I See a Line, I Wait In It ~ A January 2016 TR - Completed 12/29

[SarahDisney]

The great quest of FP+! lol

Or the not so great quest...

I honestly have never done the carousel... I know bad Diser....

I happen to be a big carousel fan, and I grew up going on carousels all the time (and I've been to at least one carousel museum, maybe two) ... but even if you're not a carousel fan, I think it's worth doing at least once, just for the experience.
And don't worry, there are plenty of things at Disney that I've never done.

Love Peter pan and Small World though both are must dos. That is so cool your dad got to go to the World's fair. If time machines were a thing that is one place I would go to along with the opening of disneyland.

I'd love to be able to go back in time to the World's Fair. There's a museum on the site (called the Queens Museum) that has some models and souvenirs from the event, so it was cool to see that and hear my dad's memories, but it's not the same as experiencing it.
Seeing the opening of Disneyland would probably be pretty awesome ... but chaotic. You might not have this problem, but I'd have to be careful not to wear high heels...

Great pictures with the Mad hatter!

Thanks

Mine Train is always fun, I love the ride photos and video too!

I'm obsessed with watching nighttime Mine Train videos because of the switch between the night photos and the stock daytime video. I may or may not have one of those to post later.

I have never met Merida but it looks like you had a nice meet with her.

It was definitely nice - she's becoming one of my favorite princesses to meet!

Nice pictures with the castle in the back. Its been a long time since I had photos taken over there. And I love the running pose photo those are always fun.

Thanks! We've done the side-castle pictures a few times ... I really like having that different perspective.

That is really cool. And as you know I also LOVE Small World.

Yup. And I love that you're a fellow Small World lover ... it really is such a cute Disney classic!

So jealous! Didn't get to meet him when I was there

You'll have to try to meet him next time - Mad Hatter is always fun!

YAY indeed!

Fun day you've been having. As always enjoying your photos. Can't wait to hear how the rest of your day went

Thanks!
We really got a lot of great pictures this trip, which was awesome!

I'm sad I don't get to read about a FP+ quest day! But totally get how it could put a damper on a day. I've always wanted to do the 4 park challenge, but I kinda feel the same way about it, could put a damper on the day....

Even without the quest, we did get quite a few FP+ (spoiler alert: double digits), so even without the quest, it was still fun!
And I'm with you on the four parks. I'd love to do it, but I think it would require so much planning and rushing that I'd be exhausted by the second or third park!

You got a ton done for this morning so far! Were the parks crowded? I always thought they would be a little busy marathon weekend. DD loves the carousel, we ride it an abnormal amount of times, so I have a new appreciation for that ride. I also love it's a small world! Great day so far!

It was a little crowded, but not terrible. Definitely more people than we expected, but not the worst we've seen.
Thanks!

Doing a drive by...trying to catch up with everyone since I've been MIA for a while!! I love reading your TR's though!! Now that I've finally done a 10K race elsewhere I'm even more eager to try one at Disney...one day!!!

Thanks for taking some time to try to catch up.
And yes, you should do a Disney 10K! I think you'd enjoy it. The only problem is that you have to register so far in advance (and I know planning so far in advance can be hard for you) and the 10Ks always sell out quickly because they're so popular.

I also grew up in NY, and my father and I used to walk around the fairgrounds all the time while he would reminisce. And whenever we would ride CoP at WDW he would tell me about how his foster father was always absolutely convinced that the animatronic dog was real. I make it a point to ride CoP every trip, just to remember my dad. :-D

I love that story!
I've actually never done CoP (I know, how could I?). I don't know if my dad did it at the World's Fair, I'll have to ask him (and maybe I'll even ask him if he thought the dog was real )

 

[natebenma]

I can't believe it has been so long since I have responded. I had read a couple of the updates, but didn't comment, apparently!

Thanks again for sharing details about keeping kosher-observant at Disney. It is good that you have some options, but it is unfortunate that it executed so poorly. Wish you could find meals that were more enjoyable.

That is a great picture of you and Belle before your meal at Akershus.

Not a bad spot for Illuminations recommended by "No fireworks for me, please" Joe. Too funny!

I love the pictures of the show.

******************************************************

Oh, wow! What an impressive window display of medals.

I agree- it was crazy that the Christmas decorations were up so late. I wonder why they were up so long this year (it seems like much later than previous years, but I don't know). And I wonder when they finally came down.

That is an awesome picture of the two of you in front of the castle with the Partners statue.

I'm glad your folded contact lens did not turn into something worse.

