Boo To You - Sept 2015 Solo TR! - updated 19/05

[godders]

Day 11 Part 2 - A Little bit of Magic (Kingdom)

I headed on out of the restaurant and up to the 2nd floor to get on the Monorail which took about 10 minutes to arrive.



But before I knew it I was heading down the ramp at the other end



I walked under the railway bridge into town square and one of the first things I saw was Marie doing one of her last meet and greets



and as you can imagine she had a very long queue

I headed up Main Street and it was the quietest I'd seen Magic Kingdom so far and then I remembered it was a party day so the crowds would be smaller. I got to see the Mayor of Main Street as well for the first time



As I headed up into Fantasyland I stopped off at a Photopass Photographer and she was so thankful because apparently it had been a really boring a quiet day. My pleasure!



I said goodbye to the photographer and went on up to my first FP at Enchanted Tales of Belle which was a good idea to let my breakfast go down.

I headed on up the queue to the end of the FP line which naturally was right before where the shade from the building started. To make matters worse, the two German girls in front of me were taking up a ridiculous amount of room between them so when one of them went to the bin I manoeuvred myself into the shade hahaha. My poor, practically translucent skin just can not stand still in the sun for too long.

Literally 30 seconds later they opened the door to let us in.

We all piled in as the "big kids" at the back of the room and this time I tried to pay more attention to what was going on because the year before I had completely missed the special bit lol. Soon we were in the room with Wardrobe who in the stage show is apparently called "Madame de la Grande Bouche"



She was great fun and the CM with her was hilarious. Unfortunately despite my best efforts I wasn't chosen to have a part.

Anyway, we moved on and soon we were helping to retell the story of Belle and the Beast





After show they made extra effort to make sure all of the kids in the room got a photo with Belle and she was brilliant with them. Honestly one of the best characters I've seen with little ones.

Next up I headed over the Mickey's Philharmagic and I finally got a seat in the middle of the auditorium. Seriously it makes all the difference! For the first time everything was in focus and I was able to follow all the action!

After that I headed on over to the Haunted Mansion where I genuinely heard people talking about getting the monorail over the Harry Potter World. Seriously! I actually thought they were just a DIS legend but they do exist! It was like seeing an endangered species in the wild, you don't want to spook it. I probably should've let them know the truth but I just didn't have the heart.

After HM I wandered on round to Adventureland where Captain Jack was giving his Pirate Tutorial. It was hilarious!



There was so many adult jokes and Captain Jack was very on point



I would definitely recommend watching it even if you don't have kids

Finally though it was time for me to actually make it onto the Jungle Cruise huzzah!



I was on the ride in 5 minutes and we had a very good male skipper. He kept it up all the way around and we ended up being delayed for about 8 minutes on coming back into the dock and he just kept going the whole time. I was very impressed!

As I headed back towards the Hub, Dream Along with Mickey was just beginning on the castle stage so I headed on over to watch



















Omg! It was so hot. I honestly don't know how the performers did it. Literally the whole crowd was just standing there dripping with sweat. I managed to last until Captain Hook appeared (aka not very long) and then headed for the exit. Why? Because I had yet another resort to get to!
​

 

[godders]

Day 11 Part 3 - Art of Animation and California Grill

So I was off to check in at my final Disney resort of the trip... Art of Animation!

Which is naturally the bus stop furthest away...well someone has to be I suppose haha

The line for the bus was also pretty long for the time of day so I'm guessing lots of people were heading back to the resort to get out of the heat for a while. As I got to the stop there was a guest yelling at the bus driver because apparently two women had skipped the queue completely and just got on. Unfortunately they were spotted and promptly kicked off. They did look a little sheepish and went and stood in the practically empty Pop Century queue instead. I ended up waiting for about 30 minutes for a bus in the same time 3 came for Pop Century even though the AofA was twice as long. I decided after the 2nd one I would get whichever bus came next and it was a Pop Century bus with the Art of Animation one right behind it.

