„Did you feel pressured to provide only EXCELLENT ratings?“

[MEK]

Despite the crowds I would say that you are off to a great start at HS. Nothing like passing the stand by line in both ToT and TSM. Nice!

I haven't seen Indiana Jones in years. You got great shots in there. I really need to see that again soon!

 

[Leshaface]

Updates galore!

I totally forgot that perk of being a Platinum member! Way awesome! Is it one per cruise?

Beautiful sunset shots. I love the one of you and Toms reflection in the window.

I so agree with you on the black truffle pasta. That dish is beyond delicious! Wish I could replicate that at home.

What an awesome story about Mario and Ana! Small world.

Love when they have a room available for you when you're not expecting it. Instant pixie dust!

Yay for ToT! One of our favs. And I still haven't seen the Indy show. Such a bad DIS'er.

 

[pas130]

You made excellent FP choices!! I can't get over those TSM waits! Every year, craziness I tell you. You and Tom look so calm in TOT like there's no drop...wow! We love Indy, sadly we didn't go in August. The days never long enough I guess. Do you get preferred seating with the FP?

 

[RGirl]

Roni, I am not sure there is a no kids policy. I was just trying to remember if we saw some on one of the tours we took and I can't think of any kids, but you should definitely ask if she is allowed. The tour is free and they even give you a freshly baked cookie at the end. [/QUOTE]

Thanks so much for the info, Karin! I am going to try to remember this particular tour when we next cruise and find out if children are allowed, because I KNOW that Willow would love it - she would be very intrigued to see how the kitchens work on the ship.

Oh, the Castaway Club reception looks very fun! I have never even heard of this. It is open to lowly two- or three-time cruisers like us???? 



Oh, Karin, your sunset pictures are gorgeous! Totally making me anxious to cruise again - must hold out until August 2015……

Mmmm - your AP meals looks very tasty (despite the noise ).

How amazing that Mario had been trained by Ana - honestly, you and Tom have more knowledge of DCL CMs than DCL does!!!!

Ugh - waking up to Port Canaveral - so sad!!!!

LOVE your last ship pictures - they are perfect!!! I mean, it does make the whole get-off-the-ship thing a lot more bearable when you are heading to WDW after!

And wow - your villa is gorgeous!!!! I want to be on that balcony right now. Please????

Your villa lunch is perfect - again, as you know, I am all for a nice in-room meal. Perfection!

Oh, Karin, I wish we overlapped in our trips - Willow would LOVE that ToT is one of your faves too.

Wow - so far, FP+ seems to be working out very well for your! Can’t wait to see if that continues!

 

[dizneeat]

Despite the crowds I would say that you are off to a great start at HS. Nothing like passing the stand by line in both ToT and TSM. Nice!

We were off to a terrific start to the WDW portion of our trip. I was in awe with the magicband and FP+. It worked like a charm for us.

I haven't seen Indiana Jones in years. You got great shots in there. I really need to see that again soon!

We haven't been in years either. But since it was one of the FP+ options and we didn't have to queue up for a long time, we just went for it. And it was really good fun.

Updates galore!

I totally forgot that perk of being a Platinum member! Way awesome! Is it one per cruise?

Yes, it is one dinner at Palo on Mickey per cruise! It is such a nice treat.

Beautiful sunset shots. I love the one of you and Toms reflection in the window.

We were so lucky to be there just at the right time. I am such a sucker for sunsets and dawns. Just love to watch.

I so agree with you on the black truffle pasta. That dish is beyond delicious! Wish I could replicate that at home.

Ah, don't remindme of the black truffle pasta - I am craving it right now.

What an awesome story about Mario and Ana! Small world.

Small world, isn't it?

Love when they have a room available for you when you're not expecting it. Instant pixie dust!

If you had tipped me with a feather I would have fallen over - I was so amazed a villa was available. It's always such a great feeling when you arrive early and you can actually get into your home for the next few days.

Yay for ToT! One of our favs. And I still haven't seen the Indy show. Such a bad DIS'er.

Ah, don't worry - I am sure you are going to see it on one of your next trips.

You made excellent FP choices!! I can't get over those TSM waits! Every year, craziness I tell you. You and Tom look so calm in TOT like there's no drop...wow! We love Indy, sadly we didn't go in August. The days never long enough I guess. Do you get preferred seating with the FP?

