Zip-ah-de-doo-da, Zip-ah-dee-EH! Two Canadians Visit WDW for the 1st Time - COMPLETE!

[fallonkendra]

Day Four - Part Six - January 8, 2016

First of all - I apologize, this post won't have too many pictures, I was so exhausted after our SUPER early wake-up that I forgot to take pictures all evening...

After about 15 minutes of waiting, our names were called and we were led to our table - at Sci Fi Dine-in Theatre! We were in the back seat of a car at the very back of the room, but it was a great spot to see the entire room.
[GALLERY=]IMG_0269 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
I hadn't ate much all day, but I really wasn't hungry and up to eating a full meal, so I just ordered the Spinach & Artichoke Dip. Luke decided to go with the Sci-Fi Angus Burger - a burger with pulled pork, Sriracha barbecue sauce, swiss cheese, and pickled apple slaw served with fries. I ordered a water to drink, and he went for a coffee (he was starting to fade - which is fair since he'd been up since 2:45am and had run 10km that morning) He really enjoyed his burger, but said the fries were just ok - nothing special. My appetizer dip was what I wanted at that point. It wasn't the best spinach dip I've ever had, but it was far from the worst one I'd ever had.

Overall I just wasn't impressed by my two meals at Hollywood Studios, which is really too bad. I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere at both though! The theming at Sci-Fi was fantastic, although the movie on the screen could have been made on a little bit longer of a loop - it cycled through entirely while we were there.

After our meal, we wanted something low impact, so we headed over to watch Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Despite just drinking a coffee, Luke almost fell asleep a few times... It was a cute show - the cast member playing Ariel was a really great singer. I enjoyed the laser effects on the walls of the theatre - I would spend the 20 minutes to go see this again!

We spent a bit of time just walking around, taking in all of the sights and spending some time people watching. At some point we ended up going on Star Tours for the third time that day...you'd never know we're not really Star Wars fans haha. I totally understand why they added scenes from the new movie, but I found all 3 of our rides were basically the same without much variation. We still obviously enjoyed it though!

It was getting close to the start of the Symphony in the Sky fireworks so we headed over to find a place to watch them. I'm not someone who will stand around for hours staking out the best viewing spot, but I was more than happy with the spot we found about 15 minutes before they started! I ended up loving it! I've never watched a single Star Wars movie, but I had no trouble following the story they were telling with the music and red and green fireworks.

After the fireworks ended, a huge mass of people started heading towards the park exit. We eventually made our way through them, and headed over to watch the second showing of Fantasmic! We didn't have time to see the Disneyland version of this show last year, so I was excited to finally get a chance. It had been such a long day for us by that point, I actually had to nudge Luke a few times to keep him awake. It was a really cool show, and I'm so glad we had a chance to see it (well, I saw it, Luke had a nap). It's a show I would go back to again for sure. That said, it still didn't overtake World of Colour at Disney California Adventure as my favourite nighttime show.

[GALLERY=]DSCN0190 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]DSCN0199 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

Once Fantasmic was over, the park was already closed and had cleared out significantly. We had a short wait for a bus (although it felt like forever). Before long, we were back at All-Star Music where I decided I was hungry (I hadn't ate much at supper). We stopped at Intermission Food Court where I grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza with a side salad (which is all Luke wanted to eat), along with a muffin for the morning and a bottle of a Strawberry Banana Smoothie. I used one quick service credit, which would have cost $9.69 for the pizza, $2.99 for the muffin and $4.79 for the smoothie.

I ate quickly, and we headed off to bed - we were asleep pretty quickly after such a long day!

 

[fallonkendra]

Before I get into the details of our next day, I'll do an update on our dining plan Worth vs. Cost to the end of day four

If you remember, I decided to just call it an even $60/day/person to make it easy, so $120/day is what we paid up front, and it is based on the # of nights you stay)

January 5rd - paid $20.10 out of pocket for late night meal at food court
January 6th - paid $11.97 out of pocket for Luke's breakfast, $3.49 snack credit for my breakfast, $24.69 quick service credit (Peco's Bill's), $86.50 + tax - 2 table service credits (Be Our Guest) + $13 out of pocket (2 beer) + tip
January 7th - $89.44 Tusker House 2 table service credits (tip out of pocket), $36.44 Intermission Food Court 2 quick service credits, $5.49 snack credit
January 8th - $69.70 at 50's Prime Time - 2 table service credits, $30.27 + tax at Sci-Fi out of pocket, $17.47 at Intermission Food Court - 1 quick service credit

So far: 3 nights, $360 paid for dining plan for 6 table service credits, 6 quick service credits and 6 snacks
Used: 6 table service credits, 4 quick service credits, 2 snacks
Total: $332 dining plan credits + $76 out of pocket (+ tips) - and we still have 2 quick serve credits and 4 snack credits unused.

