So Much Freakin’ Epicness Y'all! A May 2019 Epic DIS Meet TR Updated 11/21 x 7!

[Pluto0809]

I still cannot get over the amazingness that was the VIP tour. What a wonderful benefactor you all had!

I had no idea you all had done the dessert party that night too. So fun! I would love to do this sometime but its $50 for the kiddo which just seems beyond ridiculous to me.

We really did have a wonderful day! I totally understand on the cost for the Dessert Parties. And the prices on all of them are going up after the first of the year. I do want to do the Frozen Ever After one in Epcot but after that I might take a break from them for a while.

As you know, I lost mine somewhere between getting it and getting home. But, I called and explained what happened and just got a replacement! I was unbelievably happy and couldn't in a million years imagine trading it or selling it!!! Such a treasure!

I do remember reading about that! I'm so glad they were able to send you another.

That bag check was INSANE!!

Then again, it always is.

It's a tiny bit better now that they've moved it to the other side of the Monorail ramp. More stations and bigger area.

It might have been my favorite part of the day.

That was definitely a fun experience that most of us will never get to see again.

I didn't hear that, and will definitely look for it in a couple months!

So it's been a couple of months, did you find it?

It'll live on in infamy forever!! LOL!!!

Yes it will!

That was the first time I'd used Mobile Ordering and it was at first pretty frustrating. I didn't see the nuances of how it worked until Steve showed me how. After that it was easier....

I've used it once or twice but most times I've found it not to be necessary.

Seriously, EPCOT will have to fix this with all of the updates they are doing. It is just terrible right now. There is just not enough room for them to have more security guards.

You may have already seen it but they did fix it with the renovations. There's a lot more stations now and it's spread out quite a bit.

Such a mom thing to say, and glad to see you listened to your mom! I feel like my girls would have done the opposite of what I said. Of course we are all short, so we are usually in the front anyway

I probably wouldn't have listened to her when I was their age. The older I get though the more I realize Mom is always right!

The beef alwasy looks so good. I HAVE to finally try this on our August trip.

The beef is excellent! I just wish I could find a base that I liked as well.

Baseline is our new favorite place for a drink and snack!

Your whole day sounds amazing!!!! Truely a once in a lifetime event!

It was a once in a lifetime for me! I doubt I will ever do a VIP tour again so it was nice to experience it this time.

 

[Pluto0809]

The VIP Tour sounded amazing! What a great experience for all of you to share together. It's so nice that they included drinks and snacks and it must've been fun to be in all the backstage areas.

I think the backstage parts were my favorite! I loved getting on the rides quickly but they were all ones I had done before.

Your bowl from Satu'li Canteen looks very good! I don't often see people get beef, but it looks tasty and I know my husband would love it. Hopefully if you try the beef and noodle bowl next time you'll finally have found your perfect dish!

I've tried both the beef and chicken and the beef was the clear winner by far. I do hope I like the noodles but I am a little worried because Lesley told me they are a bit spicy. I'll give them a try though someday.

Wow, what a great pin! I didn't know that they gave pins to commemorate a VIP Tour experience. What a great keepsake!

I didn't realize we were getiing a pin either so it was a nice surprise!

How nice that they combined your reservations at the dessert party! Your cocktail looks super tasty and the desserts delicious as well. I'm glad you had such a great time at the party!

I really had a blast at the party that night. Great friends, good food and drink and a relaxing area to watch the show. Couldn't beat that.

What an excellent day! I'm excited to see what EPIC adventures are in store for you next.

There were definitely some more adventures and I'm finally back to finish telling about them.

Sounds like the tour was so much fun! What an awesome gift And sounds like a nice night at DHS and the dessert party!

We did have a wonderful day that day. Probably the best one of the week.

I'm new to your reports but I'm really enjoying this one. Can't wait to read about more of the Epic Trip.

Thanks for joining in. Sorry I've kind of disappeared but I'm back now to finish it out.

I caught up over the 4th while we were in Disney but didn't get to comment- every time I read someone's recap,of the VIP tour it brings back my jealousy over missing it! But it doesn't take away the awesome fact that you gets got to experience something amazing

Sorry you had to miss it! But I think maybe you got to experience one of your own from comments on Facebook?

Yep, looks like a Jackie creation Pink. Sparkly. Ridiculous in many ways. Check. Check. Check. But I do believe we won Overall!!

Nothing wrong with pink and sparkly!

ne other thing I remember him telling us about is that you can actually scan the UPC barcode on the giant glue bottle with your WalMart app, and it gives you a coupon or surprise of some sort!

I do remember that now that you mentioned it.

Oops!! At least you are facing the right direction. Clearly I do not even know what side of Slinky the camera is on LOL

It's on the right when you come down the last hill for future reference.

I love that this evolved into the Chunky Dump, but I seriously laughed so hard when I read @Steppesister 's original comment on FB "I look like I'm about to take a Slinky Dog Dump." LOL Now, whenever anyone refers to SDD, I have a whole different definition than what they intended!!!

It certainly does. I can't believe I forgot to get a Chunky Dump picture on my last trip! I meant to.

You'll get another chance!! He became a CM today working on the Skyliner!

That's awesome! I looked for him while I was down there but I only rode the Skyliner once from Epcot to Pop and didn't see him. The Skyliner didn't turn out to be as convenient as I was hoping.

Yes, where I look like a crazy person because I was trying to keep my phone from flying out of my pocket....I look like I"m in the middle of doing the Macarena!

Ride photos can be so funny sometimes!

YES. That was so exciting because I really thought I had already missed them!!! When I saw Prince John walking around and then actually got to run into Friar Tuck's arms for a hug, I seriously felt like a six year old. There may have been tears....ok, there totally were!

I'm so glad you got to meet them!

