A Magical Anniversary in the WILDERNESS *Pixie Dust Everywhere* Completed 11/19 New TR Link

[Simba22]

OK so totally random.... I follow the Animal Kingdom Lodge hashtag on IG and the other day, I was just scrolling through my feed and I saw you with your mom and your sister! I was like "HEY I KNOW HER!" So I follow you now!

Dan got a beer and I got the Jenn’s Tattoo. I’m not sure what was in my drink but I wasn’t a huge fan. I think it might have been the watermelon flavor in it. I wanted to love it but it just missed the mark for me! It looked pretty at least!

Man, that DOES look pretty! That stinks you weren't a fan of it, I'm sure it cost like $13! lol
Yours is the second TR tonight that I've read about Nomad Lounge on! We might have to make a pit-stop here when we go back next October!

On our walk over to Dinosaur he decided he wanted to take an artsy photo of his beer.



I laughed because he was literally in front of the Tree of Life and that was the background he chose. I had him retake his photo



Much better!

Well, he takes AMAZING pictures of YOU so I guess there's that!

We made it to Dinosaur and used our FP. As always we enjoyed our ride. I find that this is the ride we quote most at home (that and carousel of progress for some reason lol!) We were driving to a friend’s wedding the weekend after we got home and we weren’t sure we would have enough gas to make it all the way there to which Dan’s response was “we’re not gonna make it!” (We made it )

OMG US TOO! For us, it's always "We're not gonna make it!" or "Nope, not our dino!" No matter what we're talking about...if it isn't what we were looking for it's "not our dino."

While we were in line for Dinosaur a guy behind me asked if I was wearing the shirt I was wearing because I was trying to Disneybound as a Polynesian employee. Which I wasn't lol definitely didn't expect someone to ask me that!

She's so cute!

See? He manages to take pictures of you like he's shooting a magazine cover or something but he can't take a ToL beer pic?

Animal Kingdom Lodge is just so grand! We stayed at Kidani Village on our last trip two years ago but the lobby really just does not compare to Jambo house!

I agree! Jambo House is where it's at lol

Jiko was so amazing. So amazing that it tied for my favorite meal of the whole trip with Artist Point (and I still can't believe I almost canceled it!).

We had it scheduled once, back in 2010, and my husband, naturally, picked up a 24-hour stomach bug and we ended up canceling it! We're hoping to stay at AKL again in 2020 so if we do, Jiko will absolutely be on the list again!

Soooo pretty!

After seeing Pandora, we made our way to the safari for Dan to experience his first nighttime safari

I still have yet to do a nighttime safari! I wanted to do one when we were there last year but I completely forgot about trying for it and we ended up watching Rivers of Light instead.

 

[Cloe Colton]

OK so totally random.... I follow the Animal Kingdom Lodge hashtag on IG and the other day, I was just scrolling through my feed and I saw you with your mom and your sister! I was like "HEY I KNOW HER!" So I follow you now!

Awesome! haha good to know those hashtags are good for something! I'm definitely more active on my instagram!

Man, that DOES look pretty! That stinks you weren't a fan of it, I'm sure it cost like $13! lol

Yours is the second TR tonight that I've read about Nomad Lounge on! We might have to make a pit-stop here when we go back next October!

Haha yeah it definitely wasn't my favorite, i still drank it though! Thankfully the Tables in Wonderland card lessens the sting a little bit haha Definitely check out the Nomad lounge though! It was like a perfect little getaway from the crowds!

Well, he takes AMAZING pictures of YOU so I guess there's that!

True! haha I guess I can let this one slide!

OMG US TOO! For us, it's always "We're not gonna make it!" or "Nope, not our dino!" No matter what we're talking about...if it isn't what we were looking for it's "not our dino.

"

Glad we aren't the only ones!

This was basically my reaction like what??

She's so cute!

Thank you! We definitely missed her like crazy!

See? He manages to take pictures of you like he's shooting a magazine cover or something but he can't take a ToL beer pic?

Fair enough! lol these were totally his idea too so I guess I shouldn't tease him about the bad beer photos!

We had it scheduled once, back in 2010, and my husband, naturally, picked up a 24-hour stomach bug and we ended up canceling it! We're hoping to stay at AKL again in 2020 so if we do, Jiko will absolutely be on the list again!

