Mom, Dad isn't listening! WDW in July, another great trip! Updated final chapter

[MeMom]

Hanging out at Pop and AoA is not a bad way to spend an evening. I appreciate more and more our down time on trips. Sometimes just sitting out at a table by the pool talking with family and friends is one of the nicest memories of a trip.

You were right there at Everything Pop and took zero merchandise pictures??? Thanks for thinking of me, man.....

Next time I am at Everything Pop, there will be a huge Christmas tree in front of it.

 

[declansdad]

Hanging out at Pop and AoA is not a bad way to spend an evening. I appreciate more and more our down time on trips. Sometimes just sitting out at a table by the pool talking with family and friends is one of the nicest memories of a trip.

You were right there at Everything Pop and took zero merchandise pictures??? Thanks for thinking of me, man.....

Next time I am at Everything Pop, there will be a huge Christmas tree in front of it.

Sorry I thought you had all the merchandise pictures from Everything Pop.

 

[afwdwfan]

however, the green side is lame.

I hope you like sleeping on the couch.

She says come with me and we head for the TT gift shop, through the car showroom and back to the area where you get off the ride. I wait at the bottom of the stairs while she heads to the backstage area. After a couple of minutes she returns and asks me to describe the image on the screen. When I do she hands me the phone and I thank her. Losing this phone would not have been good, not only would we have been out of contact but it also belongs to work. I didn’t want to have to pay to replace a blackberry.

I'm glad they found it and you were able to get it back. That could really ruin your day quickly.

I have to say though, I looked at my phone to see what the image even is when I open the screen up. I just have one of the default pictures and I don't even remember what it was.

Train wreck in Germany

The horror!!!!

Declan needed a churro.

mmmm... churros.

Now I need a churro.

Thanks.

This chapter will simply be a photo essay of the evening. Enjoy!

I always enjoy POP and it is great to see AoA! Can't wait to visit it myself!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

It was great that she joined us, always nice to do the rides together; however, the green side is lame.

Yeah, I always do the green side, and--hey!

We all like this ride, one of our favourites and what makes it even better is not having to stand in what I think is the worse stand-by queue at WDW. I really hate this line, even a short wait seems like an eternity.

I agree. I get the feeling Disney didn't realize how popular Soarin' would be and the queue was just an afterthought.

I didn’t want to have to pay to replace a blackberry.

Understandable. I guess if you'd lost it, you could run around to the other Lost & Found locations and take a wild guess on background screens.

Train wreck in Germany

What will we do for our next chapter? We had no park visit to finish the day so we won’t know where to go.

Time for Disney bus roulette!

I have to say though, I looked at my phone to see what the image even is when I open the screen up. I just have one of the default pictures and I don't even remember what it was.

A dead screen due to saltwater?

 

[declansdad]

I hope you like sleeping on the couch.


I'm glad they found it and you were able to get it back. That could really ruin your day quickly.

I have to say though, I looked at my phone to see what the image even is when I open the screen up. I just have one of the default pictures and I don't even remember what it was.


The horror!!!!


mmmm... churros.

Now I need a churro.

Thanks.


I always enjoy POP and it is great to see AoA! Can't wait to visit it myself!

The blackberry screen was an easy one, it is a picture taken just before we got on the Disney Dream.

The changed the churros in Mexico. They no longer come as one big one but they are cut into a few pieces.

 

[declansdad]

Yeah, I always do the green side, and--hey!



I agree. I get the feeling Disney didn't realize how popular Soarin' would be and the queue was just an afterthought.



Understandable. I guess if you'd lost it, you could run around to the other Lost & Found locations and take a wild guess on background screens.







Time for Disney bus roulette!



A dead screen due to saltwater?

And the Soarin' queue is worse if there is a long wait. I would rather watch paint dry.

 

[declansdad]

Chapter 11 – The Tradition continues

So this morning would bring us to MK to continue a tradition that we have, eating at Crystal Palace. Just about every trip we take involves a stop at Crystal Palace, usually for breakfast and as often as possible, before the park opens. There is nothing like walking up Main Street without the crowds.


