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

[mimiloveswdw]

I LOVE your excitement..... I cant wait to go!

Thank you! When are you going?? Thanks for reading!

I'm a little late, but I'm joining. Sounds like you guys had a great time, and I can't wait to hear more.

That's fine! I'm happy you're here! We DID have an awesome time! I'm so happy to be able to share it with everyone! Thanks for reading!!

Looks like I have some catching up to do! We're staying at WL for the first time in January so it is fun to see your pictures!

Oh, nice! I bet it's so cozy when it's colder outside Will it be your first time staying there? I'm assuming you're staying at the villas? They looked really nice and are fairly close to the main Lodge, so that's good! They're also near the bus stop. Anyway, I have A LOT of WL pictures...I haven't even posted the bulk of them haha! Thanks for reading along!

 

[mimiloveswdw]

After TSM we decided to do the GMR, since we had time!

I didn’t take a lot of pictures except for the Wizard of Oz scene, since one of my best friends and I have seen Wicked three times together. We just love it. My friend’s dream is to be on Broadway, and believe me, she definitely has the talent for it. Her family is basically my sister’s and my second family (since my sister is best friends with her sister) so we’re BIG FANS ANYWAY, here are some pictures

Poor Elphie

After that we had about 20 minutes or so before our lunch ADR, so we began to head over that way. On the way, we noticed that the guys from the morning show were doing something by the “New York” set. They were doing a cute thing that had us pretend that we were in a promotional shoot for Lightening McQueen’s appearance in Lights, Motors, Action. We joined in!

We had to looks really excited, cheering and clapping, and when the guy gave us a symbol, we had to snap our heads to the left and look surprised, like Lightening had sped off towards Lights, Motors, Action (which was down the street). It was really fun and we got little plastic trophies that looked like awards from the movie awards shows.

We continued to near our lunch destination, but it still wasn’t time, so we went into the Muppets shop.

We got a couple of things for others, since there was a lot of cute kid stuff, and we had quite a few little kids to buy for. This store is really good, since it has A LOT of princess and classic Disney gang things, but it doesn’t get crowded since it’s in a weird spot. I saw a shirt I liked, but I saw one I liked better the next day so I didn’t end up getting it.

After getting things in the shop, it was time to check in for lunch! We were going to Mama Melrose, which was right across the way from the shop.

Even though it had just opened, it was VERY busy! Even with an ADR, we had to wait for about 15 minutes.

We were seated in the first room, and could see the kitchen. We got the bread, which were generic (in my opinion) bread rolls and butter. Jess loved the bread. I wasn’t very impressed, and neither was anyone else. But Jess enjoyed them! We got the menus and everyone ordered something different so we could try each other’s. My mom got the mushroom and arugula flatbread, since she didn’t get pizza at Via Napoli the previous day.

She liked it a lot! It’s not something that appeals to the rest of us, but she really enjoyed it!

Jess got a shrimp and pasta dish. It had a LOT of cheese on the top, which she loves. The rest of the family tried it (except for me) and they said it was really good.

My dad got the pork chops. He enjoyed them! I tried them and they were really good! It came with a side of macaroni and cheese. I’m not a big fan of cheese in places other than pizza, so I didn’t try that. But the pork chops were really good!

As for me, I got the charred strip steak. This was AMAZING. I think this was my favorite entrée of the trip. Although Via Napoli was my favorite overall restaurant, this entrée was just a bit better than the pizza. It came with potatoes that were just cooked PERFECTLY. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and the taste was FANTASTIC. The steak was awesome. It was pretty easy to cut and chew, which my braces appreciated Overall it was just fantastic.

For dessert we all ordered something different, too. My mom got coffee and “Mama’s Panna Cotta,” which is Tiramisu-flavored custard with ladyfingers on the bottom.

Jess saw the chocolate CANNOLI cake and couldn’t resist. The girl adores cannoli’s (I don’t like how that’s spelt, but Word says it’s right.) It’s chocolate cake with cannoli filling inside. Sounds great, except that Jess isn’t a big fan of chocolate cake. So she basically cut into it and had the filling haha!

My dad got some kind of cheesecake with little cookies on it. I had a taste, it was good! But I loved my steak/potatoes so much that I ate so much and couldn’t really have much dessert!

I just got chocolate gelato. It was good haha, I was just really full.

Continued soon!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I have seen Wicked three times also. Definitely my favorites musical. I would love to be Elphaba.

Love the pics from Mama Melrose. I'm eating there in October and haven't been there in quite some time, so it was nice to be able to see what they offer.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

You're a fan of Wicked, too! I have yet to see the musical, but I just love the music. I think my favorite songs are For Good and Dancing Through Life. Because of that musical, I don't think I could ever look at Wizard of Oz the same way ever again and I was IN the Wizard of Oz Ok, getting off-topic back to Disney...

