From Europe to Disney World - A Sep15 Character Trip - Update 7/12

[Karin1984]

Good morning one and all!

Two days before my trip I thought it was time to start a trip report! Lurking on the trip report board for a long time, this is my first report.

My name is Karin, from the Netherlands (English is not my native language, please forgive my grammar mistakes ). I work at KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, in the marketing department. I will be your tour guide!

Favorite ride: Phantom Manor (Haunted Mansion in DLP) or Pirates. I love details!

Favorite character: Frollo, Gaston, the bad guys with a twist. And Flynn Rider because he is Flynn Rider.

My partner in crime is Nikki, originally from South Africa, moved back with her parents to Portugal, after university she worked in Ireland, Italy and now resides in France. She does something with designing air conditioning systems. (no idea what she does exactly, she has a degree in Mechanical Engineering)

Favorite ride: Probably Tower of Terror or Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, anything thrill. To her BTM at DLP is a mild ride.
Favorite character: Aurora

This was us last June and I'm only including this picture, to introduce you to the Phillip doll... It's Nikki's and most likely, he / it will join us on this trip. As he is not paying for the trip, I think he shouldn't come along... I tried to drown him in the moat of the castle, but I was unsuccessful. He floats.

Nikki and I know each other from an online Disney forum and have had several trips together to Disneyland Paris. Annual passholders, we know that park like the back of our hands! I went on solo trips to WDW in 2012 and DL in 2014. Nikki’s first trip to another Disney park. We have been talking about going to WDW together for years and now it’s time!

The plan: 10 parks days, staying at POP with DDP. Staying from RD to close, almost every day, till we hit the wall.

Day 0:
Me: Amsterdam – Frankfurt – Orlando (arrival 5:30pm)
Nikki: Luxemburg - London – Miami – Orlando (arrival 10:45pm)
Hopefully Erika is not going to bother us during the flights.

Day 1:
Magic Kingdom
FP: Space Mountain (10:00), 7DMT (11:10), Peter Pan (1:25)
Dinner: Be Our Guest

Day 2:
Epcot (character day, be in WS at 11:00)
FP: Mission Space (9:20), Soarin (10:20), Spaceship Earth (6:50)
Dinner: Biergarten

Day 3:
Blizzard Beach (till about 2pm) & Hollywood Studios (from 4-4:30pm)
FP: Tower of Terror (3:55), Toy Story (4:55), Muppets (6:35)
Dinner: Mama Melrose

Day 4:
Magic Kingdom (character day)
FP: Cinderella & Rapunzel (11:10), Anna & Elsa (3:00), Enchanted Tales (4:00)
Dinner: 1900 Fare

Day 5:
Animal Kingdom (till close) and Magic Kingdom EMH (from 7:30 – 8)
FP: Kilimanjaro Safari (10:00), Meet Disney Pals (11:10), Kali River Rapids (12:25)
Dinner: Jiko

Day 6:
Sleep in, Hollywood Studios (from about 12-12:30)
FP: Tower of Terror (12:00), Toy Story (1:00), Frozen Sing along (2:05)
Dinner: 50s Prime Time Café

Day 7:
Typhoon Lagoon (till about 2) and Epcot (from about 4-4:30)
Might first hop to Magic Kingdom to see the parade from Main Street. If we do, we do have to take our swimsuits with us, instead of dropping them off at the hotel first.
FP: Test Track (3:50), Meet Disney Characters (4:50), Space Ship Earth (7:20)
Dinner: Marrakesh

Day 8:
Animal Kingdom (till close) and Magic Kingdom (from 6:30)
Dinner: Tusker House
FP: BTM (6:00), 7DMT (7:00), Space Mountain (8:00)

Day 9:
Epcot (UnDISCOVERED Future World Tour)
This day might also get changed when we are there.
FP: Test Track (12:55), Mission Space (1:55), Spaceship Earth (2:55)
Dinner: Akershus

Day 10:
Magic Kingdom (till 2pm)
FP: Space Mountain (9:30), Splash Mountain (10:35), Anna & Elsa (11:50)
Lunch: Be Our Guest
Back to the hotel to wait for the DME.

