But I don't have anyone to supervise me- a mostly solo November 2017 TR *completed 9/10*

[ashw100]

Just joining in! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[AV007]

I was totally singing pink pajamas to Circle of Life

 

[cstorm65]

Signing on. Have enjoyed your trip report so far! Looking forward to hearing about your All Star resorts experience. We head down this Sunday and are staying at an All Star for the first time. We are usually moderate people, but Christmas prices are a killer!!

 

[ashw100]

I was totally singing pink pajamas to Circle of Life

It totally fits right?

Signing on. Have enjoyed your trip report so far! Looking forward to hearing about your All Star resorts experience. We head down this Sunday and are staying at an All Star for the first time. We are usually moderate people, but Christmas prices are a killer!!

I thought it is was fine, but I am not very picky and really only slept there. Have a magical vacation!

 

[MeghanEmily]

This was our first time coming into MK with the new security checkpoints and I have to say it is so much nicer this way. The lines aren’t nearly as long and it just seems less chaotic.

I agree! I like it much better, other than the lack of train station welcome show. Unless you're going to Epcot from a monorail resort, which is just silly doing security twice.

I have never been to WDW during the holidays and I was so excited to see MK decked out in its Christmas finest.

So beautiful! I'm really pleased you finally got to see it!

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This is my favorite picture from the whole trip. I think the CM told us to kiss and Joe must have said something silly, which caused me to make this face. I have never seen a picture capture our relationship so perfectly. Joe is the silly one and even though I am not as silly, he always makes me smile despite myself. ​

Even the monster starts laughing and he can’t stop, which just made it even funnier. He actually apologized and said he didn’t expect to find his own joke so funny.

Awesome! Sometimes you're lucky enough to stumble upon an awesome show like this

These pictures are amazing! I especially like this one.

 

[missangelalexis]

You got some adorable PP pictures, especially that last set!

I definitely sang the pink pajama song to myself and that is hysterical!!

 

[ashw100]

I agree! I like it much better, other than the lack of train station welcome show. Unless you're going to Epcot from a monorail resort, which is just silly doing security twice.

That is annoying, I was happy to see that wasn't the case going from Epcot to MK though.

So beautiful! I'm really pleased you finally got to see it!

Me too, Disney making dreams come true

Awesome! Sometimes you're lucky enough to stumble upon an awesome show like this

We definitely lucked out, so glad the park was too busy to do anything else

These pictures are amazing! I especially like this one.

Thank you

You got some adorable PP pictures, especially that last set!

I know, we were so lucky the CM didn't just snap and couple regular pictures and then move us along.

I definitely sang the pink pajama song to myself and that is hysterical!!

Glad this joke can live on in my TR and give joy to others.

 

[ashw100]

Day 2: Part 4
Pair of Dorks

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Our next ride of the night was Pirates. The wait said 30 minutes, but Touring Plans said it should only be 20. And it was here that I learned to trust the power of Touring Plans expected wait times. I always use TP to make my actual touring plans and itineraries, but I don’t use the Lines app too much other than for that. Without using that app, we would have skipped so many lines because Disney’s app or queue line would say they were longer. Basically our limit for waits is 20 minutes, maybe 30 if it’s one of our favorites, but it we went off of what Disney said, we would have ridden very little. Thankfully, the wait was only 20 minutes and we got this picture from the ride.

Argh!
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I think the picture is kind of unnecessary, especially where the camera is placed, but whatever.

Goodbye redhead

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We were feeling quite peckish after our encounter with Pirates, so we stopped for some Dole Whip.

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Joe got the pineapple upside down cake, which I thought was dry and not flavorful, but he liked it. I tried a float for the first time and though it was okay. I still like just a regular plain Dole Whip best. We found a quiet spot near the exit to the Tiki Room to enjoy our snack and Facetime with the boys to say goodnight. Our FP for Jingle Cruise was finally ready, so we rode that next.

