Don't Put Your Hand on Mickey's Hat-A Family Vacation--NEW TRIP REPORT 5/24/14

Here are a few more resort pics! Please enjoy.

















Shout out to Mandeville!














 
Holy cow, another midweek update! I have to honestly say that I am really enjoying reliving my trip with you all! It is really nice to hear your experiences and share your anecdotes. So now on to the update...


It's Natazu!



We woke up early again and had our apple slices for breakfast. I really enjoy just having a light breakfast early in the morning, especially if we are going out touring. We were soon headed to the Animal Kingdom. I just love the music they play on the buses as you turn into the parking lot. I love all the music at this park. It is very beautiful and relaxing. I enjoy walking around this park and just soaking in the atmosphere.

We got to the entrance right at 9 and headed in. We decided to walk to the safari and get fast passes. The return time was 9:45, so we went over to Everest so Jeremy could ride through the single rider line. Here are a few pics on our way over:



















Jeremy went on in and there was a spot on the bench for me to sit and watch him come down. He came out soon and asked if he could ride again. I said sure, go right ahead. He came out quickly and I asked if he wanted to go again. He said no, as it was pretty chilly coming down the drop. We had about 10 minutes until our fast pass return time for the safari so we started to slowly walk back. On the way back he told me all about his two rides. The first ride had a grandmother next to him who kept saying oh my God. He said when they started to go backwards, she screamed are you kidding me?!?! So of course all he could do was laugh. The second ride had a teenage boy next to him who laughed the whole time with him.

Soon we were at the safari and boarded in probably 10 minutes. Without further ado, here are a few pictures:














I love this ride. Even though it can be kind of rough, I love animals. To me this is still relaxing. When we stayed at Kadani with my parents, I really enjoyed sitting on the balcony in the morning and the evening and watching the animals. That was a great trip! We looked through the shops and wandered back to It's a Bugs Life. Jeremy had never seen this show. Right as we got there, three dance groups were going in. How about we catch this one next time we come to the park. We had done everything we wanted to do for the day in the park, so we wandered around the shops for about an hour. We decided to go ahead and transfer to our second park where we had 1:30 ADRs. It was now about 11:15, so we could get some rides in at the second park prior to lunch. Get thee to the bus stop for transportation! On the way out, a few more pictures:










 

When I left off, we were leaving Animal Kingdom. We walked out to the bus stops, all the way to the far side, and then almost to the end. We were heading to the TTC. A bus was just pulling up as we were getting there. Yay! We boarded the bus with about 4 other people and we were soon underway. A short time later we were pulling into the TTC. We decided to ride the resort loop to catch a glimpse of hotels. We were hoping that there wasn't as big of a crowd today. It seems luck was with us today as it was more reasonable. Since we started in Tomorrowland last time, we decided to start in Adventureland. But first, we stopped for these:








We went and got fast passes for the Jungle Cruise. They had a return time of 12:40. We decided to go check out Pirates. The wait was short, so we went on in! The right side of the line was closed and would remained closed all week. When we got to the section of the line where you can first see the boats, there was a cast member there asking about party size and directing you to go to the right or the left. We were quickly loaded into a boat and were off. We got to see the new mermaid section at the beginning. It was a neat effect. After the drop, they apparently had the air cannons turned up as Jeremy and I both got wet. Soon we were riding the escalator up into the required dump shop. We looked around the shop. It was now time to head to Jungle Cruise. We had a good skipper this time. I love this cornball ride. My favorite one liner from this trip was "use your children as shields, that is why you brought them." Favorite pic from the ride:





Backside of water!!!!

When we got off of the Jungle Cruise, it was right at 1 and our ADR was for 1:30. We slowly walked to Liberty Tree Tavern. We checked in and had seat on a bench. They called us around 1:20 and we were seated at a nice table. We had a very nice waiter from Morocco. Jeremy ordered the Angus Bacon Cheeseburger and fries. I ordered the Pot Roast. Soon our food arrived. It was all delicious!








