Polynesian Pixie Dust: A Love/Hate Vacationship. An October 2017 TR *updated 2/12x3 and Complete*

[xlsm]

Yay I'm glad your mom liked Soarin!

It sounds like you guys had fun exploring WS. Love all your pics! I have never seen the film in France but I want to one day, along with the one in Canada!

It's nice that you could take advantage of the club level snacks!

Can't wait to hear about your night at MK!

Impressions de France is so, so beautiful. PLUS, it has actual theater seats to sit in while you watch! I highly recommend it. It always seems to be the spot we stop b/c we're dying from the heat and need some a/c and a chair! We saw the Canada movie last December for the first time. It was fun, and did exactly what it was meant to do - make you want to visit Canada. I think the only way I'd ever book an Adventures by Disney trip is if they created one that took you to the exact places featured in the World Showcase videos (or if I won the lottery maybe, those trips are so expensive!!).

Sounds like a dream!! Congrats on the decision! I hope the whole process goes as smoothly as possible for you.

Yay no puke!! I also get motion sick super easily and I can also handle Soarin', so I'm glad she did well and liked it!

If it helps, they often seem to have room on the very next tour when you go up to the desk if you ever decide you want to try it on a whim. Spoiler alert: Nathan and I got our own private tour in August because we were the only two who signed up, and we just went up about fifteen minutes before our tour and asked if there was availability.

Yum! Looks amazing!

I feel like a celebrity!

Yay L! He has good taste!

Haha oh no! I get this though. I won't watch any of these films at Epcot because I know they'll do me in. Sometimes I even have my moments in regular 3-D movies.

And the hair goes up!

Yes. Absolutely. It's one of the pavilions with the most stuff for sure, similar to Japan in my mind in terms of interest level for me, and also super gorgeous!

I have to say, I miss the old band and dancer. Mo'rockin' forever!!

Whaaaat!??? Silly Mom! POG is delish!

I'm just hoping that magically the perfect house shows up on the market at exactly the right time. Getting our house ready to get top dollar means repainting (which we've been planning to do anyway) and refacing the kitchen cabinet doors/touching up the paint (painted kitchen cabinets are so much upkeep, never again! Ours are black and I liked them when we bought the house, now I want to set them on fire), new carpet upstairs, and changing the kitchen backsplash to match the tile we put on the fireplace. Everything is really stuff we'd do even if we stayed, and I wonder if we're going to have a "love it or list it" moment. We also live two streets away from the high school the kids will go to, so we're wondering if we're crazy to give that up. Annnd you probably didn't want to know any of that, but I'm sitting here obsessing So you got the venting, LOL!

I was so glad Soarin' worked out. It gave me hope for Flight of Passage in a few days!
I have heard that about Behind the Seeds! Someday I will include it in the plan...if I can loosen the deathgrip on my Epcot schedule

It was so. good. Kind of reminiscent of the raspberry chocolate macaron in France at Flower and Garden.

L is easy to shop for. If it's related to Ravenclaw, Dr. Who, or The Flash, he's going to like it automatically!

All the Epcot movies are a bit swoopy and make your head swim, probably a really good idea that you avoid them!!

The mosaic tiles are so amazing. Sometimes I'll stand and stare at a wall and look at all the little individual tiles...and feel like I'm having a Jasmine, "Hello doctor, how are you" moment, haha!



She did start mixing the POG with sprite throughout the course of the trip and said that made it better. I'm not sure why she bothered to keep drinking it at all except maybe the sheer horror I expressed when she said she didn't like it!

I’m late to the party but I’m all caught up and really enjoying your report! Your mom is so cute!

Hooray! Welcome aboard!! I'm glad you're here and reading all my crazy ramblings

All caught up again! So glad your mom enjoyed Soarin' - it's always a sigh of relief when a newbie doesn't have a bad experience.

I had to chuckle to myself when you realized there was alcohol in the drink from Brazil by the time you got to Italy Alcohol sneaks up on me like that lol We were supposed to visit WDW the end of October and were so excited to finally go during Food & Wine Festival but ended up having to delay our trip until next year.

