My First Trip Report! - "Escape from New York" - completed

[baseballmickey]

I'm still here! Loved your update! What a fabulous way to spend NYE and well worth the trouble you went through to get there, when your daughter remembers dancing with her dad in MK and watching all those fireworks!

I spent NYE in DW once and it was, by far, the best time I've had, ever! I would love to go with my daughters one time!

I am not sure if she will always remember it, but I know I will! I have trouble remembering things from when I was a kid. I hope to be able to do it again sometime when DS is old enough to enjoy it. I hope you get to experience it again with your daughters!

still here! what is the SAHM???

Thanks for checking in! SAHM = Stay-At-Home Mom

 

[amandaw]

Great update!

Love the picture of your DD on Dumbo! So cute! And I also love the pictures of y'all dancing. Such a sweet memory that both you & her will remember for years & years to come!

I'm so happy for y'all that y'all were able to ring in the new year at MK even after the horrible weather, illnesses & crazy crowds. It made me all teary-eyed for y'all!

 

[baseballmickey]

Great update!

Love the picture of your DD on Dumbo! So cute! And I also love the pictures of y'all dancing. Such a sweet memory that both you & her will remember for years & years to come!

I'm so happy for y'all that y'all were able to ring in the new year at MK even after the horrible weather, illnesses & crazy crowds. It made me all teary-eyed for y'all!

Thank you!

 

[baseballmickey]

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

[baseballmickey]

Before I get into the next day's adventures, I have to finish up MK. I cannot express how exhausted we all were. I think that had we been going home the next day, we probably would have just sat down on our bench and milked our time at MK, people watching or even napping (MK was open for a couple of hours still). But we had another whole day ahead of us, so we needed to go get some rest. We lingered in Fantasyland for a bit, and then decided to slowly make our way to Main Street. We were hoping that if we took our time, much of the crowd might be gone by the time we got there.

One last pic of the casle from the backside. We were finally leaving Fantasyland... for good.

We walked around the Tomorrowland side of the castle, and as we were passing Cosmic Ray's, a CM was letting everyone know that there was free hot chocolate and cookies inside. DD perked right up at the words "hot chocolate" and DW and I looked at each other and said "why not?" DW went inside while I waited outside with DD. She came out after a few minutes with our treats. The hot chocolate was indeed "hot" and the cookies were good. It was a nice surprise for the end of the night. We ate our cookies and drank our hot chocolates while listening to the music from the castle.

We slowly inched our way toward the hub. We stopped to take a pic of the castle from the bridge.

A couple was trying to take their own picture with the castle in the background, so I offered to take it for them. They then returned the favor.

Eventually we made it back to the hub, where we were relieved to see that the crowd had thinned out... somewhat. Near the stage was a huge crowd of people, and Main Street was packed with people leaving. We were in the open space between them. We weren't looking forward to being shoulder-to-shoulder with people again, but it was the only way out.

Some pics of the castle and crowd.

Still in no hurry, we turned and made our way down Main Street, and the mass of people heading to the exit. Some pics of the Main Street crowd

and it was "Snowing!" What a thrill to experience some Main Street Snow as we were walking out!

A little closer view of the snow.

Normally we spend time shopping in the Emporium at the end of the night. We were just too tired. One last pic of the tree on the way out.

And then we were finally outside the park.

From here it was back to the TTC and our car. That walk through the parking lot... How many times have I done it? You get off the tram and suddenly you are almost completely alone. Your feet ache. Your shoulders ache. Sometimes you're carrying a bag or a kid... or both. I kept telling myself that it was just a few more minutes. Make it to the car, and then a short drive back to the resort.

Well, as our luck would have it. It wasn't that simple. We made it to the car without a problem. We left the parking lot and headed for the resort. But... we hit a traffic jam once we got on to World Drive. DW let out an expletive and all I could respond with was, "well, at least we only have to make it a little ways before our exit."

Oops. Our exit was closed. In fact, all the exits off World Drive were closed. All traffic was being forced to leave WDW entirely... all the way out to I-4 and 192. And we crawled the whole way out. So we ended up taking the long way back to SSR. Got on I-4 and went back to 535, and circled around to the other side of DTD to get back to SSR.

I think we left the park at around 12:45am, give or take a few minutes. We didn't get back to SSR until 2am.

Needless to say, we went straight to bed.

Up Next, Only 1 Day left and 2 parks to choose from...

 

[Chicago Mo]

WOW....
You and DW look great!!!

 

[katoot]

I'm a bit late to the party, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of your updates. Now subbing.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

I love fireworks from Fantasyland - even the normal ones you feel like you're surrounded by them. I can only imagine how awesome NYE fireworks would be from there!

 

[amandaw]

OMG! I can't get over how long it took y'all to get back to SSR! That's insane. But, I'm glad y'all ended up being able to ring in the New Year at MK!

I can't believe y'all were able to do a park the next day! Can't wait to see which one it was....

 

[baseballmickey]

WOW....
You and DW look great!!!

Thank you. That is very nice of you to say.

I'm a bit late to the party, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of your updates. Now subbing.