Definitely try it! We loved it!

I still have yet to do a nighttime safari! I wanted to do one when we were there last year but I completely forgot about trying for it and we ended up watching Rivers of Light instead.

Definitely have to check it out! The one nice thing is the line is usually super minimal for the nighttime safaris! I don't think it could ever replace a daytime safari but its just such a different experience! Its actually kind of spooky since its so dark! But I love it!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Day 8 Part 1

This was an interesting day because it was our last full day in Disney so it felt like our trip was coming to an end BUT we still had our cruise to look forward to so it was hard to balance all of the emotions! Because my brain definitely wanted to be sad because I felt like it was time to go home! But it wasn't time to go home, it was still party time!


Since we had adone the Afterhours party and already had a night in the Magic Kingdom, I figured we would head to Magic Kingdom a little later this day. Dan just doesn’t love being in the parks all day so I figured this would be a good compromise! (I would happily go park commando any day of the week )


We had thought about hanging by the pool but since we had already had a couple of pool days I decided it would be more fun to go and shop and monorail hop. If we didn’t do that on this day we would have not ridden the monorail once our whole trip! And that just seemed like a tradegy! No monorail during a whole Disney trip? Not okay


I relaxed on our balcony while Dan finished getting ready.



For breakfast we made our way down to Roaring Fork. There was no way I was leaving Disney without getting a bounty platter at least once!

I thought it was interesting that for Roaring Forks you ordered and they brought the food out to you. It seems like a much better system than the value resorts but I suppose that has something to do with it being a deluxe resort!



Breakfast hit the spot! After we finished eating, we were off on a resort hopping adventure! We took the boat from Wilderness Lodge to the Contemporary



When we got to the Contemporary we thought it might be fun to try out the Sea Raycers but there was a huge family in front of us trying to rent a pontoon and by the time they had gone through all of their paperwork there was a storm on the radar and no one could go out at all I wish we had just signed up at the Wilderness Lodge before taking the boat over because we probably would have been able to get a half hour in before the storm but it must not have been meant to be! Also, I'm not sure we would have even been allowed together in one boat since the weight limit was 300lbs so we probably wouldn’t have done it anyway if that was the case!




Sidenote - If anyone is wondering, yes that is a shirt of Joy that Dan made it actually came out pretty good and is one of his favorite shirts! He loved having his pupper with him as we moseyed around this day! haha

So once we were told the boats were a no-go we made our way into the Contemporary to do some shopping. I was on a mission to find my sister a souvenir this day but in all honestly I think I ended up just buying myself more stuff



After the Contemporary we hopped on the incredibles’ monorail over to the Polynesian. Dan was feeling pretty tired this day so we stopped to get him a coffee at Kona coffee.




It was really storming during out during our resort hoping so I was glad we had made the choice to resort hop rather than trying to go to the pool.


(I'm not sure you can see the rain in this photo but trust me! haha)

We browsed around the shops but didn’t really see anything that we hadn’t already seen elsewhere so we made our way back to monorail. Funnily enough we must have killed more time there than I thought because we ended up back on the same Incredibles monorail and in the same car! The family that had been in there when we got off was still in there! So I’m assuming they must have been killing time to avoid going out in the rain by going round and round on the monorail lol

Our last stop was the Grand Floridian and we made two shopping stops here. Our main stop was to basin to grab some bath salts and soap bars. I had purchased a Mickey coozy for someone as a souvenir and was no longer feeling good about the decision so I bought them some bath salts instead, you can’t go wrong there!

On our second stop I made one last attempt to find my sister a souvenir and had absolutely no luck. The CM at the mercantile store tried helping me brainstorm but it was no use lol. Since she comes with me so often there isn’t much she hasn’t bought herself already and if she hasn’t, everything I wanted to get her was too expensive. I resolved to hoping I would find her something on our cruise (I didn’t )




I mean I could have probably not gotten her anything but at this point we'd already gotten a souvenir for everyone in my immediate family so to leave her out would have been mean.

Sidenote - Here's a fun little throwback! I meant to post this in my post when we went to Narcooses but it slipped my mind! Me, my brother and my Dad. We were most likely on our way to our one and only sit down meal of our trips at the 1900 Park Fare breakfast!



