Completed 7/27 - Save the Art! - Jan 2024 Trip Report

[Araminta18]

Broadway and Snacks - What More Can You Want? - Mon Jan 15, 2024 (part 9)​

I never saw Frozen on Broadway, though I did see the tour recently in Baltimore, but I always like seeing original cast members (from any shows, really) reunite and sing songs from the show. So I was quite excited to see Caissie and Patti. I had seen Patti last year at the Festival, but she wasn't paired with Caissie. Anyways! The show was fantastic - they of course sang some songs from Frozen, but there were also songs from Beauty and the Beast, Greatest Showman, and Little Mermaid.

Patti singing "Home" from Beauty and the Beast


Caissie singing "Part of Your World"


Patti singing "A Million Dreams"...not sure if this means they're going to try and put Greatest Showman on Broadway? *shrugs*



Overall it was a great concert - lovely voices and great song choices. I was so glad we got to see it!

The show got out at 6 pm, and since we had a little bit of time til our next thing, we decided to get a few more snacks. I wanted some stuff from Italy so I waited in line (it ended up being about 5 min, so not bad), while Trevor went over to Germany for his pretzel.

I got the Mozzarella Fritta: Flash-fried breaded fresh mozzarella with artist palette condiments

This was good! It was a decent portion size, and good dips. And veeeerry cheesy!

Still not worth the $8 or $9 it cost, but it was good. Trevor refused to try it cause he doesn't like melted cheese. More for me!

I also got the Torta Ricotta di Cioccolata: Chocolate cheesecake and whipped cream. This wasn't bad - I don't love cheesecake but with the whipped cream it didn't have too strong a cheesecake flavor and was mostly just chocolate. Yum.

It took me a little bit to find Trevor 'cause he got distracted by the band in Germany that plays Disney songs in German.

Fun!

Trevor's pretzel was delicious as always. It was about 6:20 at this point, so time to head back to the hotel to drop stuff off and then head to our next thing. Where were we going? Magic Kingdom for the After Hours event! I wanted to get there by 8 pm for the fireworks, so that was driving our timetable.

By 6:55 pm, we were on our way to the bus stop!


Trevor was not excited at all for After Hours, not a teeny weeny bit.

 

[Araminta18]

Fireworks! - Mon Jan 15, 2024 (part 10)​

We got to the bus stop at 7, and the next bus to Magic Kingdom? 7:17 pm. Whomp whomp. Teaches me to check the bus times in the app!

The bus showed up at 7:17 and at 7:35 we were pulling into Magic Kingdom. We'd missed a little bit of a rain sprinkle while on the bus, so that was nice. The fireworks were at 8, so what was the plan? Fireworks from Fantasyland! I didn't feel like fighting the crowds and back there it's always way less crowded, and still a fun experience. So off we speedwalked.

Pretty castle!

We made it back there with like 10 minutes to spare.

See? Waaaaaay less crowded. But we found a photographer there taking pictures, which is kind of an unusual spot, so we hopped in line. She was so sweet - she took a bunch of pictures with us!




Definitely not my best pics but still so fun! Love CMs - they absolutely make magic.

Then, fireworks!!



Plenty of room to dance around and sing along. It's so cool to have fireworks going in front of you as well as behind - the only bad thing is that you have to keep spinning in circles.

Another benefit? When the fireworks are done, you're right there by Seven Dwarves and can hop right in line! Which we absolutely did - it was a posted 45 minute wait during the fireworks, but went up to 60 right as the fireworks ended. We hopped in line anyways - the CM said they were "preparing". And we figured it was 8:20, After Hours didn't start til 10, might as well hop in line for Seven Dwarves.

We were moving pretty good, but after about 15 minutes we kind of stopped moving (we were at the point where we were about to go inside the cave). I assume that's when all the Lightning Lane people showed up? It took us another 15 minutes to get on the ride - we waited one extra cycle to get the back row.

 

[Araminta18]

The Best Dole Whip Flavor - Mon Jan 15, 2024 (part 11)
​

Great ride on Seven Dwarves - I know it's short but I enjoy it.

