"First Of All, How Dare You" A November 2015 TR! **New TR Link!**

[MarieLightning]

Hello there, and welcome to all to our fifth ever Trip Report!

"First Of All, How Dare You"

To our old friends, welcome back! It's so nice to see you again!

To our newcomer readers, thanks so much for joining in! I hope you'll enjoy the ride, and if you do wish to catch up on our previous adventures, feel free to click on any given link in my signature!

We returned from our latest Disney trip a couple of weeks ago (already), and because I'm a terrible Trip Report updater, I'm only just now starting this.

Which has also lead my co-writer/wife to the conclusion that I cannot be trusted to write this entire trip report by myself. A little rude, but probably very much true. (It was a much easier job to accomplish when I worked from home!) As such, she will be dropping in from time to time to make sure this TR doesn't fall into oblivion (and when she does, this is the color she will use).

So let's get technical before we can get started!

The 4 Ws
(I know there's 5 Ws, no worries, but the fifth is more lengthy than it is technical)

What: Family trip to Disney!
When: 6 - 15 November, 2015
Where: All-Star Music (2 nights), and All-Star Sports (7 nights)
Why: We so don't need a reason to go back to Disney. (But if you want the long answer, I'll have to refer you back to my PTR).

Now, some of you may be wondering, erm, who's the we you keep referring to? (See, here's your 5th W).

And to that I say, why, that would be me (Marie) and my wife (Amber)!

For the short & sweet introductions, here's what you need to know.

I am 26 years old, Canadian girl, French speaker, travel lover, call center worker. I work for a travel wholesaler company, so that has definitely opened many travel doors for me in the past, and hopefully will continue to in the future!

Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Character(s): Tiana and TinkerBell
Favorite Movie: How dare you
Favorite Rides: Soarin', Expedition Everest, Tower of Terror, Carousel of Progress, PhilharMagic
Favorite Nighttime Show: Wishes

As for Amber, my lovely wife of almost four years, she is 22 years old, US born, Canadian transplanted by marriage, English speaker but French learner, nurse aspiring. She is currently doing some night classes at college level, because Canada and the US have different high school systems and as such, not everything transfers over in tip top shape. She's hoping to get everything settled in time to start her Nursing program for realsies in the Fall of 2016.

Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Character: Winnie the Pooh
Favorite Movie: Beauty and the Beast
Favorite Rides: The Haunted Mansion, The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh, PeopleMover, Space Mountain, Dinosaur
Favorite Nighttime Show: IllumiNations


So that seals the deal for the two of us!

But is that it for this trip? Not quite.

I present to you

The family(-ish).

That's right. I took my in-laws to Walt Disney World.

Something's not quite right with me.

But let's not focus on that right now!

This is Grandma Gerri and Mom Sandi. Grandma will be turning 70 shortly, and Mom is 43.

I was a little apprehensive taking them to Disney, because we've had a slightly rocky past (mostly with Grandma), and well, drama isn't uncommon. It was definitely a pleasant surprise that everything went really great. They were both very easy going, they did things in their own pace - even if that meant splitting up at times - and we enjoyed the time we got to spend with them.

Next we have Kameron, Amber's brother, and Curtis, his ex-fiance. Let's not dwell on that too long either. Kameron actually celebrated his birthday at the World - he turned 19 while we were there. Curtis is 20.

They were pretty much as close to being our partners-in-crime as you could get during that trip. They were willing to keep going and join us for things that the rest of the family did not partake in, but they also had their alone time whenever needed. They're already planning their return to the World (whether it be as visitors or workers, because they would like the possibility of never having to leave ).

Finally, we have Uncle Butch (Sandi's brother), his wife Aunt Sarah, and their three kids, Boston (blue shirt), Ramsey (green shirt) and Elsye. Uncle Butch is 40, Aunt Sarah is 38, Boston is 9, Ramsey is 8 and princess Elsye turned 3 the day they arrived in Orlando.

