TR: And now for something completely different - a WDW Family did DLR (new - 4/15: HK Disneyland)

missangelalexis · Feb 3, 2016

Great parade photos! Love that one of Peter Pabn, you caught a great moment.

Nice luck catching the princess line with such a short wait. The girls look so cute in their Snow White outfits! Great family photos! I'm glad you had good interaction with them and didn't feel rushed.

Love your gif of Figaro. I swear I looked to find him and never could for some reason!

TheMaxRebo · Feb 3, 2016

missangelalexis said:
Great parade photos! Love that one of Peter Pabn, you caught a great moment.

Nice luck catching the princess line with such a short wait. The girls look so cute in their Snow White outfits! Great family photos! I'm glad you had good interaction with them and didn't feel rushed.

Love your gif of Figaro. I swear I looked to find him and never could for some reason!

Thank you - definitely was a nice surprise to see that pic of Peter leaping when going though my picture!

So I must admit it was one of the kids that saw Figaro first (I think Peter actually) and of course I didn't take a great picture of where it was. I went to street view in google maps though and hopefully this helps some:

BTW - when I first went to street view it was aimed the opposite direction ... um what are these people wearing and why are they wearing it to Disneyland?

missangelalexis · Feb 3, 2016

TheMaxRebo said:
Thank you - definitely was a nice surprise to see that pic of Peter leaping when going though my picture!

So I must admit it was one of the kids that saw Figaro first (I think Peter actually) and of course I didn't take a great picture of where it was. I went to street view in google maps though and hopefully this helps some:
View attachment 149225

BTW - when I first went to street view it was aimed the opposite direction ... um what are these people wearing and why are they wearing it to Disneyland?
View attachment 149224

Thanks for the visual! I don't know how I missed it.

Well those people are certainly dressed interesting :rotfl2:

Yikes!

Disney Khaleesi · Feb 3, 2016

Love that Smee shirt! Mind my asking where you got it from?

TheMaxRebo · Feb 3, 2016

Disney Khaleesi said:
Love that Smee shirt! Mind my asking where you got it from?

redbubble.com - they have tons of fun shirts. These are two that I ordered for myself - the first seemed perfect for a beer snob/star wars fan ... the second just b/c every mode of Disney transportation:

Disney9.9.10 · Feb 3, 2016

Hi! One of the benefits of a baby who just got her vaccines is that she will be tired and clingy, giving you lots of time to catch up on trip reports lol I managed to read this one from start to finish this afternoon. I love that you guys are WDW pros visiting DL for the first time, a lot of this report will help us on our next trip!

I'm sure that I've forgotten most of the things that I wanted to comment on along the way, but it looks like your trip is shaping up to be awesome! Your family is beautiful and you've done some really great things already in this report. I think that the family picture with Snow White is my favourite - everyone looks so happy!

I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip! And how exciting that you get to go to Hong Kong Disneyland! I hope that you write about it, even if it is just one day.

TheMaxRebo · Feb 4, 2016

missangelalexis said:
Wow, getting to visit Disneyland Hong Kong will be awesome for you!

And yay for having another WDW trip planned! Sounds like it will be quite the epic, but fun, roadtrip! Your plans sound great, you have a lot of good things lined up!

Thanks - definitely was not something I was expecting but hey, when in Rome! Hit me that if this all works out I would be in California Disneyland, Florida Walt Disney World, and Hong Kong Disneyland within a 9 month span!

I think going for the 10th anniversary podcast events will be fun and thought a road trip would be fun too and a bit cheaper (vs flights and rental car, etc.) - plus other family will come down for part of it as well so should be good.

Volunteer said:
HK DL and WDW! Nice! Will look forward to your HK DL review, I'm hoping to make it there this year. Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities, so I'm sure you'll enjoy the rest of the city as well.

Definitely will want to do a bit of a review for HKDL - probably will just include in another TR or do a quicky separate one. That would be great if you can get there this year! I got some good advice from a few people from the section of the boards that covers other Disney trips

Dugette said:
Upcoming trips sound great! I don't think I've ever seen a TR on Hong Kong Disneyland, so I am really looking forward to that. And you have quite the epic road trip coming up this summer...but sounds very do-able and well thought out. Looking forward to hearing all about these!

