Less Wookies, More Cookies! A Tale of Upgrades, Utilidors, and FUN! 10/23--Complete!!

mimiloveswdw

Proud Hufflepuff
Joined
Jul 21, 2005

I never thought there would be a moment when I wouldn’t want Chewbacca the Wookie to show up.

But it happened.

I thought that my sister would reach a moment where she wouldn’t want any more desserts.

That never happened.

What DID happen was a fantastic trip to Walt Disney World, and it included an upgrade, a trip behind-the-scenes, and SO MUCH GOOD FOOD.

All of this will be discussed in the spectacle that will be held in this thread.

I alone took over 2000 pictures, and my sister and mom also took a bunch! Those pictures included FOOD PICTURES too, which we’ve never taken, but they’re nice to look at, and restaurants/food will be reviewed in this trip report!

I’m kinda pumped. It’s like going on the trip again. And since I want to go back right now, this is good for me.

A little bit of Disney therapy, I suppose.

This was my ninth trip, my sister's eighth trip, and my parents..I'm not sure! But a few more than us!

Anyway, introductions are next. Links are going to be held at the bottom of this post, for your convenience.

I hope that you’ll join me in revisiting July 29 to August 6, 2011 at the Wilderness Lodge with my family!


Chapter Links
Introductions

The Day Before Disney

First Day-July 29
--Chapter 1/5: I'm going HOOOOOOME!
--Chapter 2/5: Wilderness Lodge...I love you already.
--Chapter 3/5: Why don't I live here again?
--Chapter 4/5: A scenic stroll through a cemetary!
--Chapter 5/5: Oh, how I missed being here.

Second Day--July 30
--Chapter 1/6: So, so, SO beautiful.
--Chapter 2/6: A Beautiful EPCOT Morning!
--Chapter 3/6: Food CAN be beautiful, just like this day!
--Chapter 4/6: Beautiful...trolls??
--Chapter 5/6: Fish and a most beautiful dragon!
--Chapter 6/6: A beautiful end to a lovely day!

Third Day--July 31
--Chapter 1/5: I could definitely live in Wilderness Lodge
--Chapter 2/5: I think this cookie was sent from above.
--Chapter 3/5: Another great Disney lunch!
--Chapter 4/5: I thought Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was gone?
--Chapter 5/5: Too many Wookies, some food, and something about a nighttime spectacular...

Fourth Day--August 1
--Chapter 1/5: Early morning stress!
--Chapter 2/5: The Rest of the Tour (with a spoiler-free option!)
--Chapter 3/5: The monsters are in the line! Not the comedy club!
--Chapter 4/5: Being such a Disney dork, and other fun activities!
--Chapter 5/5: It's not what they did, but how much they did!

Fifth Day--August 2
--Chapter 1/5: Why we don't do the family portrait sessions
--Chapter 2/5: MORE YETI, I SAY!
--Chapter 3/5: Simba is way more important than protection from heat stroke!
--Chapter 4/5: The Nap-My favorite attraction of the day!
--Chapter 5/5: More Hoop Dee Doo!

Sixth Day--August 3
--Chapter 1/5: A Morning at Typhoon Lagoon!
--Chapter 2/5: A return to a beautiful place!
--Chapter 3/5: I AM a secret agent!
--Chapter 4/5: Americaaaaa!
--Chapter 5/5: Some more "Epcot is just BEAUTIFUL" pictures!

Seventh Day--August 4
--Chapter 1/6: Well...this is crowded.
--Chapter 2/6: Actually, we're getting a lot done!
--Chapter 3/6: Take pictures of ALL THE DETAILS?
--Chapter 4/6: Larry, the BEST!
--Chapter 5/6: A lovely meal at Cape May Cafe!
--Chapter 6/6: More Boardwalk ambience!

Eighth Day--August 5
--Chapter 1/6: In which we refuse to acknowledge our sadness.
--Chapter 2/6: The Rise of the FastERpasses
--Chapter 3/6: Spinning and Splashing and Singing Along!
--Chapter 4/6: The Rush of a Pocketful of Fastpasses
--Chapter 5/6: I'm not crying, the rain is simply running down my face...no, but seriously.
--Chapter 6/6: All these kids need to SHUT UP.

