The Dark Side, DVC Stay, Hoop Dee Doo & More-APRIL 2015 Trip Report***Completed 8/23***

[Fastpassminus]

Love this trip report! I was a huge fan of the dessert party before the price hike. Now not so much. It costs almost as much as HDDR or Pirates & Pals!! That's ludicrous!! Your pics look so yummy though

I am so glad you conquered EE! It's one of my favorite rides anywhere & such a blast!

Can't wait to read all about TH!

 

[PRomano]

Thanks for the Universal photo answers. I will add it to m y trip! My son is 10, he will love the wand and spells.

We loved the dessert party last year, but like you, I am not sure I will do it at double the cost. Tink didn't fly when we were there either! Oh well, the show was still great.

 

[buzzrelly]

Love this trip report! I was a huge fan of the dessert party before the price hike. Now not so much. It costs almost as much as HDDR or Pirates & Pals!! That's ludicrous!! Your pics look so yummy though

I am so glad you conquered EE! It's one of my favorite rides anywhere & such a blast!

Can't wait to read all about TH!

Thanks! I agree about EE…I can't wait to go back and ride again!

Thanks for the Universal photo answers. I will add it to m y trip! My son is 10, he will love the wand and spells.

We loved the dessert party last year, but like you, I am not sure I will do it at double the cost. Tink didn't fly when we were there either! Oh well, the show was still great.

I can't imagine what they could add that it would make it worth more than double the price? And even if it WAS wine/beer, that wouldn't be a draw for us because we probably wouldn't drink it. It's too bad they are changing it.

 

[ariane37]

Just found your TR! Really enjoyed all your pics and info on Universal, we're taking our boys 13 & 9 for the first time in August. DH and I went in 2000 but.....it's changed just about completely since the lol!
Did you have a bag or purse with you at Universal? One thing bothering me is the whole locker situation there. I've been reading the US/IOA forums and if I'm understanding correctly, you need to leave your bags in a locker at each ride and in some cases, empty your pockets, too......trying to figure out what I'm going to bring in to the parks and how much time the locker thing is going to suck up!
Also enjoyed the pictures of your BLT room We really want to stay there and tried to rent points for our Nov. stay, but no luck Not that I mind going back to our favorite BWV, but your pictures are making me wish we'd been able to get BLT!

 

[PRomano]

I agree about the dessert party, we don't drink either! I am so glad we did it last year, I can't imagine paying the higher price! Maybe if it wasn't 6 of us. This trip will just be 3, me and my younger 2 boys. My dh, oldest son and mother are staying home.

 

[buzzrelly]

I agree about the dessert party, we don't drink either! I am so glad we did it last year, I can't imagine paying the higher price! Maybe if it wasn't 6 of us. This trip will just be 3, me and my younger 2 boys. My dh, oldest son and mother are staying home.

Is that by choice? I keep hoping DS doesn't outgrow his love for Disney!

 

[buzzrelly]

Just found your TR! Really enjoyed all your pics and info on Universal, we're taking our boys 13 & 9 for the first time in August. DH and I went in 2000 but.....it's changed just about completely since the lol!
Did you have a bag or purse with you at Universal? One thing bothering me is the whole locker situation there. I've been reading the US/IOA forums and if I'm understanding correctly, you need to leave your bags in a locker at each ride and in some cases, empty your pockets, too......trying to figure out what I'm going to bring in to the parks and how much time the locker thing is going to suck up!
Also enjoyed the pictures of your BLT room We really want to stay there and tried to rent points for our Nov. stay, but no luck Not that I mind going back to our favorite BWV, but your pictures are making me wish we'd been able to get BLT!

Thanks! Your kids are at a great age for Universal, they'll love it!I wore a fanny pack (ugh!), but DM wore a bag AND we had our wands in these big, long bags, so I still had to deal with the lockers. Quite honestly, they were kind of a pain but didn't add all that much extra time on. Except when I FORGOT what our locker number was! I think it was after the Men in Black ride. I had to ask the locker attendant to open it for us, and then it wasn't the right one…somebody else's things were in there! We went through 3-4 lockers before we found our stuff!

BWV looks fantastic too! Can't beat that location!

 

[PRomano]

My oldest is 21. And we were just there last year. I added universal for him but he changed his mind. Now he wants to wait for the Nintendo rides. Dh decided he didn't want to come so we are leaving them home. I am going with my bf and a few of her kids and her Young granddaughter

 

[buzzrelly]

DAY 5-April 13, 2015
Part 2
Tusker House breakfast with Donald & friends

After riding EE and poking around in that store for a bit, we headed over to Tusker House for our 10:30 ADR. I had originally booked TH for a pre-park opening breakfast, but decided to make it for a later time because I KNEW if I was going to ride EE, I wouldn't want to do it on a full stomach! Also, we've had pretty good luck in past years of the kids getting to ride EE a few times with no lines first thing in the morning. This was the smartest thing I did all trip. We aren't big eaters first thing in the morning, but I've always done those early breakfasts just to get into the parks early. I don't think I will be doing that anymore. Eating breakfast at 10:30 held us over until dinner (well…I'm sure we had a couple snacks along the way). Anyway, we got to TH around 10:15 and were seated fairly quickly…


Our waitress came over and poured us some yummy juice. I was skeptical at first but it was really good…I don't remember if it was java juice or passion fruit juice, but we all liked it. She explained how all the stations worked and told us to go up anytime. Here's DS with his first plate of food…

Cinnamon buns…his favorite!

