~We Are Flying 1000 Miles to Run 13?!?-NEW TRIP REPORT LINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jc040404]

We loved this Big Wheel! Wouldn't it be cool if you could sit on it and take pictures?!!?

Yes! We've always wished that!

Too bad about the big pool, but this one sounds like it really was so much better. I can only imagine what a mess the bowling pin pool must've been! Glad you had a fun afternoon and learned afternoon breaks are great for you. I loved following you around Pop. Such a happy place! I love that giant Roger Rabbit!

 

[CAStevens218]

Yes! We've always wished that!

Too bad about the big pool, but this one sounds like it really was so much better. I can only imagine what a mess the bowling pin pool must've been! Glad you had a fun afternoon and learned afternoon breaks are great for you. I loved following you around Pop. Such a happy place! I love that giant Roger Rabbit!

We spent a good part of our time trying to figure out how we could get onto the big wheel without getting caught and banned from Disney World forever!

The computer pool is definitely more our speed, especially for an afternoon break. It was nice to just relax in the quiet! The Hippy Dippy pool actually ended up being closed for a few days while they tried to get the part they needed, so we became very well aquainted with the computer pool! Once the big pool opened, we were able to enjoy some time there as well though!

 

[CAStevens218]

Time for an update! Last time we had finished our afternoon break and were heading back to Hollywood Studios for an evening of fun!

It was my favorite time of day in the parks as we walked through the gates...twilight! Everything is just so pretty!

Isn't the stage in front of the hat terrible?? What an eye sore...

We had missed the backlot tour earlier in the day, so even though I was 99% certain it would be closed, we decided to walk that way just in case. We enjoyed our stroll through the park and, sure enough, it was closed. We were okay with it though, and just enjoying our walk. We contined on, through Pixar Place, and I decided we should go see what characters were out in the Animation Building.

When we walked in, we saw the Incredibles, so we jumped in line! When we were about three parties away from the front, the attendant said they were going in for a break, but to stay in line because they would be back in just a few minutes. Well, everyone left the line except us, so we waited it out (only ended up being about 2 minutes), and were first in line for these pictures!

While we had been waiting for the Incredibles, I could see Pooh in his cute little area allll by himself! I was itching to get down there to get a cute Pooh picture, but, of course, as soon as we were done with the incredibles they took Pooh in for the night! It was still pretty early, so I was definitely disappointed! Oh well, next time!

We DID go see Mickey though!

Next it was time for.....

...of course!!

We got my favorite shot from the ride this time!

I love riding Tower of Terror at night! When the window opens and you can see the lights from the whole park, it is such an awesome sight!!

We headed over for a ride on Rockin' Roller Coaster next.

I love the lights at the end of the ride, so I stopped for a picture!

And here we are!

Dad has those glasses that are supposed to be unbendable/unbreakable...well, Rockin' Roller Coaster breaks those rules! He had his glasses in the little pouch and they definitely got bent up a bit! He managed to fix them up when we got back to the room though.

The moon was full and gorgeous as we strolled down the street.

Aaaaand back to Tower of Terror!

Since this would be our last ride on Tower of Terror of the trip, I had to stop for a picture!

We took a leisurely stroll down the street, toward the exit. It was time to head back to the hotel for a good night's sleep!

We all relaxed for a bit at the hotel, and got to bed early. We had a big day coming up!!

As a side note...I remembered what we did for lunch the day before. Not sure how I could forget this one! I stopped at Starring Rolls and got a turkey sandwich and a biiiiig red velvet cupcake to take back to the hotel! Everyone else was too lazy to walk there with me, and decided to eat at the food court...but boy were they jealous when they saw my food! They took my advice for the rest of the trip....

Up Next: Soarin' over California and walking around the world!

 

[jc040404]

More ToT?? Loved the pics anyway. That second one had some interesting poses in it!

The Rockin' Roller Coaster pics are pretty neat. I'd never seen anything beyond the sign and ride pictures before.

