"Even the Garbage Cans Have Flowers!"-A September 2016 Mother-Daughter TR!- NEW TR LINK 9/13!

[Mollydolly334]

Nice review. Glad you got to ride splash with your FP+! We also love people mover and buzz. My daughter will not tell me how she does it but she gets the 999,999 almost every ride! Impressed with your mom's score, mine is more like yours. Rain stinks in MK the walkways flood fast!

Thank you!! I have no idea how my mom is so talented at Buzz, and I'd like to think I have okay aim! And YES the walkways were so flooded, especially in Tomorrowland! We were dodging puddles everywhere and there would just be huge rivers of sludgy water

I like CoP too, but I haven't seen it since 2008. That's was my first trip with my wife and step-daughter. Unfortunately my wife thought it was boring ( ) so we haven't been back. But I need to do it again. I'd like to see what my step-daughter thinks of it now at 16 and my youngest hasn't even seen it.


My first trip was when I was 9 and I was amazed at flying over London.


It's a Small World gets a bad rap from some, but I like it. It actually the first ride my family does on each trip. To us it just means "we're at Disney" and it's a great way to start off a trip.


I haven't tried the special Mac & cheese but they look good. Yet another thing to put on my "need to try" list!

Carousel of Progress...boring??? How dare she! To be honest, I thought that it was going to be boring when I first rode it, but I was so pleasantly surprised!

It's a Small World is a great first ride!! Before Mom and I started to make Spaceship Earth a tradition, we used to do Snow White's Scary Adventures as our first ride! I miss it so much!

The Friar's Nook mac and cheese is a must-try! It's warm, gooey, and unique from the usual QS fare!

I'm also the worst at Buzz But I make up for it at the Men In Black ride at Universal. I blame the guns too!

Haha seriously girl, I think the guns are so hard to shoot! They are too hard on my fingers and it takes a lot of effort to pull the trigger! Now look at me, sounding like a little princess

Ugh I am horrible at Buzz! I'm much better at TSMM, not sure why.
I HATE putting a poncho on Especially when it's hot and muggy because they make you feel hotter and muggier and just......gross. But I think wet socks and sneakers are worse lol.
I'm not a Big Mac n Cheese person but something about the M&C at Friar's Nook intrigues me Was it honestly that good?

Haha, same!! I don't understand how I can be good at TSMM but so bad at Buzz??

Ugh, both ponchos and wet socks make me cringe Needless to say, the next day I wore sandals

The Friar's Nook's mac and cheese was very good! I would definitely order it on a cold, rainy night like we did. It is piping hot and really soupy with liquid cheese. Usually, I don't like the liquid-y kind of mac and cheese (my favorite is from Noodles and Company), but the meat balanced it out and it totally warmed us up!!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Day 2: Part 6- “Sometimes Castles Fall to the Ground, But That's Where Four Leaf Clovers are Found!”


Hello my Disney-loving peeps! Where I last left off, my Mom and I had a tough decision to make. It was still raining after a 4-hour washout, and the 9:00 showing of MSEP had just been cancelled! We weren't sure if we should stick it out and stay in MK, or call it a night and head back to the GF.


I was tired of being out of the rain, but my mom was in good spirits and reminded me of something very important, stating, “A rainy day at Disney is better than a sunny day at work.” Oh how I needed that!!


It can be so hard sometimes when something doesn't work out like you planned. I had spent months and months planning every last second of our trip to make it perfect, and the rain was dampening our hopes of seeing the shows comfortably (no pun intended). I definitely needed that reality check that things aren’t perfect all the time (even in WDW) and that just because something isn't perfect doesn't mean it can't be fun! We were already soaked from the rain, so we decided that we might as well stick it out and stay in the park. After a hug and some reassurance, we were ready to carry on and conquer!


Since we hadn't done much of Adventureland earlier, we decided to venture (I’m full of puns tonight! ) back there and see what we could find. I had heard many good things about Jungle Cruise at night, so we decided to give that a whirl! It was still raining, but not as hard, so they were still sending boats off.


Like Carousel of Progress, we first rode Jungle Cruise back in 2015. It was fun, but kind of a one-and-done for us. We were hoping that riding it at night could give us a new perspective!

And...meh. It was good, but still a one-and-done in our opinions. We didn’t have an amazing skipper, so that could have affected things! We will still continue to ride Jungle Cruise, but only once a trip!


By the time we got off our boat, it was about 9:20, and we wanted to catch a good spot for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes! So, we booked it towards Main Street to check out the crowds. We were not too optimistic, since it had been very crowded all day and we expected the hub to be packed!


