My God why do I keep sweating so much?!? Our little spring trip report. April 14-19

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

Our little Spring trip trip report

Who went: Me and DH No kids this time.
Details: Staying off site at the Quality Suites Lake Buena Vista in a one bedroom suite. Plan on doing 3 Disney parks and 2 Universal parks, Blue Man Group and Cirque Du Soleil. Car rental reservation through Priceline for a mid size car with Advantage car rentals.
Dining reservations at Rose and Crown, 50's Prime Time, House of Blues and the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert party. Also on the dining agenda, Bubba Gump's at City Walk.


DAY 1- Sunday, April 14th, 2013

For some reason Southwest has made the only non-stop flight of the day between my airport and MCO a late evening flight (which sucks). Our flight was scheduled to leave at 5:55 pm. We were anxiously awaiting our flight all day. It is torture to sit and WAIT when you are so excited to go and get your vacation started. I don't know why we can't be like some major airports and have early morning flights. That gives you a whole extra day because you get into town so early. But that is not in the cards for us. ANYWAY.

I checked my email about 4 pm and had gotten an email from Southwest saying our flight was going to be delayed and not actually leave until 6:25 pm. Delaying it by 30 minutes. So I told DH we can leave 30 minutes later than we planned because our flight is delayed. Then for some unknown reason after we had already delayed our departure by 30 minutes we got ANOTHER email from Southwest saying OOPS OK the plane is actually leaving at 6 pm. Which is only 5 minutes delayed from it's original time.

Fortunately I always get to the airport about 90 minutes before my flight so we had enough time to get checked in and get to the gate with about 30 minutes to spare. Southwest boards 30 minutes prior to departure.

Since this was a kind of last minute trip we had only bought our plane tickets about 3 and a half weeks prior to leaving. So I knew even though we bought early bird check in that we might not have really great boarding numbers. But we actually got A33 and A34. Not too bad considering how little notice we bought the tickets on. We were still able to sit very close to the front of the plane. Row 4. And DH sat at the window and I sat in the aisle seat and we were lucky that nobody tried to sit between us. I always dread that. We have that happen sometimes. People who don't want to pay for EBCI board the plane last then want to sit right up front with the people who paid extra money to ensure the good seats. Kind of a pet peeve of mine.

The flight was really turbulent. We flew into some bad weather getting into Orlando but for some reason the whole flight was bumpy. We arrived into MCO about 15 minutes late and headed downstairs to the baggage claim to pick up our luggage. Now I know flying into a big airport like MCO where you land at one terminal but have to pick up your bags at another terminal that it takes a few minutes for them to get the bags unloaded and transferred over to the other terminal. But we kept standing there 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour. I was getting really ticked off. I had never had bags take this long ever in my life. I guess someone went into the baggage office and complained and they finally made an announcement over the speakers saying “ those of you from flight 351 there has been a delay with your bags and we will have them out to you momentarily.” IT TOOK THEM ONE HOUR before they ever said there was a problem. Another 15 minutes passed, 20 minutes, 30 minutes. At this point we had been waiting for an hour and 45 minutes and we saw ppl going into the baggage office really complaining loudly and furiously. They finally admitted to us that the cargo door on the plane had gotten stuck and they couldn't get it open and our bags would be up in just a few minutes. At the 2 hour mark when the only people left sitting and standing around the baggage claim was people from flight 351, the baggage carousel finally started moving and bags started coming out. I was hot and sweaty and pissed off. It was very hot and humid in the lower level of the airport for some reason and I was very irritated being so delayed. It was 11pm before we finally got our bags.

While we were waiting for our bags DH went downstairs to the car rental counters to check in for our car and sign the contract and get the keys, etc to save us some time when our bags finally came. He came back up irritated and said that Advantage rental cars, who we booked a car through Priceline with, was no longer IN TERMINAL at MCO. They always have been every time we used them. Nobody notified us that they were now off property and you had to be shuttled to their location from the airport. I was at my wit's end. I got on my phone, went to Priceline and booked a last minute car through Alamo, who was in terminal. And had to pay full price. You don't get any discount by booking the day you need the car. So instead of $15 a day we paid $35 a day. GREAT!!