We might not need or use all FP, but at least we got them. I haven’t used FP+ before, but I like the system already. Except the tiering. I like to plan, so it should work for me. I'm not a fan of the paper fastpasses, as it doesn't give me a choice in when I ride. I cannot hang around the fastpass machines to see the times get later and later till a time that it would suit me and then get in line to get my fastpass. (seriously, I hate the fastpass line of BTM in DLP) No, I prefer to plan them in advance

So… that’s it! Just returned from the store for some last minute shopping, new shoes, mini shampoo and other mini stuff, spare battery and spare memory card… Now all we can do is wait and watch the weather reports.

And to keep you entertained, a summary of our DLP-trip in June this year.

Table of contents:
Introductions
Just Back Update
Day 0 : The long long long day with rain and a boring white plane
Day 1, Part 1 - Mountains and Fantasies
Day 1, Part 2: Princesses, a surprise parade and more princesses
Day 1, Part 3: Pixie dusted parade part 1
Day 1, Part 4: Pixie dusted parade part 2
Day 1 Vlog Day 1
Day 1, Part 5: Magic tricks, codfishes and Dreaming along with Mickey
Day 1, Part 6: Castle dinners, cottage stories and one last buzz
Day 2, Part 1: Defying Gravity Hair and character hopping
Disneyland Paris Halloween Interruption Part 1
Disneyland Paris Halloween Interruption Part 2
Disneyland Paris Halloween Interruption Part 3
Disneyland Paris Halloween Interruption Part 4
Disneyland Paris Halloween Interruption Part 5
Disneyland Paris Halloween Interruption Part 6
Day 2, Part 2: More characters and Moroccan Photoshoot
Day 2, Part 3: A walk in Italy, Japan and Everything Was Illuminated
Disneyland Paris Spring Interruption
Day 3, Part 1: Sliding in the snow and Hurray for Hollywood!
Day 3, Part 2: Fantasmic Rain

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Looks fun! You have some nice dining reservations.

 

[Karin1984]

Thanks! And welcome! On my solo trip to wdw I had the deluxe dining plan, I ate so many amazing dishes, it really is a shame we are 'only' on the regular dining plan.

All restaurants are new to me, except 2, Biergarten and Jiko. Jiko was a must for me, very good memories and Biergarten was a lot of fun. Perfect for solo travellers as you are seated with others.

Looking forward to Be Our Guest (a bit scared that it is over-rated) and all the character meals, didnt do that when travelling solo.

2 more sleeps!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

In terms of the food, after a lunch and a dinner at Be Our Guest, I have to agree that it is overrated. The atmosphere is great, but I found the food very unremarkable. I think one visit there is enough, and if I had it to do over, I'd make my one visit for dinner, since that's when the Beast greets, plus the food options were a little better than at lunch.

It's really not so bad that your dining plan covers only one table service meal a day, as you'll have more opportunity to enjoy some of the counter service places, and there are fun ones in this category also: Flame Tree Barbecue, Sunshine Seasons, Contempo Café are among my favorites that I've tried so far. Others I'd like to try are Bongos Express, Wolfgang Puck Express, Earl of Sandwich, Captain Cook's, Starring Rolls.

Yes, character meals are way better with a friend. Sometimes a server or character handler can take your picture with a character, but I've found from experience that there may or may not be one available in the area when you need this.

 

[Karin1984]

Semi-live update!

Mainly only to get it off my chest: I was stuck on the runway, with our gate in sight, for 2,5 hour! In the plane! We had to circle above Orlando for about 10 minutes before we could land due to the weather. So at 5:40 pm, I send my mother a text ‘landed safely, on our way to the gate’. Not knowing how long it would take, due to lightning it was too dangerous for ground services to work outide. It was dry when we landed, but after a few minutes of standing still and waiting, it started to rain. And rain. And rain!

I have never seen so much rain in my life! And I’m from the Netherlands, next to the UK we have the most rain in Europe! (I think)

We had to wait till the storm passed. Staff was attentive with extra water & drinks. Trying to keep the children quiet. Luckily they kept the inflight entertainment system on. In the end it took 2.5 hours. But the thing is, we weren’t the only one. Next to my very full flight from Frankfurt, Germany, was the very full flight from London! The queues at customs were so long! I was in the bus around 9, I had expected to be in the bus around 6:30 – 7…

Positive thing! My room was ready (I knew that) and I saw the fireworks from the bus I guess Wishes.