The restaurant is so pretty! I don't think I have seen Cinderella in that heavy dress before.

********************************************************

I'm glad you didn't decide to pursue the FP challenge if you weren't feeling it.

I love the pictures taken from the carousel. The fringe makes such a nice border.

Wow! Oh Wow! on your London photo from Peter Pan- I always try to get that one and my pictures all fail. That is one of the better ones I have seen!

Mad Hatter definitely looks like a fun meet.

Hooray for Mine Train and Small World!

GREAT start to your morning.

 

[KathyM2]

(and I know planning so far in advance can be hard for you)

This is quite hilarious lol. Because I really am a planner IRL lol. But yeah, planning a race would be really hard that far out because I just don't know what I'd do with the kids lol. And for some reason I just can't seem to get everyone to agree to Disney that far out. I'm sure if I could do a SOLO trip...hmmm there's an idea....maybe I should...that I would have no trouble planning beyond the 6 month mark....

 

[Elevationist]

You got some GREAT character meet photos on that morning! The Mad Hatter one is HILARIOUS!

 

[SarahDisney]

Thanks again for sharing details about keeping kosher-observant at Disney. It is good that you have some options, but it is unfortunate that it executed so poorly. Wish you could find meals that were more enjoyable.

It's definitely disappointing that the quality of the meals isn't great, but I really appreciate the fact that Disney does provide kosher meals.

That is a great picture of you and Belle before your meal at Akershus.

Thank you!

Not a bad spot for Illuminations recommended by "No fireworks for me, please" Joe. Too funny!

Yep ... for a guy who hates fireworks, he's not bad at recommending viewing spots!

I love the pictures of the show.

Thank you!

Oh, wow! What an impressive window display of medals.

Yes! It really was amazing to see!

I agree- it was crazy that the Christmas decorations were up so late. I wonder why they were up so long this year (it seems like much later than previous years, but I don't know). And I wonder when they finally came down.

I think that they were (at least in part) still up for the marathon, but I was really surprised that they didn't start taking them down Sunday night. From what I saw, I think they were down later that week.

That is an awesome picture of the two of you in front of the castle with the Partners statue.

Thank you!

I'm glad your folded contact lens did not turn into something worse.

Thanks, that was definitely a relief!

The restaurant is so pretty! I don't think I have seen Cinderella in that heavy dress before.

I can't remember if I've seen that dress before, but it's definitely unusual, I've only seen it once or twice.

I'm glad you didn't decide to pursue the FP challenge if you weren't feeling it.

Thanks. It was definitely a tough call, but I think we made the right decision.

I love the pictures taken from the carousel. The fringe makes such a nice border.

Thanks!

Wow! Oh Wow! on your London photo from Peter Pan- I always try to get that one and my pictures all fail. That is one of the better ones I have seen!

That's definitely a hard picture to get - I've tried many times and failed. Beth did a great job getting it!

Mad Hatter definitely looks like a fun meet.

It was!

Hooray for Mine Train and Small World!

GREAT start to your morning.

Thanks! I totally agree!

This is quite hilarious lol. Because I really am a planner IRL lol. But yeah, planning a race would be really hard that far out because I just don't know what I'd do with the kids lol. And for some reason I just can't seem to get everyone to agree to Disney that far out. I'm sure if I could do a SOLO trip...hmmm there's an idea....maybe I should...that I would have no trouble planning beyond the 6 month mark....

Planning and planning a Disney trip are two totally different animals. I'm a planner too ... that doesn't always help with organizing the Disney trips. A solo trip probably would be easier ... you should do it!!!

You got some GREAT character meet photos on that morning! The Mad Hatter one is HILARIOUS!

Thanks! You know I love my characters (even if I can't always talk to them), and we had some great ones that day!

 

[SarahDisney]

Day 7, Chapter 3: Going For Galactic Hero
Monday, January 11th, 2016​

When you last saw us, we were headed over to Tomorrowland. Our first stop there was our favorite Tomorrowland attraction, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. The line was a bit longer than we like, but thankfully, we made friends with the family behind us in line. We talked a bit about our trips, what we do when we’re not at Disney (the father works for his local school district or something, I think … I don’t remember exactly, but it was interesting stuff). At some point during the conversation the weather came up and he mentioned that Buffalo was expecting 3 feet of snow. I said they deserved it. I was very mad at Buffalo at the time … because football (it’s a new season, so I’ve let it go a little bit, especially because the Jets beat Buffalo on Thursday Night Football earlier this season, but at the time … Buffalo had prevented the Jets from making the playoffs, so I didn’t care what happened to the city). Beth was not happy about me being all about the football … sometimes I talk too much about sports that don’t interest her.