Gah!! Your drink (and that pretzel) looked amazing!!! And I SO wanted to meet up with you!!! That was when I was stuck in the definitely not 15 minutes as posted line to meet Mike and Sulley! I was very sad you had to finish the pretzel without me!!!

Well meeting Mike and Sulley was a good excuse to miss out on the pretzel. I highly recommend it though if you ever get a chance to stop someday.

 

[Pluto0809]

Well folks I managed to pull yet another disappearing act. I swear I sound like a broken record saying that over and over. But I'm back now and determined to finish this TR. So determined that I spent the last three days writing the entire thing. So hold on tight because I'm about to hit you up with who knows how many posts (obviously I didn't count). Once that is done, I have my new TR from a few weeks ago ready to go so I will post it and then add a link here for that one. So without further ado, let's move on with this TR.

A Magic Kingdom Morning

We started out Friday, May 3rd very early again for MK EMHs that started at 8 am. Our original plan was to stay in MK until about 3 pm and then head to the Poly for drinks and the Epic dinner at O’Hana. But I really didn’t want to carry my bag of gift bags (with the socks) or get a locker for them. It was also supposed to storm around 2 pm. So I decided to come back to the room around 1 pm before heading to O’Hana. Jackie decided she would do the same thing.

Now that it’s been 6 months since the trip I don’t remember much about the state of the bus stops or our bus trip there but I do remember that we ran smack into @pkondz and his daughter in the bag check line. We said hello and chatted for a minute before going our separate ways. He was headed to the lockers while we entered the park and stopped for pictures on Main Street.





It was pretty much right at 8 am when we did those pictures so we headed to Tomorrowland and got in line for Space Mountain. Once again, we ran smack into @pkondz! All this smacking was starting to hurt a bit. We had a little bit of a wait, maybe about 10 minutes so we passed the time chatting with @pkondz and his daughter.

No idea what I was trying to do here. Looks like a cross between devil horns and the peace sign.



After our spin through space, we said goodbye again to @pkondz at least until our planned meet that afternoon. They were headed off to ??? (heck I can’t remember what I did yesterday let alone what someone else was doing 6 months ago) and we went across the way and walked onto Buzz Lightyear. Horrible photo of me, I look like I haven’t slept for weeks but Jackie looks cute.



And I did have a pretty decent game this go around.



Then we headed up into Storybook Circus and rode Dumbo. Here’s my attempt at a selfie.



And Jackie’s much better version.



Our last ride before EMH ended was the Haunted Mansion. No idea why I’m staring up at the ceiling in this picture? I wasn’t having very good luck with the ride photos on this day.



Hmmmm, maybe I was trying to imitate the ghost right below me in the picture. I think that would make an awesome ride photo. Just try match the pose of the ghosts in the picture.

When we finished with Haunted Mansion, it was time for our first FP of the day which was for BTMR. I have no photographic evidence that we used it so you will have to take my word for it that we did. I do have the ride photo for our next destination which was Pirates. I got the hook finger down but totally forgot to put on my eye patch.



I then dragged Jackie kicking and screaming (not really, I think she likes it) across the way to The Tiki Bird Room. I had to see it since I was wearing my Tiki Bird gear. Two crappy photos later…





….and we were on our way to the next stop which was Country Bears. Jackie was reluctant to do this one since her one and only time visiting the bears in the past was a sad occasion. She had lost her phone on that trip which contained all of the pictures she took of her son Jimmy with the Country Bears. I think she was able to recover the photos later but at that time she thought they were gone for good. She never did get her phone back from the bowls of RnRC. So you can understand why she was a little sad the first time she saw the bears. I’m pretty sure she enjoyed this time around though.













Next we used our 2nd FP for 7DMT. Finally some better ride photos.





According to my notes we stopped in the “Poop dump shop” after 7DMT. I had to think on that one for a second to remember that it was the Pooh dump shop. Jackie wanted to pick up a Roo stuffie for her son and while we were in there, I found this cute Pluto key chain.



It was now time for our BOG ADR. We each booked our own ADRs about 5 minutes apart so that we could pre-order. The whole check in and payment process was very smooth and we found a table in the middle of the ballroom. I got my same old, same old, turkey sandwich with fries and the triple chocolate cupcake for dessert.





I really love that lunch at BOG!

This was our actual scheduled time to meet up with @pkondz. He and his daughter had and ADR right after ours and they entered the ballroom as we were finishing up our meal so they joined us at our table. We chatted for a bit and he gave us each a bag of Canadian candy which was very much appreciated. Jackie and I had one last FP to get to so we said our goodbyes and got a photo to prove the meet happened.



On our way out, we ran into Su-Lynn @chunkymonkey, Su-Queen, Steve and Doc @docsoliday1 . We got a selfie with the girls before heading towards Tomorrowland.



Our final FP was for another trip through space and we used it before heading out to the buses. I think I just gave up on the photo pass pictures at this point. But at least I knew where the camera was.



We spent some time at the room which turned out to be totally unnecessary because it never did rain that day. At least I didn’t have to carry the gift bags all day and we did have a chance to freshen up a bit.

We caught a bus back to the MK and headed up to security. This is were the little gift bags became a big problem. The security guy said that he could not let me through without opening all of the bags. I had a bit of a panic thinking of him ripping open all of my bags. He ended up calling over a manager who said he just needed to squeeze all the bags to make sure they were socks. So the poor guy did that, taking them all out of the bag one at a time. And Jackie, being the good DISer she is, hid behind a pillar and took a picture for my TR. I am not going to post that picture though because I found out the hard way on my next trip that taking pictures of the security areas at the parks is a very big no no. I don’t want to risk being banned from the parks for posting a picture!

After the extended security search, we boarded the Monorail and rode around to the Poly. Our plan was to get drinks at Trader Sam’s but the wait time was around 45 minutes which would not work with our ADR time. Instead, we headed out to the outside bar and had a drink there. Once again, even though Jackie was taking the actual picture, I was selfie challenged and couldn’t figure out where to look.



