Can't We Just Leave the Ponchos On? June 2013 TR

[abidale]

Hi

I'm on board for my first Trip Report ever! So hold on to your hats and glasses, cause this here's the wildest ride in the--ok, not really. But I'll be kind of winging it until I get the hang of what to do, so hang in there. And if I could have everyone pull up on the yellow safety straps on your right hand side, thank you and have a nice flight.

This trip was me (I will be referring to myself as "I" because I'm me), my dad, and my mom. We stayed at Old Key West and it was (for the most part) fantastic. So, I decided to relive the memories and make one of these. I'd have to say this vacation was the best yet- countless great things happened that I can't wait to share! Welcome aboard!

Here's a list of my favorites:

Park: Who can pick just one? All four, please!
Ride: Tower of Terror, or maybe Splash Mountain, or Expedition Everest, or...
Restaurant: Chef Mickey's, Tony's Town Square, Coral Reef
Resort: Bay Lake Tower, Animal Kingdom Lodge
Character: Stitch, Chip & Dale (does that explain my username?)

I am completely obsessed with Disney, obviously. 16 WDW trips and 3 cruises and counting. Happiest Place On Earth is a minor understatement. To be honest, I have no clue if there is some sort of secret language used in these TRs or if you just go with the flow, so I'm going to go with the flow and see what happens. Feel free to subscribe so I'm not over here rambling to myself in the corner.

P.S. Guess who learned how to upload pictures! All photography is original, by me or someone in my family. However, being me, I accidentally deleted every single one of them. YAY I GET TO UPLOAD THEM ALL AGAIN.

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
No eating, drinking, or flash photography.​

Table of Contents:
Page 1: 6/2/13 (Arrival & Downtown Disney)
Page 2: 6/3/13 (Magic Kingdom & EPCOT)
Page 3: 6/4/13 (Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom)
Page 4: 6/5/13 (Disney's Hollywood Studios & EPCOT)
Page 5: 6/6/13 (Magic Kingdom)
Page 6: 6/7/13 (Disney's Hollywood Studios & Magic Kingdom)
Page 7: 6/8/13 (Animal Kingdom, EPCOT)
Page 8: 6/9/13 (Departure)

 

[abidale]

Page 1: 6/2/13 (Downtown Disney)
After sleeping through the majority of the car ride, we arrived, shouting, "We're in Disney World!" as we passed under the gate, just like always. Until our totally reliable GPS decides to shortcut us 2 miles off Disney property only to tell us to "Make a legal U-turn" and go right back in. Genius. So, we shouted "We're in Disney World" twice. Makes up for last year, when our fabulous GPS didn't even take us in the main gate. So, after getting lost around three times, we somehow stumbled upon Old Key West. I'm in the backseat, bursting with excitement, taking pictures of every road sign, tree, traffic cone, etc. We get to check in and the first CM can't find our reservation. We move to a different computer and oh-so-luckily they were able to pull it up. We get our room key and drive all the way to the back of the resort and enter our 2- bedroom villa. HUGE. Master bed and bath, laundry room, full kitchen, living room, balcony, additional bed and bath with two queen beds. I got a room completely to myself! After unpacking, (and I mean completely unpacking, I hate seeing real world things on my Disney vacation), we waited an eternity for a bus and went to Downtown Disney for dinner at T-Rex.

For dessert, Ghirardelli, the most crowded place on property, probably. We were able to somehow snag a table in the back corner, equipped with flies, a random outdoor chair, and a man standing in front of it, blocking it from view of the waiters.

But once we ate and were re-energized, we shopped around. I can't go in World of Disney and shop because I either want all of it or none of it, it's just so overwhelming. You start grabbing things and then you feel like you need to put it all back because you can't decide between any of it. I somehow ended up with a pair of sterling silver Mickey Mouse stud earrings and went on my merry way, waiting about an hour once again for a bus. Our plan was to swim that night, but being Florida and all, the bottom dropped out and that was no longer an option. (Does the title make sense now?) At the resort, we turned on our beloved Must Do Disney (STACEY) on an endless loop and ate some chocolate chip cookies. Going to bed in my own room was thrilling, I must admit. Looking back, I wish I had switched from bed to bed throughout the week because I feel like the other bed was quite neglected. It felt good to go to bed a little early after a long day of traveling, crowds, and rain, to freshen up before tomorrow.

