An Obsessive Planner's Spontaneous Last Minute Trip to WDW - A June 2019 TR Update 10/20

[heaven2dc]

Loved the gorilla pics especially with the falls! You did an amazing job We are so excited to be going back to WDW this fall and have so many new things to see and experience since it's been 9 years since our last visit.

 

[suse66]

The highlight of this safari was the rhinos which were more active than usual and were roaming about and very close to the road. We also got to see a hippo out of water which is a rarity as they are typically soaking in the water.

I just love how every safari is different! Your pictures are great!

After the safari I was thrilled to see the bachelor gorillas hanging out by the falls. I spent quite a bit of time watching them. I think the gorillas are my favourite animals at the park. I love that Disney has created such a lovely and large space for these beautiful animals.

It is a really inviting area with lots of shade and different features.

The show was amazing as always. I got really teary at the end in the part where they pick kids from the audience to parade around during the final number. One of the cast members from the show was pushing around a child in a wheelchair, they looked as though they may have had cerebral palsy, and it gave me all the feels that they made sure that this child was able to participate in the show just like any other kid. I am a sap that way.

I would totally be tearing up over that too. I love to see all children included.

 

[Steppesister]

It was another great safari although my injured shoulder did get jostled a few times which was fairly painful.

I don't think I remember that.... what happened?

One of the cast members from the show was pushing around a child in a wheelchair, they looked as though they may have had cerebral palsy, and it gave me all the feels that they made sure that this child was able to participate in the show just like any other kid. I am a sap that way.

I LOVE this! Love, love, love it!

The show was enjoyable especially as we had not seen it on our last few trips so it felt fresh to us. It was also nice to sit in the air conditioning and I like that there are backrests on the benches so you can really relax.

We went to the Pop Century food court but nothing really spoke to us so we decided to walk over to Art of Animation and check out their food court.

It's a way better food court!

We walked past the Skyliner station that is under construction on the bridge between Pop and AoA. I will be really interested to hear what people have to say about the Skyliner when it opens.

I was SO hoping it would be open and running by Sept. 29th when we stay at CBR. Now that I now it's not, I had to go back and change some of our plans.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Great picture!

While getting my photo a rude mother pushed her child in front of me and then elbowed me to get in front of me as well to get a photo of her child.

Ugh so annoying! I hate behavior like this.

We went to the Pop Century food court but nothing really spoke to us so we decided to walk over to Art of Animation and check out their food court.

This is one of my favorite things about staying at Pop! I love the AoA food court.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Lovely safari pics!

 

[ashw100]

Mom got the Simba Sunset - pineapple with watermelon, strawberry and coconut-flavored syrup

Sound syummy

Back at the resort we found this lovely bag of dirty linen just left in the hall outside our room. There were no mousekeeping carts around so presumably it was forgotten. It was still there the next morning when we left for the parks again.

Oops, sounds like someone forgot.

That night Moana was on tv so I watched that before falling asleep. We had another early morning ahead of us the next day!

What a nice way to end the day.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a good end to your day at AK!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Evening safari is on my list as well, I never get around to it! Your pictures are amazing though! I feel like I never get good shots when I go.

I am determined that on my next trip I am going to do the evening safari. It should be easier to accomplish on a longer trip where I can space things out more as far as late nights and early mornings.

Great Safari pictures! The heat can zap you for sure!

That's for sure! one reason I need to try and plan trips in the late fall or the spring. Even a winter trip would be interesting but I am always worried about travelling then due to winter weather impacting flights.

Lion King and Nemo back to back is a great way to cool off and rest after your very busy morning.

I agree! Especially important to remember to cool off and take it easy for a bit in the hot weather.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Loved the gorilla pics especially with the falls! You did an amazing job We are so excited to be going back to WDW this fall and have so many new things to see and experience since it's been 9 years since our last visit.

9 years is a solid chunk of time, lots of new stuff for you to experience!

I just love how every safari is different! Your pictures are great!