If you find that hard to follow, I'll post the spreadsheet with the same information at the end of my trip report! I was very determined to make sure the dining plan was worth it on this trip!

Day Five - Part One - January 9, 2016

After our long day on Friday, we decided to sleep in a bit on Saturday. Our first fastpass for the morning was for Muppet Vision 3D, but we had walked straight onto it yesterday, so we used that time to sleep instead. After we woke up a little after 9, we got ready while eating a few of the snacks we had in our room (you might remember I had placed an Amazon order for a bunch of American snacks that I can't get in Canada and had it shipped to our hotel. I grew up about a 2 hour drive from the Maine border, so we used to drive over there a few times each year and we always spent time in a grocery store buying different snacks and food to take home with us.)

We headed out of our room and caught a bus back to Hollywood Studios. Originally we weren't even going to use this as a park day, and just spend the time hanging out at our hotel and checking out Disney Springs, but once we realized how little it would cost to change from a 5 day ticket to a 6 day ticket, we figured it was worth it for 3 Fastpasses (especially since Hollywood Studios uses that tiered system for FP). Once we went through security (where Luke was once again selected for additional screening haha) we had time to stop for a few Photopass pictures! I really wanted to get a few with the Minnie Ears I had purchased the day before

[GALLERY=]STUDIO_HBFIVEDM_7574076457 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]PhotoPass_Visiting_Disneys_Hollywood_Studios_7605835104 (1) by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]PhotoPass_Visiting_Disneys_Hollywood_Studios_7610613270 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

I have no idea why I took my glasses off for these pictures? Even my sunglasses are prescription ones, I wear my glasses all day every day. Oh well, I guess it's nice to have a different look in these pictures...

From there we headed over to our 2nd Fastpass selection of the day (but the first one we made it to..) - Star Tours. Again. For the fourth time in 2 days haha - like I said, we really enjoyed this ride! We were just walking along afterwards when I saw another Photopass photographer, so you know what happened next! I made Luke pose for more pictures with me! For these ones I'm again not wearing glasses, and I also took off my Lion King sweater from the previous pictures...clearly I must have had a reason for this, but I couldn't tell you what it was...

[GALLERY=]PhotoPass_Visiting_Disneys_Hollywood_Studios_7605836177 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

We were then off to our 3rd and final Fastpass for the day, with me freaking out the entire way. When we entered the Fastpass line for Rock N' Roller Coaster, I honestly thought I was going to have a panic attack - I had only ever been on 2 rides in my life that went upside down, and I had bad experiences on both of them. The first was on a ride called the Rok-n-Rol and I left with bruises on my hips from the seatbelt. The second was my first and only time on the Zipper. I was wearing flip-flops (because I was 14 and way too cool to be spotted wearing sneakers at an amusement park), and then fell off my feet as soon as went upside down. Luckily the zipper has you inside a little cage so I didn't lose my flip-flops, but they did manage to smack in the face multiple times before the ride was over.

Here's our on-ride photo from Rock N' Roller Coaster. My face is pure fear.

[GALLERY=]PhotoPass_Visiting_Disneys_Hollywood_Studios_7605836217 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

Luke was so excited about this ride, I only went on it to make him happy. But, as it turns out - all of that worrying was for nothing! I ended up loving this! It was really quick, only lasting a little over a minute (so I can't imagine standing in line for hours for it), but I'm really glad I went through with giving it a chance. I barely even noticed the loop, since you can't really see the track in front of you so you don't notice it until you're upside down, and even then it's so fast. I will absolutely go on this again on our next trip, and I won't be freaking out about it at all!

After we got off the ride, there was a cast member drawing on the pavement with water. It was really neat, so we stood around for a few minutes watching that.

[GALLERY=]IMG_0272 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/138465904@N05/, on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]IMG_0273 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/138465904@N05/, on Flickr[/GALLERY]

We were both starting to get a little hungry so we decided to try the pretzels. Luke really wanted a jalapeno one, but the little booth we went to was sold out by the time he got to the front of the line so he opted for the cream cheese one instead ($5.50). I went for a classic Mickey pretzel with cheese sauce ($6), and we each used a snack credit. We sat on a little ledge by the exit to the Great Movie Ride to eat our snack, and people watch. Neither one of us really cared for our pretzels, and I can't see them being something either one of us buys again anytime soon - but we had to try them!

Up next: a boat ride, a family reunion and RAIN!

