Aug 08 Trip Report-Go During Busy Season & Wait No More Than 10 Mins for Any Ride!

[dshouse4]

Hi Valerie, love the TR. We live in Gastonia, NC and are heading to the World on Sept. 12. I have joined touringplans.com and have all my touring cards etc completed and now I read about Ridemax. Considering how far in I am with the other, do you think a subscription to Ridemax would be beneficial. Thanks and keep the info coming!!!!!

 

[PrincessVal]

Hi Valerie, love the TR. We live in Gastonia, NC and are heading to the World on Sept. 12. I have joined touringplans.com and have all my touring cards etc completed and now I read about Ridemax. Considering how far in I am with the other, do you think a subscription to Ridemax would be beneficial. Thanks and keep the info coming!!!!!

It is my understanding that its not too crowded in Sept. That being said I think you will be fine with following the touring plans you have already put together. I'm assuming both of the companies do the same type of research so the information is more or less the same. The one major benefit I found with Ridemax that the others didn't have is being able to be so tailored to your needs. For example I knew when I wanted to take breaks, which rides I wanted to do, when I wanted to eat, etc. I was able to punch in all that info and it spit out exactly when I should do what. The other ones give you good info they are just more general. Let me know if you have anymore questions.

Wow Sept 12th is coming soon! Get packed up and ready to go. Enjoy your trip and say hi to Mickey for me.

 

[Princess.Rachel]

Subbing. Can't wait to hear more...

 

[dshouse4]

Thanks for the assurance Valerie. Wish I had found Ridemax first. I spent quite some time pouring over and deciding on touring plans based on crowds and our ADR's, etc. I think my DD would have killed me had I changed the touring plans (she has already laminated them for me). So we will proceed with what we have and check out Ridemax next time. I am going "Disney" shopping today!! Can't wait for the next TR installment.

 

[PrincessVal]

Thanks for the assurance Valerie. Wish I had found Ridemax first. I spent quite some time pouring over and deciding on touring plans based on crowds and our ADR's, etc. I think my DD would have killed me had I changed the touring plans (she has already laminated them for me). So we will proceed with what we have and check out Ridemax next time. I am going "Disney" shopping today!! Can't wait for the next TR installment.

Yeah you will be fine, don't worry. Laminated touring plans, now that's the way to go. I'll have to try that next time. Have fun Disney shopping and preparing for your trip.

 

[PrincessVal]

Ok where was I, oh yeah still at HS. So originally my plan was to do 11:50 AM Stunt Show and 7:00 PM Beauty and the Beast later that night, when DM had a brilliant idea. I have seen the Stunt Show quite a few times and its good but not a must see for me anymore, and the rest of the girls agree. We usually go and sweat our butts off for the boys. Its the reverse for B&B. The girls love it and the boys could take it or leave it. Well duh why don't we split up?!? So all the boys went to the 11:50 AM SS and the girls went to the 12:15 B&B. Brilliant! We had a little time before B&B so we headed towards Rock N Roller Coaster for some smoothies at the stand over there.

Then we got great seats for B&B. The show was great as usual. The only bad part was that Four for a Dollar, which in my opinion are even better then the show itself, were not preforming even though it said they were supposed to be. To top it off I just heard they are having their last performance on Sept 20th so I won't get to see them again. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Meanwhile the boys were enjoying the very manly SS.

After B&B we FPed Tower of Terror and headed back down Sunset Blvd. We were supposed to met the boys in their favorite sleeping spot - Sounds Dangerous sound booths. But Sounds Dangerous was closed so there they sat hot and tired outside. At least they got some snacks.

The last thing before our afternoon break was 1:45 PM Indiana Jones so we hopped in a relatively short line. Now usually we FP this show, but that didn't work in our schedule. Well we sure saw why FPs are good. After letting in the very LONG FP line there were hardly any seats left. But we squeezed in on the side which is still a good seat.

After Indy we were all pretty exhausted and hot so we headed back to the hotel for pooltime, showertime, and naptime.

 

[iluvuwdw]

That is a shame they are no longer gonna have B&B. I never got a chance to see that show and so wanted to do this on my next trip back. Do you know if they are gonna replace it with something else?

 

[PrincessVal]

That is a shame they are no longer gonna have B&B. I never got a chance to see that show and so wanted to do this on my next trip back. Do you know if they are gonna replace it with something else?

Oh sorry for the confusion...they are going to have Beauty and the Beast just not Four for a Dollar. They are an acapella group that sings before B&B. They are still having B&B and its really good. You should def go see it on your next trip.

 

[PrincessVal]

Here is a pic of Four for a Dollar. Their last preformance will be on Sept 20. If you are going to be there before then be sure to check them out. After that date Beauty and the Beast will still be running just without them to open the show.