I would find myself getting so tense before every new experience, worried to death that she'd hate something or get sick from something...I don't know if I'm up for taking a first timer ever again, LOL! It's so stressful.

That Brazil drink was definitely sneaky! I'm blaming the heat and not my poor alcohol tolerance, ha!!
I'm sorry you had to delay your trip! We are currently worried about the same thing for our New Year's Eve trip. We're having a hard time getting house/dog sitters and having the boys' grandparents commit to keeping them through the 3rd (even though it's what they do EVERY YEAR. Suddenly b/c we want to go on a trip they're not sure if they have plans that far out when normally they ask to keep them as long as possible. Ugh.)

I'm joining in for the fun!

This is pretty much my motto too. And that monorails improve every picture!

I loved the fall stuff! it's just so happy!

This picture is great, plus I love the Carpets

so sad to see the best ride down!

Great pic!

Sometimes I would buy a drink just because I saw they had Halloween cups leftover!

Yesss, the exhibits were great and I especially loved this sign.

These tables look so close together!

This is the absolute best PhotoPass, taking a picture of Remy is so clever!

Woohoo! So glad she could ride and enjoy it!

This is the best location for photos!

Welcome, welcome!!

Monorails DO improve every picture!! Even when they make the picture blurry b/c i rush to snap one, LOL!

I love the Christmas decorations, but something about the fall/Halloween ones are just extra special. Plus, I can't get enough jack-o-lanterns, and they were out in force!

Spoiler alert...I had never been on the magic carpets before, but we finally ride later in this trip! It's such a cool and different view of Adventureland from up there and I like it!

Oh, I totally bought more drinks b/c of holiday cups

the tables were really close. DH and I went to dinner on Saturday at a new restaurant that opened up in town, and the seating was very similar. The long connected booth style seats with a small table and a chair on the opposite side. Not my favorite at all. I'd rather have the communal long tables like at Biergarten I think. At least then you know you're going to be close to another group.

I loved loved loved the little extra touches of having her photograph Remy and me holding the little cocktail umbrella for him. That photographer was so clever and was so proud of himself for coming up with it. He said he tries to come up with new shots no one else is doing, which I really appreciate!

O. M. G. I am obsessed with Hamilton. Like haven't taken the CD out of my car since last Christmas obsessed LOVE these!



Oh I get that. It's impossible.

Same!

This would have been my first stop too

I love this shot! For exactly the same reason. Also, I love the cheese cubes that make up the Eiffel Tower on the flag

Um... YES!

Yes! Another Hamil-fan!!

Being thirsty at that time just wasn't in the plan!

I do try to get new and different pictures when I just can't keep the phone in pocket anymore, LOL. Thank goodness for seasonal updates. I also really loved that they had little signs by the food used in the different dishes at the F&W kiosks! I took a bunch of pictures of those too.

Chocolate Lab was definitely one of the food booths I was most looking forward to, and it did not disappoint. I was really glad we picked it first!

I really loved the artwork they used for F&W this year. I like how they keep it new each time. Oh, Disney, why are you so amazing??

 

[MeghanEmily]

I'm just hoping that magically the perfect house shows up on the market at exactly the right time. Getting our house ready to get top dollar means repainting (which we've been planning to do anyway) and refacing the kitchen cabinet doors/touching up the paint (painted kitchen cabinets are so much upkeep, never again! Ours are black and I liked them when we bought the house, now I want to set them on fire), new carpet upstairs, and changing the kitchen backsplash to match the tile we put on the fireplace. Everything is really stuff we'd do even if we stayed, and I wonder if we're going to have a "love it or list it" moment. We also live two streets away from the high school the kids will go to, so we're wondering if we're crazy to give that up. Annnd you probably didn't want to know any of that, but I'm sitting here obsessing So you got the venting, LOL!

