Tut, Tut, It Looks Like Rain, A Very Merry Thanksgiving TR Updated 4/28!!

[BlvInMagic]

You are so right, AK is always such an exhausting park for our family too. I bet it's because the park is deceivingly large and the attractions are so far apart. We constantly find ourselves double-backing, even with the best of Fast-Pass+ plans ... i yi yi! We can't wait for Avatarland too... it's a good reason to start booking another trip....hee!

 

[PrncessA]

Thank you to everyone who is sticking with me! I have been crazy busy with school and work lately and although I have the next part written, I have to get the photos ready for it.

But guess what??? I was published here on the Dis!!
http://www.wdwinfo.com/walt-disney-world/the-evolution-of-a-familys-disney-vacation/

 

[Chicago Mo]

This was the best article i have ever read.. Hit so close to home and perfectly written!
All those emotions!!!

 

[MissMaryQC]

LOVED the article! I'm so glad Disney World has grown with you guys!

I'm still teary eyed, in the best way.

 

[PrncessA]

After our relaxing night, it was up before the sun the next morning… or at least I was.

I of course ran to El Centro to grab some coffee. I was surprised at how many people were there at 6:15am. The crowds were definitely beginning to show even at the resorts!

After returning with the coffee, we got the kids up and got ready. Since we had an early breakfast ADR, we didn’t worry about breakfast in the room, which saved some time. I have no photos of us at the bus stop, which tells me we probably didn’t wait that long… my next photo is of us walking from the bus stop at MK at 7:32! We were on the ball and early this morning!

We weren’t the only ones of course:

I wish I could motivate my family to get up early without an ADR like these people!

They began to let us in at 7:45am

and we were welcome with a nearly empty Main Street.

Our ADR wasn’t until 8:15, so we really took our time on Main Street, before heading down to the castle. I give you our walk down Main Street:

We took some photopass photos and took a ton of our own. I love the times in the MK where you aren’t being rushed, people aren’t everywhere, and you can just enjoy the beauty of your surroundings.

The Magic Kingdom is my happy place, no matter if it is empty in the mornings, packed in the afternoon, or dark at night, being there makes me happy. But let’s be honest it is always a bit more happy when the crowds aren’t swarming!

After we got our fill of photos, we headed over to check in for our breakfast at the Crystal Palace.

 

[PrncessA]

We were seated very quickly and this was our view:

Now that is a table with a view! Happy Place!

Our server explained that Tigger would not be coming around to each of the tables this morning, but he would be making an appearance in the foyer, and he would make sure we were ready to run. He said this nearly every time he visited our table. I almost thought that Tigger would only have time to meet with one family and he was making sure it was us, LOL.

I love the photos from this breakfast. The kids are not huge Winnie the Pooh fans but the smiles on their faces were priceless this morning. The Disney magic was evident this morning.

First up was our pal Pooh Bear, who missed Ethan, who I believe was waiting for something to be refreshed at the buffet.

But no worries, Pooh made sure he came right back as soon as Ethan got back to the table.

Ethan had barely taken a bite when our server ran over too us to let us know Tigger was coming… so we bolted to the foyer and we were one of the first families there. To be honest Tigger was a bit of a let down, no energy or interaction, just a photo…

E still had to go in for one last hug!

Erik was facing Main Street and suddenly he was laughing, they had opened the park and the mob had made it to the end of Main Street and was headed toward 7DMT and Anna and Elsa. We were glad we were eating breakfast!

Next up Piglet visited.

And Lorelai compared her ears with Piglet’s.

Finally we were visited by Eeyore, which was good because we were ready to hit the park!

Ethan LOVED the topiaries so we took some photos of them while waiting on Erik to return from the bathroom.

The Crystal Palace is a really beautiful location, it screams Disney to me.

Finally we ready to head into the park.

We joined the crowd into the castle, but it quickly dispersed toward 7DMT and we were basically alone.

Our first stop?

Of course we wanted to try our hand at removing the sword in the stone!

Lorelai was determined….

Ethan maybe…

Surely Dad can get it out…

I made my feeble attempt.