After we got the car DH and I were both starving. It had been about 8 hours since we had last eaten and we had not even gotten to the hotel yet. So we stopped by McDonald's on the corner by the hotel and DH got some nuggets and I ordered a Caesar salad. I had never tried a McD's salad before and I wasn't missing anything. We got checked into the room and got our bags upstairs and I tried the salad. It was disgusting. It was suppose to be a Caesar salad but it had shaved Carrots and Cherry Tomatoes on it. They used Iceberg lettuce. WHO USES ICEBERG LETTUCE ANYMORE?!? But that is just an FYI for those of you who have never had a salad from McD's before. You aren't missing anything. We finally got to bed at around 12:30 am.

Up tomorrow our first park day at Epcot.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

DAY 2- Officially Day 1- April 15th, 2013 Monday

We woke up at 6:15 and went down to the hotel breakfast area to have breakfast. They had Eggs and Sausage, make your own Waffles, Toast and danishes, muffins and cereal. Just regular breakfast items. Jeremy had Eggs and Sausage and I had a Waffle. Then we went back up to the room to kill some time and wait until time to leave for Epcot.

We got to Epcot at 8:30 and was let in about 8:45. We went to the Land building and got a fastpass for Soarin' first thing then walked over to ride the new Test Track stand by. The stand by line said the wait was 20 minutes. It actually ended up being about 25 minutes. That is the longest we have ever waited for a ride.

The new Test Track queue was not quite as busy and interesting as the old queue was. When you finally got into the car design room two of the machines we tired to use were froze up then when we finally got one that worked it didn't work right so we just abandoned the design your own car part and waited for them to open the doors to get in the final part of the queue.

I have read on the boards a lot of people complaining that they think the new Test Track sucked or they hated it and felt like Disney ruined a good thing by redoing TT. DH and I kind of liked the new test track. For one you didn't have to stand through that boring pre-ride video. I hated that. And now instead of going through the different tests at the beginning of the ride it kind of whizzes you through turning corners real fast and just seems a little more fun that bumping over bumps and going through a hot and cold room. The track part obviously stayed the same. Nothing had changed about that part. But DH said he thinks the track part of it was faster than what it use to be because we got up to 65 miles an hour this time. He said he never remembers it getting over the high 50's on the old ride. SO we liked it.

After TT we rode Nemo then went back to use our fastpasses for Soarin'. By this time it was already pretty hot outside and I was getting a little sweaty. The humidity was bad. It only got up to 88 degrees every day but the humidity made it feel like 95 degrees or more. I don't tolerate heat very well and even though Jeremy can usually tolerate heat very well back here at home, even he was uncomfortable during our trip this time. We went during the same week last year and I don't remember it being near as hot or humid as this year. I guess that is the unpredictable weather of Florida.

After we rode Soarin' we went over to the Electric Umbrella to eat. I know everybody is in love with Sunshine Seasons but we prefer Electric Umbrella.
DH had Chicken Nuggets and I had a Caesar salad. ($21)

After eating we went on back to World Showcase.

We rode the boats in Mexico and Norway and stopped at the France bakery to have a snack. DH had the Strawberry Parfait and I had a Napoleon. The Napoleons are not the same and are not as good now that they opened the new bakery. (You can still have a great Napoleon at Starring Rolls in Hollywood Studios. They have the good original Napoleon). We watched the movie in China and didn't really stop any where else. The only things I would have done if it were not too hot to stay was to watch the movies in France and Canada. (I have seen them before though) Mostly World Showcase is a lot of restaurants and a few bakeries. We didn't go into any shops.

By 1 pm we were just too hot so we left and went back to the room for a rest and to cool off.

We had Chili's for dinner. ($36 + tip) And we stopped by the store to get drinks and snacks for the room.

Up next tomorrow Island of Adventure.

 

[wiigirl]

In for your TR.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

Day 3 (Officially park day #2) Tuesday, April 16th, 2013

We had breakfast at the hotel. I decided I was really tired of the make your own Waffle. They are too thick. Like Belgium Waffles and I don't like that. I prefer thin Waffles. So I had some mini muffins instead; Blueberry and Banana Nut. I made DH a Waffle though and he also had Sausage and Eggs. FYI, if you ever stay at Quality Suites Lake Buena Vista I think they are now using powdered Eggs or something like that. These Eggs looked weird. Kind of like small curd Cottage Cheese only Yellow. DH didn't complain about them though so they can't be bad. He is pretty picky about food.