I ended up getting a Rosita’s Margarita (Casamigos Reposado Tequila, Bols Orange Curacao, fresh Lime Juice, falernum, and Organic Agave Nectar) which was very good.



We sat out there for a while enjoying our drinks. We sent out an invite to the group to see if anyone wanted to join us and Luke and Fallon did for a bit.

Unfortunately it was really hot out on the patio and I think this was the first time we noticed how bad the Love Bugs were getting. We kept having to swat them away. At one point, I rubbed at my eye (look away if you are squeamish) and my contact decided to take a trip up under my eyelid and got stuck there. I haven’t had that happen in a very long time. I excused myself and went to the bathroom where I was able to get it out but was not able to save it. This left me with sight only in my left eye for the evening. My eyes are very bad and without contacts or glasses I cannot see much at all. I had extra contacts back in the room and figured I would be fine for the rest of the evening. Su-Queen did pull an extra contact out of her bag and offer it to me but it was nowhere near my prescription and wouldn’t have helped. Once again I was amazed at the generosity of the new friends I had made on this trip. Needless to say, I carried an extra pair of contacts with me the rest of the trip and will do so on future trips as well.

We were seated fairly quickly at O’Hana and took up three tables down the middle of the room.



This was one of our largest group activities so I’m not going to even try to list out everyone that was there.

One of the ladies Jenn @Chrystmasangel made beautiful ears for all of us. I have a rough time wearing ears because they press on a nerve on the side of my head and give me headaches. She went above and beyond to make me a pair that tied in the back. I was able to wear them a bit longer than regular ones but sadly they still bothered me a little bit. Although I think some of the issue that night might have been my half blurry vision causing a headache. Here’s my horrible attempt at another selfie. I look hot and tired in this one.



I stuck with water with my meal but Jackie had a lot of fun and ordered a Lapu Lapu drink.



I didn’t take food pictures that night but I’m sure most of you have seen O’Hana food. This meal was the one I was looking forward to least food-wise but I knew I didn’t want to miss it. I tried the bread but found it dry and tasteless. I did like the teriyaki noodles and wings and had a few of those. I don’t like salad and I couldn’t eat the pot stickers because they were pork and pork doesn’t agree with me. When the meat skewers came around I tried the chicken and the steak. I did not like the chicken at all, I found it slimy and chewy. The steak though was delicious and I had about five pieces of it. I skipped out on dessert because I don’t like bread pudding. Overall, probably my least favorite meal of the trip and I don’t think I will be back anytime soon. But it was worth it for the great company.

After dinner, we stopped in the lobby and got a Photo Pass picture of our whole group.



Then we headed to the monorail and caught one to get to MK. I didn’t have any trouble with security at this stage because I opened the remaining packages and took out the socks during dinner. I had originally planned to bring the rest of the gifts on Saturday for the people who hadn’t made the O’Hana dinner. But after the pain they were to bring through security I decided not to worry about it. Plus I totally lost track of who I had given a pair to and who I hadn’t. So if you didn’t get a pair, sorry!

Once we got to MK we headed to the boats to go to Wilderness Lodge to continue the festivities at Geyser Point Bar & Grill. We ended up waiting here for a while because the first two boats that came could not accommodate Billie’s @Elevationist scooter so we had to wait for a third. Billie kept telling us to go on without her but we couldn’t leave her behind. She did manage to take this cute selfie of her, Su-Lynn @chunkymonkey , Lindsey @LindseyJo22 , me and Jackie.



By the time we made it to Geyser Point, both Jackie and I were a little nervous about the trip back to Pop as there was lightning off in the distance and we were afraid the boats would shut down. Plus I had a bit of a headache from the half blurry vision.

I know there were a lot of shenanigans and pictures taken that night but the only one I got in was this one with Jackie and my almost name twin Ariane @ariane37.



We did stay long enough for me to grab a water from the bar (yeah big drinker I am there) and watch the Electrical Water Pageant before heading back to the boat. My one photo from the Water Pageant. Not sure at this point if I took more that didn’t come out of if that was the only one.



Zack @AMusicLifeForMe was also heading back to MK so he joined us. A boat to the Contemporary arrived first so we hopped on that one and then walked to the MK to catch a bus to Pop.

Once again it was pretty late by the time we got back to the room and turned out the lights.



Up Next: May the 4th be With You

 

[pkondz]

I think maybe she did but Liesa sure did perfect it!

I do love chocolate way more than I should but probably not enough to skip a VIP tour.

I can understand that!

Will have to come back later to read the update.

 

[Pluto0809]

May the 4th be With You

We were headed to Hollywood Studios on Saturday May 4th. The park didn’t open until 9 am so we got to sleep a little later. This made the food court a crowded nightmare when I went to get my bagel for the morning. There were actually no plain bagels in the case and even if there had been, the check out lines were all at least 20 people deep. I decided to wait and get a snack once we got to HS.

Once we arrived at HS we went straight towards our 1st FP of the day which was for Tower of Terror at 9:05 am. I remembered getting a bagel at the one of the little stands along the way but when we got there it was closed and no longer selling breakfast foods. There was a cart right there that had snacks like chips and pretzels so I headed there next and was going to get some pretzels. But the CM, an older grandmotherly type asked me if I really wanted to eat junk for breakfast. She reminded me that there was a coffee cart at the exit of TOT that had breakfast foods. We headed there only to discover it was closed too!

I really didn’t want to walk back up to the other cart at this point so I said forget it, let’s just use our FP and hopefully I won’t get too nauseous. So that’s what we did and I ended up being just fine. The sequence we got was pretty mild and I was only a little nauseous. I’ve looked at this ride photo multiple times and just noticed today that two of the guys in the back row are talking to their shoes.



