A Whole New World, A Whole New Life! -- A Jan-Feb-Mar 2015 TR -- *COMPLETED* 9/29

[DisneyFreak98]

Today was the day Bethany had to go back home . But the good news was that Magical Express wouldn't be picking her up until around 6:00, so we pretty much had the whole day with her. We got up and spent the morning hanging out at the RV while Bethany packed up all her stuff. Once she got her suitcase all packed, we were able to turn our table/bed back into a table. Mom made much a little before noon, and once we were done we started getting ready to go to Downtown Disney. Bethany gathered all her stuff, and we were off to the bus stop around 12:30.
We wanted to stop in at the lobby to confirm everything for Bethany's flight and Magical Express, so we walked over there once the internal bus dropped us off. Bethany got all the information she needed, then we walked back over to the bus stop to wait for our bus. Once came within a few minutes, and we were on our way! We got there a little after 1:00, and the first thing we did was go to the pin store! On the way there, Mom and Bethany had to stop to get a picture with their favorite Hundred Acre Woods friends.

We looked around he store for a while and traded some pins, and Bethany actually bought a couple. The next store we headed into was Basin, where we took some time to try out some of the products. Everything in that store smells so good, and we had a lot of fun. The boys stayed outside while we were in there (they didn't want to go into the girly store).
Once we were done in Basin, we went into the Ghirardelli store, where we got some free chocolates! I don't remember what flavor they were, but of course they were delicious.

After that we made a quick top at the bathroom before heading into World of Disney! On our way there we saw the most adorable Princess Parade go by. I guess every day they do a parade where all the girls who got their hair done at the Biddidi Boddidi Boutique get to walk around DTD and wave to all the people. It was so cute!
Once we were inside WOD, we were pleased to see that it wasn't too crowded. That store can get insanely stressful when it's packed with people, so it was nice to actually be able to move around freely.
We spent some time in there looking around, and Bethany got a few souvenirs and gifts for friends back home. At this point the boys headed over to go play at Disney Quest for a bit while Mom, Bethany, and I continued to shop.
We finished up shopping in WOD, then we walked around some other stores including Tren-D, Once Upon A Toy, and the Marketplace Co-Op. I bought the Beauty and The Beast soundtrack in Once Upon A Toy, which I was very excited about.
Once we were done looking around the shops at the Marketplace, we started making our way over to the West Side. Bethany wanted to go to the Candy Cauldron, and they also have some other good stores over there.
We passed the Characters in Flight balloon on our way, and we talked about how we always thought that would be a really cool thing to do. We never did end up doing it, though.

We made it to the Candy Cauldron, and we looked at all the tasty treats there. Bethany seriously considered getting a caramel apple, but she decided against it. They have so many other amazingly cool designs, though!

Once we were all done there, we stopped in the running store, Fit2Run. Both Mom and Bethany have been running for many years, so they really loved that store. If you remember back in January, I had mentioned that Mom had a back/hip injury and wasn't able to run so well anymore. Well, the injury was doing much better, but she still wasn't running. She could walk, swim, and bike, but running put too much strain on it. But good news! It continued to get better, and by the time we got home, she was able to start running again! She's running now just like she used to, with absolutely no pain.
So, we finished looking around there, then we started making our way back over to the Marketplace. It was a warm day out, so on the way we stopped at one the food carts to get smoothies! They had all sorts of fun flavors, and I believe I ended up getting the strawberry banana kind. It was really good!
We stopped to look in one last store before heading out, and that was Lefty's.

Lefty's is a store that is completely dedicated to left-handed people, and I just so happen to be left-handed. They have stuff like specially designed pens, scissors, and other tools. It's very neat. Bethany got a couple of pens for a left-handed friend of hers back home, then we started heading out of DTD.
We weren't heading home, though! Saratoga Springs is right next to Downtown, so we wanted to go over there and check it out. They used to run boats in between Downtown and Saratoga, but since they redid the whole boat system for the new Disney Springs, they now have a walking path.
It wasn't a big deal for us to walk, and the path was was beautiful, with amazing views of DTD.

We made it over to Saratoga Springs, but unfortunately the path brings you to the back of the resort. We were wanting to get to the front where the main lobby is, and we had a heck of a time trying to get there. Let me tell you guys, that resort is huge. I mean, it is ginormous. We probably wandered around there for over 20 minutes, ending up at random buildings and parking lots. We looked at maps, but we could hardly even tell where we were! It was getting close to 4:00 now, so eventually we just gave up. It was still a nice stroll around Saratoga, but we were kind of bummed we couldn't find the main building. It's a beautiful resort, though!

We backtracked our steps to get back to the walking path, where we made our way back to Downtown. When we got back to the main entrance, Bethany decided that she really did want to get a caramel apple. I remembered that they sell them at Goofy's Candy Co., which isn't as far away as the Candy Cauldron, so she and Mom went to get one there. I offered to take our other bags and head back home while they went and did that, so they handed all the stuff to me and I headed to the bus stop. I only waited about 5-10 minutes for a bus, and once I was on they did a driver switch. Well, what do you know, while the drivers were signing in and out, who should walk on the bus but Dad, Sam, and Travis! It was a funny moment and we were all like "Hey, oh my gosh, fancy seeing you here," before sitting down together. I told them all about our adventures around Saratoga Springs, and they told me about the fun they had at DQ.
Soon enough the bus was moving, and we were on our way home. Once we got back to the Fort it was only a few minutes before our yellow bus arrived, and we were back at the RV. We got home around 4:45, and Mom and Bethany arrived about 15 minutes later.
Bethany finished packing up all of her things, we ate sandwiches for dinner, then about 5:40 we started saying our goodbyes. We all got hugs, said see you real soon, then Mom accompanied Bethany down to the Outpost to wait for her bus. She got back about 15 minutes later, and she told us that Bethany was getting a private ride to the airport! We thought that was kind of funny, but I guess if only one person is flying out around one time, then that's what happens.
We spent the rest of the night pretty much just hanging out at the RV and straightening up. Travis and I did go swimming for a little while, which was lots of fun as always.
We went to bed around 9:30, with plans of heading to Animal Kingdom the next afternoon.​

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Today was Thursday, and the first day we didn't have Bethany with us anymore. We got up and got right to work, doing some extra to make up for the days we didn't do anything while Bethany was visiting. We got a lot of our work done in the morning, then Mom made lunch around noon. We finished up what we had left to do after lunch, then we started getting ready to go to Animal Kingdom! Today we were going to ride Kali River Rapids for the first time of this trip, so we dressed in suitable clothing.
Once we got all ready, made our dinner, and packed our bags, we were ready to go! We headed out the door about 1:45, and after waiting for both buses and making the 15 minute drive to AK, we arrived around 2:15. We had 2:30-3:30 FP's for Everest, and by the time we got through bag check and made it over there, they were ready! We waited about 5-10 minutes before boarding our train, and we had a great ride zooming through the Himalayas searching for Mr. Yeti.