So... this was the slightly more interesting part of the trip. And not where we expected it to come from. We get along with all of them great. We love the kids, Aunt Sarah has always been very supportive of my being a part of the family, and Uncle Butch was Amber's father figure growing up - and still his favorite (non-daughter) girl. But you know, family is family, and our touring type just ended up not matching theirs at all. I won't get into details too much, as that would spoil the fun of reporting, but we definitely split up from them most than from anybody else.

At the end of the day, I am happy to report that aside from a few dramatic outbursts and a couple of little tantrums here and there (am not referring to kids btw...), there was no major, irreparable damage done.

That's cause for celebration!

​

 

[MarieLightning]

Links

Introductions

Day 1, Part 1: Coming Home

Day 2, Part 1: Send Me On My Way
Day 2, Part 2: Sugar We're Going Down
Day 2, Part 3: Clang, Clang, Clang, Went The Trolley
Day 2, Part 4: You Broke Your Drink
Day 2, Part 5: Oh Right, There's A Marathon...

Day 3, Part 1: Welcome To The Magic
Day 3, Part 2: Do You Know How To Use A Frying Pan?
Day 3, Part 3: It's The Jingle Cruise!
Day 3, Part 4: Bus Buddies
Day 3, Part 5: "This Is Just Pineapple"

Day 4, Part 1: Soarin' With Nemo And Friends... Wait What?
Day 4, Part 2: Meeting With Pals
Day 4, Part 3: Wait, Did This Just Really Happen?
Day 4, Part 4: "Stop Showing Off And Get Back To Work"
Day 4, Part 5: Awww The Bears Are Watching TV!

Day 5, Part 1: Where Is Everyone?!
Day 5, Part 2: Nooo, Now I Can't Shoot The Targets!
Day 5, Part 3: "Pick Me, Pick Me!"
Day 5, Part 4: "But... We Were Ready For This!"
Day 5, Part 5: "Music?" "Music."

Day 6, Part 1: Africa's That Way, Bye!
Day 6, Part 2: "She Needs To Chill"
Day 6, Part 3: Are We Gonna Be Lions?!
Day 6, Part 4: No Room In Your Luggage? No Wonder!

Day 7, Part 1: Sleeping In At Disney Is A-Ok
Day 7, Part 2: If They Wave At Me, I'll Wave Back
Day 7, Part 3: You Better Watch Out
Day 7, Part 4: That's Fine, I'll Just Be Passive Aggressive About It
Day 7, Part 5: Once Upon A Christmas Time At Christmas
Day 7, Part 6: Look At All The Snoap!

Day 8, Part 1: "How Many?" "Five." "You All Go Ahead Then"
Day 8, Part 2: "Thank You! This Is My Favorite Pin!"
Day 8, Part 3 - "Do You Want Me To Re-Pack These In For You?"
Day 8, Part 4 - Better Than You'd Imagine

Day 9, Part 1: "How About We Go To Epcot?"
Day 9, Part 2: "You Were Gone Half An Hour"
Day 9, Part 3: Try The Grey Stuff, It's, You Know, Pretty Good
Day 9, Part 4: "Get Some Fab Pictures!"

Day 10, Part 1: "I'm Gonna Eat That Pizza So Hard!"
Day 10, Part 2: Who Doesn't Love Left Over Snacks Galore?

Conclusion


Pre Trip Report Added!
Let's Play Games!

Interlude

Real Life Update #1
Real Life Update #2
Real Life Update #3
Real Life Update #4
Real Life Update #5
Real Life Update #6


Trip Video!
Click Here!
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[felynn]

Yay! Really looking forward to this TR. I binged all your other TRs and have fallen in love with your writing style. Amber's style is also fab you make a great team.

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Excited to join in! I've loved your guys previous TRs, but always seem to find them towards the end and end up marathon reading them. This time I get to follow along yay!

I'm glad to hear it all went well for the most part. I still haven't recovered from Thanksgiving with my in-laws.

 

[Vernie822]

Joining in! I think I recall reading past TR's but I may need to catch up I love that you all went together, how fun. I went with my mom, aunt, and her daughter this year and yep.. a little drama.. but that's what happens when you're surrounded w/ family 24/7 haha. Can't wait to read more. Hope you all had a blast. We were there the 6-14th!