We finally made it on to the ride, and started shooting at targets, when Beth somehow managed to hit one of those targets that gives you a lot of points. As in, she had over 900,000 points pretty early on. So naturally, I started to encourage her (rather than competing against her like I normally do) with hopes that she could reach 999,999, because I had seen on someone’s TR that if you reach Galactic Hero, you can get a button. Beth worked hard … but did she reach Galactic Hero?

Unfortunately, she didn’t make it there. She tried, but she just couldn’t make it. Oh well, it’s a goal we’ll continue to work towards. At least she beat me (not that it was particularly hard):

You can see from our ride picture that I was more focused on her score than on what I was doing:

Next up was our third FP+ of the day …

I love Space Mountain. Beth closes her eyes and tolerates it because I love it. So the compromise was that we do it with minimal line … aka FP+.
This was one of those rides where MemoryMaker seems to have failed us, so we only have my picture, not Beth’s, and my eyes are closed (no idea why, since they were open for the whole ride … I must have been mid-blink), so you guys get nothing.

*Mid-Report Complaint: Under some older versions of the MyDisneyExperience app, you were able to access a list of your old FP+, and I was planning to use that to help me with this report (which is why I didn’t screenshot my screen). I can’t seem to find that functionality in the version of the app that I have right now (or anywhere on the website). So I’m stuck guessing what we used FP+ for.*

I believe that our next stop was a FastPass kiosk, where we obtained a FP+ for the attraction that basically started our FP+ frenzy last year.

What was that attraction (FP+ #4 for today)?

Who’s that Dumbo?

(The reason why I’m holding up my 10K medal is because (as you may remember) my 10K outfit was inspired by Dumbo. This is part 1 of the Dumbo photoshoot … there will be more later).

Some pictures of the attraction (in case you live under a rock (or are currently planning your first trip to WDW) and have never seen it):

Dumbo Selfie:

One of the many wonderful things about Dumbo is that you get a pretty nice view of the area from up in the air (most of these are Beth’s, but the first one is mine):

After we returned from flying with Dumbo, we made our way back to our favorite FP+ kiosk and made an appointment to see a character.

The lovely Tinker Bell was FP+ #5 of the day for us.

Even with FP+, we had to wait a little bit. Not that there was much of a line, I think they just don’t expect people to use FP+ for Tinker Bell. I felt a little silly about it, but … the system is there to be used, so I will use it.

I really like Tinker Bell’s M&G area. You get shrunk down to pixie size, and there’s all sorts of fun stuff there. I think my favorite is this tea cup:

That’s a reference to J.M. Barrie, the author of the original Peter Pan stories, and I thought it was really nice that they had a little reference to the books.

Finally, it was time to meet with my favorite brat, Tink:

Tink was very chatty. And not as bratty as I wanted her to be. At least at first. She did say something about my bow (it was the theme of the day), and she was very glad that it wasn’t like Wendy’s bow. But then I mentioned that I do have a Wendy bow (it didn’t come on this trip, but I made it for the trip before – it’s a pretty simple blue bow on a clip). At that point … Tink was not so happy with me anymore.

Thankfully, she was still willing to pose for a picture with us:

Next order of business was back to Fantasyland for another FP+. We did want to look for characters around Main Street USA on the way, though – we were hoping to see either Snow White or Mary Poppins (or both). We didn’t see either of the characters we wanted, but we did stop to see a cool cat:

Big hugs from Marie:

I think this was our first time meeting Marie at Magic Kingdom, and I’m glad we did it – she was super cute!

Cat meeting over, it was time to go back to Fantasyland …
Oh look, a castle! Let’s stop for pictures!

Finally, we made it back to the FP+ kiosk, and got ourselves our 6th FP+ of the day. We had a little bit of time before our FP+ (I think), so we ate lunch in the Storybook Circus area (probably tuna that we brought from home, I really don’t remember anymore). After lunch, it was time to use our FP+ for …

We didn’t have to wait too long, but there was a short wait after we merged with the regular line. There was a family in front of us with a few kids, and one of the kids was super excited for the ride. How excited? Well, to quote the kid, “I’m so excited I think I peed a little!”
Okay then, kid. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a cute little ride, but maybe not that exciting.

Anyway … once we got off Barnstormer, I saw an opportunity to finish my Dumbo photoshoot:

Dumbo ran the 10K, so he got to wear the medal. I actually really love this picture. I stole the idea from someone (I don’t remember who, sorry), but I think it was definitely a fun one. I then proceeded to post this to Instagram … like an hour and a half later. I’m so lame.