Thanks for taking the time to read my TR!! You actually have good timing because I finally stopped slacking and started updating again!

I love fireworks from Fantasyland - even the normal ones you feel like you're surrounded by them. I can only imagine how awesome NYE fireworks would be from there!

It was awesome! And if you are daring enough, I invite you (and everyone else) to watch my video of Fantasy in Sky NYE edition!. Consider yourself warned that it may make you dizzy!

OMG! I can't get over how long it took y'all to get back to SSR! That's insane. But, I'm glad y'all ended up being able to ring in the New Year at MK!

I can't believe y'all were able to do a park the next day! Can't wait to see which one it was....

That traffic was pretty bad. But what can you do?? I was just frustrated at having to go ALL the way out of WDW and then come back in. That was a bit ridiculous.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

It was awesome! And if you are daring enough, I invite you (and everyone else) to watch my video of Fantasy in Sky NYE edition!. Consider yourself warned that it may make you dizzy!

Ooooo.....Aaaaaaa....1080p goodness full screen.
I just added NYE at WDW to my bucketlist! Wow! (oh, and I love how your DD totally dissed DW as she went in for kiss. )


Ever wonder what happens in the Fireworks planning meetings at Disney
Imagineer #1: What should we do for a finale?
Imagineer #2: How about we just blow the s#*! out of the sky?
Imagineer #3: We do that all the time
Imagineer #2: Yeah, but it works.
Imagineer #1 & #3: OK.

 

[Chicago Mo]

I was feeling sorry for you and DW for having to deal with the crowds and all! in the end it was well worth it wasn't it?!?!? you were in the Perfect spot to see! that was amazing thank you for sharing!!!
I can picture you standing there in circles like Julie Andrews in Sound of Music!!!
My DH did that in the middle of the Osbourn lights... So I understand!!!

 

[baseballmickey]

Ooooo.....Aaaaaaa....1080p goodness full screen.
I just added NYE at WDW to my bucketlist! Wow! (oh, and I love how your DD totally dissed DW as she went in for kiss. )

I think I got the cheek, but she definitely dissed DW! Even though I checked that one off my list, it's back on the list now that DS is here. He hasn't seen it, so we'll have to go back one year so he can experience it.

Ever wonder what happens in the Fireworks planning meetings at Disney
Imagineer #1: What should we do for a finale?
Imagineer #2: How about we just blow the s#*! out of the sky?
Imagineer #3: We do that all the time
Imagineer #2: Yeah, but it works.
Imagineer #1 & #3: OK.

If it's not baroque...

I was feeling sorry for you and DW for having to deal with the crowds and all! in the end it was well worth it wasn't it?!?!? you were in the Perfect spot to see! that was amazing thank you for sharing!!!
I can picture you standing there in circles like Julie Andrews in Sound of Music!!!
My DH did that in the middle of the Osbourn lights... So I understand!!!

It was a pretty good spot. I did notice that Dumbo was running during the fireworks. I'm not sure if they ever stopped to unload and reload during the fireworks. Wouldn't that be cool?? to get a 10 minute ride on Dumbo during the fireworks!!! I think even Julie Andrews would prefer going around on Dumbo instead of spinning herself!!

 

[Chicago Mo]

It was a pretty good spot. I did notice that Dumbo was running during the fireworks. I'm not sure if they ever stopped to unload and reload during the fireworks. Wouldn't that be cool?? to get a 10 minute ride on Dumbo during the fireworks!!! I think even Julie Andrews would prefer going around on Dumbo instead of spinning herself!!

that WOULD be cool!!! especially if it KEPT going for the duration of the fireworks! then you wouldn't have to twirl with the camera!!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Fireworks from Fantasyland sounds really cool! I'll have to try that out sometime. Looks like it was well worth staying up past midnight in order to ring in the new year.

 

[baseballmickey]

Fireworks from Fantasyland sounds really cool! I'll have to try that out sometime. Looks like it was well worth staying up past midnight in order to ring in the new year.

I highly recommend it! (Unless it's your first time.)

 

[baseballmickey]

Obviously, we slept in a little bit the next morning (9:30 or 10am?) Had we been leaving for home that Saturday, I think we would have slept right up until it was time to go. Although we’d definitely earned the right to sleep the day away, we now had a whole day left in WDW before we had to head home Sunday, and we had two parks we hadn’t set foot in yet. So, we left the comfort of our beds with some regret, but quickly shook off the desire for more sleep and let the excitement of another day at Disney wash over us.

We drove over to the Boardwalk as a prelude to EPCOT. We arrived around 11am, and we lingered in the lobby to check out the gingerbread display before heading back outside to the Boardwalk.

On the Boardwalk side of the hotel we found another of the many Christmas trees Disney puts up for the holidays.

Our next stop, and the reason for going through the Boardwalk on our way into Epcot, was for breakfast at the Boardwalk bakery. This is a must-do family tradition for us. We enjoy the food just as much as we enjoy sitting out on the Boardwalk to eat it.

The Boardwalk was quiet this morning. Not too many people were up and about. There wasn’t a free pedestal if you were a seagull though.