No worries, venting welcome! Such a struggle! It's hard to know what the right choice is. I feel like if I were you, after all the work was done I'd totally have a love it or list it kinda moment... If you set the cabinets on fire you could always replace them with new ones that aren't painted!

L is easy to shop for. If it's related to Ravenclaw, Dr. Who, or The Flash, he's going to like it automatically!

I like this kid.

The mosaic tiles are so amazing. Sometimes I'll stand and stare at a wall and look at all the little individual tiles...and feel like I'm having a Jasmine, "Hello doctor, how are you" moment, haha!

 

[Pluto0809]

This was going to be our first real test of the motion sickness issue.

I'm glad it all worked out. Soarin' is one of the few that doesn't affect me at all.

Mom was prepared with her little seaband thingies.

I tried these this summer at King's Island in Ohio and they seemed to help. I'm even thinking about giving Star Tours another try in January. It's the one ride that my motion sickness pills aren't effective on. I'm hoping the combo of both will let me ride.

I tried to avoid taking pictures and just enjoy the ride, but you can probably guess how well that went.

Yep, pictures are a must on LWTL!

We considered stopping for Fish and Chips at Yorkshire County Fish Shop

Yum! One of my favorites. Thank goodness it's almost lunch time with all of you food photos and mentions!

We decided to cool off with Impressions de France and reevaluate the food situation after that

Great place to do that or take a nap.

What was mom's Impression de Impressions de France??

It made her motion sick.

I had the same problem here! I think it's some of the weird camera angles they use. The bicycle scene is the worst.

On the way out, we stopped for awhile to listen to the band and watch the belly dancer

My husband's favorite group. And it's not because of the music.

 

[ariane37]

It's the day I've been desperately waiting for because there is no school at all next week!

Nice! My kids had school yesterday and today.

The Sweet Dark Chocolate Raspberry Torte with Whipped Cream and Raspberry Dust:

One thing I didn't get to try and REALLY wish I got to! Sounds so good

The second item was the Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Warm Whisky Caramel:

Steve had this and loved it. I wanted a bite but I was SO full from the way too many other things I'd eaten from F&W lol

On the way out, we stopped for awhile to listen to the band and watch the belly dancer

I always enjoy the entertainment in Morocco. For awhile they didn't have any and I always got sad walking by the empty stage with no sign out showing times I really like the Morocco storyteller during the holidays, too!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

 

[Raeven]

This tasted good, but was a major pain to eat. It was rock solid...they use a little hammer thing to break it open before handing it to you. Seriously. But it's so hard and kind of gummy when melting, that it makes it a challenge to eat with plasticwear on paper plates. There might have been a Julia Roberts with escargot moment.

omg I'm just picturing your Julia Roberts with escargot moment. I wasn't a big fan of the nitro truffle, but Josh loved it. I can't remember if we had trouble eating it though.

 

[thumper*]

we think we're going to put our house on the market this spring and hope to move into a new home closer to the lake

How exciting. I know your from MO, which lake? For many years we looked for lake homes at Lake of the Ozarks....but they never had a job opening at the local hospital so that never came to fruition. Now DH wants to buy on Table rock lake when I retire.

That Nitro desert looked awesome as well as that Dark Choc rasp. torte. Oh Yum

 

[chunkymonkey]

they are colored pencils. Hamilton themed colored pencils. I die.

I love these! Where did you get them?

How cute is this little Remy?? Ahh!!

OMG BEST PICTURE EVER!! So creative and cute!! I love it!

I laughed when I saw this of the three of us b/c mom was kind of bending down. I laughed b/c afterward she commented that Mickey was so small...I said, "Well, he is a mouse!"

Aww love this one too!

the people next to us on the ride kept taking flash photos and I was SO ANNOYED. My mom asked what the big deal was...I thought about throwing her out of the seashell - ha!

