Everything You Do, CELEBRATE YOU! - Polynesian - Club Level - TPV

[TheLittleKatie]

Be still my heart-----David Tennant!!!

I think the Mickey rice krispie treats look better without it all covered. Before there was just too much chocolate!

Love the kitty meme at the end.

Yes that's exactly what I mean! They're much easier to eat with less chocolate on them

Yes, we will be there during Food & Wine! Plus we are doing a Halloween party so... suuuuuuper excited!!

Sounds fun! And it'll be here before you know it

I think you're right!! Only you guys are from England so clearly the much cooler version.

I didn't know that being English made us cooler, but if you say so, I'll take it!

I looooooove Jurassic Park!! I feel like I would consider going to Universal merely to ride this ride. Duane really wants to go and I kind of do as well, but I'm kind of a roller coaster wussy and I'm nervous that there wouldn't be enough for me to ride there! Maybe our next longer trip though. The Harry Potter area looks amazing!!

Ahh yeah Universal is pretty hardcore to be honest! But there are a lot of simulator-type rides so maybe you'd be ok on those? But they're still quite intense! It is a really great place though, if you love Jurassic Park (like I do!) and Harry Potter and stuff then I'm sure you'd love just hanging out in the amazingly themed lands, even if you didn't want to ride that particular ride. I love being in the Jurassic Park area and we didn't ride the ride at all this year! I just love listening to the music and watching the raptor encounter and stuff, it's fun! You should try it at least once

Puppies!!! We are puppy fanatics. We have two crazy cute boys and we're a liiiiittle obsessed.

Owww yeeeah what dogs do you have?! My parents have a Weimaraner (who I obviously still refer to as MY dog!) called Stanley, he's gorrrrgeous and I'm so obsessed with him!! I think he could be a model dog, but maybe I'm biased If you love dogs you'd love this show for sure

This is Duane's favorite ride and probably the main reason he now loves Disney!! We probably rode it six times during our week long trip in October.

Duane sounds like somebody I should be friends with, Splash is my favourite too

I loooooooove this part!! And the Tangled floating lanterns on the castle. I tear up eeeeveryyy time. No judgments please.

Haha, GIRL, look at who you're talking to if I ever judged anyone for crying at Disney I would be a raging hypocrite!

Thanks for sharing... fun update!!

Thank you! And thank you for reading!

I haven't been to universal since I was about 8. From the looks of your pictures A LOT has changed!

Universal has really upped its game in my opinion! They've done such a good job. And they're supposedly planning a third park, so they're going to start giving Disney a run for its money!

Back to the Future was my first Universal ride ever!

I only remember parts of it, but I appreciate BTTF a lot more now than when I was 5 so I bet I'd love it.

Bahahaha. I have been known to do this myself.

It was kind of awkward turning around because we were literally stood right in front of the family

It could have been totally perfect if Michelle was back!

Hey friend!

It def would have! Although I'd kinda want them to shrink her down to a 3 year old again bringing back toddler Michelle would have been the greatest thing ever, although maybe technology hasn't come that far yet...

I don't know who or why but I'm glad they did! There are actually more and some are even beyond what I would post! Namely Prince Edward from Enchanted And Gaston is rather..ehem...well endowed!

I found the Prince Edward one, outrageous! He's one of my favourite characters because he's so sweet and innocent, I FEEL SO CONFLICTED.

Errr...I'm just excited for you?

Oh ok... But again,

Oooooooooooooo! So artsy!

I looked like it was such a good spot for it! Super bummer that FP for Wishes is stopping!

I know!! I read about this too. I loved using that FP, despite the judgement (apparently it's really dumb to want some space to watch the fireworks, who knew?! )

Oh Katie! You are so adorable! You scare so easily!

Ha! Loud noises make me jump!

Me internally when that man sneezed:

He just can't cope with losing can he! Monopoly must be realllly fun in your house!

We do NOT play monopoly!!! That would be carnage! Mario Kart on the Wii is always a hit though

So presh! But there is a ghost beside you! What happend to the guy in the red shirt?!

Creepy!

I love your whole TR, but that broccoli picture (Exhibit A!) made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the chuckle!

Yay I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for reading

 

[TheLittleKatie]

HAHA my now husband walked down the aisle on our wedding day to the Jurassic Park theme music (played on a harp of course). We have a weird obsessive love for Jurassic Park so this was a great way to include it in our wedding day!

Ok, this is one of the greatest things I've ever heard.

Please tell me he wore this..

Female lets male watch Sports.
Male is obviously not married yet.

Both of these things will change simultaneously.

I don't mind having sports on! ... Unless they clash with my shows..

No tip.
Bad service = bad tip.
If that just reinforces a stereotype, so be it.
I ain't stereotypical, so better not treat me like it.

Yes this is the general consensus. Will keep in mind for next time

sharks?

Pass!

I wholeheartedly agree.

Meh. I can outrun a snake.

Pretty sure I can.



Maybe.

I don't know, they have very athletic legs.

I remember your pro tip from the last TR.

Remember it forever! No bags at Universal!

Awww... poor Katie.
(Note to self. Don't let Katie cook if visiting.)

I can cook fairly well I swear! Nothing too fancy, but like, toast and cereal always tastes good! (kidding.. kinda)

I never thought of that... but you're right!

Seriously! The poor kids. How did they expect them to turn out?!

Very attractive.
You kinda remind me of a fish there.

What do you mean? That's my normal face..

More annoying than... uh... that ride that's across from Peter Pan?

I would have to say yes. It's not a song, it's just a really annoying voice that talks all the way around

Did he get you?

He did on our next trip to Universal!!

What can you get in there?

In the owl shop? Pheasants.

Every man (or woman) for himself!

I'm so glad people are with me on this one I'll be even more inclined to do again it this year. And if he breaks up with me because of it, it'll be all your fault and you'll have to find me a nice new Canadian man.

Awesome. Buy anything? I'm thinking you should have.

Nope! I probably wont buy any Halloween Horror Nights merch until I actually build up the courage to attend HHN

Oh, boy. If Kay ever hears of this, she'll move Heaven and Earth to go.... and then she'll never leave.
I've never seen anyone so animal crazy.

You HAVE to take her! She'll love it!

I wonder if it's the double PB?
What kind of jam? Strawberry?

The label says grape jelly! Although I can never really tell the difference.

BTMRR of course. That's where else.

Apparently BTMRR is going to be down for refurb when we're there this year!

well... he did get you there eventually.

And he always acts like he meant to take us on the "scenic route"

Did not know that.
Sounds like you'd recommend it?

I do, although you tend to get flamed on the theme parks board of you voice that opinion. (But what don't you get flamed for over there.. )
HOWEVER, I hear they're getting rid of the Wishes FP soon

Beautiful shot!

Thank you! And thank you for reading!

These were my favorite school lunch as a kid, and now at 27 I still love

Oh good! So I'm not the only one

That view is amazing. Its my dream to stay in one of those bungalows someday!!

That's a good bucket list item to have! I probably wouldn't even bother buying park tickets because I'd just want to stay in the bungalow all day

Your camera has really great zoom features lol

I know! I'm really happy with it, it's just a little point and shoot, and I think the zoom is the best thing about it

Did you know you were going the wrong way but just wanted to humor Jamie? I feel like I do that alot on vacation as well with my husband

Haha, yes I knew, I was just humouring him! He always gives me these side-glances looking for approval so usually I'll subtly be guiding him, but this time I just let him do his thing when we got there he said it was intentional because he wanted to take the scenic route

That is a great view! This may have to be on my list of FP+ this year!