View from my window for a long long time.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Sorry to hear about the rough weather. You know, August and September are considered hurricane season in Florida. So this is not entirely unexpected.

Hoping your trip gets better from now on!

 

[Karin1984]

It's going fine, I was only incredibly hungry! We had our last meal around 3 pm, and I got to the resort around 9:15.

When I went 3 years ago in September I had one or two afternoon showers. This year will be different ;-) But better to have the rain today then tomorrow on my first park day!

 

[Karin1984]

Waiting for the parade. Crowds are tolerant. Incredibly hot. Got a lot done already. In the first hour: big thunder mountain, splash mountain, jungle cruise, haunted mansion. And then space mountain, Under the sea, 7 dwarfs mine train, Peter Pans flight, met Aurora, Tiana and Ariel. Snow White was baking apple pies and we couldnt meet her. Saw bits of Shake it, the trolley show, dapper dans and dream along with Mickey.

Stopped for photopass people, got magic shots and even had time to go the bathrooms

 

[Karin1984]

With 4 of the major rides in the first hour, we did pretty good today J I love FP+ we used about 7-8, it was so easy to get an additional one or to change times/experience. So much more flexibility than the old system
Maybe 1 person in front of us at the kiosk, but mostly we could just walk up. Predicted crowd level was 3 (by easywdw)
In a fairly leisurely pace, we did/saw:

- Welcome Show
- Big Thunder Mountain ( boarded at 9:05)
- Splash Mountain
- Jungle Cruise
- Haunted Mansion (boarded at 9:57)
- Space Mountain
- Under the Sea
- Have lunch at Columbia Harbour House
- Meet Aurora
- See a bit of Move it! Shake It! Dance & Play it!-parade
- Meet Tiana
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Meet Ariel
- See the Festival of Fantasy-parade
- Meet Mickey
- Meet Tinkerbell
- See Dream Along with Mickey
- Have dinner at Be Our Guest
- Meet the Beast
- It’s a Small World
- Enchanted Tales with Belle
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger’s Spin

As we were tired and it has been one hot day (with only a few drops of rain) we decided to skip the evening entertainment and return to the hotel.

I took slightly over 500 pictures and videos, Nikki took about 360 pictures and videos and we have about 150 pictures made by Photopass.

Epcot tomorrow! I leave you now with some parade pictures

 

[TEAMJACOB]

Following along. Enjoying your pictures.

 

[Karin1984]

Following along. Enjoying your pictures.

Welcome! Live posts didnt work out like planned. So here is a pic of Buttons to keep you entertained!

 

[eeyore45]

I followed the link in your signature from the Restaurant thread - I think you made a very good choice in lowering the tip, with the information you had, and the service you received, that's more than a lot of people would've left! imho

Thank you for sharing the video in your first post - the music is perfect with your vid!

 

[Karin1984]

I followed the link in your signature from the Restaurant thread - I think you made a very good choice in lowering the tip, with the information you had, and the service you received, that's more than a lot of people would've left! imho

Thank you for sharing the video in your first post - the music is perfect with your vid!

Thanks! Really happy with how some parts of the video turned out I wanted French music as we were in DLP, the song is called 'Les Rois du Monde', translated 'The Kings of the World' from a French musical version of Romeo and Juliet, sung by Mercutio, Romeo and Benvolio. The musical itself had its flaws, but this song was a hit in France and Belgium and just perfect for a music video. We have about 2 - 3 hours of video material from this trip, so I guess... Lots of videos to be expected!

 

[Karin1984]

So… I’m back. After 10 wonderful days and 14-15 hours of flying I have to think about unpacking, grocery shopping, laundry and back to work on Monday… But today and tomorrow I can still do whatever I like!

Before beginning the actual trip report, I get to do a Just-Back-Post!

Overall: Loved being back, I had really missed it. The feeling is so different from DLP and it was mostly CM behaviour that made this a good trip. Being greeted in an honest, cheerful way while walking down Main Street… it’s just nice. We had a great time, lots of pixiedust and magic. A trip worth remembering

Weather: It was hot. In 90s, 98% humidity. I still have problems with understanding the American habits when it comes to air condition. Outside 91 and inside 71 is a too big a difference to me.

