PTR/TR: He Can Call Me Flower If He Wants To... May 2016 (TR - Completed 7/1)

[mindylee847]

That was a great TR. I loved it!! Again, it makes me want to go so bad!! I can't wait for your final thoughts and pics. Keep it up my friend!!

You should go back!! Thank you.

Sounds like a nice morning before saying goodbye to Disney! Glad you had a great breakfast! Kudos to you guys driving straight through, I can't imagine how tired you guys were!

It really was a great morning! I now kind of regret not going into the park even just for a quick picture... so I think I'm going to do that on our next trip... just to step inside and see the castle in the morning light.

And yes, we were so exhausted! I was surprised that my internal clock still had me up at 8 AM CT after that drive. Definitely worth pushing through.

i am going to miss reading your report! when are you going back?

Oh, thank you so much! I'm going back at the end of October and I'll start a PTR at the beginning of October and then start posting as soon as I'm back! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

This was a great TR, I had such a fun time reading it! I also requested to join that Facebook group, so hopefully there will be fun attraction chatting on there. Can't wait to see your souvenirs!

Thank you so much for reading! And joining my new Facebook group! It's a lot of me just posting stuff, but I think it's fun either way. Hopefully we get some more people interested and more people posting! There are so many great groups out there already... so we'll see.

 

[ForeverAlice]

Awesome trip report Mindy!!! Glad you and your husband had a blast! We were there the first week of June and I was actually going to post this for you from Launch Bay (it was just a quick one but I know you would enjoy). So happy to see you enjoying the magic and doing well!

 

[mindylee847]

Final Thoughts and Souvenirs

Thank you all so much again for following along on my Memorial Day weekend Disney adventure! I really enjoy doing this and plan on doing two more reports too - one for our October 2016 trip and then one for our March 2017 trip! There are also rumblings of a special 30th birthday trip to Disneyland next June... but we'll see! Nothing is booked for that one just yet. And while it's great to think about future trips, I want to talk about this past one.

I think my absolute favorite thing I did on this trip was the Early Morning Magic in Fantasyland. I have never experienced such an AMAZING and fun single hour before in the Disney Parks. The cast members were happy and smiling and so engaging on this morning. They seemed genuinely excited about sharing this experience with us and I think that had a huge impact on the quality of our time there. Thinking back on that time, all I can do is smile! I do feel a little bad that Mike got a little ill after a spin on the teacups... but I wasn't the one doing the spinning!

Mike continues to rave about the Star Wars fireworks that we got to see. It definitely was a highlight and something I'll never forget seeing in person. We had seen a live stream of it prior to knowing we would be going in May so I knew it would be awesome, but it far exceeded our expectations in person. I hope the new show is just as phenomenal! Guess we will have to find out in October.

I'm a little sad I didn't make my way over to Animal Kingdom to experience some of the rides at night, but from what I've seen of the Jungle Book show and from reviews, it's alright that I spent my time elsewhere. I wasn't a big fan of the new movie like everyone else seems to be and maybe that's just why I'm not super into it. We don't have time planned for Animal Kingdom in October, but hopefully we'll get a chance to check out Rivers of Light come March! That's what I would really love to see.

Staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge was a fantastic experience!! If anything, we're spoiled more than ever now having stayed there and at the Disneyland Hotel on our recent trips. I think Animal Kingdom Lodge was totally worth the price for us on this weekend since we did spend our first afternoon at Animal Kingdom and we enjoyed dining at Jiko and Boma while we were there. The location of our room was perfect and close to the stairs/lobby/transportation. The cast members here were all really wonderful and always said "Hi" when walking by. The only downfall is that smell in our room that I swore was the aftermath of someone getting sick... but Mike was right to not push us to go to guest services because I would not want to give up the location/view from our room. Perhaps it would have worked out in our favor, but I was on the balcony most of the time when I was awake so it worked out fine.

As far as dining goes, Jiko again was a fantastic experience. We don't plan on doing it on our next two trips... we need to try some other signature dining locations. It makes me sad to think that we won't be going back there for quite some time, but it really is a great experience and if you're willing to take a chance on a "different" type of cuisine, I couldn't recommend it more. The wine we had that night too was phenomenal and again, I've spoiled myself. My cheap average $10 bottles of wine just don't compare back here at home! Go figure. lol

I don't think we'll ever be doing a dessert party again unless something drastically changes about the options and layout. It's just not for us. I'd much prefer to grab something larger and of my own choosing from a bakery and grab a spot early to just enjoy and people watch.

Hmm... what else?

Mike really loved the idea of driving all the way through so he's hoping to do something similar for there AND back in October. But that's a story for October. lol I have some reservations about that idea.

I'm very glad that we took the time to see the Frozen Sing Along show in Hollywood Studios. I was not expecting much from that show, but I really did end up enjoying it. Which is making me rethink other things I may have missed out on in the parks that I just didn't think were really my style. If you're not "over" the Frozen songs, I suggest seeing it just because the storytellers really did add a lot to the show as far as comedy and what not.