I love getting this FP but unfortunately I read that they're supposedly getting rid of it but I'm hoping that people still think it's off limits so it MIGHT still be a quiet spot.. There's only a small entrance sooo..

Aside from BTMRR this is probably my second favorite ride to do at night

It's a totally different experience! It's way more fun at night

 

[pkondz]

I don't mind having sports on! ... Unless they clash with my shows..

And so it begins...

I don't know, they have very athletic legs.

Just teeny tiny ones.

Remember it forever! No bags at Universal!

Okay!

I can cook fairly well I swear! Nothing too fancy, but like, toast and cereal always tastes good! (kidding.. kinda)

What do you mean? That's my normal face..

oh... uh... <raises hands and slowly backs away>

He did on our next trip to Universal!!

Oh, this should be good!

In the owl shop? Pheasants.

I thought they outlawed slavery in the US. Huh. Peasants. Interesting.

I'm so glad people are with me on this one I'll be even more inclined to do again it this year. And if he breaks up with me because of it, it'll be all your fault and you'll have to find me a nice new Canadian man.

I am a nice Canadian man!
Well... I sorta lost my man card... but I'm a nice Canadian... uh... I'm Canadian dang it!

You could do worse. I don't burn the spaghetti sauce.

Nope! I probably wont buy any Halloween Horror Nights merch until I actually build up the courage to attend HHN

Any chance of that, do you think?

You HAVE to take her! She'll love it!

This is becoming a distinct possibility.

Apparently BTMRR is going to be down for refurb when we're there this year!

No!!!!!!

And he always acts like he meant to take us on the "scenic route"

Of course. No man would admit otherwise.

I do, although you tend to get flamed on the theme parks board of you voice that opinion. (But what don't you get flamed for over there.. )
HOWEVER, I hear they're getting rid of the Wishes FP soon

oh. poop.

 

[DVCDiana]

Absolutely loving this trip report!!! So entertaining- Keep going, keep going!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Off to a great start here

You might be the only person who noticed that

All he ate is eggs? He's trying to compete with Gaston I suppose!

How many does Gaston eat? 5 dozen?! Hymie needs to up his game

You remembered this time! If I ever go back to US/IOA I need to remember this too. It would REALLY annoy me to have to constantly look for a locker to put my bag in every time!

YES if you remember anything in your life, remember this!!! Honestly you notice it so much when you have a bag, it's not like quickly throwing a bag in a locker as you go past (in my experience anyway). The locker areas are really small and crowded, with a few computer screens dotted around that read your finger print when you need to put something away and when you go to retrieve it again... And then they don't work, and the line you're in comes to a standstill and a team member has to come fix it. And don't even get me started on people getting to the front and realising they've forgotten their locker number!!!!! I've totally been guilty of this so I'm not judging, when you've put your bag in seven different lockers over a few hours, the locker numbers start to jumble in your mind.. GAHH it is the worst. Unnecessary rant over

THAT IS SO AMAZING...it looks so much like I pictured it in the books. Le sigh. Oh how I love Harry Potter!!

If you love Harry Potter as much as I think you do, you need to get over there!

So...funny story. I glanced at this picture quickly because I was in between screens while reading your TR. And for a split second...I thought Hymie's shirt said "Erotica Britannia" and I was like...well. Ok then! Is that like Encyclopedia Britannica? But with erotica? ooops! That's what I get for reading too fast

Oh no!!!!!! I hope no one else thought he was THAT guy with the inappropriate t shirt!! Hahah, but no, Eroica Britannia is this cycling festival in a village near our home town!
BUT, omg, at Universal we did see a middle aged man (with children) who was wearing a Hello Kitty t shirt, but when we looked at it closer it said Hello *rhymes with kitty* and the logo, well, if you google it you'll find it Like DUDE. Is that really necessary at a family theme park!?!? I'd never let Jamie be THAT guy!

Well now, everyone has a bad day every now and then. Don't let that deter you from your Potions master dreams!

Thank you, thank you for believing in me. I shall continue my work towards my dream.

Yeah but it's SLYTHERIN...who cares about them anyway???
(Ever since I got officially sorted into Gryffindor I have been obnoxious about it )

We just need your John to be a Ravenclaw then we have one of each house!

You are sooooooo beautiful

One of my favourite films!

In your defense, that table looks LEGIT

IT'S THE BOMB DIGGITY!

You can never have enough PB&J's is what I always say!

This is my new life motto.

I know what it looks like you're doing...

LOL!

Oh my goodness! Luckily you DIDN'T fall...that could have been very bad!
No flip flops next time when it's been raining lol

I knew it looked kinda stormy out, but you wear flip flops by the pool, so surely they're slip-proof, right? WRONG!

SAME. I am only half an inch taller than you so I feel your pain! #thestruggle

You are actually the EXACT same height as me! 5'5.5"! TWINS.

What a fun update! Can't wait to read the next installment!

Thanks for reading!

You should definitely be a San Antonio Spurs fan!! And I am not just saying that because I am from San Antonio They are an amazing team! We usually make the playoffs every year and last year we won! We have won many championships over the years
We do play Golden State sometimes so it'd be a perfect time to be in a rivalry with him

Ok. I decided to pick the teams of places I've been.

So I was supporting Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, and Brooklyn Nets.

Then I realised when I was a kid I had a Boston Celtics jersey, a Chicago Bulls baseball cap, and a Charlotte Hornets mini-basketball. So I added them to the list.

Then I realised Toronto Raptors are a team, and they're in the Commonwealth, so I should support them too.

Then I added Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans, because who names their team that?

Then Jamie said I had quite a bad selection of teams, and I should pick a couple of glory teams instead.
But screw him, I'm keeping my bad teams, they need my support. But I added Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trailblazers, because I do like winning sometimes.

Then you came along, and I can't just ignore your team like that, (HOW RUDE!) so San Antonio Spurs are officially on the list.

So now I support 12 teams out of 30. And they keep playing each other, so it's putting me in a very difficult position.

THE END.

Perfect Abe Simpson GIF!

Haha, thank you! It was just as obvious as that... We reached the top of the stairs and came face to face with screaming baby and parents, and we just awkwardly turned around and went back downstairs..

Now that is food with a view.

Aww thanks!

Just watched first episode of Fuller House. Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky still look absolutely amazing! Wow, they sure have aged well. It's quite an experience to see a new generation of Tanner-Fullers taking over the household. "The Circle of Life" continues. They even mentioned Simba at one point. It was so special to see everyone back again -- DJ, Stephanie, Joey, Danny, Steve, oh yeah, and Kimmy.

They look so good don't they! Uncle Jesse has aged so well, and Becky looks exactly the same?!?! HOW!? I really enjoyed it, it was just like the original. There are far too many shows nowadays that are dark and mysterious, I just love a bit of light hearted fun now and again! I think Full House paved the way for all the live action Disney Channel shows that are out, they're all very similar in nature and cheesy jokes, but nothing beats Full House!

Yay! Hi friend!

Boys! We went on a cruise in the beginning of the month and because it's so cold here, Ricky forgot to pack t-shirts! Luckily for him we stopped at the outlets and I bought a slightly-too-big for me Hocus Pocus Spell-tacular purple shirt that he got to wear

Haha! That's worse than Jamie not packing enough socks..!!! NO t shirts?! Men are too funny

Chicken tikka on your flight?! I was SERIOUSLY born in the wrong country!