We had some bad weather as well. Travel day started with 2.5 hours caught at the airport. One day in HS it rained for a long time, that we decided to skip Fantasmic and get back to the hotel. And one afternoon heavy rain in Magic Kingdom, but that storm passed after 30 minutes.

Crowd Levels: Pretty decent. Especially in the morning we got a lot done. We rope dropped most days, with a plan and after lunch it was going where ever we liked.

Fast Pass Plus: Yes, I like it. I never liked the old system. I prefer to know for sure I will ride a ride at a certain time over running all over the place and then hoping something is available at a time that is convenient to me.

In perspective, I was travelling with 2 adults, in low season, who didn’t have to ride the big rides over and over again. But still, I like planning and I don’t mind making reservations 180 & 60 days in advance. I was also to make a lot of changes at the last moment, either changing time or experience. We got to 8 FPs in MK and 5 at HS. Even saw some same-day A&E available on Wednesday night.

Magic Bands: Also great addition, was easy to use for the room, payments, FP+. Happy with it.

Food: Some decent, some good, some amazing. Jiko won the competition. But also nice experiences at Marrakesh, Tusker House and Biergarten. Jiko and Marrakesh will be good memories because of the servers as well.

Be our guest-lunch was the major disappointment. We had a reservation at 11:35, before the actual lunch time starts. Arrived at 11:30. We waited for 20 minutes before we got to the ordering machines, mainly delayed by guests not knowing what to order, or how to use the machines. People didn’t look at the instructions, or the menus, and we saw several people letting their kids operate… After that we had to wait another 10-15 minutes before the food was delivered. It would have been nice if there were signs where you could find the cutlery. We were now pointed in a vague direction. The food itself was better than most QS, but not worth the wait. I'd rather wait 0-5 minutes at Friar's Nook for okay-food, than 30 minutes for above-average-food.

Character dinners: We don’t do a lot of a character dining in DLP. We did the princess dinner there once, which was nice, but it’s too expensive for OOP. I prefer to meet characters in the park. The interaction is better and longer in the park, here we had maybe 1 minute per character. In 1900 Fare, Prince Charming was at our table before we even had a chance to sit down, within the next 20 minutes we had seen all characters. Also it’s easier in the parks to get a picture without a lot of people in the background.

1900 Fare and Akershus will not be repeated, Tusker House dinner will be repeated. 1900 Fare was incredibly crowded, the tables are too close together for the ladies to move between the tables. Akershus and Tusker House had a little bit more space. Tusker House was a lot of fun, we had dinner at 4:50 and it was the last shift. The characters (especially Donald and Daisy) were in a good mood, not only interacting with the guests, but also with each other as the restaurant was basically empty. It resulted in amazing photos and film.

CMs: Wonderful, we met so many nice and fun people who were going the extra mile to help us. 1 incident which I still need to resolve (got a phone call just now, on a Saturday, but I asked to call me back on Monday, I’m too jetlagged now) and 2 weird CMs at Guest Relations in Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Both proudly presenting France… I know the French well, and they lived up to my expectations ;-) We also ran into a lot of CMs proudly presenting China. At one point I asked, many of them are being trained at WDW for the opening of Shanghai.

Rest rooms: As it is a hot topic here once in a while. I guess 99% clean toilets. I think I ran into a filthy one 1 or 2 times (both at MK). And it was both not flushed properly. Flush it again and it was fine again.

Refurbishments: Yes, there were a lot of walls in Animal Kingdom. The castle area, on our last day the walls right in front of the stage were removed. But, as I knew it in advance and it is to improve the parks, I wasn’t really bothered with it.

Photopass/Memory Maker: We totally abused it! We have to take out the doubles and the pictures from Enchanted Tales with Belle we are not in. But I guess we have between 700-800 pictures. Some Photopass people were amazing, we did a photoshoot in Morocco and Nikki one in Germany. Some character Photopass people were getting into it, some were just waiting till the interaction was done to take 2 posed pictures.

Loved Magic Shots, we have a lot of those!