It was just before 9 pm, so what to do in the intervening hour until After Hours started? We decided to head over to Haunted Mansion, but first we ran into a photographer. (sorry not sorry)


I love the Beast's castle, and I figure eventually I'll take a picture in front of it that I love. Law of averages.

Anyways! We made our way over to Haunted Mansion - there was surprisingly a bit of a wait.

I don't remember what it was posted, but they had the graveyard area opened up, which was super neat. We almost never go through there anymore.


After 10 minutes, we were in the stretching room!

We got dumped into the hallway, only to see it CRAZY full and not moving at all.

After a few minutes they announced it was down and they were dumping the queue. We were actually in a really good spot - right by where the exit was, so we got a fastpass and headed back into the night.

So gorgeous!

We weren't sure what to do next...and when we got out we saw a photographer in front of the Liberty Bell! I've never seen a photographer there so we stopped and got pictures, but none of them turned out. Oh well! We decided to go over towards Big Thunder, cause why not.

On the way we passed a Guest Experience umbrella/team, so we stopped and I asked if they'd be able to turn our Haunted Mansion anytime fastpass into one that would be good at Epcot the next day, since MK was "closing" in like 30 minutes. And she did! Super nice of her.

We then passed the little cut through between Adventureland and Frontierland, and saw that Aloha Isle was open! And we were hot, so we stopped and got raspberry dole whips.


These were delicious! Dole whips are awesome. I know we were going to have all the ice cream we wanted once After Hours started but it wouldn't be raspberry dole whip.

Also, while we were eating our Dole Whips, I checked the app to make sure our fastpass had turned into one good for Epcot, and while I did see the Epcot one, it looked like the CM had added the Epcot one, without doing anything to the MK one, cause the MK one was still there! So we had two anytime fastpasses - one for today at Magic Kingdom, and one for tomorrow at Epcot. Nice bonus! We decided to try it at Big Thunder, cause why not.

 

[Araminta18]

Disney After Hours Begins! - Mon Jan 15, 2024 (part 12)​

Ok, now is when the ride portion of the report picks up! Dole Whips finished up, we headed over towards Big Thunder. We passed Tiana's on the way -

Hard at work!

The castle looked amazing behind Liberty's Square.

Isn't that gorgeous? One of my favorite shots ever.

Big Thunder was posting only 15 minutes, but we tried our fastpass and it worked.

5 minutes later, we were boarding. Who doesn't love the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness?

We got off right as it hit 10 pm, and there was a snack cart that opened up right there. So of course, we had to grab popcorn and a water and a sprite.


Next up? Pirates! I was enjoying my popcorn in the line (shh don't tell Disney.)

It was a walk on, as you can tell from the empty boat. Trevor and I thought we were funny, drinking for the ride photo. This was pretending to drink though, cause while I may eat/drink in a line I won't do it on the ride itself!

Next up? Jungle Cruise!

Also basically a walk on. I love After Hours at Magic Kingdom.

We finished Jungle Cruise (with a great skipper ), and so, since it had been 2 rides, it was clearly time for snacks!

And another popcorn!

I think we probably got another drink or two...i don't remember.

As it was about 10:40, we decided to head back to the hub - the new thing with After Hours at Magic Kingdom is that they were doing a showing of the "Enchantment" fireworks show at 11, and so we wanted to take advantage of that.

Look at that empty street! Well, comparatively empty. I appreciated the low crowds cause it didn't trigger my FOMO anxiety about getting a good spot or anything. We stopped to get pictures in front of the castle!

The one downside is that while we were the only people in line, the family that was taking pictures decided to do group shots and then individual shots of every member of the family (both parents and all three kids). So it took longer than we expected. Oh well! We had time before the fireworks started.

 

[Araminta18]

Enchantment at Disney After Hours - Mon Jan 15, 2024 (part 13)​

We decided we wanted to head to right in front of the castle...look at how light the crowds are!


We grabbed a spot here, and sat down. This was at 10 minutes til the fireworks! After Hours crowds are amazing.

This was our final view - bummer about the strollers but still not bad. And we could stay seated and see - amazing!


Yea, this is mostly gonna be fireworks pictures.

We even got to see Tinkerbell fly!


