No Rain In Our Forecast--Wishes Farewell Tour--April 2017 Trip Report COMPLETED

[missjackiemcg]

We debated on lunch and decided on ABC Commissary. I wasn't a fan.

I have given up on the ABC Commissary--it just stinks all the time!!!

I got the ears for $3.99/pair and the necklaces were $1.99/each!

WHAT A DEAL!!!!!! The necklaces were definitely close to $15 (I know because I HAD to have one!) You'll win best auntie for sure!!

 

[Whit64130]

Going Rogue!
So it has been a few weeks since my last update...I was MIA on my annual mother/daughter/aunt/best friend trip To the CMA Music Fest in Nashville! As always it was a blast and a much needed break from work!
This is a picture of Downtown Nashville and my mom and I on the pedestrian bridge! If you haven't ever visited Nashville it is a nice little weekend getaway, even if you aren't a country music fan!

Anyways back to the good stuff..AKA Disney!
So We woke up from our nap with intentions to go back to DHS and spend the rest of the evening using our extra FP. We hopped in the car and took the short drive to DHS. Once again it was supposed to rain today but we dodged it again!

The first thing we had on our agenda was Characterpalooza. I recently had subscribed to Kennythepirates Character Locator. Finding out the time and location was one of the perks of his site. I had never ran across this and really didn't know this existed until last year. We made our way over around the time they were supposed to come out. Within minutes the characters were out and about. We were able to meet all 7 characters within 15 mins!

I was most excited to meet the Evil Queen since I had never met her before.

After the M&G's we took a spin on RNRC via single rider line! We headed over to Toy Story to use the first of our extra FP. As we were walking in we were talking about what we wanted to eat after riding. Nothing in DHS sounded good to us. At this point we were OVER DHS quick service food choices. As we got to TSMM and scanned our bands we were in a pretty long FP line for the ride. We kept talking about supper and eventually had the crazy idea to skip TSMM, abandon our 2nd extra FP for the day to head to AK and have Flame Tree BBQ to eat. I am pretty sure the people who seen us walk out of the FP line thought we were crazy since the standby line was insane at this point. We made a quick exit found the car and drove right over to AK. As we were walking in there were tons of people coming out. It was around 7pm with a park closing of 9:30. We headed right to Flame Tree BBQ to order. I chose the Rib and Chicken combo, minus the slaw and beans with an extra side of cornbread. We used our 20% AP discount too!

It was super yummy and way better than what we would've ended up with at DHS.

While Chelsy was finishing up dinner I decided to FaceTime my nieces. They were excited to see I was in AK for the night! Ashton, the oldest is super stoked about being tall enough this next trip to ride all of the coasters since she was only 5 when she went last. I even continued to FaceTime them as we walked through the park to Everest. She begged me to FaceTime while we rode. So I tried my best. I ended up putting my phone away once we reached the top. I was scared I would drop it because I'm pretty clumsy like that. We rode two more times because it was pretty much a walk on.

Finally we decided we needed to take a break after eating such a big meal. We went over to Kilimanjaro Safari. The line was just about non-existant there too! It was pretty dark but after last trip when we had such a good lion experience at night we wanted to do it again. It wasn't much to write home about but the lions were out and about again. Not as good as November but still fun.
We stopped at the street entertainment for a little bit to watch the show. They were having a limbo dance with the band playing. The guy on the Sax was awesome!
***I lost this picture in the Photobucket Crisis Summer of '17***

We also stopped for a photo-op. This turned out to be one of my favorites.

We wanted to hit up Dinoland and do Dinosaur since it was closed last trip. Instead of cutting through the middle of the park we went via Asia to ride one more time while it didn't have a line. Plus it was dark now!

The Rivers of Light are was pretty all lit up before the show. We had a great view as we climbed the mountain.

We made our way on around to Dinoland missing the majority of the crowd trying to get in for the show. We walked on to Dinosaur with 7 other people.

For some reason this ride still makes me nervous. I like it but something about the smell and the darkness gets me

We walked over to Primeval Whirl and walked right on to it too! I am deciding I like hitting up rides while shows are going on! We rode once and asked to stay on for another ride. Most everybody on the ride did this too. On our second trip around I noticed this sign:

Disney, you crack me up

We finally got off and was heading to the exit. We noticed a little Photo Booth in Dinoland so of course we couldn't pass it up! I love that these are included with photopass/memory maker because I would probably never pay for one.

