Adventures of a DisneyWORLDholic! Updated1/24 I was an unofficial WDW tour guide.

[dancer4life22]

deleted

 

[tinkgurl]

We were actually at the MK 7/19! We just got to WDW that day..and that night we were eating at Chef Mickey's!

 

[carissanboys]

Hey Melissa! Not sure how good I'll be about following along, but I've subscribed and will do my best.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

What a fun morning.

I should know this but I can't think of what it was my brain is fried First day of school tomorrow. Been preparing all night. Will be anxious to read what the surprise was so I can smack my head again and go, oh yeah, now I remember

The newspaper thingy looks so cute. Only Disney would have so much detail.

Can't believe Kara had to wake up so early for her flight But I bet she was glad you let her take a nap

Looking forward to more

 

[jmskinner]

I don't think I realized there was upstairs seating at Pinnochio Haus. We've always sat in the section by It's a Small World. Was the upstairs seating crowded or was it peaceful like CHH? The suprise for Kara can't involve dinner since you just ate. I'm thinking maybe you did the Wishes dessert bar?

We were the only ones upstairs at Pinnochio Haus for a little bit and then another family joined us. Not much room up there and very few tables, but it wasn't as loud as downstairs.


Ding Ding Ding!!!! You are correct!

Too early for Wishes Dessert Party?

Nope, not too early at all!

love your update!

i have no idea whats next... the only thing i can guess is maybe fireworks cruise wishes dessert party or an adr...

that picture of the ghosts came out good! i can never get good pictures in haunted mansion. ive also never noticed the hats... ill check it out when i go on potc and tell you what he was wearing!

Wishes Dessert Party it was, or whatever they are calling since they are showing Wishes right now. The hat guy is there in the town area where you buy a wench.

We were actually at the MK 7/19! We just got to WDW that day..and that night we were eating at Chef Mickey's!

Oooh, I'll have to check out your TR and see if we were anywhere at the same time.

Hey Melissa! Not sure how good I'll be about following along, but I've subscribed and will do my best.

I can't say anything, been MIA on your PTR for awhile. Been following on FB so hopefully that counts. Glad you joined!

What a fun morning.

I should know this but I can't think of what it was my brain is fried First day of school tomorrow. Been preparing all night. Will be anxious to read what the surprise was so I can smack my head again and go, oh yeah, now I remember

The newspaper thingy looks so cute. Only Disney would have so much detail.

Can't believe Kara had to wake up so early for her flight But I bet she was glad you let her take a nap

Looking forward to more

Hope all goes well at the first day of school. So exciting!!!

Poor Kara, she is a trooper. Our very first trip to WDW, I would wake her up, she would follow us at the parks, back for a nap, wake her up again, parks, bed, wake...for 6 days that was the routine.

 

[carissanboys]

I can't say anything, been MIA on your PTR for awhile. Been following on FB so hopefully that counts. Glad you joined!

I hadn't posted anything since June so it was totally okay to be MIA on my PTR!

 

[jmskinner]

Yes, it was the dessert party. I have been wanting to try this and had thought about booking it before we knew Kara was coming.

We got in line about 8:30 for our 9:05 reservation time. Jacob was thirsty and since he wouldn't drink anything they had at the Party, I got him a coke there at Noodles Station.

I had read a couple of reviews and one thing was that you should make sure to get what you want before the party, because they cleanup once the fireworks start. I told Jonas and Kara about this while we were waiting in line. A large group behind us heard my statement and started asking about it. We had a nice conversation with them, mostly about the difference between the value and moderate resorts. I was pointing out how they have so many games and such at the value pools, but not so at the moderates, or at least not at POR or POFQ.

A CM came down the line and gave us our wristbands and a number. Then it was time to enter. We had a table up front, . This is a horrible pic, but this is our view from our table:


We were the first to get a photopass pic (which I still need to order). Then it was time to eat, just a few pics I took. There were always people up there, so I was trying not to blind them with the flash:










And these are from my phone:




I wanted to try everything, so two plates. The reviews of this seem to be 50/50, I say like a lot of things at WDW, give it a try and I do think it is worth doing at least once. I enjoyed most of the desserts. I've heard a lot of people complain that they are about the same as the ones on the buffets, which what's wrong with that. Just means you get some good food on the buffets at WDW. Most of these I had never seen on the buffets.