Characters: Also here, some were better than others. Some were kinda dull, Belle (twice) in France and Gaston will be forgotten experiences soon. (Sorry, Gaston, I’ve had better in Paris). Lady Tremaine on her own was hilarious, but also with her daughters, Fairy Godmother, Tinkerbell, Jasmine in Morocco, Mulan, Mary Poppins (who was friends with Aurora as well), will be added to the box with Joy-memories.

Before I start the trip report… We both did a lot of trips to DLP, where we mainly do rides as there are not as many characters to meet in DLP. I had planned character days in MK and Epcot. I hadn’t realized how many characters we would meet. 83... (82 on below pictures, I missed one with Daisy in the Studios)

What Mickey Mouse is to most kids, Aurora was to Nikki (we ran in to her 10 times…). So I’m going to change the name to ‘a September character trip’:

 

[DisneyJo]

Sounds like you had a fantastic trip, I can't wait to read all about it

 

[Karin1984]

Day 0 : The long long long day with rain and a boring white plane

It’s only little over 2 weeks ago. But it feels like a century! I just got off the phone with guest relations, and also the little issue I had during my trip is now resolved (more details will follow). So now I can start my story!

And as most trips, also this one started with an early alarm. Although, 5:30am is the time my alarm usually goes.

I only had to pack some last minute things but by 6:40 I was ready to leave and arrived at the station on time.

For those of you who want to visit The Netherlands, not the entire country looks like this. Although, it’s a pretty looking station (can be seen in Paul Verhoeven’s movie Black Book with Carice van Houten, GoT fans, check it.)

I’ve worked at Amsterdam airport for several years, I know it like the back of my hand, but this time things were different…. I had to go to another check in desk than usually.I’ll be honest: I’m biased. I work for KLM for almost 7 years now, I love my company, it’s my airline. But… this time I am flying with the competition (the price difference was about $220, which was enough to disregard my loyalty) … And not just any other airline. No… the German airline. Lufthansa… Our mortal enemy ;-)

No nice blue planes today

But a boring white plane…

No, I’m kidding, it’s a decent airline, food was okay, leg room was okay. But it’s the little things that make my own airline better ;-) For example, we have a lot more choices in our entertainment system, more movies and series and more up to date movies. Also the headset had 2 pins, for stereo, but there was only one hole to plug it into… With their headset I could only listen in mono! I plugged in my Ipod’s headset and listened to stereo sound. Last little thing, in Economy, I finish a meal in 10 minutes, maybe 15. The attendants left the trays for at 45 minutes, so no way you could go to the lavatories in the meantime. When everyone was finished with the meal, they came by with wine, with coffee, with liquor, which we do at KLM as well. But we remove the trays first. Little thing, but in Economy being able to move when you want, matters to me.

My first meal: vegetarian pasta, salad, dessert.

Second meal: Chicken, pesto, rice, bread roll, dessert.

At this point, I would like to say that my flight was uneventful. And it was till the last 2.5 hours. Due to Erika’s leftovers, we had to circle above Orlando for about 10 minutes. When we landed it was dry. But as we came closer to the gate, it started to rain. And rain. And rain. Lightning, thunder, and more rain! We had it all!

Due to this, it was too dangerous for ground services of MCO to work outside. So we had to wait for the storm to pass. It took 2.5 hours! We were so close to the gate, we could see it! But safety first… The crew handled it well. The pilot tried to keep us updated, the cabin attendants brought water and they left the entertainment system on.

Finally, with a 2.5 hours delay we are able to get out. Luckily I was in the front of the plane and could get off soon. But I wasn’t alone. At least 1 big planes of (I believe) Virgin or British Airways were waiting in the same storm. So at least 800 people try to get through customs, which was understaffed. Which made sense, 2.5 hours later, shifts had ended, people had gone home. But it resulted in queues. Long queues.

But I made it! Got my suitcase and off I was to the DME! Which was ready and waiting for me. It was about 8:45 – 9pm. From the bus I can see the fireworks, Wishes or Illuminations. I guess the first. I’m completely exhausted when I reach Pop Century (luckily no stops!) and my room was ready! Magic bands, 1st visit and birthday buttons were there.