 

[mustlovecats]

Oh my goodness!! I am so excited for this!

Following along of course

 

[Newsies]

YAY!!! I love your guys' TRs! Following along!

 

[MarieLightning]

Yay! Really looking forward to this TR. I binged all your other TRs and have fallen in love with your writing style. Amber's style is also fab you make a great team.

I'm so glad you'll be joining in! Thank you so much, I do hope I stay true to that style during this TR And it's a good thing you also appreciate Amber's style because as you can see, I've already been teeeerrible at keeping this up, and she'll really only give me so many chances before she entirely takes over

Excited to join in! I've loved your guys previous TRs, but always seem to find them towards the end and end up marathon reading them. This time I get to follow along yay!

I'm glad to hear it all went well for the most part. I still haven't recovered from Thanksgiving with my in-laws.

Hi, thanks so much for joining! Although, once you comprehend how bad I can get at updating, you may wish you'd caught the tail end of this one as well I do promise to be better, I do!

For the most part, it went no worse than we expected. It also went no better. But we can't have it all!

Joining in! I think I recall reading past TR's but I may need to catch up I love that you all went together, how fun. I went with my mom, aunt, and her daughter this year and yep.. a little drama.. but that's what happens when you're surrounded w/ family 24/7 haha. Can't wait to read more. Hope you all had a blast. We were there the 6-14th!

Welcome! You can definitely scan quickly through some of our old TRs if you feel the need! It was definitely a nice time and we made some great memories that we otherwise wouldn't have with just the two of us, so there's always a bright side. But yeah, family time can be a little tough! Ooh man looks like we were there right about the same time then! Keep a look out, maybe you'll spot yourself somewhere in the pictures!

 

[MarieLightning]

Oh my goodness!! I am so excited for this!

Following along of course

Yaaay Margaret! I'll definitely try to get going on being better at updating so you may have something to keep you busy during commuting!

YAY!!! I love your guys' TRs! Following along!

We love having you join in! Thanks, and I hope you'll enjoy it!

 

[MarieLightning]

Day 1, Part 1 - Coming Home

As usual, the story begins with leaving home (well, you know, 'practical' home. We all know what Home really is!).

This was a pretty easy departure. Our flight wasn't leaving until early evening, so we had a fairly leisurely morning of getting everything ready, making sure we hadn't forgotten anything.

We watched the last movie on our Disney Movie Countdown list (for those who didn't follow the PTR, it was TinkerBell and the Legend of the Neverbeast. Amber cried). We had a quick lunch, and then we were on our way!

It was actually really not faster at all to get from where we live now than it used to be, which is ironic because we now live in Montreal. But with the transit system being what it is, although we technically live fifteen minutes away from the airport (we literally have planes flying over our heads all the time), we had to drag our suitcases on the ten minutes walk to the subway, then take the subway south for about twenty minutes. From there, we caught the 'Express' bus to the airport.

I'm guessing there was a looot of traffic on the usually really quick and easy road, because the bus took a bunch of back roads, and we still ended up stuck in traffic for a good amount of time. Anyone that knows how my anxiety rolls will figure I was getting pretty stressed out about this, although we left home about three and a half hours before our flight departure time.

Thankfully, we made it to the airport with a decent amount of time in front of us - or well, enough. It was around 3:40 once we made it, so less than two hours before our departure time, which is my ideal amount of time to be there in advance. But we made due.

We checked in, and of course the Check In kiosks told us it couldn't process our check in at this time, so we had to wait in the check in line.

That done, it was time to go through Security, and then Customs.

In Montreal airport (and now a few more across Canada), they have this nifty little section with a bunch of kiosks where you basically scan your boarding pass and passport. It takes a picture, you fill in the usual questions (are you bringing ten grand in cash, did you visit a farm, and so on). Then, there's a few customs agents who look your paper over, ask a few questions, and you're good. Easy peasy.