Once I finished my photoshoot, it was time for another FP+. Where would our journey take us next? Stay tuned to find out!

Coming Next: Fantasies and Dreams Come True

 

[rteetz]

That is quite the score different on Buzz. That sucks that Beth was so close to galactic hero. I've always wanted to get it but haven't yet, maybe in January.

Space mountain is a lot of fun (especially when you take your grandma on it). It's nice that you two can work out a compromise to ride it.

Dumbo is a must do favorite of mine but Im not sure I would use a FP on it. For your quest though it makes sense. It offers some great views of the park.

You guys got some awesome photopass photos with Tink, the castle, and Marie! I can understand wanting Tink to be more bratty.

 

[afwdwfan]

As you may remember, Sunday night we had dinner with some princesses. We enjoyed it so much, that we spontaneously decided to have breakfast with princesses the next morning (that or we decided this months in advance … one of the two).

Oh yeah... cause you can always walk right into CRT without an ADR.

As we were heading over to the buses, we saw something that we had seen “in progress” the day before, and Beth really wanted to take a picture of:

Cool idea! Definitely something to be proud of.

My left eye hurt, and I couldn’t really see out of it very well. It kinda more than hurt (I have very dry eyes, so my eyes often hurt a little, especially if I don’t use my eyedrops) … it felt like my contact lens was either torn or folded in my eye. I didn’t have my glasses (or a lens case), I didn’t have my eyedrops (not that I can put them in when I’m wearing my lenses), I didn’t have spare lenses … crap.

That sucks. Been there, done that, feel your pain.

This dress does not exist in the movie. It makes me sad. But anyway … on to the next ...

It's not like Jasmine's new dress exists in her movie either.

We had a nice conversation (I can’t remember about what, though … that’s what I get for waiting 8 months to get to this part of the TR), and we definitely were not disappointed!

I know what you mean. Trying to revive my TR and the details are hard to come by.

We finally made it on to the ride, and started shooting at targets, when Beth somehow managed to hit one of those targets that gives you a lot of points. As in, she had over 900,000 points pretty early on. So naturally, I started to encourage her (rather than competing against her like I normally do) with hopes that she could reach 999,999, because I had seen on someone’s TR that if you reach Galactic Hero, you can get a button. Beth worked hard … but did she reach Galactic Hero?

Oh so close... yet so far away.

Dumbo ran the 10K, so he got to wear the medal. I actually really love this picture. I stole the idea from someone (I don’t remember who, sorry), but I think it was definitely a fun one.

Cool picture!

 

[Saphire5742]

Congrats to Beth for an awesome Buzz score!

Awwww, so cute! Wish I would have had an opportunity to meet her but she was no longer there.

LOVE it, especially with the medal!

 

[fallonkendra]

What a great idea!

As you can see … still decorated for Christmas. On January 11th.

I thought that was strange too, but then I thought maybe it was normal since it was my first trip to WDW....

My left eye hurt, and I couldn’t really see out of it very well. It kinda more than hurt (I have very dry eyes, so my eyes often hurt a little, especially if I don’t use my eyedrops) … it felt like my contact lens was either torn or folded in my eye. I didn’t have my glasses (or a lens case), I didn’t have my eyedrops (not that I can put them in when I’m wearing my lenses), I didn’t have spare lenses

Glad you were able to get this sorted out quickly!

Snow White noticed that I was a bit hesitant (it was the combination of morning and my usual shyness), and remarked that I’m a bit like Bashful. Beth, very helpfully, decided to point out that she is like Grumpy. At that point I shared a secret with Snow White … once Beth has her coffee, she becomes a bit more like Happy.
Apparently that doesn’t work for actual Grumpy, though. Or so Snow White says.

This is so cute! I don't think we met a single face character the entire time we were there, but if we did I don't know what I would say... I'm so awkward in those situations....

The princesses loved my hair bow … I just wish someone had told me that the thing covered my entire head (I’m blaming my mother for that … I asked her about it when I made it and she didn’t tell me to make it smaller).

I love the size of it! It looks great!

we decided to ride a favorite classic attraction:

I've never been on the carousel at a Disney park... two days in Magic Kingdom and two separate trips to Disneyland (they have one in each park) and I've walked past it every time...

next stop was back to the always adorable Mickey’s PhilharMagic.

We didn't do this either... my list for our next trip just keeps growing!

Next on our agenda was another classic attraction … It’s a Small World.