I could eat either of those right now.


It was now time to order dessert. After the very good but rich Pot Roast, I wanted something light. I ordered the raspberry sorbet with blueberries and strawberries. Jeremy went for the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake. They soon came out and both looked good. My sorbet really hit the spot. It was the perfect pick. Jeremy very kindly gave me a bite of his dessert. It was sinful! Please enjoy below, but don't complain when you drool on your keyboard.








I could go for either of these now also!


We waddled out of LTT and headed, SLOWLY, to Tomorrowland. On the way we met a new character for us:




We went and got Buzz fast passes and head to the only ride that can really aid in digestion: the People Mover! We had another great ride! We looked around in some shops until it was time to ride Buzz. Jeremy won again! We wanted to go to Downtown Disney so we decided to head on back to the resort. On the way to the bus stop, we stopped for these:









When we got to the resort, we quickly changed into pants as we knew it would get chilly after dark, especially on the lake. We hurried to the dock right as a boat was loading. We were having good transportation luck! Soon we were heading to DTD (or Disney Village as I will sometimes call it or my dad ALWAYS calls it). Here we are having a good time:








We went to the pin store and bought a few things. We headed to look around the Christmas store and the toy store. We didn't buy anything there and decided it was time to head to the Lego store. Jeremy bought a few things here. My favorite sculpture outside:





Sleeping Beauty is my FAVORITE princess story, followed closely by The Princess and The Frog.

We decided to head to World of Disney. We spent right at an hour in here. We bought several items here. We almost always buy all of our souvenirs here. We headed over to the Goofy Candy Co. We didn't pick anything up, just looked around. By now it was close to 8 and I was getting tired. We needed to eat and we thought about going to the Earl of Sandwich as we both enjoy it. I was so tired though I didn't know if I would have it in me to sit there and eat and then get up and head back. The bus stops at market place were closed and we would have to either take the boat back or walk to the Pleasure Island bus stop. We decided to just go back to the resort to eat. We headed to the boat dock and thankfully a boat was pulling up. We boarded and sat down and soon were heading back to the resort. Here is our one picture:





It was FREEZING on that boat. We soon pulled up the hoods on our jackets, tied them tight, and huddled together. It might have still be a relaxing ride if we weren't on the boat with three VERY drunk women. They were sitting on the two seats that face each other at the front. Not only were they talking and laughing very loudly, they decided to continuously take pictures of each other with their iPhones. So they were blinding everyone behind them, including us. Not just one time, but 16 separate times. Not one of these ladies apologized for blinding everyone. We just put our heads down so we would stop getting the bright light in our eyes. Talk about being obnoxious.

We soon pull up to the dock, the captain gets off, ties us up, walks up the gangway, talks to a guy waiting there, comes back and unties us and climbs back on. Um hello? We want to get off! We say something to him and he ties us back up. There are 5 of us getting off here. The drunk ladies start to cackle about this loudly. We finally get off and head up the gangway. The lady in front of me turns to me and says "wow, they are feeling no pain!" You got that right!

We head to the food court and we both get chicken nuggets and fries and apple slices for tomorrow. We soon head back to the room. It was Superbowl Sunday, so of course we put the game on. I went to take a shower quickly and got back into the bedroom right as half time was starting. I enjoyed the show, enjoyed seeing the Dome (not only am I from NOLA, I am a HUGE Saints fan), and then the power went out for half the dome. We watched more of the game, but were falling asleep as we had been going non-stop. We needed to go to bed soon as we were getting up early again. We finally gave up watching the game and just went to sleep. Tomorrow, bright and early, we would be heading to my favorite park bright eyed and bushy tailed! :rotfl:
 
That sounds like a great day -- some Animal Kingdom, some Magic Kingdom, some Downtown Disney and some great meals!
 