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The ADR was for 8:10, so we checked in and waited maybe 5 minutes to be called. I think we were one of the first few families to be seated. The characters started shortly after we each got back from the buffet.


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Sorry about the shots being a bit blurry, Declan had the camera again and I didn’t catch it until it was too late; I was too busy eating bacon.


After finishing up we made our way to......................................... the monorail. Yes that’s right, the monorail. We entered MK before opening and left just after rope drop. This was our second last day and we planned on closing the trip at MK tomorrow. So where would the monorail takes you ask. Hmmm.....let’s see.


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Bet you didn’t know you could take the monorail from MK to AK.


It was around 10 when we arrived so we head for Kali to grab some FPs and then made our way to EE. We decided to once again use the single rider line and by 11 am Declan and I had rode 6 times while Pooskma had made 5 loops. There was another gentleman in line with us for 3 of the rides but he said he had to get back to his family before they started wondering where he went.
After our many rides through the mountain we made our way to Kali. The standby line was quite long at this point but with the FPs we breezed right through.


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We managed to survive the plunge without getting soaked and made our way through the Jungle to check out the animals.

Back later to finish the day.

 

[declansdad]

The Jungle Trek is a nice little hike, especially when it isn’t too hot and humid. It was warm on this day but not like some of our other summer trips.

On this trek, we saw a dragon


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A snake


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Well part of a snake from the looks of that picture.

Some bats


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I don’t know why but I could stand and watch these bats for hours. They are so cool looking.

A hungry tiger


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A sleeping tiger


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The hungry tiger’s lunch


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A playful tiger


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And a lot of birds.


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After our trek, we were able to make it to FOTLK while having a nice cool snack along the way. The got there just before they started and a CM was nice enough to sit us in the 2nd row of the lion section. This is my favourite WDW show and I love when we get to sit up close.


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My favourite part of the show


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It will be interesting to see if the show is set up in the same way when they move the theater.

After the show we decided we would do one more ride before heading out.....I wonder what we could ride again.


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Once again using the single rider line; what a great way to ride EE.

After that our only stop was the mercantile so Declan could pick up a gift for a friend and we headed back to the resort.

For our evening adventure we made a trip to DTD and decided to catch a movie at the AMC dine-in theater. This was a new experience for us (the dine-in part) and I would highly recommend it. We kept it pretty simple but all the smells from everyone else made us hungry. So after a bit of shopping we stopped at the Earl of Sandwich for some take-out on the way to the bus.

Unfortunately, the next chapter will bring us to the end of our trip. I am hoping to get this report wrapped up some time this weekend. Later all.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Catching up. Great shots! And there are a few posts; so I probably will just catch up rather than commenting too much on everything.

 

[declansdad]

Catching up. Great shots! And there are a few posts; so I probably will just catch up rather than commenting too much on everything.

Welcome back. I hope you had a fantastic trip.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Those are some amazing pictures of an extremely empty Main Street As I was looking at the pictures inside CP I went to get my glasses cause I thought the blur was my sleepy eyes

 

[PrincessInOz]

Welcome back. I hope you had a fantastic trip.

Thanks.

 

[MeMom]

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Nice picture of an empty Main Street!

Bet you didn’t know you could take the monorail from MK to AK.

Oh yeah, the back way - monorail to big critter holding area, jeep to front of park...

It was around 10 when we arrived so we head for Kali to grab some FPs and then made our way to EE. We decided to once again use the single rider line and by 11 am Declan and I had rode 6 times while Pooskma had made 5 loops. There was another gentleman in line with us for 3 of the rides but he said he had to get back to his family before they started wondering where he went.

I have ridden Everest once. That is enough to last me the next 5-10 years.

After our many rides through the mountain we made our way to Kali. The standby line was quite long at this point but with the FPs we breezed right through.

Now this I could handle six times in a row. Love the ride. Don't love getting wet. Poncho up!


There is so much to photograph in Animal Kingdom - so many details and so much culture to capture. I love taking pictures in this park.

