Escape from Real Life to Paradise: A New Trip with New Memories - Completed 4/3

[cstorm65]

This will be a short update, but I wanted to get a little something done tonight as it could be a busy week here as it is the last week of school before our spring break. Hope everyone has a great one!

July 2 - Part 3 - You Mean That Ride is Broken Down Too?

When we got back to the Wilderness Lodge we went down to Roaring Fork to get us some lunch. I had a bacon cheeseburger and DW and DS split the turkey and swiss sandwich. We both got the homemade chips as the side as we both love them! We really enjoyed the food here most of the time. It always seemed to be made fresh and was always executed well.

After lunch we put DS down for a nap and he slept for about three hours. While DW and DS napped I headed down to sit in one of my favorite places in the lodge, by the fireplaces on the 4th floor. This is such a great, relaxing area to just rest. I read a little bit and just enjoyed looking out over the lobby.

DS got up around 4:30 and we packed our park bag for the last time and got on a Magic Kingdom bus at around 5:00 and were at the gates about 10 minutes later. We headed towards Adventureland as it was just about time to use one of our FP+’s at the Jungle Cruise. We hadn’t ridden it yet on this trip so we definitely had to do that one tonight. DS wanted to sit on my lab for this one.

DS loved this ride, especially seeing all of the animals.

He just sat and pointed at things and seemed to have a great time!

After our ride on the Jungle Cruise we stopped by Pirates, but it was down, and that would become a theme for the next hour or so. We headed on into Frontierland and our plan was to use a couple of child swap passes we had left for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Well, right as I was about to show my child swap pass the guy stepped in front of the line and said they just radioed them and the ride was down. Are you kidding! We thought about trying Haunted Mansion at that point, but after a quick check of the My Disney Experience app we were not all that surprised at this point...yes, you guessed it...it was broken down too. We took that to mean three strikes and you're out! So we decided we would hit some rides later and that it was time for dinner, so we headed to one of our favorite quick service spots in any park. You’ll have to wait until next time to hear about it!
​

Up Next: Oh, That Ride is Back Open!​

 

[KatMark]

for Jungle Cruise...and DS enjoying it. BOO for POTC and Big Thunder and Haunted being down. That's three big ones right there. That must have made for some very long lines elsewhere.

Hmmmm...since this is is the first TR of yours I'm reading, I'm not sure where you go to dinner.

 

[cstorm65]

for Jungle Cruise...and DS enjoying it. BOO for POTC and Big Thunder and Haunted being down. That's three big ones right there. That must have made for some very long lines elsewhere.

I know it was like dominos falling! So we just decided it must be time for some dinner!

Hmmmm...since this is is the first TR of yours I'm reading, I'm not sure where you go to dinner.

Hopefully later this afternoon I'll get an update done!

 

[cstorm65]

July 2 - Part 4 - Oh, That Ride is Back Open!

So we had finished trying to ride three straight rides that were down and decided that was a sign that it was time for dinner. So we stopped in to have dinner at one of our favorites, Columbia Harbour House. We even snagged an upstairs table with a great view.

DS loved his Mac ‘n Cheese so much that I didn’t even get a picture taken before he had dug in. I guess DW enjoyed hers too as it is almost gone in the background. She usually gets the kids meal with one piece of fish and one chicken strip. It is just the right size and she loves it!

I got the fish platter, and it was good as usual.

The fish here is good, not quite on the level of Yorkshire in World Showcase, but definitely good. And the atmosphere in here is great. No matter how hectic it is out on the streets of Liberty Square inside the restaurant is always fairly enjoyable, especially if you sit upstairs.

I got a picture of the riverboat, which we still have not ever ridden in three major trips.

While we had been eating dinner I had checked the My Disney Experience app and it said Big Thunder was back open so we headed straight there after dinner. It was open and I let DW ride first. It took about 20 minutes because the FP line was backed up from all the people who wanted on the ride since it had been down all day. I still think it is funny that they have set up queue’s to get into the FP queue because they can find a way to get band’s scanned quick enough. I rode after DW and right as I got to the first scan point the ride closed again. This time I think it was because there was lightning within the 30 mile limit or whatever that limit is.