We were in awe with FP+ and how flawless it worked. I had heard so many stories of it being a nightmare and for us it was a godsend.
The wait times at TSM are unbelieveable. On one of our last trips we were there for ropedrop, Tom "ran" with the crowd for FPs and our FPs were for 11am. But we got to do it standby first thing with only a 20 minute wait. Score!!
I don't think there was a reserved area for FP+ at the Indy show. I think we just joined the rest of the people streaming into the theatre and found some nice seats.

Thanks so much for the info, Karin! I am going to try to remember this particular tour when we next cruise and find out if children are allowed, because I KNOW that Willow would love it - she would be very intrigued to see how the kitchens work on the ship.

I can ask if children are allowed, when we next cruise in March. It is a fun tour and great to peek behind the scenes a bit.

Oh, the Castaway Club reception looks very fun! I have never even heard of this. It is open to lowly two- or three-time cruisers like us???? 



The Castaway Club reception is for Gold and Platinum cruisers. But I guess you will soon be there. It is great to get to know some of the ship's officers and the captain.

Oh, Karin, your sunset pictures are gorgeous! Totally making me anxious to cruise again - must hold out until August 2015……

Don't worry, I have a few more sunset pics to share on all my TR that are still running (need to finish the one from over a year ago too! )

Mmmm - your AP meals looks very tasty (despite the noise ).

How amazing that Mario had been trained by Ana - honestly, you and Tom have more knowledge of DCL CMs than DCL does!!!!

It was amazing to find out that they knew each other and she had actually worked with him and shown him the ropes. Small world after all .........

Ugh - waking up to Port Canaveral - so sad!!!!

So NO fun, but we had a bit of WDW time to look forward to.

LOVE your last ship pictures - they are perfect!!! I mean, it does make the whole get-off-the-ship thing a lot more bearable when you are heading to WDW after!

And wow - your villa is gorgeous!!!! I want to be on that balcony right now. Please????

Come on over and we can share a glass of the bubbly on our balcony.

Your villa lunch is perfect - again, as you know, I am all for a nice in-room meal. Perfection!

Isn't it awesome to have a bit of a "down to earth" kind of meal once in a while on vacation.

Oh, Karin, I wish we overlapped in our trips - Willow would LOVE that ToT is one of your faves too.

I so wish we would overlap as well. Tom and I would sure love to ride ToT with you and Willow again and again.

Wow - so far, FP+ seems to be working out very well for your! Can’t wait to see if that continues!

FP+ worked wonderfully well for us. It was so awesome as we did not have that much time at WDW and with FP+ we could go on all our favourite rides without a long wait. We were very happy with it.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 6, February 20

„We did not expect you quite that early“ - Part 4

So we leisurely strolled toward the hat again and when we passed Man’s Chinese Theatre, we headed inside to see how long of a line there was.



Well, the pre-show room was quite full, but people were moving, so we got in line. We saw two runs of the pre-show



before we boarded our ride through the movies. It is one ride that never gets old. So nice to sit back and be transported through all the movies.









Once the ride had finished we picked up a Mickey Pretzel before we finally headed to the exit. A tram to the parking lot was waiting for us and soon we were back in our car.
We drove right to Kissimmee and pick up some of our favourite treats, Krispy Kreme doughnuts. And for once we did not stick with just buying glazed doughnuts, we picked some speciality ones and some filled ones. Soon we were on our way back to Old Key West for a little break. Tom put the Jacuzzi to good use, while I checked the internet and started repacking. When Tom got out of the Jacuzzi we had some coffee and doughnuts







before it was time to get going again, as we wanted to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks. When we arrived at the entrance, the crowds were pretty thick, but bag check was a fairly easy process and soon we had gone through the turnstiles. To say the Magic Kingdom was packed would have been an understatement.
So we strolled through the stores and soon they announced that the projection show at the castle was about to start. We headed out and found a nice spot on Main Street where we waited for the show to start.