Once we finished up with TOT, the coffee cart was finally open and what happened to catch my eye other than the giant donuts they have. This thing was so big I had to have Jackie take the picture so I could hold it with two hands!



As big as it was I still managed to eat the whole thing. Well, except for the last bit of chocolate which melted and slid off onto the ground as we headed towards Toy Story Land.

I think it was at this point where we ran into @pkondz for the third time this trip. I wonder what the odds are of randomly running into the same person three times at WDW?

We still had some time before our next FP for Slinky Dog so we decided to explore the Incredibles area. There was no line at all for Edna Mode so we hopped in. The candid shots by PP are always a bit interesting. It looks like we were deep in conversation with Edna but at this point I have not idea what we talked about.



I seem to have forgotten to do something with my arms on the group photo so I just let them hang awkwardly at my sides.





We stopped for one other Photo Op before heading to use our Slinky Dog FP.





Our third ride this trip on Slinky Dog was fun as always. I do really love this coaster since some of the more thrilling ones are getting too hard for me to handle as I get older.



I have a pretty big gap in my pictures here but thanks to my notes I know we went and saw the Aladdin preview which got me very excited for the movie. I wasn’t all that interested in it before the extended preview. Then we went to see the Little Mermaid show. We just missed a show so we ended up waiting a long time. We saw a CM do something during this time that I never thought I would see. He was on the PA system going over the entrance procedure for the theater and people were talking and not listening. He actually shushed the crowd and told them to be quiet in kind of a snotty way. Jackie and I were both a bit shocked by that one.

We didn’t time our Little Mermaid viewing very well with our lunch reservations so we had exactly 3 minutes to get from the Little Mermaid theater to Sci FI. We booked it across the park and made it just in time. Everyone else was waiting for us because the reservation was in my name and they couldn’t check in without me. Joining Jackie and I for lunch was Su-Lynn @chunkymonkey , Steve, Su-Queen, Lesley @Lesley Wake , Caroline @disneyAndi14 and Molly @Mollydolly334 .

We ended up sitting in two of the very front row of cars. 6 of us were in one car and the other two (Steve and Su-Lynn) were hitchhikers in the car next to us. Sci Fi is not very conducive to conversation since you are sitting in rows. Jackie and I were in the front of the car so we missed some of the stuff going on behind us. I did find out later that someone (Lesley) decided to take a nap during the meal and Su-Queen had some fun with her. Don’t worry though, Lesley got her back the next day.



I got my usual here, burger with just ketchup and fries. I’m not sure what it is about the burgers at Sci Fi but they are my favorite burgers at WDW.



I also usually get the Candy Bar dessert they have here but after the massive donut that morning, I was not hungry at all for dessert.

After lunch we ran into another Diser Ariella @StarWarsMomofGirls! and her family so we stopped to chat with them for a minute. She was going to join us sans family for a bit that afternoon at Epcot.



Jackie and I had one more FP before we left HS so we split off from the rest of the gang and headed back down Sunset Blvd. RnRC is not my favorite but it is one of Jackie’s so I rode it with her. I always come off of it feeling like some one beat me a bit. Oh and Jackie managed not to lose her phone this time!



After RnRC, we headed out of HS and towards the boats. I had planned on looking at the May the 4th merchandise but the line was massive when we first got to the park. On the way out I totally forgot about it so I guess I didn’t really want it that badly.

We caught a boat over to Epcot along with Su-Lynn and Steve who we found in the boat line. Our meeting place for the Epic Drink/Eat Around the World tour was right at the International Gateway and we immediately found Billie and Sarah there. I was thirsty though so I ducked into the store to grab a bottle of water. While in there I spotted a shirt that I was sure my Mom would like so I grabbed it for her for Mother’s Day.





While we were standing there the wind picked up and the sky started looking very ominous. So we changed plans quickly and booked it over to the Odyssey building to start our drinking and eating indoors. We just made it there before the skies opened up and it poured for a while.

There wasn’t anything I wanted to try at the food booth inside the Odyssey so Jackie, Caroline and I got in line to meet Flower and Garden Festival Minnie Mouse. She was only meeting for that weekend so it was a pretty rare event. I think we waited about a ½ hour before getting to meet her.




I also spent some time looking at the F & G merchandise that was in that building. I saw a Passholder Figment shirt that I really liked but they didn’t have it in my size.

The rain finally let up so we decided to head out. I split off from the group at this point because I had a very special mission to complete. I had forgotten on my first visit to Epcot to stop and get my Annual Passholder magnets. I headed towards Mouse Gears while everyone else headed to WS. There was a long line for the magnets but it moved quickly. Once you got to the front there was three stations that had the magnets. I went to the next open station but the CM there only had the Daisy magnets. I could clearly see that the other two stations had Pluto as well but the CM told me I would have to get back in line to get Pluto. Luckily a lady in line saw what happened and let me go in front of her at one of the other stations. Why that CM couldn’t reach two feet away to one of the other stations and grab some Pluto magnets I’ll never know.



I spent a little bit of time looking around Mouse Gears and then walked around and found some more of the hidden Bees. If you remember from way back when I started this TR, I bought maps for the Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration scavenger hunt.

After that I checked my phone to see that the large group had somehow gotten split up and half were in Mexico and half in Canada. I was towards the Canada side looking for the bees so I went that way and found Caroline and Molly at the Northern Bloom booth. I was not hungry at all after the massive donut and lunch at Sci Fi so I didn’t get anything at that point.

The three of us carried on to France and stopped at the booth there. I had to get one of my favorite vodka slushies.



It was here that we finally found the rest of the group and continued with them around the world stopping here and there to get food and drinks.



I look like a giant next to tiny Molly and Caroline in this next picture!



While walking by Japan we saw an Egret having a tasty lunch of lizard. Being fascinated by the circle of life I had to get a picture.