Anyway, by the time we got to the resort it was nearly 2.30pm and I have to say, the Art of Animation lobby is definitely one of my favourites!







I love all the pictures!

I was quickly checked in and headed on out to my room which was in the Little Mermaid section.

On my way though I had to pass through the Finding Nemo and Lion King sections















It was so cool! Seriously if you have little kids I would definitely opt to stay there! I got to my room which was a 3rd Floor lake view room looking out at Pop Century which was cool



I absolutely loved all the Little Mermaid features. Seriously, it's things like this which make me not mind the mark up on Disney hotels!











I got to my room and started to chill out for a bit thinking now that I've checked in my luggage might arrive by itself but I was still waiting at 4.30pm and I needed to get ready for my dinner at California Grill. I rang down to luggage services and was told they'd be right up with the luggage but 40 minutes later I was still waiting. I was just about to ring down again to double check when my bags finally arrived.

I got showered and dressed and was just putting my make up on when I realised the top I wanted to wear had a massive stain on it from somewhere! Very annoying! Luckily I had another nice top (finally a win for over packing! ). When it was time I headed out to the bus stop to catch the bus to MK. As I was walking through the resort, I spotted a couple, maybe a few years younger than me so dressed up the only place they could've been going was Victoria and Albert's. The girl had on the most beautiful cobalt blue dress with a gorgeous pair of heels.

I got to the bus stop and almost everyone was in fancy dress which is always fun to see. The traffic was pretty bad though and it took a long time to get through the MK area roads to the bus stops. Luckily I had left myself plenty of time. We arrived at Magic Kingdom and I headed around to the Contemporary passing even more people dressed up. Unfortunately I also saw some entirely inappropriate for Disney. Like slutty with thigh high stocking and the people wearing them were old enough to know better! Seriously some of these ladies needed better friends to help them find different outfits.

Anyway, once my eyes had recovered I carried on to the Contemporary and up to the 2nd floor check in desk. I had 5 minutes to wait so I popped to the loo and I have to say the Contemporary has some snazzy ladies rooms! Anyway, I arrived back just as the CM came down to take me up to California Grill. Very posh!

Well first impressions....love the giant wine fridges!

My table wasn't quite ready yet so I headed to the bar with a buzzer and I had literally just ordered by glass of wine when it went off. By the time I actually got my wine it had stopped buzzing so I had to hurry to the desk to say I was still there. I was shown to my table and while I didn't have a window seat I still had a nice view



The waiter arrived very quickly and I chose the Sonomo Goat's Cheese Raviolo to start and then the scallops for main. The raviolo was amazing! Really tasty despite how it looks in the picture ha!



The Scallops on the other hand were not! The whole dish tasted like someone had dropped them in a vat of pepper



It was so bad I genuinely couldn't really eat much of it. I managed to get hold of the waiter to tell him and he came back from the kitchen and said the chef had offered to make me a new one from scratch but I was so full from the starter I really didn't want anything else. Instead I ordered a hot chocolate to try to get rid of the taste of pepper and to take up the 30 minutes until the fireworks.

The drink was just the ticket and enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. I had just paid the bill when they made the announcement that the fireworks would be beginning so I headed out onto the left hand terrace and got a spot at the rail. Unfortunately from that side some of the fireworks are actually out of view so I would definitely use the right-hand (as you're facing out towards MK and the Seven Seas Lagoon) terrace. Soon enough though it was time for my favourite fireworks, Hallowishes, and while everyone else oo'd and ahh'd I was singing along - possibly a bit too loudly but I don't care really lol. I only had my phone with me though so my photos were bad but here's one so you get the idea



Soon the fireworks were over and it was time to head home. If I wasn't in the middle of my post-food fog I would have skipped the post-fireworks exodus and grabbed another drink at the bar but instead I headed straight down to the bus stop. The AoA line was pretty full by the time I got there but it was no where near as bad as some of the deluxe resorts. Seriously, the lines were coming out and down the concourse. Soooo glad I wasn't in those lines! Eventually though I made it onto a bus and was soon sound asleep!