But much to our surprise, it was completely empty We were so happy that we stayed for the shows, because we literally had our pick of any spot in the hub!! We even got to sit down on a ledge near the middle, and had a perfect view of the castle. On top of this, the rain finally stopped as soon as we sat in our spots! It just shows that Disney is full of magical moments, even when you least expect it

Our amazing view!

Love the Halloween decorations!!


Pretty soon, the shows started! We like to sit back and soak in the beauty of Celebrate the Magic and Wishes, so I didn’t take any photos! My mom managed to capture this one awesome shot during Wishes.

I swear, I don’t know what I would do if they ever got rid of Wishes. I love Celebrate the Magic as well, but I’m also excited for it to get a reboot! The concept of the castle art is so stunning. I will never forget the first time my mom saw Celebrate the Magic back in 2013. She was in awe, and still is!


Wishes never ceases to make me cry. And I’m not talking a single, glistening, tear. I’m talking a full-on, ugly cry. Everything about it is perfect! The music, the lights, Tink flying in from the castle! Ahhhh!

Well naturally, when I started to cry at the end of Wishes, my mom did too! She always cries when she sees me cry After our mini sob-fest, we dried our tears and headed down Main Street for some shopping!


Shopping on Main Street is always one of mom and I’s must-do’s. If you can’t tell already, we are big shoppers and always find something we like on Main Street! We peeked into the Main Street Gallery, Uptown Jewelers, Crystal Arts, Disney Clothiers, and the Emporium!

When I get rich someday, this will be displayed in the front room of my house


At the Emporium, I decided to get a mystery pin! I have been wanting to collect pins for a while now, but always have such a hard time choosing which pins to get. Well, with the mystery pins, it’s not my decision, it’s all random! My mom loved this concept and gave me the great idea to buy a new mystery pin each day of the trip! This got me so excited to start my pin collection, and I couldn’t wait to buy my first pin.


Deciding to wait until we got back to the GF to open it, we decided to head towards the Confectionary. It was about 20 minutes until the 11:00 PM showing of MSEP, and we wanted to get some treats for the parade! The smell of the Confectionary is soooo yummy We always come in here a few times per trip “just to look,” but then walk out with all sorts of sweets that we didn’t actually need.


When we got in, I was instantly drawn to the corner of the store where a girl was spinning cotton candy. Looking closer, I was shocked. I RECOGNIZED that employee!!! It was my friend from college, Katy!


I met Katy in school through our theatre program! Katy did the DCP last year and was a waitress at Yachtsman’s Steakhouse. She loved it so much that she moved down to Florida once her program finished and she now works for Disney full-time! I called her name, and she ran over to me and gave me a huge hug, as well as a free cotton candy! We talked for a bit about how she’s doing, but she had to get back to work, so we couldn’t get a picture But, it was so nice catching up with her, and it just made me want to move down to Orlando so I can be just like her! I mean, working at the Main Street Confectionary?? Talk about the coolest job ever!


We said our goodbyes to Katy, and then Mom and I set off in search of a caramel apple. My mom is a caramel apple freak, if you haven’t noticed, and she had a hankering for another one after last night. She decided on Minnie Mouse caramel apple.

(Not my photo, but this is the one she picked out).


Then, when we were checking out, a random employee came up to us and gave me a huge, Mickey-shaped chocolate chip cookie! I was floored and thanked him, and he replied, “No problem. Happy and grateful customers are always our favorite.” It made me glad that Mom and I were seen as “good customers”, because God only knows what these Disney workers have seen and what kind of customers they have dealt with!


With our treats in hand, we sat down on the sidewalk right outside the Confectionary to watch the 11:00 parade! The crowds had really cleared out, so we had no problem getting an awesome view! We were relieved, because this was the last time that we ever saw the MSEP Hopefully it makes it’s way back to WDW eventually. Although, if the rumors are true, I would be stoked to see Paint the Night come to Magic Kingdom!

The theme to MSEP is so catchy! If you can’t tell, the music of something really makes or breaks it for me. But, I am also in the majority opinion that although it is vintage and nostalgic, the floats are outdated and Magic Kingdom is in need of something fresh and new.


Once the MSEP finished, we made our way back into Fantasyland by way of Tomorrowland to catch our fourth FP for Winnie the Pooh!

Nothing like Tomorrowland at night!


Winnie the Pooh had had a 45-minute line all day, so we were happy to get a last minute fastpass for it. We love this ride, but wouldn’t wait 45 minutes for it! My mom always laughs at how trippy the scene is with the Heffalumps and Woozles. I will give her that; the ride is cute but very bizarre.


We were ready to head out of the park after Winnie the Pooh, but I checked MDE and saw a 5-minute wait for Splash Mountain. GO GO GO!!