 

[afwdwfan]

I keep booking early morning ADR's at Crystal Palace, but there's always something that changes after 180 days that makes us re-arrange part of the schedule and we always seem to have to cancel that ADR. I guess maybe it just isn't meant to be for us.

Great job getting so many rides in on EE!!!

 

[declansdad]

Those are some amazing pictures of an extremely empty Main Street As I was looking at the pictures inside CP I went to get my glasses cause I thought the blur was my sleepy eyes

No it really was your sleepy eyes.

 

[declansdad]

Oh yeah, the back way - monorail to big critter holding area, jeep to front of park...



There is so much to photograph in Animal Kingdom - so many details and so much culture to capture. I love taking pictures in this park.

I see you have used that monorail before; not many people know of it.

I agree with you about AK, so many things to photograph.

 

[declansdad]

I keep booking early morning ADR's at Crystal Palace, but there's always something that changes after 180 days that makes us re-arrange part of the schedule and we always seem to have to cancel that ADR. I guess maybe it just isn't meant to be for us.

Great job getting so many rides in on EE!!!

I was getting a bit dizzy by the end of all those rides.


Don't change your next ADR, it is worth it to get in early.

 

[declansdad]

Chapter 12 – The Final Countdown

So here we are at our last day in WDW, always a sad day.

It started very early for me as I couldn’t get the online check-in for Southwest to work on my phone the night before and for some reason the online check boarding passes Disney had left for us didn’t include one for Pooksma. So around 5 am (when they opened) I was up and over to the desk to get checked in. I went to luggage services where the sign was, something on their computer was working right so they sent me inside to the main counter. They said we can’t help you our terminals won’t connect to that site, you need to go back outside. So back out I went and told them they sent me back to you. In the end, they rechecked us all from the computer inside the luggage area and I made my way back to the room, boarding passes in hand.

After we all cleaned up and made sure the last of our stuff was packed, we said goodbye to our room for the final time and made our way to the food court for some breakfast, dropped off the bags at the airline check-in counter and hoped on the bus to MK.

I headed to Space Mountain to get some FPs and a nice lady decided she had 4 that she didn’t need and gave them to me so I didn’t need to get anymore.

We wandered around a bit avoiding the showers.


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Eventually we made our way here


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When we exited the mountain we gave Declan the other FP and he went for another ride. While waiting Pooksma and I say this guy escaping.


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Took another spin on one of our favourite rides


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Had a few laughs


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When we came out it was raining again so we decided to have some lunch at the Noodle Station.....I mean the


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This has been a running gag for us. Ever since our first trip I had wanted to eat at the Noodle Station but of course it was never open. This trip we notice that is open but alas it is no longer the Noodle Station.

Unfortunately with the rain many in the park decided it was a good time to eat and it got crowded fast. While waiting in line, one woman jumped the queue just after the order station and managed to screw everything up. Of course she then came back and butted in front again because her order was wrong.

After eating we headed for


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We did POTC for one last time and then Declan and Pooksma tried out the Pirate Adventure while I tagged along and took photos.


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They completed a couple of missions before we decided it was time to make our way to the exit but not before stopping for these

We made our way up Main St, doing some shopping and photo taking


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One last look back


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And then it was done.

We headed back to Pop, picked up our carry-on luggage and waited for the UnMagical Express. Before long we were at the airport, through security and waiting for our flight back. An uneventful flight back I might add.

We arrived in Portland around 11 pm, pick up our one bag, paid our parking fee and headed for our hotel for the night. The next day we picked our way back through the shopping meccas of Maine and made it home early in the evening.

Another trip in the books.

 

[PrincessInOz]

What a great trip and what a full last day.

I'm so envious of your last snack. Sadly for me, I kept putting it off and in the never got one of those either at DLR nor at WDW (hangs head in shame). But on the plus side, it means that I have unfinished business with Disney.

Thanks for sharing your trip. Really enjoyed re-living it with you.

 

[MeMom]

We have not done the Pirate Adventure. I am thinking it might possibly be something we can do in December when crowds are big and lines are long.

Great pictures from Magic Kingdom. Sad to see you leave.