That's so funny with you guys shooting a promo for Lightning McQueen joining the Lights! Motors! Action! show. I can only imagine how funny that looked. The Streetmosphere performers are just too funny, I remember seeing the Citizens of Hollywood ones at the front of DHS and I'm pretty sure I just started bursting out laughing at random times. LOL

Mmmmm... the food at Mama Melrose's looks so good. The pasta and your dish look the best! And the Cannoli cake looks really good! I LOVE Cannolis and I've been deprived and now they are showing up in places where I can't just take them Not a fun position to be in LOL And the Panna Cotta sounds very tasty as well

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Enjoying your report. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Windsor Princesses]

Mmmmm carrot cake cookie, I never thought to put it in the fridge, now I am intrigued. I always end up sharing because it is so big. You guys made great time in the morning, I'm jealous you still got FP for TSM by the time we make it there they are either for some crazy time at night or all gone . Can't wait to hear more about the trip!!

 

[mimiloveswdw]

I have seen Wicked three times also. Definitely my favorites musical. I would love to be Elphaba.

Love the pics from Mama Melrose. I'm eating there in October and haven't been there in quite some time, so it was nice to be able to see what they offer.

Oh cool! Yeah I love it I'm more of a GAAAlinda but my friend is definitely an Elphaba. MM was really good! I would HIGHLY recommend the steak; it was awesome!

You're a fan of Wicked, too! I have yet to see the musical, but I just love the music. I think my favorite songs are For Good and Dancing Through Life. Because of that musical, I don't think I could ever look at Wizard of Oz the same way ever again and I was IN the Wizard of Oz Ok, getting off-topic back to Disney...

WOOHOO! I love Dancing Through Life and No Good Deed the best...I love all of them, but those two are my favorite. And Defying Gravity is just perfection. I love how it ties in a lot of the little storylines...I tried reading the book and realized that the musical was simply better, IMHO

That's so funny with you guys shooting a promo for Lightning McQueen joining the Lights! Motors! Action! show. I can only imagine how funny that looked. The Streetmosphere performers are just too funny, I remember seeing the Citizens of Hollywood ones at the front of DHS and I'm pretty sure I just started bursting out laughing at random times. LOL

I know! I wanted to see it! They pulled in some girls from a Brazilian tour group and they were so confused but then they got really into it and pretended to take pictures and stuff Later on in the trip I saw another thing, so I'll write about it later

Mmmmm... the food at Mama Melrose's looks so good. The pasta and your dish look the best! And the Cannoli cake looks really good! I LOVE Cannolis and I've been deprived and now they are showing up in places where I can't just take them Not a fun position to be in LOL And the Panna Cotta sounds very tasty as well

Yeah, we were really pleasantly surprised. I usually don't branch out and order dishes the way they are (like sauces and all) because I tend to be pickier. But I just ordered it and it was AWESOME! The pasta dish was listed with chicken, but my sister subsituted shrimp.

OH speaking of cannolis!! My sister went with one of her best friends to Carlo's Bakery (from Cake Boss) for her friend's birthday and she said it was INSANE (two hours waiting outside, people STUFFED inside) so she got 12 cannolis since they're famous for them, and they make a LOT every day, so they were easy to get.

They are BY FAR the best cannolis I've ever had. I don't even like cannolis too much but these are FANTASTIC. Luckily, they're really big so Jess didn't mind sharing

Can't wait to read more!

Enjoying your report. Thanks for sharing!

Glad you're here! Thanks for reading!!

Mmmmm carrot cake cookie, I never thought to put it in the fridge, now I am intrigued. I always end up sharing because it is so big. You guys made great time in the morning, I'm jealous you still got FP for TSM by the time we make it there they are either for some crazy time at night or all gone . Can't wait to hear more about the trip!!

It turned out great; I would eat a bit each day then we all shared the last day! Aww yeah we did have good luck at TSM. Rope drop at DHS is a MUST for us. Updates coming soon! Thanks for reading along!

 

[dismagiclover]

Oh, nice! I bet it's so cozy when it's colder outside Will it be your first time staying there? I'm assuming you're staying at the villas? They looked really nice and are fairly close to the main Lodge, so that's good! They're also near the bus stop. Anyway, I have A LOT of WL pictures...I haven't even posted the bulk of them haha! Thanks for reading along!

We are staying in the villas. It will just be DH and I so we'll be in a studio. It will be our first time though we've eat at Whispering Canyon. I think we will really enjoy it.

Love the update. We've eaten at Mama Melrose, but I don't remember our food looking that tasty. Maybe we'll have to give it another try sometime.

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Erin, you have SOOOOOO many pictures. Oh my gosh, I meant to reply a couple days ago but I was always too lazy to quote your posts! So I have this opened in a new tab and I'll respond to the things I wanna.

