Live from Hollywood-I mean Disney......

[mmtska]

Today was a LONG day! We started out at almost rope drop at AK. Why almost? Because we missed the first bus to AK by about a minute (we saw it pull up, started running, saw it pull away and stopped running) and the next one didn't come for 40 minutes. I don't know why it didn't, but we were afraid to go try another bus stop in case it came. Anyway, we got there a few minutes late and then the day went from there

AK EMH was MUCH more crowded than MK EMH! We booked it for EE, got FP and headed over to the Safari-something was wrong so we waited longer than was posted. 20 minutes turned into almost 40, but that's ok. AK is the only park I haven't been to, so I had to see what was there! Got some pretty good pics of the animals, but they weren't moving around that much.

We ended up doing everything we wanted, but by about 11 it was CROWDED!

now that I look at it, it doesn't look too bad, but I should have taken more crowd shots!! UGH. We rode, explored and got our pics taken, then waited for a friend of mine at the Rainforest Cafe. I'm going to save my review for the TR because I still need to cool down a bit (NOT happy about some things)

We then bussed over to the Boardwalk and checked things out over there-too cool! We now want to stay there or Y&BC at some point Then we went to Epcot and got some rides in, including Test Track-mega fun! At 5, Epcot was DEAD

We had ADRs for the Princess Dinner, and it was AMAZING. I haven't had a bad food experience yet, but the cold appetizer bar is so neat, I had the best pork chop ever and the chocolate mousse made me drool. Plus I got to see Aurora again (with my Aurora shirt of course!) We finished in perfect time to catch Illuminations, but it started raining, and we're heading back tomorrow, so we'll catch the whole thing rain or not! We saw about 10 minutes of it, and love it so far!! Bus back to CSR? Crowded, but not horrible and it's a quick ride!

DH is already passed out, and I'm off to shower the grime off

 

[KatMark]

Thanks! And thank you for talking up CSR-I really like it here, and would totally come back when we return!

Thanks. You are the first person to say that. Most people say (or at least think out loud) that they wish I'd shut up!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

I am still melting from today! I'm completely believing that AK is hotter than any of the parks!

YES, YES, YES!!! It must all the trees and foliage - no room for any air to flow. We avoid AK like the plague when it's hot!!

Thanks again - oh, and thanks for the Ridemax info. No wonder we've not heard of it - we never wait in a line (times of yr and times of day we go), but sounds like it is great for those who visit during busy seasons!

 

[7165red]

I'm really enjoying your live TR and love the photos. Keep it coming!

 

[DisneyTabby]

I'm on board. Great LIVE report We love CSR too. Can't wait to here more. Keep cool!!!!!!

 

[mmtska]

Thanks to all my readers!! I'm missing Thursday's report because we tried doing EPCOT EMH but my foot decided to have a breakdown, and we hobbled back. I HATE my ankles! We're heading back there today-actually leaving as soon as I write this-and ride Soarin' which is the only thing we haven't done yet!! Then hopefully a Kim Possible mission, and then resort time/mini golf. We're planning on closing MK tonight to end our stay with Wishes and some Pirates of the Carribean.

So I'll be back this afternoon hopefully, and have I got an AMAZING day to report!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Hope those ankles are feeling better today.

Try to stay cool and have a great day!!

 

[heaven2dc]

Sorry to hear about your ankles! Hopefully the rest will help today. Now I can't wait to hear all about your day!

 

[mmtska]

I would love to report about fighting the crowds at DHS (because there were crowds-not quite as bad as AK, but still fun) but I can't give an honest report about experience DHS. Why do you ask? Oh because DH and I got chosen as the Family of the Day yesterday!!! Pretty much the coolest thing ever! As many people have said, there's nothing special to do-the stars have to align!

We were walking in, getting our tickets ready (we were earlier than AK, we got there about 830) and this lady comes up to us and tells us how much she likes our shirts, and how would we like to be family of the day! Of course we said no and.....HA I about did a dance right there We got taken into the Studios and just chilled while everyone else fought for the best spot

Just a little peek at the view we got!

We did the opening ceremony, and then we were driven to RnRC which we got to ride twice-once ALL by ourselves in the front, and then they let us ride again-this time in the back! We even got our first picture for free! Then we got fastpasses to TSM and 2 (each) other FP to any other ride in the park. We went to TSM first and got another FP.

