Characters vs. Pin Traders: It's Heated War! A Pixie-Dusted Nerdventure (COMPLETE)

[Oodalally13]

I just realized my family was at disney around the same time as you. We were at disney June 23-26 and universal the 27th. Now I'm even more excited to follow!

 

[MeMom]

OH MY GOSH A DISNEY MOTOR COACH!!! *HYPERVENTILATING/SWEATING/HEART ATTACK*

I have a pretty good idea of how you were feeling at this point. It is always exciting to pull into the resort. It never gets old. And as long as you had to wait since your last trip, you had every right to be out of your mind crazy excited.

We're going back to WDW next week. Brooklynn, Bella, and I will be staying at Boardwalk with friends on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Then Jill, John, and Sophie come down Saturday, and we'll check in at Pop. Suitcases have been opened here, and things are being tossed in. I'll organize this weekend. It's definitely getting real now. Since I was sick and in the hospital during the Christmas trip, it will have been since last June since I enjoyed Disney property. I'll be playing it cool on the outside, but doing the Tigger bounce on the inside.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I just realized my family was at disney around the same time as you. We were at disney June 23-26 and universal the 27th. Now I'm even more excited to follow!

That's so cool! I wonder if we ended up in the same parks sometimes. Are you doing a TR for that trip? I'd love to read!

I have a pretty good idea of how you were feeling at this point. It is always exciting to pull into the resort. It never gets old. And as long as you had to wait since your last trip, you had every right to be out of your mind crazy excited.

MEMOM! HI!

Exactly! It really doesn't get old, but this was almost a whole other level since I've wanted to stay here since it opened. And it totally lived up to my expectations.

We're going back to WDW next week. Brooklynn, Bella, and I will be staying at Boardwalk with friends on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Then Jill, John, and Sophie come down Saturday, and we'll check in at Pop. Suitcases have been opened here, and things are being tossed in. I'll organize this weekend. It's definitely getting real now. Since I was sick and in the hospital during the Christmas trip, it will have been since last June since I enjoyed Disney property. I'll be playing it cool on the outside, but doing the Tigger bounce on the inside.

YAY! How fun! I've heard amazing things about the Boardwalk and I got a nice glimpse of it on my trip. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time (though that's a given in Disney)! And Pop, well... you know.

Awww, I never knew that. Hope you're feeling a lot better now! So you actually are as excited as I was (Tigger is the perfect analogy here).

Well, I hope your time with the granddaughters is extra magical! Seriously cannot wait to hear all about it!

 

[Oodalally13]

That's so cool! I wonder if we ended up in the same parks sometimes. Are you doing a TR for that trip? I'd love to read!

I was but after doing 2 days I stopped because I don't think anyone was reading or they got bored by my ptr.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3283977

I might continue but I'm not sure

 

[amazingact21]

Resort arrival! You know, I have to say, I thought I was going to explode when I had to stay away from the world for a year; I couldn't imagine the emotions you were going through after an even longer time away.

AoA is amazing. The detail work all throughout the resort are just spectacular. I've stayed at Pop and visited AoA, and I just wanted to book a room there immediately.


Okay, don't stone me, but I have to confess, my brother in-law is a Mears bus driver. I don't remember him telling me he drove a ME bus over the summer (he usually lets me know since he knows I'm a disney nut.). His territory is charters, mostly, but if it was him I apologize if he wasn't the best
I have never taken a bus to Disney before, so I'm not familiar on the differences between a Mears and ME "motor coach" but I can understand the disappointment when you're expectations aren't met. Not to mention, what a bummer about missing the welcome gates.



Those three pictures are great! I can see why they made it to the Instagram page. I was thinking to myself that they looked like the perfect advertisement or something. Really captured the excitement and fun that comes with being at Disney.

 

[KelleyK75]

Great update!! Arrival day is so exciting! I haven't stayed at AoA yet, but it's definitely on my list. I love all of the pictures I see of it!

 

[LB1122]

Love arriving at the hotel.

