All Good Things Must Come to an End

[DaisyFoote]

May 27 - 28

It's been a wonderful year of Disney!! We splurged and got annual passes to Disney on July 4, 2015. This trip report will tell about our last vacations with these passes. We went May 28, 2016 to June 8. On this trip we went with our friends Cindy and Abby. Here's a picture of us.

Then just my family took a trip on July 1 - 5. This trip report will cover both trips.

We left NC after our school's graduation on May 27. We traveled all night. I was actually pretty pumped for the trip and was able to help John drive quit a bit. The 3 ladies were able to sleep pretty good in the back of the van -

We got there early morning and dropped Cindy and Abby off at Pop Century. Before we've rented a place together but this time they stayed on property. This worked out great for them since they could go by there own schedule this time. Today they went to the Magic Kingdom almost right away. We went to our place to take a nap. Already it's working out beautifully. After dropping them off, we went to eat at Cracker Barrel. Love the food there and even though it's not Disney had to take a picture of our dessert, it was amazing!!

After lunch we went to the place we were renting for the 2 weeks. It was a little trailer like home in a retirement community. It was small but sufficient and super cheap so we were happy. An extra added bonus was that our place was super close to a Krispy Kream - love that place!! Here's a snack we grabbed from there on our way to the Magic Kingdom that night after we unpacked and napped all afternoon.



I was wanting to go to Captain Cook's at the Polynesian resort for supper. I had read on a blog that it was this guys favorite counter service place to eat at Disney. I wasn't as impressed - guessing the guy who wrote the blog really likes flatbreads and maybe this is the only place to get flatbreads. I'm not sure but I wasn't super impressed. It ended up wasting a lot of time for something that wasn't that great. They were just OK and very expensive.


We actually had to go into the Magic Kingdom before we could go to Captain Cook's. I didn't want to waste the time but my daughter was determined to get her an Oswald as soon as we walked onto the property. When she gets obsessed with something there is no reasoning with her. As her parents we could've made her wait but we're on vacation so why not just give her what she wants. We're going to be at Disney for about 2 weeks as well so what's wasting a few hours.

We went into the main gift shop there on Main Street and got Oswald. They also had Ortensia, Oswald's girlfriend, which thrilled Abigail. We got a picture right after this. The CM was hilarious - look what he did.


On a side note, I've lost 63 pounds since last summer. That made this trip so much better for me - easier to walk around and keep up this time for sure. Here's a picture of us last summer compared to this summer.

We had our fastpasses scheduled for the night since we knew we would sleep most of the day. We rode 7 Dwarfs mine train at 9:45 and Splash Mountain at 10:45. I forget what the other fastpass was for.

 

[DaisyFoote]

May 29,

Today we headed for Epcot after watching our church service via live stream. We were wanting to see the Flower and Garden Festival before it was too late plus get the free picture of Mickey they were offering to annual pass holders.

I was very impressed with the beauty of Epcot. Loved all the flowers and the topiaries.


Abigail was kind of miserable though cause she was so hot and she's not into just sight seeing. She wanted to ride so her and John went to ride Mission Space (I have not desire to ride that again after getting sick on it the last time) after we took this picture. Abigail was playing in the water at this point.


I started working my way around the World Showcase. John and Abigail and eventually Cindy and Abby would catch up with me. I got this treat somewhere near Mexico.

and then saw these guys -

Went through some beautiful gardens around China. Took some pictures of some of the flowers -

This trip is going to be all about doing all the things I haven't got to do yet. One of those things is watch Reflections of China which I did next. Then -

It was after this we headed out the International Gateway to Beaches and Cream. I couldn't get reservations but was hoping we could get supper from the window. They actual only serve ice cream from there so we ended up just getting a hamburger from the pool restaurant there. It was actually pretty good. After this we walked the boardwalk and did something that John has always wanted to do. We'll pick up there next time.

 

[DaisyFoote]

John has always wanted to rent one of those surrey bikes. Abigail and Abby were pretty excited about it; Cindy and I were OK with it. It was fun. We had a super sweet couple who helped push us up the hill at one point. It was a work out. I rode up in the front with John most of the time. These are the pictures I took while taking a break though.

Afterwards we went back into Epcot and went to France for dessert.

We then grabbed a snack at this place -

My friend Cindy bragged about their watermelon salad so I got it. I think this may also be the seared pork tenderloin.

