1/11/25-1/25/25: 2 weeks, 5 people, a million “it’s cold”s: our freezing but amazing trip: COMPLETED

[disneydreamer1980]

Aww thats really a bummer that Disney didnt offer a refund considering how awful the weather was

Yeah I can’t believe the show went on at all considering how hard it was raining. I thought for sure we’d be able to cancel, I would’ve been happy with even a partial refund.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Wednesday 1/22/25 Day 11

Woke up at 9. Went out onto balcony to check the weather and it was freezing. There was a steamy fog coming off the lake, it was so strange.


See the fog?

We washed and dried our soaked clothes from the night before, and just hung out a bit. The girls didn’t want to go out in the cold, so they stayed at the resort. Gabe and I bundled up, DH didn’t bring a jacket. We headed down to the bus stop at 11:57.
It was soooo cold. Check out the temps on the screen at the bus stop!



Current temp was 40 degrees! Another cold day.



The bus came at 12:03. It was our very first decorated bus of the trip! Before this all we had were plain “Disney Transport” busses



Gabe was excited about the decorated bus.
We stopped at the Contemporary, and arrived at AK at 12:28.



Before we entered the park we stopped for a giant donut to share and some hot chocolates. Did I mention it was cold? lol




Gabe had trouble scanning in again and I guess the CM didn’t see me scan in while she and DH were dealing with him. I walked into the park and she chased after me, yelling for me to come back. She told me I didn’t scan in, but of course I did. She told me I had to come back and scan in. It was pretty embarrassing, people were looking at me like I was a criminal who was trying to sneak into the park, lol. Anyway, I scanned in and she apologized, I guess she could see that I did in fact scan in before.

We hung around the Oasis for a bit, trying to check out the animals but many were not out. I guess because it was too cold.



After seeing what we could we headed into the park.



DH was getting cold and he wanted to buy a jacket. So we went shopping.




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[disneydreamer1980]

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He finally found a jacket he liked…for $80! Seems like a lot for a hoodie but it is Disney after all.



After he bought the jacket, we headed through the park to Africa, for the Safari ride.





We got the front row of the jeep. This was really nice because we could feel the heat from the drivers cab area, and it was cold.



I thought because of the cold we wouldn’t see many animals, but we actually saw a lot more than the previous week when it was fairly warm!




See the elephant?

After an awesome safari through Africa we decided to go on a Gorilla Trek!



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[disneydreamer1980]

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We started down the exploration trail, checking out everything. No gorillas were out, I guess due to the cold, but there were other things to see.



The bird area always freaks me out a bit. I have a bit of a bird phobia and I hate when they fly at me, but Gabe asked me to go in with them so I did. And a bird flew right at us lol. I almost had a heart attack. They are beautiful though.





After the terrifying bird section, we continued down the trail.




Having finished the trail, we headed out of Africa, towards Pandora.



Came across the African band again. The music really adds to the atmosphere.

We kept on towards Pandora.





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[disneydreamer1980]

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Once we got to Pandora, DH and Gabe rode FoP. I don’t love that ride because it makes me a little motion sick. I rode it the previous week, so I decided to sit this one out. While they rode, I headed over to Satuli to get myself my favorite meal in Disney. Gabe and DH don’t really like this place so I went alone while they rode. It felt weird to sit and eat alone, I’m really not used to it.



This restaurant is themed so well.



I got the combo chicken/steak bowl with noodles and creamy herb sauce on the side. I’m not a huge red pepper fan, so I pick those out, but otherwise I love love love this meal. Thinking about it now, I wish I was there eating it. I’ve tried to make it at home but I can’t ever get the herb sauce right.



Same food, different angles. Sooo good.

After I was done eating and they were done riding FoP, we went into Windtraders to buy Gabe a new shoulder banshee.




The whole little ceremony they do is so neat. Gabe loves that thing.


Of course as soon as we left the store he had his father put it on him.



After the banshee was secured on his shoulder, we headed toward Navi river journey.



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[disneydreamer1980]

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We headed over to Navi





While stepping into the boat Gabes banshee fell off and almost went into the water. Luckily DH caught it.

This ride is seriously underrated. It’s just beautiful. That animatronic and the song she sings are amazing.



After Pandora we headed towards Dinoland.
We came across Kevin on the way.



Then it was onto Dinoland!




First stop was the Boneyard. So sad this is going.




After he got enough playtime at the Boneyard we headed towards the Finding Nemo show.

On the way we passed the green construction walls that were put up the week before. RIP Chester and Hesters!



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[disneydreamer1980]

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More construction walls

One of the signs on the wall


We made it to Finding Nemo a little before the show started. We sat and waited a bit for it to start

This is a cute show but I’d be ok missing it


Next we had a date with a dinosaur!