Alas no one was crown king.. or queen. Never the less, we can still use some beautiful bathrooms, which was our next destination.

I had never seen this area so empty during the day, it is usually the worst area for bottlenecks in the park!

 

[PrncessA]

Ahh the royal toilets!

It is so strange that Disney spent so much time on these bathrooms, but they really are unique. Ethan even ask to take the camera into the men’s bathroom when he came out, but I didn’t think it was a good idea. We spent some time looking for Pascals and we did find a couple.

After our fancy bathroom break we headed to a family favorite… which of course said it had a 13 minute wait (which Ethan LOVED) but it was a walk on.

There was no one behind us in line, so we actually were able to stop and enjoy a few of the treasures in the queue.

The Haunted Mansion became a bigger hit than ever before on this trip. The kids got a kick out of falling off of the attic balcony and counting the bride’s pearl necklaces. It was a lot of fun to watch really experience the rides in a new way this time.

You can really tell the WDW is my happy place, I never stop smiling… even when I am suppose to look scared.

We wandered around Liberty Square, thought about heading into the Hall of President’s, since Lorelai’s teacher wanted her to take photos and tell the class about it when she returned to school. But I couldn’t honestly let an empty park go to waste, when we could go to the HofP any time without a wait.

Instead we headed into Adventureland:

And we ran into a character we have never met before!

No not Lorelai!

Rafinki!

He was amazed at Lorelai’s zipper, which had Ethan confused and amused. LOL

 

[PrncessA]

We followed that up with our very first daytime ride on The Jungle… I mean Jingle Cruise, since there was no wait at all. I didn’t take any photos with my camera, only with my phone, I think I was trying to let my camera charge a bit on the portable charger, since I had taken a lot of video that morning and it drains the battery.

The backside of … Egg Nog.

I wish I had video of this ride, because our Skipper, Patsy Jane, was HILARIOUS!! The ride its self was filled with all the great jokes… and the backside of Egg Nog of course. But the best part of the ride came when we were the next boat to dock, but we were delayed for an extra 5 minutes or so while they added an ADA boat and loaded a wheelchair. Patsy Jane spent the entire delay telling non-stop Skipper jokes and had us crying laughing by the time we unloaded.

After our journey into the jungle, we were transported to Agrabah, where we flew on Aladdin’s magic carpets! I tried getting a selfie with Lorelai, but she just was NOT having it!

Ethan was more corporative with Erik.

Next up was a ride on Pirates, which never disappoints.

We spotted Jack…

Placed a bid on the red head…

And aided in a prison heist…

Have you seen the video of the new PotC in Shanghai? OMGoodness, I wish I could experience that ride!

We of course played around in the drop shop, which is by and far the kids’ favorite in all of WDW.

Lorelai found a bracelet that she just had to have. She wanted it bad enough to pay for it herself, so she did.

The computers were running very slow, so to keep her busy they had her sign their Pirate’s Log.

 

[PrncessA]

At that point Lorelai and Ethan have very different objectives for what they wanted to do. Ethan wanted to play some of his SotMK, and Lorelai wanted to ride Splash Mountain. I wanted a Dole Whip and Erik wanted nothing to do with walking around watching Ethan play a game. We decided to split up for a bit, I would go with Ethan and Erik would go with Lorelai and we would meet up on Main Street.

So Ethan and I headed back to Main Street to finish his game there… we first had to stop and get me my Dole Whip Float.

A little cup of heaven!

Ethan noticed the broken tiles that are embedded into the cement, which made me really proud as a Disney fan. I made a note to show him the peanuts near Dumbo. As we were headed out of Adventureland I noticed the sign for the Skipper Canteen and wished it was open already!

In a way I am glad it wasn’t. The menu turned out to be too exotic for our tastes…

I noticed a Photopass photographer who wasn’t busy so we stopped and took some Mother/Son pics.

And now I give you a photo journal of me…. Following Ethan around while he plays SotMK.