In the meantime… I have to wait for my companion for the week! When I was at MCO, she was landing at MIA and had one more flight to go. I send her a message where to find DME and send a quick picture of what the area looks like. Blurry, but to give you the impression how tired I was.

Around 12, I decided to go to the reception and like clockwork, there was she, just getting off the bus. We got our Refillable Mugs and almost immediately went to bed, after settling in Phillip, who would mainly stay in our room.

Tomorrow would be a big day!

 

[Karin1984]

Sounds like you had a fantastic trip, I can't wait to read all about it

It was one great trip! Thanks for joining!

Hopefully next update before the end of the week, but I was tonight in the mood for something silly. So I made a video
The music is not the usual happy, upbeat music you usually have for Disney Trip videos, but I wanted something different.

 

[Karin1984]

Day 1, Part 1 - Mountains and Fantasies

Woke up well before the alarm went off at 6:22. That’s what you get with jetlags… We were on the dining plan, so snacks and refillable mugs for breakfast! At 7:50 we were ready at the busstop for the first day at the Magic Kingdom!

Few minutes of waiting, first in line at the bus, so at 8:20 we arrived at the happiest place on Earth. Plenty of time to get a good spot for the Opening Show. This is how the crowds looked around 8:30.

Today we were not welcomed by the mayor, but any jolly old man will do!

Pluto told a hilarious joke, at least Snow thought it was hilarious.

The Tremaine Family was ready for it!

And off we went to our first destination!

Today we have:
FP at Space Mountain (10:00), 7DMT (11:10) and Peter Pan (1:25)
Additional FP for Meet Ariel (1:50), Meet Tink (3:30), Winnie the Pooh (4:20), Buzz (8:15)
ADR at Be Our Guest at 5:15

I had a plan for at least the morning to get some big rides out of the way in the hours before our first FP started, but also giving Nikki the time to get adjusted to all the new impressions, make cliché castle pictures and just enjoy being there.

First things first, a cliché castle picture

We arrived in the queue for Big Thunder Mountain around 9:55 and were about 6th in line, something like that. It’s a nice ride, but it is tame in comparison to BTM in Paris. I definitely missed going under the lake, onto the mountain and the view of Phantom Manor. Haunted Mansion was harder to see. I also missed the action photo here. But it’s a good start of the day.

At 9:11 we were out and on our way for our first Photopass picture!

And our first Magic Shot. I hadn’t told Nikki about Magic Shots, so she was entirely confused. I wish I made a picture of her face when she saw it on the Photopass website later that night.

On to the next Mountain! I love Splash Mountain and can ride it over and over again! I rode it last November in Anaheim and was surprised there how many animatronics weren’t working. Here everything worked, looked bright and colourful. I did miss the bit with the warning before we get into The Laughing Place. If you are wondering why I keep my hands like that, it's something I do with a different group of friends. When there is an action photo, you have to keep your hands in a pose the princesses uses for their pictures. I have no clue how this tradition ever started.

Next walk on to the Jungle Cruise, with Skipper Jerry who decided to leave his sense of humor at home today. It was quite a boring two weeks in the jungle. He didn’t make a lot of jokes, long silences. Ah well, better luck next time!

Haunted Mansion had only 13 minutes of waiting time, which was less than 5. One of the best things about Haunted Mansion is… everything is in English! And also I can hear every word clearly! In Paris, the entire track of Phantom Manor is in French, which I can understand, but there is always so much noise, or the sound is too soft to hear. Both rides are awesome, they are similar, but also very different. It’s hard to say which one I like better, I love how Phantom Manor is tied to Big Thunder Mountain in Paris, but also love the final scene of the Haunted Mansion.

It was little past 10 o’clock when we exited the Haunted Mansion, with four big rides in the first hour, we were doing very well! And we decided it was time for a ride in Space. With a short stop for more castle pictures as there was no one there.

The ride has improved, in 2012 I remember this ride as very rough and something I didn’t really like. The ride was better now. But as you can see by the picture, I don’t look very impressed ;-)

We have time before our next Fastpass for 7DMT starts, so we wander through Fantasyland, make (Photopass) pictures and decide to see the the new Little Mermaid ride. I hadn't seen the new Fantasyland yet, but it looks great! I love the details everywhere.