After the Grand we were back off to the Contemporary!

Had I planned our day out better we probably should have just gone straight to the Magic Kingdom at that point but I of course had a different outfit in mind so we just made our way back to the Contemporary so we could get back to the Wilderness Lodge. We were also hoping we would luck out and be able to do the sea raycers still!




It wasn't planned but I definitely felt like I matched the Mary Blair mural pretty well!

It seemed like the skies were starting to clear up so we stopped at Contempo Café to grab a snack before trying to do the Sea Raycers again.




We found a nice table by the window hoping we could see if boats were going out at all.




I could have sworn I saw a boat go out so we made our way back down to the rental area but the windows were still all closed up. There was apparently another storm on its way in so we decided it was time to just head back to the WILDERNESS! Instead of waiting out on the uncovered dock for the next boat we decided to go back into the Contemporary and called an uber. I will do just about anything to avoid getting wet! It was raining by the time we got in our uber so we were happy with our decision!

Next up - Our last evening in Disney World at the Magic Kingdom! ​

 

[Jennifer Kovacs]

Such a great trip report. I really enjoyed reading about all the amazing restaurants you went to!!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I think resort hopping on the monorail is always a fun time. There is so much to observe and check out in the 3 monorail resorts. Sorry the boat trip didn’t pan out for the two of you! Wow how exciting to have a cruise still in front of you!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like an awesome day resort hopping!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Such a great trip report. I really enjoyed reading about all the amazing restaurants you went to!!

Thank you!

I think resort hopping on the monorail is always a fun time. There is so much to observe and check out in the 3 monorail resorts. Sorry the boat trip didn’t pan out for the two of you! Wow how exciting to have a cruise still in front of you!

I really do enjoy going around the resorts! And yeah I had no idea how limited the boat service gets when there are storms in the area but it was okay!

And it was so weird to realize we still had the cruise to go on since we've never done one before!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Loving your ears on this day! Are these the ones you make? I love the bow--it's just the right size compared to the ears...I am a little Type A crazy about this type of thing LOL

 

[Cloe Colton]

Loving your ears on this day! Are these the ones you make? I love the bow--it's just the right size compared to the ears...I am a little Type A crazy about this type of thing LOL

Thank you! And yes I made these! I feel like Im the same way and thats partially why I started making my own! I find most ears to have too big of ears or too big or too small of a bow!

 

[Babacuss]

I'm late but all caught up and ready for the rest, thanks for sharing!

 

[Cloe Colton]

I'm late but all caught up and ready for the rest, thanks for sharing!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Day 8 Part 2

We went back to the room and got changed before heading back out to take the boat to Magic Kingdom. What I didn’t know or I guess realize was that during storms they only run the bigger boats and that seems to REALLY screw with the boat schedule (would have waited for a bus for sure had I known). Every boat that pulled up to the WL dock was just doing the Contemporary and Fort Wilderness loop, so we should have just hopped on the first one that came and made the walk from the Contemporary because overall we waited over 20 minutes for a boat direct to the Magic Kingdom and there was a boat that pulled up like right when we got to the dock heading to the Contemporary so that was a mistake on our part.



Before waiting twenty minutes (in the sun with no storms to be seen) for our boat. (Okay I'm sure there was a storm SOMEWHERE in the vacinity but I was hot and hangry so reason wasn't really on my side at this moment in time! )



Yay! Finally, our boat!



But we did enjoy our boat ride into the Magic Kingdom so I guess the wait was worth it!



My main reason for being annoyed was mostly because we had a lunch reservation at the Plaza to get to but I figured at that point if we are late then we’re late! Not much else we could do. Although, I had strategically seated us on the boat so we were the first ones off and through bag check to save us a few minutes there.

Since our reservation was for 3:15 and it was already 3:13 and there was no way we were going to get down Main Street on time anyway I thought we could try to get a photo in front of the train station but the line was just too long. So I settled for a photo I took myself!



I knew Festival of Fantasy would be on it’s way down Main Street soon since everyone was still lined up for the parade (I think it had a rain delay that day) so I made sure to keep us on the right of Main Street. We only ended up being like five minutes late for our reservation so we had no problems checking in!



