Diary of a Disney Hostage: The Trip Report (Last Edited: 8/27)

[MEK]

Excited to see an update. Lovely pictures. What a nice morning you had.

 

[danceintherain]

After enjoying our time in Toontown, we headed back to AKL for some rest.
I think this was the day we decided to try the pool. We didn't stay out there for very long. It was a bit cold to actually really enjoy it. Though we did try the water slide, and I only had a bit of time to be sad that my youngest siblings weren't there to enjoy it.
Also, for the past few years every time I go swimming I get water in my ear, and it usually stays there for a few days before I have any relief. Therefore, I couldn't enjoy the pool as much as I should have, because I didn't want to cause myself any irritation for the rest of the week.

Then, it was time to head back to the Magic Kingdom for our greatly anticipated dinner in the Castle. It was a bit earlier than I would have liked. I really wanted a late dinner, but oh well.
We wandered around Fantasyland for a while, as I got us there a while before they would let us check in.

Logan tried his hand at the Sword in the Stone, though he wouldn't get into it as much as I had wanted him too.

I also attempted the feat, but Logan didn't get a picture of me, and there were a few boys that were anxious for their turn.

Look at this charming photo of the castle Logan got... I'm sure he took it, because I had very poor luck with his camera the whole trip.

I think I did take these pictures though, because Cinderella's Castle just happens to sport a replica of one of my favorite things in Prague:
The Astronomical Clock!
The Disney version:

The Prague original:

Like most Czech stories, the story surrounding this clock is rather morbid. The rumor is that the Czech gouged out the eyes of the clockmaker in order to keep him from reproducing it in another country.

Then, we were ushered into the castle, and our picture taken with Cinderella. I haven't scanned that picture in yet, but once I do, I'll share it.
Then, we were taken up a winding staircase and into the Dining Room. We were lead to a table in the middle of the room, sprinkled with Castle confetti.
Here's a picture of the ceiling directly above our heads...

Hey look! What's Mickey doing here?

Now for one of my favorite pictures of the entire trip!
As you can see, Logan got the ribs!

Logan was very mad at me for taking that picture, but I thought it was too fun to pass up.

Some pictures with the characters

When the Fairy Godmother came out singing I sang right along with her. Logan has always been impressed with my Disney knowledge and my music lyrics knowledge, and Disney lyrics just happen to be my specialty.

This was definitely the most entertaining of all our meals with 1900 Park Fare coming up a close second.

As you saw in the picture above, Logan very much enjoyed his ribs, and I got the Lemon Lavender Chicken which I enjoyed very much. For dessert we both got the Chocolate Cream Cheese Buckle. The food was very tasty, and the entertainment divine, so overall it was a very pleasant meal.

After exiting the Castle, it was about time for the Fireworks to start.
I was a little confused on this point, as the last time I was at the Magic Kingdom for Fireworks it was New Year's Eve, so there was a stage show directly preceding them.
Thus, we were right up close to the stage. We should have gone further away, as near the castle is a bad place to view the fireworks, but oh well. I'll know better for next time.
After the Fireworks we decided to wait a little for the crowds to thin out, so we set off towards Tomorrowland.
I took a picture of the outside of the folder our pictures were in, while we waited.

It didn't come out very well, since it was dark out, and I had to use the flash.

Then, we headed back towards Main Street, though we didn't wait quite long enough.

As you can see there were still quite a few people in the park...I'm pretty sure our wait for the bus was a bit long this time.

Overall, we had a very enjoyable evening.

 

[floridascgirl]

I'm enjoying your trip report because we are heading to the AKL in December. I love reading anything that has to do with the lodge (good, of course) because it adds to my pre-trip excitement! Thanks for reporting...I'm staying tuned for more. Do you have more AKL photos?

 

[danceintherain]

Unfortunately, we didn't take as many pictures at the Lodge as we should have. We usually didn't take our camera with us when we were just wandering around the hotel, and were in a hurry to get to the buses or back to our room at most other times.

The staff at AKL were very nice though. They even let Logan use the internet to look up a phone number that he needed from back home.

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Another great update...

 

[MEK]

I'm a little slow to read your latest update, but I really enjoyed it. Sounds like you had a lovely meal in the castle. I am thoroughly enjoying all your pictures.