The stand-by wait time was only 20 minutes, so once we got off we decided to go again! Dad can't really ride this one twice in a row, so he sat out and waited for us.
The wait actually only ended up being about 15 minutes, and we had another awesome ride!

(Dad took this picture.)
Once we got off and met back up with Dad, he told us about some stupid kid he saw trying to stand up on the ride. He saw him out of his seat on the way up the big incline and also on the big drop. Nothing bad happened, but Dad took his photo on the ride (like he did of us) just in case.
Our next destination was Kali River Rapids! We hadn't ridden it yet on this trip, both because it had been closed for the first big chunk of our trip, and also because it had been so cold lately. It was by no means hot today, but it was warmer than it had been, so today was the day!
We made our way over there, put our backpacks, camera, etc. in one of the free lockers they have there, and hopped in line! We absolutely love that they have lockers you can use there, and we utilize them every time we ride. They make you wear shoes at all times now, so something we like to do is stick flip flops in our bag and change into those before we ride so our sneakers don't get wet. You can just stick your sneakers in a locker and change back when you get off!
Like I said, it wasn't the warmest of days today, so the wait was only about 10 minutes. We nervously boarded our raft, hoping that we wouldn't get entirely soaked. The ride was great, but unfortunately a few of us got very unlucky. Dad was the one who got the worst of it, and he was literally soaked from head to toe! I don't think there was a dry spot on him. The rest of us got moderately wet, but definitely not as bad!
Once we got off we collected our stuff from the lockers, changed back into our sneakers, and tried to dry off as best we could with the small towel we had packed.
After stopping at the bathroom, it was just about time for our 3:30-4:30 safari FastPass! We made our way over there and got in line, which took about 10 minutes.
We had an awesome safari with great views of rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, cheetahs, monkeys, and lions!

There were no stubborn rhinos blocking the road this time, so we got off in a regular amount of time. We decided the next thing we would do was head to Dinoland! The first thing we did when we got there was Dinosaur, which had about a 15-20 minute wait. We had a great time on that, and by the time we got off it was just about time for our final FP of the day, which was for Primeval Whirl from 4:30-5:30. After a stop at the bathroom, our passes were good, so we headed over there and got in line. We waited about 5 minutes, and we had a lot of fun!
It was about 4:45 now, and we had brought dinner to the park, but there wasn't really anything we felt like staying to do. So, we decided to start making our way out of the park. We did stop to watch It's Tough to be a Bug on our way out, which we only had to wait 10 minutes for. That was great, then once we got out of the show we continued making our way to the park exit.
We made it to the bus stop where we waited about 5 minutes for our bus to come. We made the drive back to the Fort, and only had to wait a few minutes before our internal bus arrived.
Once we got back to the RV, we unpacked our bags and ate dinner. Afterwards we pretty much spent the rest of the night hanging out at the RV. Travis and I went swimming for a while, which was great. We hung out, watched TV, I worked on this trip report, and we talked about our plans for the next day.
We also discussed our plans for the rest of our stay, which was about a month longer. We talked about how much time we would take off school, whether or not we should get some refillable resort mugs, and stuff like that. We were planning on making the last 2-3 weeks of our stay a "vacation" (taking off school and work), and we were very excited!
We got to bed around 9:30 with plans of visiting Hollywood Studios the next day.​

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Today was Friday, so we got up and got to our typical work. We spent the morning doing our usual routine, taking care of boring real life stuff. Unfortunately, the weather was back to being rather chilly, so we were in sweatshirts and jeans once again.
Mom made lunch around noon, and after we ate and cleaned up we started getting ready to go to Hollywood Studios! We made our dinner, got all of our stuff together, packed our backpacks, and were out the door about 1:00.
After waiting 20-25 minutes for both of our buses and making the drive over to HS, we arrived around 1:40.
The Sorcerer's Hat was completely down by this point, so we had a whole new view walking in!

Our Memory Maker was still good for a few more days, so we took advantage of that to get some family photos.

Our first FastPass was for Tower of Terror, but that wasn't until 3:00, so in the meantime we decided to ride Rock n Rollercoaster in the single rider line. Dad wasn't going to ride, so I kept him company while we looked around some of the shops on Sunset Boulevard.

While we were wandering around, we saw some Hollywood Tower Hotel employees out on the street. I was able to get a photo with them, which was extremely cool!

The Hollywood Tower Hotel was looking very nice against the grey sky, so I had to get a picture of that too.

It had been about 15-20 minutes now since they had gotten in line for RnR, so we started making our way over there to wait for them.