Last Day--August 6
--Chapter 1/2: We can still have a fantastic day!
--Chapter 2/2: Airport, Flight, and Final Thoughts


 
INTRODUCTIONS! After all, I suppose you should know who you are reading about, right?
First is me, and my name is Erin :)
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Oh gosh I love Disney. I love WDW, and Disney movies, and characters, and EVERYTHING. I’m pretty boring a few weeks before a trip because ALL I want to talk about is WDW! It’s just where I’m happiest, and it really feels like home to me. It’s frustrating to always feel like I need to explain it to friends, who don’t get it, but at the end of the day, I really don’t care because I love it so much! I also get as excited for the resort as I do for the parks, especially recently since we’ve been getting great deals and have been able to stay at Deluxe resorts.

I also LOVE Harry Potter, and have loved it since I was around 8 and started reading the books. Definitely close to my Disney obsession, but it won’t overtake it. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter until I can go by myself :laughing: . I love to read, and also like the Kingdom Keepers series as well as Series of Unfortunate Events, and many, many others.

I'm also obssessed with Doctor Who. I watch it so much that I find myself having traces of a Biritsh accent :rotfl: I also LOVE The Office, and have seen every episode…multiple times. I'm also a BIG fan of The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Love American Idol, Glee, Vampire Diaries, Big Brother, Dance Moms :lmao: , and some others. I also love movies!!

A few quick Disney facts:
Favorite Movie: Pocahontas, Toy Story series, Finding Nemo, Mulan, Tangled, Lion King, or Hunchback of Notre Dame…you know, a seven-way tie :laughing
Favorite Park: DHS or MK…but probably MK!
Favorite Ride: RNRC! But I also love Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, the TTA, EE, and Test Track!
Favorite Resort: Not sure…I love both WL and AKL!
Favorite Restaurant (Table Service/Counter Service): Via Napoli/Mara

Second is my younger sister, Jess (on the right…yes she is taller than me)
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Jess is one of my best friends. She loves Disney too, but isn’t as INSANE as I am about it. But she loves it!! She’s a vegetarian, but will eat fish, which is the opposite of me (any meat EXCEPT fish). She adores animals, and animals love her! She’s hilarious and I have a LOT of fun with her. She also loves Disney desserts haha!

And…the waiters at Via Napoli :laughing but that’s an experience for later. We had a bunch of fun this trip together. She also LOVES The Office and we quote it a LOT every day. She’s not really into reading like I am, but that’s fine haha.

Favorite Movie: Lion King, Aladdin, and Tangled, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Favorite Park: EPCOT
Favorite Ride: Splash Mountain, TT, Soarin’, Maelstrom, Space Mountain
Favorite Resort: AKL
Favorite Restaurant: Via Napoli/Pizzafari
What was her favorite bakery (she added this question herself :lmao): Main Street Bakery
Favorite Bus Driver (again, added herself): “Crazy Man” (this will be explained)

These are my mom and dad!
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First, my dad. My dad’s great! He works really hard, and I’m always really happy to spend a lot of time with him in WDW. That’s not to say I don’t spend time with him at home, but it’s just awesome at Disney! He’s my thrill ride buddy, and we LOVE roller coasters! We’re also big fans of the single riders’ lines at EE and RNRC! He likes The Office as well (it’s a family thing) and he loves Disney too. He LOVED the boat ride to MK, because he loves boats in general. My dad finds my Disney obsession hilarious, since it’s a bit extreme haha!

Favorite Movie: Toy Story series, Finding Nemo, Sword in the Stone,
Favorite Park: DHS
Favorite Ride: Star Tours, RNRC, Space Mountain, EE
Favorite Resort: WL, AKL, Polynesian, Fort Wilderness
Favorite Restaurant: Cape May Café/Roaring Fork

Second is my mom. My mom is really one of my best friends. I’m a LOT like her, and she understands me more than anyone I know. She’s really nice and thoughtful and I love her for it! She was the planner in my family, but she has trained me well, so now I plan a lot and I check with her. She’s been nearing vegetarianism like my sister, so that influenced some of the food choices this trip. I really enjoyed going on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour with her, since she loved Disney just as much as I do!