 

[stacikristine]

Great updates! I'm so glad you enjoyed your meal in the Castle! I've eaten bfast there, and it was so, so good. All of your pictures are just too cute

 

[danceintherain]

After we returned to AKL from the Magic Kingdom, we went down to the Mara to grab something to eat. For some reason I can’t seem to find the receipts, but I know I got the infamous Zebra Domes, and I’m sure I got some fries. Disney fries became one of my favorite things on our trip. My other guess would be that Logan got a Double Bacon Cheeseburger, because that’s what he got pretty much every time we went to the Mara. I think he also got some cheesecake.
We decided to save our desserts for breakfast the next morning.

I woke up pretty much every morning before the alarm went off. This morning was no different. I did however let Logan sleep until the alarm while I began to get ready. However, once the alarm went off I started coaxing him out of bed.
The goal this morning was to make it to MGM… I mean Disney Studios before Rope Drop. I think we did a decent job… they started letting people in pretty much as soon as we made it to the gate.

I brought my Zebra Domes with me to eat, but after one bite I realized they were a bit rich for breakfast, especially for my stomach, and with no milk. From that one bite I thought they were tasty. Logan had downed his cheesecake before we left the hotel.

My goal for our first MGM day was to do the whole right half of the park. This way we could do Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Rollercoaster which would leave only Toy Story Mania as a major attraction for our second day.

We did stop on our way in for a few pictures….

Including my favorite Photopass picture from the whole trip.

As you can see we finally got our Newlywed ears… we looked for our first couple of days, and ended up finding them in a shop on our way out of the Magic Kingdom the night before. We also got the updated Celebration buttons. Logan LOVED his buttons… he wore three the whole trip. Two Newlywed ones and his First Visit one.

This was the one day that Logan and I argued slightly about which rides to go on. Logan was probably the most excited about MGM simply because he was most attracted by the prevalent themes. Star Wars… Indiana Jones…etc… Unfortunately, I hadn’t planned those attractions until our second day, which was a major oversight on my part.

As soon as we got to the park I steered Logan off to the right to get to the Tower of Terror and the Rockin’ Rollercoaster. We got Fastpasses for the RnRC then went to wait in the Standby line for the Tower of Terror.

Well… Logan did not enjoy the Tower of Terror at all. Apparently he didn’t feel his seatbelt was very safe, and the multiple drops irritated him a little bit. Actually… after we went on it he was very upset with me, and just about refused to go on the RnRC.

We argued a bit. I told him it was completely different from the ToT and I really wanted him to go on it. I did tell him that I didn’t want to make him go on anything he really didn’t want to go on, but I really wanted to go on it, because it was one of my favorite.
So…Logan being the more considerate of us agreed to go on it, but he was NOT very happy about it, and had a very surly attitude the whole time we were waiting in line.
Even though we had Fastpasses, our return time wasn’t for another 30 minutes, but the Standby wait time was only 30 minutes, so I figured we could wait in the Standby line, then us the Fastpasses if Logan wanted to… I wasn’t going to make him go on it a second time if he didn’t really want to, but the first time was important to me.

Well… he LOVED IT!
It became his favorite ride of the whole trip.
We met a Photopass photographer on the way out

After our first ride we got to use our Fastpasses. This time Logan was not at all sulky while we were waiting in line.

However, in my desire to convince Logan that he should ride the RnRC I promised him that we could ride Star Tours that day instead of waiting.
We did stop to see Beauty and the Beast on the way, but then we made a beeline for Star Tours. I love the Beauty & the Beast show. Its just soo much fun to watch! Logan was even impressed by the disappearing and transformation of the Beast.

The posted wait for Star Tours was 30 minutes. (I’m pretty sure it was the longest wait of our entire trip) I groaned a little on the inside, but since I had practically tortured my husband by making him ride the ToT I agreed to wait. Logan was thrilled by the queuing area. He took lots of pictures while we waited.

(One of these days I'm gonna have to take Logan to Disney during Star Wars weekends)


We finally boarded our ship… Logan was less than impressed with the whole simulation. It was a bit too jerky, and he gets motion sick sometimes. When we exited the ride the gift shop was packed. I was shocked and irritated. There were people everywhere, and of course blocking the exit. Logan did spend some time looking at the awesome Star Wars stuff, but I try to avoid crowds as much as possible, so I tried to usher him out the door.