We went and waited in the gift shop for a while, but there was no sign of them after 10-15 minutes, so we decided to go sit outside. We waited another 10-15 minutes before we started figuring that something must be wrong. Our thoughts were confirmed when Cast Members showed up to turn people away and inform them that the ride was temporarily down. When we heard that, our first thought was "oh no!". We had no idea how much longer they would be stuck in there, and we were just hoping that they weren't stuck - upside down - on the ride!
The Cast Members just kept telling everyone that the ride was experiencing technical difficulties and would be up and running again as soon as possible. It was probably another 10-15 minutes before we finally saw Mom emerge! We asked her what had happened, and apparently it wasn't technical difficulties at all. Travis had been about to go on the ride (Mom and Sam would have been on the next limo), when all of a sudden a woman tripped getting into her seat, banging her head and twisting her ankle in the process. Travis had already fastened his restraint, so he was stuck in his seat for a while until they finally released everyone. I don't know the exact order in which things happened, but the paramedics ended up coming, they evacuated everyone who was in the loading area (except for the people who had been about to ride), and once they got the injured woman out they had to reset the ride and do a few test runs. Once that was complete, everyone who had been about to ride would be able to get back on and go.
So Mom and Sam had to come out because they were evacuated, and Sam was waiting inside the gift shop for when Travis got off the ride. Well, about 10 minutes later we see Travis come out without Sam. We asked what happened, and apparently it was taking longer than expected to get the ride back up and running, so Travis had just decided to exit. He had come out the back door, so Sam hadn't been able to see him exit. Mom went back up to the gift shop to get Sam, and once we were all back together again it was just about 3:00.
There was still a little bit of time until our ToT FastPasses were ready, so we went over what had happened again with everyone. It was probably one of the craziest things we'd ever see happen, but definitely not something we wanted to go through again! According to Travis the woman looked like she was going to be fine, so that was a relief. It just made us wonder, though, if they referred to that as "technical difficulties", then what other sorts of "technical difficulties" had shut rides down before?
Once 3:00 hit, everyone except for me and Travis headed over to ride Tower of Terror. Travis and I stayed out and hung out in the dump shop while they rode.

It only took them about 15 minutes to ride, and once they got off we headed back down to Sunset Boulevard. While we were walking, we saw that the Citizens of Hollywood were out performing. We stopped to watch them, and they were absolutely hilarious! They do improve comedy, and it is just golden.

Once their little show was over, we started making our way over to the Star Tours / Muppet Vision area. We had 4:00-5:00 FP's for Star Tours, but it was only around 3:30 now, so we were going to watch Muppet Vision in the meantime. We got there and waited about 10 minutes for the next show to start, and we had a great time watching. Once the show let out it was just about 4:00, so we made a stop at the bathroom before heading over there. We were right on time, so we scanned or bands and headed inside. We waited 5-10 minutes, and we had a really great sequence.
It was about 4:20 now, and our last FastPass was for Toy Story Mania at 5:00. We decided to do the Great Movie Ride since it's right near TSM, so we headed over there. We waited about 20 minutes, and we had a really great ride. We had the regular gangster scene this time, which I decided that I like just as well as the more rare cowboy scene. Now that they've updated the ride we won't be getting either of those, which I'm kind of bummed about, but I am really excited to see what the new version is like.
It wasn't quite 5:00 when we got off, but we headed over to TSM anyways. We scanned our bands about 5 minutes early, and they scanned green so it was no problem. We waited about 5 minutes, and we had a great ride! I rode with Dad, and we both got good scores. (Mine is on the left, Dad's is on the right.)

Once we got off we discussed what our plans for the rest of the night were. Mom was really disappointed that she didn't get to ride Rock n Roller Coaster earlier, so Sam offered to go wait with her again. Dad, Travis, and I sat in the outdoor seating area on Sunset Boulevard and ate dinner while they rode. It only took them about 20 minutes (much better than an hour, and they actually got to ride this time!) and even though they did the single rider line, they ended up riding together.

They met back up with us once they got off, and we sat with them while they ate their sandwiches. It was about 6:00 now, and we had done everything we wanted to do, so we decided to pack up and head home. We packed everything back into our backpack and started making our way out of the park. We got to our bus stop, waited about 10 minutes for a bus, and were on our way to the Fort. Once we got back it was only about 5 minutes before a yellow bus arrived, and we made it back to the RV around 6:40.
After unpacking our bags and everything, we spent the rest of the night just hanging out at the RV. It was much too cold to go to the campfire or the movie tonight, and Travis and I didn't feel like swimming, so we just stayed inside. We watched TV, went online, and Mom and I played cards. We went to bed around 9:30 with plans of visiting some resorts tomorrow!​

 

[jandlinz]

Sorry I fell behind. Summer is wrapping up and I'm getting my kids ready to start school, I homeschool too. Looks like you had a great visit with Bethany. The picture your dad took on Everest is amazing. It looks better than a photo pass picture. I hope the rest of your vacation is enjoyable.

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Sorry I fell behind. Summer is wrapping up and I'm getting my kids ready to start school, I homeschool too. Looks like you had a great visit with Bethany. The picture your dad took on Everest is amazing. It looks better than a photo pass picture. I hope the rest of your vacation is enjoyable.

Glad you're caught up! The last 2-3 weeks of our stay is the part when we had the most fun at the parks, so I'm very excited to write about it!

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Today was Saturday, so we took the day off of school and work! Today we planned to go hang out at the Port Orleans resort for a while to look around, eat lunch, and take pictures. After sleeping in, we spent the morning at the RV just hanging out and getting ready. We left for the boat dock about 11:30, planning to catch a boat to Magic Kingdom and a bus from there to Port Orleans. We made the walk up to the dock, waited about 5 minutes for a boat, and got to MK around noon.
The sky was not looking so friendly at this time, and it looked like there could be a storm coming. That would totally put a damper on our plans to walk around Port Orleans, but we would just have to wait and see what happened.
We went straight to the bus stop when we got there, and waited about 5-10 minutes for a Port Orleans Riverside bus. We made the short bus ride over there, and arrived around 12:15. We were all hungry by this point, so the first thing on our agenda when we got there was lunch!
The bus dropped us off, and we headed straight inside the main building. We've stayed at POR twice before on previous trips, so we already knew our way around. We made it to the food court, where we decided to order a pizza and a couple of salads.
Travis and I went to find a table while they ordered, and they arrived with the food within 10 minutes.

We all dug in, and everything tasted amazing. While we were eating, we noticed that the sky had opened up outside and it was pouring rain. We were hoping that maybe it would pass quickly, but in the meantime we just finished eating. It was still coming down once we were done, so we decided to just hang out inside and look around. POR is definitely one of our favorite resorts, so we didn't mind being stuck there. We had some awesome trips staying there, so it brought back a lot of good memories!

We wandered around and ended up inside the arcade for a while.

