"Her Name Was Definitely Mary". Our 1st anniversary trip, May 2011 *NEW 9/6

For some reason, I haven't been getting notifications of your TR. Weird! Haha, yours is one of the few TR's that I actually laugh out loud during. LOVE Ben's "I'm on a Boat" shirt haha (my nautical themed pashmina afghan).
The PP Visa picture with Minnie and Goofy really turned out great-- fun to see the unique pose.
WPE is the best! The fact that they take CS credits blows my mind.
 
We love using the boats as our transportation as much as we can. If we're going to Epcot, we always take a bus to DHS and then the boat to Epcot....we love sitting outside and just enjoy the ride!

Thanks for the tip on the frozed capp...good to know...I put it in my notepad:worship:

WPE is hands down our favorite place to eat at DTD...we have never been disappointed!

I agree- the boats are great!

The Writer's Stop is a great place to take a break!

Im loving the trip report so far! I never knew of frozen cappuccinos in the writers stop, but will definitely be making stops there in the future :goodvibes

Thank you! :goodvibes I am glad you enjoy it! Definitely stop by there, good source of caffeine!

For some reason, I haven't been getting notifications of your TR. Weird! Haha, yours is one of the few TR's that I actually laugh out loud during. LOVE Ben's "I'm on a Boat" shirt haha (my nautical themed pashmina afghan).
The PP Visa picture with Minnie and Goofy really turned out great-- fun to see the unique pose.
WPE is the best! The fact that they take CS credits blows my mind.

Not getting notified? That's crap! :laughing:

Ben was so thrilled to find that shirt. I forgot to mention the next time someone recognized it- a CM at RnR Coaster asked if Ben had his flippy floppies... we cracked up!
In reference to a particular racy lyric that gets stuck in my head at times... I wanted him to get a picture with Ariel, but since you can't find her in her mermaid garb at the moment, there wouldn't have been much point. But how scandalous would that be? :scared1:
 
Great updates, looked like you had a blast in DHS, its slowly becoming my new fav park (after Epcot and MK of course).

Rapunzel's tower looks awesome, its a shame its only there for F&GF. Did you get to see it again at night?

Cool table for CR, always nice to be right up close :)
 
I love Dunkin Donuts iced coffee...I grew up in western MA with them everywhere, but there are only a few around here in Richmond :confused3

I wasn't very impressed the one time I visited DQ but I did not get to do the Pirates attraction and I feel like a lot of things were broken down when I visited, so that may have been the reason why, because DBF really liked it when he visited
 

It looks like DHS was not crowded that day. I love going to the parks when the crowds are low.

Writers Stop is on my list for December. I have never been there. I am not certain of where it is exactly. (although, I seem to think I have asked this before and been given an answer... but my old brain can't recall. :upsidedow) Frozen cappuccinos? Yum!

The pics are great! :thumbsup2
 
Just found your report and it sounds like you had a great trip. Looking forward to the rest.

I have to disagree with Universe of Energy; it is a fun attraction.
 
I love all of the PP pics! Escpecially the one's in China! :laughing: I'm glad you enjoyed lunch at Coral Reef. It sounds like you had the same opinion that we did when we ate there - the food was ok, but the view was amazing! We will probably go back one day to (hopefully) sit by the tank again.

All of these boat rides sound so peaceful! I've never taken the boat from Epcot to DHS but I bet that would be a really nice ride. I feel so unfamiliar with that area of Disney (passing the Boardwalk and such) so I think it would be fun to get a better view of the surroundings. :thumbsup2 Speaking of boat rides - I have a question since you seem to know quite a bit about the Disney boats...are there boats that go between all of the MK area resorts, or only certain one's?
 
Ok, I'm finally caught up, except now I forgot what I wanted to comment on! :sad2: Kim Possible looks like fun, I'm definitely doing a mission or 2 in October! I love the PP pics, we never do fun poses like that, I guess the photographers think we look boring or something! :laughing: Rapunzel's tower is so pretty!