There actually is a sub-forum for Hong Kong Disneyland within the "Other Lands" Forum so there are a few TRs but not a ton. A really great user sent me a PM with a ton of thoughts to help me out though, so that was a big help. I'll definitely try to do a min-TR or just include it here or in another TR even if just 1 update or something.

I am hoping we aren't pushing it too much for the road trip - trying to balance not driving too much in one day but not taking a month for the trip. Should be fun too and I just found another app to help you locate breweries and plan trips so that should help too!

afwdwfan · Feb 4, 2016

TheMaxRebo said:
Only issue with this was people then squeezing into the roped area close tot he parade time (so, seems like a good idea, not sure if execution was the best).

I noticed this as well... at the parade and for the fireworks. And they seem to set the ropes up fairly early as well. So to be able to get into the area you end up having to go under the ropes even before it gets crowded in there. But I did notice a lot of last second viewers jumping in at the end as well.

TheMaxRebo said:
(oh and you can see Peter on my shoulders so he could see - we were at the back of the ropes and if anyone came up we made sure we weren't blocking anyone - everyone seemed fine with this and it worked out well, otherwise he really wouldn't have been able to see - he's such a shorty)

I don't see a problem with that. I always do that as long as I'm standing in the back of the viewing area! If the rope is all that's behind you, then you're not blocking anyone... and if you are, they are trying to watch when they should be walking.

TheMaxRebo said:
The the Lion King section (or as my kids tend to call him - the Lion Guard's Dad)

Anytime we saw anything "Lion King" at Disney World, DD was talking about the Lion Guard.

Looks like a great meet with the princesses. I'm glad that your Snow White's got to enjoy such a good interaction with the "real" Snow White.

schmass · Feb 4, 2016

I'm finally all caught up again - you are moving so fast with your report! The parade looks awesome and you got some great photos of it!

How cute that the girls were wearing their Snow White dresses when they met the princesses.

Too funny about calling Olivia "the Mayor". We often say that about Rory, as when we go out to eat he likes to stop at each table and say goodbye.

Your upcoming trips sound awesome. Hong Kong - wow! And I'll have to tell Michael about your brewery road trip - I'm sure he will be quite jealous!

TheMaxRebo · Feb 4, 2016

Li Li said:
First, yay for coming back to Hershey!!

Second, wow, Hong Kong! Soooo jealous! Everyone is going to be waiting for that TR!

The road trip looks great! And yay for new Disney restaurants. Isn't crazy how there is still alway something new to you to try? We tried Sci Fi for first time last November and really enjoyed it. We also hit Skipper's Canteen a few weeks ago and it was great. And I bet the kids will love Hoop Dee Doo! Sounds like a great trip already!

Yes - very excited for the Hershey meet again ... especially since they are doing an unofficial event at Troeg's!

Definitely feeling lucky that this Hong Kong opportunity came up ... really hoping it all works out!

There really is lots of new things to do at Disney World - always a balance of wanting to try new things but hitting up favorites as well.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Skipper's Canteen - been hearing mixed things and seems like it isn't getting the crowds ... hoping they don't "dumb down" the menu too much before we go to attract more people.

I am excited for Hoop De Doo and I think the kids are at a good age for it now. We considered it last trip but Judi was pregnant with Emma and wouldn't get her money's worth of the unlimited Sangria

afwdwfan said:
Wow! Looks like you've got some fun trips coming up! I'm excited for you having an opportunity to go check out Hong Kong Disneyland. You're absolutely right... you just can't be that close and not go!

The road trip / 1000 mile (+) brew pub crawl looks like another fun one as well!

Hope it all works out! Didn't hit me until I wrote it all out how compact the trips are (3 trips within 4 months), but should be fun. I am sure there are other more exotic things other people attending the conference will want to see, but yeah, I can't be that close and not go - especially since it seems like you can do it as a day trip

I'm excited for the road trip - especially the way back up which is through a part of the country I haven't really seen before and should hit up some good places

annie170 said:
Disneyland Hong Kong sounds like a great idea! You can't be that close and not visit.

It's interesting that Rivers of Light will now keep AK open in the evening. It sounds like an amazing show and am looking forward to seeing it myself. We actually skipped AK our last visit for lack of time, but the new attractions will get us back.

