November 2013 - Goodbye POP, Hello French Quarter!

[alan_renfroe]

Loving this trip report! Great update! Sounds like an almost perfect day at Epcot! Sorry the Mexican CS was sub-par.

 

[kaetra]

Loving this trip report! Great update! Sounds like an almost perfect day at Epcot! Sorry the Mexican CS was sub-par.

Yes, the food used to be one of our favorite parts of Epcot, but the food at Epcot seems to have changed quite a bit since our last trip. Sunshine Seasons has removed all of their delicious ala carte items, our favorite bakery/sandwich shop in France got converted to an ice cream shop, and Japan lost all of it's quality. It was very hard to find decent eats this go around. We used to really look forward to going to the French bakery for sandwiches and croissants, we'll miss that the most I think.

I have a couple more resort pool area pics that I'll be posting in the next update for you. With your upcoming trip to POFQ in May I bet you're interested in more French Quarter pics!

 

[ZehnJahren]

I'm here too!

Our days overlapped some; I went to the 12/14 MVMCP myself! Plus I live in the Chicago area so I had to read your TR as well.

I thought crowds were pretty good; not too bad of waits when I had to wait, so I was happy. Plus I was solo so I could do some solo lines as well.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Yes, the food used to be one of our favorite parts of Epcot, but the food at Epcot seems to have changed quite a bit since our last trip. Sunshine Seasons has removed all of their delicious ala carte items, our favorite bakery/sandwich shop in France got converted to an ice cream shop, and Japan lost all of it's quality. It was very hard to find decent eats this go around. We used to really look forward to going to the French bakery for sandwiches and croissants, we'll miss that the most I think.

I have a couple more resort pool area pics that I'll be posting in the next update for you. With your upcoming trip to POFQ in May I bet you're interested in more French Quarter pics!

I think that the food quality slip has to do with the lack of visitors at Epcot.

Hard to run those restaurants profitably with FRESH food when so few people are buying the food.

I have to say, though, that the time you had with your DD brings tears to my eyes.

Loving this report...thank you for sharing this with us.

 

[tweetylori]

Enjoying your report...thanks!

 

[ElenaJane]

Just found your trip report and following along! Great pics!

 

[kaetra]

Animal Kingdom No-Lines Mega Mega Ride Day!! Nov. 18th

This may hold the record for the longest pause in between TR updates! Well here goes...

I love Animal Kingdom! It is home to our favorite coaster - Expedition Everest! As the title implies the crowds were ultra-light today and everything was walk-on ALL DAY. Fast Passes were not even remotely an issue and I cannot even count the number of times we went on EE. Now for some pics!

Arrival - The Amazing AK Christmas Tree


First attraction - Kilimanjaro Safari's Baby Giraffe and Mama


Drumming it Up


Heading to Asia


Yeti Time!


Happiness

 

[kaetra]

One of our Favorite Little Nooks in AK


The Amazing Snowman of Dinoland


I am Terrified of Dinosaur. Yes, I did pee my pants again.


Festival of the Lion King - The perfect way to end an AK day

 

[kaetra]

After AK went drove off site for some dinner, then headed back to our resort and spent the evening at POFQ's awesome pool. It was a tad cool, but the water was very nice. I had a lovely soak in the hot tub and the kid had some water sliding fun!

A bit creepy...


A bit toothy...


A bit blurry (sorry)...

 

[kaetra]

Nov 19 - Tuesday - The Less Beaten Path at Magic Kingdom

Today's adventure starts with a delightful ferry ride to Magic Kingdom! (And no, we still didn't make it in time for Rope Drop! That is an adventure for next trip, for sure, I mean it!)



We have a very special breakfast to attend at the lovely Crystal Palace. We had the most beautiful, sparkling, lovely morning. This was our view while we waited for our table



Someone was very anxious to meet Pooh and the gang! Poinsettias abound in the Hundred Acre Wood, 'tis the season.