I also skipped this when we were in Florida. I went on it the first time we were in Anaheim, and I decided that was enough to last a lifetime.

Being from Queens, and having a father who sometimes talks about going to the 1964-1965 World’s Fair as a child (I actually had the opportunity to walk around the World’s Fair site with him a few months back, which was pretty cool), IASW holds a special place in my heart (although the one in California is more special because that’s the original), so it’s a must-ride for me.

Ok, this is cool! If I had a connection to the ride like this, I would consider going on it again haha.

sometimes I talk too much about sports that don’t interest her.

If you start a conversation with me about sports, I can keep going for ages! It's one of my favourite topics haha.

This was one of those rides where MemoryMaker seems to have failed us, so we only have my picture, not Beth’s, and my eyes are closed (no idea why, since they were open for the whole ride … I must have been mid-blink), so you guys get nothing.

Post it! These are usually the funniest ones!

*Mid-Report Complaint: Under some older versions of the MyDisneyExperience app, you were able to access a list of your old FP+, and I was planning to use that to help me with this report (which is why I didn’t screenshot my screen). I can’t seem to find that functionality in the version of the app that I have right now (or anywhere on the website). So I’m stuck guessing what we used FP+ for.*

I was hoping for this too! I've had to make a few guesses in my trip report about what we did...

This is so cute! I really sucked at the character meet and greets, but now I'm inspired by you to make a point of meeting more next time!

Well, to quote the kid, “I’m so excited I think I peed a little!”
Okay then, kid. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a cute little ride, but maybe not that exciting.

Hahaha!! I wouldn't get that excited about the Barnstormer, but to each their own haha.

 

[Elevationist]

Beth worked hard … but did she reach Galactic Hero?

Unfortunately, she didn’t make it there. She tried, but she just couldn’t make it.

Still, that's a score to be pretty damn proud of!

Next up was our third FP+ of the day …

I love Space Mountain. Beth closes her eyes and tolerates it because I love it. So the compromise was that we do it with minimal line … aka FP+.

How sweet that she endures it for you! Lol. I haven't done it in a couple years myself, but I'm gonna be brave on the next trip!

This was one of those rides where MemoryMaker seems to have failed us, so we only have my picture, not Beth’s, and my eyes are closed (no idea why, since they were open for the whole ride … I must have been mid-blink), so you guys get nothing.

Did you know that Disney has a whole department that does nothing but research and find people's missing pictures? Every trip I seem to have to contact them to find one that's gone missing, but they never let me down!

Who’s that Dumbo?

Looking forward to my first Dumbo flight in a few weeks! Can you believe that 11 trips in, and I've still never ridden this?!

Dumbo Selfie:

I know I say this all the time, but ya'll really are the cutest!

Even with FP+, we had to wait a little bit. Not that there was much of a line, I think they just don’t expect people to use FP+ for Tinker Bell. I felt a little silly about it, but … the system is there to be used, so I will use it.

If it makes you feel any better, I have a FP fire Tinkerbell!

Tink was very chatty.

Good! I love chatty face characters. Takes the pressure off of me to think of stuff to say!

At that point … Tink was not so happy with me anymore.

Sounds pretty bratty to me!

I think this was our first time meeting Marie at Magic Kingdom, and I’m glad we did it – she was super cute

Awww Marie! I never did get a chance to meet her.

Dumbo ran the 10K, so he got to wear the medal. I actually really love this picture. I stole the idea from someone (I don’t remember who, sorry), but I think it was definitely a fun one. I then proceeded to post this to Instagram … like an hour and a half later. I’m so lame.

Ahahaha, I love Dumbo wearing your medal! Too adorable!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Beth must know some of the big point targets. She had a great score. I know where one of the 100,000 point targets is but can never remember the others.

 

[natebenma]

Nice!!!

After we returned from flying with Dumbo, we made our way back to our favorite FP+ kiosk and made an appointment to see a character.

The lovely Tinker Bell was FP+ #5 of the day for us.

Even with FP+, we had to wait a little bit. Not that there was much of a line, I think they just don’t expect people to use FP+ for Tinker Bell. I felt a little silly about it, but … the system is there to be used, so I will use it.

Good thing you had that FP! I would hate to wait the posted 5 minute wait time!

That is a cute picture and I really like the castle in the background.

There was a family in front of us with a few kids, and one of the kids was super excited for the ride. How excited? Well, to quote the kid, “I’m so excited I think I peed a little!”
Okay then, kid. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a cute little ride, but maybe not that exciting.

The picture with Dumbo is great- nice of you to share your bling with him.