Your road trip sounds like a lot of fun. Your route back through the mountains in North Carolina and Virginia is a beautiful drive.

You've done your homework on the breweries along the way!

exactly Annie! I would just feel like it was a wasted opportunity to be there and not go to Disneyland ... plus from what I have uncovered seems like something you can do as a day trip

still waiting for details to come out about AK and the evening entertainment ... they still list AK closing at 5pm while we are there but I can't imagine that will continue to be the case if RoL is up and running as it is supposed to be

I am looking forward to that part of the drive - part of the country I haven't seen so should be cool!

TheMaxRebo · Feb 4, 2016

TGM said:
This sounds like a lot of fun!

By the way, where did you get that shirt? I'm so jealous!

I hope so! :rotfl2:

Just gotta make everything come to a reality!

So the shirt was through the Disneystore via their Twenty Eight & Main line - the specific ones I got were of a limited release (I got the one you see as well as a similar one with Florida Project on it) .... they do still have some other ones online, though not the exact same. Just search for the twenty eight & main collection on the Disney Store

Disney Khaleesi said:
Looks like you've got a fun year ahead of you!

Thanks! It's always fun to have plans ... especially when gray out and work is a pain

PrncessA · Feb 4, 2016

I finally made it over, I have been horrible about reading TR's lately. I think I am in a Disney funk with no future trip to plan... what better way to get out of it than to read some great TR's. I now have to go back and read, I made it to your intros...

TheMaxRebo · Feb 4, 2016

Disney9.9.10 said:
Hi! One of the benefits of a baby who just got her vaccines is that she will be tired and clingy, giving you lots of time to catch up on trip reports lol I managed to read this one from start to finish this afternoon. I love that you guys are WDW pros visiting DL for the first time, a lot of this report will help us on our next trip!

I'm sure that I've forgotten most of the things that I wanted to comment on along the way, but it looks like your trip is shaping up to be awesome! Your family is beautiful and you've done some really great things already in this report. I think that the family picture with Snow White is my favourite - everyone looks so happy!

I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip! And how exciting that you get to go to Hong Kong Disneyland! I hope that you write about it, even if it is just one day.

Wow!

and thanks for reading it all! Hope it helps you some as well - I know I got a lot of great advice via my PTR for this from everyone here!

Overall we definitely had a great trip - never get to do everything you want, and it was more crowded than I was hoping. We got to most of the big things we wanted ... if anything, I just wish we had a little more time to stroll down Main St and take in the details more

I definitely will write up something about HKDL - whether just adding it her or to another (P)TR or make a separate one ... I do hope it all works out!

afwdwfan said:
I noticed this as well... at the parade and for the fireworks. And they seem to set the ropes up fairly early as well. So to be able to get into the area you end up having to go under the ropes even before it gets crowded in there. But I did notice a lot of last second viewers jumping in at the end as well.

I don't see a problem with that. I always do that as long as I'm standing in the back of the viewing area! If the rope is all that's behind you, then you're not blocking anyone... and if you are, they are trying to watch when they should be walking.

Anytime we saw anything "Lion King" at Disney World, DD was talking about the Lion Guard.

Looks like a great meet with the princesses. I'm glad that your Snow White's got to enjoy such a good interaction with the "real" Snow White.

We noticed that too - that the ropes get set up pretty early so you really had to duck under if you wanted to be in that area, even if well before the parade, etc. was happening.

I just recall the whole "kids on shoulders thing" being a "hot topic" here so wanted to nip it in the bud before anyone had negative thoughts

yeah - that is always great, the characters seem to get a kick out of the little ones dressed up as them and the girls enjoyed it too. Hopefully we can do some of that for the July trip - though we have specific requests to meet Chewbacca and Joy / Sadness from Inside Out as well

schmass said:
I'm finally all caught up again - you are moving so fast with your report! The parade looks awesome and you got some great photos of it!

How cute that the girls were wearing their Snow White dresses when they met the princesses.

Too funny about calling Olivia "the Mayor". We often say that about Rory, as when we go out to eat he likes to stop at each table and say goodbye.

Your upcoming trips sound awesome. Hong Kong - wow! And I'll have to tell Michael about your brewery road trip - I'm sure he will be quite jealous!