Too bad about the glasses! I'm glad he was able to fix them when you got back to the room anyway.

 

[CAStevens218]

More ToT?? Loved the pics anyway. That second one had some interesting poses in it!

The Rockin' Roller Coaster pics are pretty neat. I'd never seen anything beyond the sign and ride pictures before.

Too bad about the glasses! I'm glad he was able to fix them when you got back to the room anyway.

There is never enough ToT!! I had never looked at everyone else in that second picture until now....almost everyone is doing something interesting!!! I got a code for a free photobook from Shutterfly and one of the pages is all of our ToT pictures...its pretty funny!!!

Rockin' Roller Coaster is great!!! The inside is fabulous. you will love it! Is Andrew tall enough yet?

The glasses are fine now! I'm pretty sure he still has the same pair!! But as a PSA...I definitely do not recommend putting glasses in the storage pocket in Rockin' Roller Coaster!

 

[CAStevens218]

Today was our EPCOT day!!! We took our time in the morning and we arrived after rope drop...I'm not sure what time it was though! I know it wasn't too late, probably very shortly after 9am.

We stopped for the classic EPCOT shot on the way in...

As we headed inside, I saw Stitch off to the side with no line! I don't love Stitch, but since he had no line, Ben and I headed over. Dad and Dan decided to head a little further into the park and we would text them when we were done.

I'm not going to post the Stitch picture because I look TERRIBLE! The CM who took it was really really tiny and that angle does not do nice things for me! ;o)

Stitch was a fun meet and greet though! He kind of pushed Ben off to the side and made kissy noises at me!

As Ben and I headed inside, we weren't getting any response from my dad and brother. We decided to make our way over to Soarin' for fastpasses since we had all 4 tickets, and keep trying to get in touch with them. I didn't want the fastpass return time to keep getting later and later while we waited!

We made our way over to The Land, and finally we saw this:

We grabbed the fastpasses and took our time heading out of the land.

I just love the decor in here!

We finally heard from Dad and Dan, and it turned our they had decided to jump on Spaceship Earth while they were waiting for us to finish up with Stitch! We decided to meet up at Test Track so we could ride stand by.

Ben and I took a leisurely stroll across Future World. I like our days at EPCOT for this reason...it is always such a relaxed park for us for some reason! We never rush here and just make our way around at our leisure.

We made it to Test Track and Dad and Dan were nowhere to be found. Stand by said 5 minutes....so we decided to take a quick spin around the track while we waited on them!

As we exited the ride, Dan was calling us....and they had jumped in line because they were sick of waiting on us! We just couldn't get coordinated!

Ben and I checked out the cars while we waited for them to finish their ride.

Ben LOVES this one!

And this one...

I think he actually loves them all, let's be honest!!

Since we were in the area, the boys wanted to ride Spaceship Earth. I do not do this one...even the easy side makes me sick!!!! I don't do well with screens...just like with Star Tours.

I had some fun of my own while I waited for them to get back from Mars.

I saw these guys:

And I did some pin trading! I enjoyed wandering around, chatting with CMs and taking in the sights on my own for a few minutes!

I also grabbed us 4 Test Track fastpasses to use later, so we could all ride together!

When the boys got back from space....which they all LOVED, we made our way toward The Land. Our Soarin' fastpasses were ready, and we wanted to use them and grab a second set!

We headed straight for Soarin' when we got into The Land. I agree with many others that this is a VERY slow fastpass line! We boarded our hang glider eventually though and were flying over California before we knew it! Dad and Dan loved this ride, as I knew they would!

We had missed out on riding Living with the Land on our last trip because we planned to do it after our Garden Grill dinner and found it closed when we finished! I was determined to take a ride on it this time, so that was our next stop.

I think Living with the Land is such a fun ride! I love looking at everything, it is so interesting!

Our next stop was Nemo! Ben LOVES the seagulls! Mine! Mine! Mine!

We spent a few minutes checking out the fish tanks after our ride through the EAC!

I LOVE manatees....but nobody else in my group shares my love so I didn't get to watch them for very long!