I think this is my plate…


Don't ask what exactly this all was, but it was yummy. We had plenty of time to go up and get back before the characters started coming.



I don't know why DS felt like he had to crouch next to Daisy…

but he definitely didn't need to crouch with this guy!


Here's the big cheese…


DM with the buffet room in the background...


All in all, a great breakfast…good food, and good character interaction. We will definitely add this to our list and definitely shoot for the same time frame.

We were all nourished and ready to head to our first FP+, Kilimanjaro Safari.

 

[PRomano]

Great update. We enjoyed th last summer. Did you have the dining plan? I'm still trying to decide!

 

[Nohal]

Loving your trip report. We also went to Universal this year after not being there for 20 years. Looking forward to the rest of your trip report.

 

[ariane37]

Thanks! Your kids are at a great age for Universal, they'll love it!I wore a fanny pack (ugh!), but DM wore a bag AND we had our wands in these big, long bags, so I still had to deal with the lockers. Quite honestly, they were kind of a pain but didn't add all that much extra time on. Except when I FORGOT what our locker number was! I think it was after the Men in Black ride. I had to ask the locker attendant to open it for us, and then it wasn't the right one…somebody else's things were in there! We went through 3-4 lockers before we found our stuff!

BWV looks fantastic too! Can't beat that location!

Thanks for this! I'm pretty sure I'll end up with some bag, whether it's my regular cross-body or something else, so we're pretty much destined for the lockers. Still very excited though! We've thought about going in the past but they seemed a bit young; their ages now do seem ideal I'll have to put DH in charge or remembering which locker is ours, his memory is much better lol!

Glad you enjoyed TH, we always do. I also prefer a later breakfast. We'll keep granola bars and pop tarts in the room and eat one on the way out if we have a mid-morning breakfast planned. When the kids were younger the pre-park breakfasts were ok, now just not as important. I can eat whenever but DH and older DS need a few hours after waking up to eat anything substantial.

BWV are great! I totally get the appeal of walking to MK and want to be able to do that. Being able to walk to EPCOT (or boat) whenever you want-for breakfast at Les Halles, just for dinner or to get some drinks, and then having a quick walk back after Illuminations (just like after wishes ) is fabulous. And when you're walking back at night the whole BW area is so pretty all lit up!

 

[ANforever1030]

Joining. I'm loving the TR so far. DF and I debated using our extra honeymoon days and going to US/IOA, but we wanted to relax and we felt that US may require a separate trip as we're both big HP fans. In fact, when she was in London last year she visited the HP film set.

 

[buzzrelly]

Great update. We enjoyed th last summer. Did you have the dining plan? I'm still trying to decide!

Thanks! We actually did not have the dining plan this year. And I REALLY thought I would miss not having it, but we didn't miss it one bit! I did have the Tables in Wonderland card which is a 20% discount on table service meals. Plus, my mom and I shared some meals or we'd get a salad and entree and share. And DD almost always orders off the kid's menu, even she we are on the dining plan. When we got home I totaled up how much we spent and we paid way less than we would have for the dining plan. If I did it correctly, we saved about $500, and we didn't have to keep track of credits, etc. I don't think I would ever get the dining plan again.

Loving your trip report. We also went to Universal this year after not being there for 20 years. Looking forward to the rest of your trip report.

Thanks! Hope you don't have to wait another 20 years to go back again

Thanks for this! I'm pretty sure I'll end up with some bag, whether it's my regular cross-body or something else, so we're pretty much destined for the lockers. Still very excited though! We've thought about going in the past but they seemed a bit young; their ages now do seem ideal I'll have to put DH in charge or remembering which locker is ours, his memory is much better lol!

Glad you enjoyed TH, we always do. I also prefer a later breakfast. We'll keep granola bars and pop tarts in the room and eat one on the way out if we have a mid-morning breakfast planned. When the kids were younger the pre-park breakfasts were ok, now just not as important. I can eat whenever but DH and older DS need a few hours after waking up to eat anything substantial.

BWV are great! I totally get the appeal of walking to MK and want to be able to do that. Being able to walk to EPCOT (or boat) whenever you want-for breakfast at Les Halles, just for dinner or to get some drinks, and then having a quick walk back after Illuminations (just like after wishes ) is fabulous. And when you're walking back at night the whole BW area is so pretty all lit up!

A couple years ago, DH and I went alone and stayed at The BC and LOVED it. I would love to try for the BCV again someday, but we are REALLY attached to the MK! Though, I do love that pool at the BC! Decisions, decisions!

Joining. I'm loving the TR so far. DF and I debated using our extra honeymoon days and going to US/IOA, but we wanted to relax and we felt that US may require a separate trip as we're both big HP fans. In fact, when she was in London last year she visited the HP film set.

