Great trip reportcan't wait to read more.
Thanks for following!
Thanks for coming on over!!
Thanks for following!! Glad you enjoyed my 2011 report - hopefully this one is better
Are you Push?? Our sister trip around the World - COMPLETED 6/13!
- Thread starter cfw213
- Start date
Thanks for following!
Thanks for coming on over!!
Gah, I am such a horrible trip reporter! I am vowing to get this thing moving a little bit quicker - no promises though!
Real life update: Notice the new ticker?? We officially have dates for our next trip! I booked October 26-Nov 3, 2013 at Saratoga Springs for myself, my DH (FINALLY taking a trip with him!), my sister of course, her boyfriend, and my parents. I will probably switch the resort at 7 months, but that's where we are now!
Anyway, let's continue the TR! Where we left off, we were on our way to Camp Minnie Mickey to see FOTLK and hopefully meet some characters!
When we got to camp Minnie Mickey, it was only around 10:45 so we decided to meet some characters...we got in line for Chip and Dale but the line was moving sooo slow - so we jumped over to Donald! There were a few people waiting but it went quick. The CM who was moderating the line was really nice - he kept telling us funny things to Donald. He told Jess to tell Donald he was #1! As we were leaving I said to Donald, "I think Mickey is really number one" - he didn't like that! He got all angry and in my face, it was pretty funny.
After that we head over to FOTLK right as the doors were opening, I think around 11:15 - it wasn't that crowded, we got a spot in the giraffe section back 3 rows. I love this show! The costumes and music are amazing and all the performers are really talented.
The show finished around 12:00 or so and our FP for Kali were ready! So we walked over to the FP line and got into our little tube thing...I'd never ridden this ride before, but I really enjoyed it. Jess was the one that got SOAKED, and I wasn't far behind her! The lockers weren't up and running yet (wonder if they are now??), but we just put our bags in the middle and they didn't get wet. I enjoyed this ride but I wouldn't want to walk around all day soaking wet - luckily we were heading to Blizzard Beach!
But before that...lunch! We walked to Dinoland and went to...
Restaurantosauraus! It was probably around 12:30 by this time, but the lines were pretty short. We both ordered chicken nuggets...I got fries and Jess got apple slices, both with chocolate mousse. There is something soooo delicious about Disney chicken nuggets - I think I had them about 5 times on this trip!
Here's Jess showing off that delish chocolate mousse:
Since we were soaked and the air was blasting, we sat outside on the front porch. It was a nice quiet day and it was really peaceful and relaxing! The skies were looking a little dark at this point...we head out of the park around 1:00 and grabbed our stuff from the locker. We went to the bus depot and asked which busses went to Blizzard Beach...the first one we came to was Wilderness Lodge so we got on. It must have been time for them to change because we sat there for at least 15 minutes (only people on the bus) and it was soooo cold. I thought it would be awkward to get off since we were the only ones waiting so we just sucked up. Of course as soon as we pulled away from AK, it started to rain! It ended up raining off and on the entire time we were at BB, but luckily no thunder/lightening so it was a non-issue. If it's going to rain I want it to be when I'm already soaking wet and in a bathing suit!
Blizzard Beach was only a few minutes away. Soon we would be splashing down the slides!
Real life update: Notice the new ticker?? We officially have dates for our next trip! I booked October 26-Nov 3, 2013 at Saratoga Springs for myself, my DH (FINALLY taking a trip with him!), my sister of course, her boyfriend, and my parents. I will probably switch the resort at 7 months, but that's where we are now!
Anyway, let's continue the TR! Where we left off, we were on our way to Camp Minnie Mickey to see FOTLK and hopefully meet some characters!
When we got to camp Minnie Mickey, it was only around 10:45 so we decided to meet some characters...we got in line for Chip and Dale but the line was moving sooo slow - so we jumped over to Donald! There were a few people waiting but it went quick. The CM who was moderating the line was really nice - he kept telling us funny things to Donald. He told Jess to tell Donald he was #1! As we were leaving I said to Donald, "I think Mickey is really number one" - he didn't like that! He got all angry and in my face, it was pretty funny.
After that we head over to FOTLK right as the doors were opening, I think around 11:15 - it wasn't that crowded, we got a spot in the giraffe section back 3 rows. I love this show! The costumes and music are amazing and all the performers are really talented.
The show finished around 12:00 or so and our FP for Kali were ready! So we walked over to the FP line and got into our little tube thing...I'd never ridden this ride before, but I really enjoyed it. Jess was the one that got SOAKED, and I wasn't far behind her! The lockers weren't up and running yet (wonder if they are now??), but we just put our bags in the middle and they didn't get wet. I enjoyed this ride but I wouldn't want to walk around all day soaking wet - luckily we were heading to Blizzard Beach!
But before that...lunch! We walked to Dinoland and went to...
Restaurantosauraus! It was probably around 12:30 by this time, but the lines were pretty short. We both ordered chicken nuggets...I got fries and Jess got apple slices, both with chocolate mousse. There is something soooo delicious about Disney chicken nuggets - I think I had them about 5 times on this trip!