Ugh I get so annoyed by flash photography in dark rides/shows!! They specifically say NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! We didn't do anything too extra, but DH and I did come to an agreement/decision...we think we're going to put our house on the market this spring and hope to move into a new home closer to the lake *or* do a custom build. We have been looking on and off for the last year, and I think we're both ready. We bought this house about four years ago, and I love it, but we have all been expressing a desire to be closer to the water, or at least have more land and less neighbors. Let's see if this actually happens The kids just want a pool, they don't care about much else! I just think about how much work it's going to be...

Good luck! Moving is probably one of my most despised things in the world but we gotta do it at some point!! Hope you find your dream house (aside from Cinderella's castle of course)!

I was so nervous about taking mom on this ride. This was going to be our first real test of the motion sickness issue. Mom was prepared with her little seaband thingies. We also ended up in a row together with a large family of first timers. I was the only one who knew what was going on and what was in store...that's a lot of pressure, assuring my mother and a group of strangers that they were in for a good time!

So what was the verdict??

Success!!

Yay! So happy she enjoyed the ride! I love it when people leave Soarin' and were like, OMG that was soo cool!! I kinda want to capture that "first ride" feeling again myself!

After our ride, mom went to get something to drink from Sunshine Seasons. One thing I have learned about myself, I don't stop for food and drink much throughout the day outside of meal time. It didn't occur to me to be thirsty before going back to the World Showcase and hitting up the Food and Wine kiosks. I guess that's weird

I know right? Having to stop for people to get drinks, frozen cokes, waters ,etc....get with the program people! We have characters to meet and rides to do!!

I really want to do Behind the Seeds but I never think about it until I'm on the ride! I had planned to book it in May when I thought my MIL was coming with me, but when she backed out of the trip it got scrapped. Hopefully someday, though!

I thought it was fun! Definitely do it once as it's not expensive for a tour and kinda cool to be behind the scenes at Epcot.

What was mom's Impression de Impressions de France??

It made her motion sick. Yep. She survived Soarin' but was woozy from IdF. She said it was probably b/c she was sitting still. I have to say, I've felt a little from the movement of the images on the screen before too, so I get it! It did strike me a little funny that the stationary movie was the wildest experience of the day!

Oh dear, I did not know that. I will have to keep that in mind.

YUMMMMM!!

It might not look like much, but it was DELICIOUS. We didn't try a *ton* of F&W offerings compared to some people, but this is in my top three. So much flavor in the meat, but the black beans were the best part. Mom was gagging over the layer of fat on the pork belly, but I just peeled it off and hid it in a napkin so she'd get over it. She really liked it too, but vastly preferred the black beans and the tomato/onion. She is not adventurous about food in the slightest and just seeing the fat almost made her not try the pork belly.

I had this and it was delicious!

This was pretty good. I needed the coolness of the frozen drink. It was kind of like a margarita...but also not. I don't really know how to describe it. Was it the best drink ever? No. Did I enjoy it overall? Yes!

This was good too!!! Not GG slushie good but a nice substitute.

This was a selfie with a purpose - to make sure my lipstick wasn't smeared all over my face and that my hair looked ok after putting it up in a ponytail!

You get a 10 out of 10 in the selfie photo skills!!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Don't blame you for canceling that Spaceship Earth FP. I always forget how loooonnngg the walk around world showcase is. We were strolling and hitting F&W booths and then I realized we really had to book it if we were going to make our Frozen FP. It seemed to take forever, maybe because I had one of those passion slushies from France in me already and maybe because I was carrying my sleeping 18mo old in his carrier the whole walk over. Luckily it wasn't too hot and we all had hats and sunblock on. I would love to just take an evening to browse the shops again like we did last trip when I was preggo. This trip we didn't even make it into Karamel Kuche because we were too tired.

 

[Stasieki]

All caught up. What a fun day at Epcot! Love the Remy pic.

 

[xlsm]

I will come back later this weekend and do quotes and answer questions!!

I was actively avoiding Disboards over the Thanksgiving holiday b/c I was suuuuper stressed out about our upcoming New Year's Eve trip. It almost had to be cancelled and I just couldn't bring myself to do or think about anything Disney related. But, it's all good now, and I'm getting back into the spirit of things.

