It's all about Rides and Rocks (the trip that nearly wasn't) TR starts page 6

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 4: Our 3rd encounter with a dragon

We then decided to just wait and watch the Festival of Fantasy Parade from Frontierland as the crowds were thickening fast.

I loved this parade and Maleficent was magnificent (too many pics, she's now in Part 4).







We were the wrong side to see Olaf unfortunately.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 5: There she is





You can see the spinning wheel in her heart here





















By detouring via Adventureland we came out on Main St in time to watch part of the parade, including my favourite dragon, again.





Magic Kingdom in its Halloween splendour as we headed back to the hotel for some RnR before getting changed and coming back in for the Halloween Party.

 

[zanzibar138]

Ooh I love steampunk Maleficent!

Looking forward to hearing about the party

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 6 Halloween Party

It was already 4pm when we got back to the hotel. DH fell fast asleep and though I knew we would miss my last FP+ for 7DMT, I didn’t have the heart to wake him up. I had ridden it once at least and figured we might get a ride standby before the park closed tonight (wrong!)

I roused DH around 6pm and we showered and changed and got in just before 7 so only missed the FP by a squeak but they had the Hub and castle closed off and were directing all incoming Halloween traffic via Adventureland. I figured even if we ran we would be 10 mins too late by the time we negotiated the crowds. Guess I should have tried!

We went up on onto the train station platform again first.



In my Tardis outfit



Queues were already long for Jack and Sally but we snapped one from the side.



Balloons



Evening, and the crowds, descend



While checking out all the costumes was fun, we got a bit frustrated being unable to get anywhere. It definitely pays to get in early and head up to the back of the park before the chaos of incoming and exiting people. I wanted to head round to Tomorrowland as we had missed most of that land today but decided it would take too long to negotiate our way there, so instead rode Haunted Mansion before the crowds got too long and got my special effect Photopass pics I wanted.



We totally saw this CM but I ended up chickening out of asking if I could have a pic with him so here is an internet pic.



Inside ride vehicles



After the ride Madame Charlotta had come out but I was too far away now to get a pic.

Our halloween shots (look blurry but they are scanned in pics then low res uploads, the originals are OK though not great I must say).






I got quite a few comments on my Dr Who outfit which was fun and I didn’t spot any other whovians that night. The new Haunted Mansion shop had lots of great stuff – too much for this Libran to choose so in the end I dithered and bought nothing!

DH decided he wanted dinner – I was too busy to eat – so I left him sourcing some food nearby and instead went and queued in Frontierland to watch the first parade. I got a prime spot up on the scaffold and another lady and I were congratulating ourselves, til the headless horseman approached and a young couple pushed past and stood on the lower level and blocked most of our view – I hate that!

What would have been a reasonable pic if he hadn’t put his hand up to take a mobile phone pic!



From behind



I took several parade pics this time, none very good but of course, only handheld (pics all combined below after the second parade). When the parade was over, I went and found DH who I had deserted for what felt like a despicable length of time. He took this in good grace (he wouldn’t have cared less if he hadn’t come this evening at all to be truthful). We fought our way through the crowds (I was hoping to spot the Cadavar Dans but no luck) and found a spot on Main St as close to the hump as I could get, to watch the fireworks. I thought Celebrate might be a Halloween version with villains but it seemed little different to the regular version so that was disappointing.










The crowds looking back down Main St



Hallowishes was good though the Christmas version in my memory trumps them.
















We stayed here to watch the Villains show which we enjoyed though our legs were getting tired and then watched the second parade from here too.

First my Tardis light cleverly wired up by DH.



Continued next post

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 7 Boo to You

Villains





It was good to watch the parade a second time even though we didn’t get very good pics. Here is a selection of pics from both parades.

















A bad picture except I love the fact you can see the sparks from the shovels in the corner.













I have never actually seen Wreck it Ralph

















Finished (finally!) in the next post

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 8 Goodnight Magic Kingdom

After the second parade DH was ready to go home but I had some Trick or Treating in my sights so off we set through Adventureland (here I was torn between waiting for a pic with my fave Captn Jack or missing out on something else- I chose the latter –wish I has waited for the pic in retrospect).



We found a trick or treat trail which garnished us a third full bag each – DH got the better deal from his girl. Hmm. Had a look at the dance party with the villains-there was a queue as they were letting people in 2 or 3 at a time as others left and I decided I didn’t want to get in that badly and knew DH wouldn’t join me.