It was getting close to 1:00 now, and there was still no sign of the rain letting up. They have a covered porch area, so we went out there to watch the rain fall and discuss what our plans were.

We decided to go back inside and check out the gift shop, then if it was still storming we would start heading back home. So, we headed inside.
The gift shop there is adorable!

It was about 1:15 now, and still pouring. We had really wanted to walk around the resort and make our way over to French Quarter, but there was just no way we were going to get soaked to do it. So, we decided to pack it in and head on home. We got back to the front, ran as fast as we could to the bus stop, and waited there for the first park bus to come. We didn't want an Animal Kingdom bus because it's such a far drive, and we didn't want Magic Kingdom because we didn't want to have to ride the boat home in the rain, so we were waiting for either Epcot or Hollywood Studios. After waiting about 15 minutes, an Epcot bus showed up and we hopped on. Once we arrived at Epcot, we walked over to the Fort Wilderness bus stop where we waited another 10-15 minutes for a bus. After making a stop at Wilderness Lodge, we finally ended up back at the Fort, where a yellow bus was waiting to take us back to Loop 1400.
We made it back to the RV about 2:30, where we spent the rest of our rainy day holed up inside. We watched a movie, played games, and I worked on this trip report to pass the time. We had sandwiches for dinner around 5:30 and the rain pretty much let up by then. We took a short walk around our loop after dinner jut to get out of the RV, then we pretty much spent the rest of the night inside. Everything was soaked, so we didn't really want to go down to the campfire or the movie, which was Enchanted tonight. So, we just hung out together at the RV until heading to bed around 9:30.
Even though the day hadn't turned out exactly how we wanted it to, we still had a great time getting out for a few hours and going somewhere besides the parks. Plus we love Port Orleans, so we were glad we got to visit.
Tomorrow was Sunday, so we planned on going to church in the morning and heading to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon!​

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Bummer that your Port Orleans walk got rained out. Did you make it back there some other day? Have you all been to the Yehaa Bob show there?

Also curious, did they ever figure out why your magic bands didn't work for a while?

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Today was Sunday, so we got up and got ready to go to church! We left about 9:30, stopped on the way out to check in for our final reservation, and had a great time at church. We stopped at the store on the way home, and got back to the RV about 1:00. Once we got back we unpacked everything we had got from the store, got changed, ate leftovers for lunch, then started getting ready to go to Magic Kingdom!
Since today was the start of our final 28 day reservation, Dad walked over to the Meadow to pick up 2 refillable resort mugs. We were able to use those for the rest of our stay, which was awesome!
We made our dinner, got all of our stuff together, packed our backpacks, and were out the door about 1:40. We made the walk up to the docks where we waited about 5-10 minutes for a boat, and after the gorgeous ride over, we made it to the Kingdom around 2:15.

We were very excited because today was the first time we would be seeing the new castle hub area without walls! They had unveiled the new grass areas a few days prior, so I had seen some photos, but we were very excited to see it in person!
We went through bag check, scanned our bands, and headed inside the park where we made our way up Main Street. As we approached the hub and began to see glimpses of the new areas, I kind of began freaking out (what else would you expect?). The new hub area is beautiful, I mean it was completely breath taking the first time I saw it. With the grass, the fountains, and the little character statues, it is so picturesque and just spectacular.
We spent some time checking out all the details of the new areas!

We also took a stroll down the path near the Rose Garden, which is located near the bridge to Tomorrowland. They closed off that area for renovations a few days later, so we were glad that we were able to take a look around there before they tore it all up.

Notice how the crane is up? Well, that thing had literally been up since the day we got to Disney. I know that they use it to remove Christmas lights, but I'm pretty sure it was up waaaay after they got the lights down. We were getting pretty tired of it, and we were also curious as to what they were doing up there for so long.
Once we were done strolling around the gorgeous hub, we took the bridge over to Tomorrowland. The first thing we did there was the Speedway, which only had a 10-15 minute wait. We had great fun on that, especially since we stayed dry this time! It was actually a beautiful day today, and we were really hoping that all the cold weather was behind us.
After the Speedway our 3:00-4:00 Space Mountain FastPasses were ready, so we headed over there. We scanned our bands and got in line, which took about 10 minutes. Unfortunately this is the time when our Memory Maker ran out, so there will be no more ride photos from here on out.
We had a great ride on Space, and once we got off we decided to do the Peoplemover. We literally rode that so many times on our trip, but we never even got tired of it. We pretty much new the entire narration by the end of our trip!

Once we got off, the last thing we did in Tomorrowland was the Laugh Floor. We headed inside and waited about 10 minutes for the next show to start. It wasn't the funniest show we had seen, but it was still great!
Once that was over, we started making our way back towards the hub and through Liberty Square to get to Frontierland. We had 4:00-5:00 FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain, and by the time we got over there they were good. We scanned our bands and got in line, which took about 10 minutes. We sat in the back and had a great ride!
Like I said, it was a very nice day today, so we really wanted to ride Splash Mountain. The wait time was 40 minutes, but we decided it was worth it. Besides, 40 minutes isn't really that bad anyways.
The wait time was pretty accurate, but we kept ourselves busy in line by talking to each other and playing games on our phones. I also took some pictures, obviously.

The wait was totally worth it, and we had a great ride! Nobody got too wet, but we all got sufficiently cooled off.
It was around 5:15 when we got off, so we decided now would be a good time to eat dinner. We walked back over to Liberty Square to eat at the outdoor tables by Hall of Presidents.
We had a nice time eating, and I when we were done I had a nice time exploring some of the hidden corners around there.

Once we were all done eating and packed everything up, it was time for our last FastPass, which was for Haunted Mansion. We were right there next to it, so we headed on over and got in line.

It took around 10 minutes before we were on the ride, and we had a great time! It's a little tight for 3 adults to fit in one ride car, so we usually go two, two, and one. I rode by myself this time, and I was kind of able to get a decent picture when our Doom Buggies got held up by unruly ghosts.

Once we got off the ride, we decide to head over into Fantasyland.