Another thought, I was so impressed with how quick the line was for Toy Story Midway Mania on a Saturday night over Memorial Day weekend. That additional track is really going to do wonders for that ride! It sounds like Soarin' is also really benefiting from a new theater too. I think these are all really great signs for all of us. Nobody wants to waste hours in a line... hopefully the new Frozen line isn't a horrific experience for us in October! But we'll see. I don't mind wasting time if I'm in good company which I always seem to be!

So I think that's it. I could go on and on with random thoughts about this trip because it really was a fantastic time. I'm so excited to now be an Annual Passholder and I have at least two more trips to look forward to coming up! (We recently received our AP magnet!)

So now.... souvenirs!!

To thank my mom for watching the boys, I wanted to pick her up something that was "her"... it's hard to find stuff for her since her favorite characters are Flower and Dopey. BUT, she also is really in love with penguins. I was able to find two things for her on Disney grounds.

The first is a penguin bar of soap that I found at Basin!

I also found her a penguin pen featured in Hello Kitty from Mitsukoshi in EPCOT's Japan pavilion.

Obviously, she loved them both and said she wouldn't use either. lol

I should mention that she left us a gift too...

She put googly eyes over a LOT of our food in our fridge and in our pantry. That's just a few but seriously - we still have food items with eyes on them.

Anyways...

I always buy an ornament when I go to Disney and I had been eyeing up that glass snowman with the ears for years... but with cats, I just could never bring myself to buy one... but then I found this at the Christmas store in Disney Springs.

It's perfect!

I also always make sure to purchase something from the resort we are staying at. Now that they have resort specific merchandise, it's a must! So I ended up purchasing two Animal Kingdom Lodge related items.

Of course I needed a mug! I don't drink a lot of coffee anymore, but I always start my day with a cup of tea.

I also picked up this hoodie.

So... in the store I thought it was a little big for me... but when I got home to try it on, it doesn't exactly fit right on my hips. It's a bit tighter now that I've washed it than I had hoped. I suppose it's just motivation to get me to exercise on a more frequent basis! Plus, it's summer now anyways... so I have some time! Otherwise, I absolutely love this hoodie. It's so soft on the inside!

I figured that I needed to purchase some pajama shorts while I was in the World of Disney store so I found this adorable PJ set!

I couldn't resist! They're adorable and super comfy.

And I know that I already bought a mug... but I always buy a random mug too while I'm in the parks and this one was a must have. Especially to commemorate Mike's experience on the Mad Tea Party for the first time!

Another thing I like to get is if there is a reason I'm there... like any special events, I get something to commemorate that as well. So of course, I needed some Flower and Garden merchandise!

This ornament was HARD to find. Almost all Flower and Garden specific merchandise was sold out. They only had a few of these left in one of the random outdoor booths. I could have easily missed it, but I have an eye for ornaments.

I also picked up this really fun APH shirt!

The last thing I bought for myself was also from the Mitsukoshi gift shop.

I bought a lucky owl to go with my lucky white cat that I have here at work. Blue is for calm and relaxation and white is for good luck and happiness. Both things that are great for work! I don't know if I really believe in it, but it's fun and seeing them at work always makes me smile so it's gotta be working at least a bit.

So that's it! That's all I've got. Such a bummer! I'm going to miss having an update to write every few days. October can't get here soon enough!

And seriously, thank you all so much for your support. My October report may be hell since we chose to go the week that my dad passed last year. So I'm just warning you right now. But I've read that what's actually worse than the event/anniversary of something like this is just the anticipation of it. So I'm trying to focus on the joy of going to Disney and having a fantastic summer with family and friends and I wish you all the same!

Have a fantastic Fourth of July! Have an amazing summer! Have a good Labor Day! Good luck on getting those kids back to school! Whatever it is coming up over the next three months - I wish you the best and send you all my positive thoughts and love. <3

And here's a picture of our Mickey Mouse from our stadium here in Milwaukee (just for good measure) in celebration of summer.

Thank you all so very much. <3 <3 <3 ​

 

[mindylee847]

Awesome trip report Mindy!!! Glad you and your husband had a blast! We were there the first week of June and I was actually going to post this for you from Launch Bay (it was just a quick one but I know you would enjoy). So happy to see you enjoying the magic and doing well!

I LOVE IT!!!!!! Well now I HAVE to go through that line to find this! Thank you for posting it. I'm so glad you enjoyed my report. I hope you had a great trip in June!! (Well, I'm sure you did... but either way!)

 

[missangelalexis]

Thank you for sharing! I really love reading about your trips and look forward to the next ones!

I'm so glad you guys had a fun, quick trip! Love all the souveniers you bought!

Have a wonderful summer