After being disappointed at Big Thunder again we shopped in one of the stores there in Liberty Square and DS recognized this book because some friends gave him this exact one. They are great bedtime stories!

We then headed over to Fantasyland and tried to do it’s a small world, but the wait was 30 minutes and we just felt that was too long for that ride so we moved on. I did manage to get a shot of the storm clouds that caused Big Thunder to close down.

We next had FP’s for Peter Pan at 7:00. While we were trying to get into the FP line there was a large group making a commotion. They had a “Choice FP” which is what you get when a ride you have a FP for closes down during the day. The Choice FP allows you to ride any of the attractions that are LISTED once during the rest of the day. The key to that was that they list about six attractions that you can use these at. Unfortunately for this group Peter Pan was not on that list, and these people weren’t taking no for an answer despite the cast member reading the email they had gotten verbatim to them and reading all six of the attractions they could go to. I don’t know what ended up happening because another cast member showed up and started letting those waiting behind this group into the FP queue.

We had a great ride on Peter Pan and then we went to DS’s favorite ride, the Carousel.

He would ride that all night! It was about 7:30 by this time and we headed back to ride Under the Sea. DS wanted to walk through this queue like a big boy!

After the ride I ran over and got us a LeFou’s Brew and some water to share and it was extremely refreshing. I think we walked to Storybook Circus to rest and have our drinks. Of course DW and DS had to pose for us!

I’m not sure what we did in the circus area because my notes and pictures now head back to Mickey’s Philharmagic, so we must have gone back into “Original Fantasyland”...is that what it is called now? So DS and I got our obligatory picture in 3D glasses.

DS loved this show on this trip and watched the entire thing, which is a big step up over our last trip. By this time it was 8:30 and we headed to Tomorrowland because we had a special event later on. I did get a ride in on Space Mountain with a FP, but the ride photo never showed up. The FP line was about a 20 minute wait, but I think there had been so many rides down due to weather that day that the FP lines couldn’t get caught up. That will do it for this update, I’ll be back next time with a report on our special event!

Up Next: Wishes...And the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Disorganized Mess​

 

[KatMark]

We LOVE Colubmia Harbor House and try to eat there at least once if not twice every trip. I've never had the fish platter...may have to try that next time (I usually get the shrimp dinner). I'm glad DW got on BTMR, but sorry you missed out again. I bought that book recently from Amazaon. And why did I do that since I don't have any grandchildren yet? For future grandbabies of course.

Some people just don't want to follow the rules or what it says on a piece of paper. We've become a very selfish society in some regards.

Yay for your ride on Peter Pan and another ride on the Carrousel...DS's favorite. I think it's just "Fantasyland" and "New Fantasyland"...or maybe now it's just back to Fantasyland for both. I've probably made that more complicated than it had to be.

You guys look great in your 3D glasses.

Okay...I have an idea where you are going next. And, if I'm right, curious to hear your thoughts on it. I've still never done it (if it's what I think it is) and still contemplating it for October.

 

[cstorm65]

We LOVE Colubmia Harbor House and try to eat there at least once if not twice every trip. I've never had the fish platter...may have to try that next time (I usually get the shrimp dinner).

We go there every trip at least once too! I agree, the shrimp is definitely good as well.

I'm glad DW got on BTMR, but sorry you missed out again. I bought that book recently from Amazaon. And why did I do that since I don't have any grandchildren yet? For future grandbabies of course.

I think I enjoy reading the bedtime stories to him as much as he does hearing it!

Some people just don't want to follow the rules or what it says on a piece of paper. We've become a very selfish society in some regards.

Agreed!!

You guys look great in your 3D glasses.

Thanks...DS loves to play with those things while waiting. Although he doesn't love to wear them during the show!

Okay...I have an idea where you are going next. And, if I'm right, curious to hear your thoughts on it. I've still never done it (if it's what I think it is) and still contemplating it for October.

Hopefully later today!

 

[cstorm65]

July 2 - Part 5 - Wishes...And the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Disorganized Mess

So we had spent a little time in Tomorrowland in preparation for a special event that we have loved in the past, the Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party. Before I get to that I had saved a few pictures and even a dancing DS video from Tomorrowland so this update would have some fun stuff!