Exactly! That's why it is one of the best attractions, always a new experience!

It is a really inviting area with lots of shade and different features.

I think it is one of the nicest if not the nicest gorilla enclosure I have seen. I always feel conflicted over animals in captivity, but it helps to see when they are provided areas such as this.

I don't think I remember that.... what happened?

"Work" injury. I was reaching up to a shelf in a patient room back in March and my shoulder was suddenly in pain, almost cried it hurt so much. For weeks I had a hard time lifting my arm up and it has slowly been healing. It is almost completely healed now but not sure how I injured it initially. I think when I reached for the high shelf it just triggered it but that there was some other cause. For a long time though if it was suddenly jostled I would experience a lot of pain.

This is one of my favorite things about staying at Pop! I love the AoA food court.

I agree, it is nice to have it as another dining option without having to drive or take a bus etc to another resort.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sorry for the long delays between posts. I have been having a very busy summer. I am currently on vacation visiting my dad and brother out in British Columbia. I am going to try and get an update out tonight or tomorrow. I don't have my trip notes with me though so I will be going off memory!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Three - June 9 - Magic Kingdom

It was another up before the sun morning. This morning we had an early morning planned for Magic Kingdom. This was going to be a long day which is one of the reasons we opted for an early night on our Animal Kingdom day. Since this was a short trip we planned to close the park.

The drive over to Magic Kingdom was easy and we were so early that they did not even have attendants at the parking booths to check our Magic Bands/collect money for parking. I took a picture of our parking spot in the first row of Simba at 6:33am.

We, along with a few other early birds, walked over to the Ticket and Transportation Centre. It was a mess over there as they were doing work on the tram laneways. It was really confusing as to where to go for bag check as everything was still roped off and there were no cast members around to ask.

Eventually we, along with about ten others, found the correct area and a couple cast members came out eventually to confirm that we were in the correct spot. They would not check our bags and let us go through Security until just before 7am.

We then lined up to get on the monorail when it started running for the day. That didn't take very long and we had a cabin to ourselves.

Once at the Magic Kingdom we had to tap our bands and then line up for the reason we were there so early, Early Morning Magic. I was shocked when I checked the day before our trip and was able to snag two tickets to this special event.

For those not in the know, Early Morning Magic is a special ticketed event that is run a few times a month. At the Magic Kingdom it allows you into Fantasyland an hour before the park opens and you can ride the rides as many times as you want. According to estimates by fan sites Disney sells about 200 tickets for this event so the number of people in Fantasyland is very low during your hour of extra time which means that if everything goes well there should essentially be no lines. Almost all of the rides and attractions are open during this event. A breakfast is also included as part of your ticket and is currently located at Cosmic Ray's. You can eat your breakfast at any time up until 10am.

Once we had our bands for Early Morning Magic we joined the growing crowd near the left hand tunnel to wait for them to let us into the park.







Along with those waiting for Early Morning Magic were those who had early breakfast reservations so it was a decent sized crowd waiting to get in.

At approximately 0740 they let us onto Main St and we made our way towards Fantasyland.







For Early Morning Magic they have you enter by the tea cups.

My plan had been to jump right on Seven Dwarves Mine Train for a ride and then move on to the other rides and then loop back to keep riding Mine Train. Well, Mine Train was down and they didn't know when it was going to be running. I had read about this happening and it is a risk that you take with Early Morning Magic. I crossed my fingers that it would be back up running soon since Mine Train is one of the big reasons to attend Early Morning Magic.

Since our plans for Mine Train were on hold we jumped on the closest ride which was Winnie the Pooh. We walked right on.











When we got off Pooh we checked to see if Mine Train was running, still down.

We decided to do the next closest ride and went over to The Little Mermaid which I always enjoy as it is one of my favourite Disney movies. It is the first movie I remember seeing in the theatre as a child.

Another walk-on. It is certainly an experience being pretty much the only people on the ride.