This ride is fun but it’s ROUGH!!


I’ll miss it when it’s gone.
This was our last ride at AK for the trip

We had to head towards the park exit so we could get to dinner.

On the way out we passed more of those golden statues that our MB+ always sets off, and we stopped and interacted with them as we had been doing all trip. These are cute and add a little bit of magic.



Next, dinner at Rainforest Cafe and then onto Extended Evening Hours at MK!

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[disneydreamer1980]

We headed to the Rainforest Cafe near the park exit. The area outside the restaurant is themed well



We are Landry’s members, so we were seated right away. We also had $25 on our account to put towards the meal. You get $25 for your birthday each year. You also get priority seating and points towards more money added towards your account when you eat at a Landry’s restaurant (Yak Yeti, Trex, Rainforest cafe and many more). I highly recommend joining.

Anyway, when we were seated we ordered mozzarella sticks and drinks. They brought my strawberry lemonade in an up charged souvenir cup without asking me, but I didn’t really mind.



I ordered “python pasta” aka chicken fettuccine Alfredo, DH got a burger and Gabe got a kids hot dog meal with fruit. The food pretty much sucked all around, even the mozzarella sticks.




But good food is not why you come here.
It’s the atmosphere. Gabe loves it here.



It is really cool in here.

We left the park at exactly 7:00, walked up to the bustop at 7:04 to find an empty bus waiting. We had the whole bus to ourselves.



We headed back to the resort to get the girls and head to EEH at MK.

The girls ate at Roaring Fork while we were gone and played board games there also, after walking around the resort. They said they had a nice day too.

We hung out a little bit in the room and then headed to MK.

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[jo-jo]

Do you have APs?

DH went to get a jacket cause he was GETTING cold?????? At 40 degrees, we would have long sleeve high neck shirt, sweatsweat and jacket with hand warmers in pockets with hats and gloves. Maybe even wear face mask, not for germs, but for warmth.


And was that 7 pm bus's AC set to sub zero?

Once we went when it was chilly, at the time those buses threw off a lot of heat by the back seat. One guest who sat there, got up to leave and said I melted my tushy off.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Do you have APs?

DH went to get a jacket cause he was GETTING cold?????? At 40 degrees, we would have long sleeve high neck shirt, sweatsweat and jacket with hand warmers in pockets with hats and gloves. Maybe even wear face mask, not for germs, but for warmth.

No we don’t have APs, we get 14 day tickets off a UK site (attraction tickets) that Americans can buy from also. They include memory maker, park hopper and water parks for much cheaper than anywhere else. I think it was like $3600 for the 5 of us. Usually we do a 10 day ticket and spend a few days at Universal, but this trip we skipped Universal so we needed more days at Disney. And yeah, DH is insane lol. He’s always hot. I was surprised that he even wanted to get the jacket. That shows how cold it was. If he’s cold, it’s really cold, lol.
For some reason they always want to sit in the very back of the bus. It actually was pretty warm back there though.

 

[jo-jo]

No we don’t have APs, we get 14 day tickets off a UK site (attraction tickets) that Americans can buy from also. They include memory maker, park hopper and water parks for much cheaper than anywhere else. I think it was like $3600 for the 5 of us. Usually we do a 10 day ticket and spend a few days at Universal, but this trip we skipped Universal so we needed more days at Disney. And yeah, DH is insane lol. He’s always hot. I was surprised that he even wanted to get the jacket. That shows how cold it was. If he’s cold, it’s really cold, lol.
For some reason they always want to sit in the very back of the bus. It actually was pretty warm back there though.

But you're from the U.S.? I have heard a few people get them. I was too chicken to try. We used undercover tourist cause you can return tickets with a 5 or 10% restocking fee. We did the planning with our last trip, that cancelling could happen at any time due to health issues. Our previous two trips has some issues. One was cancelled two day prior and one was oked a week ahead.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

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We headed down to the bus stop (too cold for the boat). We waited 8 minutes for the bus and had to stand due to crowding. We stopped at FW on the way to MK, which freed up some seats. We arrived at the park at 9:57, just as EEH were starting.



We headed to Adventureland first.



Pirates was our first ride.





We decided to just get our favorites done this night, so after Pirates we headed to HM



I’m happy the hatbox ghost is there now. It’s a cool effect.

On our way around the park we stopped at the Tangled bathroom for a bathroom break.



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[disneydreamer1980]

But you're from the U.S.? I have heard a few people get them. I was too chicken to try. We used undercover tourist cause you can return tickets with a 5 or 10% restocking fee. We did the planning with our last trip, that cancelling could happen at any time due to health issues. Our previous two trips has some issues. One was cancelled two day prior and one was oked a week ahead.