 

[Abro1975]

@fallonkendra, have really enjoyed reading your posts, you have an attention to detail for sure ! lol. We (wife, 19 year old son, his 18 year old GF, and myself) leave for WDW June 20 and got a 3 day Park Hopper, so very excited now that time as coming near. Like you, I tend to be a 'super planner', my wife and son just shake their heads and smile. This will be my 6 or 7th time to WDW, 3rd with my family. Last time there w the family my son was about 11 and we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, but now with his GF we needed much more room, a 2 BR at least w a sofa(sofa probably a waste, lol) so we booked on Disney Property but a Non Disney Resort, Wyndham Bonnet Creek, a 2 BR deluxe Condo for less than 200/night. We stayed a 2 BR Wyndham at Busch Gardens, VA and it was terrific.. We love Epcot at night so for the 3 Park Hopper Days, we will do HS/Epcot, MK/Epcot and AK/Epcot. Dining at Saana on our off day relaxing all day at the Resort pool on thursday June 23 but will see AK Lodge/Villas and Saana that night, first time for us all.
To save some food money we will order from Garden Grocer delivery like we did last time and eat all breakfasts and some lunches at the Resort in our nice kitchen. They even deliver beer and wine w proof of age (email a pic of your license) Your BOG dinner sounded great, but we won't be at MK any evening, so don't think we can manage. So far we have dinner reservations for France (Epcot), Mexico (Epot), Saana AK Villas, and last night at Rose & Crown at England for good view of Illuminations Fireworks and quick exit thru International Gateway to Boardwalk or Contemporary for Uber back to Bonnet Creek.
My son and his GF like to sleep late, and wife and I want to get up early for Rope drops , so that could be a challenge., lol. We had hoped for them not to sleep together but that is probably a lost cause, lol. This will be our 3rd vacation with her along, and even her parents don't care, lol ugh. We took her w my son to Costa Rica and P'town, Cape Cod.
Sorry to hear about your Crohns. I'm in the Pharma biz and there are now some good meds out there. Hope you have a good Gastro doc.

Here is my waaaay overplanned itinerary, and look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip, especially Epcot.

Itinerary Orlando June 20-25.

MONDAY, JUNE 20

Noon-- Leave Cedar Grove for Newark Airport

2:30pm – UA Flight 380, arrive Orlando 5:27pm

6:00- Uber or Taxi to Resort

6:30- check in to Wyndham Grand Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort

http://www.wyndhambonnetcreek.com/

7:30- Dinner at Wyndham Bonnet Creek



TUESDAY, JUNE 21 (HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS & EPCOT)

8: 30 am – Uber to Disney Hollywood Studios

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/destinations/hollywood-studios/

9am- Park Opens

9:30- Tower of Terror

10:00- Rock n Roller Coaster

10:30- Star Tours 3D The Adventure Continues

11:00- The Great Movie Ride

11:30- Studio Back Lot Tour

NOON- Choice lunch at HollyWood Studios (50s Prime Time Café) or Walk to Epcot and Lunch at Morrocco (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/tangierine-cafe/menus/)

AFTERNOON

EPCOT FAST PASSES

Tuesday, June 21, 2016 – Epcot
1:00 pm- Test Track (no fast pass, they have a singles line that goes fast
Mission: SPACE

12:50 PM-1:50 PM

Spaceship Earth

2:10 PM-3:10 PM

3:30 Either The Sum of All Thrills or Journey into Imagination w Figment

Soarin'

4:30 PM-5:30 PM

5:30- Dinner at CHEFS de FRANCE

MENU LINK:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/chefs-de-france/menus/dinner/

7PM- Walk through World Showcase

7:15- Dragon Acrobats at Japan Pavillion

7:30- Walk thru World Show case , IMAX films of Canada, China , France etc

8:00- British Invasion concert at England

9:00- Illuminations Fireworks, Laser and Music Show , Watch from England

10:00- Leave Park from International Gateway, walk to Club ESPN to call UBER back to Wyndham Resort.


WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 (MAGIC KINGDOM & EPCOT)

8: 15 am – Uber to Epcot, then Monorail to Magic Kingdom

9:00- Park Opens, walk to Pirates of the Carribean

Fast Passes :

Splash Mountain

9:35 AM - 10:35 AM

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

10:40 AM - 11:40 AM

Space Mountain

11:45 AM - 12:45 PM

Check for possible Soarin Fast Pass for later tonight

1:00pm - Haunted Mansion

1:30-2pm- Back to Resort for pool break

6:00 Uber back to Epcot

6:30- Dinner at San Angel Inn, Mexico Pavillion

Menu and restaurant description:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/san-angel-inn-restaurante/