We were on our way out of Dinoland when I spotted another photo-op. I had never noticed it before but I handed Chelsy my camera. A CM in the area saw us and asked if we wanted him to take our picture. We said sure. So this was the result...

The CM was cracking up at some of our poses and then he jumped in the car too and Chelsy took our picture and this is what we got:

We talked with him about how great AK was at night and glad it is staying open later now. We said our goodbyes and thanked him. We walked towards the front just in time to see the Tree of Life Awakening.

It is just sooooo pretty! I stopped in Island Merch and done a little souvenir shopping. I don't have pictures but I bought some cute magnets for my best friends baby who is obsessed with them! We had an uneventful drive back to the resort and were soon in the bed. ​

 

[LISAMWDW]

Love how much fun your having with the photos! The people posing in the Everest pics, hilarious!!!! The nappers.....

 

[MeghanEmily]

The first thing we had on our agenda was Characterpalooza. I recently had subscribed to Kennythepirates Character Locator. Finding out the time and location was one of the perks of his site. I had never ran across this and really didn't know this existed until last year. We made our way over around the time they were supposed to come out. Within minutes the characters were out and about. We were able to meet all 7 characters within 15 mins!

I was most excited to meet the Evil Queen since I had never met her before.

Awesome!! We never spend a ton of time in DHS so I've never bothered subscribing to get the times for this, but I'd love to do it sometime! Great character photos

I chose the Rib and Chicken combo, minus the slaw and beans with an extra side of cornbread. We used our 20% AP discount too!

Yum! This was a much better option! There's really so little to eat for good QS at DHS...

Finally we decided we needed to take a break after eating such a big meal. We went over to Kilimanjaro Safari. The line was just about non-existant there too!

Awesome!! It seems like the crowds in Pandora are keeping a lot of the other lines at a more manageable level in AK

We walked over to Primeval Whirl and walked right on to it too! I am deciding I like hitting up rides while shows are going on! We rode once and asked to stay on for another ride. Most everybody on the ride did this too. On our second trip around I noticed this sign:

Awesome again! I've never seen this sign before, but it's so classic cheesey Disney!

I also love the awakenings show on the tree. Sounds like you had an awesome day!

 

[MissMaryQC]

Good choice on hopping over to AK, sounds like it was an amazing night!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Love the nighttime pictures and fun at AK, I am excited to be in AK at night in August.

 

[missangelalexis]

Joining in! I love going to Disney with my cousin too so it will be nice to read about your experiences!

Your first day sounds great between spending time at the hotel and going to DHS! You guys got to do a lot of rides! And free churros? That's awesome!

Your day and night at MK sounds awesome!

What great deals you got at the outlet! I had been eyeing those Christmas ears but never got them!

You met some awesome characters at Characterpalooza- great pics!

Sounds like you guys made the right call switching over to AK! You guys got so much done!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Sounds like an amazing night at AK!! We only did one short night on our trip in December, but I am SO excited to make more time for that this year.

Those photobooth pics are too cute!! I know they have them by Space Mountain at MK, too, but that's another thing we've never done! Add it to my list

 

[Whit64130]

Love the nighttime pictures and fun at AK, I am excited to be in AK at night in August.

You will LOVE it! I may get shamed for saying this but since AK has started staying open a lot later it is probably my favorite park

Joining in! I love going to Disney with my cousin too so it will be nice to read about your experiences!

Your first day sounds great between spending time at the hotel and going to DHS! You guys got to do a lot of rides! And free churros? That's awesome!

Your day and night at MK sounds awesome!

What great deals you got at the outlet! I had been eyeing those Christmas ears but never got them!

You met some awesome characters at Characterpalooza- great pics!

Sounds like you guys made the right call switching over to AK! You guys got so much done!

Thanks for joining in! Cousins make the best Disney travel buddies right??
I also bought the Green Christmas ears last years and LOVE them! I figured the girls will like the ones that light up better though.

Sounds like an amazing night at AK!! We only did one short night on our trip in December, but I am SO excited to make more time for that this year.

Those photobooth pics are too cute!! I know they have them by Space Mountain at MK, too, but that's another thing we've never done! Add it to my list

We have got where we spend lot more time than we used to at AK. I am sure y'all will have a blast!
I think the photobooths are so much fun! I bet Jimmy would love it!