By the end of the show it was sooooo foggy and cloudy that we mostly saw pinpricks of light. Also, I've never been so close up that the castle itself blocked some of the fireworks! honestly, it was a better fireworks show than I remembered, but that may have been at least partially because of how close we were and the fact that we could stay seated.

Trevor set up his camera/tripod on the ground. The strollers meant his video didn't get all the projections but still - awesome!

Honestly, it was so cool - I wasn't super excited about the fireworks being part of After Hours, but it ended up being something I really enjoyed. Definitely a good add.

Next up? Haunted Mansion! It came back up after being down earlier, so off we went!

13 minute wait!


Trying to be funny with the on-ride photo.

 

[Araminta18]

Fog Begins to Descend! - Mon Jan 15, 2024 (part 14)​

I love Haunted Mansion.

And of course we had to get a couple pictures with the Mansion itself.



Next up, Tomorrowland!

But look at how foggy it is! Hard to see the castle!


And all of Tomorrowland is in a haze.

We decided to go for Buzz Lightyear first, to try and save the galaxy.
Trevor did it!!


I got close, but no dice. Oh well - still fun!

Next? Space Mountain!

We (as always) forgot where the camera was, but the "sleeping" pose doesn't really matter too much for that.

Next?

Tron!

It was posting a 30 minute wait, but we waited 25, including the ride itself. Not too bad!


We did the chairs this time, cause it didn't hurt my leg and I honestly think it's just as fun, if not more fun than the bikes.

 

[Araminta18]

Snacks and PeopleMover and Fog! - Mon Jan 15, 2024 (part 15)​

As we left Tron, the fog was really getting heavy. You can hardly see Space Mountain!

We stopped and got more snacks:


Then, the Peoplemover!

Yes, that is my bag full of drinks. Gotta make the most of it!


Seeing Magic Kingdom from the Peoplemover, covered in fog, was so neat.

That's Tron - you can hardly see it.

Main Street there.

The "so close" comment was me trying to high five people.

We got off the Peoplemover at 12:50 - 10 minutes left in the event! We decided not to run for a ride but just enjoy the ambiance.

There's supposed to be a castle there, but can you see it?

hello! That's me eating an ice cream sandwich.

They had photographers out in the hub, so of course we stopped.

Doesn't the castle look so cool?

 

[Araminta18]

Magic Kingdom in Fog - Mon Jan 15, 2024 (part 16)​

Ok, this post and the last one are basically gonna be "Foggy Magic Kingdom" posts. #sorrynotsorrybutnowyouknowsoyoucanskipthemifyouwant

I basically had us hit up all the photographers there in the hub - again, playing law of averages.



I just love the look of the castle with the soft lighting and the fog.

Balloons!

I also loved the look back down Main Street -

the photographers said they couldn't take pictures facing that way cause of the fog and the lighting, but still - so cool.

Down at the end of Main Street you can hardly see the castle.



It's just such an interesting view to me. Sorry if you're bored!

Trevor's camera is definitely better than mine.

 

[Araminta18]

Trying to get this day at least finished before we leave for Paris next week...see y'all when we get back!!

Good night! - Mon Jan 15, 2024 (part 17)​

Yea, we spent some time on Main Street just enjoying the look of everything in the fog and the sounds and the low crowds. Love it. We did duck into the Emporium for a minute or two (I got a Rescuers water bottle )

This selfie is from about 1:30. I may have a problem. But it was so fun - After Hours at Magic Kingdom is one of the up charges I have no complaints about. Short lines, low crowds, just super low key and enjoyable. Highly recommend.


Good night Magic Kingdom!

Took about 15 minutes for a bus to arrive, but at least when it did, we 1. got a seat and 2. pulled away immediately. So that was nice. And 15 minutes after that we were back at Beach Club - we got back to the room about 2:10 am. A long day, but a good day.

The haul of included snacks.

Sorry for this day being sooooooooo long! The others won't be, I promise.

Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 27010 steps (10.6 miles)
Ride count: 10 (Journey into Imagination with Figment, SDMT, Big Thunder, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Buzz, Space, Tron, PeopleMover)
Savings due to AP discount: $86.60 (merch - artwork ain't cheap yo)

 

[alohamom]

Those foggy castle/main street pics are incredible! They look like something out of a movie. The foggy shots from the people mover are really cool too.

