Shuttergirl taking on the US hehe - NOW WITH some PHOTOS See Post 1 for links

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Well today we were determined to see as much of Epcot as we could since yesterday we didn't quite achieve as much as hoped.

We started the day with Mission Space. I checked with 3 staff members to make sure we were in the easy side of the ride, rather than the puke your guts up side. That would not be a good start to a day . DS8 was getting very nervous in the lines, that's the problem with the lines, they give kids who have a tendency to get last minute jitters too much time to think hehe.

We ended up absolutely loving the ride, it was lots of fun for the whole family. Yay.

On our way to World Showcase we ran into Jiminy Cricket which was very exciting. And the line wasn't too long so we went ahead and lined up. He was tiny, my daughter was taller than him. We were really pleased to capture him so to speak haha.

Then it was on to the World Showcase to begin our food and wine (ahem beer) crawl.

We started at NZ with the scallops, mmm mmm yum. We all enjoyed them and my daughter and I were tasting scallop for the first time. We then continued making our way around, enjoying lots of yummy morsels, along with a few not so yummy but overall we were happy with what we got. We had a few different beers as well. Once we hit Mexico though, that margarita stand was calling my name hahaha. I got a heavenly frozen margarita and sat in the shade with my son lying beside me resting while DH and DD did the Mexico ride, whatever it's called. We were really enjoying our food crawl so we decided to cancel our ADR at Biergarten which was sad, but we just couldn't have fit another thing in. By the time we had done the whole showcase, including the pavillions (minus England, Ireland and Canada) it was getting close to the first Kool and the Gang concert at 5.15. Problem was I had originally booked Flying Fish for dinner for 5.15 so that we could eat and then come back for the 7.45 concert. We had had such a long day that we again decided to cancel our ADR and watched the early concert. Kool and the Gang were very good, even though they had a younger ring in lead singer haha. We then caught the bus back to POP, had a quick well earned swim and then had a bite in the food court. Whew, what a day.

We met the best Snow White in Germany. She was absolutely amazing with all of the children she was meeting. By the time my kidlets met with her, I ended up feeling so emotional about it all, I had tears in my eyes. The family just shook their heads at me. What can I say, I was having a "disney moment"

We went on the Maelstrom ride in Norway and the was unexpectedly fun. We really enjoyed it but don't know why they keep you hostage after the ride before they let you out, very weird.

We finally got to do Pick a Pearl at Japan which was something I had been really excited about. My daughter was picking one for herself and I got my son to pick one for me. I had already prepurchased some sweet cinderella carriage necklaces to place the pearls into on ebay. There was a pretty huge crowd and I know my DH was groaning inside but I was doing it so that's all there was about it. It was fun to watch all of the pomp and ceremony involved and the kids were really excited by the time their turn came around. My DD was very lucky at her oyster had 2 pearls in it. She was a little disappointed I think because the pearls were smaller but I told her she should consider having them made into earrings. The pearl my DS picked for me was lovely too. The girl doing the shucking of the oysters was as sweet as can be and made a real fuss over everyone's pearls. It was a great experience all around.

Another great day.

 

[heidispidi]

Sounds like you all had a fantastic day! LOL at your Disney moment - I wonder if I'll have one of those?! Pick a Pearl sounds like it would be very exciting for the kids, and wow, I should stop reading these boards first thing in the morning, as you guys always get me hungry describing what you've eaten. Thank god you've not shown more food porn

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

After the debacle our last attempt to visit BB was, I wondered what exciting dramas may be in store for us on our second attempt.

We juggled our itinerary around to make another day work for us and off we went. I added the water park to our tickets and thought to myself it was a very expensive day at the water park , yikes we sure better have lots of fun.

And we absolutely did. We all did the Teamboat Springs ride together 3 times to start and thought it was AMAZING fun. Only glitch was getting up to the slide. Choices - ski lift high up in the sky or stairs that would make your calves weep. Hmmmm, what to do since DH and I don't like heights and we aren't very fit .