Here's Jess showing off that delish chocolate mousse:
Since we were soaked and the air was blasting, we sat outside on the front porch. It was a nice quiet day and it was really peaceful and relaxing! The skies were looking a little dark at this point...we head out of the park around 1:00 and grabbed our stuff from the locker. We went to the bus depot and asked which busses went to Blizzard Beach...the first one we came to was Wilderness Lodge so we got on. It must have been time for them to change because we sat there for at least 15 minutes (only people on the bus) and it was soooo cold. I thought it would be awkward to get off since we were the only ones waiting so we just sucked up. Of course as soon as we pulled away from AK, it started to rain! It ended up raining off and on the entire time we were at BB, but luckily no thunder/lightening so it was a non-issue. If it's going to rain I want it to be when I'm already soaking wet and in a bathing suit!
Blizzard Beach was only a few minutes away. Soon we would be splashing down the slides!
katt789
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2010
Not sure if I replied to the dining review, so I'll throw it in here, isn't Le Cel amazing?! That filet, ugh! I order mine without the risotto too, tasted some of my Mom's and I just didn't like it! Haha
I love that there are so many places you can get first aid things in the park, I went in for bandaids at Epcot and it was so simple and easy, I'm glad it's not a super hassle.
Super cute towels!! I always say I'm going to buy one but never end up doing so!! You guys had to use your keys to get into the big blue pool??
Paige and I just walked right in...weird... JEALOUS you heard characters! We only got music, I really wanted to hear Dory! Man, that saltwater really takes you by surprise the first time you get into the pool!!
How hilarious that you guys ended up matching without even meaning to! I do that on a regular basis with friends I work with, haha!
You guys certainly are utilizing the photopasses! Good on ya! I always feel like I need to stop everywhere if I've prepaid for the cd, you know, get my money's worth! I love Everest, I didn't do it the first time I was at Disney, super scared of everything, and now I'm all "I need a thrill ride!!" Ha!
UGH FOTLK. It's seriously the most amazing show I've ever seen, I'm so in love with all of it, and want to be a part of it sooo badly. Even the rumour of it being closed in January tears my heart apart! Hha!
The baby Simba magic shot is so cute!
I love that there are so many places you can get first aid things in the park, I went in for bandaids at Epcot and it was so simple and easy, I'm glad it's not a super hassle.
Super cute towels!! I always say I'm going to buy one but never end up doing so!! You guys had to use your keys to get into the big blue pool??
Paige and I just walked right in...weird... JEALOUS you heard characters! We only got music, I really wanted to hear Dory! Man, that saltwater really takes you by surprise the first time you get into the pool!!How hilarious that you guys ended up matching without even meaning to! I do that on a regular basis with friends I work with, haha!
You guys certainly are utilizing the photopasses! Good on ya! I always feel like I need to stop everywhere if I've prepaid for the cd, you know, get my money's worth! I love Everest, I didn't do it the first time I was at Disney, super scared of everything, and now I'm all "I need a thrill ride!!" Ha!
UGH FOTLK. It's seriously the most amazing show I've ever seen, I'm so in love with all of it, and want to be a part of it sooo badly. Even the rumour of it being closed in January tears my heart apart! Hha!
The baby Simba magic shot is so cute!
Not sure if I replied to the dining review, so I'll throw it in here, isn't Le Cel amazing?! That filet, ugh! I order mine without the risotto too, tasted some of my Mom's and I just didn't like it! Haha
I love that there are so many places you can get first aid things in the park, I went in for bandaids at Epcot and it was so simple and easy, I'm glad it's not a super hassle.
Super cute towels!! I always say I'm going to buy one but never end up doing so!! You guys had to use your keys to get into the big blue pool??
How hilarious that you guys ended up matching without even meaning to! I do that on a regular basis with friends I work with, haha!
You guys certainly are utilizing the photopasses! Good on ya! I always feel like I need to stop everywhere if I've prepaid for the cd, you know, get my money's worth! I love Everest, I didn't do it the first time I was at Disney, super scared of everything, and now I'm all "I need a thrill ride!!" Ha!
UGH FOTLK. It's seriously the most amazing show I've ever seen, I'm so in love with all of it, and want to be a part of it sooo badly. Even the rumour of it being closed in January tears my heart apart! Hha!
The baby Simba magic shot is so cute!
Yes, Le Cellier is amazing!! We are already positive we are going back next time
We always had to use our keys to get in the pool! Maybe they weren't locked during the day or something? I think we always went at night. Weird though! We also went in the Flippin' Fins pool once too, it was cute!
We arrived at Blizzard Beach around 1:35...we put our big bags in the locker and left our shoes/clothes at a chair near the beach. First up was the mat slides - I think this was the "purple" section. We did the toboggan racers (7 or 8 people in a row...kind of like those big carnival rides but with water) and then we did the storm slides twice...the lines were short, about 5 to 10 minutes for each of these. The downhill double dipper was also in this section but the lines was fairly long - the sign said around 30 minutes, so we skipped it for the time being - we would be back another morning!