 

[DLo]

I do the same when I go to after hours - snacks and drinks “ to go “. I normally take a smaller bag to the parks but take my backpack to after hours and fill it up .Helps me feel like I got my moneys worth out of it.

 

[Araminta18]

Those foggy castle/main street pics are incredible! They look like something out of a movie. The foggy shots from the people mover are really cool too.

It was such a unique experience! So neat.

I do the same when I go to after hours - snacks and drinks “ to go “. I normally take a smaller bag to the parks but take my backpack to after hours and fill it up .Helps me feel like I got my moneys worth out of it.

Right? You gotta! We ate the popcorn the whole rest of the week.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Your After Hours event looked like so much fun. MK is perfect for an event as there are so many attractions - it really thins out the crowd.

And I shouldn’t be surprised, but… so many pictures and snacks!

 

[kclark9830]

I NEED to get to Festival of the Arts someday!!!!

Have so much fun in Paris !

 

[jrmint427]

I got the Mozzarella Fritta: Flash-fried breaded fresh mozzarella with artist palette condiments

That looks so good!

Fireworks from Fantasyland! I didn't feel like fighting the crowds and back there it's always way less crowded, and still a fun experience. So off we speedwalked.

I love the Fireworks from Fantasyland too (but especially the lower crowds).

After a few minutes they announced it was down and they were dumping the queue. We were actually in a really good spot - right by where the exit was, so we got a fastpass and headed back into the night.

That's nice you got a FP! We got stuck in that room once on a prior trip when the ride was down and there was no offer to let us exit. In hindsight I wish we could have gotten a FP to come back, but the ride was running again in 15-20 min, so it could have been worse.

On the way we passed a Guest Experience umbrella/team, so we stopped and I asked if they'd be able to turn our Haunted Mansion anytime fastpass into one that would be good at Epcot the next day, since MK was "closing" in like 30 minutes. And she did! Super nice of her.

That is so nice!

Also, while we were eating our Dole Whips, I checked the app to make sure our fastpass had turned into one good for Epcot, and while I did see the Epcot one, it looked like the CM had added the Epcot one, without doing anything to the MK one, cause the MK one was still there! So we had two anytime fastpasses - one for today at Magic Kingdom, and one for tomorrow at Epcot. Nice bonus!

Even better!!

Also basically a walk on. I love After Hours at Magic Kingdom.

Your posts make me wish we had done MK instead of HS! Amazing that you could walk onto so many rides.

honestly, it was a better fireworks show than I remembered, but that may have been at least partially because of how close we were and the fact that we could stay seated.

That's amazing you could be seated! I wish everyone would sit for the fireworks.

Trevor's camera is definitely better than mine.

Awesome pictures in the fog!!

 

[Paulaparm]

Love those foggy Main St pictures!

 

[Araminta18]

Your After Hours event looked like so much fun. MK is perfect for an event as there are so many attractions - it really thins out the crowd.

And I shouldn’t be surprised, but… so many pictures and snacks!

MK really is awesome for After Hours.

soooo many pictures and snacks! I'd apologize but at this point if you're reading one of my TRs...you know what you're in for!

I NEED to get to Festival of the Arts someday!!!!

Have so much fun in Paris !

You really do! It's awesome.

Thank you! We had a lot of fun but some not fun parts...we think we stayed in a room with bedbugs so I'm literally heat treating a bunch of our stuff as we speak. blargh.

I love the Fireworks from Fantasyland too (but especially the lower crowds).

right? so awesome to watch without the crowds.

That's nice you got a FP! We got stuck in that room once on a prior trip when the ride was down and there was no offer to let us exit. In hindsight I wish we could have gotten a FP to come back, but the ride was running again in 15-20 min, so it could have been worse.

oh no! That's a bummer that they didn't offer you a FP or offer you to exit, but like you said, could have been worse. I'm always torn when rides go down - wait, or leave....the eternal paradox!

Your posts make me wish we had done MK instead of HS! Amazing that you could walk onto so many rides.

Having done AH at MK, HS, and Epcot, MK is by far my favorite - the others just don't have enough rides to thin out the crowds in my opinion.