Do you guys not even get nice(ish) meals on your cross-country flights?! This is an 8 hour flight, so I guess they kinda have to feed us something

The last thing my mom said to me before our last trip was "DO NOT come home with any more tea or mugs".

Story of my life!!! Our cupboards are JAMMED with mugs! And I even have some Disney ones out on the windowsill for decoration.. I have a mug obsession! Meanwhile, we have about 2 knives left (WHERE DO THEY GO?)

I would take the first reservation, please!

I'm glad, not many people seem willing to stay.. I can't think why.

We went for the first time a few trips ago and we felt the same way. I sent my parents there because they had a night in Disney and I couldn't find any other dining reservations. They LOVED it! Completely raved about it. Maybe it was because I warned them of our experience

Huh it's a strange one, the reason I booked it was all the great reviews I was reading! Seems like a love it or hate it situation.

I had one of these for the first time just this month. It was so amazing. I feel so ashamed.

Better late than never! This is one of the only reasons I go to Downtown Disney

If you guys have never gone, you absolutely should! My family used to go a lot because our favorite baseball time started their season there. It's so much fun and there are so many great places to eat. ESPECIALLY Frency's Rockaway Grill! It's this delicious bar/restaurant right on the beach!

Noted! Thanks I always want to explore but we don't rent a car so it seems like a bit of an effort hopefully we will sometime soon.

Love, love, love this shot!

Thank you! And thank you for reading

I heard the same thing about the FP going away. And yes, during our last trip we saw Wishes right outside 7DMT since it started just as we got off the ride! It was AMAZING - fireworks all around us! Best evening of our entire trip!

It might be my new favourite place to watch from! I like standing up on the train station platform too, but it gets busy quickly. I don't have the patience to get a spot an hour in advance, so Fantasyland I shall go

Yes! I have read the same things before. People always seemed to have mediocre reviews of CL in general, but when I read that you and Jamie had such a positive experience, I was glad to hear it!

Yeah the offerings were pretty good! We thought we'd eat a lot more though, I bet nobody gets their money's worth in food alone It was an experience and I'm glad we did it, but we probably won't do it again any time soon

 

[DaisyDuck001]

They look so good don't they! Uncle Jesse has aged so well, and Becky looks exactly the same?!?! HOW!?

I was wondering the same thing. Do they work out in the gym all day, every day? Some other secret to aging so amazingly well? John Stamos and Lori Loughlin, if you are reading this, please tell us, what do you do to keep looking so awesome?

Do you guys not even get nice(ish) meals on your cross-country flights?!

Long ago, there used to be hot meals, but it has been many years since any meals were included on our cross-country flights. I hear they still have them in first class, but for those flying economy (coach), no meals are included. Some airlines will offer to sell you a sandwich on the plane, but I wasn't crazy about the ones I tried. If you don't buy their sandwich, you just receive soft drinks (coffee/tea/soda/juice) and tiny bags of dry snacks. So I think most people either bring their own food from home, or buy expensive food at the airport.

 

[Fleurlur]

HAHA my now husband walked down the aisle on our wedding day to the Jurassic Park theme music (played on a harp of course). We have a weird obsessive love for Jurassic Park so this was a great way to include it in our wedding day!

My fiance is walking down the aisle to the Welcome to Jurassic Park theme as well but on violin.

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Hi Katie! I binge read your first trip report and LOVED it and am so happy to see that you're doing another one (I even came out of lurkdom for it!). I'm following along and can't wait to see another update!

But first, your view? INSANELY jealous!!!!

Hello Missouri Princess! I'm your first post! What an honor I know you said you've been a lurker, but * officially * to the DIS! and thanks for reading, I'm glad you're enjoying it

So that's what an Uncrustable is! I have seen these on the CS menus before but my DDs are not PB&J lovers (for shame!) so we never got them. That picture looks so good, I might have to try it next time.

Yes you should try one! Like I said, I make PB&J at home from time to time, but THESE were something special, I don't know why.

Loving this report. Following along now after a long (but wonderful) journey of 18 pages!!

Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it 18 pages is long, I admire and appreciate your commitment thanks for reading!!!

Okay so i'm massively behind (not my fault blame it on my computer!!!) but i'm desperately trying to catch up! Also, I need to apologize for the lack of GIFs/images on my end. I love using them on TR's for replying but my computer is slowly dying and those make it die much faster. I do not feel like myself without GIFS!

Alicia! How I have missed thee!!! I stalked your insta/fb a couple of times to make sure you hadn't actually dropped off the face of the earth How are you and your precious family and your little baby bump?! I hope everything is going smoothly with minor stress (including computer-related stress )

Um yes! And Jaffa Cakes?! The love of my life.

I knew you would appreciate this

What a gorgeous view! Definitely not California!

What does California look like from above?! An airline here has just introduced cheap direct flights from the UK to LAX, so hopefully I'll get to see for myself in the next couple of years!

Right?! Our version of 'mugs' and their version is completely off. We're right and they're wrong

That might be my new favourite emoji

Like this?!

EXACTLY like that! Just me, stood looking like that, while Jamie and the CM make conversation with each other

Stop....just STOP! What is that outside your window?!?!

I KNOW!

Who would get the Grey, for reals?

^writing that in small font in case people get offended...

I agree with you, however, we now have one of every colour - except grey, so this year I'm making Jamie get grey just so I can say I have one of each colour he also has red, blue and orange that he can use soooo

You can totally tell when he's tired. But didn't he sleep like three different times on the plane??

...you make a good point. Although to be fair, neither of us sleep well on planes

This. This is why I want Club Level. The fact that you can take a fresh, cold carafe of water to your room is everything!

It was great! Especially because Florida tap water is gross

(People are offended by anything these days.. )

Uh no, you're smart. Taking advantage of Club Level! Actually, I purposefully chose a Bed & Breakfast on the coast one year for my birthday because they delivered warm chocolate chip cookies and a cold pitcher of milk to your room at turndown Who can say no to that?! Weird *** people, that's who.

^again small font, don't want to offend those that aren't fun

Well that sounds like the greatest place ever. Step it up, Disney! The place could be rotting or haunted or something, and I'd still consider it for the cookies and milk

Yikes what a perv/creep! Jamie and Daniel have to be long lost brothers

Men! The bathroom door does look quite alarming, but you actually can't see anything through it (thank god)

What I want to know is, is your alarm really set to a cow?!

Yes, it is. And you know that people say not to set your favourite song as your alarm sound, because you start to associate it with being woken up, and you end up hating it? Well now I hate cows.

Just kidding, but I do hate that mooing!

How funny, when I was looking at that photo I was going to ask about your hair! What hair products do you use to tame your hair in that awful humidity?? You'll see in my TR (whenever i'm able to post it!) that even in January, my hair can't deal with the humidity! It drives me nuts that I do it and minutes later it's all crazy.

Girrrrrrl I am right there with you! My hair is AWFUL in Florida, it is not prepared for that heat/humidity at all as soon as I step outside it goes crazy.

I take a mini hairspray in my bag with me for whenever it gets frizzy and ridiculous. But you'll notice in this TR that half way through I just think "SCREW THIS" and I start to wear it in a side plait (/braid?!) for the rest of the trip

I told DH that I wanted to marry you because you used the word gormless! (he doesn't mind, BTW!) I know you've used it before but that word is amaze-balls to me!