I love DHS...I've never taken the boat from Epcot over there, but I'd like to someday! It just seems like the boats take SO long sometimes! :eek: When I took the boat from POR to DTD, I thought I would die of boredom, I get so anxious! I just want to get there now!!! :)

The Writer's Stop looks so cute! And the bar at 50's always looks fun to me, but we never go in! There are so many places we just skip right over in DHS, probably because I'm like some crazy person when I get there, running to the Tower of Terror! :rotfl:

Mmm, Wolfgang Puck express looks so yummy, but it's another place we never go! We always go to Earl of Sandwich in DTD, I just can't pass it up, no matter how much I want to try WPE!! :laughing:
 
Hi Joyce, I'm joining in!

That episode on the plane would have had me freaking right out! I think it would have been better if they said nothing to you at all and just had a delay taking off. :rolleyes:

You two seem like a fun loving couple, I am looking forward to reading more. :thumbsup2
 
Great updates, looked like you had a blast in DHS, its slowly becoming my new fav park (after Epcot and MK of course).

Rapunzel's tower looks awesome, its a shame its only there for F&GF. Did you get to see it again at night?

Cool table for CR, always nice to be right up close :)

We really enjoy DHS, but don't really spend long stretches of time there, we just pop in for a few hours here and there.

I loved Rapunzel's tower! I'm pretty sure we saw it at night, but now I can't think of what it looked like..

I love Dunkin Donuts iced coffee...I grew up in western MA with them everywhere, but there are only a few around here in Richmond :confused3

I wasn't very impressed the one time I visited DQ but I did not get to do the Pirates attraction and I feel like a lot of things were broken down when I visited, so that may have been the reason why, because DBF really liked it when he visited

A lot of DQ isn't worth it, IMO. But Pirates is awesome! And since we had the admission to use anyway, it was a good time to check it out.

It looks like DHS was not crowded that day. I love going to the parks when the crowds are low.

Writers Stop is on my list for December. I have never been there. I am not certain of where it is exactly. (although, I seem to think I have asked this before and been given an answer... but my old brain can't recall. :upsidedow) Frozen cappuccinos? Yum!

The pics are great! :thumbsup2

It wasn't too crowded (though I'm sure TSM was!), very fun!
Writer's stop is kind of attached to the Sci Fi Dine-In Theater. Near Star Tours, etc.

Just found your report and it sounds like you had a great trip. Looking forward to the rest.

I have to disagree with Universe of Energy; it is a fun attraction.

Thanks for joining in! I hope you stick around for the rest!

I know a lot of folks like UE, and I didn't hate it... just don't wanna do it again! But I am also the person that doesn't 'get' Soarin and TSM, but I love Country Bears. So I'm used to having opposite taste in attractions from everyone else! :laughing:

I love all of the PP pics! Escpecially the one's in China! :laughing: I'm glad you enjoyed lunch at Coral Reef. It sounds like you had the same opinion that we did when we ate there - the food was ok, but the view was amazing! We will probably go back one day to (hopefully) sit by the tank again.

All of these boat rides sound so peaceful! I've never taken the boat from Epcot to DHS but I bet that would be a really nice ride. I feel so unfamiliar with that area of Disney (passing the Boardwalk and such) so I think it would be fun to get a better view of the surroundings. :thumbsup2 Speaking of boat rides - I have a question since you seem to know quite a bit about the Disney boats...are there boats that go between all of the MK area resorts, or only certain one's?

I know WL and Ft. Wilderness have a launch to the MK, then Poly and GF share their own launch. So you can get from GF to Poly via boat, but not to the WL. And I don't think the Contemporary had a boat to MK at all...

Ok, I'm finally caught up, except now I forgot what I wanted to comment on! :sad2: Kim Possible looks like fun, I'm definitely doing a mission or 2 in October! I love the PP pics, we never do fun poses like that, I guess the photographers think we look boring or something! :laughing: Rapunzel's tower is so pretty!