​

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a nice time at MK except for the heat! Love your Art of Animation photos! I'm sorry to hear your entree at California Grill wasn't all that great.

 

[godders]

What an amazing room upgrade!

Pretty nail color!

Thank goodness you were able to get back your passport/credit card so quickly and easily!

You got some amazing shots from your balcony!

Lovely character photos at 1900 Park Fare!

Thanks! I do love it haha. Yeh that completely could've been a disaster although I'm sure I would have coped if I'd had to stay at Disney longer while waiting for a passport replacement.

Thanks. I wish I could wake up to that view every day.

Sounds like a nice time at MK except for the heat! Love your Art of Animation photos! I'm sorry to hear your entree at California Grill wasn't all that great.

Yeh it was nice just to dip in but the heat was killer. Not sure I can deal with going at that time of year again

 

[godders]

Day 12 Part 1 - Walking on the Wildside

Ok, so this is the point at which I stopped writing my trip report in my notebook because by the time I'd got this far, I'd already come home
Luckily for you (well only if you're enjoying my very belated TR), I took plenty of photos to mark my progress.

So here we find ourselves on day 12 of my solo trip and I was off, as you might have guessed, to Animal Kingdom again.



I gave myself a little bit of a lie in after my long night at California Grill so I didn't end up getting to the park until just after 9.30. Luckily for me all the rope drop people had already filtered into the park so getting in was a breeze. First stop:


(Seriously though, I really don't know why I put myself through this ride).





and I came back with a delightful MM photo as per usual



Honestly, you'd think I'd have given it up like ToT or Soarin' by now but nooooo!



Anywho, I finished waking myself up through fear and headed on round to check out some more of the animal exhibits.

On my way through Discovery Island I decided to stop off and get a couple of photos. I had an awesome PP so we got quite a few shots in front of the Tree of Life.





We even got a couple of Magic Shots





Once we'd finished, I headed on up through Africa to the Pangani Forest Trail










(Someone was feeling a little shy)




(Love Bull Frogs!)























Well that certainly kept me busy for a couple of hours! The Gorillas were great fun to watch and the trail wasn't too busy so I got lots of time to check out all the animals.

Soon though it was time to head out of the park for my lunch at the often raved about Sanaa
​

 

[godders]

Day 12 Part 2 - Nom, nom, nom, nom

Ok, so if you ever book ADRs then you know that it says to always leave 90 mins to get to your reservation. I'm a stickler for being late so this is a rule I follow every time if I have to travel anywhere at Disney (unless I'm just walking across the park). So I left the trail at about 11.30am for my lunch booking at 1pm. Walking through the park, not a problem, because the crowds had finally subsided from the previous week. Plus it's an easy walk straight from Africa down to the park entrance. So I get down to the front of the park and find the Animal Kingdom Lodge and there was a couple of people waiting in front of me. Seriously by the time the bus came we had been standing there 40 minutes and the whole queue was full. Eugh! I completely get waiting a while when it's the end of the night, especially when there's a couple of parks closing at the same time but middle of the day not so much. It wasn't even as though there were lots of buses for other resorts. There just weren't any buses for anybody.

Anyway, my point was that 90 minutes is not just some random thing, you never can tell how long you might be waiting, especially when Disney transport is involved. The bus did eventually arrive and we were all very glad to be in the air con. So I was off for my first trip to Animal Kingdom Lodge.

I'd actually forgotten about Kidani vs Jambo House at AKL so I was a little surprised at how small it was but then I saw the map and remembered



So the lobby at Kidani House is alright, but just slightly underwhelming when you're expecting the big lobby from all the pictures

Luckily that didn't really matter because that's not what I was here for.



I headed downstairs and peered all around the Savannah on my way but all I could find was one of the Ankole cattle



I mean, they're no giraffe but they're still pretty cool.

I checked in at Sanaa and unfortunately they were running a bit behind so I had to hang around for about 15 minutes but I had this little guy to keep me entertained



Soon enough, my buzzer went off and I was shown to my table.