 

[thumperbelle3]

Yay I just found your trip report! Keep up the updates so I can read as much as I can before we leave! Looks like you guys had a great time so far.
I always wondered why they have little aligators on Living with the Land. Did they explain why on your Behind the Seeds Tour? I doubt they use them for handbags or shoes.
I also didn't know you could FP the Indy show. Were your seats that bad without the FP?
Ahh 2 weeks and I'll be on a plane to FL!

 

[PrincessVal]

Yay I just found your trip report! Keep up the updates so I can read as much as I can before we leave! Looks like you guys had a great time so far.
I always wondered why they have little aligators on Living with the Land. Did they explain why on your Behind the Seeds Tour? I doubt they use them for handbags or shoes.
I also didn't know you could FP the Indy show. Were your seats that bad without the FP?
Ahh 2 weeks and I'll be on a plane to FL!

Yeah along with the alligators they have shrimp and all kinds of fish. They didn't really say too much about why they had them. It is kind of strange, I guess I should have asked. The one cool thing we got to do was feed the fish. And the fish are so trained to know what we were going to do if you just held your hand over the tank the fish would all swarm towards you. I'm surprised no one lost a finger to a hungry school of fish.

No our seats weren't bad at all for Indiana Jones. They were all the way on the side but towards the front. I've sat in lots of different places most are fine, they are the best towards the front I think. The main problem was we had to wait forever before we were seated since the FP line took so long. The show had actually started before we sat down. And since it was so hot if you were further back in line - not in the shade near the misting fans - it would have been terribly hot. We also went to one of the most popular times. If you go earlier in the morning or later in the day I have heard it isn't so bad.

 

[PrincessVal]

So after we went back to the hotel for swimming, eating, and sleeping it was time to wake up, get ready, and head back to HS.

I SAID WAKE UP!!!

First thing when we got back to the park we headed straight for Rock 'n Roller Coaster to use our FPs. DH and DM used their first set for Tower of Terror while we road. Did I mention I LOVE Aerosmith and Roller Coasters so I'm pretty sure this ride was made for me. I was however disappointed when half way through the ride the music stopped. Its not nearly as good in silence.

We decided to wait a little longer to go on Tower of Terror...its MUCH cooler at night I must say. So we headed over to the Magic of Disney Animation. I haven't been in their in forever and I have never done the character drawing part.

First we played around on the machines. We did the "which Disney character are you most like". I got Tinkerbell which is awesome because I love her. My DH got Jafar...fabulous.

We were then stoked to find out that they had the same sound recording machines that they do in Sounds Dangerous in here. They are the most fun ever, please try them out when you go. You pick a scene then you record yourselves doing the voice and it plays it back. Its even better if you make up your own words. I almost pee my pants laughing every time. Its really great if you have a video camera to record it.

I got my pic taken with Wall-E.

Then we woke DB up just in time to do the character drawing...this was our FIRST TIME. It was a lot of fun, I highly recommend it. We got Pluto and here's how some of them turned out.

Here is DS22...she's an art major in college can't you tell.

And here is DH...he's NOT an art major...can't you tell.

Afterwards we were supposed to go to Muppets but we were running short on time, we had played too long in the Disney animation place. So we headed back to Tower. I know missing Muppets, is very sad its one of my favs, but I have seen approximately 1 bagillion times so its ok. We strolled through a very peaceful part of the park and back down Sunset.

Tonight there were 2 Fantasmics scheduled one at 9:00 PM and one at 10:30 PM. We usually go to the first one because we have been in the park all day and are bored and tired. I heard that the 2nd is way less crowded and since we had a break it worked well.

While we were getting in line for Tower I heard a guests ask a CM about Fantasmic. I heard something to the effect of shortening show, 10 minutes, something, first time ever, something, something. Well I wasn't sure but the weather was threatening rain all evening, but it never really had hit us. Well we did notice the people exiting Fantasmic earlier than usual so I figured well we must be in for a shortened show.

So we get in line with the rest of the crowd and wait there for about 30 mins. They then let us part way down towards the theatre and stop us for about 5 more minutes, ok now I know something is up. They make an announcement stating that unfortunately with circumstances beyond their control they have canceled the 2nd showing of Fantasmic. They then loop us back around and out. What NO FANTASMIC!?!?! Its only one of my favorite things at Disney. I felt bad for DSBF because he's never seen it, along with all the rest of the guests that have never been. Still to this day we have no idea what happened. I can only assume something major wasn't working like the projector on the water or something. I have seen the show when the trap door was broken - Mickey had to run out instead or the Dragon wouldn't move - it just stood there. What ever happened to the show must go on? Oh well this was all we got to see of Fantasmic that night...