Sorry about the MEARS bus...but your are still int he right place.

Love the fun photos with the characters

Now you are on a bus (ahem) Motor Coach to where??? I think I have a guess...

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I was but after doing 2 days I stopped because I don't think anyone was reading or they got bored by my ptr.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3283977

I might continue but I'm not sure

Awww, you should just finish it! I'm sure there are tons of people who would love to read it. And writing TRs really help with the Post Disney Depression, especially if a trip is not right around the corner. I'll go look at it in a bit.

Resort arrival! You know, I have to say, I thought I was going to explode when I had to stay away from the world for a year; I couldn't imagine the emotions you were going through after an even longer time away.

It wasn't too too bad. But I honestly needed this trip after these past two years. They were rough and I think a Disney trip to break them up would've been perfect, but that wasn't going to happen Luckily, this trip and this summer made up for a lot of that.

AoA is amazing. The detail work all throughout the resort are just spectacular. I've stayed at Pop and visited AoA, and I just wanted to book a room there immediately.

IT IS! Disney outdid themselves and really raised the bar with AoA. Some of the details they paid attention to, I would've never even thought of working with. And the fact they were doing some refurb work while I was there, I thought, "They really should put the energy for these refurbs into the All Stars, NOT AoA. It is PERFECT."

Okay, don't stone me, but I have to confess, my brother in-law is a Mears bus driver. I don't remember him telling me he drove a ME bus over the summer (he usually lets me know since he knows I'm a disney nut.). His territory is charters, mostly, but if it was him I apologize if he wasn't the best

I have never taken a bus to Disney before, so I'm not familiar on the differences between a Mears and ME "motor coach" but I can understand the disappointment when you're expectations aren't met. Not to mention, what a bummer about missing the welcome gates.

Phooey *puts away basket of stones* Just kidding, I'm not one for stoning. Too medieval.

And it's really no big deal. I don't recall having any extra fabulous bus drivers in the past. I only remember not being able to understand them with their accents lol I was just hoping for something better this trip.

Really the only difference is the exterior. The interiors are very similar, but just the feeling of walking onto this bus decked out with bright colors and Mickey makes the difference. In the end, the whole movie thing and missing the gates were the bigger downers.

Those three pictures are great! I can see why they made it to the Instagram page. I was thinking to myself that they looked like the perfect advertisement or something. Really captured the excitement and fun that comes with being at Disney.

Wow, thank you! I've actually only posted two on Instagram and the Nemo one got the feature on the AoA account. But I guess I should set my sights higher... Official Walt Disney World account feature... Maybe?

Great update!! Arrival day is so exciting! I haven't stayed at AoA yet, but it's definitely on my list. I love all of the pictures I see of it!

Thank you!

You definitely should stay at AoA, at least once. All the photos people take are awesome, but they do not even come close to doing the actual physical resort justice.

Love arriving at the hotel.

It is the best feeling ever!

Sorry about the MEARS bus...but your are still int he right place.

Yeah, the Mears bus didn't bother me too much. Missing the gates and the new movie were bigger downers.

Love the fun photos with the characters

Thank you!

Now you are on a bus (ahem) Motor Coach to where??? I think I have a guess...

Oooo, really? Let's hear it!

 

[LB1122]

First stop even before getting in the room....my guess

Magic Kingdom!!!! (maybe a bee line to Haunted Mansion??)

 

[PlutosRHM55]

First stop even before getting in the room....my guess

Magic Kingdom!!!! (maybe a bee line to Haunted Mansion??)

That would be the obvious thing to do... still not revealing anything.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

YOU'VE ARRIVED!

I'm sorry yall didn't get an actual Magical Express bus, but hey, you were on your way to the wonderful world of Disney and that's all that matters! I love that you're including videos in each update, too.

YAY for Art of Animation! It's such a pretty resort! LOVE the picture of you in front of Ariel!

PS; I just added you on Instagram & Twitter!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

YOU'VE ARRIVED!