P.S. Literally sitting here with my eyes watering. Does anyone else get the feeling where it's just so incredible to think one week ago you had the whole week in front of you, to look forward to, and now you're sitting back at home with only the memories and photos? It feels like none of it even happened. Can't wait to return...

 

[blklotus]

I'm in! Looking forward to reading!

 

[abidale]

I'm in! Looking forward to reading!

Thanks! Welcome

 

[blklotus]

Hopefully writing the TR and reliving your trip will help with the back-to-real-life depression. I think we all suffer from it!! Nothing like the Disney bubble...it's so addictive!

 

[abidale]

Page 2: 6/3/13 (Magic Kingdom & EPCOT)
We woke up at 7:00 am bright and early to a wake up call from the one and only Mike Wazowski! Confusing at first when I was expecting Stitch and Mickey first thing in the morning, but a great surprise. In-room breakfast: granola bar and fruit. I don't know about you guys, but I never know how much breakfast to eat at Disney. Starving is miserable, and if you're too full you feel sick on the rides. So I go with a granola bar, fruit, and a cup of juice. We waited for a very long time once again for the OKW bus (surprising since we read reviews about how it's the best bus system on property) and arrived at the Magic Kingdo,. Really the most magical place on earth. We beelined straight to Journey of the Little Mermaid in New Fantasyland, which was incredible. They captured every character perfectly, and Scuttle talks to you in the queue! Loved it. New Fantasyland overall was fabulous. The construction for the new mine train coaster was a little distracting, but overlookable. Lunch at Cosmic Ray' s followed soon after (Disney chicken nuggets) and we got FPs for Space Mountain later. After, it was to Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. My parents laughed so hard they were nearly crying! My dream is to be the person that "Feels the urge to get up and dance" but it's never happened. They didn't pick my joke, (What do you get when you cross a cow and an earthquake? A milkshake!) but the show is extremely funny. I love it when random people are chosen and they don't want to participate. Afterwards, it was to Space Mountain! Is anyone else paranoid that they'll hit the ceiling if they put their arms up? Afterward it was to WEDway PeopleMover. It's a great place to rest your feet and sleep, basically. It does make me miss the stripes on the rockets in Space Mountain. When the PeopleMover goes through SM, all you see is the stars etc...the rockets are too dark now! We headed to Frontierland for my personal favorite, Splash Mountain, and my DDad opted out. (Too bad, I was going to get him a father's day t shirt from that gift shop, but since he didn't ride, I'll have to think of something else). I got excited after eating a Mickey bar because I thought I had finally been able to eat it without spilling or dropping part of it, but alas, later I found a chocolate stain on my shirt... We rode Pirates of the Caribbean and could not find the mermaids in the water the first time--we weren't sure where to look. Does anyone else think the cannon scene of this ride smells like Yoplait vanilla yogurt? After, we went shopping down Main Street (I got a hat that shows the evolution of Mickey Mouse as a cartoon-- I think it was a man's hat, but I don't care, I love animation and Mickey, so hey) and went to the resort for a quick break (and to change into a t shirt that hadn't yet been attacked by a Mickey bar) and dinner at Olivia's. Sadly, Olivia's wasn't too great... half the menu wasn't ready yet, the service was terrible, and we even overheard the waitresses mocking the family across from us asking for a refill! They gave us our money back, actually, which was very nice. We drove to EPCOT afterwards, and I probably stood in front of that manatee tank for fifteen minutes. Those things are beautiful! And I scream during the ride every time the angler fish snaps...oops... we finished up Future World, toured World Showcase, and found Test Track with a wait shorter than an hour and took advantage. We get all the way to the design-a-car room and are assigned the one and only computer in the room that didn't work! It was frozen on the last person's car and wouldn't submit or restart. So, we rode that ride with the default car, which lost every round except one, but the ride was enjoyable! We all thought it was a little weird...it's the exact same ride with a slightly different theme and lots of neon lights. My dad said, "It's like they went way too far with it and then didn't go far enough." The design element wasn't incorporated very well, but the ride is still great and thrilling.

Club Cool for refreshments, Mezzo Mix is hands down the best, except when the machine causes the cup to overflow... The day ended the same as yesterday, with two chocolate chip cookies and a sprite zero. And a few handfuls of peanuts. And some M&Ms. And a few more peanuts. Hey, it's vacation!