I love DHS...I've never taken the boat from Epcot over there, but I'd like to someday! It just seems like the boats take SO long sometimes! :eek: When I took the boat from POR to DTD, I thought I would die of boredom, I get so anxious! I just want to get there now!!! :)

The Writer's Stop looks so cute! And the bar at 50's always looks fun to me, but we never go in! There are so many places we just skip right over in DHS, probably because I'm like some crazy person when I get there, running to the Tower of Terror! :rotfl:

Mmm, Wolfgang Puck express looks so yummy, but it's another place we never go! We always go to Earl of Sandwich in DTD, I just can't pass it up, no matter how much I want to try WPE!! :laughing:

The Photopass CM in China was funny- she was very matter of fact, but then had us do some funny poses. We weren't expecting it!

I run right to the Tower of Terror, too! But then I make sure we have time for a trip to the bar!

Just lettin ya know I'm here!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy it!

Hi Joyce, I'm joining in!

That episode on the plane would have had me freaking right out! I think it would have been better if they said nothing to you at all and just had a delay taking off. :rolleyes:

You two seem like a fun loving couple, I am looking forward to reading more. :thumbsup2

Glad you're here!

I wasn't too worried about the plane being ok- just that we might not get to Florida on time! My fears of flying revolve around turbulence. I cannot handle the bumps!
 
When we got back to our room at 9:30, our early wake up time was definitely on our minds. Backstage Magic tour was the next day, and we could not be late! So when I saw that we had a message, I was happy to learn upon listening that we were to meet at 8:45, an hour later than I thought. Phew!
We woke up excited for our day long tour. Breakfast was bagels on the balcony again.

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As you can see, we ended up enjoying this space, despite the view!

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Next, it was out to the bus stop to make our way to Epcot. We wanted to be down there by 8am, but we were just a teensy bit late and it was 8:10 when we finally got to the bus stop.

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We waited patiently, with hardly anyone else there and figured that we had just missed a bus. No worries, we had some time. More folks started filling in around us, and lots of buses for other resorts came by. I was slowly but surely starting to freak out, and began eying the cabs across the driveway. When it got to be past 8:30 (we had to be at Epcot for 8:45!), I knew we wouldn’t make it. It would take that long just to load the ECVs that were now waiting. Ben and I fled to the cab stand and were quickly on our way.
The combination of my discomfort in cabs (I can’t explain it, just have never liked riding in cabs) and concern that we would be late made me look like this:

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But we did end up at Epcot just a bit before 8:45, so I relaxed a little. Until Ben handed the cabby his credit card to pay the $17 fare. The guy swiped it (the wrong way), then told Ben it wouldn’t work. Minutes were creeping by here… suddenly a woman came up to the cab to ask how much the fare would be to Universal. Oddly, she opened the door and sat in the passenger seat while asking. At this point Ben told the cabby that the CC had better start working because we have no cash. Suddenly he remembered how to swipe the card and it magically worked :/ We wasted more precious moments while Ben tried to get a receipt.
I was well and truly losing it, but we were able to finally leave the cab and rushed over to the meeting area. This is not a cheap tour, and it was pre-paid… we would not have been ok if we missed it!

Incidentally, as we were waiting to depart, we saw the group of people we had been waiting with at the bus stop at Kidani. So I guess we would have made it after all…
Once we got our name tags, we had a few minutes to take some breaths and calm down after our transportation snafu (that’s #2 if you are counting…)

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This is me still feeling a little stressed...

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And us actually settling down a bit.

Finally, we headed off to the Cruise Line bus that would take us around all day.

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In the interest of not giving away too much, I’ll keep this very non-specific: we had a jam-packed day with stops backstage in all the parks, plus a couple other places. We saw all kinds of magic-making and learned some interesting things about WDW.

Lunch was halfway through the day here:
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And we fell in love with this place! We most definitely will be back here sometime. The food was delicious, the setting was wonderful, and dessert was an amazing cobbler that we could eat pounds of. Also, this was our first time at the Wilderness Lodge and we really thought it was a beautiful resort!
This was one of the few places we were able to take pictures, so we did. Here’s a few:
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The last stop of the tour had us back at AK to watch the parade from a roped off area. We would never ever have stopped to watch this, but we ended up enjoying it.

