Operation Photopass! First trip to Disney World - TR - COMPLETED 07/16

[204charity]

Wow! You are motoring' along with your trip report! I'm trying to drag mine out I think. Lol trying to make the magic last longer. When we're you guys there? Recently?

I am glad to her your comparisons to DL. I have relatives that live in L.A., so we are considerng going there with the kids so we would only have t o pay for flights and park tickets. No hotel, transportation while there or food!

 

[DisneyStitch626]

Wow! You are motoring' along with your trip report! I'm trying to drag mine out I think. Lol trying to make the magic last longer. When we're you guys there? Recently?

I am glad to her your comparisons to DL. I have relatives that live in L.A., so we are considerng going there with the kids so we would only have t o pay for flights and park tickets. No hotel, transportation while there or food!

We were there from the 16th-23rd. Just got home a couple days ago!

Do your relatives live close to the park? We stayed in a house about an hour away, and the commute really took away from the park experience. Just a heads up in case you have quite the drive ahead of you each way each day.

 

[Trentmom]

That is great you made use of Photopass plus

Can't wait to see all the pics you get

Look like a decent amount of food from Caseys indeed

Great pics of the parade. Love that music

You are nicer than me.....I would have snatched that light saber out of hand and put it on the ground nicely of course, so not to break it

 

[navywifetill2002]

Joining in!

Just wondering how you did in the sandals all day? DH thinks I need tennis shoes but I'm still up in the air on footwear!

Also looking forward to hearing about how you liked/didn't like the PhotoPass Plus as I'm thinking about it for our trip in September.

 

[DisneyStitch626]

That is great you made use of Photopass plus

Can't wait to see all the pics you get

Look like a decent amount of food from Caseys indeed

Great pics of the parade. Love that music

You are nicer than me.....I would have snatched that light saber out of hand and put it on the ground nicely of course, so not to break it

We got lots of pics!!

I was thinking about doing that, but I never get the guts to make the move. Guess I'm a bit of a chicken! Haha.

Joining in!

Just wondering how you did in the sandals all day? DH thinks I need tennis shoes but I'm still up in the air on footwear!

Also looking forward to hearing about how you liked/didn't like the PhotoPass Plus as I'm thinking about it for our trip in September.

Welcome! Glad to have you along.

The sandals were pretty good. They are Oakleys so a little better than plain old flip flops. I couldn't wear them the entire trip, I changed between them and runners every couple of days, but I found them to be really good, as they didn't give me the blisters on my heels that my runners liked to!

We actually really liked our Photopass. We had 3 character meals booked, and went on a lot of rides with photos, so I think those alone covered most of the cost. When we were at our meals, we just had to show them our card, and they'd just hand us our photo package, which we really liked. If you like and plan on getting the ride and meal photos anyways, you might as well do it. I think we ended up with about 200 photos before I edited them.

 

[DizNee Luver]

We're planning on doing the plus too on the photopass.......love getting your review on this!! How'd you get your photopass pics so quickly??

The little girl in front of you on the Splash pic looks scared to death!!

I love the Electrical Parade.....thanx for getting pics of that!!!!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Great pictures. You really did have a great spot to watch the parade.

 

[Marshay]

Yay ... more photos!!

Sounds like a great day and so glad you got to see Stitch right away and 2 times!!

Also glad to hear you were the first ones at the park entrance. Your timing was great for breakfast and the bus.

Liberty Tree Tavern meals sounds wonderful. We ate there for dinner (family style) and loved it. We'll have to do lunch sometime for that yummy looking pot roast.

It's neat to see your photos. As a first timer to WDW, you are taking photos of things I've taken for granted (some buildings, signs, gardens, etc). So it's so neat to see them again and go on this trip with you!

Love the Splash ride photo. If we ever decide to get the Plus, I think we'll make that trip all about getting ride and character photo packages!

Peoplemover is one of our favorite rides ... just to slow down and relax!

Great spot for the parade.

Cinderella's Castle is my favorite icon of Disney -- I love all the castle photos. You can't have too many!

 

[DisneyStitch626]

We're planning on doing the plus too on the photopass.......love getting your review on this!! How'd you get your photopass pics so quickly??

The little girl in front of you on the Splash pic looks scared to death!!

I love the Electrical Parade.....thanx for getting pics of that!!!!

We thought the Photopass Plus was worth it for all the ride and character meal photos we got and then the many stops we made for photopass on top of that.

I opted for the digital download when checking out instead of ordering the cd. They emailed me a link a couple hours after placing the order and it takes you a page where you can download your photos right to your computer.