Exiting the ride we once again checked on Mine Train, still not running. At this point I was getting really annoyed as I was really counting on it being running since we obviously had been unable to get fastpasses for it due to the last minute nature of our trip. Now, I had read that if Mine Train is down during Early Morning Magic that your wristband for the event acts as a fastpass up until a certain time during the day so at least there was that should it not get up and running soon.

Not wasting time we walked through an empty Fantasyland to get over to our next ride, Peter Pan's Flight.



Since Mine Train was down there was a bit of a line for this ride since this is where people were opting to go instead. We still only had to wait a few minutes though before we were soaring over London.











It was 8:20 when we got off Peter Pan's Flight and we had another 40 minutes before the park opened and Fantasyland became flooded with people. There were still a few more rides and attractions open that we could take advantage of: Small World, Princess Fairytale Hall, Carousel, and the tea cups. The big question being, would Mine Train start running before our 40 minutes was up?

 

[lvcourtneyy]

The drive over to Magic Kingdom was easy and we were so early that they did not even have attendants at the parking booths to check our Magic Bands/collect money for parking.

Awesome! You weren't kidding about an early morning.

Well, Mine Train was down and they didn't know when it was going to be running.

Ugh how frustrating.

At this point I was getting really annoyed as I was really counting on it being running since we obviously had been unable to get fastpasses for it due to the last minute nature of our trip.

I would be annoyed too. That's clearly the major draw of the event. I hope it came back up!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Ugh, I really hope they got Mine Train up and running for you guys. I'm sure it was fun to do the other rides when they were practically empty, but you obviously booked the event for the coaster (along with everyone else).

 

[Steppesister]

"Work" injury. I was reaching up to a shelf in a patient room back in March and my shoulder was suddenly in pain, almost cried it hurt so much. For weeks I had a hard time lifting my arm up and it has slowly been healing. It is almost completely healed now but not sure how I injured it initially. I think when I reached for the high shelf it just triggered it but that there was some other cause. For a long time though if it was suddenly jostled I would experience a lot of pain.

OH man! That's terrible!! A nurse super needs full use of arms! I'll bet it was excruciating shifting patients.

The drive over to Magic Kingdom was easy and we were so early that they did not even have attendants at the parking booths to check our Magic Bands/collect money for parking.

Okay, that's a nice little tidbit... I wonder if that would always work.

They would not check our bags and let us go through Security until just before 7am.

Well, shoot, you could have slept another few minutes.

the number of people in Fantasyland is very low during your hour of extra time which means that if everything goes well there should essentially be no lines.

We did this last trip and you are right, very low numbers.

Well, Mine Train was down and they didn't know when it was going to be running.

SAME EXACT THING for us! I was super, super peeved. We DID have a FiP for it later, but I was NOT amused.

Now, I had read that if Mine Train is down during Early Morning Magic that your wristband for the event acts as a fastpass up until a certain time during the day so at least there was that should it not get up and running soon.

This I did NOT know. I wished I had. Instead we ate breakfast, rode a few rides and the morning vanished very quickly.

 

[missangelalexis]

Ugh that stinks that Mine Train was down during your EMM

 

[caylene44]

I am currently on vacation visiting my dad and brother out in British Columbia.

Aw, fun! I live in Seattle so you're in my neck of the woods. Hope you have a good vacation

Well, Mine Train was down and they didn't know when it was going to be running. I had read about this happening and it is a risk that you take with Early Morning Magic.

Ugh, that's so frustrating! Even though this is past-tense, my fingers are crossed that you guys got on it at least once

 

[dizneefan13]

I might be imagining this, but I think I read somewhere that when a major attraction (the big reason people pay the big bucks for EMM) for the entire time, they went to GR and explained it all (in a nice way) and were refunded.

 

[hjeick]

Great trip report. I would be realllllly annoyed if Mine Train was down. You are a much more patient person than I.

 

[ashw100]

That's very frustrating that SDMT was down. I really hope it came back up at some point.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Bummer about Mine Train, I hope you got to ride it a few times!