Yeah we’re in the US. That’s a shame you had to cancel before, you never know what’ll happen. The tickets we got were refundable if need be. They work great. No issues. And you can make payments on them.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

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The Tangled bathroom area is beautiful.








After admiring the Tangled area we watched Mickeys Philharmagic. Love this show.




Then we enjoyed walking through an empty park on our way to our next ride.




7DMT was next!!!



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[disneydreamer1980]

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On 7DMT we got stuck in a completely vertical position for like 2-3 minutes. It was pretty scary because we were in an odd position. Thank God it didn’t last long!

Next we headed to Tomorrowland



The kids wanted to ride to Speedway cars.



Tron was next on our list.



Our final ride of the night was Space Mountain. Well, the kids final ride. DH and I sat out. Too rough for us.

At this point it was almost midnight. We headed out of the park.



We took the bus home, getting to our room at 12:30. It was a long day, but we had a lot of fun.

 

[flowergirl45]

Enjoying your trip report, you have a lovely and fun family. We are rope drop people, so we can’t do late nights too. It’s great to read a trip that’s opposite of our habits! Sorry you got so sick on GotG!

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Enjoying your trip report, you have a lovely and fun family. We are rope drop people, so we can’t do late nights too. It’s great to read a trip that’s opposite of our habits! Sorry you got so sick on GotG!

Thank you! We used to do a mix of rope dropping and going in later and staying late, but the kids, as they got older, hated the rope dropping so we changed our touring style. It was pretty nice though not having to get up early on vacation but it does suck missing the rope dropping time when waits are low. And as for GotG, I managed to avoid it till this trip, I never should’ve let them talk me into riding lol, it was awful. My family all love it though.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Thursday 1/23/25 Day 12

Slept in again. Woke up to cold, rainy weather. Again. Ugh.



As you can see, the temp was only 44 at 10:37 am.

We called down to housekeeping to request more of everything:TP, coffee, disposable dishes, etc. I’m pretty sure Housekeeping had forgotten about us this trip. We never got a single visit, not even the daily room checks. We dealt with our own trash, got ourown clean towels off the cart in the hall, pretty much fended for ourselves. Crazy.

The girls, again, decided to stay in the room. They didn’t want to deal with the cold, wet weather.

We hung out in the room a bit with them, heading down to the bus at 12:21



We arrived the bus stop at 12:24.



The bus came at 12:35.





It was a Goofy bus, which isn’t as cool as the fully wrapped busses but is still better than the plain busses we always got.



We were on our way to our last Epcot day of the trip. So sad.





We stopped on the way in to make Gabe put his coat on. He really didn’t want to because he couldn’t wear his banshee with it on, but it was just to cold not to wear it. He wasn’t happy about it though.



He had to reposition his finger a few times but his scan actually worked this time!

We headed into the park.



We decided to start in the Seas.



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[disneydreamer1980]

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We headed into the Seas to check out the aquarium section. We don’t usually hang here much because we have an aquarium membership at home and we go often. Plus this trip the manatees weren’t there for some reason which is our favorite thing there. Anyway, we checked out everything.





The sea turtles are awesome.



Love this Mickey, they show it a lot on the Animal Kingdom show on Disney+.

After we saw everything we started to head down to the shop. On the way, a man carrying a 4-5 year old long ways shoved past us and the kid kicked me right in the face. It didn’t hurt too bad but annoyed me because the man clearly saw it happen and said nothing. People are so rude nowadays.

Anyway, we’d already bought stuff in the Seas shop earlier in the trip but we stopped back in to buy two more of the animal tracker bracelets the girls had bought for our other two daughters at home. They love them.

As we always do after we visit the Seas, we headed to the Land. We had a date with Soarin.



We got onto the ride, sat there for a while with nothing happening.



The lights went out and came back on and the CMs all looked confused. They told us we had to get off the ride, due to technical difficulties, and then they closed it. We were told we’d get an anytime LL for it. We had to wait in a long line for a cm to scan our MBs to receive it.

After that debacle we were supposed to ride the Land but Gabe didn’t want to so instead we headed somewhere we had t been yet this trip….



“Imagination, Imagination”. I have the song in my head now lol. We rode with no wait.



After the ride, we did the interactive games.


Here’s the Figment Gabe made.

When we’re about to leave, Figment came out, but Gabe didn’t want to wait in line to see him.



Next, we headed out and into the World Showcase!

 

[jo-jo]

Isn't it funny, a two week , a bunch of park days and still you feel sad when you realize it's the last of something?

Sorry you had such awful weather. The last few trips, we have done two week trips and sure you expect to get a couple of bad weather days, but not 60% of the trip.