 

[abidale]

By the way, to explain the title, it's because of how much it rained all week. We would always walk through the line forgetting we were wearing our ponchos and be asked to take them off on the ride (which of course we did). We got to the point where we wished we could just keep them on since we'd have to go right back outside anyway!

 

[dara00]

Hi! We were in the parks this week too. The rain was crazy!!

 

[abidale]

Hi! We were in the parks this week too. The rain was crazy!!

That's awesome! And it was ridiculous! But it did make the parks less crowded, on the bright side!

 

[DVCJones]

Count me in too! Oh BTW... I bought the same hat in pink. I love it!!!

 

[abidale]

Count me in too! Oh BTW... I bought the same hat in pink. I love it!!!

Thank you!! I saw the pink one as well. So cute!

 

[wiigirl]

In for your TR!

 

[abidale]

In for your TR!

Great! Thanks!!

 

[abidale]

Page 3: 6/4/13 (Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom)
Day three, the day we could FINALLY go to one of my most beloved parks, Animal Kingdom. Now, I don't have a favorite, or I say I don't. But there is something about Animal Kingdom that I've always absolutely loved. Animal Kingdom for me is kind of like Magic Kingdom to most people, which I know makes no sense. It just is. After much debate about whether to get FastPasses for Everest and ride Kilimanjaro stand-by or vice versa, we snagged some Kilimanjaro FastPasses and hopped in line for Expedition Everest. I like to freak my mom out by keeping my arms up the whole time, especially when going backwards and down the drop. It's funny because the thing used to terrify me and I would cry waiting in line but force myself to ride anyways. Kilimanjaro Safaris was amazing this time around--we saw giraffes cross the road and go chasing each other through the fields, some deer-type things crossed the road, and let's just say I had no memory of the bridge practically falling underneath you. Did they take it anyway and add it back? It's terrifying when you don't expect it! My dad and I got Pizzafari (I dream of this place all year) and my mom went to Restaurantosaurus and met us back with her beloved bucket and shovel that the kids meals come in.

Afterwards, Dinosaur--the ride my dad has been scared of ever since it opened. He usually sits there with his eyes closed and kind of hunkers down when the car gets to the Carnotaur, but this time he braved that dinosaur and looked it straight in the eye! When we got in line for Primeval Whirl, it was just me and my dad because it tends to make my mom dizzy. She was waiting on a bench outside for a few minutes, but was joined by a mom and a toddler, who was crawling back and forth across the bench dripping strawberry popsicle everywhere. So, she came in and joined us in line, putting my dad's conversation with the man in front of us about the Georgia Bulldogs and Notre Dame on hold. Afterwards, we took a ride on Triceratop Spin because it only had a 5 minute wait (gosh, I remember when this ride would have waits up to 30 minutes...) and then I bought that round yeti stuffed animal that really looks nothing like a yeti. But it's huggable and fun to throw around. Then, we went back to Old Key West and slept. And slept. Man, vacationing is exhausting Then it was to one of my favorite restaurants: Chef Mickey's. It probably wouldn't be my favorite if it weren't for the mashed potatoes with parmesan or cheddar in them, whatever it is, goodness knows how much of those I consumed this trip..and the characters, of course. Later that night at Magic Kingdom, we took the little raft over to Tom Sawyer's Island. The CMs sure have a hard time parking that thing and tying it up to the dock! In all my 16 trips I had never been to the island, so I was excited. I had seen it in the tour guide planning DVDs and let's just say that going across the barrel bridge was pretty much my lifelong dream. We spend half an hour trying to find it, and give up, asking a CM. Turns out it's closed. For maintenance, or for good? We still have no idea.

I was a little bit upset, to be honest, but it was still fun to go through the island, especially having read the book a few years ago. Then it was to Haunted Mansion, where a little bit of magic happened. When walking through the first part of the queue, when you're still out in the middle of Liberty Square and haven't entered the sheltered area, I tried to snap a picture of the mansion through the gate. The Cast Member standing by the gate (I wish I knew his name in case you guys have had similar experiences) called "Nope, nope, nope, come back here," and I turned around and he said, "Yes, you!" I made my mom come with me because I was a little freaked out, hoping I wasn't in trouble. I get up there and he opens the gate for me and says, "Now go over by that rose garden and get a better picture." If I can figure out how to upload pictures on this thing, I might add it in later. After I take the picture, he goes, "You thought I was kicking you out, didn't you?" and I laughed and he says, "Now you're kicked out." Obviously, we weren't, and we continued back down the queue and rode the ride. I just love magical memories like those.