 

[SarahDisney]

That is quite the score different on Buzz. That sucks that Beth was so close to galactic hero. I've always wanted to get it but haven't yet, maybe in January.

Yeah, I definitley lost that game by a lot. This was the closests we've ever gotten to galactic hero ... I guess we'll just have to keep trying.

Space mountain is a lot of fun (especially when you take your grandma on it). It's nice that you two can work out a compromise to ride it.

Yep, it's definitely fun (even if your grandma might not be jumping to ride it again any time soon). I'm glad Beth is willing to ride with me.

Dumbo is a must do favorite of mine but Im not sure I would use a FP on it. For your quest though it makes sense. It offers some great views of the park.

I think it's one of those things that's good for a 4th (or later) FP+ ... the line never really gets long, but it gets less short, and if you're not going to enjoy the play area, the FP+ makes a little sense.
And we've got worse uses of FP+ coming up in the next two updates.

You guys got some awesome photopass photos with Tink, the castle, and Marie! I can understand wanting Tink to be more bratty.

Thanks! I'm a big Peter Pan fan, so I like Peter Pan Tink much better than the new fairy movie Tink, but ... whatever. Less bratty Tink is better than no Tink.

Oh yeah... cause you can always walk right into CRT without an ADR.

Exactly! So easy to get in, we didn't see a need for an ADR.

Cool idea! Definitely something to be proud of.

It was definitely cool to see all the medals like that.

That sucks. Been there, done that, feel your pain.

Yeah ... sometimes my contacts are more trouble than they're worth (I can say that because I'm wearing my glasses today).

It's not like Jasmine's new dress exists in her movie either.

Jasmine's new dress makes very little sense to me. But whatever. Disney does weird things sometimes.

I know what you mean. Trying to revive my TR and the details are hard to come by.

It's definitely interesting to read my earlier posts and realize how much easier it was to write those since the trip was fresher in my mind ... now I'm relying mostly on pictures and minimal notes.

Oh so close... yet so far away.

Just something to aspire to on future trips...

Cool picture!

Thanks! I thought having Dumbo wear the medal was a nice idea.

Congrats to Beth for an awesome Buzz score!

Thanks - she's very proud of it!

Awwww, so cute! Wish I would have had an opportunity to meet her but she was no longer there.

I'm definitely glad we were able to meet her ... I wish Marie still was there, she's such a cute character to meet.

LOVE it, especially with the medal!

Thank you!!

 

[SarahDisney]

What a great idea!

It was really cool to see all the medals like that! It's something for Luke to think about when he does Dopey a few years in the future ...

I thought that was strange too, but then I thought maybe it was normal since it was my first trip to WDW....

I'd never been that early in January before (I've been the next week), but I definitely thought it was weird.

Glad you were able to get this sorted out quickly!

Thanks! It's always nice when my contact lens problems don't become real problems (I've torn my lenses on vacation before, so this was definitely a happy ending).

This is so cute! I don't think we met a single face character the entire time we were there, but if we did I don't know what I would say... I'm so awkward in those situations....

I'm pretty terrible with the face characters, but I try. They're usually pretty good at sensing if you're hesitant and trying to get you to talk.

I love the size of it! It looks great!

Thanks

I've never been on the carousel at a Disney park... two days in Magic Kingdom and two separate trips to Disneyland (they have one in each park) and I've walked past it every time...

I love carousels, so I've been on all of them. I think I like the one at California Adventure best because it's fun sea animals.

We didn't do this either... my list for our next trip just keeps growing!

Philharmagic is a must-do, especially if you like the 80's/90's Disney movies. It's super cute.

I also skipped this when we were in Florida. I went on it the first time we were in Anaheim, and I decided that was enough to last a lifetime.

I love It's a Small World, but I get that some people don't. The one in Anaheim is the more important one because it's the original, so if you're only going to do it once, that's the one to do.

Ok, this is cool! If I had a connection to the ride like this, I would consider going on it again haha.

It's definitely cool to have that connection.

If you start a conversation with me about sports, I can keep going for ages! It's one of my favourite topics haha.

I knew I liked you!!
I used to say that I could talk endlessly about sports and politics. I'm kinda over politics. Now it's sports and Disney (and Harry Potter).

Post it! These are usually the funniest ones!

It's not so funny, but ...

I was hoping for this too! I've had to make a few guesses in my trip report about what we did...

Yeah, the app keep changing in ways I don't like and I can't remember what FP+ I used months and months ago.

This is so cute! I really sucked at the character meet and greets, but now I'm inspired by you to make a point of meeting more next time!