When we got to America some of the group went to watch the Garden Rocks concert. I was thirsty though so I joined a group heading into the Counter Service there to get some ice waters. One of the CMs noticed Jackie’s birthday pin and started up a song for her. I wasn’t quick enough to get all of it on video but I did get some.

He also gave her a free cupcake which we all shared a bite of since Jackie doesn’t like cake.

We stopped for another PP picture in Germany.



I also stopped for one of the huge pretzels there because I was somewhat hungry and knew I needed something savory before the sweet stuff we would have on the Illuminations Cruise later that night.



We made it as far as the African Outpost were a few of the girls got their faces painted. I kind of want to do that but I tend to have bad reactions to face paint and am afraid to try it. Then we turned around and headed back to the International Gateway to go to our cruise. We stopped for one more PP picture on the bridge.



Jackie and I scooted into the store right there quickly and redeemed our Bee maps. They had three different sets of patches to choose from. I can’t remember what the other two were at this point but Jackie and I both picked the same set. I have grand plans that haven’t come to fruition yet to turn these into magnets.







We walked over to the boat launch at the Yacht and Beach Club which was the meeting place for our cruise. Sadly, there was bad weather in the area and our cruise was cancelled. We did get out money back but what a pain for Lesley who had to redistribute everyone’s payment to them.

We decided to drink our sorrows away at Hurricane Hanna’s so we headed that way. Jackie and I were walking with Billie who was riding her scooter. The wheels on the boardwalk were making a noise like thunder and everyone keep looking up to the sky thinking that was what it was. Once we figured out it was her, we ended up nicknaming her “Rolling Thunder”.

We made it to Hurricane Hanna’s just as the sky opened up and were able to huddle under some umbrellas to wait it out. I ordered the Frose which is a frozen drink made out of Rose and Vodka. It was very good.



I also had everyone say hi to my Mom since I text her non-stop while I’m at Disney. She loves to follow along with my trips since she loves Disney almost as much as I do.

Once the rain let up we all headed into the Yacht Club. This was one of those moments when everyone wanted to do something different. We ended up sitting around for a while discussing options. I was pretty tired at this point and ended up just plopping down on the floor in the lobby for a bit.

Eventually a group of us went into the Ale and Compass lounge where I proceeded to order water. I’d already had two drinks on this day and that was my limit when it was so hot.



After one round of drinks, Jackie, Leisa, Jennifer and I headed back out and caught a boat to HS then a bus to our resorts.

Once again it was a very late night.



Up Next: Crazy Storms

 

[Pluto0809]

Crazy Storms Part 1

On Sunday May 5th, we woke up to this horrible thing on our door.



Jackie and I were heading to Animal Kingdom with one shared FP before splitting up for a while.

We made it to Animal Kingdom in pretty good time and noticed on our way to Pandora that there was no line for the Lion King photo spot. As I was wearing Lion King gear, it was a must do for me.



Our shared FP for the day was Flights of Passage at 9:15 so we headed first to Navi River Journey and waited about 15 minutes to get on the ride.







I enjoy this ride more each time I ride it. It was a bit of a disappointment at first because it’s so short but I’ve come to appreciate it for what it is, a cute ride that the whole family can enjoy. Of course I still wouldn’t wait more than 15-20 minutes for it.

After NJR we made our way over to FOP to use our FP.





This ride continues to be the best that Disney has to offer. I will be interested to see if Rise of the Resistance takes the top spot from it or not.

On the way out I was happy to finally spot the hand prints of James Cameron (director of Avatar), Jon Landau (producer of Avatar), Joe Rohde (lead Imagineer for Pandora). You don’t always pass by them when exiting the ride.



At this point Jackie and I headed our separate ways. This was her actual birthday and she was thinking about doing all four parks. I know she hit up AK, Epcot and MK but can’t remember if she also made it to HS.

My plan was to make the 10 am Festival of the Lion King show but it was a bit after 10 when I made it to the theater. But the CM said they were still seating so I could go right in. I did miss the introductions but as I’ve seen the show dozens of times it wasn’t a big deal. I was seated in the giraffe section.









The show ended right in the middle of my next FP for the safari so I went straight there after. My notes say that the safari was “pretty blah except for the Giraffes”.











There were three baby giraffes all hanging out together.







Obligatory photo of Elephant butt.



Sleepy Lion.







Continued in Next Post

 

[Pluto0809]

Crazy Storms Part 2

I was hungry after the safari so I headed to my favorite CS in AK, Flame Tree Barbecue. I managed to have a Kevin sighting on my way there.





At Flame Tree I got my usual ½ chicken that comes with coleslaw and beans.



Delicious!

I had some time after lunch before my last FP for Dinosaur so I thought some rarer Meet and Greets would be in order. First I visited Scrooge McDuck.



Then Launchpad McQuack who was very, very enamored by me.









I left that meet and greet feeling like I might be engaged to Launchpad.

Finally I went to visit Daisy in her Dinoland costume. She was very impressed with my Simba bag and asked me if I made it. I told her a very good friend had made it for me.



She was quite sassy during the pictures.



I had wanted to meet Chip and Dale in their Dino costumes too but their line was massive and I was hurrying ahead of the storms that were blowing in that afternoon. I did use my Dinosaur FP next although this is the only picture evidence I have since I never got a ride photo.



I decided to head out then and did so after picking up a few items. First was a Dumbo plush I’d been eyeing all week.



I got this shirt for casual Fridays at work.



This bracelet. It’s hard to tell in the picture but it is rose gold and very sparkly.



A box of pins hoping to find a Pluto one but alas I got Donald and Mickey. Jim promptly stole the Donald one when I got home.





I also picked up something for my brother for Christmas but since he sometimes reads my TRs, I’m not going to say what it was.

I headed to the exit with one quick stop to say hello to the Aardvark.