We headed over to Island of Adventure this morning. Instead of being able just to go to the turnstile we had to get in line and go to the ticket counter to get DH's season pass reprinted. Last time we were here back in October he didn't think we were going to renew our passes this year so he chucked his season pass in the garbage. When I called Universal customer service to see about getting one reissued they said they cannot mail out a new one that he would have to get one reprinted when we got to the park. We didn't have to wait in line long but once she reprinted the pass for him she kind of scolded him like a child and told him make sure you don't lose this one because the next one we reprint for you will cost you $10.

We were admitted into the park about 15 minutes before official opening but with the on site hotel guests getting one hour early entry the Harry Potter area already had quite a few people back there. It was only 9 am but it was already humid as hell and very hot. I was uncomfortable. (It doesn't help that you have to walk MILES through City Walk and from the parking garage to even get to the parks) We went directly to Forbidden Journey. We never go into Olivander's for the wand show because we just aren't interested in it. I had taken a Antivert (Meclizine- prescription motion sickness meds that you can also get over the counter) right when I woke up just to get it in my system, then I took another one right as we pulled into the parking garage. But even having taken 2 motion sickness pills, Forbidden Journey still got me dizzy and queasy. DH said he got a little queasy too. We both shut our eyes about half way through. It's a wonderful ride. One of my favorite. But if you are prone to motion sickness in any way at all, this ride can get your stirred up.

We finished riding Forbidden Journey and decided to ride the little baby coaster Hippogriff. I like the ride. I just wish it lasted longer. I think it may last 45 seconds tops. You go around a few curves and you are right back at the loading dock. I know it was probably meant more for the littler people but all I ever see riding it are adults. We didn't ride Dragon Challenge at all. I rode it once but it has too many loops and it gets me really dizzy where I stay dizzy for an hour or two after I get off of it. Maybe if I got in line to sit on the front row, where you can see what is coming, it might affect me less but I haven't tried that. The walk from the entrance of Dragon Challenge back to where you actually get on the ride has to be at least a ¼ of a mile. It is a LONG WALK to get on the Dragon Challenge. There is a long walk to get on Forbidden Journey but you are inside the castle in air conditioning (except for the green house area) so it doesn't seem as bad. The walk back to Dragon Challenge seems uphill and hot. So we skipped that.

We decided it was time to go ahead and get our Butter beer We have one every trip. I use to only get the liquid version of the Butter beer and was never really a big fan of it but once I tried the frozen version I loved it and now I want one every time we go. The liquid version just tastes like Cream Soda, which is basically what it is. But the frozen version tastes like it has a more Butterscotch flavor mixed into it instead of just in the foam on top of it. But we got our Butter beer and decided to move on and walk towards Jurassic Park area.

We don't ride the Jurassic water ride, it gets you too wet, but we were walking that direction headed for Spider man We made it around to Spider man and it said there was only a 10 minute wait so we went in and basically walked straight through the line right up until the loading area. We had to wait maybe 2 or 3 minutes and then we boarded. I love the Spider Man ride. I don't like getting wet but it is just a tiny spray so I overlook it.

After Spider Man we walked back around past Hulk and past the entrance and went back around to the Seuss area. We walk right through Seuss getting to the Harry Potter area but we never stop there first thing. But I love riding The Cat in the Hat ride. I ride it every trip. I sometimes try to ride the little sky coaster thing but the wait times for that can get out of control even during slow times so we skipped that this time.

After you get off Cat in the Hat it dumps you into a gift shop (Like most other rides at IOA and US) so I looked around and decided to get my 2 youngest kids a T-Shirt. I have a THING1 shirt so I was going to get them THING 2 and THING 3 shirts but they didn't have the right shirts in the right size. So I got my DS12 a Thing 4 shirt and DD 13 a THING 3 shirt. I also stopped into the Seuss candy shop and got the kid each 2 of those long tubes you fill with candy powder. They love those things. I was going to get the kids each a Chocolate frog from Honey dukes back in the Harry Potter area but it was hot. I was sweaty and by the time we came out of the Seuss candy shop we had only been at the park for about 2.5 hours but we were really ready to go. So we left the park and headed to CiCi's Pizza for lunch. CiCi's is suppose to be dirt cheap to eat at but it's not anymore. It is $7 each for the buffet and $2.50 each for drinks. So it was $20 for 2 ppl to have the buffet. We realized while we were sitting there that there was a sign on the wall that said you can get a large 15 inch Pizza to go with one topping for $5.99. We were like WHAT?!? We could have just gotten a Pizza to go for $6 and fed both of us back at the room. But once we realized it we kept that in mind for something to gt later in the week if a food crisis arose!

