May the Porg Be With You! A 13 day November adventure! *COMPLETED 2/23!*

[paradesintherain]

Day 12 - November 11th - Last day at MK!


Well, we've FINALLY made it to the last full day of our vacation! Naturally this day had to be spent at Magic Kingdom. The girls had decided this would be our day to DisneyBound as princesses! When we were getting ready Shebl showed us the bed making tool that housekeeping had left in their room at the start of vacation and never bothered to pick up.

Here I am as Moana, and Allie is Merida!

We didn't wait long for a bus to MK, and we got the Thor:Ragnarok wrapped bus!

While on the bus to MK I read on Twitter that rose gold ears were in stock at the Emporium. After searching for them ALL vacation, I was worried that we'd miss them at the Emporium, but we made it in time! Allie picked some up too since she had been unable to find them in Disneyland.


The day started out beautiful, and a little on the hot side.

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We ended up missing our Space Mountain FP, but it actually worked out because Space was down at the time anyway! Since Space was down we headed over to Be Our Guest for our 12:35 ADR.

Shebl was Disneybounding as Belle so I had to get some pictures of her in front of Beast's castle.

A far superior castle in the distance.

We snagged a table in the main ballroom; my first time sitting there!

I ordered the turkey sandwich, and French onion soup.

The sandwich was a little sad and only had about two pieces of arugula on it, so I asked for some more arugula. When they finally returned they had brought a whole new dish out. I definitely did not need that but the sandwich was definitely far superior to the original.

For dessert I had to get the Master's cupcake.

Nobody was terribly thrilled with their meals - definitely one of the weakest meals of the trip. I would even guess that this was probably Shebl's least favorite meal. She was super unimpressed. But at least it's a cool setting!

Aaron was super patient and let us recreate the stained glass scene.

It had been raining while we were eating and the sky was still pretty overcast.

At some point we rode Winnie the Pooh with FP, and then headed to Jingle Cruise to use our Space FP. First we had to stop for pictures of our Disneybounds! I ended up really hating the skirt, and orange definitely isn't my color, but what can you do?

Florida weather is confusing.

Enjoy this very bad picture of the Jingle Cruise sign.

I know it's a classic, but I just really don't like Jungle Cruise. Puns really aren't my sense of humor, and there's nothing particularly riveting about the scenes. HOWEVER, it was fun seeing Jingle Cruise and we had a great skipper, which makes a huge difference.

After Jingle Cruise Aaron, Dad, and Shebl decided to take the train and leave the park. I expected Aaron and Shebl wouldn't want to stay because it was a very crowded day. I wasn't very into the crowds myself but there were a few things Allie and I still wanted to accomplish!



To be continued! ​

 

[paradesintherain]

Day 12 - November 11th - Last day at MK, part 2!



After my family left, Allie had one request, and that was to watch the Country Bear Jamboree since they no longer have it at Disneyland. My main goal was to watch Festival of Fantasy. It looked like rain, so we decided to watch Country Bear Jamboree first, and see if we could just catch Festival of Fantasy after.

This show is really pretty cute!

When the show ended it was pouring rain and the exit was packed. The rain gradually started to slow down and we ran out to grab a spot for the parade. It was pretty wet out and I wasn't sure if the parade would actually come, but CMs assured us it would.

Today there was flag people from high schools before the parade. Is this color guard? I don't know. But there flags were VERY soggy from the ground.

Festival of Fantasy started and there were definitely raindrops.

After the first float or so I had to put away my real camera because it was raining too hard, and I just used my phone. CMs on headsets began communicating to the performers to modify their routines, so there really wasn't any dancing.

Mad Hatter came up to Allie and I and asked if we were sisters, then told us we were lovely ladies. What a sweetheart!! Chip noticed my Moana shirt and rode a wave over to me and then loved on me a bit. Allie got my reaction as he was leaving - my makeup is kind of a mess at this point haha

Other than the modified choreography, the Pinocchio float was also missing. But it was still a great parade, and we had a lot of fun. I think even Allie had fun despite the fact that she's not a parade person!