Unfortunately I wasn't next to the window but I could still look out at the savannah.

For lunch I decided on the samosas which were delicious but are no longer on the menu #sorrynotsorry



For my entree I chose the Potjie-inspired with Paneer Tikka and Butter Chicken



As you may remember, I eat really slowly because of my gastric band so let's just say I wasn't too happy when they brought out my main course when I'd barely even got into my starter. I know they were running behind and they were busy but it's not going to make me eat any quicker. In fact it might even make me chew slower.....

The main course, as you can imagine, was slightly on the cool side by the time I got around to it but it was still pretty tasty even though the butter chicken wasn't the best I've had.

For dessert I went with the Afrika Povu which was just the right amount of sweet and definitely my favourite part of the meal.



While I was finishing my desert, I finally noticed that one of the main attractions had rocked up to the savannah



Overall, Sanaa was worth the visit but I won't be rushing back anytime soon. I've heard great things about the two other AKL table-service meals so I would definitely be checking those first.

By now it was about 3pm and Animal Kingdom was shutting at 5pm so I headed back to the bus stop to get another couple of hours of park time.​

 

[godders]

Day 12 Part 3 - Tours and Tumble Monkeys

By the time I'd got the bus back into the park it was nearly 4pm so I didn't have much time left to explore the park. I did however managed to grab a quick shot of the progress they had made on Pandora which you could see from the road as we came past on the bus.



It was really quiet by the time we got dropped off at Animal Kingdom as most people were heading out of the park. It made for a very quick entrance! First off, I stopped at another Photopass Photographer to grab some shots in front the Tree of Life but this time from up towards the bridge from the Oasis





Next I headed on over to the Adventurer's Outpost to meet my old pals Mickey and Minnie and we had a great interaction





After that I headed on up to catch a ride on Kilimanjaro Safari and see if I could see a few more animals than earlier in my trip and I was able to walk right on to the ride which is always great!





























Even though it was still pretty hot, I did manage to catch quite a few different animals. And so many young giraffes!!! They are so cute! I also had the pleasure of seeing the elusive cheetahs for the first time ever at AK.

By the time I got off the safari, they were announcing that the park was now closed so I started to head towards the exit but then I saw people still heading into the last show of The Lion King so quickly snuck on in

This is probably the best show on Disney property. Even if you're not that into shows, this one really does deserve a watch. I don't know what it is about it but it does bring tears to my eyes every time I see it





















Ahhh gives me chills just thinking about it! Love it!

Sadly, after the show it was time to make the slow walk back to the bus stop. On the plus side, by the time I got there it was almost an hour after closing so a lot of the park guests had already left meaning I was able to get on a bus back to Art of Animation pretty quickly.

​

 

[godders]

Day 13 - So long, farewell, auf weidersen, goodbye....Lights, Motors, Action!

So it was back to Hollywood Studios to catch Lights, Motors, Action one last time before it closed for good. Luckily for me the show wasn't on until the afternoon so I could have a lovely relaxed morning snoozing.

Eventually though I did have to drag my butt out of my comfy bed and over to the park in time for lunch at 50's Prime Time. Now this restaurant was a Godwin tradition and I had always enjoyed going but this was definitely the last time for a while. The food was always meh but you go for the atmosphere and my server was just plain ole surly to me. She was perfectly fine with all those around me including other parties without kids but I barely got a "how you doing" out of this woman. I think my choice of Cousin Ann's Traditional Meatloaf probably didn't help either



It was probably one of the appetising plates of food I had my entire trip so it was definitely time to try somewhere else in the park!

Anyway, it was soon time to head on over to the Lights, Motors, Action stadium to grab a seat for the show.



It was another blistering September day so I decided to sit towards the far side of the stadium in the hopes that it wouldn't be a full show and I'd have a bit of room to breathe. Plus it would mean I could swing my camera around without fear of getting in someone's view or clobbering them in the head with my zoom lens


Ok, so if you never got to see the show the idea is that they are filming sequences for an action film (who'd have guessed that...) and you see lot car chases and they basically show you kind of how they create them for a film. There was even a "celebrity" appearance. I took about 200 pictures of the show but luckily just for you guys I just have the highlights!