Meanwhile I thought I was dragging a bit! Tough some nights to make time to edit the photos and make the gifs, etc.

The parade was really fun - I am glad we stopped to see it. That is one thing I have found traveling with kids, especially real little ones is that it almost forces you to stop more often and take in things like parades and shows more.

Haha, I could see Rory being the mayor like that- cute story!

I just found a new webpage and app called hopplotter that helps you see what breweries are near you or where you are traveling on a trip so I am going to check that out too in case I am missing any breweries (or more that I could add)

MarbleBob · Feb 4, 2016

Getting all caught up again.

Phil, you're doing an amazing job with this trip report! I love all the photos and seeing everything from your perspectives! A few things that stood out on the most recent batch of updates...

I love the gif of Peter waiving to the Casey Jr. Train from the Canal Boat. Timeless!

The yeti popcorn cart and your buckets!!! I love all things pop-corn related at Disney. Have you ever seen the popcorn buckets page on facebook? https://www.facebook.com/Disney-Popcorn-Buckets-300704776778587/ pretty fun! Also, I'm sure you knew this, but the various popcorn carts throughout Disneyland have different characters/dolls/whatever operating them inside. It's fun to keep an eye out for them as you tour the park! http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2010/07/07/popcorn-personalities/

I love the gif of you walking through the Blue Bayou. Stephanie and I ate there solo about 5 years ago, and I remember being just as frustrated about the darkness affecting the photos. But, the darkness and strung up lights really make this place special! Also cool that you got a spot near the water!!!

And oh, that gif of the lady freaking out on Thunder Mountain. Hahaha! :rotfl2:

I actually picked up on that right away and was chuckling to myself.

And Holy Cow!!!!! Hong Kong Disneyland?!?!?!? That's so RAD!!! Can't wait for the trip report on that one!!!!!!!! :dancer:

Love your road trip plans too! I lived in Richmond, VA for a few years when I was a teen. (Having family in both Philly and Charleston, we've done much of that drive on both sides.) I love that you are driving back up north through the mountains. I'd be all over the various pit stops once you are near the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Dr. So cool! And I'm jealous, because I don't think WDW is in our cards for this year or next year. (I mean we are still doing fun vacations, but I'm not sure I can handle three years in a row without a proper WDW trip. LOL.)

I'm saving my fun money for our vacation this summer (Hawaii with a short stay at Aulani), but I might have to splurge and get one of those shirts that you mentioned from redbubble.com I really love that one with all the Disney transportation on it. That's about as cool as it gets!!!! You are my Disboards hero. :cool1:

TheMaxRebo · Feb 4, 2016

MarbleBob said:
Getting all caught up again.

Phil, you're doing an amazing job with this trip report! I love all the photos and seeing everything from your perspectives! A few things that stood out on the most recent batch of updates...

I love the gif of Peter waiving to the Casey Jr. Train from the Canal Boat. Timeless!

The yeti popcorn cart and your buckets!!! I love all things pop-corn related at Disney. Have you ever seen the popcorn buckets page on facebook? https://www.facebook.com/Disney-Popcorn-Buckets-300704776778587/ pretty fun! Also, I'm sure you knew this, but the various popcorn carts throughout Disneyland have different characters/dolls/whatever operating them inside. It's fun to keep an eye out for them as you tour the park! http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2010/07/07/popcorn-personalities/

I love the gif of you walking through the Blue Bayou. Stephanie and I ate there solo about 5 years ago, and I remember being just as frustrated about the darkness affecting the photos. But, the darkness and strung up lights really make this place special! Also cool that you got a spot near the water!!!

And oh, that gif of the lady freaking out on Thunder Mountain. Hahaha! I actually picked up on that right away and was chuckling to myself.

And Holy Cow!!!!! Hong Kong Disneyland?!?!?!? That's so RAD!!! Can't wait for the trip report on that one!!!!!!!!

Love your road trip plans too! I lived in Richmond, VA for a few years when I was a teen. (Having family in both Philly and Charleston, we've done much of that drive on both sides.) I love that you are driving back up north through the mountains. I'd be all over the various pit stops once you are near the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Dr. So cool! And I'm jealous, because I don't think WDW is in our cards for this year or next year. (I mean we are still doing fun vacations, but I'm not sure I can handle three years in a row without a proper WDW trip. LOL.)