 

[Whit64130]

Bon Voyage and a Whole Lot of Epcot!
Day 4 started out super early because we had a very important date with some princess and their boys. You have probably guessed where we were going already but... We had a 7:30am breakfast reservation for the Bon Voyage Breakfast at the Boardwalk. I was lucky enough to score a reservation the day they released them. And yay for the pre-park time. We drove over to the Boardwalk and found a parking spot. We made our way down to Trattoria al Forno. This was my first time at Boardwalk Resort so we enjoyed seeing the sites.

We checked in just a smidge before 7:30. We were soon shown to our table with the others. We had already looked at the menus so we both had an idea of what we were going to eat. Our server was a little slow for it not being busy yet but it ended up not being a problem. She brought out the plate of pastries.

The Tangled sun looked almost to pretty to eat. It looked better than it tasted. It was just pretty bland. My favorite out of the bunch was the tie-dye looking muffin. To me it tasted like fruity pebbles in muffin form! I also started my day with a Peach Bellini...

7:50 am...alcohol...check!
While we were waiting on food to be served we figured the characters would already start coming out. This was not the case. I guess they wait for a few more families to be seated before they enter. We both chose the fruit cups with our meal.

Our breakfast finally arrived. I had the Royale Breakfast. I opted to do extra crispy onions and roasted potatoes since I do not eat eggs or asparagus. The steak was supper yummy and had a great Oak Grilled flavor just as described.

Chelsy had gotten the tower of pancakes. She really liked them but I failed and did not get a picture. Finally the characters started making their rounds. We were probably the 7th or 8th table in the rotation. First up was Flynn Rider then Punzie herself. Next was Eric and Ariel. They all had a cute little intro and there was even a parade around the room for kids.

Overall this is possibly one of my favorite character meals I have ever done at Disney! I will be back!

After breakfast we headed to the International Gateway to enter Epcot. I was messaging with my fried Megan who was also in Epcot for the day. They had rope dropped Soarin just as we had planned to do. We rounded the corner coming down the stairs and seen her and her kids sitting on the benches. She was waiting on her husband to get off to sit with the kids. He had gotten a rider swap pass for her and she asked if we wanted to ride with her since it is for up to three guests. The line was around 20 mins or so at this point but we were able to go through the FP line with Megan.

I am glad we got to ride this with her! Its so much fun seeing the reactions of others as they experience Disney for the first time!
And of course we had to take an official picture once we were finished!

We said our goodbyes for now. Chelsy and I headed over to Test Track. My picture was absolutely horrible both times we rode this so I will not be sharing. K thanks...
We decided to skip Mission Space this time. We ride the green version anyways so it isn't much of a loss. We headed back to cross the park again for our FP for Character spot. We happened to run into the Jammitors! It was the end of their show so no good pictures or videos. Anyways we was just the start of our FP+ window so we wanted to check the line out for Joy and Sadness. It looked pretty short so we wanted to do that first since we had such an awesome meet last time.

I had wore my "It's a great day at Disney" pin that had joy on it. Last time she loved it but I got in trouble with Sadness. I came prepared this time. My hair tie was a Sadness one. She really wasn't as sad as she looked in the picture!
Next on to the Character Spot. For some reason I didn't upload these pictures. So I will leave you with these beautiful pictures of the flowers at Epcot!
Edited to add...I will not be leaving you with the pretty pictures of EPCOT. I Will add those later. Photobucket is acting crazy!!

​

 

[Whit64130]

I decided to start a PTR for our upcoming November trip! Join along if you would like!
[URL="https://www.disboards.com/threads/you-serious-clark-a-family-christmas-vacation-trip-nov-dec-2017.3613531/"]You Serious Clark? A Family Christmas Vacation Trip Nov/ Dec 2017[/URL]​

 

[Whit64130]

Not going to lie I thought I had already replied to this. I am a slacker.

We've only seen the show once but the Royal Historians were pretty much the only part of the show I liked since I'm not a Frozen fan! I kind of want to see it again since I thought they were hysterical but Steve absolutely won't see it when it's just the two of us, so I'll have to try sweet-talking the boys into it in August. How well do you think that will work with Chris

Chris may not willingly want to go but use that Mom guilt...you know the "I gave life to you and I spent such and such hours in labor" speech...If that fails my mom used to resort to the "I'm paying for this trip and we are doing this and you ARE going to like it!" lol

OMG now I feel old. Not that this is news to you but I graduated high school in the '80's! If we ever stay at Pop that's the section I would request because the '80's RULE!!!!