Our celebrity



















It was a pretty long show and I could feel myself getting slightly bored towards the end but I was glad I caught it one last time as it's now well on it's way to becoming part of the new Star Wars/Toy Story lands development.

After the show, I headed on round to check out some else I'd missed on my first solo trip: One Man's Dream

It was a pretty cool little exhibition. I definitely think that Disney could expand it to make it into a bigger, permanent museum like experience because so many people love the history of the organisation and I'm sure that the vaults are just bursting with things that deserve appreciation!





















I for one would love to see more of the little models for things, especially attractions at other Disney parks. Heck I'd love a little mini Disney world in model form. That would definitely become a favourite of mine!

I also really enjoyed the little film at the end although I could've done without the screaming toddler on the other side of the door (that does tend to ruin the atmosphere a wee bit). I could listen to Julie Andrews talk ALL day. She just has such a calming voice!

Anyways, I'd been going almost everyday for two weeks at Disney so I was pretty pooped just from my little excursion to Hollywood Studios so I took the chicken route and headed for the exit and pretty soon was back at Art of Animation for a very relaxing evening of reading my book while I looked across the lake at Pop Century​

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a really nice day at Animal Kindgom with lunch at AKL!

Being on such a long trip, it must've been nice to have a short day at DHS to do the things you wanted and then head back to the hotel!

 

[godders]

Sounds like a really nice day at Animal Kindgom with lunch at AKL!

Being on such a long trip, it must've been nice to have a short day at DHS to do the things you wanted and then head back to the hotel!

Yeh it was lovely. It's the first time I'd been at AK at the end of the day so it was really nice to take the chilled out walk back to the buses.

I think pushed myself too much at the beginning so by the end of my trip I was absolutely knackered and the heat was pretty awful. Next time I will do better haha

 

[godders]

Day 14 - A Food & Wine Taster

Being here on the DIS you read all these strategies and you take them in when you're sat at home in front of your computer but when it comes down to actually going to the parks (especially after being there for two weeks) apparently that goes out the window.

Which is why I decided to head to Epcot in the afternoon, on a Friday, which happened to be the first day of the Food and Wine Festival.

I mean, why oh why, did I really think that would be a good idea?



I also decided not to take my big camera with me for the day so I only had my phone on me which was probably a good thing because I have seen the World Showcase so busy except with all the crowds exiting after Illuminations.







Such a bad plan!

I wasn't quite hungry yet so I decided to do quick tour of some of the booths to see what they had to offer
















Germany was VERY popular!

I have to say non of the food I saw really looked that appetising but there were many, many different coloured alcoholic drinks that caught my attention. The Martini slush from France was particularly interesting.



Instead I went for the Frozen Red Stag Lemonade from the Fife & Drum Tavern (yes I know it isn't a special F&W offering) and went and sat in the American Gardens Theatre to listen to American Music Machine (at least I think that's who it was - an acapella group). They were pretty good but at the same time kind of cringe worthy. Don't know why but I'm going to blame the alcohol

After my drink I decided to head on over to the Mexican pavilion and check out the Grand Fiesta Tour. I have genuinely never been in this building so it was a really nice surprise. It just felt really relaxed compared to the mayhem outside and I loved the atmosphere



I headed on down to the ride and it was a pretty full queue so I waited about maybe a little more than 20 minutes and I can officially say I wish I hadn't bothered. There really isn't anything charming about Grand Fiesta Tour and while I'm glad I've done it, I'm certainly not itching to head back anytime soon.