After all those steps we needed a break - so we rode the lazy river to the green section! The line for Summit Plummet was really long (plus, was I brave enough to try?? Find out on our next visit to BB later in the trip!), as well as the line to get on the chairlift. So we got off and walked up the reallllly long steps to do Teamboat Springs, the family raft ride. We enjoyed this ride but we had to ride with a guy and his kid, which would have been fine except the guys um...stuff...was hanging out the leg of his bathing suit. Talk about disturbing! I couldnt wait to get off that tube!!
When we got to the bottom we hauled back up the green slope again (the waterparks have SO MANY steps!). We got in line for Slush n Gusher, I think the line said 15 minutes but ended up being the longest we waited for any ride the whole trip! It was over 1/2 an hour by the time we got on, and I HATED this ride...it was really rough on your back and I got air on the second drop. I also wear contacts so I had to close my eyes the whole time since so much water is flying in your face. I will most definitely skip this ride next time!
After that, we were done the green side, so we headed over to the red slopes to do runoff rapids...the line for the closed tube was long so we grabbed a double tube and went down one of the open slides. It was fun, but nothing special! By then it was probably around 3:30 and we were ready for a snack! It was still raining, but Jess grabbed a Mickey premium bar which, as you can see, was a HUGE mess as it was all cracked and falling apart. I just realized this is also a Disney towel, but it's about 15 years old, ha.
And I got the famous mini-donuts with chocolate sauce. They were so good!!! I just wish I could have used a snack credit for them.
We grabbed our stuff from the lockers and put on a coverup, then headed out to the busses...our bus came pretty quickly and we were back at Art of Animation in no time.
Before heading back to our room, we stopped in the gift shop. I picked out a pink quilted Minnie iPad cover, a vintage looking Minnie cell phone cover and a metal Mickey decal for my car - which I love! I have pictures of all of our souvenirs later so I'll post it at the end. We stashed our stuff on a chair and took a dip in the Big Blue pool before heading back to our room. Yet again, I love how big this pool is and I love the underwater sound system. Jess heard Mr. Ray talking, but still no Crush! We swam for 15 minutes or so then headed back to the room to shower and get ready for dinner.
While Jess jumped in the shower, I grabbed our mugs and my camera and headed to the food court to fill them up. I took tons of good resort pics!
On the walk up to our hotel room - I think this was from the corner of the 2nd floor:
And this was the view from our room!
From the front:
And to the left. This was the flippin' fins pool:
This was another one of the little mermaid buildings, where you can see the cute decoration on the side.
Cute statue of Prince Eric! I think we have a picture later of one of us with him so you can see it to scale.
These were the lights in the LM section - as in usual Disney style, I love that the theme was carried out so well.
After the LM section, you walked through the Lion King. Between the LM and Lion King section, you could look left and see Pop-
First up in the LK section was a big Scar statue. It was raining a little bit, hence all the water drops on the camera
This was a kid's play area - I'm weird and always walked on the squishy floor.
This thing was so cute! Love Timon and Pumba:
Big adult Simba statue right before you get to Nemo section:
Cute little Zazu!
Next you walked into the Nemo section. The big blue pool is in front, and there is Nemo to the left and the dining hall/lobby to the right. I thought these were adorable!
I took mores pics of Nemo/Cars later in the week, so these will come later!
I filled up ours mugs, and when I was on the way back, for some reason I started thinking about our ADRs and realized I messed up! We were doing a split stay so we would have 6 TS meals from Saturday-Friday at midnight and 2 TS meals from check in on Friday-Saturday at midnight, but I had all our TS meals scheduled before Saturday - uh oh!!!
I told my revelation to Jess and after some researching we decided the best reservation to switch would be breakfast. We cancelled our Thursday CP reservation and switched it to Kona on Saturday morning. Crisis averted, I jumped in the shower and we headed out to dinner...Kona! Yep, I guess we were planning on eating there twice.
After all those steps we needed a break - so we rode the lazy river to the green section! The line for Summit Plummet was really long (plus, was I brave enough to try?? Find out on our next visit to BB later in the trip!), as well as the line to get on the chairlift. So we got off and walked up the reallllly long steps to do Teamboat Springs, the family raft ride. We enjoyed this ride but we had to ride with a guy and his kid, which would have been fine except the guys um...stuff...was hanging out the leg of his bathing suit. Talk about disturbing! I couldnt wait to get off that tube!!
When we got to the bottom we hauled back up the green slope again (the waterparks have SO MANY steps!). We got in line for Slush n Gusher, I think the line said 15 minutes but ended up being the longest we waited for any ride the whole trip! It was over 1/2 an hour by the time we got on, and I HATED this ride...it was really rough on your back and I got air on the second drop. I also wear contacts so I had to close my eyes the whole time since so much water is flying in your face. I will most definitely skip this ride next time!
After that, we were done the green side, so we headed over to the red slopes to do runoff rapids...the line for the closed tube was long so we grabbed a double tube and went down one of the open slides. It was fun, but nothing special! By then it was probably around 3:30 and we were ready for a snack! It was still raining, but Jess grabbed a Mickey premium bar which, as you can see, was a HUGE mess as it was all cracked and falling apart. I just realized this is also a Disney towel, but it's about 15 years old, ha.