That’s when I found out the reason for the crowd: It was pouring!
Well as some of you know I met my husband outside in a rainstorm, so rain doesn’t bother me. It was nice to be out in the open for a while. It was around noon, so I decided to go check on our ADR.

The day before they had let us check in 30 minutes early at Coral Reef, but no such luck at Sci Fi Dine In. It probably didn't help that it was raining, so more people considered a restaurant a nice place to hide from the rain. We took a few pictures while we waited as the rain had let up a bit.

A nice man saw us taking our self-portrait and offered to take a picture of us together.

After we were wetted, and allowed to check-in. We were taken in to be seated. Sadly our car was off to the side, and far in the back, but it was still an enjoyable experience, except for the fact that AC and wetness don’t mix well, so I was freezing the whole time.

I got the Grilled Chicken Sandwich and a Chocolate Shake. The Shake was great, but the chicken was a bit dry. I managed to eat my fill on fries though.
Logan got the Ribs and a Strawberry Shake. I’m pretty sure he enjoyed his meal, but he always finishes everything, so that doesn’t surprise me.
I got the Peanut Butter Chocolate cake for dessert, and Logan got a Hot Fudge Sundae. They were both very good, but I definitely didn’t finish mine, because I was already very full.
After lunch we decided to head back to the resort for a break. Logan stopped to see…

Darth Vader on the way out.

This was the only day we didn’t follow my plan, and the only day we got less done than I had expected.
We did manage to make up for it slightly when we returned after our break...

 

[stacikristine]

I'm glad RNRC made up for ToT! It would have been so sad if he was disappointed the whole day! I have a feeling DHS will be my hubby's favorite park--it was when he went when he was 10... I love seeing you pictures!!

 

[danceintherain]

I'm glad RNRC made up for ToT! It would have been so sad if he was disappointed the whole day! I have a feeling DHS will be my hubby's favorite park--it was when he went when he was 10... I love seeing you pictures!!

It's definitely Logan's favorite, and he's even considering trying ToT again in a couple of weeks. We'll see if he does. I probably won't go on it if he doesn't want to.

 

[danceintherain]

After we took our afternoon break we headed back to MGM to take in a few more attractions. I was on a mission to find the “special” Photopass photographers, but alas they were nowhere to be found.

It was totally the wrong time of day (early evening instead of around 3pm)…

…and I was looking in the wrong part of the park (Streets of America instead of Hollywood Blvd), but I didn’t know that.

After searching for a little while I took Logan to see a show put on by some of his favorite characters.
The MUPPETS! They, unlike the droids in a galaxy far far away, did not let us down.

They were charming as always. Many laughs and knee slaps later we made our way down to hang out with Indiana Jones.
Unfortunately, when I went to jump up and scream to get pulled out of the audience my DH did not seem keen on joining me, and as I didn’t want to go up there all alone I just let the other good people in the audience get chosen. The theatre was shockingly only half full, and I like to play to a much larger crowd.
Actually I just didn’t jump up fast enough… I wanted to convince Logan to do it with me later in our trip, but our second day at MGM didn’t go much better than the first. It seems that our MGM days were the most jumbled.

After Indy we wandered over to Toy Story Mania… I’m pretty sure we used FPs we had gotten earlier in the day, because I seriously doubt I would have waited in THAT line without a FastPass.
We both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves… Logan of course beat me, which I was ok with, because he has much more training in launching strange objects at targets.

At this point the park was getting very close to closing, but we managed to sneak in to the Great Movie Ride! I don’t remember this ride very well from my previous trips, but it was great fun, so I’m sure I’ll include it in all future adventures.

Ok… now here’s where a little more Disney fuzz comes in, which reiterates the fact that I should have taken more pictures. I know we rode the Great Movie Ride close to closing with very little line on our first MGM day… However, I also know that we went to EPCOT that evening, but I can’t remember how we got there. It’s possible that we took the Ferry, but I only remember riding that particular Ferry after Fantasmic the night before we came home.
Anyways… we went to EPCOT to enjoy the World Showcase a little more.
We were also searching for something to eat, and while I adore MGM… the food is a bit lacking, especially the counter service.
We began a counterclockwise tour of the World Showcase and Logan found something to eat immediately. He stopped at the UK for some Fish and Chips, which he absolutely loved.