Continuing on to Fantasyland, queues were still huge for pics with the 7 Dwarves. I snapped a shot with others in it and plan to photoshop them out for privacy in due course so I have a cute pic of them (so can’t post yet). 7DMT was also still at an hour wait and they were closing off the queue so that was a no-go. But here are two pics taken on the Wed night:





Storybook Circus area



I was getting ravenous and irritable (of course as it was now close to midnight) so when I saw Starlight Café was still open (the only open location we had found) I nipped in for a kids chicken nuggets meal. The CMs were so busy. They said normally by now they were closing down and sweeping up but tonight it was ballistic with last minute crowds wanting food.

I had the guilts by now too as I felt like I had been snapping at DH for the last part of the night (as well as deserting him earlier). My fault for not eating earlier I know but we are not always rational even when we are 50 something! Sated we had one more trick or treat stop and then were ushered out along Main St with everyone else. The "fly guy" in the background of the pic had a great costume.



We got home after 1am and I apologised to DH for being such a grumpy bum. Because he still loves me after 32 years he forgives me (hugs)

Our loot -doesn't look like a lot but took us the rest of the holiday and brought some home, to finish it! Discovered I love Tootsie Rolls!



Decided we probably won’t do another party. The Xmas one also felt very rushed when we did it – you spend a lot of time doing nothing, waiting for parades or fireworks; it’s really, really crowded, and we take advantage of so few of the ‘extras’ that it seems a lot to pay for basically a parade, a characters’ dance or concert show, and a firework show that you can see a version of any night. Maybe I just need to do it with someone more organised for the night-I always seem to be a bit random at the parties. I am glad we did this one, just don't feel the need to go again (although the Halloween Parade is pretty special....still looking at PIO pics is almost like being there!)

 

[zanzibar138]

First of all, love the tardis outfit

Wow those crowds look insane! I thought the idea of the parties was that it was an exclusive event with a limited number of people I would totally do it one night just to see the headless horseman though!

I hate when you think you've got a great spot then at the last minute someone pushes in front of you. I was here first dammit!

Too bad you missed out on 7DMT, but at least you got to ride it once

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great tardis outfit! And that shot with the castle in the background....pure gold!


Shame about the couple that blocked your view. I hate when that happens. The crowds look insane! And unless it's for the Christmas event, I think I might be done with going to MNSSHP as well. It's a great experience if you've never been but I think Disney is starting to price it a little too high. With the crowds they let in, it's a lot of money to be spending in queues.


Nice candy loot!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Finally sat down and read through your whole TR. I'm really enjoying it so far.

I'm loving all your pics, particularly the ones of the world showcase. They make me realise how much of Epcot I missed while I was there, and how much I'd love to go back.

I have the RX100 also and really love it. It's a great little camera.

Not sure what type of fish the ugly one is, but the spiky one is a beautiful lion fish. They're highly venomous, so DH and I a bit of a fright when we spotted one a few years back when snorkelling in Fiji.

Really excited to read your Universal updates.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I meant to add, great to see the Venison Sausage from the NZ food stall. It's one of the few times I've seen a dish from that stall that actually looks like it was designed by a kiwi.

 

[Franrose]

Just catching up here too... Loving it! Awesome TR Wendy

 

[lffam]

loving the pictures and report. The Festival parade looked great. I don't know what it is about Disney parades but I really love watching them. Havent seen one that I've thought was so so.

Your Epcot photos are great also. We probably needed to explore Epcot a bit more so will definitely be doing that next time, not to mention Test trach a few more times!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I agree! I'm used to be forever starting a video recording accidentally I found a setting to turn it off though - now that button only works if I'm already in recording mode. I have an HX series though, so may be different for yours.

I will have to read the manual!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Life delaying trip report posting - honestly! Doesn't it know what's important!

Interlude POFQ

Inbetween our busy 4 days we did find some brief moments to explore POFQ. I love the quiet areas with fountains, ponds and seats to relax in and also liked how compact this resort was.

Entering the foyer from the resort side



Our building



Lovely pond



Planted urns



More views of buildings



Down by the river was nice too. I only regret not having had the time to explore neighbouring Riverside (either by hire bike or on foot).