And I got the famous mini-donuts with chocolate sauce. They were so good!!! I just wish I could have used a snack credit for them.
We grabbed our stuff from the lockers and put on a coverup, then headed out to the busses...our bus came pretty quickly and we were back at Art of Animation in no time.
Before heading back to our room, we stopped in the gift shop. I picked out a pink quilted Minnie iPad cover, a vintage looking Minnie cell phone cover and a metal Mickey decal for my car - which I love! I have pictures of all of our souvenirs later so I'll post it at the end. We stashed our stuff on a chair and took a dip in the Big Blue pool before heading back to our room. Yet again, I love how big this pool is and I love the underwater sound system. Jess heard Mr. Ray talking, but still no Crush! We swam for 15 minutes or so then headed back to the room to shower and get ready for dinner.
While Jess jumped in the shower, I grabbed our mugs and my camera and headed to the food court to fill them up. I took tons of good resort pics!
On the walk up to our hotel room - I think this was from the corner of the 2nd floor:
And this was the view from our room!
From the front:
And to the left. This was the flippin' fins pool:
This was another one of the little mermaid buildings, where you can see the cute decoration on the side.
Cute statue of Prince Eric! I think we have a picture later of one of us with him so you can see it to scale.
These were the lights in the LM section - as in usual Disney style, I love that the theme was carried out so well.
After the LM section, you walked through the Lion King. Between the LM and Lion King section, you could look left and see Pop-
First up in the LK section was a big Scar statue. It was raining a little bit, hence all the water drops on the camera
This was a kid's play area - I'm weird and always walked on the squishy floor.
This thing was so cute! Love Timon and Pumba:
Big adult Simba statue right before you get to Nemo section:
Cute little Zazu!
Next you walked into the Nemo section. The big blue pool is in front, and there is Nemo to the left and the dining hall/lobby to the right. I thought these were adorable!
I took mores pics of Nemo/Cars later in the week, so these will come later!
I filled up ours mugs, and when I was on the way back, for some reason I started thinking about our ADRs and realized I messed up! We were doing a split stay so we would have 6 TS meals from Saturday-Friday at midnight and 2 TS meals from check in on Friday-Saturday at midnight, but I had all our TS meals scheduled before Saturday - uh oh!!!
I told my revelation to Jess and after some researching we decided the best reservation to switch would be breakfast. We cancelled our Thursday CP reservation and switched it to Kona on Saturday morning. Crisis averted, I jumped in the shower and we headed out to dinner...Kona! Yep, I guess we were planning on eating there twice.
Blizzard Beach is super fun! There were a lot of "low key" slides too that weren't too crazy. And the mini donuts were delish, I wish they had them in the other parks!
Our ADR was at 7:05 I believe, and we were out the door by 6:00. We got on the bus to MK, then switched to the resort monorail and arrived about 20 minutes early to the Poly.
While we waited, we wandered around the second floor of the Poly. I've said it before, but I can't wait until they put a DVC resort here so I can stay!!
We were hoping we could be seated early so we could make Wishes, but our buzzer went off at exactly 7:05.I wasnt crazy about our table because it was kind of in a through-way to the kitchen but it wasnt terrible. I like the ambiance of this restaurant and that its open to the second-level lobby of the Poly. Our waiter came right away and we ordered some sodas and looked over the menu. This restaurant feature a fix price 3 course menu with the dining plan, which I love because it seems like youre getting a free appetizer! We both opted to get the price fixe because the entrees that we wanted were on the menu and they had pork dumplings, which are always delish.
They brought us the yummy sweet bread with the macadamia nut butter. It was good!
We both ordered the pan fried pork dumplings and we each got the pan Asian noodles - I got shrimp and Jess got chicken. Our first course came out quickly and they were very yummy! They had a nice crunchy outside with the salty meat on the inside. You can never go wrong with dumplings. I know I'm weird, but doesn't it look like there's a funny little face on the side of my dumpling??
Our entrees followed quickly, and they were also very good. Sometimes lo mein can be really greasy and heavy but this wasnt it all. It was filled with veggies (FYI - it has mushrooms! I forgot to ask for them to be left out but I could eat around them) and lots of shrimp. It was very fresh and the sauce was light and tasty. Jess enjoyed hers as well.
Mine, shrimp pan fried noodles:
I guess I didn't get a picture of Jess', but it was the same, just with chicken instead of shrimp.
After the entree was of course - dessert! We both got the Kileuea Torte - basically it was a melting cake/chocolate lava cake/whatever you wanna call it. It was delish! It had some raspberries around the side which gave it an extra kick of flavor.
Always on the quest for hidden mickey's...
And our dining neighbors took this cute pic of us!
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Kona and would definitely visit again!
Our rating for this meal is as follows:
Food: 4. The food here was really fresh and yummy, but nothing out-of-this-world.
Service: 4. The service here was fine - our waiter was nice, attentive and the food was served quickly, but he didnt go above and beyond.
Ambiance: 3. Pretty good ambiance. The tables were closed together and we were facing the hallway to the kitchen, so we really had no view. I would have preferred to be at one of the tables with a view of the Poly lobby.