Under the Sea, it’s a cute ride, but not something to stand in long lines for. We walked on. Pictures not recommended, the animatronics do not like it.

We now get to see what the fuzz is all about 7DMT, a coaster for people who do not like coasters, a kiddie coaster, but it is one to get your FP+ for, and you are looking at long lines if you don’t have it.
But we have one and within a few minutes we are boarding the trains. It’s a very smooth coaster, nice, the mine scene looks great, the expressions on the faces of the dwarves are wonderful, but overall… it’s kinda short.

It’s about time for an early lunch and we go to Columbia Harbour House before we return to Main Street for some character hunting. I had the Chicken Nuggets, Nikki the shrimp platter. Both nothing special, but large portions for your money.

The view from the upper floor, is the last bit of this first part of the first day!

 

[Karin1984]

Day 1, Part 2: Princesses, a surprise parade and more princesses

After lunch it’s time to meet some characters!

To add a little about Disneyland Paris and meeting characters and princesses. Then you know where we are coming from. In Paris it’s a lot harder than here, the concept ‘queue’ or ‘line’ is something the French (and Spanish) don’t really understand. There is not a lot of schedule like in WDW. Also a lot of characters are without handlers (or they stand around being French) and Photopass is only introduced this year in DLP. Princesses… if you are lucky you run into one, but otherwise, you are going to the Princess Pavillion, where the Fastpass system changes a lot. Last time I went it was the passes with return time were handed out at park opening (people who have 1 hour EMH easily start the queue already then). They are gone within the first hour. Standby is usually 60 – 90 minutes.

And for all that… you get 1 princess. And you don’t know which one. You are not allowed to peek around the corner to see who it is. There are 2 areas with each 1 princess (usually classics + Rapunzel, sometimes Tiana, sometimes Mulan are added). If you are lucky, the CM will ask you about your favourite princess and influence which area to go.

In WDW, it is so easy to meet characters and princesses: clear, fixed schedules, you know who is where and when: THIS IS HEAVEN!

Our first stop is the first of 10(!) visits to Aurora. This love for Sleeping Beauty comes from Nikki. When growing up in South Africa in the late eighties/early nineties, not a lot of VCRs available. The only one, was at her grandmother’s and the only VCR she could rent for children was Sleeping Beauty.

This Aurora we would meet 3 or 4 times. She was a little older than the other friends of Aurora, but very nice. Although after the 10th ‘Oh My Goodness’ I could use a change of repertoire ;-). Subject of this conversation: Baking cakes for Phillip, vanilla or chocolate? Well, apparently she doesn’t know which flavour he likes, so instead of asking her man she just bakes 2 cakes...

I am able to make pics at the wrong time ;-) We met 5 different friends of Aurora, this one as nicknamed 'Old Beauty'

Next topic was Nikki’s drawings, she had made drawings in advance for most characters we met, and some along the way. I admit I get a bit jealous by how talented she is, but as she is one of my best friend, I forgive her her talent

On the paper she is holding, is a drawing she made after the picture below, but then with Aurora and Phillip. (Sorry don't have a picture of the drawing) This was at the princess dinner in Paris where the Prince was in a very very very silly mood. And to be honest, recreating it is a lot of fun.

And after all this, I also quickly jump in for a picture.

Next is Snow White, but we have some time before her set starts. We want to get into the Emporium, but are stopped by a parade! Somehow I always forgot this parade exists: Move It! Street Party.

Hello Stitch!

I’m not a fan of this parade, but it was a nice diversion. As we get in line for Snow White across the street, after a few minutes 3 character handlers arrive. Snow White can’t meet us now or the rest of the day. Snow White has to perform in the Dream Along With Mickey show. Normally they say something that relates to the character, baking apple pies or visiting the dwarves or something. But not today! Anyway… the handlers offer to take us to a character of our choice (not as FP, but just to get us in the right direction). We go for Tiana. I had actually planned to meet Tiana later in the afternoon with Naveen, but we have nothing better to do, so we follow Seth!

Seth walks us to Liberty Square, sharing some details I had never heard before. The shutters on the buildings on Liberty Square have no metal on them as a reminder of the Civil War where the metal was used to make bullets out of. Nice detail, believable.