Except the kiosks decided to tell me my passport wasn't as per the guidelines for required time of validity for travel. Erm... that doesn't sound good.

Amber was less than impressed with me. In her mind, she was already picturing us missing out on this Disney trip. Like, I was not getting on that plane. The US was not letting me in, guys.

Thing is, most international countries require passports to be valid up to six months after time of travel. Other countries, especially in the Caribbean, are more lenient, and three months can be good.

But for us Canadians to enter the States, it's basically like... your passport's good until you come back? Cool, go on then.

My passport expires in March. From November, that gave me five months. So of course, I didn't see fit to renew it before Disney time.

And once we got to the actual Customs section (because of course, for people traveling with passports other than Canadian or American, they have to have regular customs still), the customs agent didn't seem to blink twice at my passport.

I did tell Amber she was stressing out (and stressing me out) for nothing.

My guess is those machines aren't built to recognize exactly where you're going. They just go by the international six months standard.

So with all of that settled, we headed out toward our gate and made our usual dinner pit stop.

Burger King!

It's really not that we like Burger King that much. It's just that that's pretty much the only non expensive food option in the US departure gate area that we will eat something at.

We had our food, earlier than planned - originally we'd thought of ordering a little before departure time, and then eating on the plane to avoid needing dinner one we arrived at the resort. Spoiler alert: it didn't work.

Then we headed over to our gate, where we checked in our carry on luggage because, as expected, they needed volunteers to do so since it was a full flight and they would run out of overhead space. We didn't mind doing it this year, as with our late arrival, we were picking up our bags at luggage claim anyway. It did cause a bit of an argument when packing because Amber did not want the bears to go in one of those, in case it got lost, and other carry on space was getting scarce - but we managed.

We boarded and departed on time, at 5:15 PM. It was an Air Canada Rouge flight, meaning they didn't have the usual flight entertainment system, but we used the App they provide WiFi for to watch some movies.

Amber watched a bit of Winnie the Pooh, but she really ended up sleeping for most of the flight.

I watched The First Wives Club, and once that was over, a couple of Modern Family episodes.

Around 8:40 PM, we landed into Orlando International Airport! Yay!

We then took the Fake-o-Rail to the main terminal, which was foreshadowing for the rest of the week - it was crow-ded.

(My shortness limited a proper overlook of how crowded it was, but you get the gist)

We made our way over to luggage claim, where we waited a few minutes for our bags. It didn't really take much time, I'd say less than fifteen, which isn't terrible. We did have this new advertisement to look at, too.

Finally, it was time to head to our favorite place of the Orlando Airport - the Magical Express boarding area!

They still have festive fall decorations. No Christmas for these guys in early November.

We had not received our Magical Express departure voucher in the mail, which was not ideal, but we just ended up bringing a couple of old MagicBands still linked to our MDE accounts, and we were able to just scan them and get in with no problem. Winning!

It wasn't a long wait until we boarded, and as we were first in line, we were able to get the seats of honor - the second row! (Just after those reserved seats, so that really does make the second row the row of honor if the bus isn't full).

Walt Disney World, here we come!

The ride was as usual. We watched the sad, new video. I just kept waiting for them to start playing old time movies, and they sure took their sweet time at it.

Before too long, we were finally seeing this.

Welcome home!

They dropped people off at Coronado Springs first. Then, All-Star Sports, to which we promised that we'd see it soon.

Then, it was our turn to get off at the All-Star Music!

We were pretty curious to see if our two nights stay would redeem it in our hearts, after our October 2013 trip.

In all honesty, it was again nothing special, again an obnoxiously long walk to our rooms. It wasn't bad, but it'll never be one of our favorites. Although, we did see a lot more of it that trip than we ever expected to (foreshadowing...).

Check in was a smooth process, and we then made the decision to go drop our bags off at our room before coming back to the food court to eat. Although we made a request for the Rock Inn buildings (for convenience once we'd have to cross over to the Sports), we got put in Country Fair.

We dropped off our stuff and trekked all the way back to the food court.

