“Please Don’t Pop My Disney Bubble!” TR 8/11-8/20 *New 1/1, It’s a wrap!!

[suse66]

Quick update on my FP+ saga over this past week.
Here were my tentative plans for January Trip:

Looks like wonderful plans! You two are going to have so much fun!

 

[Tracy161]

I hope you didn’t get pounded with snow, I saw pictures of NYC and it was snowy.

We "only" got 8 inches in the part of NY I'm at Every winter I promise myself I'll move south... and then May-October hit and I'm like "there's no better place to be [except Disney of course ]"

I want Florida weather right now!

Me, too!

Sounds like it wasn't without it struggles - UGH! - but your plans sound great and I'm excited you'll have another TR to report up and running after this one

 

[disneyAndi14]

Looks like wonderful plans! You two are going to have so much fun!

Thank you! I think we will have a wonderful trip and my sister is coming with us and she hasn’t been for several years! Yay!

 

[disneyAndi14]

We "only" got 8 inches in the part of NY I'm at Every winter I promise myself I'll move south... and then May-October hit and I'm like "there's no better place to be [except Disney of course ]"


Me, too!

Sounds like it wasn't without it struggles - UGH! - but your plans sound great and I'm excited you'll have another TR to report up and running after this one

Ugh early snowfall for you! Hopefully it will melt soon, haha!
I can’t even imagine how hard it will be to get FP+ when all the new attractions start opening! I wonder if WDW will do something different and start charging for front of the line passes? Yikes you never know with Disney!

 

[Tracy161]

I wonder if WDW will do something different and start charging for front of the line passes? Yikes you never know with Disney!

I know! Disney is always changing a reevaluating things, so you never know...

 

[disneyAndi14]

Day 7, Part 1 “Who knew there were so many picture worthy walls at Epcot”. Andi did!

Hello Everyone,

Time to start Day 7 update, this was Friday 8/17/18. Plans were Epcot in the am, rest in afternoon, and MNSSHP in the pm. I had part of my school bread, coffee, and 1/2 a banana before we left.

We headed to Epcot for opening around 8:15 via the monorail. Good mojo for this transportation continued, yay! We got through security and were waiting inside the park for a few minutes before opening.

Our plan was to visit Joy and Sadness and Baymax first. The line was not to bad for Joy and Sadness but it took forever! I like that the characters spend time with each guest except it does make for a long wait! I am just going to say they are both so cute and nice!
We enjoyed our visit with them. We got so many nice pictures with them. I can’t imagine a photo box at these meets now, yuck! Bad decision on Disney’s part if this comes to fruition!

Here are some pictures with Joy and Sadness!

Baymax’s line was actually quite long so we decided to skip at this time. We headed to Figment for a quirky ride with a purple dragon.

We got a few pictures in the photo booth at Figment and they were pretty bad, this is the only one I will show you all, haha!

We went to visit Nemo and friends next, this was a walk on! Spent a little time visiting with the manatees and aquarium residents. I still have not done Turtle Talk with Crush! Andi always vetoes it. I plan on doing this in May without her there, any takers from the girls out there?? I hope so!

We walked over to the Land and did LwtL with very little wait. It was an enjoyable ride.
We had a FP+ for this later but decided to go on now.

Our Soarin FP was ready to use so we did this. The SB wait time was already 80 minutes. We did get on with about a 15 minute wait, this was way better than the other night. We waited over 30 minutes in FP last time. The CM called out for a party of 2 and we were put on B row 2, yay, no distortion. I sometimes wonder why Disney is okay with this? The distortion is quite significant in A&C. It almost seems 2nd rate for a 1st rate company like Disney I am biased though because I really liked the original Soarin way more than this one. Does my Soarin picture make you look like your flying or just dizzy? Haha!

Insta worthy walls coming up as soon as I type it!

 

[schumigirl]

Lol......I had no clue who Joy and Sadness are.......but I do now........such a cute picture! Well they all are......

I agree about the photo box thing........it’s a terrible idea for character meets......I too hope it doesn’t spread any further........

I am such a Universal person......when you mentioned purple dinosaur I fully expected to see Barney ........he’s the only purple dinosaur I know!! We tease Kyle mercilessly......when he was 4 or 5 he always said when he grew up he wanted to be a trash pick up man??? Or Barney........lol.......yep, never let him forget it.

As always loving your updates.........

 

[disneyAndi14]

Cont from last post.............

Andi wanted pictures at all the walls so we hit the Bubblegum wall by SE

Next was the Blueberry wall, also by SE

Last was the Toothpaste wall by The Seas!

I had no idea there are 3 Instagram walls in Epcot and I am sure there are probably more!

After our wall photo shoot, we headed into WS, Japan was our destination. We decided to try Katsura Grill for lunch.