Oh ok! I DO!

Do you guys across the pond not use the word gormless?! My face in those Buzz Lightyear photos is the definition of gormless

I HAVE THIS SAME PICTURE OF DH!!! Ugh, I need to post my TR asap!

Yes you do please!! And yeah, they seem to be long lost brothers. I'd like Jamie to take after Dan in getting those solo photopass pictures taken they would crack me up appearing in my memory maker with no explanation

gormless

During our marriage I will teach you how to be just as gormless as me

All new things to me! What's the story behind the ring?

Ooh! Ooh! I know this one! I read it in my book!

Apparently ages ago there was a sawn-off post embedded in the pavement and fans started saying it was a wedding ring belonging to the bride in the attraction.. This was it back then:

So then in 2011 when they did the big queue refurb and added all the interactive elements, the imagineers had to pave over the "ring", so they added an actual ring as a nod to the myth!

Don't you love it! I loved seeing people sitting out there, eating lunches and snacks and just relaxing. Perfect addition!

It seems to be empty a lot of the time too! Maybe because the entry is just a small gap in the fence, maybe people just stroll past it thinking it's a garden not complaining though!

Yes! Disneybounding as an attraction! Interesting. Wonder if there really are people that do this instead of characters

I just did a quick search and it does seem to be a thing! This Tower of Terror one is cool

\

That is a major score! You should be an Itinerary Planner

If I had a clue how to make good money off it, I definitely would!! That sounds so much fun Sadly I don't think WDW trips are as prevalent to Brits, most tend to just do the once-in-a-lifetime thing

Will be back to read more. Took me an hour and a half just to post these responses! The stupid spinning circle of death on my Macbook is KILLING ME!

Your commitment is inspiring

Okay, I know you keep saying it's busy, but it totally doesn't look that way at all! I feel like our January trip was way more crowded around this time of day and we went in the 'off season'?!

I think we've been spoilt by the parks being completely empty in Sept 2014, so now anything seems busy. I want to go in January some time, I bet it's real nice when you're not boiling and dehydrated all day?!

What the!? That's definitely a view you didn't pay for!....or did you???

I paid in the form of dollar bills

You could have made it even more awkward and actually sat on your balcony and stare at them

Omg

This I did not know about. So are you saying if we ever make it to the UK and we tip what we normally tip (18-20) we'll be worshiped?!

For sure!!! The minimum wage here is the same for all jobs including waiting tables and stuff, so tips are just a bonus you get for good service If you gave 20% you'd have one happy waiter!

Ugh i'm so out of the loop, off to Google!

Maybe I should have put a disclaimer in the report.. I get the impression that C-bombs are much more offensive to Americans than Brits..! Please don't think I have an awful sense of humour!!! That word is thrown around all the time here

Love this scene!

GOOD! Me too Not many people acknowledged it

I've never tried them but have always wanted too! I love me a PB&J and DS requests it about 4 times a week, so i'm sure he'd love them too. But they're frozen right? So you have to heat them up in a toaster? Or no...?

Nooo ours weren't frozen / toasted, just regular bread-like bread

DH does this all the time. He wants to be 'the man' of the party and take charge and will walk ahead and then come to a fork and turn around and look at me with a perplexed look on his face. Nice try, hun

Yes this exactly! Jamie will give me a side-eye to make sure I'm not halting or veering off in another direction but this time I gave him no hints, and this was the result

I finally, FINALLY got my chance to eat here this past January! And I didn't have to sell DH too hard, but I said my friend Katie on the boards said they serve a crazy amount of Broccoli (DS loves broccoli) and he agreed! So thank you

Yaaas! What did you eat, and did you enjoy it? Oh boy, I love that chicken pot pie.

How much did you love that area for Wishes?! Oh my gosh, way better than fighting to find a spot somewhere on Main Street, and we got there a minute late and still had a great view.

People get flamed for using this FP, but I really like it I hate standing on Main Street, where everyone raises their cameras/iPads over their heads as soon as the show starts! I just can't see!!! They're supposed to be getting rid of the FP though... Sadness.

OMGosh i'm caught up!

You did so good!!! I hope your computer starts behaving and you can post a report of your January trip!

Thanks for reading girl

 

[pkondz]

Do you guys across the pond not use the word gormless?!

Nope. At least not that I know of.
But it's pretty darned descriptive.

 

[MyGoofy26]

So this will probably sound really weird coming from someone who has never "spoken" to you before on here, but I totally thought of you during my trip last week! I was on a Trip Report tear in the couple months leading up to our trip so I read your previous completed and now this one. Our first night we got in and headed straight for Magic Kingdom. We had a FP+ nearing expiration for The Haunted Mansion so that was our first stop. We were starving, though, after a day of travelling. I usually skip Columbia Harbor House since I don't eat seafood but my husband loves salmon (and this was his first trip so I was totally doing ANYTHING I could to sell him on WDW) so we headed there. We got to our table and sat down. I looked at his plate and his mound of broccoli, remembered all of your Broccoliville posts and mentally kicked myself for not asking to sub my fries. He took pity on my sad face and let me have some of his broccoli. SO good! And OMG the Lighthouse sandwich was delish! We are definitely hitting CHH every trip now. He just kept asking how Disney can make "fast food" salmon SO good.

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Any chance of that, do you think?

Considering how I recently mentioned that a man SNEEZING made me jump.. I don't think I'll do too well at Halloween Horror Nights..!!!

No!!!!!!

Yes!!! It got moved back, so while all the summer travellers rejoice, we are quietly crying in the corner

Absolutely loving this trip report!!! So entertaining- Keep going, keep going!

Thanks so much!! I've got quite a lot written out so I'll try and post an entire day of updates today! thanks for reading!

I was wondering the same thing. Do they work out in the gym all day, every day? Some other secret to aging so amazingly well? John Stamos and Lori Loughlin, if you are reading this, please tell us, what do you do to keep looking so awesome?

I would say most of them, Jesse and Becky in particular, look very fit! I bet they all (men included) have very good make up artists too!

Long ago, there used to be hot meals, but it has been many years since any meals were included on our cross-country flights. I hear they still have them in first class, but for those flying economy (coach), no meals are included. Some airlines will offer to sell you a sandwich on the plane, but I wasn't crazy about the ones I tried. If you don't buy their sandwich, you just receive soft drinks (coffee/tea/soda/juice) and tiny bags of dry snacks. So I think most people either bring their own food from home, or buy expensive food at the airport.

Oh booo. Although I guess including meals would make the flights more expensive, so bringing some sandwiches from home is a good alternative airplane-provided food isn't exactly a delicious delicacy

My fiance is walking down the aisle to the Welcome to Jurassic Park theme as well but on violin.

Such a great idea

So this will probably sound really weird coming from someone who has never "spoken" to you before on here, but I totally thought of you during my trip last week! I was on a Trip Report tear in the couple months leading up to our trip so I read your previous completed and now this one. Our first night we got in and headed straight for Magic Kingdom. We had a FP+ nearing expiration for The Haunted Mansion so that was our first stop. We were starving, though, after a day of travelling. I usually skip Columbia Harbor House since I don't eat seafood but my husband loves salmon (and this was his first trip so I was totally doing ANYTHING I could to sell him on WDW) so we headed there. We got to our table and sat down. I looked at his plate and his mound of broccoli, remembered all of your Broccoliville posts and mentally kicked myself for not asking to sub my fries. He took pity on my sad face and let me have some of his broccoli. SO good! And OMG the Lighthouse sandwich was delish! We are definitely hitting CHH every trip now. He just kept asking how Disney can make "fast food" salmon SO good.