Favorite Movie: Beauty and the Beast, Enchanted, Tangled, Pete’s Dragon
Favorite Park: All of them! But this trip it was EPCOT
Favorite Rides: TT, Soarin’, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain,
Favorite Resort: WL
Favorite Restaurant: San Angel Inn/Tangierene Café

Next up is Packing Day!
 
This was written ON packing day, so forgive the present tense!


I woke up around 6:30 this morning...which is actually pretty late for packing day. I'm usually too excited to sleep by today but it may have helped that I was REALLY tired last night. So I woke up and read some stuff, then I started to get stuff ready. I had already separated what I wanted to wear for the trip from the rest of the clothes in my closet, so I just got the Disney clothes out and laid them on my bed.

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After I got everything there sorted out, I started putting them into ziplock bags. Then I added a ziplock bag for swimsuits, and one for pajamas.

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This is a random picture, but this is the area of my room that has the most "Disney touches" so I thought I'd post it :goodvibes

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Then I popped my bags into the suitcase for my sister and me (this is with both of our bags, not just mine :laughing: )
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This was the area for our carry-ons, which were still being packed at the moment
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Mom had the planning video on (these people are on Test Track!!)
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My dad had to work a half day today, so he wasn't home for lunch, but my grandma took my mom, sister, and me out for lunch! We were back at 12, and I was mostly done. There were of course some little things, but overall, I was finished!

This is a picture of my bag all packed. It has all my pins on it, but I was worried they would be too much trouble in the airport so I took them off and packed them with my sister's lanyard. I love this bag--it's so tiny but holds a LOT of stuff :thumbsup2
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Here are some more pictures of the suitcases and such
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So tonight we're just chilling out and probably watching a Disney movie. I don't know which...or if we'll even do it. I'd LIKE to see Big Brother, since my friends got me addicted to it, but if I dont...OH WELL I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EDIT: So the night before, we watched Aladdin all together and dropped the dog off at her sitter. It was nice to enjoy a night with the family, knowing that it was the last night of anticipation, the last night of waiting. And we also watched Big Brother! I went to “sleep” around 10 but I watched Youtube videos on my iPod with my sister for about an hour and a half haha. Mostly of Ellen Degeneres, because she’s basically one of the funniest people EVER.
 
The night before the trip I only got about 2 and a half hours of sleep because 2 o’clock was the alarm! Jess woke me up, since she hadn’t slept at all. She was REALLY excited! I was really excited too, obviously! I was downstairs by…
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WOO! It looked like this outside :lmao
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Jess came downstairs in her Disney garb! Excuse the face haha (I had a Disney shirt on too)
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We got ready (hair/make-up) and I waited with my grandma in the living room after 2:45. You may be surprised to know this, but TV channels have movies on at 2 o’clock in the morning. They also have lots of infomercials. But there’s an occasional movie. Thankfully the time passed quickly, and the town car to take us to the airport was at our house at 3:32!

It was POURING rain outside, so I was hoping it wouldn’t be bad at the airport (it’s about an hour away) or that the rain would stop in time for our flight to be on time. It was really bad rain.

So, we get to the airport around 4:30, and it was still raining, but less.
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We were flying Continental, and they have a checked luggage counter outside, so we checked in our two big bags. Thankfully, it wasn’t like last year, when we waited 25 minutes just for JetBlue to open their counter, and we were inside the airport ready for security in about 15 minutes. Security was smooth and fast, and we were done with checking bags and security in a half hour! This was taken right after getting out of security
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That meant we still had an hour before boarding began, so we went to a Dunkin Donuts for some breakfast. (No food pictures, since I think most of us know what bagels look like haha!)

We went back to our gate and waited for just a few minutes before we were called to begin boarding. We were near the back, and our group was called first. So we got right on! We were smack in the middle of a group that included a girl from Jess’s homeroom, and she ended up sitting right in front of us. Apparently she was going on a cruise with her extended family, and they ended up on the exact same flight as us!