First of all, your pictures of WL in the early morning are beyond gorgeous! I think I was only up that early one day of the trip. The lobby seems like such a fun place to hang out in the morning, looks like you had the whole place to yourselves!

Ahahahah I cracked up when I saw that picture of your dad on the balcony. It made my day!

Didn't know that Mickey in DHS was a lightning rod. Ya learn something new everyday.

Yay for getting to G-force records!

Mmmm, that carrot cake cookie looks good. I saw it on the DIS before our trip but we never picked one up.

Oh, so THAT'S what a TSM fastpass looks like! We never made it there that early to get FP, but we've always lucked out with getting on that ride with little wait. A year or two ago, the ride broke down and they said they didn't know how long it would be until it re-opened. Well, we waited in line for about 10 minutes (we were the 3rd group) and the ride was back up and running!

Ahah, what a nice family picture.

Ohmygosh, I LOVE Wicked! I was obsessed with it from 4th grade on, and I finally got to see it in 7th. (My mom works in media and is able to get free tickets for shows and whatnot, but she can't just always get them when she asks! We saw Wicked on a Thursday after school, right? So the next day after school my mom calls and says she has more tickets to a Broadway show. The Little Mermaid! It was such a fun week.)

The Wicked Witch part in the GMR always used to scare me until I saw Wicked!

MAMA MELROSE! Oh I'm with Jess, I love those rolls! They have the same ones at the Crystal Palace.

Can't wait for more.

PS: I love the canoli's from Carlo's Bakery! I went there last October to get my birthday cake.

 

[StephaniexMarie]

AWW sorry, I didn't see this comment before!! Yeah the EPCOT restaurants are pretty great. It's ok, it happens. I took a LOT more pictures this trip than last trip. Planning is AWESOME I love it!!

I know! I couldn't believe how many. They were all different sizes too.

Ohh yes the ride vehicles. Love them all! Jess actually got a wallet from the shop there! I love it; it's so cute.

Well, see, Jess hasn't read the TR so it's kind of like a punishment

It's fine! Haha yeah! You already know about my Disneyland PTR, but it's so much fun planning for there too! Which reminds me, I should go update that.

Aww, that's cute. Their gift shop always has nice stuff.

Haha oh gosh, you're such a nice sister!

 

[mimiloveswdw]

We are staying in the villas. It will just be DH and I so we'll be in a studio. It will be our first time though we've eat at Whispering Canyon. I think we will really enjoy it.

Love the update. We've eaten at Mama Melrose, but I don't remember our food looking that tasty. Maybe we'll have to give it another try sometime.

Oh that's nice! Whispering Canyon has great food! They have a regular menu and they have the skillet, which is big, so if one of you wanted to get a regular item and one wanted to get the skillet, it's easily shared, which I thought was nice.

MM was definitely a surprise for us! We had eaten there before but our meal was pretty...eh for us, so we didn't go back until this trip. I like it because I'm uncomfortable at 50's PT, so it's the only viable 1 TS without characters at DHS.

Erin, you have SOOOOOO many pictures. Oh my gosh, I meant to reply a couple days ago but I was always too lazy to quote your posts! So I have this opened in a new tab and I'll respond to the things I wanna.

Heh yeah...I do...

First of all, your pictures of WL in the early morning are beyond gorgeous! I think I was only up that early one day of the trip. The lobby seems like such a fun place to hang out in the morning, looks like you had the whole place to yourselves!

I'm always tired in the morning, but it's always so worth it to me to get up. I loved the morning at WL since it's facing the east, so the sun rises right in front of us (certain as the sun...rising in the east! Surely, I'm not the only person who uses Beauty & the Beast to remember that..)

Ahahahah I cracked up when I saw that picture of your dad on the balcony. It made my day!

Aww! Yeah we laughed haha!

Didn't know that Mickey in DHS was a lightning rod. Ya learn something new everyday.

Yeah my library has this book called "Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World" and I've read it cover-to-cover twice now haha!

Yay for getting to G-force records!

Mmmm, that carrot cake cookie looks good. I saw it on the DIS before our trip but we never picked one up.

GET. ONE. ASAP. Changed. My life. Well, no, not exactly, but made an impact

Oh, so THAT'S what a TSM fastpass looks like! We never made it there that early to get FP, but we've always lucked out with getting on that ride with little wait. A year or two ago, the ride broke down and they said they didn't know how long it would be until it re-opened. Well, we waited in line for about 10 minutes (we were the 3rd group) and the ride was back up and running!

Aw sorry! Maybe you'll have better luck when you go on your upcoming trip. It was weird, one day at DHS with my dad, the wait for Star Tours was 60 minutes and TSM was 30

Ahah, what a nice family picture.