It was just as awesome as we remembered it







and once it was over we stayed around for the fireworks which were to start in just a few minutes. We chatted away the time and soon the lights on Main Street went out and the fireworks started.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[dizneeat]

Day 6, February 20

„We did not expect you quite that early“ - Part 5

We chatted away the time and soon the lights on Main Street went out and the fireworks started.
Unfortunately it was also the time when people were streaming in from the sides to stand directly in front of you. And while I don’t mind people in front of me, I do mind that they then put their kiddos on their shoulders and therefore give the people behind them NO chance to properly see the fireworks. There was a lot of spot changing and shuffling going on, but soon we had found a spot where we were able to see the fireworks and enjoy them.











After the fireworks were over we went up to the tipboard, but wait times were quite long, so we decided to hit the Peoplemover before heading out of the park. Well, guess what, even the Peoplemover had a line and quite a long one as well. But after a little wait we were on and off we went around Tomorrowland. Once the ride was over we slowly strolled towards the exit. Before we left I picked up another treat,



some popcorn. I kept munching on it all the way to the car. About 20 minutes later we arrived back at Old Key West. And a few minutes after we had arrived we heard some noise outside. So we went out onto the balcony and low and behold we were able to see some fireworks above the trees. A quick look at our watch and we were sure, they must have been Illuminations.
We could not see too much, so after a few minutes we headed back inside and emptied the contents of the fridge out onto the dining table and had a late but yummy dinner.









After dinner Tom had some of the



fruit salad we had purchased earlier, while I sampled the



Carrot Cake and



Magic Cookie bar. Around 11pm after watching some TV and relaxing we knew it was time to call it a day.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[pas130]

An Iluminations view!!! Very cool! The kids saw them from the boat to DTD area and were so jazzed! Such a beautiful resort..day and night. Totally drooling over the Krispy Kremes

 

[dizneeat]

An Iluminations view!!! Very cool! The kids saw them from the boat to DTD area and were so jazzed! Such a beautiful resort..day and night. Totally drooling over the Krispy Kremes

It was so funny, as we headed out onto the veranda to see what was going on and suddenly realized that this must be the Epcot fireworks. You could only see them over the tops of the trees, but nonetheless we saw them.

It would not be a complete vacation without KK for us.

 

[jedijill]

I think I gained 5 pounds reading your updates. Now I'm craving some Krispy Kremes! Yay for the Illuminations view.

Jill in CO

 

[Linda67]

Ooh those KKs look good Karin
Very cool that you could see some of Illuminations from your room

 

[dizneeat]

I think I gained 5 pounds reading your updates. Now I'm craving some Krispy Kremes! Yay for the Illuminations view.

Jill in CO

Now imagine how much I gained, having to try all that food for you all.
It was the icing on the cake to be able to get a glimpse of Illuminations as well.

Ooh those KKs look good Karin
Very cool that you could see some of Illuminations from your room

No Florida vacation would be complete without indulging in some KK goodness.
Catching a glimpse of Illuminations was awesome, especially since we knew it would be more than a year until we could see it again.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 7, February 21

We CAN stick to our plans …. - Part 1

We were up again at around 6.30am. I took a shower and while Tom took one and then went on to prepare breakfast I started packing up our things.



The master bedroom looked like a major disaster zone.



Once breakfast was ready we sat down and enjoyed what we had in the fridge and some of the leftover doughnuts from the day before.



Bellies full we grabbed our bags and headed out to the Animal Kingdom. Once we had made it there we were shocked how many people were already at the toll booths, even though it was before park opening. It took us a few minutes to go through, and then we got in line to park our car. They still had a few spaces right at the bottom of the line, close to the tram, but the car in front of us was the first one to be directed to the end of the line again. Well, you hike a lot at WDW, hiking the parking lot is not one of our favourite things to do, so we decided to NOT park, but drive around one more time. And when we got back to parking we were far more in luck as we scored a space in the lower third of the row. Car parked we headed to the tram that just pulled in. It was now 9am and the park was officially opening and we were waiting for the tram to pull out of the stop.
And waited … and waited some more.
Finally the tram moved and we were on our way. Bag check took a while, but soon we were scanning our Magic bands and headed into the park. We only got a few steps into the park before we made our first stop. Right there, a few steps away from the entrance was DeVine. People just walked by, but as soon as the first few stopped, the circle around her grew and grew.



We watched for a minute of two and then headed further into the park. On the way to our ride of choice we first walked through the shops and then headed to the right. Many people seemed to have the same idea and soon we arrived at our destination, Expedition Everest. We were stunned to see only a five minute wait, so we hopped into line.