Well we chose the ski lift option first but to be honest I felt a little like my life was flashing before my eyes the whole time. I begged DS not to move a muscle as I didn't want the thing to go crashing down to earth . An unreasonable fear I know but I knew my DH would have been feeling twice as sick because he is EXTREMELY afraid of heights. Yep, when he got off he looked pale haha. Anyway the slide was amazing, all four of us in a large round rubber dingy thing, sliding wildly for ages and ages. Great family fun. Another problem, getting out of the damn thing at the bottom. I'm short and round and well that is frankly not the best combo and I ended up toppling out much to my family's glee, only to graze my knee quite badly on the rough bottom of the water. Oh well, a small war injury is a small price to pay for such fun.

We wanted to ride again so we braved the ski lift one more time, just as terrifying. The 3rd time DH made us all climb the stairs but I felt like I was having a cardiac arrest by the time I got to the top . Why oh why don't they have an escalator, is it too much to ask.

DH talked DD12 into going down the Slush Gusher which is the second steepest ride in the water park. I couldn't believe she agreed and they both were a little shell shocked when they got down the bottom. Apparently you are vertical and not even touching the slide for most of it. Oh and you have water flying into your eyes the whole time. Doesn't sound like too much fun for me. The big slide, Summit Plummet was then scratched as an option haha.

DS is a bit nervous about these sorts of things but we convinced him to go on the Run Off Rapids which were crazy fast but he loved them. I felt a little out of control on them to be honest and came a cropper right at the bottom. Again with the stairs Disney. What the???? That is something they need to fix because I just couldn't climb those stairs as many times as I wanted to slide. You do have to be a little careful on Run Off Rapids though, DH came off his tube and banged his head quite badly. Thank goodness it wasn't one of the kids.

We saw the cabana things that Aussietravellers mentioned and they looked like a great idea.

DS really enjoyed the obstacle course thing although he frankly wasn't very good at it and I was a bit stressed about him hurting himself haha.

In the end we were there for around 5 or so hours and had a wonderful time. Lots of fun. Oh and the weather was the coolest it had been our whole time which at the start of the day made us nervous but it ended up being great because you didn't get too hot in the sun.

One observation - are we the only country that is SUN SMART? People didn't bother with rashies at all, we probably saw 5, everyone was sunbaking in tiny bikinis etc and I didn't see anyone apply any sunscreen. We were gobsmacked to be honest.

We headed out to the bus stop and ended up waiting 40 minutes for a bus, the time went quickly and we were happy just relaxing but other people around us were getting very annoyed. I can see why. So this is the only the second problem we've had with buses, and both times at Blizzard Beach. Once we finally got a bus it was very packed and someone complained to the driver about the wait and he said, well the buses are leaving Animal Kingdom full for POP. I thought to myself, well then you need to send more buses to Blizzard Beach, you can't just skip over it because the buses are full. So if I was ever to go to BB again I would catch a cab home to the resort.

We came back to our room, showered, changed and headed our for our first foray into Downtown Disney. We didn't have any dining reservations because we had made quite a few changes to our itinerary but we were hoping to get a walk up. I didn't realise that T-Rex weren't part of the dining plan so I mentioned to my husband that I had heard great things about Raglan Road, the Irish Pub/Restaurant. We hightailed it around there and were lucky enough to snag a table. The place was lovely, just how you want your irish pub to be, all wood and noise and infectious music and lots of different beers on tap. The menu was so good we could barely decide what to have everything looked so yummy.

One thing I knew I wanted was the Dalkey Duo (little sausages in batter served on individual forks with dipping sauces) so we ended up ordering a combo appetiser with scallops, ribs, sausages and chicken skewers. It was really DELICIOUS!!!! And DS tried his first scallop which was exciting. He wasn't all that fussed with it but we were impressed enough with the trying.

DS ordered the shrimp and chips (could've knocked us down with a feather), DD got this absolutely scrumptious chicken dish, I think it was called Chieftain Chicken or something, yum, DH had the Cluck Curry (OMG, sooooo yummy) and I got the risotto (a bit bland but ok).

For dessert I already knew I would have the bread and butter pudding, the other's had the Dunbrody Kiss which they liked, but not as much as my amazing pudding. It was pure heaven.