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The CM with this puppet was so fun- she was making her giraffe interact with the light giraffes!

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This was another awesome CM! She greeted us all by name (cause we were wearing our tour tags)

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After the parade, we got back on the bus and headed back to Epcot.
We got these pins to commemorate the tour:

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So, what did we think? It was a lot of fun, and we were both very happy that we did it. But… our tour guide was kind of lacking. He was very fun, and good at interacting with everyone on the tour. However, his level of WDW knowledge as a whole was not terribly high. For example: when we got off the bus for lunch, a guest asked where we were. The guide said he was having a mental block, and didn’t answer her right then. But when he did, he told her we were at Ft. Wilderness, and Wilderness Lodge was the campground further on. So he got that backwards. There were other questions that were asked (often by Ben…) that he either couldn’t answer, or just never got back to.

Don’t get me wrong- we had a lot of fun and saw all kinds of parts of WDW that were both super impressive and very surreal. I would absolutely recommend the tour, as long as you can spare an entire day from your vacation!

Once our tour was done, it was time to head back to Kidani for a rest and some chores. More on that coming later...
 
I would have been so stressed that morning worrying about getting to Epcot! I think this is the main reason that we don't take the Disney transportation very often. It's too much of a loss of control for me. If we have somewhere we have to be I am always so worried that we would be late if we took a bus. I'm so glad you made it to Epcot in time, though! And I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the tour. The parade at AK looks like fun. :goodvibes
 
Awww, that's too bad bad about the stressful start to the day but I am glad you enjoyed the tour, it has always intrigued me!

As for the guide, you would think that for the amount of money people shell out for that tour that they would make sure that they had one of their top notch people leading who not only would have great customer service skills and charisma but also the knowledge to answer guests questions! I would be a bit upset if I got a guide who couldn't even get the resort correct! :headache: At least you guys enjoyed yourselves and you got to see some neat behind the scenes things. :thumbsup2
 
What a stressful morning!!! I am glad it worked out! The parade in AK is one of my favorites.... so whimsical. Very cool you got to go to WL. I appreciate the pics you took there. :goodvibes
 
Ugh, I would have been in a panic too! Thinking you are late in Disney is never a good thing! :eek: I don't think I could ever rely on the Disney buses, I'd probably give myself a stroke, worrying about timing everything properly! :laughing:

The tour sounds like fun! Isn't my Wilderness Lodge so beautiful? I love WCC, it's so good! :cool1:

Watching the parade at AK looks fun!
 
I have always wanted to do a tour like that, glad to hear that you guys had a good time! I would be a little frustrated with the tour guide not being prepared though, especially being in that position, they should really know that stuff :confused3

I am very uncomfortable in cabs too..I just feel weird riding in them, can't explain!
 
Ack-- I love the Disney buses, but I would have been freaking out that morning! I HATE when they come so irregularly! I'm glad you were on time and all was well, though!
Glad you enjoyed the tour! A tour guide who doesn't known a ton about Disney is kind of weird...almost like he memorized the tour stuff because it was his job, but doesn't really know DISNEY.
 
I literally felt your stress as you explained the minutes ticking by. I would have been freaking out! I'm so glad you made it in time! Phew! I would have a hard time giving up a day of our vacation, I think I would have to be in WDW for at least 10 full days to fit in a tour like that. But, DH and I love to spend time by the pool as well.

P.S. The Starring Rolls Cafe in HS has iced coffee and with a shot of syrup and some creamer-it was delicious! Yum! I know there are stands in Epcot that sell iced coffee as well. Even AK has a tea stand that sells frozen Chai!
 
Omg that was a close one! I know I definetley would have been freaking out also. We missed the ME that was supposed to take us back to the airport on our last day and had to wait for the next one. I was freaking out like crazy!
 












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