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I didn’t take any pictures on the ride, because it was too dark, but I liked it. The Christmas jokes are cute and thankfully we had a really good skipper. I love the joke she told at the end, which was that two docks was a pair 'o docks and the two skippers were a pair 'o dorks. I thought it was fitting, because that how I feel about Joe and I, especially in our matching shirts. We are just a pair of dorks, and I love it. I almost named my TR that, but since this was a mostly solo trip, it didn’t make much sense, but it is fitting for us. This pair of dorks went to Peco Bills for some actual dinner. We really like this quick service, it’s probably our favorite even though it’s gets no love. While mobile ordering is available, they haven’t made it compatible with the dining plan or discounts for AP, so we had to stand in line with the commoners. We split a nachos meal, which was huge and plenty for the two of us. We also loaded up on the toppings.

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After Peco Bills, we walked to Haunted Mansion, again the wait was at 30 minutes, but we only waited 20. Can I rant for a second? Thanks you're so kind. Can so called fans of Haunted Mansion (and while I am on a rant ToT) please stop talking over the ghost host during the preshow. We GET it, you know the whole spiel, but come on. First of all, there might be someone experiencing this ride for the first time and not want it marred by having some jerk recite the whole stretching room spiel. Or there is some like me who is an ACTUAL fan of the ride and came here to hear the ghost host speak, not some annoying “fan”. I mean seriously it is my biggest pet peeve on ToT and HM and if you are reading this and you do that, STOP IT, it’s rude. Sorry, not sorry, end Rant.

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The personalized feature was not working this time. Why is this so inconsistent?

After HM we had about 30 minutes until the fireworks so we made our way to the hub and experienced a wall of people. There was no where to stand, so the CMs kept directing us up towards Main Street. I wasn’t even really walking just being, quite literally, pushed through the crowd. And the whole time CM just kept directed us out, by the time they we got to the Plaza area, I realized they basically were directing us out of the park via the overflow exit behind Main Street. At that point the crowds cleared out a little and I was able to breath again. I was very close to a panic attack and I need those few moments to collect myself. If I had been alone I would have just left, it was too crowded to see the fireworks and too crowded to ride anything. I didn’t want to ruin Joe’s only night in the Magic Kingdom though, so we both decided to forgo the fireworks viewing and instead try to get on a ride. We walked through the Tomorrowland Terrace area and saw people camping out in the walkway directly across from the dessert party entrance. I picked a spot right on the planter that holds the dessert party sign, and waited to see if we could get a decent view of the show.

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While it certainly wasn’t an ideal location, it was 100 times better than being stuffed in like sardines in the hub or Main Street. Basically because of the angle I couldn’t see both the projections and the castle, but it is what it is. I just thought it was okay. I loved Wishes so much, to me it was timeless and moving, and the perfect way to end a magical day at the Magic Kingdom. I think HEA lacks any real heart. It relies to heavily on the projections, has no discernable storyline, and I am sorry but I cannot get behind the music. The actual HEA song I love, but I am confused as to why they chose so many obscure movies to be represented in the music. I guess I appreciate the effort, but Hunchback has a HUGE section of music and I feel like for a lot of more casual fans they might not even recognize it because they saw that movie 20 years ago and then never again. How are audiences supposed to connect to a show that they can’t even recognize things from?? I don’t know maybe that’s just me, but I will see it one more time with the boys and dessert party and that’s it probably it .

After the fireworks, we rushed over to Space to get on before the wait times went back up, but sadly it was down. The next best thing is to obviously ride Peoplemover to try and catch it with the lights on, except we didn’t think of that and went on Buzz instead.

Hidden Mickey
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Joe was very excited to score some many twos.


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Space was still down and I did remember to ride Peoplemover next, but when we got to Space section it was back up. Of course when we got off Peoplemover the wait was already at 80 minutes, so we moved on from Tomorrowland. At some point we had picked up a FP for Winnie the Pooh, so we headed that way and rode. The park only had an hour left, and we still had items on our list we wanted to do. First up, we stopped by the Tangled bathrooms to get these shots.

The line was long, but so worth it.
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Then we walked back to Frontierland to ride BTMRR. As we were walking off the ride we decided to not rush to any more rides, because the park was closing in a few minutes and our feet were tired. We were just moseying along, in a pretty much empty Frontierland, headed back toward Liberty square and at 10:58, Joe decides he does in fact want to try and ride HM one last time. For reference we were right near Country Bear Jamboree. So we ran, thankfully there was no one around to get in our way or tell us not to run and we reached HM right at 11. The CMs were great and let us right in. We were with a group of three other off-duty HM CMs and that was it. They of course were the super obnoxious type and talked over the entire spiel so I couldn’t even relish being pretty much alone in the stretching room. It was cool to be the last ones on the ride for the night though. That day we had been the first ones on NRJ and the last ones on HM, I’d call that a pretty successful day.