7:45- Gran Fiesta 3 Amigos Boat ride at the Mexican Pavillion

8:00- Possible Soarin or Test Track

8:30- The Sum of All Thrills Simulator Coaster ride

9:00- Watch Illuminations or leave Park Early


THURSDAY, JUNE 23

RELAX ALL DAY POOLSIDE AT THE WYNDHAM RESORT

5:30pm- Uber to Animal Kingdom Lodge

5:55pm – Dinner at Saana , at Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas

Link to menu and resort description

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/animal-kingdom-villas-kidani/sanaa/

7:30- Tour Animal Kingdom Lodge and Villas

8:30- Uber back to Wyndham Bonnet Creek


FRIDAY, JUNE 24 (ANIMAL KINGDOM & EPCOT)

8:30 AM – UBER TO ANIMAL KINGDOM

Kilimanjaro Safaris- FAST PASS

9:35 AM - 10:35 AM

Kali River Rapids- FAST PASS

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain- FAST PASS

12:05 PM - 1:05 PM

1PM- DINOSAUR

1:30 – Primeval Whirl

2:00- Lion King Show

2:45- Uber Back to Wyndham Resort to relax

5:30 Uber back to Epcot

5:55- Dinner at Rose &Crown (England)

7:30-check for possible Fast passes to Soarin or Test Track

8:30- decide whether to do Spaceship Earth and /or Illuminations

9:00- stay for Illuminations or UBER back to Wyndham


SATURDAY JUNE 25

7:00 am , up and get ready to leave Wyndham Resort

8:00 am call UBER for ride to Airport

10:39am UA Flight 1530 to Newark land at 1:21pm, shuttle to park and ride

2:30pm – Approx time of arrival in Cedar Grove

 

[dvc at last !]

Just found this TR and I have read almost all -
I will finish tomorrow.

Glad you enjoyed your stay at WDW - we love to go, too

 

[SarahDisney]

Star Tours 4 times in 2 days ... wow!
And I'm totally with you on the Star Wars fireworks - even without knowing the movies, they're really enjoyable and it's not hard to figure out what's going on!

I totally agree with you on Fantasmic! - it's pretty cool, but it's no World of Color.

I love all of your photopass pictures! You guys look great!

Congrats on surviving Rock 'n' Roller Coaster!

 

[ariane37]

Congrats on conquering your fear and riding RnRC! It's my 2nd favorite ride at HS Your face in the ride pic is priceless lol. And speaking of pictures I love the ones where you didn't wear your glasses! I knew right away something looked different but couldn't put my finger on it right away........

I've never had the cream cheese pretzel but many people love it. I've had the regular Mickey pretzels with cheese, I feel they're hit or miss depending how fresh they are.

 

[fallonkendra]

@fallonkendra, have really enjoyed reading your posts, you have an attention to detail for sure ! lol. We (wife, 19 year old son, his 18 year old GF, and myself) leave for WDW June 20 and got a 3 day Park Hopper, so very excited now that time as coming near. Like you, I tend to be a 'super planner', my wife and son just shake their heads and smile. This will be my 6 or 7th time to WDW, 3rd with my family. Last time there w the family my son was about 11 and we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, but now with his GF we needed much more room, a 2 BR at least w a sofa(sofa probably a waste, lol) so we booked on Disney Property but a Non Disney Resort, Wyndham Bonnet Creek, a 2 BR deluxe Condo for less than 200/night. We stayed a 2 BR Wyndham at Busch Gardens, VA and it was terrific.. We love Epcot at night so for the 3 Park Hopper Days, we will do HS/Epcot, MK/Epcot and AK/Epcot. Dining at Saana on our off day relaxing all day at the Resort pool on thursday June 23 but will see AK Lodge/Villas and Saana that night, first time for us all.
To save some food money we will order from Garden Grocer delivery like we did last time and eat all breakfasts and some lunches at the Resort in our nice kitchen. They even deliver beer and wine w proof of age (email a pic of your license) Your BOG dinner sounded great, but we won't be at MK any evening, so don't think we can manage. So far we have dinner reservations for France (Epcot), Mexico (Epot), Saana AK Villas, and last night at Rose & Crown at England for good view of Illuminations Fireworks and quick exit thru International Gateway to Boardwalk or Contemporary for Uber back to Bonnet Creek.
My son and his GF like to sleep late, and wife and I want to get up early for Rope drops , so that could be a challenge., lol. We had hoped for them not to sleep together but that is probably a lost cause, lol. This will be our 3rd vacation with her along, and even her parents don't care, lol ugh. We took her w my son to Costa Rica and P'town, Cape Cod.
Sorry to hear about your Crohns. I'm in the Pharma biz and there are now some good meds out there. Hope you have a good Gastro doc.