I was starting to feel a little peckish so I decided to hit some booths. Unfortunately the crowds had got even bigger and I walked all the way back to France trying to find a queue that looked relatively reasonable in length. I was unable to find one so I headed for the one with the least amount of people:


(btw if you've never been to F&W then this isn't the actual queue, just the pick up point)

I decided to go with the Chicken Pot Stickers (known in the UK as dumplings)



and yes, they are on the ground, but in my defence, there wasn't really anywhere to put anything.



and to drink I chose the very tasty, Happy Peach cocktail with peach liqueur and dark rum. I would definitely recommend this one!

After my food I considered wandering around a little more to try to find something sweet but it was just so busy and the clouds were coming over again so I thought I would head out and avoid the crowds just in case it did start to rain again.

As I was on the bus it was just starting to rain again so I definitely timed it well. I even managed to skip the rain at AofA



​

 

[godders]

Day 15 - "This is not the ride you're looking for..."

The day had finally come for me to leave the magic of Walt Disney World and head to the magic of Universal

Originally I had planned to take a chilled out morning at the resort and have a bit of an explore and then head on over to Universal and have a wander around CityWalk if my room wasn't ready..... well that was before Pirates of the Caribbean closed for its VERY long refurb and today was the day it was reopening

So I switched up my plan and decided to head to the Magic Kingdom for one last rope drop.



What a beautiful morning it was!



I was hoping to crack out a quick ride on PotC before too many other people which meant I had to be in the mix at the literal rope drop but unfortunately that meant melting in the sun for a short while. It did give me great lighting for my Mickey pumpkin shot though



The rope eventually dropped and off we went. There was definitely a lot of tension in the air this morning! We got into the Hub and ended up being held at the entrance to Adventureland so all those parents who set a bad example to their children and had run up Main Street were stuck with the rest of us power walkers. Very quickly though, we were led through Adventureland by CMs like they do at Hollywood Studios and everyone it seemed was heading for Pirates. When we reached the part of the path which heads down towards the Jungle Cruise the CM did his best Obi Wan Kenobi and stood there waving his arm at us telling us "this is not the ride you're looking for..." too right its not!

So the large crowd of jostling people headed onto Pirates and we could see it....the end was in sight.....and it was still closed for technical difficulties and they weren't sure when it was going to reopen.....

So while quite a few people stood there to argue with the CMs (because that always works) I decided to head on over to Frontierland and headed straight onto Splash Mountain.

Ok so here's the picture from my boat...notice anything?



Maybe you noticed that we were all adults bar the one kid at the back......and all Splash Mountain veterans knows what happens when you have a heavier boat....

To say I ended up looking like a drowned rat would be an understatement. Mostly it wasn't even from the big drop...it was from the very first little drop where a wall of water (and I mean a wall) came over the front of the log and soaked me. Honestly I have only seen people that wet on Kali, never Splash. So I headed on down to the smoking area in front of BTMRR to sit in the sun for a little while and let my camera dry off.

When I was finally able to walk in my flip flops again I jumped on BTMRR for one last ride and then headed on over to Fantasyland for my Rapunzel and Cinderella Fastpass






As you can see I was still a mildly damp wet rat so I did have to explain to the ladies what had happened and that it wasn't me sweating horrifically

After seeing my last princesses I headed back on round to PotC but it was still down so I headed back into Liberty Square for a last ride on HM.

Finally, after HM I headed back towards Adventureland to try to get one ride on PotC before my early lunch ADR and on my way through Frontierland I bumped into Chip and Dale coming out for their M&G.





I made it through to Adventureland and PotC was finally open! People were flooding in to ride it so the CMs at the front were shutting off the line to stop more people entering the queue.



It had a posted wait time of an hour but with it being such a fast-loading ride, I was sat on a boat within 20 minutes and I even managed to get a few snaps that actually came out ok









Well, nothing as far as I could tell was different. I know people had been complaining about getting soaked on the ride previously and they had been adjusting the track to fit the boats that had come over from Disneyland better but I had never experienced getting wet on it so it was pretty much the same as always for me. But it is one of my favourite rides so I did enjoy as always.

By now I was pretty hungry so I was glad to be heading over for lunch at Be Our Guest.