It was Tuesday and Tuesday is the day that Redbox releases it's new movies for the week so I got on the Redbox app on my phone and searched for the closest Redbox kiosk to where we were at the moment and found one just 2 blocks up the street at the 7-11 store on the corner. So we headed up to Redbox and I rented Django Unchained and The Hobbit. There was not a DVD player in the room but DH had his laptop so we were going to watch one movie today and one movie tomorrow on our nap break and take them back tomorrow night.

We got back to the room and watched Django Unchained then lay down for a quick nap before heading out for the night.

Our plans for tonight are to go eat at Bubba Gump's and go see Blue Man Group so we headed back to Universal's parking garage to start our evening plans. We didn't have to pay for parking because DH has the good season pass that gets you free parking. (I have the cheap season pass that only gets you into the park and no other perks) We got to Bubba Gump's at around 5:30 and it was not packed like I thought it would be. We were seated immediately and waited on very quick. I told DH this eating experience wasn't going to take near as long as I thought so we were going to have some time to kill before going to Blue Man Group at 8. We ordered and ate. DH had the Fish and Chips and I had the Caesar Salad with spicy Cajun Shrimp. ($37 + tip)

Once we were done eating we decided to go into Universal for a few minutes. We didn't want to ride everything since we planned on coming back Thursday for a day here but we decided to ride Despicable Me. I love that movie and last trip here I bought a Yellow minion hoodie from the Despicable Me gift shop. After we rode that we walked around for a bit and walked the length of the whole park and back around. I wanted to ride Mummy but DH said let's just save that ride for Thursday. So we didn't ride anything else we just people watched. We headed towards the exit and I stopped into the Universal candy shop and bought the kids each a huge piece of Pecan Fudge and bought myself a cookie for later. DH got an ice cream cone to eat on the way to BMG.

About 7:10 we decided to head over to the Blue Man Group theater because all I had were vouchers I had bought online that had to be traded for actual tickets at the box office and I didn't know how long the line would be or how long it would take to get the tickets. We got to the box office about 7:20 and there was no line at all. I walked right up, handed her our vouchers and she handed me the tickets. She said the doors were open to the lobby so we could go ahead and go on in.

Now at this point it had been about 2 hours since I ate and my stomach was really burning (like heartburn) and I felt a little queasy. I probably shouldn't have eaten those spicy Shrimp I guess because it was really upsetting my stomach.

We went into the lobby and the ushers had the doors closed to the theater and said they would open the doors and let ppl go in at 7:30. So we stood there staring at the walls for 10 more minutes waiting to be let in. There is nothing interesting to look at while waiting to get into BMG. They have about 2 dozen monitors in the lobby as if they could have had something playing to keep your mind occupied while you wait but nothing. Just some background music. By the time they opened the doors and we went in to be seated I was really feeling very queasy and I thought to myself that there might be some sickness in my immediate future. I felt like I might throw up but it wasn't happening right then so I went ahead and went in to be seated.

We were in row G right in the center of the theater in both directions and center in the row. We were 11 rows from the stage. They have the first 4 rows numbered 1 through 4, then the next section of rows starts with A and goes through whatever letter the last row is. So row G for us was 11 rows back. I am glad I did not get front and center seats for this show because if you have tickets to sit in the first 4 rows they give you rain ponchos when you come in. They splash and splatter things on the stage and the first 4 rows tend to get wet and messy. I intentionally didn't pick the up close seats because I know at Cirque Du Soleil the up front seats are not the good seats because you have to crane your neck up all through the show to see what is going on. These front row seats at BMG weren't great either. So I was glad I picked seats in the center of the theater.

The show started at 8 and I already had an idea what some of the show was going to be because I had watched several videos of the show on You Tube to see if it was even something we would want to see. But I had told DH to not watch any videos himself so the whole show would be a surprise to him. The show is loud and colorful and very funny. It really keeps you occupied through the whole 90 minutes and there is never a dull moment.