I got the window seat…there’s no fighting for it between my sister and me, since she has a fear of flying and doesn’t want to look. Here was the view outside the window, you can see the wet ground in this one
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Jess was very happy to look at SkyMall! That magazine is so entertaining. I loved the Harry Potter page though! Wanted all of that haha!
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We were scheduled to take off at 6:30, but we waited for a few extra minutes since a bride-to-be was stuck in security because of her dress. We were only a few minutes after schedule though, so no one minded. Maybe she was a Disney bride!

I was worried that it would be a bumpy flight, but after we got through the rain clouds, it was a clear sky!
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Continental doesn’t have free TV like JetBlue, but I had come prepared with LOTS of Disney video podcasts and music. I listened and watched, and also took some flight pictures.

By seven o’clock, the clouds were almost gone!
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And by 8, there were lots of lakes and rivers!
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We landed right on schedule (around 9) and could get off pretty quickly. I love getting into Orlando Airport. It just symbolizes the beginning of AMAZING to me, and I love knowing that I’ve made it and it’s still just beginning.
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All smiles!!
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Went to Side B and got to ME! Didn’t have to wait in the line, and just went to the bus lines.
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Sorry for the blurriness, but here’s the line we were going into!
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The video I took of this moment has me just squealing. It’s actually very annoying :lmao but I had to. There’s no way to say anything when I’m just freaking out at the moment.
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We had a really cool bus driver! He had this deep voice that sounded like the guy who narrates the Disney busses! It was awesome haha! And whenever he would say little facts like “Next we’re going to the Grand Floridian!” he’d follow it with “WOOHOOOO!” It was fun! Anyway, the order of the stops was GF, then Poly, then WL, then Contemporary/BLT. He told us this and then we were off!
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PALM TREES
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MICKEYYYYYY!!!!!!!
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And then…there it was
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AHHHHHH!!!!

I should probably tell you that I sat in a really bad seat on ME. Our window was in a really awkward place that I couldn’t really take pictures unless I took them through the window in front of me. The problem with that plan was that there was this really annoying kid in front of me who would like stand up, blocking the window and screech to his mom what he sees. He “saw” alligators, and Mickey on golf courses and in rivers. Hmm. So that was annoying. I had a headache after I got off the bus haha!

But I still got a couple of pictures!

Monorail line!
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Continued next post
 


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Disney bus!
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GF! Lovely, Classy!
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Polynesian! Love it here!!
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Then, as our bus driver said, “Next stop is Disney’s Wilderness Lodge! WOOHOO!” We got there around 10:30 am, which is the time I put on online check-in!
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We got our bigger carry-on bag
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And headed inside!!
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Here’s a video of the moment going inside, I apologize for my over-excitement haha! And for the shakiness. But I’m not the…umm…smoothest walker, I suppose you could say…


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Jess and I waited with our parents as they checked in. Mom asked about Flag Family, but they were booked all week. No big deal! The lady checking us in said that they had received our request to be near Roaring Forks, and that our room was ready! WOW! We’ve never had to wait long for our room, but to know that our request was granted and that it was ready was great!

But the best was yet to come.

She gave us the Welcome Envelope full of fun stuff, including the paper that says our room number: 4015. Cool, a higher up floor! I hadn’t done a ton of research on room numbers and locations, so I didn’t really know where it was, and WL doesn’t give you a map listing room #s like AKL does. So we followed the Cms directions (go to Roaring Forks, keep going straight until the elevators, go to the fourth floor, turn left down that hallway) to our room.
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When we got to the fourth floor hallway, I began to put it all together. These definitely weren’t standard view rooms, which we had booked. Standard view weren’t even in this hallway. Then I began to realize that the even numbers were woods views…but odd numbers (like 4015!) may be…inner courtyard views…my mom figured it out too but we didn’t want to get our hopes up in case it was some weird view.
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My dad opened the door and said “Yup! Pool view!”