Allie then requested that we see Carousel of Progress - and I think we were kind of trapped by the parade so we followed it to the front and I changed my skirt.

The weather cleared up a bit as we made our way to Tomorrowland.

We walked by the infamous purple wall, so I stopped for a photo op. Even though my skirt was annoying, I wish I had still been wearing it for this photo!

COP thankfully had no wait, and it was a nice way to relax and hide from the crowds.

I used my zoom to see what was hanging on the family's bulletin board.

Don't you just love the future?

Found a Hidden Mickey! Pretty sure my brother had that Mickey doll as a child!

The crowds in Magic Kingdom were kind of insane at this point, but we were by PeopleMover so we decided to ride.... even though there was a 25 minute wait! Definitely the longest I've ever waited for that ride.

Once we were done with PeopleMover we decided to peace out of MK because the crowds were just awful.

Crowds weren't so bad out front so I was able to get this picture.

After leaving the Magic Kingdom we boarded a boat for Wilderness Lodge. Our final destination, Ft. Wilderness, is an easy boat ride from Wilderness Lodge, and Allie really wanted to check the other lodge out.

Allie took this cool picture of me on the boat!

We arrived at Wilderness Lodge and set out to explore the resort. I love the boardwalk trails through the trees!

The landscaping at Wilderness is really exceptional.

After exploring all we cared to, we stopped at Geyser Point for a drink. We thought we had PLENTY of time, but the bartender was soooooooo slow. She was really friendly and made time to talk to everyone but she just didn't accomplish much. I really think we waited close to 30 minutes for one drink.

I ordered the Widner Hefeweizen, and I really enjoyed it! It was super smooth and not bitter at all.

We didn't really have time to stay and enjoy our beers so we walked with them back to the boat docks. It took forever for a boat to Ft. Wilderness to arrive, and then we didn't even fit on it. We thankfully did fit on the second boat and realized we weren't going to be late, but it had been a little iffy.

We had to stop at the Contemporary first, but it didn't take long.

To be continued with MORE CHICKEN!
​

 

[paradesintherain]

Day 12 - November 11th - Hoop Dee Doo Revue!



We made it to the Fort with very little time to spare and met back up with my family for our PP pics outside. They had thought we were going to be late too!

When we went inside Hoop and headed our ticket to the hostess she said OOOOH!, and I was pretty sure that meant we had a great seat. And we did! Front row, center! I was clearly stoked about our table!

Mmmm, unlimited beer in a mason jar!

The food started arriving quickly, but I missed most of it because I was having too much fun! Here's the salad and cornbread, both excellent!

Allie was all about the potatoes!

Here's Allie's vegetarian dish, which is just pasta and marinara sauce, but I think she was satisfied!

This is how close we were! It was very interactive that close, and one of the performers picked on Shebl for being messy or something like that!

Pretty soon, they were handing out the strawberry shortcake, and washboards!

Just before the show ended I got up to run to the bathroom; as I was coming back the performers were heading out and I ran into one of our favorites who seemed to recognize us. She went to hug me and accidentally grazed my chest and she was like, "oops grabbed your boob!" It was so funny and I couldn't believe she had said it like that. Everyone had a really great time at Hoop, and the food tasted super fresh and delicious - Hoop is always just such a wonderful time!


We had one final FP at MK to use, so Dad, Allie, and I grabbed a boat back. Shebl and Aaron went back to the hotel since their flight was early in the morning. There were some really adorable little girls on the boat who Allie and I pretended we were swimming with. They were so sweet!

If we thought MK had been bad earlier, it was NOTHING to what it was now. Fireworks were about to start, and it was just wall to wall people. We were really close to the end of our FP time for Mine Train so we booked it through the open bypass. Dad stopped at the bathroom and was going to meet us at the ride. Once Allie and I emerged at Tomorrowland Terrace it was nearly impossible to get through the people, and then the fireworks started but we pushed our way through!

Allie and I made it in time for Mine Train but Dad was nowhere to be seen. Turns out he'd walked down Main Street, yikes! But he made it and we were still within the 15 minute grace period.