I couldn't see my watch to know how long we had been sitting there watching the show but I knew the issue with my stomach was getting almost crisis mode and I knew it was time to get up and go to the bathroom. So close to the end of the show they have everyone stand up and dance so when everyone stood up I told DH I am going to go to the bathroom. And like I knew I would I did get sick. I must have been in the bathroom 6 or 7 minutes because when I got back I had missed the big stuff they do right at the end of the show and the show was wrapping up. I went back to my seat and watched the last 2 minutes of the show and DH told me YOU MISSED IT. (I wont' tell you what I messed in case you decide to go see the show someday I don't want to spoil any of it for you)

So the show was over. It was a really great show and I am glad we saw it. I had gone online and saw that you could get tickets through the Universal website for $84 each and told DH I wanted to buy us some tickets to it. He had told me to go ahead. But then that day, before I had a chance to buy the tickets, someone posted on the board in the Universal section that you could join Travel Zoo (for free) and get Blue Man Group tickets for 35% off. So I went and joined Travel Zoo and scored us the very same tickets in the very same section for $54 each instead of $84 each. We saved $60 because someone else decided to post the good deal on the message boards. So I was grateful and thanked the lady who posted it.

We went back to the room. We were both tired and crashed pretty soon after getting back to the room.

Up tomorrow Hollywood Studios in the am and Magic Kingdom in the pm.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

DAY 4- Officially Day 3- Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

We got up at 6:30 and had breakfast at the resort again. Jeremy had the same thing and I had the mini muffins again. Same old same old. Then we killed some time in the room until time to leave for Hollywood Studios.

We arrived at Hollywood Studios about 8:45 and was let in right away. DH took our tickets and headed straight for Toy Story to get us some fast passes while I headed right to Tower of Terror to ride it. (DH doesn't ride ToT so I always ride it by myself) He met me in the exit gift shop and we headed over to ride Rock N Roller Coaster. After RnR we walked around for a few minutes killing a little bit of time until our fast pass window opened up. Once the fast passes were valid we went on over to TSMM and rode it. DH always beats me with his score on that ride. No matter how hard I try to win he is just better at it than I am.

After Toy Story Midway Mania we went to Starring Rolls to have a snack. We got the exact same snacks here that we got at the France bakery in Epcot. I got a Napoleon and DH got a Strawberry Parfait. Only these snacks at Starring Rolls were much better than the ones we had at Epcot.

We walked around the park some more people watching then headed on over to ride Star Tours. And as usually, even though I took my anti-motion sickness meds this morning, Star Tours still got me dizzy and queasy so I had to close my eyes about 30 seconds into it. When it is just DH and I we only ride it once. If we have all the kids with us we usually ride it several times so they can have a few different ride combinations. They say there are about 50 different ride possibilities on Star Tours but I think we may have seen about 12 or 14 different ones. They ALL make me motion sick.

We had an 11:20 reservation to eat at 50's Prime Time but we were in that vicinity right at 11 when they opened so we went ahead and went in and they asked us to wait a minute. We sat on the couch for about 2 minutes then an elderly man started hollering for our last name kids party of 2. I thought it was cute because he was pretty elderly. He was on up there. Had to be at least 70 if not 75.

We had never been to eat here before but I had read others' reviews and trip reports describing the type of behavior that the servers exhibit. Right off the bat our server walked up, called us cousin, and told me no elbows on the table. He actually pulled up a chair and sat down next to my husband and started chatting with us about where we were from and what we do. Once Jeremy told him he was a captain of a river boat he seemed totally fascinated by it. I think our server was sweet on Jeremy to be honest because he was really looking him in the eye and chatting him up like an interested date. Lol.

Jeremy ordered the Fried Chicken and I ordered a Caesar salad with Salmon. ($38 + tip) Our waiter was very playful and funny and really scolded me when he walked by and I had my cell phone out. He said no gadgets at the table, so I placed it in my lap under the table and he said NOOOOO put it away!! He was really playing the role.

We left the park after lunch and headed back to the room for some cooling off, rest and a nap. (I rarely if ever nap at home but I was all over the naps in Orlando. One day I even laid down twice and took two small naps in the same day)

After our rest we got back out and took our movies we had rented yesterday back to Blockbuster. Both movies were good. Django Unchained and The Hobbit. They were both long. Django was 2 ½ hours long and The Hobbit was 3 hours long.

We were heading out to Magic Kingdom for a few rides and the Tomorrowland Terrace Wished fireworks dessert party.

