And all at once, everything was different. Literally. *WDW NYE 2019 TR* Updated 4/11x2*COMPLETE*

[Jenny Sanders]

The Frozen dessert party is definitely on my list of must-dos and I'm happy to hear you liked it.

 

[xlsm]

The Frozen dessert party is definitely on my list of must-dos and I'm happy to hear you liked it.

I was a little surprised by how much all four of us liked the party. Honestly, having chairs to sit in and a calm space to just hang out while we waited for Illuminations made it worth it! The mixed drinks were not awesome, but they had POG juice, water, and canned sodas. The whole area is pretty dark, which can be challenging to see what you're doing, but the ambiance is nice!

Matt and I are doing the Rivers of Light Dessert Party in June, and I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing if that party makes RoL more enjoyable for me, LOL!!

 

[disneyAndi14]

How exciting for a girls trip in September! I love all the pictures from Mexico and around WS. The Mexican Pavilion is one of my favorites.

It is nice to see a review of the Frozen dessert party, I don’t think I have seen one. Nice to ride FEA without a long wait!

 

[amberdc1987]

Okay I'm all caught up! Man I was way, way behind.

Christopher looks amazing! That VIP tour looked like so much fun. That same thing would be amazing when Galaxies Edge opens.

I'm so sorry you're son was sick. I'm so glad he got over it pretty quickly .

In regards to the Rome burning smell. Did you know there is a whole company that makes wax melts, candles, and oils of places, food, and rides at Disney!!!! And they are spot on!! They have so many but my favorite are Haunted, Pirates, Walt's and Pineapple . They all smell wonderful! And they have a Rome burning one!! They are called Magic Candle Company!

Can't wait to read more.

 

[MeghanEmily]

yesterday my Odyssey of the Mind competed at regionals and won first place!!

Yay! Congrats!

@Raeven also started her PTR so the cat's out of the bag...the two of us are going on a Universal/Disney adventure in September!!

That's so awesome! You'll have a blast!

The ofrenda display was so dreamy and beautiful

Agreed. So lovely.

We took some time at the photo kiosk to make our own skeletons

Ooh I didn't even know this was a thing!

I took a picture across the lagoon, and then we started over to the party location

This is gorgeous. Possibly my favourite place. Spaceship Earth has my heart.

I felt so guilty about using flash at all that I held it way down to the side so I wouldn't make a huge blinding light toward anyone, lol

Hey, you weren't interrupting somebody's otherwise lovely dark ride experience, so I think you're fine. People who take flash photos all the way through dark rides though...oooooh boy, don't get me started!

Before long, the show began and we all sat back and enjoyed

Oh, I booked the dining package at Rose and Crown for August...but now that I'm seeing this the view looks pretty nice for the dessert party...maybe I will have to consider that instead...

Spaceship Earth gave us a beautiful send off

This is like a perfect postcard. Love!

 

[Raeven]

@Raeven also started her PTR so the cat's out of the bag...the two of us are going on a Universal/Disney adventure in September!!

We took some time at the photo kiosk to make our own skeletons

I want to do this too!

I like your dress

So, I'm going to just disappoint everyone right off the bat - my pictures for this party are terrible!! I managed to only get one of the food. This is the fruit/bread/cheese fondue buffet. The best buffet area of the night, honestly!

Agreed, same with the JBJB one we went to.

Lighting makes photos difficult, which is part of the reason why I don't have many (another reason was b/c I was eating!)

Ours was outside too (but I think a different area) and you can't see anything in most pictures and videos.

I broke a Disney rule, and felt so guilty doing it, but I used flash to get a picture of the glittery tops of the key lime tarts (but why are they ORANGE??)

It's okay I once did this in a restaurant, and I felt so awkward. But then it was made worse by my teenage sister who decided to literally scream when I used it to draw all the attention to us

Don't worry, I didn't forget to add the required blurry nightmare photo from inside the ride:

Are they throwing up the fake gang signs we used to do in pictures in middle school?

 

[amazingact21]

Lovely shots of the sunset in Epcot.

I'm glad the dessert party went well. I always wondered if it was worth the money since the show could be viewed from most places around the WS, but your pictures made the whole event seem very relaxing.