About 20 minutes before the fireworks, we decided to move to the railing. About this time we had another surprise for Kara. The two trips before with Kara, we had never watched the fireworks from the front of the castle. Can you believe I didn't even realize Tinkerbell flew until after we had lived in Florida for several months. And guess who is a huge Tinkerbell fan...KARA!!!

I wish I had taken Kara's picture when we told her Tink flys. Her jaw literally dropped. This really was going to be great because this is the best spot for viewing Tink flying, maybe not the best spot to view the fireworks, but Kara was going to see Tinkerbell fly.

On to the show:










At this point of the show, the Pirates take over. I had heard a couple people say this is their favorite part of the show. I had also read here on the Dis that the fireworks were stopped one night and it was reported that someone thought the castle was on fire and called the fire department. Don't know if this is true, but after seeing the following, I could see people thinking that:






And Tinkerbell flew:


I wasn't expecting her to fly while the fireworks were going off. And I can't believe she was up there with all of those fireworks coming off the castle like that.

The 180 degree fireworks:


And one little video from my phone, just click on the pic:


I did enjoy this show, and loved where the pirates took over. Still can not believe that Castle is not only still standing, but still looks just a beautiful as ever, after having all that on it. I might do this again. I thought the desserts were great. And everything was cleaned up by the time the show was over. It was nice to watch without a large crowd, no heads in the way of pics, etc. And if we had wanted to watch the parade, this night there were two parades, so we could have walked over and found a spot to watch it if we wanted to.

After the fireworks party, we walked around to BTMRR and used our FP's. By that time we were all tired and Kara's feet were hurting, so back to the bus and then our room. One good thing about that BTMRR ride, the bus stops had cleared out, so not much of a wait at all.

Next up, Seaworld!

 

[dancer4life22]

deleted

 

[carissanboys]

Great pictures of Wishes! What camera are you using these days? I'm sure you've told me, but I forget.

 

[jmskinner]

ohh the wishes dessert party looksl ike so much fun! the desserts look great and there is such a great view! i might have to convince my parents to book it for next year...

We really did like it. Might even do it again.

Great pictures of Wishes! What camera are you using these days? I'm sure you've told me, but I forget.

I have the Canon Xsi. If I remember correctly you have one close to it. I'm loving it, still need to learn more about it.

Which, I have it back from Best Buy after getting it cleaned (don't see any difference). Star Wars Celebration this weekend, I hope to see some cool stuff.

 

[dismagiclover]

Great update! I think the desserts look great! I like how they are small so you can try lots of different things. I loved the fireworks this summer too. So fun to see Tink come and save the day! I wonder how long they will continue them for.

 

[jmskinner]

Great update! I think the desserts look great! I like how they are small so you can try lots of different things. I loved the fireworks this summer too. So fun to see Tink come and save the day! I wonder how long they will continue them for.

You are so right about being able to try different desserts since they are small. Plus, you don't feel like you ate as much.

Sadly, those fireworks end this weekend, but the ELP continues on, which I still have not seen.

 

[carissanboys]

I have the Canon Xsi. If I remember correctly you have one close to it. I'm loving it, still need to learn more about it.

Which, I have it back from Best Buy after getting it cleaned (don't see any difference). Star Wars Celebration this weekend, I hope to see some cool stuff.

I have the Canon Digital Rebel SLR. Not sure what the difference is with the XSI. Mine is kind of old. I have never been able to master night time shots.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

ok, the head smacking started when I saw your update on your title. I should've known, I had even commented on one of your dessert pictures.

The desserts all look so lovely. That was my favorite part of buffets when we lived in Vegas. The desserts. I would purposely eat light for my meal so I could stuff myself with dessert

Looking forward to buffets Disney style and maybe a dessert party if they do them in March

 

[SimmerBaggins]

Okay, will definitely have to book the dessert party one of these days!! Those chocolate bon-bon things looked divine.

Too cool about Kara getting the closeup of Tinkerbell!!

How long did Kara end up staying with you guys?

 

[tinkgurl]

Great pics of the fireworks! We were actually watching the same show from the Contemporary! What did you think of them?

 

[jmskinner]

I have the Canon Digital Rebel SLR. Not sure what the difference is with the XSI. Mine is kind of old. I have never been able to master night time shots.

I'm having a hard time with night time shots also. Those of the fireworks I think I used the "dummy" setting where the camera does it all for your. The HM ones I had to set it myself. I've checked out a few books at the library that have helped and then also got some great hints on the Photography Board here.

ok, the head smacking started when I saw your update on your title. I should've known, I had even commented on one of your dessert pictures.