We sadly shuffled through the crowd back to the resort. When we got there DS22 and I did a beautiful reenactment of Fantasmic that we have on video, let me tell you its almost as good as the real thing.

Stay tuned...tomorrow we are finally going to MK. And what, DH plays poker with Goofy?

 

[PrincessVal]

It had finally arrived - Magic Kingdom Day! We got a little bit of a later start this morning. Most times we got to the park about 30 or so mins before it opened. Along with the extra time it takes to ride the monorail etc, we arrived right at opening. This actually turned out good we walked right in and since there wasn't any HUGE BRAND NEW attraction to run too we were fine.

We were going to try to get a photopass photo taken but all of the CPs were taken up and there were lines forming so we decided against it. The last photopass pic I purchased was of MK and I wanted to get a different park anyway.

Our plan for today was to do a few rides, get a few FPs, then head out for a late Breakfast at Chef Mickey's. First up was to FP Space Mountain then do Astro Orbiter. We hadn't riden it in a long time because this is like the slowest moving line in Disney so we usually skip it. It wasn't as good as I remember either, I think its much better at night. However we were the first people in line so at least we didn't wait long.

Next up was the Mad Tea Party with about a 2 minutes wait. This is another one we usually skip but I'm glad we didn't this time. We had 2 cups, one for heavy spinning and one for light spinning. It worked out great, everyone had a good time.

Light Spinning

Heavy Spinning & its after effects

We then made our way to PhilharMagic which is my favorite 3-D show. We had just missed the previous show so we did have to wait 8 or 9 mins for the next one. That was the only attraction we decided to do in Fantasyland. We usually do either Peter Pan or Winnie the Pooh and sometimes Its a Small World, but we have done them so many times and with this old group they aren't as exciting. So we decided not to waste the time or a FP on them.

Here we are looking for Pooh.

Our last attraction of the morning was the Haunted Mansion. I think we waited 5 or so mins for this one. It was our First Time riding since the rehab. I thought they did a really good job with it. Afterwards we got a FP for Buzz Lightyear and headed back to the monorail for a ride to the Contemporary. It was finally time for breakfast.

 

[PrincessVal]

After a magical morning at the MK we hopped the monorail for a quick ride to the Contemporary. There we got our picture taken then sat down after a short wait. I had been here before however no one else in my group had, none of them had actually been to a Disney breakfast ever. I usually reserve that precious morning time for rides in the park because of the cooler weather and short lines. However I was trying to do new things this time. I also decided against going really early in the morning before the park opens. First of all we don't want to wake up any earlier then we have too and second who can eat a huge buffet at 7am anyways? I know I can't.

Chef Mickey's is your typical breakfast buffet. I enjoy it because I LOVE breakfast foods. Here is my plate.

I like to try a little of everything. I had fruit, Corned Beef hash with cornbread, cheese potatoes with bacon, grits, 3 cheese omelet, sausage, French toast and of course the ever so yummy Mickey waffles. Now I went back up for the peanut butter and jelly pizza and it was by far the best thing ever. I know it sounds strange but the peanut butter was all warm and gooey, it was just delicious. You must try it. I should have gotten a picture but I couldn't hold off long enough before I stuffed it in my mouth. DH's favorite I think was the Goofy's veggie lasagna. It had peppers and stuff in it if I remember correctly.


Of course then the characters came.

We didn't end up getting the Chef Mickey's pic from earlier because DH had his eyes closed. From then on he started taking picture with crazy eyes to make sure they weren't close for the picture.

Now for the best part...DH was wearing a shirt that had some cards on it and said poker. Well Goofy saw this. I had no idea Goofy liked to play poker. He sat down and started to play pretend poker with the sugars from the table.

We thought this was hilarious. When he finally left we continued with our meal. Then came dessert.

The brownie was ok, a bit too chocolaty, the rice krispie treat was of course good, and Pluto's cheese blintz was terrible. I also had a Krispy Kreme doughnut - YUMM-O. Listed on the menu is warm bread pudding but I did not see this. I was disappointed.


Goofy then came back out a few minutes later with a deck of cards and started to play with DH for real.

Well then Minnie gets jealous and wants to join in the fun so she sits down to play also.

We had a full out poker tournament in the middle of Chef Mickey's. DD just sat there and ate like it was normal to be dining with Minnie and Goofy sitting at your table. Now the rest of us got a huge kick out of this. I don't think I had laughed so hard in a long time. The best part was DH is a big party pooper when it comes to character meals. He's always like "why can't they just let me eat in peace" lol. That on top of the fact that Goofy stacked the deck so he won with 4 of a kind and DH lost with a pair of kings. The whole rest of the time Goofy kept pointing at DH motioning like "haha I won". It was great fun.