I'm sorry yall didn't get an actual Magical Express bus, but hey, you were on your way to the wonderful world of Disney and that's all that matters! I love that you're including videos in each update, too.

Exactly! And I'm glad you enjoy the videos. I'm hoping to put together one huge montage thing with videos and photos by the end of this report. Love doing stuff like that!

YAY for Art of Animation! It's such a pretty resort! LOVE the picture of you in front of Ariel!

It really is. Love AoA! And thank you, that one was my favorite too.

PS; I just added you on Instagram & Twitter!

Awesome! I guess I'll have to go follow back now.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Be prepared for this update! It's a doozy in THREE (count 'em THREE) parts! Just something to keep you occupied while I get some college stuff straightened away. Have a magical day, you gorgeous and beautiful people who read my TRs and enjoy!

"I am here. Life is perfect." What to do? What to do? ~ Part I
June 23rd, 2014

I'll just get right into it. Nate and I hopped in line for our first motor coach of the trip as the crowds fell in behind us. (They just knew the pixie dust had finally settled in all around me.) We boarded the motor coach and after being packed in nice and snug, we were off and within no time at all, we were driving towards this...



Still don't know where we were or were heading to? Well, let's hop off this motor coach and try this on for size:



Or this:



Or this plaque:



Or this poster:


Don't forget to grab a map! Don't worry, I didn't (didn't need it tho).

Or this theater:



Still don't know... maybe THIS will give you your answer:



Yup, that would be Cinderella Castle, of which I was standing in front of at the time on Main Street USA in the midst of a throng of a people at...

THE MAGIC KINGDOM!

Yes, our first park of the trip was the Magic Kingdom! But really, where else would you go? You have to see Cinderella Castle before you see the Tree of Life or the Sorcerer Hat or even Spaceship Earth! It's just that necessary. Magic Kingdom has always been my favorite park (and still is) so I made sure we went there first. Once there, it was as if my freaking out had reached a new all-time and these happened:


This is what I meant when I said prince AND princess.





Yeah, major Castle spam, but wait there's more! The Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Parade was happening so I sniped a few of that too.





I did end up posting the one of me gesturing to the Castle (not the Princess pose I inadvertently displayed) with the caption: "I am here. Life is perfect." (The inspiration for the title of this post.) It got so many likes and comments throughout the day with so many people wishing me a wonderful trip. The Disney community is honestly so supportive and I really am grateful to have you all in my life. Literally almost cried when I realized how many comments I was getting with words like "You deserved this so much!" or "The most deserving person". They all knew I had been waiting for a Disney trip for awhile and although I did question myself many times throughout this trip if I really deserved this amazing Disney trip, I had some more confident words to let me know that I really did. So yes, when I say I love you all, I really do mean it. You guys are what makes those days you sit, sad and alone in your own Disney Fantasyland dreaming of your next trip, so less depressing and really are the best for it.

Anyways, back to the Castle spam and me freaking out to the nth degree. I was seriously so beyond happy to be back! I would've cried, but I was so beyond that point I just bounced around instead. We decided after all my aimless wandering on Main Street and the Hub to go to Tomorrowland, Nate's favorite land and my favorite land from past trips!



And I took this video as we headed under the arch. It is living proof of the utter joy I was feeling (and the utter dismay I had for the People Mover being shut down (not cool, Disney)): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SujtYQAloa8


Yes, I was very upset about the PeopleMover being closed. My favorite hidden gem in the Magic Kingdom (aside from Golden Oak Outpost) was closed for the entirety of my trip and beyond! It's so obnoxious how it had to be closed down because they were doing a HUGE refurb on Astro Orbiter. What makes that ride so special? Ugh, oh well. It still got some love in the form of some photo action:





Okay! I guess I moved a bit too quickly there, but our mission at this point was to see if Space Mountain had a decent wait. The park was probably at its most packed for the day and the lines for basically everything were CRAZY. Like the lowest you could find for the headliner attractions was 45 minutes and with five days to go back and ride those attractions with lower waits, I was not going to make a rookie move and wait in line for that ride. Unfortunately, one of those rides happened to be Space Mountain (I think the wait was at 75 minutes O_O) so we nixed that idea, but still took a moment to enjoy the sights and sounds of Tomorrowland. Mostly for the sounds, that Tomorrowland loop people is a beautiful thing. The sights really are just a plus to that:


Would be riding this later. Love me some CoP!


