I Can't See a Thing and Tiger Lady, Oh My! A Nov Mother & Daughter TR Update 5/7

[Pluto0809]

It was about 11 am when we finally got in line for our first ride, the new Little Mermaid ride. The wait time said 25 minutes but we moved though very quickly. I don’t think it was more than 15 minutes. Mom was on her phone with my Great Aunt, she checks in with her every morning to make sure she and my Grandma are OK. While she talked, I of course took pictures.



















The entire line was gorgeous! I’m not sure I would ever want to fast pass this one as there is so much to see. We were moving so fast though that I didn’t get to check out the games. We boarded the ride and sat back to enjoy. I didn’t even try to get pictures because I just wanted to take it all in the first time. What did we think? We both loved the ride so much! There was so much to see. The point where you turn backwards and go under the “water” was so neat and we both loved the Under the Sea room, so much great detail. I can’t wait to ride it again.

Once we finished the ride, I snapped a few pictures of the Mine Train construction from the other side:





Then we stopped for a few PP pictures by the LM ship. The CM said it was his first day taking pictures in that spot.









Continued in Next Post

[Pluto0809]

Our Peter Pan FPs were ready for use but we decided to head over to Storybook Circus first to get FPs for Dumbo. I hadn’t ridden Dumbo since I was a small girl and Mom said she doesn’t remember ever riding it. I’m thinking she probably did at least one time with me. The FP machines for Dumbo and Barnstormer are located all the way in the back of Storybook Circus so I took pictures of the area as we walked.















Once we got our FPs we headed back over to Peter Pan and rode. Mom had a little trouble with her glasses again and missed the first part of the ride.



After Peter Pan we decided to catch IASW. I took one picture of the Tangled bathroom area as we were walking. I’ve read rumors that it might open on Feb 28th so maybe I'll get to see the finished product in two weeks!



Then we headed into IASW.





I took this picture because I never realized that Pinocchio Village Haus over looked IASW.



As you can see there was a small line but it only took us about 5 minutes till we were on our boat. I started with my flash off but everyone in our boat was taking flash pictures so I turned it back on. I still only took two pictures.



Hippo! (Yes, the obsession with Hippos continues)



After IASW we stopped in Pinocchio Village Haus to check it out. Neither one of us had ever been in there. We weren’t quite ready for lunch so we headed back over to Dumbo to ride.



With our FPs we were on very quickly, I barely had time to check out the new play area. It looked very nice from the brief glimpse we got. We boarded our Elephant and I got to ride Dumbo for the first time that I can actually remember!



We headed into Big Top Souvenirs because I was thinking about getting a Dumbo shirt. I only took one photo in there, guess I was too busy shopping.



I did find one I sort of liked but decided I didn’t have to have it. We walked towards Barnstormer and were thinking of riding it but the line was 25 minutes and we were starting to get hungry. We were done with everything we wanted to do in Fantasyland so we took the “super secret” path on the other side of Barnstormer and headed to Tomorrowland.

Up Next: Free for All in the Emporium

[ronnmel]

It too took me a while to realize that a restaurant overlooked IASW.

I love Dumbo, and I think the new one is gorgeous with the water.

[PhoenixStrength]

I agree with not using FP on LM with how intricate and gorgeous the que is. You got some great pictures of it! And I loved the ride too, lots of moments from the movie included.

Yay for riding the new Dumbo. It really is nice with the water and new detailing.

[cheekypoppins]

omg look at the second Little mermaid area that girl is rockin some serious pants lol.I can't wait to see new fantasyland look out Gaston I'm comin for ya!!!

[Pluto0809]

Originally Posted by ronnmel

It too took me a while to realize that a restaurant overlooked IASW.

I love Dumbo, and I think the new one is gorgeous with the water.

It amazes me that no matter how many times I've been to Disney, there is always something new to notice. I might not have noticed the restaurant this trip if I hadn't read about it on the DIS!

The new Dumbo is wonderful!

Originally Posted by PhoenixStrength

I agree with not using FP on LM with how intricate and gorgeous the que is. You got some great pictures of it! And I loved the ride too, lots of moments from the movie included.

Yay for riding the new Dumbo. It really is nice with the water and new detailing.

I was actually a little annoyed when we rode because the line was moving too fast and I didn't get to enjoy everything! That doesn't happen too often.

Yes, the water effects were really nice. I want to try to catch it at night this time so I can see all the lighting effects.

Originally Posted by cheekypoppins

omg look at the second Little mermaid area that girl is rockin some serious pants lol.I can't wait to see new fantasyland look out Gaston I'm comin for ya!!!

I didn't notice those pants till you pointed them out. They are a bit shocking! I'm not sure how I missed them while we were there.

I'm thinking about meeting Gaston this time. I don't do a lot of character greets but his looked like fun.