Thanks! We really do a lot of character meets because we love them - I'm glad we're inspiring you to do more!

Hahaha!! I wouldn't get that excited about the Barnstormer, but to each their own haha.

Exactly. I mean, it's a cute little ride, but ... maybe not "I peed myself" cute.

Still, that's a score to be pretty damn proud of!

Definitely! It may not have been Galactic Hero, but it's still impressive!

How sweet that she endures it for you! Lol. I haven't done it in a couple years myself, but I'm gonna be brave on the next trip!

Yes! Do it!!
I don't understand people who don't like Space Mountain. I just don't get it.

Did you know that Disney has a whole department that does nothing but research and find people's missing pictures? Every trip I seem to have to contact them to find one that's gone missing, but they never let me down!

I did not know that. That's good to know for the future. Thanks.

Looking forward to my first Dumbo flight in a few weeks! Can you believe that 11 trips in, and I've still never ridden this?!

I'm glad that you'll be rectifying that soon!

I know I say this all the time, but ya'll really are the cutest!

Thank You!!

If it makes you feel any better, I have a FP fire Tinkerbell!

Yes! I'm not the only one!!

Good! I love chatty face characters. Takes the pressure off of me to think of stuff to say!

Oh yeah, she was one of the ones that could have an entire conversation with herself.

Sounds pretty bratty to me!

Apparently mentions of Wendy make Tink bratty. I'm not surprised.

Awww Marie! I never did get a chance to meet her.

I wish they hadn't taken her out of MK. She's so cute!

Ahahaha, I love Dumbo wearing your medal! Too adorable!

Beth must know some of the big point targets. She had a great score. I know where one of the 100,000 point targets is but can never remember the others.

The funny part is, she really doesn't. We don't know how she got that score, she must have found one or two big targets just by accident. It was totally unexpected and crazy.

Nice!!!

Good thing you had that FP! I would hate to wait the posted 5 minute wait time!

Exactly! Who wants to wait 5 minutes to meet Tink?

That is a cute picture and I really like the castle in the background.

Thanks! The castle definitely adds something nice to the background.

Exactly. Kids say the funnies things sometimes.

The picture with Dumbo is great- nice of you to share your bling with him.

Thanks! After a 2-hour rainy race, I felt like Dumbo deserved a reward.

 

[SarahDisney]

Day 7, Chapter 4: Fantasies and Dreams Come True
Monday, January 11th, 2016
​

When you last saw us, we had used a FP+ for Barnstormer and then finished my Dumbo photoshoot. Next up … time for another FP+. But on the way there we got distracted … by some PhotoPass photographers:

We eventually made our way to the FP+ kiosk, where we picked up FP+ #7. This FP+ required walking to another land, so off we went to Adventureland!

After a little bit of walking, we made it to our destination …

Look, it’s Genie!:

Selfie (with carpets in the background):

Once we finished our magic carpet ride, it was back to our favorite FP+ kiosk to discover our next attraction. We were hoping for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but availability on our first MK day had been non-existent, so we weren’t sure if we’d be able to get it.

Turns out … it wasn’t available. We got something else. But we also checked the MDE app and saw that the wait for Big Thunder Mountain was pretty short, so we decided to hustle over there before our next FP+ and experience the wildest ride in the wilderness via the standby line. But first, we had to get there from Fantasyland. By this point it was around 3 PM … which meant walking there during the Festival of Fantasy Parade. We stopped to watch a little bit, and I snapped a few quick pictures:

I really wanted to get to Big Thunder Mountain, so we didn’t really stay and watch. We walked behind the people watching the parade, and at one point we walked through the outdoor seating area of Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Café. Nothing special to see there … some tables, some chairs, some people eating lunch.
Except … I recognized two guys sitting at one of the tables.

As some of you know, over the past year or so I’ve become a big fan of the DIS Unplugged, which is a series of podcasts created by the people who created and run this wonderful message board. The guys who were sitting and eating at Pecos Bill’s were the host of the show, Pete Werner (who is also the person who originally created wdwinfo.com & disboards.com), and the producer, Craig Williams.