#DisneyItsInTheDetails


The day I ride this ever will be a very desperate day indeed.

Anybody pretty keen with their Disney navigation skills know where we were going?

Why... NEW FANTASYLAND, of course!



The last time I was in Disney before this trip was February 2011, around a week or so after they had closed down Mickey's Toontown Fair and announced that Snow White's Scary Adventures would be making its final hurrah in a few months. New Fantasyland wasn't even in its early building stages, it was just Toontown Fair in its demolition state :/ In short, this section of the park was in a TOTALLY different state now than when I was last in it (aka blocked off). And wouldn't you know it we had FP+ early on that day for the very recently opened Seven Dwarfs Mine Train! I was completely ready to take NFL by storm.

With our sights set initially on the Mine Train, we noticed something a bit unusual. The ride wasn't running... at all. The lift wasn't even moving. I got a bit nervous, but just thought to myself that it might've had to stop for some technical fix-ups. It's still a fairly new ride and I'm sure it's still having a fair share of problems and our FP+ reservation wasn't until later so we didn't worry about it.

We continued along the perimeter of the Mine Train and we came to Storybook Circus where the Main Street Philharmonic was making a grand exit:



I took a quick look, but really wanted to see all of New Fantasyland. I would go for a few extended visits later.

As we continued around, we found ourselves face-to-face with the new Castle in town:



I think forced perspective is a really cool technique Disney uses, but I'm just so tuned in things like this look kinda lame. It really had a cool foreboding look, but I knew even from far away that this castle was not as big as Disney tried to make one believe it was. I really wished that was the case with me. I still loved seeing it, the feeling Disney tries to capture with it is so on point with the movie and that's all that mattered with me. I told Nate that THAT'S where we would be dining for the evening, but he was more concerned with PINS!

Literally, Nate was stopping CMs left and right asking for pins. It was very stop-and-go all the way from Tomorrowland to New Fantasyland. If he saw CMs with pins, he would stop them on their track almost immediately. I believe it was around this time we went up to a guy in the DVC booth and I ended up trading for a totally amazing Ursula pin that I still have. I'll show you some pics later. But here's the booth where we stopped:



And some King Triton action:



Along with this whole pin trading thing, we really wanted to find an attraction. The line for Ariel's Grotto was 50 or 40 minutes I believe which is insane for a character, but another line nearby was pretty steadfast at 20 minutes. Without a sidewise glance, we hopped in line for none other than...

Continued Here​

 

[PlutosRHM55]

"I am here. Life is perfect." What to do? What to do? ~ Part II
June 23rd, 2014

So what did Nate and I end up hopping in line for?

JOURNEY OF THE LITTLE MERMAID: ARIEL'S UNDERSEA ADVENTURE!





I have to be honest here, since I am a VERY honest person and I like to stick to that adjective, there actually was a sidewise glance. With me, there wasn't, but with Nate... well, there was. He had not ridden this one either (his last trip to Disney was in early 2012 and he never got to spend much time in MK), but he only had mild interest. His love for The Little Mermaid is along the lines of "Yeah, quality animation, Disney... it's good." He's not all that hyped up about it, but because of the wait I convinced him and we got right in line.

WARNING: Major queue spam ahead!









Needless to say this queue was AMAZING! I almost enjoyed it more than the ride. And I loved the interactive parts of it, Scuttle and the Crabs were oh-so precious! Don't worry, we're getting to them, back to the spam:





#ScuttleSelfie alert!