It was getting close to 6:30 now, so there was still plenty of time until the park closed, but we decided to head home now. We were going to have plenty of nights at Magic Kingdom during our "vacation", so we figured it was okay to head back early today.
We started making our way out of the park, and we got to the boat dock where we a boat was arriving to meet us! We hopped on and made the short trip back to the Fort, all while enjoying the gorgeous sunset that was happening all around us.

We got back and walked home, arriving around 7:00. The campfire activity tonight was bingo, so we decided to head over there and play. There were quite a few other people there, and it was a lot of fun. Sadly none of us won, and once the game was over we headed back to the RV. We spent the rest of the night just hanging out there, making plans and FastPasses for our last few weeks, and watching TV. We got to bed around 10:00 with plans of visiting Animal Kingdom the next afternoon!​

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Bummer that your Port Orleans walk got rained out. Did you make it back there some other day? Have you all been to the Yehaa Bob show there?

Also curious, did they ever figure out why your magic bands didn't work for a while?

Yeah, it was pretty disappointing. We never did go back, but we had seen it before and we were able to visit a couple other new resorts later in the trip, so we were okay with that. We had seen glimpses of Yehaa Bob, but we've never actually watched his show. We would love to someday, though!

The Magic Band thing is still a mystery to us, actually. We have no idea why they quit working, and no idea what made them start up again. There could be a real reason, or maybe it was just a crazy fluke. We were just glad that they started working again!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Maybe they should paint that crane light blue, so it will blend in better with the background sky.

I never get tired of the PeopleMover, either (well, maybe just the one time I got stuck on it for 45 minutes).

 

[jandlinz]

Such a great day at Magic Kingdom. A picture of the castle with the crane always tears at my heart. I can't wait to see what resorts you head to next. I think that's such a great idea to visit them during your time there. How's the house coming? Did you finalize your coming up trip? What curriculum are you using for homeschooling? My oldest is going into 4th grade and I'm already looking into high school. I want the kids to get a diploma. Do you have any recommendations?

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Maybe they should paint that crane light blue, so it will blend in better with the background sky.

I never get tired of the PeopleMover, either (well, maybe just the one time I got stuck on it for 45 minutes).

That's what I say!

Oh my goodness! We ended up stuck on there a handful of times, but never for that long.

Such a great day at Magic Kingdom. A picture of the castle with the crane always tears at my heart. I can't wait to see what resorts you head to next. I think that's such a great idea to visit them during your time there. How's the house coming? Did you finalize your coming up trip? What curriculum are you using for homeschooling? My oldest is going into 4th grade and I'm already looking into high school. I want the kids to get a diploma. Do you have any recommendations?

We visit a couple more resorts, but only one new one. Resort hopping was one of our favorite things to do!

The house is coming along great, thanks for asking! We've been tackling projects one by one, and we're slowly making it a home of our own.

Yes, we are staying at the Art of Animation resort from September 28-October 7! Our new Magic Bands and tickets for the Halloween party have come in the mail, and we've been finalizing details like food and our itinerary. We leave 4 weeks from tomorrow, and we're very excited!

We've always used the A Beka books, which is a Christian curriculum. They have everything you need for every grade, and they have tons of useful resources. I also take some classes part time online with a program that is free for our state. As far as graduating goes, all of my older siblings just took the GED when they were done with high school, and that worked out great for them. I can graduate through the online program that I mentioned, so I'm looking into either doing that or just taking the GED. I love home schooling because you can personalize it to your needs, so you should look into what's available in you area!

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Today was Monday, so we woke up and got our work done as usual. We had our resort mugs to use now, so that was great, but unfortunately the food area at the Meadow was under construction. That meant if we wanted to fill them up we had to walk all the way to Pioneer Hall, which is at the Settlement. Travis and I walked up one or two times, but until they reopened the Meadow food stand a week or two later, the only time we really used them was when we were going to Magic Kingdom (because Pioneer Hall is right by the boat dock).
While we got our work done Mom ran out to do a few errands, and once she got back she made lunch. We were done with our work by the time lunch was ready, so we all ate together outside. Once we were done eating and cleaning up the dishes, we started getting ready to go to Animal Kingdom!
We weren't planning on staying too late, so just packed snacks and would eat dinner when we got home. Once we got everything ready and packed, we were out the door a little before 1:00. We waited maybe 15 minutes total for both our buses, and we arrived at AK about 1:30.

We got through bag check, scanned our bands, and headed inside the park!

We had a FastPass for Mt. Everest, so that was our first stop. Dad sat out this time, so the four of us scanned our bands and got in line. The wait was about 10-15 minutes, and we had a great ride! We got to sit right in the front, and Dad got some more cool pictures of us.

Once we got off and met back up with Dad, we decided to go walk the Maharajah Jungle Trek because it's right there in Asia. The tigers weren't feeling like coming out to play today, but we still enjoyed seeing some of the other animals and the birds.

Once we were done checking out the animals, it was time for our Kali River Rapids FP! We headed over there to grab a locker and get in line. Unfortunately the FastPass line was backed up, so it was about 20 minutes before we got on the ride. It was worth the wait though, as today was a very warm day. We had a great time, and luckily none of us got quite as wet as Dad did last time we rode.
Once we got off we collected all our stuff from the locker and made a quick stop at the bathroom. We discussed what our next move would be, and we decided to head back over to Discovery Island so I could meet Pocahontas!
It was about 3:00 when we got over to the back path on Discovery Island where Pocahontas meets, but she wasn't coming back out until 3:30. We were first in line for her next time, so we just hung out there for the 30 minutes. They have some other cool animals back there, so we took turns going to check those out.

We also chatted with the PhotoPass photographer that was there hanging out waiting for Poca to return, and she was super nice.
If you ever get the chance, you should totally go check out the Discovery Island trails! There are some different cool animals back there, and also beautiful views of the Tree of Life.

Soon enough it was 3:30, and Pocahontas emerged! We were first in line, so we walked right up to see her. She asked Travis if the shield on his shirt meant that he was a soldier, and she told us about the soldiers that came to her village.