[Pluto0809]

I can't believe I'm going to be back at Disney in less than two weeks! Ok, I think that's enough smilies.

Before I talk about Day 3, I've got some updates on my next two trips.

October 2013
This is the Anniverary/Birthday trip with DH. Currently the dates are Oct 12 - 19, 2013. I haven't booked yet because I'm agonizing over the resort choice. We had originally picked POR because that's were we stayed for our Honeymoon when it was still called Dixie Landings. But I really want to stay at AOA! AOA would save us some money unless they offer free Regular Dining at POR. With all the rumors floating around about the changes to free dining, I don't know what to do!

January 2014
This is the family trip. We have solid dates (January 29 through February 4, 2014) and are staying at All Star Sports (I'm not sure how to abreviate that one without saying a bad word ).

My cousin is in charge of booking her family which will consist of 8 adults and 4 children. I'm in charge of my family which is much smaller. DH is not going so it will just be Mom, me, my brother and SIL. So if you are counting, that is 16 people so far! We are planning on asking my Great Aunt and if she goes, she will room with me and Mom.

I know my group of four is doing Regular Dining, don't know yet about the other group. They are expecting to get free dining but with all the rumors, I don't think we will.

Day 3, Saturday, March 2, 2013
Ok, back to the current PTR. Hopefully I'm not confusing everyone with so much information!

On Saturday, I will be heading to AK for the morning. I've only scheduled about 2/3 of a day for AK this trip. Mom and I spent two days there in November and explored the park pretty thoroughly so I don't feel the need for a full day this time.

I plan to head straight to EE and ride a few times. I really fell in love with this coaster now that I don't get sick on it. I've already got my Bonine packed. Next will be the Safari and then FOLK. FOLK is my favorite show at Disney and I never miss it.

After FOLK, I'll head to Dinoland for Dinosaur and a meet and greet with Pluto! AK is my favorite place to meet Pluto because the line is usually short and it's covered which means shade! I may catch Primevil Whirl if the lines not too long. I'm not sure about this one because being alone I'll probably end up riding with strangers. I tend to giggle uncontrollably on this one which might be embarassing.

Somewhere in there, I'l grab lunch at Flame Tree Barbeque. Due to an early ADR, I need to eat lunch as soon as the restaurant opens. That reminds me, I need to figure out what time that is!

The only other things I may do in AK, time permitting is the trail with the Tigers since we missed it in November and maybe ITTBAB.

About 2 pm, I need to head out to hop to MK. I have a 4:05 pm ADR at The Plaza. I'm not 100% happy with that time as it cuts me a bit short at AK. I'd prefer something between 5 pm and 6 pm but I've been checking every day and nothing has opened up. The only other time available is 8:10 pm and considering I'm hopping to MK to see Wishes at 8 pm, that one does not work. I also want to catch MSEP (7 pm or 9 pm that night) and the castle projection show. If it turns out I need more time at AK, I may cancel The Plaza ADR and just grab CS at MK. I have six ADRs scheduled so I have one extra as it is.

MK is open till 11 pm so if it's not too crowded, I'll catch a few rides before heading out for the night.

[PhoenixStrength]

Book for October soon! Mousesavers is predicting that with everything going on that the normal June price increases will happen in April this year, so you want those trips booked before then!

Your Day 3 sounds good. Personally I'd cancel The Plaza ADR to have more time at AK, but having never ate at The Plaza I don't know what I'd be missing!

[Pluto0809]

Originally Posted by PhoenixStrength

Book for October soon! Mousesavers is predicting that with everything going on that the normal June price increases will happen in April this year, so you want those trips booked before then!

Your Day 3 sounds good. Personally I'd cancel The Plaza ADR to have more time at AK, but having never ate at The Plaza I don't know what I'd be missing!

Thanks for the heads up, I didn't realize the prices were going up early this year. I was planning on booking AOA and then changing to POR if free dining is offered. I'm guessing if I do that though, I'll get stuck with the higher pricing at POR. What to do, what to do? Maybe I should just book both! I'll probably get serious about booking as soon as I'm back from the trip next week.

I'm torn about what to do with my Plaza ADR. It's earlier than I want but I really want to eat there. If I don't have an ADR that day, then I'm going to have to do two another day. Right now I have two booked for my Epcot day but that's a lot of food for one day. I'm just going to keep trying for a later time. I can always cancel the ADR day of if I don't want to leave AK.

[PhoenixStrength]

Originally Posted by Pluto0809

Thanks for the heads up, I didn't realize the prices were going up early this year. I was planning on booking AOA and then changing to POR if free dining is offered. I'm guessing if I do that though, I'll get stuck with the higher pricing at POR. What to do, what to do? Maybe I should just book both! I'll probably get serious about booking as soon as I'm back from the trip next week.