I took a couple of bites, but I’m not a fishy sort of girl. I thought about stopping in France for some pastries, but the line was a bit long, and I wasn’t that hungry yet.

Then I got to Norway, La Kringla Bakeri Og Cafe and it seemed a bit more like my kind of place. NO LINE!
This is where our only major problem with the Dining Plan came in.
I asked a few questions about it as I ordered my food to make sure what I was getting was included in a single meal. I ordered a Chicken Salad Sandwich, a Sprite and a Cloudberry Horn, and they rang it up as 2 Snack Credits and 1 Counter Service credit. (that’s like $20 for a $15 meal!)
Now, normally I am not a confrontational person, but I am pretty darn good at Math, so I took a deep breath and calmly said “this should only be 1 counter service credit, it’s an entrée, drink, and dessert.” The girl ringing me up tried to argue with me, but I knew that I would be losing quite a bit of value in the Counter Service credit alone by using it only to redeem a sandwich. So I tried to explain the problem, but they kept telling me it was already rung up and there was nothing they could do.

At this point I knew I was being a nuisance which upset me just a little (not angry upset, but potentially crying upset). A line was forming behind me. Ultimately they had to call a more important manager to actually fix the problem. It took him a little while to get over there…(from the time stamps on the receipts it was about 8 minutes) I’m pretty sure he supervises more than just that one restaurant.
I explained the problem to him, and he immediately not only fixed the problem, but refunded all the credits to our account. I made sure to grab the receipts, because I thought I knew what he was doing, but I wasn’t sure.

I thanked him profusely! I felt really bad though, I hate causing problems. I tried to convince Logan that I should eat at a table really far away, but he made me sit down, and I ate. The whole meal was very good, even though my stomach was still in knots over my ordeal. The bread was precisely how I like it: crusty on the outside, soft on the inside. Logan had to finish most of it off though, because I couldn’t. After our meal I made sure to clean up really well, so they wouldn’t have to clean up after me.

We didn’t end up staying for Illuminations. We just wandered around the World Showcase for a little while, then left, but we did get these lovely pictures taken on the way out.

 

[stacikristine]

I'm so sorry about the mixup at the bakeri! I know exactly what you mean. I get all upset over things like that too. I don't want anyone to think I'm a bad person. But I'm glad Logan made you sit down and eat it! And I'm sure it taught the people running the register how to ring it up from now on--so hopefully no one else had troubles! I love those pictures, btw!

 

[danceintherain]

I let Logan sleep in, even though our second EPCOT day was supposed to be a Rope Drop day. We also went down to Mara in the morning before we left for the Park. This was one of our Dinner days, so I couldn’t convince Logan that we just needed snacks to hold us over.

Logan got a Breakfast Platter, Apple Slices, and Apple Juice. I got a Chocolate Croissant and a Chocolate Milk. We used 1 Counter Service credit and 2 Snack credits. At this point I started walking up and stating what credits we were using, that way they could inform us of discrepancies in advance.

My general plan for this day was to take on the left half of Future World, and then continue our exploration of the World Showcase.

Thus, upon entrance into the park we headed off towards the Test Track. We obtained Fast Passes, and then waited in the Standby line.

The line was pretty consistently moving, and I thought Logan would enjoy this queuing area as much as Star Tours, but I was wrong. I think we waited for around 30 minutes before we were ushered into our vehicle. The second line was much shorter as we utilized our Fastpasses.
One of the fun things about the Test Track is they let you redeem your Ride pictures on your Photopass cards.
This is from our first ride:

This is from the second…it would have been better, but Logan decided to put his sunglasses back on halfway through the picture

Then we were off to Mission:SPACE. I was excited, but a little nervous about this ride, because I had never been on it before.
We chose the Orange Team (that’s the one without the spinning right?) Since Logan gets motion sick sometimes I didn’t want to risk him getting sick.

The ride broke down for a few minutes while we were waiting, but it still only took around 30 minutes. Logan was very underwhelmed by this ride. He was upset that we weren’t actually controlling the shuttle. I, however, am easily fooled, so I didn’t notice that we weren’t actually controlling anything until he told me. Kind of like when you give a little kid an extra controller so they can “play” too.

After exiting the ride, we stopped to play the game they have set up outside. I’m pretty sure our team won, because we’re awesome.