That's amazing you could be seated! I wish everyone would sit for the fireworks.

right? wouldn't that be awesome if we all sat for fireworks?

Love those foggy Main St pictures!

it was so cool to experience!

 

[Araminta18]

Sorry guys for the long delay! We went to Paris and while it was fun, Trevor got sick and we think we stayed in a hotel with bedbugs (I had bites that seemed to fit the pattern) so that was a fun underlying panic the whole time. We got home and were heat-treating all our things...wish us luck that we killed anything that may have come home with us so we don't have them in our house! And then I got Trevor's cold the day we flew back home so yea...just been crazy. BUT! Back to this trip report!

Will Tiffany and Trevor Finally Go to a Pool? - Tuesday, January 16th 2024 (part 1)​

Tuesday morning we definitely slept in a bit. Our plan (since this was supposed to be the warmest morning of the trip) was to head to Stormalong Bay and try out the pool! We figured we couldn't not try Stormalong Bay, what with staying at Beach Club.

So we got up at 9, and were kind of slowly waking up and getting ready, when we realized we should probably doublecheck the pool hours. We couldn't find it posted anywhere so we had to call the front desk, who informed us it wouldn't open til 10. Meh, we figured we could kill some time til 10, or maybe try one of the quiet pools (which did open at 7 am).

We headed out to our balcony for breakfast -

A bit of a gray day!

And for breakfast?

Popcorn and soda! Breakfast of champions.

We took our time and so ended up being ready to head out just a few minutes before 10 am, so off we went right to Stormalong Bay.


If you go right at opening, it's pretty quiet! Actually, after the first 15 minutes or so it got grey and windy, but not too bad if you were in the pool, which we were. It was nice - not many people (maybe 2 other families?) were there while we were, so we got to fully explore and play around. We got to experience the sandy bottom, and the lazy river, and the whirlpool - the whirlpool was my favorite. I had it to myself for a while so it was like a small, fast lazy river that just sent me around and around. We had the hottub to ourselves for a bit, and got to see the sandbar where the kids were all playing (all like 4 of them ) - that sandbar is huge! We tried the slide and got splashed by the unexpected waterfalls mid-slide. Was not expecting that!

Overall, it was a lot of fun hanging around and exploring the fancy pool that was basically all to ourselves. I can see how the pool would be absolutely bonkers busy on hot days, but it is pretty big. Anyways! We stayed for about 90 minutes, and then headed back to our room to get ready for our lunch reservation at Le Cellier.

We were a few minutes late to our reservation - it was at noon, we got there at about 12:05. But we had excellent timing - it started raining right as we got there so we ducked right in out of the rain. Woot!


This was our first time eating at Le Cellier, and I'd booked it for the Disney on Broadway dining package cause I wanted to make sure we had good seats for the show. And also cause it seemed a bit of a shame to never have eaten at Le Cellier. Had to fix that!

We got seated pretty quickly into a pretty empty restaurant.


I know one of the common complaints about Le Cellier (at least in the past) was how close the tables are to each other, but we got seated at a 4 top that wasn't close to anything else. Nice!

The dining package comes with an appetizer, entree, dessert, and then non-alcoholic drinks. As I know is surprising to all of you reading, we got mocktails! I got the non-alcoholic version of their Victorian Raspberry (lime juice, raspberry puree, and probably just soda water?), and Trevor got the non-alcholic version of the Ottawa Apple: maple, apple infusion, cranberry juice, and soda.

I love raspberry - this drink was amazing. Delicious - my new favorite drink!


Trevor really liked his too - he couldn't really taste the maple which he was ok with. So definitely a strong start to the meal! And it continued strong with the bread basket:

Multigrain sourdough and the pretzel.

 

[Araminta18]

Lunch at Le Cellier - Tuesday Jan 16, 2024 (part 2)​

The bread also came with whipped maple butter!

I'm not a huge maple fan, but this was good with the sourdough. I didn't really try it on the pretzel, because our appetizers came out and we found a better use for the pretzel.

Trevor got the cheddar soup for his appetizer:

So of course we had to use the pretzel for dipping in the soup. This was good, though a bit too salty for me.