 

[xlsm]

How exciting for a girls trip in September! I love all the pictures from Mexico and around WS. The Mexican Pavilion is one of my favorites.

It is nice to see a review of the Frozen dessert party, I don’t think I have seen one. Nice to ride FEA without a long wait!

We are so excited about September!! I hope everyone is ready to read about all the food we ate once we get back

I think the atmosphere of the Mexico pavilion is pretty much second to none - that immersive feeling b/c it's all inside but looks like outside? I just think it's so cool. (I also like the inside of Biergarten for the same reason, lol)

I wish I'd been able to do more with the review, but no pictures kind of hurt my memory, haha!! I was very nervous about it, b/c i feel like Illuminations is the easiest nighttime show by far to see well, but in case it was our last time, I wanted to make it special. And it was so nice to be able to sit down in chairs with food instead of staking out a spot against the railing with elbows out to discourage others from creeping into our space...not that I'm speaking from experience

Okay I'm all caught up! Man I was way, way behind.

Christopher looks amazing! That VIP tour looked like so much fun. That same thing would be amazing when Galaxies Edge opens.

I'm so sorry you're son was sick. I'm so glad he got over it pretty quickly .

In regards to the Rome burning smell. Did you know there is a whole company that makes wax melts, candles, and oils of places, food, and rides at Disney!!!! And they are spot on!! They have so many but my favorite are Haunted, Pirates, Walt's and Pineapple . They all smell wonderful! And they have a Rome burning one!! They are called Magic Candle Company!

Can't wait to read more.

Hey, no worries...I was way behind in writing! And I always get behind on the reports I'm reading. Always, LOL!!

He was a great guide, and I am so happy we had someone who meshed well with our family. It was a great experience.

I was so glad he got over it quickly. I got sick when we got home and it lasted for two weeks

Sadly, the scentsy melts I said smelled like Rome Burning was mostly just when it was cold in the package. Once warming it developed a sweeter smell. Not bad, but not Rome Burning, either!! I do know that company, I've considered ordering, but have had bad luck with other companies saying they had Disney scents. There's one, now it's called Spireside, but I bought when they had their original name (can't remember and too lazy to stand up and walk into the other room to check, lol). They had great reviews, but I bought three of their candles and they were AWFUL. Now they're just sitting on a shelf for decoration. An expensive mistake!

Thank you!! I hope to move more quickly with it now that busy Feb is over

Yay! Congrats!

That's so awesome! You'll have a blast!

Agreed. So lovely.

Ooh I didn't even know this was a thing!

This is gorgeous. Possibly my favourite place. Spaceship Earth has my heart.

Hey, you weren't interrupting somebody's otherwise lovely dark ride experience, so I think you're fine. People who take flash photos all the way through dark rides though...oooooh boy, don't get me started!

Oh, I booked the dining package at Rose and Crown for August...but now that I'm seeing this the view looks pretty nice for the dessert party...maybe I will have to consider that instead...

This is like a perfect postcard. Love!

Thank you!! They're pretty excited. I'd be more excited if our state competition wasn't 3 hours from home, LOL! Last year it was local to our region and we didn't make it

We are ready to eat all the things!!

Yes! So we weren't sure it was working right, b/c it asks you to move around, but then the picture comes out looking so serious, LOL!!

I openly despise dark ride picture takers, so it was hard to justify any use of my own flash! But, I had to show off the glitter tart...glitter trumps no flash,
but only in this case

I know the R&C package is a thing, but we didn't care for our food there, so it wasn't on my radar...has it started yet? I am curious to see how it works. I was pretty happy with our view of Illuminations from the party location. It's in a spot we've watched from before the party was there, and it's a good place to see everything.

Spaceship Earth at night is just so darn PRETTY!!

I want to do this too!


I like your dress

Agreed, same with the JBJB one we went to.

Ours was outside too (but I think a different area) and you can't see anything in most pictures and videos.

It's okay I once did this in a restaurant, and I felt so awkward. But then it was made worse by my teenage sister who decided to literally scream when I used it to draw all the attention to us





Are they throwing up the fake gang signs we used to do in pictures in middle school?