 

[DaisyFoote]

May 30
We went to Hollywood Studios for rope drop. We rode Toy Story Mania and Tower of Terror before the lines got too long.

We also went and saw one of our favorite shows - Frozen Sing Along. We love the humor of it. The show really shows how Disney does things right - making it snow at the end is awesome.


We then ran into storm troopers on our way out -

After lunch at Cracker Barrel and a short nap, we picked up Abby to go to Disney Springs with us. Her mom had to study for a college class she was taking. I really like how they've changed Disney Springs. Here's some cool fountains we got a picture of -

 

[DaisyFoote]

May 31
We went to Animal Kingdom and started with our favorite ride at Animal Kingdom - Expedition Everest.


Then we rode Dinosaur -

One of our favorite activities for today was going to visit Dug and Russell. We brought a tennis ball for Dug which he loved. They played with it for a while and gave us lots of extra attention. It was super fun!

We also saw Finding Nemo from the second row. Those performers are really living the parts they play - they are all so top notch. We also saw the bird show -

Afterwards it was time for a reservation we were very excited about. I will continue there next time.

 

[DaisyFoote]

We had reservations for Yak and Yeti for supper. We started with either the egg rolls or pot stickers - can't remember which ones but this is what they looked like -

Here we are at our seat

John and I ordered the duck to split - first time either of us having duck. Cindy and Abby got that too to split. We all were disappointed. It had a lot of fat on it and wasn't very filling.

Abigail got the chicken fried rice which we actually liked better.

Afterwards we went walking several of the trails at Animal Kingdom. I have avoided these before but didn't mind it as much this time. It's amazing what losing 63 pounds will do for you.


We went on the night time safari that evening. The sunset was so beautiful. The animals weren't that active but it was a cool experience. We had fastpasses to see the Rivers of Light show that night, but it got rained out. We would end up seeing that show another night.

 

[DaisyFoote]

June 1

We were at the Magic Kingdom in time for rope drop. We of course headed right for the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. Later on that morning we rode Space Ranger Spin.

and then we met Buzz -

We rode on the People Mover -

And rode the Carousel of Progress -

On this trip I want to make sure to do everything I've not done this year yet so we went to see the Dapper Dans. I've walked up while they are in the middle of a show before but have never seen a show from start to finish. Afterwards we went to see the Trolley Show. We thought we were getting perfect seats by getting up on the 2nd floor of the train station. Ends up we had to move to the side because the performers come up there to sing and dance.


After this we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch and then home for a nap. That night we went back to Animal Kingdom to see the tree light up and to see the Rivers of Light show. It was a pretty cool show. They told the story of Jungle Book and showed some scenes from it on the water. I took some pictures but they didn't turn out that great. They sang the songs from the Jungle Book as well - very upbeat unlike the original. I was glad we did it, but it wasn't something we would have to do again and again.

 

[DaisyFoote]

June 2

This morning we headed to the Magic Kingdom. I just love the morning show. After that we headed for Mine Train but it was temporarily down so we went to Space Mountain instead and rode it 3 times in a row. Someone photo bombed our great picture -


We then rode Space Ranger's Spin -

Normally I like to take a mid day break but today we were going to try to push through so we could watch the Festival of Fantasy parade. I love the parade, but hardly ever get to see it cause we are usually gone for our mid day break by then. We rode Splash Mountain and Mine Train and looked through the gift shops. Finally it came time for us to find a good spot to watch the parade from. We were right in front of the train station.

 

[DaisyFoote]

June 2, pm

After our mid day nap John went and got Abby so her and Abigail could swim together. After that they wanted to go to Animal Kingdom. Cindy had to study so I decided I would take the night off as well to take a longer nap and catch up on some laundry. John and the girls had a great time. Most of the people were watching the Rivers of Light show so they got to ride Dinosaur and Mt. Everest at least 3 times each. John said dinosaur actually broke down once so they got to see the dinosaurs with the lights on. He said that was pretty cool.

 

[DaisyFoote]

June 3

We were at Hollywood Studios by rope drop and rode Toy Story Mania and Rock-n-Roller Coaster before the lines got long.

We went to the Frozen Sing Along again (never gets old) and then took a short break. Later that day when we went to pick up Cindy and Abby at Pop Century, we stopped by Art of Animation to check out the place. That is an awesome resort that I would love to stay in one day.