The service was amazing, as was the food and we had a wonderful evening. I highly recommend you try this place and of course we had a few different beers which were lovely.

I then headed into World of Disney to shop up a storm. I have to say I've found it really frustrating that every single merchandise store has the exact same things, you can never find anything just a bit different. You can get the same things at the POP gift store as WOD and everywhere else. Annoying. Anyway, I did still manage to spend a dollar or two and by now the boys were getting a bit tired of Downtown.

We then headed to Goofy's Candy Co. We each filled out our order forms to have individual sweets made and then DH and DS headed back to the resort because they knew I was heading to the Christmas shop next and they were having none of that. Suited me fine as I didn't want DH to know how much I was spending in there .

I was a little shocked at how much Goofy's cost me but DD and I really enjoyed watching them make our things. I got the pretzel rods dipped in chocoate, the chocolate sprinkles. DD got the fudge cookie dipped the same as mine and DS got the Mickey ears rice crispy dipped in chocolate and coloured sprinkles. We aren't eating them until tomorrow but they look great.

The Christmas shop was really great of course, although I was surprised to see so many of the decorations from last year but I guess they can't update every single thing each year. I did manage to collect quite a few lovely pieces. I had also wanted to add to my Jim Shore collection but there wasn't much there and nothing that I absolutely had to have so I left it at that.

DD and I were lucky to catch a bus immediately and headed back to the resort for bed.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

DD and I were very excited to be finally going to Wizard World of Harry Potter. We are both fans of the books and movies and couldn't wait to see the details in our imagination brought to life.

We had decided that we would only spend one day at Universal and felt that we couldn't possibly get across both parks so we just bought tickets to Island of Adventure which includes WWoHP. As soon as we arrived it was just before opening but they were letting people in so we headed in and made a beeline for the back of the park where WWoHP is. You could see the Hogwarts castle towering into the sky and we were so excited.

Once we arrived we were blown away at the amazing attention to detail. I'm sure an obsessed die hard fan could find faults but we were EXTREMELY impressed, you really felt like you were in Hogsmead Village. We headed straight for the line for Forbidden Journey and on the way we went past Olivander's Wand Shop. The line already was winding up the street, I'd say it was already a 1 hour wait at least so we all decided that wasn't going to be an option for us so we just kept heading for FJ. Jumped into the line that said only a 10 minute wait but I only took that with a grain of salt. It may well have only been that long but the ride broke down while we were in the line and I would say we lined up for at least 30 minutes. Our DS8 was definitely not going to ride so DH and I had to decide who would ride with DD. He doesn't like rides much but was keen to see the ride. I don't mind rides but I was nervous about fitting into the seats because there are tons of threads over in the Universal section of the boards saying that most pooh sized people are having trouble. In the end DS really wanted me to stay with him so DH agreed to go on the ride. We all lined up though because the only way to see inside Hogwarts is to go through the line. Poor DS8 thought we were trying to trick him into going on the ride and nothing we could say would make him believe us. He was teary and sad through the whole line which was a shame because he really didn't enjoy looking at all of the details.

I took him outside just before we arrived at the loading zone and we happily people watched while waiting for them. Well, hmmmm, they came off pale faced and DD12 said it was the scariest most horrible ride she has ever been on and I thought she might cry. DH's eyes were bugging out of his head too . Apparently it is much more than a simulated ride and the dementors esp were frightening. DD said after that she kept her eyes closed for most of the ride. Apparently you are on some arm thing quite high up and it flings you all over the place. Seriously, DD was quite shaken for at least an hour afterwards. Oh dear, I guess I'm lucky I didn't go on it hehe.