They even had us wait a few minutes so I took some pictures of the scenery




Oo a Disney Duck!




I think we only waited about five minutes before they called us and had us seated. It was cool because we could see Festival of Fantasy from our table so we enjoyed being able to see the parade in the ac.



Not a great photo but it was easier to see than to photograph!

Unfortunately, this ended up being my least favorite meal of the whole trip. To eat I went with the wedge salad and the loaded fries and both were just not winners in my book.



The wedge salad was SO bitter (is that how they are supposed to be?) and the loaded fries had almost no taste to them. I love ranch and thought they would be great but it all just tasted meh. Dan liked his steak and cheese so maybe I just ordered wrong. I also thought it was weird that my diet coke tasted like the Florida sulfur water, I've never had an issue at any other table service restaurant with the pop tasting like that. Idk if they were mixing the pop with the water or if it was the ice cubes melting that was causing it. Either way it was hard to enjoy!

Since I barely ate my food we decided to split a sundae. Because how can they mess up an ice cream sundae? They didn’t. It saved the meal!



I haven't written The Plaza off forever because I feel like I probably just ordered wrong. Plus we had SO many good meals we were bound to have one that just wasn't great!

It was raining again when we finished eating so we waited a few minutes for the storm to pass before venturing out. It wasn't too long! Our first FP up was Space Mountain! So we made our way over to Tomorrowland and enjoyed our trip through the galaxy!



Now, I’m really not sure what happened this day (probably just the run of the mill, all too average MDE issue ) because when we scanned in for our first FP for Space Mountain my FP was fine but Dan’s went blue. They let us through without questioning but while we were waiting to ride I quickly checked the app and the remaining two FPs only showed me as well! I know for a fact that I definitely made FPs for both of us. So in a panic I checked to see if I could rebook Dan's FPs for the same time as me but of course there was nothing available. So I used the CL phone number they had left for us and texted them to see if they could work out the issue. Thankfully they were able to work with IT to get Dan his FPs back. The only downside was there would be no modifying these FPs because Dans were like set in stone lol I was just happy they fixed it! I was pretty sure BTMR wouldn’t give us a hard time if we couldn't figure it out but I could see Mine Train saying there was an issue since its still so popular so it was a relief to have that fixed!



With that issue resolved we made our way over to Mine Train. For some reason the FP line was crazy long again so I suggested we cool off in Philharmagic first in hopes the line would die down. Plus I can’t go to Disney and not have seen Philharmagic!

After Philharmagic it was back to Mine Train and the FP line was much shorter so our plan worked!





We had some time to kill before our next FP so I suggested going to find a photopass in front of the castle since we never got one on our way in. Plus I love walking through the castle





We stopped to look at some of the projections used for HEA. They are pretty intense looking!



And got our castle photos



I had to stop to get this picture of the castle on the way to Hall of Presidents. It just looked so pretty!



Dan had yet to see the new version of Hall of Presidents so we stopped there. The cool ac was a nice perk too.




Next up was our FP for BTMR! We had a blast taking a wild ride through the WILDERNESS! (if you know how they say Wildest ride in the WILDERNESS on this ride then you know how we were saying it the whole trip )

At this point we didn’t really have enough time for another ride before our dinner reservation so we decided to do the little guns in Frontierland for a couple of rounds. It was fun and for only a $1 a round it didn’t hurt the wallet too much!



After that it was time to check in for our reservation at Cinderella’s Royal Table! I love having a late reservation for this because you feel so “VIP” being let through the ropes on the back of the castle. Plus it makes for great pictures! Except somehow a group of kids came running through right after this picture so I'm not sure how they got past the CMs at the rope (they were called back lol)!




Since we were a few minutes early for our reservation (they almost never let you check in here early!) we had to wait to check in so we went out in the front of the castle to see the masses of people waiting for the fireworks. This must be what rockstar feels like!




Someone offered to take a picture of us which I never say no to!



I was very excited! I love dinner in the castle. I never got to go as a kid because my Mom always told me it was far too expensive (and for a family of 5 it would have been) so I enjoy it now as an adult! Although me and my Mom have talked about it in front of my Dad recently and he says she never asked him about it so it sounds like he would have done it at least once! (My Mom tried to do the 1900 Park Fare dinner as a replacement instead, which was fun but its not the CASTLE!)