This was such a great way to round out our night in Magic Kingdom! Splash Mountain at night is something that everyone needs to experience at least once. It has such a different feeling at night, and it is almost creepy/eerie in the dark! We got in line at 11:55, and the park closed at midnight. When our log pulled into the exit dock, we realized that we were the very last group of people to ride Splash for the night. Mom and I felt like Disney warriors!


Since all of the rides were now closed, we finally made our way back to the hub. Both of us had gotten a second wind from our earlier sadness, and we didn’t want to leave the park just yet. We stayed at the castle and took a few pictures.

...and managed to catch the Kiss Goodnight! I had first seen this adorable little show last year on our last night of the trip. To see it on our second night made me smile because I had no last-day blues accompanied with it After watching the Kiss Goodnight, we took a stroll through the castle to look at the tile artwork.


We also stopped at the famous Cinderella Wishing Well and each made a wish!

Finally, we took one last photo of our favorite partners and walked towards the exit at 12:30.

See you on Thursday, Magic Kingdom!


Since the monorail was jam-packed, we decided to take the ferry back to the GF. It was such a quick, convenient ride! Even though the monorail is cool, the ferry was more time-saving and provided some really beautiful views!

Although the theming doesn’t appeal to me, the outside of the Contemporary never fails to take my breath away.


Once we got to the GF, we realized that we were both parched! Luckily, the Grand Flo’s QS, Gasparilla Island Grill, was open 24 hours, so we could get a drink from there. We were not on the dining plan this trip, but we each decided to purchase a refillable mug. We like collecting all of the colors and get great use out of them at home! I chose red, and mom chose purple! I filled mine up with fruit punch while she got hot chocolate.

We finally made our way up to the room and crashed into our beds! It was so nice to come back to Disney music playing and chocolate on our beds. We loved the turn-down service way more than we ever thought we would!!


Even though we were both exhausted, I just HAD to open my new mystery pin! It was extra significant because it was the first one I had ever bought! This was the one I chose:

And these were all of the options I could get:

And I ended up getting…

MINNIE MOUSE!! How fitting; my first mystery pin is one of Disney’s main lady I was so grateful that my mom had given me the idea to start collecting mystery pins. I was already looking forward to buying one tomorrow!!


Both Mom and I showered and watched TV before going to sleep. Right before I turned off the lights, Mom and I decided to switch a fast pass around for our next MK day (Day 6). We had originally booked a FP for Pirates of the Caribbean from 11:05-12:05, but decided to switch it to Space Mountain instead. If you guys didn’t notice before, Space Mountain was basically the only ride we didn’t get on this day, because the wait was never under an hour! We knew that the crowds would clear up once Labor Day came and went, but we switched our FP just to make sure we got on Space at least once. We managed to get a FP for Space Mountain for the exact same time frame as our Pirates FP!


With our fastpass situation all settled, we decided to call it a night at 1:45 AM. We needed some rest, because we were heading back to Epcot tomorrow for Labor Day! World Showcase- Here we come!!


Coming Up Next- Day 3: Part 1- “And We Are All Connected to Each Other; In a Circle, In a Hoop That Never Ends!”

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[annie170]

I love how you didn't let the rain dampen your spirits and it appears you had a very productive day.

What a nice cm! How fun to get a little pixie dust!

That's a great idea to get the mystery pin each day. Did you get any duplicates?

I love the parks at night and staying until they close. There's something so satisfying about getting every minute's worth of a Disney day!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Wow the hub looked really empty, great spot for celebrate the magic and the fireworks. My daughter collects pins, she loves it. She doesn't trade, she has pins that are very special to her from each of our trips. I like the mystery pin idea! Are you going to trade or keep yours? We also loved the turn down service at GF.

 

[Raeven]

Love the castle pics! It's awesome that you got such a great spot for tbe fireworks.

 

[missangelalexis]

Carousel of Progress is one of my faves! And Buzz is so hard! It's tough keeping track of which pointer is yours!

Your and your mom look so cute on People Mover I'm sorry you had to break out the ponchos! Sounds like a nice meal to keep you warm that night!

I know how upsetting it can be when plans don't go accordingly. I'm glad you stuck it out though and were able to see the fireworks from a great spot!

How nice that you ran into a friend of yours!! Sounds like you guys got lots of treats that night!

What a great end to then night seeing MSEP and riding some final rides. Those castle pics you got are gorgeous!

Sounds like a long but amazing day!!

 

[Mollydolly334]

I love how you didn't let the rain dampen your spirits and it appears you had a very productive day.

What a nice cm! How fun to get a little pixie dust!

That's a great idea to get the mystery pin each day. Did you get any duplicates?

I love the parks at night and staying until they close. There's something so satisfying about getting every minute's worth of a Disney day!