Now, if you don’t like reading negative stuff about Disney World skip to my next update. I am going to try and not dwell on this, but I need to honestly report what we found at the Dessert Party on this night. I hope you all know I don’t complain very often about Disney, but this is well deserved criticism. I will also say the Disney Parks blog, just yesterday, announced this experience was getting revamped starting in July of this year and the price tag is going to be twice as expensive, $49 for adults, whereas in the past we have paid around $25 for adults. After thinking back on this experience for us they better do a lot of improving if they are doubling the cost.

So on to our experience. We arrived at the check in line at 9:05, which was our reservation time exactly and the line to check in was huge. We have done this experience twice before and always shown up right at reservation time and waited only 5 minutes or less to be seated.

I think the easiest way for me to do the rest of the party experience is bullet points so I don’t ramble on in meaningless sentences.
​

• As soon as we got in we saw a huge line for desserts, much longer than either of the two previous times we had been here. We got in line at 9:05, got to our table around 9:20, and didn’t get back with our first plates of dessert until 9:35. That was a little ridiculous. Compared to our other two trips they have dramatically increased the number of people in attendance at the party, but have not increased the dessert space or number of desserts at all. The check in procedure and dessert procedure is the same now with probably double the people of the other times we have been to the party.
  ​
• Another major complaint for us was that they do not have a photopass photographer in attendance anymore. On our other visits they had a photographer taking pictures with a nicely lit castle in the background, which were some of our favorite picks, this year...no photographer.
  ​
• The buffet was extremely disorganized. Half of the desserts were empty when we first got to the buffet line, 30 minutes after checking in. There was no shortage of cast members, probably 15 of them all running around frantically, but there was still no desserts on the bar and the drinks were empty. Their efficiency was terrible and they had absolutely no direction in how to re-stock the buffet.
  ​
• If you have done the party you know that around 9:40 people start lining up on the railing at the front of the party area for a view of the fireworks. Since it took us so long to get desserts we were still eating, but our table was the first row of tables so we could see over people ok, so we weren’t that worried. The view was still good and we saw over people ok, after all this is what we were paying for.
  ​
• Now, here is where I got extremely frustrated. I mean everything up until this point was frustrating, but I understand at times they have an off night and that is ok, but the cast member I was about to encounter has not right to work at Disney! This lady, who I won’t mention her name, I found out later was the director of the whole dessert party experience. When I heard that I thought to myself “no wonder the entire things was a disorganized disaster.” As the fireworks were starting I was at the chair at our table with my back directly to the castle, so I stood up and just turned my chair around so I could see. The back of my chair was literally touching our table, so I had not moved it out into the aisle at all. About 5 minutes in this lady was walking through the area and said, “I am going to need you to move that chair back immediately, you are not allowed to move your chair into the walkway.” I tried explaining to her that my chair was touching the table, and exactly where it was when we had been seated that I had just turned it around and she looked at me and said, “No, that is not where that chair was placed, you need to move it to the backside of the table.” I was stunned and appalled. This was also happening in front of other guests who I know were trying to see the fireworks so I just moved my chair back to the side of the table and she went away. My view was a little worse, but I was so frustrated with the entire experience. It was something I would expect from a regional amusement park, not Disney.​

All in all it was not a great experience, but I know things like this can have bad nights. I hate talking bad on Disney, but I hope they fix this experience because it has a lot of great potential. Of course, DS still enjoyed the fireworks. He “held me”, which is what he calls it, the entire time and just watched with wide eyes. When I put that itto perspective it was still a fantastic night!

Sorry to be a downer, but I promise it doesn’t happen often and won’t happen again on this trip report.​

 

[cstorm65]

July 2 - Part 6 - Goodbye to the Magic Kingdom

After our sub-par dessert party I went over to use one final Space child swap pass and waited about 20 minutes in the FP line, but again rides had been down today so lines got backed up. We then headed over and used our Seven Dwarves child swap passes and the ride was awesome ag night. Still short, but really awesome in the dark. We headed out of the park around 11:10 and watched MSEP from town square. It was a nice ending to the night.