It might have still be a relaxing ride if we weren't on the boat with three VERY drunk women. They were sitting on the two seats that face each other at the front. Not only were they talking and laughing very loudly, they decided to continuously take pictures of each other with their iPhones. So they were blinding everyone behind them, including us. Not just one time, but 16 separate times. Not one of these ladies apologized for blinding everyone. We just put our heads down so we would stop getting the bright light in our eyes. Talk about being obnoxious.


That could have been me. :rotfl2: Seriously kidding though - I turn my flash off. I hate that. I was referring to the tipsy part. :rotfl2:

I absolutely love your PP pictures from the last two updates. They are adorable. The shirt you are wearing to the AK is too cute. You really did get a lot done in one day: AK, MK, then DTD.

I love LTT and I really have to try the pot roast one of these days. It always looks so yummy.

Sounds like a great day.
 
That sounds like a great day -- some Animal Kingdom, some Magic Kingdom, some Downtown Disney and some great meals!


It was a great day! It was long and we were very tired, but that great "I am really tired, but I am in Disney, so this is awesome" tired.


That could have been me. :rotfl2: Seriously kidding though - I turn my flash off. I hate that. I was referring to the tipsy part. :rotfl2:

I absolutely love your PP pictures from the last two updates. They are adorable. The shirt you are wearing to the AK is too cute. You really did get a lot done in one day: AK, MK, then DTD.

I love LTT and I really have to try the pot roast one of these days. It always looks so yummy.

Sounds like a great day.


Somehow I am pretty sure you would at least call out Sorry!! :rotfl:

Glad you love the pics. We were really lucky this time around with the photographers. They did a great job.

Thank you! It is a nice medium weight hoodie that I got from the Disney store on sale for $30! When I saw it was on sale, I bought it quickly. It is very soft on the inside and just the right warmth level for early mornings or late nights in Florida in February.

I love LTT also. The pot roast was great, but the sorbet with the fresh fruit was AMAZING!
 
Hello again! Time for another update. I will probably get another one in tomorrow and will probably not be on during the weekend since it is Mother's Day and my birthday!


We our now starting our fourth day. We got up early and ate breakfast while watching the tv. We wanted to see who one the game so we would know who was in the parade. Remember the Superbowl was on the night before? Well that means the MVP parade would be in the Magic Kingdom today! I am a diehard Saints fan, so I didn't care about seeing the parade BUT I wanted to make sure if we ended up in the Magic Kingdom, it was AFTER the parade. We were heading to my favorite park, Epcot!

When we got to the park, security lines were pretty long, so we decided to meet by the turnstiles and we split up to get into lines. I was through first and went to the turnstile. Several minutes passed before Jeremy came around the corner shaking his head. Apparently some guy with one of those huge double strollers had been pushing his way through people and stating he needed to get by his wife. He clipped the older lady in front of Jeremy and almost knocked her down. While Jeremy was checking on her, the guard asked the man to step to the side, called the local sheriff and another guard over, and told the man to remove all of his items from the stroller and the two completely searched every area. I hope it took 30 minutes. The lady was fine by the way.

Our plan was for Jeremy to take our passes and get Soarin' fast passes and I would meander over and meet him. We got through the gates, he walked quickly to the Land and I sauntered behind. I met up with him as he was coming back out. We decided to walk over and try the new Test Track. The wait stated 15 minutes, so in we went. We designed our car, and made our way to the loading dock. Right as we got in our positions, the ride went down. A technician came out quickly and worked on the ride for about 10 minutes and it was back up. Jeremy and I got in and they put a single rider in the front seat with us and no one in the back. Why they didn't put her in the backseat, I have no idea :confused3 She was very nice however. So how did we like it? It was pretty good. It really feels like you are in Tron. It is ok, and I could take it or leave it. The best part is the spin outside, so all is good! We took our redneck photo this time:





We walked through the requisite exit area and dump shop then headed to Soarin'. Confession time: We have never been on Soarin'. I know , I know, but screens like this can make Jeremy nauseated. We decided to try it this time. We were the last two pulled to ride. We were in the last row, last two seats on the right. So what did we think? Meh. Before you shun me, let me explain. I enjoyed it, but could take it or leave it. A once a trip kind of ride. I look over at Jeremy and see this: :sick: Uh-oh, that is not good. He literally asks me for some water not 5 seconds after we got up. After we exit the ride, we sat in Sunshine Seasons for a bit to let his tummy settle. We then headed to Living with the Land. We love this ride and I miss the song. I still sing it though while riding. Listen to the land...:rolleyes1





We decided to head to World Showcase now as we had lunch ADRs. We decided to head to Norway and while walking there, we had a great conversation with a couple celebrating their 50th anniversary. This is why I love Disney. You can connect with complete strangers in the most innocuous places. When we parted ways in Norway, the husband looks over at us and says "you all will make it. I can feel it." :hug: Thank you Sir! That helps remind us of the great times when we go through the not so great times.

Soon we are going back, back, over the falls. I really like this ride and I can remember riding it with my dad when it opened. I thought I was a big girl because I liked it even though those trolls were kind of scary and it had 2 drops. Here are a few pictures we have taken in World Showcase so far:
















And then we did that :rotfl:


We did some window shopping for later in the week on our way to Germany. We were having lunch at the Biergarten! We enjoy this place and like the Bavarian seating. In case you hadn't noticed, I am very outgoing. Jeremy is more laid back, but I love people. So does my step mother Jackie. We are two peas in a pod that way! We were seated with a lady probably in her early thirties, like me, and her nephew who appeared to be around 10. They did not want to speak at all. That is fine, Jeremy and I just talked to each other. We had great service and the food was yummy. Sorry, no pics.

We waddled out and went to the caramel place to get caramel corn for later of course. We decided to start heading to the front of the park to head out. We decided to take our time and some pictures on our way out. And of course we stopped in France for a slushie and then went to England to enjoy it. The rest of our Epcot pics from today:




















We decided to ride Figment, Nemo, and Spaceship Earth on our way out. Time for one last picture!




So would we head to the Magic Kingdom and brave the huge crowd or would we head somewhere else? Come back and see me to find out!!!!
 
Nice update!

Weird with the man and the stroller getting searched like that. Certainly not something you see every day.

I am really looking forward to trying the new TT.

Bummer that Jeremy felt ill on Soarin. I give him props for trying.

It looks like you guys are having a ton of fun in the world showcase!
 
It was now around 4:00 so we decided to monorail to the Magic Kingdom. The parade was at 3:00. so we decided to brave it. We were soon on the highway in the sky enjoying the ride. Side note: I love taking the monorail. I listen to the audio track and look out the window and grin. I also get upset when the car is full and people are talking loudly so I can't hear the track.

Anyway, back on topic! :) We pull into the station and look down and see a sea of Ravens jerseys. No worries! I like the Ravens. I love the Saints, I am good with all other teams EXCEPT the Falcons. Best commercial ever was the NFL Sunday Ticket with the older man in NOLA and the Falcon's fan next door and the old man has a voodoo doll and says "Dirty bird can't fly with a broke wing." Love it! As we enter the park, the mood is festive and they have special decorations up and the band is playing. Here are some pictures:











We went to the tip board and lines were listed as pretty long. We decided to go watch the Hall of Presidents and see how things looked after. We walked over to HoP and went in. A few pictures for your viewing entertainment:











We come out and check the My Disney Experience App and............ times were even longer. We decided to call it a day. I know, I know, we went to the Magic Kingdom and only watched HoP. But, we have a pre park opening ADR at Crystal Palace tomorrow, so we will be here again tomorrow to do everything! We stopped and got some popcorn as a snack and had a few more pictures:











On our way out, the were handing out the balloons from the parade. A nice cast member asked us if we would like some Mickey balloons. Why yes, we would! Guess what? MORE PICTURES!