First thing we did when we got to Magic Kingdom was go to Adventure Land and head to Aloha Isle and have some Dole Whip floats. I know you know what a Dole Whip float is but for those of you who have never had one, they are floats made with Pineapple juice and flavored soft serve. I usually get a float with Pineapple flavored soft serve and Pineapple juice. DH usually gets Vanilla soft serve. This time I decided to try the Orange soft serve and it was a pretty good combination with the Pineapple juice. It just wouldn't be a trip to Magic Kingdom without a Dole Whip float.

We decided since we had never seen the Enchanted Tiki Room animatronics show we would do that. That was a wasted 20 minutes I will never get back of my life. I can say I did it once but we will never do it again.

We rode a few different things and we tried to ride the new Under The Sea ride in the new Fantasy Land. We got in line and inched our way through the line (about 20 minutes worth of inching through the line) and when we got into the loading area they had the loading area roped off and were diverting people right back out the exit and not letting anybody on the ride. It had obviously broken down and they weren't even telling ppl anything they were just herding us out the exit. From the looks of the sea shell cars I just have to assume that the ride is something like Nemo at Epcot but I don't know because we never went back and tried to ride it that night.

We rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad twice. That is my favorite ride at MK. We got in line to ride Splash Mountain but of course the line wasn't moving and cars weren't coming down the chute so after about 7 minutes of just standing in one place we decided to just leave the line and get fast passes to come back. Well DH went to the left and went to the bathroom and I walked up the steps to use the fast pass machines and I didn't realize it until the fast passes were in my hand that I had just used the fast pass machine for BTMRR, not Splash. The location of the BTMRR fast passes are where the Splash fast passes should be. I was ticked off because I knew I couldn't get another fast pass until that one came to pass and I didn't want to wait 45 minutes in the standby line for Splash so we obviously weren't going to be riding Splash this trip. The last 2 trips we didn't get to ride it either because every time we tried and went to it, it was stopped and broke down.

About 7:45 we headed over towards Tomorrowland so that we would be in that area when it was time for the dessert party. I knew we wanted to be in that area before the parade started. We rode all the rides in Tomorrowland. We rode the People Mover and you usually are taken through a dark ride through the bowels of Space Mountain but this time we got a unique experience. Space was stopped/broken down and when we went through they had all the lights on in there and we actually got to see what the roller coaster looks like. It's amazing how much coaster they can get into such a small space.

We went into The Laugh Floor because none of us had ever done it before but we were actually cutting it kind of close. We were suppose to be at the dessert party at 9 and it was 8:45 and we were still in line for the show. On the monitors it tells you if you want to text them a joke it might be used in the show. To text your joke to so and so number with your name and city you are from using a keyword and then your joke. So I started texting in a joke and DH didn't know what I was doing so he was like WHO ARE YOU TEXTING? And I didn't answer him I was concentrating on my joke. So he peeked over and saw what I typed and he said OMG that is so stupid! Lol. My joke was, How do you wake up Lady Gaga? You POKER FACE. I know it is stupid but it was suppose to be stupid. There will be kids in there so you can't type up a A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR joke. So we went in and started watching the show and it is actually very funny. But we had to get up and leave at 9 so we didn't see all of it or even see if they used my joke or not. Next time we go we will be sure to see the Laugh Floor show all the way through.

So we left Laugh Floor at 9 and walked directly around the corner to Tomorrowland Terrace and signed in for the dessert party. They put armbands on us and showed us to our table and explained how the dessert party works. You get all your little desserts off the buffet and once it gets close to show time people take spots along the rail of the terrace until the show and fireworks are over. OK easy enough.

On the dessert buffet they had a pretty decent variety of desserts to choose from. They had mini Cheese cakes in 3 different flavors, cookies, brownies, Cannoli, Chocolate Peanut Butter mini tarts, ice cream and crème brulle. There were several other things but I don't remember now what they were. I should have written them all down that night. I tried the Cannoli (didn't like it), the Choc PB tart (didn't like it) one of the Cheesecakes, not knowing what it was (don't like Cheesecake). But I found the winner of the night with the crème brulee. I had never had it before but had read about how good it was so I tried it and loved it. I can't believe I have gone my whole life and never had it. And I am sure Disney crème brulee is probably not top of the line stuff. I am sure there are much better examples of it other places. I will absolutely try it if I ever go to a place that offers it.