Here is my waaaay overplanned itinerary, and look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip, especially Epcot.

Itinerary Orlando June 20-25.

MONDAY, JUNE 20

Noon-- Leave Cedar Grove for Newark Airport

2:30pm – UA Flight 380, arrive Orlando 5:27pm

6:00- Uber or Taxi to Resort

6:30- check in to Wyndham Grand Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort

http://www.wyndhambonnetcreek.com/

7:30- Dinner at Wyndham Bonnet Creek



TUESDAY, JUNE 21 (HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS & EPCOT)

8: 30 am – Uber to Disney Hollywood Studios

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/destinations/hollywood-studios/

9am- Park Opens

9:30- Tower of Terror

10:00- Rock n Roller Coaster

10:30- Star Tours 3D The Adventure Continues

11:00- The Great Movie Ride

11:30- Studio Back Lot Tour

NOON- Choice lunch at HollyWood Studios (50s Prime Time Café) or Walk to Epcot and Lunch at Morrocco (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/tangierine-cafe/menus/)

AFTERNOON

EPCOT FAST PASSES

Tuesday, June 21, 2016 – Epcot
1:00 pm- Test Track (no fast pass, they have a singles line that goes fast
Mission: SPACE

12:50 PM-1:50 PM

Spaceship Earth

2:10 PM-3:10 PM

3:30 Either The Sum of All Thrills or Journey into Imagination w Figment

Soarin'

4:30 PM-5:30 PM

5:30- Dinner at CHEFS de FRANCE

MENU LINK:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/chefs-de-france/menus/dinner/

7PM- Walk through World Showcase

7:15- Dragon Acrobats at Japan Pavillion

7:30- Walk thru World Show case , IMAX films of Canada, China , France etc

8:00- British Invasion concert at England

9:00- Illuminations Fireworks, Laser and Music Show , Watch from England

10:00- Leave Park from International Gateway, walk to Club ESPN to call UBER back to Wyndham Resort.


WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 (MAGIC KINGDOM & EPCOT)

8: 15 am – Uber to Epcot, then Monorail to Magic Kingdom

9:00- Park Opens, walk to Pirates of the Carribean

Fast Passes :

Splash Mountain

9:35 AM - 10:35 AM

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

10:40 AM - 11:40 AM

Space Mountain

11:45 AM - 12:45 PM

Check for possible Soarin Fast Pass for later tonight

1:00pm - Haunted Mansion

1:30-2pm- Back to Resort for pool break

6:00 Uber back to Epcot

6:30- Dinner at San Angel Inn, Mexico Pavillion

Menu and restaurant description:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/san-angel-inn-restaurante/

7:45- Gran Fiesta 3 Amigos Boat ride at the Mexican Pavillion

8:00- Possible Soarin or Test Track

8:30- The Sum of All Thrills Simulator Coaster ride

9:00- Watch Illuminations or leave Park Early


THURSDAY, JUNE 23

RELAX ALL DAY POOLSIDE AT THE WYNDHAM RESORT

5:30pm- Uber to Animal Kingdom Lodge

5:55pm – Dinner at Saana , at Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas

Link to menu and resort description

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/animal-kingdom-villas-kidani/sanaa/

7:30- Tour Animal Kingdom Lodge and Villas

8:30- Uber back to Wyndham Bonnet Creek


FRIDAY, JUNE 24 (ANIMAL KINGDOM & EPCOT)

8:30 AM – UBER TO ANIMAL KINGDOM

Kilimanjaro Safaris- FAST PASS

9:35 AM - 10:35 AM

Kali River Rapids- FAST PASS

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain- FAST PASS

12:05 PM - 1:05 PM

1PM- DINOSAUR

1:30 – Primeval Whirl

2:00- Lion King Show

2:45- Uber Back to Wyndham Resort to relax

5:30 Uber back to Epcot

5:55- Dinner at Rose &Crown (England)

7:30-check for possible Fast passes to Soarin or Test Track

8:30- decide whether to do Spaceship Earth and /or Illuminations

9:00- stay for Illuminations or UBER back to Wyndham


SATURDAY JUNE 25

7:00 am , up and get ready to leave Wyndham Resort

8:00 am call UBER for ride to Airport

10:39am UA Flight 1530 to Newark land at 1:21pm, shuttle to park and ride

2:30pm – Approx time of arrival in Cedar Grove

Thanks for reading! You really are detail orientated! I'd love to see you write a trip report after you return from Florida! I'd love to hear your thoughts on Sanaa, as it's on our list for our next trip!