Dinner at the castle next! ​

 

[cinderaimee]

so we went out in the front of the castle to see the masses of people waiting for the fireworks. This must be what rockstar feels like!

Wow! What a cool perspective to look down main street from the castle!

I'm sad for your last park day but can't wait to hear about the cruise

 

[Bama Mom]

We took the kids to Cinderella's Royal Table in 2008. They thought it was the coolest ever getting to go into the castle. Even the boys in the group thought it was cool.

 

[Cloe Colton]

Wow! What a cool perspective to look down main street from the castle!

I'm sad for your last park day but can't wait to hear about the cruise

It was so cool! We haven't done the dinner since wishes so it was so crazy to see all of the people already waiting for the fireworks!

The cruise was so fun! I can't wait to relive it

We took the kids to Cinderella's Royal Table in 2008. They thought it was the coolest ever getting to go into the castle. Even the boys in the group thought it was cool.

Yeah I don't think that anything really compares to how magical it is! Dan never complains when I book this dinner so I think he enjoys it too or just knows how much I love it!

 

[Simba22]

We had thought about hanging by the pool but since we had already had a couple of pool days I decided it would be more fun to go and shop and monorail hop. If we didn’t do that on this day we would have not ridden the monorail once our whole trip! And that just seemed like a tragedy! No monorail during a whole Disney trip? Not okay

It's so funny you say that because I was working out our preliminary schedule for our trip next year the other day, and I told my husband that we had to eat at The Poly twice, to maximize our chances of getting on the monorail. I don't know why it's so important. It just is.

I love these ears! They're so shiny!

I feel like I now need to make a shirt with my dog on it. This is the best thing ever!

So once we were told the boats were a no-go we made our way into the Contemporary to do some shopping. I was on a mission to find my sister a souvenir this day but in all honestly I think I ended up just buying myself more stuff

I see zero problems with this lol

It was really storming during out during our resort hoping so I was glad we had made the choice to resort hop rather than trying to go to the pool.

Holy cow! Yeah, I would say that's pretty stormy!

It wasn't planned but I definitely felt like I matched the Mary Blair mural pretty well!

Wow the pink in your tank top is like an exact match!

It seemed like the skies were starting to clear up so we stopped at Contempo Café to grab a snack before trying to do the Sea Raycers again.

So. Many. Cupcakes. And I want to eat them allllll

But we did enjoy our boat ride into the Magic Kingdom so I guess the wait was worth it!

​

I actually really enjoy using the Disney Boats for transportation. We've stayed at OKW twice and I love using the boat to get to Disney Springs - it's so peaceful and relaxing! We used the boats once to get from DHS back to the Boardwalk and that one was kinda meh. But it was HOT and the boat was crowded. I imagine it's probably not so bad when there's less people clamoring to get on.

​

Unfortunately, this ended up being my least favorite meal of the whole trip. To eat I went with the wedge salad and the loaded fries and both were just not winners in my book.

Oh no, this makes me so sad! I LOVE The Plaza! But I always get a sandwich. Definitely don't give up on it - I mean, it's not the most stellar restaurant on property but it is usually really good. I'm glad you enjoyed the ice cream, at least! I mean, that's the best part.

So I used the CL phone number they had left for us and texted them to see if they could work out the issue. Thankfully they were able to work with IT to get Dan his FPs back.

Whew! Glad you were able to get that fixed! I would have been freaking out! And that Space pic is epic lol

Plus I can’t go to Disney and not have seen Philharmagic!

I adore Philharmagic! Back in 2012, I planned a trip for 8 of us, all adults, and I really thought that the guys in our party would think this was super lame but it ended up being like one of their favorite attractions. I was so happy they they loved it lol

After Philharmagic it was back to Mine Train and the FP line was much shorter so our plan worked!

I wanted to love Mine Train so badly. I was so excited for it. And I was actually bored on it. Part of it may have been because it stopped a bunch of times while we were on it, which really kills the momentum. But our ride picture is literally just me sitting there, shielding my eyes from the sun. I'll give it another try when we go back next year. I hope it turns out to be better than I remember it

The guy in the teal shirt is living his best life, though lol

I had to stop to get this picture of the castle on the way to Hall of Presidents. It just looked so pretty!