I sat in the main room as usual (because they only have big table in the picture gallery and the West Wing is always full) and went for the French Onion Soup and Masters Cupcake (the grey stuff was delicious as it always is, as was the soup)





After eating I did make a point to wander around and get some snaps but it was only on my phone so the picture quality isn't great








After finishing my lunch it was sadly time to say goodbye to the Magic Kingdom and head back to Art of Animation to grab my luggage.

As it was the middle of the day, making an exit was swift and the bus was at the stop almost immediately (apparently Disney wanted me to go) and soon I was lugging all my stuff into my Uber.

We made it over to the Royal Pacific Resort in record time and I ended up in the room literally next door to the one I had been in the year previously.





I decided to have a chilled out afternoon working on my photos and when I got hungry I ordered from room service. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of my main course and I have absolutely no recollection of what I ate (there has been much alcohol consumed since then haha ) but I did remember to snap a pic of my delightful berry cheesecake



Soon it was time for bed because I had to be up for early entry the next morning!
​

 

[missangelalexis]

How annoying that the crowds were so heavy at Epcot! At least you got to do a few things. That photo overlooking the lake at Pop is beautiful!

Yay for one last morning at MK! How crappy that Pirates was already down and it hadn't even opened from refurb yet! Glad you finally got to ride though. Overall sounds like a good morning and nice lunch at BOG.

 

[Nhebron]

Just discovered your report and am enjoying it so much. Also love your pictures. There is such a richness to them and the mnsshp parade pics are fantastic. Would you mind sharing details on camera and lens used for the parade pics. I am having an internal debate about what gear to bring on my upcoming trip.

 

[godders]

Just discovered your report and am enjoying it so much. Also love your pictures. There is such a richness to them and the mnsshp parade pics are fantastic. Would you mind sharing details on camera and lens used for the parade pics. I am having an internal debate about what gear to bring on my upcoming trip.

Aww that you so much! I love writing the trip reports as a way of remembering my adventures.
For the photography I cart around my Nikon D800 every day. Super heavy but worth it for me. For the first set of photos I used my 70-300 zoom lens which is the lens I have on my camera most of the time so that's what most of the outdoor shots are done with. The 2nd lot of mnsshp pics were with my 50mm I think but I'd have to double check.

 

[godders]

How annoying that the crowds were so heavy at Epcot! At least you got to do a few things. That photo overlooking the lake at Pop is beautiful!

Yay for one last morning at MK! How crappy that Pirates was already down and it hadn't even opened from refurb yet! Glad you finally got to ride though. Overall sounds like a good morning and nice lunch at BOG.

Yeh the crowds were horrible. I don't mind them in cooler weather but that was vety unpleasant. Won't be making that mistake again haha

Potc being down built up the hype and the nothing had changed so it was quite disappointing in the end. Glad I got to ride it though. Do love a good rendition of "A Pirate's Life for Me"

 

[godders]

Day 16 Part 1 - Universal Studios!

If you are still with me DISers, I promise this trip report is nearly over!

So after my lovely early night (and the beds at the Royal Pacific are awesome!) I was up and ready to go for the beginning of Early Entry at Universal Studios.

It was a beautiful morning and I made a new friend as headed over to the parks



Just one of the reasons why I love going to US is getting to walk to the parks down the garden path to gear up for the day and on the way home it serves as a great "de-brief," if you will so when you get back to your room you can chill out pretty quick. Plus after two weeks of Disney buses, it was nice not to be relying on one for the first time in a while

As I walked down the path, I also got a good view of the now completed Sapphire Falls hotel.

As per usual, it was a very humid morning so as I hit CityWalk my camera had a few issues so there was a lot of stopping and starting as I walked over to Universal as I had to keep wiping my camera lens



Luckily my camera had warmed up enough by the time I got to the gate



Once again I seemed to have lucked out on the crowds as I headed over to WWoHP....