The only suggestions I'd say for your itinerary are to be a little flexible when it comes to rides, since the parks will be busy when you're there and without a Fastpass, a lot of wait times will be more than half an hour.

Also - on the 21st you have Studio Backlot Tour - if I'm not mistaken this closed a few years ago? I could be thinking of something else though...

 

[Abro1975]

Thanks for reading! You really are detail orientated! I'd love to see you write a trip report after you return from Florida! I'd love to hear your thoughts on Sanaa, as it's on our list for our next trip!

The only suggestions I'd say for your itinerary are to be a little flexible when it comes to rides, since the parks will be busy when you're there and without a Fastpass, a lot of wait times will be more than half an hour.

Also - on the 21st you have Studio Backlot Tour - if I'm not mistaken this closed a few years ago? I could be thinking of something else though...

Wow, good catch ! I'm disappointed ! I loved that ride. Great special effects. Oh well, more time for other stuff.

 

[fallonkendra]

Just found this TR and I have read almost all -
I will finish tomorrow.

Glad you enjoyed your stay at WDW - we love to go, too

Thanks for reading! We enjoyed our trip so much we already have another one booked!

Star Tours 4 times in 2 days ... wow!
And I'm totally with you on the Star Wars fireworks - even without knowing the movies, they're really enjoyable and it's not hard to figure out what's going on!

It wasn't our original plan to go on it that many times, but wait times always seemed to be decent for it! I can't wait to see the new revised version of the Star Wars fireworks that they have now, I can't see them changing it again before we go next January...

I totally agree with you on Fantasmic! - it's pretty cool, but it's no World of Color.

I'm glad you understand! The first day we ever spent in a Disney park, we booked the dining package for preferred viewing of World of Colour (based on a recommendation by a co-worker). We ate a really great meal at Wine Country Trattoria, and then ended up being front row, center for WOC. We could feel the heat from the pyro, and had splashes of water hit up. It was one of those magical moments that cemented our love for Disney.

I love all of your photopass pictures! You guys look great!

Thanks!

Congrats on surviving Rock 'n' Roller Coaster!

Haha, I wasn't so sure I was going to survive. I look back now and it was silly of me to worry! When we went to DL again a few weeks after this Florida trip, I even went on California Screamin' and loved it!

Congrats on conquering your fear and riding RnRC! It's my 2nd favorite ride at HS Your face in the ride pic is priceless lol.

I think I'd have to also award it with my 2nd favourite ride at HS now that I've gotten over my fear!

And speaking of pictures I love the ones where you didn't wear your glasses! I knew right away something looked different but couldn't put my finger on it right away........

Pretty much every picture I have of myself from the past decade is of me wearing glasses, so I'm actually happy I now have a few without them!

I've never had the cream cheese pretzel but many people love it. I've had the regular Mickey pretzels with cheese, I feel they're hit or miss depending how fresh they are.

I must not have had a very fresh one And I tried Luke's cream cheese one, it was definitely not for me either! I'll just stick to churros from now on

 

[MissKIA]

I just found your trip report. I haven't read past the first couple of posts, but I just had stop and say Go Jets Go! woooo!!! You aren't kidding about the cost of playoff tickets here, (if you could even get them). I know a lot of people who went to Anaheim to see them play like you did.

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[fallonkendra]

I just found your trip report. I haven't read past the first couple of posts, but I just had stop and say Go Jets Go! woooo!!! You aren't kidding about the cost of playoff tickets here, (if you could even get them). I know a lot of people who went to Anaheim to see them play like you did.

Looking forward to reading more!

Welome and thanks for reading!

There were so many Jets fans in the crowd at those play-off games in Anaheim! It was a lot of fun to be in the crowd!

 

[fallonkendra]

Day Five - Part Two - January 9, 2016

First of all, I apologize for this post being very word-heavy. I didn't take very many pictures on this day...

After eating our disappointing pretzels, we decided it was time to head out of the park. We stopped by the Christmas tree outside the main gate for more Photopass pictures

[GALLERY=]PhotoPass_Visiting_Disneys_Hollywood_Studios_7605839710 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/138465904@N05/, on Flickr[/GALLERY]

This is basically the only one that's worth posting haha. The photographer told us to do the hula for some reason, but Luke and I are awkward and all of those pictures did not turn out haha...

I really wanted to go on the transportation boats, so this was our chance to do so! We hopped on the boat that was headed for Epcot. I decided we should get off at the Yacht & Beach Club - I secretly really wanted to see the gazebo there that hosts Disney weddings haha! It was everything I thought it'd be, so gorgeous! What a beautiful resort the Yacht Club is, but I don't think it's my style so it's not high on my list of places to stay. We didn't have a ton of time to look around, and I didn't take a single picture . We went to the bus stop and had to wait about 15 minutes, our longest wait yet for Disney transportation. Finally, we were on a bus heading to Disney Springs!