 

[DaisyFoote]

June 3, pm

After visiting the Art of Animation resort we went to the Magic Kingdom. When we entered Main Street the cms had some hula hoops out with kids playing. Abigail joined in.

We rode the Haunted Mansion and then went on It's A Small World.

Towards the end of the ride we saw our names in the goodbye room. That was pretty cool -

On this trip I want to make sure to do everything I haven't done before this year. We have never rode the Carousel so we did that next -

Now I think John was riding on Cinderella's horse. I've read hers is the horse with the gold bow on her tail so is this it?

We rode the ferry on the way back where I spotted this hidden Mickey -

 

[DaisyFoote]

June 4
We spent the day at Hollywood Studios. We rode Rock-n-Roller Coaster a couple of times.

I think this might have been the first time I ever rode on RnR from the stand by line. I ended up seeing my name in lights -

We also rode Tower of Terror a couple of times. The line for Tower gets really short late at night by the way.
View attachment 192659
We also met Olaf. It was so cute how they had his area decorated.

We went home for a mid day break and came back that night.

We were able to ride Toy Story Mania many, many times. It was practically a walk on ride so that was really nice!!

We also roade Tower of Terror and Rock-n-Roller Coaster again, did some pin trading, and watched the Star Wars fireworks. It was a great day!

 

[DaisyFoote]

June 5

Today we spent the day at Magic Kingdom - starting bright and early with the morning show. Our big even was going to the Diamond Horseshoe for lunch.
It's a family style dinner. They bring you a huge dish of food and say they have unlimited refills.

And then they bring you Smores for dessert. They were so good - we actually asked for seconds on this. It was kindof embarrassing cause they didn't offer; we had to ask. It was well worth it though.

We couldn't eat our whole second plate of Smores so we did something embarrassing again - we asked for a box. We had fastpasses for Mine Train next. You can see John carrying the box on the ride - lol.

Since this is the trip of us doing things we haven't been able to do before, we rode on the big boat around the Rivers of America. You can get some really good pictures from there -

 

[DaisyFoote]

June 5, pm

That evening we rode Splash Mountain. In the gift shop I got me this picture holder.

Abigail wanted this big sucker -

We went to the Swiss Family Treehouse

and then the Enchanted Tiki Room.

We also spent some time pin trading, playing Pirate Adventure, and Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. It was a fun day.

June 6
Today we spent the day at Epcot. We got there at rope drop so we could ride Test Track without too much of a wait.

Then I went to stand in line for an hour so we could meet Joy and Sadness. John and Abigail went to ride something and look at gift shops and just joined me when I got closer to the front.

After our mid day break we went to Hollywood Studios. We were able to ride Toy Story Mania quit a bit. In the evenings is a good time for that ride we have found out. We also rode Tower of Terror and Rock-n-Roller Coaster. As we were leaving for the night 2 cms from Scoops came running to us and asked us if we would like a free ice cream. How extremely cool was that? Such a nice way to end the evening.

 

[DaisyFoote]

June 7

Abigail went swimming at Pop Century with Cindy and Abby so John and I had some time to ourselves with plans to meet up with them at the Magic Kingdom latter that night. We went to Epcot and met Daisy.


We then headed to the Magic Kingdom and just enjoyed walking around, soaking everything in.

We took a break and went to Gaston's Tavern. We had hummus and this delicious drink, LeFou's Brew.

We then found this wonderful place to relax right outside of the Circus Tent. It had fans going and lots of places to plug in your phone.

Abigail met up with us soon after this and we rode Splash Mountain together.


Then a view from the top. I had a lady text me at this point and ask me if she could call me. I wrote her back and told her now wasn't a good time cause we were doing this -

After this is was time for supper. We went to my favorite place in all of Disney I do believe. It's a hard call but I stand by my decision. To be continued...

 

[DaisyFoote]

My favorite place to eat in all of Disney is Pecos Bill. I loved it back when they sold hamburgers but even more now that they sell Mexican food. I love their fixings bar here with so much sour cream and salsa and guacamole - yumm. Wished I could be there right now. Abigail got the beef nachos and I got the Spicy Beef Fajita Platter.

That night we went on the Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, and Aladdin's Flying Carpets several times.

We left in time to be at the Ferry dock by fireworks time. We were a little late - it always takes so long to get on the ferry. We made it across the 7 Seas Lagoon and then found a spot to watch the fireworks. Our plans are to come back here on the 4th of July for the fireworks. We won't be allowed in the park on the 4th so we wanted to find a good spot outside of the park to watch. It's a pretty good spot.

