now! :sad1: I want to be there. Now. Have I mentioned how jealous I am that you're going during my favorite week? :rotfl:

DisneyDreamerMN

11-11-2011, 08:13 PM

:)I absolutely hate leaving Disney, it is soooo depressing! That treat looks very yummy, was it a cinnamon roll? :lovestruc I LOVE Cinnamon Rolls!

I love the pictures of the resort, we stayed at WL in 2005 (holy cromolies, where does the time go)!

I'm so excited for your upcoming trip, I forgot, where are you staying?

Do you actually have to work tomorrow (Veteran's Day)? Well, it will probably help the day go by that much faster.

It was a cinnamon roll! It is so good! I love WL, wish we could go back this upcoming trip. We are staying at POP this time around. Hoping it is great!

I did have to work today :sad2: The very strange thing is in my job I support Federal Government customers and they had today off. So it was a long slow day.

Sounds like we will be enjoying Disney at the same time! I leave tomorrow morning. I should be packing instead of hanging out on the Dis. But I needed to see me some trip report pics!
Have a great trip!

OH how exciting that you leave tomorrow! Looks like you are staying at French Quarter? I wanted to stay there but they did not have a room available during our full stay. When I checked again later they did have a room, but I opted to stay with POP. Hope you have a great trip!

I know I sent you a FB message but I hope you have a great trip and that we can meet up on Sunday!!! I'm still feeling kinda yucky and was hoping to be better tomorrow to at least check out the AK parade and/or DHS lights but it's looking pretty grim at this point..maybe Sunday!!

Safe travels and happy packing!

Thanks Megan! I got your FB message and I wrote you back :) Hoping you feel better so we can meet up for the lights!

I love all the new Target Disney stuff, I have to stop there tomorrow! :rolleyes1

Can you believe I've never been to Main Street Bakery? I mean, I've been in there, but I haven't eaten there, the line is always crazy and Brandon never wants to wait. Maybe on our next trip I'll go by myself and he can go wander around or something! Everything looks so good from there!

Your WL pics are making me so sad right now! :sad1: I want to be there. Now. Have I mentioned how jealous I am that you're going during my favorite week? :rotfl:

:rotfl: about going to Target. Is Brandon supportive?

The bakery is worth the wait...but I suggest making it to Magic Kingdom for opening and going right there. If you go right away there is usually only a little line. Otherwise go at night. We didn't have a wait that night.

I want to be at WL too! Oh well, all in the name of budget right? Yay for it being your favortie week! Is it light crowds?...I am crossing my fingers.