The desserts all look so lovely. That was my favorite part of buffets when we lived in Vegas. The desserts. I would purposely eat light for my meal so I could stuff myself with dessert

Looking forward to buffets Disney style and maybe a dessert party if they do them in March

We really did enjoy it, and it gave us a night break. And I can't expect you to remember everything I do.

Great pics of the fireworks! We were actually watching the same show from the Contemporary! What did you think of them?

I don't really remember that much about them, I did enjoy the Pirate takeover though.

Don't think I have mentioned this here, but we got to attend a Fireworks presentation last year with the speaker being the VP of Entertainment and Parades. He explained how these shows come about and how his original plan usually involves a lot of explosions, but then he is reminded that they have to tell a story, and follow a budget! During the presentation he showed us how he presented Wishes the first time. I could really see his ideas coming out during that Pirate takeover. It looked like they went over the budget a little.

 

[jmskinner]

Okay, will definitely have to book the dessert party one of these days!! Those chocolate bon-bon things looked divine.

Too cool about Kara getting the closeup of Tinkerbell!!

How long did Kara end up staying with you guys?

Somehow I missed clicking the quote button on yours. I can't remember what I liked the best, it was all good.

We had Kara until July 30th, almost two weeks, but there will be more on her trip to come.

 

[jmskinner]

As a military family, we are very fortunate that Busch Parks allows us access to one park a year for free. I had hoped that we could take Kara to Discovery Cove for her graduation, but just couldn't swing that, but we could take her to Seaworld. Dolphins are her favorite! And once we were there, we learned she had never been to a Seaworld.

We got up Tuesday morning, not real early, about like a normal day,and headed over to Seaworld. Jonas usually makes me drive, but if I drive then I don't get pics:

That's turning into the parking lot. And then a pic from the parking lot.


We really lucked out with the parking. We were a little ways out, but our lane was straight into the park. Sadly, no tram for us though.

Oh, forgot to mention. I was given a hard time about my Disney Visa when I paid for parking. Nice little 'ol Man just picking on me.

I had printed out the form for our free passes online, so that saved a little time. We all handed over our ID's, got our passses and then headed towards the turnstiles. I have to say, I hate their turnstiles. They take forever. But we finally made it in. We wanted to do Mantra first, the flying coaster, but it was already a 45 minute wait. We decided to head to the back of the park to ride the other big coaster:




I asked if Jacob could stand in line with us and then exit at the last moment and the employee said he could. My plan was to let Jacob hold our stuff while we road. The employee tells me that I have to put our stuff in a locker. This really irritates me about the Busch parks. Just such a hastle, and a waste of 75 cents. Guess they make their money though.

This was the Kracken, the coaster you can see from the road. It was a great ride. I love rollercoasters, but don't get to ride very often since Jacob doesn't like to ride them.

Once we were off, we were going to ride Atlantis, but it was now a 45 minute wait. We ended up in the Penguin encounter:


There were hundreds of them:


From there we headed here:


There were lots of birds here:




We soon realized why, this is where you can feed the Seals and the birds knew that sometimes us humans can't throw the fish well enough for the Seal to catch it:




It was not me that fed the bird instead of the Seal, it was another family. We decided not to, even though Jacob really wanted to, but I know he wouldn't touch a dead fish and I didn't want to. We sure enjoyed watching everyone else do it though:


The guy on the left was very pushy and kept getting all the fish. At this point I wanted to buy some just so I could give some to the one on the right.



This guy got tired of waiting:






We spent a long time watching them:




From here we decided to go to Clyde and Seamore Take Over Pirate Island, but you will have to wait for that one.


I won't be updating tomorrow, we are heading to Orlando for the big Star Wars Celebration, the International Star Wars convention. Hope to get some great pics. Really excited for Jacob. He has no idea how big this is. George Lucas is going to be there, but I don't think we will get to see his interview with Jon Stewart, even though they have over 7000 seats to see it in person or on big screens, they start handing out the wristbands at 6:00am and we just can't do that. Who knows, we might luck out though, but not holding my breath.

And today is the start of tax free weekend, so Jacob and I are heading out school shopping. He is not happy about this, but life goes on doesn't it?

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

 

[heaven2dc]

How exciting for Jacob on the Star Wars Celebration! I am so jealous you live so close to all of these attractions but then I couldn't take the humidity again (we live in VA and it's humid here but seemed much more so when we lived in Kissimmee for a short while back in 1994).

I love your pics of the seals