The pool looked nice but on the small side if it was busy and as some parents have noted, a bit awkward configuration for seating if you wanted to keep an eye on the kids on the waterslide. There was also an adult’s spa set away from the pool area.








On the green they showed Disney movies most nights. There was also a campfire with marshmallows (or S’mores) toasting. When we were there both these activities had very few participants.




I particularly like all the wrought iron work.










The resident doorman was very sweet.



Buses seemed to come sufficiently frequently and apart from the chaos when the boom gate at Riverside stuck in the down position once, were fine for getting to and fro the parks. Often they served only POFQ and where they were shared with Riverside they picked up and dropped off at POFQ first. POFQ also seemed centrally located, about 15-20 mins to reach a park in any direction.

In the boom gate issue, buses were backed up and no-one seemed capable of making an executive decision so we waited and waited…til finally, our driver took the initiative, drove straight ahead and out the other entrance – well duh!! you could see that was possible. I just couldn’t understand why the buses our direction didn’t do that immediately leaving room for the others to back up and turn around and do the same -obviously not used to coping with a curved ball!

All in all, whilst if I could, I would prefer to next stay in the EPCOT area hotel cluster, this was a very good moderate and we would happily stay here again.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Saturday 25 Animal Kingdom where the dragon was trying to hide

Part 1 On safari

We slept in after the late night and after our breaky in our room we got to the Animal Kingdom around 10am in time for our FP+ at Kilimanjaro Safari.









We enjoyed the ride, more so now they have dropped the naff poacher theme. A lot of the animals were sleeping as it was getting later morning. A selection of those we saw:

Kudu I think



Alligators



Giraffe. I love the way this rear one looks like a disembodied head due to the crevice it’s in.





Elephants





Flamingo



White Rhino



Curly horned Addax



Some-one was snoozing by the waterfall after we got off:



Can’t see? Here he is closer



We spent the 20 mins til our next FP+ which was for the Festival of the Lion King having a look at the decor in the new Harumbe Theatre area. Very nice!








The show was as wonderful as always. One or two pics – my camera battery decided to run out but we were too busy watching to worry about taking pics really and PIO has posted an excellent series of pics.

Inside the new theatre










From here we ducked across to the Flights of Wonder bird show that we had not seen before (and inspired by PIO’s report). Again a great show and the parrot that sang a song at the start was totally amazing. I should have recorded it. It was the most clear singing from a bird I think I have ever heard. Again only a couple of pics as the birds were too quick for us.





Magnificent Bald Eagle



Next post: Afternoon delights

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 2 Afternoon Delights

It was now time for lunch. Some favourite places on the way:





I had DH queue up at Yak and Yeti while I nabbed a very-hard-to-find table. Successful, it was a larger one, so I took pity on another family who walked past and offered to share it with them. They had one very upset daughter with them who was over tired and over stimulated-had my sympathy and made me appreciate having a grown-up DD now! The parents ended up leading her away to calm her down while we chatted to their French grandmother.

I had sweet and sour chicken which was OK and DH had the special of the day, a curry. I also tried a Sangria which was a bit too sour for my tastes but icy cold so nice on the hot day.



With free time til our Kali FP+ we walked the Maharajah Trek.

On the way my favourite view





The Komodo Dragon was hiding



The bats were sleeping



Some of the Saurus cranes were up and about





The tigers were sleeping too.



I do love this area. I wonder where this door leads?







Thirsty anyone?





Most of the birds in the aviary were sleeping too so no decent pics.

By the time we exited we were close enough for our Kali ride. That was great fun. Calmer than I thought it might be but we were lucky as when we went over the waterfall the raft spun so that we were topside and stayed bone dry while others on the raft went backwards first and got soaked. It was a nice hot day but I didn’t really want to be wet in the air con later.



After DH feeling so ill last visit I knew he wasn’t going to ride Expedition Everest. I had debated about going single rider but since we had only recently eaten lunch I decided to give it a miss. Here was what we missed:



I had booked a FP+ for Dinosaur in case it was busy but could only get a 4-5pm slot. This meant we had time to walk the Pangini Trail (partly closed for renovation) but couldn’t miss the gorilla babies

Firstly one of the males



And Mum and aunt and bubs This was the second bubs born in the last couple of months. It was so crowded that despite waiting for quite a while, it was hard to get close to the glass for pics.