DS surprisingly acted really well tonight for how late it was and with the entire dessert party deal to sit through. A last party shot from the boat back to the Wilderness Lodge.

We were back in the room by 11:40. That’s it for our final full day. Will be back with our travels home later on.
​

Up Next: My Sweet Earl!​

 

[MEK]

I have to apologize for getting SO far behind on your TR (and many others). This is the worst I have ever gotten with the DIS. I almost just want to quit. Now who sounds like the downer????

Anyway - I read all the updates on this page. Like Kathy - I LOVE CHH. It's my fav counter service.

Re: the dessert party - I don't think you should apologize for complaining. When you are spending good money for an experience, it should be just that - a GOOD experience. I honestly will not even do this because I remember the days when you could sit in that area without having to pay for crappy desserts. I just don't think the quality of the desserts are even that good. Sort of a waste of calories, if you ask me. But, besides that - you should not have to wait that long and you should not be admonished for moving your chair to see. That's absurd. Sorry it stunk, but that picture of you and DS IS SO LOVELY and that's really what its all about!

 

[cstorm65]

I have to apologize for getting SO far behind on your TR (and many others). This is the worst I have ever gotten with the DIS. I almost just want to quit. Now who sounds like the downer????

You are forgiven and please don't quit! I know how you feel though. When things get so busy with school/sports for me I don't check in for weeks at a time, but it is just nice to get back even if I have a lot to catch up on.

Anyway - I read all the updates on this page. Like Kathy - I LOVE CHH. It's my fav counter service.

It is great!

Re: the dessert party - I don't think you should apologize for complaining. When you are spending good money for an experience, it should be just that - a GOOD experience. I honestly will not even do this because I remember the days when you could sit in that area without having to pay for crappy desserts. I just don't think the quality of the desserts are even that good. Sort of a waste of calories, if you ask me. But, besides that - you should not have to wait that long and you should not be admonished for moving your chair to see. That's absurd. Sorry it stunk, but that picture of you and DS IS SO LOVELY and that's really what its all about!

Thanks. I agree and we will now just become pros at watching the fireworks from elsewhere. In fact earlier in this trip we saw them from the boat back the Wilderness Lodge and it was great! We'll just have to find some other tricks like that in the future. Glad you got caught back up.

 

[cstorm65]

July 3 - Part 1 - My Sweet Earl!

We originally had plans to get up and spend a few hours in the Magic Kingdom to finish our trip, but sometime in the last couple of days we decided we didn’t really need it. So we slept in and got up at about 9:00. Very late for us!

Once we got dressed DS wanted to play a little.

We just spent until 11 or so packing up everything we hadn’t done yet and had bell services come get our bags. We tried resort airline check in, but this was at the weird time when if you were flying AirTran, but had booked on Southwest you couldn’t use this service. The cast members tried hard to make it work, but in the end we had to just store our bags and taken them ourselves.

We decided to take a bus to Downtown Disney at 11:20. We all know Downtown Disney busses are the worst, but let me just tell you the busses we saw during our wait and the time it took once we finally caught a bus.

2 Hollywood Studios Busses
3 Animal Kingdom Busses
3 Magic Kingdom Busses
4 Epcot Busses
1 Fort Wilderness Bus

Finally a bus came and here was where we went:
11:50 Downtown Disney bus arrived...Finally!
11:57 Stop at Grand Floridian
12:15 Stop at Typhoon Lagoon
12:30 Arrive at Downtown Disney...Finally.

So 70 minutes after getting to the bus stop we arrived. Oh well, it was all worth it for a visit to my sweet Earl of Sandwich! The line was long, but I persevered and enjoyed the most wonderful sandwich ever, the Full Montagu. DW got the Avocado BLT and potato salad and loved it. She is always a sucker for a BLT. DS loved the turkey and Swiss and ate almost all of it.

Potato Salad

Full Montagu

Right as we sat down with our food on the patio it started pouring rain, so we had to scoot the table a little, but we were in Earl Heaven! The rain eventually let up and we headed to our other favorite stop:

Ghirardelli. Who comes to Downtown Disney to shop? We come to eat! We just split the Cookie Bits Sundae and it was huge and excellent. Will definitely get that one again.