SHARK!

This was shaping up to be a great day at EPCOT! Last year, Ben and I FROZE on our trip! It was only in the 30s on our EPCOT day....here we are in our winter gear trying to enjoy the park...

This time, it was 80' and sunny, we were wearing tshirts and having a great time!!!!!!!! (Don't get me wrong...we had a grea time in the cold too....but it is MUCH more enjoyable being warm!!!)

We were getting pretty hungry at this point....so we decided to take a trip around the world to find something good to eat!!

Up Next: A trip around the world!

 

[jc040404]

Love that you stopped to see Stitch! That's us. Even if we've seen a character a dozen times, if there's no line.. Well, you just have to! Too bad we don't get to see a pic though! (Like I should talk, right? )

You did really have me wondering about your Dad and Dan for a bit! Splitting up can cause too much trouble, but you made awesome use of the time. What great wait times, btw! Glad they liked Soarin, but that FP line is a little ridiculous, huh?

What a great time so far. It does seem like quite a change from your last time! Glad you got some nice weather this time around to enjoy. I'm excited to see your food choices, too!

 

[CAStevens218]

Love that you stopped to see Stitch! That's us. Even if we've seen a character a dozen times, if there's no line.. Well, you just have to! Too bad we don't get to see a pic though! (Like I should talk, right? )

You did really have me wondering about your Dad and Dan for a bit! Splitting up can cause too much trouble, but you made awesome use of the time. What great wait times, btw! Glad they liked Soarin, but that FP line is a little ridiculous, huh?

What a great time so far. It does seem like quite a change from your last time! Glad you got some nice weather this time around to enjoy. I'm excited to see your food choices, too!

I love character pictures! Ben likes them too, and my brother actually got really into it as well! He never gave me any grief about posing with characters!! And trust me, the picture is NOT cute! LOL!

Splitting up was definitely a risk, and it caused a bit of frustration because it seemed like one pair was always waiting on the other! I HATE waiting! We finally grew some patience and waited for them at the end of Test Track though, and all was well from then on!

Nice weather made all the difference! I was THRILLED! We had some good food on this day...I'll get to it this weekend...hopefully!

 

[CAStevens218]

Update time! I need to get moving or our honeymoon willl be here before I'm done with this trip report!

After we finished hanging out with Nemo, we were all getting pretty hungry, so we headed toward the World Showcase to find something to eat.

I knew what I wanted, but nobody else was sure, so we explored for a little while. We stopped in Mexico for my brother to check out the menu.

Ben and I had lunch in Mexico once and really enjoyed it, but that was before they changed all the menus around. The choices are different now, and nothing really appealed to us, so we kept moving.

We did stop for one of my favorite shots from the trip! Dan told us to pose and I didn't really understand, but I went with it. I think it ended up being a really cute shot!

We moved on and came to Norway, which is where I had planned on eating. Ben and I had sandwiches there the year before, and they were really good! You also get a ton of food on the dining plan, and the dessert choices are fabulous!

Everyone else was still unsure of what they wanted, so I suggested a ride on Maelstrom while they thought about it.

I insisted that everyone had to pose with the troll at the end!

Next, we hit China to check out the menu over there.

Nobody wanted anything there, so we explored Germany next!

Ummm...Dan....it appears that something is eating your head....

We decided to explore a little more before grabbing food, so we hit Italy.

This juggler was out, so we got comfortable to check out the show!

Finally, everyone was ready to take my advice and eat in Norway! We headed back that way and made our way into the bakery in Norway. We all had the turkey sandwich, which is served warm and melty! I love the dessert choices here, so much to choose from! I had a sweet pretzel with chocolate drizel, someone else had the chocolate mousse cake, and I can't remember what everyone else had, but it was all fabulous! This place doesn't sound that exciting, but the food is really great and we enjoy it!

We found a nice table outside and got comfortable to enjoy our meals. We took our time and lingered for quite a while. It was nice to relax with a table full of good food!