We said goodbye to Pocahontas and made our way back to the main park area. Our next FastPass was for the safari at 4:00, so we had a little time to kill before then. We decided to see It's Tough to be a Bug in the meantime since it's right there, so we hopped in line. We waited about 10 minutes for the next show to start, and we had a great time being honorary bugs!
Once we got out of the show it was just about 4:00, so we headed over to Africa. By the time we got there our FP's were good, so we hopped in line! We waited about 10 minutes, and we had an amazing safari. We got to see bongos, hippos, cheetahs, rhinos, and more!

Once we got off the safari we headed straight to the Pangani Forest Trail to see the gorillas! We spent about 20 minutes checking out the different animals, but mostly the gorillas. The little babies were being extra cute today!

The bachelor gorillas were also out and about today as well!

Once we were all done hanging out with our gorilla friends it was a little after 4:30, so we decided to head out of the park. We made our way out and to the bus stop, where we waited about 5 minutes for our bus to come. By the time we got to the Fort, got a bus to our loop, and got back to the RV it was a little after 5:00.
We unpacked all our stuff and made sandwiches for dinner. We spent the rest of the night hanging out at the RV together, watching TV and playing games. At one point we took a walk together up to the Settlement to fill up our cups, so that was nice. We got to bed about 9:30 with some crazy busy plans for tomorrow!​

 

[jandlinz]

Great Animal Kingdom day! Once again your dad took awesome pictures on Everest. You all look like you're having a blast. The pictures on the safari are great. I loved the picture of the hippo sleeping. It made me laugh out loud.

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Alright, so today was Tuesday, and we decided to shake things up a little bit. Sam and I got up early to go to Magic Kingdom and visit Scoop for some pin trading! Everyone else stayed home and did their work as usual, and we just got our work done when we got back.
Magic Kingdom opened at 9:00, so we left for the boat dock a little after 8:00. Once we got there it wasn't too long before a boat showed up, and we ended up getting to MK a little after 8:30.
As soon as we pulled up to the dock, we could tell that it was crowded. I mean, it was worse than we had ever seen it before. By the time we got there the entire courtyard where you can watch the Welcome Show was filled so we weren't even able to scan our Magic Bands yet. The lines were backing up to bag check, and it was only getting worse! The best we could figure was that maybe spring breaks had started, and that was why there were so many people.

That was how far away we were, and there were still tons more people behind us.
After we counted down with Mickey and the gang to open the park, we moved as quickly as we could with the crowd to enter the Kingdom.

Scoop wasn't coming out until 9:45, so we had some time to kill before seeing him. We knew that the majority of the people would head to Mine Train, so we decided to go to Tomorrowland and ride Space Mountain.

Once we got past the hub and into Tomorrowland, you could really tell that the crowd thinned. We were definitely right about the Mine Train! There was only a handful of people heading into Tomorrowland compared to the mass that was making it's way toward Fantasyland.
We got over to Space Mountain where we literally walked right onto the ride.

The entire queue was empty, which was a really cool thing to see since it's usually jam-packed with people. We hopped on the ride and had a great time blasting through space!
It was around 9:15 now, so we still had 30 minutes, but we decided to head back to Main Street anyways and just hang out there. Once we got there we saw that the Trolley Show was going on! I was psyched, and of course I had to watch it.

Once it was over we decided to go hang out in the new hub grass for a while! We checked out some of the awesome details they put in, and just enjoyed the atmosphere.

As we were sitting there we heard the Trolley music start up again, so I went to go investigate. Today was the day I found out that they do the show all the way down Main Street, making 4 different stops! I was really excited, and of course I had to watch them again.

This time when they got back in the trolley we followed them down the street. They made one final stop at the end of Main Street near the train station, and Sam was a good sport and watched them with me again!

I love the Trolley Show with all of my heart, and it is a must-see for me every time we go to Disney now.
It was about 9:40 now, so we had about 5 minutes until Scoop was scheduled to come out. We just walked up and down Main Street for a bit, starting to keep an eye out for him. It was about 9:50 when we found him hanging out at the very end of Main Street near Cinderella's Castle. He was engaged in conversation with a nice looking couple, so we politely waited until they were done talking and trading. Once it was our turn, we got a chance to trade some pins and converse a little bit. We had a very nice time, but pretty soon Scoop had to head back inside. We said goodbye and started making our way back down Main Street as well, but not before I snagged a few more photos of the hub.

We fought our way through the crowds and back to the boat dock, where a boat was waiting for us! We hopped on and sat in the front, where we waited for the rest of the people to get loaded on. The monorail went by while we were waiting, and you can also see how ridiculously crowded it was.

We were on our way in no time, waving goodbye to the Magic Kingdom until next time.

We got back to the Fort and made the short walk home to the RV. It was about 10:45 when we got back, and we spent the rest of the morning getting our work done. Everyone else also finished up their work, and Mom made lunch around noon. We told them about our wonderful adventures on Main Street and about the wicked insane crowds. They thought it was odd for a Tuesday morning as well, but it was getting close to spring break!
After we were done with lunch, we started getting ready to go to Hollywood Studios! We planned to spend the afternoon there, then take a bus to the Contemporary to watch Wishes from the balcony!​

 

[jandlinz]

I love you pictures of the new hub. I can't wait to see it in person. Sounds like you still had a great time despite the crowds.

 

[DisneyFreak98]

We got ready to head to Hollywood Studios, then we spent some time hanging out at the RV before leaving around 2:30. After waiting for buses and making the short trip over, we arrived a little before 3:00. We got through bag check and made it inside the park!

It wasn't nearly as crowded as MK had been that morning.
Our first FastPass for Tower of Terror was ready, but I didn't want to ride. So while they all went over there, I headed to the Animation Courtyard.

I wanted to see if I could get into a drawing class before they were done riding.
I was able to get into the 3:30 drawing class, which ended up being perfect timing. I had to wait almost 30 minutes for it to start, but I didn't mind. We got to draw Sorcerer Mickey, which was exciting for me because I had never drawn him before!

Once the class got out, I called the rest of my family to find out where they were. They were actually waiting right outside the animation building, so I just headed outside to meet them! Once we were all together again, we made a quick stop at the bathroom before moving on. It was about 4:00 now, and we decided to go over and get in line for Toy Story Mania! We had a FastPass for later, but the wait was only 50 minutes and we didn't have anything else to do at the moment. So, we made the short walk over there and hopped in line! The wait time was pretty accurate, and we ended up getting on the ride right before 5:00. I rode with Travis, and we had a great time! I got 244,700 which I was very proud of. I was actually the best score of the hour!