Above is my attempted picture of the HM while hurrying through the queue.

That, above, is the picture I got through the secret gate!!!​

We finished up the night with Big Thunder Mountain, and then the first major monsoon of the week hit. Pouring down rain. We got in line for It's a Small World, and being a few of the only people riding in their ponchos, I felt extremely awkward knowing the CMs must hate when people do that. We left the park after riding, stopping at the popcorn stands near New Fantasyland to purchase that absolutely adorable Dumbo souvenir popcorn bucket, but to no avail. We forgot those things close when it's pouring down rain. Now, since we had dined at Chef Mickey's, we were parked at the Contemporary. The 10 minute (give or take) walk back from MK wasn't the most pleasant walk when you were literally drenched, regardless of the poncho, and you were wearing tennis shoes and socks. It took those shoes two days to dry out, even with the help of the dryer back "home" at the resort! We ended the night the same way as we always do, with chocolate chip cookies and, for me, a can of Sprite Zero. (The "zero" makes it healthy, right? ) And I have to admit, I literally had so much fun having my own room. It was only the second time I didn't have to share with either the entire family or my sister (who was unable to go on this vacation due to college courses), and I felt like a little rebel staying up watching Stacey on the Must Do show, and also the Princess Diaries came on.

 

[Melisa1]

Yay!!!!! Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[abidale]

Yay!!!!! Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!!!

 

[abidale]

If anyone has any idea how to upload photos without using a site (Photobucket, etc.) let me know please!

 

[1000HappyWishes]

Yeah trip report!

 

[abidale]

Yeah trip report!

Thanks for joining in!!

 

[abidale]

Page 4: 6/5/13 (Disney's Hollywood Studios & EPCOT)
Off to Disney's Hollywood Studios! My former favorite park, until I sometime along the line convinced myself that I was absolutely terrified of Tower of Terror. Now a little bit of dread always fills me when I hear, "We should go to DHS today, we haven't done that yet!" because I usually sit out for Tower of Terror, but then I feel like a wimp skipping it. Anyway. We get there and automatically grab FastPasses for Toy Story Mania. Great, fun ride (that I always lose), but we never understood why it gets such long lines. I guess it's because there aren't too many rides good for ALL ages in the park? Anyway, because of the ridiculous lines we hadn't ridden it in forever, so that was exciting. Then we got in stand-by for Rock N Roller Coaster...which turned out to be quite interesting, seeing as we got stuck right before the unloading dock. For a long time. With Aerosmith blaring "ROCK N ROLLER COASTERRRR!" for about 30 minutes straight. My dad had pulled the safety restraint down too far and it was pressuring his shoulders and he started to feel short of breath. Luckily, we eventually got unloaded and everyone in our limo was totally fine. We found it a little disturbing that they evacuate the queue before they evacuate the guests on the ride. After sitting there for 30 minutes, a CM finally came and asked, "Does anyone need medical attention?" The thing is, what if someone had? After half an hour, they could have been in serious critical condition, or worse Luckily, this wasn't the case, so no "what if"s needed. The amazing part was walking through the ride with the lights on. Man, that structure sure is heavy! Trust me, you don't need to worry about the structure failing. It's foolproof in there, and absolutely amazing. We weren't allowed to take pictures, sadly, and I wasn't about to get kicked out of the park. But this was something I'll never forget. We were given free FastPasses to come back any day before that coming Saturday and ride, which was nice, but I have a feeling that after that experience a lot of people weren't exactly in the mood to ride again. Everyone was pretty shaken up. When we exited, we actually saw a crew of Imagineers coming in to work on whatever the problem was (we never found out). This was neat for me, as I have always been completely enthralled with Imagineering. Afterwards, we slowed down and relaxed to get our bearings back. I'm telling you, it was freaky in the dark with the loud noise and tight spaces. We went to take the animation class that they offer for free, and our animator goes, "Today we're drawing one of my favorite characters, and I hope he's one of yours, too--Hades! Otherwise known as Pluto in Roman mythology." It was funny! Being the Disney freak that I am, two of my biggest dreams have always been Imagineering and animation, so I love the animation class. I had fun drawing Pluto, although I had actually been excited to draw Hades! Afterwards, the animator announced that he would be asking a trivia question and whoever answered correctly won his sketch. I got excited, because I literally study Disney trivia for fun--I'm telling you, I have an account on this site for a reason. I'm OBSESSED. He asks the first few words, and before he's even finished asking, my hand is already straight in the air. Like Hermione from the Harry Potter series, if you will. The question was, "What name was Pluto called for his first four years in cartoons?" I was the only one in the class who knew. (The answer is Rover, guys). So, I went up there, and he signed the sketch with my name and gave it to me. GUYS. I GOT TO MEET A REAL ANIMATOR AND I WON HIS SKETCH. Dream come true, basically. Imagine meeting your favorite singer. There's your equivalent of my excitement. I saw an animator sketching pencil drawings in the Art of Animation store in Downtown Disney a few days back, and they were going for $50-$100! I won one for free. That's Disney magic.