And here's a selfie of moi after the ride:



Consensus: I liked it!

I wasn't crazy about it like most, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The ride is so vibrant, fun and does a great job of transporting you right into the heart of the movie. The Ursula section was my favorite (I'm a villains fan if you didn't already know)! Her animatronic was absolutely incredible and the detail in her section was spot-on. I also loved how they projected images on the back of the shells to make it feel like you were going under the water or returning to the surface. Those little things are what make the difference.

The only complaint I have is how anticlimactic it is when you get to the scene where Ariel gets her voice back (and her fins) and Ursula becomes this ginormous mer-monster because all you get on the ride is... Ariel and Eric kissing (which was a cool effect, but that's beside the point) and a small little Ursula writhing. It was so low-tech compared to the rest of the ride and in the movie that scene... is a pretty big deal! Why couldn't they have maybe added another section with some awesome water effects a la Fantasmic where you watch it play out then go to that scene? That would've been COOL! Hire me, Disney... PLEASE! But that would really be all I would change/add.

I would most definitely go on it again to enjoy that queue and a close-up version of one of my favorite Disney movies.

I was thinking of meeting Ariel after, but the line was still fairly long and to get Nate to meet a princess with me, the line would literally have to be two people for him to rush in so we continued to travel through New Fantasyland.

Basic New Fantasyland knowledge: After saying sayonara to Prince Eric's castle, we arrive at none other than... Gaston's Tavern!



I thought the fountain was a nice little touch and had to get a picture. I've always been unimpressed by Gaston so I took this number:


Can you say 'frump'?

Nate took a very different approach (I preferred his to mine in the end):



I wanted to go in and try out some of Le Fou's Brew, but Nate wasn't interested and wanted to continue on so I obliged. I would've been dragging him into things he most likely did NOT want to do most of the trip so I had to relinquish my almighty Disney power over him sometimes. I do kinda regret not forcing it more in this situation since the greeter that you saw in the first pic in front of Gaston's Tavern is one of my IG followers, Ariana (arianalovesdisney). We had recently started following each other and unfortunately, I did not put a name to the face enough to go say hi, which I might've if I convinced Nate to go get some brew. Oh well, there were still many chances for me to meet some happy DISers or DisneyIGers later.

Moving right along, we slid on by Beast's Castle and Be Our Guest's lunch rush line.


Yeah, not sure you could actually live in that castle, it's so small.

Then we headed into the heart of Fantasyland where I found a lovely perspective of my favorite castle ever.



LOVE.

We dodged the increasingly large early afternoon crowds and found our way to the back of the original Fantasyland where I finally saw the light (aka the Tangled Bathrooms):





This area is absolutely gorgeous! And to be honest, I don't think we ever even used the bathrooms here because I'd just end up so enamored by it, I'd save my pee for later. If Disney did this to all bathrooms, I would make more room in my park schedule for those necessary bathroom breaks and set their locations. I mean, marching to the bathroom to the sounds of the Kingdom Dance... COUNT ME IN!



But we had a little something else in mind that was right around the corner.

Continued Here​

 

[PlutosRHM55]

"I am here. Life is perfect." What to do? What to do? ~ Part III
June 23rd, 2014

After giving Rapunzel's tower and the Tangled bathrooms their due, we popped up right next to...

THE HAUNTED MANSION!!!



OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

MASTER GRACEY, I'M HOME!!!

I'VE RETURNED WITH MY DEATH CERTIFICATE, GHOST HOST!

*HYPERVENTILATING/PASSING OUT/HYPERVENTILATING/COLLAPSING/DEAD*

WAIT WAIT I NEED A PICTURE! A PICTURE IS NECESSARY!!!!!!



I WAS SO PREPARED FOR THIS MOMENT!!! MY OUTFIT. MY PHONE CASE. THE BEAUTIFUL GRACEY MANOR IN THE BACKGROUND. IT WAS TIME TO VISIT MY 999 BRETHREN FOR A REUNION THREE PLUS YEARS IN THE MAKING!!!!!!!! YES YES YES YES YES












Okay, not quite.