Either way Chef Mickey's this time was the best character dinning experience we ever had.

Chef Mickey's
Service - 8
Atmosphere - 10
Food - 7
Overall - 9/10


We then headed back to the hotel. DS22 had to work at 2:30 PM and she wanted to get a nap in before she went. She was working extra magic hours tonight until 12:30 AM.

 

[JaxJags08]

Hi! I found your TR and I'm really enjoying it. Those pics from Chef Mickey's are great! It's too funny that they played poker at your table! I never seriously considered eating there, but I might just have to put it on my list. The character interaction seems great and I want to try the peanut butter and jelly pizza. I love peanut butter!

 

[myladyisatramp]

Awesome TR love the pics, cute fam.

 

[missj1975]

Great report, love all the pictures.

 

[PrincessVal]

Hi! I found your TR and I'm really enjoying it. Those pics from Chef Mickey's are great! It's too funny that they played poker at your table! I never seriously considered eating there, but I might just have to put it on my list. The character interaction seems great and I want to try the peanut butter and jelly pizza. I love peanut butter!

Yeah the character interaction with our group is usually just so-so because we don't have any little kids anymore. It was great fun to be able to play with the characters this time.

Oh and one note about the PB & J pizza, I think its actually with the kids food. Thats how I missed it the first time. But my sister got it and said it was awesome so I went back up for some. I wouldn't want you to miss trying it out.

Awesome TR love the pics, cute fam.

Great report, love all the pictures.

Thanks! Glad you are liking the pics.

 

[PrincessVal]

So after our big Chef Mickey's breakfast we went back to the room for some relaxing. DS22 rested then headed off to work. After a couple hours we returned to Magic Kingdom minus 1.

When we arrived we had some time before our ADR at the Plaza Restaurant. The times board wasn't working so we headed for a sure thing when it came to short lines - Pirates of the Caribbean. Wahoo only 5 minutes. Argh Mateys! This time we chose the starboard side.

Since we were already half way there I decided to keep going around to Frontierland and pick up a FP for Big Thunder Mountain, one of our family favorites.

It was almost time for dinner so we headed back to Main Street. This was our First Time eating at the Plaza. I had barely even noticed the restaurant before, it really blends in. But when I started hearing some good reviews and saw the sandwich menu I thought it would be a great light dinner after a big heavy breakfast. I had also heard the downside - this restaurant is S-M-A-L-L. Which is not good for big groups. We ended up waiting for a good 45 minutes or so before our name was called. Since there is no inside waiting area we were stuck roasting in the sun. We saw the Dream Along with Mickey show from a distance.

When we finally sat down I wasn't too hungry and wanted to save room for desert so I split the grilled chicken sandwich with DB. It’s a chicken breast topped with ham and swiss and was actually really tasty.

They even were so nice as to put it on 2 separate plates for us.

DH loves ruebens so guess what he had. He said his was good also.

Then came dessert. DB and DSBF split the brownie sundae. It must have been good because I barely got a pic before it was gobbled up.

DD and I split the hot fudge sundae. And it was just as I expected - yummy.

Oh I almost forgot, DH got a strawberry milkshake for dessert. He thought it was good, but was too full to finish it so I think he pawned it off on someone.

Overall I think the Plaza is good. Its the best place to go if you want a nice light sit down meal. The sandwiches are all around $10 which is not too bad considering that isn't much more than you would spend at a CS. Its cute and charming inside but small so its not ideal for large groups.

Plaza Restaurant
Service - 8
Atmosphere - 7
Food - 8
Overall - 8/10

After dinner we went over to Tomorrowland to use our FPs for Buzz and Space Mountain, my favorite ride at Disney. As I said before, Buzz just can't compete with TSM.

Then we headed all the way over to Frontierland to use our FPs for Big Thunder Mountain. Since the first Spectromagic Parade was coming through we had to fight our way through the crowd. Being Disney vets this was no problem for us, now if we had small children with strollers this would have been a bit more difficult to navigate.

As we were walking up to Big Thunder a woman came up to us with FPs. I thought they were for Big Thunder so I almost kindly said no thanks since we already had some, but noticed they were for Splash instead so I took her up on her offer.

We road Big Thunder as it was getting dark - the best time to ride. My original plan was to watch Wishes at 10:00 PM then watch the 2nd less crowded Spectro. Well since we had to wait so long to be seated at the Plaza and we had our new Splash FPs my original plan was foiled. We ended up watching Wishes from the top of Splash Mountain - really kind of cool actually. Afterwards we decided to head out instead of waiting 30 more mins for Spectro. Everyone was beat from a long, extremely hot day and I knew we had to be up bright and early for AK the next morning.

 

[PrincessVal]

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend. I will be off for awhile cheering on my Hokies.