Amber got herself some chili cheese fries.

And I opted for a kid's meal. It consisted of pizza, fries for side, yogurt for dessert and a chocolate milk.

It was all pretty good. Standard food court food - I did like that their kid's meal pizza was basically a smaller slice of the pizza they serve for adult meals. And obviously, plenty of food.

Once we were fed, we made our way back to our room and crashed for the night. We had some good plans for the next day that we wanted to be rested for!


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[MarieLightning]

Day 2, Part 1 - Send Me On My Way

Our very first morning, we figured we should get up at a decent time, but not tooooo early. So we set our wake up call for 7:40, giving us about twenty minutes to catch the bus at 8.

We ended up waking up at 6:40.

Obviously, we were excited!

We did laze around some. Catching up on the interwebs, playing some games on our tablet.

Amber got dressed and headed out so that she could go get change for tipping, as we didn't have very many ones.

Of course, she took a few pictures along the way.

Once she returned, we finished getting ready and put out our first MouseKeeping envelope.

We made our way back over to the lobby area so that we could get on the bus to our very first park of the trip, snapping a few more photos as we walked.

We bypassed the store, cause obviously we had better places to be at that point.

So ready to get going!

Obviously, to the Magic Kingdom!

Then, this weird thing happened. As we were waiting for the bus to come along, this thing pulled up.

Huh.

We ended up deciding that, seeing as it was Marathon weekend, Disney had probably decided to make the most of the buses it chartered for that time. Hence, we boarded this very non magical motorcoach as I mourned hearing my favorite bus park arrival greeting loop.

But of course, I didn't have much time to be distressed, because before too long...

Hello Magic Kingdom! It's so good to see you!

I was a little anxious as to where the bus would drop us off. Typically, these kind of motorcoaches are shuttle for non Disney or off property resorts, and they don't drop off at the usual bus stop.

I was pretty worried that it would bring us to the TTC and we'd have to the fight the crowds to the monorail.

Thankfully, I worried for nothing as we got dropped off in the usual location.

Aaah. Beautiful.

Okay, that too.

We got through security without too much hassle, but just as we were nearing the entrance, we hit a road block as there were already too many people waiting for the park to open. We had to wait for the morning show to run its course and the crowds to be let in on Main Street so that it would clear enough space to let more people in.

As such, this was our view of the morning show.

Oh well. We've had it worse.

Before too long, the masses started moving forward, and we scanned our bands to follow along.

And we're in!

It was our first time seeing the Magic Kingdom Christmas tree. It was beautiful.

Main Street U.S.A., looking gorgeous as usual - even more so, all decked for the holidays.

Soon, we started zooming part people - we had place to be, guys!

We took a left at the hub, leaving behind the greater majority of the crowds.

Hello, new hub!

It was also our first time seeing the new, expanded hub, and we definitely loved it!

We walked toward Adventureland, where we saw this bit of construction as they were finishing off what would soon become Skipper's Canteen.

Up and around Cinderella Castle!

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[SoccerDogWithEars]

We watched the last movie on our Disney Movie Countdown list (for those who didn't follow the PTR, it was TinkerBell and the Legend of the Neverbeast. Amber cried)

I bawled. That movie just wreaked havoc on my emotions.

Anyone that knows how my anxiety rolls will figure I was getting pretty stressed out about this, although we left home about three and a half hours before our flight departure time.

This is me. Normally, I'm pretty chill, but if I think we're going to be "late" I completely freak out. Especially with travel.

I just kept waiting for them to start playing old time movies, and they sure took their sweet time at it.

When we took it to Yacht Club, I think they had only JUST started the cartoons. Not a fan of the new movie at all. And then you get stuck with it on the way back too.

We ended up waking up at 6:40.

Obviously, we were excited!

Also me haha. It drove my fiance crazy, because at home I HATE waking up early. When we were at Disney he kept trying to get me to sleep in, and I would actually yell at him. "At Disney, we have to GET UP!"

Then, this weird thing happened. As we were waiting for the bus to come along, this thing pulled up.