Haha yesss! I love that the Broccoliville love is spreading! Glad you enjoyed your meals! I love the broccoli, so many meals come with fries at WDW, it can get a bit overwhelming, so I like going there and getting a mountain of broccoli for a change A problem I have is that I'm not very adventurous with food, so if I know that I love the chicken pot pie, that's all I'll ever order to the point where I don't even really look at the menu now, so I wasn't really aware they had a salmon meal! I love salmon too so I might have to give it a try this year so thanks for the tip! Maybe I'll run into you in CHH sometime

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Fun Find - Disney Easter Egg

Hello friends!
Before I get to the update, I have to share something that’s pretty
But I think that one, maybe even two of you might find this as fun as I did!
I’m just excited because I’m usually completely on top of Disney Easter eggs like this, but we recently discovered one that was totally new to me!

So, does anyone remember that old funny viral video of the online shopping channel blooper, where the guy is going, “Look at that horse!” to a picture of a giant moth?!

Well, whilst watching Up the other day, Jamie’s friend pointed out that when Mr. Fredricksen is watching TV, right before he meets Russell, he’s watching that exact part of that show!

We found this so funny!
Any time that video resurfaces it never fails to make us laugh.
I can’t believe they used it in Up, and I never noticed!!

We discussed it for a bit, and asked ourselves why on earth the writers would throw THAT in there?!
We thought it was just a funny way of showing how completely fed up Mr. Fredricksen is.
That he can watch such a big goof completely stone-faced without even cracking a smile.

But then we watched the blooper clip on YouTube, and noticed that right before the part he’s watching in the scene, and right where the blooper video begins, is a shot of a camera, with a picture of a hot air balloon!
Which is what we can assume he had been watching for a while, yes?!
So, aside from being a balloon salesman himself, maybe this was where part of his plan was formed?!
WHO KNOWS.
But it was a fun find nonetheless!

I hope anyone who appreciates that horse video can now appreciate it when they watch Up!

OK.
Back to your regular scheduled programming.


Day 4
Friday 25th September 2015
Part 1 – Let the procession begin!

Rise and shine, it’s 10am!!
I’m glad I changed our early fastpass, because there was no way we would’ve made it.
I slept so good last night, and we had a nice leisurely morning.

We’re going to Animal Kingdom today, so we both wore green!

We had just missed the lounge offerings for the morning, so I had the PB&J uncrustables that I hoarded yesterday!

We left the room at 11:10am, with 50 minutes to make it to our Expedition Everest fastpass.
Easy enough, right?

WRONG!

The bus took absolutely ages.
Then it had problems boarding an ECV.
Then it called at the Grand Floridian, and had even more problems boarding another ECV.
THEN we called at Blizzard Beach…
GAH!

It took over an HOUR from leaving our room to arriving at Animal Kingdom.
And we missed our Everest FP!
DOH.

We arrived at the entrance at 12:15pm.

We stopped to get a photopass picture on the bridge to Discovery Island.

Squint!

Then we found a Cast Member and asked where the nearest FP kiosks were, but she was able to get us another Everest FP right there on her iPad!
She was very nice and helpful.
So Everest was now booked in for 3:05pm

After that was situated, we turned around to see Russell and Dug!
And we caught them at the most adorable moment, because their handler stopped them and made them look left and right, and hold hands when crossing the street!
Like true Wilderness Explorers!
Precious.

Anyway, we walked over to Dinoland to use our fastpass at Dinosaur.

Dinosaur has my favourite pre-show ever.
Gahh I love it.

“Don’t worry about that asteroid, you’ll be in and out of there before it even breaks the atmosphere.”

While we were in line I told Jamie this is another ride I think is too scary for children.
He disagreed, saying he wouldn’t have been scared of this as a kid…
Does he not have a soul?!?

We boarded our time rover and Jamie put his backpack to the side of his legs, but I made him put it between his legs instead.
“Why?” he asked.
Errrrrm…
Because there’s no door.
Jamie was like, “Oh wow, I bet people lose stuff on here all the time!”
To which I replied, “Yeah, make sure you check your pockets at the end…”

We took our time rover to get that dino, and of course we came face-to-face with that pesky Carnotaurus.
Don't worry guys, I got this.

The girl behind me is SO done with this $h*t!



As we pulled back into the Dino Institute Jamie admitted,
“Yeah… That WAS too scary for kids!”
IT IS!

(Some of you shared stories of your fearless kids enjoying the Haunted Mansion…
SURELY none of you can say the same about Dinosaur?!
It’s legit terrifying!)

We exited the time rover and everyone moved onto the platform when Jamie starts patting his pockets…
He looked at me in horror…
His iPhone was gone!!!!!!
Lost forever to the cretaceous period.
Advancing the intelligence of the dinosaurs, allowing them to forever rule the world, preventing human evolution and existence, creating a major time paradox, causing a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum, and destroy the entire universe.

Just kidding, we ran back and it was on the seat.
Phew.

We headed back out into the park, and we crossed in front of the tree to get to Africa.

We were catching the 1pm showing of Festival of the Lion King!

We were seated in the giraffe section today!
I enjoy the four people who “host” the show.
I don’t remember their actual names but I know that they’re Swahili names for “Princess”, “The Gift”, “Masculine and Strong”, and “Good Looking”.
I like Good Looking the best.

The show was perfect, as usual.

Festival of the Lion King is just
I love the Tumble Monkeys, but Be Prepared is one of my favourite Disney songs, so that part is probably my favourite.
Jamie just says he likes it all.
When I asked his favourite part he said,
“I like the monkeys. And the ballet. And the fire guy. And the intro. And the ending.”


When the show ended it was 1:30pm.
Time for some lunch!


Click for Day 4, Part 2!
​

 

[pkondz]

Considering how I recently mentioned that a man SNEEZING made me jump.. I don't think I'll do too well at Halloween Horror Nights..!!!

Good point.

Yes!!! It got moved back, so while all the summer travellers rejoice, we are quietly crying in the corner

So not fair. I demand a refund! (on your behalf)

So, does anyone remember that old funny viral video of the online shopping channel blooper, where the guy is going, “Look at that horse!” to a picture of a giant moth?!

Nope. And I'm at work so I can't see the videos.

I hope anyone who appreciates that horse video can now appreciate it when they watch Up!

Have yet to see Up!
Some day.

And so glad I managed to get between your posts again!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 4
Friday 25th September 2015
Part 2 – Sausages and safaris.

I had something new to cross off my list for lunch today.
We ate at the brand new Harambe Market!

There are a few different quick service locations in Harambe Market, all of which sell two or three options.

Jamie went to Kitamu Grill to get a chicken skewer.

There’s also a rib shop.

And I went to Famous Sausages!

This was my view while I was in line to order, this entire marketplace is so immersive, even the tiny corners. It’s impressive!

I ordered my food from a very nice cast member called Rick, who was from Las Vegas.
I asked for the curried sausage, which is pretty much all they sell, and he just stared at me and said,
“Oh, we’re all out.”

He cracked a smile though so he didn’t fool me.
He asked if I worked at Disney (I wish!!!) and he said he wanted to visit England sometime.
He was very friendly.

Here’s my lunch!