I'm not sure it was worth messing with the ridiculous crowds, but the fireworks were going off in all directions while we rode Mine Train, and it was really one of the coolest things I've experienced. The little buzz from dinner probably didn't hurt either.


We wanted to give the fireworks crowds some time to clear out, so Allie and I jumped in the line for Tiana and Rapunzel, but there was actually no line!

This was my first time in Princess Fairytale Hall!

First up was Rapunzel! I think I was talking about my necklace here. But who knows.

I saw how Rapunzel was posing and copied her!

I had a lot more to talk about with Tiana, like beignets and my love of New Orleans! Her dress is SO big.

Back outside they had opened the walkway by the castle and we got to finally see the Dreamlights!

We were momentarily distracted because Merida's meet area was open, so Allie had to take some pictures!

The Dreamlights are so magical, I was very happy we got to see them.

We finished admiring the castle and headed out of MK via the bypass.

It was definitely the least sad farewell to MK because the crowds made it super unenjoyable. We caught a bus quickly, and even had a seat. When we made it back to Animal Kingdom Lodge we had to pack, which was much more sad than leaving MK. There were tons of animals out on the savannah, it was like they were saying goodbye to us!



Up next - Animal Kingdom and departure ​

 

[unwritten01]

Caught back up and love the pictures and story. Great picture on the boat, and I think the little owl was striking his porg pose!

 

[paradesintherain]

Caught back up and love the pictures and story. Great picture on the boat, and I think the little owl was striking his porg pose!

Thank you! You're so right about the owl doing a Porg pose! So funny

 

[paradesintherain]

Day 13 - November 12th - Last visit to Animal Kingdom!



Well, we've reached the very last day of this trip report. But Dad and I left really late, so it's basically a full day anyway. Aaron and Shebl left super early for their Magical Express. When the rest of us woke up we finished packing, said a sad farewell to the savanna, and headed to Animal Kingdom, where I had FPs booked. Actually I think Dad stayed at the resort a little longer. Allie and I were able to catch a bus immediately, and we were very sad the vacation was coming to an end.

It was a pretty nice day!

Our first FP was for Flight of Passage, so here's some more pictures of Pandora!

Flight of Passage was incredible, as always, and it seems like we always end up getting placed in lane 4.


Our next FP was for Dinosaur, but when I realized Timon was out meeting, I had to stop! The Lion King is my all time favorite, and I had never met Timon before! I asked him where Simba was and he told me he was busy at the Festival of the Lion King.

It became a little overcast, and drizzly, but nothing too bad.

Allie was happy to be riding Dinosaur again, unfortunately a lot of the animatronics were still not working, and the sound was still terrible. REFURB THIS RIDE! (And please don't turn it into Indy)

After a somewhat disappointing ride on Dinosaur we headed to our final FP, Expedition Everest.

Allie and I found a PP in Dinoland! I love my new Epcot shirt, but it can be a little unflattering.

Dad met up with us at Expedition Everest, and he had an ad!

Allie and I did one last yeti!

Since we had gotten our times crossed the other day and missed all the animal trails I made sure we saw them on this day, starting with Maharajah Jungle Trek.

Creepy little Komodo dragon

These giant bats are my favorite! I just want to squeeze their furry little bodies. And look at the wing span on that thing!

Next was the tiger exhibit. I was hoping the cubs would be out, but they were not.

Just one sleepy tiger.

I'll finish up the rest of our Animal Kingdom day in the next post!
​

 

[paradesintherain]

Day 13 - November 12th - Last visit to Animal Kingdom, part 2!


There was still more to see at the Maharajah Jungle Trek! The aviary is one of my favorite parts.

This bird has a creepily human looking eye.

Once we exited the trail we decided we were hungry and wanted to try Satuli Canteen. We entered Pandora through the African entrance.

Satuli, of course, had a very long line, but I used mobile ordering and pretty much bypassed the wait. The seating area in Satuli is very neat and detailed, but it was crowded so I didn't explore much.