I'm torn about what to do with my Plaza ADR. It's earlier than I want but I really want to eat there. If I don't have an ADR that day, then I'm going to have to do two another day. Right now I have two booked for my Epcot day but that's a lot of food for one day. I'm just going to keep trying for a later time. I can always cancel the ADR day of if I don't want to leave AK.

I don't know for sure if it will be early, and neither does Mousesavers, but that's what they are predicting so better to be safe than sorry!

[Pluto0809]

As we were walking towards Tomorrowland, I checked the Disney Mobile Magic app and saw that the wait time for Space Mountain was longer than for Buzz Lightyear. The “super secret” path dumps you right out at SM so we grabbed some FPs and then headed to Cosmic Rays for lunch.

We both got the Bacon Cheeseburger although I ordered mine without cheese and then picked the Bacon off (I didn’t want to confuse them too much by asking for both things to be removed). Here’s my sandwich:



And here’s Mom’s:



The burgers were good, just your basic counter service burger and we both loved the fries. For dessert we both got chocolate cake (yum!):



We didn’t go into the room where Sonny Eclipse plays but found a two person table in the same room that we got our food. This was our view out the window:



Not a bad sight while you eat! Notice though that the skies were now gray. When we came out of Cosmic Rays we realized that the temperature had dropped about 20 degrees. It was now cloudy, cool and windy. Remember that my sweatshirt was in the locker at the end of Main Street and Mom’s was back in the room!

We decided to tough it out a while and see if the clouds would blow over. We headed to Buzz Lightyear and got in line. The wait was about 15 minutes and then we were off to save the universe. I somehow managed to find one of the 100,000 targets in the first room and ended up with a score around 477,000. Mom didn’t break 100,000 and couldn’t figure out how I got my score. Of course I didn’t give up my secret! I didn’t get a picture of the scores, my camera was too slow but I did get one of our intense sniper stares.



We rode SM next but for some reason I have no pictures from our ride. I did end up in the front seat which was a lot of fun. I could just barely see what was coming up and I happen to be a screamer on roller coasters. I kept warning Mom behind me when a hill was coming by my screams!

After SM, there was only one more thing we wanted to do in Tomorrowland. We both hate Stitch and have done COP many times. We weren’t interested in the Speedway or the Astro Orbiter. I wanted to go to the Laugh Floor but Mom doesn’t like it because she’s afraid she’ll get picked to participate. I was fine skipping it as I knew I’ll see it another time. So what does that leave?
The TTA of course!



We headed up and boarded immediately. And started on a very chilly ride around Tomorrowland. I put up my feet, relaxed and tried not to shiver too much.



I took a few pictures as we rode:







Once we got off of the TTA we realized that it wasn’t going to warm up anytime soon and we needed to find some sweatshirts. So I headed down Main Street to the lockers and Mom headed into the Emporium to buy one.

I got distracted by Pluto along the way:



I got my sweatshirt I headed back to the Emporium to find Mom. It was an absolute madhouse! I think everyone in the park was in there buying a sweatshirt. People were grabbing sweatshirts off the rack like they were giving them away for free. I didn’t take any pictures because I was helping Mom pick a sweatshirt and I’m honestly surprised that no fist fights broke out. Rather than spend too much time fighting the crowds, Mom grabbed the first sweatshirt she kind of liked and we walked all the way to the front of the store to check out. It was much less chaotic up there. Mom ended up with a Goofy sweatshirt and I got to trade for another Pluto pin with the girl who checked her out.

I also wanted to bring this guy home but once again, not for sale and too big for my suitcase.



Since we were down at the end of Main Street, we took some time to check out the Christmas windows.







And that was all the pictures I got of the windows. There were more but the ones on Main Street had too much of a glare.

Next Up: Time for some Adventure

[cheekypoppins]

the tta is my love, those xmas windows are too cute!!!!

[PhoenixStrength]

I somehow missed all of the Christmas windows, so I love seeing the pictures of them!

[NiniMorris]

You know...that seat at Cosmic Ray's is also really good to sit and watch the Princess Castle change colors to ice at night!

We always try to eat one meal there at night....(since we almost always go right after Thanksgiving )



Nini

[KatMark]

Wow...I knew I was behind on your TR, but not that far behind.

Love your mini-Nashville TR. I really need to get Mark to take me there. I would love the Country Music Museum (love Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks). I'm not a fan of Taylor Swift at all (in fact, if I see her on the television, I turn it off!), but that was a gorgeous dress.

You got some great photos as you walked through to go on the Mermaid ride. And love that you and your Mom did Dumbo. That is a must do for my husband every single trip...we never miss it (and got lucky and did not need fast passes the last two trips).

Cosmic Rays is always good for a quick meal.

I remember when we went in one April and it was really, really cold the first day and we had to buy me a sweatshirt. It was nuts in the store (Emporium). And after I got the sweatshirt, I never wore it for the rest of the trip as it proceeded to be 85 the remainder of the time we were there.