After that we decided to wander into the shops, enjoying the Honeydukess Lolly shop the best. Such a lovely store. Oh and I really liked the Owlery also. We met the conductor of Hogwart's Express and had our photo taken with him and the train and then I lined up for butter beer. We were all intrigued to try it but figured it wouldn't taste all that great so we bought one to share. WOW, it was so yum, really lovely. A bit like a "spider" with creamy soda and a type of ice cream on the top and it looks just like beer. DH is determined to try to make it. I really wanted to get some more but the lines were insanely long so we left it at that. To be honest the place was so packed it did affect how much time we spent there and our enjoyment. We probably were walking out of Hogsmead only 1 1/2 hours after arriving. It really isn't that big and the other two rides are I believe scarier than FJ so they were out for the "fraidy family". Overall I thought the details were amazing and stunning but they certainly need to add more which I am sure they plan to do. The scope is enormous, I look forward to hearing what they do with this area next.

We then wandered around IOA, we watched people on the Hulk ride for about 10 minutes in amazement, wondering why they would put themselves through that ride . Glasses were dropping down to the ground, I'm sure they find all sorts of things at the end of the day. Many of the rides at IOA are quite full on and the lines were long and for some reason our whole family just wasn't in a "lining up mood" haha. We were all just happy to wander and soak it all in. DS met Spiderman and he was so great with him. Talked to him for nearly 10 minutes, I'm sure the people behind us in the line were getting annoyed but Spiderman just wouldn't stop chatting. A great experience for DS.

Then the family decided to go on the Popeye Raft ride which is similar to GRR or Kali but wilder and wetter. I am so glad I decided to sit it out. We hadn't thought to bring our ponchos and I didn't want to walk around wet. Well they all got absolutely soaking, drenched, wringing wet. The kids rode it 2 more times until I said, enough, no more water. They have these cool drying chamber machine things there that you can enjoy for the princely sum of $5 that really don't do much but you still have to try. They were all wet for ages. From then on, noone was keen to get any wetter so that counted out a few other rides. Everyone was pretty much done by 2pm and were ready to head back to the resort for a while. We thought the Dr. Zeus area of the park was so sweet and beautifully done, I could've spent hours just looking around there alone.

Look how wet they are

DS begging to go on again LOL

DH decided he wasn't quite shopped out so he headed back to the outlet mall and I took the kids back to the resort for a swim. They love being let loose on a pool with no time restrictions and I was happy to daydream away while they swam. They really do play well together at times, I wish I could say all the time but mostly they do. They had a great time and DH came back with a few more bargains. Please let that be the end of it, oh the packing nightmare ahead.

We again didn't have any ADR's for tonight but felt we needed to start using some of these TS's so I suggested going back to DD and seeing if we could get into Rainforest Cafe. How is it that with all of my research, I didn't realise they didn't take the dining plan there. Oh well, we all looked at each other and said, well how about Raglan Road again. No arguments there.

But as I mentioned earlier when we tried to recreate our unbelievable Bubba Gumps night, you can't ever redo something awesome, it never works out. There must have been a different staff on this night because the service wasn't as good and neither was the food. My DH who never ever have I seen send something back, sent his main meal back because the vegetables and the sauce were ice cold. The caramel sauce with 2 of the desserts was just like oil, not caramel at all and we were a little taken aback. The other mains and the appetiser was nice so it wasn't all bad but just a shame that it left a slightly bitter taste in our mouths after such an amazing night the night before.

After dinner we did a little more shopping then jumped a bus back to the resort as I needed to get some laundry done. DH took the kids to the games arcade and I headed to the laundry. There sure were many different walks of life in there. POP has a very diverse clientele to be sure and I enjoy people watching so much. We would definitely stay here again, but not for the whole time. We thought the split stay option we did this time was a great idea and if we are ever to return to WDW, we would do that again.

By the time I got back to the room the whole family were asleep, cheeky monkeys so I just jammied up and crawled into bed too.

Tomorrow is our last day at Magic Kingdom, we have a few things to accomplish but I feel confident we will see everything we want to.

 

[kiwigirl]

Sounds llike you are having such a great time and fitting in so many things.

 

[Caroline NZ]

Wow, you sound like you are having such a busy time. The water parks sound great. Thanks for all the detailed reporting.

 

[Jade+3]

One observation - are we the only country that is SUN SMART? People didn't bother with rashies at all, we probably saw 5, everyone was sunbaking in tiny bikinis etc and I didn't see anyone apply any sunscreen. We were gobsmacked to be honest.