Then we decided to explore Innovations East for a little while. We did the hurricane simulation. I enjoyed it as much as I can enjoy things where they pretend to hurl stuff at me. There were a bunch of cute little kids in the room with us though. They kept making funny comments.

We wandered a little more; we then went back up to the front of the park where we experienced no wait for Spaceship Earth. I hadn’t ridden this ride in a very long time, so it was extra enjoyable. I especially enjoyed the part where they send you backwards down the hill. Oh the small joys in life.

Then we were off to the World Showcase again.

First we stopped in Mexico and chilled in the indoor market, and embarked on an adventure with our favorite ducks & Los Caballeros. I don’t remember ever having ridden this before, so it was rather enjoyable.

Then it was past Norway again, so of course the Maelstrom. I don’t remember this ride from previous trips either, but it was enjoyable. I love folktales. It was also nice to sit down and watch the show afterwards.
I found this lovely gentleman outside waiting for his picture to be taken. I wanted a picture of MY warrior with this warrior, but he didn’t go along with it.

Next we were planning on watching the Reflections of China video, but we decided not to… we were both getting a little tired and agitated at this point. I think we actually walked into the theatre and realized we would have to sit on uncushioned benches, and turned straight around. We had an ADR at Le Cellier that evening, and even though I hadn’t forced rope drop that morning we were still getting tired.
We did take some time to enjoy the scenery though.
Logan was particularly impressed with how well these guys stayed in line.

Then… I saw some people that I couldn’t resist. I whined and begged a little. After all we hadn’t stopped for any of the other characters, and these two didn’t have a line at all, and if we waited too long then others would notice their linelessness. It would only take a couple minutes, then we could move on…

I'm very happy that I got this picture, because I've heard that Mushu is no longer available for Meet & Greets.

I was absolutely thrilled. You see Mulan has a very special place in my heart because the movie came out when I was 11, and my Daddy took me to see it. When I was younger my parents had “date night” with us. Once a month or so we got to pick a parent, and they’d take us out on a “date.”

Then…Logan expressed his frustration with me…mostly for making him take pictures with characters.

We found this lovely rock on our travels…

Obviously it doesn’t have the best lighting for pictures.

We continued around the World Showcase, and around 3 we opted to split a Fish & Chips to hold us over until our Le Cellier dinner. (Logan’s choice)
I’m pretty sure Logan ate most of the fish, and I ate the chips part.

At this point I think we decided to head back for a little rest, but I’m sure I made Logan promise it would only be a short one, because we had Le Cellier at 7:55pm. As an Army guy though… Logan does pretty well on short power naps.
During his power naps the first part of the trip, I flipped through the TV channels. By the end I was tired too, and succumbed to a little rest.

I really really should have taken pictures at Le Cellier. It was by far our favorite meal. We tried to check in a little early, but they were behind, so we wandered through Canada for a while. We sat down in the waiting area for the O, Canada show, but opted against it, because they didn’t open the doors until too close to our meal time.

I ordered the Filet Mignon and the Chocolate Moose for dessert. I thought about ordering from the Chef’s Selection Menu, and getting the Cheddar Cheese Soup, but I really wanted that Filet.
I loved my entrée. It was so tender and tasty. The risotto was mouth watering. I enjoyed every minute of it.
However, since I enjoyed my entrée so much, I didn’t have too much room for my dessert. I ate a bit of it.

Logan ordered the Spice Crusted Pork Chop, I think. (I don’t have my receipts with me right now, and I didn’t manage to take pictures of many of our meals)
He’s not picky, so I’m sure he loved whatever he got.
He also continued his Crème Brulee fetish by ordering the Maple Crème Brulee for dessert.

The service was wonderful. Our server did a nice job, and our food came quickly.

The most adorable little family was sitting next to us during our meal. It was a man and two kids. It was fun to listen and watch them eat their meal.

Sadly, since it took so long for us to finish our meal, Illuminations was over when we came out. I had been planning on it this evening, so I was slightly disappointed. I would have rather had an earlier or later time so we had gotten out to see Illuminations, or after a lot of the crowds had already vacated the parks.

We slowly wandered out of the park, and waited in line for our bus.

 

[Monny2AE]

That is such a sweet picture!

 

[danceintherain]

That is such a sweet picture!

Thanks! We were really impressed with our PhotoPass pictures.