I never mind that we don't have a car in Disney but I'd love to be able to go to the Character Warehouse more often than the one time I went in Feb. So much better than a plain old Disney outlet store!

You are not old! Gah!!! But yes I loved the 80's section!
The character warehouse is so hit or miss but luckily I have always found a few things that were a good value. Chelsy not so much.

 

[MeghanEmily]

She brought out the plate of pastries.

Your pastries are so pretty!

Overall this is possibly one of my favorite character meals I have ever done at Disney! I will be back!

Glad to hear your review on this. I'm hoping to maybe do it in January. Your food looked good, and your photos are really cute!

 

[missangelalexis]

Such cute pictures at breakfast, that looks like a fun meal!

Great start to your epcot day, I love the pic with Joy & Sadness!

 

[missjackiemcg]

7:50 am...alcohol...check!

Early morning vacation drinking is a must, especially when they come out as pretty as that!!!! We're hoping to do this breakfast on our upcoming trip...well, I'm hoping, and since I'll be the one up at the crack of dawn on day 180 I get to pick, so there!!

 

[MissMaryQC]

Omg! I was so quick to jump to your new PTR I never commented here!!

The Trattoria b-fast looks great, I'm super psyched for that one in September. Glad your Eric was cute; I've seen a few picks of some less than attractive Erics. I hope we get a cute one, he's a favorite of mine, I mean DD...

 

[Whit64130]

Glad to hear your review on this. I'm hoping to maybe do it in January. Your food looked good, and your photos are really cute!

Hopefully y'all can! It was a must do for our November trip after having such a good experience!

Such cute pictures at breakfast, that looks like a fun meal!

Great start to your epcot day, I love the pic with Joy & Sadness!

It was really fun and very good too!
Joy and Sadness are one of my favorite character meets! They really have a great interaction!

Early morning vacation drinking is a must, especially when they come out as pretty as that!!!! We're hoping to do this breakfast on our upcoming trip...well, I'm hoping, and since I'll be the one up at the crack of dawn on day 180 I get to pick, so there!!

Do it! You won't regret it! And try the Peach Bellini!!! You won't regret that either!!

Omg! I was so quick to jump to your new PTR I never commented here!!

The Trattoria b-fast looks great, I'm super psyched for that one in September. Glad your Eric was cute; I've seen a few picks of some less than attractive Erics. I hope we get a cute one, he's a favorite of mine, I mean DD...

You...I mean DD will LOVE it! It was soooooo much fun!

 

[Whit64130]

Exploring Epcot
Finally here at the pretty pictures I promised last update!

Once we wrapped up in Future World we headed towards the World Showcase to take in the sites of Flower and Garden. I absolsolutely loved all of the fresh flowers and topiaries!
We started in Canada and worked our way back around because we had a FP for FEA at 12:55.
We decided since we haven't exactly took the time together to walk around the world that we would visit some kiosks for food or drink while we were here and take pictures in every country!
This is really just an overload of our pictures from this day

Soooo....Here goes...

Canada...

Check.

UK...
I did need a refreshing beverage at this point. I tried the Ciderboys Strawberry Magic Hard Cider...It was AHHHHmazing. Very tasty
Had to make a quick call home before moving on.

France...
Chelsy had finished her cider and ordered the La Vie en Rose Frozen Slush. I tasted and while it was very good it had a little too much vodka for my taste. (fun fact about me..I HATE vodka!)

Morocco...
I was really wanting to have a daiquiri in Morocco like I had had back in November but y'all I was still unbelievably stuffed from breakfast. I could not bare to partake of anything else at this point!

Japan...

I regret not having the Japanese Shaved ice

America...

***I have lost my America picture but I can assure you we took one and every single picture you have seen of me I have been in America seeing how I don't even have a passport.

Italy...

Germany...

The African section between Germany and China...

China...

Norway...

We stopped to use our fastpass + for FEA. I really do enjoy this ride. I am over the Frozen hype from several years ago but I still think it is very cute just not wort the CRAZY lines!

The troll in the dump shop kind of gave me the creeps because he was so big..And for some reason there was a photos photographer to take pictures. So of course we did.
And I present to you my creepy troll picture.