When he vanquished whatever villain was terrorizing Main Street, we were sent to Adventureland to continue our adventure. Since we still had a bit of time before we needed to meet up with Erik and Lorelai we headed over and continued our game…

At the same time these two:

Were taking the train back to Main Street after a ride on Splash, where they claim they did an epic pose but the camera wasn’t working.

I don’t believe that Ethan finished his game in Adventureland, but he could have. We headed back up to meet Erik and Lorelai, who were waiting for us in front of the Town Square Theater. They had been sprinkled with some Pixie Dust and Mickey had given them an ice cream and Diet Coke on him.

We headed out of the park around noon, and after writing about our morning, wow was it busy and chocked full and we didn’t even use a Fast Pass!

Next Up:

An Evening at DHS!

 

[ariane37]

I love the times in the MK where you aren’t being rushed, people aren’t everywhere, and you can just enjoy the beauty of your surroundings.

I SO agree DH and I have been able to do this more when we go without the kids......like us yours are too young for the KTTK tour, but when DH and I did it we learned some of the smaller details to really look for. Well, some I already knew about, but actually experiencing them with the tour made us stop on our next adults only trip and experience them again.

Our server explained that Tigger would not be coming around to each of the tables this morning, but he would be making an appearance in the foyer

To be honest Tigger was a bit of a let down, no energy or interaction, just a photo…

I've never heard of Tigger being there but not coming around Wonder why? Although your comment about him having no energy and not interacting much makes me think maybe no "regular" friend of Tigger's was available so they had someone not used to being Tigger's friend fill in, and thought he'd do better standing still lol? Because he is usually pretty bouncy.......

Of course we wanted to try our hand at removing the sword in the stone!

Not sure if you read the part in my TR where we caught the new(ish) ceremony they do, but when we were there last Nov. we saw them call up a few adults who couldn't manage to pull the sword out and then they called up a little girl who did it. It was neat!

which of course said it had a 13 minute wait (which Ethan LOVED) but it was a walk on.

Again, not sure if you read this part, but I made an a** of myself in front of the HM CM's regarding the 13 minute wait We've seen that so often at HM on multiple trips and I never put 2 & 2 together until last Nov. I exclaimed out loud something like, "OH, NOW I get it! 13 lol!"" Duh me.......

The menu turned out to be too exotic for our tastes…

Yeah......we will be adventurous to a point, especially DH and my youngest son, but nothing on the Skipper Canteen menu really jumped out at any of us. And I was disappointed because it looks so cool inside!

 

[MissMaryQC]

What a great morning!! It looked like the crowds were starting to get bigger, but y'all managed to do a lot!

I'm so glad to see your family is able to experience WDW differently this trip. Sorta makes it feel brand new!

 

[PrncessA]

I SO agree DH and I have been able to do this more when we go without the kids......like us yours are too young for the KTTK tour, but when DH and I did it we learned some of the smaller details to really look for. Well, some I already knew about, but actually experiencing them with the tour made us stop on our next adults only trip and experience them again.

The KTTK tour is my dream... that just might come true soon. I will explain at the end of the post!

I've never heard of Tigger being there but not coming around Wonder why? Although your comment about him having no energy and not interacting much makes me think maybe no "regular" friend of Tigger's was available so they had someone not used to being Tigger's friend fill in, and thought he'd do better standing still lol? Because he is usually pretty bouncy.......

That was my guess as well, he just wasn't as bouncy as a Tigger "friend" should be.

Not sure if you read the part in my TR where we caught the new(ish) ceremony they do, but when we were there last Nov. we saw them call up a few adults who couldn't manage to pull the sword out and then they called up a little girl who did it. It was neat!

I did see that! The kids would love to see it.

Yeah......we will be adventurous to a point, especially DH and my youngest son, but nothing on the Skipper Canteen menu really jumped out at any of us. And I was disappointed because it looks so cool inside!

I took another look at it today to see if anything looked good... but no dice. I want to eat there for the atmosphere so badly, that we might go just for that alone.

What a great morning!! It looked like the crowds were starting to get bigger, but y'all managed to do a lot!