Wait time: 5. We werent seated early, but it was right on time and the meal didnt take long - we were done by 8:15 - plenty of time to make it to MK for Wishes!
Would we visit again? Yes! It wont be a must-do every trip, but I would come back again for sure.
Ranking: 3. Only Le Cellier and one other meal topped this one!
Next up: We head to our favorite park!
katt789
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2010
I love the poly!! So glad I stayed there on quick trip in Jan (thank you discounts! Haha!) I want to try Kona for breakfast, but never want to waste early morning park time! Haha, gotta try it on departure day next trip I guess!
AH!! THERE'S TOTALLY A FACE ON YOUR DUMPLING!!!
Cute picture of the two of you!!
AH!! THERE'S TOTALLY A FACE ON YOUR DUMPLING!!!
Cute picture of the two of you!!
Uhhh, oops, I fell off the face of the earth for the last three weeks!! I've been keeping up with my reading of everyone else's TRs, but just haven't had time to post some of my own! We closed on our new house last Friday so the last two weekend have been lots & lots of work. I'm taking a night to rest up so I thought I would post a couple updates...hope I still have some readers!!
After our tummies were full from our yummy dinner at Kona, it was time to head to our favorite park and see the beautiful castle for the first time on this trip, as well as the amazingness that is Wishes!! I was worried that time would be tight, but we were finished dinner by 8:15. We headed out to the monorail which was waiting there with no line. Talk about Pixie dust! We arrived at the Magic Kingdom 15 minutes later. Walking into the Magic Kingdom for the first time each trip is so magical...there's something so wonderful about seeing that beautiful castle! As soon as we got there, we stopped for some photopass pictures and made our way to Main St!
*This* is why I love this park & Disney in general!
Photopass:
Such a beautiful sight
I also thought these Halloween decorations were adorable!
Here is where Lines let me down - I KNEW that Splash wouldn’t be open for EMH (as it had closed for evening EMH a few weeks earlier), but my lines app was telling me that Fastpasses were available for 9:05-9:10. So being super trusting in my Lines app, we hightailed it over to Splash to get some Fastpasses for after Wishes. Well, shocker - the fastpass distribution boxes were closed. Of course, Splash wasn’t open during EMH! Stupid Lines app, I should have just trusted myself!
Bah...anyway, we headed back to the castle to get a spot for Wishes! It wasn’t crowded this night at all...we walked over to the hub and grabbed a spot on the ground. It was pretty tight in there but our viewing spot was awesome, and I was surprised that we got such a good spot a few minutes before the show! Here's our view - we were around the hub, to the left side.
If we were heading out immediately after Wishes, I wouldn’t have gone all the way up there since we would be locked in! But we were planning to stay, so we just relaxed for a few minutes and pretty soon Wishes was starting. I was really sad that the Magic, Memories and You show wasn’t playing anymore - I really loved that!! I’ll be excited to see the new show next time.
Wishes was amazing, as usual and we could see everything perfectly, since most people stayed seated. I even managed to grab a few half-decent pictures with my cell phone. And I’m not going to lie - I cried at the end. I was so happy to finally be back in my favorite place in the world after months of planning!
I usually try not to take pictures during shows/fireworks because I just want to enjoy it, but here's one of Wishes!
After the show, we let the crowd clear out a little bit and cut left for Adventureland! Our first ride in MK?? Pirates!
I had never done evening EMH before, but I know we had to have our resort keys out. I think the line for Pirates was around 15 minutes, so we whipped out the Hidden Mickey book for the wait - so much fun! Pirates was awesome, as usual. I love the theming in this ride and was hoping we would get a chance to ride again later in the week.
When we were done, we discussed what to do for a minutes, and decided to head over to the Jungle Cruise. I like to ride this one once in the dark and once in the light. It so cheesy and I know all the bad jokes by now, but it’s just such a classic that I can’t skip it! I think the wait was around 10 minutes, and again, we searched for Hidden Mickey’s with Jess’s book.
After the Jungle Cruise, we decided to head over to BTTMR since I had wanted to try that at night too. But the wait was 30 minutes! No thanks, way too long for me. I checked my lines app, and all the major rides were decent waits. I was pretty disappointed as I had expected EMH to be less crowded. I knew we had plenty of time at MK so I knew we wouldn’t miss anything, but I was expecting to hit a lot of my favorites tonight!
We crossed over the hub and head to Future World, but first stopped and took some photopass pictures in front of the castle with the partners statue - gotta love Photopass!
We headed over to try to do Space, but once again - 30 minute wait! Gah, frustrating. We decided to try something new - the Peoplemover, since it was a walk on. OH MY GOODNESS - I just *love* this ride! It’s so relaxing, and it’s awesome to see Future World from up above and go through all the rides. I think we ended up riding it 5 or 6 times this trip. So awesome, I don’t know how we missed it all this time!
By the time we were done the people mover, it was coming probably about 10:30pm and the lines were still long. We had a super long day, so we were ready to head home for the evening. We slowly made our way through Future World (no rushing on this trip!) and stopped for another PP picture in front of the Rose Garden and on Main St.