OMG!!! I was so excited!! Last year we got a savannah view upgrade, so we weren’t expecting ANOTHER upgrade! And the view was AMAZING!!
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It was just great. My sister wasn’t very excited to be going to WL, but after this view…she had to say it was pretty nice haha! It was great being able to eat breakfast on the balcony every morning and seeing the Lodge wake up, and seeing all the girls in princess dresses go to the boat dock every morning was so cute!

We were able to see the mist from the geyser at 11, so that was cool! There was actually a pleasant breeze outside! I tore myself from the balcony to take some pictures of the room
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Continued next post!
 
Then it was time for STACY! We watched a LOT of Stacy this trip! Mostly because it was her, ESPN, or the Orlando local news (aka the Casey Anthony network) so STACY IT WAS!
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So by this time, we were HUNGRY, but our ADR for WCC wasn’t until it opened for lunch at 11:30 and it was just after 11. So we wandered around the lobby, rubbed Humphrey’s nose for a good trip, and looked quickly in the gift shop. We also learned that WL had VERY spotty cell phone reception. The Mercantile and Roaring Fork were IMPOSSIBLE to get reception from.

Pretty soon it was time for lunch!
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And who shows up to have lunch with us but the annoying kid from Magical Express!! At least he wasn’t staying at WL…anyway, we order our drinks, and Jess and my dad get reacquainted with Pomegranate Lemonade, a favorite from the 2010 trip
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I ordered water. That’s what I drink. And I drink A LOT of it. So much so that within about five minutes, this was my cup
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So when our waitress brought our cornbread
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She also brought THESE for me WOO!
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The cornbread was very good, but we didn’t want to fill up. I ordered the Canyon Skillet with my dad, my sister ordered the Maple-Glazed Trout, and my mom got some sort of arugula salad. My favorite part of the skillet was the chicken, followed by the mashed potatoes. The potatoes were a favorite in the whole family, they were REALLY good. I don’t eat fish, but everyone said my sister’s trout was really good (we are a family that shares food, yes haha) and my mom liked her salad. She shared some with my dad and sister I think. I was full really quick haha. (Food pictures get MUCH better, promise!)

So our server, after giving us our food disappeared. For about 20 minutes. Then she would come back, then disappear again. We asked for our desserts to go because the meal had already taken a long time, but she disappeared for a VERY long time this time. Here’s how long: we ordered the desserts, waited, took a trip to the bathroom outside of the restaurant, came back, dad took a trip there too, came back, waited, dad told us to go to the room, our luggage was there! We got stuff together, dad was still waiting. Finally after about five more minutes he can leave.

It was kind of disappointing, since the food was SO GOOD and it was really convenient, since we like lunch ADRs. This is kind of an isolated incident, though, so if we stay at WL again, we’ll probably go back to WCC.

Anyway, our luggage had arrived, so we got everything together. We walked to the boat dock for the MK boat
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We waited about 10 minutes for the boat to come
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The boat ride was nice. I was worried it would be too hot, since it was the hottest part of the day, and our experience with the Disney boats hasn’t been too positive. But this trip turned that around. We loved the boats, both the MK ones and the EPCOT/DHS ones!

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Soon we were walking into MK!
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Saw Pluto and Daisy!
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And then…there it was..
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We got some Photopass, since we had paid for it before the trip
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It was wonderful just standing there, breathing in the bakery and confectionary smells, looking at the castle. Everything I had planned for months was coming together and it was beautiful.

Anyway, this was all going on inside my head, while we were walking down Main Street,
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And turning left towards Adventureland!
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We continued on through Adventureland until we reached…
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Continued Next Post!
 
Woohoo! We started with POTC last year, too. Before we went on, my dad wanted to make sure we got FP’s for Splash Mountain, so he ran there while the rest of us stayed in the POTC gift shop! He got back and we went to ride POTC. The wait posted was 30 minutes, but we decided we wanted to ride it, so who cares? Luckily, the wait ended up to only be about 15 minutes!

After Pirates, we got water bottles, since we didn’t want to get dehydrated our first day! Dehydration is for fourth days! Just kidding. Drink water. Every day. No dehydration!