After lunch, we decided it was time for our afternoon pool break, since we had recently discovered our love for them!!!!!

We headed toward the front of the park, Dad and Dan going ahead while Ben and I took our time making our way out.

I loved these topiaries! Bambi has a special place in my heart. I loved it as a kid, and once I asked my dad to take me to where the water was stiff!

We all finally made it back to Pop, where we changed into our bathing suits and headed to our favorite spot at the computer pool. The hippy dippy pool was still closed! They STILL hadn't gotten the part! It was fine with us....we liked the quiet over at the computer pool anyway!

We spent an hour or two lounging and napping by the pool, and once the pool area was in the shade, we got up and headed to the room to get ready for the evening!

Up next: An evening at EPCOT!

 

[jc040404]

So love all of these pictures! It kinda looked like WS hat day for a bit.

How cute is the "stiff water" comment! That's was too sweet!

 

[CAStevens218]

So love all of these pictures! It kinda looked like WS hat day for a bit.

How cute is the "stiff water" comment! That's was too sweet!

I feel like I am writing this trip report just for you!! Oh well, it is fun to relive the trip!!!!!!

It was definitely WS hat day! It is just sooo tempting, and there are so many fun hats to try on!!! I hadn't thought of it until you said it, but there are at least 5 different hats in that post!

My mom always said that when I asked my dad to take me to where the water was stiff, he was completely confused and had no idea what I was talking about!!!

 

[CAStevens218]

Update time!!!

After some fabulous time spent lounging in chairs by the pool, we pulled ourselves together and headed back to EPCOT for more fun!

When we entered, my brother saw some people taking pictures where they were pretending to hold up Spaceship Earth...so he decided he HAD to do it! This was a project!!!!!!

We probably took about ten pictures...and this is the closest we got!

It was another gorgeous evening at Disney World!

Our first stop was Spaceship Earth, since Ben and I hadn't gotten to ride earlier when Dad and Dan went on.

I won control of the touch screen and we went off to explore our future!!

Of course, first we traveled through the past...

We checked out some of the games at the end of the ride. Last year, Ben and I played the one where you have to power up a city and you move the power to the correct location using those big broom looking things! It was a lot of fun and Ben wanted to check it out again.

Dan agree to play with him, and let me tell you...they took this game SERIOUSLY! They had a strategy and were talking to one another like they were playing a professional sport!

When they finished their game, we wandered back out into the gorgeous eveing. Have I mentioned the twilight is my favorite time of day at the parks?

Seriously, does it get any better than this?

Our next stop was Test Track, because we didn't get to ride together earlier. We were put into a car with two little little LITTLE girls who were riding single rider (but knew each other). One was supposed to sit in the front and one in the back, but I felt weird about having them sit separately (not sure where the parents were or why they weren't concerned about who their kids were sitting with), so I told Dad, Dan and Ben to sit in the front together while I sat in back with the girls.

We had a fun ride, and checked out the cars again on the way out (the joys of traveling with three men!).

The guys wanted to ride Mission Space again next, so I settled myself on a bench while they enjoyed their ride.

Eventually I got tired of sitting around, so I went into the gift shop and ended up buying two Vinylmations! We had brought a few with us that I purchased on clearance from the Disney Store website...but I couldn't resist the ones on sale in the store! I got two that I was not crazy about, but that's even better because it makes it easier to trade!

When the boys got back from space, we headed over to use the Soarin' fastpasses we had picked up earlier in the day.

My brother got a kick out the the CM who came up to him at the loading area and asked him to please stand ON his number, not next to it. One centimeter away from it was not close enough? This became the running joke throughout the trip...stand ON your number darn it! (In all seriousness, I know they deal with a lot of people and it probably makes it easier for them to count if people are standing directly on the numbers).

After our flight, we headed out toward World Showcase!

It was dinner time and, once again, nobody (except me) could decide on what they wanted to eat! We decided to stroll around and check out the options.

We played around in the phone booths for a while:

And I snapped photos of World Showcase all lit up at night!