I might have rebelled and refused to get on it.

Soon, we started zooming part people - we had place to be, guys!

Where? WHEERRRRRRE?????

 

[Li Li]

Hi, I'm here!! No need to worry, I got an even later start to my TR than you did! Excited to see where we missed each other as I know we had overlapping plans! Honestly, I think I feel too overwhelmed by Disney to be on the lookout for fellow DIS'ers. In fact, I think I could have probably passed by my own mom in the park and not even noticed!

 

[oOJulieOo]

Joining in to say that your tip envelope is amazing. Seriously.

 

[MarieLightning]

I bawled. That movie just wreaked havoc on my emotions.

This is me. Normally, I'm pretty chill, but if I think we're going to be "late" I completely freak out. Especially with travel.

When we took it to Yacht Club, I think they had only JUST started the cartoons. Not a fan of the new movie at all. And then you get stuck with it on the way back too.

Also me haha. It drove my fiance crazy, because at home I HATE waking up early. When we were at Disney he kept trying to get me to sleep in, and I would actually yell at him. "At Disney, we have to GET UP!"

I might have rebelled and refused to get on it.

Where? WHEERRRRRRE?????

I just have to mention the title of the movie, and Amber will go "When he wakes up they'll all be deeeaaad" and then starts crying. Same thing happens with Big Hero 6. If she thinks about it too much, namely Tadashi, she'll go "He never got to see all the good Baymax did". And then cries.

I hate being late. Hate it. I once actually ended up calling sick at work because I was gonna be late, and the idea of being late caused me so much anxiety that I started crying and having more anxiety and I did not go in.

That new movie just does not convey the same levels of magic to me. Like, Gus the bus driver dude is pretty cool, but that's about it. And it does take waaayyy too much time before they start the cartoons.

I am typically not a morning person, but Disney is the exception.

I almost did. I did tell Amber that we should just wait for the regular bus, but she thought I was silly so we just got on.

TO HAPPY PLACES

Hi, I'm here!! No need to worry, I got an even later start to my TR than you did! Excited to see where we missed each other as I know we had overlapping plans! Honestly, I think I feel too overwhelmed by Disney to be on the lookout for fellow DIS'ers. In fact, I think I could have probably passed by my own mom in the park and not even noticed!

Funny story - on our second Magic Kingdom day, we were at Splash Mountain at the same time as another Dis-er we were meeting up with the next day. We never even spotted her, and she does think she saw us but she wasn't sure at the time so she didn't come forward. We confirmed that we had really been there at the same time the next day.

Joining in to say that your tip envelope is amazing. Seriously.

Thank you! I spend way too much time of these every time, but it's kind of a therapeutic way to spend time while waiting for our trip to arrive!

 

[MarieLightning]

Day 2, Part 2 - Sugar We're Going Down

It wasn't too long before we found ourselves in our promise land - Frontierland!

We're creatures of habits, guys.

They were only just opening up the section by the time we got there, so we walked along quickly to try and beat the (small) crowd to our first ride of choice.

We were pretty curious to see this tarp up over Country Bears Jamboree, but we didn't stop to investigate.

We had places to be!

Splash Mountain!

No wait Mountains are the best Mountains, guys.

We zoomed through the queue and got right into a boat. First row.

And after the first tiny hill, I was already drenched.

Water level was high on that day. Very high.

So by the time we got down the main drop, there really wasn't much of us that was still dry. I did get the worst of it, but Amber was still pretty soaked as well.

And then... the craziest thing we've encountered during our whole trip happened. First morning, and we could not get over it for the rest of the trip. I posted the following on Facebook:

15 minutes into our first day, and we just witnessed the craziest thing we've ever seen at Walt Disney World.

We're just minding our own business on Splash Mountain, wiping off excess water after being thoroughly soaked from sitting up front.

When out comes this lady from the log in front of ours.

Up on the side she steps.

DOWN IN THE WATER SHE GOES.

Kid you not. Jumped. IN THE WATER.