It was fun, but i'm not sure if we were doing it right it said to move around and stuff, but the pictures were all just us standing there so seriously...we were confused!
My beautiful dress, LOL!!

The darkness was nice for atmosphere, but you couldn't see what you were eating very well...I'm just glad I didn't put anything in the cheese that didn't belong there

your sister calling you out on your flash usage

I think so they must have really planned this one out!!

Lovely shots of the sunset in Epcot.

I'm glad the dessert party went well. I always wondered if it was worth the money since the show could be viewed from most places around the WS, but your pictures made the whole event seem very relaxing.

Thank you!!

Being totally honest, even though my goal was to do one party in each park, the Illuminations parties were last on my list b/c I didn't feel like I could justify it, and for the same reason as yours - it's pretty easy to find a good spot to watch! But I will say, having a designated spot to sit while waiting plus the addition of the food made it worth it for us. And the Frozen ride is something that has grown on me over time, and it's nice to not worry about getting a fast pass for it, or having to wait in line (even though the standby line is really well done and there's lots to see).

 

[ArielSRL]

more Coco things were beginning to be added, and I knew even more was there now, so I was eager to check things out!

AJ loves Coco (so do I) so I'm glad to read this!

We took some time at the photo kiosk to make our own skeletons

We will be popping in for a San Angel res our first night in June so I will add this to the short list for that arrival night.

Our primary destination was the Gran Fiesta Tour, one of our very favorite rides. It is always a must do!!

We really enjoy it too! One trip there was no one so we just stayed on and had two rides!

And no visit to Norway is complete without annoyed kids posing with a giant troll:

Truth!

It was beautiful as always

What a great view!

 

[xlsm]

Snow Day!!

We never get snow days, so this is very exciting. I mean, there's barely any snow at all left from the little we got yesterday, but enough came overnight to make the roads slick this morning!

A snow day gives me an opportunity to add some more to this report. So here is...

Chapter Seven: Wild becomes Mild

Here's another day that was changed significantly!! We were supposed to stay at Animal Kingdom all day, so we could finally have Yak and Yeti dinner and FINALLY see Pandora at night (I keep skipping it b/c of tiredness levels or weather ), but everyone wanted to do more World Showcase time after not being able to get in any good shopping in Japan, so during our dessert party the night before, we cancelled Yak and Yeti and made a new reservation for Tokyo Dining dinner.

But we were still planning an AK morning...I had a rhino to pet!! We were scheduled for the newish Up Close with Rhinos tour, and I was over the moon!!

Off track, but speaking of rhinos, check out my awesome birthday gift from Raeven!!

I love rhinos so much!!

But anyway...let's get this day started!!

X was moving slowly this morning, so we let him stay by himself to finish getting ready and come to the park when he was done. The rest of us went to the bus stop after checking the app for estimated arrival time, and missed the bus anyway. Luckily another one pulled up right behind it! Good timing!!

Before long we were checking out the beautiful tree

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Somehow I had managed to walk out of the room without my sunglasses. I have light sensitive eyes, and have to wear them even on fairly cloudy days, and it never fails that I have some kind of sunglass issue and have to buy new ones in a park. We stopped at the little shop out in front of the park and I picked some up. L also picked up a mug for a friend back home. We were checking out and the CMs kept having a hard time getting it to ring up as sending the mug back to the room, and couldn't get the printing thing to read the green receipt they use to do resort delivery. They had to cancel the transaction about three times, re-tap my magic band each time, etc...It was taking forever! They ended up switching to a different register to see if that would work, it didn't. We were losing time!! Our goal was to ride Everest at rope drop since we weren't going to be using our FP later in the day (because of our change of plans...I wasn't able to switch our FP times). Because of this, I sent L and DH on into the park while I dealt with this annoying problem. I was ready to just carry the mug through the park, it wasn't that big of a deal!!

They finally called over a merchandising manager who told them they were doing it wrong the whole time - she did it in like two seconds

I was annoyed, but just rolled with it!

While I was doing that, DH and L stopped for photopass pictures.

With that finally taken care of, I finally made my way into the park!!

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I took a very quick second to admire the Tree of Life

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and then did something I've never done before...I went to Asia first!!