Here is the animator's sketch (top) compared to mine (bottom). For once, I'm actually fairly proud of it, except for where I drew Pluto's mouth...it's disproportionate! And yes, yes I did blur out my name.​

That morning was so incredible... two of my dream jobs were satisfied! I saw the inner workings of RNRC and real Imagineers, and then I got to meet a real animator and won his sketch. Wow. We went and rode Star Tours after that amazingness happened since it only had a 20 minute wait (surprising given it was the week before Star Wars Weekends), and we got a ride sequence with Princess Leia and Darth Vader! Great! After lunch at Backlot Express, where my mouth was watering over those Star Wars cupcakes (which we didn't get), we got my sister (who didn't go) a souvenir R2D2 popcorn bucket. I'll add a picture shortly.

(By the way, I figured out how to upload pictures and will add some to all of these pages--sorry for the plain boringness at the moment!) My mom even got to meet up with her friend from high school, which was awesome for her. They hadn't seen each other since my mom graduated! We stood in a gift shop while it monsooned yet again, (I'm telling you--so much rain!) because my mom's friend didn't have her poncho. She left it in the car, actually, and it wasn't much use from there... Eventually, it was time for our TSMM FPs, and she went up to meet with her kids, who were on RNRC (which did get up and running later that day). Yes, I once again lost TSMM, to both of my parents, actually, which is kind of sad considering I'm the one growing up in the technology generation. But it's such a fun ride! After Great Movie Ride, where I still have to close my eyes at the Alien scene, we went back to the resort. It was still raining cats and dogs, and elephants, and any other animal you can think of. So much rain! We took a bus to EPCOT in our cute little Disney Parks ponchos, and we saw an elderly couple at a bus stop dressed all nice for a formal dinner, the man in a suit and tie and the woman in a fancy dress. They didn't have ponchos or umbrellas. I feel bad for them, considering the rain didn't stop that night until much, much later. Upon arrival at the park, my feet started to KILL. If you've ever worn Chacos, gotten them wet, and tried to continue walking in them, you understand my pain. I still have the blisters, and since it was pouring down, Band-Aids really weren't sticking. I could barely walk, and it was actually all I could do to make it to Coral Reef, where we ate. It was great to sit down and take my shoes off. Poor feet. You'd think after going on Disney trips all these years I'd finally learn. I had my second New York Strip of the week, well done because I'm paranoid, with mashed potatoes and some vegetable medley. And a glass of chocolate milk. I would post a picture, but I was so hungry that it was gone before I even considered that. Afterwards, we rode The Seas with Nemo & Friends (Listen, I can't get enough of this ride. I'm not even that big of a fan of the movie. I guess it's the aquarium afterwards that I love?) and my mom walked to Guerlain in France. My dad stayed with me because my feet were not up to walking the World Showcase. We went in every little room of the Seas, playing all the little quizzes and games and such and watching all the marine life. I seriously love the ocean. Can I be a mermaid please? We also went in Innoventions, but that was closing early so we really just went in for some air conditioning. We played some Disney Play Station games and failed because as mentioned earlier I'm terrible at video games. It just doesn't happen. My mom met up with us at Club Cool (MEZZO MIX ) and then we rode Spaceship Earth and returned to the resort. It was a long, but fabulous day, especially considering all the magic that happened at Disney's Hollywood Studios!