And for what? Her child? Loved family heirloom? 1,000,000$?

Nope.

A tiara.

A. PLASTIC. TIARA.

Woman nearly got her legs chopped up for a piece of plastic.

Eventful morning.


Seriously though, we were both traumatized for the rest of the day. We kept thinking back on it at random moments and being like, I still cannot.

The worst part is, from where she got out and into the water, I guess there is no camera angle - so they did not see her get into the water.

Meaning, they did not E-Stop the ride.

Meaning, our log was still moving at normal speed while this insane woman got into the water right in front of us.

I was half expecting to run her over.

They did stop the ride briefly after that, and a Cast Member came to speak to her and her family, but she only spoke of her getting out of the log.

To this day, I regret not flagging her down and saying, btw, she actually got into the water.

I mean, who does that? Do people have no consciousness of how badly things can go when you don't follow the SAFETY RULES?

"I know you really wanted to keep that princess tiara honey. Sorry you had to watch mommy get run over by a Splash Mountain log."

Or I mean, it could have been a part of the ride with mechanism in the water. Mommy doesn't have legs anymore.

I really contemplated speaking up once we got off the ride, but seeing as their log was ahead of ours, by the time we got out, they were already gone.

So we simply got out of our log, tried to shake off that feeling of almost witnessing someone dying, and went on our way, scanning for our ride picture on the way.

We then walked right across to the next mountain on the list - Big Thunder!

That was another walk on, but as we got down to the train loading area, they wanted to put us in like, almost the very first row.

So for the first time, we asked if we could be seated in a specific area - namely, the back. And seeing as there was nobody, they simply sent us on our way to the very last row. Yay!

You can see the remnants of Splash water on me.

Ready for ride number one!

We got off, and seeing as there was still no wait, did what any normally constituted person (with no urgent plans for the morning and a love of Big Thunder Mountain) would do.

We went back for seconds!

And thirds.

By that point, it was nearing 10, and the wait was still very low. I asked Amber if she wanted to go again, and we talked it over before deciding that it was time to move on.

Not before getting a couple of Photopass pictures, of course.

We made our way back out of Frontierland, toward Liberty Square.

Passing by the Hall of Presidents. Which we still have not done.

Someday. Someday we'll step foot inside.

Well, actually, we have step foot inside before. We just didn't go further than that.

Can we take a brief moment to talk about how much skills these ladies have???

Those parasols are so gorgeous. She was working on a Frozen one, but there were those with aaall the Princesses on it too, and lord I wanted them.

Anyone ever feel like buying me one, go for it.

We walked by Heritage House at that point, and were reminded of Tiana's new meeting place, so of course we had to check it out!

And with her hidden away in there now, she's a pretty quick meet. At that time of day anyway, there was literally nobody else there.

We walked in, and at that point thought of the fact that it was Elsye's birthday, so we should have her hold up a sign wishing her a happy birthday to post online!

So we actually kinda walked in, she was there alone waiting for us to go forward, and we were like, oh, so sorry, can you actually just hold on for a second?

We're A+ people.

We did get it done pretty quickly, and hopped on over to get a picture with a lovely Tiana.

I would have taken another picture without the sign, but we were kind of ushered out (maybe she was going on break) and I would have felt awkward being like, sorry, actually, can we stick around for one more?

As such, we headed on our way, and I decided to make another important stop.

Sleepy Hollow!

The only time I've eaten there was during the Halloween party (and it was a delicious decision), so I wanted to give some of their usual offerings a try.

Okay, to be truthful, I really wanted that Nutella waffle sandwich, but I didn't want to eat one by myself seeing as we had lunch coming up before too long, and Amber does not like Nutella, so we compromised and got something we could share.

We found a spot to sit in in the shade, and as I was walking to the table, I walked by these ducks.

They didn't even move away. Disney ducks have lost the ability to care.

So we sat down to enjoy our morning feast of Strawberries and Whipped Cream Waffle!

It was really delicious, so even though it wasn't a Nutella waffle, it was still a good decision.

While eating, we witnessed more Disney birds with way too much chill.