After breakfast, we leisurely strolled along the Boardwalk toward the international gateway entrance to EPCOT. On the way, we saw a rather unusual sight. A golf cart was being used to tow one of the four-seat bicycles that had apparently broken down.

We entered EPCOT’s "back door" right around noon. As we were making our way to Future World, it became apparent that somethig was "off". It took us a minute or two, but we figured it out... the park was practically empty! It was well past the opening of World Showcase and there was hardly a person to be seen. After dealing with the packed crowds at MK the night before, a normal crowd would have seemed small. This was hardly a crowd at all and it made EPCOT feel like a ghost town. There were times when we couldn’t see more than a handful of people walking around in the same area as us.

Our first official stop inside EPCOT was the Seas with Nemo and Friends. We rode through and then walked around inside the aquarium.

hidden mickeys in the aquarium:

Next stop was Spaceship Earth. DD did a little posing for me here before we got on the ride.

We had an ADR for lunch at Teppan Edo, so we made our way to Japan, stopping for a pic of the tree on the way.

We had never eaten here before. Originally, we had made an ADR to eat at Teppan Edo as part of the Candlelight Processional package, but that fell apart with most of our plans. DW got us a lunch here for our last day though, which made up for some of it. We arrived and checked-in, and waited for a few minutes before our name was called… Twice. They called for “Cameron, party of 3”, but then also called for “Cameron, party of 4”. We were a little confused, but we followed the hostess and noticed there was indeed a party of 4 following as well. Turns out that we shared the same last name with that family… so the entire table was full of Camerons, although there was no apparent relation.

We had a good time chatting with them and enjoyed our lunch. We even got a tip about the NYE fireworks, albeit a day late. We had no idea they rehearsed the MK fireworks the night before... so on the 30th, you can see the same fireworks that they do on NYE!!

Good to know for the future, but hey, we survived and we can say that we were there when the clock struck midnight FOR REAL!!

After dinner, we continued walking around the World Showcase in search of some characters. The first we met was Duffy... and if any of you don't know who Duffy is by now, well, here's his story... at least as it's told here in EPCOT.

I think I'm just about full on pictures for this update... (which is long overdue) Stay tuned as DW, DD, and I hunt for more characters!

 

[baseballmickey]

Hey, look... it's an update!!!

hopefully I'll get this TR completed before our next trip!!

 

[amandaw]

I love all of the pictures in the update!

That's too funny that y'all sat with another Cameron family at Teppan Edo. What are the odds?

I'm glad to hear the park was practically empty for y'all. At least that kind of made up for the mob at MK!

 

[baseballmickey]

Boy, I am not doing well with updating this darn TR... but it's past time to get it done. If only so it can be done and I can move on to the next.

So where were we??

Ah, that's right. We were last at the new Duffy Bear M&G in the World Showcase in Epcot. It was getting late in the afternoon on a quiet day in the park. We were running on fumes from the crazy week and the New Year's Eve craziness on top of all that.

At this point, we were done with rides, and done with ADRs, and done with being sick. We left Duffy and headed for another turn around the lagoon with the hopes that we might see some characters, fill up our memory cards and DD's autograph book.

The first characters we came across were the green kind. No, not LGMs. I'm talking about holiday topiaries along with the Epcot xmas tree.

Now it's been months since anyone has probably been reading this, so in case you've lost your sense of direction, we're heading counter-clockwise around the World Showcase... for the second time. First up is Canada... and no characters about. So next up we head to the UK... no characters at the moment, but there was hopscotch. DD leaped out of the stroller at the opportunity to play.

So, two countries so far, and no characters. DD got back in the stroller, which made it all that more fun to push it up over the bridge and into France, where we finally found...

Marie!

and Aurora!

while waiting to see Aurora, the photopass photographer got this pic of DD.

This is one of my favorites of her. A cute kid, if I do say so, myself!

We said Au Revoir to Marie and Aurora, and around the world we continued... no characters in Morocco as we passed by (not that we went looking that much)... none to be seen in Japan (not that we could see from out in front of it)... nor America (though we did see funnel cakes)... and zip in Italy...

I snapped a pic of the tree in America as I was walking by.

I didn't even bother to stop walking. I think I was afraid if I had stopped, that I wouldn't have been able to start again. there was that slight incline walking up from Japan...

And from Italy, I actually did stop and got this view across the lagoon...

Nearby was a M&G spot in Germany. Noone was there, but we decided to wait to see if a certain someone would make an appearance... and it turns out that we didn't have to wait that long.

After seeing Snow White, we passed by the African Outpost, and ended up in China. Instead of skirting by, we actually went into the country to seek out another of DD's favorites. Near where I took this picture...

We also took this picture, with Mulan.

next, we passed by Norway and didn't see any characters, so we kept on chugging to Mexico where this guy was hanging out.

I think it would be awesome if they could get all 3 caballeros out there at that spot. Especially now that they are included in the boat ride there.

Our journey around World Showcase complete, we decided to call it a day at EPCOT. We only had two things left to do. One of them was eating dinner. The other was seeing one last holiday display... and it wasn't these guys...

nope, what we had in mind was a bit.... brighter.