I ordered a bowl with rice, crispy fried tofu, and black bean vinaigrette, and it was soooo delicious. This is one of the meals I crave the most. Side note: I just tried to make some crispy fried tofu last night and mine looks NOTHING like this.

While eating I was able to score FPs for FOP at 2:20, which was pretty much the latest we could do before we needed to leave for Allie to make her Magical Express. We wasted some time exploring the Tree of Life trails again (and of course Pandora).

I was just mentioning that we hadn't taken a picture in front of Tree of Life when we stumbled upon a PP on a side trail. I like this unique angle.

I like this picture I took of my dad waiting for us.

We found another PP at the sign for the gardens!

Another instance where my shirt is unflattering, but oh well!

We stared at the otters for a long time, willing them to do anything. But they did not oblige us.

We happened to be at the macaw stand before the macaws were going to fly away. So many pretty birds! And watching them fly right over our heads was a super cool experience. Allie got a really cool slow motion video but I'm too lazy to figure out how to share a video.

Dad didn't feel like riding Flight of Passage again (I don't know what to think about this) so we left him at Nomad Lounge. I noticed this cool monster thing across the river. Remnants of Beastly Kingdom?

Allie and I used the 5 minute grace period to enter FOP at 2:15, and we were off the ride at 2:48. The ride never fails to amaze me, but this time my banshee had a little trouble breathing. Like the mechanism over-inflated and then wasn't synchronized with the other side. It was a little distracting, and it makes me think the ride could be kind of a nightmare to keep running well, but time will tell!

We grabbed Dad from Nomad Lounge and headed out of the park for the last time! Our park time had officially come to an end.


But the fun isn't over yet! To be continued with some more exploration of Animal Kingdom Lodge!

​

 

[paradesintherain]

Day 13 - November 12th - Animal Kingdom Lodge and departure!


We made it back to Animal Kingdom Lodge with a little time to spare before Allie's Magical Express departure time. We stayed in the lobby area to be safe.

I was starting to feel really sad about leaving AKL, it feels so familiar and home-like to me.

And then it was time for Allie to leave. She rubbed the good luck door one last time, gave us hugs, and her bus took her away. It was down to just Dad and I.

Dad and I went to the pool bar, and I was able to book us a dinner at Boma at 5:40, which was great because they told us there wasn't much chance of a walk up.

After a little while we went to see the savannas, and there were baby giraffes out! So cute! For some reason I had a hard time getting a nonblurry picture, but I'm including them because they're too precious. We were told that the babies were 2 and 3 months old.

We stumbled upon the campfire where they were handing out free marshmallows. This is such a fun little activity and it's so nice that they provide marshmallows. I think they also had smores kits available for purchase.

We had a couple marshmallows and then headed back inside for dinner.

Boma is always a great meal, so many fun things to try. This time I really loved the salmon, and all the salads. Buffet plates aren't exactly the most photogenic, but here's a plate of my salads.

And here's the dessert plate. The malva puddings at the top are so delicious. And I'm always down for bread pudding.

After dinner we still had more time to wait before our bus arrived. I readjusted my bags and changed into some warmer clothing for the journey home. This flight time was the cheapest and nonstop, but waiting around forever at AKL wasn't my favorite and I just really wanted a nap. Our Magical Express arrived at 7:40 and we were more than ready to leave.

We had a stop at Coronado Springs, and we could see the fireworks from Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam going off in the distance which was a nice way to say goodbye to Disney.

MCO was kind of a mess with construction, and the security line was SUPER long. Frustratingly they'd already shut down the TSA precheck line, which both of us had. But we made it through, and made it home just after midnight.


THE END.

Wow, I can't believe I actually finished this thing. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read and comment - you gave me the will to complete this! ​

 

[missangelalexis]

Aww I love your princess Disneybounds!!

I'm glad you shared your opinion about Jungle Cruise. I like it enough but it's also not my favorite and I always feel like I'm in the minority!

That stinks that it was raining during FoF but at least you got to see it!

Looks like the sun came out as you were leaving!

I've never been to Wilderness Lodge but I'd really like to one day, it looks like a beautiful resort.