And people feeding them -__- like there's not a bijillion signs around the parks that say DON'T FEED THE BIRDS, but I digress.

We finished our food and headed on our way toward Main Street U.S.A., with the hopes of catching the Dapper Dans.

First though, Amber wanted to sit in the hub grass. So she did.

She literally sat down. Got her picture taken. And then got back up. But hey, at least she tried it!

Verdict is, it would be a nice spot to sit and relax for a while if we ever sat and relaxed while at Disney World... (we need to start doing that more).

We cut through Casey's and the Emporium to head out onto Main Street, coming across this pretty adorable display.

And then we found them!

And proceeded to stalk them for about a minute to see if they were actually gonna start singing at any given time.


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[abarriger]

I have loved following your past trip reports and I just found this one-- can't wait to see where you go next and how you handle such a big group!

 

[MarieLightning]

I have loved following your past trip reports and I just found this one-- can't wait to see where you go next and how you handle such a big group!

I'm glad you've enjoyed our past reports, and happier still that you decided to join in for this one!

 

[MarieLightning]

It has been nearly a month since I updated this, and I have no other excuse than the fact that it's been the holidays - which, I do hope you all had a great Christmas/Hannukah/whatever it may be that you celebrate, and a happy New Year!

This year was definitely different too, being moved out, so normally I would have had a bit more ease to go about my daily routine, but not this time. Any time off I had, we spent it all over at my parents' place, and laptops were pretty much left out of the party time.

Winter is also the busiest season of the year at work, so that hasn't helped either.

But now it's time to get back on track, and to make up for how terrible I've been at updating, I have a treat for you all! (Which will be followed by two actual updates).

Amber has been working on putting together a trip video, and yesterday, she completed it!

So here it is, for anyone that may want to watch it!

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[MarieLightning]

Day 2, Part 3 - Clang, Clang, Clang, Went The Trolley

We did manage to catch the Dapper Dans for a very short performance, and then I jumped in for a quick picture.

We then found a spot out of the way along Main Street, so that we could catch the Trolley Show!

This was gonna be a first for us. We'd caught bits and pieces of it before, but we'd never actually stopped to watch the whole of it, and I was very excited to do so.

While waiting, Amber settled against a trash can to write some trip report notes. I don't think there's many other places than Disney where we would do that.

At long last, the Trolley Show started making its way down Main Street, and we got ready to be amazed.

Disney performers are the best. They're always so expressive and they look so happy to be there.

I really loved it, too, and now I'm excited to see it as it changes through the seasons. Granted, I have no idea when we'll be headed back in Spring, Summer or Fall, but someday it'll happen.

By the time it was done, it was time for us to start heading out. We had exciting lunch plans to make!

We made our way out of the Magic Kingdom, and headed to the Resort Boat Launch.

Direction, Wilderness Lodge!

All by ourselves, pretty much.

Well, and this Cast Member was there too.

We made it in a pretty good amount of time, and we instantly basked in the glory that is the Wilderness Lodge.

Seriously. This is ridiculous.

This resort is so incredibly gorgeous. Honestly, I don't think there's a way to describe the feel to it. I'm sure anyone that's seen it understands. It doesn't have the same posh fanciness of the Grand Floridian that makes you feel a bit more out of place, or the exotic feel of the Poly or Animal Kingdom Lodge. It feels warm and welcoming and all the same so beautiful and luxurious.

I want to stay there so bad.

We made our way inside the lobby, and of course Amber had to try a fancy chair.

Of course, the lobby itself is also incredibly fancy.

And the detailing is just amazing.

We soon came across the totem pole by the gift shop.

We had read before that rubbing Humphrey's nose brings good luck, and considering the kind of trip we had ahead, we figured we should definitely get in on that action!

A kind Cast Member stopped us as we were about to head on our way, and asked if we wanted a picture together, so of course we said yes.

We still had some time before our lunch reservation, so we settled in the lobby and relaxed a bit whilst enjoying the fanciness some more.

Giant. Fireplace.

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