Right before I got to the exit the rain started so I stopped briefly and put on a poncho. I stealthily snapped this next picture to send to Jackie because we had just been talking about the old yellow ponchos that Disney used to sell.



I wonder if those are vintage or if they bought them somewhere recently?

I made it to the bus stop just in time before the rain started in earnest. The wind picked up incredibly and the rain was coming down pretty much sideways. I had to move to the very middle of the bus shelter to avoid getting soaked. The wind was so bad that some huge umbrellas started flying around. Of course I stood there like an idiot watching them blow towards me so that I could get some good video for this TR.

That storm was probably the craziest one I have ever seen at WDW.

During the storm, Jackie was over in Epcot waiting for Spaceship Earth. She sent me the following picture of the trees blowing sideways while she was in line.



We also got reports from all over of umbrellas down and wooden signs at Food and Wine bent in half.

It was still raining hard when the bus came and I was pretty soaked from the few steps in the open to get on the bus. It was just me and one other family on the bus. It was a mom, her 8-9 year old son and 2-3 year old daughter. I was really impressed with the son, he was so helpful with his little sister. He held her as she slept the whole way back to the resort while Mom dealt with the stroller.

It had stopped raining thankfully by the time we got back to the resort but I knew more was coming. I made a quick stop at the food court and got a Mickey Whoopee Pie for later and then headed back to the room.



I rode out the next storm that came through while relaxing a bit, packing for the next day’s departure and snacking on my Whoopee Pie.

Up Next: Hoop Dee Doo!

 

[Pluto0809]

Hoop Dee Doo!

A little after 4 pm I headed back out to head to MK. There were tree branches down all over the place and Mousekeeping was still working on rooms. I’m guessing they had to stop for a while with the crazy storms.

While on the bus to MK, I got on the MDE app to look for a FP for the evening. I probably should have done that earlier but I had forgotten. I was greeted with this when I checked out the wait times.





Yikes! Half of the park was down due to a power outage from the storms. Despite that I was still able to grab a FP that I could use immediately for Buzz Lightyear so Tomorrowland was my destination. Still not a galactic hero.





While waiting to get on Buzz, I was able to make another FP for Winnie The Pooh.







I got a text around that time from Jackie letting me know that Jack Sparrow was out meeting so I hurried over to Adventureland. She got to meet him but his line was already closed by the time I got there. Jackie and I did manage to make a Pirates FP for around the same time so we did that next.

Here we go with the bad ride photos for me. I guess I was trying to take a picture of the black wall on the other side of the ride camera?



I know I took some more pictures but they must have been bad because this is the only one I still have in my account.



Jackie wanted to do the Carousel of Progress so we went back over to Tomorrowland.



I took one picture this time of the mysterious disappearing daughter who isn’t in any of the other time periods.



It was a little after 6 at that point and since you never knew how long the wait for a boat would be, we decided to head out and make our way to Fort Wilderness for our 8:30 pm Hoop Dee Doo. We did make a quick stop at the TL bridge to get some PP pictures.





Of course this was the one time that the boat came immediately and we made it to Fort Wilderness way too early for our reservation. We were meeting up with Fallon @fallonkendra and Luke, Su-Lynn @chunkymonkey , Steve and Su-Queen, Billie @Elevationist , Lesley @Lesley Wake , Karilynn @Malia78 , Molly @Mollydolly334 and Sarah @IowaTater and of course we were there way before anyone else.

I used the time though to buy Jackie a drink for her birthday from Crockett’s Tavern. We both got Strawberry Lightnin' (Ole Smoky Strawberry Moonshine, odwalla® Lemonade, Wild Strawberry and Sprite).



This was so good and super strong! I think it’s a new favorite at WDW but I probably won’t be getting it too often since it’s so out of the way. I was flying a bit by the time I finished that and the rest of the gang got there.

We were seated pretty much right up front and they started bringing the food right away.





I don’t touch the salad here but the corn bread is like crack it’s so good. I also had two glasses of the red sangria which was extremely daring for me after the Moonshine.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures during the show, just enjoyed it. Here’s one to show how close to the stage we were.



I didn’t get pictures of the rest of the food, just one of my plate. This was before they delivered the mac and cheese. It’s normally not brought to your table unless you ask for it. Our waitress tried to tease us by saying that they didn’t have it anymore but when she saw all of our sad faces she said just kidding and brought it out.



I love the Hoop Dee Doo and have been there many times. On this night I enjoyed it even more because several members of our group had never seen it and it was a lot of fun watching them experience it for the first time. I think my only disappointment was that no one at our table was picked to be in the show.

I took a quick video at the end to send to my Mom of all of us having a great time.

And once all the fun was over, we had a group picture taken near the front of the theater.



The rest of the night was bittersweet. This was the last time I would be with anyone from our group except Jackie. We had to say goodbye to Billie and Sarah right away because they got on a bus going directly to Wilderness Lodge where they were staying. The rest of us boarded a bus to MK. Things got quite silly on the bus. I was still flying from three drinks and Su-Lynn and I got a bad case of the giggles. Then Su-Queen fell asleep and Lesley got her revenge from the Sci Fi lunch the previous day.



We got back to the MK and said our goodbyes then headed to the Pop bus stop which had an insanely long line. But there was zero line for Art of Animation and a bus sitting there waiting so Jackie and I hopped on that bus and just walked across the bridge to Pop.

We packed a bit before heading to bed for one last night.



Up Next: And Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye

 

[Pluto0809]

And Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye Part 1

We were up and out of the room around 7 am on Sunday May 6th. It was our last day but both of us were heading to the parks for a bit before our Magical Express times. Mine was around 3 pm and I think Jackie’s was around 1 pm.

We checked our bags with TSA and then dropped our carry ons with Bell Services.

I had a lunch reservation at 50s Prime Time but after moonshine and sangria the night before I wasn’t sure my stomach was going to handle a full meal for lunch. I ended up stopping at the concierge desk and had them cancel the ADR.