Great seats at Hoop! Looks like it was a lot of fun.

Riding Mine train during the fireworks definitely sounds cool! I've always wanted to try riding something during the fireworks but it never ends up happening.

Cute pics with Rapunzel & Tiana! And I love all the nighttime pics, the dreamlights really are such a magical sight!!

Sounds like a great last park day at AK! Lots of cute PP pics! And the otters, AWWW!! How lucky to get another day of FP for FoP!

Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed reading along!! I hope you will done a TR for your next trip

 

[wrestlingchick26]

I’m sad your report is over loved reading about your trip.

 

[Raeven]

Nobody was terribly thrilled with their meals - definitely one of the weakest meals of the trip. I would even guess that this was probably Shebl's least favorite meal. She was super unimpressed. But at least it's a cool setting!

That's how we felt about the BOG lunch too. But I do love it how it looks at Christmastime!

This flight time was the cheapest and nonstop, but waiting around forever at AKL wasn't my favorite and I just really wanted a nap. Our Magical Express arrived at 7:40 and we were more than ready to leave.

Same. In May we picked a later flight, and not wanting to be late for leaving and not having much to do because the parks were really crowded/it was raining we sat in the lobby at AKL, and there was a lot of waiting around but I do like having another full day there and those flights are usually cheap/nonstop so we're doing the same thing next time too.

 

[paradesintherain]

Aww I love your princess Disneybounds!!

I'm glad you shared your opinion about Jungle Cruise. I like it enough but it's also not my favorite and I always feel like I'm in the minority!

That stinks that it was raining during FoF but at least you got to see it!

Looks like the sun came out as you were leaving!

I've never been to Wilderness Lodge but I'd really like to one day, it looks like a beautiful resort.

Great seats at Hoop! Looks like it was a lot of fun.

Riding Mine train during the fireworks definitely sounds cool! I've always wanted to try riding something during the fireworks but it never ends up happening.

Cute pics with Rapunzel & Tiana! And I love all the nighttime pics, the dreamlights really are such a magical sight!!

Sounds like a great last park day at AK! Lots of cute PP pics! And the otters, AWWW!! How lucky to get another day of FP for FoP!

Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed reading along!! I hope you will done a TR for your next trip

Yes another person underwhelmed with Jungle Cruise!! I feel like everyone loves it.

The rain wasn't too bad during FoF, it was still a fun experience - nothing like the famous Florida downpours, thankfully!!

Hoop is the best, and Wilderness is great too. I'd love to stay there one day too.

There's so much luck involved with getting on a ride during fireworks, but it's pretty great when it can happen. Splash is fun too!

I saw you got lucky with FoP too! I think I'm really a fan of MDE.

Thank you so much for reading along! It was a long one! I'm thinking I will do one for my next trip; I'll know more of what to keep track of in my notes, and after a 13 day trip 6 days will be a breeze haha!

I’m sad your report is over loved reading about your trip.

Thank you for reading! I leave for my next trip in 10 days and I'll probably do a TR for that too!

That's how we felt about the BOG lunch too. But I do love it how it looks at Christmastime!



Same. In May we picked a later flight, and not wanting to be late for leaving and not having much to do because the parks were really crowded/it was raining we sat in the lobby at AKL, and there was a lot of waiting around but I do like having another full day there and those flights are usually cheap/nonstop so we're doing the same thing next time too.

I decided I was done with BOG, but of course I saw a reservation and booked it. Old habits die hard haha

I would probably do a late flight again and spend more time in the parks. I was just sooo tired and kept thinking that I wanted to take a nap but we had no room to nap in!

 

[Jasperann]

Just read the whole report over the last two days. Thank you so much for writing. Look forward to hearing about your time in March!

 

[paradesintherain]

Just read the whole report over the last two days. Thank you so much for writing. Look forward to hearing about your time in March!

Thank you! I leave today (in about 7 hours). Unfortunately I've spent all of Monday with a stomach bug so here's hoping for the best...

 

[richmo]

Thank you! I leave today (in about 7 hours). Unfortunately I've spent all of Monday with a stomach bug so here's hoping for the best...