So with our water in hand, we walked back through Adventureland because we had seen that Jungle Cruise was only a 20 minute wait when we were walking to Pirates. It was posted as 25 minutes now, but ended being about 20 anyway.
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Our skipper, Sharon, was funny. She laughed A LOT and you could tell she actually really enjoyed her job.
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THE BACKSIDE OF WATER!
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We were glad we got to do the Jungle Cruise, since we hadn’t in years. I don’t know why, but the wait is always so long, and we just don’t find it to be worth a Fastpass. But we enjoy it whenever we can do it!

After the Jungle Cruise, Jess asked to go to the Haunted Mansion. It wasn’t a very hot day, so it wasn’t a bad walk! When we came to HM the wait time was 30 minutes, but I knew that since the queue was updated and interactive now, it wouldn’t seem very long. When you get into the lines now, you can choose if you want to go through the new queue or just go right to the stretching room.
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We chose to go through the new queue this time, but after this we just went through to the stretching room.

I don’t think these did anything special, they just looked really cool!
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If you touched these instruments, you would hear the sound of the instrument you touched, and on the other side of the wall, there were even more instruments!
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You could press down certain keys of the organ
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If you pushed the books in, more books would come out
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I found this one creepy! It sounded like someone was very worried in there haha!
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Lastly, the tombstones go ALL the way up the hill now
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The new queue was really cool and entertaining. I don’t have pictures of it, but there was also a tombstone that looked like a bathtub and bubbles were coming out of it and stuff. Like I said, very detailed and entertaining!

We got into the stretching room,
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But when we were let out into the room with the Doombuggies, the CMs got the timing wrong on the two stretching room, so both were let out at the same time and it was just a mob. It was weird. But we got on and had a nice ride with the ghosts! Also, at the end with the new hitchhiking ghost, mine and Jess’s took our heads and switched them on our bodies! It was the weirdest thing! One moment I had my head, and the next I had Jess’s! Then it switched back just as quickly! Too cool!!

Anyway, after HM, it was about 4 o’clock so we went to use our Splash Mountain FP’s!! The Celebrate a Dream Come True was going on!

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Before we went on, Dad got another pair of Splash FP’s for 6:30. Then we got in line. Jess and I ended up in the front row. We were happy to see that the new lap bars (which we were not exactly excited about) did not damper our ride! They were fairly unobtrusive and unnoticeable. Also, we got SOAKED. This never happened years ago. It was always a joke to us whenever we would see the signs with Br’er Rabbit soaked, since the most we ever got was a little wet. But soaked is good! It’s what the people waiting the hour-long standby line want haha! Here’s a video of the big hill!


After (BIG) Splash Mountain, we were going to go to Hall of Presidents, one of my mom’s favorites, but then they were calling people in for a showing of the Country Bears’ Jamboree, a family favorite, so we couldn’t pass it up! We love this show. We think it’s so corny and fun. But we love corny humor. So we stomp our feet and clap our hands and sing along!! We love it!

When you are let out from CBJ, you are let into Pecos Bill. This was perfect because it was dinner time! So we ordered our selections and found a nice corner table
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I think my dad and mom got salads, my sister got the veggie burger, and I got the hamburger..or so I thought. See my parents tried to explain to the CMs every time that I wanted the burger but without the cheese, so they would say, for example, “Number 1, without the cheese,” but the CMs, more often than not, would only hear “Number 1.” So I got cheese. Cheese freaks me out on most things besides pizza. But I would just take the part of the bun that had the cheese on it and not eat it, making an open-faced hamburger, I suppose. Here’s a picture before I uncovered the cheese haha!
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Again, the food pictures get SO much better! Promise!

After dinner, we walked around to Fantasyland and kind of wandered around.
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We were so excited to see the new progress on the rest of FL!
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On our last full day, a week after these pictures, we could see the beginning of what will be Eric’s Castle! It was so cool to see how fast they’re working.

We decided to go to Mickey’s PhilharMagic next, but took a picture first!
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PhilharMagic wasn’t a long wait to get inside the room where you wait to be let in to the theater (it’s painted royal blue) but we waited in that blue room for a LONG time. And they kept letting more and more people into the room, so we were all crammed in there, so we couldn’t even sit down. It was not good when you’ve been up since 2!