Next Seth tells us that the meandering ‘river’ (grey part on the pic below) on the ground is as well a nod to the Civil War, when there was no sewage system… not such a nice detail, not so believable.

Tiana was absolutely gorgeous and her New Orleans accent was perfect.

She thought my outfit as like Snow White. I was actually channelling Minnie, but if someone wants to compare me to a princess, I have no objections! We started talking about her dress and as she twirls it causes a wardrobe malfunction and her flower drops to the floor. Apparently happens more often.

Our FP for Peter Pan is about to start when we leave Tiana in Heritage House (nice location). I’m sorry to miss the new interactive queue, but as the queue is currently 50 minutes, I am happy with my FP-choice. Peter Pan is one of my favourite rides, but as the lines get long I rarely do it more than once per visit.

We still have some time before the parade starts, so we decide to check the FP kiosk and a FP to meet Ariel is available and ready to use.

Meeting Ariel was every time a lot of fun, but the location is not good for pictures. It’s not exactly dark, but my camera really doesn’t like the red/blue glow. This visit started off with Nikki walking in first, wearing a t-shirt with Ursula on it. I’m so sorry I didn’t have my camera ready. Ariel FREAKED when she saw Ursula! She started to scream really loud that also the photopass lady and the handler were caught off guard. It was hilarious Unfortunately didn’t get this on tape or pic. Only after Nikki assured her 3 times she was actually a good girl and Ursula wasn’t real, Ariel was ready to talk. We learned her tail feels slimy as she has been swimming with jellyfishes. (remember this, this will be a recurring topic).

I have no idea what’s going on in this picture

We discussed that I have to keep an eye on Nikki as she does with Flounder, and that Nikki disappears just as easily.

Next stop: PARADE TIME!

 

[Karin1984]

Day 1, Part 3: Pixie dusted parade part 1


For the parade, we were extremely lucky! Pixie dust all over the place!

A few weeks before our arrival, I e-mailed WDW. As Nikki is very special to me I wanted her first visit to have something special, and also to celebrate our friendship. I knew one thing that would make her a happy fangirl: Meeting prince Phillip in his dragon-battle outfit. (She has met Phillip twice in Paris, but never with his sword and shield) I wrote a letter to describe how our friendship started and that she is basically the little sister I never had. As meeting him dressed like this would have to happen right before or right after the parade, I didn’t have much hope, but I thought 'let’s try, who knows'. For over a week I didn’t hear anything. I hoped that was a good sign. Then I received an e-mail saying: ‘I am checking what I can do, I’ll get back to you as soon as I hear from Magic Kingdom Entertainment’. I couldn’t believe there was actually chance this was going to work. Another few days later, I got another e-mail. Unfortunately Phillip was unable to meet, as battling dragons is very tiring But what the CM did offer me instead were TWO VIP PARADE VIEWING SEATS!

I really couldn’t believe my luck. As said I had never thought I could arrange it. I thought I would get a polite response with a clear ‘no’. But to get something like these seats in return… I thanked the CM a thousand times, this was such a pixie dust moment, I will remember it every time I see a parade.

The VIP parade viewing seats are usually for: the celebrities and other important people visiting, plus the guests who bought the VIP tours. There are benches, there is shade, you only have to show up at 2:30, there are no people on the other side of the road (so no one in your pics in the background, except some CMs) and as the guests are only on one side, the characters will always focus on your side!

We were there a little early at 2:15, I think, we had the first choice of seats. After us 2 VIP tour groups arrived (about 12 people, with us in total about 14-15). If you ever get the chance to sit here for the parade: grab it! You won’t regret it.

I hadn’t seen this parade before and Festival of Fantasy is absolutely amazing! I love the characters, floats, the dancers, the costumes, it has a good song. Everything I am looking for in a parade was there.

Next float, unfortunately the turning part made that Anna & Elsa were facing the wrong way when they passed us, but Naveen is good enough to make up for that

I love Naveen’s expression

Not until I was resizing my pictures I noticed Cupid on top of Rapunzel’s float!That's such a perfect detail!

I love this costume!

And helloooo, Flynn Rider!

And for some reason, Tink decided to keep her eyes closed for the entire time she rode by (or at least, every time I took her picture )

TBC in next post