Hope you're feeling better and have a great trip! How long is this one?

 

[paradesintherain]

Hope you're feeling better and have a great trip! How long is this one?

Thanks, I feel mostly better this morning but maybe a little fragile. This one is just March 6-12, no marathon trip this time!

 

[richmo]

Thanks, I feel mostly better this morning but maybe a little fragile. This one is just March 6-12, no marathon trip this time!

Glad to hear you're doing a little better; at least you'll be good to travel. Nothing spicy today! I'll just miss you...heading down on the 16th...

 

[Tigger's ally]

Great trip report. Enjoyed it for all the pics and the one with your dad by himself smiling real big is pretty much what i look like now when traveling with my grandtinker! Thanks for sharing your great trip.

 

[dnllmz]

Great report! Thanks for sharing.

 

[DVCGreg]

Day 1, October 31st - Getting there

​

The first day was our travel day. I worked until about 7:15 am (I'm a nurse who works 12 hour night shifts) and then slept until about 2 pm. While I was getting ready I got a text that our room was ready, room 2147. I looked it up and it wasn’t a river view room like I had requested, but I didn’t expect to get my request since we had booked garden view. I was excited at how close the room looked to everything, though. Pretty amusing that I hadn’t even left for the airport and our room was ready! Dad picked me up, I kissed my cats goodbye and we made the short drive to the airport.


This is Merida. Suitcases are the best cat beds ever, in case you weren't aware.

And Princess Leia, who kindly made sure that all my clothes were properly covered in cat hair before the trip. So thoughtful of her!

I had a pepperoni pizza from California Pizza Kitchen, it was good but greasy. I didn't take a picture, but don't worry, I got better at remembering food pictures! Our plane departed right on time at 5:05 pm. It wasn't a full flight, so Dad and I had a row to ourselves. I watched Moana on the flight.

Southwest was giving out free drinks since it was Halloween, so I got a Blood Mary

We landed in Orlando with no issues and took the fake-o-rail to retrieve our bags. I claimed the coveted window seat.

The line for Magical Express was completely empty, and we boarded our bus fairly quickly.

We got the front seat, but it wasn't quite as neat at night. I did get the shot of the most magical gates!

The bus driver was really strange and tried telling me that there were no longer Fastpasses for the Pandora rides because the lines got so long, which I obviously knew was incorrect. Luckily, we were the first stop. We had arrived at our home for the next 3 days, Port Orleans French Quarter!

I really liked the online check-in. Being able to walk directly to our room was nice as it was already about 9 pm. And the room was even closer than I thought! Probably less than a minute walk to the lobby. The whole time we stayed there I couldn’t get over how great the room location was. First impression of the room was that it was clean and nice, but maybe a bit tired. I had no specific issues, but I’d say it’s definitely about time for the scheduled soft goods refurb.

I was pretty hungry so we went to the food court.

Some of the stations had just closed, including the station with muffulettas. I asked a CM if there was any chance they had any left and she kindly went and checked and actually brought me one back! I was so happy! I have a deep love for New Orleans and Louisiana and all the southern food, especially muffulettas - which is what I'm eating in the introductory photo I posted. Of course I picked up a King's Cake too, though I didn't even try it this night. I also grabbed a refillable mug – I wish they were still resort specific, but oh well. The muffuletta was huge and satisfying; not as good as muffulettas from Central Grocery Co in New Orleans but that’s a given. The french fries were exceptional! They put some sort of seasoning on them that really makes them stand out above other Disney fries.

I think dad stayed in the bar and had a drink, but I was very tired at this point so I went back to the room to relax and get ready for bed. I definitely had to watch some Must Do Disney. I love that show, but Stacey also gives me a lot of secondhand embarrassment!

The mattress wasn't the nicest, seemed on its last legs, but it did the trick and was for sure better than the pull out sofa that I slept on at AKL (foreshadowing!)


continued...​

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I Love how the lights on the gates look like they are coming right out of the night! Awesome Picture!!

~DVC Greg
#dvcrentals