Let's see if I can knock out a quick update for you, then I'll come back later and clean house with quotes and things!

Chapter Three Part Five:

We were leaving the Polynesian...



and heading toward the Magic Kingdom



Oh my gosh, would you just LOOK at that pretty view from the water?? We need the heart eyes emoji on the DIS! I'd use like five of them right now.

This was not a party night and I knew crowds would be elevated from our experience the day before. I had a clear plan for the night...I (ahem, I mean WE) wanted to see Happily Ever After. It's all I had on my to do list, and my mom knew we might be in for a lot of sitting and waiting.

But we had a little bit of time, and I was able to make a Fast Pass for something she'd mentioned yesterday...

First though, hello MK!





I have a great appreciation for anyone who is able to get a decent shot of this "Magic Kingdom" on the ground here. It was tough, and this is not nearly as pretty as others I've seen!

Hang on a sec...monorail:



I wonder if my mom was annoyed with me for all of my stops to take pictures? If she was, she never said anything! Speaking of being annoyed, I was annoyed with this kid for being in my picture. How dare he enjoy a day at the Magic Kingdom! There's no time for anyone else to have fun, I have pictures to take!





I wish they sold recreations of this wreath in the parks. (I call it a wreath, is it actually considered a wreath??)



Eventually I stopped dragging my feet with pictures and we made it inside. Mom stopped to look at the little vendor just through the entrance. She hates wearing sunglasses (whereas, I can't live without them - I have light sensitive eyes that are a huge problem sometimes!) and wears visors. She found this:



and decided she needed that instead of the plain one she'd brought from home. (the one she'd brought was too tight anyway and she was complaining about it)

Because I was all about showing off my beautiful and magical Kingdom, I made her climb up the train station steps to take in the view



I need that heart eyes emoji again!!



There we go!

How long can two people spend in the town square?? Um, a long time, ok? Thanks for asking.





I mentioned getting a Fast Pass for us...it was time for my mom to be brave!



Storybook Circus?? What's in there to be brave about??



The Barnstormer of course!

She was ready to try, and under her condition of darkness, so she wouldn't know what was coming up and psych herself out, LOL!
The line was pretty long, so I was glad we had the fast pass. I think the Barnstormer is a cute little ride, but no way I'm waiting longer than 5 or 10 minutes for the thing. And 10 minutes is pushing it!

Mom survived the little coaster, and felt like she would be able to handle 7DMT the next day!

She wanted to do the teacups since we were pretty close by. The line wasn't bad so we decided to go for it. At this point I'm checking my watch pretty constantly, b/c I wanted to start heading to the hub to get ready for HEA.



We took a little spin:



and I tried and failed to take a picture of the Dormouse popping up from the tea pot



Afterward, we were by the People Mover for some reason, and I took this picture of the line:



I was ready to go up front, I knew they were going to start closing things off for fireworks, but mom asked if we could ride Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid since it had been down most of the day before. Against my better judgement I said yes, and I grabbed an immediate fast pass return time. We didn't end up needing the FP, it was walk on, but used it anyway. Here's the best picture I got:



Museum Quality. Only the best for you guys!!

I was panicking at this point, I KNEW we were going to be in trouble and it was going to be a nightmare making our way toward the hub now. I was right. We hit the Tomorrowland bridge (which is the WORST place to be at this time of night) and it was wall to wall people. CMs had everything roped off and would NOT let anyone jump out of the flow of traffic. They would straight up tell you no, you cannot go into the hub area from here. It was so frustrating. I was so, so annoyed. My mom was trying to be cheerful about it, but she knew I wasn't very happy.

We got to the bypass area and the crowd lessened as the path got wider and people were able to move better. I considered stopping there to watch but the trees were in the way of any view of the castle or even the sky. I was prepared to give up and leave and watch from the boat or the lounge. I was over it. We had two possible nights to watch Happily Ever After, and this was the one that worked best. I knew I'd be coming back over the New Year holiday, but it still wasn't much consolation.