Then it was time for Jackie and I to say goodbye. We made a quick stop and had a CM take a picture so we could show off our park bags.



Then she headed out to the buses while I went for my usual bagel in the food court. She was heading to MK for the morning while I was going to HS. She did text me while I was waiting to check out to let me know that the bus lines were insane. Despite that she was gone by the time I came out, they were bringing in buses pretty quickly that morning.

I made a quick stop on the way to the Food Court and made a pressed penny of Sulley. Figured that was appropriate for this trip since I bought the Sulley doll.



The line for HS was completely full and extended back into the bushes behind the stops. But as I said, the buses were coming quickly and I got on the second one that came and made it to HS around 8:30 am.

Old news now but at the time I was very excited to see some of the Skyliner cars out of the wrapping.



I made it into HS to run into this.







Not a huge deal though because my goal this morning was not Slinky Dog. Instead of joining that madness, I veered to the left and went to Toy Story Mania. It’s one of my favorite rides and I hadn’t had a chance to ride it yet on this trip.

I walked all the way through the line to the point where you get the glasses. From there it was about 5 minutes before I was on the ride. Not my best score but not too bad either.





I can’t remember at this point if I checked wait times for Alien Saucers or if I just wasn’t bothered to ride it but I headed back out of TSL after TSM. I stopped for a quick picture with Woody before heading to my next destination.





There was only one other thing I wanted to do at HS and that was the new Lightning McQueen Racing Academy.



I think I just missed a show so it was about 15 minutes before I got to enter the theater. This big 95 was in the back and you can sort of see the benches and the screens that surrounded them.



I picked a seat towards the back of the middle section. Here’s the view around me.







The section straight ahead of me opened up and that’s where Lightning McQueen was.





I don’t remember a huge amount about the show since this was 6 months ago but I do remember enjoying it and thinking it was cute. Not a must do every trip but definitely fun for families who like the Cars movies.

From there I headed out of HS and over to the boat launch. I just missed a boat it was pulling away as I came up, so I waited about 10 minutes for the next one. I wasn’t in a huge hurry because I wanted to spend some time in WS which didn’t open till 11 am. I left HS just a bit after 10 am.

The timing was perfect and I ended up at the International Gateway right at 11 am. While relaxing on the boat ride over, I made a FP for Spaceship Earth. I hadn’t had a chance to ride it yet this trip and I wasn’t sure if I’d have a chance to ride it again in its current form since rumors were flying about a major refurb coming soon.

There was a PP photographer on the bridge by the International Gateway so I stopped for a photo.





Then I headed over to France to browse through the stores.









My main objective there was to check out the Ratatouille merchandise. There wasn’t anything new so I moved on to UK.

Continued in Next Post

 

[Pluto0809]

And Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye Part 2

I did finally remember to take a picture of one of the bees from the scavenger hunt. You had to find each one and then match up the sticker with the flower on his sign.



I don’t think I posted a picture of the completed map so here it is.



The Bees were much easier to find than the other scavenger hunts I’ve done in Epcot.

I browsed some more shops in UK. I really wanted to bring this Eeyore home with me because he was just too darn cute but knew I didn’t have enough room for him. I was already pushing the limit with the stuff I bought.



UK topiaries.







I also spotted this written on the road in UK.



I moved on to Canada where I checked out this shirt and sign that I considered for Jim.





For some reason I didn’t think he would like the t-shirt so I ended up getting him just the metal sign. He loves metal signs and has a lot of our garage decorated with them so this was a pretty good gift for him. Favorite sport, favorite character on a metal sign.

I was starting to get a bit hungry and my stomach did feel better after the bagel. I considered fish and chips from Yorkshire but decided it might be a bit too greasy. I thought maybe the rotisserie chicken at Sunshine Seasons would be a safer option. I had a few more stops to make before lunch though. First I headed back to the Odyssey to see if they had put out more of the Figment Passholder shirts that I liked. They had so one came home with me.





Sadly I’ve only worn it once because the neck is super tight on it and I can’t stand even a slight tightness around my neck. I may have to see if I can stretch it out a bit.

I was also able to pick up a Minnie pin, they had been out of them when we were in there previously.



I was also on a quest to find Shortbread cookies for my Mom to go with her Epcot shirt. She loves the Disney shortbread cookies but I was having trouble finding them on this trip. I finally found a rack of them in Mouse Gears.





It was now time for my SE FP.







I managed to spot the father and daughter from Carousel of Progress posing as ancient musicians.







I headed towards the Land building but stopped to admire this beautiful but also sad Penguin sculpture.





I fully intended to get the Rotisserie Chicken at Sunshine Seasons but I noticed they had a special that day which was pot roast so I got that. I know it doesn’t look hugely appetizing but it was delicious.



I wasn’t a fan of the flavor of the rice but the beef and mashed potatoes were very good. I’m still mad that they got rid of the chocolate mousse cake and had to settle for a chocolate chip cookie for dessert.



And that was pretty much the end of my trip. I did browse the Art store on the way out but didn’t buy anything else. When I got to the Pop bus stop it was deserted so I figured I must have just missed a bus. But there was an AOA one sitting there so I hopped on it and walked back across the bridge to Pop.

I was pretty early but I found a cozy bench and read for a while until it was time to go to the airport.
Once at the airport I did have a pleasant surprise. I ran into Melinda @pepperandchips ) and her husband Ryan. They were on the same flight as me back to Atlanta so we were able to share a few more hours of Epicness on the way home.



And that’s a big old “The End” to another of my TRS. Stay tuned though because I have the next one all ready to go and will post a link just as soon as I get it started.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Needless to say, I carried an extra pair of contacts with me the rest of the trip and will do so on future trips as well.

That’s a really good idea. I’m the same as you, I can’t see without glasses or contacts. I’ve never thought to put another pair in my bag.