At this point, Jess was deciding what she wanted to collect and ended up on pressed pennies! We googled and found that they had the books at the Emporium, so we wandered around in there for 20 minutes or so, just looking at all the awesome stuff, and she eventually found them. We paid, then headed over to the confectionery to finally use a snack credit! I settled on a peanut butter cup, so yummy! The line was also pretty long in here, we probably waited 15 minutes or so. I forgot to take a picture, but I got another one later in the week!
By the time we got to the busses, it was around 11:15 and it was COMPLETE INSANITY. I have never seen so many people in one area. The lines for each bus were out of the queues and wrapped around the walkway areas, it was just crazy. We got into what *appeared* to be the line for Art of Animation and waited probably 10 minutes or so until we got into the actual queue. At this point, people came up behind Jess and I and started screaming at us that we cut in line! I was honestly confused, and maybe we did end up in the wrong spot and accidentally got in front of people that we shouldn’t have, but we had already invested ten minutes in line and I was not about to go to end, since at this point people were pouring out of the park since it was almost park closing that night. To anyone I may have offended or upset: I’M SORRY.
Anyway, the busses were actually moving fairly quickly and we probably got on a bus in about 20 minutes. I know we were back at Art of Animation by midnight and completely exhausted! We also vowed to never, ever do evening EMH again! We are both morning people, and I enjoy the quiet, slow morning EMH as compared to the hectic and crowded evening EMH (especially the bus situation!). We went straight to bed when we got back! Luckily the next morning we were heading to a waterpark again, so we didn’t have to get up super early!
After our tummies were full from our yummy dinner at Kona, it was time to head to our favorite park and see the beautiful castle for the first time on this trip, as well as the amazingness that is Wishes!! I was worried that time would be tight, but we were finished dinner by 8:15. We headed out to the monorail which was waiting there with no line. Talk about Pixie dust! We arrived at the Magic Kingdom 15 minutes later. Walking into the Magic Kingdom for the first time each trip is so magical...there's something so wonderful about seeing that beautiful castle! As soon as we got there, we stopped for some photopass pictures and made our way to Main St!
*This* is why I love this park & Disney in general!
Photopass:
Such a beautiful sight
I also thought these Halloween decorations were adorable!
Here is where Lines let me down - I KNEW that Splash wouldn’t be open for EMH (as it had closed for evening EMH a few weeks earlier), but my lines app was telling me that Fastpasses were available for 9:05-9:10. So being super trusting in my Lines app, we hightailed it over to Splash to get some Fastpasses for after Wishes. Well, shocker - the fastpass distribution boxes were closed. Of course, Splash wasn’t open during EMH! Stupid Lines app, I should have just trusted myself!
Bah...anyway, we headed back to the castle to get a spot for Wishes! It wasn’t crowded this night at all...we walked over to the hub and grabbed a spot on the ground. It was pretty tight in there but our viewing spot was awesome, and I was surprised that we got such a good spot a few minutes before the show! Here's our view - we were around the hub, to the left side.
If we were heading out immediately after Wishes, I wouldn’t have gone all the way up there since we would be locked in! But we were planning to stay, so we just relaxed for a few minutes and pretty soon Wishes was starting. I was really sad that the Magic, Memories and You show wasn’t playing anymore - I really loved that!! I’ll be excited to see the new show next time.
Wishes was amazing, as usual and we could see everything perfectly, since most people stayed seated. I even managed to grab a few half-decent pictures with my cell phone. And I’m not going to lie - I cried at the end. I was so happy to finally be back in my favorite place in the world after months of planning!
I usually try not to take pictures during shows/fireworks because I just want to enjoy it, but here's one of Wishes!
After the show, we let the crowd clear out a little bit and cut left for Adventureland! Our first ride in MK?? Pirates!
I had never done evening EMH before, but I know we had to have our resort keys out. I think the line for Pirates was around 15 minutes, so we whipped out the Hidden Mickey book for the wait - so much fun! Pirates was awesome, as usual. I love the theming in this ride and was hoping we would get a chance to ride again later in the week.
When we were done, we discussed what to do for a minutes, and decided to head over to the Jungle Cruise. I like to ride this one once in the dark and once in the light. It so cheesy and I know all the bad jokes by now, but it’s just such a classic that I can’t skip it! I think the wait was around 10 minutes, and again, we searched for Hidden Mickey’s with Jess’s book.
After the Jungle Cruise, we decided to head over to BTTMR since I had wanted to try that at night too. But the wait was 30 minutes! No thanks, way too long for me. I checked my lines app, and all the major rides were decent waits. I was pretty disappointed as I had expected EMH to be less crowded. I knew we had plenty of time at MK so I knew we wouldn’t miss anything, but I was expecting to hit a lot of my favorites tonight!
We crossed over the hub and head to Future World, but first stopped and took some photopass pictures in front of the castle with the partners statue - gotta love Photopass!
We headed over to try to do Space, but once again - 30 minute wait! Gah, frustrating. We decided to try something new - the Peoplemover, since it was a walk on. OH MY GOODNESS - I just *love* this ride! It’s so relaxing, and it’s awesome to see Future World from up above and go through all the rides. I think we ended up riding it 5 or 6 times this trip. So awesome, I don’t know how we missed it all this time!