I'm so glad to see your family is able to experience WDW differently this trip. Sorta makes it feel brand new!

AND... it will feel brand new again soon!!

************************

Soooo what is my announcement? Everyone holding their breath and imagining a drum-roll in their heads? We heading to WDW in 47 days!!!!!! AND when I say "we", I mean Erik and I... ALONE.... NO KIDS!! The kids are away at camp that week, and my mom agreed to house-sit and be on emergency call if something happens at camp like pink eye or a broken limb. (Because wouldn't you know that even though they have made it through three years of camps without injury, this would be the year that it would happen.

So how did this happen? Well, yesterday I got a PIN email from Disney for the fall, which we cannot use. But it reminded me of the PIN that I relieved in the mail for this summer. Just to run some numbers I went on the site to see availability, and the numbers looked good with the Awaken Summer Promo, but I was leaning toward POFQ which was excluded. I also checked out flights and let's just say that flying two people instead of four is considerably cheaper! PLUS we still have some miles that need to be used. So I called Erik and ran it by him, and he said to give him some numbers when we got home.

When I got home I grabbed my PIN and sure enough POFQ was included... if it was available. But I couldn't get the website to work, so I called, and was told that their system is down. WHAT!? My PIN ironically expired yesterday! I kept checking all evening, and ran the numbers through Costco if we stayed at the Swan. Finally at about 9pm the site came back to life, and I ran the numbers for POFQ. It actually only came in a couple under the Swan, but it includes Magical Express.

So Erik said... Book It! It took me a half hour of getting error messages, but I finally got it to go through! We are now booked for our first EVER adults only vacation. You heard that right, we have never been on vacation alone! Before we had the kids, it was us and Erik's older two boys, then it was all 5 of us, then all 6, then it whittled back down when they became teens, and now adults. We didn't go on a honeymoon... so this is our very long overdue honeymoon!

So Erik and I will be heading to WDW alone July 11-15!!!

OH, and I will have a TR update ready soon as well!!!!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Holy Cow you got a lot done!!! lovin all your pictures.. doesn't that game take FOREVER??? I wanted to quit after the first window they did!! LOL..

PIXI DUST?!?!? I love hearing pixi dust stories!! How fun they got ice cream!

 

[ariane37]

OMG that is AWESOME about your adults only trip Woo-hoo!!! You are going to LOVE IT DH and I have done 2 of those to WDW and it's the best thing ever. We went once in March for our anniversary and once in Jan. (this year). I'd love to go without the kids during F&W but with older DS's basketball it's a rough time of year to get everything covered here.
Are you going to do a quick PTR for that trip? If not I hope you do a TR!!!!!!

Editing to add if you feel you have time you should definitely do a tour. We did KTTK the first time we went alone but didn't do a tour this past Jan. The trip was spectacular but I regret not doing another tour!

 

[PrncessA]

Holy Cow you got a lot done!!! lovin all your pictures.. doesn't that game take FOREVER??? I wanted to quit after the first window they did!! LOL..

PIXI DUST?!?!? I love hearing pixi dust stories!! How fun they got ice cream!

I am always amazed when I look back and see how much we did in just a few short hours! I am interested to find out if Erik and I will tour the same way alone in July.

We had another chance for Pixie Dust later in the day and Erik blows it. LOL

OMG that is AWESOME about your adults only trip Woo-hoo!!! You are going to LOVE IT DH and I have done 2 of those to WDW and it's the best thing ever. We went once in March for our anniversary and once in Jan. (this year). I'd love to go without the kids during F&W but with older DS's basketball it's a rough time of year to get everything covered here.

I wish that we could go during a colder time of year (we loved November), but if this trip goes well we might make an effort to do it again during our anniversary.

Are you going to do a quick PTR for that trip? If not I hope you do a TR!!!!!!

I will probably do updates here, I am not very good at PTR's. Plus I am so behind on this one! My goal is to finish this one by the time we leave...

diting to add if you feel you have time you should definitely do a tour. We did KTTK the first time we went alone but didn't do a tour this past Jan. The trip was spectacular but I regret not doing another tour!