When we got to the front of the park, I decided to try one more thing. We went to the sidewalk area at the center of the square, at the entrance to Main Street. Everyone was sitting down and there was space available on the curb. I asked the people there if they were holding the spot for anyone and they said no. I told them if they couldn't see over me when the show started I would move, and they said ok. So we sat there and waited. A lovely family visiting from the UK - Scotland if I recall - was beside us, and they were so nice! The little boy really took a liking to my mom, and they told us all about their trip, what they'd done so far, etc. It helped pass the time and it's always nice to share some Disney love with newfound friends in the park! It was their first visit and while a little overwhelmed, they were having a great time.

My seated view:



I admired the jack-o-lanterns on top of The Confectionary:



And before long, everyone stood and the show began. I took very few pictures b/c I wanted to actually see what I could see!





Because I have watched Happily Ever After about a hundred times on Youtube, I knew when it was close to ending, so we quickly started making our way out of the park and beat the crowd to the ferry dock.

Overall opinion of this viewing location? Not great. Fireworks are blocked by the buildings on Main Street and you're far from the projections. It was not the way I wanted to see HEA in person for the first time, but hey, it was better than missing it entirely, right?? I loved Wishes so, so much - part of the reason for my May trip was to say goodbye - but there's something really special about HEA to me. It makes me emotional! Part of it has to do with the selection of songs and projections - I never make it through the Tangled lantern scene without crying, Moana makes me a wreck, and Go the Distance is another one that brings on tears. So I was doomed from the beginning, LOL!! I also like the standalone song they created for it, and I think it's the reason I liked watching Jordan Fisher on Dancing With the Stars this season (although I was Team Frankie and he got all my votes, Jordan was the best! I've never sat through an entire season of that show in my life until this time around).

Anyway, we got out of the park easily and were able to see the Electrical Water Pageant on the way back to the resort.



Once we got back to the Poly, since we hadn't had a real dinner, we went to Captain Cook's. We forgot about our mugs (such a waste this trip!!) and had to order drinks to go with our yummy, yummy pulled pork nachos!



These were so good!! Sweeter than I imagined and the queso kind of tasted weird, but the spicy mayo was awesome. I wasn't super hungry and suggested the sharing, but I think mom wasn't fully on board with that...I feel like she wished she'd gotten her own.

We were too late for dessert service, so it was shower and bed time. The next day was Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party day, and we had no real plans outside of a breakfast...would we sleep in?? You'll see next time!!

Thanks for being patient with me, Friends!! See you real soon!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Oh my gosh, would you just LOOK at that pretty view from the water?? We need the heart eyes emoji on the DIS! I'd use like five of them right now.

Much beauty! Love!

and decided she needed that instead of the plain one she'd brought from home. (the one she'd brought was too tight anyway and she was complaining about it)

Haha good choice, Mom! It's a great hat!

The Barnstormer of course!

She was ready to try, and under her condition of darkness, so she wouldn't know what was coming up and psych herself out, LOL!

Hilarious! But I'm glad she made it! That's a good sign for what's to come.

but mom asked if we could ride Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid since it had been down most of the day before. Against my better judgement I said yes,

Uh oh...

I KNEW we were going to be in trouble and it was going to be a nightmare making our way toward the hub now. I was right.

Yep...saw that coming...oh no!

And before long, everyone stood and the show began. I took very few pictures b/c I wanted to actually see what I could see!

Yay! HEA is saved! Maybe not the perfect location, but I'm glad you got to see it from somewhere decent.

but there's something really special about HEA to me. It makes me emotional! Part of it has to do with the selection of songs and projections

I wasn't sure if I'd be joining the fan club, but it's growing on me the more I watch/listen, and I think it's absolutely because of the soundtrack! They picked such good songs, and they're arranged so well, and the new song they wrote is excellent and gives me the feels.