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I was on my way to the single rider line for Everest - L and DH were already in the regular line, and it had grown fast this morning. Already over an hour long!

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Single Rider line was a first for me!

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It felt like it took forever, at least 20 to 30 minutes, but eventually I was climbing Everest to find the Yeti!!

I love the view from up here!

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After the ride, I met up with L and DH in the shop. They had been on the train before mine, so quite a wait for them so early in the day, too. It was going to be a busy day in the park for sure.

We stopped to watched the monkeys

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and then checked out the new (to us) Up bird show theater

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This show was a priority for me, but sadly we didn't get to it on this day Definitely happening in June, though, along with tracking down my favorite bird Kevin!!

X was on his way to the park now, so we started making our way toward Africa to wait for him. I was afraid he was going to miss our safari fast pass, and I was getting annoyed. While waiting we checked out the holiday decorations that were still up:

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Watched the drummers (who tried to make me go up and dance. Um, NOPE. Hard pass, thanks!

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X showed up, and we decided to take the time to grab a quick snack before going on safari. We were within our window but still had about half of it left.

Zuri's Sweet Shop was the choice

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for one big reason...animal sugar cookies!!

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I thought these were so weird and cute, lol. They weren't very sweet, which I prefer, and they made me happy so that's all that matters, right?

The whole area is just so pretty and themed. I can never get enough Animal Kingdom, we never end up spending as much time there as we want to. I need to plan those days better, or maybe for earlier in a trip. We always seem to get more tired while at AK.

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We finished our cookies and then it was safari time!!!

The only thing more exciting for me today than the safari was the upcoming rhino tour. I am a safari fanatic.

Cue animal photos in 3...2...1...

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We had a special treat when we got to the elephants

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A keeper was at the enclosure and we got to watch him working with the elephant!

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It was pretty cool!!

This is all for now...it's taken me forever just to type up this much while also dealing with kids, laundry, dogs, and parakeet. I might pop in later to finish up the Animal Kingdom part of this day.

Enjoy your Monday!! I have big plans to catch up on housework and also participate in some general laziness. I expect it to be glorious!!

 

[MinnieWebster]

Sounds like a good start to the day!

 

[ArielSRL]

I have light sensitive eyes, and have to wear them even on fairly cloudy days, and it never fails that I have some kind of sunglass issue and have to buy new ones in a park.

I am the same. I do have prescription sunglasses though so I am pretty good about not forgetting them. But I am so afraid I will lose them one day so I have bought a few pairs of Disney ones. I may try to use those in the parks. I only use glasses for driving and watching the TV so I think I'll be okay.

They finally called over a merchandising manager who told them they were doing it wrong the whole time - she did it in like two seconds

Oh my. But thank goodness they finally got it done.

along with tracking down my favorite bird Kevin!!

I'm so excited for this! I love Kevin!

Zuri's Sweet Shop was the choice

I have never shopped here. Might need to check it out.

 

[xlsm]

AJ loves Coco (so do I) so I'm glad to read this!


We will be popping in for a San Angel res our first night in June so I will add this to the short list for that arrival night.


We really enjoy it too! One trip there was no one so we just stayed on and had two rides!


Truth!


What a great view!

The displays were all so pretty!! I get irritated about ride overlay changes (although I adapted well to Fiesta Tour after losing Rio del Tiempo, which I LOVED), but I think I'd be ok if they changed Fiesta Tour to a Coco theme. I feel like they could do something really special. But then it might become more popular, and I would be so sad to lose my easy-on ride!!

I love the troll so I make them pose every time, lol!! I have a picture of me with it on my first trip when I was 19, so I feel like we can't break tradition.

It really was!!

Sounds like a good start to the day!

So far so good!!

I am the same. I do have prescription sunglasses though so I am pretty good about not forgetting them. But I am so afraid I will lose them one day so I have bought a few pairs of Disney ones. I may try to use those in the parks. I only use glasses for driving and watching the TV so I think I'll be okay.


Oh my. But thank goodness they finally got it done.


I'm so excited for this! I love Kevin!


I have never shopped here. Might need to check it out.