 

[Pluto0809]

And here it is, link to my new TR!

Suddenly Solo – A Fall Feast 5K TR Oct/Nov 2019

And now for the daunting task of catching up on the 20 or so TRs I'm 4 months behind on. And finding any new ones I've missed!

 

[pkondz]

Wayyyyyyy too much to comment on! But...

I do remember that we ran smack into @pkondz and his daughter in the bag check line.

All this smacking was starting to hurt a bit.

Careful how you write that!!

According to my notes we stopped in the “Poop dump shop” after 7DMT. I had to think on that one for a second to remember that it was the Pooh dump shop.

Lol

We chatted for a bit and he gave us each a bag of Canadian candy which was very much appreciated.

You’re welcome.

we said our goodbyes and got a photo to prove the meet happened.

I don’t remember that! The photo I mean.

I found out the hard way on my next trip that taking pictures of the security areas at the parks is a very big no no.

Really! What happened?

I had extra contacts back in the room and figured I would be fine for the rest of the evening.

Hmmmm. I should bring extra glasses.

She went above and beyond to make me a pair that tied in the back.

Very nice of her!

 

[missangelalexis]

Glad to see you back!

Such a fun morning with Jackie! And a nice lunch and DISmeet!

Sorry you didn't love Ohana but glad you had fun with the group!

Sounds like a fun time at DHS!

Love the pics with Minnie at Epcot!

Stinks that the cruise was cancelled but still sounds like a fun night.

Sounds like you had a nice day at AK- lots of great character meets! Followed by a nice time at MK and HDDR!

Sounds like you enjoyed your last day in the parks! Love the pics from Epcot

Very cool that you got to share part of your flight with DISfriend!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Once at the airport I did have a pleasant surprise. I ran into Melinda @pepperandchips ) and her husband Ryan. They were on the same flight as me back to Atlanta so we were able to share a few more hours of Epicness on the way home

This is so cool!!!!
I love all your merch.
The pics of you and Jackie are all adorable!!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Yay!!! What a great trip! So glad you finally got your Disboards mojo back! Great end to the TR!

 

[piglet1979]

Glad to see you back. It looks like you had a great time on this trip.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I'm so glad to see you back!

How funny to run into Pkondz so many times! It's indeed a small (Disney) world after all!

What a mess with needing to check all those bags at security! I appreciate that they're keeping everyone safe and all, but it's annoying when you get an over-zealous bag-checker.

It's good to know that the burger at Sci-Fi is tasty! I'm sure it had to do with my food choice (I did not get the burger), but I wasn't overly impressed with my food at Sci-Fi. I tend to pick 50's over Sci-Fi for that reason. Perhaps I'll have to give it another shot!

I LOVE that "this is my happy place" t-shirt! If I can find it during my next trip I may need to buy it, too!

YES! I completely agree that the cornbread at Hoop Dee Doo is like crack. (Not that I've ever had crack, but anyway...) It's amazingly tasty for what is probably a made-ahead bulk item. I'm glad you had a great time at Hoop Dee Doo!

It's always sad to reach the last day, but probably especially so after such a great trip. I'm glad you had such a great time having fun with everyone. Jackie seems like such a delight, so I bet she was a fun roommate. Thank you for coming back and sharing the rest of your adventure!

 

[missjackiemcg]

I only rode the Skyliner once from Epcot to Pop and didn't see him. The Skyliner didn't turn out to be as convenient as I was hoping.

Rats!! I have been reading a lot of comments that go both ways. Looking forward to giving it a try in December, and hoping it works well for us!

No idea what I was trying to do here. Looks like a cross between devil horns and the peace sign.

Your hands may be wild, but at least you were looking in the right direction

Horrible photo of me, I look like I haven’t slept for weeks but Jackie looks cute.

I am focused on trying to hit the targets you told me to watch for LOL

And Jackie’s much better version.

It's all about the angle!! I have perfected the art because if I don't take them myself, I'd never be in any pictures!

I do have the ride photo for our next destination which was Pirates. I got the hook finger down but totally forgot to put on my eye patch.

MUST have the eye patch, and Pirate snarly face!

I’m pretty sure she enjoyed this time around though.

That bear is exactly how I felt the last time I had ridden! Glad I got to enjoy it with you this time around, SO much more fun!

I think I just gave up on the photo pass pictures at this point. But at least I knew where the camera was.

Yes, I see it's an ongoing problem for me!

These are some of my favorites

Oh and Jackie managed not to lose her phone this time!

Yay for me hanging onto my phone this time around!

I spent a little bit of time looking around Mouse Gears and then walked around and found some more of the hidden Bees.

I just found out there is a Chip and Dale one for the holidays! I'm so glad we did the bee one together, and really looking forward to doing it with Jimmy in December! Hoping they still have it by the time we arrive on the 27th.

This was her actual birthday and she was thinking about doing all four parks. I know she hit up AK, Epcot and MK but can’t remember if she also made it to HS.

I ended up not doing 4 parks since we took care of that with our VIP tour! But it was still such a magical birthday. It will be TOUGH to beat!

I stealthily snapped this next picture to send to Jackie because we had just been talking about the old yellow ponchos that Disney used to sell.

I really still want one of those!

I used the time though to buy Jackie a drink for her birthday from Crockett’s Tavern. We both got Strawberry Lightnin' (Ole Smoky Strawberry Moonshine, odwalla® Lemonade, Wild Strawberry and Sprite).

Mmmmmmm, I could go for one of those right now...no matter that it's only 9:30 a.m.

 

[MeghanEmily]

I finally got myself caught up again just in time to find you were already done your TR! Thanks so much for sharing it with us. What a crazy storm that was! Also, I really like the rose gold Mickey bracelet you bought. I might have to keep an eye out for it when we go next month. How nice that you were able to share your flight with Melinda and her husband!