Ohmygosh, I LOVE Wicked! I was obsessed with it from 4th grade on, and I finally got to see it in 7th. (My mom works in media and is able to get free tickets for shows and whatnot, but she can't just always get them when she asks! We saw Wicked on a Thursday after school, right? So the next day after school my mom calls and says she has more tickets to a Broadway show. The Little Mermaid! It was such a fun week.)

I was obsessed with it since 4th grade too I got to see it in 6th though...then in 9th..then in 10th too! I wasn't even supposed to go the third time but my friend had gotten tickets for her birthday and invited her musical friend but told me that she can be flaky, so keep that day open Well, the day before the show, the friend canceled so I got to go!

That's awesome about your mom getting tickets! I still want to see Lion King...and Darren Criss in How to Succeed...but that's mostly due to the fact that I've been in love with the guy for more than a year now

The Wicked Witch part in the GMR always used to scare me until I saw Wicked!

MAMA MELROSE! Oh I'm with Jess, I love those rolls! They have the same ones at the Crystal Palace.

Oh! I'll be sure to tell her! We canceled our CP ADR for this trip, but who knows what next year will bring?
Can't wait for more.

PS: I love the canoli's from Carlo's Bakery! I went there last October to get my birthday cake.

WOW! Your cake looked awesome! What flavor was inside? Sadly the cannolis are disappearing very quickly in my house

 

[mimiloveswdw]

We paid and left the restaurant. Jess and I left our lovely parents and headed towards the Backlot Tour. Jess took a picture of me along the way, in honor of the fact that I work at a library.

The Backlot Tour was just starting so we got in line.

However, we lost interest FAST when we realized, well, that it was hot (gee, August in WDW, who would’ve thought it would be HOT). So instead we headed over towards Voyage of the Little Mermaid, hoping that we wouldn’t miss a showing.

Luckily for us, they had let everyone in the theater, but they were still letting people in! Nice!

We ended up with seats in the middle of the theater.

It was cute, I really like this show! We were also next to a very big family who had never seen it before, and FLIPPED when the bubbles came around. It was hilarious. They were, uh, very enthusiastic!

After VotLM, we went into the Art of Animation, and we were pretty burnt out. We knew that, as long as the weather would hold out, we’d be going to see Fantasmic!, and that was sure to be a late night. However, if we left, this was Jess’s only day at DHS and I didn’t want her to miss anything. But she was the one who was even more insistent than I was for a break. So we texted our parents and they said to meet them so we could have our KTTW cards if we wanted to go back to WL for a bit. We decided we wanted to, so we met with them, got our cards, and left.

Fortunately, we didn’t have to waste any time for a bus, since one was right there! It was a crowded bus, but we both had seats. WL was the first stop, like always, so we were back there in no time. We went back to the room, and were surprised to see that we now had two towel animals! Our Mousekeeper was awesome!

It was a quick break. We both rested and freshened up. We also went to the gift shop after we were ready and I was able to get two of the three presents I needed to get for my best friends, and Jess got something too. We put those back in the room, and went to the bus stop. The bus arrived in one minute!

However, this was our encounter with Crazy, the Bus Driver.

As he turns the corner to the bus stop, the bus goes up onto the curb and he greets us with a loud HELLO! He was very friendly…and must have been new to the whole Disney bus thing! We were the only ones who got on at WL, and no one got on at Fort Wilderness.

The bus driver was great. He went VERY fast, and even honked at one car that was going too slow. I kept exchanging mildly amused/scared for my life looks with Jess throughout the whole ride. It was also during this ride that we noticed ominous clouds in the sky.

“I hope you guys aren’t going for Fantasmic!” says Crazy, the Bus Driver

*nervous laughter* Can he drive and talk at the same time?

The weather was pretty freaky looking. It was quite dark, and the trees were swaying violently with the wind. But we hoped that it would just blow over!

As we entered the park, and the driver went to the stop he was picking people up from, he again drives onto the curb and one lady literally jumps back. It was awesome. He let us off, and thus ended the most intense bus ride in all of Walt Disney World.

It was REALLY windy outside! We stopped for Photopass, and we just look uncomfortable, even if our hair is waving in the hurricane-like breeze! I did feel better coming back into the park after doing nothing except sit in air-conditioning for an hour. I was READY for the night WOOHOO.

We made it to the 5 o’clock American Idol Experience show, since our parents were in the middle of One Man’s Dream

Here were the contestants

Honestly, I didn’t really like any of them. The guy on the far right was the best, but he gave off a weird vibe. He also stormed off the stage when he didn’t win. Honestly. The guy in the middle won, and the girl shook his hand, but the guy on the right speed-walked off the stage.

It was weird.

Anyway, the girl was good but boring, the guy in the middle was entertaining, but it’s not really my type of music (very gravelly voice), and the guy on the right was impressive.

But weird.