Eventually, Dan and Ben decided they wanted to get food from China, and I knew I wanted to try Tangeriene Cafe in Morocco. Dad decided to come with me, and we would all meet up at a table back in Morocco.

At this point, we were STARVING, since everyone had taken so long to decide what they wanted. I was very happy to see little to no line for food!

I had the chicken schwarma platter and dad had the kefta sandwich. We both enjoyed our food, but I don't know if I will rush back. It was nice to have something unique though!

I'm not sure what Dan and Ben had from China, but I know they enjoyed it!

At this point, Dad and Dan were pretty tired, and I wanted to stay for Illuminations. They decided to head back to the room, and Ben agreed to stay with me and catch the show!

We split up, and Ben and I strolled through World Showcase some more. Even though we had just eaten, I knew we wouldn't be back to EPCOT on this trip and I NEEDED to stop at the caramel shop!!

We headed inside and started to make the difficult decision of choosing from the array of treats! We decided on a caramel apple and a bag of caramel popcorn.

We headed outside and grabbed a spot along the railing to watch the fireworks, which were about to start. I was shocked at how empty the World Showcase was. This was the smallest crowd I had EVER seen lining up for Illuminations!

We shared our apple and people watched while we waited for the fireworks.

Finally, it was show time!

We enjoyed the beginning of the show, but I have to be honest...we always get pretty bored when the globe comes out. I turned to Ben and asked if he wanted to start heading around the lagoon toward Future World and watch the show as we went. He agreed, and we began our stroll.

It was an amazing night with a beautiful full moon!

During parts of the show we wanted to see, we would stop and find a spot to check it out. There were so few people watching that we didn't even need to be right up against the railings, we could see perfectly from anywhere!

Look at how empty it is!!

When the show ended, we made our way to the front with the very very small crowd.

Before we knew it, we were on the bus heading back to Pop Century! We met up with Dad and Dan in the room, where we watched tv for a little while and hit the sack early!

Up next: Back to Magic Kingdom!!

 

[dara00]

you know, I really don't like twilight as a rule, but I think it looks gorgeous at twilight at the parks! great pictures too!

 

[jc040404]

Yay! You updated my TR! Yeah, I've been kinda wondering where everyone else is, too. I am really enjoying reading about your trip though!

I've always wanted to do that first pic with Andrew, but felt silly about it. Maybe I'll try it yet. Your brother's looks great!

"Stand on your number" made me laugh. Yeah, some of them act so crazy over the little stuff! I'm still not over the Snow White ride CM that yelled at my kids for passing over a line when they weren't even near it! I'm sure their jobs can't be the most fun when dealing with guests who really aren't listening. Someday I'll forgive her.

Sounds like another fun evening . That really is the best time of day. Glad you stuck around to see IllumiNations (the park sounds like heaven being so empty!) and grabbed some caramel goodies. A caramel apple sounds super yummy right now!

 

[CAStevens218]

you know, I really don't like twilight as a rule, but I think it looks gorgeous at twilight at the parks! great pictures too!

In "real life" I have trouble seeing at twilight, especially when I'm driving. But at in Disney parks, I think it is gorgeous! The perfect combination of all the lights being on but not too dark!

Thanks, I got a new camera right before the trip and had a blast using it!

Yay! You updated my TR! Yeah, I've been kinda wondering where everyone else is, too. I am really enjoying reading about your trip though!

I've always wanted to do that first pic with Andrew, but felt silly about it. Maybe I'll try it yet. Your brother's looks great!

"Stand on your number" made me laugh. Yeah, some of them act so crazy over the little stuff! I'm still not over the Snow White ride CM that yelled at my kids for passing over a line when they weren't even near it! I'm sure their jobs can't be the most fun when dealing with guests who really aren't listening. Someday I'll forgive her.

Sounds like another fun evening . That really is the best time of day. Glad you stuck around to see IllumiNations (the park sounds like heaven being so empty!) and grabbed some caramel goodies. A caramel apple sounds super yummy right now!