Thank you!! Our philosophy is that it takes the same amount of energy to get past things vs. sulk and be angry, so why not just look on the bright side? If we would have dipped out of MK early, I would have regretted it sooooo much!

Disney's CMs are one of the main reasons we keep coming back! And nope, I didn't get any pin duplicates, but I did go through almost all of the different mystery packs that Disney had to offer! Next time we go back, I might just get a regular pin of my choice every day to keep up the tradition!

Mom and I are also what people call "commando guests" and like to squeeze every last bit of park time into our day

Wow the hub looked really empty, great spot for celebrate the magic and the fireworks. My daughter collects pins, she loves it. She doesn't trade, she has pins that are very special to her from each of our trips. I like the mystery pin idea! Are you going to trade or keep yours? We also loved the turn down service at GF.

It was such a wonderful surprise after a crazy day!!

I don't think that I'm going to trade my pins either! They hold special memories to me as well. Right now, I have all of them displayed on a cork board in my room, and it's one of my favorite decorations I have

That turn-down service spoiled us soooo much. After this trip, I'm not sure if we could stay anywhere else! Or, if we did, we'd have to fork over the extra cash for club level

Love the castle pics! It's awesome that you got such a great spot for tbe fireworks.

Thank you!! We were so happy with our spots: we got a great view AND we got to sit down!

Carousel of Progress is one of my faves! And Buzz is so hard! It's tough keeping track of which pointer is yours!

Your and your mom look so cute on People Mover I'm sorry you had to break out the ponchos! Sounds like a nice meal to keep you warm that night!

I know how upsetting it can be when plans don't go accordingly. I'm glad you stuck it out though and were able to see the fireworks from a great spot!

How nice that you ran into a friend of yours!! Sounds like you guys got lots of treats that night!

What a great end to then night seeing MSEP and riding some final rides. Those castle pics you got are gorgeous!

Sounds like a long but amazing day!!

Thank goodness someone agrees with me about Buzz being difficult!! I have accepted the fact that I will never be a Galactic Hero

Thank you!! It was tough breaking out the ponchos, but they're definitely a necessary evil in September. We were so glad that we stayed in the park, otherwise we never would have gotten that great of a view for the nighttime shows and MSEP!

It was such a surprise running into Katy! And yes, we had a huge sugar rush that night My family eats SUPER healthy at home, so vacation is our time to totally splurge and pig out!!

I hope that your trip was amazing and wonderful and everything you hoped it would be You should definitely write a TR so I can read about your adventures as well!!!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Day 3: Part 1- “And We Are All Connected To Each Other, In a Circle, In a Hoop That Never Ends!”


Hello friends! Where I last left off, Mom and I were crashing into bed at 1:45 AM! We had had extremely long and fun first full day spent at Magic Kingdom!


Today was Labor Day, and we had planned to spend the day at Epcot. We wanted to avoid MK at all costs, knowing that it would be packed today. Since we had done a few things at Epcot on our arrival day, we weren’t too rushed on getting there! We set our alarms the night before for 8:15 AM, hoping to make it to the park around 9:30.


Well, we were woken up at about 8:00 AM on the dot. Not by our alarms, but by a child absolutely screaming her head off outside our room. I’m not talking your typical childhood tantrum; I’m talking that we thought someone was kidnapping her in the hallway! But, then it just kept going for about 10 full minutes! The parents were trying so hard to calm her down but she was not having it! We were THIS close to getting up and seeing if we could help, but the parents were speaking Spanish and we weren’t sure if we would be of any assistance since we don’t speak a lick of Spanish! I”ll have to give it to her, she has the perfect blood-curdling scream for a horror movie. They should take her on auditions in Hollywood

R.I.P Even Stevens. One of my favorite childhood TV shows


After being woken out of a dead sleep, we turned off our alarms and decided to try to go back to bed. We didn’t want to be too sleepy at Epcot today, especially since we had been hitting it SO hard the past few days! We ended up falling right back asleep and waking up on our own at 9:45 AM!


Mom fancied some tea from Gasparilla Island Grill, so I offered to walk over there to get us some breakfast! I kept my PJs on, because I’m cool like that Once again, reasons why Mom and I love the compact Deluxe resorts!


My mom is not a big breakfast eater, so she only needed her tea, then I also bought a bottle of strawberry milk for myself. I had brought a box of Cookies and Creme Pop Tarts from back home, so those would be my sustenance for the morning! I am a huge breakfast eater and need something in my stomach in the morning. Pop Tarts are a huge special treat for me, so I thought that they were the perfect choice for a vacation breakfast

Once I got back to the room, Mom and I changed and got ready for the day. I switched out my Mickey fanny pack for one that matched my outfit better, and put on it’s finishing touch!