And when in Norway one must meet the queen and princess! Luckily there was only a 10 min wait for them!

to be continued in the next post....​

 

[Whit64130]

Mexico...
We stopped in Mexico to meet the number 1 Duck before ending our tour.

At this point Chelsy was ready for a nap. I still had a good bit of energy and wanted to take advantage of the pretty day and stay for a little while longer so we parted ways.
I decided to go on to Spaceship Earth and use our last FP+ for the day. On my way I ran across something I had yet to catch since it started. The Muppet's Mobile Lab!

I loved the Muppet's as a kid so I was glad to get to see this! It was pretty corny but you know Disney

I thought the Figment topiary was pretty cute and deserved a picture!
After Spaceship Earth I decided I was getting hungry and wanted to find something to snack on so I headed to the exit to head back to the resort. I noticed Daisy was meeting to the left and she didn't have a line so I walked over to say hi for a minute!

She liked the fact that I had matched her today

I stopped the the front for a quick photopass shot infant of Spaceship Earth since I didn't have one this trip.

So at this point as I was heading out the gate I realized my car was parked at Boardwalk from breakfast this morning. Oops. I guess I could have left it and just got it tonight but I hated to leave it since it had been that long already. So on my trek back to the International Gateway I looked up places at Boardwalk that have a discount for AP. I decided to eat at the ESPN club for a late lunch. It wasn't anything special but I did have the wings. They were pretty good and something different from the quick service I had been having. I think my total bill for lunch was $10.
After that meal I was craving something sweet so being on the Boardwalk it was a no brainer to try Ample Hills. I have not regretted this decision yet. I had the Nona's Oatmeal Lace ice cream. I am pretty sure it was the best ice cream ever!

I walked up and down the Boardwalk just to see what was there to be seen. Finally I headed back to Pop for a short nap before our nighttime adventures.

We got up around 5:30 or so. We made our way back to Epcot, this time parking at the front. We stopped at the front to have our picture made. The one of both of us trend out very awkward the way the guy had us pose so I chose to share this one for proof we did it.

We wanted to use our first extra FP for Soarin so we went in that direction. We took a trip around the world and crossed the park to use the other FP at Test Track.
I will share this picture because although we look goofy it isn't quite as bad as the one from earlier that day.

After Test Track Chelsy took a bathroom break and I was able to FaceTime the girls for a few mins. They loved seeing the pictures of the Flowers and Spaceship Earth as the sun was starting to set.

I was also able to message with Megan to meet up with them to watch Illuminations.
They were waiting on us in Japan on the stairs. So we took our tour around the World Showcase to get to them .

We finally made it to Japan and sat and chatted for awhile before the show. It wasn't necessarily the best view for the show but it was great for Fireworks alone.
After the show we said our goodbyes me and Chelsy took the other way to the exit.
We took a few pictures with the photopass on the way out to avoid the mass crowd.

Then i started snapping with my phone. I just love the night time colors of Epcot!

I also LOVE my Etsy Ears!

We decided we were hungry by this point and since the parks were all pretty much closing we would try out Disney Springs since we wanted to go to the World of Disney Store anyways.

We ended up choosing Blaze Pizza. It was a great choice. I had heard good things and wanted to try it out for myself.
I went with the plain build your own with plain sauce, pepperoni, cheese with the Canadian bacon and regular bacon. It was the best Disney Property Pizza I have encountered. I usually go for the flatbread but when in mass production they lack something. This was perfect!

I didn't realize they would be that big or we could've shared. Oh well we will know for next time! But in the case of not wasting yummy food I almost finished it all.

We shopped for awhile in World of Disney. I didn't really see anything I couldn't live without. I did end up buying a 45th anniversary Magic Kingdom pin for my collection. We closed down the store and made our way to the car for the short drive back to Pop to call it a night!

​

 

[MeghanEmily]

Epcot is SO pretty for Flower and Garden!

Love this picture of you both!

I really love the Beauty and the Beast topiary since it's been updated. It used to be really creepy and weird because Belle had no face and was just wearing a wig...*creepy*...now it's so nice!

Snow White looks like a giant in this picture!

I also love the Frozen topiary. So well done!

We stopped to use our fastpass + for FEA. I really do enjoy this ride. I am over the Frozen hype from several years ago but I still think it is very cute just not wort the CRAZY lines!

I agree with this entire statement.

Nice!

Sounds like a great day at Epcot taking advantage of F&G!