ANYWAY, it’s a fun show. I like to do it at least once! Afterwards, our parents texted us that they were at Indiana Jones, which I had never been to. It was the last show of the night and they were minutes away from the show, so I didn’t know if we could get in. But we ended up near the front of the far left. Our parents were near the front too, but in the far right. We could see them across the theater.

It was a cool show! I don’t think I would see it if we were hot outside, but since it was cool out, it wasn’t bad! I was glad I got to do it since it was one of the last things I still hadn’t done at WDW, attractions-wise.

Continued next post!

 

[mimiloveswdw]

After that, I went to Star Tours with my dad because we had a full set of four FPs, and we decided to just mom and Jess our two TSM FPs.

So we’re going on the ride, and we get the Wookie planet again. That’s all right; we liked it the other time we got it! There was nothing else new on that ride. We got off and then went on again

Guess what we got this time!!!

YUP! WOOKIES. At this point, three times out of five I got Chewbacca. Don’t get me wrong, normally I’d be thrilled to be seeing any Wookie, but at this point…NO MORE! NO MORE WOOKIES!

At least on Star Tours.

Actually, after getting off the Wookie Planet, it was okay! Instead of Yoda giving us a message, we got Admiral Ackbar. We got a repeat ending, though. All in all, we wanted to go on it more to make sure we see more of the combinations, but we were really hoping that the Wookies wouldn’t make many more appearances.

After ST, we were hungry, so we texted mom and Jess. They answered when they got off their second ride, and texted us to go into the Backlot Express, which is right near Star Tours. Is this new? I had never noticed it until this trip, and if I knew it existed, I would have been saved from many a Pizza Planet lunches.

Anyway, we met with mom and Jess, put our orders in and grabbed a table. Outside, Darth Vader was fighting the Jedi Academy and it was so cute. The younger ones really took it seriously; you could really see it in their faces. Here’s what we ordered

Mom had a salad

Jess had a grilled vegetable sandwich. She loved it. It didn’t look great to me, but she really liked it.

Dad had whatever kind of cheeseburger they had there. It had random onion rings in it. It reminded me of my school lunches, which are basically anything they can fit on a bun. It’s really gross. There was one that had meatballs, melted cheese on top, then mozzarella sticks on top of that, all in a bun. It’s just weird. BUT ANYWAY, here’s what Dad ordered. He couldn’t finish it, I believe

I just got a hamburger (no cheese woohoo!)

Here’s Jess, with her friend George Washington. She looks really calm here.

So after dinner we go outside and it’s lightly raining. Not much, but any cloudy/rainy weather worries me when Fantasmic is in the plans. My dad and I still had two pairs of FPs for RNRC to use, so mom and Jess got seats in the Amphitheatre, while I went to RNRC. Here are some pictures of the walk over. The American Idol Finale show was going on

And our ride photo…

When we went on again we waited for the front row.

We left RNRC after that and we went to get popcorn for Fantasmic.

Mom texted us that the line inside the Amphitheatre was crazy, so we went to our very favorite popcorn stand in the entire universe.

OK. So, I know what you all may think. “But isn’t all Disney popcorn the same?” Well…yes…but maybe not! For some reason, we’ve chosen this popcorn stand as THE BEST. I’m not sure when it became THE BEST (and you have to say “the” like “thee” so picture the sentence normal and then I shout THEE BEST) but it is THE BEST. Therefore, if we have a choice, we will get popcorn from this stand. Which we did this night!

It was cool because Mulch, Sweat, and Shears were playing in front of the Hat and the stand is near the Hat.

THE BEST

So we get our popcorn and walk back down the “street” towards the Amphitheatre, and found Jess and mom in the third row in the Scar section.

By this point, the weather looked like it was clearing up. Apparently they had been playing a recording warning everyone that Fantasmic may be canceled, but by the time I got there, they didn’t play it anymore!

There were little swarms of gnats and they were TERRIBLE. So gross and annoying. Jess was freaking out. She hates swarms of anything, and these were right up in your face. Also, the sugary cotton candy the lady behind us was eating didn’t help.

It wasn’t the most fun time waiting for Fantasmic. Mom was terrorized by a child who would pinch her repeatedly in the back, then kicked her in the back. Then as the lights go out, the kid starts SCREAMING. I think it’s on the video I have of it, but I’m not sure. Fortunately, as it got darker, the gnats were much less noticeable, so that was good. I didn’t even know about the terrible kicking pincher until afterwards when we all laughed about it. My mom tells it the best; it’s so funny.

As you can see, the weather had miraculously cleared up!

Of course we did the wave, but this crowd was weird and apparently did not know how to properly stand up and wave your arms when your time came. I don’t understand. On the other end of the spectrum, there was a guy who was such an extreme Wave-er that he would raise his baby over his head. It makes me sad that he demonstrated such potential in a crowd of no potential.