And walked right through to the loading zone.
We peeked around the corner, only one couple waiting for front row, so we asked to ride in the front row and were told to wait for the next train. Yippie. Even though we did not have any FP+ for this park we were on ride within 5 minutes of getting in line. The ride itself was fun as always













and we walked out through the gift shop, where Tom found a lot of hats to try on. Pictures taken we walked outside hoping the wait for EE would not be too long and we would be able to ride it again.
When we saw the posted wait time we were both very happy. Only a 10 minute wait. So we hopped in line and walked right through the line.





This time there were a few people in line for front row, so we just took whatever row we were assigned and scored the last but one car.



We were both very happy to be able to ride one of our all time favourite rides twice without FP+.









When we got off the ride we did not even stop in the gift shop, but thought about getting in the single rider line. But not without checking the regular wait time.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[Linda67]

Love EE Karin!
Great that there were no lines and you could hop right back on
Isn't the queue line wonderful? I actually don't mind waiting a while in line, so much to see

 

[MEK]

.[/COLOR] [/SIZE][/COLOR]​

Not sure what's going on here but if this is what it looks like from the back row, well - no thank you!

Seriously though - you got some great shots on the ride and YAY for getting two rides in first thing in the morning. That one view shot is so awesome!

 

[pas130]

Sweet! Two EE rides which were walk on and first row

EE really is some coaster! Great pics, I LOVE the queue there!

 

[dizneeat]

Love EE Karin!
Great that there were no lines and you could hop right back on
Isn't the queue line wonderful? I actually don't mind waiting a while in line, so much to see

We could not believe how lucky we were with the crowds being so low. I am with you, when it comes to the queue area. So awesome you don't even mind having to wait in line.

Not sure what's going on here but if this is what he looks like from the back row, well - no thank you!

There is no really bad row on that EE! But then, I REALLY love the front row.

Seriously though - you got some great shots on the ride and YAY for getting two rides in first thing in the morning. That one view shot is so awesome!

Will it only be TWO rides we fit in in the morning? You will have to wait and see.
We just love to ride EE - a) for the fun ride and b) for the awesome views you have from up there.

Sweet! Two EE rides which were walk on and first row

EE really is some coaster! Great pics, I LOVE the queue there!

It is such a fun coaster. We LOVE going backwards. Indy went backwards for a while at DLP and we could not get enough of it.
And it was a great morning and getting there early really paid of!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 7, February 21

We CAN stick to our plans …. - Part 2

But not without checking the regular wait time.
It had now grown to 20 minutes, but that was still not very long and given that we had walked onto the other two rides we decided to give it a shot.



Now, this time the wait was actually a bit longer, as they had even opened the tea garden,



but still we were in the loading zone within 15 minutes. Now, this time two couples were waiting for front row and we decided we could wait three trains as well. So we asked for front row again, knowing that it would be the last time we would be able to ride Everest for the next 18 months. Didn’t take long and we were in the front row seat again



and enjoying this great ride.





Once we got off we headed over to Kilimanjaro Safaris. We made a quick restroom stop, then got ourselves a bottle of water to rehydrate again and off we went.





The sign outside said 60 minutes, but we were sure the line would be that long. Well, it was. It snaked right back into a garden after you initially got in line and while the line moved, it moved pretty slowly.









55 minutes after we had gotten in line we had finally reached the last check point and were soon assigned a row. Luckily for us there were only larger groups, so we had a whole row to ourselves.



It took a few minutes until we were able to head down the road





and start our adventure as there were a lot of vehicles out.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[dizneeat]

Day 7, February 21

We CAN stick to our plans …. - Part 3

It took a few minutes until we were able to head down the road and start our adventure as there were a lot of vehicles out.
We were so lucky as there were lots of animals roaming around



























and we got to see quite a few giraffes,













some white rhinos





and even the lion and lioness were positioned nicely.







Far too soon it was time to get off the ride and it was now close to noon, so we decided to have some lunch before leaving the park.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[franandaj]

Holy mega updates! Sounds like a nice day at DHS and top it off at the MK. I'll ride EE three times in a row if I have the opportunity, such a fun ride. No matter how many I see, I never tire of the safari pictures! Love to see the lion and lioness out.