We were exhausted and the walked back toward Main Street seemed to be endless.

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When we reached the hub the kiss goodnight was already going on, I assume to try and push people out earlier. They were doing holiday filming that night and testing out different lights and projections.

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We stopped for some pictures.

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Then we went into the Emporium.

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I found the coral WDW spirit jersey I had been eyeing for awhile. I stupidly to Joe the price and he was not happy, but I sure am. I wear that thing all the time, so I’d say it was a worthwhile investment. On our way out we saw Nick Lachey (the unidentified man from earlier) and Julianne Hough filming right at the beginning of Main Street.

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It was pretty cool to be “behind the scenes” but we only watched for a minute. They basically kept doing the intro over and over and having the crowd cheer. We finally made our way out of the park and into the bus on the way back to ASM for some much earned sleep.

~~~~​

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This will probably be my last post of the year. I just wanted to wish all my DIS friends a happy holidays and see you in the new year. [/url][/url]

 

[Rista1313]

You mean I have to wait over a week for more? Oh no!

 

[missangelalexis]

Regular dole whips are my fave too. Sounds like a fun night! I'm sorry you weren't impressed with HEA but glad you at least got to see it! Love the Tangled PP shots, I agree that photo is worth the long wait! Pretty cool that you got to see Julianne Hough and Nick Lachey do some of the filming!

Have a wonderful holiday with your family!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Goodbye redhead

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Joe got the pineapple upside down cake, which I thought was dry and not flavorful, but he liked it. I tried a float for the first time and though it was okay. I still like just a regular plain Dole Whip best.

I wondered what that was! And I'm with you there. Everyone seems to love the float, but I think it's just a little too much pineapple. I like original best.

Can so called fans of Haunted Mansion (and while I am on a rant ToT) please stop talking over the ghost host during the preshow. We GET it, you know the whole spiel, but come on. First of all, there might be someone experiencing this ride for the first time and not want it marred by having some jerk recite the whole stretching room spiel. Or there is some like me who is an ACTUAL fan of the ride and came here to hear the ghost host speak, not some annoying “fan”. I mean seriously it is my biggest pet peeve on ToT and HM and if you are reading this and you do that, STOP IT, it’s rude. Sorry, not sorry, end Rant.

Yes!! Thank you!! This bothers me so much.

I think HEA lacks any real heart. It relies to heavily on the projections, has no discernable storyline, and I am sorry but I cannot get behind the music. The actual HEA song I love, but I am confused as to why they chose so many obscure movies to be represented in the music. I guess I appreciate the effort, but Hunchback has a HUGE section of music and I feel like for a lot of more casual fans they might not even recognize it because they saw that movie 20 years ago and then never again. How are audiences supposed to connect to a show that they can’t even recognize things from?? I don’t know maybe that’s just me, but I will see it one more time with the boys and dessert party and that’s it probably it .

I'm with you that it just doesn't stand up to Wishes for me. I had so many good memories and feelings associated with that show, and HEA just doesn't do that for me. At least not yet. I do, however, love the soundtrack for HEA! The only place I question it is where it goes into the Frozen stuff and then Tangled because I think it dips "down" into slower stuff for a little too long and it starts to lose me.

That's such a cool score!

The line was long, but so worth it.

This came out so great! Love it!

Happy Holidays, and see you in the new year!

 

[cindianne320]

Sounds like an awesome way to end your night! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

 

[paradesintherain]

Joe got the pineapple upside down cake

I've never had a Dole Whip, but this is tempting to me! Less tempting since you said it was dry though...

Can so called fans of Haunted Mansion

I cut off part of the quote, oops, but YES, I agree! My friend was just mouthing it next to me and it annoyed me.

So cute!

 

[ashw100]

You mean I have to wait over a week for more? Oh no!

Well I did come back to do one more update

Regular dole whips are my fave too. Sounds like a fun night! I'm sorry you weren't impressed with HEA but glad you at least got to see it! Love the Tangled PP shots, I agree that photo is worth the long wait! Pretty cool that you got to see Julianne Hough and Nick Lachey do some of the filming!

Have a wonderful holiday with your family!!

It was cool, I think my family got sick of me saying I was right there, over and over during the show