Once our bus pulled up to Disney Springs, I had time to grab a map and then we headed straight to Morimoto Asia to meet up with my cousin and her boyfriend. I probably would have never put this restaurant on my must-eat list, but I let my cousin decide since she's been a strict vegan for almost 20 years and had limited options. There really was not too many items on the menu that appealed to me since I don't eat fish of any kind, but I decided to go with the orange chicken. It was a huge order, I barely ate half of it. It was pretty good too! Luke went for a bento-box style meal (looking at the menu, I believe it was the "Morimoto Lunch Set"). He seemed to enjoy it, he ate almost all of it. I didn't get any pictures, I was just enjoying catching up with my cousin. We took our time eating and talking - I hadn't seen this cousin in a few years. Our trips to our hometowns in New Brunswick rarely seem to line up, and she lives in the Miami area while I live in Alberta, so it's a bit of a trek to visit each other (I have been to Miami twice since she's lived there, but the last time was in 2012). Her and her boyfriend had went swimming with manatees somewhere north of Orlando the day before, and had messaged me when she realized how close she was to Disney (I had invited her to bring her son and meet us at Disney for a few days, but she wasn't able to make it work).

After we finished our meal (which my cousin insisted on paying for, it was so nice of her!) we headed over to Raglan Road to sit outside. It was a really nice afternoon, so everyone (except me) grabbed a beer. We sat, drinking, chatting and soaking up the sunshine. The boys each bought a second beer to go and the four of us walked, stopping to check out a few stores. Mandy's son loves Lego, so she had to go take pictures of the store for him (he was at home in Miami with his grandparents, my aunt and uncle who were in Florida visiting). After this, my cousin and her boyfriend realized it was starting to get late, and they had a few hours of driving ahead of them so we said our good-byes and parted ways.

Our original plan was to spend this day relaxing and checking out Disney Springs and I'm so glad we didn't have any ADR's in the parks so we could make a meet-up with my cousin work! It was really nice to see her! One of my trips to Miami was before she had her son, and her husband at the time was working long hours so we spent an entire week hanging out with just the two of us, so we've been close since.

After saying goodbye, Luke and I stuck around Disney Springs. We took our time looking around inside the stores but not buying much at first. At some point, it started POURING rain - and of course our rain coats were back in our hotel room. We had to make a dash from store to store trying to stay dry. We ended up spending over an hour at World of Disney, I had to look at everything! I ended up spending quite a bit of money there on souvenirs haha...

Minnie and Mickey mugs for my grandmother:

[GALLERY=]IMG_0361 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/138465904@N05/, on Flickr[/GALLERY]

A new sweater for myself:

[GALLERY=]IMG_0362 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/138465904@N05/, on Flickr[/GALLERY]

I also picked up a pair of Mickey head wine stoppers, a picture frame with Mickey heads for my mom and Disney ties/bow ties for my little dog and cats (they won't fit on my big dog).

[GALLERY=]Untitled by https://www.flickr.com/photos/138465904@N05/, on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]Untitled by https://www.flickr.com/photos/138465904@N05/, on Flickr[/GALLERY]

 

[SarahDisney]

Sounds like you had a great time hanging out with your cousin.

I love all of the souvenirs you bought! And yeah, that rain was pretty crazy - it came out of nowhere!

 

[fallonkendra]

Sounds like you had a great time hanging out with your cousin.

I love all of the souvenirs you bought! And yeah, that rain was pretty crazy - it came out of nowhere!

It was really nice to see my cousin! I wish I had taken more pictures that day, but it is what it is.

That hoodie I bought is so comfy. I love it, and wear it fairly regularly haha. My pets don't love the ties, but I think they look adorable in them

 

[fallonkendra]

I was really hoping to have this trip report finished by now, but I decided to start a dining report, which you can find here (or use the link in my signature)! It has a lot of the same pictures as this trip report, but it goes into a little bit more detail about our meals.

Luke and I are also about to go to my hometown for 12 days, and the internet at my dad's house where we'll be staying isn't the greatest. I'll try and get more of this report done while I'm there, but I can't make any promises! I just hope there are still people reading this!

 

[fallonkendra]

I haven't forgot about this trip report, I promise! I really thought I'd have it finished by now - oh well! I'll try and get the next post up sometime this weekend! I hope there are still people interested in reading?