It was a little after 5:00 once we got off, so we figured now would be a good time to go eat dinner. We just brought sandwiches, so we headed over to the Backlot Express because they have outdoor tables there. The Backlot Express is right next to Star Tours, so we got to watch the Jedi Training Academy show while we ate, which was cool.

We finished eating and hung out until the end of the show, and once it was over we packed up all of our stuff and got going again. Cinderella's carriage from the new movie was still in the park, and we wanted to get another picture with it because the harsh shadows kind of ruined our other one.
So, we headed over to the Streets of America where there was a very short line for the carriage.

There were only 2-3 families in front of us, and then it was our turn! The pictures turned out way better this time, and I'm really glad we went and redid them!

Once we were done there, it was time for our 6:15-7:15 TSM FastPass! We made the short walk over to Pixar Place where we scanned our bands and headed inside the ride. The line took about 10 minutes, and I rode with Dad this time. I got my highest score ever this time, and I was also high of the hour again!

I was very pleased.
Once we got off, it was getting close to 6:45, so we decided we should start heading over to the Contemporary! We made our way out of the park, which was looking especially beautiful this night.

Once we got to the Contemporary bus stop we waited about 15-20 minutes for a bus. We arrived around 7:20, and once we got there we headed right up to the balcony. Wishes didn't start until 9:00 tonight, but there are not many chairs on the balcony and we had no idea how early people got there, so we figured better safe than sorry. Once we got up there we found that we were the first ones there, so that was great! We got chairs right in the front and settled in for the next hour and a half.
Resort mugs are interchangeable around the resorts, so you can use them anywhere. We brought ours with us, and the food court was right inside, so we filled them up quite a few times while we were waiting.

I didn't have a tripod, so a good portion of my photos are rubbish, but this is the view you get from the balcony:

A little bit later Travis and I decided to get up and go exploring! I grabbed the camera and we headed inside to wander around. We took the elevator up to some of the higher floors and had fun looking around the hotel. You can look down and see the entire food court/gift shop area, which is really cool.

The hotel is super nice, and I think it would be fun to stay there one day!

Once we were all done looking around, we hopped back in the elevator and headed back down. The elevator has a mirror wall, so obviously we had some fun with that.

We went back out to the balcony after filling up our drink again, and there were a few more people out there now. We sat back down for a bit, but that lasted about 10 minutes before we were bored again. Travis and I decided to get back up again, and this time go explore Bay Lake Tower. The bridge to get over there is right off the balcony, so it wasn't a very far walk. Once we got over there we took the elevator down to the ground floor to see what was there. We found a door that led out to the pool, so we went outside to check it out. We kind of got the feeling that maybe we weren't supposed to be there, and we were a little afraid that we wouldn't be able to get back inside, but it ended up being fine. They have a really nice pool there, but you can only stay at BLT if you're a DVC member.

We headed back inside and back into the elevator, where we started making our way back up. But, like the goobers we are, we decided to stop the elevator at each floor, get out and wander around the hallway, then get back in the elevator and go up to the next floor. I have no idea why we did that, but it was a lot of fun.
Once we got back up to the floor with the bridge, we headed back over the the balcony, where we sat down and stayed until the fireworks started. There was a good amount of people now, and the show would be starting in about 30 minutes.
When we filled up our mugs, we had noticed that the Contempo Cafe has the same giant Mickey shaped cookies that we got at Storybook Circus the other night, so Dad went inside and got a couple of those for us to share.
We sat and ate our treats, and before long we were 5 minutes away from Wishes! There was a small crowd now, and we were glad that we had gotten there early.
The only trouble with watching Wishes from the Contemporary is that unlike at the Fort Wilderness beach, they don't play the soundtrack. So, if you want the full experience, you're going to have to find the soundtrack and play it yourself. The girl sitting behind us tried to do that, but she was off by like 2 minutes so it kind of did more harm than good.
At any rate, the fireworks were still as magical as ever, and it was great to see them from a new perspective! They actually end up going off over Space Mountain instead of the castle, which I thought was interesting.

Once the show was over, we headed back inside with everyone else. The monorail was going through the hotel, which I always love to see.
We took the escalator back down to the ground floor and headed outside to the boat dock. As we made our way outside and to the path between the hotel and the docks, we noticed something (or someone) a little out of the ordinary. Mom saw him first and pointed him out to me, and I subsequently freaked out. For some reason, Peter Pan was out and walking in front of us toward the boat dock!

He had a character attendant with him and everything. I was so confused as to why he was there, but I didn't even care. I started giggling like crazy, because I seriously love Peter Pan, and all of a sudden he turns around and starts talking to me! He asked me why I was laughing and I told him it was because of him! I asked what he was doing there, and he told me that he was there to fight the pirates. He pointed to some boats out on the water, which according to him were filled with pirates. He said if you can't see them you can definitely smell them, because they smell like codfish! I told him I was glad that he was here to fight off the pirates, and we just continued walking.
When we got down to the dock, the attendant told us that it would be a few minutes until our boat would come. Apparently, those boats actually were filled with pirates! We watched as Peter hid in the shadows, and when 2 boat-fulls of guests dressed up as pirates arrived, he hopped out and used Tinkerbell (a light in a lantern) to help "fight" them. Afterward Peter headed back up towards the hotel, and all the pirates from the boats followed after him to get photos and autographs. We asked the boat dock attendant what in the world that was all about, and he told us it was called the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage. We looked it up later when we got home, and basically you get to dress up like a pirate, watch Wishes from a boat on Bay Lake, then you go to the Contemporary. Once you're there, you meet Peter Pan, then head inside for a dessert party with Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. If I remember correctly the tickets are a little pricey, but it does look like fun!
Once all the hullabaloo was over, our boat arrived and we made it back home. My whole life was pretty much made from my encounter with Peter Pan that night, and it's something I will never forget.
It was pretty late once we got back to the RV, so we just got ready, hung out for a little bit, then it was off to bed about 10:30.
Tomorrow was the first day of the Epcot Flower and Garden festival, so we planned on heading there in the morning and then going to Magic Kingdom later in the day.​

 

[jandlinz]

How did I miss your update? Well, I'm here! What a fun time at Studios. Great score on Toy Story. I loved your drawing of Sorcerer Mickey. I really wanted to do this on our next visit, but it won't be around! I loved your pictures at the Contemporary. Looking down into Chef Mickey's is a great shot. I was surprised you could walk around BLT. I thought you had to be a member to get in. We are hoping to stay there on our next visit. We just bought in to DVC, but BLT is not our home so it can be tricky. Just hoping for some pixie dust. Hope your school year started off great and your room is finished!