I was planning on putting all of my pins on my fanny pack from now on so that I could display them in a cute way! I didn’t want to deal with a sweaty lanyard around my neck all day, so I figured that this would be a more practical option.


Mom and I were out of the room and at the GF’s monorail station by 10:55. As we passed by the Magic Kingdom, we saw mobs of crowds, so we thanked our lucky stars that we weren’t there today! We transferred monorails with no issue, and arrived at Epcot at 11:35! This was our game plan for the day:


FP +


12:20-1:20 PM- Journey Into Imagination with Figment

2:00-3:00 PM- Meet Disney Pals at Epcot Character Spot

3:00-4:00 PM- Frozen Ever After


ADRs


6:55 PM- Le Cellier Steakhouse


About 2 steps after we scanned our bans and entered the park, my mom declared that she was starting to get blisters She had just bought a new pair of shoes before the trip, and this was her first time wearing them. So, we made a quick detour to Gateway Gifts for some Band-Aids!


My mom put the Band-Aids on her feet and was instantly relieved, which was good, since there’s nothing worse than blisters at Disney! Since we were already shopping, I decided to go ahead and get another mystery pin from Pin Central. I wasn’t eager at all Naturally, my logic stated that I could get two pins today, since I didn’t get one on our first day! I opened my pin right away:

And I got…..

Eeyore! I was so happy about this. I was secretly hoping for either Eeyore or Buzz!


After putting my new pin on my fanny pack, we were off to our first ride of the day! We still had a little bit before our FP for Figment opened, so we headed on over to The Seas!


The line for The Seas With Nemo and Friends said that it was 30 minutes, but we decided to try our luck and see if it was shorter. Well, after being in line for 10 minutes, the queue didn’t budge and the wait time had increased to 40 minutes We were not about to wait 40 minutes for Nemo, so we exited the line and logged into MDE to make some changes.


We had made our FP for the Epcot Character Spot as a purely “throwaway FP”, since I was banking on Nemo not having any sort of wait. But, now that we saw that there was a long line, we chucked our FP for the Character Spot and changed it to The Seas with Nemo and Friends from 1:25-2:25 PM! Mom and I aren’t too big on character meets, and we had gotten a picture at the Character Spot on our last trip! Whoever thought of the idea for MDE was an absolute genius. It was sooo nice to be able to adjust our plans on-the-go and make more fast passes once we cashed in our first three. This app proved to be a life-saver throughout the trip!


With our FP situation all straightened out, it was finally time to check our FP for Figment!

My sister Haley and I LOVED this ride when we were kids! It is still adorable and makes me smile. I can’t understand why people dislike Figment?? It’s super cheesy but very Disney-ish, and has a great message as well We had “One Little Spark” stuck in our heads all day long!


We were playing around in the Imagination Pavilion after the ride when I decided to check MDE. Instantly, I spotted a 30-minute wait for Soarin’ Around The World. YES PLEASE!


The wait had even decreased to 25 minutes by the time that Mom and I got to the Land, so we jumped in line! The wait sped by, and soon enough, we were boarding! We were placed in the lowest row, smack dab in the middle.


I was grateful that we were now in the middle, because I was hoping to see the screen from a less-warped perspective. On our first day, we had ridden Soarin’ on the right side, and all of the tall landmarks looked curved!


Well, the screen wasn’t warped anymore, but I got really dizzy from being so close to the bottom This happened on our 2015 trip as well. If the wall is in my direct line of vision, I get dizzy from looking at the still wall vs. the moving screen. This also happened on Harry Potter’s Forbidden Journey over at Universal, but so much that I was about 3 seconds away from throwing up Luckily, I just had a little dizziness on Soarin’, but it kind of affected my ride. Of course, nothing that Disney can help, but in the future, I may ask to wait for the middle section, middle row. I know, I’m such a princess Even so, I must say; even with some vertigo, Soarin’ Around the World is still an amazing ride!

Once our feet were back on solid ground, it was time to cash in our second fastpass for Nemo! Mom loves the birds outside The Seas building that say “Mine!”


Nemo is cute, but always a one and done for us! Finding Nemo is one of my favorite Pixar movies, and the ride is cute but definitely geared towards little kids. Keeping with the theme of catchy songs, “Big Blue World” also got stuck in Mom and I’s heads for the rest of the day. One of these days, we will have make time to see Finding Nemo: The Musical over at Animal Kingdom!


Of course, we had to check out the fish over in the seas building after our ride. We didn’t spend a ton of time in here, but made sure to get a glimpse of the dolphins, sea turtles, and manatees!

Hi, Crush!