Cookie Bits Sundae

We also stopped for the first time in the Marketplace Co-Op Store. The one with all of the vintage Disney merchandise and kitchen stuff is awesome. In fact see my Christmas post in this TR as I was given some of that great stuff.

We got to admire some pics of Downtown Disney…….construction!

We caught a bus back to Wilderness Lodge at 1:50 and with only a stop at Typhoon Lagoon this time we were back by 2:15. Some pics from the ride. First, DS decided the bus ride was a great opportunity for a nap!

We also found our future home!

We got back around 2:15, 45 minutes to spare until our bus at 3:00. The saddest 45 minutes of the trip because we knew what was coming.

A parting shot of our favorite totem pole:

...And DS still napping!

​

Up Next: Sad Travel Post​

 

[cstorm65]

July 3 - Part 2 - Sad Travel Post

Sorry for the delay in this post. It has been a crazy last couple of weeks since our spring break. Things should slow down here a bit this weekend for the holiday though.

We were waiting at Wilderness Lodge, saying our final goodbyes, when the dreaded bus pulled up that would take us back to the airport. It had been a great trip, and a long trip, but it is still sad when you have to head home. We were on the road by 3:10 as we had a flight at around 6:00. We managed to get one picture on the Magical Express after our long and fantastic family trip.

We got to the airport at around 4:00 and it took over 45 minutes to get checked in. Remember we had to do it at the counter as we had AirTran flights booked through Southwest. We are now so glad the merger is finished for our trip this summer. We waited and waited and finally got to security around 5, but they had those lines moving pretty well so it didn’t take but about 15 minutes before we were at our gate. DS was looking very tired at the airport!

We thought we wouldn’t have much time, but there were some storms in the area so our flight got pushed back a little. We didn’t end up leaving until around 6:45 and had to connect in Atlanta. DS enjoyed reading magazines like his mommy was!

He was also really into putting band-aids on everything. I think all kids go through that phase. So he had to get a picture with all of his band-aids. It was a tough trip for him!

We only had about 20 minutes in Atlanta to get to our next flight bound for Oklahoma. We ended up seeing some friends who happened to be getting on the same flight as us. They had been vacationing in the Bahamas, it’s a small world!

The flight was uneventful and we arrived back in Oklahoma at around 10:00 and headed off home. That is it for our trip. We have one coming up in around 68 days, so I guess I have some time to do a little PTR for that one. I’ll post the link once I get it started. Thanks for reading along and a big thanks to those of you who comment. It makes this so much fun!

Have a great holiday everyone!​

 

[cstorm65]

Well, I had enough time today since we weren't in school for the holiday that I went ahead and got our Pre-Trip starts for our trip in June. Enjoy!

We’re Going For the Record...A Record Number of Resort Changes! A June 2015 PTR - Updated 4/3

 

[KatMark]

I'm sorry I fell behind....it's been crazy at work and we were in Phoenix for five days with DIS friends.

I'm so sorry to hear about this experience at the dessert party. I'm leaning against it with the increase in price.

Glad you got a coue last rides in.

One of my favorite reasons for staying at OKW has the boat to DTD.

Love Earl of Sandwich. And that ice cream looks yummy.

I've already subscribed to your PTR and am glad MEK asked I come join your TR.

 

[cstorm65]

I'm sorry I fell behind....it's been crazy at work and we were in Phoenix for five days with DIS friends.

I know what you mean. It's been crazy around hear as well!

I'm so sorry to hear about this experience at the dessert party. I'm leaning against it with the increase in price.

We are already booked for June, but after that it will be much harder to pull the trigger with the new price tag.

One of my favorite reasons for staying at OKW has the boat to DTD.

It is nice to just have a different mode of transportation than busses for sure!

Love Earl of Sandwich. And that ice cream looks yummy.

The ice cream is pretty expensive there, but one thing like that was plenty to split between the three of us. And it is really good!

I've reafy subscribed to your PTR and am ad MEK asked I come join your TR.

Great!! See you over there!

 

[MEK]

I seriously hate when you have to wait for ever for a bus and you see like 12 other buses while you're waiting. But I must say that lunch looks delish. I have not eaten at EOS in forever, so your pics make me want to head back there promptly.