We arrived right around the 11am opening and we were one of the first customers. I decided on a kids meal. I chose the Chicken and Shrimp Teriyaki. This was served with broccolini, rice, a drink, and cookie. I really enjoyed this. The flavors were very good and the chicken and shrimp were cooked correctly.

Andi went with the Shrimp Tempura Udon, this was very flavorful and she really enjoyed this. I took a few bites and it was yummy. I would get this next time.

It was boiling hot again, full sun and more humid today! We went in the store and bought some Japanese candy. The peppermints here are so good! Jack and Andi like the fruit gummies so we picked up a few favorites and headed out.

We decided to try the Katgori at the outside stand in Japan. We both got Rainbow flavored and I had the sweet milk on mine. Oh my goodness, why haven’t we tried this before? It was very delicious and actually cooled us down on our walk towards FW. I highly recommend Katsura Grill and the Katgori for dessert!

Andi wanted to stop in Mouse Gears for more shopping, she bought a sweatshirt for a friend of hers. It was time to go relax before the party tonight!

Stay tuned for the first part of our Halloween Party, spoiler it was hot, crowded, and the busiest party we have attended!........

 

[disneyAndi14]

Lol......I had no clue who Joy and Sadness are.......but I do now........such a cute picture! Well they all are......

I agree about the photo box thing........it’s a terrible idea for character meets......I too hope it doesn’t spread any further........

I am such a Universal person......when you mentioned purple dinosaur I fully expected to see Barney ........he’s the only purple dinosaur I know!! We tease Kyle mercilessly......when he was 4 or 5 he always said when he grew up he wanted to be a trash pick up man??? Or Barney........lol.......yep, never let him forget it.

As always loving your updates.........

The photo box thing is just a terrible idea!
Jack use to watch Barney when he was little too! Funny how Kyle wanted to be Barney or trash pick up, haha! The trash trucks fascinate little boys!
Thanks Carole for reading and commenting!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Hi Caroline! I've been thinking about you, because like you, we got snow again yesterday and today. I hate living in Illinois. It's waaaaay too early for snow!!!! At least it's not sticking to the hard surfaces yet, just the grass...

Anyway, I love your January plans. I'm happy you got all your FP's.

I definitely want to try the Katgori. it looks so refreshing!

 

[xlsm]

Awww!! This is so cute!!!

I still have not done Turtle Talk with Crush! Andi always vetoes it.

We watched it at California Adventure in 2016, but have never done it at Epcot. It was super cute and we always say we're going to go watch while at Epcot, but then we never manage to be over there near a start time. Maybe on the upcoming visit!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Day 7, Part 1 “Who knew there were so many picture worthy walls at Epcot”. Andi did!

Cute! I love this meet.

yay, no distortion. I sometimes wonder why Disney is okay with this? The distortion is quite significant in A&C. It almost seems 2nd rate for a 1st rate company like Disney

I agree! I can't believe this is a thing. If I'd never been on Soarin' before and the first time was on the end in A or C, I'd think it was a terrible ride and be surprised Disney couldn't have better technology. The distortion makes me motion sick and gives me a headache. Not a fan.

I had no idea there are 3 Instagram walls in Epcot and I am sure there are probably more!

Does a wall have pretty colours? Take a picture in front of it! That's my understanding of how Instagram works anyway. I know people also take pictures in front of the outside of the Mexico pavilion, too, and I think it kind of counts as a "wall of Disney" in that way. The mosaic walls going into the Land also sometimes get some Instagram love.

 

[kastoney]

I still have not done Turtle Talk with Crush! Andi always vetoes it. I plan on doing this in May without her there, any takers from the girls out there?? I hope so!

I've done it once or twice but Casey usually vetoes it too. But I'm all about it come May!

The CM called out for a party of 2 and we were put on B row 2, yay, no distortion

This happened to us just about every time we rode Soarin this time. The CM called for a party of 3 and we would get B center just about every time, though I don't notice the distortion too bad.

Yum!!! This look amazing. Tempura and noodles in 1 dish? Yes, please, and thank you!

We both got Rainbow flavored and I had the sweet milk on mine. Oh my goodness, why haven’t we tried this before? It was very delicious and actually cooled us down on our walk towards FW. I highly recommend Katsura Grill and the Katgori for dessert!

We've never tired this either but that totally has Casey's name all over it.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Our plan was to visit Joy and Sadness and Baymax first. The line was not to bad for Joy and Sadness but it took forever! I like that the characters spend time with each guest except it does make for a long wait! I am just going to say they are both so cute and nice!

Yes, their line was very long when my family met them too, but they are a nice meet. I didn't notice the line calm down much at all.

We enjoyed our visit with them. We got so many nice pictures with them. I can’t imagine a photo box at these meets now, yuck! Bad decision on Disney’s part if this comes to fruition!