By the time we had wandered from here through Discovery Island (lots of hoarding as they work on the area and put in the mechanics for the show on the lake), I needed a Mickey icecream before entering the theatre for Nemo:



Next up Nemo

 

[PrincessInOz]

What a great set of pictures, Wendy. Looks like you really did ANIMAL Kingdom. Those are fantastic animal shots.

That new theatre looks fantastic.

Kudos to you for letting the other family sit with you.



BTW - I'm forgot to comment on the parade pictures. That parade looks wonderful. The floats, the costumes and the colour! Great capture from your camera.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 3 Nemo

It was time for the 3pm showing of Nemo so in we went. Loved this show last trip and enjoyed it again a second time. It really could be turned into a musical like Lion King or a puppet style travelling show like they did with the Hobbit many, many years ago. How long til we get “Frozen-the musical” do you think?

Some snaps















From here it was over to Its Tough to be a Bug. A snap of the tree en route. It looks like the concrete is really starting to age and that tree might need a refurb itself in the not too distant future.



I still think ITTBB is one of the best 4D shows for special effects. Then it was time for our FP+. As it was the park was quiet and we didn’t need it, but you never know. The ride seemed tamer or less jerky than we remembered but also, actually better, than we remembered too.







It was time to leave even though AK had extended hours this evening as we had a date Downtown. Whisked past Dug and Russell who were just finishing a M&G.



We got back and had a quick change as we had left AK a bit later than we should. Caught the boat Downtown which was a lovely relaxing ride.






Decided that we wouldn’t want to rent the Treehouses at Saratoga Springs though – right on the riverbank and all you would hear all day til 11pm at night is the horns of the riverboats as they go round the bend.





The new dock has opened at Marketplace- which means it was a long walk around to Paradise Pier past continuing construction to reach our dinner venue Raglan Road....so we were ready for a drink and dinner by the time we arrived.



Had a delicious meal as everyone has posted. It was our first visit. They seated us right by the stage which was great. Loved the duo playing Irish folk music for our first half hour and in a prime spot to watch the dancing.



The soda bread in Guinness and brown sugar dipping sauce was amazing.



I had the salmon and citrus salad and kicking myself I was too busy listening and watching and eating by then to take a pic! DH had bangers with Irish stew and mash. I also tried a delicious pink pear cider they recommended. We were far too full for desert though.

A dodgy internet pic of our meals.





The dancers



Next post: Finally some shopping

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 4 Shopping

Afterwards we shopped. I was excited the scientist Lego set, which has been unavailable since it sold out in its first week of release, was back in stock and grabbed one for DD for Xmas (as it has a chemist in it –so fitting and we are never too old to play with Lego). I had already mail ordered the Back to the Future Delorian-one of our parcel deliveries to POFQ, for her birthday, as this is one of her all-time favourite movies and it was 50% the price of getting it online from Aus (and as we all know we can’t mail order Lego from overseas and have it sent to Aus – really annoys me).



The Simpsons House



I also bought myself a Lego Xmas decoration (will add pic when I transfer from camera)

Outdoor Lego displays.





Spent quite some time in the Wonderful World of Disney store buying some little gifts for nieces and friend’s children.

Next the Christmas shop and after lots of deliberations, saw a Wall E decoration and couldn’t resist (pic also still to come-it's just been hung on my tree).

The new MarketPlace Co-op had some nice homewares and other items. I liked the Vera Bradley bags but didn’t end up getting one. A pic of one of the window displays.



All ready for Xmas



I do think it will be good when the expanded Downtown opens up with other stores than just Disney. I get a bit fed up of just being able to buy Disney in Downtown and without a car it’s too much hassle to visit other shopping outlets.

We caught the boat back, a nice ride in the dark and quiet but another late night for those of us used to being in bed by 9-10pm – oh dear!

 

[zanzibar138]

I really enjoyed reading about POFQ. POR is my moderate of choice for when I finally get to WDW. FWIW, Wilderness Lodge is my deluxe of choice.

I can't wait to check out Animal Kingdom! You got some great photos of the animals and general atmosphere. You were spot on with the kudu (we saw heaps in Africa). Fun fact, a group of giraffes is called a 'journey'.

Your DTD experience looked like fun too. I love the Lego stores, although the one at DLR had been renovated and wasn't as good on our last trip. I agree that you are never too old to play with Lego.