Also made another friend, or my first friend had followed me over to the park



I headed straight on over to Gringotts and dumped all my stuff in a locker before heading into the ride, it was posted as 15 mins which is no problem but I walked through I saw that the single rider didn't have a queue at all so as soon as I'd finished I headed on back for another ride via single rider. I definitely couldn't have done that on Forbidden Journey

After my couple of rides I was a bit peckish so I headed into the Leaky Cauldron for some brekkie.





I ended up going with the American breakfast and an apple juice



It was pretty quiet the whole time I was in the restaurant so I got to take my time with my food. Afterwards I decided I needed to go for a bit of wander to let the food go down so I headed out of Diagon Alley where Stan Shunpike was doing his bit by the Knight Bus



I stood and watched him for a while before heading on around getting more pictures






















Even saw my favourite Dr!

I ended up pottering all the way round to Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone as non of the rides on that side of the park would've been good for my full stomach (The Simpsons I'm mostly looking at you!)

So I decided a nice gentle ride on ET was in order





That ride still creeps me out. I think it's the dark woods you have to walk through first. Just puts me on my guard. Definitely think I've seen WAY too many horror films

Anyhoo... I really wanted to watch the Animal Actors On Location show but I had about 40 mins to kill till the first show so I wandered back up towards the front of the park and bumped into the end of this parade/float thing



I think it's Spongebob Squarepants but I've never seen the show and this definitely was a smidgeon of a let down after Disney

I also grabbed a few shots of some of the "decorations" for the Halloween Horror Nights. This was definitely not up my alley!













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[godders]

Day 16 Part 2 - Animals in Action!

After pottering through the creepy and disturbing pumpkins for HHN it was time to head over to the theatre where they have the Animals Actors on Location show. One of the reasons why I like the show is because so many of them are rescues and if I could work at Universal I would definitely want to work with the animals - although I would totally be happy in WWoHP

But I digress...




I was one of the first people in the seating so I got to sit anywhere so I got a good seat in front.





While we were waiting for the show to start, one of my woodland friends appeared again and kept us entertained for quite a while by running all over the set







So I actually took about 200 pictures during the show but luckily for you, I'm just going to pick out the highlights.

So first we met this little guy



Then this one began to clear away the rubbish





Then this puppy was just lolloping all over the place and was very cute despite having trouble getting the bottle in the box




Next we had the old bird stealing your money trick







Then there was this cutie who to me looks like the perfect dog



So cute!



Then we had out first human guest who worked with the fluffiest dog alive



Now I know normally there are little jokes in these types of shows where the animals "don't do as their told" but actually are...well this one was just not playing ball at all which had the host in stitches as well as the audience



Then the lab puppy came back to give the human guest a bath



After that we had another winged creature


Next came the biggest star of all, the dog who "played Frank" in Men in Black. If it is him, then the years have not been kind (or his handlers are very generous with the treat bag)


Still want to squidge him though!

Then we had another human guest with this poor dog who actually fell in the pool and had to be dragged out by the host. Pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen and naturally I missed it with the camera.



Finally, the show was over and the audience were allowed to go and stroke some of the animals. I love animals but I would hate being touched by a whole bunch of sweaty people I didn't know so I stayed away from them but I did snap a better shot of Frank on my way past



I headed out of the theatre and decided that my breakfast had sufficiently digested to allow for the going on of rides so first of all I hit The Simpsons!







and then it was onto the Godwin family favourite Men In Black





where I successfully won in my car ......ok so I was playing against a bunch of kids but a win is a win

Next up I decided to go and have a proper explore of Diagon Alley

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[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great time at Universal so far!

 

[godders]

Day 16 Part 3 - Diagon Alley: The Picture Tour

I love all the "graffiti" type artwork!




I got to see Celestina Warbeck perform. She was great!



Muggle Curiosities ha!





This was one of those moments when you turn around and see something for the first time even though you've seen it before (if you know what I mean). I completely never noticed the wonky effect of this building haha



Off to the dark side of the dark side







Time for a ice cream from my favourite people watching spot


mmmm Toffee

Next up a walking tour of Gringotts















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