Anyway, Fantasmic started on time! It was really important to me to see this show, since it’s my favorite, and I was so happy everything worked out. It was magical, like it always is. I recorded most of the show, but not all of it, since I wanted to make sure I sat and enjoyed it. It’s a bit long still, but here it is!


Afterwards, of course there was the mad rush for the exit, but actually it was a pretty fast crowd and we all got out pretty fast. We went through the back exit and ended up by the Crossroads thing. Then we went to the busses and it came pretty fast. Surprisingly, it wasn’t very crowded on the bus and almost everyone got a seat. Usually when we come out of Fantasmic, the busses are packed to the brim and we’re standing. But WL is a pretty small resort, so I guess that’s why. A couple on the bus had just gotten engaged after Illuminations…not sure why they were on the DHS bus but they were.

We got back to the resort pretty quick and I took a couple pictures of night at WL

We got back and it wasn’t very late. We watched some TV and went to sleep. I fell asleep with my glasses on and woke up around two with them on my face. I needed to get as good sleep as I could, since I had a pretty big day the next day! THE TOUR!!!

Continued soon!!

 

[dismagiclover]

Wow what an update! I loved the story about Crazy, the bus driver. I might have been tempted to stay on his bus to see what would happen next. I haven't done the new Star Tours. The rest of my family rode it in June, but the old version made me queasy and I suspect the new version would do the same. I'm glad the weather turned and you got to see Fantasmic. I've only seen that show in CA. One of these years I'll see it at DHS, but the lines are always so long. Can't wait for more!

 

[dekkerdisneydreamer]

And this is where I took the strangest family picture of the trip

Hmm.

Does your sister know that you posted this on the internet??


So we went through the FP line, and when we got to the stairs, my mom told a CM that we would be willing to split ourselves up into two groups of two. Because of that, we were led up a separate, EMPTY staircase and went right down to the loading dock! It shaved about 10-15 minutes off our waiting time, and who talks to the other two in their car anyway? This is DEFINITELY a trick I would share with anyone with an even-numbered family.

Good tip, thanks!

I did skip over the red section of this update. I want to be surprised in October!

Truly some beautiful early morning shots once again!

Regarding school, it starts too early here in my opinion. I grew up in San Diego and we always started school the day after Labor Day as well. It seems silly to have kids go back to school before the official end of summer holiday.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I really want to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid now, it looks a lot cooler than I expected. Well... with air-conditioning, but still it's starting to interest me. And I'm sorry you guys got tired and had to cut your day shorter because you were tired, but we don't want anyone passing out in Disney so it was probably a good thing

LOL @ your Crazy the Bus Driver story, what was happening there? I can't believe he kept going up on the curb. Good thing you guys didn't get hurt or anything, but I think the aftershock was what made it funny LOL

Sorry to hear that your American Idol Experience wasn't that great. I don't think I've ever gone to a show where not one of them is wicked good and the others are just good or ok. Also, they always tend to be girls when I go see that show, but that's just weird how the guy you liked stormed off... strange bunch.

Oh, now I see where your title comes from. Isn't that how it always works out? You can never get a different experience every time on those rides with different experiences. It's so annoying, it's like they do it on purpose Well, you still seemed to enjoy it

Wait, the Backlot Express was opened for you guys?! Wow! I've seen it before yes, many times, but it's never opened. It must be one of those CSs that only opens during the more crowded days. The food looks really good too. Hopefully when I'm back in DHS, it will be opened so I can try the food there.

Ooooo... FANTASMIC! I can't believe nobody in that crowd understood how to do the wave. It also could've been people were uninterested. It's kinda something everyone does when they go see Fantasmic, don't get it... just don't get it... LOL @ the little kid having a strange tantrum! I'm surprised the parent didn't stop him from kicking your mom, Wow! I think I could hear him screaming in your video. I'm surprised they didn't take him out of the theater :/ And speaking of the video, nice job! Did you cut it up or something to make it shorter, because you made some really nice cuts and I like how you included the villains and princess section

Awww... that's so sweet, a couple getting engaged after IllumiNations, so cute! But that's weird how the ended up on the DHS bus... I wonder if they thought they could make Fantasmic or something

Can't wait to hear about your KTTK tour!

 

[mimiloveswdw]

Wow what an update! I loved the story about Crazy, the bus driver. I might have been tempted to stay on his bus to see what would happen next. I haven't done the new Star Tours. The rest of my family rode it in June, but the old version made me queasy and I suspect the new version would do the same. I'm glad the weather turned and you got to see Fantasmic. I've only seen that show in CA. One of these years I'll see it at DHS, but the lines are always so long. Can't wait for more!