We were soon back at the resort. We went to the room for a while and watched TV. Look what we had waiting for us:





We got several that week. We decided after awhile to go and get something to eat. Jeremy got a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich and fries and apple slices and I got a personal pepperoni pizza and side salad and apple slices. After dinner we decided to do a small photo shoot. BACK STORY!!!!! In NOLA when we celebrate, we do what is called a Second Line. Weddings, funerals, birthdays, Mardi Gras, It's Wednesday, whatever. :) We were at Disney the week before Mardi Gras and I had told my dad previously that I was going to Second Line across the lobby when we got there, but I wished I had a Second Line umbrella. Jeremy didn't think I would do it, but as you know probably by now, I absolutely did! Well, my dad came through and sent me the most amazing Second Line umbrella. Here is a picture of me with it:





Now, what you can't see of it is all of the sequins on the ribbing, the sequin Fluer dis Lis, the sequin tragedy and comedy masks, and the glitter top hat with giant Mardi Gras babies on top. LOVE IT!!!!!!


We soon decided to head to the room for an early night since we had 8:30 ADR at Crystal Palace the next morning. Y'all come back now, ya hear?
 
Nice update!

Weird with the man and the stroller getting searched like that. Certainly not something you see every day.

I am really looking forward to trying the new TT.

Bummer that Jeremy felt ill on Soarin. I give him props for trying.

It looks like you guys are having a ton of fun in the world showcase!


I am pretty sure the guard just wanted to give the guy a hard time. Can't say I blame him very much since the guy was being a jerk.

I felt bad that it made him ill, but I am glad he tried it! It may ride it by myself.

We had soooooo much fun! I just love World Showcase.
 
Bonjour! Not from NOLA myself, but got roots in Houma in Terrebonne Parrish...

Loving your TR and really want to stay at the same resort. It just seems like it would feel like home to me.:goodvibes:

Big Saints fan too---cha ching!:rotfl:
 
The park does look really nice and festive. Surprise Mickey balloons? How awesome!
Gone to Google "Second Line"... :rotfl:
 
Bonjour! Not from NOLA myself, but got roots in Houma in Terrebonne Parrish...

Loving your TR and really want to stay at the same resort. It just seems like it would feel like home to me.:goodvibes:

Big Saints fan too---cha ching!:rotfl:


Go to bed, you have connections in Houma? When we were leaving the Animal Kingdom and stopped for a photo pass picture and the photographer was from Houma. I turned to Jeremy and said "Look, he is from Houma!" The photographer looked at me and said "You have got to be from Southeast Louisiana since you pronounced it right!"

I grew up in West Jefferson Parish and my family still lives there and in St. Tammany.

I have the habit of shouting Who Dat at anyone with a Fleur Dis Lis on. And if they have anything LSU on, I shout Tiger Bait!!!! :rotfl:


The park does look really nice and festive. Surprise Mickey balloons? How awesome!
Gone to Google "Second Line"... :rotfl:


I thought it was pretty cool to get the red balloons.

Second Lines are super fun! You should try it sometime.
 
It has been a crazy week at work. I will be out of the office next week for 2 and a half days at a conference and I was out one day this week seeing clients, so I have been swamped. I have to go in and work for a few hours tomorrow to get some more stuff done. Finally an update!!!!!


We had an 8:30 am ADR at Crystal Palace this morning, so we were at the bus stop by 7:30. The park opened at 9, so we were hoping if we got there early, we could get seated early and be done by 9. A bus was just pulling up as we arrived so we walked right on and were pulling into the Magic Kingdom at 7:45. We went in the early ADR line and soon were on Main Street. Here is a pic.