We had the BEST server EVER, and lots of friendly visits. Even Eeyore was having trouble being gloomy.





After a scrumptious meal loaded with hugs, we met this pretty fellow outside.

 

[kaetra]

The crowds were starting to build quite a bit already, so we decided to explore the Magic Kingdom's less beaten paths today. We headed to the Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom headquarters to get some new cards! While the kiddo gets to play this really fun game, I get to take lots of photos of gorgeous nooks and crannies, and some of my favorite details around the Kingdom.

After getting our cards and game started, we head towards the rear of the castle to one of our favorite attractions and pop in for a quick 4D escape between Sorcerer's fun.





I love this Beanstalk


And doesn't the castle look cool from this perspective?





"Rapunzel's Toilet" was on my must do list. Only Disney could get away with making a restroom an attraction I think





When I got married, I registered for a cast iron skillet to use to keep hubby in line. Every lady (and soldier) should have one!

 

[kaetra]

We need to head over to the next Sorcerer's battle that's near the spitting camels. From this angle, this guy looks like he's wearing a fancy headdress -



While we're in the area we debate if we want to also do the Pirate's Adventures at the same time as Sorcerer's. We decide against it though, she's having too much fun with Sorcerer's. We do make time for our Pirates FP



We also manage to squeeze in a Splash. It's so hard to get good pictures inside here, but this one didn't turn out too terrible -



We start heading back towards Main Street to finish up our quest, and while she plays I explore some quiet areas. I can't believe my luck to find no people back here because Main Street is packed!





We finish up Sorcerer's and see Kythe's FAVORITE character Pluto. Pluto is the only character she is willing to wait in line for, so we hop in the queue. While we wait, I notice a funny lady who is parked directly behind Pluto's greet/photo spot. She is wearing GIANT joke-shop sunglasses and pulling funny faces while people get their pictures taken - she's discretely photo-bombing everyone!! Hahahahaha! Seriously - ZOOM in and check out the glasses...




We head back to POFQ for afternoon nibbles and swims, then when night falls we go back to MK for fireworks.





Goodnight Magic Kingdom! LOVE YOU!

 

[kaetra]

Nov 20 - Wednesday - Easing out of WDW with Hollywood Studios

Our last day of the trip was a short one. Unfortunately our flight home left at 3:15PM. Thankfully we had the rental car so at least we would have a couple hours more time than if we had to take Magical Express back. Our late in/early out flights were one of the main reasons I got the car, so that we could maximize our WDW time.

We decided to ease our way out of the trip by going to Hollywood Studios. This is not our favorite park , so I figured we'd do it on our shortest day.

We arrived only a few minutes after rope drop, having packed up the night before. Headed straight to TSMM to find a 90 minute queue and the paper FPs return time was 8:30 that evening. I was not able to get FP+ for TSMM on this trip - it was all gone when I reserved online. It was a spontaneous trip, so I didn't have a chance to do my FP+ reservations right at 60 days, it was more like 45 days. So, no TSMM this time - oh well. We did meet this nice fellow outside the TSMM queue -



So we started wandering the park a bit, and made our way to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. When she was younger, I never took her here because there are multiple ways out and I didn't want to lose her. Now that she's 10 I figured it would be OK (OMG I'm a helicopter mom!) She had lots of fun, even though she's never seen the movie -





We tried to get onto Star Tours, but I believe it was closed. So we milled around aimlessly for a bit, then headed back to the other side of the park and went on the Great Movie Ride (Gangster) and saw the Little Mermaid show. We used the one FP+ I was able to get for that day in our time-range for Aerosmith. After the ride was over we hustled back to the park entrance and stopped for a couple quick photos before we boogied out of there.



Goodbye Hat! Nice knowing ya!


We had an AMAZING Mother-Daughter trip, and I was so glad to squeeze it in before FP- was eliminated from WDW services. So many great memories and beautiful sites! I can't wait to go back with the whole family!

See you real soon!!