The castle show was set to start at 9:45 so about 9:30 we went up to the rail and found our spot we wanted for watching the show. There was only one other lady with 2 kids at the rail at the time we went up there. By 9:45 when the show was about to start the rail was full of people from one side to the other. At some point this lady that had been standing there with her kids had decided to leave the rail and go find another plate full of desserts. They had actually cleaned off the buffet already but she went and had them get her some more stuff. So she shows back up right as the castle show is starting with a plate piled high like I have never seen with desserts.

She actually tried to scoot in beside me. Now you have to know I am not judging this woman, only telling you that she was very big. She appeared to be about 350 pounds. There was no way she was going to be able to scoot in beside me the rail was full. She had the nerve to ask me, and my husband tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention when she was talking to me and asked, could you possibly scooch over? There was no place to scooch over to. The rail was full. I guess she though I would step away from the rail and let her in there. I looked her right in the eyes and turned my head back to the castle and didn't say a word. But I also didn't move either. There was no way I was giving up my spot on the rail for her. She should have had her butt at the rail like everyone else. I paid my $25 just like she did and I got to the rail 15 minutes before the show so I was not moving for anybody. So she accepted the fact that she was not going to be up against the rail and stood back behind her kids. She could see just fine where she was.

The castle show they have now is very different from the last castle show I saw where they would project park goers pictures on the castle that the photopass photographers had taken during that day in the parks. The show is different and the music is different. I liked the old show better for some reason.

My only complain is that they wait too long in between the parade and castle show. Then wait too long between the castle show and the fireworks. They should do them one right after the other. It would be better and save people from having to stand in the crowds shoulder to shoulder with so many people for so long. After doing the dessert party and not having to fight for a spot 2 hours prior, and being able to walk up to the rail at the last minute and see the best view of the shows, I will probably never watch the fireworks from anywhere but the dessert party in the future. It is so worth the money it costs.

SO the fireworks started at 10. I love fireworks. And I love Wishes. I can't watch Wishes on You Tube without getting choked up and teary eyed. But for some reason watching it in person with 200 people right near me, I didn't get choked up. It seems like the music is not the same music as in 2011 or 2012. The music on the You Tube videos get me choked up the music in person didn't. I did however get Goose bumps about 5 or 6 times during the show.

On this night the park was actually staying open until 11. One hour past the fireworks show. But I don't think all the people in the park knew that because after the fireworks ended there was the mass exodus just like there is when the park closes at 10/at the time of the fireworks. It seems there weren't many people opting to stay in the park the extra hour.

By the time we got out of the turnstiles and looked up the monorail ramp there was already hundreds of people jammed into the line waiting for the monorail and it was all the way down the ramp. I knew if we went that way we would be waiting to get on the monorail for half and hour or more. So we went left and headed for the ferry boat back to TTC. We only stood waiting for about 5 minutes before they loaded the ferry with people and about 5 minutes longer to get us across the lagoon to the TTC. It is a much faster way of getting back to the TTC from Magic Kingdom than the monorail.

Once we got back to the TTC we didn't have far to go because we were parked in the AAA Diamond parking lot that is right next to the handicap parking. It is a very short walk so there was no need for us to take a tram.

Over all we had a very good day if you don't count how miserably hot it was and ended it with a bang! Literally!

Up tomorrow Universal by day and Cirque Du Soleil by night.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

Last 2 Days- Trip report- April 18th & 19th (Thursday & Friday)

4/18/13

Today we got up as usual and went downstairs and had breakfast and went back up to the room to wait until time to leave for Universal.

Once we got in the car and headed out for Universal I just though about how hot and sweaty I have been all week and the thought of one more hot and sweaty day just made me want to scream. I told DH once we were on our way. “Let's just not even go today. Let's just not go. Let's go back to the room and do nothing today and then we will get out and go to Cirque Du Soleil tonight”

I don't think he was too thrilled with that idea. He is not good at doing nothing. He needs to be constantly doing something all day every day. But he said OK and we turned around and headed back for the room.

As soon as we got there I went and laid back down for a short nap. I guess I didn't get enough sleep last night.

Around lunch time DH mentioned why don't we get one of those CiCi's Pizzas to go. The one that costs only $5.99. So I called in the order and DH went to pick it up. It was very good. The Pizza they make for you when you order a Pizza to go is much better quality than what they put out on the buffet. They use more sauce, more Cheese and more toppings. It was the best $6 we spent in a long time.