We noticed this too. We didn't do the waterparks, but my kids were the only kids in the pool, and on the cruise wearing rashies. We also noticed that not many people in the theme parks were wearing hats.

Enjoy your last day at Magic Kingdom.

 

[Travel Mum]

The 3rd time DH made us all climb the stairs but I felt like I was having a cardiac arrest by the time I got to the top . Why oh why don't they have an escalator, is it too much to ask.

I think that the water parks are the things we are looking forward to most at the moment - the videos on the website are so good! It's great to read about your day and reinforces to me that I'm going to have to get myself and my family into a fitness routine before we go. I knew about all the walking in the parks but I hadn't thought about the stairs at the water parks

 

[shushh]

Blizzard Beach sounds awesome!!! Thanks for the details on WWoHP. We're going in December and not sure how it will go with our 2 younger ones.

Right now, I'm sitting on the deck looking out on Copacabana beach waiting to make my nursery, dining and excursion bookings for our Panama Canal cruise. Wish me luck!

 

[aussiegirls]

Wow Shuttergirl, you sound like you are having an amazing time.

What I find the most amusing is that your DH is always the one going off shopping while you go somewhere else and wait for him Talk about role reversal

I can't believe your trip is almost over. It was only like yesterday that you left!!!

xxx

 

[Saskiwi]

Just popping in to say thanks for the great "live trip report - enjoying reading it and I'm impressed at your dedication to log in everyday while you are on holiday!
Can't wait to see your photos at some stage too!
PS My DH is the shopper in our family too - he always finds bargains and sales and has pretty good taste - most of the time!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Sounds llike you are having such a great time and fitting in so many things.

Hey Kiwigirl, yes we are packing in as much as possible. Will probably need another holiday when we get back haha

Wow, you sound like you are having such a busy time. The water parks sound great. Thanks for all the detailed reporting.

Yes the water parks are great. Thanks for reading along.

We noticed this too. We didn't do the waterparks, but my kids were the only kids in the pool, and on the cruise wearing rashies. We also noticed that not many people in the theme parks were wearing hats.

Enjoy your last day at Magic Kingdom.

I'm glad someone else noticed this, I thought I was going mad. I agree about the hats too.

I think that the water parks are the things we are looking forward to most at the moment - the videos on the website are so good! It's great to read about your day and reinforces to me that I'm going to have to get myself and my family into a fitness routine before we go. I knew about all the walking in the parks but I hadn't thought about the stairs at the water parks

Yep, get fit now because you will need to be. It really is exhausting haha.

Blizzard Beach sounds awesome!!! Thanks for the details on WWoHP. We're going in December and not sure how it will go with our 2 younger ones.

Right now, I'm sitting on the deck looking out on Copacabana beach waiting to make my nursery, dining and excursion bookings for our Panama Canal cruise. Wish me luck!

I think it is definitely worth a look Shushh. And how jealous am I reading about your upcoming trip. Good luck with your bookings.

Wow Shuttergirl, you sound like you are having an amazing time.

What I find the most amusing is that your DH is always the one going off shopping while you go somewhere else and wait for him Talk about role reversal

I can't believe your trip is almost over. It was only like yesterday that you left!!!

xxx

I know, he just loves shopping so much more than I do. I have to be in the right "mood" to shop. He likes ironing too .

Just popping in to say thanks for the great "live trip report - enjoying reading it and I'm impressed at your dedication to log in everyday while you are on holiday!
Can't wait to see your photos at some stage too!
PS My DH is the shopper in our family too - he always finds bargains and sales and has pretty good taste - most of the time!

I'm glad you are enjoying reading along. It is an effort at times to keep updating each day but I know how much I enjoy reading everyone else's and it's a good way for me to jot down all of the details.

Good to hear your husband likes to shop too.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Have a safe and uneventful trip home. Look forward to your pictures!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

We tried to make rope drop but ended up being about 30 minutes late and things were already buzzing in the kingdom. We headed straight to Tomorrowland and rode Buzz a couple of times and DD12 got the highest score for our family of all time, over 400,000 which for those who haven't ridden this yet, that is a mighty fine score. We got fastpasses for Space Mountain (eeek) and then did Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. What a funny show this is and the technology is AMAZING. As with Turtle Talk with Crush, it is in realtime and the mind boggles as to how they do it.