Love this cute guy munching on some lettuce


We also peeked into the fish tanks with the smaller fish and read about seahorses and lion fish. My mom told me that when she was about 10, she had a pet seahorse, but it only lived for a week They’re so cute and dainty-looking in the water; they remind me of little dancers in the water On the opposite end of the spectrum, lion fish are so fascinating, yet so creepy to me. I would probably have a heart attack if I saw one of those things in the wild!


After about 15 minutes of looking, we made an executive decision to “zoom” on to our next ride. Can anyone guess where we were “speeding” off to?


Coming Up Next- Day 3: Part 2- “There’s A Great Big Hunk Of World Down There, With No Fence Around It!”

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[missangelalexis]

Even Stevens is the best!!!

I'm sorry you guys were woken up, but that's great you were able to get back to sleep!

Omgosh I am so jealous of the pin series you bought on this day, I didn't see that one!! So cute!

Wow- nice luck getting on Soarin with such a short wait!

I love Nemo but agree that I wish the ride offered a little more!

Hmm I think you are heading to Test Track next

And don't worry, I will be starting a TR for my trip eventually! I have a ton of PP photos to go through first!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

I was grateful that we were now in the middle, because I was hoping to see the screen from a less-warped perspective. On our first day, we had ridden Soarin’ on the right side, and all of the tall landmarks looked curved!

This seems to be a very common complaint about the new Soarin', that tall, straight things are curved too much. I've also heard some people say the bottom middle row (farther back from the screen) is now better, where it used to be the top middle. I'm just looking forward to seeing the new Soarin' someday.

Keeping with the theme of catchy songs, “Big Blue World” also got stuck in Mom and I’s heads for the rest of the day. One of these days, we will have make time to see Finding Nemo: The Musical over at Animal Kingdom!

You have to go see it! The songs are really catchy.

Hope you enjoy(ed) your ride on Test Track!

 

[unwritten01]

My son and I love those birds too - you go mom!

 

[BellaBaby]

What an awesome evening at MK you ended up having!!

We just got back and the first time we rode the new Soarin' we lucked out and got top middle. So great for our first time seeing it.
Second time, we got bottom middle and my DH was dizzy as well from that perspective. Luckily it wasn't too bad.

Sounds like a great day at Epcot so far! Love the mystery pins!!

 

[Raeven]

I was planning on putting all of my pins on my fanny pack from now on so that I could display them in a cute way! I didn’t want to deal with a sweaty lanyard around my neck all day, so I figured that this would be a more practical option.

So cute!

The line for The Seas With Nemo and Friends said that it was 30 minutes, but we decided to try our luck and see if it was shorter. Well, after being in line for 10 minutes, the queue didn’t budge and the wait time had increased to 40 minutes

What?! That's crazy for the Nemo ride!

I can’t understand why people dislike Figment??

Me either! I think some people prefer the old version, but since I've never been on it I have nothing to compare it to. It was cute, and it kind of holds a special place in my heart because it was the first ride I ever went on at Disney.

 

[Mollydolly334]

Even Stevens is the best!!!

I'm sorry you guys were woken up, but that's great you were able to get back to sleep!

Omgosh I am so jealous of the pin series you bought on this day, I didn't see that one!! So cute!

Wow- nice luck getting on Soarin with such a short wait!

I love Nemo but agree that I wish the ride offered a little more!

Hmm I think you are heading to Test Track next

And don't worry, I will be starting a TR for my trip eventually! I have a ton of PP photos to go through first!

Haha, you're right, we were heading to Test Track! Ahhh, Even Stevens was the best!! One of my favorite episodes is when Tawny recited that dramatic monologue for her dead turtle And the musical episode!!!

Even though it was Labor Day, the crowds weren't too unmanageable! I couldn't believe that at that time, the wait for Nemo was longer than the wait for Soarin'

Yay! I'll be looking out for your TR

This seems to be a very common complaint about the new Soarin', that tall, straight things are curved too much. I've also heard some people say the bottom middle row (farther back from the screen) is now better, where it used to be the top middle. I'm just looking forward to seeing the new Soarin' someday.


You have to go see it! The songs are really catchy.

Hope you enjoy(ed) your ride on Test Track!

Even though the screen can be a little warped, the new Soarin' is amazing! Lots of people also commented on the CGI, but nothing looked too artificial to Mom or I.

I'm hoping to catch Finding Nemo the Musical soon, we just saw FOTLK for the first time this year and LOVED it!!

And thank you! But did we actually get on Test Track? You'll have to see

My son and I love those birds too - you go mom!

Haha, we sometimes make a game about it to guess when they will say it next!!

What an awesome evening at MK you ended up having!!

We just got back and the first time we rode the new Soarin' we lucked out and got top middle. So great for our first time seeing it.
Second time, we got bottom middle and my DH was dizzy as well from that perspective. Luckily it wasn't too bad.

Sounds like a great day at Epcot so far! Love the mystery pins!!