 

[bethany0417]

I'm loving your report! Now I am scheming on how I can make three months at Disney work for my family!

 

[DisneyFreak98]

Today was the first day of the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival! Amy and Jack showed up at the RV bright and early so they could go with us to check it out for the morning. Epcot opened at 9:00, so we were all ready to go and at the bus stop a little before 8:00. An internal bus came within 5 minutes, but waiting for an Epcot bus was another story.
After the first 20 minutes passed we figured the bus must be right around the corner, but it was literally another 25 minutes before the bus finally came! We had never waited that long for a bus, and we were a little perturbed. Because we share a bus with Wilderness Lodge and the bus stops there first, we figured that the bus probably filled up at WL and we had to wait for another one to come around. The odd thing was that once the bus came, there were actually 2 other Epcot buses behind it! It was just very strange.
We finally arrived at Epcot just a few minutes before opening, but thankfully it wasn't too crowded. They opened the gates, and after a few more minutes we were scanning our Magic Bands and heading inside!
Right away we could see the Flower and Garden decorations, and everything looked amazing!

Our first stop was the Pin Central store so we could purchase some of the limited edition pins! The line was fairly long; so while Dad, Sam, and I waited for pins Mom, Travis, Amy, and Jack all went to Innoventions to ride the Sum of All Thrills. I occupied myself by taking pictures while we were waiting.

We waited in that line a little over 30 minutes, but it was worth it! We got a few of the different limited edition pins and also the Annual Pass holder exclusive one. I didn't take any pictures of them, but they are all really beautiful.
The group was all back together again at this point, and once our purchases were made we headed off to see some more flowers! We headed in the direction of World Showcase first, but it wasn't open until 11:00 so we just checked out the topiary they have back there.

The main attraction this year were the new Anna and Elsa topiary, and they did not disappoint! They were stunning, and their little garden was really beautiful. Elsa was surrounded by all white flowers while Anna had colorful ones all around her, which I thought was a cute detail.

They have all sorts of little gardens, exhibits, and informational areas spread all over the park for the festival, so we wandered around for a while to check those out.
The entire park is just ridiculously stunning and colorful.

They had a section on growing a garden, raising chickens, attracting birds, growing techniques and a ton more!

We took some time wandering around there for a bit, then we headed over to check out the Monsters University playground. Obviously we're too big to play on it, but we still wanted to check it out. Plus the Mike and Sully topiary were back there!

They had a little sitting area under a tent with comfy chairs, so we chilled out in there for a while.
After our little rest we kept moving on, exploring more little gardens.

The next topiary we saw was the Fantasia ones, which were really cool.

We had kind of ended up going in a circle, so we were back around in Future World near Innoventions. Sam didn't get to ride Sum of All Thrills earlier and everyone likes that ride, so we decided to go in and ride it again!

I sat out to keep Dad company while everyone else rode, but it only took them about 10 minutes so we weren't waiting for long.
Once everyone was off, we headed back out for some more Flower and Garden fun! Our next stop was the butterfly house.
The butterfly house was actually the one thing that I was not excited about. I sort of have this little irrational fear of anything and everything that flies, including butterflies. The thought of going into an enclosed space filled with hundreds of the little creatures basically terrified me, but I was willing to go through it once.
We noticed that they were giving out these booklets there. We got a few, and basically it's like a guide to all of the different events, gardens, and topiary in the festival. A lot of the food stations in World Showcase and the exhibits in Future World have stamps that they put in the book. That way you can keep track of what you've done and fill your book with all the different stamps!
We got the butterfly garden stamp in our book, and headed inside the tent.

While everyone took their time to look at all the beautiful flowers and butterflies, I pretty much just walked right through. I did stop to take a few pictures though, because they truly are beautiful. Just from a distance.

I made my way out and waited for everyone else to emerge. While I was waiting I got to see the monorail go by, which made for a pretty great photo.

Tinkerbell was hanging out outside the butterfly house, and she was looking great.

Finally everyone exited the butterfly house and we were able to move on! But not before taking a few more pictures.

We discussed what our plans were going to be next. We decided to go back to a few of the places we had already visited, like the playground and the urban farm garden, because we knew that they had stamps there. So, we retraced our steps to get stamps in our books, then pretty much circled back around to the bridge between World Showcase and Future World.
It was about 11:00 now, and we had only been planning to stay for the morning. We had seen a lot and gotten a lot done in only 2 hours, so we decided to head back home and save the rest of the festival for another day. We hadn't even seen half of what the Flower and Garden Festival had to offer, and we were already impressed beyond belief. We couldn't wait to come back and check everything else out!
We started making our way out of the park, getting to the bus stop right a little after 11:00. It was about 15-20 minutes before our bus came, and after stopping at Wilderness Lodge first we made it back to the Fort. Amy and Jack rode back up to the RV with us on the internal bus, but as soon as we got back they had to get going. They had work later that day, so they had to get home. So, we said see ya later and they headed out.
It was about noon now, so we decided to eat lunch. We heated up some leftovers and ate outside at our picnic table because it was such a nice day.
Once we were done and the dishes were all cleaned up, we hung out at the RV for a bit before getting ready to go to Magic Kingdom! We packed our dinner and our gear into our backpacks, and we headed out right around 1:45. We made it to the boat dock where a boat was pulling up as we got there! We made the short ride over to MK and got there a little after 2:00.​