I was curious too! HAHA the lady that jumped back was definitely scared for her life. Ohh, then ST may make you sick...my mom's the same way. Me too! Fantasmic was one of the things that I HAD to do. It's one of my favorite things ever Hmm they are long lines...but we never had to wait on a line this time; they let people in without a line ever forming

I did skip over the red section of this update. I want to be surprised in October!

Truly some beautiful early morning shots once again!

Regarding school, it starts too early here in my opinion. I grew up in San Diego and we always started school the day after Labor Day as well. It seems silly to have kids go back to school before the official end of summer holiday.

Hey that's why I wrote it in red! Surprises are always much better! Thank you! I thought they turned out nice too

That's what I always think. September just seems like a more school-like month than August.

I really want to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid now, it looks a lot cooler than I expected. Well... with air-conditioning, but still it's starting to interest me. And I'm sorry you guys got tired and had to cut your day shorter because you were tired, but we don't want anyone passing out in Disney so it was probably a good thing

It's a really good show! Highly recommended Yeah, I was OK with it since I was going back later in the week, but Jess wasn't, so I didn't want her to miss out. But we felt great after!

LOL @ your Crazy the Bus Driver story, what was happening there? I can't believe he kept going up on the curb. Good thing you guys didn't get hurt or anything, but I think the aftershock was what made it funny LOL

I DON'T KNOW what was going on. It was seriously one of those moments that we laugh now, but right then it was so scary

Sorry to hear that your American Idol Experience wasn't that great. I don't think I've ever gone to a show where not one of them is wicked good and the others are just good or ok. Also, they always tend to be girls when I go see that show, but that's just weird how the guy you liked stormed off... strange bunch.

It was seriously weird haha. I hear great things about other shows and we get "Bland&Blond, Gravelly Guy from England, and Angry Man"

Oh, now I see where your title comes from. Isn't that how it always works out? You can never get a different experience every time on those rides with different experiences. It's so annoying, it's like they do it on purpose Well, you still seemed to enjoy it

Yep! Still have to talk about more cookies We found out later that we only missed two components though at the end of the trip, so that was good!

Wait, the Backlot Express was opened for you guys?! Wow! I've seen it before yes, many times, but it's never opened. It must be one of those CSs that only opens during the more crowded days. The food looks really good too. Hopefully when I'm back in DHS, it will be opened so I can try the food there.

Yeah! I thought for sure it was new, because I'd never seen it. Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station was open our entire trip too..I should tell Jess and Kristen They've never been open before during our trips, so idk when they decide to open them or not.

Ooooo... FANTASMIC! I can't believe nobody in that crowd understood how to do the wave. It also could've been people were uninterested. It's kinda something everyone does when they go see Fantasmic, don't get it... just don't get it... LOL @ the little kid having a strange tantrum! I'm surprised the parent didn't stop him from kicking your mom, Wow! I think I could hear him screaming in your video. I'm surprised they didn't take him out of the theater :/ And speaking of the video, nice job! Did you cut it up or something to make it shorter, because you made some really nice cuts and I like how you included the villains and princess section


Yeah the whole Wave thing was weird. I felt bad for these people. LOL yeah and we later learned he was staying at WL too when we saw him running around the lobby Yep that was him in the video. I used Windows MovieMaker, and I only had certain clips because I wanted to make sure I wasn't videotaping my trip away and experiences were sinking in. I had the finale with the boat and everything in the vid but Photobuclet cut me off at 10 minutes.

Awww... that's so sweet, a couple getting engaged after IllumiNations, so cute! But that's weird how the ended up on the DHS bus... I wonder if they thought they could make Fantasmic or something

Whatever, good for them!

Can't wait to hear about your KTTK tour!

Woot! Almost ready to start posting that day!

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Oh that's where you learned it was a lightning rod? I got that book for Christmas two years ago! I love it. I must not have payed good attention while reading it though since I forgot that fact.

Aha I'll totally get one in November!

Oh no! What I was saying with TSM is we've always had great luck, not bad luck! Sorry if I wasn't clear haha.

Aww that's so cool you got to see it all those times! I wish I got to see it with the original cast though - but the soundtrack will have to do. Ahaha Darren's cute. I love him on Glee. I'm a gleek. I've seen the Lion King when I was 5 - but I don't remember too much of it. From the parts I remember though - it was really good.

The cake was very cute! I loved the bow. Hmmm...I'm really bad, but I don't remember. I think it had chocolate cake, vanilla cake and chocolate cream! It was very sweet but good.

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Love your VOTLM pictures! Haha we had our crowd go nuts when the bubbles came out too.

Cute towel animals. Ooooh and I see they have an iHome in deluxe resorts. I wish they had them in all of the resorts! But that will be so nice when we're at the Poly.

Sounds like your bus ride was more thrilling than the Tower of Terror! I'm sure seeing the lady jumping back was a funny sight.

Wow, I've never seen any sore losers at American Idol.