Thank you! You should go! You'd really only need 2-3 days there, and you can relax in the afternoons. The pool at Royal Pacific is lovely! I'm sure the actual film set was way cooler though! Happy Honeymooning!

 

[buzzrelly]

DAY 5-April 13, 2015
Part 3
Animal Kingdom in a nutshell...

Our three FP+ reservations were for Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids, and Expedition Everest. We first headed to KS…






Then we walked through the Gorilla area. I could stand and watch them all day, especially when there's a baby gorilla…the baby is hard to see in this pic, but it's the best I had.


I think we headed right to The Festival of the Lion King after that and then over to Kali. It was getting really hot by now and we were looking forward to cooling off on Kali. Thank goodness we had a FP for it, the stand-by line was 60 minutes or so…yikes!…but we got on fairly quickly. Then we headed over to the Tree of Life and did "It's Tough to be a Bug," which I really like, but the kids don't really care for…remember that HP ride at universal?! Bugs and spiders are just not their thing!



I love this tree…even though it's not really a tree…haha!






We also snuck in the Flights of Wonder show somewhere in there. The kids and I have always skipped this show in the past…just walked on by and didn't really care to go see it. But DH and I went by ourselves in 2013 and went to see the FofW show and loved it! So I kind of dragged the kids in, and they loved it too, as did DM. When I was a LOT younger, my uncle used to have a yellow-naped amazon parrot that she used to get a kick out of. I think she liked seeing one of those again at the show. The show is educational and funny…I definitely recommend it of you've never been!

On the way out, I realized I forgot to stop at the sign that is inside the park to get a pic. Thankfully, we did remember to stop here…


We left AK around 3:30, which is usually about the time we leave here. AK has never been my favorite park…I rank it 4th after MK, DHS, and EPCOT. But in the past 2-3 trips, AK is kind of growing on me, I enjoy it more now then I ever did. However, it is still very much a half day park for us. We usually split it with an evening at DtD, which is just what we did this year. I can't wait until the new River of Light show though. I think I would definitely be interested in seeing that and staying later at the park.

But until then…Downtown Disney, here we come!

 

[buzzrelly]

My oldest is 21. And we were just there last year. I added universal for him but he changed his mind. Now he wants to wait for the Nintendo rides. Dh decided he didn't want to come so we are leaving them home. I am going with my bf and a few of her kids and her Young granddaughter

Nintendo rides? That sounds like it would be right in DS's wheelhouse! We may have to go back in a couple years to check that out!

 

[buzzrelly]

Day 5-April13, 2015
Part 4
A Little Bit Goofy

We were very excited to see that there was a direct bus to Downtown Disney from Animal Kingdom! In years past, we had to take the bus to AKL and from there to DtD. This was way more convenient, and I'm so happy they decided at add park-to-park bus service. We got to DtD around 4:30…


The kids were dying to go over to Disney Quest. We had already decided that they could go over there by themselves as long as they took their cell phones and stayed together. I'm such a nervous Nellie , and I have never allowed them to go off on their own before, but they are pretty responsible kids and they been there enough to know their way around. And honestly, the LAST thing I want to do at DtD is follow them around in the dark watching them play videos games and I feel that they are finally old enough so that I don't have to do that anymore…one of the (few) perks of having a teen and tween!

So they went over to DQ and DM and I shopped in the stores and had a relaxing dinner at Earl of Sandwich, which I usually love but I think I ordered the wrong thing this year. I got the Caprese and the dressing wasn't very good. Mom got some chicken sandwich. I got a picture of neither.

On a side note, can I just say that I LOVE magic bands and the fact that they allow you to charge on them! I allowed the kids charging privileges and they ended up eating dinner together at DQ. How awesome is that?! Plus, throughout our stay, they could grab a snack whenever they wanted…this is especially important for DS who seems to snack all day…have you SEEN the size of him?! LOL!

The kids didn't stay at DQ for very long, but it was so nice and relaxing to just shop and poke around without them, especially DS who HATES shopping!

When they got back, we went over to Goofy's,


for one of our FAVORITE treats…




Yummy…Rice Krispie Treats!


They make us happy!

Seriously, I can eat a bunch of these while I'm there and always bring some home with me too! The are so yummy! Here's our masterpieces…DD usually adds cookies or candies. I prefer just the chocolate, and so does DS
…






Don't those look yummy?! After Goofy's we headed out of DtD, since we had to get up SUPER early for Hollywood Studios the next day. I like to be there before rope drop since they usually open a little earlier than that.

Up next-Hollywood Studios...

 

[Cando86]

I just found your report and am loving it!
Your part on Universal seriously made me go to their website to check tickets prices to see if we could fit it in next trip
Ahh Rice Krispie treats are my favorite too! Yours look awesome

Can't wait to read more !

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Hi there! Joining in! I am enjoying your TR I'll be staying with my son (he'll be 7 at the time) at BLT for the first time in Dec 2016 so I'm happy to hear ya'll liked it!

Looks like a great trip so far - Hoop de doo is a tradition of ours so I'm excited to see what you guys thought of it! Looking forward to reading more!

 

[PRomano]

My kids enjoyed disney quest and of course goofys kitchen!!