Great pictures. You really did have a great spot to watch the parade.

Thanks, yeah we had an amazing spot for both the parade and the fireworks!

Yay ... more photos!!

Sounds like a great day and so glad you got to see Stitch right away and 2 times!!

Also glad to hear you were the first ones at the park entrance. Your timing was great for breakfast and the bus.

Liberty Tree Tavern meals sounds wonderful. We ate there for dinner (family style) and loved it. We'll have to do lunch sometime for that yummy looking pot roast.

It's neat to see your photos. As a first timer to WDW, you are taking photos of things I've taken for granted (some buildings, signs, gardens, etc). So it's so neat to see them again and go on this trip with you!

Love the Splash ride photo. If we ever decide to get the Plus, I think we'll make that trip all about getting ride and character photo packages!

Peoplemover is one of our favorite rides ... just to slow down and relax!

Great spot for the parade.

Cinderella's Castle is my favorite icon of Disney -- I love all the castle photos. You can't have too many!

Yeah seeing Stitch right off the bat was definitely a highlight! Great start to a great day.

The pot roast was so good!

I took photos of pretty much everything whenever I was holding the camera.

The People Mover was great for relaxing for a couple minutes. If it had been much longer though, they would have had to wake us up when it was over! Haha.

 

[DisneyStitch626]

Ever since the server upgrade, all my subscribed threads are always highlighted like they are unread, even though they are. Is this happening to anyone else, or is there a way to fix it?

 

[DisneyStitch626]

A little off topic from my TR, but I got the rest of my photos of Seth back from Jan Stolee today!! She was doing a fundraiser this month where all the proceeds from her FACES for Kids photos went to a school that can't afford a lunch program. I thought it was a great opportunity to get some more photos of Seth. I just love her work, she is awesome.

Still my favourite...

I am in love with them all! ​

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Seth is such a cutie. Great pictures.

 

[DisneyStitch626]

Seth is such a cutie. Great pictures.

Thank you!

 

[solana131]

Joining in too! First of all, since the last pictures I saw were Seth, I just have to say "OMG he is ADORABLE"! You got some great pictures there

Okay, since you did a hundred updates in one day.....

Wow that was a long travel day . Glad you guys had time to sit down and eat. We had a longish layover this last time and it gave us time to breathe too. It makes the next flight so much better if you aren't running through the airport to reach the connection

That waffle at Pop looked so huge compared to Dillon's little danish

Glad you got to see opening ceremony...such a cute little show. Does DL do this too? Its so fun hearing about the differences between DL and WDW. I doubt I'll ever get out there, so its nice to know what its like.

Darn that construction scrim on Main Street Bakery. It was up when we were there in the beginning of Feb too. I really hope they are done with it by the time our July trip rolls around!

Where were your seats after Caseys for the parade? We grabbed seats 2 hours ahead of time too. We were over across the street from Caseys at the little yellow umbrella tables in front of the Plaza. They were great for Wishes, but would not have been good for a parade (the Electric Parade wasn't showing in Feb).

Loving your TR...can't wait to read more

 

[DisneyStitch626]

Joining in too! First of all, since the last pictures I saw were Seth, I just have to say "OMG he is ADORABLE"! You got some great pictures there

Okay, since you did a hundred updates in one day.....

Wow that was a long travel day . Glad you guys had time to sit down and eat. We had a longish layover this last time and it gave us time to breathe too. It makes the next flight so much better if you aren't running through the airport to reach the connection

That waffle at Pop looked so huge compared to Dillon's little danish

Glad you got to see opening ceremony...such a cute little show. Does DL do this too? Its so fun hearing about the differences between DL and WDW. I doubt I'll ever get out there, so its nice to know what its like.

Darn that construction scrim on Main Street Bakery. It was up when we were there in the beginning of Feb too. I really hope they are done with it by the time our July trip rolls around!

Where were your seats after Caseys for the parade? We grabbed seats 2 hours ahead of time too. We were over across the street from Caseys at the little yellow umbrella tables in front of the Plaza. They were great for Wishes, but would not have been good for a parade (the Electric Parade wasn't showing in Feb).

Loving your TR...can't wait to read more

Welcome! Thanks for joining!!

Thanks for the compliments on Seth and his photos. We just love them!

It was a very long day of traveling. I can't sleep much on the plane, and with not sleeping the night before due to excitement, that bed at Pop was very welcoming!

We always just miss the rope drop at Disneyland, but I am pretty sure they don't have an opening show like in WDW.

Our spot for the parade was just before the circle surrounding the Partners Statue on the side opposite Casey's. I believe there was a food card (Popcorn maybe?) right behind us. It was a great spot for both!