 

[paradesintherain]

This shot is beautiful! Love how the train station and castle are within those palm trees!

I wish they sold recreations of this wreath in the parks. (I call it a wreath, is it actually considered a wreath??)

I'd call it a wreath too

She hates wearing sunglasses

Same here, mom!

This is adorable! (minus that darn scrim)

Mom survived the little coaster, and felt like she would be able to handle 7DMT the next day!

Hooray! I love Barnstormer too; short but very fun!

Moana makes me a wreck

SAME. Oh, and the Lion King/villain segment where they use "...To Die For", that score always makes me cry.

Drooling! Can't wait to try these

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

We didn't see HEA this trip, only one night of our stay was a non-party night. Hoping our next trip will be during a regular not-party season.

 

[Sailormoon2]

I'm struggling to stay caught up on everything on the Dis at present, so I'm not going to do quotes, just:
Love your Mickey ears!
Love any shops of Halloween MK-and especially nighttime, that is so rare!

 

[Raeven]

I wish they sold recreations of this wreath in the parks. (I call it a wreath, is it actually considered a wreath??)

I want one too! I would say it's a wreath.

It makes me emotional! Part of it has to do with the selection of songs and projections - I never make it through the Tangled lantern scene without crying, Moana makes me a wreck, and Go the Distance is another one that brings on tears. So I was doomed from the beginning, LOL!! I also like the standalone song they created for it,

Me too Even that song makes me emotional. And I really love it! I had never heard of the singers before I first heard it.

 

[Tracy161]

Ugh on the HEA situation, but I suppose seeing it at all beats not seeing it. At least you'll get to again in a few weeks! I cannot believe how close our trips are getting!

 

[missangelalexis]

Aw your mom looks so cute in her new visor!

Wow you picked the right time to go up to the Train Station- the lighting is beatiful!!

I'm sorry the crowds prevented you from getting a good spot for HEA. But at least you still got to see it!

 

[Pluto0809]

It's all I had on my to do list, and my mom knew we might be in for a lot of sitting and waiting.

I was worried about this with my Mom in February so I ended up booking the Garden Plaza dessert party so we can sit and eat and then have a much less crowded viewing spot.

I wonder if my mom was annoyed with me for all of my stops to take pictures?

My Mom is funny, she thinks my "blog" on the internet is such a huge deal so she is always pointing out stuff I need to photograph for my followers.

I need that heart eyes emoji again!!

You could always use one of these: Hmmm, I was looking through the smilies for those. How did I miss that there is a dog paw and a pug?

It was not the way I wanted to see HEA in person for the first time, but hey, it was better than missing it entirely, right??

Another reason I booked the dessert party. Wishes was sacred to me and was the reason for my March solo trip. I have avoided watching all videos online so I will have an unbiased first watching of HEA.

 

[xlsm]

Hilarious! But I'm glad she made it! That's a good sign for what's to come.


Yep...saw that coming...oh no!

Yay! HEA is saved! Maybe not the perfect location, but I'm glad you got to see it from somewhere decent.

I wasn't sure if I'd be joining the fan club, but it's growing on me the more I watch/listen, and I think it's absolutely because of the soundtrack! They picked such good songs, and they're arranged so well, and the new song they wrote is excellent and gives me the feels.

Oh there's more roller coaster excitement coming as the trip goes along!

Ugh, yes. I was trying to be accommodating and let her ride the LM ride. I should have held my ground and told her we could do it another day. I'll have another chance in a few weeks, we'll see if I get to watch it again from inside the park or from the GF after dinner.

I really think it's the soundtrack. They did such a good job with the songs combined with the projections. I also like that it's a standalone show with just the fireworks (as long as you're in a spot where you can see everything. Spoiler alert, we watch from the Poly lounge one night, and it's beautiful when you see the full display in the sky, even without seeing the projections. The music works with that, too!)

This shot is beautiful! Love how the train station and castle are within those palm trees!

I'd call it a wreath too

Same here, mom!