Wait time read: 50 minutes. Uh yeah, no.

I love you Haunted Mansion in ways that not even jumbled excited thoughts could express, but 50 minutes... we can wait for a better, creepier hour.

Mark my words... I'll be back, my love! xoxo

Liberty Square... does not beckon to me intensely unless we're talking about Haunted Mansion so we continued on into... Frontierland!

And look at this... THE DIAMOND HORSESHOE WAS OPEN!



Welcome to peak season, brought to you by Timmy and friends!

I could not believe it was open. We HAD to check it out. We also were hungry so I thought it would be a good place to eat.

It was pretty neat inside. I was still kinda shocked something like this was opened. I think there was even a small stage show going on inside. We read through the menu and realized that not a lot of the options were on the DP (amateur move) so we vamoosed out of there and continued on through Frontierland.

We were now on the hunt for LUNCH!

I sniped on Chip and Dale in their adorable Frontierland outfits. I'd definitely have to visit those little rascals later:



Walking a little bit, waving to Splash and Big Thunder along the way, we rounded a corner and came face to face with...

the wonderful...

the Astounding...

the AMAZING...

...

...


GOLDEN OAK OUTPOST!



For those who have not read my past TRs, this place is my favorite quick service spot. Not many know about it or go near it and while the food selection isn't exotic or large, the menu is so simple, you'll always find something to suit your fancy.

Golden Oak Outpost FOR LIFE!

But... with all this in mind, I was getting concerned that this place might not have been on the basic Disney Dining Plan. I don't know why I thought this or why it crossed my mind, but it did. Then I looked at the menu and paying close attention to the Dining Plan symbol, I realized we could only buy French Fries (not even thinking that might be just notes for what count as snacks. DOY!). We were in line and although Nate said he would ask, I decided that maybe we should come here another day and ask at our resort instead. The people in front of us were taking too long as is so we hopped out of line and left another one of my faves in the dust.

Unfortunately, that turned out to be our only opportunity to eat there and we never ended up back by good ole' reliable Golden Oak. Again, too happy to just have seen it to care!

We traveled onward into Adventureland.

It was a bit crowded so there was quite a bit of crowd dodging and not much photo taking. It wasn't until we passed by the Jungle Cruise that I got this photo:



I tried to convince Nate to go on that since I had yet to ride it, but he just shoved it off. He didn't want to deal with the corny jokes. I was literally screaming inside, but we were now on a mission as we trudged deeper into the thick muds and forests of Adventureland...




All these new interactive scavenger hunt games were looking pretty sick!



Hmmm, not that foresty or muddy. But that was besides the point.

We were hungry! And HOT. The humidity was really bearing down on us. We needed something to cool us down and silence the call of the wild (aka tummy growls). It was something that I HAD to try and luckily, Nate knew just where to get this cool, delicious treat.

Continued Here​

 

[Tink2Day]

WOWZER! Just scanned through and checked out the pictures,will go back later and read in depth. That huge grin on your face in almost every picture is just heartwarming

Your joy at being in your Happy Place is so obvious....home again.


Bet I know what snack you're headed to!

 

[FancyNancy]

I'm in on your report. I love your enthusiasm and it looks like your travel day/first park day went smoothly!

 

[Oodalally13]

Oh you poor thing! Te dining plan symbol only means that can count that particular item as a snack item! If the place you are at is on the list of QS places to eat you can get any entree dessert and non-ally drink.

 

[cindianne320]

I hope you got food! A Dole Whip, perchance?

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Loved this round of updates! Your TR is making me miss Disney more and more each day, and more and more antsy for my next trip! You definitely have an infectious enthusiasm for Disney.

It's nice to see that I wasn't the only one who wasn't terribly excited about riding VOTLM at first, but then really enjoyed it at the end! Seeing all your pictures made me miss it!

Looking forward, as always, to the next batch of updates.