I wondered what that was! And I'm with you there. Everyone seems to love the float, but I think it's just a little too much pineapple. I like original best.

Agreed, too much pineapple. I do like the float with vanilla, but nothing beats a regular for me.

Yes!! Thank you!! This bothers me so much.

I'm with you that it just doesn't stand up to Wishes for me. I had so many good memories and feelings associated with that show, and HEA just doesn't do that for me. At least not yet. I do, however, love the soundtrack for HEA! The only place I question it is where it goes into the Frozen stuff and then Tangled because I think it dips "down" into slower stuff for a little too long and it starts to lose me.

Yeah, that part drags on

That's such a cool score!

I know, plus 2 is his favorite number, so he was very excited.

This came out so great! Love it!

Sounds like an awesome way to end your night! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Thank you hope you had a good holiday

I've never had a Dole Whip, but this is tempting to me! Less tempting since you said it was dry though...

I think if you let the dole whips melt a little into it, it would be less dry

I cut off part of the quote, oops, but YES, I agree! My friend was just mouthing it next to me and it annoyed me.

So cute!

 

[ashw100]

So I have a little bit to jump on and do another update. We had a crazy Christmas, everyone of the 11 people that we had staying for the holidays has gotten the flu except me and DS5 . We are going to the Great Wolf Lodge tomorrow, so I am hoping that I don't get this flu, so cross your fingers for me and DS5.

Day 3: Part 1
Look out for the Rebel Spy

Thanks to the gloriously timed daylight savings ending, we got a decent night’s sleep that night. Unfortunately for me, I woke up with a full blown sore throat. I didn’t have any other symptoms though, so I popped some ibuprofen and that staved off much of the pain for me. We were doing extra magic hours again, this time at Hollywood Studios. I had Joe run and get us some Mickey waffles and coffee, while I finished getting ready. We ate the waffles sans syrup on the drive over to DHS.

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Not the best way to eat them, but still pretty decent. We saw the Wine and Dine runners on the drive as well. I had completely forgotten about the race up until that point. I loved seeing everyone’s outfit though.

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When we got to DHS I remembered that they closed the secret bag check since our last trip and we had to go the normal route. I literally have never entered the park this way before, so I got a little turned around. We got in line in the passholder line, which was still pretty short.

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There was a CM there handing out green wristbands, so of course I inquired about it. They were for the passholder preview of the Sunset Greetings, so I got one. Sadly Joe would need to be at the airport at that point so I shoved down my excitement as to not rub it in his face that I got to go. Because of the race they didn’t let us in until right at 8 and we had to go around the runners, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. We went straight for RnR, which is Joe’s favorite ride.

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Once again, we were in the first limo to go out that day, so we got to skip the preshow.

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I always feel like I should like this ride, but it just bangs my head around too much and I always come off with a headache. Also, I lost my button on the ride. After RnR, we stopped for a PP picture.

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Then we rode Tower of Terror.

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I just love photographing this queue.

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With only half of EMH over, we walked over to TSMM next.

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And for the first tine EVER, I beat Joe! I mean like ever in our lives, he is better at games than I am, I was so happy to win.

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The park was officially open then, so we walked over to the Launch Bay to meet BB8.

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It was pretty awkward, not gonna lie, even the picture you can tell. How do you pose with a 3 foot droid???

Next we walked to the other side of the park to ride Star Tours.

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While we were waiting to board, Joe was excitedly talking about how he hopes to be the rebel spy. Me being the awesome wife that I am, shot down all his dreams and told him they would just pick a kid.

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So pretty much every time we ride, I have my photo app open on my phone ready to snap a picture in case one of us is the rebel spy. Guess what I didn’t do this time. Guess who got to be the rebel spy. I was kicking myself for not getting a picture and Joe of course teased me for being wrong.

We had basically done everything we had planned on at this park, but we weren’t ready to leave just yet. We wanted to get some PP pictures in front of the DHS tree, but once again there were no PP guys to be found. We rode ToT once more, still a short wait at 9:30.