This is actually my favorite angle of the castle!

Next up was our FP for BTMR! We had a blast taking a wild ride through the WILDERNESS! (if you know how they say Wildest ride in the WILDERNESS on this ride then you know how we were saying it the whole trip )

Literally, every time I read it throughout this entire TR, that is how I heard it in my head!

At this point we didn’t really have enough time for another ride before our dinner reservation so we decided to do the little guns in Frontierland for a couple of rounds. It was fun and for only a $1 a round it didn’t hurt the wallet too much!

My husband and I have done this a few times! It's actually really fun and I somehow manage to be better at it than he is which obviously makes it even more fun!

Since we were a few minutes early for our reservation (they almost never let you check in here early!) we had to wait to check in so we went out in the front of the castle to see the masses of people waiting for the fireworks. This must be what a rockstar feels like!

WHOA! Ok now THAT is cool! Also, you have me wanting to eat dinner in the castle already (we've never done it!) and you haven't gotten to the actual food part yet!
​

 

[amazingact21]

Shopping around the monorail resorts is a great way to spend a morning away from the parks. Glad it kept you guys out of the rain and gave your husband a break from the parks.

I've heard mixed reviews about the Plaza. I think it really all depends on what you order and whose working in the kitchen on that particular day.

Sorry to hear about the FP glitch, but I'm glad they got it worked out. Because, you're right, they probably would have stopped him at Mine Train...

Whew, that photo of looking down Main Street from the castle is nuts! It really shows how crowded and crazy it is before fireworks.

 

[thumper*]

Cute shirt did he send in a picture and get it made or do you guys have a cricut ?sp machine?

 

[Cloe Colton]

It's so funny you say that because I was working out our preliminary schedule for our trip next year the other day, and I told my husband that we had to eat at The Poly twice, to maximize our chances of getting on the monorail. I don't know why it's so important. It just is.

Right?? I just can't imagine going on a week long trip and never riding it once!

I love these ears! They're so shiny!

Thanks! They're definitely one of my favorite pairs I've made!

I feel like I now need to make a shirt with my dog on it. This is the best thing ever!

Haha! It's definitely his favorite shirt! I want one but I think it was around $36 and I would probably only wear it to bed so I haven't decided if its worth it or not!

I see zero problems with this lol

Glad I'm not alone! haha

Wow the pink in your tank top is like an exact match!

Right?!

So. Many. Cupcakes. And I want to eat them allllll

They were so pretty! I probably should have gotten one but a sugary cookie sounded better in the moment (and probably less messy! haha)
​

I actually really enjoy using the Disney Boats for transportation. We've stayed at OKW twice and I love using the boat to get to Disney Springs - it's so peaceful and relaxing! We used the boats once to get from DHS back to the Boardwalk and that one was kinda meh. But it was HOT and the boat was crowded. I imagine it's probably not so bad when there's less people clamoring to get on.

We really loved the boats that were available from the Wilderness Lodge! Especially at the end of the night when you watched the masses of people heading towards the ferry and monorails and we were usually the only two heading to the WL boat That was the only time when it was kinda like does the left hand know what the right hands doing because your boats are all empty and you're all doing the same path

Oh no, this makes me so sad! I LOVE The Plaza! But I always get a sandwich. Definitely don't give up on it - I mean, it's not the most stellar restaurant on property but it is usually really good. I'm glad you enjoyed the ice cream, at least! I mean, that's the best part.

ugh I know! I was so devastated that I didn't like it because I've heard such good reviews about it lately and I had eaten there once before like two years ago and liked it! If I can get the time I want I think we may try it again before the Christmas party in December. I really think I just ordered wrong or they were having an off day. Like maybe their filtered water died on them and everything was washed in the sulfury Florida water lol I feel like ice cream can always save the day! Plus, I'm usually too full for ice cream so it kinda worked out that I really didn't eat anything that I ordered!