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who gets dizzy from Soarin'! And thank you!! The mystery pins turned out to be such a great idea and a perfect way to start out my pin collection

So cute!



What?! That's crazy for the Nemo ride!



Me either! I think some people prefer the old version, but since I've never been on it I have nothing to compare it to. It was cute, and it kind of holds a special place in my heart because it was the first ride I ever went on at Disney.

Thanks!! And I know, it wasn't too terrible crowd-wise, but a 40-minute wait for Nemo is unheard of!

Awwww, I love that Figment was your first ride And like you, I have nothing to compare it to, and it holds nostalgia for me as well!!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Day 3: Part 2- “There’s A Great Big Hunk Of World Down There, With No Fence Around It!”


Hi Disfriends! Where I last left off, Mom and I were just exiting the Seas after riding The Seas With Nemo and Friends! We decided to scamper off to Test Track next! We didn’t have a fastpass for it, so we wanted to get on it before the line got too crowded.


MDE said that the wait was 45 minutes long, and we were both willing to wait, so we headed in that direction. However, the clouds were looking a bit ominous and it was starting to get windy. Sure enough, when we reached Test Track, it was down for inclement weather approaching I feel like this ride is always down! But, no worries! It was supposed to storm for a bit this afternoon, but then the rest of the day’s forecast looked clear. We decided to go to Mission:Space to wait out the rain!


The line for Orange Team was 50 minutes, but the Green Team’s side was only 5! Perks of being a wimp We were lead back to the debriefing room in no time!





After our exciting trip to Mars, Mom and I played around in the dump shop! We sent postcards from Mars to my Dad and my mom’s Disney-obsessed coworker. They were so fun to make! Basically, the machine took a short video of us and put our faces into an astronaut’s suit. We always like to send things like that to people back home and re-watch them when we’re in need of a little Disney fix


As we left the dump shop, we looked outside and realized that it was pouring . Since we couldn’t avoid the rain any longer, we finally gave in, put on our ponchos, and ran outside! We wanted to get inside as quick as possible, and I was starting to get thirsty, so our destination was Club Cool!


After sprinting over there and almost slipping 38473029483 times, we finally made it. I was having a hankering for one of my favorite snacks: a Frozen Coke These are a staple for me in the summer, and are only 80 cents at my local gas station. But, I had never had one in Disney World and I really wanted to try it! My verdict? YUM YUM YUM!





It was so nice and refreshing, because even though it was raining, it was still humid and muggy in our ponchos Mom had a few samples of Fanta Pineapple and Bibo and I also had a cup of my favorite, Inca Kola! The rain was starting to lighten up, so we decided to venture towards World Showcase.


Usually, my family and I are not big World Showcase people! We tend to spend most of our time in Future World and then do a quick lap around the countries and grab a bite to eat. But, this trip, Mom and I decided that we should use our extra time in Epcot to explore World Showcase and look inside all of the shops in each country!


By the time we reached the entrance of World Showcase, the rain had turned into a light sprinkle, so we ditched the muggy ponchos and threw them out We then decided to have a look in Port of Entry, where I bought yet another Mystery Pin! I thought that it would be a good idea to buy two today, since I didn’t buy one on our first day.

And I got…





Bambi! Love Once again, I was secretly hoping for either Bambi or Lady and Tramp. I was having really good luck with these mystery pins!! It gave me such a thrill each time to open them and see which character I got


The first country that we decided to visit on our World Showcase tour was England. This also ended up being the country we spent the most time in all day! Both Mom and I’s favorite band is the Beatles, so we spent a lot of time looking at the memorabilia. (Fun Fact- John Lennon signed the paperwork that officially broke up the Beatles in his room when he staying at the Polynesian)! We also got some good ideas for souvenirs to get my dad, and vowed to stop back later after doing some more browsing. There was a lady at one of the shops selling English perfume as well. We sampled all of them, and Mom ended up loving one called “English Daisy,” so she bought a bottle and had it shipped to the GF. It is a very light and fresh scent, and actually reminds me a lot of Marc Jacob’s Daisy perfume, which is the perfume that I wear every day





We continued our loop around World Showcase with Canada. We looked around briefly, but not for too long, since we would be back later for dinner! At this point, we noticed that we were getting pretty close to our FP+ time for Frozen Ever After, so we picked up the pace in search for a late lunch.


After looking at the menus in France, Morocco, and Japan, we decided that Sommerfest QS in Germany was more up our alley!

Being from Wisconsin, German food is a part of our everyday life!! My mom’s maiden name is Schultz, so needless to say, we love ourselves a good Bratwurst We got a brat with paprika potato chips and a Schofferhoffer Grapefruit Beer to share!