This is adorable! (minus that darn scrim)

Hooray! I love Barnstormer too; short but very fun!

SAME. Oh, and the Lion King/villain segment where they use "...To Die For", that score always makes me cry.

Drooling! Can't wait to try these

There's something so special about pulling up to the MK on the boat. Seeing it slowly coming into view from the water...It's hard to beat, and my favorite way to get there!
The scrims are out to get me. Every time I go I feel like there's a scrim. I think everything is down now, so crossing my fingers for scrim free pictures in a few weeks.
Our best Barnstormer experience was on our July 2015 trip. We rode it not long after rope drop (after hitting space mtn and buzz) and there was no one in Storybook Circus. We stayed on three times in a row and could have stayed longer but we had other things we wanted to do. It was so fun!

The nachos were so good!! I had them again on departure day and they were even better, so I suggest trying them more than once, LOL!

We didn't see HEA this trip, only one night of our stay was a non-party night. Hoping our next trip will be during a regular not-party season.

It's so hard when there are parties so frequently during the holidays! It makes planning MK days a challenge and throws a wrench into firework viewing. I am hoping for another spring or summer trip soon for the same reasons.

I'm struggling to stay caught up on everything on the Dis at present, so I'm not going to do quotes, just:
Love your Mickey ears!
Love any shops of Halloween MK-and especially nighttime, that is so rare!

I feel you on struggling to keep up with Dis stuff. I wanted to get this TR finished well before leaving for the next trip. It seems overwhelming to me some days!

I have a Mickey ear obsession, LOL!!

I want one too! I would say it's a wreath.


Me too Even that song makes me emotional. And I really love it! I had never heard of the singers before I first heard it.

I only knew who Jordan Fisher was b/c he was on the show Liv and Maddie, and the boys watched it. And then he was in Hamilton. I still have no idea who the girl is who sings with him, lol! I don't even know her name!

Ugh on the HEA situation, but I suppose seeing it at all beats not seeing it. At least you'll get to again in a few weeks! I cannot believe how close our trips are getting!

Oh my gosh, I keep forgetting we have the exact same countdown!!

Arrival night for us will be a stay at the Hyatt in MCO, then a DHS day (and hopefully seeing @MeghanEmily), MK day, NYE at Epcot, NYD at MK, and finally AK. Splitting the stay between a couple nights at Movies and finishing up at Kidani.

Aw your mom looks so cute in her new visor!

Wow you picked the right time to go up to the Train Station- the lighting is beatiful!!

I'm sorry the crowds prevented you from getting a good spot for HEA. But at least you still got to see it!

Haha, she loved that visor!
My favorite time for pictures is when the light is all pink and soft. It makes things look even more magical!

I was worried about this with my Mom in February so I ended up booking the Garden Plaza dessert party so we can sit and eat and then have a much less crowded viewing spot.
My Mom is funny, she thinks my "blog" on the internet is such a huge deal so she is always pointing out stuff I need to photograph for my followers.

You could always use one of these: Hmmm, I was looking through the smilies for those. How did I miss that there is a dog paw and a pug?

Another reason I booked the dessert party. Wishes was sacred to me and was the reason for my March solo trip. I have avoided watching all videos online so I will have an unbiased first watching of HEA.

I almost booked the dessert party, but I didn't know if we'd end up making it back over to MK on one of the available evenings or not. I'm still on the fence about booking it for January. It will conflict with our dinner that I don't want to cancel, and DH thinks one dessert party is enough (we're doing the star wars one in a couple weeks) We have one night to see it on that trip, the night of the dinner, so I'm not sure if I'll get to see it in the park or across the water from the GF. Missing it up close again just means we'll need to plan another trip, right??

I love that your mom gets into it and helps direct your photos!!

I had no idea there was a dog print and pug smilie!!

 

[Tracy161]

NYD at MK,

Ooooh... I think I know someone else who will probably be at MK on NYD!!! I have got to get an update on my TR going... and I'll get myself together before then, too