Whew! Glad you were able to get that fixed! I would have been freaking out! And that Space pic is epic lol

Yeah I was super stressed the whole time we were waiting in line for Space because DH was convinced I hadn't booked him FP for the day and I didn't want to be refreshing forever to try to get something for the both of us! lol

I adore Philharmagic! Back in 2012, I planned a trip for 8 of us, all adults, and I really thought that the guys in our party would think this was super lame but it ended up being like one of their favorite attractions. I was so happy they they loved it lol

Me too! I wish they could just update the graphics or something though, its getting so old looking! But such a classic! Every time we watch it I think of the time back in paper FP days when my Dad wasted a FP on it! It was only a 10 minute wait but he thought he was doing us a favor lol I think we waited as long as the standby line for that FP!

I wanted to love Mine Train so badly. I was so excited for it. And I was actually bored on it. Part of it may have been because it stopped a bunch of times while we were on it, which really kills the momentum. But our ride picture is literally just me sitting there, shielding my eyes from the sun. I'll give it another try when we go back next year. I hope it turns out to be better than I remember it

Haha mine train is definitely not the most thrilling of rides! I feel like its more fun at night too. Definitely worth another try! But only with a FP haha Our last big family trip was the year new Fantasyland opened and we were all excited for the new rides and between Mine Train and Little Mermaid (for us as five adults) was kind of a let down! (I honestly feel like I only ride it because I feel accomplished to get the FP for it )

This is actually my favorite angle of the castle!

Mine too!

Literally, every time I read it throughout this entire TR, that is how I heard it in my head!

Hahaha perfect! Then I have done my job!

My husband and I have done this a few times! It's actually really fun and I somehow manage to be better at it than he is which obviously makes it even more fun!

I always forget about it! But it was fun! I'm honestly surprised they don't have a Magic Band reader there so you can just keep scanning and playing!

WHOA! Ok now THAT is cool! Also, you have me wanting to eat dinner in the castle already (we've never done it!) and you haven't gotten to the actual food part yet!

Definitely do it! It's expensive but you pay when you book so by the time vacay rolls around you feel like oh free food! Or at least I feel that way hahaha Its just such a special experience so if you have a birthday or an anniversary (or honestly just want to go) definitely do it at least once! You only get the roped off area if its around fireworks time so thats when I recommend booking! Plus they pipe in HEA music when the fireworks go off! My favorite experience was our first time and the Electric Light Parade was still going (RIP) and we got to watch from the ramps leading up to the castle with no one around us. It was so cool!! ​

Shopping around the monorail resorts is a great way to spend a morning away from the parks. Glad it kept you guys out of the rain and gave your husband a break from the parks.

He definitely enjoyed a more relaxed afternoon! Plus it would have been a pretty rainy day to be in the park so it definitely worked out!

I've heard mixed reviews about the Plaza. I think it really all depends on what you order and whose working in the kitchen on that particular day.

I believe it. The food just had no taste - at least what I ordered. I thought the fries would at least be good but they were such a flop. Probably had I just ordered a sandwich I would have been much better off!

Sorry to hear about the FP glitch, but I'm glad they got it worked out. Because, you're right, they probably would have stopped him at Mine Train...

Yeah I didn't see them waving him on in for that one lol although on my last trip they were waving quite a few people through at so many rides for all of the glitches so maybe we would have been okay? Either way I didn't want to risk it!

Whew, that photo of looking down Main Street from the castle is nuts! It really shows how crowded and crazy it is before fireworks.

Isn't it crazy! I was happy we would be watching them from in the castle rather in that mess haha

Cute shirt did he send in a picture and get it made or do you guys have a cricut ?sp machine?

He actually edited a photo of her where there was no background and then found a tshirt company online where he could create his own design and then uploaded the picture and placed it how he wanted it! He managed to do it all in about thirty minutes one night before bed! haha

 

[missjackiemcg]

I'm sorry your meal at The Plaza was disappointing We love going there! I usually order what your DH had, and it's so tasty! I have had that weird drink experience there, too! Someone from the DIS I think mentioned that fountain drinks are dispensed cold anyway, so I ordered without ice last time and had no trouble. Glad the ice cream was a winner at least!

There is just nothing like dinner in the castle!!! We usually do breakfast because my son's favorite girl is Cinderella and he's too picky for dinnertime, but my husband and I had dinner there in January and I fell in love with CRT all over again!