We then went and rode Big Thunder again, gosh I love that ride. I just giggle the whole way around. Usually my laughter is my way of letting my fear out, as opposed to my daughter who squeals her head off . I love this ride, it is now my favourite.

We popped in to watch Mickey's Philharmagic again because we all love it. It's the best 3d movie ever.

Then it was time to hit Toontown as my daughter was determined to walk through Minnie's house. Toontown doesn't take long if you don't line up for characters and since the line for the characters was already at 50 minutes only 10 minutes after Toontown opening, well we decided to skip it .

We didn't have an ADR for today so we thought we would try a walk up at Liberty Tree Tavern, no luck although they said we could try back in half an hour. We decided to give it a miss and went to Colombia Harbour House instead. The CS meals here were nice and the place even though it was packed, seemed quite calm compared to many of the other CS restaurants.

We hit the Speedway after that and again I am reminded that my daughter is going to need lots of lessons before she will be able to get a licence. Can we say "terrible driver" . Thank goodness there are barriers keeping us from careening off a cliff or something haha.

Then it was time ride Space Mountain. I couldn't tell my daughter because she already looked nervous but I thought I might pass out from nerves waiting to get on this ride. Luckily we had the FP's so the wait was short. The CM at the ride said it was just like BTMMR but in the dark.

YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe if you times BTMMR by 10 and gave it some steroids. This ride was fast and although I know it isn't as fast as Test Track, it goes fast for longer and you are in the dark. I kept my eyes closed for much of it and tried not to think about how often Disney serviced the ride and would the thing I was in really stay on the tracks whilst it was zooming all over the place. I'm not sure I really enjoyed this ride but would ride it again if my daughter desperately wanted me too. The good news is I am off the hook for a few years .

We then hopped on the People Mover for a little quiet time and it was a nice way to spend 10 minutes.

We were trying to kill some time before the parade and Fantasyland was too crazy to contemplate and the big rides all had huge waits so we went on the Carousel of Progress which was a cute show and DH got to have a little catnap in there so everyone was happy.

I then went off to mind a gutter on main street for the parade while the kids and DH rode Stitch (they didn't like it) and then they did another stint at the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (apparently not so funny twice in one day hehe).

They came to Main street 10 mins before the parade and I had secured a nice shady spot. Remember those going soon to sit on the shady side and to do that you need to get there early. The parade was alot shorter than I thought it would be, very different from the one they have at DL. But the floats were so beautiful, the detail was amazing and all of the big characters were out in full force.

We had originally planned to go to Epcot tonight for the Sugar Ray concert but we decided to do that tomorrow night as 8 hours in the park was enough for us and we were tired. We caught the bus back to POP and the family hit the pool for a while and I started the long task of packing. I wanted to get a start on it a day ahead to make sure everything would fit, in case we needed to buy another suitcase, hehe. I got 75% of the packing done and it is all looking good. We will have 4 cases and 1 rolling duffel to check in and our carry on luggage with be a backpack each for the kids plus one small rolling duffel, then a handbag and cabin bag for me and a small suitcase for DH. Not bad really considering all of the shopping that was done here.

Next we hit the food court. My DH wants me to write on the DIS that the POP food court sucks . I don't think that is fair, for a foodcourt, they have tons of variety, something to please everyone. Granted, much of it isn't very healthy or flavourful but I think overall it is pretty good.

Then it was a bit of typing for the DIS and then sleep.

Bye Magic Kingdom, it was great but I feel like we have done everything we need to do there.

 

[5ofus]

Your day at Blizzard Beach sounds like a lot of fun. My sis and I LOVED that family raft ride too - even though we were only two adults. SO much fun

I too notice that the Americans tend not to be as conscious of the sun as we are. When a Texan friend of mine came to Oz though, she was amazed at how much more quickly the sun burnt her down under compared to back home.