After we did that, I went an auditioned for AI. I have an operatic voice (I trained for 6 years) which doesn't work well for pop, so when I'm belting, it works, when I'm not.....eh, so I made it through the first round, but only got the alternate to the 4:00 show. Everyone showed up so I didn't get to perform on stage, but I got 4 MORE FP to whatever ride in the entire park!! Including the other FP we got for Star Tours, we went on Star Tours, ToT, TSM (3 times!) and RnRC (3 times!) and never really had to wait So my experience was a little skewed lol!!!

However around 2, things were quite busy. Here are the crowds right around Streets of America. Lights, Motor Action had just gotten out before we headed in around that area, so I was kind of amused to see about the same amount of people in that area about 10 minutes later!

We hit Epcot last night and got to ride everything we had missed before-minus Soarin' so we hit that this morning. 5 minute wait right after RD and when we walked out, it was stretched across the pavilion. We also did the Kim Possible thing in WS-so much fun! DH even got into it. We came back, rested, pool time, and we're about to head back out to Downtown Disney and then over to MK to see Wishes!! Have a good night everyone!! I'm really sad that this is our last night here We'll be back....just not soon enough.

 

[shannon47142]

what a great day at the Studios
have a great last hours at Disney

 

[mmtska]

what a great day at the Studios
have a great last hours at Disney

Thanks It was a pretty great day lol!!

Our last few hours were pretty cool. We went to DTD Disney and had us some Earl of Sandwich-and I'm so glad I heard great reviews! This place is amazing. The sandwiches are really good, and both DH and I had amazing soups. We hung for awhile, and I met a DISer! I had a lime green Mickey head on the backpack DH was wearing, and her daughter saw it! I'm pretty sure she said Dischick, and I know I saw someone by that name coming around this time so yay fun! Then caught we the bus to the GF and then the monorail to MK.

MK was PACKED that night! We happened to show up right when Spectro Magic was about to start, and luckily found a great spot right in front of Exposition Hall. Everywhere else was a good 4-5 people deep, but we only had 2 people in front of us-1 being a stroller. That turned out to be kind of a bad idea since the lady kept rolling the stroller into us and the people behind us kept pushing forward.....argh. We followed the parade down main street, and hit a spot right by Casey's, got some corn dog nuggets (YUM) and waited for Wishes. There weren't too many people there, but I had to go to the bathroom, and when I came back, DH stood up to let me sit, and as soon as he moved, someone else sat down. I just said, excuse me, he was moving to let me sit down. I got a nice glare, but he moved. Everyone ended up standing anyway when it started, but just steal someone's seat why don't ya! The lady next to me said I was much nicer than she would have been

Wishes was AMAZING! Since it's been so long since I've been, and I went with band, even if it had been around, I probably hadn't seen it. I got a couple videos, and some pictures and it was great! ANd yes, I teared up! I mean we ended our last night with it-of course I was going to cry. I also got to see the Kiss Goodnight, and that was SO neat! I have a couple cool pictures of the castle during that.

We stayed for the EMH. BTMR was still a 40 minute wait, so we skipped it. Peter Pan was 40 minutes, but Buzz said 20 minutes and it was more of a 5 minute wait. They did have the fastpasses open and we got them, but decided to do standby too. We never made it back though......oops. I met up with Goofy and Donald after we rode Dumbo (20 minutes at 1 am-and it's been 22 years since I rode that!!!) and Donald cracked me up. He loved his page in my autograph book but was all upset that he was 3rd (behind Mickey and Minnie) so I now have a picture with Donald saying that he's number 1!!!! So fun.

Well we left EARLY this morning. ME was a snap, and we had plenty of time for breakfast and just sat around for awhile. I didn't get my express checkout in time, so they just quickly printed me a charge slip and said we were good to go! Everyone was so nice-well the one guy doing the ME baggage gave me a little attitude. He asked me how many passengers-I said 2. He asked me how many bags-I said 1 (this was also on the slip of paper that the guy at the ME 'entrance' gave me, as well as all I paid for, but ok) and he printed off 2 bag tags. Then when the tagger was like, well where's your other one, I said, um I only have 1 and he talked to the other guy, who looked at me and said well you told me 2 bags. Well no, but whatever. Not a big deal, but it was just odd.

All in all, I had a great time in the World. Yes there seems to be a lack of common sense and courtesy from most guests, but I can handle that.....it makes me laugh. No issues from CMs though-no nasty comments or anything like that. We had great food, an awesome resort, and a BLAST in the parks. It may be awhile before we get back, but we WILL be back. DH said so!

Hope you enjoyed my live report. It looks like I'll be starting my TR soon!!!