We checked in and they were seating us at 8:05! We had a table that was in a great location: right side of the building and a view of the castle. :lovestruc Our server soon came over and got our drink order. She was wonderful!!!! Soon we were enjoying a great meal in one of my favorite places. Why you ask? I love the 100 Acre Woods characters. We got to see all of the characters. Here is proof:














We were soon on our way. So what time did we get out? 8:55 baby!!!!!! We heard the end of the opening show as we walked out to the hub. We went up and through the castle and as we got to the castle, we looked back and saw a sea of people coming. Glad we beat them! We were stopped right by Sir Mickey's by a rope. Our plan was to do Under the Sea with no wait. They let us through and we walked in a orderly fashion to Under the Sea to have two cast members say "Sorry, it is down. Please come back later." Well darn! We decided to go and get a fast pass and head to Peter Pan before it got crazy. Here are some pics showing how empty it was:








We soon had a fast pass for Under the Sea with a return time around 10:30. We then went to Peter Pan expecting a 20 minute wait already. Instead, it was a walk on. :thumbsup2 After our amazing flight, we decided to go ride Winnie the Pooh before the line became long. It was also a walk on. All I can say is that our luck was holding for the day! We then headed back to ride It's a Small World. We enjoy this ride. It is kitchy, but it is a good ride. As most children do, I loved this ride as a kid. As my dad about the time I made him ride it 5 times in a row. ;) After a tour through the world, we went and rode the Haunted Mansion with about a 5 minute wait. It was now time for Under the Sea. I know this seems like a lot of back and forth, but we wanted to get some of the rides done before wait times were lengthy and we wanted to finish Fantasyland. Haunted Mansion was a time filler decision. On the way to New Fantasyland, Jeremy took this picture:




Pretty good, huh?

We rode Under the Sea and really enjoyed it. You really feel like you are transported to another world and Scuttles was great! We went and looked in the shops and took some pics and waited about 10 minutes to see Gaston. If you haven't met him, do yourself a favor and do it! The cast member we had was great and spent at least 5 minutes talking to us. The photopass photographer took 15 pictures of us with him! Here are some pics:








We decided to head to Tomorrowland. We got fast passes for Buzz and then went to the People Mover, of course. Back to back rides!!! Now that is pure heaven. We hopped off and went to help Buzz ride the universe of the evil Emperor. Jeremy won, as per usual. I an not great at this ride. It is not skill for me, but more "I hope I am shooting at something and here is hoping I hit something." It was now time to head across the hub to go to Adventureland. We took this pic on the way:





We got fast passes for Jungle Cruise and went to watch the Tiki Room. I am glad they went back to the old show. No offense Iago, but this classic is better! When we were done, we decided to ride the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. We had never ridden it and the line was shorter than Dumbo, so why not? Here are some pictures:










Not too busy!








It was now time for a snack since we didn't really want lunch after the big breakfast. What did we have? The ONLY thing you get as a snack in Adventureland: DOLE WHIP!!!! Jeremy got a float of Orange soft serve in pineapple juice and I got a pineapple/vanilla swirl in a cup. So tasty. I could go for one now! We could now use our fast pass so we went out for our several week voyage. Corny as always! Now, my notes say we went to do Country Bear Jamboree. Apparently we didn't ride Pirates. I can't really believe it since we love that ride, but Jeremy's notes don't say we rode it either. :confused3 Must have had a long line. We head over to do the Country Bear Jamboree. I hadn't done this since I was a kid and Jeremy had never done it. He loved it! I laughed and sang along. By now we were getting a little tired and it was 2:30. We decided to call it a day for the park, but we weren't ready to end our day. We took the train from the Frontierland station around to the front and headed to the bus stop. We had received free admission to Disney Quest and decided to check it out! Soon we were on our way to POFQ. So did we enjoy Disney Quest? Check back to find out!
 
Ash didn't tell you about the time the castmembers let us stay on the #@$&**ing boat and let us ride Small World twice in succession. Thank God we had reservations at King Stefan's Banquet Hall (people who remember Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village I'm sure will remember King Stefan's). so we had to get off. Where the $#&*@ was her mother?:mad:
 
Wow, you guys got a LOT done before 2:30! Great job!
I love early morning Crystal Palace breakfasts. Pooh is super cute.
 















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