That bridge construction that you are looking at in DTD is now completely finished. I took some pictures in February. It really looks amazing. I love how they are transforming DTD. It is going to be wonderful when it is completely done and it makes walking from SSR a snap.

I didn't even realize that Air Tran and SWA hadn't completely merged by last summer. I think they did in this region a few years ago. Glad you had uneventful flights home, even though you had a bit of a delay.

You really had an awesome summer trip. I enjoyed reading about it. Thanks for writing such a great report (even though I got behind several times). Heading over to sub to your new PTR now!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Glad your son enjoyed the Jungle Cruise so much - one of my favorites so clearly he has good taste

What a bummer about all those rides being down! I mean, it happens and Disney can't control the weather (yet, at least) but still doesn't make it less frustrating when several go down at once.

That family trying to get into PP sounds like something out of Spinal Tap: "Sorry, you can only use this at the rides indicated in the e-mail" "But we want to go on Peter Pan ... and our FP+ goes up to 11"

Really sucks you didn't enjoy the dessert party. We did it for the first time our last trip and had fairly long line to check in and no PP photographer so I guess I never experienced it without that. And while there also were some lengthy lines for food at the beginning they seemed to replace stuff pretty quick and we never felt like there wasn't food or drink available (until the very end). The CMs also were very friendly so I think that helped. Overall we enjoyed it but I don't think I can justify the cost increase to do it again. I guess people will still pay it.

Getting to DTD can often be a pain but that trip sounds extra ridiculous. Especially with the parking situation there you'd think they'd increase the # of buses. Your food looked really good though!

Glad the trip home was relatively uneventful and your son did so well on the plane. Excited for your new trip!

 

[cstorm65]

I seriously hate when you have to wait for ever for a bus and you see like 12 other buses while you're waiting. But I must say that lunch looks delish. I have not eaten at EOS in forever, so your pics make me want to head back there promptly.

You must get over there! So good and so cheap!

That bridge construction that you are looking at in DTD is now completely finished. I took some pictures in February. It really looks amazing. I love how they are transforming DTD. It is going to be wonderful when it is completely done and it makes walking from SSR a snap.

I agree. It looks like it will be a really cool, especially all of those new restaurants like The Boathouse.

You really had an awesome summer trip. I enjoyed reading about it. Thanks for writing such a great report (even though I got behind several times). Heading over to sub to your new PTR now!

Thanks for reading and commenting. Can't wait to see you over there!

Glad your son enjoyed the Jungle Cruise so much - one of my favorites so clearly he has good taste

Good taste indeed! He really did enjoy it, even the cave part.

What a bummer about all those rides being down! I mean, it happens and Disney can't control the weather (yet, at least) but still doesn't make it less frustrating when several go down at once.

It was a little frustrating, but it was really no big deal for us, we were at the end of a long trip with a few days in the Magic Kingdom. I hate it for people that are only there in the park for one day and things like that start to happen. Maybe Disney is working on controlling the weather...maybe before long we will be selecting the temperature and weather 60 days in advance. They can call it Weather+!

Really sucks you didn't enjoy the dessert party. We did it for the first time our last trip and had fairly long line to check in and no PP photographer so I guess I never experienced it without that. And while there also were some lengthy lines for food at the beginning they seemed to replace stuff pretty quick and we never felt like there wasn't food or drink available (until the very end). The CMs also were very friendly so I think that helped. Overall we enjoyed it but I don't think I can justify the cost increase to do it again. I guess people will still pay it.

The cost increase is definitely crazy, unless they really, really plus up the experience. I do hope that ours last experience was just a one time bad night as we all know that happens.

Getting to DTD can often be a pain but that trip sounds extra ridiculous. Especially with the parking situation there you'd think they'd increase the # of buses. Your food looked really good though!

Hopefully with all of the added great things they are doing/building there they fix what is really the only bad part of Disney Transportation, getting to DTD.

Glad the trip home was relatively uneventful and your son did so well on the plane. Excited for your new trip!

He was great on the planes! Thanks for reading along and we'll see you over at the PTR!