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Also by this time the race was over, so the walkways were all clear.

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After ToT, joe wanted to look in the Star Wars shop on Sunset for a shirt. I shopped in Once Upon a Time and picked up Christmas ears, Christmas shirt and sweatshirt. This began my obsession with buying Christmas tops. I really only needed one shirt for that night’s passholder event, but bought two.

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Joe and I met back up and then walked over to One Man’s Dream or whatever they are calling it now. We rushed through the exhibits, but I was happy to see they hadn’t completely gotten rid of the Walt stuff. The wait for Starlord and baby Groot seemed long, but only ended up being about 20 minutes.

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I am in love with baby Groot and Starlord was a pretty cool to meet. He teased us about our shirts and then asked for relationship advice. With that meet down, it was time to leave the park. The Star Wars fashion show was ending so we got some character pictures as they were leaving.

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We also got one last PP shot before leaving.

Bye Hollywood Studios


Day 2: Part 2​

 

[cindianne320]

So sorry everyone but you and DS got sick Not a fun way to spend break!

You and DH got a lot done at EMH! I don't know if I've ever got that many rides done so quickly there! Bummer that DH had to leave, but I can't wait to hear about your solo time!

 

[cstorm65]

Loved reading about your time in the MK. What could be better than getting a Dole Whip. I am a float fan myself and I saw the pineapple cake on the menu, but couldn't ever get myself to order it over the float.

Glad you got to see the fireworks. I totally understand not wanting to stand in the hub with the masses of people. We have a spot we've watched from on our last two trips in Tomorrowland where we always get a seat at a picnic table and can see the fireworks, just not any of the projections. It is great for us with the ages of our kids to be out of the people. One day we'll see it...or buy the dessert party...and get to see the projections, but for now we're happy staying away from the people.

Love seeing how much you got done at EMH at Hollywood Studios. We like doing those early hours, especially when our kids have not problems getting up in the mornings.

Can't wait to here more about your trip. Have a great New Year!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a fun morning at DHS! You guys got a lot done! How cool that Joe was the rebel spy, even if you couldn't snap a pic of it! I love the 2nd ToT ride photo, such a cute idea!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Guess who got to be the rebel spy. I was kicking myself for not getting a picture and Joe of course teased me for being wrong.

Don't feel too bad-the photos rarely come out right! My sister and I have both been the rebel spy at Disneyland and we've tried to get photos of the screen but they always are all washed out! But you need to get Joe the "I am the Rebel Spy" t-shirt! That is our tradition, so we both have one!

 

[ashw100]

So sorry everyone but you and DS got sick Not a fun way to spend break!

No, it was not

You and DH got a lot done at EMH! I don't know if I've ever got that many rides done so quickly there! Bummer that DH had to leave, but I can't wait to hear about your solo time!

Definitely a perk of having no kids, so we could just go, go, go.

Loved reading about your time in the MK. What could be better than getting a Dole Whip. I am a float fan myself and I saw the pineapple cake on the menu, but couldn't ever get myself to order it over the float.

I wouldn't, it's not worth it.

Glad you got to see the fireworks. I totally understand not wanting to stand in the hub with the masses of people. We have a spot we've watched from on our last two trips in Tomorrowland where we always get a seat at a picnic table and can see the fireworks, just not any of the projections. It is great for us with the ages of our kids to be out of the people. One day we'll see it...or buy the dessert party...and get to see the projections, but for now we're happy staying away from the people.

We love watching the fireworks from other places in the park, but they kinda ruined that with the projections being such an integral part of the show.

Love seeing how much you got done at EMH at Hollywood Studios. We like doing those early hours, especially when our kids have not problems getting up in the mornings.

Us too, morning EMH are so great for families.

Can't wait to here more about your trip. Have a great New Year!

Happy New Year to you.

Sounds like a fun morning at DHS! You guys got a lot done! How cool that Joe was the rebel spy, even if you couldn't snap a pic of it! I love the 2nd ToT ride photo, such a cute idea!

Thanks

Don't feel too bad-the photos rarely come out right! My sister and I have both been the rebel spy at Disneyland and we've tried to get photos of the screen but they always are all washed out! But you need to get Joe the "I am the Rebel Spy" t-shirt! That is our tradition, so we both have one!

I didn't think about that. We need two then since my oldest got picked on his very first time on the ride.