I got the Beet Salad: Heirloom beets, goat cheese, almonds, crispy prosciutto, sherry vinaigrette.

So. I got this one because it was a lighter entree than the rest and I didn't want something too heavy. I don't like beets, and I don't really like goat cheese, but this was delicious. All the flavors went together and it was interesting and yummy. Glad I got it.

Then for the entrees, I got the Bison strip loin


Trevor got the Le Cellier Filet Mignon:


These were both really good, but we ended up switching because we each liked the other's dish a bit better. The filet was super flavorful (which is why I usually pass on filets - they're not usually very flavorful) while the bison strip loin was tender and had a yummy sauce. Delish.

I also managed to score a Guardians boarding group in here -- I almost forgot but saw a CM walking another table through how to join and I was like RIGHT! Phew.

Somewhere in there the server brought us another round of mocktails, only for Trevor's to be a bit weird - he thought maybe they forgot to take out the alcohol, but what actually happened is they forgot to put the maple in his first drink and they remembered this time. Turns out, Trevor didn't like it nearly as much with the maple and our server was amazing and brought him another one without the maple.


Then, dessert! I got the Boutique collection to go:

a Macaron, some salted caramel cookies, and then some chocolates. I think one chocolate was blueberry, one was peanut butter & jelly..not sure what the last one was.

Trevor got the Maple Creme Brulee: chantilly, gooseberries, tuille

I don't usually like creme brulee but this was good - lighter than you'd think. And with the maple it basically tasted like pancakes. But definitely a good, light ending to the meal.

We had a great lunch at Le Cellier - much better than we were expecting. It took longer than we thought too - we didn't end up leaving until 1:45, but it didn't feel that long. Which I think is the sign of a good meal? Our server was fantastic - she even brought us some drinks to go.


So overall, count us as newly-minted Le Cellier lovers. What a great experience. And gorgeous landscaping right outside!

Though I was hoping the rain would pass while we were inside, and when we came out, it was still raining. And raining just hard enough for us to put on the ponchos. And of course, like 2 minutes after we put them on, it stopped raining. Which yay, but also...make up your mind! I actually heard one gal walking by say "I can't take the poncho off! If I take it off it will start raining again!" Which, she's not wrong.

So it's basically 2pm, the show was at 5:30 pm...what was our plan? I don't remember! You'll have to tune into the next part.

 

[Araminta18]

World Showcase Wandering - Tuesday Jan 16, 2024 (part 3)​

So we left Le Cellier, and honestly didn't have much of a plan beyond wandering World Showcase and seeing the photo ops and the art booths and such. Very low key.

At one of the art booths near the entrance to World Showcase they had a canvas of a piece I liked by an artist I like. I follow her on instagram and had seen this piece but for whatever reason seeing it in person I was like "ok, gotta have it". And Trevor is an enabler.

But isn't it cute? I love the befuddled look on Robin's face.

And from there we just kept wandering World Showcase. We had our fastpass from last night that we planned to use on Remy, and our Guardians boarding group wasn't gonna be called for a while, and so the next thing actually scheduled was the concert at 5:30. Plenty of time for a leisurely stroll.

We found the Frida Kahlo photo op.

Trevor rockin that unibrow.

Over in China we found a photopass photographer in front of the pavilion, so of course we had to stop.

Not a place where the photographers are all that often, so that was kind of fun.

We also had fun looking at all the art booths on that side of World Showcase. We hadn't really been over there yet as most of the artists I wanted to see were by France and Morocco, or Canada.

Seriously thought about this Jungle Cruise map piece, but it was the Disneyland one, otherwise I would have been tempted!

We weren't getting any real snacks at the booths this lap cause we'd just had lunch, but we were taking all the photos!


Hi Daisy!

It wasn't raining any more, but it was definitely still wet from the earlier rain.

And the nice thing about the rain and cooler weather was the crowds not being bad. And the ducks were out in force!

We actually saw a duck and some ducklings in the pool this morning too! Forgot to mention it. But those are the kind of pool companions I want, vs the entirety of the resort.


I love not just this drawing but the super fun easel prop.

Not the most exciting update, but it was a relaxing afternoon walk.