I don't think anyone is saying the photo boxes are a good idea. I actually emailed guest services to voice my displeasure. The reply I got was: they are making this change at 9 character locations to "enhance the guest experience and provide more photo options from which to choose". Erm..sorry, how is replacing a person with a box enhancing my experience or giving me any more options? There are some things Disney has done that I can shrug off. This one really bothers me.

I still have not done Turtle Talk with Crush!

It's cute. Not something I would go out of my way for, and we skipped it this past trip, but fun if you're already there and don't have too long to wait.

I had no idea there are 3 Instagram walls in Epcot and I am sure there are probably more!

I only recently found out there was such a thing as an Instagram wall. I guess that's why my social media is limited to Facebook. I will probably keep it that way.

I decided on a kids meal. I chose the Chicken and Shrimp Teriyaki.

The flexibility to get a kids meal is another thing I missed due to having the QS dining plan. Most of those meals are fine if you want a lighter meal.

We decided to try the Katgori at the outside stand in Japan. We both got Rainbow flavored and I had the sweet milk on mine.

This was on my list but I never did get around to it. I have read good things about it. It does seem very refreshing on a hot day.

 

[Pluto0809]

As you can see, I was very successful!

I switched to Firefox incognito

I need to remember this for May. It took me over an hour to do all of our FPs for October!

We got so many nice pictures with them. I can’t imagine a photo box at these meets now, yuck! Bad decision on Disney’s part if this comes to fruition!

Me neither! I do think Disney has backed down on this a bit. They said there would only be 6 of them.

I plan on doing this in May without her there, any takers from the girls out there??

I love Turtle Talk! If our schedules line up I will definitely see this one with you.

I am biased though because I really liked the original Soarin way more than this one.

I don't think I've ever had someone say they like the new one more.

I had no idea there are 3 Instagram walls in Epcot and I am sure there are probably more!

You'll have to tell Andi about a fourth wall. I call it the "faux" purple wall. My Mom made me pose here last February because she said it was a purple wall. It's located in the back of the locker room next to SE.

I decided on a kids meal. I chose the Chicken and Shrimp Teriyaki.

That looks yummy other than the broccoli and shrimp. Do you remember if there was a version with just chicken?

We decided to try the Katgori at the outside stand in Japan.

I really need to try this! It's been on my list for many trips but just hasn't made the cut yet.

 

[missangelalexis]

Cute pics with Joy & Sadness, they are always a fun meet!

I love the bubblegum wall! I still need to visit the toothpaste wall. Maybe in January!

I always like to look at all the candy in the Japan gift shop! Mmm your treat looks so good, another thing I still need to try!

 

[Cloe Colton]

I'm glad your fastpasses all worked out! I may have to use this strategy next time!

What a fun morning in EPCOT. The dessert in Japan looks amazing, I'll have to try it!

 

[buzzrelly]

The first day was the hardest because the website would keep malfunctioning, ugh! I was starting to hate Olaf, lol! He shows up and says, oops something went wrong! I switched to Firefox incognito and finally was able to do at least the 3 important days, which included the SDD and FOP.

That's so aggravating! I'm glad you eventually got what you wanted

Here are some pictures with Joy and Sadness!

Adorable! I keep forgetting to do these!

I plan on doing this in May without her there, any takers from the girls out there??

I haven't been there in years. I guess if we are walking by and there's no line, I'll go in

Andi wanted pictures at all the walls

Cute. Allie and I got a few of those last year too

 

[Tracy161]

“Who knew there were so many picture worthy walls at Epcot”. Andi did!

She's the wall queen!

I sometimes wonder why Disney is okay with this? The distortion is quite significant in A&C.

I wonder this every time I'm unlucky enough to get the distortion! - it's a bit shocking for Disney, to be honest. If ever I was to go with a first-timer, I'd ask to get the best seats for his/her first time experience.

Next was the Blueberry wall, also by SE

Cute picture! I know the wall... but didn't realize it was identified as the "blueberry" wall I'm guessing Andi did, though

 

[disneyAndi14]

Hi Caroline! I've been thinking about you, because like you, we got snow again yesterday and today. I hate living in Illinois. It's waaaaay too early for snow!!!! At least it's not sticking to the hard surfaces yet, just the grass...

Anyway, I love your January plans. I'm happy you got all your FP's.

I definitely want to try the Katgori. it looks so refreshing!

Jenny, we just got several inches of snow yesterday and today, ugh! It is so cold here, we hit -8 last night, that is so cold for November, yuck! I am so sick of living in The tundra! I need to move to a warmer climate, like Disney World! Can I live there? I would!
Thank you, I am so excited to go in January, I hope it is warm there!
The Katgori shaved ice was so good and refreshing.