Most, if not all of the food comes with broccoli, tomatoes and red onion.
The vegetables are a little… vinegary? Or something. I’d prefer them plain, but the sausage was TASTY!

The only negative I can think of is that it’s literally a sausage on a stick, so once you get so far down, you unexpectedly bite into a big chunk of wood..!
But otherwise, it was good.
(You can see the wooden stick in this pic )

Here’s Jamie’s chicken skewer.

He enjoyed it too.
We both tried some of each other’s, and agreed that Harambe Marketplace is a fun place to grab some quick, tasty food.
And the theming is amazing.

Now it was time to use our FP at Jamie’s favourite attraction in the whole of Walt Disney World…
Kilimanjaro Safari!

Just as we were boarding, it started to POUR with rain!

We were worried that all the animals would be sheltering from the rain and hiding from view.

But our safari guide told us not to worry, and that the rain would probably make for an interesting safari…
And she was not wrong!

We saw some hippos.

And gators.

When Maleficent drinks cow potion instead of dragon potion:

The giraffes were hiding…

But then came the good stuff!
The Elephants were LOVING life in the rain!
They were bopping their heads up and down, using their trunks to throw dirt over their backs!

And this little guy on the left was sat down like a human!!!

Then he flopped right over, and started rolling around in the mud!

So cute.

But the next part was the best part…

We saw all three lions AWAKE, and this girl was up at the very top of the highest rock!

She definitely looked like she could jump on top of our van if she wanted to

Then around the corner a little, we saw the other two, and the female was nuzzling the male and licking his face.

“Mommmm you’re messing up my mane!”

Amazing!
This was the best safari I have ever been on!
And to think, I was disheartened when it started to rain!
We usually do the safari first thing in the morning because it’s cooler so the animals are supposedly sprightlier, compared to when it’s hot and they feel more sluggish.
So the rain was definitely a good thing.
Everyone in our truck was super enthusiastic too.
It was a very successful safari!


Click for Day 4, Part 3!
​

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 4
Friday 25th September 2015
Part 3 – BABY GORILLA.

After the safari we walked through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.

This lizard was trying to make a break for it, he was launching himself off the ground and landing in a heap on the floor!

Poor little guy.

We observed the hippo for a while.

Jamie made me read this really sad story on the wall…!

And as if that didn’t make me emotional enough…
We stopped to see the gorillas…
And spotted…

BABY GORILLA.

OMG.
This may be the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen.

There are now two kids, an adolescent, two moms, a dad and a grandma!

The Dad is probably how I’ll be as a parent

* yawn *

Gahh look at his precious faceeee!

We saw him imitating one of the others.

Whilst Dad remained totally exasperated in the corner.

Ahh, parenthood.

Gahh they were amazing.
I could watch the gorillas all day, I find them fascinating.

When we left the trail we stopped to look in Zuri’s sweet shop in Africa.

They sell some cool things.

They sell the sauce they use at Flame Tree Barbecue, and other fancy cooking items.

I took this picture of some big salad forks and spoons because I swore my mum had some at home.
When I sent it to her she agreed! We definitely have these from years ago! Although she hasn’t seen them in a while, she thinks they’re stored away somewhere.

We left Zuri’s without buying anything (BOO) and continued past Harambe Market and made our way to Asia.

We were going to use our fastpass at Everest!

Let’s go!

From the top of Everest you can see the where the Rivers of Light seating is going to be (on the left of the lake), and the cranes working on Pandora in the distance.

“There doesn’t seem to be any track…”

Today was a special occasion, because Jamie saw the big Yeti, for the first time ever!
It had somehow come up in conversation before the trip, and he was like,
“What? WHERE?! I’ve only ever seen the yeti shadow that breaks up the track.”
So I was able to point it out to him this time!

After Everest it was 3:40pm, so we decided to head back to the Poly.
We had an exciting evening planned!

Click for Day 4, Part 4!
​

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 4
Friday 25th September 2015
Part 4 – Food and Wine Festival opening night!

We arrived back at the hotel room at around 4:30pm, and honestly, we just sat on the edge of our seats until 5pm, waiting to sprint to the lounge for when they brought the food out…!!

Yum!!
We got some crab ragoons and chicken wings, and uncrustables, of course.

We took our food back to the room and watched the new South Park…
It spoofed / made references to The Lion King II !
So funny!

Omg you guys…
We were getting some WEATHER.

I had a creep on our room at the Grand Floridian that we stayed in last year!
It’s the dormer balcony right below the chimney!

(You can see pictures of that room in my last trip report, from HERE onwards!)

We soon headed out of the room and walked over to the TTC, it is not far from the Poly at all, and you can walk along the beach! Very handy.

At 6pm we arrived at Epcot, for a momentous occasion in my Disney career.
Yes, travelling to Disney is my job.
It’s my very first Food and Wine Festival!!!

For real, the imminent rain could not put a downer on my evening!
I was so excited.
It was 2015’s opening night too (AND the 20th anniversary!), which meant the atmosphere was buzzing!

As soon as we stepped into the park, there was a HUGE clash of thunder
Oh boy.
But thou shalt not worry.
Thou shalt embrace Florida weather during hurricane season.

We went into the Port of Entry store to put on our vintage ponchos.
Who remembers these?!

So 90s.
Much yellow.
I promise this isn’t as embarrassing as it looks, we actually saw a lot of people wearing the old yellow ones!

We also put some money onto a mini gift card that goes around your wrist!
Ahh Disney, anything to make taking my money easier.

With that, we headed into World Showcase!
We really had no idea what we doing, and we didn’t have the passport/map because it would just melt in the rain.
We just set out wanting to check out some menus.

The first kiosk we came to was Scotland!
How appropriate, since I’m half Scottish.

For those who don’t know, many Scots celebrate something called Burns night, in honour of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns.
On Burns night you have to eat Haggis, Neeps (turnips) and Tatties (potatoes).

“And what is Haggis?” you ask?

Haggis is sheep’s heart, liver and lungs, minced and encased in sheep’s stomach.


It is absolutely putrid.
But you HAVE to eat it, it’s just the rule.

So, because my Dad is Scottish, we’re “celebrating” Burns Night when I was about 6 years old, and I’m given this plate of sheep guts to eat.
I took one mouthful.
And I spat.
And I wretched.
And I cried.
And I cried.
And I cried.
Apparently by the end of dinner, my haggis was swimming around in a little pool of tears.
My family loves that memory.
I’m somewhat traumatised, but whatever, I still took this picture to send to my Dad, which he loved.

We continued around looking at some menus, but a lot of kiosks were closing due to the thunder!
Noooo!
Not on opening night!!
But we were reassured by a CM that once the rain dies down they’ll be opening back up.

So we decided to head around to Mitsukoshi in Japan to wait the rain out.

(See, another yellow poncho!)

Jamie loved Mitsukoshi!
He found a bunch of stuff that reminded him of his childhood, like Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z.

I also found these weird monkey things, which my mum had when she was little, and had since passed down to me when I was little!
I took this to send to her.

What a nostalgic and cultural day!

After shopping for a while the rain had eased off slightly.
We had a quick look at the koi fish, and I took this picture of Katsura Grill.
I always think it looks so mysterious up there, I was surprised to learn it’s just a quick service restaurant.

Those layered clouds are back…

We made our way around to Germany and I went into Karamel Kuche to smell it.
It smells AMAZING in there.
For some reason I never buy anything though.
Although I think this year WILL be the year

Then I went to see my beloved pickle tree.