I can't wait to see WWoHP - it sounds amazing. Don't know about taking the kids on that ride though - sounds a bit much!

ETA: Oh, your last day... Sounds like you guys fitted a lot in though

 

[aussietravellers]

Great report (as always). You were very brave going on Space Mtn, sounds like another fun day! Blizzard Beach sounded like a fun day too. Actually we did comment about the lack of sun awareness when at the parks (even by the pool) Although I say that and the day at Typhoon Lagoon I was cooked to a crisp on my legs That's not very sun smart!!!!

We were at MK yesterday from about 9am until 3pm then from 7pm to just after midnight for MNSSHP (and again this morning), we may have passed you along the way. We were at Epcot today this afternoon and tonight, it was so packed wasn't it.

Sorry your holiday has come to an end! Have a wonderful flight home and I'm looking forward to seeing some of your 10,000 photos (I know it's not that many, I feel like I've taken that many though).

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Well Princess in Oz will be pleased to know that we decided to give Hollywood Studios one more chance to get us to love it .

I was determined to be there well before rope drop because I'll be damned if I wasn't going to ride Toy Story Mania before coming home so I was like a drill sergeant this morning getting everyone out the door and on that bus. We got in there with plenty of time however when we reached the turnstiles our tickets wouldn't work. What??????

So we had to go over to Guest services and she said that our 2 day park tickets had expired. I said, no, we have a 10 day ticket and a 2 day ticket and they are all on the same booking. I explained about moving over to POP, yadda yadda yadda. She said well you need to use your original Key to the World cards. I explained that the check in staff at POP had told me to not use them anymore, that they no longer would work and that everything was on the new cards. Apparently this isn't the case. What a debacle. As my family sat over in the shade I waited as patiently as I could for the lady to ring both resorts to try and sort it out. I seriously wanted to have a little cry. All the months of planning, thinking you have everything covered and little things like this at the end of your trip can seem like big things when you are tired. And I was disappointed because I knew that they were leading the crowds down the main street of HS towards TSM and that we would again miss out on riding this.

DH and the kids were really upbeat about it because I think they could sense that I was feeling annoyed and stressed but we headed towards TSM anyway in the hopes we could get a FP that would allow us to ride before we left for the day just after lunch. After jumping in the horrendously long FP line, we finally got FP's for 11.40am, whew. My mood lifted immediately and all of the emotions and stress washed away. How silly that riding a ride got me so worked up but I think it was more the injustice of it all after such a big effort to get there so early.

We then did the Backlot Tour which was interesting and I loved the water scene, better than the Universal water scene in LA but overall the Universal tour is much more detailed.

Then we wandered around for a bit and ended up back in Pixar Place and DS and DD saw Buzz and Woody so they begged to line up to meet them. The line was LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG and DH wasn't keen but I said I'd be happy to line up with them and so he sat on a bench reading the paper very happily. The line was interesting, they had lots of little "sets" in there for photos with the kids while you waited. Thank goodness because we waited a little over half an hour to meet them.

By the end of that it was time to head over to Indiana Jones Stunt Show. We wisely got a cold drink and a snack before we went in there, positioned ourselves under one of the big fans over to the side and sat back and enjoyed the show. It was very well done and everyone really loved it.

By then it was 12 and we could either go ride TSM but we weren't sure how long it would take and we had a 12.30 adr at 50's Prime Time Diner. We decided to see if we could get in early for lunch and ride TSM after. We did have to wait 10 minutes because the place was packed. So many people walking up for a table, they all had to wait at least 45 minutes. Yikes. And it was quite warm today so I would not have been too keen on that. The decor and theme is just amazing here and even DH got excited about it. Our "auntie" server was lots of fun and she was scolding us about our elbows on the table right away. As I mentioned they were so busy and whilst we definitely felt we got the best server in the place, she was run off her feet so I don't think we got as much attention as we might have at a less busy time. She was wonderful with the kids though, they were giggling their heads off.

The food was DELICIOUS!!!!! Really filling home style food and we all loved it. And dessert, well it was scrumptious and we all rolled out of their with bulging bellies, feeling a little sick from all of our gluttony.