I pointed Pete and Craig out to my sister (who does not watch the podcast), but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go over and say something to them. We discussed it a bit and I decided that I was going to go over and say hi. So I did. I don’t really remember what I said to them (probably something along the lines of “I love the show and you guys are awesome”), but I hope that I was able to convey my appreciation for the awesome Disney content they bring me every week on the podcast. They were very nice (well, Pete was … I didn’t really talk to Craig much, which is sad, because he’s one of my favorites, but I was too nervous to really pay attention to what was going on), and they seemed happy that I had come over to say hello. I also made them pose for a picture with the crazy fan:

For a long time after this trip I wondered whether going over to say hello to them was the right move. At the end of the day … I do regret it a bit, because I don’t think I made a good first impression, but I think I would have regretted it more had I not gone over to them. Plus, sometimes when I’m sad I look at this picture and it makes me smile. It was really helpful when I had a bit of a rough patch right after the trip. So it was worth it just to get the pictures.

Once the podcast M&G was over, we made our way over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We had to wait a bit to cross the end of the parade, and by the time we got to the ride, the wait time had gone up. We looked at the line and it looked manageable, so we decided to get in line.

No pictures from the line or the ride … probably because I was still on cloud 9 and couldn’t stop talking about my podcast meet. Beth and I both absolutely love this ride, so we had a lot of fun, and enjoyed it (as we always do).

After we got off the ride, we got ourselves a picture with a mountain in the background:

After we finished our BTMRR photo session, it was time to use our next FP+. We made our way back to Fantasyland, and stopped for some pictures near our next attraction:

FP+ #8 was Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid. It was cute, as always.

Next stop was back to the FP+ kiosk, where we picked up FP+ #9 for the day, after which we made our way to our first repeat attraction of the day:

Yes, we went on It’s a Small World again. And we used a FP+ for it. Not the first time we’ve done it either. We’re fun.

We may or may not have spent most of the ride being those obnoxious people who talk through the whole thing. I can neither confirm nor deny that. I will say that if, theoretically, we were to talk through the entire attraction, we would do it quietly in order to be minimally disruptive. I think.

Anyway … pictures:

Next up we had plans to wait on line for a fun character meet. Who were we off to meet? You’ll have to wait for the next installment to find out!

Coming Next: I Follow You on Instagram

 

[rteetz]

Awesome update! You guys really made great use of photopass.

I think you made the right move going up to Craig and Pete. They usually say they like when people stop and say hi to them. I've never had the chance yet.

You guys also made awesome use of FP.

 

[Wood Nymph]

My sister and I are terrible when it comes to not talking when we ride an attraction, especially one like Small World. It's a good thing that we don't travel together too often.

 

[Saphire5742]

How great that you saw Pete and Craig and that you got that photo with them. I'm happy for you. Don't regret for a moment that you decided to say hello. I'm sure they appreciated it. As you say having that photo was worth it for you. No reason for regrets. Actually I think you were brave.
So jealous that you have a photo with Sebastian though. He's one of my favorite characters. When I was in that area there was no PP person there sadly.
And of course Small World is worth a repeat ride. Should I tell you how many times I ended up riding it myself? Maybe I'll leave that for my TR although that will take a while to get there. And hint hint, you'll get a special surprise present when I do....

 

[SarahDisney]

Awesome update! You guys really made great use of photopass.

Thanks! We definitely got our money's worth from Memory Maker on that day

I think you made the right move going up to Craig and Pete. They usually say they like when people stop and say hi to them. I've never had the chance yet.

Pete said it was good that I came over to say hi. I just have a tendency to second guess myself, even when I know I did the right thing.
I really hope you get to meet some members of the team in January (less than 3 months!!). I'm sure they'll be excited to meet you - they'll probably want to talk about whatever rumors are floating around (since you're the expert on that).

You guys also made awesome use of FP.

Thanks! You know we love our FP+.

My sister and I are terrible when it comes to not talking when we ride an attraction, especially one like Small World. It's a good thing that we don't travel together too often.

Yeah ... probably a good thing you and your sister don't travel together too much.
Beth and I try not to talk too much ... but then we do.

How great that you saw Pete and Craig and that you got that photo with them. I'm happy for you. Don't regret for a moment that you decided to say hello. I'm sure they appreciated it. As you say having that photo was worth it for you. No reason for regrets. Actually I think you were brave.

Thanks. I tend to second guess myself a lot, but it's good to know that other people think I did the right thing.

So jealous that you have a photo with Sebastian though. He's one of my favorite characters. When I was in that area there was no PP person there sadly.

Now you have (yet another) reason to go back! You have to get that picture! That's one of my favorite Extra Magic Shots.

And of course Small World is worth a repeat ride. Should I tell you how many times I ended up riding it myself? Maybe I'll leave that for my TR although that will take a while to get there. And hint hint, you'll get a special surprise present when I do....

Okay, now I'm really looking forward to that part of your TR. I'm excited to find out how many times you rode and what the surprise present is!