Oh my goodness, we devoured this! We were pretty hungry, since it was now about 3:15 and we didn’t have a huge breakfast this morning. My mom loved the grapefruit beer as well! I’m not a huge beer fan to begin with, but even I thought that the Schofferhoffer was light and refreshing! Mom made sure to take down the name, and has ordered the beer at restaurants a few time since we’ve been home


Of course, a trip to Germany can’t be complete without a stop in Karamel Kruche, amiright? The smell alone makes my mouth water We carefully examined our options, and decided on caramel-chocolate drizzled popcorn.








We managed to make it to Norway and scan our FP for Frozen Ever After, but once we were in line, we dug right into this baby! Right in front of us, there was a family with a little girl who couldn’t have been more than 2 years old. She was being carried by her grandpa, so she was facing backwards towards Mom and I. She looked me straight in the eye, then pointed at our popcorn bag We asked her parents if she could have some, and gave her a little handful. Her adorable smile was totally worth it


You guys, in the 15-minute fastpass line for Frozen Ever After, we managed to finish the ENTIRE bag of popcorn. I’m not sure how we did it. To this day, I’m pretty baffled. That stuff was like crack!

While in the queue, we logged onto MDE to make another fastpass for later. There wasn’t much available, but we managed to snag a FP for a preferred area for IllumiNations! We had never done a fast pass for a show before, but we figured that we would jump at the chance since there was nothing else left. Plus, we hadn’t seen IllumiNations since 2005, so we were excited to have a great view for it!


We stopped stuffing our faces long enough to ride the much-anticipated Frozen Ever After! Mom and I had never ridden Maelstrom before, so we weren’t sure what to expect. I love Frozen, especially Anna, so I was excited to see what Disney did with the ride!


And, we loved it! The graphics were really cool and we both liked the part where the boat went backwards! That being said, we would NEVER wait 90 minutes for this ride... EVER. (Although, I’m not sure that we would wait 90 minutes for ANY ride at WDW!). It is cute, but definitely suited to the younger crowd! Plus, my mom got absolutely soaked from the big drop The skirt from her dress was drenched! Somehow, I walked away completely dry, muahahahaha!

After our trip to Arendelle, we looked in the shops around Norway. Norway used to be our favorite country to look through in World Showcase. Now, however, it seems to be taken over by Frozen We couldn’t even find our favorite, $10 Norwegian chocolate, Melkesjokolade!!

We miss you, old friend


Since the stores didn’t have much to look at besides Frozen merchandise, Mom and I decided to say “Ha Det!” to Norway, and “Hola!” to Mexico!


Coming up Soon: Day 3: Part 3: “Hey Donald, You Are What They Say, ‘Off The Cob.’ You Know, Corny!”
​

 

[BellaBaby]

We ended up really liking Frozen! First time we sat in the back, didn't get wet. Second time my kids had the front, with DH and I second row and the kids got pretty wet!

Some family members went around the same time as you and enjoyed the grapefruit beer as well! They then bought some at a local grocery store and served it at a family party. We liked it too!!

Great update!

 

[Raeven]

We sent postcards from Mars to my Dad and my mom’s Disney-obsessed coworker. They were so fun to make! Basically, the machine took a short video of us and put our faces into an astronaut’s suit. We always like to send things like that to people back home and re-watch them when we’re in need of a little Disney fix

That sounds so fun I'll have to check that out! We did some pictures after Test Track, and they didn't email them to me for about 7 months

Mom had a few samples of Fanta Pineapple and Bibo and I also had a cup of my favorite, Inca Kola!

I love Fanta Pineapple

While in the queue, we logged onto MDE to make another fastpass for later. There wasn’t much available, but we managed to snag a FP for a preferred area for IllumiNations!

How was the Fastpass spot?

Mom and I had never ridden Maelstrom before, so we weren’t sure what to expect.

I have never ridden it either, and we're going to ride Frozen Ever After this next trip.

That being said, we would NEVER wait 90 minutes for this ride... EVER. (Although, I’m not sure that we would wait 90 minutes for ANY ride at WDW!)

Same.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like such a fun time from Future World to World Showcase! I'm glad the ruin didn't ruin too much, except for not getting on Test Track

You were on a roll with your mystery pins! Trust me, I know all too well how addicting they are.

You know, I've never bought anything from Karamel Kuche I totally need to change that in the future!

I'm glad you enjoyed Frozen Ever After. I really loved the ride but agree it's not worth such a long wait!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Great update! Karamel Kruche is my favorite in all of World Showcase for a snack. I always go with the caramel popcorn. Although yours looked so good. Maybe next time.

 

[MamaMeggie]

I am hungry after reading your updates!
So, where was your mom sitting on FEA? I'm thinking one of the kids will have to sit there