I bought a pickle for myself and for my family last year, and I’ve kept mine out all year round
I just find it an amusing ornament to have hanging off one’s mirror.

As we were leaving Germany we spotted Snow White!
She was sheltering from the rain so there was no one waiting!
She was such a trooper, as I was approaching I heard her attendant/photographer asking if she wanted to go inside, but she insisted she was fine
She was precious and she liked my Eeyore bag
I pointed to Jamie and told her we had ponchos that looked just like her skirt
I said I didn’t look quite as pretty in it as she did though, so she gave me tips on how to twirl is and hold it up like a Princess

After we said goodbye we noticed that the Germany F&W kiosk was open!

We got a bratwurst each, and Jamie got a beer, and I got some wine.

It was good!
I liked my bratwurst, but I avoided the mustard, so maybe it wasn’t as flavourful as it was intended to be.
The wine was nice for a few sips but it soon became very sweet. Good thing they’re served in those little glasses.
But overall we both enjoyed our first F&W stop!

A little further round we stopped at Africa.
We ordered both the beef and the chicken to share.

These were really good!
I preferred the chicken, but both were cooked well and full of flavour.

Thankfully the rain had completely subsided by now, so we continued looking around.

We wanted to try some of the Canada dishes, but first we hit Hawaii and were tempted by the Kalua pork slider (with sweet and sour dole pineapple chutney and spicy mayonnaise).

Neither of us usually like pineapple on our savoury food, so we were going to order it without the chutney, but we’d been talking earlier about people who order things not as they’re intended and then go “meh it was only ok”
So we decided to go for the full pork-slider-with-pineapple experience.

Omg.
YUM AND WOW.
It was practically life changing.
Definitely my favourite of the day, and probably of the whole trip!

If anything was ever going to change my disgust for pineapple on savoury foods, it would be the Epcot Food & Wine Festival!
The pineapple was very subtle, but it’s still there, and it wouldn’t be the same without it.
I’m so glad we braved it!

We were pretty done with our mini-dinners now, so we went in search of a dessert!
We had noticed people with desserts at the Chew Lab earlier, so we backtracked towards the Imagination pavilion to find it.

The Chew Lab is a brand new kiosk that serves salmon and steak, it’s very fancy!

But we decided to share the “liquid nitro chocolate almond truffle with warm whiskey caramel”
Yes, you heard correctly, this dessert had liquid nitrogen steaming off it!!

It was very good!

There was a nice little garden set up by the Chew Lab with plenty of tables.
Actually, this was opening night, and we never struggled to find a table to eat at, even though it felt very busy.
I always hear about people having to eat off the floor / on top of trash cans, so maybe that’s something they’ve improved this year

Click for Day 4, Part 5!
​

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 4
Friday 25th September 2015
Part 5 – Fireworks or the apocalypse?

It was almost 9pm when we finished our dessert, so we went to ride Spaceship Earth before heading back to the hotel.

Ahh it was so nice to hear Dame Judi’s soothing voice again.
Although I looked questionable in the video..

Afterwards, Jamie played some Innervison, but he wasn’t very happy with his scores.
Don’t worry guys, it’s just a “practice round.”

We wandered out towards the monorail, and it was right there waiting for us

The monorail took us back to the TTC, and we walked back to the Poly from there.

If you thought last night had some crazy skies, wait until you see it tonight…!

Once we were back at our building we stopped off at the lounge and got some alcohol and desserts.

We took them up to our room and out onto the balcony.
We had rose wine, amarula, cookies and a strawberry mousse.

To our delight, HalloWishes was about to start!

But the craziest thing started happening.
And I still can’t figure out a way to describe it.
We THINK the fireworks were getting lost in the really thick clouds?

But if you think that’s weird, the fireworks then started illuminating the entire sky!
It looked apocalyptic!

We’re no physicists, but Jamie’s best guess was that all the water particles in the clouds were reflecting the light from the fireworks across one another until a lot of the sky appeared to be lit up?


But regardless of how it was happening, it looked AMAZING!

“Happy Happy Haaalloooweeeeeen!”

It sure was an interesting end to the night!


Click for Day 5, Part 1!​

 

[pkondz]

I slept so good last night, and we had a nice leisurely morning.

There's no sleep like Disney sleep

Man, you must've never got tired to waking up to that view.

We’re going to Animal Kingdom today, so we both wore green!

I couldn't figure out what you meant there for a second.

We left the room at 11:10am, with 50 minutes to make it to our Expedition Everest fastpass.
Easy enough, right?

Right!

WRONG!

oh.

It took over an HOUR from leaving our room to arriving at Animal Kingdom.

Did he also drive backwards??

We stopped to get a photopass picture on the bridge to Discovery Island.

Squint!

Still pretty though, so it's all good.

The pattern on your shirt is like those 3D pictures that you have to stare at forever before you see the image.

Then we found a Cast Member and asked where the nearest FP kiosks were, but she was able to get us another Everest FP right there on her iPad!

Nice! A little bit of pixie dust.

And we caught them at the most adorable moment, because their handler stopped them and made them look left and right, and hold hands when crossing the street!

Awwww...

“Don’t worry about that asteroid, you’ll be in and out of there before it even breaks the atmosphere.”

Should be safe.

While we were in line I told Jamie this is another ride I think is too scary for children.
He disagreed, saying he wouldn’t have been scared of this as a kid…
Does he not have a soul?!?

He doesn't. Ditch him and marry me instead.

To which I replied, “Yeah, make sure you check your pockets at the end…”

Uh, oh.

We took our time rover to get that dino, and of course we came face-to-face with that pesky Carnotaurus.
Don't worry guys, I got this.

Katie saves the day!

The girl behind me is SO done with this $h*t!

She is!

As we pulled back into the Dino Institute Jamie admitted,
“Yeah… That WAS too scary for kids!”
IT IS!

As evidenced by the little boy behind you.

(Some of you shared stories of your fearless kids enjoying the Haunted Mansion…
SURELY none of you can say the same about Dinosaur?!
It’s legit terrifying!)

I never knew this scared Kay when she was little.
I only found out when we went last August and she was practically hyperventilating before going on.

We exited the time rover and everyone moved onto the platform when Jamie starts patting his pockets…
He looked at me in horror…
His iPhone was gone!!!!!!

Oh, no! and.... I knew it!!!

Lost forever to the cretaceous period.
Advancing the intelligence of the dinosaurs, allowing them to forever rule the world, preventing human evolution and existence, creating a major time paradox, causing a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum, and destroy the entire universe.

It's all his fault! We're doomed! Doomed I say! Doo...

Just kidding, we ran back and it was on the seat.
Phew.

oh. Nevermind.
Lucky it was on the seat, though. I would think if it had fallen out, it would be really tough to find.

Festival of the Lion King is just

And you took some amazingly good pictures of it too!

“I like the monkeys. And the ballet. And the fire guy. And the intro. And the ending.”

That's Hymie. Succinct.

I had something new to cross off my list for lunch today.
We ate at the brand new Harambe Market!

And here we completely skipped it.
I didn't even know what it was.

This was my view while I was in line to order, this entire marketplace is so immersive, even the tiny corners. It’s impressive!

I like that little sign in the top right corner.

I asked for the curried sausage, which is pretty much all they sell, and he just stared at me and said,
“Oh, we’re all out.”

He cracked a smile though so he didn’t fool me.

Here’s my lunch!

Oh man, that looks good!