 

[fallonkendra]

Day Five - Part Three - January 9, 2016

After our shopping spree at World of Disney, and a bit of window shopping (while running from store to store in the rain), we realized we were a little bit hungry again. We didn't want to ruin the late supper we had planned, so we went to Ghiradelli for a little snack. It had been raining for hours by this point, and it was kind of cold so I decided I didn't want ice cream, and went for the salted caramel hot cocoa. It was so good! It was warm and tasty and exactly what I wanted at that moment Luke chose a scoop of chocolate ice cream and a bottle of water. We managed to find a dirty table under the overhang where we could stay dry outside, so we sat and enjoyed our snack. After finishing up, we decided it was time to start heading towards our supper reservation - I was looking forward to this one!

We made a stop at the Christmas store, I love ornaments! I found an All-Star Music ornament which I plan on taking a fine-tip Sharpie and adding in the dates of our trip.

[GALLERY=]IMG_0356 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

Luke also found a Wall-E and Eve ornament, which is his favourite Pixar movie.

[GALLERY=]IMG_0357 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/138465904@N05/, on Flickr[/GALLERY]

After paying for our purchases, we went and hopped on a bus to Fort Wilderness - we were heading to the Hoop-dee-doo Musical Revue! It stopped raining while we were on the bus. We had the entire bus to ourselves, so we spent the drive chatting to our bus driver - what a nice lady! She was so helpful and friendly, and explained exactly how to use the Fort Wilderness internal buses to get back to Hoop dee doo. We had about a 10 minute wait before the internal bus came along, and by that point more people had joined us in waiting, all on their way to the same dinner theatre show

I didn't realize how huge Fort Wilderness was! It was a short walk from where the bus dropped us off though, and we were still too early to be let in for the show. We went to the ticket booth to make sure we were good to go, and then we had time to just look around. There was a little shop close by, and I ended up spending $50 on a bracelet and charms...opps! I really liked it though, and ended up wearing the bracelet every day for the rest of our trip!

After waiting for about 15-20 minutes, we were let in for the show. We had a great table in category 2 seats for the last show of the night (the 8:30pm show). It wasn't even close to being sold out, and it was mainly adults there.

[GALLERY=]IMG_0276 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

As soon as we walked in, there was already a loaf of corn bread and a tossed salad sitting on our table. Our waiter quickly came over and introduced himself, and asked for our drink order. There was a selection of soft drinks, beer, sangria or wine to choose from. I asked for a glass of white wine, and Luke ordered a beer (a Yuengling). My wine was Chardonnay, and I ended up not liking it at all. The waiter realized this right away, so I asked for a glass of root beer. I guess he didn't hear me properly, because he brought me a glass of sweet tea - which is so gross! America, you need to learn what proper ice tea is! Our waiter was awesome though, realized his mistake and brought me my root beer without me even mentioning it to him.

The show started soon after, and after the first act they brought out all of the food - chicken, ribs, corn, mashed potatoes and baked beans.

[GALLERY=]IMG_0277 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

There was so much food, and it was all so good! I don't like the beans, so I didn't try those, but I had a sample of everything else and it was awesome! We barely put a dent in our food though, there was so much for just the two of us. The show continued on, and then during the next break they brought out the strawberry shortcake. Oh. My. God. You guys. This was incredible. I want their recipe!

Towards the end of the show, they passed out instruments for audience members to play. Luke took his job of playing washerboard very seriously.

[GALLERY=]IMG_0278 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

The show itself was really silly, but we had read about it beforehand so we knew what to expect. I enjoyed it, and would definitely go to it again, although I don't think it's something I need to go to every year.

We used 2 table service credits each for this, which would have cost $67 each if paying out of pocket. It wasn't the best use of dining plan credits, but I'm glad we went!

After the show ended, we caught a bus back to the main gate at Fort Wilderness. From there, we hopped on a bus heading to Magic Kingdom, and then from there we had to catch a third bus to get back to All Star Music. The most we had to wait for any of the connections was a few minutes, so not bad at all. By the time we got back to our room, it was after 11pm so we just went straight to bed to prepare for another full day tomorrow!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

I haven't done Hoop Dee Doo yet, but every time I see a review I am always tempted. It looks like fun and the food is right up my alley, good old fashioned comfort food (and mostly meat)!

 

[SarahDisney]

I love Ghirardelli hot cocoa! I don't remember if I've ever had the salted caramel one, but I've had a few of them and they're all so good. Perfect for cold, rainy weather.

Hoop De Doo sounds like a good experience. Luke really looks like he's into that washboard playing! So funny.

 

[Dentam]

I've never been to Hoop De Doo but I want to try it sometime! Every review I've read has said there is too much food. It all looks really good though and now I really want to try the strawberry shortcake!