Cool Indiana Jones pictures. We haven't seen that in a couple years - I forgot what it's like!

YAY for Fantasmic! We saw it on the 6th and it kept playing the recording that it may be delayed or canceled but the show went on. The crowd was very excited to say the least.

Oh my gosh that happened in your Fantasmic too?! We had a guy raise a baby above his head too! That's good you got out fast. We usually waited in the back left part with the standing area for the crowds to clear up, then we went.

 

[mimiloveswdw]

The next morning we got up and went to the beach around 6:20. Of course, the sunrise was gorgeous! If you’ve had enough of these pictures, feel free to skip haha! But, may I say, this one was especially beautiful.

At around 7, we went to RF for breakfast.

This morning, mom and dad had the usually oatmeal/yogurt/cereal

That’s the yogurt parfait by the way! Jess had her usual potatoes.

I got a croissant this morning. It was really good!

Dad and Jess were allowed to sleep in a bit this morning, since mom and I were going to MK for the tour and they weren’t going to MK. I ate my croissant ad got the last few things together and I left with my mom. A bit of stress followed. We were all ready to head out on the boat to MK (we had to be there at 8:15 for our 8:30 tour) but at the dock we realized that we hadn’t suncreened! So we ran back to the Mercantile and got sunscreen then went back to the boat dock.

Then we read the boat’s sign. It was about 7:55. The boat to MK doesn’t start running until 8:30. We could have taken the boat that goes to FW, Contemporary, and WL and walked but that would have taken over 20 minutes since it had just left.

So we RUN to the bus stop, HOPING we hadn’t missed the bus and it would come at a good time (remember the first bus to DHS yesterday didn’t come until 8:14). We talk to the guy managing the bus schedule and he didn’t look too certain that the bus would come. He said one was scheduled to come at 8, but he can’t be sure it’d be there.

So we get our sunscreen on and wait and hurry.

Then at 8:01 (!!!) we see this!

AND the WL bus to MK doesn’t share with other resorts so we were in MK by 8:09! It was a miracle; we were thrilled! We checked in and got our free bottles of water and got our nametags and hearing devices. We also made our lunch orders for Columbia Harbor House (I got chicken nuggets and water, my mom got the Lighthouse Sandwich and Diet Coke). Then I took some pictures on a near empty MK!

The tour started on time, and our guide was named Valerie. She told us about how she started working for Disney. She began taking trips, and when she realized that WDW felt like her home, she just decided to move there. If that’s how it begins…I’m in trouble

We started going by the Roy Disney statue. We learned that his hand is supported Minnie, just like he supported all of Walt Disney’s dreams and creations.

After talking about that we went on Center Street, which is a little alley way on the right of Main Street.

Here we sat at the tables (there were 10 of us on the tour, though the tours later in the morning were bigger) and Valerie told us more about Walt Disney’s career and family. We also learned about the :Four Keys,” which are the four principles that all CMs work by. They are (in this order): Safety, Courtesy, Efficiency, and Show. The order is important, since the safety of a guest comes before maintaining the “on stage” appearance, and a guest may have to be taken backstage to get care. Also, even though WDW is very environmentally friendly, and it would be very efficient to cut down on air conditioning, the key of courtesy is more important than efficiency.

While we were here, we saw the MK opening stampede. As Valerie called our attention to this, she said the CM who chooses the family to be Grand Marshalls in the parade is usually on Main Street during the opening and just chooses the family who looks happiest to be there and waves to the CMs or talks to them, rather than rushing to the rides. Here’s the stampede

Then we ventured out onto Main Street and Valerie pointed out some of the windows. The second/”third” floors of the buildings are one story high and serve as offices. For example, the office above the Main Street Bakery is for the Vice President of WDW!

Unfortunately, the weather that had been so good to us the last three days had worn off. Today was really bad. Valerie knew this and she said that she would try to keep all of us in the shade and in air conditioning as much as possible. So we stood in the shade near the hub and she talked for a bit about how Walt wanted every park to have a main icon, like the Castle.

After that we went to Adventureland. She talked to us about the Tiki Room, and the fire that occurred in the spring. So, like everyone knows, the “Under New Management” wasn’t very popular. Iago’s presence (and voice) was especially unpopular. The fire was a small one in the attic, and only one bird was completely destroyed.

It was Iago.

Valerie says she believes it was Walt’s way of getting his original Enchanted Tiki Room back, and now it is! I liked that story; it’s cute! She also pointed out some of the lightning rods in Adventureland. There are a lot in this land since there’s quite a bit of water (Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise). After this we went on Jungle Cruise! We got our private boat, since Valerie needed to talk and didn’t want to disturb other guests.

We learned that these boats have faces in the shapes of Goofy, Mickey, and Donald. I knew these existed but had never had them pointed out to me, so I was happy to have seen them.

Continued soon!