There's the 1-800- Contacts commercial with the very dramatic guy who talks about his "special eyes", and my whole family will quote it at me b/c of my weird eyes I'm glad I'm not the only one who deals with light sensitivity!! I wear contacts all day (my eyesight is terrible), and I usually keep my sunglasses with me constantly. I can't figure out how I managed to leave my good ones in the room

It was such a pain. I kept saying I'll just take the bag with me, but they were like, no, we can figure it out! Obviously not without help, lol

Me too!! Kevin is awesome, and the videos I've seen of her walking around are so cute!!

The treats are pretty much Disney standard, but themed for AK, so I often like the way they look more than at other parks. If it's shaped like an animal, I automatically need it in my life.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We were there some of the same days...at some of the same parks...at same of the same times! I keep looking at your pictures to see if we are in any...

 

[Lesley Wake]

Here's our ride photo



Too bad the other family didn't tell us to play along!!

That is too bad! It would have been a really fun photo!

DELICIOUS cheese fondue. I liked it best on the soft bread!!

Agreed! Yum!

 

[Tracy161]

@Raeven also started her PTR so the cat's out of the bag...the two of us are going on a Universal/Disney adventure in September!!

Yay!!! How exciting!

And no visit to Norway is complete without annoyed kids posing with a giant troll:

I can't get enough of this view

 

[amazingact21]

Those animal sugar cookies are awesome! I've got add them to my list of hopeful snacks this June. Although, knowing my kids, they won't want to eat them and just want to play with the treats.


Oh man, what a cool surprise on the safari. That's what makes the attraction so great, it's never the same experience twice. It had to be pretty neat to watch the trainer working with the elephant!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I love those sugar cookies, so cute! I love all your Safari pictures, I have always loved the Safari, our last couple were really boring though! I don’t know if it was to early in the morning and some animals weren’t out yet? I know everyone says go early but for us it wasn’t as good.

I’m excited to hear about the Rhino tour, looks interesting!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I know the R&C package is a thing, but we didn't care for our food there, so it wasn't on my radar...has it started yet? I am curious to see how it works. I was pretty happy with our view of Illuminations from the party location. It's in a spot we've watched from before the party was there, and it's a good place to see everything.

It has started, I think! At least those dates are bookable online now. We had pretty good meals the last couple of times we've been there, and the hubby really likes it, so it seemed to make sense. The reason I ended up choosing it though was that it was almost the same price as a dessert party, but there's not typically much that I can eat that's worth eating at those parties, so it seemed like Rose and Crown might give us more value for our money. I'll have to think on it.

We never get snow days, so this is very exciting. I mean, there's barely any snow at all left from the little we got yesterday, but enough came overnight to make the roads slick this morning!

Yay! (For you. We also got a snow day yesterday, and it was much more like "ick" for us because it's not uncommon.) I'm sure people drive like they don't know what to do with themselves when the roads are bad from snow there! The roads here when they sent us home from school yesterday were absolutely atrocious. I have good winter tires and a medium-sized vehicle, and I couldn't get through the snow up my friend's hill when I dropped her off at home.

Off track, but speaking of rhinos, check out my awesome birthday gift from Raeven!!

Ooh, that's amazing!! (I also love the books you have under it!) Such a perfect gift, @Raeven!

and then did something I've never done before...I went to Asia first!!

Woah. I don't think I've ever done this either.

This show was a priority for me, but sadly we didn't get to it on this day Definitely happening in June, though, along with tracking down my favorite bird Kevin!!

Oh I was hoping you'd have a review! We still haven't gotten there either. Hopefully August.

Interesting spot placement.

I thought these were so weird and cute, lol.

I can never get enough Animal Kingdom, we never end up spending as much time there as we want to.

Agreed! I made the same mistake in planning our August trip, I think. Though in the summer I hesitate to spend too much time there because it always feels so hot and so much of it is outdoors. But I also need to plan for more AK time as a general rule.

 

[Raeven]

Aw cute rhinos cuddling/playing

Somehow I had managed to walk out of the room without my sunglasses. I have light sensitive eyes, and have to wear them even on fairly cloudy days, and it never fails that I have some kind of sunglass issue and have to buy new ones in a park.

Me too! I've tried taking off my sunglasses for pictures, but nope because I can't keep them open or they start watering right away