By the time we were done the people mover, it was coming probably about 10:30pm and the lines were still long. We had a super long day, so we were ready to head home for the evening. We slowly made our way through Future World (no rushing on this trip!) and stopped for another PP picture in front of the Rose Garden and on Main St.
At this point, Jess was deciding what she wanted to collect and ended up on pressed pennies! We googled and found that they had the books at the Emporium, so we wandered around in there for 20 minutes or so, just looking at all the awesome stuff, and she eventually found them. We paid, then headed over to the confectionery to finally use a snack credit! I settled on a peanut butter cup, so yummy! The line was also pretty long in here, we probably waited 15 minutes or so. I forgot to take a picture, but I got another one later in the week!
By the time we got to the busses, it was around 11:15 and it was COMPLETE INSANITY. I have never seen so many people in one area. The lines for each bus were out of the queues and wrapped around the walkway areas, it was just crazy. We got into what *appeared* to be the line for Art of Animation and waited probably 10 minutes or so until we got into the actual queue. At this point, people came up behind Jess and I and started screaming at us that we cut in line! I was honestly confused, and maybe we did end up in the wrong spot and accidentally got in front of people that we shouldn’t have, but we had already invested ten minutes in line and I was not about to go to end, since at this point people were pouring out of the park since it was almost park closing that night. To anyone I may have offended or upset: I’M SORRY.
Anyway, the busses were actually moving fairly quickly and we probably got on a bus in about 20 minutes. I know we were back at Art of Animation by midnight and completely exhausted! We also vowed to never, ever do evening EMH again! We are both morning people, and I enjoy the quiet, slow morning EMH as compared to the hectic and crowded evening EMH (especially the bus situation!). We went straight to bed when we got back! Luckily the next morning we were heading to a waterpark again, so we didn’t have to get up super early!
This day was another waterpark day, so no photos! We didnt even bring a bag this day...we just threw our towels are our KTTW cards in a Disney merchandise bag with a change of clothes. Instead of eating breakfast in the room, we decided to try Landscape of Flavors this morning! We slept in until 8:15, quickly dressed and were downstairs by about 8:45. Jess had chocolate chips pancakes and probably an OJ or apple juice (I didnt write it down), and I had french toast with fruit and bacon. First of all, Disney bacon = nasty. I ate maybe one nibble. The french toast was good but I shouldnt have gotten the fruit - it was also not that great and not fresh. I am picky about my breakfast foods which is why we usually eat in the room! The french toast was decent though, and Jess had no complaints about her pancakes.
We were done breakfast quickly, probably around 9:15. Typhoon Lagoon didnt open until 10, so we wandered around the gift shop and lobby before going to wait in line. The bathrooms in the lobby of Art of Animation are AWESOME! The girls room is all pink with a Little Mermaid theme - adorable!
We jumped in line around 9:30 and were the seconds ones in line. We had a long wait for a bus this time...probably around 20 minutes or so. We had some entertainment through - there was someone writing words with an airplane (skywriting? I guess thats the term...). It took a while so everyone was trying to guess what he was going to say. I was hoping for some romantic proposal but it was a weird religious message...bummer! At least it was something to pass the time. The bus finally pulled up around 9:50 and we were arriving at Typhoon Lagoon in no time! We arrived just after the gates opened and grabbed a spot on the beach near Crush n Gusher. There was *no one* here this day at all, it was totally dead! It was such a great time to go to the waterparks! We rode Crush n Gusher 3 times with no wait. The waterparks are such a workout, trying to haul all those tubes up and down the steps! Crush n Gusher is sooo fun. I love that its a double tube so Jess & I could ride together.
After riding that for a few times, we did the family raft ride (cant recall the name). This ride was annoying because you went up a few steps and they give you a family tube, then you have to figure out a way to carry it up the rest of the steps. These tubes are HUGE!! So we struggled/laughed/dropped the tube up the last couple of steps. This ride is actually really fun once you get on it! There was also no line on this one...most of the wait is getting the tube/lugging it up the steps.
Also in this area there were two tube slides, which were both kind of lame and boring, but we did them once each with no wait. The next area were some body slides...these were twisty turny and some were inside tubes and some were outside...again, there was a minimal wait so we rode two of the three each, trying to switch it up each time. We went up again for the third time but there was some obnoxious alarm going off. Something must have happened at the bottom and the line was backing up. Humunga Kowabunga (a big body slide) was also in this area. I didnt write down any notes and I really dont remember it so it must not have been all that spectacular or awful. After that we went back and did the third body slide. They were all equally fun!
By this time it was MAYBE 11:00 and we were pretty much done the whole park. The only thing left was the shark tank! I have a fear of snorkeling, but I agreed to do it with Jess. It wasnt so bad, except the water was cold! It was over quickly and then we were completely done the park except for the massive wavepool. We took one more ride on the family raft, and then we decided to go back to our chairs and lay down and put some more lotion on since I was definitely burning a little bit! After a half an hour break or so, we rode around the lazy river for a while and then decided to hit up the wave pool. That thing was wicked! I am not a strong swimmer so I was a little nervous at first. When that big wave comes up, it looks so scary! I soon discovered that it was easier to get knocked on your @$$ when you were in the more shallow water. The deeper you went, the easier it was to just duck under the wave when it came. We played around in there for a long time until we were exhausted!