I am seriously considering it. Probably the KTTK tour!

 

[PrncessA]

The photos from this evening are bit wonky, as it seems I didn’t use my camera for the first two hours we were at DHS, but we did take photos with our phones. Plus the photos for the evening are in reverse order once I did take them with the camera and not my phone. STRANGE! Either way I have enough photos (imagine that) and memory to put the night together!

We did BREIFLY stop back at the resort, but really only to change clothes as we all felt yucky… okay and we wanted to wear our Star Wars gear. Yes we are dorks, and we own it.

We arrived at DHS at around 2pm, which means we were all pretty hungry. We didn’t have any dinner plans, and we really didn’t eat lunch… it was time for what we call in our family… Dunch or Linner. Catchy, right?

We knew exactly where we were headed, to the Backlot Express. We headed that way, but got sidelined by taking photos…

Then by the Streetmosphere!!!

They were hilarious! I am so sad they are being cut back, it gives DHS character, which it lacks in so many other areas.

We finally headed toward our destination, but because we had wasted so much time, we decided to use our FP on our favorite DHS ride before we ate, so we didn’t have to rush.

Where you ask?

Of course it is Star Tours, who doesn’t love it?

And guess what???

Ethan was thrilled to be our Spy! I was thrilled as well, because Lorelai has held it over him for a year that she was picked! On top of that we were thrilled that we got to see Finn and experience the new Jakku scene. I hadn’t read that it was starting right before our trip!! Great surprise!

After we dropped off our glasses and Ethan took his TShirt photo, we were HUNGRY!

There was no line, at all, which wasn’t surprising since we weren’t there during normal dining hours.

Ethan surprisingly ordered a hot dog and fries, not a normal order for him. He ate it, so it must have been okay.

Lorelai ordered a kid’s power pack meal, and it looks like she was trying to give away the granola bar thingy.

I ordered the buffalo wings and fries, YUMMY! And a parfait dessert that was GROSS!

Erik ordered a bacon cheeseburger with fries… and an extra side of fries, instead of dessert. He made the good choice.

After we were sufficiently full, we headed out to our #1 tour item for Ethan, Lights, Motors, Action.

We headed through the Streets of America, and of course had to stop to take some photos.

 

[PrncessA]

Lorelai was in a photographic mood and actually ask the photographer for photos of just her. We were all shocked!

Then we came across Mr. Gold’s Pawn Shop and had a geek-out moment!

We use to love OUAT, but it has gotten annoying lately and we have an entire season on our DVR unwatched. Still it was cool to see the items in the window.

Finally we arrived at LMA, and Ethan was in all of his glory!

Some photos of the show…

My reaction? I can see why it is gone… not interesting in the least for me. Ethan loved it. Lorelai was bored, and Erik said he was glad to see it once.

We headed over to our next FP, another family favorite, TSMM.

Where the standby wait was 105 minutes, yikes.

We were in and out in 25 minutes. I love the toys in the queue!

I am not sure who I rode with, but with the scores so close, I am going to guess it was Ethan and I won.

Since I was sure it was going to be closed soon, we headed into here:

 

[PrncessA]

When I learned that the Walt movie had been replaced with a Good Dinosaur promo, I really wanted to leave… but the kids and Erik wanted to stay. So we did, and I really didn’t like the promo. They did. I didn’t go see the movie at the theater the next month, they did. Erik agreed that I probably wouldn’t have cared for it.

Well watching the promo had wasted so much time that we missed the lights coming on. We headed over to the Osborne Lights and WOOOHA we hit a wall of people. I don’t know if it is always so crowded or just last year because of the closing, but YIKES I was having a hard time not panicking to be honest. It was crazy crowded.

From the first photo to the last is only a time lapse of 15 minutes, but it felt like hours. We “enjoyed” a song or two, took some photos and left. I was so disappointed; I had been really looking forward to this event and the crowds really spoiled it.

But we were not finished…

Ethan attempted to throw Lorelai into the fountain…

We headed into an attraction that we hadn’t went to in 2014.