But we were eventually let in and the show was fun! It always is. There were lots of little kids and they were so excited, you could just hear it.

Continued next post!
 


The good thing about having to wait so long for PhilharMagic is that it was time to use the Splash Mountain Fastpasses! So went there next!
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I sat with Jess again and we ended up in the back this time! Because of this, we didn’t get as wet as before, but that was just fine since we were going to go back to WL after Splash. After we got off, we decided to not take the railroad, since it had just left Frontierland. We walked towards Main Street
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The dance party thing was going on…I don’t know what it’s called but we danced!
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We stopped in the Chapeau but we decided not to get anything.
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Then we went out to the boat dock and got the boat without walls. This is the best boat! Haha, we just like it more than the one with walls. It’s breezier! The sunset was nice tonight!
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When we got back to WL, I went with Jess back to the room while mom and dad got water and Diet Coke from the Mercantile. I was so tired that my brain fell asleep before I did. That probably doesn’t make sense to you, but that’s what happened. See, I kept trying to think but nothing made sense, and I ended up going to sleep at 8:30 freezing because I couldn’t figure out the shower :lmao But it was a fantastic day! And I couldn’t wait for the next one!!
 
Great start to your TR! :thumbsup2 I absolutely love WL, it is my favorite Disney resort!! I love all of your pics. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip! :woohoo:
 
Hi Erin!

Found your TR and am on board! Your love for WDW is very contagious, I can feel like I'm there!

Great start to your first day, and I would be exhausted by 8:30 if I'd been up since 2!!

Happily waiting for more!popcorn::
 
Wow! Your first day was jam packed. I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did; I would have been loopy by 7 pm. Looking forward to reading more.
Sharon
 
Great start to your TR! :thumbsup2 I absolutely love WL, it is my favorite Disney resort!! I love all of your pics. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip! :woohoo:

Thank you!! We loved WL, too. It's DEFINITELY my mom's favorite! HAHA there are A LOT of pictures. Actually, the first day has the least picitures so there's even more to come :rolleyes: Glad you're here!!

Hi Erin!

Found your TR and am on board! Your love for WDW is very contagious, I can feel like I'm there!

Great start to your first day, and I would be exhausted by 8:30 if I'd been up since 2!!

Happily waiting for more!popcorn::

YAY! Aw thank you, I'm happy that I've done that! Yeah, I was pretty done by around 5, but while you're in a park, you just forget about it and keep going. But I collapsed in bed later :laughing: Happy you're here!
I'm so in..great report!!!

Welcome!! Thank you! :goodvibes

Checking in... always wanted to stay at WL. Can't wait to hear more about your trip :yay:

WL is gorgeous!! Welcome, thanks for being here!

Wow! Your first day was jam packed. I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did; I would have been loopy by 7 pm. Looking forward to reading more.
Sharon

Yes, it was! It always is, though. Once we're there, we don't want to wait any longer! I don't know the exact time I checked out, but I seem to remember my mom asking me if I was ok as I looked out into the distance with a blank-stare at around 7:30 or so :laughing: Glad you're here, thanks for reading!
 
popcorn::



The view from your room is great! Im sure that it was great every morning to watch all of people heading to the boat dressed for the day!

Im going to go back and check out your prevoious TRs now too!
 
popcorn::



The view from your room is great! Im sure that it was great every morning to watch all of people heading to the boat dressed for the day!

Im going to go back and check out your prevoious TRs now too!

Welcome, welcome! Haha it was fantastic! Yeah once I saw Snow White, Rapunzel, and Darth Vader in one morning :laughing: Aw, thanks for reading them, they were so lonely. Glad you're here!!
 
Really enjoying your report so far!:thumbsup2

Lots of lovely photos!