After a few more quick rides on Crush N Gusher, we decided to head out of the park. We probably took another swim in the pool and relaxed at the hotel and showered before heading out to our next park!
We were done breakfast quickly, probably around 9:15. Typhoon Lagoon didnt open until 10, so we wandered around the gift shop and lobby before going to wait in line. The bathrooms in the lobby of Art of Animation are AWESOME! The girls room is all pink with a Little Mermaid theme - adorable!
We jumped in line around 9:30 and were the seconds ones in line. We had a long wait for a bus this time...probably around 20 minutes or so. We had some entertainment through - there was someone writing words with an airplane (skywriting? I guess thats the term...). It took a while so everyone was trying to guess what he was going to say. I was hoping for some romantic proposal but it was a weird religious message...bummer! At least it was something to pass the time. The bus finally pulled up around 9:50 and we were arriving at Typhoon Lagoon in no time! We arrived just after the gates opened and grabbed a spot on the beach near Crush n Gusher. There was *no one* here this day at all, it was totally dead! It was such a great time to go to the waterparks! We rode Crush n Gusher 3 times with no wait. The waterparks are such a workout, trying to haul all those tubes up and down the steps! Crush n Gusher is sooo fun. I love that its a double tube so Jess & I could ride together.
After riding that for a few times, we did the family raft ride (cant recall the name). This ride was annoying because you went up a few steps and they give you a family tube, then you have to figure out a way to carry it up the rest of the steps. These tubes are HUGE!! So we struggled/laughed/dropped the tube up the last couple of steps. This ride is actually really fun once you get on it! There was also no line on this one...most of the wait is getting the tube/lugging it up the steps.
Also in this area there were two tube slides, which were both kind of lame and boring, but we did them once each with no wait. The next area were some body slides...these were twisty turny and some were inside tubes and some were outside...again, there was a minimal wait so we rode two of the three each, trying to switch it up each time. We went up again for the third time but there was some obnoxious alarm going off. Something must have happened at the bottom and the line was backing up. Humunga Kowabunga (a big body slide) was also in this area. I didnt write down any notes and I really dont remember it so it must not have been all that spectacular or awful. After that we went back and did the third body slide. They were all equally fun!
By this time it was MAYBE 11:00 and we were pretty much done the whole park. The only thing left was the shark tank! I have a fear of snorkeling, but I agreed to do it with Jess. It wasnt so bad, except the water was cold! It was over quickly and then we were completely done the park except for the massive wavepool. We took one more ride on the family raft, and then we decided to go back to our chairs and lay down and put some more lotion on since I was definitely burning a little bit! After a half an hour break or so, we rode around the lazy river for a while and then decided to hit up the wave pool. That thing was wicked! I am not a strong swimmer so I was a little nervous at first. When that big wave comes up, it looks so scary! I soon discovered that it was easier to get knocked on your @$$ when you were in the more shallow water. The deeper you went, the easier it was to just duck under the wave when it came. We played around in there for a long time until we were exhausted!
After a few more quick rides on Crush N Gusher, we decided to head out of the park. We probably took another swim in the pool and relaxed at the hotel and showered before heading out to our next park!
MK2010
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2009
Just read through all your updates. So fun! We were at Disney just before you in Sept. So far we have several VERY similiar pics. I Lol'd at the quote as you pass under the train station at the entrance to MK cause I took that pic too! And DH and I did our date night at Kona on our first night at Disney.
rachel09985
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
I am still reading
Cute photopass pics!!!
Cute photopass pics!!!
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
Congrats on the new house! Been there done that. It's such a relief when you finally get settled in to a new house.
Of course you still have plenty of readers. We've been patiently (well...sort of
) waiting for your return and more fantastic updates! Now that you've posted, we want more!! 
teekathepony
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2009
Love the EMH evening at MK, I love late evenings in that park so much!
And a fun day at Typhoon lagoon too!
And a fun day at Typhoon lagoon too!
Thanks for reading! I loved September, we would definitely go again! I also really enjoyed Kona
I am still reading
Cute photopass pics!!!
Thanks for sticking around!
Just read all your posts and really enjoyed them
Thanks for stopping by! I promise not to let another month go by before I update again
Congrats on the new house! Been there done that. It's such a relief when you finally get settled in to a new house.
Of course you still have plenty of readers. We've been patiently (well...sort of
Thank you! We're really excited about the house, just so much work to do..my weekends have been full! I am going to try to get an update up today/tomorrow, but no promises. Thanks so much for sticking around!
Thanks for reading!!
Thanks for sticking around! I've been reading yours too, although I haven't been good at commenting!
Isthatyoutiger
DVC Member SSR Jan 2007
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2002
Still here 
Congrats on the new house
Great photo's - The castle at night is so cool looking. Can't wait to read more.
Congrats on the new house
Great photo's - The castle at night is so cool looking. Can't wait to read more.
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