We were only the second family in the holding area, so we had a while to wait. I am not a huge Muppets fan, but the holding area is pretty cool.

I think I actually stayed awake during the show this time, unlike in 2009.

We stopped in Star Tours as we walked by, because the line was non-existent, and we love it.

Ethan must stink…

Nobody in our family was chosen as the spy, but the ride was still awesome. We learned that EVERY ride had the same Jakku scene.

We stopped and took some more photos and this time Lorelai wanted some photos alone with me. LOL

It was time for a snack for sure, so we stopped at a kiosk. The cast member was so fun, he told us if we could name the song that was playing that he would give us our treats on Mickey. Well, Erik, who is a super music and movie buff, froze. He could name the movie, but not the song, “He’s a Pirate”. NO pixie dust for us.

Either way I enjoyed my frozen lemonade, and the kids enjoyed their ice cream and strawberry bars.

At this point Ethan and I decided that we really wanted to ride RRC, Erik and Lorelai not so much. But we convinced them.

The line was pretty long, and after about a half hour I regretted it also. But we were already committed and we stuck it out… an hour and 15 minutes.

Well that was more than sufficient time for Lorelai to freak out, and when she saw the actual rollercoaster, she burst into tears and refused to go on it. Erik didn’t want to go either, so they took the chicken exit.

Ethan and I?

We loved it! What could be better than a dark rollercoaster with Aerosmith blaring!

We met up with Erik and Lorelai in the drop shop and found out that it was POURING outside. Not just a little rain, a full on downpour. I was really glad we had lugged our ponchos around in the backpack the whole night.

We made it to our bus stop, soaked to the bone, even with ponchos.

We were freezing as well. I was so glad that we didn’t wait too long before a bus came. We packed onto the bus like sardines and called it an early (for us) night.

Next Up: Day 6, Be Our Guest and… a PT update.

 

[MissMaryQC]

So Erik and I will be heading to WDW alone July 11-15!!!

WOOHOO!!!! Congrats! What a great belated Honeymoon!

Linner

And guess what???

COOL!!!! Go Ethan!

And a parfait dessert that was GROSS!

I've always avoided those red, white and blue things; now I know why.

He made the good choice.

YAY! Another Stitch!

She's such a pretty little girl, she should have some photos of just her!

Then we came across Mr. Gold’s Pawn Shop and had a geek-out moment!

O geeked out so hard too.

We use to love OUAT, but it has gotten annoying lately and we have an entire season on our DVR unwatched. Still it was cool to see the items in the window.

It got weird there fora while and hten kinda lame, but the more recent stuff has been better. It's like Grey's Anatomy; I just can't let it go.

Where the standby wait was 105 minutes, yikes.

Since I was sure it was going to be closed soon, we headed into here:

I will be SO upset if they don't reopen this in another location.

I learned that the Walt movie had been replaced with a Good Dinosaur promo

WHAT? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed that Good Dinosaur, but that is no reason to replace the Walt film.

It was crazy crowded.

I heard it was insane last year. A literal sea of people.

This is adorable. The kid in the stroller behind them is a hoot too.

I love this one!

I had been really looking forward to this event and the crowds really spoiled it.

I'm sorry to hear that. I saw the lights a few years after they first started doing it in MGM (oh yeah, I said it) but we never returned. It's a shame is was too crowded to really enjoy.

AWE! That's one for her future high school year book page!! You girls are too cute!

an hour and 15 minutes.

Oh, no way. I love RnRC but I could never.

 

[ariane37]

Ugh, I don't know why I've been unable to multi-quote the last few days Anyway that stinks that it was so crowded when you went to see the lights and you didn't enjoy them. Last Nov. was the 3rd time we'd seen them and we actually didn't find it any more crowded than the other years. I just wish we could see them again this year

And over an hour wait for RnRc! I'll do 30 for ToT or BTMRR, maybe Splash, and RnRc if older DS begged but that's my limit lol. I don't mind waiting if the line is moving; it's when you're standing still in line that I can't handle it.