After lunch I laid back down and took my second nap of the day. I was just tired.

About 4:45 we headed out to Downtown Disney. We needed to be at the Cirque theater by 5:30 and it took 15 minutes to get there so that gave us an extra 30 minutes in case the parking lot right near the Cirque theater was closed and full and we had to park one parking lot down and walk back.

However when we got there the parking lot wasn't even half full. It was after all 5 pm on a Thursday afternoon. Not a big popular time for crowds at DTD.

We got parked and went to the theater and went in the gift shop and looked around a bit. I found a fridge magnet I wanted and I found a sale rack in the back of the store that had a cute T-Shirt for $17. I was all over that. Normally Cirque thinks very highly of their stuff and wants $40 for a T-Shirt. So to get one half price was a good score.

This time instead of category 2 seats 3 rows from the stage, I got us category 3 seats above the middle rail. We prefer the category 3 seats to the category 2 seats. There are some cat 2 seats that are above the middle rail in the high section but it doesn't give you the option to buy those online when you try to buy tickets. They try to force you to buy the seats that are too close to the stage. SO I opted for cat 3. We got the tickets on sale because I am a member of Club Cirque. (free to join) They had 35% off tickets. The sale actually started about one week before we left for our trip. I had been checking and checking with regular frequency and no sale was going on, but at the last minute the sale started and we bought the tickets. They were only $54 each.

The show was good. I enjoyed seeing it for a second time. The first and only other time I had seen the show was in October 2011.

After the show we had reservations for House of Blues at 8. (It was 7:30 when the show let out) So we went into House of Blues and asked what the wait would be and she said only about 10 minutes. But you can see the whole restaurant from the front door and ever single booth and table in the place was full. Not one empty seat. And I saw her list of people to call and there were about 8 groups before me. So we decided not to stay and wait. We decided we would just leave and go to the Chili's right near our hotel.

We got to Chili's and the very same girl that seated us 2 nights ago seated us tonight and she sat us in the very same booth. The very first booth when you turn right, right by the door. We ordered and ate ($32 + tip) and headed back to the hotel. We called it a night early because we are leaving tomorrow.


Friday- 4/19/13

I decided to skip breakfast this morning because any time I eat within 2 hours prior to a flight I get nauseated while I am on the flight. SO Jeremy went down and ate without me and I slept in until Jeremy woke me up at 8 o'clock. Our flight leaves at 12 so we really needed to be at the airport dropping off the rental car by 10. So we left out around 9:30 and headed to the gas station to fill up the rental car with gas. By the time we got to the airport and got the car returned it was 10 am. I like to be at MCO at least 2 hours prior to departure because it has taken me an hour to get through security there before. And today was no different. Thousands of people there trying to get through security. And Southwest boards 30 minutes prior to departure so we only had about 30 minutes to spare once we got into the airport.

Jeremy got us 2 Smoothie King smoothies. We always get one before heading back home because we don't have a Smoothie King here. I get Pineapple Surf, which is an awesome smoothie. The best I have ever had. It is made with Strawberries, Pineapple and Kiwi and they put in 2 scoops of Vanilla Protein powder that gives it a smooth Vanilla taste. Yum. It's a good thing we don't have one here (we use to but they went out of business) because I would probably have one daily.

The flight home was uneventful and we landed right on time. We went down to the luggage claim area and within 5 minutes our bags started coming through. Nothing like that 2 hour mess we had on arrival at MCO on Sunday.

We were both hungry so we decided to stop at Ruby Tuesday on the way home and get a quick bite. The drive home from the airport is one hour and Jeremy hadn't eaten since 7 am and I hadn't eaten at all. Stopping there was a mistake. It was the worst, slowest service I think I have ever had. It took forever. I think the server was new because she was doing a horrible job and she had 2 or 3 different ppl that ended up coming out there and trying to wait on her tables. It left a bad taste in my mouth about Ruby Tuesday.

We finally made it home. It was a good trip and I am not sure when we will take our next one. We have taken 5 trips to Disney in 18 months so we decided to take a little break from Disney for awhile. Not sure where we will go next.

 

[OhMari]

I was at WDWParks the exact same days you were. It was a very hot humid week. We were talking to a few locals and they told us it was very hot for April.

Next time we do the MK, we are doing the Wishes Desert Party too. The whole area is just to crowded for such a small area.