Haha, I think I have a bunch of lurkers!

I bet Andrew would LOVE that picture! It took us a while, but I didn't feel siilly because a lot of people were doing it!

Sometimes people take things way too seriously and forget the reason everyone is there. I see it all the time at work.

I couldn't believe how empty it was! I know it is a slow time, but we have always been there during slow times and never experienced anything like that! Even when it was FREEZING last year, it was much more crowded! No complaints from me though...I'm just trying to prepare myself for January crowds!

 

[CAStevens218]

Good morning everyone, happy Saturday!

In the last update, we finished a fun night at EPCOT by watching Illuminations. The next day, we were up early and headed to Magic Kingdom!

We took our time walking in and soaking up the atmosphere. I just love the feeling of walking into the Magic Kingdom! And the Christmas decorations make it all the more magical!

Before we made it very far, I saw someone I had always wanted to meet! I dragged my brother over for a picture...

Pinocchio! It actually didn't take much convincing to get Dan in the picture...I think he kind of liked taking photos with characters because he NEVER put up a fight!!

After our meet and greet we rounded the corner and saw the best view in the world!

Is there anything better than walking up Main Street in the morning with the welcome music playing and the CMs out waving good morning to everyone? I love it!

On our way to our first ride, we stopped for a quick family shot in one of my favorite castle photo locations.

It looks like the sun was a bit of a problem for those of us not smart enough to be wearing sunglasses in this picture!

After our photo, we headed into....

Tomorrowland!!!

As you can see, it was pretty empty!

It was time for a ride on Space Mountain!!!!

Dan was very excited! He still remembers when we came in the 90s and he was too small to ride! This was his moment!!

We walked right on and had a great ride through space!

Naturally, we headed to Buzz next!

You know how everyone stops and takes pictures with Buzz while waiting in line for this ride? Well we saw the most impatient people on this day! They were just not having it and complained loudly every time someone stopped. Seriously people? It takes a few seconds for each person to snap a picture. Take a deep breath!

We were soon on the ride blasting away aliens!

Now. I am not good at this game. BUT, my brother had informed me that you don't have to hit the button repeatedly, but you can hold it down the whole time and it will keep shooting! This changed everything for me! I CANT WAIT to ride this again and again on our honeymoon to get better!

Dan won of course...but it was actually a fun ride because we stopped for a few minutes so I got to practice my skills and rack up some points!

Dan still beat everyone...and yes I know those scores are terrible! LOL

We always have fun competing on Buzz and Toy Story!

After our ride we headed back out into Tomorrowland for some more fun!

Up Next: My first ride on a Dis favorite!!!

 

[jc040404]

Pinocchio!! What a great pic!

Uh oh. I'm one of "those" people that gets annoyed by the Buzz pic! I love that ride soo much and can't wait to get on. I promise I've never spoken up about it or rushed anyone though!

Yay for an MK morning. It looks wonderful so far. Wish I was there!

 

[CAStevens218]

Pinocchio!! What a great pic!

Uh oh. I'm one of "those" people that gets annoyed by the Buzz pic! I love that ride soo much and can't wait to get on. I promise I've never spoken up about it or rushed anyone though!

Yay for an MK morning. It looks wonderful so far. Wish I was there!

Hahahaaa, I completely understand! There is definitely a difference between being anxious to get on the ride and being obnoxious to someone about it!!!!! Let's be honest...we all want to get on as fast as we can!!!!!

I wish I was there now too!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CAStevens218]

Please excuse this interruption from the trip report for an update on our honeymoon plans!!!!

I just got off the phone with Disney reservations and booked our honeymoon!!!!!! We are doing a split stay between a royal room at Port Orleans Riverside and club level at Animal Kingdom Lodge!!!!!!!

We will be at POR from July 23-July 29 and AKL from July 29-August 2!

We are soooo excited!!!!!!

 

[jc040404]

A royal room and AKL Club Level, too? It sounds amazing already!! So excited for you two!!