I'm saving my fun money for our vacation this summer (Hawaii with a short stay at Aulani), but I might have to splurge and get one of those shirts that you mentioned from redbubble.com I really love that one with all the Disney transportation on it. That's about as cool as it gets!!!! You are my Disboards hero.

Thanks Matt! really appreciate you saying that. I definitely do the TR for keeping track of the memories for ourselves, but definitely hope that others like them as well

And considering that one of the main reasons I wanted to do a roadtrip is from reading your latest TR - so maybe we can be each other's DISboard hero :thumbsup2

I did know that about the popcorn cards. My favorite one I saw was a tiny Oogie Boogie turning the popcorn grinder - but a lot of the were cool!

Definitely will do some sort of write-up for the HK DL trip .... either a separate TR or just a post or two within another (P)TR

I am excited for the drive back - should be some cool scenic areas and are places I have never been

I think this might be our last trip to WDW for a while. Probably taking 2017 off and then hoping to do a Disney Cruise President's week of 2018, but we shall see

Lot's of cool shirts there ... it was tough for me to only pick 4 :rotfl2:

Oh, and we got one for Peter that says "Pete" on it ... "People for the Ethical Treatment of Ewoks"

xlsm · Feb 4, 2016

Took some time to skim through today, since we're heading west for our first Disneyland/SoCal visit in June.

Looks like a lot of fun so far

Love your girls in their Snow White gear. She is my favorite (Tiana a very close second), and when I was a CM at the Disney Store, I wore her name on my name tag! It's always fun for me to see littles who love her too

chillitsanne · Feb 5, 2016

Wow, seems like you have some fun trips coming up. Honk Kong Disneyland looks awesome.

TheMaxRebo said:
Unlike most Disney parades I have seen, this one actually starts out with Mickey and Minnie in the first float. The parade is called the Soundsational parade - so music is the theme with most of the floats being shaped like a drum and/or other instruments and Mickey even has a drum set up with him:

All your parade pictures are really good! I'm really looking forward to seeing this parade.

TheMaxRebo said:
Oh, slight tangent, but we were ordering some t-shirts for the upcoming Disney trip and Judi ordered this one ... I find it very punny

I need to get myself one on these.

TheMaxRebo said:

Aw, this looks like such a great interaction. You got some really great pics, too!

Dugette · Feb 5, 2016

Hi, Phil. I haven't had a chance to comment on your last updates yet (in the plane on our way to Disneyland now!), but just wanted to say how helpful they were! Where is Figaro? Izzy would love that!

TheMaxRebo · Feb 5, 2016

Dugette said:
Hi, Phil. I haven't had a chance to comment on your last updates yet (in the plane on our way to Disneyland now!), but just wanted to say how helpful they were! Where is Figaro? Izzy would love that!

First off, have a great trip!!!

I posted up above a picture from google maps showing exactly where Figaro is but he is up on a windowsill that you can see if you come out of the gift shop that is in between Royal Hall and Royal Theater (I think it is called Fairytale treasures) and look to your left and up you will see him. About the best way I can describe it

hokieinpa · Feb 5, 2016

Great upcoming trips! I'm jealous of your getaway at Hong Kong Disneyland - that will be an amazing experience! And a road trip down to WDW does sound like an adventure. Great park plans. I'm hoping they continue the Symphony in the Stars fireworks as well - waiting on that announcement! As far as your stops, we really love Asheville, NC. When we lived in Virginia we took weekend trips there pretty often. Very cool, funky downtown area. Lots of fun shops and restaurants!

The parades at DL are really unique. I love that there are characters featured that don't get much attention at WDW. The Mary Poppins section is really fun! And the boys are big Lion Guard fans too - Simba is Kion's dad around here too!

Great meet with the princesses. The girls look really cute in their dresses and Peter certainly enjoyed his hugs! I love the interaction with Sow White!

TR: And now for something completely different - a WDW Family did DLR *(new - 4/15: HK Disneyland)*

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TR: And now for something completely different - a WDW Family did DLR (new - 4/15: HK Disneyland)