Hope to do more updates this afternoon!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

congratulations on your marriage and your little boy is sooooooooooooo cute. Looking forward to the rest of your trip report and didn't realise you could get cotton candy as a dessert at Caseys - never been there but that place is getting more attractive by the minute :

 

[DisneyStitch626]

So we left off with the Electrical Parade ending, and Magic, Memories and You about to begin. I hadn't heard much about this show, but it ended up being really cool. I love the way they projected things off the castle. It was a really neat effect.

And in true Disney fashion, they added some fireworks to the show...

Next, it was time for Wishes!!

It was an amazing show! I still like Disneylands Dreams Do Come True show a bit better as far as having a story line to it and Julie Andrews narrating it, but this show was pretty amazing to see as well. We really enjoyed it! Also, we were told Tinkerbell was supposed to fly in this show, and we were supposed to be in a great spot to see her, but we didn't see her at all. ​

After the fireworks, we decided to go use our FP ticket for Space Mountain to hopefully avoid some of the crowds leaving the park.

We thought that the camera for this ride was in a weird spot. Right at the beginning of the ride before you've even really started it. It made for some really awkward faces! Disneyland's is right at the very end just before the breaks, so it's hard not to catch a huge smile on your face on that one.

Well our attempt at avoiding the leaving crowds didn't really work, so getting out took a little while and the bus was a little stuffed, but that's ok.

When we got back to the hotel, we asked the lady at the check-in desk how late the pool was open, and she said 24hrs!! Woohoo! We didn't think we'd get any pool time, but with the option of it being open all the time, changed that. So we headed to our room, got changed into our swimsuits, and headed to the pool. They claimed that it was heated, but it was so chilly!! I only lasted about 15 minutes or so, cause I just couldn't warm up.

After our pool time, we headed back to the hotel for bed.

Next up...Day 2: Epcot!!​

 

[DisneyStitch626]

congratulations on your marriage and your little boy is sooooooooooooo cute. Looking forward to the rest of your trip report and didn't realise you could get cotton candy as a dessert at Caseys - never been there but that place is getting more attractive by the minute :

Thanks so much! And welcome!

I forgot to say what I thought of Casey's! I thought the corn dog nuggets were really good. Didn't taste much different from a normal corn dog, but the bite size was nice. And they were really crispy, which I loved. The fries were fries. Nothing special, but still good. The cotton candy was pretty good. I hadn't had any in years, so it was a nice flashback to being a kid, haha. The place is worth checking out! Dillon got the pulled pork coleslaw hot dog a few days later, and he loved it.

 

[Princess Row]

I am following!!

 

[DisneyStitch626]

We woke up the next morning at 8, surprisingly well rested. We found the bed at Pop really comfortable and slept great every night (except the night where someone in a room nearby set their alarm for 5 am and left it on after checking out! It went for hours!!)

We were showered and out the door by 9:00am for our breakfast at Ohana's. The easiest way to get there was to hop on an MK bus, and then from MK take the monorail to the Polynesian Resort. So that's what we did! It was a nice ride over, and we got a sneak peak of Chef Mickey's on the way through the Contemporary. What a cool hotel!

Upon arriving at the Poly, we couldn't get over how beautiful it was. The buildings and the landscaping are just so pretty. It really does feel like you are in Hawaii.

Then it was time to check in for our breakfast at Ohana's!

Once we were checked in, we got "lei'd" and then we were taken over to the portrait area to get our picture taken.

Then we were given our buzzer, and sat in the waiting area for about 10 minutes.

Out the window...

Finally, we were shown to our table, where we were introduced to our "cousin" and given some wonderful bread to start.

I had the one in the front which was a pineapple bread, and Dillon had the other one, which was a cinnamon raisin. They were so gooey and yummy.

I thought I had taken some photos of the meal portion, which we were given just after the bread, but I don't see any, so I guess I didn't. Oh well.

It was an all-you-can-eat breakfast, but served family style, which means they bring more to you whenever you need it. The first portion was so much food, that Dillon and I didn't need any more than what was given.

We had bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, and biscuits. So much food, but it was so good. They also gave us a juice that was a mix of orange, mango, guava, and passion fruit I believe. It was very good. We had the same juice later at Tusker House, and we loved it both times.

Not long after we started eating, someone showed up to greet us...

Not long after Mickey left, we got another visitor...

Stitch was just 2 tables away from us, when they got called to start a parade. I was a little worried that he wouldn't come back after, but no worries, he did!

Here he posed for me during his parade

​

To be continued in next post...​