We headed to TSM and were keen to see what all the hype was about. Guess how long the Standby line was? Nah, you never will be able to so I'll tell you.

It was at 170 minutes. Now I know I've been out of school for a while and my math ain't that good but isn't that nearly 3 hours?????????

Are people RAVING MAD????

Why in the world would anyone line up that long for a 5 minute ride.

Well we rode it and we all loved it. It's lots of fun and I'm glad to have gotten the chance to experience it but you can be sure we wouldn't line up for 3 hours and I feel sure the people that did would have been disappointed when it was over so quickly.

I got the highest score so will forever be the TSM champion in my house.

The boys being silly

We had originally thought we would head back to POP for a little rest then onto Epcot for our 4.50 adr at Chef's De France or whatever it's called, hehe and then the 6.30 show of Sugar Ray. We looked at the time and knew we still had a few countries to check out so we caught a bus straight to Epcot.

After a brief stop at Club Cool for some tasty watermelon flavoured coke, we wandered through Canada and England and then went to Pick a Pearl to get a pearl for grandma.

Me finding something very amusing about Niagara Falls at Canada

If only these were the only "beer goggles" she'll wear in her lifetime LOL

By now it was getting HOT and I was looking for some shade, beer and rest in no particular order. We hit the Belgian stand for some Stella beer, we got the big 22 oz. kahunas and lucked into a wonderful table in the shade and just sat and watched the world go by until it was time to head to Sugar Ray. The concert was great, the lead singer sings really well live and was full of energy and fun with the crowd. Loved it.

Bottoms up

My beautiful princess

We then wandered over to the China pavillion as that was our last country and my DD wanted to get a fan and the CM offered to write her name in Chinese on the fan which we loved. DS was sad then so she wrote his name on a piece of paper for him which put the smile back on his dial.

We again lucked into a quick bus and headed back to POP. We had decided to totally skip our evening ADR, watch the early show of Sugar Ray and have another CS meal at POP. With no afternoon break our family just fades at the end of the day and can't make it through into the evening hahaha.

Fortunately we learned last night that they will let you use a TS credit for a CS if you want and since we had TS credits in abundance we were happy to do that and get back to the resort.

I'm happy to be typing this because I am finally up to date and this is in real time for us now. We are all packed except toiletries and jammies and will catch the Magical Express tomorrow at 1.45pm.

We will spend the morning going to Boma for breakfast and then onto Animal Kingdom for a few hours before heading back to POP to catch the bus. Then it is the long haul home. We all feel ready to go home, have definitely enjoyed our time and seen all we want to see for now and I feel relatively relaxed. Hopefully we can sleep on the long flight and not get too much jetlag.

We have two larger stints at airports tomorrow so fingers crossed time flies.

Talk soon.

Some misc images

The WL boat dock

Came back to our room and this is how mousekeeping had left DS's chipmunks LOL

 

[5ofus]

Awww, how sad that your trip is coming to a close! Glad you got to ride TSM though - AND get the highest score in your family

It sounds like you had a truly wonderful time. Have a safe trip home.

 

[Jade+3]

Have a safe trip home. I am glad you are feeling relaxed and have done everything you wanted to do.

I have really enjoyed your trip report. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

 

[aussietravellers]

Oh no about the tickets! The thing is they are often so painfully slow at sorting things out and they can't seem to think outside the box. We have found that anyway with many things. Great they got it all sorted in the end though What a relief!

SO glad you got to go on TSM after all. to the 170 hour wait time. There is no way on this earth I would wait that long. To be honest I don't know that I would wait an hour, let alone three I can't believe there are people who would wait that long, wow

Glad you enjoyed 50's Prime Time. You are very very lucky to have had that 10 minute wait. We went last week for lunch and had about 35 minute wait and then for dinner, we had a 45 to 55 minute wait, it was so long we were about to leave when they called our name (can't remember now, but it was a blooming long time!)

Shame you missed chefs des france. We have eaten there twice now and both times have been one of the best meals we've had at WDW. You can go next time

Have a great trip home tomorrow!