The only negative I can think of is that it’s literally a sausage on a stick, so once you get so far down, you unexpectedly bite into a big chunk of wood..!

I guess I'd expect it so it wouldn't bother me.
But I can see how it could be a little disconcerting if you weren't.

We both tried some of each other’s, and agreed that Harambe Marketplace is a fun place to grab some quick, tasty food.
And the theming is amazing.

That place is now high on my list for places to see in AK.
Heck, in WDW.

Just as we were boarding, it started to POUR with rain!

Oh, crap!

But our safari guide told us not to worry, and that the rain would probably make for an interesting safari…

Oh?

When Maleficent drinks cow potion instead of dragon potion:

When bad things happen to bad people.

But then came the good stuff!
The Elephants were LOVING life in the rain!
They were bopping their heads up and down, using their trunks to throw dirt over their backs!

No way! Cool!

We saw all three lions AWAKE, and this girl was up at the very top of the highest rock!

No. Freaking. Way!!!
I've never seen more than the ears of one!
And here you see three!!! And not passed out?

Lucky!!

She definitely looked like she could jump on top of our van if she wanted to

That only happens every once in a while.
It's called risk management. They weigh the cost of redesigning the entire area vs the cost of paying off the family of an eaten tourist.
Cheaper to just pay off the family.

Then around the corner a little, we saw the other two, and the female was nuzzling the male and licking his face.

Man. You really lucked out.

This lizard was trying to make a break for it, he was launching himself off the ground and landing in a heap on the floor!

Poor little guy.

Poor little guy.

I swear I said that before I read what you wrote!

Jamie made me read this really sad story on the wall…!

No soul and evil.
Yup.

And that story? Good thing Disney isn't for kids!

BABY GORILLA.

Aww...

This may be the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen.

Sorry Jamie.

The Dad is probably how I’ll be as a parent

* yawn *

It's the only way to do it.

When we left the trail we stopped to look in Zuri’s sweet shop in Africa.

Hadn't even heard of this place!

I took this picture of some big salad forks and spoons because I swore my mum had some at home.
When I sent it to her she agreed! We definitely have these from years ago! Although she hasn’t seen them in a while, she thinks they’re stored away somewhere.

My folks did too!

From the top of Everest you can see the where the Rivers of Light seating is going to be (on the left of the lake), and the cranes working on Pandora in the distance.

Interesting.

“There doesn’t seem to be any track…”

Is that the most iconic EE shot ever?

Awww... pretty as a princess. And you are too!

Today was a special occasion, because Jamie saw the big Yeti, for the first time ever!
It had somehow come up in conversation before the trip, and he was like,
“What? WHERE?! I’ve only ever seen the yeti shadow that breaks up the track.”
So I was able to point it out to him this time!

This was almost word for word what my conversation with Kay was like.

We arrived back at the hotel room at around 4:30pm, and honestly, we just sat on the edge of our seats until 5pm, waiting to sprint to the lounge for when they brought the food out…!!

Of course. Man, that's such an awesome perk.

We got some crab ragoons and chicken wings, and uncrustables, of course.

Of course.

Omg you guys…
We were getting some WEATHER.

Technically, even nice weather is still weather.


I'll shut up now.

I had a creep on our room at the Grand Floridian that we stayed in last year!
It’s the dormer balcony right below the chimney!

I remember that!

It’s my very first Food and Wine Festival!!!

Woot!

As soon as we stepped into the park, there was a HUGE clash of thunder
Oh boy.

uh, oh.
Sounds like you're going to get some weather.

Thou shalt embrace Florida weather during hurricane season.

Look at you, all embracing and everything.

We went into the Port of Entry store to put on our vintage ponchos.
Who remembers these?!

Ahh Disney, anything to make taking my money easier.

Ain't it the truth.

How appropriate, since I’m half Scottish.

What's the other half? Naughty?

For those who don’t know, many Scots celebrate something called Burns night

I did know that.
Learned it here from another DISer, actually.

“And what is Haggis?” you ask?

Haggis is sheep’s heart, liver and lungs, minced and encased in sheep’s stomach.

I do not ask. I knew that. You can get it at our multi-cultural festival that we have every year.

I have not, however imbibed.

It is absolutely putrid.
But you HAVE to eat it, it’s just the rule.

I took one mouthful.
And I spat.
And I wretched.
And I cried.
And I cried.
And I cried.

Awww! Poor Katie!
(And that so reminds me of me with Brussels sprouts.)

Apparently by the end of dinner, my haggis was swimming around in a little pool of tears.
My family loves that memory.

I’m somewhat traumatised, but whatever, I still took this picture to send to my Dad, which he loved.

OMG. That's just perfect!

We continued around looking at some menus, but a lot of kiosks were closing due to the thunder!
Noooo!

Noooo!

We made our way around to Germany and I went into Karamel Kuche to smell it.
It smells AMAZING in there.

For some reason I never buy anything though.

What? Are you crazy????

Then I went to see my beloved pickle tree.

Ah yes. The traditional American ornament that Americans think came from Germany that Germans have never heard of.

I just find it an amusing ornament to have hanging off one’s mirror.

Good spot for that!

I said I didn’t look quite as pretty in it as she did though, so she gave me tips on how to twirl is and hold it up like a Princess

We got a bratwurst each

mmmmm.... bratwurst...

Great little shot!

first we hit Hawaii and were tempted by the Kalua pork slider (with sweet and sour dole pineapple chutney and spicy mayonnaise).

Yummm... sounds delish. And apparently was.

The Chew Lab is a brand new kiosk that serves salmon and steak, it’s very fancy!

Never heard of that one either. Sounds interesting.

But we decided to share the “liquid nitro chocolate almond truffle with warm whiskey caramel”
Yes, you heard correctly, this dessert had liquid nitrogen steaming off it!!

Cool!

Although I looked questionable in the video..

You look like Pablo Escobar.

Afterwards, Jamie played some Innervison

We did that too. Exasperating, no?

If you thought last night had some crazy skies, wait until you see it tonight…!

Whoa

Once we were back at our building we stopped off at the lounge and got some alcohol and desserts.

Nice!

To our delight, HalloWishes was about to start!

Sounds like the perfect end to the day.

We THINK the fireworks were getting lost in the really thick clouds?

But if you think that’s weird, the fireworks then started illuminating the entire sky!
It looked apocalyptic!

That's so... cool/frightening/awesome.

We’re no physicists, but Jamie’s best guess was that all the water particles in the clouds were reflecting the light from the fireworks across one another until a lot of the sky appeared to be lit up?

Sure. I'll buy that.

It sure was an interesting end to the night!

Excellent update!

 

[KathyM2]

Wow amazing updates!

Just kidding, we ran back and it was on the seat.
Phew.

Talk about heart attack moment!! That would be the WORST to lose your phone at WDW...it would be hard to do anything without it!

And this little guy on the left was sat down like a human!!!

That's so awesome! I didn't think elephants ever, you know...just sat down like that.

Ahh Disney, anything to make taking my money easier.

This is hilarious and so true. And I fell for it too...loved that card....too bad about how quick and easy it is to spend the money that's on there though...

Those night time fireworks pics were unbelievable - especially the one where the sky was all red!! Wow!

 

[TristiK]

Omg that's a Monchichi! My dad bought me one when I was born and it was my most beloved toy ever! I still have it and it's disgusting. He bought by daughter one when she was born in 2008. Now I super can't wait for Epcot in June!