I just have a minor quibble - how can you have too much Chewie?:scared1:

Looking forward to more!:surfweb:
 
I am a morning person. Love the morning, can’t stay up late at night. It’s a known fact among my friends that, if we have sleepovers, I’m usually asleep by midnight, or earlier. Unfortunately, I’m also then awake by around 7…soo….ANYWAY July 30 dawned at 5:30 for me, and a bit earlier for my mom. We got ready and headed down to the beach that is in front of Bay Lake.
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We were greeted with this at the beach
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It got lighter and lighter until this was our view (and my cell phone wallpaper at the moment)
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It was gorgeous. Every morning the sunrise was different, and sometimes we didn’t make it down to the beach to see it, but quite a few mornings we did. We stayed on the beach for about a half hour, then went exploring by the geyser. There’s a little stream with wildflowers by it that looks amazing with the mist from the geyser.
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I see a boat!
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And then, the sun graced us with its presence :laughing
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And Wilderness Lodge was bathed in the morning sunlight :lmao
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ANYWAY by now it was around 7, which is when Roaring Fork opens for hot breakfasts. I decided to get the Chocolate Lover’s Waffles. I couldn’t handle all the chocolate (chocolate chips, whipped cream, chocolate sauce) so I just got the chocolate chips and everything else on the side. Roaring Forks gets CRAZY busy FAST, so be there at 7 if you want any chance of getting your family fed and ready for rope drop. Here is a VERY blurry picture of my waffles, I gave one to my dad.
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SMART WATER (aka the best water)
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The rest of the family had potatoes (Jess) oatmeal (mom and dad) yogurt (mom) and cereal (dad). I know I’ve said this before, but the food pictures DO get better. Hang on until the third day!

After breakfast, I sat on the balcony. My dad joined me after a while.
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We saw a bunny on the grass in front of us. It was INSANE. It would run so fast back and forth between bushes and stuff.
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We didn’t know how the busses worked with WL yet, so we ended up at the bus stop at 8:22.
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The bus came quick, at 8:25. However, we were used to resorts who didn’t share with other resorts. WL shares with Fort Wilderness or GF. So even though WL is 10 minutes away from EPCOT, we ended up there at 8:50 so it took 25 minutes. We learned quickly that we had to be at the bus stop at 8 for the first bus, so that contributed to some morning stress. But we had arrived at EPCOT!
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We get in line for bag check and get held up. Some guy tried to smuggle in six cans of beer. Uh. No, sir, you cannot carry alcohol with you. How about you wait until eleven this morning and you can get as much as you want in the World Showcase. Ugh, people haha!

Because it was just ten minutes until opening, we were let in to the Fountain Plaza quickly.
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We didn’t wait there long at all, and we took off toward Test Track! We don’t do the Soarin’ dash. We find that we can go on TT right away and get Soarin’ FPs later.
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Continued next post!
 
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Since it was so early, we got our own car! It was fun, of course! We love TT. When we got off, Dad got some FPs for it and we went on again. We again got our own car. After our second ride, we wanted to go to the Land. So we headed over that way.
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Jess was about to take a picture of my parents in this picture
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We had some time to kill before we could get Soarin’ FPs, so we went to one of Jess’s favorites (no, seriously, she loves this ride) Living with the Land!
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After Living with the Land, we went over by Soarin’. We got FPs and got in line. It went pretty quickly, about 20 minutes.
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We were really happy because we got seats in the center front row! Front row is obviously the best, and Soarin’ was lovely. I was happy that we had FPs for later, since I really liked it!

After Soarin’ we went to Captain EO. :lmao I didn’t go on Mission: Space or ToT this trip, but don’t worry I saw Captain EO!
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How exciting
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HERE WE GO
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It’s one of the strangest things ever. I particularly like the line “Captain! There’s something WEIRD out there!” It’s great. After Captain EO, it was time to start heading for the lunch ADR!
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So we went by the WS and the boat was docking, so we got right on!
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Continued soon!
 
Really enjoying your report so far!:thumbsup2

Lots of lovely photos!

I just have a minor quibble - how can you have too much Chewie?:scared1:

Looking forward to more!:surfweb:

Aw, thanks! HAHA, like I said, I never thought it would happen! But that;ll be explained the third day :goodvibes Happy you're here!
 

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