 

[DaisyFoote]

June 8

This was our last day in Disney for a month so we wanted to make the most of it. I wanted to do something that we have never done before and I have dreamed about many time - be family of the day. I thought the park was opening at 9 so our goal was to be there by 7. We were up super early and pumped. We were the 2nd car in the parking lot. We rode on the monorail with another family. She was Disney bounding as Snow White. She had a little girl dressed up as Snow White too and her husband and 2 sons were all wearing a shirt with a dwarf on it. They were going to be some tough competition. We made it by 7 but found out when we got there that the Magic Kingdom actually opened at 8 that day - ughh. We stood in line at the turnstiles for a good 15 minutes just waiting for them to open. It was real surprising to me how many other people were there since we were the 2nd car in the parking lot. I guess a whole lot of people came from the resorts. We talked to the cm there for a long time. He was really nice. By the time we got through the turnstiles we realized we probably hadn't made it.

We talked to the couple who did make it later in the day - we ran into them shockingly. They came over on the bus. They knew nothing about being family of the day. When they were asked to go with the cm they were just like "Sure - why not". From talking to them i got the impression that the cms are looking for people to family of the day that know nothing about it, people that will be completely surprised. I'm thinking maybe your best bet is to wear normal clothes and act clueless. Oh well. I LOVE the morning show though and it was a great way to start our last day at Disney for a while. I always leave the morning show singing.

First thing we ran to ride Mine Train. On the way off the ride we saw this interesting site -

I have often read about them releasing cats at night to get rid of the rodent population. Guess this is a sign that maybe that is correct. After Mine Train we headed over to Space Mountain -

Then we did some Space Rangers Spin

Abigail was starving so her and John went to Gaston's Tavern. I went to wait in line to meet this mice, Mary and Perla. It was kindof funny I thought that while I was standing in line to meet them there was a guy behind me saying he was married to Perla. He said his wife was inside that costume and talked to the cm who was watching the line - calling him by name and asking how his wife was doing. I thought it was funny cause Disney would not like that at all if they knew. John and Abigail barely made it back in time to meet them. In fact I was already up getting my picture taken when they ran up. The cms were calling them back and then I said, "It's ok, they are with me." (which was kindof obvious seeing how we were dressed)

We went right back in line to meet the next 2 characters, Anastasia and Drizella. I have always wanted to meet them. I have heard they are hilarious. They did not disappoint. They talked about how they were proud of Abigail's sensible choice of foot wear. They also gave her lessons on how to catch a man.

We then headed over to Fronteirland to ride one of our favorites -

You'll never believe what we saw while waiting in line for Splash. I'll tell you in the next post.

 

[DaisyFoote]

While waiting in line we saw a very interesting sight -

This picture was actually taken by the lady who was Disney bounding as Snow White that we met that morning when getting there so early. We were in line with them and then when I ran into them after the ride, I asked them if they took a picture and ask them to send it to me. They were so nice to do so. In the excitement I forgot to get a picture myself. As we were leaving the gift shop after the ride we ran into some cms who had a bag that was moving. We ask them if they had the snake in there and they said yes.
We went to the Briar Patch after this. Abigail had been begging to go to a gift shop. We do this very rarely cause when we do she begs us for everything she sees. This was a cute store though - have decorations of Brer Rabbits home in the ceiling.

John and Abigail tried on some hats -

By this point we were wore out. We had a great morning! Time now for a nap so we could later end our day at our favorite park.

 

[DaisyFoote]

We spent our last night at Hollywood Studios. We love that park. We love Frozen Ever After and of course saw it one last time. Then we rode Toy Story Mania, Rock-n-Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror. On our was there we saw the stage show -

After the show and rides it was time for supper. We went to the Backlot Express and order chicken and waffles. Abigail got a snack box with some healthy snacks in it. She loved the box it came in.

We decided earlier that we would leave tonight at about midnight and travel home. At this point we are really debating on should we go home and take a nap and finish packing or close down the park. We decided to close down the park. We hadn't seen Fantasmic this trip yet so we decided to go to it. Now that we regretted cause it was like a rock concert and that's not how we roll. Everything else was great though. So - goodbye for now Disney. We will see you in about a month.

 

[grandmomhop]

Loved your pictures.. Looked like a great vacation!